Vintage Find: Zeiss Ikon Contaflex IV

Last weekend I went gallivanting around the charming market town of Dorking with Tash. She had been bangin' on about how amazing it was and so I asked her to finally take me, and so she did. Surprise, surprise- it was amazing! A total antiquarian's dream. I even found the ring of my dreams! Of course it was way over my budget, but I did find something else that I loved and it was a total bargain considering its good shape. Lo, and behold- My Zeiss Ikon Contaflex IV! Just so you know, I'm not a photography expert whatsoever. I collect these vintage cameras because they are beautiful pieces, and when they do work- the photos are priceless. WHAT Instagram?? ^^

I took this photo while waiting at the Dorking train station. I know. Classy. 

Launched in 1956, the Contaflex IV was part of a long line of 35mm SLR cameras produced by Zeiss Ikon. The range is one of the earliest SLR cameras equipped with leaf shutters. Unlike I and II, models III and IV were given interchangeable lenses and at the time you could switch from 35mm to 115mm which was regarded as sufficient. I've only started playing with it this week, and thankfully the camera came with a manual. Granted it is a III manual but they are quite similar so it still comes in handy. It also came with a snazzy leather case, which is about the toughest camera case I have ever felt. The leather feels like it can take bullets. 

Rigi-Kulm, Luzern

I was treated by my sister and her fiancee to a lovely weekend this last week, and it made for a great break in what seems to be a rather static lifestyle I'm living at the moment. They are currently based in Switzerland and so during that weekend, they took me to Lucern for lovely scenic trek. It was a far cry from the kind of hiking they're used to doing but it was nevertheless astonishing. Driving up to Luzern was beautiful. The lakeside view of the hills and yachts and the cozy little hamlets were too picturesque, even for my measly Lumix. When we finally got to Rigi, we took a cable car (the only downer in the trip was that the car was full of children. There are certain places that are simply not where crying infants should be, and this was one of those) high up into the mountains where it actually started to drizzle, but it didn't stop me or the tourists. I just wish I had brought a macintosh of a hoodie as I was a tad nippy for the most part. Funnily enough, when we came down the slope, the car was baking hot- as was the rest of Lucern. Anyway, have a look at my little Heidi-of-the-Alps adventure!

A Touch of Pink Summer

You all know that I'm not as big a fan of the sun and heat as the rest of the world (so it seems!), but whenever summer comes around the bend, I look forward to one thing: flowers! 

I absolutely love having fresh flowers on my dresser, and during the season- be it rain or shine (as dictated by the fickle British climes), it just brightens up the room. The colours, the fragrance- it's just a lovely thing to have. I mean anytime of the year really, and I try and have it as often, but summer is special because I get to have my favourite flowers around. I absolutely ADORE peonies and hydrangeas, and this is their time of the year. I was surprised to find pale pink peonies (favourite!) at blooming point at Waitrose the other day because it's still relatively early and even the florists don't have any stock yet, but I was happy to treat myself nonetheless. Especially since they only bloomed once last year and that was a major bummer! 

Anyhow, From me to you, take a piece of my summer!

Have a fantastic Bank Holiday weekend!

Guilty Pleasures To Watch When Down With Man-Flu

As you may have read on my Facebook and Twitter feeds, I am currently nursing a cold. It's not the end of the world I know, but I rarely get them and when I do, they tend to be real bad. Not serious influenza bad but I tend to be the poster child for man-flu. What does this mean for me and the people who live with me? I become rather useless (apart from the bit where I'm still making dinner. Pardon the germs, but you asked for it!) and lifeless that it is a stretch for me just to give a reply if my mum asks me something. To get over the illness, I usually rely on a controversial-veering-towards-unhealthy cocktail of decongestants, echinacea and paracetamols, lots of water, and some great silver screen classics and TV gems. Nothing gives me more lift during these dark times than a light-hearted, genuinely campy feature that guarantees to tickle all that mucus away. And with that, let me share with you my top guilty pleasures that should get you right up and feeling better already. I know it works for me, so why not try it for yourself (try and catch the cold first maybe?) Here we go!

