Pandan cake
Bak Kwa(!)
Cha Siew
Siu Yok
Views from our new home
Tuesday 30 December 2008
See ya 2008...
Christmas has come and gone… sigh! We spent it in the mountain range of Snowdonia, North of Wales in a quaint little cottage which I later realised was about 400 years old (!) and was a grade II listed building (whatever that means) which made me feel like I was staying in somewhere of significance. Anyway, it was really different staying with a family of 5 (parents, Ruth, YL and I) as opposed to just YL and I that I'm so used to. Food seemed to finish up exponentially faster! Haha…
We had our splendid Turkey dinner on Christmas day – this was made magnificently by YL (who I feel has become quite a good cook in the kitchen!), the turkey meat was juicy and moist with a hint of orange and spice flavour. Needless to say, we walloped the whole bird in less than ½ hour. Mum ensured that we did not forget Singaporean fare and so prepared her usual suite of excellent yummies throughout the week, we had bua kuluat, chicken curry, pork chop, dumplings etc. Mahjong was the order for most days, sometimes extending into the wee hours of the morning. When we weren't playing Mahjong, it was cheesy movies, settlers of catan, billards, and just chatting. We were also very blessed with good weather, which is unusual for the time of the year so we made the most of it by roaming the countryside and putting my "fake" 4x4 to good use. Anyway, its all good and we arrived back in London without any hiccups (albeit all slightly heavier) after a week of fun and relaxation. Mum and Dad will be returning to Singapore in the next couple of weeks and Ruth will be going back in the end of the month.
Next up – more holidays have been planned, one ski trip in 3 weeks time followed by another with Adrian and Sharon in the 2nd week of March, a 2 week cruise to Turky, Egypt and Israel in early May, and hopefully (fingers crossed) our dear friends CW and LPs from Singapore will finally come up and meet us in London in March/April. So – an eventful 1st half of next year is planned and I can't wait. 2008 has gone so quickly but it will be etched in our memories as a splendid and eventful year living and working in London, wouldn't give it up for anything. See ya 2008…
We had our splendid Turkey dinner on Christmas day – this was made magnificently by YL (who I feel has become quite a good cook in the kitchen!), the turkey meat was juicy and moist with a hint of orange and spice flavour. Needless to say, we walloped the whole bird in less than ½ hour. Mum ensured that we did not forget Singaporean fare and so prepared her usual suite of excellent yummies throughout the week, we had bua kuluat, chicken curry, pork chop, dumplings etc. Mahjong was the order for most days, sometimes extending into the wee hours of the morning. When we weren't playing Mahjong, it was cheesy movies, settlers of catan, billards, and just chatting. We were also very blessed with good weather, which is unusual for the time of the year so we made the most of it by roaming the countryside and putting my "fake" 4x4 to good use. Anyway, its all good and we arrived back in London without any hiccups (albeit all slightly heavier) after a week of fun and relaxation. Mum and Dad will be returning to Singapore in the next couple of weeks and Ruth will be going back in the end of the month.
Next up – more holidays have been planned, one ski trip in 3 weeks time followed by another with Adrian and Sharon in the 2nd week of March, a 2 week cruise to Turky, Egypt and Israel in early May, and hopefully (fingers crossed) our dear friends CW and LPs from Singapore will finally come up and meet us in London in March/April. So – an eventful 1st half of next year is planned and I can't wait. 2008 has gone so quickly but it will be etched in our memories as a splendid and eventful year living and working in London, wouldn't give it up for anything. See ya 2008…
Wednesday 10 December 2008
Christmas is approaching...
So, much has happened since I last wrote, sad events really, especially the Mumbai terrorist attacks and the Bangkok protests. As the news unfolded, I really felt sad and sorry for the victims in Mumbai who lost their lives so innocently and tragically. I just hope that what's happened has brought more people together to treasure their loved ones and not take anything for granted...
Anyway on a different subject, Christmas is approaching (!) and everyone is in a Christmassy mood lately. Mum and dad are both coming over to London and I've booked a cottage in the countryside (together with a traditional fire place and all) so the whole family can all spend a quiet and peaceful Christmas week together, who knows Santa might actually visit (since for the first time in my life he has fireplace access on Christmas eve)... hahaha. YL is excited about roasting a nice turkey for Christmas lunch and mum is all ready to cook up a storm for those 7 days. I've got the monopoly board, mahjong and other board games ready, and ruth is tasked with researching the sights to visit while we're there.... The only thing between now and then is this transaction I'm currently on which is going full steam ahead...
