first day of paid work at the fish shop.
my hands are totally ruined, not because they stink of fish, but because of the major cleaning-up they do once a week, on Saturday.
and also the sharp bits of the fish, prawn and crabs cut my hands. i need gloves.

today was okay, no major disasters, thankfully! ... have problems of identifying fish, customers, prices and doing mental sums (the cash register doesn't calculate anything D:).


Whittaker's chocolate is really delicious - thick, smooth and creamy. it's like a chunky version of nice Swiss choc, but made in New Zealand.
i got this (2 for $5 at Woolworths). yummm

 Z let me join in on a drive to Fremantle.

 this is Port Beach.
 even in winter, it's 20 deg on a sunny day.
 our feets. the sand is so so soft and fine.
 had fish n chips ($14.53) at Cicerello's. i thought it was meh - flavorless fried stuff.
water for vinegar. and $1.50 for a tub of tartar or chili sauce?! rip off.
M said it's the best one though. i haven't tried the other fish n chip shops yet so i can't make a comparison.
 the outdoor dining area.
 seagull posing for us.
 more birds.
 sunset.
we went back home, watched the Japanese horror movie "Noroi", then went to King's Park.
this is the night view of the freeways and skyscapers.

this is my roast chicken. it's from the Steggles brand, which means it's halal.
and it was 40% off, so this 2kg+ bird costs $6.50.
this whole chicken is labelled as "family feast" - it's cleaned and marinated.
i pulled out some fats and put it in the oven at 180 deg c for about an hour.
it was so good. fall-apart tender and very briny. will last me for a few more days.
kept the bones for stock and the juices for my rice. mmmm chicken rice.


also went to try working at a shop that sells seafood today.
the salary is pretty shite - my flatmates said it was illegal for the pay to be $12 an hour - then i said the owners are from HK, then he was like, yeah HKers pay really poorly. as demonstrated by my trial - 6 hours for no pay.
i can't remember who buys what, nor the prices. worse, the cleaning and cutting service is consolidated at the back so it's easy to mix up. even today, it was hectic and i gave the wrong fish to someone. luckily the customer came back with it.
urgh. i can't do jobs that require memory + face-to-face.

i visited my friend for fun today. she has a lot of animals in her house.

 shy cat hiding in the closet.
 nice patio.
 birdie.
 i'm on a boat!
her family owns this big boat parked on the porch. it has a toilet in the cabin!
 she showed me her artwork. she majors in art.
 she took me to the pier to try fishing.
 we both caught puffer fish. there were schools of them nibbling at our squid bait.
 finally, she caught something non-poisonous.
 and she fed it to one of the pelicans.
 puffer fish and jelly fish in these waters near Fremantle.
her pet rabbit. at least 4 years old. so docile and chilled. the amazing bond of trust and love between a pet and its owner.

flatmate K hosted a roast dinner for SB today, because it's his second last day seeing her. i helped him.
he's a generous host and good cook too - i expected him to just buy the lamb and sweet potatoes, but he bought snacks (cheese, crackers, sausage, dips) and roasting pans. he even wanted to buy extra cups. learnt roasting techniques from him too.

these boneless lamb slabs were about $20 each. roasted at 180 deg c.
potatoes were parboiled. sweet potatoes were not. then they were rolled in the lamb fat drippings and roasted with the meat for a few hours.

while waiting for the roast, they taught me to play pool and i managed to sink a few balls in. pretty cool. don't ask me to play ping-pong though.
Jatz, cheese, sausage, chili dip, roasted potatoes.
oh man, the sweet potatoes ($2.70 per kg) were so so good. totally buying some for myself.

dinner was successful - people liked the food, and there was enough for everyone, although SB's 5 friends didn't bring anything because they were busy with exams.

had this for lunch. Chilliz's 'nasi lemak' ($4.50) features boiled eggs, sweet n sour onions, curry chicken and fried fish. what a strange combo.

had this for dinner. hung out with Z and friends again today, and wanted to contribute, so i offered my rice and chicken wings. resulted in nasi goreng and soy sauce chicken wings.

had this just now. edible cookie dough. with added peanut butter. i know, i'm quite disgusted with myself too. had 4 spoonfuls and felt sick. :P


the guy from a place i submitted my resume to called and practically accused me of lying that my English is good on my cv after asking me a few questions on the phone. wow. feel really annoyed and offended, especially since his Chinese accent was so thick i couldn't understand him. .... whatever. /rolls eyes

images from google.

randomly going to translate a recipe from the Japanese recipe website, cookpad, for チキン南蛮 (Chicken Nanban) because i just saw the MechaIke episode where Garita and Tanita prepared it in the carpark.
it's fried chicken with tartar sauce. i ordered it a few times before because it's usually one of the cheaper items in a restaurant. haha

from this recipe:

ingredients (for 4 servings)

4 chicken thighs
1 or 2 eggs
some flour

nanban sauce :
4 tbsp soy sauce
6 tbsp sugar
5 tbsp vinegar

tartar sauce :
1 or 2 boiled eggs
one quarter of an onion
one third of a cucumber / pickle
5 tbsp mayonaise
1 tbsp ketchup
some salt and pepper

1. season thigh with salt and pepper and dreg in flour, then dip in beaten egg mixture.
fry the meat in oil until golden brown.
2.  make nanban sauce. put soy sauce, sugar and vinegar into a pot and bring to a boil.
you can add ginger, carrot, hot pepper, or onion to it if you like.
3. soak the fried chicken in the nanban sauce.
4. make tartar sauce. finely chop the egg, onion, cucumber/pickle and mix with mayonaise, ketchup, salt and pepper.
you can add chopped parsely, lemon juice and mustard if you like.
5. serve the fried chicken with as much tartar sauce as you like.

went to the Perth Upmarket handicraft and food fair at UWA (University of Western Australia’s Winthrop Hall) today.
this fair is only held 4 times a year.

bloggers said the event is very popular and the quality of the wares is good.
judging by today's turnout, i would say so too.
  my first time at UWA. i like the look and feel of the place.
 handmade soaps for $5.
 many stalls selling cupcakes. this one had a long queue.
 the sausage stall also had a long queue.
 i didn't buy anything, but went around taking photos like a creeper :P
 smoothie stall.
 $2.50 for a cookie? yes. when i took this photo, the man beside me was buying about 5 cookies.
i am always surprised by how people can bear to pay so much for things.
 homemade chutneys and jams. good thing that food stalls had samples.
the normal thing to do was to sample, chat to the stall person, buy stuff.
colorful tableware.
 wool ball craft things.
 hair snaps for $12. omg. overpriced.
 cute badges.
 i like the colors for these prints. the lady is showing someone the cloth print for Fremantle.
 knitted soft toys.
many jewelry stalls.
 scented candles. i liked the glass ball ornaments hanging above.
 good idea for home furnishing.

 a hall for sweet and fancy baby clothes and accessories.
 the queue for pies.
people picnic under the giant tree.
pretty cool that a university has a resident peacock.
even saw a kookaburra. so much greenery. decided that UWA is like botanic gardens.