A friend in our line of work once said: work, rest or play - we get to choose two out of three. I might be a little slower on the uptake, because ever since I started working, I certainly felt that I haven't been playing or resting enough. Work had been especially demanding in the last couple of years, and I’ve been trying to catch up on some much needed zzz in my off time. When my stars aligned and a sympathetic administrator cut me some slack and approved a whole week of annual leave, it’s nice to take a break and sail away from everyday life.

Boarding Royal Carribean’s Quantum of the Seas marked my first voyage on a cruise. This is a cruise to nowhere, one of those cruises with no ports of call. I didn’t think we missed out on much; I had perfected the art of lounging around at home, and I did just fine doing much of the same on the cruise. Of course, the cruise came with better distractions: water sports, top-notch food and all-round excellent service. 

Wandering along the upper decks brought us to the pool. Or should I say, pools. There are several open air pools on deck. In the covered (and climate controlled) indoors section, there was a cascading series of pools. Hot tubs are present in both the indoors and outdoors section, and we spent our mornings bouncing from hot tubs to pools to poolside chairs where I caught up on some much-needed tanning. Every hour is cocktail hour at the poolside bar, and other cruise-goers were sitting around with a drink in hand - or three. An especially popular water activity nearby was the Flow Rider. It’s as hard as it looked. I could get up to my knees, but standing on the board was too much for me and I wiped out a few times quite spectacularly in the ten or so minutes. 

Many dry activities are spread out across the ship. The Seaplex has an arcade. Aside from the usual games, it is also home to Bumper cars. We also gave rock climbing a go, although amongst the milling crowd, the number of spectators outnumber the participants. The gym is pretty well-equipped, though I prefer to work off the meals at the open air the running track on the deck. Running under the stars in the cool night air is quite pleasant, and as the ship powers through the ocean at night, you get a constant stiff wind blowing front to back of the ship.

Once on board, our days were filled with a godly amount of food. The fun part about cruises is to relinquish all thoughts of meal prep, and let a professional take the wheel. A lot of effort had gone into preparing food for the thousand-odd people on the Quantum of the Seas, and it showed. The meals were spectacular, even the basic ticket-inclusive meals at the Main Dining Room (which was really anything but basic). Every meal is an elaborate affair, with lunches and dinners being three-course sittings. Not that you had to limit yourselves to just three courses per meal: you could try all the dishes you like! The menu changes daily, and some dishes only may appear for one meal. (Sometimes to my chagrin, because holy sh*t, some dishes were fabulous, and I wouldn’t have mind eating again. The Steak Diane, for example, which I practically inhaled. And their delectable Crispy Coconut Shrimps.) The first nights’ menu was especially spectacular, with escargots and aged prime ribs on the menu. (I didn’t try ordering two prime ribs. I don’t think they’ll refuse, but my stomach may pitch a revolt.) For people who likes their meals a bit more casual, there’s also a concurrent buffet line running in the Windjammer Marketplace (also ticket-inclusive). Because I'm one of those who can't eat very much in one sitting but will happily snack throughout the day, I like eating at the Main Dining Room, and then popping by the buffet line to grab some fruits and cheese back to our room for supper, where we sit on the balcony overlooking the sea. The fridge in our room makes it ideal for storing beverages as well as buffet stowaways:) 

Aside from takeaway food, there were also several complimentary snacking venues available throughout the day, so you'll never have to worry about going hungry. Try as we might, I couldn't quite manage to eat every fancy sausage from the Seaplex Dog House, nor every pizza flavour from Sorrento’s. And I’m ashamed to say, we didn’t try most of the cakes, pies and sandwiches from Cafe Promenade. 

My days on board revolved around live acts, meal times and water activities. Scheduled entertainment run at regular intervals. Music performances range from solo guitarists in a cozy bar to an entire orchestra in the amphitheater. We saw a cabaret show, a juggling show, and my personal favourite, the acrobatic act done by the talented Revazov couple. The acrobatic show was so spectacular, I could’ve watched them every night. 

At the time when we bought the cruise tickets, four days seemed like the right duration. But on the fourth day after breakfast, I really didn't want to depart the ship, and wished we had gotten a longer duration. Barring the ploy to hide on the ship for round 2 while everybody else alights (which really wouldn't work too great for you), I guess we just have to book another trip, and soon. 

Tips for the Cruise  

Bring USD: It is easy to overlook that Royal Carribean is from the US. Its economy runs on the USD. The pubs and restaurants on board, the duty-free shopping and the gratuity (USD $10/pax/day) are charged in USD. If you're not from the US, have a think about which credit card you would like to use to pay with at the end of the trip, so you won't be scrambling on the last night. (A Youtrip card/app works well, which I brought along with me. I had some USD stored in the card back from my trip to LA). If you’re not from the US, you will also need a multiplug adapter for your devices. 

The Royal Carribean App: Get it. You check-in via the app. Once on the ship, seats for activities and shows are reserved via the app. It also tells you the menu for every meal throughout the cruise. Checking in was a little buggy on my iphone, but using my partner's Android, I was able to complete my check-in. 

