Needs an update

I just realised that my header picture needs to be changed.

It really doesn't reflect the weather here at all, does it ?

Unwanted visitors

Yikes ! I just vacuumed the first scorpion this year. Time to check our shoes before putting them on.

If you remember this entry, well since then, I haven't made much progress in terms of getting rid of unwanted visitors. My weapon of choice is still the good old trusty vacuum cleaner.

Hmmm I wonder if there are any scorpions in Singapore ?

I got tagged

I've been tagged by lotus & reirei so I have no excuse not to do the meme. It has been a while since I last did one anyway. So whether you want to know this or not, here are 6 random/useless information about me.

1. I suck at ball games. I'm fairly atheletic but have absolutely no ball sense. Alright so I'm probably too small to play basketball or volleyball but even tennis, softball, football, you name it, I'm just not good with balls.

2. I'm basically a shy person. This may come as a surprise to some but I've always been shy even as a child. One reason why there aren't a lot of pictures of me as a child & the few that my mother has, shows the back of my head because I was always running away or hiding behind someone. I am always a little awkward amongst strangers (even now) & it takes a while before I warm up towards someone.

3. I hate wearing socks at home. I hate it with a vengence. The first thing I do when I enter the house is to remove both shoes & socks. Thankfully we have heated flooring so even in winter, I walk around bear foooted.

4. I used to be a dancer. Used to because it has been a long time since I last danced. I don't mean dancing in a disco or club but dancing as a performance. I never had proper dance training but from when I was little all the way to university days, I was always taking part in school dance perfomances - folk, jazz & modern dance.

5. I love foreign movies. No, I'm passionate about foreign language movies. I only watch them in their original language with subtitles & won't have it any other way. From Japanese to obscure Inuktitut (language of the Inuit people), the more off beat the more it appeals to me. I had a subscription to Sight & Sound (a British film magazine) for years. You can imagine, living in NY was like being in foreign movie mecca. I would go to film festivals, movie screenings & was a member of this DVD club that specialises in foreign movies. Nowadays, the only ones we watched are the Bollywood ones that The Girl seem to like.

6. I may be one of few Asians who dislike karaoke. I can't sing to save my life & don't want anybody to have to put up with my bad singing. Not even after a few drinks can I be coaxed to take the microphone. I don't even like to sing, to begin with. So please don't invite me to any karaoke parties.

Phew I had a hard time coming up with these 6.

I'm tagging these 6 other bloggers - let's hear 6 random things about yourselves.

1. Sawasdee lah

2. Be-Live

3. Wrong Side of Thirty

4. Back in Germany

5. From my humble kitchen

6. tsulin

Stand by Me Around the World

Mark Johnson, an award winning film director & producer, recorded a street performer singing Stand by Me, then went around the world & did the same with the local artists. The video below is a montage of the footage that he took.

This is all part of "Playing for Change - Peace through Music". A foundation that aims to help impoverished people in the areas visited to show how music brings people together. They are currently involved in building an arts centre & music school in various parts of Africa.

Like Matt Harding's video, this appeals to me because it transcends cultures & borders. It hasn't knocked the Best Video on the Internet off the shelf but it is pretty darn awesome.

Check it out.

Curse of the 100 Euro

Why oh Why don't shops here have change for €100 ever ?

Yesterday I bought €42 worth of stuff from a big chain store & the cashier insisted that he has no change. You would think that €100 should be readily acceptable. Not here it's not. I refused to use my credit card cos I didn't think it's unreasonable to expect a shop their size to have change for €100. Plus if he had a more I'm-sorry-but-I-really-can't-help-you attitude rather than his how-dare-you-inconvenience-me attitude, I might have relented. Then you know what happened - he finally gave me change - but all in €2 coins !

Granted most people here use cheques when they shop (now you know why the lines at the supermarkets are always so slow cos all the little old ladies would take their time writing the cheques at checkout). But seriously €100 is not off the ball park. It's not like I'm flashing a €1000 note.

You say "Look maybe it's because you live in the ulu countryside", then how do you explain the similar experiences I've had in Paris. The most frustrating being at the Pompidou Centre - neither the bookstore nor the ticket counters were willing to give me change (in this case, they had change but just didn't want to give it to me because it was too early in the morning) . I had to go several blocks to a money changer to buy a phone card in order to get some change. URGH.

