visions of clarity...do as infinity

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori + New Anime!

Hello

Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori [地獄少女ふたこもり] has finally ended with 26 episodes under it's belt. I'm quite sad that I won't get to see Enma Ai and her crew [Hone Onna, Ichimoku Ren and Wanyuudou] anymore. The series ended with a sort-of conclusion that was well... I mean, it certainly ENDED but it wasn't terribly satisfying.

However, there was an open-ended ending where they suggested the possibility of another Hell Girl appearing in the future. But without Ai and her companions, it won't be quite the same unless they can somehow endear the viewer to the new replacements.

The last few episodes were pretty creepy and revealed a lot, once again, about the brutal nature of human beings. This series really explores these issues about human beings in general. =)

They also didn't really explain Kikuri's presence or function. Nor did they leave us with a certain conclusion on Ai's assistants.

However, the second season has been much more interesting and they have delved more into the past of Ai's assistants. The storylines are easy to follow, less ridiculous and much more exciting. [Though there are the occasional lapses..] The animation quality has also been pretty good and consistent throughout the whole series which pleased me immensely.=D

Jigoku Shoujo, aka Enma Ai.

Wanyuudou

Hone-Onna

Ichimoku Ren xD xD xD

I'm sad though, that they didn't end off with Ai's signature line, "ippen shinde miru".=P It's a classic to me now.xD Haha.

So since I've finished Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori, and NANA is taking FOREVER to come out, and Code Geass [which was voted the most popular anime series in Japan currently by the way. ;)] won't continue till summer, I have to distract myself with another series! =D Thus I have switched to Kekkaishi.

I chose it because they appear to feature pastries quite a bit and it's about sparring magicians or something to that effect so how bad can it be? =D *hopeful* Besides, apart from the hideous lead character [at least the images I saw were bad, maybe he'll grow on me..], the monsters and things in the show look quite cute.^_^ I should be able to watch it madly over the weekend if the downloading goes well and then I can decide whether it was worth the effort!

Otherwise, I can wait a month more for the summer anime to be released and then start following then.=D

Or I could always start on Death-Note. L and Light are pretty appealing characters! =D Or I could always succumb and watch Nodame Cantabile which is, sadly, hideous but is supposed to be nice to follow. Or... Hmm. Tokimeki Memorial looks retarded but superbly shoujo and thus, wouldn't be too disgustingly boring. D-Gray Man is really popular too.

But actually, Le Chevalier D'Eon sounds SO retarded, I am actually secretly dying to watch it.xD Haha. Even though the plot sounds quite lame, I'm hoping it'll be interesting.^_^ Haha. And it's set in France! O my. How bad can it be? *bounces away*

Or I could just go spend one ENTIRE day at Jiamin's house finishing Hana Yori Dango 2! =D Not a bad idea actually. And we still have Snow Queen to finish! Wee!

Suddenly, May looks like a very appealing month.^_^
cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : NightmaRe SNoW (Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori OST)]
[mood : ^_^]
[food : wagashi!]

pixiezdust: It's pretty right! =D Caught my eye too.xD

wendaye: I still don't know what your Taiyou no Uta is about!!!!! X___x Omg start watching Code Geass already!!! Haha.=D

Jiamin: Qing Ming photos = Cultural Exchange!!! =D Haha. Ahem. And yes.. the dotty seahorse is pretty scary but I like the first image [above the seahorse].=D =D =D And Gackt is charismatic okay. You cannot deny his PRESENCE!!!! xD Haha. And yay! Hana Yori Dango 2! I must invade your house to watch.=D Beams.

Labels: anime, Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori, Kekkaishi

Friday, April 20, 2007

Another Long Day..

In my previous post, where I wrote that I might update again, I was planning to update and tell you all about the Takuya movie, Love & Honour.

Sadly, because I was WORKING...-_-" I didn't get to watch it though I've been assured by my darling friends that it was bittersweet. Sigh.

The worse thing is that my friend kept apologising to me for making me stay back to help so I can't be grouchy at that. And I've also mentally prepared myself for rubbish things like this to happen. After all... If you want to get a taste of what the real world is like, I guess this is a good start?

