Quiet quiet weekend here. Some wandering, some eating. Here are some pics...

We go here...

(This is a street in Damansara Utama, a suburb of Petaling Jaya. PJ, a city in it's own right, is next door to KL.)

to get this...

(this is a 'cuppacake' from one of our favoured cafes, wondermilk)

delicious escape

I have spent the last half hour or so in wonderland. 'But Maude, you are an arty type', you say 'you are always in wonderland.' That may be so, but this time I was in a wonderland not of my making. I was in the wonderland that is delicious. magazine. I used to buy this mag as often as I could back in Oz, and salivate over the recipes. Often I'd be so inspired I would make something other than toast for tea. I haven't looked at a copy since before Christmas, so I was a bit excited when I spied the latest edition at the newsagents this afternoon. It has a picture of dripping, dreamy fondue on the cover and the insides are full of winter fare like roasted chestnuts, baked treats and slow cooked wonders. Considering I'm ovenless in KL most of the recipes are impractical, but a girl can dream can't she? Maybe I'll make some art about food...

Now this is a sneak peek at something I'm making for a little friend who is waiting to be born. In fact, there are two of these friends on the way (not twins but two friends having babies) so fear not little friend #2, I'll be making something for you too!



Back on the food theme, you know what else I really miss? Ready Steady Cook. Nothing like a bit of stitching while watching smart arse chefs on daytime telly.

Fruity Times

The other night Thistler and I were walking home from dinner at a local eatery when we heard a strange 'rustle' and 'thump'. A coconut dropped from a tree to the street in front of us! We thought that was pretty darn special, and lucky because one of us could easily have had a nasty coconut encounter. Fruity times, absolutely. I bet every single person who travels to south east Asia tells you about the AMAZING fruit they ate there. Well, they are right to tell you, because it really is a culinary highlight. And now I am going to tell you. I've already written about dragon fruit here. We had red flesh dragon fruit the other day which was pretty incredible. That's the thing about tropical fruit. It looks AMAZING. It knocks your socks off when you see a dragon fruit or a rambutan for the first time, in real life. Rambutans are a lot like lychees, but bigger, their skin is redder and they're sweet with a smack of coconut.



rambutans image from here


Starfruit is by far the cutest of the fruits I've tried. When it's sliced you have star shaped pieces. AMAZING! It's pretty mild tasting, a little tart and crisp and wholly refreshing.


image from here



water apple image from here

This is water apple. Darn, it looks nice and is refreshing to eat. It has a crisp, but sort of soft texture. That makes sense, doesn't is? We've eaten mangoes, oranges, apples, bananas and mandarins to our hearts content but you already know what they look like. Maybe you are eating one now. Me? Oh, I'm eating a pastry. From the 'French' bakery. In KL. I had mango for breakfast, OK?! Anyway, the fruit that really takes the cake, in terms of new sweet flavour full experiences is mangostein. Whew, it's so sweet and juicy! It isn't as impressive looking as some fruits, but these little dudes really pack a punch. My favourite, by far.


mangostein image from here

Of course, you can probably get most of this stuff in Australia but betcha can't get 3kg for RM10 (that's about AUD$3 if you're not familiar with the exchange rate...) What fruit are eating now? Pears? Oranges? I had orange sliced and drizzled with cinnamon syrup, pistachios and mint when we had brunch in the city a while ago. I recreated it at home by drizzling honey and scattering cinnamon, almonds and mint on my orange. It's blooming nice with yogurt and makes a super easy dessert! Go on, try it. You'll be AMAZED!

A Beautiful Loaf Story

Is it really June 2ND? Cripes, how time flies. It's a drizzly day in KL, which is perfect for a day of pottering. A bit of housework, some crafty times, coffee and magazines.