Morale of the story : When in France, never go shopping with €100 bills.

Totally random

Somebody just came to my blog searching for "can pregnant lady eat rojak ?".

Well if you're still here & reading this, all I say is this "everything in moderation".

It's finally cold enough

Yeah it's finally cold enough to light the fire place.

As much as I dread the end of summer & the start of the cold weather, the one thing I do look forward to is lighting the fire place. When X first built the chimney, we envision it to be an open fire place - you know some place to roast chestnuts.

Aesthetically it is better, watching the open flames etc. But it's not practical. Think soot & smoke everywhere. Not to mention, having to keep an eye on your toddler all the time. Plus it actually doesn't heat up very well. So in the end, we decided to buy a wood burning stove instead.

When we first moved in March 2007, we haven't yet installed our heating system so we had to rely on this stove to heat up part of the house. It did a pretty decent job. There were nights I just plonked myself in front of it.

It took me quite a while before I got the hang of lighting it. Since we don't ever need one in Singapore, I'm a novice at this. All those outdoor camping activities I had in school didn't seem to help very much. Trust me, it's not as easy as striking a match.

Here's what I do :

1. Have enough combustible materials at the bottom - newspapers, junk mail, pine cones (these are great), twigs etc

2. Next stack about 2 bigger pieces of wood across from each other to make sure you don't suffocate the fire meaning you have to stack them with enough air to circulate

3. Then light the bottom pile. Once the fire starts going & by the time the bigger pieces are being burnt, you can slowly feed the fire by adding more wood

But if you don't do it right, that stubborn fire is just not going to start.

Since we have a closed stove, it's easy to regulate the vents to control the fire - more air means a bigger flame thus heating faster but also burning up more wood, less air decreases the flame & burn up less wood (I usually do that just before I go to bed).

So there you have it. How to light a fireplace 101. Now I'm going to make myself a cup of coffee & sit in front of it to watch the flames.

My first photography assignment

Several months ago, my friend Katia approached me to take some photographs for her Aikido School as they needed a poster. She figured since I have a great big DSLR, I should know what I'm doing. After repeatedly reminding her that I'm no expert & on top of that, action photography is not my forte (I don't consider running after The Girl as relevant experience), I decided to take up the challenge & to see what I could come up with.

I visited the dojo (the martial arts school) & was impressed by how big the space was. Even tho I had done some research on the internet, I really didn't know what to expect. It was evening & I was worried that there weren't enough lighting. I started to get nervous & was wondering to myself what business does this amateur photographer have trying to take shots for something as important as their new promotional material & I didn't want to let these people down. But I was determined to do my best.

Katia & Mathieu started doing their moves and boy, are they good !! The first 30 or so shots were bad cos I didn't really know the aikido moves but as the session progressed, I got better at anticipating their moves & managed to capture some good shots. Taking action shots is a lot more difficult that I'd imagine.

Surprisingly they seemed to like the pictures, even the blurry ones cos they said it showed movement. We didn't even need another session cos Katia & her photoshop skills came up with a very stylish poster.

I'm very pleased to have a small part in creating this.

Back to School

So The Girl went back to school yesterday. Am I a bad mum to be rejoicing in that ? My neighbour Laurence said I'm on vacation now. Not too sure about that. Let's see what I did - I cleaned house, vacuumed the car, I got busy in the kitchen (more about that later) & after lunch, I swam 40 laps.

Let's talk about that last part. Growing up, I was more a runner than a swimmer. In fact, I've always been a little afraid of the water. But when I was pregnant, I got inspired by my friend Ling who swam regularly during her pregnancy & thought I wanted to do the same. First it was to do one lap (gosh can I even make it there !?), then 5 then 10 & by the time I was due to deliver (I swam right up to the day before The Girl was born), I was swimming 30 laps in the pool. I love swimming during pregnancy - what a great way to beat the heat (I was back in Singapore then) & at least during the time when I was in the water, I felt weightless & refreshed. So that's how I got hooked - even now, I try to swim laps every chance I get.

What did you do when your children went back to school ?

One other thing.


I would like to thank my family, my friends, The Girl, my college professor......

Imagine my surprise when I was given this award from not 1 but 2 of my favorite bloggers - Lotus & Sri. Both seasoned bloggers whose blogs I've always enjoyed.

