How do I control my shopping addiction in these cities?

Other than being a workaholic, am also a relatively known shopaholic amongst my friends =P Not exactly something I am proud off and something I am trying hard to "correct".

Getting to travel to all the cities DODO lives in makes it doubly dangerous... how can shopaholic resist Paris? Or shopping outlet malls in NY?? How???

Yes... the answer is IMPOSSIBLE! Hehe... especially not in Jul! Sale time! With my utmost, utmost self control... I still fail to restrain myself. So here's a shot of most of the things I bought - mostly gifts for families and friends.


Am now really looking forward to my weekend Seville trip... am a big fan of some Spanish brands so this is going to be exciting! Opps... did I mention that my new year resolution is to start saving more? Ahhh... guess a weekend won't kill? =P

Sick Boy in the House

Today was supposed to be DODO's golf day. To make good use of my weekend too, I signed up for macaroon cooking class at famous Lenôtre.

However, DODO caught the flu bug and was feeling a little under the weather when he got up this morning. DODO may be stubborn most of the time but I have to say when it comes to the flu bug, he becomes all good - lots of rest, lots of fluid and regular meds. Surely paid off.. he's feeling better this evening already.

So, did I go for my cooking class? Yeap, I did! Felt a little guilty leaving DODO home but it was committed so I went.

Did I have fun? Yeah I did... afterall, I do love macaroons :)

These are some photos from the class today. The chef teacher was very patient and took time to explain to me in English the ingredients and the steps. Is it easy? He sure made it seem easy.. but there's a lot of precision involved.. 82 degrees, 105 degrees etc etc..

3 flavours - Chocolate, Raspberry and Caramel (Yummmmmmcious!)

Would I do it again? Definitely will... maybe it will given me some motivation to learn a little more french. The conversations going on in class sure seem fun. Although I honestly didn't understand anything =P

Visible Anger???

So DODO and I decided to go for lunch at this Japanese spot at the market close to the apartment before going to hit some golf balls. They gave us a seat near the fire extinguisher... and as I was playing around with the camera, it just dawned on me.. "Hey, maybe they decided to put Grumpy DODO below the fire safety water hose so that they can extinguish DODO's angry tantrums if the food is bad!" Then I smiled to myself and thought this would be a good post for the blog :)

I am sure DODO doesn't feel the same way... but hey, isn't the photo cute? Since no photos allowed, had to tweet it a little.

P/s: The food was good... so no fire fighting required =p

Cooking Photos

So I said I started cooking.. and that I will remember to take photos of the nasi goreng (Indonesia spicy fried rice) with thai fried chicken and emping (a form of cracker made out of a flower seed from the land of Indonesia) on the side. Yeap, all Asian :) Well, as for the photos, I forgot... I was too eagar to gobble them all up to test how bad or good it was. There's only a photo of my purchases from the Bastille street market (above) and the marinated chicken (below).

Being a newbie, the emping was over-fried so it was dark (some close to black). Who would have guessed that frying keropok like emping could be this difficult. Some turned out alright I guess.

Next, the thai fried chicken was undercook :( Had to nuke it for another 3 minutes so that it becomes edible. Hmmm.. you must be like thinking.. ok, now, what's wrong with the nasi goreng? Ha! Nothing! Well, I think this is the only ok dish.. passable! Yeah me! Not too bad for a newbie right?

Stubborn people like me never give up.. so the next day, I tried cooking the thai pork porridge again. My first try was bland... but hey, this 2nd try worked!! I think this is the taste I am looking for... tasty enough and definitely my comfort food! Happy that I got one thing right!

Dodo, what do you think? Is your stomach asking me to stop?

My new interest... sustainable?

