july.garden

last day of july, more than half of 2015 is gone by now.  you see the warmest day in july and also experienced the worst summer storm. your garden was neat and pretty with all your summer blooms but after the storm, the sunflowers have fallen and so does the runner bean.
this is by far the greatest harvest you have for this year!

temperature difference

milan in the next morning, dry and warm.  since you'd a bit of time, you decided to check out the supermarket at the basement of central station and haul some goodies back, after all there'll be 2 week of pause before your next visit to the city again.
so with slightly more than an hour flight, you're transported from a city that has average temperature of 30 something celcius to barely 17 degree.

 back at home, you're starving since you refused to eat the junk served by the airline.  so you open a pack of mortadella affettata that you bought from parma and eat this as late and light lunch. little you know the two of you fully demolished the 200g of ham with the crispy whole grain bread stick. it's so good that you know this will be your staple haul from next trip onward...

and at lowland, it's really kinda soup weather and you're really happy to have this lotus root mushroom dried oyster pork soup that he has prepared.  

::gelateria::

this was what you're look forward to in the evening as soon as you checked in to your hotel in milan.  your concierge recommended you to this gelaterie.  all the gelatos are home made, natural and without additional flavorings or colors.
you're spoiled of choices, even the choices between the creamy/diary and the sorbet versions.  at the end you get hold of three scopes, fig gorgonzola, black sesame from the diary section and pink pomelo from the sorbet section.
the winner is pink pomelo sorbet, so natural, so refreshing.  you'll be back again next trip but next time you will only pick your choices from the sorbet selection.

animals.attack

 it's a short overnight trip, your meetings are done and you're back on the train heading to milan. as you went to your usual salumarie for some quality ham, you grab this new parmesan biscuit to try on your way. this was so good, it's almost not a biscuit but just 24 months old parmesan crisps.

 you checked in to your hotel, and was told you're now a gold member, and what's more you're given a much better room compared to your previous stay

 and a little surprise waiting for you in your room...

 again, the evening is pleasant to walk around nowadays, so you went out hunting for your gelato (another story) in the mean time you chanced into these colorful animals.

 it looks like an art display, but you're not sure and didn't bother to ask either...

and a yellow bear eager to get out of the terrace bar of the hotel.... it's so contrast as you're eager to get in while the bear looks like it's eager to go out...

summer in the city

 after a week pause, you're back to jet setting. you won't mind really.  milan is quite busy in august. you to the extend that you couldn't get hold of any train ticket bound for your destination in two consecutive hourly fast train. so you have to overlay in milan for slightly more than 2 good hours.

 at your destination, you made it in time for your client meeting in 2pm, and after the meeting you grab a cup of cafe di crema (iced churn creamy coffee) to sustain your 5 minutes walk from client office to your hotel. it's still very hot, even though it's not as extreme as your last trip, but 30 something degrees is still unbearable to you

you checked in and the temperature in the late afternoon becomes bearable with some breeze  so you roam around the city, paying this cathedral a visit. the frescoes painting is stunning, this is actually quite unique to this city as compared to another one that you visited before

 you walked past here many times, but this is the first time you notice this fountain with water flowing from a female's mouth, this is quite unusual in the masculine romans or italian culture

anyway, the sky is blue and the wind is breezy making it a great afternoon walking in the city

 kids are playing at the pilotta square

 and likewise a temporary stage, stalls and chairs are setup for some summer night events  there's live band performing and it's really feel like you're on vacation, not on a business trip

this city still charms you.  you've been through the autumn and winter of this place, now experiencing the summer in a total different dimension and that's what you really like when you're not a tourist but a traveler (business or not) who can enjoy the city slowly and discovering the city gems.
feeling blessed with the work that gives you all these.

::healthy::snacks::

your haul from markthal.  the air dried south america mango, medjooll dates from iran and the new shiitake chips.  they're all addictive and taste great.  you just like them all and now thinking of going back to markthal to get more of the shiitake chips. as this is in the writing, the magic mushroom chips are all gone.  

::stormy.weather::

weather is really bad today, you sleep until 11am and waking up craving for a bowl of hot soupy noodles to combat such a stormy weather.
you turn the pure pork minced meat into meat balls, bring the water to boil and turn it into an anchovies soup.
you also make your own noodles, this is something that you haven't do for awhile. in no time, you have a bowl of malaysian style pan meen. what is missing is really a poached egg. if you'd have fresh egg at home, you would have make that too but other than missing the poached egg, everything else is perfect, home made noodles, home made soup, home grown green veg.

