Happy Father's Day: Matchamisu success!

Happy Father's Day to my beloved personal chauffeur, insect-catcher and kopi kaki:)

Since I dont know what my father wants, I decided to make something special for the special dad-- Matchamisu. It's totally self-improvised and I didnt follow any recipe hahaha. I'm glad it turned out fine and my family enjoyed it:) Here's some snapshots of my proud creation and recipe:

Decorated with marshmallows and chocolate chips

Layers of mascarpone cheese, matcha-soaked ladyfingers and azuki beans

Recipe for Matchamisu (serves 5)
500g Mascarpone cheese
12 ladyfingers (the biscuits, not the plant:P)
2 heaped tablespoons of sugar (to taste)
1 teaspoonful of vanilla essence (to taste)
Boiling water 
3 heaped teaspoon of matcha powder
1 can of azuki beans
Marshmallows and chocolate chips

1. Mix mascarpone cheese, vanilla essence and sugar together until well combined 
2. Prepare matcha liquid by adding matcha powder into around 200ml of boiling water in a wide bowl
3. Dip ladyfingers into the matcha liquid by coating it in the liquid on both sides, then lay as the base in the baking tin (don't soak it too long as it'll disintegrate)
4. Spread a layer of mascarpone mixture over it
5. Spread a layer of azuki bean over it
6. Alternate with layers of ladyfingers, mascarpone and azuki bean.
7. End off with a layer of mascarpone cheese (make sure it is not too thick) and dust with green tea powder/cocoa powder. 
8. Decorate as desired
9. Chill for at least 12 hours before serving.

*The proportions above are what I used. Depending on your tastebuds, you may want to add in more sugar/matcha or experiment with different ingredients:)
**As it is a chilled non-bake recipe, it is quite tricky getting the tiramisu out of the tin. One good way will be to scoop it out using a spatula:)

Preparation for Father's Day Present:)

Green Tea Azuki Bean Tiramisu

Made green tea azuki bean tiramisu as Father's Day present:) I totally didn't follow any recipe and all the ingredients and proportions were self-improvised. Hopefully it turns out fine and that he'll like it:) Can't wait for the tasting session tomorrow! ^^

[RANDOM MUSINGS] Altruism

Had a talk with dad over afternoon tea and this was the topic of discussion. These are all my personal opinions. There are many ways of looking at this topic so don't feel offended if your views are different from mine:)
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Altruism: the desire and act of helping others without expecting anything in return. Has the connotation of selfless help. 

Is there really altruism today? This sparked off a huge debate against positive psychology since decades ago. Till now there is no clear cut answer.

Positive psychology states that people are naturally good-willed. When we see others in distress, it is of our human nature to extend a helping hand to these people. When we see an old lady fall down, it is because of our altruistic nature to step forward and help her up. However many people beg to differ. Is our intentions that simple? Do we really expect nothing in return when helping others? Some psychologists attribute it to the social nature of human beings. For instance, some people may help the old lady simply to gain the recognition and acceptance from other people, such as gaining the applause from the public who watch you helping the old lady. Some may help hoping to reap some benefits from the old lady. Some may help to make themselves feel less guilty by gaining good karma. In such cases, does that mean that altruism do not exist? This seems to point to the possibility that every "act of kindness" has a reciprocal connotation attached to it, whereby people do not help simply for the sake of helping, but rather, to gain something out of it. It is quite sad that human beings are framed in such a negative light, isn't it? Whatever happened to all the teachings of being kind-hearted and pure?

Prior to the start of my internship, I was briefly introduced to the concept of social entrepreneurship. Social enterprises refer to companies who operate with the intention of solving a social problem. Examples include 18 chefs which is a cafe revolving around the aim of giving ex-convicts a second chance by re-integrating them into the society. Another good example is NTUC Foodfare, which provides affordable meals for the working adults and elderly to alleviate the effects of inflation. I was truly inspired by such intentions where aspirations to make the society a better place overtakes money as the top priority in setting up a company. This sparked off my curiosity which prompted me to research more on social enterprises.

However one thing dawned on me. If you have the passion but no money, how do you go about setting up a company? Indeed, there is a wide range of government organizations and self-help groups providing professional advice and financial help to social enterprises locally. Despite so, maintaining a company is no easy feat and compounded by the volatile nature of the market, social enterprises are prone to failure. There is only this amount of money, this amount of resources, this amount of energy. How are you going to sustain if your company doesn't perform? Given that social enterprises are different from charity organizations in that they are business in nature, they are typically self-sustainable. This means that the revenue earned from productive economic activities are channelled towards covering costs and dedicated to the resolution of social problems. One thing to ponder, if your company is not money-oriented and you don't have enough money for your company, your physiological needs is not met. How then are you going to go about helping others when you can't help myself? Indeed, money is an important barrier to consider. Nonetheless, I truly applaud the efforts of such social enterprises as they are great platforms in offering aid to those who have fallen into the creaks of the society. As the famous quote goes, "a little effort goes a long way". "No act of helping, no matter how small, is wasted" - Aesop. What goes around comes around. Start small, and you'll be surprised how your act of kindness can go a long way, be it making someone's day or bringing about social changes.