Thankfully, we had a nice dinner! ^_^ I don't know about my friends but.. xD I had Saba Misoni! My favourite braised fish.=D =D =D In miso/soy sauce!!! Yay. I LOVE IT. xD xD xD I could eat bowlfuls of it for one meal.=D =D =D And it HAS to be eaten with rice. But wahhh. I love it. I need to learn to make a better version than the one I made previously.xD Namely, one that tastes more like the yumminess you get in the restaurants..xD

I wonder why I associate most anime ending songs with a sense of sadness/finality. Hmm. They might be cheerful and boppy sounding but I still associate them with a heavy feeling of "sigh, it's over". Maybe it's to do with how's it is the ending song.

O well. I am so tired. And I still have to wake up early to go driving!!! xP Maybe I should do like what the other intern is doing and go in the morning before work then go into work late. But that's rather irresponsible. And completely taking advantage of the flexible working environment! xP

Hachimitsu to Clover! xD
cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : Waltz Suneohair (Honey & Clover OST) + a little pain OLIVIA inspi' REIRA (TRAPNEST)]
[mood : --]
[food : saba misoni! xD]

Yay! New NANA and Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori episodes up to watch!!! xD xD xD FINALLY!

cch: And pray tell, why would YOU want to see Gackt? O.o Unless.. You are starting to like him and his music!!! *_*! Yes! =D =D =D Ooh. Dimsum. Hmm. I think you should try the CP Shrimp Wonton! It's like. REALLY good for frozen wonton [why is wonton when we pronounce it wanton? O.o]. =D =D =D I want to eat har gao!!!

Labels: anime, driving, edibles, internship, Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori, NANA, work

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Poached Sea Bream + Veggies in Sesame Dressing + Cheesecake! (Again!)

Hello

^_^ I just cooked dinner tonight! It was not a disaster thankfully, though I wouldn't say that there isn't room for improvement.=)

First off, french beans and carrots in sesame dressing.

*hangs head in shame* Unfortunately, the sesame dressing was store-bought because I couldn't, for the life of me, find sesame paste!!! (T_T) Meidi-Ya! YOU HAVE FAILED ME! [Or maybe my eyes and searching skills have failed me. HMM.]

The sesame dressing wasn't too bad though I think it'd be more suited for salad leaves. I added ground toasted sesame seeds but my mother felt that it wasn't fragrant enough. O well.=) I liked it. It tasted like those restaurant sesame [goma!] dressings. Nevermind. When I find sesame paste, I'll make my OWN dressing! *beams*

Sea Bream!

I was most excited to try this recipe because I ADORE simmered salmon head in a soy-based sauce that you get in restaurants.=) This wasn't as complex in flavour, not as brilliantly exciting but I have to say.. It's good home-cooked food.=) It also goes fabulously well with rice! ^_^ It's served here with fresh wakame seaweed [bloody expensive I might add.-_-"] and the book also suggests fried burdock but since I have 1) No interest in peeling and chopping burdock and 2) No interest in deep-frying things and drowning in oil, I decided to skip it.=)

My new best friend is also my metal spoon! =D It is a BRILLIANT peeler. There's no chance of cutting yourself, spoons are readily available and you don't waste any of the ginger/carrot/etc because the spoon only scrapes away the skin.xD

Poached Red Sea Bream (Tai in Japanese)

Serves 4
500g red sea bream fillets [I used the Tai that I found in Meidi-ya. I don't think it was red sea bream though.]
1/4 cup or 50ml sake [I used Japanese Cooking Wine]
1/4 cup or 50ml mirin
1/4 cup or 50ml soy sauce [I used the reduced-salt soy sauce]
1/4 cup or 50ml water
3 tbsp caster sugar
15g fresh ginger [I estimated instead of weighing]
5g dried wakame seaweed [I used fresh and I didn't weigh it either. I just bought 1 pack]
cooked burdock [recipe below]

1) Cut each fish fillet into 3-4 pieces. [My fillets were pretty big so I cut them into the size I wanted.]

