The Sea Fairy

Dragon

2012-02-04T20:03:00.000-08:00

I work hard for the money uh huh

2012-02-03T17:47:00.001-08:00

Andrew came back and in his luggage a package from my parents. Looooooooooooot time. Yum lots of yummies and schmanzies.
I like what the red bag contains. Yummilicious truffelicious.

And now we have morrels again we are saved!

SALGUEIRO 2012 SAMBA OFICIAL

2012-02-01T17:39:00.000-08:00

Funny we heard this song when we were there in October. They were going to vote on the song for the carnival. It gives me goose pumps.

Carnaval 2012

2012-02-01T17:34:00.000-08:00

Puta que saudades! So ouvir as musicas e tou chorrando como as cataratas de Foz de Iguacu.
Today is chandeleur. The crepe day! It is carnival starting soon also. I was reading that in the North of France in Dunkerque they celebrate carnival like crazy. It has its sets of codes and languages. You are born in it and it flows in your blood. One comment from a reader was saying that for 12 years he stayed away from it and after a few years started crying every time he watched it on TV and he felt he was amputated until he finally decided to go back for it.
From what I understand is that it is quite chaotic but following sets of rules that stem in the past and only if you are from there, you know what to do.
From that article that was quite interesting and a few youtube videos I remember that if it is carnival in Dunkerque it will be carnival in Rio de Janeiro.

In October while we were in Brazil we were brought to a Samba school named Salgueiro.
I took zillions of videos that all got erased and you can imagine the twist in my guts just thinking about it.
It was a very interesting evening. We were totally jetlagged and tired and were in this noisy hangar in this samba school. It was absolutely mind-blowing. People were dancing, singing etc. That night they were presenting a few songs so that in the coming week they would vote which song would be played at carnival in 2012.
The ambiance was out of this world. Even if I am music and rhythm disabled there is this strange phenomenon that happens when I hear samba. I guess it comes from the fact that as a kid I was surrounded by it and it stays in the bones.
So looking at the youtube videos I start crying. A bit of drama queen thingy or maybe more of latin thing and something that is called and know as saudades. How to explain it, cannot but if you are from Brazil (tou pensando em voces Joao e Fe) you will automatically know what I mean by it and most likely you are feeling right HERE right NOW.

This is one of my favourite. I find it very melodic and it does bring tears.
Stupid that is how things are.

So maybe thanks to youtube, my regrets of having erased all my videos will be somehow blunted maybe just a tiny bit.

If you are interested there is a whole webpage with all the samba schools news and stuff on this link. I think they keep it all year round to look at the schools progress.
http://g1.globo.com/carnaval/2011/

papaya action

2012-01-31T18:35:00.000-08:00

Life is hard

2012-01-31T18:31:00.000-08:00

Should I have a coffee or a tea all the while I am chillaxing on the roof.

Funkiest flower

2012-01-31T18:23:00.000-08:00

This is a really weird flower and I still don't know what it is called.
It is a vine that grows erratically whenever it wants to grow. I think it really likes the roof of my terrace. There it has tons of leaves and flowers crazily the "trunk" is not so lush so it looks spindly until it reaches the roof and then thanks to the sun I think it goes weeee crazy.
Nobody can tell me what it is. The smell of the flowers is a bit weird because it is not flowery at all but smells more like Pandan. A bit salty. How can a flower smell salty that I cannot explain but you have to come and put your nose near the flower to understand what I mean.

祝你平安

2012-01-11T18:03:00.000-08:00

祝你平安1
你的心情2现在好吗
你的脸3上还有微笑4吗
人生自古5就有许多6愁7和苦8
请你多一些开心少一些烦恼9

祝18你平安1噢祝18你平安1
让那欢乐19围绕20在你身21边
祝18你平安1噢祝18你平安1
你永远22都幸福23是我最大的心愿24

你的所得还那样10少吗
你付出11还那样10多吗
生活12的路总13有一些不平14事
请你不必15太在意16洒脱17一些过的好

祝18你平安1噢祝18你平安1
让那欢乐19围绕20在你身21边
祝18你平安1噢祝18你平安1
你永远22都幸福23是我最大的心愿24

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erJ25BUMZaA

Para voce Fe!

2012-01-11T17:19:00.001-08:00

Ja fui muito tempo que tenho que te mandar fotos dos cachorrinhos.
Agora voce ta na Italia e imagino que voce tem que ter tantas saudades do Bidu. Biduuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.
Queria tao levar-o connosco. Adorei ele. Uma gracinha. Cai de amor por ele.

The Parental Unit

2012-01-11T17:00:00.000-08:00

Saudades

2012-01-11T16:52:00.000-08:00

Here is a glimpse of what it felt to be back in Brazil.
Thanks to my great loving friends Andrew and I were super happy to be pampered back in Brazil. It is always sad to leave as we leave our friends behind. But 2011 was the year where we got to see Joao twice in a month and that is mind blowing.

The worst yoga ever

2011-12-12T01:32:00.000-08:00

Sometimes things take you unexpectedly and today was one of these days.
There is a class on Mondays which is a bit hard and I try to go so I can improve my yoga a bit even if I feel my yoga has regressed from where it was 3, 4 years ago.
So today the hot room was hot but it did not bother me so much.
We started and I knew from the first few movements I was going to die to day on the mat.
So I cut myself some slack and did only the easy version of the pauses. But to no avail that did not even work.
My arms were aching and felt like they could not support me. My balance which is something I am really good at was in the toilet. I could not stand on one foot. I looked like an idiot. My stamina was just not right though I was not breathing like an ox like a neighbour of mine was. I got extremely frustrated and contemplated either sitting there till the end of the class or just leave which you don't do.
I kept on stopping and refusing to do stuff. My body would not have supported my weight and I am sure I would have fallen flat on my face even doing the most beginner's pose.
Why,oh why? I did way harder classes than that particular one.
I did longer ones too and hotter ones too. But then my brain and body were just. Nope, that is not going to happen.

Smooshed

2011-12-11T17:42:00.000-08:00

Another lizard death has happened in our apartment.
This time it was not a freediving accident in a tea cup but quite a gore mishap. Mr. Lizard was somehow climbing the door near the hinges. Maybe he was asleep or maybe either Andrew or I have a very forceful closing door style.
One night, I am not sure quite when but from the forensic evidence it must be a few days that the poor sod found his body pressed against the door frame rather violently.
Maybe, unprepared the would-be Lizard fakir had not prepared himself for this eventuality and was not in a meditative state nor in a state that would have saved him from being FLATTENED.
Yes that is what happened to that unfortunate Lizard, he met his end dead on flat.
Except that unlike movies his body did not slide down towards the ground, maybe due to a slightly weaker gravitational force due to our living on the 8th floor.
You will tell me it does not matter. Ask Andrew's wall clocks and they will let you on a little secret. Wink Wink Andrew Wink Wink.
So by not sliding down to the floor we found out the flattened corpse of a lizard. The image I would describe is of the kind of a road kill. Eyes, despite dried out, utterly flat. I guess we would have seen through the poor sod if we had scraped it gently like some kind of an archaeologist student on site would have and seen the thing paper thin.
Well even paper thin the lizard had no escape.
I am terribly saddened by this accident. It seems that my place is not either lizard safe or we are having a damn stupid breed of lizards nowadays.
Maybe that one was the same one I saw cuddling the stove burner. (You can let your imagination run wild with that one).
At least we won't have an aflame lizard if that was the one who met an unhappy ending hinged on the door hinge.
May Peace be with you.

