::mooncakes::

 happy mid autumn festival.  here are snapshots of the moon cakes that you have made. 

 the traditional baked moon cakes that you baked like 3 weeks prior to the festival.

 the moon cake skin biscuits, a relive of childhood, only the shapes are different but the taste is certainly something you can recognize...

 you don't have any biscuit mould, neither you want to use your christmas cookie cutters, hence you resort to the same moon cake moulds you have, only filling it half full to create these biscuits...

 you had a celebration tonight, and you brought you batch of biscuits over to share

 the host using the same recipe creating these cute little piggies free hand. you admire the creativity in her and the fact that she still manage to make these cookies beside mending the two kids....

 snowskin moon cakes by another friend who actually made to sell during the season.. these are filled with yam, shredded coconut and green tea

another type of moon cake, the teocheow style with layer flaky skin courtesy from the professional friend

needless to say, you sample more than these.  your enjoyed your traditional mooncake making experience and more mooncakes that you savored a week before at ahaus where you had a feast under the apple trees with lanterns.

the longer you stay abroad, the more traditional you become. you never really care about the chinese festive in the past, but now these festives become sentimental to you.

have a blessed mid autumn festival if you are celebrating.

sleep.eat

you slept a good 10 hours, woke up, done a few chores and dive back to a beauty afternoon nap again.  he suddenly has the urge for raw fish.  besides dutch haring, the only place where you can get fresh sashimi is really the all you can eat restaurant. you wrote about this restaurant before. this is the restaurant where you have had a love and hate feelings. love for the fresh and affordable raw seafood. hate for the rush and the fact that you can never really enjoy a meal to the fullest.

 two or three rounds of the assorted sashimi

 a lightly seared scallop with garlic negri sushi. your favorite.

 raw oysters, for you this is the first taste of raw shellfish after the surgery. it's been 3 months now, time has flown certainly and it's time to break the fast!

 hand roll, crispy nori sheet with generous fillings

 you mean really generous filling, chuck of tuna..

a miso oyster soup.  this is probably the only warm dish that's acceptable.  given the last experience on the warm food, you are cautious in your order.

you both walked out the restaurant full, bloated just after 8pm. calling it a night as you are still tired from last week's work.

sweet.relief

 thank god is thursday. for you can't wait for tomorrow where you will be flying home and call it a weekend. this week has been crazy. not only the stress radar is high, the work just never ending... you are living like in an hourly basis.  watching your calendar to see what come next and then working on the thing for your appointment. needless to say, you are not in control.

 you walked to laduree to find some sweet treat.  this is your starter, a dessert as the starter.  unconventional, but who cares, you feel a sense of relief after the indulgence. it's seriously good!!! laduree never fails to surprise you.

 your main course tonight, half roasted chicken on a bed of veg. no rice, no pasta, no carbs....

 you also pick up the seasonal selections of macarons with the exception of salted caramel which is your all time favorite.  these are not for tonight, may be tomorrow, who knows whenever you feel like a sweet treat to escape

you tried the light blue mint macaron. it's refreshing delight! with a scent of basil and mint, definitely better than the blue color appearance.

now that you showered, washed and dried your hair, ate and you are ready to dive back to your work again.  oh, well, everyday is a new day and the bible also says do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself.  do your best, and God will do the rest!

stress.radar

you haven't been so stress for awhile. but the stress radar is certainly red at the moment. you haven't venture out the bank area.  so far you are confined with the 500m radius between the office and where you stay.

 today, you drop by new look and albeit that the clothing's quality is not up to the expectation, the accessories are bargains. you got most of the items at 1 pound sterling which is really a steel. choosing the items and trying them on give you the temporary relief, where you are not focus on your work.

tonight you still didn't bother to venture out of bank, you are just too tired. so you grab yourself a bibimbap from a korean takeaway and you add a chicken drumstick so that the meal last longer.