Australia's Next Top Model AND America's Next Top Model- there is nothing more HILARIOUS than watching back-to-back episodes of these two shows. On the one hand you have the Aussies getting down to business and churning veritable modelling stars with legitimate prizes (hello Vogue covers!) and career prospects (check out winners Alice Burdeu and Montana Cox)- and on the other, you have a severely twisted egomaniac torturing girls who will never have a serious shot at a working career outside Los Angeles. Tyra Banks, you light up my life. Now the OZs aren't all that stiff-lipped. They mess up too and when they did, they fucked up majorly; by announcing the wrong winner on live TV. GOLD. PRECIOUS GOLD. 

Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion- perhaps my favourite 90's chickflick of all-time, nobody serves BFF realness than the bombastic duo of Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow. Romy and Michele's aim to impress at their ten-year high school reunion doesn't veer far from how I think mine will go down- except they already invented, inventing Post-Its. Armed with some truly hilarious one-liners, flashy fashions and one epic dance routine, this film will definitely lift your spirits and leave you snapping those fingers and singing loudly to Footloose, oh-kaaay?

A Quick Glance: Tagaytay, Subic, Enchanted Kingdom in Laguna

I have recently come back from a holiday in the Philippines (which has taken seven years in the making) and although I didn't get to go to as many places as I had wanted originally (I never left Luzon!)- I still had fun. Saw some beautiful sights in Tagaytay such as the Taal Volcano, went to a childhood favourite for a sense of nostalgia and walked barefoot at Subic bay during the very early hours of the morning. Here's hoping that the next time I visit, I can finally be the tourist that I want to be in my country! Also, you'll see a couple of snaps from Bohol too- although it was my mum who took it and I'm 'borrowing' them. I guess you can say that I was living vicariously. They are too good not to share!

Film Rolling: Polesden Lacey (10.2012)

During a long weekend visit around Tasha's in Redhill, we decided to go for a Sunday drive. There was nothing to do and since the weather was holding up nicely, we decided to spend the afternoon at Polesden Lacey. At first I thought they kept saying Postlewaithe to which I continually replied, 'Is that a place? Isn't that like south of the border...near Plymouth?'. Geography is clearly not my strongest suit but upon Googling, I found out that it was an Edwardian manor house near Dorking, along the rolling hills of Redhill (Fun Fact: Tasha's great great...granny aunt or something played piano at the house. She was even in one of those creepy Edwardian group portraits! Lots of cankles and ribbons). It was a lovely place, and having the sun that day was divine..which may surprise some of you as I like dwelling in the grey. The light just made the whole place gleam. The trees were greener, the gilded interior shone like Versailles, and the grounds looked positively serene and well manicured (but then again, if it wasn't, the National Trust would not have been doing their job properly!) There were a lot of picnic goers and it was an ideal day for it. Also, lots of sheep. Anyway, enjoy the snaps! 

Film Rolling: Paris 08.2011 (Volume III: Final Roll)

Film Rolling: Paris 08.2011 (Volume II)

Versailles. Gilded, a sculptural paradise- breathtaking.

Film Rolling: Sea Spray and a lot of Ass

Ten Things I Miss: My University Years

It's really not healthy dwelling on the past, but seeing all these Facebook statuses and photos that are both cloying and enviable has made me rather sentimental. I have only just graduated and though three years have gone by as quickly as it came, it's not like I've been completely out of it. I can still relate. In fact, just last week NatWest sent me a Graduate Discount card through the post and a letter saying that they understand that coming off of higher education will always be an opportune moment to bury some student further in debt. See? 

