April 2017 – adventuresofxmm

polaNG – Krakow Day 4

It’s our last day in Poland and also the last day of our Easter vacation! It’s back to hitting the books tomorrow for my upcoming Summer exams, I’m eating and shopping the day away (instead of educating myself like the previous few days haha).

For breakfast, we went to this insanely popular place called Milkbar Tomasza, which is known for their delicious breakfasts with generous portions at incredibly affordable prices. The latte I had was okay, but I really liked my scrambled eggs with tomatoes and Polish cottage cheese. Their pancakes with Polish sweet cheese and vanilla yoghurt was super yumz as well, and we were all stuffed when all the food was finished. Our only gripe about this place is the slow service, but you can’t really blame them either because they are very understaffed and not all of them can understand English. It is well worth the wait though so if you have an hour or more to spare, you should definitely have breakfast/brunch here.

After breaksfast, we wandered around the area, doing some souvenir shopping and exploring the streets that we have not been to before. Unfortunately for us, the weather was really cold today (a stark contrast to the warm day we had yesterday), so we popped into a random cafe for some cookies. Because we were such pigs, we decided to have lunch straight after LOL. Ailin found this cheap Japanese place called Urara (Haha it’s quite ridiculous how we’re eating Asian food while travelling but this was really cheap and we haven’t had Asian food in ages so this is justified k). All of them had ramen but I was still full from this morning so I ordered an unagi temaki, salmon sashimi and bubble tea! It’s a really strange combination (I know) but I was craving these things so there we go.

We didn’t know what else to do so we went back to our airbnb to play cards/charge phone/chill for a few hours. Then we headed out for an early dinner (LOL FOOD AGAIN) at Morskie Oko. We could have just eaten at the airport, but we wanted to have a traditional Polish dinner as our last meal here. The beef stroganoff I got was really good, but I was so stuffed. I swear there isn’t a single meal here that I’ve not felt like I’m really full.

Ohwells, our days of eating like Queens has come to an end anyway, back to eating like peasants back in the UK (because everything is just so pricey haha).

We’re on the plane to London now so I guess this concludes my 2017 Easter Vacation! As strange as this sounds, I’ve had enough of travelling (at least for now) and I’m kinda looking forward to studying haha 🙃🙃🙃

polaNG – Krakow Day 3

The highlight for today was the tour around the Auschwitz concentration camp. Our driver came to pick us up at 0915 and the camp was about an hour away by car. I didn’t really know how to feel about going on this tour, because it seems pretty morbid going on the same route as the prisoners who suffered and died in the hands of the Nazis, but it was the best way to learn about history too.

Auschwitz is actually really big, so it’s split into 3 camps: Auschwitz I (the original one), Auschwitz II- Birkenau and Auschwitz III-Monowitz. Our tour today covered only the first two, but it was more than enough to leave a significant impression. I didn’t take pictures because I felt like that would be disrespectful to all those who have suffered and died in there, so this post would be more wordy and less cheery than the others.

Upon reaching Auschwitz I, we were greeted with the infamous gate “Arbeit Macht Frei” or ‘Work sets you free’. Although Auschwitz turned out to be an extermination camp, it was originally set up to be a labour camp, which explains the wording on the gates. We explored various blocks which housed the museum exhibitions. I honestly can’t remember much of what our guide said (partly because I could only catch bits of his English), but what I’ve seen is seared into my mind. There were mountains of hair and personal belongings displayed- the hair from the prisoners was meant to be sold to German textile companies and objects loke spectacles, shoes, even face creams were plundered from the victims and sorted into huge piles. The (recreated) living conditions were also atrocious and it is hard for any of us to imagine going through any of that.

The basement of Block 11 was where the Nazis conducted inhumane medical experiments on the prisoners. The walkthrough showed the rooms in which each experiment was conducted and the whole place just gave off really bad vibes. However, the worst of it was when we entered the gas chambers and crematorium. An air of depression hung around that place and when you stepped inside, the chills seeped right into your bones. The bright sun and warmth outside couldn’t do anything to assuage that.

