Baa Baa...Shaun?

Shaun spotting all over London! I only met 15/50, wished I was able to see them all! I love all of them, which one is your favorite?

London Day 1

Day 1: 

I had just arrived the night before, being half excited and half asleep, with really nasty puffy eyes (thanks to the inflight movie) we went to Borough Market to start our food journey. It's a weekend market that starts on Thursdays. Tonnes of food stalls to choose from and fresh ingredients to be found. Crazy long line at Monmouth coffee which J said it's worth getting a gastric for!

Kappacasein was highly recommended because of its unique home made cheese and also the way they grill their cheese. Initially, it's kinda pungent I must say but the flavor...mmmm... mmm... mmm..(busy stuffing my face) so amazingly yummy. So decadent and rich and salty enough. They literally have 2 half blocks of cheese on a 'grilling' station, and they'd just pour the melted cheese over boiled potatoes and served it with pepper and pickles. Yummers!!

Since it is a market, there are no places allocated for tables and chairs to sit so people would just walk around with food in their hands and sprawled around the lawn enjoying their food. Plus, the weather was really beautiful to be outside. After a full belly, we walked along River Thames towards Tate Modern. 

What a beautiful day to play with bubbles.

This piece of art was done by a Chinese artist, just because we are Chinese, the gallery's tour guide assumed that we'd know more than her about Chinese culture and the meaning of this piece...Luckily C was there to answer all the questions that the tour guide directed at us! What do you think this piece of art means?

Two pieces of steel supporting each other with NO additional elements! Purely sheer weight and precision.

As usual....my favorite - Mark Rothko.

  

For dinner, J&C thought it would be nice to go to Hutong at the Shard to view the sunset and to eat Chinese food. It is a really nice place because instead of getting tickets to go up the Shard for a 360 view of London, one can just opt to have dinner at Hutong while enjoying the amazing view! I was still recovering from jetlag so we didn't order a lot of food. A basket of tempura soft shell crab, dimsum platter, minced pork with lettuce and dessert. Though simple, my taste buds were awaken and I felt that the dimsum was so much better than the ones I've had in Bay Area! I really loved how delicate the dumplings were!

My stomach is growling as I type this, I wished I'd had more food when I was there. Well, all the more reason I should go again soon...

After dinner, we went for a walk and walked to London Bridge and took some wefie which will not be featured here :p

Spring 2015

Spring came early this year. The flowers started blooming by mid February, these cherry blossoms caught me by surprised and were short lived. Before I was able to appreciate them, they had wilted. 

On most weekends, I hiked at this park. Every time I walk passed the creek side path, I had not noticed the heart shaped leaves but that day I did. This year and every year onwards, I want to be able to fully live, laugh and love life. To fill my days with more joys and feel OK for whatever mishaps I encounter.

Orange County

It was a long awaited vacation. Had been sick for a while, and was looking forward to meet up with friends and family. Work was still haunting me while I was away, but luckily the company that I was with made it worthwhile to be away. Had quite an amazing time in Orange County, having lunch at the Ritz Carlton and staying at St. Regis, only because somebody had reward points to spare :) The weather too was beautiful...sunny but windy which made it pleasant. 

Penang

Occupy Lebuh Pantai (Occupy Beach Street) is a fun street fair for families that happens every Sunday.   It is a street fair filled with games, arts and crafts, introductions of different cultural practices, cooking demonstrations and many other fun things to do. Fancy for a cleaver massage?

Since George Town was declared as one of the world's heritage sites, cycling has became a popular activity on the island. Bikes can be rent easily and more and more tourists can be seen cycling around the island.

This is just one of the many wall arts  scattered around George Town. This was done by a local cartoonist Reggie Lee.

One of the many popular childhood memories. "Fighting Fish". They are kept in individual glass jar because they fight if put together, thus the name. There are many varieties out there and each variety is unique and beautiful. Some called it Siamese Fighting Fish and some are referred as the Japanese Fighting Fish, but they are also known as Betta Fish.

Ah, and food, glorious Penang food. Asam Laksa - noodle with tamarind fish soup. Even Anthony Bourdain loves it.

Fried oysters with eggs. Sweet and succulent oysters, but not the type that is commonly eaten raw.

One of the popular cafes in town that serves foam art coffee. Coffee not so great but the foam art is cute! 

Bali

We decided to end year 2013 with a trip to Bali. Since we've been to Bali many times, we decided to go easy on this trip. We spent our days leisurely in the hotel, swimming in the ocean, napping, eating, taking walks and biking along the beach. We had a good deal on the hotel, we booked many months ahead of time and managed to get an upgrade! It was a really nice suite with a beautiful view!

 

Stunning view from the balcony every morning.

 

The pleasure of eating hard boiled egg with some sambal (chili paste) over steamed rice for breakfast! *heaven*

And of course non stop eating. One of our favorites is the Rijsttafel, we ordered it whenever we can because we really liked the multiple dishes that came with the order. It's all about sampling as many things as we can while we can.

One of a must try when one is in Bali is their duck dishes. Roasted, deep fried, baked, pulled, etc.  There was a restaurant that was famous for its duck right next to our hotel, after much contemplation we decided to try (also because they had options such as fish and vegetarian dishes). Not being a big fan of eating duck meat, I must say it was pretty yummy. Meat was lean, tender, well fried and juicy. Not fat at all. They also served one of the best avocado smoothie we've had throughout the entire trip!

We even checked out the local fruit market, the mango - Harum Manis (Fragrant and Sweet) is a must try. So sweet and succulent. Passion fruit, dragon fruit, mangosteen, snake fruit (because its skin looks like snake's skin) and many more.

It was really nice to bike along the beach in the mornings. 

Or just hanging out at the beach, reading, napping or swimming in the ocean.

 

On the days that we were out, we visited temples, and nearby towns. Goa Gajah a.k.a. Elephant Cave is one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites.

 

Mount Batur, and active volcano on the island.

Tanah Lot, one of the famous shrine in Bali for worshipping sea gods. During high tide seasons, the pathway towards the shrine will be flooded making it looking like it's situated on a small island surrounded by vicious waves.

Bali o Bali how we love thee. My family's happy memories are filled with you. Hopefully we will revisit this place again and again in the future.

The King of Fruits

 

Durian. Either you love it or you hate it, well that is for most people. For me, I don't love it nor I hate it. I like it when it is just right. The key is to eat it when it had just ripen and still fresh. If it's overly riped, it tastes watery, mushy and emits a strong odor. There are myriads of durian out there, we've always been curious with how different each variety tastes like. So this was our chance to eat and compare. Question is, how does one open a thorny fruit?

Step 1: Get a strong knife, find a stance that gives you the best balance because you'll be needing some hand muscles. When the fruit is ripe enough, there will be a hair line crack at the bottom of the fruit. With one hand firmly holding the fruit (mind it's thorns), the other hand uses the knife to pry open the hair line crack at the bottom.

Step 2: Once the crack is big enough, with all your might peel the skin open.

Step 3: With more strength, split the fruit into half.

Finally, serve as if and enjoy.