Sylvie!!!

THE BOOK has finally arrived!! :) Shipping had been delayed for more than 2 weeks but it's oh-so-worth the wait!!! 432 pages (40cm x 30cm) of luscious, gorgeous, drool-worthy, never before released photographs of the most beautiful (IMO) ballerina ever…

Mischka or Manuka?

After deliberating for several weeks, we finally took the plunge, and added this little baby to our family

Our darling 3-month old english cocker spaniel!

Getting her ready to be brought home - a puppy shampoo, 5 mins under the dryer and some powder had her smelling sweet :)

Pitstop at mum's place before we head home

She was pretty well-behaved, and only woke up to whine a little a couple of times in the night. But we ignored her as much as we could. It was heartbreaking, though, to hear her whimpering, and yet not be able to cuddle her. Sigh... you have to be cruel, only to be kind. But she's a strong girl! She made it through the night and woke up with a ravenous appetite, wolfed down her baby share of puppy food in no time at all. I'm so glad she's eating well and we didn't have to resort to the tinned food the pet store gave us for "just-in-case".

We missed her so much, we came home during lunch break to check in on her and she was thankfully fine, except for a bit of poo-mess. Toilet training her is tough! I hope it doesn't take too long more... =S

But for now... we need to decide on her name... What do you think? Mischka or Manuka?

Celebrating One Year

The Banyan Weekend

Holiday Essentials

Arrival

the resort

Seafood Sesh

Patong sights


at the beach

by the pool

in the pool

paradise pancake

rest & relax

by the lagoon

The Weekend Away

So we found a really good travel deal and zipped off to spend a long weekend at Banyan Tree, Phuket. We didn’t really think about what we’d do there, but there were a couple of very simple rules…

Rule 1: No talking / thinking / discussing work

Rule 2: No waking up earlier than necessary to grab breakfast before the buffet line closes

Of course, Rule 2 was promptly broken upon arrival, thanks to the EvilBerry and relentless clients. *snarl* Hubs even had to catch up on some work at the business centre on Sunday. Poor thing.

… and a small checklist:

Task 1: Get a tan!

Task 2: Spa-massage-spa-massage-spa-massage… you get the idea…

Task 3: Overdose on cheap seafood and authentic Thai fare

Task 4: Find the elusive prata man

And I’m proud to announce that it was MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!

Well, except for Task 4 – we didn’t actually find our regular prata man, but did manage to get our hands on the original Paradise Pancake. The Real McCoy! – and not some pathetic, soggy, crepe-like imitation (which we succumbed to in desperation on the first night of our quest) that has somehow captured the hearts and minds of unsuspecting tourists. Bah.

What’s Paradise Pancake? It’s a prata with egg and fresh banana filling, fried to a crisp in lots of oil and ghee, then drizzled with condensed milk, chocolate sauce and a generous dusting of sugar. It takes skill to whirl the prata dough to a suitable thin-ness without breaking the skin and that’s why the imitators resort to using crepe machines.

We spent the rest of the trip doing little more than lazing by the pool, totally pampered by the attentive staff who would ply us with cold towels, iced drinks, peppermint sprays and refreshing sorbets. *Bliss*

Back at work today, and already looking forward to the long CNY weekend – soon as I get through the work that has piled up… *mutter mutter*

(Pictures to follow)

Obsess

Following on from liquid pea ravioli, I've been hooked on Hungry in Hogtown's posts on molecular gastronomy - mostly on Ferran Adria/El Bulli - and thought I'd share the link. Reading about his 24-course dinner at Alinea sets my heart racing, and my mouth watering... Ooh, and of course, Grant Achatz and Curtis Duffy are kinda cute too... ;p

Art or what?

(Pictures from Alinea)

Chocolate - passionfruit, kaffir lime, soy

Hot Potato - cold potato, black truffle, parmesan

Olives

Tomato

Lamb - date, mastic, rosemary aroma

Rabbit

Yuba - prawn, miso, orange

Quince - prosciutto, orange, juniper

Salsify - parsley, smoked salmon, steelhead roe

Hearts of Palm

Bacon

Beef shortrib

Crabapple

Catching up!

Finally downloaded the hundreds of photos over the past few months from the camera. Here are some of them...

Char & J's pink & chocolate wedding - it was so much fun making all the decor! I got to be bridezilla all over again (albeit vicariously)... hee hee… Who’s getting married next? Indulge me!!

My Birthday! - which we celebrated on the 16th instead... Mummy made red eggs and had them delivered together with a yummelicious dinner. Hubs was really sweetums – he made a huge brekkie for the both of us before we headed out for some furniture shopping at the new Marina Square.

Christmas Candlelight Service - Arise, Shine!

- and that's XJ's handprint from when he was 14! :)


We got a half-day off on the Friday before New Years, and thought we’d try out Brussel Sprouts – this new place just round the corner, which served up pretty decent moules-frites, and Belgian beer. Of course, we couldn’t resist the very sinful but very delicious caramelized pork belly… *drool*

Update: Just realised from Sunday's papers that Brussel Sprouts is actually another one of Emmanuel Stroobandt's babies! Mmm.. wonder if they serve up foie gras too?

Wedding Pics!!!

Finally... after a long night of waiting, the pics are uploaded. Click on pictures for the series.

Pre-Ceremony

Church Ceremony

The Afternoon


Tea Ceremony

The Banquet