Oh well, 1 step at a time, 1 day at a time, soon it'll be Christmas and the New Year, then I'll have my leave entitlement reset - and it'll be skiing, diving, cruising, etc. all over again! 4 months since the last holiday is 4 months too long :)
Anyway on a different subject, Christmas is approaching (!) and everyone is in a Christmassy mood lately. Mum and dad are both coming over to London and I've booked a cottage in the countryside (together with a traditional fire place and all) so the whole family can all spend a quiet and peaceful Christmas week together, who knows Santa might actually visit (since for the first time in my life he has fireplace access on Christmas eve)... hahaha. YL is excited about roasting a nice turkey for Christmas lunch and mum is all ready to cook up a storm for those 7 days. I've got the monopoly board, mahjong and other board games ready, and ruth is tasked with researching the sights to visit while we're there.... The only thing between now and then is this transaction I'm currently on which is going full steam ahead...
Oh well, 1 step at a time, 1 day at a time, soon it'll be Christmas and the New Year, then I'll have my leave entitlement reset - and it'll be skiing, diving, cruising, etc. all over again! 4 months since the last holiday is 4 months too long :)
Monday 17 November 2008
Doctor doctor...
Man I hate being ill.
Had the flu today so I went to the doctor, and all he did (besides prodding and poking) was to tell me I would get better. Had a prescription which I'm not supposed to use unless I get worse in the next 72 hrs and thats it.
"You'll get better???" - thats it??? no nothing to alleviate my symptoms? I know I'll get better, but I really feel like crap now so can you either (1) make me better faster or (2) make me feel better while I get better... I had no energy to argue with him so I just grunted and left.
Had the flu today so I went to the doctor, and all he did (besides prodding and poking) was to tell me I would get better. Had a prescription which I'm not supposed to use unless I get worse in the next 72 hrs and thats it.
"You'll get better???" - thats it??? no nothing to alleviate my symptoms? I know I'll get better, but I really feel like crap now so can you either (1) make me better faster or (2) make me feel better while I get better... I had no energy to argue with him so I just grunted and left.
Monday 3 November 2008
How about "Gordon"?
Last Friday, Yen Ling and I went to the live casting of Gordon Ramsay's latest show "Gordon Ramsay's Cookalong Live" :) http://www.channel4.com/food/on-tv/cookalong-live/ We managed to get tickets through a ballot system and were really looking forward to it. I must say, Ramsay was like a energizer battery, jumping up and down the whole time. But the highlight of the night was when he even spoke to me!! (well, it was speaking not in the sense of like having a conversation but rather, he said to me "Hope you enjoy the show") I was grinning from ear to ear and could only muster a nod with a "thanks!", nothing more... like a stupid starstruck teenager like that...
It was really so interesting watching how he cooked, explained and then served the meals. And when it was advertisement time, all the crew scurried to change the utensils, ingredients etc. James Caan and Peter Jones from 'Dragons Den' were also there... Johnny Vegas was the comedian that accompanied Ramsay while he was cooking. It was really quite a fun night. It was too bad though the energizer Ramsay disappeared too quickly after the show so we didn't manage to get any autographs.
If anyone wants to see the replay, I think its on Channel 4's website. It should be available with "4 on demand", YL and I were standing behind Gordon.
Anyway, apart from the exciting Friday evening, we had a very fun weekend as well, on Sat we had a cook-in with the Songs and Phee and on Sun we went to watch JB's Quantum of Solace and after that took a nice stroll along Canary Wharf after a meal at Slug and Lettuce again with the Songs and Phee...
It was really so interesting watching how he cooked, explained and then served the meals. And when it was advertisement time, all the crew scurried to change the utensils, ingredients etc. James Caan and Peter Jones from 'Dragons Den' were also there... Johnny Vegas was the comedian that accompanied Ramsay while he was cooking. It was really quite a fun night. It was too bad though the energizer Ramsay disappeared too quickly after the show so we didn't manage to get any autographs.
If anyone wants to see the replay, I think its on Channel 4's website. It should be available with "4 on demand", YL and I were standing behind Gordon.
Anyway, apart from the exciting Friday evening, we had a very fun weekend as well, on Sat we had a cook-in with the Songs and Phee and on Sun we went to watch JB's Quantum of Solace and after that took a nice stroll along Canary Wharf after a meal at Slug and Lettuce again with the Songs and Phee...
Tuesday 28 October 2008
Cha cha moon...