2) In a large, shallow pan, mix together the sake, mirin, soy sauce, water and sugar and bring it to the boil. Add the fish pieces into the broth, taking care to arrange them so they sit side by side. Sprinkle the sliced ginger over. [I have a feeling you're supposed to cut nice pretty strips. Mine were urm. In a happy mix of shapes.^_^"]

3) Bring back to the boil, cover with a drop lip made from foil or greaseproof paper [basically just put a piece of foil over so steam can still escape but the majority of the pan is covered] and simmer for 5-6minutes. When the liquid has reduced to just less than half, turn off the heat and leave for a short while for the fish to absorb some of the remaining liquid.

4) Soak the wakame seaweed in water until soft. [Of course, this step only applies if you start off with dried wakame.] Drain and squeeze it to remove any excess water and then roughly chop.

5) Remove the fish and ginger from the pan and place on a serving dish alongside the seaweed and burdock. Pour over any remaining sauce from the pan.

For the burdock:

Serves 4
250g burdock
1 tbsp sunflower/vegetable oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sake
2 tsp caster sugar

1) Peel the burdock and cut into 5-6cm length julienne. Soak in water for 5-10 minutes. Drain and pat dry.

2) Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the burdock and quickly stirfry. Add the soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar and mix together, cooking until the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat.

Very easy no? =D Perfect for the amateur cook [me] or the busy career woman [future me and friends].^_^

And ahem.

My first time cooking rice!!! ^_^v Ahem. Very embarrassing. But I'm so proud of the rice although the texture is wrong for Japanese rice. My rice was loose, grain by grain whereas Japanese rice is meant to be sticky and slightly wetter. Ahem. So my dad was like, "Good Chinese rice, FAILED Japanese rice". O well. It's not a bad attempt. My first time cooking rice and it didn't fail!!! [Not completely. AHEM.] Beams.

For dessert, we had cheesecake! =D

The flavour had deepened and become more homogenous throughout the whole cake after being in the fridge overnight.=) I really liked yesterday's texture but today's flavour.^_^ It was much denser and more firm today while it was quite light though still rich yesterday.

I will definitely put in more zest next time and attempt to use light cream cheese instead of regular.=D

^_^v

Anyway, I was reading the papers today and Sumiko Tan quoted these lines:

"Success" in life is "a matter of adjustment".
"If you achieve what you set out to achieve, you will be successful - if the goal had value from the start."
"If you fall short of a goal, but realise along the way that there are other valuable goals and are flexible enough to shift to better ones, you will also be successful."
"If the values you cherish have evolved only from the short-term, the selfish, the hedonistic, the frivolous, your success will not be genuine."
"Values that allow and encourage commitment and the desire to contribute to others, produce some enlightenment and ratchet the community one notch higher in quality of life are the ones that will undergird success of the kind you want."

This was in response to envy that might be produced thanks to the recent spate of articles going on and on about the record-breaking prices that apartments are fetching and the jaw-dropping salaries of top-ranking bankers/lawyers/accountants/etc.

I like reading the "reflect" column every other Sunday. [Sumiko Tan, Colin Goh and Tan Hsueh Yun all just.. SPEAK to me. ^_^"] The comics are great too! I love having 2.5 pages of comics! xD Haha.

Right-o! [O my. SUCH a dated term.-_-"] I'm off to watch more Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori! xD More Ichimoku Ren!
cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : Loop Maaya Sakamoto (Tsubasa OST) + Truth Yuna Ito]
[mood : ^_^]
[food : cheesecake! =D and fish!]

Jiamin: Coughs. I must say that that is a rather accurate way of telling someone how to pronounce it but HMM. Quite vulgar. ^_^" And Naruto = draggy! I refuse to watch an anime that can flow into 10 disc boxes!! That's 100+ episodes!!! No way. It'll get draggy towards the what.70th episode? And I think Elijah Wood needs to be more adaptable and interesting. Big eyes only bring you so far. Tsk tsk.

Labels: Baked Cheesecake, edibles, future, Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori, Poached Sea Bream, thoughts, Vegetables in Sesame Dressing

Paris, je t'aime + Doc Cheng's + Failed Milk Chocolate Cake + Baked Cheesecake

Hello

This will be a food post! Among other random rubbish I come up with.^_^"

My parents [or rather, my dad] and I watched Paris, je t'aime! =) I thought it would be a love story all the way but apparently not. It's a series of short stories [about 5 minutes each] that the directors made based on one place in Paris. The stories are inspired by these locations in Paris [like Porte de Choisy, Tuileries, Tour Eiffel, etc etc].=) It's a nice collection of stories that range from very touching, cheesy & low budget looking to cheerful and happy.^_^

I really liked one with 2 mime artists, one about this lady who has to travel hours to work everyday, the one with Natalie Portman and ... Well. I liked the majority of the stories.=) Some were more memorable than others but on the whole, it was a nice way of looking at Paris. A few of the films felt like the stories were just a backdrop and what the director really wanted to showcase was Paris' landscape.

