hellers.brauhaus

you wanted to check out the beer house for your dinner but didn't want to drive to the city center again.  so you chanced into this petite beer house at the edge of the city. it took you a long time to find a parking spot and after a few rounds you finally got one.

 the interior of the brauhaus, more like a patio at one section where you seated

 hellers is a kolshs brewery, and it has a variety of beer...

 you quite like the interior, very green. you can imagine how it looks like if you're here on day time, it must be pretty warm in the summer months...

 they're not too many people when you arrived, customers only popped in past dinner time.  perhaps this is a place for a few glass of beer.

 your hellers beer.  it's very fresh and crisp. you're not a beer person, the last glass was since hamburg, but this petite size is perfect to quench the thirst and not absorbing too much carbs.

you ordered a large salad to share

and of course the famous german pork knuckle (schweinshaxe) also to share as you anticipate the portion is probably too huge for both of you.

 schweinshaxe with potato, really generous portion!

he savors every bite...

 and at the end you did finished the whole knuckle between the two of you.

and walking out this little brew house happily.

::cologne::

 the loooong weekend has began. you're suppose to travel for the radius of 5 ~7 hours by car. the initial plan was to go east, to a city that's not a real tourist destination but would make an interesting exploration based on a travel program he saw in bbc. the plan then switched to south bound because germany will be very cold. you had reserved your hotel but the weather forecast at the destination is equally bad. so plan travel south is also abandoned. the truth is the entire europe is going to be cold and sub zero till early april.

 it's not ideal but that's mother nature  who is in control and weather is something you cannot order.
now the plan is to stay put on lowland and enjoy the sun though it will be cold. but at the end you still drove away for one night. destination cologne or koln in german.  it's just about 2.5 hours drive away, doable and with plenty of museums available for an arty fix.

you're hungry, you arrived at ludwig museum, had your lunch first before checking out the exhibition.

everywhere indoor is saying spring (tulips) but the reality is some what different. the table at the cafe in ludwig museum

tea to warm up your body

while waiting for food to arrive...

  this is your vegetarian quiche, light meal as how you wanted it to be....

 his carbs overdose olive oil garlic spaghetti, simple dish but really well done. almost like an asian fried noodles. fusion perhaps. he certainly enjoyed this to bits.

 the view of cologne's landmark from the museum.  it's still too cold to walk outdoor though there's no shortage of tourists in this city.

the famous cologne cathedral...

quite magical in its own way!

C.R.O.S.S

good friday. the remembrance of day Jesus died on the cross.

 you baked a batch of hot cross bun.  actually you aren't sure of the meaning of these buns...

 perhaps it has the significance of the cross that Jesus carried for your sin. perhaps it has other meaning but you baked these solely because it is appropriate for good friday.  the remembrance of Jesus who died for you.... these are the raw bread right after the second proofing stage

 the hot cross buns straight from the oven

a pack of assorted foodies for your sil and a brownie for your nephew...

you just came back from the good friday service. and today you thanked God for His son Jesus, who died on the cross for you. ephesians 1:7 says "in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace". His blood is powerful and overcoming.  His death has bought you the victory.

nian.gao.年.糕

you know it's so not in season to mention about niangao (年糕) but you do have one sitting in your fridge and enticing you to eat it every time you open your fridge.  you just never have the good moment to slice and steam them. certainly not during the brief weekend that you're around.  you're off today, the plan (a) was to go east, 5 hours drive to a not so touristy city, the plan is dropped due to the weather. then your backup plan (b) come to play, you even booked the hotel, 7 hours drive south bound to the heart of france, still the weather forecast is not optimistic there. so plan (c) is to stay put in the lowland where you may still have some sunshine but sub-zero weather.

 you woke up early,  went to do the quarterly blood test, back home, did some errands and baking. it's just an ordinary off day, but a precious one because you don't have to sit behind your laptop, that's make a lot of different.