I think we might have found our first "food court" in London! With all the bad news in the financial market at the moment, it's no wonder that more and more people and going to cheap and cheerful no frills restaurants instead of the mouth-watering but wallet-busting types.
This Sunday, we did just that… we went to cheap and cheerful cha cha moon with Adrian, Sharon, Lynette and gang. Cha cha moon is Alan Yau's latest venture; Yau is the guy who opened Wagamama, Busaba, Hakkasan and Yauatcha. Hakkasan is the only (I think) Chinese restaurant in London with a michelin star. Anyway, cha cha moon is the Chinese cuisine equivalent of Wagamama. All food cost £3.50 flat, portions are fairly small but its ok – we just got two portions!! heh heh… The most important thing though is that the food was GOOD. The tyrant and I were so impressed that we went again yesterday and we shared a plate of hokkien mee, cha kway teow, wanton mee and spring onion pancake… And the bill came up to £15! One funny thing that happened though was when the order was taken, I had the misfortune of being "corrected" by the waitress when I asked for Wanton Mian. She (ang mo huh) repeated after one or two tries: oh you want the "One Ton Mee-And", ok… I was thinking to myself, "err… right… but trust me lor, its not pronounced like that", anyway whatever… the Mee-And came and we gobbled it up in minutes. Apart from the food court price, there was also the food court/hawker centre style service, waiting (we had to queue for like 20 minutes) and atmosphere (everyone was taking so loudly, sharing benches and food was prepared in an open concept kitchen). All in all, it was an excellent find… and it looks like we'll be back.
http://eatlikeagirl.com/2008/05/13/cha-cha-moon/ I found this site while googling for cha cha moon...
Apart from cha cha moon, our weekend was also spent eating… heh heh… we went to our favourite Cafe Japan on Saturday afternoon and spent Saturday evening at Sharon's place where we watched X Factor while we had a nice home cooked meal. It was a bit odd though the combination of the food: we had buah kuluat, kong bak pau, grilled peppers with aubergine, cheesecake, scones with clotted cream and cheese… very cha palang right? Quite like us really… chinese origin, but with with a bit of ang mo influence
This Sunday, we did just that… we went to cheap and cheerful cha cha moon with Adrian, Sharon, Lynette and gang. Cha cha moon is Alan Yau's latest venture; Yau is the guy who opened Wagamama, Busaba, Hakkasan and Yauatcha. Hakkasan is the only (I think) Chinese restaurant in London with a michelin star. Anyway, cha cha moon is the Chinese cuisine equivalent of Wagamama. All food cost £3.50 flat, portions are fairly small but its ok – we just got two portions!! heh heh… The most important thing though is that the food was GOOD. The tyrant and I were so impressed that we went again yesterday and we shared a plate of hokkien mee, cha kway teow, wanton mee and spring onion pancake… And the bill came up to £15! One funny thing that happened though was when the order was taken, I had the misfortune of being "corrected" by the waitress when I asked for Wanton Mian. She (ang mo huh) repeated after one or two tries: oh you want the "One Ton Mee-And", ok… I was thinking to myself, "err… right… but trust me lor, its not pronounced like that", anyway whatever… the Mee-And came and we gobbled it up in minutes. Apart from the food court price, there was also the food court/hawker centre style service, waiting (we had to queue for like 20 minutes) and atmosphere (everyone was taking so loudly, sharing benches and food was prepared in an open concept kitchen). All in all, it was an excellent find… and it looks like we'll be back.
http://eatlikeagirl.com/2008/05/13/cha-cha-moon/ I found this site while googling for cha cha moon...
Apart from cha cha moon, our weekend was also spent eating… heh heh… we went to our favourite Cafe Japan on Saturday afternoon and spent Saturday evening at Sharon's place where we watched X Factor while we had a nice home cooked meal. It was a bit odd though the combination of the food: we had buah kuluat, kong bak pau, grilled peppers with aubergine, cheesecake, scones with clotted cream and cheese… very cha palang right? Quite like us really… chinese origin, but with with a bit of ang mo influence
Friday 24 October 2008
Tuesday 21 October 2008
Fishing "Must Dos"
Back to the topic of fishing... I've been thinking of what I "must do" in terms of fishing recently and here's a list... Non fishos will not understand...
