Brunch came early

This week I went for brunch with an ex-colleague on Saturday instead of my usual Sunday gig.

We went to try out Wimbly Lu and Jules cafe at Jalan Riang. And I enjoyed myself and am glad I came out for a fulfilling meal and good company.

Albeit it was wet and rainy, but the weather did not dampen our spirits and we had fun catching up, eating and laughing.

Brunch at Wimbly Lu for me was SST - smoked salmon on toast with scrambled eggs and a good cup of skinny latte. We even got to meet Wimbly and Lu. The owners of the outfit. Very nice ladies and my company poured on compliments for the coffee and we made small talks.

After round 1, the greedy in me coaxed my ex to go for a second round at Jules where I had eggs remy (a rendition of eggs ben except leeks and other veg were used instead of ham) while my company had risotto, which both were good. The skinny latte here was not too bad but I think I prefer the one at Wimbly Lu.

We parted ways later after a 3 hour marathon of brunch and more brunch.

It was a good day.

Sometimes

Sometimes I wish you'd surprise me and appear out of nowhere to whisk me away...

Sometimes I wonder what it's like to be pricked by a porcupine....

Sometimes I wish you'd be more honest, open and sincere...

Sometimes I wonder if this is it...

Sometimes I wish I knew.

I miss my porcupine

Dear Porcupine,

The silence is painful but necessary for me more than you, because I know you'd never have the guts to do it. But I need this. For me.

I miss the banter terribly and hope some day I'd find someone who'd enjoy my company as much as I'd enjoy having endless conversations with under the sun and the stars.

Preferably, this person would be a whole lot more sincere and open.

I don't know if I can keep this up but I need to move on.

Girl, Domesticated. Kitchen Affairs: Episode #8

Been awfully slacking in posting my adventures in the kitchen but will give it a shot today. Yesterday's attempt was my first time trying three dishes in one go. All pretty manageable and no major mishap except I forgot to par boiled the bittergourd first before frying it. Luckily I hadn't thrown them in the wok first so there was a slight delay while I inserted the par boiling step. I also forgot to fry with butter instead of using olive oil. So although this time around, the salted egg was salty enough to coat the bittergourd, frying with butter would make the dish much more tastier.

Salted egg bittergourd

Everything else turned out well.

The minced pork with olive leaves was just as good as I had expected and it well really well with rice. Next time, if I'd be repeating this dish, will try with chili padi to give it some extra kick and hold back on the olive oil as the oil leaves itself already came with ample oil.

Minced pork with olive leaves

The scramble egg with tomato was really good and the consistency was what I expected it to be - not too dry and the taste was just as sweet as I had expected it to be. Next round, will cut back on adding the sugar and just put in extra tomatoes to let natural sweetness take its course.

Scrambled eggs with tomato

Let's see what other inspirations I can hit with and hope to be back in the kitchen sooner than expected.

A new beginning, in every sense...

Out with the old and in with the new. That seems to be the recurring theme for this year.

According to the lunar calendar, the new year starts on 4 February and on 10 February, I bid good bye to Juniper - a place where I've spent 7 years and 6 months of my life. Much has grown and changed with the people, place and my waist line over the years but nevertheless it is still a place with many dear memories for me.

Interestingly, my join date was 24 August 2004 and last working day happened to be 24 February 2012 by pure coincidence.

So as I say goodbye to a great company and some people, I look forward to my next challenge at work and life with anticipated breath.

It'd be uphill from now....

Girl, Domesticated. Kitchen Affairs: Episode #3

New Year, New Beginnings. And here's the new project.

Back in the kitchen today to try out the salted egg yolk bittergourd and tom yam paste fried prawns. The first was inspired after tasting this delicious dish at a day trip with friends in Pengerang, Malaysia. The second is to try and use up the leftover tom yam paste I had from previous episodes while trying to cook up a tom yam paste pasta.

Tom Yam paste fried prawn

Salted Egg Yolk bittergourd

The tom yam one turned out really well. It was yummy and if I'm doing it again next round, will deshell the prawns.

The salted egg yolk bittergourd was a slight disappointment as it was not as tasty as expected. I should have added some salt as I didn't know mum had bought the 'not so salty' kind of salted egg. Thus, it came out tasting a bit bland.

All in all, pretty satisfied with the results and glad I did this to kickstart my 1 Jan 2012.

Till the next cooking adventure, happy lunching.

Oh and I forgot, yesterday, I also tried my hand at a dessert. Snow fungus soup with longan and ginkgo nuts. Originally intended to make this for somebody but somehow, it became my last project for 2011 and I ate it myself. It was a success, nevertheless.

Snow fungus soup with longan and ginkgo nuts

昨天想的,今天已成事实

昨天有人发了电话短讯给我。写了一些祝贺。读了之后，感触特多。。。

就这样的，一些事情就变了过去。。。

“撕下墙壁的最后一张日历，不论过去的一年成与败，得与失，苦与乐，都随着时空而成为了过去。

挂上新的日历，新的一年，它依然是三百六十五张。

愿您在新的一年，每一天撕下每一张日历的每一天，都是… 健康快乐，事事顺心，心想事成。”