I do miss a few things from my past life as a Classicist-in-the-making, but surprisingly, not one relates to my course or alcohol-induced blackouts (I really do believe that unless you drink a case of Jagermeister and down a whole bottle of sleeping pills, 'blackouts' will forever remain as a petty cop-out to avoid dealing with the shame of last night's antics at the local Oceana.)

So here we go. 

10. Academic S&M- I don't miss the cryptic tendencies of Plato and Heraclitus, but what I do crave every now and again is that bittersweet shot of stress over something scholastic, i.e. an essay due in 12 hours or a dissertation due for May that wasn't started until April. Nothing beats the high and low of having to write 2k+ words a day, only to cut it down to half, go to sleep and then write some more knowing in the back of your mind that this thesis can either take you up a grade boundary or completely erase you from the list of graduands come July. Obviously, things work differently outside that bubble and a career is on the line, but the truth is, sometimes I can't help but feel like I would rather go through the pain of final year again over my current day job.

Be Italian! Buono Appetito.

Today I felt like having Italian for dinner. Although I am completely aware that having carbs and dairy in the same dish will not help me in my bid to lose a few pounds, I thought- fuck it. It seems to be the case with me and food at the moment, but you know what? At the end of the day, it'll just be an extra twenty minutes on the spinning machine and I will go to bed happy. Diet and exercise can wait a day right? I am not about to give up some decadent kitchen time and a major nom nom moment.

After going through my usual repertoire of pasta recipes, I figured I need to try something new- or at least something that isn't Carbonara Alfredo or Spaghetti Bolognese. I remember making Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni before and it was delicious so I decided on that. As it turned out, I didn't have cannelloni in my pantry. I'm very skint at the moment so I couldn't be bothered (can't afford really...!) to buy the damn thing. I did have lasagne sheets however, and what are lasagne sheets if not flattened cannelloni, si? 

The recipe is simple. In fact, I only made it up after seeing someone on TV make it. I can't remember what it was exactly so I resorted to my can-do, easy-breezy-beautiful attitude and winged it. Who doesn't? I'm not baking so precision wasn't a priority. Anyhow, here's my recipe for Spinach and Ricotta Lasagne. Try it out and let me know if you like it. I know I did!

Film Rolling: Paris 08.11 (Volume I)

It's been a year since my maiden voyage to the city of lights and to celebrate that anniversary, I finally decided to have the film rolls I used developed. Okay that's a lie. So I've always been slightly broke whenever I thought about having it processed- but the important thing is that now that I'm a part-timer again, I can afford a trip to Boots.

The camera I used was an old Minolta SLR I picked up at a local charity shop. It came complete with the packaging and extra wide shot lens for practically nothing. I wasn't sure if the thing worked and if it hadn't, my whole Parisian break would have remained undocumented (for the most part anyway). Thankfully the camera worked out great and the shots came out beautifully. I hope you enjoy this first installment! So this set includes shots from Saint-Denis Basilique where I stayed. I should have done my homework because all that time, I was playing neighbours with the remains of Marie Antoinette!

Czar's Take on a Filipino Feast

Yesterday my parents threw me a Graduation dinner party so that we could share the celebration amongst our family and friends. It was fun, especially since I did all the cooking- as dictated by our party agreement; they will agree to host an event so long as I do the cooking. It's actually not that bad since I prefer cooking everything I serve to my guests and just like at school, I like the pressure of hosting a party. The menu last night was a fusion of Mediterranean, Italian and Asian cuisine, which still has some familiar elements to it, only its hardly traditional. There was Piri-Piri Chicken with cooling Coriander Yogurt, a Summer Cous Cous Salad bejeweled with fresh peppers and cherry tomatoes, my take on Filipino cured sausage (longganisa), Bacon and Parmesan stuffed Mushrooms, Saffron Tatties and Roasted Pepper Bruschetta. I like to change my menu up a bit because I get bored easily. Also, in most cases I find that Filipino parties tend to serve the same cuisine almost every time. Not that there's anything wrong with that- I love my cultural repertoire of dishes, but serving them like clockwork makes it less special I feel. I mean, personally, I find it even better to stave off Filipino specialities like Caldereta, Dinuguan, Lechon de Leche, and the rest of the usual suspects so when I do have them, the experience will be superlatively sublime. After all, you don't really eat soul food every day do you? It's also good to try new things, so whenever I host a dinner party I mix it up and fortunately for me, my guests seem to agree :)

Bon appetit!