1) Lizard Island, Australia - to catch a grander (more than 1000 pound) black marlin
2) Florida Keys, US - to catch the giant tarpon http://www.tarponsnook.com/Izzo9.1.jpg
3) Lake Nasser, Egypt - to catch the giant nile perch http://www.fishinginternational.com/location/africegypt.htm
4) Lake Ebro, Spain - to catch the giant catfish
5) Madeira, Portugal - to catch a giant blue marlin
6) Gloucester US - to catch a giant bluefin tuna
7) Alaska - to catch a halibut
8) Dun care where - to catch a salmon
9) New Zealand - to catch a broadbill swordfish
10) Cauvery river, India - to catch a mahseer
1) Lizard Island, Australia - to catch a grander (more than 1000 pound) black marlin
2) Florida Keys, US - to catch the giant tarpon http://www.tarponsnook.com/Izzo9.1.jpg
3) Lake Nasser, Egypt - to catch the giant nile perch http://www.fishinginternational.com/location/africegypt.htm
4) Lake Ebro, Spain - to catch the giant catfish
5) Madeira, Portugal - to catch a giant blue marlin
6) Gloucester US - to catch a giant bluefin tuna
7) Alaska - to catch a halibut
8) Dun care where - to catch a salmon
9) New Zealand - to catch a broadbill swordfish
10) Cauvery river, India - to catch a mahseer
Thursday 9 October 2008
I think we've pretty much settled the name..
Last night I thought I'd try to pull a fast one on YL to change her mind and name our son Bartholomew instead....
Here was how to conversation went:
Me: Hey - do you know that Matthew was a tax collector before he became a disciple of Jesus?
YL: (pauses for a moment) Yah but tax collector GOOD what...
(End of topic of conversation)
hmmm.....
Here was how to conversation went:
Me: Hey - do you know that Matthew was a tax collector before he became a disciple of Jesus?
YL: (pauses for a moment) Yah but tax collector GOOD what...
(End of topic of conversation)
hmmm.....
Sunday 5 October 2008
Woo hoo!
I've successfully mastered cooking sui yuk!! Woo hoo!!! This is after a number of not so happening tries... Now that I can cook both chicken rice and sui yuk, if all else fails on the law front, I can always be a chicken rice seller.... woo hoo!!! Little Matthew/Faith/Charity (in future) won't starve for sure...
Here's my resume pictures...
Siu Yuk
Here's my resume pictures...
Siu Yuk
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Chicken wings.JPG)
Kidney soup.JPG)
Sunday 28 September 2008
Some photos taken over the past 2 weeks...
Just to set the record straight - YL is NOT pregnant... We've been talking about names but thats about it, talk only... We're not that keen on dramatically altering our lifestyle just yet.
Anyway, here are some photos taken over the past 2 weeks.
Our wedding anniversary celebrations along the River Thames. Its quite interesting actually... having lived in London for almost 5 years but getting a different perspective of all the buildings for the first time in my life. It was a fantastic meal, nice jazz band next to us, nice window view... it was a good change to the nice quiet dinners we had before.
2 weekends ago, we went picking our own fruits and vegetables... Credit crunch la... gotta save ££. It went from shopping at M&S/Waitrose to Tesco/Sainsbury then to Asda/Morrisons and finally to have to pick your own produce. If it gets any worse, we would have to plant our own fruits - tsk tsk tsk...
Anyway, here are some photos taken over the past 2 weeks.
Our wedding anniversary celebrations along the River Thames. Its quite interesting actually... having lived in London for almost 5 years but getting a different perspective of all the buildings for the first time in my life. It was a fantastic meal, nice jazz band next to us, nice window view... it was a good change to the nice quiet dinners we had before.
2 weekends ago, we went picking our own fruits and vegetables... Credit crunch la... gotta save ££. It went from shopping at M&S/Waitrose to Tesco/Sainsbury then to Asda/Morrisons and finally to have to pick your own produce. If it gets any worse, we would have to plant our own fruits - tsk tsk tsk...
Wednesday 17 September 2008
Hat Trick!
So Today's the day! Actually, its today and tomorrow since we got married over 2 days… so I'll always have an excuse if I forgot ("Isn't it tomorrow dear? Oh you mean the church wedding, I was thinking about the wedding banquet!" tsk tsk tsk – I'm sure I'm going to need this in future)
Oh well, I can still remember 3 years ago, trying frantically to steal my bride from the experienced (and international cast) of jie meis (there were Singaporeans, a Malaysian, a Hong Konger, a BBC and an ah lian)… I doubt Das reads me blog so I think I'm safe… heh heh…
Anyway, as the clock struck midnight last night, I turned to YL, gave her a kiss, wished her happy anniversary and told her that I loved her. She was (as usual) sleeping so she grunted her usual "mmm, I love you too" back… and then she buried her head in her pillow… and I continued to watch my discovery channel. A year ago, we celebrated our 2nd anniversary in Chicago and 2 years ago, we celebrated it in Singapore… I wonder where we will be celebrating it next year…. Dubai?!
