sixthseal.com turns 12!

The title might seem a little odd, considering that I just wrote about my 11th blog anniversary yesterday. However, these are events that happened one (and two, respectively) years ago. My blog is actually celebrating it’s 13th anniversary this year and I’m doing a quick spot of catching up!

This is the part where I collect all the noteworthy posts of the previous (in relation to this post) year, which means 19th April 2013 to 19th April 2014.

Just think of the date today as 19th April 2014 and it’ll make more sense.

Come and jump back one year with me while I go through some of the most interesting posts of the “previous” year, in chronological order:

How to cook kangaroo meat: A kangaroo roast dinner!
20 April 2013
I cook a 5-course meal with kangaroo roast as the highlight with the limited kitchen in our Melbourne serviced apartment. We were at our first overseas trip together and I managed to cobble together a more-than-passable dinner for my dear with a dessert of kiwiberries in white chocolate and caramel during our last night in Australia.

My girlfriend’s two birthdays!
25 April 2013
I surprise my better half by planning a trip to Siem Reap in Cambodia without her knowledge. I just told her to bring her passport. 🙂 The boutique hotel we stayed in was awesome – they made a “Happy Honeymoon” sign with leaves on our bed and spread rose petals, had champagne on ice, and even agreed to spring a surprise birthday cake while I got my dear to wait at the swimming pool!

Eating pong tia koon – Cambodian balut!
30 April 2013
There was a balut post last year and there will be one this year! We went to Cambodia to try out their version of fertilized duck embryo. They call it pong tia koon and the Khmer style is a lot more delicious than Philippines preparation. They add a lot of lime, chilli and herbs, making this a truly delectable street eat.

Eating Fried Insects in Bangkok: Beetles, grasshoppers, frogs, crickets, worms, red ants!
13 May 2013
Haha! I even have a video of me eating the various insects while doing a running commentary and review.

The Damnoen Saduak Floating Market Scam
22 May 2013
I’m very proud of this entry. It was an adventure in hindsight (even though I was quite pissed off at the time) and the best thing that came out of this was random strangers thanking me via the comments and email for letting them know. There were many cases where they were literally inside the taxi when they read my post and aborted their trip. It feels good to write stuff like this and get appreciative notes from people who managed to avoid the scam via my blog post.

Home made deep-fried Mars bar
26 May 2013
I’m quite chuffed to have made this at home…with EVOO to boot! I also deep fried Twix, Snickers, Kit Kat Chunky and Cadbury Crunchie.

Shooting clay pigeons with a shotgun at Phuket Shooting Range
2 June 2013
There was a firearms post in the previous anniversary post (and also the 1st sixthseal.com blog anniversary post) and I’m proud to continue this tradition this year. This time it’s some skeet shooting action from Phuket!

A trip to the SS2 wet market (pasar pagi)
28 July 2013
The domestication of sixthseal.com.

Rosti cottage pie with fresh Chorizo sausages, bacon, minced pork, fennel, curly kale and kidney
30 July 2013
I do a spot of cooking. You can find all my cooking posts by clicking on the Cooking category. I’m particularly proud of:
Unagi with Kansas City BBQ sauce and single malt Scotch whisky
How to Make Stuffed Artichokes
Guide to cooking an artichoke
Sautéed Jerusalem artichokes with garlic and mushrooms in white wine
Buttered King Grouper with White Wine Reduction in Bouchees Poissons
Homemade Creamy Broccoli Pesto with Pasta
How to French Cut a whole chicken into a crown of breast (step-by-step with photos)
Wild flower honey and dates marinated free range chicken rice from scratch!
Sweet pineapple + Greek yoghurt sandwich with alfalfa sprouts & beans, vintage cheddar and Chiang Mai strawberry on Poppy seed bread
How to make venison steak tartare
We really cooked a lot in this year, it’s a passion we share together. 🙂

Fireworks accident: Aerial starburst shell from 3″ mortar explodes on ground after hitting obstruction!
8 August 2013
This has happened many times before, some with catastrophically destructive consequences. This wasn’t so bad in comparison, but it was the only time I managed to catch it on camera as a video clip! What happened in a nutshell:

1. First shell of the five inside the mortar tube launched
2. It had such a powerful lift charge the mortar tube shifted
3. Second shell still left the tube safely and burst in the air
4. Third shell hit the metal slab and bounced back down and burst one meter away
5. Videographer (me) shouted “Shit!” in surprise at the force of the blast
6. Forth shell exploded right in front of me, showering me with flaming debris
7. I shouted “Fuck!” in a bit of a panic as I saw the mortar canted at an angle towards the house
8. Fifth and last shell went into the porch and exploded beside a car

Pork skin noodles – making noodles out of pig skin
9 September 2013
This is one of my kitchen experiments. It didn’t turn out very well. Haha.