Birkenau is located about 3km away from Auschwitz I, and housed tha majority of the barracks. The whole area was huge and you literally could not see the ends of the camp. We saw the ruins of the chambers that the Nazis tried to destroy when they knew they were close to defeat as well as what was left of the old heating systems in the chambers- because that was the only thing left standing today.

While this tour has not really provided more information about the Holocaust, it has certainly helped to put things in perspective. Oftentimes, we learn history as a set of facts that we need to remember for our essays or exams, but we forget that it is in fact a collection of human stories. Seeing the real thing forces you to think about what you know in the shoes of the victims of Auschwitz, removing the edge of indifference that sometimes inevitably comes with studying it from an academic point of view.

Due to the tight schedule of this tour, we only had 2 pieces of bread for breakfast and lunch. As a result, we were all starving by the time we drove back to the city centre at about 3.30pm. We treated ourselves to Lody (soft-serve ice cream), then made our way to Czarna Kaczka, a restaurant famous for its Polish duck. Unsurprisingly, I got the duck soup and half a roasted duck for dinner. The soup was light and herby, with a rich duck flavour. The roasted duck was by far one of the best ‘Western-style’ duck I have ever tasted- the skin was seasoned and crispy while the meat was juicy and tender. All in all, the dinner was a well-deserved treat after the long day we had.

Tomorrow’s our last day here and it won’t be long before we’re back in the UK again!

polaNG – Krakow Day 2

After playing cards last night, we woke up so late this morning that we ended up going out for lunch instead. We decided to try Moa Burger- a place recommended by Corinne’s church friend. Although it’s more New Zealand cuisine than Polish cuisine, this friend swears by it plus it has received many good reviews, so we had to try it. While we expected the burgers to be fairly large, we certainly did not expect them to turn out as big as they were. The Moa burger comprises a beef patty, bacon strips, onions, lettuce, beetroot slices, pineapple rings, tomato slices and some sauce. The burger was literally bigger than my hand and we felt so intimidated just looking at the size of it. The burger was a challenge but we had fries/wedges and milkshakes on top of it, so we unknowingly made our lives more difficult for ourselves. Eventually, all of us did manage to finish that mountain of food, but we’re certainly not going to have burgers anytime soon.

Desperately needing to walk all that food off, we headed to the Wawel Royal Castle. There were multiple cathedrals in that area as well as various exhibitions housed within the castle, but because each one had their own admission ticket, we decided to save some money and explore the open areas instead. The courtyard was relatively pretty, so we had a mini photoshoot session haha.

We then took a long walk around the castle, pausing in between to soak in the sun.

As we were leaving the area, we chanced upon ‘The Dragon’s Den’- this underground cave-like thing at the bottom of the hill, on which the castle stood. Unfortunately, I never actually found out its significance or its purpose

We took a short break by having tea in this really hipster-looking cafe, but it wasn’t long before we set off for the Jewish Quarters. Initially, we planned to simply walk around the area on our own, but we chanced upon a guide giving one of those free walking tours (they’re not actually free because people tip the guides at the end as an actof courtesy, but y’know because they work for their tips, they put in alot of effort to show people around). He covered so much content about Jewish culture, history of the Polish Jews, etc that I’m so tired from absorbing all that information.

One of the new things I’ve learnt today was about Jewish customs- apparently, Kosher food is the food that are fit for Jews to eat. Jewish rules dictate that the animal must have hooves and must be able to chew and that dairy cannot be eaten together with meat (for example, cheeseburgers are a strict no-no unless the cheese was made out of soy milk). The blood of the animal must also be drained, otherwise the meat will be deemed to be contaminated. I’ve never really known what Jewish culture was like, so it was really insightful having someone introduce these things to us.

A large part of the tour was dedicated to the war-time history in the Jewish Quarter, particulary in and around the Jewish Ghetto. According to him, about 6000 Poles were displaced from the original area and 18,000 Jews were deported to the Ghetto area. Outside of the Ghetto, Jews literally had no right to live and would be executed immediately. Living conditions within the Ghetto were inhumane, with food rations being restricted to less than 600 calories per person each day and the young and elderly were regularly sent to the concentration camps to be executed. Walls were built to demarcate the Ghetto and they resembled the curved headstones common to Jewish graveyards- the walls were deliberately designed to symbolise the impending doom the Jews were going to face.