 your late lunch, just four slices of niangao, steamed for a few minutes. it turns soft and goo-ey, and you dipped them to shredded coconut flakes...

 it's that simple, and delicious. sweet too but you enjoy the caramelized taste of sugar. not too good for your sweet life.

 you received your new toy this week in london, a nikon 55-300 mm lens.  so these shots are taken with the new lens. you still need to get to know your lens better.

 tulips, you picked them up from the florist next to the supermarket

 a tint of spring inside the house....

and the sun that setting, you just in time capture a glimpse of it today.

marbled.tea.egg.茶.葉.蛋

茶葉蛋. something you made over the weekend

marbled tea eggs. deeply scented with oolong tea and other herbs. it's something relatively simple to make.

egg is nutrition too. only you didn't quite get the marble effect you intend to achieve.

well, there's always next attempt.

==
i am back to london, it's still extremely cold.  when is spring going to come?
==

change.of.transition

it's almost the end of march, the spring equinox is over but yet winter is still so predominant, no sign of leaving the europe. frankly speaking you already fed up with the persistent winter, temperature still hovering around freezing point and strong wind.  another week to go, you will be turning the clock to summer time again. it's indeed a change of transition, a sub title in today's sermon.

it's interesting to hear the sermon from a guest speaker about the voice of a new season.  and the illustration of 5 min late can turn into something that impact a life's time, or a lost of opportunity that may not return again. it's also very applicable to know, you can't avoid or cut out the voices of others, not easy anyway when you are living in a high tech world.   but you can choose to tune in to the voice of God, which you may not understand but if you listen, do it, it will bring forth the understanding.


ephesians 5:15-16 "see then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord."

 you  had this before you go to church today. it's one of the goodies that you received from your friends.  this is a very old fashion snack.

old fashion but the taste is so classic.  you can recognize this fragrant and the taste. just like you can hear the voice of your God who is your Shepherd.  this is the taste of home and childhood.

know your taste, know your root. know your calling, know your destiny.

good night and have a blessed week ahead.

dutch.baby.pancake.hanami

dutch baby pancake, first time making it, not as thin as you expected it to be. may be the size of the dish you used is too small. It's a tad too custardy. it has lost the texture of pancakes but turn out to be a lighter bread puddings or even a little resembles clafoutis .  you like it anyhow as a weekend breakfast or brunch with a little drizzle of whipped cream.

花、茶、茶、花

it's sakura prime time in tokyo. seeing so many pictures popped up in fb, you know this is the most beautiful time of the year for japan. a short but intense beauty existed only for a couple of days.
you whisked up a cup of matcha greentea latte, with a dash of sakura powder that gives the distinct flavors and taste. a pot of pink carnation on your dining table and you pretend your own version of flower viewing, hanami in your own way, custardy dutch baby pancake with strawberries. you give thanks for the past and the wonderful experience in the land of the rising sun. but you know you live in the present, now is the time to seize and shape your destiny.

nostalgic.chai.kueh

nostalgic.

you love this so much in your childhood.  it's actually one of your favorite and you're usually very excited when your mum made this. a sort of tea cake, steamed.  you believe it is originally a delicacy from the teochew (潮州）clan.

if not because a friend of yours made this here in lowland and have encouraged you, you will probably never give this a try.  you always thought the skin is difficult to handle and that's what put you off the attempt. not until you see the recipe and the fact that your friend mentioned it's rather easy to handle the dough you finally decided to give it a try.
you gave it a go today, you aren't really well, a little cold, a little cough but not sick to put you to bed, so you defrost the innards that you prepared a week ago and get the dough ready.
true enough, it's a bliss to compose the dough, simple and easy to handle, that said, you didn't use the amount of water nor the total amount of oil.  you just follow your gut feeling, the texture of the dough seems good to you.

so easy, so soothing to handle and warp too. just that you are not good with wrapping but the dough itself was indeed very easy to handle.

