Act Like A Freak

There wasn't much happening after Soundwave, just lots of uni and macarons being produced. After the excitement of having a successful batch, something happened which made my subsequent batches not turning out right, or how I wanted them to, it was making me very frustrated. [Warning: The rest of paragraph is me complaining about my "bad" macarons batches, so skip ahead if you don't feel like reading them] I resorted to the internet and youtube videos, but couldn't find the source for my problems, and there were a lot of conflicting information out there , that I really was confused. After making one last "bad" batch, I was fed up, I was overthinking the process. I was racking my brain to figure out why I had that one batch of perfect macarons, finally I deduced that it was my mindset when making them. I was very carefree and thoughtless when  making the good batch, so that's what I tried to emulate when making this next batch. So I beat the eggs, and folded in the dry ingredients, not taking too much care or thinking about if I was doing the right thing and popped them in the oven. After about 5 minutes of watching them rise and grow feet in the oven, I was amazed and very relieved that they had finally turned out right! The feet was spreading outwards, but stayed vertical. Although I still have problems with the texture, the shells are hollow, they looked so much better! There was a constant supply of macarons in the fridge, and when there wasn't, that was an excuse to make another batch. It was procrastibaking basically. I haven't tried any adventurous flavors because my taste palate isn't very refined but someday maybe. The flavours I have made are salted caramel, chocolate ganache, pistachio, raspberry, passionfruit, coffee and nutella. I don't think I can eat another macaron for a long time, well the ones that I've made anyways, I'd accept a Lauderee, Zumbarons or La Belle Miette any day!

My hip hop class ended for the semester, and there was an informal performance for the parents. It was really nervous just because I'm not a very good dancer, and don't have swag whatsoever. Overall I really enjoyed the class, and I'm glad that I know dance moves to a few songs. I managed to make only small mistakes in the performance which I'm hoping that no one saw. My friends and I would have liked to return for the second semester, with uni becoming a lot busier, and assessments coming up, it wasn't very plausible.

Finally, the mid semester break came along, and it was a very welcomed break, I had been in the GC for 9 weeks, which is the longest amount of time that I had been there since I've started. However, those weeks have gone by incredibly fast so I didn't mind too much. I had the intention of studying during the break, but things just kept popping up and I would rather go out than study. There wasn't that urgency to study yet, usually that kicks in a week before the assessment. Anywho, the holidays were super fun and packed with quality friends and family time (and also another 4 batches of macarons being made!). Arriving in Melbourne on thursday night, and it was very cold (compared to GC), a mild 12 degrees.

On Good Friday, my friends and I had a picnic at Botanical Gardens. It was lovely to catch up with everyone whom I haven't seen for so long, especially Monisha! Ayanthi made us awesome boxes filled with easter eggs. We tried to have a easter hunt and it was so hard to find the mini Cadbury eggs in the grass. Initially it was Ayanthi sitting down and randomly throwing the eggs around us, while we had to close our eyes,which progressed to Ayanthi and Susan properly hiding the eggs around our picnic area. It took us a lot longer than expected to find all the eggs! There was this funny incident that occurred but I'm afraid I won't expand on that, if you ask me in real life, I'll try to explain it but it's more of a you had to be there thing. It was so nice and comforting, laying on the grass and just talking, very carefree and relaxing. We headed back into the city for dinner, everyone had pho cravings! The first restaurant we went to, the waitress was a little rude and Ayanthi did not like how we were being treated, so we decided to leave (after Mon and Susan used their bathroom). There are not many pho choices in the city, so we headed to the one on Swanston Street, it was very busy when we walked in. Thinking they were going to tell us to wait, I was doubtful, but then they led us to their upstairs room and it was completely empty! We had the whole floor to ourselves, that was pretty awesome. The waiter we had was cool too, he kept joking and mocking us but in a funny way, so we weren't offended. Also Susan decides to run around the floor just because we could. It was a very very good day, and a perfect to start the holidays!

