farewell.may

finally the bbq season starts...
your first bbq of the year, with his friends and family.
you enjoyed every moment under the sun like everyone else...
well, it's also a farewell to may.

::cooking::

weather has been bad this week, it's not extremely cold but definitely not a gardening or garden sitting days.
so you get yourself busy in the kitchen instead.

 you whisked up some soy milk, your soy machine has been neglected for months, so you decided to revive the habit of making and drinking home made soy milk. you also try a batch of soy milk with black sesame and black rice, the taste is actually quite nice, almost like rice milk and the aroma of black sesame is always good.

 and you whisked up malaysian style fruit salad, rojak as lunch

 and when ahead with kneading.proofing and finally steaming your bun, mantou

 as you already plan for a pot of taiwanese style braised pork (台式鲁肉）to serve with the bun...

it's yummy especially when you dipped the bun to the soy braised sauce, it's super delicious!
it's been awhile since you last spent the whole day in the kitchen, cooking a storm out of it... thankfully such days are not frequent, otherwise you will be the result of what you eat.

ascension.day

this day would probably go by as normal bank holiday for most people, but for you, this is a series of special day to commemorate your Lord Jesus Christ.
you're at church for a praise night, it's a night of singing and dancing worshiping God with all the beautiful songs and praises.
you feel close to the Lord and totally relax in His presence.
thank you Jesus for the cross and more importantly for your ascent to heaven to prepare the outpouring of Holy Spirit.

confinement.food

you're at friend's place last night for a very nutrient and scrumptious dinner.  the weather has turned cold lately with non stop rain, so it's a good excuse to cook up a confinement meal.

 while you cooked your home town signature confinement food - kacangma

 you had yee sang as appetizer, sambal eggplant and stir fried broccoli as veg,  the black bean vinegar pork trotter was what you attacked the most the whole evening..

your kacangma ran out fast too almost in competition with the pork trotter. and needless to say the host whisked up turmeric fish and pork liver.
and the happy ending with black glutinous rice and coconut cream.
it's a delicious meal,

altena.castle

 a brief stop at altena castle on your journey home.  it's a fine day and the walk to the castle was a pleasant one where

 you can see the valley and the river with puffy clouds, blue sky and green hill at the backdrop...

at the castle, you briefly visit the museum, there's not so much of interesting exhibition in there but the outlook of the castle from the various window is quite stunning...

 and obviously the stone crafted motif like two soldiers in their armor protecting the castle

at the main court yard, you ordered a curry wurst and enjoy it as lunch at one of the public rock table... it's a relaxing moment under the not too hot and fierce sun

 and like everyone else, you're also seizing your portion of vitamin d while take in the architecture of the surrounding

and there's a youth hostel at the other side of the castle too and apparently it's the oldest youth hostel in the world.  you won't mind staying here for a night but he thinks otherwise...

::winterberg::

you've heard of winterberg for years. it's the dutch famous winter playground especially when it comes to skiing. you've talks of coming here during winter for ski experience but that never come true until today.

you're here today, not in winter but spring. it's quite refreshing and dutch presence is predominant too with a holland house right in the german land. a restaurant and small eatery that serving all sort of dutch food that you could think of

 the lift chair is not in use but you can imagine the skiers carrying their ski and sit on the lift chair to transport themselves from the lower ground to the peak. you sat here for awhile just take in the scenery

and then you went for a walk, some sort of cross country if the meadow is covered with a layer of snow but for now, it's just green grass and wild flowers.  it's a pleasant walk around the area except the noise of the cars passing by remind you that you're still in the proximity of town.

from the dutch house ski area, you went to the city, rather busy and noisy. it's a city exists for dutch tourism but you chose a german konditorei and have your black currants cake and his rustic cherry crumble.  you swap your lunch with tea and cake, that's what you normally do if you want to sample local delicacies...

the cake consists of a lot of black currents, burst with a taste of spring and you wash it down happily with the cafe latte since you have not drink milk for a few days.

bad.fredeburg

there's sunshine after the rain after all!
you seized the moment and went out for a stroll within the proximity of your hotel.  bad fredeburg is a very small town, almost a sleepy town. the architecture is unison with german half timber houses in contrasting white wall and black timber.
but the nature is superb, perhaps it's spring time but the air is fresher and the flowers are prettier and even the lawn and parks are greener. you're totally relaxed and indulged in the natural surrounding, who cares about the small and sleepy town, you're here for the nature.
feeling absolutely bliss to be here.

::refuge::

the weather was not what you expect. you dressed in summer with your sandal but it's been raining since your arrival. you feel cold in fact.  while exploring the city town, you chanced in to this cafe that is quite inviting.
you love the way the cafe is decorated.  the choice of cakes available and the fact that you found your momentary refuge in it during such a cold and rainy afternoon. most importantly feeling cozy and home coming.

road.trip

you know you just returned a night before and while you eat the cinammon roll that you fetched from helsinki airport, drinking your cup of tea, you're more or less ready for another journey to begin.
a road trip to germany, for a long weekend!

::helsinki::

you're pretty much indoor despite of the good weather, sunny and over 20c.  it doesn't really matter, as you manage to seal a deal with the client and formalized your proposal.
that's mean you will be spending quite a fair bit of time in the land of almost no "night" in june.
quite a surprise and easy win, but now you need to make sure you deliver...

jet-set

 you're caught in between.  you stopped going to paris as the project has halted due to special circumstances and you're pulled to a local bid which is equally time and energy consuming. in your opinion regardless of the billing situation, you're time is utilized. but others have different opinion and you're force to be billable.
you didn't care much as regardless of the billing nature, you're fully occupied by your daily work.

you went to your prospect, did your session and then rush to the airport for you have a mandate to jet-set and try to seal a deal that will keep you occupied from now leading to summer period.  you welcomed the travel as you have stay put for awhile and it's good to visit scandinavia in the summer anyway ^^.

new.discovery

you've got the vibe from him. recently you have been on vintage, second hand or recycled hunts. it's in fact like a treasure hunt and always full of surprise or malay mui walks in the wonderland vintage land moments. you joined him briefly for a vintage hunt during lunch hour and it's a nice experience...