When we got to Schindler’s factory, the guide also explained how inaccurate Hollywood’s version of the story was. For example, Schindler wasn’t a hero from the very beginning, in fact he forcefully the acquired the factory from 3 Jewish owners- 1 of which only agreed under the threat of force. He only decided to do what he did towards the end of the war when he realised that the Nazis were losing.

Honestly, there was so much information that I simply can’t remember everything that he has said. I’ve written down what I can remember/ what I find interesting but it really is just the tip of the iceberg. All in all, it was an incredibly educational journey and I’m so glad we stuck through the entire 2.5 hours.

We have a rather early start tomorrow, so we headed back after grabbing dinner at the same place as last night. That’s pretty much it for today, goodnight!!

polaNG – Warsaw Day 3/ Krakow Day 1

This morning, we decided to head back to the cafe Batida for breakfast. Ailin and Corinne mainly wanted to because they thought they could catch their hot waiter from yesterday, but unfortunately for them, he didn’t have a shift this morning. Be that as it may, the food was still really yummy- albeit a tad pricey by Polish standards.

Latte and Lemon Meringue Tart for breakfast!

We had a flight to Krakow at 1320, so we didn’t do much except to go back to our airbnb , pack up then uber to the airport. The flight was quite short and it wasn’t long before we were in our 2nd Polish city. Even on the taxi to our next airbnb, I got a really different vibe from this city because it seemed much more lively than Warsaw is. The colours looked a little brighter, the people a little friendlier (or maybe it’s just because the weather was better haha). Our apartment here is really pretty and I managed to get a few nice ootd shots within 10 minutes of stepping in the flat heh (thanks ailin).

Since the weather was much warmer, Matt and I changed into lighter clothing and headed out. The location of our apartment was pretty central, so we just needed to cross a road to get to the Old Town. The architecture here is in my opinion more beautiful than in Warsaw, especially around Market Square.

There were also many more people/tourists milling around the insanely large variety of shops/restaurants/cafes. I guess I’m really more of a city girl because I prefer this so much more and it’s only been a few hours. The little food stalls gave off so many aromas, I got so hungry although I had some snacks beforehand.

I gave in to temptation and got myself a toasted bread with sausages, onions and garlic butter- it was insanely yummy.

Although we literally just ate, we decided to head for an early dinner because we didn’t really have a proper lunch. We went to this place called Kuchnia u Doroty for a proper Polish dinner. I wasn’t that hungry, so I got bigos (meat and cabbage stew). I really liked this one as compared to any other ones I’ve tried beforehand.

It’s been a long day today so we decided to head back for an early night. Can’t wait to explore more of this wonderful place tomorrow!!

polaNG – Warsaw Day 2

After watching Netflix till 1am last night, we only managed to leave the house at about 9am for breakfast. Ailin did some research the night before, so we headed to Cafe Bristol which had a 4.5 stars (out of 5) review on Google. Upon arriving at the cafe, we realised that it was actually located within a hotel and that it looked quite posh – we would never be able to afford anything like that in London. Needless to say, breakfast tasted amazing and it surprisingly didn’t burn a hole in our pockets. I ordered a coffee and crepes with sweet Polish cheese which cost about 40zlotti (~£10). Considering the environment that we were dining in and the quality of food served, that was a pretty good deal. The sweet cheese tasted alot like yoghurt though, and it went amazingly well with the maple syrup and crepes.

Next, we checked out the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier that was located nearby. I always thought that this monument was for the Polish soldiers who sacrificed their lives for WW1, but it turns out that it includes other wars like WW2 as well.

This was followed by a stroll around Old Town. We chanced upon a regional market that was quite interesting, but the architecture in that area wasn’t particularly stunning in the daytime (partly because there wasn’t much sunlight to begin with).

Being the pigs that we were, we decided to head for an early lunch. We went to Zapiecek, a place which was known for their pierogi, otherwise known as Polish dumplings. I liked the meaty filling and chewy dough- a combination uncommon to dumplings of other cuisines. The Grandma’s soup I got there was really yummy too! Although it didn’t seem like we got much (because each serving only comprised 9 dumplings), we were so stuffed at the end of the meal.