Thanks CY! I hope you are well in NY.
Pammy, we have settled the names already: Boy – Matthew, Girl – Charity/Faith. So hard to find a good name without re-using! I think "Sarah" will be nice as well. I heard from mum (in fact many many times) that you're expecting again (congrats by the way!) but hiyah, the pressure… Every time I speak with mum, we'll have this topic in the conversation (she even got Ruth to convey the message to me):
Mum: Son, happy anniversary!
Me: Thanks mum!
……
Mum: eh, did I tell you? Pammy is pregnant again
Me: Yes, you told me yesterday… (feeling of dread)
Mum: Yes, she's pregnant again… with her second child… her second child!!
Me: Yes yes… I know (now waiting for the inevitable)
Mum: When's YL's turn?
Me: I told you before, when we come back to Singapore la… 3 years time.
Mum: (pretend not to have heard what I said) You know ah, Pammy is pregnant again, I'm waiting for my grandchild also leh…..
Me: Yes yes, 3 years from now…
Mum: I can take care of your child for you, I can take care of YL, I can come to London, I can…….
Me: Yes yes yes, 3 years from now…
Mum: Pammy is pregnant again…
Me: Yes yes yes…
Mum: When's YL's turn…
Me: 3 years… yes yes….
So you see la… stupid Pammy… now kena pressure again…
Oh well, I can still remember 3 years ago, trying frantically to steal my bride from the experienced (and international cast) of jie meis (there were Singaporeans, a Malaysian, a Hong Konger, a BBC and an ah lian)… I doubt Das reads me blog so I think I'm safe… heh heh…
Anyway, as the clock struck midnight last night, I turned to YL, gave her a kiss, wished her happy anniversary and told her that I loved her. She was (as usual) sleeping so she grunted her usual "mmm, I love you too" back… and then she buried her head in her pillow… and I continued to watch my discovery channel. A year ago, we celebrated our 2nd anniversary in Chicago and 2 years ago, we celebrated it in Singapore… I wonder where we will be celebrating it next year…. Dubai?!
Thanks CY! I hope you are well in NY.
Pammy, we have settled the names already: Boy – Matthew, Girl – Charity/Faith. So hard to find a good name without re-using! I think "Sarah" will be nice as well. I heard from mum (in fact many many times) that you're expecting again (congrats by the way!) but hiyah, the pressure… Every time I speak with mum, we'll have this topic in the conversation (she even got Ruth to convey the message to me):
Mum: Son, happy anniversary!
Me: Thanks mum!
……
Mum: eh, did I tell you? Pammy is pregnant again
Me: Yes, you told me yesterday… (feeling of dread)
Mum: Yes, she's pregnant again… with her second child… her second child!!
Me: Yes yes… I know (now waiting for the inevitable)
Mum: When's YL's turn?
Me: I told you before, when we come back to Singapore la… 3 years time.
Mum: (pretend not to have heard what I said) You know ah, Pammy is pregnant again, I'm waiting for my grandchild also leh…..
Me: Yes yes, 3 years from now…
Mum: I can take care of your child for you, I can take care of YL, I can come to London, I can…….
Me: Yes yes yes, 3 years from now…
Mum: Pammy is pregnant again…
Me: Yes yes yes…
Mum: When's YL's turn…
Me: 3 years… yes yes….
So you see la… stupid Pammy… now kena pressure again…
Tuesday 16 September 2008
Tomorrow is our 3 years wedding anniversary!
Sianz… every morning there's some bad news around the world – Flyzoom, Oasis, XL.com, Bear Stearns, Freddie Mac, now Lehman Bros… sigh… What's worse, the sterling is dropping like a stone.
