Kebabs and Curries

 

M and I had lunch at Kebabs and Curries today - we have been wanting to try it for a while. The Dome was closed during lunch so we ate on the deck but it wasn't too warm. Now I wish I had tried the lassi!

Here's another two photos of Simone. She's wearing a collar because she has conjunctivitis. She loves to terrorise the cats - not good.

Dinner at Imp and PlanetofSound's

 

Simian and I went to Wimbly Lu again for breakfast yesterday. I had an eclair, and Simian ordered the mushroom crepe which was fantastic. It had was full of mushroom, garlic and mozzarella. On the way out, I asked for a truffle to go and they even tried to put it in a lovely box. I told them to keep the box as I was going to pop it in my mouth right away!

We went to Mustafa and Tekka Market today to get some stuff - it was HOT. I also baked a strawberry cake and challah to bring to Imp and PlanetofSound's home. The challah looked huge and pregnant because I left it to proof when we were out and it really expanded!

Dinner of course was fantastic. PlanetofSound made a green Minestrone (with pesto which had CHEESE in it :)), pumpkin, guacamole and a huge Moussaka for the main course. Everything was delicious. Imp also invited her friends, P and her husband, J. Both used to live in Baltimore but in the Bad Old Days when it was far more dangerous than it is now! They were a lovely couple who have lived in Singapore for almost a year.

Cafe and Food

 

After helping some neighbours with their new Ipad, Mom and I went by Wimbly Lu, a new cafe in our estate which just opened. They make handmade chocolates which are freshly produced every day! The decoration was lovely and the staff were friendly. We met one of the owners - the chairs are sanded down by the owners and their friends.

Simian picked me up in the evening, and we took L, to dinner. L is the sister of one of our neighbours in the US. As she had very limited time here, we took her to the Straits Kitchen for some local food.

Khansama

 

PlanetofSound was working from home, so Imp suggested we meet him and Simian for lunch. It was the perfect time to check out the Khansama Castle, where it turned out they were having a lunch buffet. Biopolis is scarily empty for such a huge complex but it makes for nice, not crowded dining.

Sadly, the decor was not as over the top as Khansama Village promised. No Nativity scene :(

Farquhar Collection

 

Imp and I went to see the Farquhar Collection which was great - it's a free exhibit so you can just pop in and see it without paying admission fees. None of the watercolours were by Farquhar but were commissioned by him - some of them were fantastic and lifelike, and some, like the monkey and the owl, are hilarious because they're so wrong!

National Museum

 

Imp and I went to the National Museum today to see the Farquhar Collection. The Museum really is a lovely building.

Botanics and Simone

 

I met a lady with scleroderma today. We met on an online forum and decided to meet in person to chat. We had a lovely walk around the Botanics - I didn't realise how any new things I hadn't seen, and some parts I probably did years ago, which I didn't remember!

Here is a photo of Simone - it's very difficult to get a shot of her. She's Mom's new dog and she paces up and down all day, making photography a challenge.

Woodpeckers and Mustafa

 

Simian and I went to run errands today. We stopped by Mustafa (and had lunch at Khansama). They even have a bakery at Mustafa now that would not look out of place at any mall.

I was thrilled to see two sunda woodpeckers by the side of the road, near the Queen Street Wholesale Market - the shot was grainy as I only had my compact.

River and Baking

 

Here is River right after his walk - finally after years of refusing to go, he's started to let us take him out, and he loves it!

I made orange peel scones and a chocolate orange cake today (both from Nigella Lawson) - the latter had a small jar of marmalade in it. I'll probably add some zest or peel in it the next time, but it tasted pretty good otherwise.

Lunch with M and Baby E

 

I had lunch with M and Baby E today. We got her a pair of cat and dog balloons and Baby E liked them very much indeed. She kept walking them around the room!

I love my new pair of Vibram Komodos. What I don't love is the haze - the whole place smells smoky.

Back in Singapore

It's unbelievable but our lightning trip to the US is over. I can't believe we've already been there and are back again. The weather was pretty miserable and we only spent five days (and a bit) home in Maryland. Of that time - it rained for two days.

The good : we got to see our friends, even if not for very long. It felt like we just picked up where we left off and it was wonderful to see them again. Thanks to Will & A, HJ and E, D for making time to work around our crazy schedule. An especial thanks goes out to Suntaneye - she was studying for her big orals (which she passed. YAY!) but took time out to have dinner with us.

I also got to see a great doctor, whom I feel very comfortable with, for my scleroderma. Other awesome things - Five Guys Fries of course! We got to eat at all the awesome places I've blogged about. It was also great to be home, and to do a tiny spot of bird watching - though it was too wet for too many of the birds to come out. I discovered a new fantastic Starbucks drink, Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate - how did I never know this existed (probably because I rarely go to Starbucks)??? Now I'll have to find out if they have it in Singapore.

The stuff I missed : no tomatoes! I almost had a meltdown in the aisle of our Food Lion when I realised there were no heirlooms. Simian had to comfort me with Kumatoes, but while good, they just aren't the same. We also didn't get to eat any ice cream! Nor did we get to Brewer's, Samos, or any of my favourite Tex Mex places. Oh, and no Iggie's either. I've realised that this list is almost entirely food related :)

Still, the important thing was to get home and spend some time there, as well as to see the house was still standing. There was some mould in the basement, the mailbox had to be fixed because some punks hit it again, but on the whole, it was just good to be home.

I watched Kung Fu Panda 2 on the plane which was awesome. I also saw The Day I was not Born (very good) and then saw Old Places, and an episode of No Reservations.