After lunch, we split into 2 groups- while Corinne and Ailin headed off for their hair appointment, Grace, Matt and I went to explore the Warsaw Uprising Museum. The tickets cost 16zlotti (~£4) and it was so worth it because the museum managed to showcase so many aspects ot the Warsaw Uprising. The timeline included the period leading up to the uprising, the actual 6 days of the uprising as well as its aftermath. Honestly, I’ve learnt loads about it today, especially regarding the involvement of the Germans and the Soviets. While we did cover this briefly in high school history, it wasn’t a major event that we went through in detail and I’ve mostly forgottenwhat we’ve learnt anyway. There was just so much information to take in and my brain was pretty tired at the end of it.

Actual armbands used in the Warsaw Uprising

The girls were done with their hair before we were done with the museum, so we agreed to meet them at this cafe called Batida. The girls had cake but I was still too full from lunch for that, so I ordered a White Valley Coffee instead. It was essentially a pistachio, chocolate coffee combination. I felt like the hint of pistachio complemented the aroma of the coffee well, but the chocoate made it too sweet for my palate.

By this time, we were all pretty tired so we decided to head back to our airbnb. We might go out again for dinner later, but then that will depend on how lazy and hungry we are haha. It’s been a relatively chill day (just like the rest of our trip), but that’s how holidays are supposed to be 😊

polaNG – Warsaw Day 1

The Copenhagen leg of this Easter trip has come to an end, so Corinne and I left for the airport at 6am this morning. We cleared immigration and security checks in record time, making us really early for our flight to Warsaw. On the bright side, it gave us plenty of time to catch up on our reading and sleeping.

Upon landing in the Chopin airport, we were starving, so Macdonalds became our first meal in Poland. We both had a seeded burger with mushrooms, egg and rocket- an atas combination usually found in overpriced cafes, but it cost us about 17zlotti. That’s about £4 which is practically half the cost of our Macs meal in Copenhagen.

We then headed to our airbnb to wait for the other 3 to fly in from Prague. On the taxi here, we saw rows after rows of communist blocks/housing/architecture. Generally, the streets looked quite run-down, which was a stark contrast to what we’ve been used to in Copenhagen.

After Grace, Ailin and Matt settled in, we set off for the Museum of the History of Polish Jews. Unfortunately for us, the core exhibition was closed by the time we got there so we could only explore the temporary exhibition on Jewish music.

Next, we headed to Warsaw Old Town. The architecture there was really pretty and we got a pretty decent night view, but we all agreed thay we should come again in the daytime.

We also had dinner here and gosh the portions were huge. My 2 course meal cost 50 zlotti (about £10) which is super worth the money considering how stuffed we were.

The last stop for today was Regina’s Bar- we made a special trip here to try their special Singaporean cocktails- the Kanina-bu and Chao Chee Bye. They tasted surprisingly good so I suppose it’s not just another lousy marketing gimmick.

We didn’t do much today except laze around and eat, so hopefully we’ll do more sightseeing tomorrow!

KØBENHAVN

Having spent the past 2 days in Zone 1(the central area of the city), we ventured into Zone 2 today. We couldn’t get there using the 2 Metro lines, so we hopped on some buses. All the bus stations had electronic timetables and all the buses had screens showing the next stop and other details like the temperature outside. In terms of public transport, I would say that Copenhagen fares much better than London. Another interesting thing I’ve noted about the transport here is that their street lamps and some traffic lights are suspended in the middle of the road, with wires that extend to the adjacent buildings.

Anyway, the first stop we made in Zone 2 was Superkilen Park. The pictures online showed a huge space that was entirely pink, a vibrant space that people used for their own activities but in reality, it was like Park Güell all over again. I suppose we were quite thrown off because Zone 2 looks so different from Zone 1- the buildings in the latter can actually pass off as those in the outskirts of London.

We spent less time than we expected in there, so we headed to Meyers Bageri for their famous cinnamon rolls! As luck would have it, we found another outlet of The Coffee Collective just opposite, so we spent a good part of the morning eatingpastries and drinking coffee in the sun.

