Graduation, 1st Project, Reality in 2 weeks...

for the past few weeks, there were sooo many things happening. good things mainly :)

i have so much to blog about! not sure where to start and my backlogs (on blog posts) are piling up like nobody's business. boo hoo hoo! i wished i wasnt that lazy and be more diligent like Nat who updates her blog every other day.

My internet connection for the past months has (yes present tense because it is still not cooperating well) been horrible to the max where the only thing that i can do most was FBing. surprisingly it cooperates well with FB but not other websites. i was bored to death like almost literally (did i mentioned that i think internet is like one of the greatest inventions). Since i will be back SG in 2 weeks time, i shall bomb my blog with all my backlog posts and photos then (u see internet connection is bad hence uploading of photos will take FOREVER. and i really mean forever.)

I shall fast forward a little and talked about Graduation. Graduation was a blast! happy yet sad..super happy that all of us had finally graduated and did well for our superior exam. sad because everyone is returning home. also super upset because i totally missed my chance to be introduced to my Eye Candy whom i've eyed since Basic during wine lecture. this graduation is the last chance that i will be seeing him. damit =x  (ok i know this sounds a little childish and high schoolish. skip that and we shall talk serious)

So now graduation is over. we are no longer students. a new life begins all over. The questions that everyone has been asking (which they never stop asking) 'what you gonna do when you are back?' seems to be unavoidable anymore since reality will arrive in just 2 weeks time..so the tentative plan is to work out portfolio and experiment new creations etc for 2 months. and we shall see where these preparations will bring me :)

I had been busy making gumpaste roses for  my landlady's son's wedding cake. It is really tedious and according to dearest Chef C, its an old lady work. Tedious because, you have to make petals and let them dry slightly before shaping them (but u need to shape them b4 they r too dry else they will crack).

My landlady went to collect the cake from M&S which she complained quite a great deal on how M&S shown on the internet that proper boxes are provided etc and how she was fuming while collecting the cake. Moving on, i placed e roses onto the ready made wedding cake carefully as they were so so sooooo fragile and clumsy me broke some petals =x i had a hard time covering the defects as well as sticking the roses onto the cake, stacking them onto each other, etc. it was a 'shivery' process i would say...but overall it turned out fine though i could have done better. well this is the very 1st time i made roses out of gumpaste, so.....ahem* anyway, i am so glad that everything turned out all right. i was so afraid i would spoil the entire wedding with the horrible roses. glad it's all done :)

and now i am waiting for my friend to arrive and in 2 weeks time it will be Good Bye London, Hello Singapore. Home is always home though i love London a lot. :)

p.s this is the very 1st time i had uploaded the most up-to-date photos before i put them up on FB. =x oh yea and i know i said it takes forever to load photos etc..i guess i was lucky as i tried loading and they loaded (just not quick but well they loaded so i shall be thankful)

i guess the next posting will be after i am back in SG. till then my readers (hopefully you are still there)
ciaoz..oh i will be going Paris tmr till thurs and will have a SHOPPING tour in London while having headaches on how to bring my stuff back to SG. pray with me that SQ will upsize my baggage allowance. :) Ciao for now. Happy Christmas and Holidays ;)

xx

and the journey is coming to an end...

yup it's all ending soon..with a beginning, there must be an ending. things end so that you will miss it and know how much you love it.

it has been a wonderful experience that i will never forget unless i have had dementia or something close enough.

had exam today. the most stressful and exhausting one i would say. worst than 'O's, 'A's, etc.. 6 whole hours! geez..and since i am always the slowest in class, i managed to finish just on time while others have time to rest and relax before plating. i know, i need to reflect. like i said before or did i not say it, baking isn't my talent but i am working on it.

every segment didnt go well for me. i should be glad if i am able to pass the exam. Brioche didnt prove as well as it did during practices, Sable...doesnt look like its normal self, Choc truffle was not shiny because i 'cleverly' used my fingers instead of brush -.-, Sugar display was not presented complete as the aero spray ran out (i sprayed on the paper without knowing it ran out) hence my sugar didnt bubble, Plated dessert was almost there except my tangerine coulis turned into jam due to cooling in the fridge (which i didnt have time to rewarm) and i poured cointreau in to my anglaise without measuring...oh well what is done is done...all i can do is wait for the result which wouldnt be too high of an expectation or i should say hope would it? this is the 2nd academic place where i have never managed to score at anything. kinda feels similar to JC days where failing had always been the norm for me. however, not regretful. the many friends, the exposure, the independence, everything....

i shall show you some pictures of my portfolio where my exam pieces were supposed to look like them

ok my actual exam pieces were like 10 times ok trillion times worst than those above..considering those above arent that perfect either...

