this blog has been so terribly neglected as of late.
i miss the days when there were only pretty much 2 people reading this, and i would just write stream of consciousness without censoring myself. but now i'm like...what is going to come back to haunt me?

anyway, i thought life would stop being hectic after april but things keep popping up here and there. 
and now here we are :P

i have been so fortunate this year, with so much awesome present love.
i didn't get a chance to take a picture of everything, but despite my standard awkward donna present opening, i really love my gifts :D. thanks guys <3

 

will take pictures of my other awesome gifts when i have time ^^

and lol yes, i got two tiffany&co charms.
one from my uni friends and one from my dearest cousin anita. both as replacements for the one i lost from anita way back when. love them both. lol at anita not wanting to give me my present in front of everyone because of the awkward. but yes, wearing one proudly on my neck and waiting for the other one to get back from soldering to wear proudly on my wrist. 

and also, i profited $35 lol.

donna.

lols.
once again, I LOVE MY FRIENDS.
they're awesome!
waaaaaaaaaaah~~ what did i do to deserve such awesome friends?

special thanks to my mum for being awesome, and janice and pickle for coming over ridic early to help me shop and prepare and then to cherry and jenny (and i guess, anoushka) for making water balloons with your dexterious fingers, and then hui and david for manning the bbq. and to everyone who travelled for over 20 mins, which is almost everyone. thank you <3

highlights

preparation

• waking up at 7:30am, and then waking up at 8:00am and then...9...fail. 
• writing my shopping list with 15 min before pickle and janice arrived
• going to towers and having fun times in the reject shop
• putting up the photobooth background, and pickle not being able to compensate for the angle
• running out of masking tape and having to use the blue blu-tac
• cherry arriving in her popcorn costume and janice and pickle's reaction...LOL! 
• anoushka arriving early...because she has to leave early. too popular~
• preparing water balloons and getting squirted in the face
• jenny and cherry making a pro asian assembly line for water balloons
• my mum slave driving cherry
• anoushka and i, failing at tying up water balloons
• and then...prep time kind of melded into partay time

party time

• everyone arrived at different times lol
• so i kind of gave up the original idea of having people play for the water guns, instead we just went straight into the waterfight around...4?

water fight highlights

• did it hunger game style - everyone (except adam and jesslau :P) donned their garbage bag ponchos. two buckets of water balloons in the middle of the yard. only half the people had water guns. HECTIC. 
• confusion about whether we'd started. 
• AND THEN CHAOS. 
• i don't know how it was for anyone else, but i felt like i was part of a guerilla team. but then again, a lot of people targeted me. I WONDER WHY O_O?
• one point where me and janice both got hold of the hose and wrestled with each other. she ended up stuffing it down my poncho. and then she got a bloody knee :/
• so we played until all the water balloons and everyone's water guns were down
• then it was refill time cos chris and david were still relatively dry. and then we tried to get adam to join us but fail. and then jenny started firing warm water and everyone was like EW.
• then wynnie and joyce came and everyone was about to fill up again. but then wynnie decided not to join us. at this point in time, janice started getting mischievious eyes, and i knew poo was about to go down. 
• can't remember what moment lead up to it, but i was at the mouth of the patio when suddenly someone grabbed my legs, kevin? and then someone else was grabbing my arms. NO! NO! NO!!!!!!!! so i slid out and sat on the floor and then janice was like, cool! even easier!. i held onto the fencing, while people lifted my legs and i was about horizontal. at this point i was still thinking i had a fighting chance where i could run back inside to hide, but then a moment of weakness! and suddenly i was at the pool entrance. i grabbed onto the fencing again. NOOOOOOOOOOO~~~ and this time, cherry and jenny peeled my fingers back one by one and i knew i was in for it. i remember very distinctly that they had to shift my weight, and swing me from side to side before...

• SPLASH!!!