After we’ve had enough of lazing around on benches outside cafes, we headed to Bispebjerg Cemetery. We heard good things about the landscapes there and we were not disappointed. Each headstone had their own little section outlined by hedges, bushes, flowers and the whole place was just engulfed in greenery. It was a really tranquil place to be in and it’s such a stark contrast from back home where burials are a rarity. This was followed by a visit to the Grundtvigs Church located just opposite. It had a really simple design, with none of the fancy stained glass or extravagant architecture, but it was still beautiful in its own way.

The next stop was the Cisterns in Søndermarken, which was a really eye-opening experience because I’ve not seen anything like that before. The Cisterns is an old elevated reservoir but the entire thing is now transformed into Sambuichi’s art installation ‘the Water’.

It was soon dinnertime and since it was our last full day here, we decided to treat ourselves to a restaurant dinner at The Union Kitchen. We wanted to go to 108 initially, but it was way out of our budget so we went for this one instead. Their dinner menu was limited to meatballs, but they had such a good variety and standard that I’m not complaining. Their sides like the truffle fries and mushroom mac n cheese were really good too, so all in all, dinner was highly satisfying.

After dinner, we went to visit the Charlottenborg Palace/Museum because there was free admission on Wednesdays from 5-8pm heh. They only had 1 exhibition, titled Welcome Too Late and some pieces were really interesting. However, I think it still does not beat the ones we saw at CC on our first day.

To round off our last night here, we went to have ice cream again!!

It was (literally) a sweet ending to an eventful day and I’m so glad I came on this trip with the girls :’)

copenMEIgen

We had an early start this morning so our first stop was The Coffee Collective at Nørreport. I had rather high expectations as this place had plenty of good reviews. Mae, Adreena and I ordered a latte each, and we all agreed that the coffee was well-bodied with a nutty aftertaste. I didn’t add any sugar to mine, but there was a strong tinge of sweetness and no hint of bitterness that usually comes with over-roasted beans. We spent a good part of the morning sipping our coffee in the sun outside and there’s really no better way to spend a vacation. Needless to say, I was highly satisfied with the coffee and I ended up buying their beans so that I can grind them and use them in a french press (when I get one in UK/SG).

The first activity for today was to visit the Rosenborg Castle as well as the King’s Garden that surrounded it. We spent some time in the garden, enjoying the greenery and taking pictures hehe.

View of the Rosenborg Castle from the Garden

Unfortunately for us, when we wanted to enter the castle (the only one on our itinerary), the entrance was blocked by an army personnel. Although the castle was open for admission, something has happened so everyone had to be evacuated out of the castle and no one else was allowed in. We had to give this attraction a miss so we headed for lunch instead.

We went back to Torvehallerne- the food market which houses The Coffee Collective and got ourselves some hotdogs. The one I got was essentially a hot dog with roast potatoes and pesto sauce. Although it tasted really herby and flavourful, it was still processed meat- the same stuff that we’ve been eating the past few meals so I was pretty tired of it.

On the way to our next sight, we had to take 2 stops on the Metro. Somehow, we found ourselves in the middle of a flashmob, singing the song ‘The Metro’ by Berlin. It was really catchy, really fun and lifted everyone’s spirits in that carriage. I couldn’t stop smiling while watching their performance heh.

Anyway, the next attraction was Vol Frelsers Kirke – the Church of Our Saviour. We had to climb 400 steps to reach the top and we were panting so hard when we were barely halfway through. But when we did reach the top, the view was worth all the effort because it was essentially a 360 degree view of Copenhagen. You could even see the wind farms in the distance- which is something that we normally only see in textbooks.

Because of how steep the steps were, it took a huge amount of effort to go up but even more so going down. After that intense exercise, we decided to treat ourselves to some ice-cream at a nearby cafe and we ended up chilling there for about an hour I think.