The Sangeet

2011-12-06T17:52:00.000-08:00

How do I end up roped in having to dance at Indian weddings?
That is still a mystery! I do not like dancing, I am rhythm disabled person and I look like a trampling elephant. Despite that, I am always roped in Sangeet dancing part.
As friends of the happy couple usually you have to do a little dance, singing part or declaiming part.
Being on a stage is not easy. Being a white elephant is not easy. On a stage, in front of an Indian audience, wearing a sari and dancing on an Indian song Indian moves is just not what I would call it a dream come true.
At Sangeet you have an evening of dancing to entertain the future bride and groom. They are sitting in a nice padded armchairs and get to see dances, songs, and entertainment.
We were only three that did know the moves of our dance. Only three living in Singapore. Thanks to Abhi's cousin's wife we had a choreography that was not too bad. Abhi put the whole thing on YouTube and we were supposed to practice.
We met the afternoon of the Sangeet a few hours before the kick off and most of us learnt the moves in an hour. Most people came from various places around the globe so we 3 ang mo from Singapore were stuck at the front so that the rest of the contingent could follow the moves. Imagine following the moves of a white elephant in a too long sari wearing heels?
We did make the audience clap and cheer by some miracle!
Then we got to eat nice Indian veg food. The rest of the evening turned into a disco where the cousins of the family went wild on the dancing floor. We got to hear some Sri Lankan Music that made me think of Island music.
The DJ put the fire. But funnily enough every DJ Has the same play list as when we were back in our room we heard another Sangeet somewhere with the same music!
By 1215 I was exhausted with the Achilles's tendon considering snapping.
We managed to find our way back thanks to The Operator's organizational skills and patience!

The Happy Couple trying to rehearse their part!

Happy couple sharing some sweetness

The friends trying to dance and not laugh too much.

Firing up the dance floor!

In Jaipur

2011-12-06T07:41:00.000-08:00

Wall ad

2011-12-05T19:33:00.000-08:00

Goat

2011-12-05T19:28:00.000-08:00

Is the goat kissing the guy's head or is it grazing the dude's hair?

Glitter

2011-12-05T19:24:00.000-08:00

A little pink in your life!

2011-12-05T19:18:00.000-08:00

Either it was a colouring accident or she really likes pink. It did stop me on my tracks!
Go Pink Go!

Details

2011-12-05T19:16:00.000-08:00

Ganesh

2011-12-05T19:14:00.000-08:00

Jaipur

2011-12-05T18:49:00.001-08:00

The light was just right! I love this place. I wish I did not have to run a marathon in 20 min flat to see this place. Maybe one day I will walk at my own pace and take as many pics as possible.

Hami Special

2011-11-25T19:47:00.000-08:00

One uses whatever memotechiniques one has under one's hands or foot.

I adore Hami as he is very handy.
For example to remember a particular song, Mustang Sally, I have made it into Muuuuuustang Hamiiiii. It works wonders.

You all know that I have been tackling Chinese for decades (one day I will be able to say centuries. )
Hami again gave me a helping hand.
哈密瓜
How on earth do you learn about that one.
It is called in English a Musk Melon. Musk, Man, Hami melon.
In Chinese it pronounced HAMIGUA. I kid you not.
Hahhahahahhah
Hamigua Hamigua Hamigua, 哈密瓜, 哈密瓜, 哈密瓜
Now this word is never going to leave my brain ever again.

Thanks Hamiiiiiiiiiiiii.

Frustration

2011-11-13T18:56:00.000-08:00

Here we go again. Dealing with the High commission of Canada in Singapore. I think they were born to utterly piss me off.
They are unfortunately unhelpful. How do I travel when they keep your passport for at least 3 weeks? They get their knickers in a twist.
I guess they have not realized that globalization is here now. I guess if you are up in the Canadian wilderness you would not notice that people travel, have visas for other countries. Oh just call the India commission to make sure you can use the valid visa on your canceled passport. As if..... you really think I am going to try my luck?
Then the officer repeated 3 times I had to fill the address on the form for my friend. Well dude since you don't allow my phone to come in the premisses I cannot bloody get the address.

Result?
I have to come back before my travels. Hope I can have a passport to travel during the holidays in Dec.
Sure. What is the chance?

Weeeeeeee.
I need to punch someone.

A garota from Ipanema or overt and non overt operations

2011-10-26T19:23:00.000-07:00

Sometimes just observing my fellow humans makes me have a good laugh.
To make my friend MP proud I joined de flocks of hungry for health Brazilians on the Black and white cobblestone pavement on Ipanema and Copacabana. People where running, walking, dog walking, skating etc. The sun comes up really early in Brazil like earlier than 5 am which is kind of weird and eerie. But I like it though.
Down I went to tow my old and tired and jet-lagged carcass on the famous Ipanema and Copacabana beach. There are tons of people some more fit than others so I did not feel to bad with my snail pace which I still find shameful, Oh coach when, but when will I be able to run 10k in less than 1h30?
On my way back there was this beautiful woman walking with her tennis shoes and just her Brazilian swimsuit. A Brazilian swimsuit no less. She was sporting a pair of sunnies as well. She was quite tall with some dark blonde hair and she seemed to be above 40. Her body was heavenly though. When I turned to look at her walk past I realized that her Brazilian bikini was indeed a Brazilian bikini that does not cover much. I soon also discovered that all the males that were walking, running, biking, skating would turn their head 360. Quite hilarious.
It would probably go like this:
...Scanning.. Scanning... Scan...ouuuuuuuhh
Upload file, big screen, zoom, analyze, analyze
Ouuuh not bad yah, not bad at all,
File under favourites, save multiple files
Send viral to other male friend. Or if we are fans of Peter. F Hamilton,
dataviZing DATAVIZING
Schlurp yummmm yummmmmmmmm

Brazilians had no qualms to twist their necks 3 times around like owls.
The man were from young to old, thin to fat and all had the same head jerk
and smile and facial expression of some professional art collector in
front of the most beautiful painting or sculpture ever created.

Now move back to Singapore, 10 h difference, from a Latin world to and Asian world where even if a woman walked with only panties in the street people would not even notice.

Once again I was running along the Kallang Canal. A cyclist passed me by. I noticed his cap. Then I kept on running a little and there were this group of maids that had already fed the family their breakfast and were taking the dogs out. Taking advantage of being out their were doing a few gym exercise like dancing on the spot and shaking their booties and arms.
I pass them and 20m away I notice a guy sitting and leaning against his bike, using it like prop to hide himself. He was ogling the ladies that were kind of dancing.
I find it really funny too. That was more of a covert operation, using props so that people would not notice that he was looking.

Two different ways of appreciating beauty.

Different views

2011-10-19T01:58:00.000-07:00

What luxury to eat breakfast on the 23rd floor and having a magnificent view of Ipanema and Leblon.
I loved the day when there was fog. It felt eerie and really cool.

Joao

2011-10-19T01:57:00.000-07:00

Joao in Marilhia at his favourite Japanese place.

Haircut

2011-10-19T01:55:00.000-07:00

This time the hair cut was done in Singapore prior to our trip to Brazil.
Andrew wanted to feel how it feels to be like his hero Ronaldo.
Tee heeeeee

Caipirinhas

2011-10-19T01:50:00.000-07:00

It always starts very innocently. This time it was one and only caipirinha... Imagine now if you drink three or four of those suckers.
That one for I don't know what reason hit the both of us at 1/3 of it. Going back to the hotel was indeed a challenge.
At the start all is well and quite satisfied. Then you drink more because it is yummy of course then as the 3rd image shows you that is where blurriness sets in.
oh boy you should have seen us giggle like two teens. It was rather funny.
How I love sharing those moment with Andrew.

Yummies from childhood

2011-10-18T20:17:00.000-07:00

Bons amigos

2011-10-18T20:04:00.000-07:00

Ja tenho tantas saudades de voces.

From Corcovado

2011-10-18T20:01:00.000-07:00

View of the mountains in Rio.

The Famous Maudite

2011-09-13T23:59:00.001-07:00

And no, to all you winos it is not a beer.

doggie in a baggie

2011-09-13T23:56:00.000-07:00

This was taken near Trinity Bellwoods park. I think I may have crossed path with an old friend of mine who has a very cute dog.
Next to where I shot that pic there was a spice shop. I love spices, salts and chilies.

Bike Jam in TO

2011-09-13T23:54:00.000-07:00

Who would have thought that Toronto got the biking bug.
There are way more bikes now than there used to be. The culprit, the bike lanes and that is pretty cool for people who enjoy biking because it makes them feel safer.
At the light in the morning I saw a bike jam. Quite funny.

