valentines day

No candle light dinner, no flowers, no chocolate, no present, but we do have in flight meal with a starter, main course, dessert and a bread with the choice of soft drinks, coffee, tea or wine and beer, is not that bad, is it?

Not to mention we almost wanted to kill each other less than 8 hours ago, there we were, happily paid an extra 130 euros, just to be able to sit next to each other in economy comfort(as KLM calls it) during a 13 hours flight. Just before boarding, He said: this is what valentines day is all about- No matter how mad we are with each other, we always get over it, and find a way to be happy wherever we are as long as we are together.

That-to me, was a very good Valentines day. How was yours?

(for those of you who wants to know if the economy comfort is worth 130 euros single way? Not to me, you only get more leg room-in length, i rather have 130 euros in my bank account)

lights decor.

Was dismantling my christmas decoration, and felt the lights might look good on my wall, does it?

Bangladesh

I was in Dhaka, Bangladesh about a week ago for work.

It was a very short 3 days trip, and Yes, everyone’s reaction of Bangladesh is-how poor they are, and how dirty it is, how chaotic the traffic is, how rule-less the whole place is, but surprisingly I find myself admiring the colours in Dhaka even more than in India. The lorries(all painted), the rickshaw, the street, the people, the clothes, bamboo forest, I didn’t know what to expect before I came, but I have to say I wish I can stay a bit longer to see more, it was quite an experience, i certainly enjoyed it.

I even came across this(most random and bizarre) party in the Dutch club in Dhaka. I don’t exactly know what it is, but as far as I understood, it is a place for Expats to socialize and hang out(there are also American club, German club, etc), and once in a while they organize some parties, I was extremely lucky to get an invitation thanks to a friend’s friend. To be honest, it looks more like a private party at someone’s house, or more like a teen’s party with some tacky decorations, but I find myself enjoying it because of the randomness. Beautiful and interesting people, from 50s down to some 16 year old kids, so RANDOM, but it was good fun, and I definitely drank too much.

What a trip.

More food.

I have never cook so much during my holiday.

Nasi Lemak(coconut rice with fried anchovies, fried chicken, peanuts, boiled eggs and sambal ikan bilis)

Banana Cake
:i've been wanting to bake for quite some time, found this recipe online, it was super easy to make, and super delicious. http://en.christinesrecipes.com/2009/11/banana-cake-recipe.html

Curry Puff
:i have never been a big fan of curry puff until i met Catherine. This is her version of Curry puff with puff pastry instead of the original(a more thicker and heavier dough). I thank her for sharing the recipe with me. Those i made are vegetarian with potatoes, onions, carrots and eggplant.

Chinese steam fish

Everything is illuminated

A friend recommend this quite some time ago, didn't get around to watch it until few days ago. I have to say what a brilliant film it is, and Liev Schreiber is both a good actor and director, i wish there are more to come.
Heard the book is even better, going to hunt it down, people, dont't miss it.

Christmas?? Is all about food!

Merry Christmas everyone.

It started snowing on christmas eve, and it snowed the whole day today, first proper white christmas, cold(It is -6 out there) you would wonder what have we done for the last 2 days.

EAT. That is precisely what we did, cook, eat, dvd, cook, eat, dvd.......

We had enough food in the fridge to last us for...... let's just put it this way, if there is a snowstorm lasting for a week, i think we have a big chance of surviving it. To be honest with you, i have never seen so much food in my kitchen.

So, what have we been eating? Christmas eve, i wanted to do a proper roast, but since it was only 2 of us, i figured turkey is too much, and HE is not a big fan of turkey, so we settled with Chicken, roast potatoes for main. He wanted some bread, so i made some Bruchetta as starter, and i love creme brulee, so we had that as desert.

I found the roast chicken recipe from Jamie Oliver's website, it was very straight forward, easy to make and it taste fantastic!! check out www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken-recipes/roast-chicken-with-lemon-and-rosemary-ro

here's picture of before and after

I love bruchetta, though it was a bit funny to have this italian bread as starter with the roastie, but He loves it. I don't really remember where i got the recipe, but this is my own improvisation:
I just used normal Ciabatta bread, put it on the grill to toast it a little, at the same time, i mix some cut tomatoes, rocket leaves, salt, black pepper, and olive oil(i didn't mix all the rockets leaves, i left some for garnishing on top later), then i cut a clove of garlic, when the bread is nicely toasted, i just rub it with the garlic, then put the mixture on top, and garnish with a little bit of thick balsamic vinegar, done.

Creme Brulee, who doesn't love creme brulee? Again, super easy to make, found it on BBC website. http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/originalcremebrulee_81524
Unfortunately, it was that tasty that i didn't get to take a picture. I was also lucky to get the blow torch ontime, and you reallly need one to make this work. It is a good investment.

There it is, my Christmas dinner.

Brunch on Christmas day? I've got some left overs from the roast chicken, and since we've had european breakfast for the last couple of days, i thought why not make something from HOME? So, i made Malaysian Curry BeeHoon(rice vermicelli/noodles, however you call it). I've got some really good Curry paste from Malaysia, coconut milk, button mushrooms, potatoes, beans, chicken leftovers, fishballs, coriander. Ta-da

Nothing beats this-a cold winter morning with a spicy curry noodle soup, a taste from Home, couldn't be better.

My so called 'christmas tree'

So, it is that time of the year again-Christmas market, Gluhwein(mulled wine), Bratwurst(grilled sausages), crepes, waffles, gold, red, green..... For the last 4 years, we've been celebrating Christmas with His family, and this year, we've decided to have a Christmas with just the two of us. Romantic? wait till you read the rest.....We were supposed to go to London for Christmas and New Year, after getting a mild heart attack when we checked out the flight, and with so much money spent on our last trip to South of France, we decided to stay here in Germany for our 2 weeks long holiday, to chill.
Christmas won't be Christmas without a tree, and i've always wanted one and never- had one(for the last 26 years to be exact), but the problem came- i have a tiny flat, to put a real christmas tree(i don't like artificial tree) would mean i have to leave it in my balcony(which would've been nice), but costly too, as you need to buy all those lights and decorations etc etc to 'fill' it up! So, I've decided to go for a Cheap version. I know, i know, i'm all about budget right now:
Ta Da!
Yes, branches, don't think i just pick them in a park or something, i had to buy them from the florist in town and it cost me 4 euros!
It is still work in progress, but i'm quite happy with what i've got so far! Here's another picture:Lighting still need to re-adjust...
(i know im quite pathetic to have a fake fireplace, but i live in a post-war building, and there is no fireplace in these buildings anymore, so we will have to wait till i move into a period building, and live with this for now)