When I first started my blog 6 months ago (has it been that long already ?), I wasn't to know that I was going to enjoy blogging as much as I do nor meet so many wonderful blogging friends. This little hobby has evolved & although I really don't think my blog is particularly brilliant, I do try to make it worthwhile for people who drop by, read & comment.

"Brilliant Weblog is a prize given to sites and blogs that are smart and brilliant both in their content and their design.

The purpose of the prize is to promote as many blogs as possible in the blogsphere.

Here are the rules to follow : When you receive the prize you must write a post showing it, together with the name of who has given it to you, and link them back. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs (or even more) that you find brilliant in their content or design. Show their names and links and leave them a comment informing they were prized with ‘Brilliant Weblog’.

Show a picture of those who awarded you and those you give the prize (optional).

All the bloggers have wonderful work and content in their blog and all deserve to get this."


So I will pass this on to the following blogs

Tsu Lin - A fellow mum who has the most adorable little girl

Feed my World - I was going to award this to Sri but she beat me to it. I'm giving it to her anyway - to her food blog that is filled with recipes that can never go wrong

Mochacholata Rita - I only recently came across this blog & I'm instantly drawn by her bubbly personality

Dreaming Reality - who is always a blast to read

Baking mum - her cooking & baking is what I aspire to achieve

Creepy crawlies

I hate creepy crawlies. Considering that I live in the countryside, you would think that I would have gotten used to them by now. NO. I'm a wuss when it comes to creepy crawlies. I'm particularly terrified of cockroaches - thank god we don't find them here.

But even spiders, bugs & any unnamed insects make me run the other way. Don't even get me started on rats & mice. I usually let X deal with them. When he's not around & I have no choice, my weapon of destruction is the vacuum cleaner. That way I can suck them up without getting too close or worse having to pick them up.

Guess what I found this morning in our breakfast room - a scorpion. Yikes !! Thank god I saw it first before The Girl got there. Out came the vacuum cleaner & the little critter is now trapped in the vacuum......at least until I can gather up enough courage to empty it.

What have you not tried ?

I was reading Clothide at Chocolate & Zucchini where she wrote about the Omnivore's Hundred. Compiled by Andrew Wheeler of the food blog Very Good Taste, it's a list of food that he thinks every omnivore should try at least once in their life.

Whether you agree with his list or not, it's an interesting exercise to see how many of these you've actually tried. He has also included wikipedia links where possible, for food that you have not heard of (there were quite a few that I had absolutely no idea).

If you have blog, this is what he asks you to do

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten. (I decide to highlight in green & red instead)
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea (never heard of this)
3. Huevos rancheros (great hangover food)
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile (dried crocodile meat is a chinese delicacy to cure coughing spells)
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp (I missed how my mother cooks this with roe intact)
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush (recipe here)
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart (I lived in NY)
16. Epoisses (I've often eaten cheeses that I don't remember the name)
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries (we're berry mad over here)
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese (same as #16)
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (does raw chilli padi count ?)
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda (never heard of it but definitely want to try it now)
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl (my #1 thing to do when in San Francisco)
33. Salted lassi (I've tried lassi but never salted)
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float (A&W was all the rage growing up in Singapore)
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea (in a English tea room in Singapore)
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (please don't hold this against me)
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk (tried but not a big fan of)
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu (once in a Japanese restaurant in NY)
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi (love this in onigiri)
53. Abalone (is it politically incorrect to say I love this)
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini (I've had many dirty vodka martini but never with gin)
58. Beer above 8% ABV (surprise but then beer's not really my thing)
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (what is this?)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini (yum)
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost (again never heard of)
75. Roadkill (yikes I believe it's illegal in France)
76. Baijiu (my grandmother used to make her own)
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail (we enjoyed it here)
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant (Daniel in NY)
85. Kobe beef (in those good old days of expense accounts)
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab (yum)
93. Rose harissa (I've tried harissa but never had rose harissa tho')
94. Catfish (love thai catfish salad)
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake (snake soup in wintertime in HK - delish)

I guess 74 out of 100 is pretty decent. Some of the remaining 26 looks pretty interesting & will make it to my list of things to try. Some just don't tickle my fancy (horse ? roadkill ? no thanks).

Even if you don't have a blog, try this out. How many of these have you tried ?

Away for a week

As most of you know by now, we're prone to taking last minute trips which is what we did. 