Interesting

2011-09-13T18:53:00.001-07:00

About a lady changing her clothes in public in the Shanghai MRT.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/what-is-buzzing/shanghainese-women-change-attire-train-003720246.html

Ego Boost vs. ego shoot

2011-09-12T19:39:00.000-07:00

Funny how cultures are different.
In Canada when I go running and stop at the light people in their cars look at me.
It is a great ego boost.
While if you run in Singapore you can ran faster and faster for that ego boost because you will not get it. Nobody looks at me at the lights. No matter what I do, even if I were to run in a bikini I would not get noticed. Ego, shot down!

The garden ball

2011-09-06T04:51:00.000-07:00

Sugar rush dairy rush and all kinds of rushes

2011-09-05T20:17:00.000-07:00

Here are multiple faces of the sugar rush. Masterp P went through the most amazing facial expressions following the ingestion of cupcakes or chocolate milk or chocolate. I think we can include a famous gratin de courgettes in there as well as I still remember melting right in front of me while eating and then moaning when the gratin was offered to some friends. Oh he moaned and pined and cried as his plans for having a bite the next day were obliterated.

Cupcake crawl

2011-09-05T15:06:00.000-07:00

Pub crawl is so passe. Now if you want to be hip and metrosexual you have to hump the latest fad. Ottawa is right in the middle of cupcake fever. In Singapore we have been there and done that and moved on. Though we do have tons of cupcake places in nooks and crannies in the HDB lands.
Mp and I decided that we are chebran and that we ought to jump in the bandwagon and be part of the fad but just as a joke of course.
Undeniable sweet tempation
Follow us on our cupcake crawl.

The rules are the following:
Icing, cake , visual. Marks go up to 10. 10 being the opening of Heaven's door. We do not have to even knock.
Flourshoppe.
Was our first stop being located super conveniently 7 minutes from MP's place.

I popped in and chose a chocolate chipotle cupcake and a coconut cupcake.
They were quite light but the icing was a bit too much I found. The chipotle had a bit of heat too it not too much. It was in the end a bit ecoeurant. Not the chipotle but the icing. The coconut icing was quite cool.
Parham voted 7 for the vanilla coconut and a 5 for the chipotle. For me it was a 6 and a 5. They were good and the marks should not really be something you should follow as it was based on our own palates and they are not that elaborately educated when it comes to cupcake degustation.
http://www.theflourshoppe.ca/

Thimble Cakes
The second cupcake powow took place in the yard again. This time MP was extremely eloquent and was anticipating the sugar rush. MP's hands were wind milling about almost so hard that wind was picking up. He was talking and talking and talking which is quite unusal for MP.

Raspberry and double chocolate.

These two were a bit heavier than the flourshoppe ones. The icing was quite thick and tasty quite creamy as well. The raspberry one was scrumptious.

MP's marks were 7 and 8 same for me.
http://thimblecakes.ca/

Glitz glitzing my glitz, was the third cupcake shop we tried. Parham went to the shop and made the hard decision to choose the cupcakes. I am not sure what his strategy was but we ended up with two excellent choices.
The first one was chocolat / fraise. (Footage is unfortunately not available as the cupcakes were a tad hyper in their box and ended up meshing together and the picture would be far from appetizing if I showed it to you.) With a pale pink icing on top. That icing was quite different from the previous icings we had and I was not entirely sure how it was made. It felt more like sugar glazing than a cream cheese topping. It was indeed quite light. Chocolat Fraise got a 8/10.
The cake were more cakey like and hence heavier. Size also was upsized that we were a bit full after the first one.
Second in line was raspberry cupcake.

The innovation on that one was that it was raspberried inside. The tartness of it was very interesting and I liked it a lot.

How it went is a bit funky but here is a pale attempt at describing the scene.
Attends que tu goutes! tells my friend whose eyes are bigger than UFOs. It is like a gateau but with raspberries and a patisserie icing that is very light with a subtle flavor of maple butter.
See... loooook
Hmmmm, it gets better with every bite he says. Ah c'est bon. That is good icing Oh My God. It melts in the mouth. That is too good.
So I think Parham rated them 8 and 9.
I think mine was 8 and 8 a bit too heavy for me.

Now the cherry on the cake.
By heavenly coincidence we had dinner at Juju's who made us an excellent meal which most likely I will talk about once I get my hands on her pics.
And trust me my friends you better sit down when you read that entry or you can also book your ticket to Vancouver so that you can be fed her delicious meals.

One of their friends brought cupcakes. Master P and I were jumping up and down up and down because like Pavlov dogs now you mention cupcakes we salivate and do all kind of weird rituals.
Vicki had dangled the possibility of making margarita cupcakes. Mucho Margarita cupcakes from a recipe by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (yeah I found the book, I ordered it from the library and BEWARE!!!!!)
Her cupcake was a vegan cupcake and OMG! they were the best ever cupcakes I have ever eaten. Simply Heaven.
10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
They were so amazingly soft and good and yummy and awesome etc.

We crawled over Ottawa had samples that were good but it was a home-made cupcake that stole the show and closed our cupcake crawl experience.

Why have hot yoga in Singapore

2011-09-05T01:10:00.000-07:00

That is still a question I am working on.
Today was a tough class called Hot Vinyasa. The style of this particular teacher is odd it is almost more like acrobatics and directions (need a gps mapping device to find out where your feet and hands end up and we move from one side to the other and follow a weird flow system.)
This was my first class in eons and I thought I was going to throw up and die. I think I got liquefied. Totally and utterly. So much that my big plans for a 6k run after the class morphed itself into a 3k run to a not run at all as I was just not able to fathom taking one more step ahead.
The teacher made my thing of a panther. He is very dark-skinned and when he does his moves it looked like a Panther. It was odd that that image popped up but it deed. He looked feline and graceful at the same time with boring eyes that you could see from the other side of the room. I thought he was going to leap.
I think now I will need a week to get over that class as my core temperature was ready to melt the earth core.

Mooncake frenzy

2011-09-05T00:56:00.000-07:00

Fall is upon us and luckily Mooncakes are back as well to deter our moods from going towards the grey shade.
Ah mooncakes, mooncakes, mooncakes. Double yolks, no yolk, cooked not cooked snow skin with seeds no seeds and with or without truffles.
| sent my stomach on leg correspondent on the street to gauge the temperature for this season.
Report is that the new flavour of the year is DURIAN.... Mhhh, that I am not sure I would jump on the bandwagon for and spend $60 for a few cakes but some people go crazy for the flavouring. I do like eating Durian but I am not sure it goes so well with champagne truffles. I am a classic kind of girl so I like a rather boring snowskin with a boozilicious champagne truffle. Ouh yeah that tickles my fancy quite right.
As usual Takashimaya was having a full display of various hotels and bakeries who compete for customers. It is quite hard indeed to be creative with mooncakes. It seems to be they went around and around all the flavours 500 times.
Maybe next year they should do one with poprocks. That would be absolutely awesome. You can do a champagne truffle with pop rocks or a champagne truffle and the filling of the snowskin with poprocks. Yeah. Dude where are my royalties...
So people were flocking towards the durian mooncakes while my correspondent zeroed in for the champagne truffles.
In the end I think it would be best to just buy champagne truffles and not eat the mooncake. That was a very blinding kind of a moment.

Near Geyalang a huge line up was formed in front of a very local business who does mooncakes. These ones do not have the fancy pantsy truffles but by seeing the number of liner uppers (almost competing with the number of people for H&M. )
Those are total classic, cooked ones with yolk I think.
I did not have the patience to line up. We will see if in the next few days there is not a lull and grab some of those mooncakes.

Catching some sun

2011-09-04T07:51:00.000-07:00

In the neighbourhoods of Ottawa

2011-09-04T07:42:00.000-07:00

What better life than...