• so humilating swimming in a garbage bag and almost failing. 
• was COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY SOAKED. LIKE A DROWNED RAT SOAKED. 
• then bel told me to give adam a hug, so i did. hehe.
• and then it was showertime because ew, the pool is so chlorinated. 

back to party time

• then it was food, food, food
• more people arriving, more people leaving
• present time. SO FORTUNATE. so happy. hehe.
• janice, pickle, bel, hui and jenny serenaded count on me with changed lyrics to me. SO TOUCHED. crying a river inside my heart. especially, hui's solo. lol lol. FDJAKLSFJKD;ASKA. 
• food, food, food, chat, chat, chat
• david and hui being slave driven by my mum
• then it was pictionary time, with random teams of people.

pictionary & charades

• funky teams - 1) cherry, mandy, sam, jesslee and ??? ; 2) janice, pickle, joe, anita, jesslau; 3) chris, dom, jenny, hui, david; 4) kevin, bel, adam, anna, wynnie, joyce 
• kevin's words - philosopy lol
• kevin's epic guessing
• david's drawing of psychologist -
• joyce's refusal to charade strawberry jam
• dom and janice - milo
• people having to inhibit their own words
• people thinking they have to inhibit their words, and then realising its not their word
• mandy's drawing of philosophy and everyone guessing in a completely different direction
• bel not wanting to wedgie herself, so getting me to volunteer instead
• lol, adam's leg
• joe's word that no one knows
• PEOPLE NOT KNOWING THE NUTBUSH DANCE IS CALLED THE NUTBUSH DANCE (and then me and cherry demonstrating...wrong)
• donna li. lolwhat?
• everyone high on sugar and sweets. 

back to party time

• AND THEN IT WAS CAKE TIME. what an awesome cake (thanks wynnie! in case i forget - it was choc mud with cherry hazelnut with brandy ganache)  
• and then it was FORREALS photobooth time, with more and more people leaving...and more and more ridiculous photos...too much same-sex sexual tension all over the couch...
• then my mum was singing really awesomely by herself in the living room
• then my mum tried to fit into the popcorn box and completely failed
• please refer to photobooth pictures on facebook because...ridiculous. 
• and then most people left...
• and then it was just me, cherry, janice, pickle, bel and adam jamming around on the guitar and keyboard. and then cherry had to leave. 
• and then it was to my room and i'm pretty sure this was the point where adam died. then bel and pickle drew me pictures on my chalkboard. and we all lounged around to regina spektor until it was like 1am. 
• and then i hugged everyone goodbye and fell asleep waiting for bel to get home. fail. 

most awesome friends ever <3

 

and lol.

 

donna.

Miscellaneous food recipes from Random Saturday

Earl Grey Tea Panna Cotta

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 300ml double cream
• 300ml milk
• 3 Earl Grey teabags
• ¼ cup caster sugar
• 2 tsp gelatine dissolved in 1 tbs boiling water

1.     Place the cream and milk in a saucepan. Add teabags. Slowly bring to the boil over a medium heat. Remove from the heat and set aside for 10 minutes.

2.     Discard teabags from cream mixture. Add sugar and return to a low heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, or until sugar dissolves.

3.     Place 2 tbs of boiling water in a small heatproof bowl. Sprinkle over gelatine. Bring a small saucepan of water to boil. Remove from heat. Sit the bowl of gelatine in the water and stir until dissolved. Cool slightly, then stir into the cream mixture.

4.     Lightly oil 6 x 1/2 cup (125ml) dariole moulds or ramekins. Place on a tray and pour in cream mixture. Refrigerate for 4 hours.

5.     To serve, break the seal by inserting a small knife between the panna cotta and the mould. Turn onto a serving plate and shake to release. Serve dish with fresh berries.

Birthday Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Cooking Time: 20 minutes/Makes: 24

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 250g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups (330g) caster sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 3 cups (450g) self-raising flour, sifted
• 1 cup milk
• Assorted sweets, to decorate

Frosting

• 125g unsalted butter, softened
• 250g cream cheese, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 cups (640g) icing sugar, sifted

Method

1.     Preheat oven to 180°C. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, 1/4 tsp salt and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

2.     Add 1/2 the sifted flour and 1/2 milk and stir until combined, then add remaining flour and milk and stir until combined.

3.     Line two 12-hole (1/3-cup capacity) muffin tins with paper cake cases. Spoon 2 tbs mixture into each paper case, then bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of a cake comes out clean. Cool cakes in tin.

4.     For frosting, using an electric mixer, beat butter, cream cheese and vanilla for 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Gradually add icing sugar, beating until incorporated. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

5.     With a spoon or palette knife, spread frosting over tops of cooled cakes, then decorate as desired with assorted sweets. Un-iced cakes can be made a day ahead and stored in an airtight container.

 

 

lol.

Scones

Makes: 20

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups self-raising flour
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar
• 80g butter, chilled, chopped
• 1 cup milk
• strawberry jam and double thick cream, to serve

Method

1.     Preheat oven to 220°C/200°C fan-forced. Lightly grease a 7.5cm-deep, 22cm round cake pan. Combine flour and sugar in a bowl. Using fingertips, rub butter into flour mixture until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

2.     Make a well in the centre of flour mixture. Add milk. Stir with a flat-bladed knife until mixture just comes together (don't over-mix). Turn dough on to a lightly floured surface. Knead gently to bring dough together.