When we got home, Simian and I went running which was a mistake. It's hotter here than Maryland or California, and I started to get burpy and feel groggy. Simian made me stop and then we started a gain after resting at a much, slower pace. However, my new Vibrams have something poking into my right toe. I had left my new Komodos at home, thinking I would try them while running a shorter route. I thought that being familiar with Bikilas, this should pose no issue. However, this rubbed against my toe so much, we had to walk the last one-fifth of the route back. Bad run :(

NY stopover

 

Simian drove us into NYC for a lightning trip to see G&M and their children, M and the new baby, O. We had dinner at Sage General Store, and went to see their new apartment. Traffic was a nightmare. G says that the NY joke is that the difference between a nightmare and NY traffic is that the nightmare is shorter. We haven't seen them in person for more than a year so it was great seeing them.

We did have to rush out of the house though. The washing machine was acting up so I had to leave the clothes in the dryer while it was still running :(

Chipotle Fail

 

Oh Chipotle I love you. Your food is fresh, tasty and cheap. What's there not to love? When you opened in your neighbourhood, I was only sad that we weren't there to enjoy your awesomeness as much.

The sign on your door does give me pause though.

S&M Hello KItty

 

Will and A bought us dinner at Charles Village Pub once we got back to Bmore on Monday night. Will also had to pick us up from the airport (thanks Will) two hours late because our plane was delayed. Simian and I went out on a rainy Monday to meet them downtown and I had wonderful potato skins. Simian had a creamy tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich.

On the way home, I saw this S&M Hello Kitty. Only in Bmore.

Sara Lee

Sara Lee
Originally uploaded by ariel1511976

I saw this shop in the Denver airport and immediately thought of my grandmother. We used to bring a pound cake for my grandma every week - it was her little treat.

Birds

 

Monterey is one of the best places to see pelagic birds. Unfortunately, the ocean cruises weren't running over Labour Day weekend, but we still managed to see some sooty shearwaters, pelicans and gulls.

More Monterey

 

We had a nice lunch at Crepes of Brittany along the Monterey Wharf. We had Brie and Onion crepes and Nutella and strawberry. Both were delicious. We also found a charming little shop that sold prints and had a theatre attached to it. It was called the New Wharf Theatre, and the lovely gentleman in the store gave us a free print and showed us his theatre.

The weather back in Maryland has been dismal. It rained and rained. The creek near us was incredibly full - I've never seen it that high.

Monterey

 

More views from Monterey. Too tired to write more at the moment but will do so!

Renaissance Weekend

 

Just back from Renaissance Weekend. Our flight got delayed by an hour and a half as there was a problem with the engine but we got back eventually and Will picked us up. Will post more later as I am exhausted, but here are some photos of Monterey!

Renaissance weekend

Simian and I finished our first Full day of the Renaissance Weekend. Some of the talks have been great. We were so tired during our afternoon free time that we ended up falling asleep instead of going for a run!

Busy!

Today was a crazy day. Simian and I woke up early and went for my appointment at the Scleroderma Centre at Hopkins. The doctor was fantastic. He was very professional and caring. He spent almost 5 and a half hours with us but billed us for only half an hour because we weren't on insurance. He also went through several tests to confirm the diagnosis. I had to do a lung test and a lung MRI as well as blood work. They also asked if I'd be willing to help with research (for which I get free parking! yay :))) and so I gave 12 tubes of blood! Considering how unusual scleroderma is though, I'm only too happy to give.

My disease is mild right now - but it is in the active phase so the doctor would like to start me early on some immuno-suppressants. Otherwise, everything looks good which Simian and I are very pleased about.

I have to also say that every single person at Hopkins Bayview was super friendly, from the MRI technician to the guy who did my lung tests. I've been to the main campus before and people weren't this nice. Not one single person was surly - in fact all of them were really chatty. It was as pleasant an experience as you could have at a hospital.

Simian and I had to rush home after. He had suggested taking our bags along but I thought we had plenty of time. In the end, we rushed home, packed, and then Will came to take us to the airport and now we are in Monterey!

Cafe Tuscany

 

We went to get my car serviced (it's done 10000 miles) and got some shopping done at Marshall's, where we also ran into our friend G's sister. We ambitiously thought we'd be able to fit in a jog before Suntaneye and her husby came, but it was not to be. They got us some fantastic tshirts (which are in the wash now because I want to wear them tomorrow!).

We were going to head to the Thai place in Westminster for dinner, but on Main Street, I remembered reading about Cafe Tuscany in the Baltimore Sun. Unfortunately they sold out of the homemade pasta, but the pizza was still awesome. It was Happy Hour all the way till 9 (when they closed) and our server charged us the Happy Hour prices for our pizzas even though the ones we picked weren't actually part of the promotion. The most expensive thing that we had was my martini which was also invented by our server! It had lemoncello and orange in it - lovely. I had almost forgotten what it was like to have cocktails where they actually put in alcohol, instead of the stuff in Singapore. Suntaneye's husby and Simian were happy with their $3 Dogfish ale.

Back in Bmore

 

It's been a crazy two days and it's only going to get crazier. Yesterday we returned the rental car after getting lost, cleaned the house/worked in the yard (I did the former, Simian the latter), did laundry, had lunch at Tahina's (goood as always)and then met HJ, E and Baby E, Will, Dan and A at Tutti Gusti for dinner. Simian was pleased as he tucked in to his usual pasta (tortellini, no prosciutto).

Today Simian went to the lab, and I sorted out some stuff at home before going to join everyone for E's birthday at Matsuri in Federal Hill. I had the vegetable maki rolls and they were pretty good. I'm no sushi connoisseur as you know, but it certainly wasn't worse than conveyor belt sushi. We met someone who grew up in Japan, and I think this is the place he told us about that had the most authentic sushi. It even had a tanuki drawing on the wall! The Baltimore Grand Prix starts this weekend. It's going to be interesting to see how the drivers handle our famous potholes. Plus it dosn't look quite ready!