2011-08-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

...having awesome friends who live in a really cool place, in a really cool neighbourhood. Ingmar live next the Italian action where there are plenty of neighbourhood cafes and really cool shops. People are outside and sipping their independent coffees on nicely arranged terraces that are blooming with the late summer flowers. All is lush a bit of wind here some clouds there but there is a nice energy in this neighbourhood. Last night in the quest of gelato/ ice-cream we strolled in the neighbourhood and got to see restaurants with people hanging around and neatly designed spaces. All looks really hip, cool, and exciting. The gelato had even a really cool kick that I like, chocolate chili combination gelato. The chili flakes were crunched under my teeth releasing a neat level of heat in my whole mouth. Heavenly I would be saying.
This morning I was greeted at breakfast by the most scrumptious white chocolate peach clafouti. How amazing is that? How amazing to have a friend who cooks such miracles at 1 in the morning just because she has pleasure cooking and wants her friend to melt in tears just at the first bite of her wonderful desserts.
At breakfast we chatted and looked at atlases and talked about places, trips and foods.
Time flew by and I looked it was already lunch time.
But then I was not that hungry and we went on talking about restaurants possibilities. All looks attractive and unfortunately time is short but choices are vast and I would love to have more than three main meals a day and have days that are 72 hours-long to add more dinners, and lunches and brunches and snacks.
We surfed the internet to find cool places and spent hours again being lost in various menus and wonderful foods possibilities.
I think I hatched a plan....
I will loose my plane ticket and passport so that I can just stay here in the heaven that my friends have created.

The confusion of adaptation

2011-08-20T20:37:00.001-07:00

Everybody says that you have to be adaptable, malleable, movable. Times nowadays do not allow you to be set in your ways.
The chameleon that I am says, sure but there are some drawbacks to being gifted at adopting the curtain textures, the wall colourings, the lilt of languages, the secret codewords of human interactions.
My integration level is so heightened that even the shortest period of time makes me blend with the surroundings and I am starting to get confused.
I am starting to want to have a place in every location I visit.
I love Singapore, I love my home there but a mere few weeks in Canada and I do not want to move again, I like the summers here even if they do not have the same smells as when I used to visit Andrew while a student. The heat is not the same either but the leaves are there the gardens are exploding with colours and shapes and smells. I so want to have a funky house in a funky downtown neighbourhood.
Still next week I will be in Hong Kong and what will I say to Andrew? I would not mind living here in HK same for Bangkok etc.
I feel I have lost my bearing. I am like a crazy arrow going round and round in its casing and not knowing where to look because everywhere I could become part of the furniture.
Some of you would hear that and be in awe, I know, but it causes me pain as well to just be spinning and spinning endlessly.
Of course I do not want to settle down, I love discovering places too much but sometimes I almost feel like a chameleon who is put in front of different fabric swatches too fast and he starts having tartan colours in front of the block colour swatch of material or having stripes in front of a polka dot back ground.
I am not sure I like that feeling too much.

The Queen and Beaver

2011-08-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

Gastropub in Toronto.
Back in North America I have noticed that pubs are a place where you get dinner. Andrew and I don't go to pubs that often.
Thinking about pub food I don't feel my stomach somersaulting excitedly at the thought of pub fare. Yes, there is a moment for everything but this time thinking about the food in a pub did not really make me want to go there as there are so many other possibilities.
Last night walking through the streets of Toronto, passing a lot of new restaurants and areas that have changed. We got a good look at Toronto a city that I knew like my back pocket. Now many areas have changed and I feel a bit like a stranger. Some is really familiar and some streets I just wonder if they had ever existed.
It is a strange feeling to seem to know a place but then I would be a bit weary navigating it.
I think I need to spend some time to look at the neighbourhoods and get a feel for them again.
The strangest thing is to drive to a neighbourhood where I used to live where I walked the same street day in and day out for a few year and feel totally alien to it. I am not sure how it happens but if felt familiar but also as if I had never really been there really. I might be losing my marbles. That would not be very fun though.
After walking what seemed a long time we finally parked our little tired legs at the Queen and Beaver pub. We had a nice little spot outside on the balcony on the second floor.
We ordered a pork rillettes with wild cherries, a battered rabbit in a bit of a tangy sauce and some hand made hamburgers and fries.
The two appetizers where amazing. The rabbit was juicy and nice no doubt fed nice little fine herbs and baby carrots. The pork terrine was above my expectation and was a fantabulous rillette that even French would have lost their tongues, forks and snobisme.
Hamburgers landed on our plates, they were gigantenormous. I could not finish them but they were rather tasty.
That was not the straight forward pub fare. This gave me a little more faith into pub food but of course not any pub food but gastropub foods.

Brownies in Canada

2011-08-15T15:37:00.000-07:00

I am not proud not proud at all of what I did today. I was famished for one and also a bit sad as the clouds are a bit low and it looks a bit grey outside.
At the market I did fall for a 500g basket of raspberries that did not last longer than say 5 minutes from their snug little basket to the claws of my fingers to end up in my mouths. Each raspberry I took I looked at, the colours were dark red and they were ripe to satisfaction. Each ended up lingering in my mouth for a little while. The mouth taste buds would feel the little ridges of the ripened fruit and my teeth would squish the juicy red fruit and the tart juice would start zapping my taste buds and wake them up. It was rather spectacular and for a while I did hover around the farmer that sold me the basket. I was really tempted in tasting another sweet basket. I had to extract myself out of the market.
On my way back I passed a bakery where I spotted some brownies. They looked luscious and shiny with a nice little crust.
I got one and crunched a piece and the chocolate goodness sprung in my mouth making me feel all warm and fuzzy. The chocolate taste lingered in my mouth for quite some time.

aircon buzz and cricket chirps

2011-08-07T11:03:00.000-07:00

Quite strange when one lives in an Asian city that is full to the gills. People everywhere, movement everywhere, life everywhere. Here in Canada it feels way different. Size for one makes a difference. All is way bigger hence less people. Last night walking around Otown I felt like there was no one in the streets. After I got off the bus I walked and was the lone soul in the street only the buzz buzz of the aircons and the grasshoppers going crazy. Nobody was out taking advantage of the nice hot night. It is quite weird because soon it is the winter where people have to be stuck inside.
Not sure I understand why it felt so empty.

whassup!

2011-08-05T10:42:00.001-07:00

Banking system in North America

2011-08-03T10:52:00.000-07:00

Some things will never seize to amaze me. Really. How can a giant mammoth of a country or continent continue to function when they are oblivious that out of their borders people also do banking.
Good luck if you want to buy a train ticket from the internet when you have a foreign visa card. Absolutely impossible.
Things like that make me nuts.
I have traveled with my credit cards and bank cards everywhere in the world without any problems from China to Indonesia to Taiwan to India to Europe etc. I have never had any problems in either taking money or others. In North America I cannot take money from ATM and I cannot take a Train ticket.
It is amazing when you think that Singapore is almost the financial platform of the world but Canada does not want to deal with my cards. Ridiculous. Wake up Canada. The hour is at globalization. We are not in the dark ages anymore

How not to be on a diet in Ottawa

2011-08-02T19:52:00.000-07:00

Here am I finally back in Canada after almost three years. MP is welcoming me with big arms and ready to stuff me like a Thanksgiving Turkey. I am not sure that even 10km runs are doing any good for my waist band.
So tonight I wanted to get my revenge on being stuffed to the gills. I look like a piglet in medieval times stuffed with breads and other ingredients and surrounded with potatoes and veggies and of course the apple in my mouth.
MP likes wholesome stuff so goodness ooze out of the organic almond spreads. I know how to take people by the tripes yeah forget the English pronunciation just stick to French. Tonight was my revenge. 3 of my guests had to be rolled to their cars and beds. Hehehehehe.

It all started innocently enough with a nice little appetizer.
Mozzarella with figs and balsamic vinegar and lemon zest. That just make your mouth buzz in such a sensual way that you have never ever experienced before.
It still buzzes hours later.
Then we had mega scallops from an approved shop near Farm Boy what a strange name for a grocery store.
I cut the scallops open and put some carpaccio of truffles in them. Of course did saute them with the truffle oil in which the carpaccio was swimming graciously. That I think gave another dimension to those monster scallops.
Then as if that was not enough I found some fresh pasta and made a porcini cream sauce. Oh Heaven Mother of Heavens.
I do not think there are any words to describe the state of our stomachs after such a pig out except of that image of the Medieval pig stuffed with the apple.

