Friday, July 31, 2015

Trials X Tribulations: JULYrisdiction

have been wanting to post something like

  • life as a freelancer
  • starting off as a freelancer
  • myth about freelancer
  • pros and cons about freelancing

 

or something of that sort

yet I am not even sure

how long I gonna last as one

 

6 months trial

should be fine to confirm

yet during the 7th month

was heavily stricken by this trough

 

survived June

while taking my very first

one-week break as a freelancer

nevertheless carrying laptop along

 

heaved a sign of relief

minimum target hit by

2/3 of June

 

then during the final week of June

the scariest period

came without warning

 

3 weeks out of jobs

like seriously less than

USD 100 every week

 

you know right from the start that

the process is never easy

from liaising with client to

completion of a task

to securing payment

even if it comes to a simple task

which is not even paying you that much anyway

 

yet nothing ever came as bad

3 weeks without hearing from major clients

half negotiated tasks were never confirmed

even the part-time job as an evaluator 

didn’t have much task to offer

 

felt like an unemployed for real and

wondering if I should think twice and

get myself back into the job market

as the longer I hesitate

the more difficult it is for me to decide

 

the long wait was over

until the second half of the month

suddenly getting constant flow of jobs

new clients 1, 2, 3..

 

working on public holidays

working on weekends

waking up at 6 (in rare cases)

sleeping at 12 (in rare cases)

 

a total opposite from

the first half of the month

 

oh yeah

the good thing about this month is

I managed to hit the minimum target

without much tasks

from a major client

whom I heavily rely on as my main source

 

there come Aug

reset the income column to zero again

that’s one of the most

awkward scene I face as a freelancer

 

you will never know

who knows

耿耿於懷↔念念不忘:羅生門

12月31日,2010

耿耿于懷 X 無謂再倚: 也沒法醫

那是一個多麼淒涼的除夕

用“耿耿於懷”來結束一年

 

時隔快五年後

10年3部曲的說法

 

這首歌的突然回溫

也好似提醒了我

很長一段時間

也很少再關注cantopop這塊*

*特定歌手除外

 

2005《耿耿於懷》

2015《念念不忘》

2015《羅生門》feat 謝安琪

 

還有據說即是系列之中

但又是各別獨立系列的

製作班底畢竟不一樣

2006《濛》

2015《瑕疵》feat 莫文蔚

 

只能說Juno確實

有他的一套

 

十年了

他已經升 le到

國際影展級的導演

 

之間雖然還有在做音樂

但是都是以dark side主題

 

回歸再唱這種

很典型的 cantopop

卻依然很動人的那種

“笭仔”feel

 

把三首歌擺在一起聽

不講也很難想像

它們之間相差了十年

 

只能說

我對他的崇拜

簡直好像一個信仰

這樣講幾乎有點誇張

反正就是完全欣賞他這套

 


那動人時光 不用常回看

能提取溫暖以後渡嚴寒 就關起那間房

最動人時光 未必地老天荒

難忘的因你太念念才難忘

容易抱住誰十年 最難是放

 

那些很爛情的話

就留著不說

 

難得至少找回

接下來可能會

(除了李榮浩之外)

loop上很長一段時間的歌

 

望著更好的地方

為下段愛戀吸收陽光

 

下段戀愛。。。 

是下半輩子

還是下一輩子的事?

Sunday, July 12, 2015

SxS Kitchen: No-Fail Simple Chocolate Cake

googled for no-fail cake

keyword: NO-FAIL and found this

recipe adapted from Bake for Happy Kids

since it clearly states the quantity in grams

 

250g butter

280g self-raising flour

(skip baking powder as the flour is ready-mix)

180g caster sugar

4 eggs

spoonfuls of milk

spoonfuls of cocoa powder

 

basically it’s a simple process of

beating the ingredients into batter

with a hand mixer

by adding them in along the way

 

No-Fail Simple Chocolate Cake

mix butter and sugar

mix..

add in egg one-by-one 

mix..

add in flour gradually

mix.. mix..

milk and cocoa powder

 

reduced the quantity of milk

since the batter is already quite runny

 

until the batter is well-mixed

creamy and consistent

No-Fail Simple Chocolate Cake

 

pour the batter into baking pan(s )

bake at pre-heated oven at 180’

for 45 mins

tried poking it with a toothpick and

see if it comes out clean

No-Fail Simple Chocolate Cake

 

surprisingly not really greasy

No-Fail Simple Chocolate Cake

 

feedbacks:

you sure it’s edible?

the texture is slightly coarse

but overall ok

No-Fail Simple Chocolate Cake

Saturday, July 4, 2015

SxS Kitchen: Mee (Spaghetti) Goreng Mamak

Mee (Spaghetti) Goreng Mamak

Mee Goreng Mamak =

Fried Noodle Mamak

one of the most popular main dishes from

any typical Mamak store

 

replaced the fresh yellow noodle with

spaghetti I found in the kitchen since

I somehow suddenly thought of

frying some spaghetti for dinner

 

we gonna most probably

end up at mamak store anyway

so let’s duplicate some mamak flavour at home

 

results?

spaghetti is definitely more springy in terms of texture

taste-wise, you can’t tell the difference, as

it absorbs the flavour as good as yellow noodle

 

- Preboil some spaghetti

- In a strainer, run the hot spaghetti under cold water

- Drain it

- Fry an egg (I used two), scrambled, set it aside 

 

- Reheat the frying pan, with some oil

- Scoop in some Sambal (chili) paste

- Here comes the drained noodle

- Also some beansprout, shredded celery, green chilies

 

- Green chili is essential for the “mamak”ish flavour

- Then the fried egg and some fried anchovies

- Lastly some raw bean sprout

 

the bean sprout is purposely left for the last

for the raw and crunchy flavour

 

p.s.

my dad said (complained in a proper way)

the noodle is too springy

well, that’s what I like

should have thought of that

 

in the afternoon

I actually wanted to cook something

he said just leave it

probably he doesn’t have much faith in me

and suggested me to pack something

from the vegetarian store

around the corner

 

well..

absolutely no!!

that’s too boring

 

to his surprise

I suggested Bah Kut The instead

a.k.a. pork bone soup

served with yam rice

which he ate to his heart’s content

 

and blurp..

I had such large portion of pork

which is more than

what I could have eaten in a month

 

for the intermediate level

I should be learning how to

make the chili paste from scratch

that being the secret weapon