Forks & Some Inspiration by Mail!

What a fantastic package I received yesterday! Eileen & Jeff, you guys are great!!!! Where do I begin? First, Eileen made a Shutterfly book filled pictures of their family, us and the dogs!

Second, Jeff got a chance to go to Forks, WA and brought back some Twilight memorabilia for me!! Too much fun - a bookmark, Candy Bar, Tour Schedule (yes, they actually have Twilight Tours – just like Hollywood’s crazy tours!). Eileen also sent me an inspirational book - I love it! There are some really good messages that Paul and I will take to heart. Of course, she also sent some candy – yum!  But, the pièce de résistance was the People magazine that she included in the package. Thanks again!

Makin’ Pasta

 

 I have to give thanks to Birgit for a great night on Sunday evening! Paul was in Jakarta, Indonesia Sun-Mon and we decided to get together for an evening of making pasta. We really had a great time and decided it was something we had to do again!

I brought a few goodies, including a chicken to roast – but I was nice and cut off the head and feet before I came over. I can get regular “fryers” at Carrefour and Jason’s (and they’re cheaper!) but when I buy them at Cold Storage I get feet, a head and a tag stating the day of slaughter. So, at least I always know it’s fresh. But, I digress…

Back to pasta! Birgit planned the pasta because she was getting ready for a dinner party for work friends this upcoming Friday, so making the pasta ahead of time ensures quicker dinner prep after a long day of work! Luckily, Birgit has a Kitchen Aid and that helped us get the dough formed and then we had to knead the dough by hand until it had a satiny finish – that was 10-15 minutes worth of kneading!!!!

You have to go through quite a few steps to even the get the dough ready for the pasta roller (hers is the manual one & red – that’s why I liked it so much J). After the kneading you put the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes, and then you put it through the pasta roller at setting 7. After each roll—through you fold the dough into thirds and then roll it through again – 7 times. Then you start at setting 6 and reduce by one until you get to 2. It’s really a great culinary experience to make the pasta yourself – starting with raw materials and then end up with gourmet, very tasty pasta! Oddly enough, I found the experience quite liberating! Some Feminists out there might disagree, but when you prepare food with fresh spices and good ingredients, there is no comparison. Samia and other cooks always say, “A cook is only as good as her/his ingredients.” It’s true – I never really understood that until I came here and had access to the raw spices and then learned how to process them. Luckily, I found Birgit, who is as passionate about cooking as I am. And, Samia was the one who essentially brought us together. It’s a ‘brave new world’ for me!

Even though the process was hard work and we don’t have pictures of everything, you’ll get the drift from the pictures. We made Coriander (Cilantro) Linguini, Black Pepper Linguini, Red Pepper Flakes Linguini and Regular Spaghetti. Birgit made Ricotta & Porcini Mushroom Ravioli for her dinner party.

After finishing we dined on the Coriander Linguini & Roasted Chicken, Tomatoes & Potatoes. We finished with a Fruit Compote and Chocolate-Covered Belgium Waffles. Of course, no need to mention how much Sparkling Wine we had – smile… What a lovely apartment Birgit has and I really enjoyed the view of the city. We listened to some great music and I was exposed to some German Jazz and Brazilian music. Another good night for the books!!

Ladies Night Out!

I’m lucky to have found some wonderful friends here! One of whom is Birgit! She and I spent Thursday afternoon shopping on Orchard Road and then headed, again, to the Rooftop Bar at The Screening Room. I really enjoyed the evening; we intended on seeing a movie there but it was cancelled. So, we just hung out, talked, ate and finished off some great Italian Sparkling Wine. Paul was in Taiwan and I really enjoyed the company!

 Birgit had just returned from Malacca, Malaysia (Malay: Melaka) and gave me Gula Melaka (Palm Sugar)! So, now I need to make Black Rice Pudding!

 She and I will continue the fun on Sunday by making pasta – yum! And I suspect more sparkling wine will be involved!

S'pore Fish Spa

 So, as I promised months ago, I would write about my adventures and misadventures! With the prompting a good friend, I tried a “Fish Spa” for the first time! Only one word for it (is this a word?): “Ewwwwwww!” I really couldn’t get used to it and my friend finally decided it wasn’t the thing for her either! But, at least we can say we tried it!

The fish have tiny, tiny “teeth” that essentially bite off dead skin. Pretty disgusting. Anyway, my feet felt a little softer afterwards, but what can I say, I probably only had my feet in the tank 3-5 minutes – tops! The fish absolutely swarm your feet – it’s a little disconcerting…

This is how is goes:

1. You go and pay for your ticket: for 10 minutes, it was $S10.40 ($7.45 US). You can select these increments: 10, 20 or 30 minutes. 
2. You enter and they wash off your feet – I suspect to disinfect.
3. You then are tagged on your back with a barcode sticker – kind of weird…but, that’s because the experience is timed. 
4. You can either select from the Small Fish (about the size of an adult’s pinky) and Large Fish (about the size of an adult’s forefinger – maybe a little smaller than that).
5. We tried the Large Fish first – that didn’t go well. I essentially screamed and, since those tanks face the outside and potential customers, the workers “strongly suggested” I move to the Small Fish tank.
6. At the Small Fish tank, I have a little more success as you can see from the photos. My friend tried it once and said, “No More!” And, as you can see from the last photos – I’d had enough too!

 These Fish Spas are all over Singapore and somewhat of a tourist trap – they are located at the Singapore Flyer, Zoo, Malls, etc. But, you have to try it, no matter what!

At least, I started out happy:

Gifts from the Kids!

I’ve gotta thank Melissa and the kids for the great gifts I received for my birthday. They have really brightened our apartment. Yes, my birthday was almost a month ago now, and I’m just now posting it! Yikes!

But, Melissa gave me something very pretty and breakable so it stayed back in the States with my parents, but Paul did bring along with him some fun things from the kids. The girls picked out the socks! So, I thought I would post the pictures. 

 
I love getting things in the mail! Just Kidding – no really! Smile…

Colorado Collie in Singapore

We had a fun experience last Sunday night; we were entertaining some colleagues of Paul’s and we headed to Epicurious for dinner (great restaurant, by the way!) and I look up and saw a Collie, yes a full-size Collie, walking up the walkway along Clarke/Robertson Quay. I ran over with my camera and caught up with him and his owners. I believe they were from France but had gotten their Collie from a breeder in Colorado. Who knows, maybe our pups are related!

I was so excited! I couldn’t believe it?! I was able to get a picture but I was just beside myself. I wish I had gotten video; the Collie was playing with me and “talking” to me, like they do!

You never know what kind of experience you will have here in Singapore – what rare treasure we got that night! I have started posting pictures of our Collies, Sophie & Tucker, to the right. I’m working on either an album or just keeping a static picture posted.

False Start

Well, I thought I was going to be updated by now but not so – I’ve been battling something, don’t know what and I’ve not felt well, at all. So, keep an eye out and I’ll be posting soon. The weather seems to agree; here are the pictures from today. Huge thunderstorm today; I think it may be an omen...