Where is my daddy?... :(

Goodby Domino...

I'll miss you... :(

The quest for white cottony softness

Anyone knows where to get plain, large, white, fluffy bathroom rugs? The ones currently stocked at Ikea have a rubber non-slip backing which I don’t like – it disintegrates after a few times in the wash. I’ve looked at BarangBarang and Spotlight but nothing there.

From Pottery Barn and West Elm

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…

Rainy days are good for snoozin...

-

A light has been snuffed out.

I cannot accept. Cannot believe. Cannot comprehend.

I don't know what I can do for M. I feel so helpless.

Of 大闸蟹, 小笼包 and a chance meeting with Nole

We were up in Shanghai for the weekend to catch the Tennis Masters Cup and managed to fill up on 大闸蟹 and 小笼包 along the way.

As soon as we had checked in at the hotel for a quick shower after our red-eye flight, we headed out to 豫园 for the yummelicious 小笼包 at 南翔. Ok, ignore the bad engrish on the signs, and don't bother queuing with the masses downstairs. We headed straight up to the top floor for 3 baskets of these soup-filled steamed pork buns.

There's a rather gimmicky giant bun, which usually only the Japanese tourists order, where they stick a straw through the top and you can suck up the soup. The skin is thicker than the regular ones, so I never bother. But here's a pic of the leftover bun from the next table:

Autumn is also hairy crab (or Chinese mitten crab) season and these little crustaceans fill up with a rich, creamy roe - interestingly, even the male ones do. Apart from the roe, there isn't much flesh to get at, since they are really tiny, so if you're thinking Sri Lankan giant crab or Dungeness crabs, you'd be disappointed. That said, whatever flesh you are able to get out of it is incredibly sweet. 大闸蟹 is usually served steamed and whole, with a ginger/vinegar condiment on the side. There's a technique to eating and it's ingenious how one can use the sharp tips of the crab's legs to push out the elusive bits of from the shell.

Here are our first victims, steamed to a cheery vermillion colour. Check out the cute mossy claws!

And the aftermath… wahahahah….

Of course SH isn't just all about the crabs and the buns. X took us to lunch at a Sichuan restaurant which I think (save for the the hairy crabs) was my best meal this trip. Sliced fish in sour and spicy broth, stir fried chicken in Sichuan peppercorns and chillies, flame grilled lamb… oh and my favourite 夫妻肺片 which is thin slices of ox tongue/stomach/tongue in a spicy, tongue-numbing 麻辣sauce.

The highlight of hubs' trip was, of course, the Tennis Masters Cup at Qizhong Stadium. We managed to catch the Bryan brothers in their doubles semi-finals, Djokovic vs Simon and Murray vs Davydenko.

But nothing made him happier, than bumping into Djokovic in the men's washroom at Changi Airport T2, who was using the urinal next to him! Hur hur… of all places…. Hubs managed to get an autograph (OUTSIDE the washroom), and a photo… :)

Some observations:

• It is always smoggy. We got lucky on the first day we arrived and saw some faint patches of blue. But air quality got progressively worse each day. The 1st picture is what you can possibly hope to have after days of rain. The 2nd picture is of the same view, taken on our last day and how I'd always remembered SH before...

• Taxis are cheap, don't bother with the public transport - 11RMB for the first 3km, which is practically any destination within the inner ring. It's also the easiest and a relatively inexpensive way to get to town from the airport (approx. 40 minutes and 150RMB). The alternative is (1) the Maglev train which stops only at Pudong and you have to transfer to the subway to get to Puxi or (2) airport shuttle buses that take up to 1.5 - 2 hours.

• Watch out when crossing roads, even at pedestrian crossings and don't rely on the traffic signals - motorcyclists and bicyclists pay no heed and will not bat an eyelid at ramming straight into you even when the light is in your favour, and I speak from personal experience.

• Most establishments accept international credit cards, but there are some eateries and shops that only take local credit cards. So it's always safer to have enough cash on you.

• As far as possible, bring enough cash and try not to resort to ATMs/cash machines although they are commonplace. Or at least withdraw a lumpsum. Bank charges for each withdrawal transaction, regardless of amount, is as high as S$8.00/US$5.00.

• DVDs are cheap and are of excellent quality, but their authenticity cannot be vouched for. Don't risk carrying them back to SG cos quite apart from copyright infringement, you get caught under the censorship rules too.

• Don't wear open-toed shoes - you never know when you might step into fresh spit.

"Sweetheart!..."

