london.in.summary

a week in summary.  a week in london.  not entirely a work week but a week of training.  yes, you finally received your long overdue training.

this week, you broke your cell phone. it was soaked in the water. a bottle of water in your handbag spilled out and for goodness sake your goyard is so water proof that you didn't even realize a sign of dampness from the outside of the bag.  thank to the same water resistance of the material, your passport sitting in the small pouch of the same bag was kept dry.  as a result, slightly more than 24 hours without any means of tele-communication.  hence a week  in london without photo.  a kind colleague lend you her old cellphone, so you are now back to with just telephone function, no 3g, no internet, no whatsapp. in summary, back to the good old days.

a friend J from lowland pop over for a short visit.  besides the training and the project mandates, you also went out in the evening. you went to an indian restaurant that you've been wanting to check out.  but first a quick tour of oxford streets. the christmas light is beautiful.  it's just a pity that you couldn't even take any photo. but J did.

you waited for 45 min to get your table.  it's a lesson on not making the reservation.  your wait is worthwhile because the food served is really good.

you love the chai tea here, bursting with spices and herbs, and your tongue sings... you just love the house chai.  the soft shell crabs, the fried okras, the black bean dahl that doesn't look black, the nasi briyani.  all creamy yet with taste distinctly different from one another. the portion may not look big, but you're really full at the end of the day.  your cinnamon ice cream has the effect of the chai tea, but you're too full that you only manage to sample a few spoonful.  J's mango popsicle seem good too

the next evening, you went for the musical wicked. with the show starting at 7.30pm, it's almost hard to get a dinner, hence you settled at nearby brown's for a quickie. the beef pie cooked in guinness with a side of mashed pea and potato.  it's quick and delicious though nothing extraordinary.

a week where you had a christmas drinks with your uk organization and then a project team out to a north african restaurant till wee hours.  london is certainly different this week, not that you are not stranded at the client site, but a week without a cell phone is certainly weird.

haarlem.raphael.teylers

winter has creepily sneak in. you can feel it in the air last night. it's no longer the cozy comfy autumn air.  the cold air can be very fierce soon.

you went to haarlem.  a city not too far from amsterdam by you have never set your foot on this city except rare occasion where you have to transit in the train in your early years in lowland. it's only 5c but the dampness in the air makes it feel like close to freezing point...

 haarlem is an old city, almost like delft except the canal is a little wider and the cobble street is less crowded...

you're here a reason.  raphael in teylers museum.  a collaboration with albertina museum in vienna, austria.  either tyelers is a petite museum or the raphael exhibition has drawn the crowds here....

do not expect a lot of master piece from raphael since he's really more a fresco painter.  you found a lot of the sketches here interesting and learned that he never signed any of his sketches since his actual masterpieces are always on the ceiling, walls and fresco... and it is always interesting to learn how the big fresco painting is decomposed into small size sketches.  you saw the half drawn sketches for "the last supper". the painting we all know as the reknown piece of work from leonardo di vinci.  apparently raphael asked for too much and hence the work landed at leonardo's hadn.  the fact that he hardly signed any of his sketches, that leave a room for debate on whether those are his or from his students... the video shows the debate on the research...

 you adjourned to the next door, a rather famous cafe nobel for some late lunch...  you are close to getting a flu and so a high dose of vitamin c is what you needed... the cafe is decorated with the portraits of the various nobel prize winners in the history.... interesting setting.

 your churchil sandwich with two slices of brown bread, a bed of green and smoked salmon.  it's nothing extra ordinary, typical dutch cafe food, but the standard of the food is above average. it's nonetheless a good sandwich.

 his salad nicoise, with pieces of raw tuna... the tuna is fresh and he acclaims this a good plate of high quality salad...

 you walked to the old city center/square.  you passed this living room like restaurant. it's really cozy and warm in there

 and the chandelier reminds you of vienna, the city that you would like to go back again...

 the cathedral surrounded by shops and restaurants...

 a vintage shop with vintage leather suitcase... very nostalgic

 the architecture of the shop houses, resemble those houses squashed along the canal in amsterdam. but this city reminds you a little bit of munster...

