romans.jewish.ghetto

we arrived jewish ghetto quarter at night wanting to try a recommended ghetto style restaurant but that one just closed down two months ago :(

so we scan the book and it turns to al pompiere, also in the heart of the ghetto, tug in a quiet square and turns to ancient rome for its culinary inspiration. we arrived without a reservation but there is so happen to have one free table for us whilst the rest of the tables are all under reservation...

carciofi alla giudia (jewish-style artichoke) had just the right crunch, it is devine!

fiori di zucca ripieni (stuffed zucchini flowers) is also good but i just like the fried artichoke a little more...

my roman style oxtail stew, soft and tender, spice up perfectly. the waiter said i should eat by my hands like the ancient romans do... nah! no way i am going to do that...

his salt cod fish in spring sauce aka tomato base sauce with raisins... not so much to his taste...

i am quite happy with my choice of food here although the restaurant itself is quite sober in its interior decoration, everything in black and white like any typical jewish establishment, nonetheless the food is quite good that we almost want to try another jewish romans cuisine again on the next day...

eating out in rome or italy in general is so much cheaper than in the low country...

first.italian.meal.in.rome

our first meal in rome, just at the neighbourhood of piazza bologna, a stone throw away from where we stay...  as this is the first meal, we wanted something italian of course,  and this place seems to have a good mix of locals and foreigners that mostly stay in the same hotel as us....

my apertizer - the simple and rustic buchestta with tomato, artichokes and basil leave and a generous drizzle of evoo...

my primi is a plate of super yummy orecchiette (literally little ears in italian) with clam sauces, i wipped the plate clean hehehe....

his old fashion spinach ravioli with tomato cream sauce, delicious but uninteresting...

caprese - my secondi, simple but requires the freshest ingredients to get it right

 his secondi - steak and roasted potatoes

somehow the excessive evoo is quite filling and we have absolutely no room for dolci...
another meal that worth posting is the romans jewish meal, it will come later...

let.the.cinnamon. aroma.fills the.house...

been wanting to try something different, something more challenging, some bake that using different elements that i have rarely or never done before....

cinnamon roll or cinnabon is it!  it involves yeast... so it's something that i hardly do.  i usually distaste yeast because of the smell and the time it needs to develop the dough....  today i am up for this challenge and do have the patience to wait... waiting is the key word, if i want something quick, this is not what i would do...

... waiting...

...

... waiting for the dough to develop ...

...

... waiting for it to double the size...
...

... fifteen minutes... half an hour.... three quarter of an hour.....

...

...waiting....

...

... an hour and a half later....

...

and then is the rolling and sprinkle time... with lots of cinnamon powder and brown sugar... i actually use a pack of okinawa black sugar instead of the regular packed brown sugar... okinawa black sugar has its own distinct taste...

then roll it up and cut....

and arrange them in a pan, then another round of waiting...

...waiting for the bun to grow...

...

...thirty minutes later, they finally stick to one another side by side....

...
... so time to bake...

...

...and waiting....

while waiting, the aroma of cinnamon fills the house, what a warm scent, the autumn aroma, brown and earthy... i do notice i use a lot more cinnamon, nutmeg and all sort of autumn spices in fall/autumn....

...and finally....

... cool down....

...

...drizzle icing sugar...

...

!!! and finally done!!!

while the days ahead is getting darker and colder...
one of my favorite dutch christian songs is singing in my heart...
laat het huis gevuld zijn met wierrook van aanbidding

laat het huis gevuld zijn met de wolk van Mijn Geest
laat het huis gevuld zijn met het brood van eeuwig leven
laat het huis gevuld zijn met Mijn Geur...
and it goes on and on....

!!i.graduated!!

well, this is not a formal education but yet it is an important milestone in my christian life and my walk in the Lord.  the last two months i have been very busy with my 'send' dissertation  and pretty much spending most of my non-fitness, non-baking, non-travelling free time in researching and writing up the dissertation and the last week i have been busy with the powerpoint presentation.  today is the day, i am with another two other ladies in one group and our dissertation topic "how to create an impact to the world (marketplace and local church) ".  today we have to defense our topic.  it's been an interesting journey in producing the paper, so much more that we have to look back to the courses that we have followed in the last five years and things only become clearer as i work on the paper. we talked about how we can create impact to the world through individual conviction, through the church and through media and internet technology.

through the production of this paper, the Lord opens up new ideas to us and it is quiet amazing to see how outcome of the research will be use in the church.  for now, all glory to God, it's through Him and in Him that we are able to do this and come to this stage. 

tonight we are switching to winter time, so the long dark grey days are awaiting for us in the coming month.  good night for now.

sweet.n.savory.meat.frost.cake

today he suddenly asked me to make meat frost cake roll (肉松蛋糕卷).  i read the recipe and it is no rocket size, plus we do have some meat frost that my mil gave to us from her hong kong trip. so i decided to give it a try...

while i was folding the batter, my mil came with the little nephew and his friend...  the boys were amusing themselves watching cartoon while the baking continues... it only takes about 20 minutes

when it is done and out from the oven, the little boys called it pizza!!

as the name suggest,  meat frost cake roll (肉松蛋糕卷), i am suppose to roll the cake up but am short of mayonnaise at home and the kids couldn't wait for the cake to cool enough for rolling ...  