View

2011-06-21T18:11:00.000-07:00

when Europe becomes exotic

2011-06-21T18:09:00.000-07:00

Spring in Switzerland

2011-06-21T18:07:00.000-07:00

Camargue

2011-06-20T22:49:00.000-07:00

The unluckiest dog on the planet

2011-06-20T18:46:00.000-07:00

While thinking of the golden retriever being fussed over by his monk owners and having my heart lifted at the thought my heart sinks low, low, low thinking of a dog not very far from my place. Just around the corner is a magnificent boxer.
He is so beautiful I would love to take him and nurture him.
The saddest thing is that he is attached to a leash day in they out never gets walked out and sits on newspapers because his owners are most likely too lazy to make him smell the fresh air and walk around.
He is there lying on his newspapers day in day out sleeping waiting for the end of his life.
Every time I pass in front of him I want to cry. It is such a beautiful specimen. His face is really nice with a nice defined black mask and a beautiful amber robe.
He is just wasting away and it guts me to the core.

One lucky dog

2011-06-16T17:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday night I stumbled upon a Chinese opera in one of the estates near where I live.
I was running so I decided to do a smaller loop as I knew they would start around 8pm. When I saw them they were putting make up on and so on. I grabbed a bite and went to the place as it was next to a Taoist celebration in a big tent where they pierce tongues and look fierce.
While looking at the opera I saw nice golden retrieve being walked in the grass. He was walked not by one but by four monks in dark burgundy robes and saffron shirts.
Every three meters they were fussing over their dog, petting him, making sure that the leash was not hurting him. His leash by the way was the harness type not the if I pull hard I will choke you.
It made me think. Buddhist monk =compassion. That dog must be really well taken care of. He looked like a damn happy dog. If my theory is correct I think they live just above a canine shop.
See that is a hell of a happy dog. He can milk his compassionate owners and get all the treats he wants from the downstairs doggie heaven.

How Germans see Singaporeans

2011-06-15T19:54:00.000-07:00

It is too bad that the commentators are turning this program about Singapore quirks into a tiny bit of a sneering exercise.

One part that is not entirely true is the temperature taking. For the moment as there are not epidemics around I have not seen any building taking temps. When there is the virulent H1N1 going around then yes there is a whole plan put into place to protect the public as the space is small and there are a lot of people. I don't mind that measures are in place for that.

I actually find it quite intelligent.

These are cool quirks in Singapore. It is what makes life interesting. I find it really entertaining I could do without the negative subtext the commentators are giving. But hey stay there in old Europe battle with E-coli and nuclear stuff.

Leave us to enjoy our quirks with gusto.

The best food for bees

2011-06-15T19:00:00.000-07:00

If that is not heaven for my uncle's bees then I do not know what it could be.
My uncle is a bee keeper and has been for as long as I remember. His approach is a bit laissez-faire and a bit ecolo and I love that. Those bees get the best of Swiss pure air and yummy flowers. He does not add bad stuff in and he is very respectful of his bees. I love his approach really.
I am glad that he is so generous with is honey pots. He keeps us well stocked with honey and Andrew loves that.
This time I was lucky to get 3 different types of honey. It really cool.

I managed to catch my uncle in his workshop. He was handling acid when I came to see him but he dropped whatever he was doing and came to hang out. I got this picture of him. It is the essence of my uncle.

He is the coolest Uncle on the Planet

Get it while you can...

2011-06-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

Of course some will cringe looking at me eating this most delicious French piece of tropezienne. My best friend would just collapse only looking at it at the shop window. My mum would already feel the pounds piling up just looking at it. I don't talk about the reaction of the league of Thin French Women.
To hell with convention.
I love my food and I don't see why I should not.

What is life living for if not to stuff your face with a Tropezienne.

That is Switzerland

2011-06-15T06:41:00.000-07:00

In the old streets of Ipoh

2011-06-14T18:42:00.000-07:00

MEGA 失望

2011-06-14T18:28:00.000-07:00

Oh why but why do I read the news in the mornings.
It is all rubbish. There is nothing that you read that is either serious or not biased
or that as substance.
Even serious news or supposedly serious news end up with trash and poorly written articles.

One piece of news that I could have done without is The Alaskan village idiot running for 2012 US presidency.
2012年美国总统选举.
你给谁投票?
我不知道.他们的候选人真的不强. 这是不可能的选择.

My dear friend Ingrid

2011-06-07T22:14:00.000-07:00

tea plantations

2011-06-07T22:09:00.000-07:00

Brawnies

2011-04-10T21:15:00.000-07:00

How to get Sweta to run around 8km. Just tell her you made brownies. Mine had a twist to them though.... Raw brownies. Yup. She still liked it though.
heheheh

The monkey and pineapple muffin

2011-04-10T21:13:00.000-07:00

Cool muffins bottoms

2011-04-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

Yummy cherry muffins and on top of that vegan. No eggs, no dairy, no bad stuff for you.The cherries were really yummy.

Pandan flan

2011-03-25T20:44:00.001-07:00

Ready for some tanning time.

Edible but can be beautified and a nice caramel can be trickled on top by upsiding it down.

The finished product

Smoking!

2011-03-24T19:36:00.000-07:00

Tea smoked chestnut risotto. That arrested my fast moving eyes. Sounds good right? Sounds complicated too. It was a challenge but I smoked chestnuts last night and Andrew was in heaven with the risotto. He said it tasted smoky. Tee heee. It felt like I was being a shaman in front of my stove gesticulating and gyrating with birch branches and magic. I guess magic was in the cards because I created magic. Yes I am boasting so non Asian to be.
The recipe called for lining a wok with aluminium foil. I do not have a wok so i did in a pan. Then you had to have a rack which I also do not have so I put the anti oil splutter for the pan on as a rack as there are holes in it. Sometimes when it bites I get creative.
I got chestnuts but also water chestnuts just to try and give some crunch to the risotto.
In the aluminium foil there was a mixture of rice, black loose tealeaves, muscovado sugar, molasses (which I did not have so I used agave syrup, cinnamon, allspice.
Then you put the rack or the anti oil splutter on top then the chestnuts then you close all this with more aluminium foil. Then you cook it at medium heat.
In the process I melted the handle of my splutter guard.

It was smoking and smoking in the my kitchen. In the meantime I decided to do some pandan flan caramel and that was funky and epic with the pandan paste exploding everywhere and leaving a bright green trace all around the kitchen, the fingers, the face and most likely my virgin white shirts and pants.
Then I started with the risotto and there the recipe lied it took more than 25 min for my risotto to be edible. It took more than an hour. Maybe the brown rice I used was particularly recalcitrant about being eaten.
While battling the risotto I forgot my chestnuts so they got smoked more than was planned. Then while my attention was drawn towards the top of the stove I forgot the flan in the oven.
To make things even more complicated I decided to indulge in rhubarb and that almost ended up into another coating of coal.
I manage to salvage all my foods and now I see it is all over the shop, no real thought in the combinations of tastes and colours etc.
The risotto was very good and really interesting with the smokey smell and taste of it. Will have to to it again.
The pandan flan was cook and funky looking. As for the rhubarb yum it was good. Too bad Andrew spit it out in the towel beside him.
I guess he doesn't like tarts.

Take 2 on rhubarb

2011-03-18T18:46:00.000-07:00

I am notoriously known for not paying attention when I cook. It results in a lot of burnt bottom dishes and pans. What can I say. I do not sit besite my crockery as this is the toast thingy phenomenon or the water boiling phenomenon if you sit beside the stove it will not boil and the toast will not be ready so I strategically remove myself physically from the kitchen and it happens that it is not only physically but mentally too and often it results on me jumping up from my seat in the office (3, 4 m high) and swearing like a drunken sailor running to the kitchen and swearing even more like a sober sailor.
How many cakes have been either too cooked or charbroiled or just changed into BBQ coals? Countless. The worst I think is risotto. I just disconnect and it ends up crusty at the bottom.
No, I refuse to use a timer as I refuse to use a book marker. I know, shrug.
So the beautiful rhubarb I bought with much anticipation and drool turned out into a BBQ coal bits.