I think we should all go for a holiday… hehehe…
Anyway, tomorrow is our 3rd wedding anniversary! How time flies when you're having fun! These 3 years have been the best years of my life! We did say that we'll have a child 3 years after we are married, but I think that it has been a moving target (much to mum's exasperation) cos the plan now is still to have a child 3 years later. Heh heh… children can always have later, now must earn money so that my child can have a head start in life right?! Heh heh heh… actually (don't tell mum), the real reason is that we still wanna roam the world and go on holidays…
Anyway, yes – 3 years have passed so quickly. Since then, so many things have taken place, we have both changed firms, relocated to London, picked up diving, I've changed my specialty from competition law to corporate M&A and funds, and YL is now practising in debt capital markets, many of our friends have gotten married etc. I was kaypoing Steph's and Chay Ying's blog this morning to see if they wrote about their accounts of our wedding day 3 years ago… hahaha… and they did! (http://pigginginsydney.blogspot.com/2005_09_01_archive.html http://stephie81.blogspot.com/2005_09_01_archive.html) . Steph have since had a son, Josh and is now expecting another child! Congrats Steph! and if you're reading this, I know it's belated, but pai seh about the food portions…. we did tell the hotel to stuff our guests till they're bursting.... hahaha. tell HC we shall go for a big nice dinner the next time we return to Singapore! CY on the other hand has moved to NY after her round the world travels... we'll visit you next year CY... hahah I didn't know you were so kan choing and that it was so draining during the wedding! hahaha…. it was quite fun though heh? I wouldn't wanna do it again though!
This is what the jie meis did to "torture" my brothers and I 3 years ago!
Anyway, the plan for tomorrow is to go have a Thames river cruise dinner (told you we like cruising! Hahaha). It should be nice if the weather holds up so fingers crossed...
I think we should all go for a holiday… hehehe…
Anyway, tomorrow is our 3rd wedding anniversary! How time flies when you're having fun! These 3 years have been the best years of my life! We did say that we'll have a child 3 years after we are married, but I think that it has been a moving target (much to mum's exasperation) cos the plan now is still to have a child 3 years later. Heh heh… children can always have later, now must earn money so that my child can have a head start in life right?! Heh heh heh… actually (don't tell mum), the real reason is that we still wanna roam the world and go on holidays…
Anyway, yes – 3 years have passed so quickly. Since then, so many things have taken place, we have both changed firms, relocated to London, picked up diving, I've changed my specialty from competition law to corporate M&A and funds, and YL is now practising in debt capital markets, many of our friends have gotten married etc. I was kaypoing Steph's and Chay Ying's blog this morning to see if they wrote about their accounts of our wedding day 3 years ago… hahaha… and they did! (http://pigginginsydney.blogspot.com/2005_09_01_archive.html http://stephie81.blogspot.com/2005_09_01_archive.html) . Steph have since had a son, Josh and is now expecting another child! Congrats Steph! and if you're reading this, I know it's belated, but pai seh about the food portions…. we did tell the hotel to stuff our guests till they're bursting.... hahaha. tell HC we shall go for a big nice dinner the next time we return to Singapore! CY on the other hand has moved to NY after her round the world travels... we'll visit you next year CY... hahah I didn't know you were so kan choing and that it was so draining during the wedding! hahaha…. it was quite fun though heh? I wouldn't wanna do it again though!
This is what the jie meis did to "torture" my brothers and I 3 years ago!
Anyway, the plan for tomorrow is to go have a Thames river cruise dinner (told you we like cruising! Hahaha). It should be nice if the weather holds up so fingers crossed...
Wednesday 3 September 2008
Wednesday 27 August 2008
Chicken rice ginger sauce!!
Bank holiday weekend went by so quickly – it always does especially when you are having fun. I don't think a bank holiday weekend will go by quickly if I'm stuck in the office!
Anyway, as I mentioned before, we were in Northern Ireland for the bank holiday – it was a quick and cheap holiday! Flights were less than £100, car rental was £60 and accommodation was less than £200. It's kinda like the Brit version of our quick getaway to Genting. Anyway, the scenery was awesome! We could see similarities with Norway although the vegetation was definitely more luscious (I guess due to the high amount of rain it gets).We visited the Giant's causeway (which is a UNESCO world heritage site) and some other random tourist sites like the ropebridge and duclace castle. What I really liked were the scenic routes and driving next to the sea (apparently, the costal road is the 5th best costal drive in the world – whatever that is supposed to mean to me). Belfast was quite a grim place. The whole city looked like East London and it was pretty dreadful. Fortunately, we were in a car so we did it quite quickly by driving around. It also allowed us to have dinner at this happening restaurant situated in Belfast Castle which was quite nice. We couldn't bring ourselves to eat any of the Irish fare (such as stews etc.) so we just went for typical British. The history of Northern Ireland is pretty upsetting actually, with graffiti on the walls that depict the troubled times between the republicans and unionists. There were more union jacks flown around the city than I remember seeing in London (and even along the roads leading to Buckingham palace). Anyway, it was a good holiday and being part of the UK, there was absolutely no hassle in terms of customs, we landed at 10.05pm and were home by 11.30pm (which in the UK, especially for an airport almost 40 miles from home, is quite a feat).