 

so no more roll but just a piece of sweet and savory cake.  little nephew likes it so much that he ate the share of his friend who doesn't acquaintance to the peculiar asian taste

so here is my piece of meat frost cake roll (肉松蛋糕)... it is tasty and especially good when one is not in the total sweet mood but wanting something in between... sweet and savory!

what.makes.you.happy

 i know the title sounds a little cheeky, for some a new handbag or a good trip would make one happy for awhile, for others a good bake or a delicious meal. for a mother, it would be a good result or appreciation from the childern... for me it is a question that posed by my new supervisor.

i had my own annual interview this late afternoon. as you know that our practice lead left the company recently and i also bid farewell to my own supervisor last week. now i have a new supervisor and although i know this person for years but we never have a in depth working relationship with him.

it is interesting that he said that "you are in a luxury position". i am 'luxury' because i am in a project that i pretty much decide on my own end date and there is no budget issue in keeping me on the project for coming years. i am 'luxury' because i have the people management skill and structural in clinical execution yet i am 'luxury' because i also have in depth horizontal knowledge of certain process skill. it is however this 'luxury position' that put me into a career dilemma that i am neither an expert or general management track. i guess life is all about choices and choosing one for ourselves. at the end it is what makes you happy that matters most. i think he has got a point there, not that a point that i have never thought of myself, but i just keep on postponing the decision making...

will i be happy to be an expert role? or will i be happier in a general management role? to be honest, i believe i can excel in both profiles but which one will make me happier is the question!!!

he says "you will have a few weeks to think about it and we meet again to discuss further...". in my term i would have a few weeks to pray about it, because i believe in proverbs 16:3 says "commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans". after all, His will is the best will for me.

meeting.sissy.at.budapest.opera.house

a busy day at work and the dutch traffic is driving me crazy! i witnessed three accidents just along a short drive from schiphol-rijk to my office at around 3pm, and two accidents on my home bound journey at 7pm.  these days i am tired of driving and traffic jam instead of tired from my work.  anyway, set asides the reality of autumn traffic and the fact that not all my rome photos are ready, so i decided to continue with one of the last few tales of budapest...

twenty fifth august

“you must visit the Hungarian state opera house” as your host jennifer told you.

now you are here, right in front of you is this famous opera house. it is a building that showcase of neo-renaissance architecture but with some elements of baroque.

along with it richly decorated details; you can just stand there and stare at the grandiose lobby for hours and hours.

let alone you haven’t get into the real inner beauty – the auditorium hall as yet. you came by to buy the ticket for the guided visit at 3pm. this is the only way you can have the glimpse of the horseshoe shaped auditorium as there is no performances on during the summer.

you waited in the hall way waiting for the tour to start, you walk the elegant stair case, up a few level and enter the velvet red and chandeliers decorated auditorium.

the guide says that this opera house is almost a replica of vienna opera house but only half a size smaller, as the hasburg monarchy didn’t want this opera house to be bigger or equal to their homeland opera house. you haven’t been to vienna yet, so it is not up to you to judge.

the guide tells the tale of franz josef and sissy whom you are quite acquaintance to due to the 3 movies that you have seen about sissy.

 it is lovely to learn about them and the love of sissy towards the hungarian people and vice versa. the whole building is decorated with various oornamentations include paintings and sculptures by leading figures of hungarian art of the time.

apparently sissy came so often that one of the room is named after her the ‘sissy room’, and the ‘royal room’ (which she only uses when franz josef is with here)...

modern.rome

we just came back from rome. from the sunny and  warm eternal city back to the grey and cold lowland. perhaps i just got the phd (post holiday disease).  lot of photos to sort out and of course many travel impressions to organise, again time is not on my side....

the rome trip is the replacement for paris trip.  the road trip became a short haul trip, but nonetheless is all about taking time to celebrate, to enjoy one another, and to cherish the moment.  i had quite a few impressions from this trip but for now i am just going to show you a different facet of rome, hopefully is the most untypical one, the modern, the arty rome.