Highlights of our Langkawi trip: A foul madame, Underwater World and chocolates
15 September 2013
I bring the kids and my better half to the island resort of Langkawi for our first family trip outside of Klang Valley! 🙂

The infamous RM 35 bowl of noodles in Sibu!
16 October 2013
My dear came back to Sibu with me for the first time! She met my mom and dad, and they both loved her, which was a good thing since my mom passed on not long after this. It’s shocking to think that in the span of a few months, my mom went from fine, to assisted walking (with her stick), to wheelchair, to bed-ridden before she finally left us. I’m glad my mom knows I am in good hands before she went.

Our weekend trip to Gold Coast Morib Resort!
23 October 2013
This is another trip we took with the kids just a month after our Langkawi trip – the smallest one is about to start school so we’re making the most of the time while she still can go. Now both of them are in school so we can only do trips on school holidays.

My visit to the Berlin Wall
6 December 2013
I finally write about my visit to Berlin! This is the second time I’ve been to Germany and this trip covers Dresden, Wolfsburg, and Frankfurt too. The Berlin Wall now is slightly tourist kitsch but that doesn’t take away from its historical significance.

Our Christmas / New Year Turkey, Brussels Sprout and Peach Trifle Dinner!
3 January 2014
This is the start of a wonderful tradition – I cook a turkey and we invite her mom and dad over for dinner, it’s a great family gathering with the kids and everyone else.

Our MasterChef Australia 5-Course Dinner @ the apartment
8 January 2014
This is actually an Christmas present from my dear. She comes up with the best gift ideas. We both enjoyed the dinner immensely.

I found Finnish fireworks for sale in KL!
20 January 2014
You know it’s the start of Chinese New Year when I start writing about fireworks. 😀

Poon Choi @ Restaurant Lee Hong Kee
15 February 2014
This is another great family tradition that we started this year – having poon choy (big bowl feast) together with her mom and dad. The kids enjoyed our two traditions so much that they’ve requested for turkey this year again. I love cooking turkey for Christmas and hunting for a good poon choy during Chinese New Year.

10 things we did during our weekend staycation
25 February 2014
I love taking the time out to spend quality time with my soul mate, even if it’s just a staycation at a hotel in the middle of KL, it still feels like a holiday! It’s not about where you go, but who you go with.

Gordon Ramsay’s duck breast with Madeira jus, tomatillo apple cranberry chutney and parsnip purée
2 March 2014
This is one of my more successful dishes. It’s delicious, if I may say so myself. The other one is the Poached chicken breast with beetroot and nectarine purée.

My mom’s funeral
25 March 2014
My dear came down to be with me in this time of need. My mom passed on earlier in the month – it’s a good thing all of us were beside her at the time. We had her wake a few days later. I didn’t post much this month – only 5, the lowest ever recorded in sixthseal.com history, except for the time I restarted blogging after losing everything when coming out of drug rehab (a story I will share in my proper 13th anniversary post tomorrow).

My other social media sites:
Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/sixthseal
YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/sixthsealdotcom
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/sixthseal
http://www.facebook.com/SixthSealcom

Here’s the list of my previous of blog anniversary posts:
2003: sixthseal.com 1st Birthday
2004: sixthseal.com 2nd Birthday!
2005: sixthseal.com 3rd Birthday!
2006: sixthseal.com 4th Birthday!
2007: I was in rehab. There are (officially) no posts in 2007.
2008: I just got out of rehab. There is no 2007 recap to be done coz there are no posts in that year.
2009: Seven years of sixthseal.com
2010: I was in New Zealand at the time while my mom underwent an operation for lung cancer. I’m not sure what happened to the blog anniversary post, most likely I didn’t do one coz I was too caught up with stuff. Time for another retrograde!
2011: Happy 9th bloganivarsary sixthseal.com!
2012: Happy Blogday – 10 years of sixthseal.com!
2013: Happy Blogniversary – 11 years of sixthseal.com!

That’s it! I’ve finished playing catch-up, the timeline is now restored to normal.

Thanks for reading everyone, and I’ll be back tomorrow for the PROPER sixthseal.com 13th blog anniversary post, which falls on the 19th April 2015! 🙂