ohh and guess what i have got for myself...i cant express how much i love amazon.uk...it's seriously amazing..packaging is awesome, service is awesome, delivery is awesome, amazon.uk is just AWESOME!!!

it's 28.91pounds!!! it was 45pounds!!! see the diff?!!! gosh...if only SG has such wonderful deals and variety of things...

i will soooo miss London.. but at the same time i miss SG soooo much... it's a love hate relationship..not hate to that extend but...oh well you know what i mean.. i will be back London ;)

jinx

totally lost my feel for choc tempering!!! holy crap! super stress out now. my choc takes forever to set (hmm maybe i was too eager and waited less than 5mins, which normally you should check your test 5 mins later) even tho it set, it doesnt snap!!! arghhh!!! *pulls hair* TT

chef told me the reason for the choc to set but still soft was due to me being too cautious where i did not bring the temperature of the choc back high enough during the last heating.

i used to temper my choc with feel just like how i cook. how much salt to add how much sauce to add blah blah blah...now i totally lost my 'feel' for choc tempering!!! OMG how how how!!! TT

Dear Lord please give me strength, motivation and whatever that i need to pull me through this final exam and pass with flying colours...pretty please...

stress to the core...

yawnzzzz

had been sleeping early lately...by 2230 i am already sleepy which is so not me...and me trying to push the limit, by 2300 my eyes and brain cannot take it anymore..in Singlish it will be 'buay dong' keke...

yes i am yawning with my mouth open widely at the moment while writing this post and yes it is 2304 now...so....good night peeps...

by the way just to let you know, i might be a little late on my updates as i am seriously busy with school, work, ad hoc project on friend's wedding cake as well as final exam practices and portfolio.. i know i said these many times..so please be understanding on my not so frequent updates on my life in LCB..which is super exciting and happy and fun and i love it very very much... :)

i am trying hard to stay awake to update my portfolio so that it will reach at least a 60% completion as oppose to the current 50% which needs quite a lot of editing still..i am a perfectionist..what to do..it's a trait that i cant remove..a habit that was there since young..it's kinda hard to shake it off..which isnt much of a positive trait actually as i am unable to use it positively =x only to a certain extent...

learning to use some software for my portfolio..always learn...i love technology! programs and systems are my thing..even though i dare to say that i am not an IT dummy, i am now looking through tutorials of the software that i wanna use.. hehe well you have to learn to use something dun you..learn it the right way from the beginning. have a strong base and you will excel..keke

xx

Chocolates Chocolates Chocolates....

this week is the Chocolate module week and i am so stuffed up with chocolates!!! chocolates at school, chocolates at work, chocolates at home. thus not surprising, i am kinda sick of it. though still not sick of working with chocolate. just sick of eating them =x

just so you do not hate me after reading what i am gonna blog about next, i must say i am not boasting or anything but just ermm saying? hehe.

since we are talking about chocolate in this post, one of the most important thing that a Chocolatier has to know is to temper chocolate. Tempering chocolate is a method done by heating, cooling and then heating up the chocolate in order to line up the chocolate molecules or atoms so that the chocolate structure becomes uniform when crystalized. With this process, the chocolate will snap when broken, look shiny and hardens at room temperature.

and now to start of with what you might think that i am boasting which i am absolutely not not not... tempering chocolate has always been good for me. i never had much problem with it since the very 1st time i temper them which i think was in the last few lessons during Basic? i guess chocolates and i are just fated, maybe i should marry to someone chocolaty at least like chef C always says 'Chocolate doesnt lie only students lie.' keke.. ok kinda nonsensical talk over here.

though tempering has not been much problem, my chocolate piping design has not improved much. neither has my flooding of chocolate moulds, sealing of it and production of chocolate bon bons been any good.

i had snapped lotsa pretty pictures taken in class :) as i had talked about earlier, we had chocolate module this week and it's by chef N. soooooo much fun i tell you. relaxing, happy, awesomely enjoyable.