maxxi is it!! not a bric a brac of ruins or broken columns and marble , maxxi is sleek and handsome, a creation and masterpiece of zaha hadid.  it is not the mainstream tourist attraction and located a little off the city center but still it attracts quite a bit of arty crowds on sunday morning...

maxxi is boast of architecture and modern arts. the building is in the serene white and good use of floor length glass and space like any modern design.

the long corridors interlink the various wings together make this museum a nice space to explore....

the half transparent roof top with good use of natural sunlight all in the name of green and sustainable living...  the other museum that gives me the same impression is the one that i visited in kyoto last year, miho museum also gives a wow effect like this one...

there are quite a number of galleries with a wing dedicated to the architecture with the show models of futuristic buildings and sketches of  rome monuments with modern interpretations.  the other wing is all in the name of modern arts with good use of space, objects and light to convey a certain message or a intuitive way of expressing an idea, a value and impression. by the way, i love this sofa, although the futuristic design and silver color is not to my taste but it is super comfy to sit on....

a good reflection of object indoor, the sky and the cotton puff like cloud, and the surrounding environment...

and a good reflection of ourselves in this so called 'prison cell' with the illustration of 'extended space' using floor length mirrors.  the idea is not new but the human interaction aspect is quite intrigue and provides me an interesting way to enjoy art to the next level...

out there is sunny and pleasant, but since the museum is closed on monday, that leave us to visit maxxi on sunday regardless of rain or shine.  after all i have no regret as every moment is well spent indoor.  we also took the advantage to rest our feet outdoor at the chairs provided by the museum and i just admire the building so much that i couldn't help but do my humble sketches on my travel pink book.

maxxi is refreshing and stands out beautifully against his ancient rome rivals...

celebrating.the.VIII.anno.MMII

another special day to remember and to celebrate on this special day

celebrating the eight in rome, what a milestone!!

bonjorno.rome

greetings from the eternal city!!!

 autumn in rome is still as warm as dutch summer.  it's a relief to escape the cold for some pleasant warm weather.

till then, more travel tales on our roman holiday...

fifteen

i went for dinner at restaurant fifteen in amsterdam last night. a farewell dinner to be exact for our lead who is a supervisor, manager and friend .  i have been working with him for the past six plus years, in fact he is the one who hired me to my current company. it is certainly sad to bid farewell to him, especially in this case a no so happy ending one...

set aside the story,  the restaurant is founded by jamie oliver, the naked chef, the return of the happy chef.. whatever you called it.  the concept is to help a group of unemployed young people and educate them to become a chef.  needless to say that he is the celebrity chef who has made cooking fun, simple and easy by using fresh ingredients....

so my primi - seasonal italian black fig salad with hearty rocket, alte adige speck, smoked almonds and caramelized shallot dressing

my secondi - airy potato and grana padano tart with a poached farmhouse egg, black truffle from Umbria and pan fried porcini salad.  a vegeterian dish, the tart is so fluffy and airy, every bit melts in my mouth delicately, it is like eating a savory souffle

my dolci - panna cotta of ‘giessenlander’ cream with poached pear and caramel sauce. the panna cotta is smooth and creamy although overall the caramel sauce is a tad too sweet for me.  still it is a decent sweet dessert...

we had the speeches of appreciation, presentation of gifts and card and a lot of exchange of emotions and endless round of drinks before we parted...

well, 'mr. e.w.', it has been a journey.  a passage of ups and downs in the last six years.  we fought, we strifed and we thought that we made it through together and then you suddenly fid farewell to us but not in a volunteer way... i wish you all the best, take time to rest, to persuit your passion in long distance cycle and make a come back again! we will surely stay in contact and who knows our paths may cross again in the future....

[photos are not sharp as i took it using my mini point and shoot camera]

hero.square.budapest

well, my photos for the budapest state opera house are not ready for posting yet, so i will skip the story of sissy and franz josef for now and show you the hero square.  as far as my memory recalls, i walked from the opera house to hero square and beyond...  is a long straight boulevard with plenty of sights keeping me busy...  i arrived in the late afternoon and took a quick stroll around the hero square, a quick glimpse of city park and vajdahunyad castle (a vampire feel castle) before i soak in szechenyi termal bath .  all those will come in different posts....

hero square by day during late afternoon

the night view is completely different from the day scene.  it is quite breathtaking and still very communist even with the light illumination.

the left wing of the square

the middle tower

the right wing of the square

the hall of arts (műcsarnok)

there are two museums facing each other like a rival with the hero square in between that as if the hero square is acting as a peace mediator for both museums that stand at each flank of hero square

 

museum of fine arts

as i walked toward the bus stop to catch a bus back to my home, i have one last look at the hero square, he is quite a handsome square isn't it?