Month: November 2014

Tools

Built-Ins – Thats how its done.

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Its strange that this 3 bedroom house only has one wardrobe. Because of which, the third bedroom was serving as a storeroom for most of our stuffs – until we got this built-in installed. We really did not think much over this. Send out quote requests on hipages.com.au to a couple of companies with good reviews, called in 2 companies to give me a quote, chose one, set appointment, setup work from home then in 3 hours we had it installed. We used Sydney Design Wardrobes and cost us $1050 – this was a Christmas special price, I  believe. Competitive pricing and nice folks.

coconut macaroons

Coconut Macaroons – the easy way…

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This was SECOND attempt at coconut macaroons. You did not want to see what a disaster the first attempt was – the macaroons turned into soft mushy burnt coconut cookies. The second time was better. Here is what I did. 2 egg whites 1/2 cup of caster sugar 2 tsp honey 1 cup desiccated coconut 2 tsp vanilla extract This makes 12 – 14 of them. Unlike some fancy recipes, this one is really simple and hence my choice. First, heat the oven to 150 degrees. Then, all you really got to do is mix all the above together with a pinch of salt. Once done, use an ice-cream scoop to add a dollop of the mixture to a baking tray lined with baking paper. And then into the oven for about 25minutes. Once done, cool it, serve and impress the hungry 😉 Note these: Make sure you grease the paper a bit – my first attempt was sort of ruined because I did not grease the baking paper. Also make sure that your dollops are widely spaced. They tend to …

Not quite right

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I recently purchased a wall art from society6 website and I was so excited to get it hung up. And, I bought a frame for it yesterday from Ikea. But unfortunately, after all that measuring & googling around, I still did not get the right frame. So now it looks rubbish. Here is why: The art size is 56cm x 71cm. The frame sizes in Ikea either allow for 50cm x 70cm or 70cm x 100cm. So I bought this largest one because it’s mount opening was 49cm x 69cm & it would have fit the artwork – but I missed considering the fact that I was measuring the artwork including the borders!!  The print area of the artwork was only 46cm x 61cm. So now the picture looks like I have it cut it out of a magazine and stuck it to the photo frame. And this particular large size ikea frame does not have a glass for front protection! I didn’t even notice this while buying because it has a plastic covering and I basically assumed the glass front …

Fibaro System - Motion Sensor

Sensing things

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Another update on getting our home more smarter – We can now detect “presence” – for real! Nope, we have not become ghostbusters (it would be pretty interesting if we did though), so let me explain. We have basically installed sensors in the hallway and living room. In the hallway ceiling we have fit in the AEOTEC Multisensor. It is a powered by mains electricity (via a mini USB connector) so we had to get an electrician to do this. In the living room ceiling corner, we have mounted the Fibaro Motion Sensor. This one however is battery powered. And it literally only needed to be glued into place. Super easy to install. They sense motion: Both of these sensors are able to detect motion. And it feeds that info back to the ‘home controller’ device, and then on to our phones apps via the openHAB software. This means that via the openHAB app on our mobile devices, we can see if there was “someone” at home. And I just learnt that detecting presence by sensing motion is called the Wasp In a Box technique …

Tangy Nepalese Potato Salad

A tangy Nepalese potato salad

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This is one of my favourite Nepalese dishes. It’s a tangy/spicy potato salad that is pretty popular in my kitchen. Works great as a side dish to a protein. And best of all, so easy to prepare 😀 I prepared this recently and thought to share. P.S. I am also practising my photography. Then put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl. Heat about 4/5 tablespoons of oil and add about 1.5 teaspoon of turmeric powder, 2 teaspoons of fennel seeds some chilli flakes. Remove from heat, just as the fennel seeds turn dark brown and pour it into the mixing bowl. Be careful not to choke on the smoke – again, I speak from many experiences of filling the kitchen in smoke… Then mix them all together with salt and fresh lemon juice. There is no right and wrong in the amount of lemon you can use. Add it according to your liking. But in my case,  I used up a full lemon. And I always like fresh baby peas too – tastes great and adds …

Digital Print Wall Art from Society6

Society6.com is now in my good books

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I was a paintings person – as in, I used to prefer hand painted canvases over any other form of digital print. But with this move, since I have quite a number of walls to pretty up, the budget factor plays a big role… so out goes my preference. They are just too expensive. Anything that can give my bare walls some colour will do. Thank you very much. So I have been looking to buy some digital prints online instead. I recently ordered 2 digital prints from Society6 website. I really liked this online store for the variety of choices and the best thing of all it allowed you to sort the arts by colour theme. And the price was also much cheaper than some similar other websites like Temple & Webster (which I also like a lot, btw). And guess what, I even managed to scoop the free delivery option – free international delivery! I suspected the delivery to take a long time but I was pretty surprised to receive the order in less than 2 weeks. The only thing …

Hazelnut Torte from Flour and Stone - Yum!

A little bit of heaven

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For my little nephew’s birthday, my sister in law bought this heavenly treat – the Hazelnut Torte from Flour and Stone. A rich nutty cake with a generous layer of chocolate ganache topped with roasted hazelnuts. It was Yum! Life is too short to worry about calories 😉 Daily Prompt: No Time to Waste

Living room wall in need of some inspiration

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I am a decor dumbo. Its been 4 months since we moved and I have not been able to figure out a wall art for the living room. I could really use some help here with some ideas, blogs for inspiration, sites/shops where I could buy some (reasonably priced) art – digital print, canvas art, textile art, etc? Please do not tell me to DIY – I am not good at it. On a scale of 1 to 10, I am probably 3. So far I have been browsing/visiting these stores: http://www.westelm.com.au/ http://www.freedom.com.au/ http://www.templeandwebster.com.au/ http://society6.com/ Bought a couple of prints from this site but then realised its going to take 5 weeks to be delivered to Australia 😦 Help me people.

Wildfire by Bipul Chettri

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My knowledge of music and musicians is pretty low. I know whatever I hear most often in the radio. And if you ask me for a favourite singer… I could take a while to answer that (because I don’t have one!). Ask me for a favourite song instead and I could have a few. Basically, I am driven by whatever is popular & I follow the herd in the music scene – Sad & Uninteresting but True. However, there is this singer – Bipul Chettri, in particular that I liked – even before the rest of herd. Technically speaking, I believe he is Indian but his songs are Nepalese language. His songs are categorised as “Folk Rock”. Listen to this song, you don’t need to know the lyrics, but he is talking about about a forest fire that engulfed his little village. Featured in Daily Prompt: By Heart

Sculpture by the Sea

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The annual Sculptures by the Sea event is on in Sydney at the moment and a must see. Amazing sculptures against the backdrop of the beautiful sea and a perfect Australian November weather. And if you get tired along the 2km walking trail, the thought of the Bondi or Tamarama beach at the end of the trail should be reason enough to keep you going. Here are some of my captures.  More photos in my flickr album here >>