Cooking is my new found interest... eating has definitely been my interest probaby since the day I learned to chew. Love food, love cakes, love chocolate! So... I guess cooking has always been a side interest. Guess this may not apply to all. Don't looking at the yummilicious food on blogs or magazines made you wish you could cook it so that you don't have to travel a million miles just to eat it (that is if traveling a million miles is possible). Or imagine the fun from cooking for friends and family! I think when real people who cook read that sentence, they will nod their head and go.. "Yeap! Definitely newbie!" =p

First phase of cooking hit me when I move to Tokyo briefly in 2008. Living alone for the first time on my own, I was determined to start cooking. Not too successful. The apartment I rented had no kitchen although my landlord was kind enough to provide me the basics. I did however go to cooking classes though. Individual cooking lessons for cheesecake, omurice, mango pudding and red bean paste bun... hmmm.. how many did I replicate outside the school? ONE! Omurice! Before I know what hit me, I was out of Tokyo. Sad :(

But.. guess if one is destined to be a cook, the spirit of cooking will always find it's way back. And TADA - I met DODO! DODO can cook... and he can cook very well. Impressed and inspired at the same time... but for a lazy person like me, inspiration takes time... and about a year later, I think I am finally acting on it.

Started with Basil Fried Pork with rice and a sunny side up for dinner yesterday (DODO says it was ok) and Thai Pork Porridge which was too bland for me... to barley water drink and fried lard in preparation for my Nasi Goreng with Fried Chicken tomorrow. Sounds impressive right? I am impressed myself too... No pictures sadly cause I am always too hungry and gooble my food down before I remember to take photos... maybe tomorrow. Hmm... maybe....

My 4th of July and other misses... opps - did I say misses?

My first 4th of Jul celebration in NY sure started out right - yummy breakfast with Sal's Westcott breakfast club at Garden's Diner, followed by a good workout - yard work!! After that, watched bits and pieces of Women's Wimbledon finals (show down between VS sisters!) while I made Apple-Potato salad. DODO made his very own special cheeseburger and deviled eggs and to top it off, Sal made baked beans and mean, mean chocolaty cup cakes... one can imagine the "cookout" lunch was TWO thumbs up!

Even our flight back to NY was great! Boarded on time, took off on time, landed in JFK on time!! Can you imagine... yes, it actually landed on time! This got to be the perfect-est 4th of Jul ever!

We get home, slouch on our personal black leather armchair and await the final moment to end off our 4th of Jul... fireworks! Fireworks on the rooftop of DODO's apt... Oooo.. it got to be good! Well.. 9.15 pm came, both of us ran up to the roof (we were watching Bond).. as we ran, we heard the loud sound made by the fireworks.. gotto be good... gotto be.. TADA - no sight of the firework!!! Hey, where is it??? Oh man, blocked by the buildings.... I did a few jumps, caught the tip of some of the big fireworks but that was abt it. How did we get soooo wrong?

Oh well, guess we don't need fireworks to end off the 4th of July right? Didn't take us long to hurry back home... and climb into bed and sleep the rest of 4th of Jul away.

Thanks DODO for my first 4th of Jul celebrations... enjoyed it throughly!

Photo is meant to be a teaser for DODO!!! Muacks!

Finding Motivation

Ok, another downside about working while traveling with DODO, MOTIVATION!! Not having motivation but lacking motivation! Being lazy by nature, sometimes getting up and getting to work and staying focus at work for the 8 hours of the day can be a struggle. I get slow, I get distracted, I lose focus and ultimately I am behind in my work.

The me a few years ago would probably not have let this happen. But the me today, struggles with it but deal with it (with style) :) Wahaha...

Good or bad? Honestly I don't know... but I do know I feel happier. Work is overrated as DODO says and I do agree.

This picture is a good representation of how I look when I am working while traveling.

Coping with Time Zones

Yes, one of the many other downsides about traveling all over with DODO is coping with the time zone changes. One week I am in Singapore, next week in Paris and now I am in NY... and that's not it, I am going back to Paris again next week. FOUR time zone changes in a month! No wonder my body is breaking down.

Yes, I get it - not many people are as fortunate as me to travel to so many fancy places. I agree with that but wish I could cope better.

The real downside is dealing with conference calls and phone calls... it's hard to update everyone at work where I am and as I mentioned earlier, I am on call 7 days a week. So, I get calls in the middle of the night from India (yes, India) asking me some silly questions. I do con calls at 4 am (from the toilet in a hotel - cause DODO is asleep). So sometimes I wish all countries are on the same timezone so we all wake up at the same time, work at the same time, have calls at the same time... blah blah blah...