Nepali Momo Night

And yet another segment of our Food Night. For this night's theme, Winnie had chosen Nepalese/ Tibetan food. After much researching on our mobiles for our own selection of recipes, we all came to an agreement of making momo's only. Momo's are essentially stuffed dumplings. And so it begins... our night of wrapping. And of course, eating.

Everyone was to bring their own version of stuffing, and we all wrapped dumplings together.

We all watched this YouTube video carefully, but soon realized that wrapping momos take skills. It's really a form of art that needs to be mastered over time. But here we go anyways...

First, you wet the wrapper with a bit of water...

... then, you laugh your head off exclaiming, "How the heck do you do this??".

Fred, with much concentration, ended up with some of the prettiest (and girliest) dumplings.

Dan decides to screw the "bun" look, and go for a half-moon shape.

Bran carefully loads hers with her vegetarian filling.

Speaking of fillings, here they are...

There was vegetarian. With carrots, mushrooms, tofu, and more.

There was yak meat. Dan specially ordered it from a butcher shop to make it extra authentic "Nepalese".

There was pork...

...beef...

... a curry vegetarian ...

... and a curry chicken.

Everyone is so concentrated at the wrapping party.

Here are the lovely-wrapped momo's.

And a different wrapping method.

Dan closes his eyes to taste and savour the flavours.

Fred approves of everyone's delicious momo's.

Bran and Fred also made special dipping sauces. So yummy!

After all the savories, we still had a bunch of wrappers left. What to do? Why not fill them with a bit of marshmallow and chocolate. (Didn't realize until I saw this photo how mangled and man-handled that marshmallow was... This was Dan's special wrapping job.)

And with a sweet bite like that, of course you gotta deep fry them.

Sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar and ta-da! Dessert momos!

On the same night, we took the opportunity to also celebrate Fred's birthday. Look how happy he is with his blueberry mousse cake.

I missed the moment of him blowing out his candles (because I was too busy capturing it on video). When I told him to re-enact it for me for a photo, this is what I got. 

Those are my friends for ya. Always a blast. 

Next? Swedish food! (And no, Ikea meatballs don't count).

When Opportunity Comes Knocking

I don't know about you, but speaking for myself only, opportunities rarely come knocking on my door. I mean, most of the time, opportunity comes with effort and hard work. You have to go out and seek them. As my uncle once put it, "Even if God wanted to help you and give you a whole lot of money for example, you still have to do something to give a chance. Like buying a lottery ticket. You can't expect Him to just throw it in front of you on the street. What I'm trying to say is... don't wait for an opportunity. Make it happen." 

But sometimes, opportunity comes knocking on your door. It just does. 

Right before I took a two-week holiday and enjoyed a happy vacation in Asia late February, I was given the opportunity of two more photo shoots. Both scheduled back to back on the same day.

A friend of a friend had emailed me about a month prior telling me she likes some of the photos that I've taken, and asked how much I would charge for a family photo shoot. Me? Photo shoot? Charge? I was flattered, but emailed her back telling her that I only take photos as a hobby because I enjoy it a lot. I would love to "play around" with a photo shoot of her family and at obviously no charge.  

At the same time, one of my coworkers was telling me about her beloved ailing cat. She would love to have more photos of her before she passes away. She told me that there were such thing as pet photographers, and they charge an arm and a leg (which comes with letting the photographer stay with the family for a week to have the pet get acquainted with the photographer... crazy!). Instead of hiring such crazy service, she asked me if I could help her take a few photos of her cat.

And just like that, I had two appointments. With my trip planned and some time-sensitive issues, these two appointments were booked on the same day. 

I woke up early to make it over for the family shoot, and right after, I had to book it over for the pet shoot. To be honest, I had no idea what I was going to do. But when opportunities like these come knocking on your door, you grab it and just make it happen. 

This time, I knew to let it all go and not worry about what I'm doing wrong or right or whether any of it will turn out the way I want them to. (Because I'm more than sure that I'm doing something wrong and some will definitely not turn out the way I want them to). Just have fun. Just do what I do with my camera. Play. 

I feel so honoured to be asked to take photos. I'm not even thinking about what this may mean about future opportunities. Or whether I can work on growing my potential. Or even the flattery of someone complimenting my photos. All I'm thinking about is... these photos, great or not, wrong or right... will be memory of loved ones. And that to me, is pretty cool.

Back!

I AM BACK!

The past month has been a bit of a whirlwind. A good kind of whirlwind. So much to post! In the next little while, I'll get it all up :)