We had our very first dinner guests last night! Thistler made his signature dish - Spaghetti Bolognaise. Oh boy, we haven't had that for a long while. It was home style cooking at it's best! Our guests surprised us with a 'beaut mango cheese cake for dessert. I wish I had taken a photograph of it before we tucked in. You know when you walk past a cake shop and they have achingly cute/sweet/funny cakes on display? This was one of those. When I opened the box I kinda squealed with delight. It was from a place called 'Loaf Story' (i.e Love Story) - this bakery is really popular in KL. It came in a great box and even had it's own knife! What is it about packaging that makes things extra special?

Half eaten cheese cake. I've just eaten another slice...

On Saturday we bought a sewing machine. Hurrah!! A second hand straight shooter. Straight stitch, zig zag, buttonhole. Very very affordable. I'll be picking it up later in the week. I can't wait to get that machine sewing!

p.s Despite the date at the top of this post, it really is June 2ND here. Promise.

Our Weekend Looked Something Like This

Fresh and dry produce at the Bangsar Sunday Market, coffee and cupcake from guess where?

The past week or so I've been nutting out some ideas for my new art project. I have a concept I'm working on based around the idea of home. Here's a sneak peak at three images I've made so far.


The images are watercolour and thread. I can't remember having ever used watercolour before. It was all we had around the house so I cracked it open. I don't use it with any sort of finesse, but I am absolutely loving it. I've also created my own surface patterns, which is another new step for me! Previously I had used existing objects as stencils to create surface pattern. These images are called, for now, "Table", "Light Fitting" and "Bed".

A Few Things I Haven't Mentioned Yet

* I completed my very first cross stitch project a few weeks ago. I bought one of those dinky little kits in a pansy motif. I never knew cross stitch could be so much fun! Maybe it was due to the 'stitch by numbers' aspect of it, but I found it engrossing and relaxing. I love methodical repetition when I make things (although I try to balance that with variety and spontaneity) , so cross stitch served that obsession.

* A while ago I made a lovely tofu salad thingy and, for the first time I can remember, Thistler happily chowed down on the tofu! That was until he fished a shell out of his mouth. I kid you not, he found a tiny shell in his piece of tofu! Oh boy, I wish we took a photo. We were shocked. What on earth?! After a bit of blustering we figured they must process tofu with seaweed in it on the same equipment at the tofu factory. At least it wasn't a hair, or a finger...

* I have never been in so many taxis all my life since coming to KL. Taxi drivers are as varied as any group of people you're likely to meet. Some are dandruff friendly, some are a little deaf or think I'm a little deaf and yell "left la?!" at intervals to check they're going the right way. Others are chatty and funny and ask us a lot of questions. We had such a driver once. He was lovely, dispensing advice about how to best handle other taxi drivers, places we should go in KL and the benefits of the Australian/Malaysian exchange rate. When we reached out destination he turned to us and said "Can I sing you a song before you go?". "Wow", I thought, "We are about to be serenaded by a taxi driver!"
"Sure!" we said. And he sang, "Tie me kangaroo down sport, tie me kangaroo down..."

• 

You know you live in a jolly neighbourhood when the garbage men yell out "Morning Miss, how are you?" as you walk past. It happened this morning as I came home from a trip to the local market. A chorus of garbage men greeting me. It made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. The security guards were just as pleased to see me "Good morning Miss!" they chimed, and I almost forgot they were armed with truncheons. At the market almost every stall holder greeted me this way. When I went for coffee another chorus of "Morning Miss" sounded before I had closed the door behind me. I have never been called Miss so frequently! I wonder what it would take to be upgraded to Misses. Or Ma'am?




A few more who answer to 'Miss Maude'.

The man who runs the stall at the market where I bought my veggies this morning didn't call me Miss, but he was wryly amused when I refused a plastic bag and put my goods in my basket instead, "Sure you don't want a bag?" he asked, gently waving one around and smiling to himself. "No no, it's OK." "Oh-kay", he sighed, as if certain my vegetables will misbehave without the constraints of one. They didn't though, I got them home without mishap.
While at the market I tried what I thought would be a banana fritter but turned out to be Ewe Char Koay, a Chinese doughnut in two thinnish strips joined together. Mm, a doughy fried treat. I really should have saved it for my coffee as it needed a bit of dunking to soften up! The coffee shop was playing a soft, acoustic cover by a female singer of Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer". Wow, so edgy!