Oh by the way!!! I "learned" to make chicken rice ginger sauce recently. The idea was planted by Sally during the cruise when I told her that I really missed the "Wee Nam Kee" or "Soup restaurant" ginger sauce. She said the most commonsense thing – "make it la! – pound the ginger and add some chicken essence sauce". So that's exactly what I did, but with some modifications. So here's the recipe – (1) use a spoon to scrape the outer skin of the ginger, cut the ginger into small pieces, (2) blend the ginger (with sesame oil) but not too much such that it becomes pureed (just chopped and grinded will do), (3) add some chopped spring onions to the blend, (4) boil your chicken for chicken rice – for the chicken essence, (5) heat a wok, fry some chopped garlic with sesame oil, add the blended ginger, a dash of pepper, soya sauce, salt, a little bit of sugar and fry the mixture, then add some chicken essence (3 tablespoon to a bowl of the ginger blend) and fry till it is dry. The result is yummy ginger sauce (now I can get unlimited wee nam kee replica sauce in London!!) If I'm in Singapore though, I'd just head to wee nam kee, pay $20 and eat there and save the trouble.
Anyway, as I mentioned before, we were in Northern Ireland for the bank holiday – it was a quick and cheap holiday! Flights were less than £100, car rental was £60 and accommodation was less than £200. It's kinda like the Brit version of our quick getaway to Genting. Anyway, the scenery was awesome! We could see similarities with Norway although the vegetation was definitely more luscious (I guess due to the high amount of rain it gets).We visited the Giant's causeway (which is a UNESCO world heritage site) and some other random tourist sites like the ropebridge and duclace castle. What I really liked were the scenic routes and driving next to the sea (apparently, the costal road is the 5th best costal drive in the world – whatever that is supposed to mean to me). Belfast was quite a grim place. The whole city looked like East London and it was pretty dreadful. Fortunately, we were in a car so we did it quite quickly by driving around. It also allowed us to have dinner at this happening restaurant situated in Belfast Castle which was quite nice. We couldn't bring ourselves to eat any of the Irish fare (such as stews etc.) so we just went for typical British. The history of Northern Ireland is pretty upsetting actually, with graffiti on the walls that depict the troubled times between the republicans and unionists. There were more union jacks flown around the city than I remember seeing in London (and even along the roads leading to Buckingham palace). Anyway, it was a good holiday and being part of the UK, there was absolutely no hassle in terms of customs, we landed at 10.05pm and were home by 11.30pm (which in the UK, especially for an airport almost 40 miles from home, is quite a feat).
Oh by the way!!! I "learned" to make chicken rice ginger sauce recently. The idea was planted by Sally during the cruise when I told her that I really missed the "Wee Nam Kee" or "Soup restaurant" ginger sauce. She said the most commonsense thing – "make it la! – pound the ginger and add some chicken essence sauce". So that's exactly what I did, but with some modifications. So here's the recipe – (1) use a spoon to scrape the outer skin of the ginger, cut the ginger into small pieces, (2) blend the ginger (with sesame oil) but not too much such that it becomes pureed (just chopped and grinded will do), (3) add some chopped spring onions to the blend, (4) boil your chicken for chicken rice – for the chicken essence, (5) heat a wok, fry some chopped garlic with sesame oil, add the blended ginger, a dash of pepper, soya sauce, salt, a little bit of sugar and fry the mixture, then add some chicken essence (3 tablespoon to a bowl of the ginger blend) and fry till it is dry. The result is yummy ginger sauce (now I can get unlimited wee nam kee replica sauce in London!!) If I'm in Singapore though, I'd just head to wee nam kee, pay $20 and eat there and save the trouble.
Friday 22 August 2008
Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance...