… I called out this morning. And this little furball came scampering up to me.

*melt*

First Day On Pointe!!

And it didn't hurt as much as I feared it would be, though there was still some pain in my big toes. Need to build more strength in my ankles and more confidence but am totally loving it!!

Never thought it was ever going to be possible, getting back to ballet so late in life (yeah... Girls start pointe at age 11 so that makes me ancient..). But a few weeks ago, lao shi gave me the go ahead to get pointe shoes, though not in such explicit terms - he likes being cryptic. Got myself fitted while in San Francisco, and after going through at least 20 pairs from 6 different makers, we finally found that Freed Studios and Chacott Veronese fit me best, i.e. hurt the least.

Spent Sunday in a jetlagged haze sewing ribbons on the satin shoes in time for Monday's class, with a silly smile plastered on my face. :)

Like now :) :) :)

Niebaum-Coppola's Rubicon Estate, Rutherford

Robert Mondavi @ Oakville, Napa Valley, 1425h

Big Sur, 1445h

View from Sierra Mar at Post Ranch Inn

We've finally arrived at the Post Ranch Inn for lunch, after a day of many photo stops! Very hungry, and the hike up to the restaurant is well worth it!

Moonstone Beach Drive in the morning

Today we start our journey through Big Sur to Monterey Bay. Picture of the beach in front of our inn!

Up the coast

Left Camarillo and headed towards the Pacific. After a brief shower, the sun came out and we had blue skies and fluffy white clouds. Yay!

Stopped by at the Channel Islands National Park but couldn't see much of the islands due to the fog further out at sea. Continued on through S Barbara (rather retirement/geriatric), Guadalupe (which looked like a little mexican town), Pismo Beach (lotsa RV parks) and a quick stop at Morro Bay before reaching Cambria just before the last few minutes of daylight slipped away.

Checked into the very lovely Little Sur Inn along Moonstone Beach Dr. The rooms are spacious and comfy and we have a view of the ocean! Receptionist was a real rude grump though. Grr...

We're headed further up the coast to Big Sur and Monterey tomorrow. :)

Dreary day at S Monica

The day we start our drive up highway 1, a fog rolls in. Sigh... Here's S Monica beach - how its NOT supposed to look like.

Good thing we're making a slight detour inland after Malibu for some outlet shopping at Camarillo. Hope the weather clears up quickly!

Sometimes dreams come true...

... and I'm going to be getting myself fitted for my first pair of pointe shoes :)

Mischy plays dress up!

We were going to retire one of R's old shirts, but before that, we decided to have some silly fun with M.

Not quite sure she likes it:

M tries to gnaw it off...

... before finally indulging us with a pose:

This year it was my turn to plan our anniversary celebrations. Plan A (not to be disclosed so I can use it next time!) was not possible as it was a weekday and we weren't able to take the day off. So I had to settle for Plan B instead.

Promptly after the clock struck 12 at midnight, I presented R with an invitation to dinner...

... reminiscent of our church wedding invitations... hee!

And he (of course) accepted it. :)

Dinner was at Si Bon, at the Amara Sanctuary Resort. They had converted an old chapel into a 20 seater restaurant. And being a weekday, we actually got the entire place to ourselves!

Si Bon serves up sushi and kushikatsu - yummy morsels coated in thin light batter and deep fried! This was rather novel for us, and I was worried we'd still be hungry after the dinner as each skewered piece looked really small. But by the end of the 8 fried items and 9 sushi items... we were stuffed. Didn't have time to take a picture of every course, but the most memorable was fried cuttlefish, topped with fresh uni that was unbelievable sweet, and wagyu beef topped with crushed pepper berries.

An entire meal of deep fried items sounded a little too much for me, especially when both of us were still recovering from a bad bout of flu, so we had opted for a mixture of kushikatsu and sushi. We needn't have worried though, because the batter was amazingly crisp and light, and we never at any point felt that it was too oily or too rich. Anyhow, the sushi was very fresh and possibly one of the best we've had, save for the ones at Tsukiji, and I got my fill of my favourite otoro... slurp! So no regrets on the choice of menu.

Now looking forward to more culinary adventures in California!

We are 2!

How fast time flies. It feels like just last week we were celebrating our 1st year together, and the week before I was walking down the aisle...

It's been an amazing 2 years, darling, and I thank God for granting us such a beautiful, blessed love. Thank you for always being so supportive and sweet, you really are my best friend. Here's to many more wonderful years together!