Au revoir.

It was the end of semester. Thus, many Canadian friends who were lecturing here has left after the expiration of their contracts.

And a few new ones have just arrived.

It is always hard to bid farewell but it is very much part and parcel of life.... So, here are some photos of farewell get-togethers we just had to remember the fun times we had together :

Liam, Steve & Brandyn's Farewell - LAS CARRETAS


The Old and the New....


With my man-lah!


With Brandyn and Leon (Ray Romano's possible face double)


Steve and Liam at dinner table goofing around as usual.

Jason & Paule's Farewell Do


Liam, Mark and Barry...


With Jason...hey, where' s Paule??

Last Nite of Group Nocturnal Activity

What's this Michael Owen, Barry and Liam? Cavity check? I know Liam just had his wisdom tooth removed just before he left - cheap cheap in Malaysia. We should have Dentisto Tourism...


Black or White?


Barry & I; Steve & Brandyn


Mark, Ray Romano (just kidding, Leon) and Dian


Wah!! Beauty Pageant - Brandyn, Me & Elsa

All the best to Liam, Steve, Brandyn, Jason, Paule, Nathan and Aimmie!

Pesto Angel Hair Pasta

It has been nearly a week since I moved into Barry's... 6 days to be exact; out of which I was away travelling for 2 days.

Strange...been caught by the cooking bug...Bought two thick cookbooks compiled by Woman's Weekly : Food We Love and Great Fast Recipes.

Haven't tried any yet but will do so soon.

Anyway, I made Pesto Angel Hair Pasta for dinner last night - DELICIOUS!!! Am not really a fan of cream in cooking but added sparingly as in this case, tastes yummylicious. My recipe as follows (For 4-5 person) :

INGREDIENTS

1. 3 chicken breasts (no skin)
2. Half pack of angel hair pasta
3. A bunch (encircle them with your tips of forefinger and thumb touching each other) of asparagus
4. 2 bell peppers (any colour) the size of your fist
5. 2 tbsp of cream (I use Bulla)
6. 3 tbsp of basil pesto (I use Agnesi)
7. About 15-20 white buttom mushrooms (I love shrooms!!)
8. Sundried tomatoes (8 slices)
9. Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
10. Some extra virgin olive oil
11. A tsp of chopped garlic
12. 1/2 cup of dry white wine (if desired)

METHOD

1. Cook pasta till al dente in a pot of water with some olive oil - drain and set aside

2. Heat some olive oil in non-stick pan. Lay the smashed chicken breasts and sprinkle some salt and black pepper. Turn after 3 mins and do the same. Remove and leave to cool. Cut into desired size.

3. Roast bell peppers - then remove from oven and put in plastic bag. Once cooled, remove skin and chop coarsely.

4. Break asparagus into 1 inch lengths and slice mushrooms.

5. Heat a bit of oil in a deep pan. Fry garlic and sundried tomatoes till fragrant.

6. Add in asparagus. Then the chicken pieces followed by shrooms and roasted bell peppers.

7. Stir in cream and white wine. Leave to boil. Add in pesto. Reduce heat. Add in pasta. Mix well.

8. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove and serve.

Easy peasy.

For my poopy.....

Like mommy, like poopy....

Poopy woofs to see the world...the difference is poopy sees the world through a 4ft * 4ft square called window....


Poopy woofs good food.....


Poopy woofs a good snooze....



Poopy woofs massages.... ahhhhhhh....BLISS!!!


Last and the most important of all, poopy woofs spending time with mommy .....See the smile? I just love her. Great pup!

Hellooooo.....

Haven't been blogging for quite awhile....blame it on laziness in the guise of busi-ness.

Many things happened in between end-February and now. Below are the highlights and lowlights (not necessarily in chronological order) :

1. Lotsa travelling... major trip was to Europe early June for 2 weeks... a close gf came with me - we covered Amsterdam, Brugge, Brussels, Charleroi (due to me having to work), Paris, Lyon (only me cos I had to work) and Venezia! And we parted ways in Amsterdam. Gf came home to KL and I went to Dubai to do more work.

Weather changed from 3 to 5 deg C when we arrived to 31 deg C 2.5 days later... We went from being frozen to being baked. And Dubai was like 45 to 46 deg C. Poor me... my hair has been like straw since I returned home 18th June.