These pretty truffles and sables were done during tech class by Chef C

These were done by me except the gold one on the bottom right.

 and these were done by everyone in class... :)

will upload the pictures later as i have a lot of more important work to do. that includes filling up at least 60% of my portfolio today. yes i know it might sound a little too overly ambitious. but i don't care! i know i can do it :P i need to go grocery shopping, do up laundry (just left hanging of the laundry), clean up of my room (which i did it already..keke) and yes i know half the day is gone...oh and to watch new K-drama 'The Empress' hehe...

just to remind myself of my priorities:
1. portfolio
2. be nice
3. slim down (kinda tough with the piles of chocolate just beside me)
4. increase water intake
5. rest more
6. plan for future :)

embracing each moment..

being in London makes me feel so blessed and it made me realized how beautiful and wonderful my life was, is and will be. :)

waking up in the morning to the cold weather, walking and smiling to myself most of the time..looking at the trees with leaves turning from green to yellow, brown or red..looking at the leaves on the walkway..looking at the beautifully constructed houses (not referring to the modern ones)...they just make me so happy! and make my day most of the time.

the best part of being here is to be able to intern at Melt which is absolutely fabulous and i cant describe how fortunate i am. learning new things every time, being exposed not only to new techniques but also new ingredients  and knowledge :)

Superior had started like a month ago and everything seems particularly quick. i guess when in superior you are expected to know everything. but i must say every lessons feel more comfortable and happy. everyone in class jokes around while preparing what we had to do for the lesson.

last week we had our Restaurant Plated Dessert Module and chef C was with us <3 <3 <3
1st we did our Mise en place which literally means putting in place where we organize / arrange / make stuff that we will need for the plated dessert and thereafter, putting them together. Hence, in the 1st lesson, we did the jelly, tempered chocolate deco, tuiles, etc followed by putting them together in the next lesson.

below are the many restaurant plated desserts prepared by Chef C during demo...pretty right?!!!!

there were

Delice au Chocolat Amer et Romarin et Creme a l'Amaretto
Bavatios de Ricotta avec une Compote aux Frambioses
Souffle Creme au Citro et Sauce Caramel
Mille-Feuille au Chocolat
Tarte aux Mirabelles Bourdaloue avec Creme Chibouste Mirabelle

as for lesson, we only made 3 out of the 5 that were demonstrated to us :)

Clockwise (from left):
Bavatios de Ricotta avec une Compote aux Frambioses
Tarte aux Mirabelles Bourdaloue avec Creme Chibouste Mirabelle
Delice au Chocolat Amer et Romarin et Creme a l'Amaretto

and some random phto of the deco that Chef C done during demo that i quite like...

and ending off with some random happiness to share...it's autumn!!! i <3 AUTUMN!!!!! :):):):):)

and another random happiness...i received some positive feedback for my exam plated dessert! ASA! hwaiting! ganbatte!!! ;)

a busy week

i am ohhhh soooooo tired this week. checkout what i had been busy with...

Mon, 24 Oct: 8am - 3pm school..got home at 6pm after shopping at Nisbet

Tue, 25 Oct: 8am - 7pm school -> afternoon tea, dinner with classmate and got home at 9plus..

Wed, 26 Oct: 8am - 1030am school, rush home to check if i have uncollected parcel (sadly my parcel didnt arrive) 1230pm - 6pm work...watched drama..slept at 1am

Thur, 27 Oct: 9am - 5pm work...no parcel still, watched drama..slept at 11pm

Fri, 28 Oct: 9am - 7pm work..no parcel TT, watched drama..slept at 11pm

Today, Sat, 29 Oct: woke up at 730am and cant get to sleep.. -.- tired... when jogging, did yoga, cleaned up room, did laundry...tried to work on portfolio but decided to update the blog so u can be happy that i wrote a new post.. =x

it was really tiring but i guess my life before i came here was much busier and tiring..

anw my internship at Melt was fabulous. the chefs are so patient and sincere in teaching. she even asked me a lot about school work especially my preparation for exam. she gave me advices and suggestions and asked me to show her my design and concept so she can understand more and maybe give me some opinion and assistance..awwww how nice can she be.. as i had be working lately other than schooling, the heavy load of trays and cakes at the Ritz is killing my back..Yesterday at Melt, the after effect of working at Ritz kicked in where when i was chopping 2kg of candied orange slices, my back ached like crazy. anw my knife skills are horrible and hence i am glad that i am able to practice it at Melt..seems like such chopping action is building muscles around my wrist. not something that i am happy about though.

Melt is just an awesome place to be in. homely and comfortable, happy and stress-free, ppl are nice and sincere.

i was thinking how interesting working with chocolates are as they are like the lead character in a drama while ganache and flavourings are just the supporting role. not only that, in my opinion, the understanding of chocolates are similar to that wine. kinda 'chim' (chim = something that is not easy to understand) to me. i know relating chocolates to wines might somewhat sound silly. i was thinking the same until during lunch yesterday, chef Eiichi said the same as what i thought. he thinks that chocolates are like wines, the type of grapes, the location it was harvest and percentage is very similar to chocolates...my sentiments exact...so he just confirmed that my thoughts are not silly and it made sense :)

all right it is 5.30pm now i shall get going and work on my portfolio.. :( not much time left...ganbatte...