Some Like it Haute

doing the unthinkable. tabulating my travel expenses. going to return home broke and indebted to my parents. needs to sell a limb. maybe my cellulite to undernourished deprived kids along the siberian borders- people who need the blubber to survive winter.

when i stepped out of the residence hall today, a strong gust of wind whacked across sorely as if in mockery of my spring weather enthusism.. then on, it was basically "blow wind blow, i can see your underwear.." sunlight was minimal, weaking piercing through the cracks of cloudy skies... THIS IS SO NOT HAPPENING! i call upon the mighty forces of comic-cartoon-hero-storm-from-the x-men for spring to arrive...... urgh, little wonder if that doesn't work.

i braved the awful weather and emabarked on a forty-five minute walk to the chinese supermarket. you would think that after making such a perilous jouney, i would at least do myself some justice by lugging a suitcase-full load of chinese spices and mix back right? but nopes, i didn't. somehow facing selves and stacks of instant noodles, cooking mixes and frozen dim sum overwhelms me and i am unable to think properly or buy much for fear of making rash decisons.

so my only purchase was a bottle of yeo's szechuan kung pao sauce... arh, i grew up drinking that guy's sugar packet drinks- particularly lemon barley.. then anxious to taste it, i called metz (remember londoner who loves his kung pao chicken?) for dinner.

we threw in chicken, onions, water-rinsed salted peanuts and three tablespoons of cooking sauce and served it on white basmati rice.

verdict? it could have been spicier. it wasn't really kung pao-ish and in fact if it DID taste like what a restaurant would serve, i would pack up my bags and volunteer my services to discovery channel travel and living. i was hoping to be blown away by the heat but i guess the kung pao aspect softened the szechuan blow.. i sound like i am writing some martial arts novel..

bystanders in the kitchen were bewildered by the presence of peanuts in a stir-fry and turned bambi-eyed as the sauce-drenched chicken sizzled in the pan. metz found it tasty but clearly as asians, we were expecting MORE. it was acceptable but i would have preferred it to be sinus-clearing.. perhaps i should be bolder and add real chilis to it in the future.. afterwhile, the bloooooody chills look here to stay and fire in the tums are well-appreciated.

the night didn't just end there as heiko whipped up two batches of homemade pizza and my tastebuds in unison coerced my mind into having a slice of hawaiian. really i had no idea what happened!?! by the time i finished the pizza, i was in semi-trance..

NOT MY FAULT.