you're really over the moon with this new discovery and the result.  best thing, the dough never get harden after steaming.  in fact you like to eat it cold than warm.
you ate 7 of this in one occasion   and yes, this is your chai kueh (菜糕) - in hokkien pronunciation, one that you thought you can only eat whenever you go back to the meow meow city or close to south east asia.  but now this is something that you can readily replicate here in europe.

cold.fight

it's officially first day of spring but still there's trace of snow in lowland. dear winter when are you leaving....
you caught a cold, you sort of expecting it as you went for a run on tuesday. it was sunny with a pleasant temperature when you started. you stayed awhile browsing at waitrose and by the time you are done, the chilly cold wind creep in. sine you're out for a run, so you didn't have your winter jacket on and with the shopping bag, you couldn't run. anyhow, you are now down with cold, itchy nose, sole throat and now running nose.

this is how you try to fight the flu. a bottle of manuka honey and lemon mix. You picked this up from waitrose but had no intention to use it immediately, but now it looks like the acquisition is put to good use. You drank it with warm water, it's soothing your throat. And you drank again in the morning with a bottle of water mixing the honey lemon mixture with apple cider.

 you're travelling today, traveling with cold is always killing. you lost your appetite, so a simple shrimp and salmon salad at the airport before you flight is good source of energy.

arriving home, you heart is warmed to a pot of soup.  soup made with love by your honey, pork, lotus, dried scallop, peanut and carrot soup.  it's just want you need whenever you have a late arrival home.

lets hope you aren't going to get sick. as you need to run a workshop next Tuesday, traveling is unavoidable.

::egglets::

bunnies, chocolate eggs are popping up everywhere as easter is approaching.

you arrived at work to see two tubes of easter chocolate eggs at your desk. small little egglets per say from your client to the project...guess easter is big thing like the sinterklaas in the lowland.

 you couldn't resist, so you open up the champagne egglets and pop one into your mouth

hmmm... it's delicious, not as dark as you want it to be, but is okay, it's adult chocolate. you're thankful because you're looking for some decent pure chocolate eggs last night without success and you got some today!

sometimes you ponder, for you easter is about the resurrection of Christ who died and rose again. and many people just skimping good friday for easter.  for you, without a good friday (the day Jesus died) there'll be no easter.  you can relate to egg (barely) as egg does symbolize new life, in a way it symbolizes new life post Jesus' resurrection from the death.  that's is the  true meaning of easter, a more accurate translation is passover, a celebration of an awesome God who sent His son to die for man.

::jogging::

you went out for a jog. the weather when you finished your work was still fine, dry and sunny, so you thought it won't harm to run to your favorite supermarket just about 20 min away.

when you arrived, you got carried away by the merchandised as usual, waitrose is more appealing to you compare to sainsbury's or tesco, but the nearest is about more than 1.5 miles away.
it's a good run, brief. running in the city at rush after work hour meaning you have to avoid people coming your way, stop for traffic light, but it's just better than not getting yourself moving.
your acquisition this week.  things that you cannot get in lowlands but you found it there as usual.  you're becoming more and more english each day.

::liberty::

monday. another routine. many people envy your jetset lifestyle, but only you know it has become another routine and it's now a little boring.

woke up at 6am, a quickie and off to airport.  today due to internet connectivity problem at your workplace in london, you left work early, and venture out to west end.

 a quick stroll at liberty, the renowned emporium tug in the side street of ever bustling regent street. this time you browse the home department.  lovely vintage feel plate...

 some fine china with minimalist twists

 other flower prints porcelain

 and the white series

 plates for cat lover, there's no short to satisfy everybody's need

 a girly english pinky birdy

another white collection.  that say, these are really expensive in your opinion.  certainly not price friendly albeit the good and fine quality products.

a plate of wat dan ho (滑蛋河) for dinner, torn between the japanese ramen and this soupy seafood flat noodles and you eventually went for this.  it's perfect for such a drizzling evening.

on the other hand, this should be a less busy week now that all the preparation work has been done last week.  your life should be interesting again in london.