Head Honcho

2011-03-18T17:46:00.000-07:00

I knew my neighbourhood was empty and it is not just the fact that A is flying around the world in a sardine can.
I was walking past a Buddhist association/ temple I have not yet figured it out and saw a sheet of paper hanging on the window. It was telling people that Rimpoche K was somewhere traveling and would be back on Mar 16 with silk air at such and such a time.
Then I thought it had been a long time since I saw the head honcho of the temple who usually like clockwork likes to sit in front of his temple in the morning to enjoy the breeze and look at the life passing by (cars, workers, night workers, children garbage trucks and some other guys on bikes honking for I am not sure what reason yet. Maybe knives sharpening or your guess is better than mine.)
Then since the 16 the head Honcho with his saffron and dark burgundy robes is gracing his seat again. Maybe he is not Rimpoche K maybe he is. It is too much of a coincidence unless he accompanied the Rimpoche on his trip.
Nevertheless it was almost empty not to have this vigil at my door step. Now things are back to normality. I would love to take a portrait of that temple head honcho. I do like his wrinkled face and his bushy eye brow. His face gives you a sense of calm I guess all that meditation.
Now another couple of days and A will be back and things will be truly normal.

From an email

2011-03-18T17:38:00.000-07:00

RELAX your body & mind;
RETURN your attention to the present moment
REST your body & mind at the present moment.

Le chocolat cafe

2011-03-17T03:21:00.001-07:00

Quite by luck I stumbled upon this new cafe. Well not that new as it is 4 months old. Though I swear last time I passed in front of it it was not there. So it sprouted, mushroomed out of the blue like most things in Singapore. An Internet user was writing about Singapore as his home but with a twist a home as a working project. I understand what he feels.
I sat down at this cafe as I wanted to drink something sweet after my vegetarian rice and stuff.
Funny how it turned out that most of the customers at that point in time were francophones. The two French tourists that came to sit beside me were loud and obnoxious. Funny how they spent their 10 minutes there just criticizing pretty much every thing. It is hilarious that they had to choose that cafe and they were so proud about it and laughing as the name was French. Fine.
Still, if you need to criticize everything from the rain to the clouds to the museum the cake the coffee the je ne sais quoi, please stay home. Leave me in peace on my little island.
Life seems to be tenuous and precious enough to have the time to dis every single little thing.

The cafe sells chocolate pralines and sandwiches and cakes. It has a somewhat subdued cool decor quite beige and neutral conducive to just chilling and losing your self in your thoughts or deciphering a page of Chinese.

Just wondering about power shifts and hegemonies

2011-03-10T22:20:00.000-08:00

Funny when you let your imagination run like a mad horse. (This just makes me think of something else in fact).
The Chinese government uses terms and kind of expressions to refer to different things. I find that very poetic sometimes and maybe it is the different word associations that make me feel that way.
For example relating to horses. I read somewhere that the Chinese government was trying to tackle inflation which is plaguing China. Prices of food staple such as sugar have hit the roof. On the property market side as well prices have taken the elevator straight to cloud XXXXX at a speed that would make us all feel dizzy.
When referring to the property market they call the wild horse. I find that quite cute and makes me think of those horses by Xu Beihong (徐悲鴻).
Back to my weird horsie imagination.
I have been listening to some songs on the Internet and it turns out that the artists by some weird universe thing are Swedish. One is Lykke Li, Robyn then Kingqueen and more. If you go on Wikipedia you will find a huge amount of heavy metal bands. Weird, maybe the lack of sun hits you fair and square and you need an outlet.
The examples I was taking, they sing in English and they speak quite good English for 2nd language or more learners. I love that fact from Europeans or from Asians.
Just take Singaporeans they speak at least if not more 3 languages.
Pretty cool.

These Swedish are artists and they speak English. They do not blush on a red carpet in the US when you have someone asking them questions which I do not think would be the case for a lot of American artists on a foreign red carpet.
That we had to adapt and learn English I grant you is normal as the weight of the US financially , economically and strategically was huge the last say what 50 years or so.

Now my question is. That is where my imagination is leading. There is a power shift these days and things are not too peachy in the US as they once used to be. They are still leading but their scope is lessening. You can see a shift in the energy where you feel life and Qi way more powerful in this side of the globe than in our old Europe and even America which was the New World.
Maybe I can keep Brazil aside and make it as an exception as things are rolling and popping and grooving step by step and that makes me proud.
So my question is: China most likely will take power. They shifted to second place beating Japan already as the second largest economy of the world. (If you know me I am well aware of the Chinese craze and how people are enthusiastic about it and how it is a new frontier. If you know me you also know my thoughts about it.)China is rising and speeds that are made even faster because the US is weakening unless they reinvent themselves but they should put their butt in gear because despite a Super duper President people are not changing, they are not willing to change. So sad.

Once China is in power and they host big artistic awards and let us suppose that some of Western artists have the chance to attend (which could be quite difficult as there are at home way more artists waiting to be recognized than artists that could have the chance to get international recognition). How will it be?
Will our Swedes or Finnish or Spanish artists start singing in Chinese and answer questions on the Chinese red carpet in Mandarin? How would that work? To me it feels weird but hey when the power shifts who knows what will happen. I doubt that it is the Han Chinese that will adapt but we might have to adapt to power in question.
Food for your thought.

Soori et tu souris avec la petite souris....

2011-03-10T18:27:00.000-08:00

Wednesday was a blow out just because. Andrew took me out on a date. I love that. It was really nice, and the restaurant choice was quite good. We chanced upon it a few weeks ago through a guided tour of China town and I had read about on some reviews.

I picked Andrew up at 745pm and we wandered there slowly. It is one part of town that has still an old Singaporean feeling. It is disappearing though. When you stroll around you can hear some Beijing opera music from one of the associations. There is one shop that sells Bak Kwa and it is a 3rd generation store. It is peppered with a few old brothels, some KTV and few more ellaborate restaurants. There are two boutique hotels there as well and some design compagnies, lawiers and some more.

We broke the little piggie and splurged in a Omakase menu.
Our senses and palate went full gear. It was so much fun. The sizes were just right Andrew did not really need to roll me out of the restaurant like a barrel.
First appertizer:

Sweet Jelly Apple Compote, Foie Gras shaving

Gellies, Jello, gelatin is not my thing. This appetizer though was really interesting. Of course you had the tastes which was sweety-tarty of the apple gelly with some slight bittery-salty of the foie gras.
They even left pieces of apple in the gelly so it crunched while you still had the soft wobbly feeling of the gelatin. I think what made this dish really cool was the frozen shaved foie gras and it was almost like catching little snowflakes in your mouth and feeling them dissolving. That was really neat.

Carpaccio of Hokkaido Scallops, Yuzu Miso

The Yuzu miso made the mouth tingle. The softness and smoothness of the scallop was a great combination. Your first bit is soft then you have the yuzu that zings inside your mouth. That one was quite cool as well.

50C Norwegian Salmon, Konbu

The third appetizer came as a warm appetizer with a very nice little piece of Norwegian salmon. The colour was not white-ish as wehn you cook the salmon. This one as it was slow cooked retained its orangey hue. It was soft like butter and the Konbu was a great combination leaving a bit of soft crunch texture at each bite.

Braised Wagyu Beef cheek, wilted Spinach

Wagyu is beef that is supposed to be very soft already and has quite a bit of fat. For me who likes meat but don't eat that often, I usually prefer a little less of the soft fat but it was really nice as well. It almost felt gamey as Andrew noticed. I am glad it was a smaller piece as it was my least favourite of the dishes. The sauce or glaze was exquisite though.