Yesterday we drove 4 hours, crossed the border & now staying with some friends. Make a guess where we are right now - bonus if you can guess the city (yes it's a city). 

I didn't update the blog cos would you believe it, my hard disk crashed & hopefully I would be able to get it fixed here. Sigh. I just hope I'm able to retrieve my photos, contacts & all the data stored. 

Keeping my fingers crossed. 

At the tax office

Last week, I had to go to the tax office (called Hotel des Impots here) to purchase special stamps in order to retrieve my new carte de sejour (permit of residence). Why they don't accept cash is again one of those French bureaucracies that I've learnt not to question.

So there I was driving into the carpark & realised that the building was in complete darkness & with the sun reflecting off the windows, I couldn't see if there was anyone in there - oh no, they are closed for summer vacation. I was about to turn around & drive off when I noticed one of the ground floor windows opened & someone inside.

Okay let me go in & ask. Then when I stepped in, I could see that it was business as usual except that they were all working in semi darkness. It wasn't a power failure either cos the computers & fans were working.

After I'd finished purchasing my stamps (not before the lady had asked me why I needed them, where I was from, who my secondary school teacher is, why I moved to France - basically my whole life story), I decided to ask her if there was something wrong with their lighting system cos I had almost left thinking they were closed.

She said "oh no, nothing wrong with them'' & then proceeded to switch them on - 3 tiny halogen spot lights. She went further to explain that in this heat, it was unbearable to turn them on. She then turned them back off, bid me farewell, turned around & continued doing what she was doing in the dark.

Featured Blog

Over the weekend, I discovered that rojak rendezvous was featured here.

Jenn, The Left Over Queen, also queen of the Foodie Blogroll, did a lovely write up of the blog even though she has never met me nor have we communicated much beyond comments. In fact I wouldn't have known my blog was featured if not for the fact that I noticed readers coming over from her blog (if you did, hi !). Thank you Jenn.

So head on over to see what other blogs she has recommended.

How many kisses ?

Here in France, it's common to greet people you meet by giving them a kiss on the cheeks & likewise, when you say goodbye. But exactly how times will depend on where you live. When I first moved to Ardeche, I had to condition myself to kiss everyone 3 times whereas in NY where I'd just lived for the past 4 years, the norm is just one peck. Then when I go to Paris, I have to remember that they only do it twice.

If you are ever in doubt, check out the map below. It's from this website Combien de bises ? One Frenchman, out of frustration (obviously he's not alone), developed the map, based on information submitted from people all over France. 2 seem to be the most common & as you can see, we're located in zone 3 & the north seem to be have a lot of 4 kisses.

But of course, this doesn't answer other perplexing questions like - With which cheek do you start ? Do you kiss when you meet somebody for the first time ? ....and this one because I wear glasses, do you remove your glasses when you kiss esp if the other person wears them too (to avoid the dreaded clinking of the glasses) ? Sigh who says living in France is easy.

Cannes - here we come

Once again, in typical fashion chez moi, just 2 days ago, we decided to go to Cannes for a week tonight. Actually it will just be me driving down with The Girl cos X is already there. This will be the first time I'm attempting to drive that far. But I'm psyched - beach chairs loaded, clothes packed, keys handed to Laurence to help water the plants & all set to go....after The Girl's school concert this afternoon.

We rented an apartment with internet access but I'm not sure if I will be blogging then. You know, it's going to be hard work - water skiing, drinking champagne on the beach, building sand castles, applying sun block - I might be too tired to blog. But I will try.

In the meantime, hope you are enjoying yourselves in your part of the world, just as I am mine.

Best Video on the Internet

I was so moved by this that I can't wait to share it with you. This is a simple video of a guy named Matt doing a kooky dance in whichever part of the world he is visiting & also getting people to do it along with him. It's beautiful and touching. You see, regardless of skin, race, religion or language, people are people.

This also reminded me how much I love travelling. You get to experience a different culture, see spectacular sights, try exotic food but mostly you get to meet amazing people like that one chinese guy who helped me down Ermei Shan cos it was all covered in snow, the old man in Kashgar who invited us to his house for tea even tho we didn't understand one another, the little boy in Nga Trang who became my constant companion the entire time I was there & I cried when I left.

Enjoy this video & hope it will also bring a smile to your face.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

100th post

Wow has it been 100 posts already ?