Even my taxi ride home was an experience. The driver had Madonna pumping, and well, I enjoyed it! Ahh, Madonna. Sometimes just the thing in small quantities and in public places. Unless it's her cover of American Pie. Or any version of American Pie. I wonder if there's a Chinese pop song called "Ewe Char Koay"?

Daily Life in KL

Gosh, I'm a bit slack with this blog.  Sorry!  Here are some images of my first month in KL (yep, it's been a month!).  We had a bout of consumerism last Thursday that included me spending ALL DAY in a mall and a trip to IKEA that night.  Crikey.  Next time I shall visit a park.  

Below are some pics I took while in the biggest department store I have ever been in.  It's a bit like K-Mart, except for one quirk...they sell pets.  Live animals.  In between audio-visual and furniture.  Thistler and I were shocked.  So we did what any bystander does and whipped out our camera phones.  Here you can see a little hedgehog curled up (this is the first time I've seen one in the flesh - the slice doesn't count) and four little bunnies cooped up in a cage, under fluorescent lights, in a noisy, bright, grass free shop.  They were also selling tens of baby tortoises, hermit crabs, guinea pigs and a scorpion.  A scorpion!  Anyone could have let him loose in that store.

                                                          lonely hedgehog and rabbits

Here are some more things I've made recently.  (clockwise from top left) 

1. A handful of brooches made a few days after my first attempt.  

2. Some containers for cotton buds and chopsticks.  So basic - recycled tins and yogurt containers covered in paper.  Works a treat, try it! 

3. More containers - I made these the first week I was here.  We had an abundance of water bottles and not much else so I cut them to different heights and covered them in fabric.  I used a light weight fabric on one and the light plays through it nicely.  

4. Brooches from the same batch.  I'm working with paper at the moment and am incorporating as much recycled material as I can into my work.  This series is loosely inspired by our visit to the Cameron Highlands last month.  

Daily life in KL.  Inside and outside our apartment.

Daily life in KL part 2 - eating habits. (clockwise from top left) 

1. At a local fancy-pants restaurant.  

2. Home cooked meal - stuffed and fried brinjal (a cousin of the eggplant).  

3. The remains of a meal at our local Indian eatery.  

4. The dragon fruit we ate the other night.  It's such a beautiful looking fruit, but a tad bland to taste.  Like a really really really mild kiwi fruit.  A little bit melon-y.  We ate it as is, just scooped the flesh out in spoon fulls.  The next night I got a bit crazy and mashed the dragon fruit up with a bit of honey, poured it over ice and added plenty of lime juice and mint.  If we had a blender I would have whizzed the fruit, honey and ice together.  And maybe added soda water, or used lemonade for fizz and sweetness.  Still, it made for a good and refreshing drink/dessert!

This feels like quite a while ago now.  These are images from our trip to the beautiful Cameron Highlands, about 1 1/2 - 2 hour drive out of KL.  These pictures are of the tea plantations there.  We enjoyed tea and scones at one of these plantations.  Well, the tea was much too strong and the scones were stale, but it was a lovely place!

P.S.  The quality of these images is pretty crummy.  Sorry.  Phone cameras, you know?