Pictures speak 1000 words (actually am lazy-lah). Need to wash hair soon - am using L'occitane Hairl Oil - have enough exxxtra virgin olive oil in it to cook spaghetti aglio olio. So, here are some pictures :

AMSTERDAM

We were smiling not because of the museum - we were too happy to get out of the plane. Flying for 13hours is literally a pain in the ass!

Showing this pic to illustrate how good Nikon S5 is.

Have to show at least one canal pic...

MAS Building...

BRUXELLES/BRUSSELS

Great gardens.

Beautiful details at the doorway of a cathedral.

Manneken Pis - the symbol of Brussels just like the Little Mermaid to Copenhagen.

Restaurants are in abundance at and near Grand Place but they mainly cater to tourists. Want to know good ones? Ask me. LOL.

Grand Place at night is simply breathtaking. One has to see it both in the day time and at night. The place feels different when illuminated.

BRUGGE/BRUGES

The hat Shio (gf) is wearing belongs to the old musician - it's really heavy, mind you...esp. when I had to crank the machine at the same time while wearing the hat after her.

Symbols of Catholicism are predominant.... above the water tap... on walls....everywhere is baby Jesus and Mary... and the words "Ave Maria"...



Amazing buildings!!!


Post-Amsterdam Behaviour

Kiddo Karen at the toyshop...

More canals.... Brugge is after all...Venice of the North.

Pasar pagi - Street market


Art imitates Life... Horses are everywhere on the streets of Brugge..gives a very medieval vibe...but these days, they are for tourists...but, the horsemen are generally superlengchai! Can't say the same about "horsewomen". They are at the opposite end of the continuum.

Another canal..... but with swans and mallard ducks...

Cute, eh?

CHARLEROI - It's for work, so not many pictures....

Restaurant in Charleroi where I lunched.

PARIS (Been here many times, so not many pictures - purpose : only transit point to the next workplace and to quickly buy an LV bag for the lady who runs the cafe at my office building)

The all-time favourite shopping street in Paris

The all-time favourite shopping haunt in Paris

No picture for Lyon (WORK!!!)

CHARLEROI AIRPORT
We went el cheapo to fly to Venice - Ryan Air. Very similar to Air Asia but in Euros and they charge a fee for every checked-in luggage and also a fee for using credit card to book the tickets.

The airport was like a ghost town - we were like 3 hours early.

Getting ready to jetty to Venice.

The night before Venice - was sick.


VENEZIA
When in Rome....


Masks


Pasta Mania





St Mark's Square



Gondola


Rialto Bridge






Windows in Venice








Murano Island


This guy just popped into the picture!!!! My 1st picture in Murano Island!!!

DUBAI

I couldn't get my own camel - had to share - don't ask me who this guy is - we just happened to share a camel.

Desert

Desert safari - riding the dunes

Desert sunset

Sweaty me - sweat running down my asscrack

Holy X-rated!!!! Err...no. Feeding baby, not blow job. It may not be legal there.

Camels..again!

Milking time....

2. House got broken into... Sob!!!

Gone are my laptop (company one), my 6 months old Nikon S1 from bf, 2 Boheme collection Montblance pens (1 fountain and 1 ballpoint), Coach watch and my big coins from 2 piggy banks. What I was most upset with is the attitude of police on this - no feedback at all!!!! I wonder why am I paying so much tax. In Hokkien, the term used is chia liao bee (rice is wasted in feeding).

Anyway, got new laptop the next day (otherwise cannot work!). Got a 1.6kg lightweight baby compared to the previous 3.1kg brick and got new camera (upgraded somemore to Nikon S6 - thanks so much B!!!).

But sadly, no watch, no pens and no cash replaced.....

Am glad though that this happened while I was out and poopy was out. But the creepy thing is that a) I have been watched and b) My space had been violated.

So, peeps, just be careful with your home too... They (I assume > 1 person) came in via the kitchen window because our neighbours have dogs out at front. Never think that if you have grille, it is safe. It is not 100% thief-proof. They removed the whole freaking grille!!! I took it for granted that the house was secure and so, laptop at my computer desk out front.... So, BEWARE!!! This is a community service message.

3. Planning and preparing for house moving - you guys know to where-lah....

4. Bf's company just celebrated 1st year anniversary - Happy Anniversary!!!!

5. Got hair colour and perm.... shopping and more shopping... eating and more eating..drinking and more drinking... yada yada yada....