The last item planned for today was a visit to the Free Town of Christiana. Technically, they are an independent community that does not follow the rules set by the Copenhagen government. The society that manifests is a representation of freedom, but this freedom comes at a price. We were advised not to take pictures there (so I don’t have any), but all I can say is that it looked like a dystopian world. Some people may choose freedom that entails that sort of lifestyle, but I certainly would not want to live in that environment.

Although we were done with today’s itinerary, we had some extra time so we decided to check out the Lego store (since Lego originated from Denmark). Honestly, it wasn’t that impressive because it looked just like any other Lego store and there weren’t any products unique to this outlet. We didn’t buy anything there and we spent more time shopping in the other stores along the ‘Orchard Road’ of Copenhagen instead.

For tonight’s dinner, we headed to an Aldi’s near our airbnb to get ingredients because the cost of living here is so high. We wanted to have at least one nice dinner here, so we couldn’t afford to eat out for every meal. Honestly, this city is so clean, orderly and environmentally-friendly, but it is definitely a challenge to keep up with everyday costs.

That’s about it for today, time for a nice night in with the girls 💕

copeNGhagen

It finally feels like we are going on Spring break properly because it’s our turn to go for a vacation!! This morning, we had to wake up at an ungodly time of 4am to catch our flight at Gatwick airport, and it ended up being DELAYED zzz. On the bright side, it gave us ample time to grab some breakfast and catch up on our reading.

Upon landing in Copenhagen, we were greeted with a face full of sunshine- it felt so wonderful basking in the warmth with our shades on. We got the 200DKK travel pass that allowed us to get on the metro across all zones for 72hours. It seems quite pricey but I think it’s worth it given how we had to cross 3 zones to get to our airbnb place from the airport.

Given the flight delay, we were starving so the easiest lunch option was to head to Macdonald’s. We thought that there will be some special items here but apparently not

I ordered a McFeast burger but it was essentially like a normal cheeseburger with tomato sauce and mayo.

All of us, especially Adreena was in a food coma after lunch, so we took a walk around the Nyhavn area. It’s essentially ‘new harbour’ in Danish, and the colourful houses by the river are what you would normally see on postcards. The water was so clear you could see the bottom of the river and there was even a man fixing his boat on his own floating workshop. I loved sitting by the water and just soaking in the hustle and bustle. Honestly, it has been such a great first day with the girls because everyone was so chill and treating this as a holiday, instead of rushing from place to place, trying to tick off a TripAdvisor checklist.

After we had enough of walking around, we hopped on the 40DKK boat/canal tour. It’s really worth it because they bring you around the main areas for about an hour and they point out certain architecture/monuments that you would otherwise have missed or brushed past. We also made a small stop at the Little Mermaid Statue, and it honestly was not spectacular so I’m glad we decided not to make a special trip there to see it.

Little Mermaid Statue (from a distance haha)

This was followed by a visit to Paper Island. Previously, the warehouses on this little island were used to store paper, but since then, they’ve been converted into a museum and a food market.

Our first stop was Copenhagen Contemporary (CC) which showcased works from big names like Pierre Huyghe, Sarah Sze, Anselm Kiefer and Yoko Ono. The piece that left the greatest impression was Untitled (Human Mask) by Huyghe, for it presented a dystopian view of the human impact on nature. In particular, the 19minute film was set in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster, so seeing the actual debris really struck a chord. However, the main character was a monkey, wearing the mask of a young woman, performing human behaviours in an almost mechanical way. It meant to show that in an apocalyptic world where humans have been eradicated, that was the only trace of humanity, or rather human civilization which would evidence our existence.

But, my favourite piece was the one by Kiefer. In his exhibition, he built 4 planes using lead or zinc, that were modelled after real fighter jets from WW2, the Korean war and the Cold War. However, instead of having bullet-holes or scars from the wars, the planes were instead weighed down by books and shot through with sunflowers and poppies, symbolising the weight of history (or wisdom), life and death. I love this because the story that Kiefer tells with his art resonates with my sentiments about those wars- except that I am rather inept in putting these sentiments into words. All I can say is that I am awestruck by the ingenuity of his work (because I have never seen anything like that before and maybe because I am not cultured enough to visit more museums haha) and that I hope more people will come to see this.

