::wagamama::

you went to amsterdam today, to a uk authorized biometric center to initiate the step one of your uk work permit application. yeah, you still need a work permit albeit that you are a permanent resident of lowland.  that's how the nationality rules...

the weather is weary. it's cold and drizzling. almost feel like autumn weather and you dressed in summer as the weather is fine and sunny from where you started your journey.

the appointment was swift, so once you are done, you quickly adjourned to wagamama - a japanese franchise eatery to have your late lunch. chef said wagamama means "my way" in japanese.

your itame with chicken. a bowl of soupy coconut broth for a raining day. nothing mind blowing as you ate here quite often before with your ex-employer.

his seafood udon that you didn't get to try since you are still refrain from squid and shrimp.  it doesn't taste japanese to him but more of thai cuisine when he saw the lime wedge in the soup. nonetheless, wagamama does the food "their ways" with their own interpretation and the fact that the food warm up your bodies that matters most.

on your way home, you stop by city center of your area as chef had some errands to run.  you didn't follow as you already tired from the walking in amsterdam, hence you wait for him in a cafe and indulge in a chocolate muffin with a cup of cappuccino.

with you feeling better every day, today seems like one of the free day where you enjoy sitting in a cafe, people watching or reading a book.

scheveningen

  scheveningen night out. posing in front of the famous hotel on your way to hunt for ice cream....

at the end no ice cream but drinks at a terrace cafe...

just right before the sunset. without alcohol. you enjoyed yourself and your friends presence.

it wasn't a warm night to sit at the terrace but the fire place on the table is warm enough for you. friends from germany and north.

you and your dear chef. simple and good company for a brief night out.

 you left before the sun sets completely

 thanks for coming and brightening up your saturday, at last you feel like a summer vacation.

===

today i called my project manager in the UK requesting for another week of sick leave.  the advise from the doctor is to rest for six weeks, this week is your fourth week and that's what you told your project before you even started that you will be away for four weeks.  you are not ready for the jet set lifestyle yet, at least you are not ready to drag your luggage and let alone going back to a very hectic project.  anyhow, with the submission of the UK work permit, you will not have passport to travel.  so it works out. thanked God for that!

===

p/s: photos without water mark are from your friends.

antique.market

you started to love the idea to spend your free saturday at the antique market.

 without any intention to purchase but just browse through the vintage crystals items and some english fine porcelain.

 curios, junk or treasure, the definition is yours.

 the second hand charlotte molds, in different sizes

 or other assorted types to choose from...

 some garden chairs, these have been at the market for awhile...

 a small cafe table for two...

or a bigger garden furniture set, it's quite charming but you didn't even inquire the price

 you saw these in a shop and they are just too nostalgic and brought back the flashes of childhood. these are the daily utensils that you used at tray and plate at home.

 some retro thermos that you grew up with

and you got this bowl from the market for one euro. it's not a vintage item and it's probably second hand but it didn't bother you.  you just like it and even then you have to justify to your chef why you wanted this bowl which to him is ugly. men are from mars and women are from venus. to you this is a very beautiful bowl that you have sought after for awhile. and now it's in your possession ^^.

==

chef went to church but you stay at home today, saturday was a tad too busy for your, starting from the cafe, antique market, szechuan dinner and hang out at schevening beach.

today you just rested at home and that's all you needed

==

hot.and.spicy.date

it's your first szechuan meal post surgery. it's hot, spicy and greasy but that just how it should be. the spicy date was originally planned but never confirmed. and it somehow still took place as your bunch of girlfriends are seeking for some hot and spicy palate.

 怪味雞絲 - literally translated to "strange taste shredded chicken". it's a cold dish and the first taste of spiciness.

 水煮魚片 - spicy fish, not as great as other szechuan dish or perhaps this is the last plate and you tongue already numbed by the first few course of dishes...

 麻婆豆腐 - the tofu dish is a thumb up, really delicious, spicy and yet silky.  you love this dish so much that you spooned them to your bowl and eat with rice...

 擔擔麵 - dan dan noodles, the taste is familiar hence authentic, but this is probably the most soupy dan dan noodles that you ever had

 乾炒牛河 - the restaurant is not famous for this cantonese styl fried rice stick but still it's ordered as one of the friends requested it.

you really enjoyed your hot and spicy date. lovely food companion who can tackle and appreciate hot and spicy cuisine.

cafe.uit.de.kunst

today it feels like a vacation day for you. you went to delft in the mid morning to check out a cafe and the antique market. weather is perfect, warm enough to go in sundress and not overly hot, hence make it a very pleasant stroll.

you had your lunch in the cafe run by a few ladies.

they have a thrift shop next to the cafe.

you sat at the patio with two little birds and some bric a brac deco.

 an organized chaos in a nice way that attract you...

 you started with a cappuccino

 and a special cookie made with the name of the cafe... soaking the cookie in the cappuccino -yum!

 the food is just average dutch standard, your tuna sandwich was as expected.

his mustard soup is a tad too sour. you were quite occupied by the interior design and amused in a certain way.
you like this cafe albeit the average food and you certainly don't mind to be back here for a drink, it would be lovely to sit in the patio in the autumn ^^.