An Ode to Coffee Lovers...

For a self-proclaimed foodie/domestic goddess, I have been quite bad at documenting my feats. Most times I miss a good Asian-food-photo moment- perhaps out of sheer embarrassment at the thought of taking photos at a fancy restaurant, while sometimes I simply cannot be bothered to blog about my cooking. It did not really help being in a student setting either. True, a limited budget for chow can make for a great opportunity at creating something genius (or a disaster), but other elements such as the lack of space, time and equipment does put a damper at any possibility for a veritable culinary moment. Now that I have finished with University and have settled back home, I can finally recharge my inner Nigella Stewart (get it?) and try out new recipes, create bizarre concoctions and to put it simply, eat. 

I was a bit restless tonight and I wasn't sure why. Maybe it was that I now have nothing but time in my hands, seeing as I am now finished with school...for a long while. Perhaps it was caused by the eight cups of strong coffee I've had since I began my day at 1pm, which would make sense since my right eyelid has also started twitching again. Don't worry, it is not THAT creepy. It just tends to happen when my body feels like it's on caffeine overload. Or if it needs more. Whatever the case, I decided to bake something since it has always been my go to treatment. It's my Chicken Soup for the Soul if that makes sense. There's something in the formulaic chaos of it all that just gets me all Zen-esque. Not to mention, it was around 9pm when I started so the family were all resigned in the salon and I had the quiet kitchen all to myself. It was going to be either a classic Victoria or Vanilla cupcakes since I was really just looking at doing something and I did not want any extra fuss for the time being. However, while I was getting my stuff prepared, I spied about a cup of coffee left from this morning's pot. I thought about Tasha and how the last cake she made was a coffee cake, et voila, I went for that option. It was only going to be a case of substitution anyway so it was still a no-fuss recipe. I referred the Joy of Baking's Stephanie Jaworski's Vanilla Cupcake recipe- only instead of using milk, I opted for Starbucks' Pike Place Roast. Here's a quick run through of the technicalities...

INGREDIENTS:

BATTER:
113g butter, room temperature
3 large eggs
130g caster sugar
195g flour (I used self-raising)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
60ml (1/4 cup) of coffee

GLAZE:
2 tablespoons of Jack Daniel's Whisky
A shot of espresso (or more...depending on consistency and volume you want)
Icing sugar

TOPPING:
Peanut Brittle, roughly pounded

I started thinking of how I could vamp it up a little bit. Buttercream seemed too heavy for the evening and I realised I didn't have enough butter for the batter and the frosting- just one or the other. So, on a Nigella-esque move of making things work, I grabbed the icing sugar, mixed it with a bit of instant espresso and a couple of tablespoons of Jack Daniels I found hidden by my dad behind the cereal boxes. I call it my Irish Coffee Glaze. Snazzy huh? There was no measuring involved as it was a no-brainer type of thing. Just do as you like and feel for the consistency that you want. I wanted a glossy glaze so I stopped mixing as soon as the glaze covered the back of the spoon a little richly and held its place. And what of a finishing flourish? God forbid Nigella or Martha leave a finishing touch out of the equation! I checked the contents of my pantry and there rested a jar of Salted Peanut Brittle from the Philippines. Bashed quickly in the mortar and pestle, and presto! Crystalline brittle sprinkles. I think I'll have one for breakfast with an espresso. After all, to a real caffeine lover, is there really such a thing as coffee overload? ^^

Until next time! Try out the recipe and tell me what you think.

Love,