 nice facet of the church...

the saturday market, the sights, the scenes and the scent of haarlem. you didn't stay too long, it's really cold out there.  haarlem, a good fix of educational art about raphael and the quick exploration of the old city.

cinnamon.mincemeat.roll

you just finished your last workshop today. mentally it's a relief. you also baked 2 batches of rolls. one batch cinnamon mincemeat roll and one batch of savory sweet pork floss rolls.
you wanted to hold on baking till tomorrow but you have to be at amsterdam meeting your new boss.
and after seeing two friends baking this, you have a sudden urge, you ran down to the kitchen.
dry yeast. checked.
cardamom powder. checked.

the rest of the ingredients you have them readily at home. so you started with the yeast as soon as it has warm up, you work on the dough. it's the kneading part that you don't like but that turned out to be the most therapeutic where you enjoyed the touch and the interaction with yeast. the dough bounce back, it's warm and springy. it made you forget about work momentarily. you rest and proof the dough in a slightly heated stove and then move them into the oven since you need a warm place to proof them.
then you are on the call, conducting your workshop for the next two hour.
when you are done, you are delighted that the dough has double the size. the best part is kneading them again. feel good factor.

making these rolls take a lot of time. the proofing and kneading and waiting all take time but it's worth it.
you love the aroma that fills the house. it reminds me of a dutch praise and worship song.... "laat het huis gevuld zijn met wierrook van aanbidding, laat het huis gevuld zijn met de wolk van mijn Geest...". it's amazing how baking can draw you to God. you just hope that the spirit of the Lord and His peace can fill this place - your house too.

just as your thoughts wander away, your oven beeps and the rolls are ready.
you ate one mincemeat roll and two meat floss rolls immediately, fresh out of the oven. and they are so good. soft, moist and warm.
it's all worth it! there is time to knead, time to knead, time to bake, time to wait. making these you know God is trying to tell you there is season for everything, you may be tired, weary and a little burnout but soon the festive season and holidays are here. you just need to press on and finish a good race.

chinese.chives

you had a bunch of chinese chives sitting in the fridge.
while thinking of something fancy yet you know you don't have any rice flat stick noodle at home.  so you resort to something simpler.

chinese chive pancake with shrimps and carrot.  only they look more like chinese chive patties.  nevertheless, the taste is great.  subtle garlic scent from the chives, crunchiness from the diced carrot, and the seafood aroma from the shrimps.  let alone the fish sauce and chili dip.

 eating at home overlooking your garden, taking your quick moments of solitude.  you may be bored soon with working from home but next week you are on the move again, so you better cherish these moments.

another half of the chives stir fried with dry shrimps and egg.  that's for dinner.

you are still feeling rather dreadful with your project. one workshop done, one more to go and you are basically done with your workshop.  The other advantage of being at home is you can go to zumba as you wish.  that's really something you missed most when you are in london.  zumba brings back vitality of life. so much for the thought ramblings...
good night!

taste.of.home

this is actually the leftover from saturday.  you just love to have this again. work from home and lunch at home.
another heart warming broth with rice noodle, prawns, egg, bean sprouts, chicken and coriander  oh, and a wedge of lemon, squeeze into the bowl just before you eat.
and yum!
no pret-a-manger sandwich, salad or soup. this is just you, and the taste of home. a very unique kuching laksa taste that not easily replicate else where.  well, you don't know the secret recipe of the paste either, it's all store bought, from the cat city and transport to lowland.
for now, at least you are warmed, satisfied. contented. and you can go on to cope with your never ending work for another day.

heart.warming

it's good to work from home.
it's good to eat from home too.

you had a heart warming dutch pea soup for lunch, home made and love it to bits.  it's just perfect for the weather and the season.

and you are able to take breaks too. nothing fancy, just run down from your study room, make a cup of dirty chai tea with a tint of milk and an english mince pie.

the store bought mince pie is a tad too sweet to your liking but nonetheless a delight to bite and enjoy, it goes really well with the spiced chai tea too!