Cheers to the efforts of this group of people who are truly passionate about being change-makers, who sincerely want to improve the lives of the society. We may not be as skilled in cooking as Mr Benny Se-Teo to set up a restaurant (18chefs) to provide employment opportunities to ex-convicts, but we can show our support and acceptance towards them. We may not have a big organization like NTUC to open up foodcourts to provide affordable food fares, but we can dedicate some of our time to volunteer. We may not have wealth like Martha Stewart to donate to provide food for thousands of children, but we can dedicate our time to volunteer to bring smiles to tens of children.

Credit: http://geniusquotes.net/kindness-is-like-coffee/

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*Disclaimer: This is based purely on my personal views and different people may have different views.
Despite the debates against positive psychology, I still believe there are people out there who genuinely help out of their good intentions. I truly salute these people. It is this group of people who make the society a warm and happy place to live in:)

Internship

Today's internship workplace is at NUS Business School! It is the 4th workplace I've went to for my internship so far:P Being the facilitator for Youth Enterpreneurship Symposium (YES), our company was in charge of the event. Not as well-organized as we expected, but we ended off on a high note:)

My lovely interns

As I reflected about today's event, I felt really grateful for landing in this internship. Indeed, there was alot of complaints about various aspects of the internship where I felt unjust, unhappy and angsty but I'm glad I have this crazy bunch of fun-loving people whom I can crap with. Without this bunch of people, I doubt I will be able to survive this internship. Suaning each other every few sentences, making fun of the guys, camwhoring sessions are all bits and pieces of the lovely memories we shared with each other. 1 month is a short period of time, but it's quite surprising how we manage to bond with each other within the 1st week of work. Thank you guys for being such great peeps. 12 more days of nonsense with each other:)

It is the people inside who make a company a company. 

Finding the Silver Lining amidst the Black Clouds

To be honest, I was quite unhappy and frustrated over my internship boss. Don't be mistaken, I love the job scope, working environment and I LOVE my fellow comrades. It's just some things which made me have a bad impression of my boss, which I shall not comment further.

Today was the best day of internship so far, TGIF. All 6 of us are finally reunited after days of separation due to undertaking of different projects. The whole day was filled with nonsense. Playing CS during our breaks, and psycho-ing the manly boys to try the Bear Bites burger were just small bites of happiness.

Group selfie with our cute bear burgers

Bear Bites is a Taiwan themed fast food located at the ground floor of Scape. The printed paws on the burger buns made it unique. In addition, you get to choose the flavor of the bun that varies from squid ink to yam to strawberry. They also have different sauces to choose from, including tartare sauce and thai chilli. The fries that came along with the set was also hand-cut. They are similar to Mos burger fries as they are chunky and nicely fried:) Food was awesome, not to mention that the company we enjoyed which was even awesome-er. Good food=happy us :P

I thought the kbox session after work with my fellow comrades is a great end to the frustrating week. But rainbow appears after rainy weather. I received an email informing me that I have clinched the tuition assignment (despite screwing up my interview). Really thankful for such a wonderful Friday. The funny clique, the nice food, the golden opportunity. If not for my army of crazy peeps, I would have quit long ago. Looking forward to 15 more days of craziness with you guys:) Guess I'll really miss their randomness and bromance after this internship:(

Special Gift from Father: NEW BLENDER:)

So, on the 8th day of my smoothie breakfast plan, my old blender broke its "leg". Thus it retired from its duty and passed its duty to the new blender. New toy kindly sponsored by my dad:) Thankew dad for the awesome present! Now I have additional motivation to continue my smoothie plan^^

Celery+Carrot+Mango smoothie

My dad asked "So after so many days of smoothies, do you feel any difference?" Well, I have only started on this 1 week ago, so in such a short period of time of course there wont be marked difference. But I feel happier every day, because I know I had a healthy breakfast and knowing that you have a healthy start to a day just makes you happy:) There's always something sweet to look forward to every morning and it is really great fun experimenting with different fruits and veggies^^ 

For those interested in trying out smoothies, can always check out the smoothie recipes listed on the sidebar at the right hand side of my blog:) All the smoothies look good and smoothies are generally cheap and easy and hassle free. Best of all, it is healthy and guilt-free sweet treats:)

#eatclean

After listening to my friend raving about all the benefits of a clean diet, I decided to embark on this special challenge- green smoothie for breakfast. Shall see how long I can sustain on this green smoothie brekkie:)

 Personal favorite for now: Celery + Carrots + Mango.
Some people may eew at the thought of a green smoothie and the addition of veggies may scare away many. But trust me, this is not that green afterall. Especially since mangoes help to enhance the sweetness of the drink, making u happy in the morning ^^

Bringing raw vegan diet to a whole new level, she made a RAW VEGAN fruit pie for my family:D The crust is raw, made from walnuts, dates and dessicated coconut. Instead of the usual fattening custard filling, she used mango puree which added sweetness to the pie. And finally, an array of colourful fruits for aesthetic purposes:) The pie was quite chewy and crunchy because of the coconut. The pie was generally a great attempt which received good review from my picky dad:P

Who says healthy diet and desserts have to be mutually exclusive?