Shows and Activities: Once we got aboard and linked up to the ship’s wifi, we could make reservations to shows and activities. Try to make your reservations soon upon boarding, as tickets do run out. (However, do also rock up early before the show starts if you would like better seats, as these shows are free-seating.) Bookings for popular activities such as the Flowrider or Rock Climbing Under The Stars are released in intervals at certain timings. You should speak with Guest Services for release timings and check the app at regular intervals for new reservation slots which do pop up time and again. 

Cruise packages: There are packages for alcoholic drinks, internet access or specialty restaurants. You will typically get an email for such discounted prices a few days before the cruise starts, and that’s when you should sign up if you’re keen. Connecting to the free wifi powers only the app. To get internet access, you’ll have to purchase their data package (as below). AirSIM is a company that I usually use for data services when travelling overseas, though I left it behind for the cruise. As this ship oscillates between the coast of Malaysia and Indonesia, providers such as AirSIM may not work. 

Meals: The ticket-inclusive meals blew me away with its quality, and echoing other guests, the food is especially more luxurious on our first day and last day. You will have a great time without going to other specialty restaurants, though if you are still keen to do so, I suggest booking specialty restaurants on mid-cruise days. 

Amenities: I was pleasantly surprised. Our room is not luxurious, but perfectly clean, and spacious enough for the two of us. A 2-in-1 shower gel is provided but you may prefer to bring your own. While two 500ml water bottles are provided for drinking, we went ahead and brought our water bottles. Water coolers are down because of the pandemic restrictions, but after each meal, our servers are kind enough to fill our bottles for us. 

The private balcony attached to our room was a godsend. We didn’t quite realise how good it would be until we got on the ship. In this ongoing pandemic, it was our personal space to relax with a glass of wine while watching the sea waves and feeling the breeze on our face. We ate platters of cheese and fruits, and hot dogs and pizzas. Even desserts like profiteroles and tiramisu from the dining room and buffet line made their way into our balcony.  We spent an inordinate amount of lounging in our balcony, compared to the amount of time we spent in the common areas on the ship that are overlooking the sea.

There is a TV, but we had no luck playing our own entertainment from our phones or computer. A lot of finesse was required to get our HDMI cable into the TV port, but even after, the software running on the TV prevented  our personal devices from playing on the screen. It was initially possible using an Android phone connected to the TV via a USB-C cable, but the quality was poor and the movie was laggy. But perhaps we shouldn't be watching streaming services on a cruise anyway? There's plenty more things to do, even if it's just getting a sun-tan on our balcony. 

I had always thought of condiments as a mere accessory to dumplings (just splash some black rice vinegar at the dumplings, amirite?), but my recent dish obsession called 红油抄手 (Sichuan red oil dumplings) have changed my mind.

红油抄手 is a commonly found dish to be honest, and New Shanghai in Melbourne makes a particular terrific version with peanut butter (!) that I'm still thinking about years later. But recent cravings caused me to spend the better part of a month fervently mixing up vinegar, soy sauce and chili in different proportions to get the most flavour out of them. 

Dumpling Sauce

Original Recipe from The Woks of Life
For about a dozen dumplings

I've adjusted to the sauce to my taste, and bumped down the saltiness. I've kept all the ingredients listed in a single unit, which simplifies scaling up/down as required. If you think need a bit more sauce, use a slightly larger spoon, or a tablespoon, a serving spoon, or even a small cup. 

INGREDIENTS
1 teaspoon minced garlic (about 1-2 cloves) 
1 teaspoon sugar
3 teaspoon hot water
4 teaspoon soy sauce 
1 teaspoon black rice vinegar
1 teaspoon chili flakes steeped in chili oil, such as 老干妈 Lao Gan Ma
½ teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted 

STEPS

Mince garlic. Set aside. 

In a bowl, combine sugar with hot water until well dissolved. Add garlic and the rest of the ingredients (excluding the sesame seed) and stir to combine. 

In a small saucepan set over low heat, lightly toast sesame seeds, about half a minute. Just before serving, stir the sesame seeds into the soy mixture. Serve alongside the dumplings. 

Warning: this bread will make you take a video, so you can record yourself cutting into the crunchy blistered crust.

The bread baking craze of the pandemic has been around since last year, but because I'm a little slower on the uptake (and a backlog of other recipes to explore), I've only been able to get around to baking my own loaves of bread now. There have been batches of terrific cinnamon rolls, courtesy of King Arthur, and an English brioche-like loaf from Paul Hollywood, but this marks my journey into the world of crusty bread loaves that I adore.       

This recipe is the first crusty bread that I'd ever made, and is a success from the first go. The steps are pretty simple to follow, there are no special ingredients. As the name suggests, you just have to mix the ingredients together, and no need to knead. 

