Japanese style cheesecake

Long time ago, I tried to make a perfect cheesecake like on the photos. But Austria is not the home of the cheesecake and so we do not have a perfect recipe for it.

I used a German recipe but the cake became so heavy so everybody was stuffed up and nobody wanted to eat it any more.

The problem was the difference of Germany´s "Quark" and Austrian "Topfen". Quark is more fluid than Topfen but there is no Quark in Austria.

The next time I used an American recipe but the cake was not well baked through! It was half-raw, even after 2 hours in the oven.

So I gave it up.

When I visited a Kobe pastry in November 2009, I ate the most perfect cheesecake and asked the shopkeeper how to make it. I also told him my problems and sadly he was not allowed to tell the recipe. But he recommended a good cooking book for cheesecakes and I bought it then.

Voilá - yesterday I was able to make the perfect cheesecake thanks to the Japanese recipe book!

The secret was to use plain yoghurt in which the water was drained out instead of Quark or Topfen. And the most perfect topic was at the end of this recipe book: to use Philadelphia "Doppelrahmstufe" or Kiri - cheese for children.

I was so happy, I shot some photos and I want to share the cake with you (I am sorry, the photos are not perfect but it was night already and I didn´t care about good light in my happiness):

Oups - I forgot it...My Asian BBQ

Because it was so hectic before my departure to Japan, I forgot to ad this to my blog.

In October I had my Asian BBQ and I was surprised how many people came and how lively it was. And we had soooooo much Malay Satay and Thai Satay so we all wondered how we can eat all of them! But it was eaten till the last crumb! Incredible how much people like exotic Satay!

Plus Sushi and Maki were also popular, but not by me...

Korean Kimchi, personally made by my friend Lucy was also a super idea and people liked it too.

It was a success.

And here the photos:

(from left to right: Patricia, Sonja, Lucy, Bayaraa, Liz and me)

The Kimchi was in the turquoise box...

Carneval (= Fasching)

Saturday was my first carneval after having the last one during my university years.

There were a lot of people from the Spot Association of the Deaf people. I knew some of them from their visiting to MUSA, the Museum of Contemporary Art of the City of Vienna.

My friend who dressed herself as Japanese schoolgirl is a big fan of Korean drama "Changgum", so I dressed myself as Korean woman of Choson/Joseon era.

Look at the Hanbok in the previos pictures. From before to after it was a lot of work but it looks better now.

The surprise of my friend was big. It was successful then,

Lucy and Sonja as Japanese schoolgirls (￣▽+￣*)

Bayaraa from Mongolia as Parisian Girl

Last day of the Christmas tree

Today was the last day I could enjoy the Christmas tree. Epiphany is over and it´s always the signal to take off the decorations and bring the tree to a so-called collection point for wasting.

The old trees will be given the elephants of Schoenbrunn Zoo because they like dry needles on the trees and also like to play with the woods.

11 months to the next Christmas...

Today winter was back. Now a glimpse from my balcony on the dried flowers of the last summer...

Needlework

Finally after the big sewing with the sewing machine, there as a need for sewing with the hands.

My fingers still hurt a little..

Ah, and not to forget: the ironing at the end (＞＜;)

20 years old sewing machine

When I was still in Junior High School, one of my biggest wish at Christmas was a Sewing Machine which I used it at school. It was an Elna Jubilee made in Switzerland. Mechanic things made in Switzerland were popular, had good quality and were expensive.

But my wish was the Elna Jubilee and after my parents inquired about where to buy in my school, finally it was under the Christmas tree 20 years ago!

She stills work excellent, is easy to handle and she never was broken. I hope that I will have her for a very long time.

With her, I changed the Korean Hanbok and made white socks Korean style.

The needles are Clover Flower needles I bought at Yuzuwaya in Tokyo.

Korean Hanbok

My friend Lucy will give a Carneval Party at Saturday and I will wear a Korean Hanbok. I got it from a friend from Seoul.

But there is always a slight problem with a Hanbok because it is not well suited for Western bodies. But inspired by some Korean movies who play in Joseon/Choson period like Changgum, I made some changes.

2 days long I cut, re-modelled and sew at the Hanbok till I got the one which also suits a Western body.

But now my fingers hurt from sewing with the needles because the fabric is so stiff.

This was the Hanbok before changing:

My favourite Korean drama

Hotelier (MBC)

One of the most grippling and hardly-to-forget Korean series is "Hotelier" starring Bae Yoon Jun (BYJ) as charismatic and passionated Shin Dong-Hyuk or Frank Shin.

If you ever missed this serie, please watch it someday!

I got caught in this hotel drama with big intense, so I watched 4 episodes per day! (・・。)ゞ

I cannot help myself but it´s so hard to wait for the final stage! Will both, Shin and Seo come together? Well, I know the end because I watched the whole story before my departure to Japan in a quick time....

I want to watch it again and I startet at New Year with episode 1.

And the scene in the pool is always hot like Chili! Look out for it!

新年あけましておめでとうございます！

皆様、新年あけましておめでとうございます！

今年もよろしくおねがいいたします！

Nomura Mansai´s "Kuninusubito"

I was lucky to had the chance to watch my favourite actor Nomura Mansai twice in Tokyo thanks to Junko-san.

My friend was able to get me the tickets - and my dream came true.

To see Nomura Mansai on stage live is a great experience. 8 years long, I only saw him on TV and DVDs but this time, I was able to see a great performance.

Nomura Mansai likes Shakespeare like me and transformed "King Richard III" (the one who shouted "A kingdom for a horse!") into a Japanese drama.

I was totally surprised about the stage which was the best I ever saw in my lifetime! The stage was so inspiring!

It was worth to take the night bus from Kyoto to Tokyo and back at the same day. Thanks to Manami who organized the bus for me in Tokyo while I was sitting in Kyoto.