Saturday, April 30, 2011

On The Other Side...

I love Anderson Cooper. Mr. Cooper of CNN has been in London doing the coverage of the Royal Wedding. After covering such an joyous occasion and celebration around, this was what he tweeted about an hour ago. It's Saturday, the day after the wedding, in the very early of morning hours in London. Interesting.

Friday, April 29, 2011

TGIF!!

Gott sei Dank, es ist Freitag! What a joyful day today has been. First, I woke to the good news that Miss P got the refund from the person that sublet her apartment from and later on putting in a man in the apartment simply by saying "Sorry I forgot this - for the time frame you are staying, there will be another girl who you will share the bath room with, and one guy". What?!? a GUY? So casually inserted into the sentence??? Sharing an apartment with a guy that she never met before? That's juts not nice to set it up that way! After a couple of nights with poor sleep, it was settled and the money was refunded and my daughter would not have to share an apartment with a male stranger this Summer. She, however, will have to find a new place to stay.

For the past two days, I had become a company to my sister's colleague and his daughter who had medical problem and was told that she needed an operation by a doctor in Jakarta. We went to a private practice yesterday and this poor father was robbed of his $460 for the doctor, ultrasound imaging and blood test, $300 of which was for consultancy. It's so outrageous! It was too much! Today, they looked for a third opinion from a specialist at Singapore General Hospital. The bad news was that despite the appointment that they had for 10:10AM, we were made to wait for more than two and a half hours. The good news was, after his examination, that the doctor found no reason for the parents and this little girl to worry about. No operation was needed. They were asked to observe and come back later for another Ultrasound imaging. The damage? Merely $100. The satisfaction? Enormous. I am so happy for them.



That's not all. IPad 2 is here!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have ordered mine, along with the case too. Yes, yes, yes! Now, let me continue with the caramel popcorn. I am getting ready to become a temporary couch potato. It's William and Kate's wedding. Time to enjoy!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

When We Like Something...



It's our second time dining at Cz'zar Restaurant and we just had to order one of the dishes that we had last time. We simply love it. It's Steamed Minced Pork with salted fish. It's a simple-no-non-sense dish, but it has a nice balance of different flavors that we love.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Another Wednesday...

Lately, I have been able to go to bed early by anyone standard, that is around 10PM. It felt good that I rested enough. I was able to wake up fresh. But somehow in life, we could not avoid facing some issues that we all have to deal with. This time it came from faraway but in the form of an email. And more emails, back and forth, until it passed 11 PM and I basically was awake and could not fall asleep. By the time I went to bed, a decision was made. So in a way, it's good. What can be done was done. Always remember, there are worse things.

I found out today that a 12-year old daughter of my sister's colleague has been diagnosed having a 9-cm cyst. I can't possibly imagine the feeling of the parents. They are coming here to get second and third opinions from the doctors here. I have been asked, in a way, to become their liaison officer and I have agreed to that. I am reminded again, that when things appear to be bad, there are worse things and we can always try to be grateful with things we've got.



It's another Wednesday. The day started nicely, it was cool and pleasant. It got hotter during the day and it rained as the sun was setting. Yes, we got it all. Two of my Adenium plants are blooming, one has deep dark pink color and the other ones are white with pink in the edges. Looking lovely!



Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Warm Spinach Salad



This is my second time dining at Marmalade Pantry. This time, the restaurant has moved to a new location in Orchard Rd, it is located on the 3rd floor of ION. After many years, I went back to the same dish that I had before, i.e Warm Spinach Salad. The huge salad was served with fried mozzarella, bacon, pine nuts and burnt butter dressing. It was really filling. I never had so much spinach at one go, but I had no complaint, except that it made me so fullllllll!!!!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! I finally am going to have coffee back on to my diet again. Yay. Meanwhile, let's listen to some singing and piano playing.... Enjoy!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Pretty In Pink...



We are having many Lantana flowers and I thought the pink ones are really pretty....

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Milky Way Shines Through A Sandstorm

This is a fantastic time-lapsed video by Terje Sorgjerd, a landscape photographer and filmmaker from Norway. He shot this from Spain's highest mountain El Teide. His camera, amazingly, had managed to capture the sandstorm which was backlit by Grand Canary Island making it look like golden clouds, he wrote. Very beautiful!

The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

So Close Yet So Far....



The sky was very clear last night and I am glad that I was looking up to the sky when it happened. The moon was so bright and round and looked so close to the tall building next to it. Surely it's not reachable but we practically did not have to look up much from our position, which was in the 4oth floor of our building.



As the night went further, the moon went up higher. ( I was hoping it went behind the building and pop up again! Ha!) In 12 minutes, it was way up high above the building.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Smell The Fragrance...



Finally this morning, some of the Murraya bloomed, I did not see them at first, but the fragrance attracted my attention first. Just lovely and smell sooo.... good.

Monday, April 18, 2011

From Stem Cutting Rosemary...



I love the scent of Rosemary, so fresh and piney. Some months ago, I started propagating the plant from cutting the stem. I had five of them that I planted on the pot and now they have grown well. There are many different ways of propagation and I like to try propagating it in water next. It will be nice to be able to see the roots before I plant them.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Just About....