Out of 20 arrondissements in Paris, 18 were featured:
- Montmarte
- Quais de Seine
- Le Marias
- Tuileries
- Loin du 16e
- Porte de Choisy
- Bastille
- Place des Victoires
- Tour Eiffel
- Parc Monceau
- Quartier des Enfants Rouges
- Place des fetes
- Pigalle
- Quartier de la Madeleine
- Pere-Lachaise
- Faubourg Saint-Denis
- Quartier Latin
- 14e arrondissement

The one Elijah Wood was in was.. it just screamed: LOW BUDGET!!!! Sorry. I cannot get over it. It was so CHEESY. -_-" And it really utilised what Elijah Wood is good at: Big eyes filled with fearful expressions.

They had a lot of really famous directors and actors to work on this. I'm not too familiar with directors, so let's just stick to famous actors.^_^"
Fanny Ardant, Juliette Binoche, Steve Buscemi, Willem Dafoe, Gérard Depardieu, Marianne Faithfull, Ben Gazzara, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Bob Hoskins, Olga Kurylenko, Aïssa Maïga, Emily Mortimer, Nick Nolte, Natalie Portman, Gaspard Ulliel, Miranda Richardson, Gena Rowlands, Ludivine Sagnier, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Rufus Sewell, Leonor Watling, Elijah Wood and others. [From Wikipedia]

It's a REALLY nice collection of stories.=) Go watch it! Or get the DVD like we did.^_^

So on Good Friday, we went to Doc Cheng's for dinner as a sort of "farewell dinner" for my cousin and her boyfriend since they are off to work in Macau.=) But before that, I baked a FAILED milk chocolate cake. The recipe is from Harumi's Japanese Home Cooking.

The recipe calls for one to whisk 3 eggs with sugar till there are peaks. Stupidly, I did it by hand but OMG.

SUCH A BEAUTIFUL TEXTURE!!! And it expanded to like, three times the original volume!!! xD I almost fainted from happiness. Haha. Ahem.

Sadly, when I mixed in the flour and chocolate mixture, it fell COMPLETELY FLAT and ended up like this:

Boy was I upset.-_-" So anyway. I'll try this again next time... But with my electric mixer...

Dinner at Doc Cheng's! =)

I apologise for having to use flash but the restaurant was quite dimly lit. And I have a lot of stuff to post, so I won't go into my usual long-winded detail..

Amuse Bouche! Roast Pork on Cauliflower Puree
- This was REALLY good.xD Much better than regular roast pork because the meat was a lot more flavourful.=D And I LOVE crackling so that helped.. Hehe. I didn't know it was cauliflower puree till my cousin told me.=X Ahem. I thought it was just REALLY soft mashed potatoes. Oops. But YUM. xD

Appetiser! Scallop on top of Dou Miao and Soft-shell crab on papaya salad
The scallop was pretty good for a frozen scallop.^_^" Hehe. I loved the dou miao underneath! ^_^" Ahem. [And it's SUCH a focal point of the dish because...?] And I thought the soft shell crab was good though a little heavy on the spices.O.o

Main Course! 4 spice duck confit on asparagus with a fruity sauce
Sorry. I can't remember the name of the sauce.=X This was yummy too! But I should have been more adventurous.=S O well.

Because my cousin and her boyfriend were leaving [and they work at Raffles Hotel], the chefs whipped up 2 dishes for them! This one is beef tenderloin in a spicy sauce. The beef was AMAZINGLY tender and juicy. But omygosh was it SPICY. I almost died.O.o And I was really sad because the beef was so good..

Chicken! =D This tasted like 三杯鸡 to me.^_^" [Literally, 3 cup chicken, referring to how they use 1 cup each of a different seasoning when cooking this dish.] It was REALLY yummy though. And not spicy at all! So I kept sneaking pieces into my mouth.xD Hehe.

