I have a large stack of tea of my dresser which proves just how much Chinese love tea. No not me. Chinese. Every time I visit my professors I am offered a cup of 茶 cha, and when I compliment them on the clean and flavorful taste, I'm blessed with a couple packets or boxes. It took me a while, but I finally realized that I should just shut up and drink the tea.

Truth is I am more of a 'bush girl'. My grand-aunt always knew the right herbs to brew for ailments or just simply breakfast. Big thyme, Sage, Lemon-grass and those others that shall remain nameless but effective. Yes, I forgot their names. Blame the language hurdles. But by the time I moved here, I got so passionate about drinking hot water that I slowly lost the passion for tea. So when my friend asked me for a birthday cake with green tea flavor as the only requirement, I was like


What was green tea doing in baking goods? When did this happen? Sure enough google confirmed this. A closer look at that green-coloured cake in the local bakery proved the theory of selective hearing or in this case, selective sight. I was obviously out of my depth here. So I enlisted some help from my Indonesians sisters, connoisseurs of all these cute, sweet, and turning everything into a party and came up with this.

Green Tea Matcha Frosting

1 1/2-2 cups icing sugar
1 cup butter at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
5 tsp Green Tea Matcha powder *
2 tbsp milk

* So the basis of a buttercream frosting is butter and sugar proportions usually  of 1:4. These have to be adjusted when you add green tea powder. Since the flavor of my powder wasn't as strong as expected, more matcha meant more butter. It may not be the same it your case so be open to experimenting.

1. Blend softened butter and icing sugar until smooth. Mix in vanilla.

2. Add Matcha powder teaspoon by teaspoon until you taste the perfect balance of vanilla and green tea.

3. Slowly add milk until you achieve your desired consistency


+ The cake was a vanilla box cake which I coloured red and white trying to mimic the Indonesian flag. Big fail. The fact that the oven only heated at the bottom and I didn't realized until four cakes later didn't faze me either. I am so over naughty ovens and throwing kitchen tantrums. It may not look like my perfect chocolate cake but it tasted heavenly and that is no exaggeration. The cute minions were also specially requested. This will hopefully be my last time manipulating fondant without tools #whosaidyouneedagymforarmday #mytonedarmsproveotherwise #flotuslookout

After cardio exercises, the body needs water, simple sugars and electrolytes to recharge. Depending on where your fruit was grown you can get up to 85-89g of Moisture, 8-12g of Carbohydrates, 13-26mg of Magnesium, 158g-437mg Potassium, 14-35mg Sodium, 85-890ug Vitamin A, 8-9mg Vitamin C from every 100g.  This is an energy drink in pink wrapping paper without the calories and loads of sugar.

Today was a lazy, bean soup kinda day *cue Bruno Mars*. The secret to good soup? Throwing the fridge in there. So what happens when the fridge is on strike except for 2 day old gnocchi? Welcome potato dumplings!





Since they usually only need about 4 minutes to cook, I waited until the soup was almost at my point of readiness to add half cup of gnocchi. As they were store-bought, they were already salted. Something to consider.

All cinemas around the globe hold one thing true....over-priced food and beverages. They have led the common man to ban together in the smuggling of contraband under the watchful eyes of security cameras. When I should be sporting a lady-like clutch purse so that my outfit can be on point, I'm usually lugging a jockey bag like a bootlegger. None the less, adapting is what I do, especially for the sake of food.

In addition to upgrading my bag, I have refined my list of necessities. Hello! While you guys are enjoying mind blasting trailers, I'm over here trying to survive through advertisements for orthopaedic doctors and the latest household appliances. (What age group are they expecting anyway?). I'm usually finished with half my popcorn by then. If it's an action movie and most times it is, delivery speed of food to mouth is directly proportional to the acceleration of people falling out of sky-scrapers. Now that we have established the situation, let's get to the things that keep my sanity.


1. Random food

I really should eat dinner BEFORE I go the movies but it never occurs to me I'm going to the cinema until I'm there. So I usually scout around quickly to stock up on fries, chicken wings, a couple steamed buns and spicy tofu. Kinda like Bonita '2words' Brown in 'Things Blacks folks say at Weddings'






2. Water

I have to admit that cinema popcorn is the best. And until I master that perfect caramel coating there is no point of sneaking mine in. But just like the super salty pretzels on the streets of NY, they get me really thirsty. And it's much easier to carry that 1 L bottle than pay twice the price for it.

3. Wet wipes

Like I have to explain.

4. Perfume

Every good undercover agent has a back-up plan. Mine is spraying and eating cuz steamed bun and spicy tofu are polluting the atmosphere and I need to cover my tracks.

5. Tissues

In romance movies or drama, of course I'll drop a couple water markers. But Fast 7 caught me off-guard. I was audibly sobbing. And what's worst, most of the movie goers didn't seem to know the Paul Walker story and were walking out *SPOILERS* during the beach scene. I lost it and screamed my head off at their lack of sensitivity. Nope. I put on my thug shades and was very grateful my row cleared out just before the big waves broke against my eyelashes. All that to say, never assume you won't need tissues during an action movie. Always be prepared. #GirlGuideHonour