Came across this while I was reading an article today… and how true it is. Proper prior planning prevents (or at least minimises or prepares you for) all sorts of eventualities that may occur. So be it work, or holiday or family gatherings, weddings, or even buying a home, planning is the key. When you plan, you research, you prepare and you pre-empt. So many times have I noticed things get messy at work (or like some people say, we spend the day fighting "fires") because someone somewhere in the work chain (usually ahem, the bankers la) doesn't know how to plan properly. Now, I'm not saying that we have to go crazy and have plan b's and plan c's and d's and whatever (in fact I read the other day about the Munich Olympics massacre and they said that the events were similar to a prediction in one of the (get this!) 26 different case scenarios that the experts made for the planners of the Olympics – fei hua la, you have 26 scenarios of course there will be one that is similar, I bet if they continued, there will be a prediction of an alien invasion or something in scenario 49 or something), but not planning may lead to being turned away at restaurants (cos there's no reservation) or missing flight departures (cos no taxi was booked and none available when you needed it last minute)… Anyway – you get my drift.
So on a separate but ahem *related* point on planning, lets talk about holidays!! – since our last holiday now seems like a distant memory (no more King crabs or Lobster – just plan ole fish and chips for lunch!), I decided to do some "planning" for our next trip… as I mentioned before, we booked ourselves on a Azamara cruise next October to Israel, Egypt, Turkey etc. but while "planning", I decided this week that next October is a bit toooooooooooo far away. It's 14+ months away so by the time I actually get on board, I might be paralysed with excitement – so we (YL and I decided together ok, after much cajoling from me) decided to cut it short!!! YEAH!!! Now we're going on a May sailing instead. 1 May 2009 to be exact! So its now 8 months to go. In fact, this itinerary is slightly different (and better) from the previous one in that we will be going to Istanbul and Ephesus (I think this is where the book of Ephesians was named) instead of south Turkey and Sicily, plus – the port days and sea days are nicely spread out so we get a break every few days of excursions to just chill out in the ship. The only sianz part is that the disembarkation will be a day before my birthday so that will be quite a depressing birthday, plus come October next year we'll be wishing we didn't change the dates!
Oh well back to the present and reality - this weekend is Bank Holiday weekend – so it's a long weekend!! YEAH! YL and I have planned some time ago a short trip to Northern Ireland to visit Belfast and the countryside up north. Apparently there's this world heritage site called the "Giant's causeway" which is quite spectacular. Hopefully the weather will be good though, as last weekend there were flash floods around Belfast (the worse in many years). It would be a shame if we have to avoid parts of Belfast because of any flooding. Argh – after this trip there'll be a holiday drought for 4 months till Christmas, but I'm not thinking of that yet :)
So on a separate but ahem *related* point on planning, lets talk about holidays!! – since our last holiday now seems like a distant memory (no more King crabs or Lobster – just plan ole fish and chips for lunch!), I decided to do some "planning" for our next trip… as I mentioned before, we booked ourselves on a Azamara cruise next October to Israel, Egypt, Turkey etc. but while "planning", I decided this week that next October is a bit toooooooooooo far away. It's 14+ months away so by the time I actually get on board, I might be paralysed with excitement – so we (YL and I decided together ok, after much cajoling from me) decided to cut it short!!! YEAH!!! Now we're going on a May sailing instead. 1 May 2009 to be exact! So its now 8 months to go. In fact, this itinerary is slightly different (and better) from the previous one in that we will be going to Istanbul and Ephesus (I think this is where the book of Ephesians was named) instead of south Turkey and Sicily, plus – the port days and sea days are nicely spread out so we get a break every few days of excursions to just chill out in the ship. The only sianz part is that the disembarkation will be a day before my birthday so that will be quite a depressing birthday, plus come October next year we'll be wishing we didn't change the dates!
Oh well back to the present and reality - this weekend is Bank Holiday weekend – so it's a long weekend!! YEAH! YL and I have planned some time ago a short trip to Northern Ireland to visit Belfast and the countryside up north. Apparently there's this world heritage site called the "Giant's causeway" which is quite spectacular. Hopefully the weather will be good though, as last weekend there were flash floods around Belfast (the worse in many years). It would be a shame if we have to avoid parts of Belfast because of any flooding. Argh – after this trip there'll be a holiday drought for 4 months till Christmas, but I'm not thinking of that yet :)
Wednesday 13 August 2008
What it takes to get a nice photograph!
We took about 1000 photos on this trip... its quite a bit so thank goodness its digital. I have to show you these 4 photos taken in Molde though. It gives an illustration of the frustration of trying to get the best shot. As we took these photos from a tripod, they have to be on timer release... and it took 4 photos to get a proper shot. We got a photo with every type of vehicle in town! And trust me - they don't have many!
first shot - blocked by a van...
second shot - a car...
third shot - a bus!!!
Finally a proper shot. And if you notice carefully, we only missed the vehicles narrowly. And come to think of it, its not even that nice a photo...Monday 11 August 2008
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