3.     Gently press dough into a 2cm-thick round. Dip a 4.5cm round cutter into flour. Cut out scones. Gently press leftover dough pieces together and repeat to make a total of 20 scones. Place scones, touching, in prepared pan. Sprinkle with a little extra flour. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven. Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Wrap in a clean tea towel to keep warm. Serve with jam and cream.

donna.

yes, i've been lazy
but last week was HECTIC. HECTICCCCCCCC!
(i'm going to backward blog when i have time. hopefully tomorrow)

anyway, yesterday was harry potter party.
so. much. love. <3

highlights

preparations

• janice watching me attempt and fail at making spiderwebs out of pillow stuffing 
• janice asking me what to do with the decorations and me just telling her to make stuff up
• the frustration of the cauldron cake handles 
• testing out the photobooth and taking a bajillion shots because we overcompensated the movements 
• cherry arriving with lucious malfoy and how impressed janice was
• lucious malfoy
• lucious malfoy's hair cape
• mum asking cherry for help (and not me) 
• mum remaking my sandwiches because they're ugly 
• joe and the pumpkin 
• twin arriving as pokemon ash 
• the soybean machine making noise and everyone being confused but thinking it's ok cos mum never mentioned it and then half hour later mum's like, what's that noise?
• me and cherry changing into our costumes and listening out for the arriving guests 

party time

• becoming harry potter
• 90% of everyone had impressive costumes <3 
• everyone being impressed by my mum's general lolsi-ness and cookability 
• baking the meat pies - jenny telling me to check and hy being in charge of quality control 
• the three gay ones in mum's room being really anal about their costumes - twin not being able to make any sort of facial expression at. all.
• how cool the dumbledore and dementor costumes were
• the dementor going into isaac's room and isaac just kicking him away in his boxers
• ~intepreting kevin's open to interpretation costumes 
• that awkward moment where everyone arrives and it's like...what are we doing? because the host hasn't planned anything
• accidentally pushing joe to the ground cos i'm mean  
• isaac waking up and being all WTF, especially when he turned around and saw voldemort
• making everyone watch hp1 
• everyone's general awe at the amount of sugar provided 
• covering michelle whilst she was trying to put her stomach back on - to stop the inappropriateness but it ended up looking really inappropriate 
• voldemort refusing to eat while in costume. and then coming back as ash to eat. 
• anna insisting we play quidditch and everyone making their broomsticks - special note: joe likes bright pink 
• everyone donning gladwrap garbage bags because of the rain 
• everyone braving the rain and the dark and the cold for quiddtich
• everyone getting tired out by the epicness of quidditch 
• watching hp2 up to lucious' entrance
• hp7!
• everyone saying "HEY thats me!" as they watched the movies
• intermission for cake: wynnie's cake, everyone refusing to sing happy birthday and then refusing to hip hip hooray 
• everyone continuing to watch HP7! and realising that it's so much more fun watching HP movies when i'm around 
• joyce asking for board games repeatedly and coming up to me to rally people
• finally playing cranium
• janice not leaving and mum's consistent insistence that she does (in chinese)

quidditch

• choosing the human snitch 
• the feather falling off the pumpkin hat
• being the moving hoop-goal
• jenny telling me not to push her and then falling to the ground 
• jesslau the awesome snitch 
• michelle the fail snitch 
• cherry and michelle acting as decoy snitches and almost getting killed
• the death of about 90% of the broomsticks and everyone's creative ways to avoid ~falling out of the air
• realising that we're a really competitive bunch 
• hearing my dear cousin telling everyone to target me -.-;; 
• joe almost punching wynnie in the face 
• everyone getting wet socks and shoes, and in jenny's case, pants

cranium 

• jumping on the bandwagon - joyce's 4-act play 
• shoe shopping - joyce's insistence that money is important, everyone saying they'd do a better job and then completely failing, joe's politeness at being the puppeteer
• joe's humming and how everyone thought it sounded familiar but couldn't quite get it
• anna's humpback whale - that really humped 
• kevin's school disco - consisting of ymca, macarena and nutbush (as it should be)
• me and anita saying how we can't spell backwards, and then getting that card on the critical round and then both arguing about going first and then getting periodical and anita just shouting P!
• lols

anything else?

donna.