what can you say? your non productive team member decided to call in sick and will not be back till much later time. this really hit you hard, and there's no way to find a replacement at such a short notice. the workshop is scheduled for 8 october.  you wonder if you are going to make it given the short of hands.  then again you are not too worried, the Lord is here, it's not by your strength but by the spirit of the Lord that you excel so far and you know you can count on Him once again.

under.ahaus.apple.tree

the marquees is set, table and chairs are laid....

 food is being warm up in the red garage room....

under the theme of economy rice stall that people eat if there prefer a plate of rice with choices of dishes at affordable price.  under the guiding principle of each one bring one dish or more if you have the time to prepare.

 you still ended up with ample of dish. and it is obvious this is definitely not the array of economy rice but a luxurious and upper scale version.

you manage to whisk up kacangma a day before, let it sit to develop the unique fragrance with the borneo home grown herbs, the glutinous rice wine. a tonic dish that you cherish but willing to share with your friends.

the cocktail corner, it started just with sangria during the lunch session that you missed due to late arrival.

in the evening you prepare a goblet of english pimm's , a bottle that you drag along and with the chopped cucumber, mint, lemon and mix of lemonade.

there's no proper measurement of the proportion,s but the result is good, refreshing pimm's with a distinct aroma and taste of cucumber.

 

 and this alcohol free ladies beer becomes a favorite for kids...

even the soup is the rare chinese new year treat - the fish meow soup with dried ink fish, fish ball, pork bones. a thick, flavorful soup that you wish you could have more than one helping...

at the side table, the array of dessert are set up toowith combination of home made and commercial moon cakes, assorted cream cakes, apple tart and mid autumn cookies.

 needless to say, you are here to celebrate the mid autumn festival, even though it's a week earlier... with the lanterns hanging on the apple tree

 and the rituals will not be complete without the apple plucking ceremony.  you collected some apples which you hope will have time to turn them into some yummy pie this weekend...

and a complete photo for all the ladies who attended the gathering...

 it's almost mid autumn, a season where chrysanthemum flowers are at their very best blossom!

 

under.the.ahaus.helicopter

under the autumn sunny sky, a weekend excursion to ahaus, a city just across the border of lowland. you have a gathering there with your homeland friends.

 under the ahaus helicopter....you were probably the only group around at that hour....

the weather's pretty amazing that you could still sit at the terrace and enjoy the cool breeze. while men and kids are opting for the jeep safari simulation, ladies decided to sit and chill out...

 you're terribly late due to bad traffic situation in the middle of the country where all road to the east had a standstill traffic. you detoured but still couldn't avoid the last part of the traffic. anyway, you're here, you missed the lunch session but you manage to catch the fun in this place.

 a plate of nacho's to share

and the not so great hot wings, but at least it fill the empty stomach...
you didn't stay too long here as the actual feast is awaiting at friend's place... so it's basically just a quick visit to this place and head back to friend's house where the party will begin...
more on that later

::happy.days::

blessed with another fine, sunny early autumn day, you set off to a museum in den haag in the afternoon.

there are various exhibitions.

one installation that caught your attention is a room that fills with black balloons and black knitting textiles....

 use of wool, black balloons, bamboo sticks and some red pipes

it's quite overwhelming when you walk in the room

touching the textile....

and trying to interpret what the artist try to convey

other exhibition "happy days"  and this is the happy room, an installation by a japanese artist

the happy round full skirt that you normally in the hollywood movie portraying ladies in the 50's.... it didn't take you too long to finish the visit..

 on exit, it's still a sunny and relatively warm day... you check out the ruin wall just next to the museum

 there are some nice sculptures and imprints on the wall... no trace of the story or history though...

and you adjourned to the cafe, just beside these wall and the museum

it's a perfect day to sit out for a sip....

he reads the newspaper and drinks his coffee,

while you enjoy your glass of fresh mint tea and reading from your kindle. it's a nice saturday. you like the fact that you have no busy program (albeit a busy morning in the kitchen).  some moments in the museum to soak in the arts and inspirations. and sitting at the terrace.  you know these days are numbered because you already smell autumn in the air...