Imagine, I only started this blog March 17 so just short of 3 months, I've managed to churn out 100 posts. I didn't think I would have so much to say. What started out on a whim has now really grown on me. I'm really enjoying this blogging thing but what warms the cockles of my heart (I just enjoy saying that, cockles of my heart) is that people are enjoying my blog too.

My most popular post is not any of my delicious recipes but the one about breast milk cheese. It was picked up by tomorrow.sg and even got discussed at Stomp here. Mention breast & it will catch anyone's attention. As I'm writing this, I just found out I was featured in Tastespotting with my post on mousseron mushrooms.

So thank you everyone for visiting my little blog & hope you enjoy your stay here. Please take this opportunity to delurk & say hi in the comments so I know who you are.

Update : Sadly I just found out that Tastespotting is taken down - their website says it will no longer be operating due to some legal complications. In place of it, somebody has set up Food Gawker - so see you there.

Bits & Pieces

These are random & since individually they don't justify a post each, I thought I'd just combine them here. Call them mini short stories, if you will.

Big Bad Wolf

I realise that kids learn language in blocks. What I'm trying to say is that the Girl doesn't know that bouche (mouth) is feminine & thus you would say "la bouche", she knows it as "labouche" - it's one word to her. Just like "grand mechant loup" which is big bad wolf in French. The other day she was trying to tell me that there is a small one in her room - she said "petit grandmechantloup". Even though I broke down the 3 words & explained it to her & she knows very well the difference between small & big, she still insists on calling it "petit grandmechantloup".

2 choices

I'm not a big fan of offering a lot of choices for a fussy toddler. I do understand that she's at the stage when she's frustrated & needs to feel like she has some control, so occasionally I'll offer 2 options. Either "the white or the pink T-shirt", "one chocolate or nothing, not 2", "put on your seat belt or we're not going anywhere"....The other day, I caught her plunging her face down to her plate to eat her noodles. At which point I yelled at her "Stop eating like a dog". She turned to me very cheekily & said "2 choices maman, I eat like a dog or I eat with my hands (which is also not allowed)".

French faux pas

There are a couple of things my French family will never understand about me.

1. Barefoot Contessa
I hate wearing socks or shoes at home. The first thing I do when I step into the house is to kick off my shoes. It's the Singaporean in me. It also doesn't help that our floor is heated so even in winter, I don't wear socks. The French finds it very strange that I walk around barefooted. Unfortunately the Girl has also picked up this "bad habit" from me.

I don't insist that anybody remove their shoes when they enter our house & for appearance sake, I will put on shoes when we have a dinner party at home. Likewise, I don't remove my shoes when I'm at someone else's house. But at home, I just don't like having anything on my feet.

And of course, more than a few people have commented on the line up of our shoes at the entrance.

2. Having a savoury tooth
The French don't believe in savoury breakfast. Bacon & eggs are never eaten in the morning. Their idea of breakfast is cereal, toast with jam, nutella - anything sweet & nothing savoury. X mother finds it rather amusing that I have a ham sandwich for breakfast but will nonetheless prepares that for me when I stay over. Can you imagine her surprise if I were to have lor pak ko or roti prata or porridge early in the morning ?

Update :

Celetial Fundie just commented that she has an entire blog committed to Shoes Off at the Door, Please. Wow I didn't realise that there is such commitment to this cause. So do you insist on guests removing shoes when they enter ?

Rain rain go away

All these rain has dampened my mood. I haven't felt inspired to cook, bake, blog nor take photos. We do get occasional showers in May but this is ridiculous, it has been raining non-stop for weeks. I can't even remember when was the last time it hadn't rained all day.

We may joke that it means more mushrooms but my favorite mushrooms, the cepes are not sprouting cos without the sun, they ain't coming out. I was over at our old neighbourhood where there are lots of cherry trees and let me tell you, cherries are going to be really expensive this year cos most of them have gone bad because of the rain. Nobody has ever seen them this bad. Sigh.

It's June & I'm still walking around in my sweater. I have hardly worn my summer clothes. In fact, there were days I had to dig into my winter wardrobe. What's the opposite of doing a rain dance - is there some way I can summon the sun ?

I can't wait to be able to eat out on the terrace, BBQ, go swimming, seek the shade & complain about how hot the summer is.