Dessert! 3 types (from left): Chocolate mousse with jasmine infused mouse in the middle and coconut sago foam with kumquats, Lemon tart, 3 layered sorbet of soursop, raspberry and something else I can't remember.
I'm not a fan of lemon tart so I'm not a good judge... The sorbet was delicious! And so was the chocolate mousse.=) The jasmine flavour was very light and occasionally was overpowered by the chocolate but when you could taste it, it was yummy.xD

I was SO stuffed at the end of this meal. x_x But I'm glad we got to try Sam's dishes at Doc Cheng's after months of wanting to go.^_^

Yesterday [Saturday], I had durian cake at Jiamin's house!!! xD Goodwood Park durian cake.=D O my gosh. I LOVE durians. Except that I can't eat too much of it at one go. But sponge cake! And durian! How can you go wrong! xD I kept stealing the cubes of sponge cake on top of the durian cake to eat.xD Yummy. I really must find a recipe and make a REALLY good sponge cake. Then the durian part can be perfected later.=D

Beams. In the morning though, I made cheesecake! =D The recipe is ALSO from Harumi's Japanese Home Cooking but this was a considerable success in comparison to the failed chocolate cake.^_^

It was also pretty easy to make but I have to improve on the biscuit crust and the lemon flavour of the cheesecake.=) I think more lemon would give it a nicer taste since it would cut through the richness of the cheese.^_^ I'm also shocked to note that Philadelphia by Kraft is the only cream cheese brand available! O.o

It has that nice brown colour because I turned up the oven for a few minutes to brown the top. Otherwise, it would have taken a million years at the regular baking temperature.O.o The recipe specified 45-50 minutes in the oven but this cheesecake took more than an hour! *faints*

^_^ It's nice and creamy, not too sweet and has a surprisingly lighter texture compared to New York Cheesecake of which I can't eat more than 2 mouthfuls without dying from the creaminess.

I think the skinniness of the cake helps too.^_^" The recipe specified an 18-cm loose-bottomed pan but mine is 20cm, so naturally, the batter would be spread out more. Still.. It looks quite nice and manageable when sliced instead of being a giant wedge.=)

I'm quite happy with this cheesecake recipe but I hesitate to classify it as Japanese cheesecake since those are light and spongy. Time to test out other recipes... And improve on the previous failed ones. (T_T)

I've also been watching Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori. It's really a lot more interesting than season 1.=D And YAY! More close-ups on Ichimoku Ren!!! xD xD xD Beams. He is another cute guy with a deep dark past.xD

Why o why is NANA's subbing SO SLOW!!! (T_T) Sobs. And Code Geass! SUMMER!!! Faints.

Anyway.

I'm cooking dinner tonight! ^_^ We went to Meidi-Ya just now to buy the ingredients.=D And I found Mere Poulard cookies!!! I was so excited that I forgot to buy vegetables.O.o I better see if there's anything in the fridge...

Shall post about dinner later.=)
cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : Mosaic Kakera Sunset Swish (Code Geass OST) + Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori music]
[mood : ^_^]
[food : cheesecake! And duck guo tiao.=D]

cch: Wisconsin hasn't replied. And I LOVE HYDE!!!!!!! xD xD xD L'Arc~en~Ciel [correct Miss I-Love-Hyde-Wendy?] is umm.... I only like certain songs. ^_^" Hehe. But Hyde's solo stuff? YAY!!! And omg! Anyone who knows and likes jrock is my friend. Beams! =D And I like yaoi manga. The shounen-ai anime is usually PAINFUL to watch because it's so stupid.-_-" But Naruto??? O.o Um. No thanks. Snow! Can't wait.=D

wendaye: Geass is "Gay-Ah-ssss" Haha. That's the best way I can think of typing it.=P And it's DAMN nice to watch but extremely cheesy and painful at certain spots. I always groan/cringe/shrivel up and die when they have those cheesy/cliched scenes. And I want HOUSE! xD Beams. But his humour is getting a bit old don't you think.=S

Labels: anime, Baked Cheesecake, baking, cooking, Doc Cheng's, edibles, Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori, Milk Chocolate Cake, movie review, Paris je t'aime

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