Just next to CC was Papirøen, which housed the Copenhagen Street Food Market. The whole vibe reminded us of Timbre+ back home, becaue of the array of international food available as well as the music that eneveloped the whole area. The food was pretty good (though a tad on the salty side and we ordered way too much carbs for our own good LOL)

Since we were so full from dinner, we wanted to take a long nice stroll back home. However, we discovered empty deck chairs by the river the minute we stepped out of Papirøen, so we proceeded to lie in thos chairs and watch the sunset while we digest our food.

We were such pigs today but it has been so relaxing and I couldn’t be happier 🙂 Here’s to an early night so that we can be up early tomorrow to explore more of this place!!

Baking spree

Instead of doing a post about the nutella bread that I made (as a follow up from my previous post), I’m doing a post about all my bakes this term instead ☺️

This Spring term was incredibly busy, so I didn’t get to do much baking until after enhancement week (I think??) and these honey muffins were the first thing I made. I didn’t really like the texture because the honey made it more kueh-like rather than cake-like (and I also think I added too much honey). But, I really liked the toasted seeds because of their nuttiness and crunchiness.

The next thing I made was Chicken Floss Buns with Ah Bet! Since it was a 2-(wo)man effort, I decided to do it the proper way. Ah Bet made the buns first, but unfortunately I don’t have a separate picture of that. Then I started the homemade mayo with egg yolks, vinegar and oil – I have never done so much whisking by hand in my life. As tedious and tiring this process is, homemade mayo tastes way better than the commercially-made ones so it is most definitely worth the time and effort!

All that was left to do was to slice the buns, then fill the cavities with mayo and chicken floss.

But when Ah Bet is off holidaying in Italy, it’s too much effort for me to do all that, so I put the chicken floss in the buns before baking them (refer to the previous post for more details).

I then made a lemon cheesecake for one of our weekend dinners. I feel like I’ve made this with my own recipe so many times that the taste and textures are pretty consistent, but I can never be sure if it will crack even though I follow the tips that everyone gives when baking cheesecakes (i.e. Open the oven door a crack and let the cake rest in there, then open it fully, etc). Unfortunately, it did crack this time:

Next, I made this banana cake with seeds and chocolate chips. I liked the texture of the cake but I think I added a tad too much chocolate because it was so chocolate-y haha.

This was followed by a plain sponge cake with matcha filling. The cake was a little dense for my liking (especially after it has sat on our kitchen table overnight), but I suppose the matcha made everything better.

Next, I made some matcha sugar cookies on the last day of term.

The green colour is not very evident because I used the matcha milk spread in the batter instead of matcha powder(since I don’t have it here). This also made the cookies taste more milky and less matcha-y. They weren’t as crumbly as they should have been, but I don’t know if it’s due to the butter to sugar ratio or the addition of the matcha milk spread. Nevertheless, we still finished the gigantic batch of cookies anyway 😂

This then leads me to my previous post, where I made chicken floss buns again.

On the same night, I also attempted making Nutella bread. It started with an enriched heavy dough that needed 2 hours for the first proofing.

This was followed by dividing the dough into 4 equal portions, then rolling them out into roughly equal-sized circles. The process of spreading Nutella between each layer of dough was incredibly time-consuming because you wanted each layer to be as thin as possible, but you didn’t want to rip the dough either.

After completing the layering process, you would slice the dough up into little triangles, then roll each triangle into individual buns.

The buns turned out to be really brown after coming out of the oven, but I don’t know if it’s because of the Nutella or the oven temperature haha.

The bread was really crunchy and not fluffy/chewy, so I think the oven temperature was higher than it needed to be. However, I don’t think I will be making this again because it takes up so much tome and effort and I don’t particularly enjoy bread with Nutella.

Lastly, I wanted to finish all my milk and eggs before flying off on Monday, so I made bread rolls using my all-time favourite recipe from Maangchi! Her recipe never fails to produce fluffy buns that go amazingly well with butter and jam 😋

And that is a grand total of 9 bakes in about 6 weeks (with roughly half of them from this week alone heh). This post was quite satisfying to put together, so I might just do another post about the food I’ve made for the girls (not my everyday meals), but we’ll see how it goes!

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