There wasn't much happening until Monday, where there was a gathering at Tom's house. It was good to see him and Van again! Also I went to Coles in the morning and bought some 50% Easter Eggs, unfortunately there no more Lindt bunnies. I bought some chocolate for Tom's parents, although I admit I was slightly tempted to keep them for myself. I ended up getting a bag of the Cadbury little eggs, which my brother and I ate very quickly, they are so addictive and don't seem like much because they're so small! We played Cluedo, and it was Van and I's first time. We weren't very good even though we played together as a team, we were not being very subtle because we kept whispering our ideas/thoughts to each other, which was obviously heard by everyone else. I'm only just starting to get into board games, I never played them as a child, maybe because I always thought they were too complicated, which in hindsight as a 21 year old, they are. Lunch was delicious as always, and quite formal with the table setting. Afterwards we played this card game which involved a lot memory, I'm not going to even try to describe it because that would just further demonstrate my poor language skills. But I don't have a very good memory, so it didn't work out so well for me but it was fun game to play anyways. I never knew there are so many games in the world, but I love being slowly introduced to them.

On Tuesday, I went op shopping because its something I have to do when I'm back in Melbourne! I spend so long in one shop sometimes, and then feel pressured to buy something, which I generally do. It's more awkward in smaller shops when the assistants can see you and know how long you've been in there. I visited a couple more op shops and then quickly headed to Footscray to buy some random things at the variety store. Mum and I went to Highpoint for grocery shopping and I bought some figs because I was curious, they use them all the time on the cooking shows. However I never got around to making anything with the fig, but ate them fresh, they're pretty yummy!

On Wednesday, I headed over to Mon's place for a sleepover. I was very excited because I hadn't seen Scooby in so long! We made some lunch, and then Sneha came over. We waited for Sharline to come over and started making macarons. I was hoping that it would work even though I was in a different kitchen. I had pre-packed all the ingredients the night before, so they look like drug bags, that made me laugh. Like what would happened if there was a random police check? Anywho, I made the macarons and everything, and they turned out awesome, I left it in the oven a little longer because I felt like the insides were still undercooked, but I ended up over-baking them. Over-baking macarons is preferable actually, if you fill them and leave them in the fridge over night, they will absorb the moisture and become the right texture. But it was too hard for everyone to not eat them straight away =P There were salted caramel and pistachio flavoured, my staple flavours for macarons. The colour in the shells was way too pale for my liking but I didn't want to add too much moisture to the batch. Well my friends seem to enjoy them, so that makes me happy. Susan came over, just as Sneha left shortly after just finishing the macarons. When we were finished eating the macarons, Susan suggested we start making dinner. We decided on a mushroom veggie pie, because there was a load of mushrooms in the fridge.

On Friday, I went to a spontaneous outing for V's very belated bday, it was just a get together for the holidays because I think the pharm people were away on placement. I had only decided to go the night before, well that's when I found out about the thing anyways, but I went because it's always good to see your friends. There were people whom I haven't seen in ages, so it was nice to catch up with them, although I was the odd one out of the group, because it was a group meet-up in which I wasn't really part of the friendship group. But me and awkward get along so well, it just doesn't bother me anymore. Also most of us had chicken parmigiana, it was massive, okay-tasting, none of us could finish it!

On Saturday evening, it was Thanh's birthday, which was a lovely and intimate gathering. The house was so nice, and we decided that we all should chip in together to buy a house in a rich suburb, and then time share the place. It was awesome to see everyone, and there was Bon and Monique whom I havent seen in a long time as well. We ate some delicious food, it was gourmet, according to my standards! Then we took some photos, obviously they were random posed photos, whatever weird idea that crosses our minds. Afterwards, we played scrabble which took a long time, I think it was my first time playing scrabble, it got very fustrating when you have such a good word but then have to wait until it's your turn, by then the word spaces have already been taken. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time for Cluedo, but there's always next time! Thanh opened her presents, and she seemed to like them, very helpful with a specific wish list. Also we ate Golden Gaytimes for "cake" which was sooo good, it was my first one in a while. Anywho, the night ended and people had to leave, it was sad because that was last outing with my friends before I head back.

Okay I'm sorry that was a super long post, with not many photos, but hopefully it makes up for the lack of posting. I will try to do an op shop haul post soon, because I have bought so many things! Uni has been very busy since after the break with my mid-sem exams and studying/cramming. It has eased down but it's going to start up again EOS exams are very soon, and I realized how screwed I am because I have to learn 15 weeks worth of stuff for multiple subjects.
Also I finally got a new laptop! Nothing fancy, and I still miss my old one, I wish I didn't abuse it so much, any who this one is good, and it doesn't spontaneously freeze at sudden movements.