Slow Cooked Lamb Rump, Orange Hoisin

That I like as it was medium rare and I like meat rare medium rare and raw.
It was soft and juicy and nicely tasting. The only thing that I could complain about was that they used a tomato as well a a mash same as on the wagyu beef and the same colours as there was red for the tomato, white for mash and green for the wilted spinach and green for the French beans but I am splitting hairs here. It was succulent.

For the desserts, where I found it very classy is that they offered two different desserts. Of course the lady (who, me?) was offered the chocolate fondant. The gent was presented with a vanilla cake drizzled with salted caramel. As if the chef had analyzed our "papilles gustatives" through an xray on our way in.

Warm Chocolate Cake

That one was well done, the chocolate fondant fonded after the second spoon full and it went flowing like a smoldering lava. Of course vanilla ice cream and chocolate fondant is a classical combination.

Vanilla Pudding, Salted Caramel

Andrew loved it. He even poohpoohed my cherry almond cake proposition for his journey in favour for a vanilla cake. Andrew loves salty caramel and I think he was just in heaven with his dessert.

It was a nice evening, quite quite, the service was very attentive and nice and professional. The restaurant is modern and not showy and not noisy. We had a very wonderful evening and I love going on dates... (hint for Andrew, hint hint hint).

TCM experience

2011-03-08T21:12:00.000-08:00

What makes me return to a hole in the all TCM clinic? It was by chance that I stumbled upon an open TCM clinic somewhere really tucked away.
Apart from making my legs better and helping me sleep through the night and fixing my knee and re balancing my Qi and puncturing me with 30 needles and allowing me to be a lizard under a warming lamp I think I have found my match in the chatting department.
The practitioner is a woman from China and her assistant a Singaporean auntie that tries hard to translate what I say to the practitioner.
I am not sure if it sticking my tongue out or getting my different pulses and I do not know what but so far this TCM experience has been quite interesting.
The fact that she does not necessarily give me tea to drink and that her herbal teas are not as bad as some I had in the past. The fact that her teas do the trick by some weird reason.
After reading a really good article on the web on the Shennong website I also got to understand a little bit more about the pricking and the different sensations.
It is really weird what happens on your body where she puts the needles. Sometimes you do not feel much, sometimes you feel a bit of an electric zap or some tenderness or some pinching or some heavy feeling. The sensations change throughout the 20/30 or more minutes you are there lying on your back or on your stomach.
At first I think I was the only person, a waiguoren to make noises at each needle being pricked on my skin. The other patients never as much as sighed. There must be something wrong with me.
In fact I believe that we all have different pain thresholds and that is not new but that Asians have a higher pain threshhold than their western counterpart.
I remember in Seattle there was a sign in a clinic with the pain rating scale with a 10 being the highest. Friend of mine who is dentist fairly newly moved to Singapore and used to treat American patients noticed that here Singaporean patients do not ask for anesthetics and sometimes for more complicated procedures they do not require anything while in the US she had to jab them before even shaking their hands (yah yah I know I exaggerate). Still here she was telling me she prescribes as well way less medications than back in the land of milk and honey and meds.
Last week was also interesting. I was quite sick with a nose runny like Niagara Falls and absolutely no energy because of course stupid me when I got the sore throat signs and the slight head cold I did not slow down and went to yoga and did a work out at the gym with Andrew and I do not like to lag behind.
So of course the week that followed was somewhat horrible. While Andrew had the sniffles for 2 days I was out on the sofa for at least 2. Well I did run errands and tired myself out even go to Qigong classes despite being sick. Next day was still a head encased in cotton wool, parked inside a Swiss vault, buried deep inside a Swiss mountain. The TCM practitioner said that she would make the cold go away by puncturing my stomach and add some energy. After an hour my head got out of the Swiss mountain guts and out of the swiss bank vault and hand more than half the cotton off. Also my energy had been returned to me. So that was pretty cool.
The next day I even did a 50 minutes run with my girlies.
So yeah I am running, I am not in pain when I run and I can do some yoga though I am being repetitively told to take it easy in yoga by the practitioner. I gather she is right but it is not as if I do yoga 5 times a day, days in days out.

Loysel's toy cafe

2011-03-02T16:29:00.000-08:00

A bit nowhere.

The cafe,

Funny when you dig even a bit deeper in Singapore that you will find places that you would not have thought existed. It also helps that there are a few more "european style" cafes popping up around.
This one is not a pass by drop in. You have to know where it is housed because it is kind of a secret. They do a lot of coffees so I think Andrew will be taken there this week-end.

Mango Chicken sandwich $10

PS: here are a some breakfast photos

The brain in Design

2011-02-28T17:52:00.000-08:00

Here is the amazing friend who is out of this world when it comes to organizing parties big or small, birthday presents, or little thinking of you notes and attentions.
There is so much of thought put behind those projects. I am sure S spends hours thinking and planning. She has this capacity to arrange things with so much flare. It is always a treat to be spoilt by S. It is all that is great; the content is always amazing but before you access the content you must go through the outer shells and they are so exquisite. Papers and themes and colours and all. Even when I try hard the result never gives me the same feeling as S's results.
I wonder sometimes if S should not open a design shop or something to do with beautifying things because she is just out of this world.
She makes receiving such an amazing and exquisite experience.
It almost comes from a glossy magazine. I do not know where she unearths these treasures from. But she has an amazing brain and such an understanding of textures, colours, themes, contexts and also an understanding of her friends.
You are an amazing friend.
Lots of love

A 2 year old birthday is my dream birthday!

2011-02-28T01:38:00.000-08:00

This is the tea party of Alice in wonderand in modern times. A lot of thought went into this party. The theme with little owls graced the invitations cards, the bags of sweets, the stickers on various things. The table cloth was also decorated with cool birds.
A lot of goods were smuggled from far away places to make it really special.
I loved every piece of it, every little detail. I would dream of such a table for my birthday and for every Saturday of every month.
This was the most beautiful, eye pleasing decorated table I ever seen.
My crazy friend S has a natural talent for design. She is just amazing with such flair. Somehow everything falls into place when she does a project. Up to the last detail and it looks amazing.
Kudos to S.

Kumo

2011-02-24T16:31:00.000-08:00

The appetizer: Grilled salmon with rice vinegar

What is peaking through the mist?

The main course: Foie gras with lotus roots and pumpkin sauce. Oh my. That was absolutely amazing. I could have sipped that sauce for hours and hours.

We tried a restaurant called Kumo last night. They make kaiseki menus. Kaiseki menu is a menu designed by the chef a bit like at a French restaurant you have various menus. The top of the top is the omakase which is made by the chef at his whim and market availability. We chose a set menu and a plate of sushi.
The appetizer was quite nice. Then my favourite was the foie gras. The pumpkin sauce was just delectable. Then we had green tea cha soba with dried scallops in a bonito broth.
The company as usual was exquisite.

Roof top party!

2011-02-23T23:32:00.000-08:00

Yellow flower on the balcony

2011-02-23T23:29:00.000-08:00

Yellow Lions

2011-02-23T23:20:00.001-08:00

Arts and Science Museum is Open!

2011-02-23T22:59:00.000-08:00

The Singapore Flyer

2011-02-23T16:01:00.001-08:00

The Singapore flyer.

The Gardens by the Bay which will open next year! I cannot wait.

The wheel from the bottom

One pod.

Marina view

At the VIP lounge with the Marina Sands hotel in the background.

Andrew Smiling at the VIP lounge. We are the only table without peanuts!

On our way to the Pod.

Entree, smoked kingfish with fennel salad.

Dinner was Glazed salmon. It was really yummy and soft.

Andrew was very shy and did not like my trigger happy me.

Posing in front of the bruschetta amuse-bouche.

Our city!

Going up in the air. Quite magnificent.

The lovely Andrew looking at his favourite city and enjoying the ride

We had a very good night. The view from the Singapore flyer was amazing and dinner was also quite cool. I had never experienced anything like this. Seeing Singapore from a different angle just reminded us how much we like the city we live in.
Thanks Barbara and Michael for such a cool night.