The dough has a long downtime. As the dough develops over the course of a week, each step is spaced apart by days. This is a feature and not a bug! It’s great for the days when everybody is stuffed to the brim, but you still have the itch to do something with your hands. Between each long downtime, you can bring it out and work on it a little, then pop it into the fridge at your convenience and let it flourish.   

No-Knead Bread
Adapted from Kenji López-Alt's Better No-Knead Bread, with additional steps taken from his video
Makes 1 small loaf of bread

INGREDIENTS

300g bread flour or all-purpose flour
4.5g (about 3/4 teaspoon) salt
3g (about 1/2 teaspoon) active dry yeast
210g water

STEPS

Whisk flour, salt, and yeast in a large bowl until well-mixed. Add water and combine the ingredients with a spatula until no areas of dry flour remains. Cover the bowl with a lid and let rest at room temperature for between 12 to 24 hours. The dough will rise over the day and double in volume, so choose a large bowl with adequate volume. 

Place the large bowl in the refrigerator, and let rest for at least 3 days (and up to 5 days). The dough might deflate from its time in the fridge. The long resting period allows the gluten to develop, and is not meant for the dough to continue rising further.    

Turn out the dough onto a well-floured surface, such as a large cutting board or a clean table. Turn it once or twice and shape it into a round loaf. Line a large bowl with a well-floured kitchen towel and nest the dough inside. Cover the bowl with a metal tray (you will be turning out the dough straight onto the metal tray and baking directly on it after). Rest it at room temperature for at least 2 hours, and up to 4 hours. 

About 30-45 minutes before you want to bake the bread, preheat oven to 230°C with a rack set in the lower middle position.

When you're ready to bake, turn out the dough onto the metal tray. Coat the blade of a knife with flour and slash the top of the dough about two to three times, 1/2 inch deep each. Set the dough with the metal tray into the oven. Lightly wet a large oven-proof bowl that can fit over the dough (Essentially, you just pour a bit of water into the large bowl, swirl the water around to coat the sides of the bowl and then pour excess water out. You can see the process here - skip to 20:00 minute.) Then set the bowl upside down to cover the dough in the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes with the bowl on, then remove the bowl from the oven and continue to bake for about 20-30 minutes more, until the top and bottom is crisp and well-browned. Remove the bread from the oven. Rest on a wire rack for about 15 minutes before slicing and serving. 

Storing
Excess bread can be wrapped in foil and stored at room temperature for up to three days. Lightly toast in a hot oven or toaster before serving.

A Sally Lunn bun first struck me with its whimsical name. Exactly what is this bread that everybody has been low-key making over and over again? And how can I get my mittens on one? 

Well, it's a bread with a great-looking exterior, that's for sure. A deep golden brown crust, shiny from a milk glaze. It's soft and yields easily to a bread knife. The bread interior is fine-crumbed and lightly yellow, gorgeous with a daub of clotted cream or a smear of jam.  

This teacake dates back to the 17th century, and attributed to a Huguenot refugee called Solange Luyon who settled in Bath and brought this sweet yeast bun to the region. The English language butchered her name into "Sally Lunn", and 400 years later, here we are (or so the legend goes.) Others offer up another version of the teacake's origin: it was originally known as "soleil et lune" ("sun and moon" in French, representing its golden crust and white interior). . A similar amount of butchering of the French words over 400 years, (I'm sensing a common theme here), voilà, it's now known as Sally Lunn. I'll leave the origins debate to the experts, while I focus on what I do best: snacking. 

Sally Lunn Buns
Original Recipe from Paul Hollywood's British Baking
Makes 1 loaf
As good as each slice tastes, cut straight from the loaf while still warm from the oven, I find them even better when sliced and lightly toasted.   

INGREDIENTS
275g bread flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp granulated sugar
7g sachet dried, instant yeast
30g unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg, beaten
100-120ml milk
To Glaze: 2 tsp sugar mixed with 2 tsp milk

STEPS

In a large bowl, add flour. Add salt and sugar on one side and the yeast on the other. Make a little well in the middle of the dry ingredients, and add the butter, egg and about 2/3 of the milk. Using your hand, combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients in a circular manner, all the flour has been incorporated. Continue to drizzle in a little more milk at a time, until the dough becomes be soft and sticky (You might not need all of the milk.)

In the same bowl, continue to knead the dough for about 5-10 minutes; it will be progressively less sticky, and more cohesive and smooth with kneading. Then place the dough into a large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let rise for about 2-3 hours.

Lightly butter a deep cake pan, and tip the dough into it. Push the dough around a bit and fold the dough in on itself until the skin of the dough is taut and vaguely round in shape (no need to be obsessive). Leave the dough to rise for about an hour, until about doubled in size.  

Preheat an oven to 200C/180Fan/Gas6. In a rack set to the lower 1/3 of the oven, bake for 15-20 minutes until risen and golden brown on the top. 

Brush the top and sides with the glaze as soon as it comes out of the oven. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. It could be sliced and served warm as is, or individual slices can be lightly toasted prior to serving, until each slice has a slightly crisp exterior.