OK I decided to blog again because so many people have been complaining that my
blog is dead.

It's just that since army started for me there has been very little time for me to do

what I want.

I've already been enlisted for 5 months now and by the end of this week, I would have

burnt all my leave for the year. After completing my Basic Military training in mid

June, I was posted to the School of Infantry Specialists (SISPEC) camp in pasir laba

for my Basic Section Leader Course (BSLC) which lasted exactly 8 weeks. I passed out

of the course last friday and will be reporting to my new unit for my advanced

specialist course. "Specialist" is the term used by the SAF to classify sergeants and

warrant officers in the armed forces. So basically what all that terminology means is

that I am currently training to be a sergeant and will be promoted in 14 weeks time.

As for my posting, it couldn't be better. I was posted to become an artillery spec, so my next training phase will be in the school of artillery (SOAY) which is located at Khatib camp, which is only 20 mins away from my home. So when I got the posting I was immensely relieved and surprised and grateful to God as well. Also, the artillery course is significantly shorter (8 weeks to infantry's 13 weeks) and not as shiong as the infantry course...which most people ended up in. But I guess God is also giving me more time and energy to pursue my other life goals in this one and a half year more...which i will discuss in the next blog post.

Meanwhile....many things have been happening during my months in army that a
single blog post would not suffice to bare them all. One thing interesting I did during
my BMT block leave as to try baking. And this is what I tried to bake.


Durian puffs:P


Its actually quite easy to make, so after browsing through several internet recipes and
lugging home 5 durians from my neighbourhood durian store, I got down to work.
First, the pastry had to be baked, and this was the most disastrous part, because i was
too impatient to mix the water and flour bit by bit. Anyway this was how it turned out.



After that I prepared the durian fillings (durian pulp from 3 durians, a dash of honey
and sugar and a generous helping of whipped cream plus milk), and started filling the
pastries.





Don't know why I was scowling here...must be the light



Taste test by the household maitre'd...

And voila, finished product. I made 40 in all. Half of them went to my family (the occasion was father's day), a sixth went to my class kids in chariskidz, another sixth to auntie sandy and family(coz she mentioned to me once that she loved durian) and the last sixth to charis youth friends. And the very last piece, to someone special.


All in all, quite a success for an amateur baker. The richness and texture of the durian cream was perfect, not too watery, not too thick, and with a slight sweetsour tang
from the top grade honey I used. the pastry was also ok, but a bit too thick and there
were some with hardened bits like horns sticking out. but the paste itself more than
compensated for the shortcomings.The texture was further enhanced by the durian
fibre mixed in(since i used real, unblended durian pulp) which provided something
sweet to chew on.

Dear reader, at this point I feel it is appropiate to warn you not to drool on your
keyboard if you are already salivating:P

So ended a mini gastromonic adventure that took me 8 hours and 20 bucks in all
(approx). Next thing on the menu to try: cheesecake

Next blog post up on thurs or fri.