More Bangsar for Your Buck

I've just come back from an exploring adventure in downtown Bangsar. I grabbed a ride with Thistler in his morning 'taksi' to work. Nothing opens till 10 in KL, so I did a bit of wandering in the sticky heat. Through the obligatory mall, past the 'Village Grocer' (masquerading as a supermarket) and over the road. Main roads here are tricky to cross - the drivers are far more unpredictable than say, the Sydney Rd variety. No one really uses indicators, so it's not uncommon to see cars weaving in and out of traffic lanes willy nilly. Wits about you indeed.
After successfully navigating the road I wandered down a street and stumbled upon a fresh produce market, exactly the sort of thing I was hoping to find! Hurrah! A variety of fruit and veg, flowers, meat...What? Yes yes, chicken carcasses, cuts of beef, whole fishies. On display. In the heat. Not even ten o'clock in the morning yet and I was sweating! Anyways, I was a bit overwhelmed by the produce and failed to procure anything. That's been happening a lot lately. I walk into a supermarket and am at a loss as to where to start. Wits abandoned roadside perhaps?
Sorry I don't have any photographs yet, I haven't quite worked out how to upload images from my phone. You can, however, check out Thistler's comprehensive photo essay of what we did on the weekend. His lovely bosses took us for a drive in the Cameron Highlands, about one hour out of KL. It was beautiful. Lots of tea plantations. And skinny, windy roads. We were nearly sideswiped by a bus! Crikey, it was a hairy ride but worth it!

OK, before you get totally bored...

This is similar to my lunch. Mmmm mm, banana leaf meal. Mine was veg and very filling! Traditionally you use your fingers but they gave me cutlery so I used my spoon (this was my first banana leaf meal). The waiter came over to see how it was and I asked him if I should use my fingers and he said no, not really. I think next time I will though!
Check back real soon for photographs. I am keen as mustard to upload some pictures of events, places and things I've made. In the meantime have a look at AprilMay's blog for this beautiful pair of earrings (they make me wanna pierce my ears) and curbly.com for this AWESOME book recycling project. I know a few lasses who would find this tutorial inspirational!

note: I had trouble linking this tutorial. I think the site was super busy. You can find the tutorial on the front page, just scroll down a little and it's to the right under 'What's Hot', called 'How to Make a Handbag out of a Recycled Book'.

The Final Batch

Well, for now. I think. Unless I get the urge to chain myself to the sewing machine and crank a few more out before I leave on Sunday, at 1.15 am. Crazy time to fly, huh? Taking this flight means I maximise goodbyes and hellos with nearest and dearests. The big hello being reserved for Thistler. Everyone else, to my distress, is a goodbye. Oh well, onward and upward chum. Speaking of Thistler, have you seen our new apartment yet? Have a look here. I had no idea it would be so swanky!
OK, back to the purses. They are the last I'll be making for a month, at least. I have really rediscovered a pure joy in making these babies the last few weeks. I'm gonna miss em! Although considering I am already sweaty with excitement at the thought of having a studio again, they may reappear sooner than I think.
In other news X and I had a sweet morning together, and topped it off by making these funny fruit faces. Then we ate our eyes, noses, ears and lips.

Make Yourself a Three Course Meal

Look at these savouries. Look at these sweets. They are from a series of recipe cards published in 1967. I picked them up a couple of years ago. I used to have another set from the 1970's, but can you believe I threw them out! I just wasn't as taken with the colour schemes as I am with these. A couple from this set have also flown the nest, they were made into recycled notebooks and sold to discerning punters. Peanut Butter Soup, Ham in Aspic. Are you game to try? Still, I think I'd like to give the paradise pears a whirl...

salty tangy tart

I'm talking about my dinner, right. It was Halloumi and Zucchini Salad. Boy oh boy, it was everything I could ask for. Salty pan-fried halloumi and oily pan-fried zucchini cut through with lemon zest and juice on a crispy crispy cos lettuce bed. A bit of red onion for bite ('wafer fin, right?' as Jamie Oliver is fond of repeating). I dressed it with a bit more olive oil, white wine vinegar, pepper and fresh oregano. It didn't really need the dressing as the zucchini was pretty oily and I served lemon wedges with it. But still, it was a delight!

Before I made din dins I was busy finishing these off. Hair clips. To match the brooches. What is it about making these? They seem to take me FOR-EVAH. I love them because I get excited about fabrics I can use for them, then I hate them because somewhere in the making I become bogged down with them. They become tedious. Then they're finished and they are my little darlings again.

There they are, a tangy dressing for your hair!