despite you are staying put, you don't seems to be able to fence off the work pressure.  some time you wonder if your age is catching up or it's just that you have a too demanding and manipulating client or the fact that your scope is too big for one person to handle.  you guess it's the combination of all.
matthew 11:28 "come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest". yeah, that's what you are going to do... cast all your burdens and care unto Papa.

sweet.seventeen

today is the seventeen anniversary of your church. this year is a celebration held in the rented dance theater.

you're blessed with the extremely fine and sunny weather.  you've to be there early as he got to help up in the beamer team.  but instead of heading to the artist entrance at that hour, you took a stroll in the city center.  it's a very rare sunday afternoon where you are strolling and browsing at the shops as you are normally at the church at this hour.
you walk around, needless to say window shopping experience is less enchanting than the one in london.  right here in the lowland the decoration is about sinterklaas whilst christmas light is officially lights up in london.

 you ordered a cappuccino and a speculaas eclair for tea.  speculaas is very hip around the sinterklaas season that round up to 5 december. it's a mix of spices that gives a very homely, warm aroma.  you kinda love the smell of the spice.

the eclair is great.  it's everything that you expect a speculaas eclair to be.  it has got the right texture of eclair and the right scent of speculaar and a cuppa to wash it off.

 then you walk back to the dance theater, enter via the artist entrance and you are confronted with dark working area.  you are sitting behind the stage, pretty much in darkness and here is where the audio sound system, beamer and translation teams are located.  a little bizarre with the work area. but you managed.

 after all, this is a ministry. you're not here to enjoy the celebration but like many others, you are one of the many who make the celebration possible and be a blessings to many people out there, give them the opportunity to know about Jesus!

it's a sweet seventeen anniversary. certainly a sweet one even though you missed out all the stage front entertainment, performance, sermon. but it's always a joy to serve the Lord.

saturday.food.gathering

you have quite a frequent food gathering at your area lately with the ladies living within the proximity of the haag area.
you are here for a lunch gathering. again each one bring one dish, the theme is around the hawker stall lunch served back home in the northern region where you grab a plate of rice and choose your dishes and eat.

 you ordered some snack size curry puffs from another malaysian living nearby you.  these curry puffs are good starter, going really fast...

 squid curry, spicy and have the right kick of taste bud

 another veg dish that typical nasi kandar style, cooked with the typical indian spices such as cumin  fennel, coriander seeds...

 these fried chicken (ayam goreng) are crispy and with just the right level of spice. your favorite so far.

 ayam masak mamak

 sambal telur, eggs lightly fried and soak in generous portion of sambal marinate

 this is utterly new to you, apparently it's quite commonly available at the stalls. it's the combination of lychees and ribena

since you don't know how to make the nasi kandar dishes, you offer to cook your hometown specialty, the kuching laksa. for some ladies, this is the first time they try this.  others who had tried this before can recognize it... it's a good bowl of heart warming soup...

and a group photo, basically three from the northern part of west malaysia, a melaka nyonya, a lady from the capital city and you from borneo.  all congregate now in the lowland and have your path crossed.
this afternoon is all about food. celebrating the variety and richness of malaysian gourmet and friendship.

saatchi.gallery

chanced into saatchi gallery at sloanne square area after you are done with your dessert bar at william curley. your original intention was to walk to victoria and albert museum at south kensington, first to walk off the calories and second to catch the current exhibition. but you got carried away and bump into saatchi gallery instead.

 love the portrait photography

 very real

there are other exhibitions as well...

a beautiful mind ^^

it was overly crowded when you're there. but that didn't spoiled your mood for browsing and you kinda love the simplicity expression of arts here.

writing this, you are back to lowland.  you had continuous headache and when you checked your blood pressure, it's on the high side again.  it caught you by surprise as your worst and peak working season just finished a week ago. if it would be spike high, it should happen two weeks ago. then again, may be your body is giving you distress signal that you need to rest and spot. so you took the chance and went for a good session of zumba and sauna. you feel good and fit again.  vitality is important to life!