Manneken Pis in Villeurbanne

One of my posts about Amsterdam mentioned a fries chain called Manneken Pis. Some time ago, I was going to the post office near my place when I noticed this shop:


It's got the same name, so I was kinda hoping it was one of those fries shops, but turns out it's just a bar-restaurant. Besides, a Google search made me discover that Manneken Pis is in fact a landmark in Brussels...for more information here's the Wikipedia article. I had seen photos of the statue before, but didn't know its name...

(For your information, Villeurbanne is the town where I live, in the outskirts of Lyon.)

[postdated entry - when this is published I shall be in the train to Paris :D]

Microwave popcorn

Tomorrow's my last exam, and on Sunday I shall be leaving for Paris...going to squat at Mai's place for a while before taking my flight on the 1st of July. So...who's gonna be in Kuantan?

I don't really have much to blog about at the moment, but some time back I took a few photos of microwave popcorn, so I shall put them to use! I don't know whether we find this in Malaysia...I didn't even know we could find it here, I just happened to see the packet one day. And since I have a microwave, I decided to buy a packet to try.

This is what I bought:

Sucré means sweet. There was salé (salty) as well, but I prefer sweet popcorn ;)

Open the packet, and you see this:

On the paper bag there are instructions in a whole lot of languages (including English and French), so I'm thinking that Champion (the supermarket) bought this in bulk and packaged it themselves.

The bag has to be unfolded and put in the microwave.

They're very particular about which side should be facing up or down...

And this is the bag ballooning up as the popcorn pop.

Done!

And inside?


Popcorn, of course. (duh! :P)

Really, it wasn't bad. :)

Banana dessert

Okay, I know it doesn't look that great...

I tried this dessert in a Vietnamese restaurant once. I had been thinking of trying to make it, but never came around to it...till a few days ago. It was because I happened to have too many ripe bananas...:P

It wasn't as creamy as I'd have liked, the texture wasn't very smooth...maybe it's because I used coconut powder instead of coconut milk.

I put coconut milk, sugar and banana, that's all. You can figure out the quantities yourself...

I thought of putting some sago into it, but forgot when I was cooking it :/ Oh well, that'll be for next time! (I do think I should use less ripe bananas though...)

Strangely happy

Strangely happy.
Happy-clappy, like Yieng would say.
Happy-skippy, even.
I wonder why.

I'm going home soon!
But it still doesn't explain my slight euphoria.
Listening to Michael Learns To Rock now.

(I rant here sometimes, I should post happy stuff as well, right? ;) )

A taste of home

I'm past denial. I can cook!

a taste of home
(don't know what happened to the top of the photo...)

I also took a photo of my fridge; here's what it looks like at the moment:


Anyone else want to send me postcards so that I can put them there? Give me a return address and I shall send one back! ;)

Lousy global warming

Is this supposed to be global warming? It's already past mid-June, and until now there hasn't been one really hot day! (instead, there has been lots of rain...darn Lyon weather!) It's already exam-time, and we still need two layers of clothing most of the time (except sometimes when the sun comes out in the afternoon)

This morning it's pretty sunny, and the weather forecast predicts temperature between 17°C and 27°C in the next ten days. I shall keep my fingers crossed...

Wonderful headlines

I have to thank Erin for this one...some of these headlines are just hilarious!

I'm only on the third page for now...

Tin kosong

I can't believe it. I saw this mistake twice in just a few days. Instead of raisonner (to reason), they wrote résonner (to resonate). Made me think of the tin kosong* saying...in French it could be:

Si ça résonne, ça raisonne pas!

What's more, it makes a lovely pun 'cos the two words are pronounced the same way.

*empty cans make more noise - it means only empty-headed people boast

I am so stupid

Sometimes ranting in private is useless. You just have to let someone read it.

I am so stupid.

There!

Creativity

It's surprising how many tests I take say that I'm creative...

One test said that I should take up art as my college major, saying that I'm "sensitive, creative, and don't follow established rules". Another said that I would teach potions as Hogwarts, because I'm "a creative person". (I don't see the connection though...)

And a test called "How creative are you?" actually returned the result "the creative soul" and said that I was "very creative". I wonder what the other results were...

Can someone enlighten me about how I'm supposedly creative? I find myself always in lack of ideas...