homemade vietnamese gio lua (vietnamese luncheon meat)

just the weekend passed, mcduck made a delish rice noodle / viet ham (VLM vietnamese luncheon meat)... it was so delish... i just couldn't stop adding another piece and another (of the VLM)... at 7-8 bucks a roll, mcduck was rationing the portions... so i decided to have a hand in making my own...
after much research on the internet, and tweaking several recipes, i decided to make it with chicken thigh instead of the usual pork or chicken breasts...

approx 2kg of thigh cost about $20... i didn't bother cleaning up the sinew... i left the little bits of fat for moisture...
the rest of the marinade ingredients were in my pantry already... my recipe went like this:
2kg chicken thigh, diced into small pieces
5 tbsp fish sauce
4 heaped tsp chicken powder
2 tbsp sesame oil
4 tbsp veg oil
1 tsp pepper
2 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp tapioca flour 2 tbsp baking powder
*mix everything together and let it stand for an hour or several*
then i processed the meat in the food processor...
in 4-5 heaped tbsp of meat each time... processed for several minutes... rested between processing

until the meat became abit glossy and not sticky to the spatula... the meat became elastic...
i wrapped the meat in bamboo leaves and Al foil...
a note on the leaves -in the authentic version, banana leaves should have been used, i used the dried bamboo ones... had to be boiled and washed (v dusty and dirty)... cos i used the leftovers i had in the freezer, the leftovers from the time when i made sticky rice dumplings... i guess using the fresh banana leaves would be less work & more fragrant...
packed a bowl with the meat...
packed it on the lined bamboo leaves over Al foil...
rolled...
rolled...
tied both ends...
rolled over with Al foil, tightly...
rolled over with a 2nd sheet of Al foil... tightly again...
stringed, packed and lined up in my fish kettle...
covered with boiling water and simmered for an hour...

an hour later... after checking with the meat themometer (with internal temp 80 degrees cel' and beyond)... it was safe to be taken out...
and let cooled...
then came the unwrapping...
wow... it looked promising, liked the one from the shops...

and it tasted like that too! now i can have as much VLM as i want and not get told off! plus i will have 2 extra rolls waiting in the freezer for a rainy day...

jazz streaming

i wished i have discovered this earlier!

well... i have been watching iview for a while... catching up on "Collectors", the odd "GA"... I have even spent x-s bandwidth on SBS, streaming "Luke's Vietnam" of late...
but now i have discovered streaming radio - not just any radio stations, but streaming ABC jazz radio!

of cos' there are loads of other (alternative) stations to explore as well - house, chill, hip pop etc...
now i'll have my own "noise" to counter mcduck's and snowflake's TV noise (esp noisy morning breakfast programs full of infomercials!)

mcdull shower curtain to mcdull BYOB bags

ever since i ditched the dirty shared bathroom and started using my own mcdull bathroom, my mcdull shower curtain had been the centrepiece of the room...
sadly, it succumbed to the effects of mould and mildew...
even after a good soaking with bleach / vinegar / methol etc, the grey patches didn't leave...
so mcdull shower curtain retired and gave way to the new plain blue one... what to do? toss it would be a waste... the surface was not stained much
may be i can turn it into a grocery shopper... just like this one from PoK!
yeah... the underside had much of the grey mould stains... bummer...
actually... i could turn mcdull shower curtain into 3 shoppers...
2 narrowest strips for the handles, 3 thin strips for the side and bottom, 2 large pieces for the body and the "shower curtain rings" to stabilise the handles...
hours later...
sure looks simple, but took me ages to sew 3...
big enough for fruit n veg, big enough for out and about shopping trips...
big enough for even a yoga mat, towels, change of clothes, water bottle etc...
bag-lady... well at least the bags look good...

my mud green cowl dress

i haven't made any wearable clothing from scratch b4...
utilizing my bag making skills, i put together this in an hour or two... it was fun and fast to make!
thank you ichigogirl's pattern at burdastyle!
i glued the print outs togehter...
cut it out...
i did the cap sleeves version...
i think it looks better with the silk scarf as a belt...

mcduck doesn't think so
my mud green cowl dress doesn't look as good on my dressform
better worn!

sculpture by the sea

this year's sculpture by the sea, we were well prepared, sunscreen and hats, food, drink and snacks...
no more $7.50 kranskies for us...
instead we had healthy carrot sticks and sweet chilli dip...

we got there earlier than last time... the crowds were there but not at the peak... once again we started at the tamarama end where parking could still be found... we just went there to enjoy the lovely weather and the lovely walk, scenery & scupltures...
along the way, i could hear people reciting from their programs, the various meanings of each sculpture... i didn't get a program... a good thing i guess, otherwise i'll be looking more at the words explaining the sculptures rather than experiencing them myself... since i din't know what they were called... i gave them names my self... there was the "swatch watch" - it actually looked like one i own and haven't worn for donkey's years...
there was "skull with a black tooth (in need of a root canal / crown)"...
these reminds me of "sea urchins"for some reason... may be i should call them the "(skeletal) remains of sea urchins"...
then there was "shoes, shoes, shoes" or as another SBTS-goer noted, "popular with the ladies"...
i do like these ones...
and these ones...

and "fat mama"... sorry, so un-PC
and "among the flags"(as oppose to "between the flags", since there are more than 2 flags)
... "alien tribe"
beautiful scenery...
we finihsed up at the iceberg once again... still have not swum there... yet