::gifts.fines.olympic::

two girlfriends visited you with a big fruit basket, chicken essence and canned bird best, flower and lot of books for you to read.

you spent some time chatting away at the garden under the shadow. it's cooler than sitting inside the house. by noon the sun is at its peak, you retreated indoor. it's a nice way to past time with friends visiting you. you served the light lunch, tomato quiche and spinach blue cheese quiche with salad.

chef declares a day off from kitchen today, so you drove to scheveningen beach to your usual seafood canteen. perhaps it's not his day, he got fine from a police for a small mistake. that sort of blew off the mood for dinning. it's sort of intimidation and you learned today in your quiet time about the Lord's prayer - give us this day our daily bread. bread for today only, it's not something that you can collect and store for the next day. may be God wants him to learn and train him to be stronger in some of his weaknesses.

you had a sardine plate that come with 9 sardines. you feel like a cat for a moment munching on the fish, yet you can only finished 4 of them.

he had his portion of seafood paella and only munch on one sardine.

tonight is the olympic opening ceremony. it started rather late at 2200. it's not as impressive as the opening of beijing olympic but not too bad either. it's good to see mr bean, james bond, mary poppins and david beckham on the show. you dive to your bed shortly after the dutch team appear. it's way past midnight when you sleep and the first time since the surgery - 18 days post surgery.

::warm::

17 days post surgery, you feel almost normal but yet you are not 100 percent recovered.
another extremely hot day that you decided to bbq again at the garden. it is just too hot to cook in the kitchen.

again the bbq is nothing extravaganza, just some chicken wings enough for two.

the grilled beef tartare, the beef is not burned but a fresh dollop of chef's teriyaki secret sauce to coat the meat...

 and lots of assorted salad to go with the grill...

it's nice sitting at the garden to enjoy the late afternoon breeze. today is the last hot day according to the weather forecast. after that it will cool down. this is actually a relief for you, the past two nights you weren't able to sleep due to the warm weather, even you turn on the fan whole night. thus a reasonable cool down is welcome ^^.

cream.of.the.day

it's about the time of the month, you received the envelop at your doorstep and little you know that there's a big surprise in the envelop for you. it's unbelievable for a start, then you know it's not at all impossible when you are serving an almighty God, that you know everything that you have accomplished is not by your own might or power but by the spirit of the Lord and the fact that God rewards those who labor...

you are over the moon, in fact more than over the mood consider the current economy situation and you joined the company for just less than a year, yet you have been rewarded with something that you never expect in your career life. literally impossible yet you are thankful for the generosity! 

lunch were something that you bought at the market a day before, it's getting so warm in the afternoon that you have no intention to cook anything (not that you can cook anything extravaganza).  just some leftover cold salad that you drizzle with olive oil and home grown thyme, and the fried fish from the market.

on a second note, you manage to bend down a bit to trim away the dried/dead flowers from your front and back garden. and the pink hydrangea is a bunch that you cut from your front garden ^^. you with you could do more in the garden but that's not possible at the moment and too warm under the temperature. 

dinner is usual, a steamed sea bream with lemon.  the sea bream is a courtesy from a girl friend who bought it at the fresh market and brought it to your home for you. bless her!

and a plate of stir fried bitter gourd with egg. you like the light bitterness in the dish, it's refreshing and a gentle reminder of reality that life is not often sweet all the time, but everything that happened to you is something that God intended.

chef is not a much a sweet tooth person, yet he suggested to drive to somewhere to grab ice cream as dessert. and for you, the idea is always welcome ^^.

to cool yourself down, he drove to den haag just go grab some quality ice cream.  and here is your choice of mango and choco-coconut. cooling and refreshing...

 chef happily holding his australian ice cream...

 a glimpse of you, 16 days post the surgery, you are now able to stroll around comfortably...

summer.heat

15 day post surgery. another summer day, in fact warmer than yesterday. you went to the city hall to run some errands, an overdue background check that your project requires, you finally submitted the paper, paid the fee. now you got to wait for 2 to 4 weeks to get the result.
you made a quick round at the weekly market just behind the city hall, get some fresh fried fish, a little of shopping here and there. you feel the burden at the wound but it's something bearable. you have to pick up your physical activities and hence the quick stroll at the city center is beneficial.

lunch today is grilled beef steak with salad, since chef is on late afternoon shift.

dinner on your own, but that's okay, as you can already warm food up or cook simple meal for that matter. in this case is just the matter of warming up a bowl of big pork bone soup with lots of peanut, goji, tofu sheet and red date... it's too warm for the weather but is the tonic that your body needs.

today you boiled the tofu sheet, ginkgo, barley sweet soup (腐竹白果意米糖水). you wanted to achieve the silky consistency but your tofu sheet didn't melt easily despite long hour of boiling.  so you crack an egg to a bowlful of the soup and made a quick stir to get the "cheat" silky consistency...

whilst in reality, without the egg, this is how your soup looks like. it's still delicious though, just didn't what you expected it to be...