Panorama

2011-02-22T18:04:00.000-08:00

Sol Tosca

2011-02-20T19:26:00.000-08:00

After a grueling 3 hour yoga Challenge Andrew proposed to go have Mexican food under the bridge.
Close to the Merlion who is actually encased now in a box of which purpose will be a hotel for a little while, part of an modern art exhibition, there is a big bridge and underneath we have a Starbucks and Sol Tosca.
In fact it was far from being Mexican but more Spanish at least when it comes to the branding idea.
But when you look at the menu it is not so many tapas but some very normal food entries. Food catered to tourists. We should know better but we went as we were tired hungry and pretty much sore.
I ordered the nachos and cheese. How hard is it to go wrong with nachos. Well quite easy. The chips were good I think that was the only thing that was good.
The small pot of cheese was more warmed up cheez whizz than normal cheese. The small salsa dish was small and pretty much forgettable.
All that for $10. I would have had a better time on my roof terrace with blue chips and salsa home made.
Andrew had a burger which was ok except some oily calamari in batter.
Surely we will not go back there. Way not worth it. Totally a tourist joint.

The head monk

2011-02-20T19:21:00.001-08:00

3 for 10

2011-02-16T01:25:00.000-08:00

Be it at the fruit seller or at the shop or anywhere else. Upsell Upsell Upsell.
Well let me tell you. I don't need three mangoes only too. The rest will go bad in my fridge then I have to throw food and clean my fridge from the organic residue of uneaten fruits and veggies.
Let me decide.
Stop up selling.

Down by the Bay.......

2011-02-15T16:58:00.001-08:00

It is coming along, coming along. The last glass panel was put on the first of the 2 giant conservatories.
Singapore is planning this huge project called gardens by the Bay which is absolutely amazing. I saw the drawings and it is going to be huge. It is a gamble yes as they are planting mediterranean plants and some mountainous tropical plants under the domes.
They are even planning on putting tulips and lavender in fields. How exciting, how crazy, how awesome.
The pics I have here are a few months old and the face of the park has changed already.
We can see the metal trees up etc.
Completion is supposed to be in November this year and then the Park opens in June 2012.
I cannot wait.
http://www.gardensbythebay.org.sg/?p=section&sub=article&articlegrppk=31

For you to start dreaming here are some pictures that are on the Internet

[source : worldarchitecturenews.com via inhabitat.com]

[Via: Inhabitat]

[Via: singaporemarinabayhomes.com]

[Via:singaporemarinabayhomes.com]

For the techies:

[Via: skyscrapercity.com]

Sweet spot

2011-02-14T17:55:00.000-08:00

when the Kitchen Gods are on holidays!

2011-02-14T16:53:00.001-08:00

Some days I think the Kitchen Gods take their leave and go on holidays. On those days I should keep away from my kitchen as well. It may be that the kitchen is like a plant. It has its own way of doing things. Sometimes growth spurts come up then nothing for a long long time then maybe the leaves start falling or some flowers come up and it flowers like crazy. Maybe, my kitchen is that organic and has its own ebbs and flows.
On the days where the Kitchen Gods put their Gone Fishing signs I should just go to the restaurant or suffer from a chain of catastrophes of which the worst might be a kitchen burnt to cinders and that we do not want.
Yesterday was such a day and unfortunately I had a whole menu to see to its completion for the man of the House as it was Valentine's day.
Yeah I know, we are sappy, soggy, we kind of, kind of not celebrate Valentine's day. Well let me put the record straight we do not go to the restaurant and we do not buy flowers or chocolate. We leave that to people who are happy to line up at the shop for chocz and flowers. I get flowers on other days. In any case I do have a garden bursting with flowers so why to I need roses that have been tampered with drowning in perfume and sporting artificial dew droplets?
Moving on to the topic of the kitchen let me reassure you the kitchen has not burnt down but it was clear from the get go that the Kitchen Gods where far far away, enjoying their fishing or whatever else they do on their days off.
After a long search for a menu worthy of the man of the House, it materialized as:

Crab meat nems with its orangey carroty carrots and fiery red chili.
Charleston Chili stuffed with feta
Carpaccio of tuna with avocado and Japanese cucumbers.
Chili chocolate brownies.

Not bad right?
Andrew pointed out the other day that I have all the ingredients needed for a variety of cakes without having to go to the supermarket.
On that note I was sure I had all I needed for the chili chocolate brownies.

At home I start getting out my stuff and find out to my horror that the house of chocolate is out of chocolate. I raked all the cupboards and managed to get some chocolate ersatz in the form of chocolate ants, some left over chocolate chips and 4 squares of milk chocolate left over from the chocolate Andrew brought back from Chocolate country. Yah, I thought that should do the trick.
That was in fact the first sign of the Kitchen God abandonment.
I should have listened.
I started measuring, mixing etc. I found the consistency of the dough a bit strange, nevermind, first time with this recipe. The tin is in the oven and it does not rise. Mh strange. I take it out after 25 minutes and try a bit to see how good it is to realize I forgot the 2 cups and 1/4 of sugar.....

Fine, I facebook it because I am frustrated.

On I move to the next step which is the chilis. The chili I got is called Charleston Chili and the other one just red chili. Charleston is actually 5 on the Scolville scale. With lots of love I mix feta, olive oil, parsley lemon zest greek yoghurt and yolks that I stuff in the broiled peppers. Of course I forgt to tell you that once your broil your peppers you open them up to take the seeds. Doing so I use my hands,and later on i rub my eyes with my fingers until i feel a slight heat building in my eyes then searing pain where the world is painted red!
My feta preparation is way too runny as the quantities of feta I was using where way under the amount suggested.
Then I started my spring rolls. All good for the steps of filling it.
Andrew arrives, with a little plastic bag, eclairs from the sweet spot and I love eclairs.
He tells me: I read your facebook post so I got dessert. Sweet. huh?

I start heating the oil for the spring rolls. Maybe it is not hot enough, I put my rolls in and they are attracted to each other as it is Valentine's day, catastrophe, the three spring rolls are now stuck to each other and exploding carrots and crab meat left and centre. That is when I decided to change the menu to: fresh spring rolls!
We go up to our beautiful garden to eat the dinner.
The spring rolls are ok despite the fact that they are now fresh instead of fried.
The Charleston Chilis 5 on the Scolville scale do some damage. Oh not at first we congratulate ourselves that we can eat spicy until the man of the house eats a bigger piece and he starts coughing and turns a shade of magnificent crimson. Thanks for the Greek, we splattered our mouth, throat and esophagus with Greek full fat yogurt to have some reprieve. I dare to say that I surgically removed the rest of the chillies from my spring rolls.
The only awesome thing to me and the man of the House will beg to differ, was the tuna carpaccio and its soothing cucumber.
After we moved on the chili chocolate brownies minus 2 and 41/4 cup sugar.
Glad that we had a nice dessert.
So in the end that was a nice dinner that bites back.
Happy Valentine's day!

When it goes Kaboom

2011-02-11T17:15:00.002-08:00

Facing our windows we have a new construction site. There will be an eight storey building just where there is a heap of mud and yellow construction boot wearers from Bangladesh.
Yesterday as I turned my head to the site I heard big kaboom sound and the big steel pipe fell all its lengths from being up right to being on the floor. Luckily nobody was under. They were really lucky.
Funnily enough even though Singapore prints many signage banners telling about safety on site etc today across the windows two workers are not wearing helmets.

The word Topic in Chinese

2011-02-11T17:15:00.001-08:00

主题话题议题题目问题题论题题材题是

Night street roaming

2011-02-11T17:07:00.001-08:00

Torta della Nonna

2011-02-11T16:15:00.000-08:00

We will see if it tastes yummy.

My Friend Ji

2011-02-10T18:49:00.001-08:00

Polarized Monks

2011-02-10T18:23:00.001-08:00

With all the dragon and lion dances I am in heaven. My camera though is not the best for night shots and the result is not crisp but I played a bit and here we are.