I am still loving my Hibiscus. At 7:31 AM, I managed to capture the picture of a Hibiscus about to bloom. By noon, when I checked back, the flower has opened up widely.... Nice!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Pork Ribs At Cz'zar

Link
We passed by Cz'zar restaurant too many times, but did not manage to make any effort to eat there until last weekend. One of the few dishes that we tried was this Pork Ribs with special sauce. It was yummy and tasty. I'd like to go back and try other dishes. They are interesting and looking delicious.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Murraya Paniculata



This is the third plant that I got from nursery recently, I saw them a lot on the streets and many houses and they are as durable as bougainvillea, they survive under the strong heat and heavy rain. That's mainly the reason we got it. We wanted a plant that is easy to take care of and is not affected by disease easily. It is called Murraya Paniculata or Orange Jasmine.



Orange Jasmine is a tropical evergreen plant with year-round small, white, scented flowers and reddish fruits. We have the flowers buds, ready to bloom in no time and we have some fruits too, many of which, seemed to have been stolen by the birds.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Cottage Cheese Bread



We were left with almost-full 2-cup container of cottage cheese while its expiring date was approaching. How I hate throwing away food. If I could help it, I would save it anyway I possibly could. That left me with looking for a new recipe to utilize it. I could use it for lasagna, but almost everyone here is staying away from beef this month. Besides, I wanted to do something different with it, something that I had not done before.



Then I found this recipe and with resources that I had, I made some adjustments . This cottage cheese bread was made. I'd like to mix it with some flax seed, unfortunately, I did not have any. So this time, it's mostly cottage cheese. It's good.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

After The Rain....



It rained very heavily last week when we were going to airport to pick up Miss K who got back after a week of camping, kayaking and trekking as well as being bitten by a bunch of mosquito. The rain, however, has stopped as we drove back home. I liked what I saw in the sky and took some snaps. One of them is up there.

Saturday, April 09, 2011

Apple Oatmeal Crisp



For some reasons that I do not know, I find myself not being a fan of fresh apples, i.e I do not really like to eat fresh apples. Strangely enough, I love apple based desserts. I love to make them mostly with green apples. This week, I made Oatmeal Apple Crisp. We had them for desserts and breakfast. And snacks too. They are just delish!


Friday, April 08, 2011

It's Just Too Hot....



The weather over the past couple of weeks here has been really punishingly hot. Temperature rose and it's just so nice to simply cool down in an a room with cool air conditioner. It's hot and sunny and humid, on daily basis. It's incredible. I guess that warranted something cooling, like this homemade mango ice cream..... I had a ripe big mango that I got from supermarket a few days ago and with sugar, lime juice and whipped cream, the whole process was easily done. We had our mango ice cream ready in a couple hours.

Thursday, April 07, 2011

Feels Like So Long Ago....



A year and a day ago, we were still in Tokyo, it felt like ages ago but somehow it's like yesterday too. Confusing, huh? We were strolling along among the crowds in Asakusa and saw these Sumo figurines. Miss K enjoyed her sleep as always, tucking herself under the heavy comforter in our hotel room. I hope things get better soon in Japan. We love to visit again. I truly enjoy visiting this wonderful country.

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Purple Periwinkle



In the picture, these purple periwinkle flower looks like very dark pink, but I can assure you that it is purple indeed. These are from the potted ones that we bought last week. They survive, but sadly, I can't say the same thing about the red ones. I'm glad I had some pictures taken. I really like the whitish spot in the center, I might go back to the same nursery and get another one...... ??? Temptation.....uh-oh....



Monday, April 04, 2011

Dinner At Brasserie Wolf!



Hey! We finally ended up in a French restaurant named Brasserie Wolf, last Saturday evening. There are so many restaurants just along the river and this one is just minutes away from our place. I had seared Cod with Leek and some sort of Gnocchi, the menu said, can't remember exactly what it was. DH had Roasted Spatchcock Chicken with mixed salad and mashed potatoes. We both enjoy our dinner, but we were too full to try their desserts, thanks to late lunch that we had. Maybe another time.

Sunday, April 03, 2011

Double Blooms



One of our new hibiscus flowers has bloomed and produced double blooms. There are two layers of petal and make it look like rose. It's always a thrill to see a new flower blossoming around. We should be having more in the coming days. Can't hardly wait. Mmmmm.....

Saturday, April 02, 2011

Sanomaru



School ended a week ago and on Saturday, we managed to get the kids to have lunch together. It is normally so hard to get everyone together, as the kids tend to have their valid reasons for not joining. Finally. The excuse for lunch could be the break or my birthday. I let them think that it's for my birthday, but not for me. I want a better meal for my birthday. Anyway, we went to a Japanese restaurant at Triple One, originated from Saporro and is called Sanomaru. Their specialty is Ramen, but we ordered all sort of food that we wanted to try. We have tried their Ramen before and we liked them.



DH had Ebi Fry Curry with Rice, while mine was Katsu Curry. The kids ordered Set Menu that they shared which had both Ramen, Katsu Don and from salad.





We shared Chicken Kakiage and Enoki wrapped in bacon with Teriyaki sauce, but I ended up having to eat most of the Enoki because nobody else was willing to eat them. We were stuffed. It's a big lunch. Next!

Friday, April 01, 2011

Overdue Trimming?



The leaves seem to be such a mess and trimming appear to be long overdue. Unless, they are having different style planned?