Life is an adventure

Hi there! Guess the one-sentence journal didn't really work for me. Found it unsustainable - guess my day-to-day life is well, not that interesting. Haha. Am glad I tried though. Otherwise I wouldn't know.

Been to Maldives and Tokyo in January and March. Been some other movements in my life, besides travel.

The first three months of 2017 have been exciting. Not only because it was the first time I stepped onto the soil of both, or rather sand in the former :P I also officially moved into my new place after returning from Maldives in January and moved on in my career life in March. It's not all excitement - there were some apprehension and sadness, leaving familiar places and faces. But cliche as it sounds, life is an adventure. And I am looking forward to new adventures.

Been thinking about blogging for a while. Been trying to sort out the pictures as I really want to blog/press about my trips - still struggling to.  For now, sharing 2 videos.

Maldives is indeed paradise on earth, partly because we stayed in a sea villa (over the water villa as they call it) in Cinnamon Dhonveli Maldives. For four days and three nights, we were waking up and falling asleep to the music of the waves, seeing sunrise right at your doorstep and seeing stars right above you with the sunbed on your back, walking around the resort surrounded by blue skies and waters 24/7 and good company. Very blissed indeed to start the first week of 2017 this way.

Home in Maldives :)

Tokyo was a mad last-minute decision. A break I managed to squeeze in-between my old job and new. It was crazy - booking the flight a week before, accommodation a few days before, putting together the itinerary like 48 hours before, flying off solo a few hours after saying goodbye to my ex-colleagues. Flight and accommodation were ridiculously high - for a flexible traveller like me! Guess it was all worth it for the SAKURA and well, SNOW! Japan and nature decided to give me a bonus in Hakone. I have been thinking about a white winter for a while - this was as close as I could get. Unexpectedly. Very thankful to end the last week of the first quarter of 2017 this way.

Owakudani in Hakone in the first video I made with iMovie!

No travel plans for this quarter yet - will see if I can squeeze a weekend off in June from all the happenings in my new job. Meanwhile, guess I will focus on blogging/pressing about Maldives and Tokyo now that my weekends are less packed, having gotten into the groove of my new life. Can't wait to share the pictures of my adventures :)

Make your own Japanese Curry

Do you have the habit of clipping articles? Well I kept a recipe to make Japanese curry for many years. If I remember right, it originated from the Straits Times contributed by Ms Kuniko Shimada.

 

In early April, I went to Liang Court which I have not visited for a long time, spent some time in the MEIDI-YA Supermarket and was inspired to make Japanese curry which I have not cooked for a while. Here is the recipe - ingredients to serve four and the method.



Bought the curry roux brick from the supermarket. There are many different sauce mix you can choose from.
Ingredients:
60g curry roux brick, mild
60g curry roux brick, hot



Ingredients:
2 medium onions, diced
2 medium potatoes, cubed
2 carrots, cubed
 



Dicing onions is hard work. But I love the layers of colours and patterns! :)

 

Ingredients:
250g chicken, pork, beef, cubed
0.5 Tbs olive oil
700ml water

 

Method:
1) To a heated pot, add olive oil and fry the onions for about 2 minutes until they are fragrant.
2) Add the potatoes, carrots and meat and continue stir-frying for about 5 minutes until the meat is cooked.
 

3) Add water and bring the mixture to a boil before cooking it on medium heat for 20 minutes until the meat is tender.
4) Remove the pot from the flame, add the curry roux bricks and stir until the curry is well mixed.

5) Stew the curry over low heat for another 20 minutes until it thickens.

Yummy Japanese curry rice :)

It's a really simple and delicious recipe. If I can do it, so can you! :P