::bazaar::

markthal 2.0

you haven't been here for awhile, and you decided to bring a friend who is going leave lowland for good to have a glimpse of the color, architecture and aroma that markthal could offer!

most stalls and shops remain the same, the two florists still offer the ever exquisite flowers and plants

 the sugar rushed stalls of donuts, cupcakes remain...

and the more your kinda patisserie still offers the colorful macarons and gateaux

 but you have your eye on the basque inspired tapas and thus the three of you ordered 10 pieces of pintxos (tapas), small bites divided by three so that each of you had a bite of the interesting palate.

 and a glass of local basque country white wine to wash the pintxos down...

6 plus 4 that completes the 10 pintxos in total.  almost all of them have interesting combination of palate, some you really like, some give you a sense of excitement where taste bud is singing and dancing ^^, all in all this stall remains your favorite, the manager may have gone and the staff has changed but the quality of food remains...

this is not what you intended to eat but when life gives you roast pork (and lots of them), so why not order a (big) portion for the three to share... the only downside is this stall doesn't offer any alcohol that could wash the fat down.  as much as you like the flesh and the texture, it's just lacking of something such as pickled vegetables or sweet sour plum sauce to contrast and elevate the palate further. nonetheless, it's legit board of meat. you didn't finished it all, so the leftover was packed home by one of your friend and that will be dinner for her family.
you feel so full that you needed another glass of white to clean your palate, so white wine is it!  it's a fun day and a good way to spend sometime with your dear friend whom you know will be missing her soon.
so all in all, tapa6,. wine, bbq pork,wine, ice cream, giggles and laughter's.  and the last moment food shopping.

eating clean

you're staying put this week. in fact you welcome this sort of pattern where you jet-set for a week and then stay put for one week. it's more work and life balance after all.  you really don't mind working from home where you can have your portion of clean food and routine workout in the gym.

 and you have the chance to visit the weekly market,, hauled some fresh and in season produces a simple fruit and vegetables salad is what you want as lunch

and a portion of lean fat and protein from avocado and smoke paling fish before you off to the gym.

::friendship::

 the array of food, ranging from green papaya salad, orange reduction scallop, vietnamese spring rolls, sotong percik, sambal egg, fried nian gao to namyu marinated fried chicken drumpstick.

your contribution of the night, some haul from parma and the angku kuih.

you didn't plan to blow any candle but you finally brew one tonight.  you'd a surprise birthday cake and a lovely bouquet from your friends  the intention of this dinner was meant to be a farewell to a friend who is going to leave you soon. but it turned out to have a little birthday surprise for you.
you truly feel loved and thankful.

summer.party

it's a lovely sunny day.  weather is something that you cannot order but compare to four years ago, you had an awesome weather to celebrate life. you don't normally celebrate your birthday but the idea was conceived when you're chatting with your care sisters and wanting to create an occasion for fellowship. you pick a day and everyone seem to be available, so the date was set.  little you know you're blessed with the perfect summer day for the garden party.

 perfect match with the italian summer cocktails aperol spritz

you got hold of a bottle from your trip so you can effortlessly produced the cocktail at home.  it's a sunshine in your glass on a balmy sunny day!

 you planned your food menu while you're traveling, those were the idle time and you quickly jot your ideas on your ipad. it's easy and well organized.  you know you're gifted with planning and organization, so you decided to test your clinical execution and operation excellent this time.  almost all the dishes are cooked or made by yourself.  for starters, you prepared some malaysia nyonya delights such as angku kuih and onde-onde, sardine puffs.  the rest are italian goodies you hauled back from your trip and with only one exception the fried wanton were made by your mil.

 you marinated all the meat, the preparation of the marinate were tedious and time consuming but you manage them all with the help of blender, a little bit of industrial execution helps.

 and for the bbq on the actual day, you have a bunch of bbq enthusiasts who volunteered willingly and get all the meat grilled to perfection.

 the spread of meat, with malaysian satays, two type of chicken wings, squids to the sausage that you hauled from munich.

 some mains and side dishes that you prepared. some cut vegetables for the health conscious, vegetables curry, thai style tom yum fried mee hoon, home made satay sauce, sea coral kerabu to malaysian style tropical fruit rojak.

 you baked the cakes a day before and on the morning you just assemble and decorate the cakes. not elegant nor pretty but they're home made with love and passion.

so, as a result you served one rose chiffon cake, one black forest cherry cake and one raspberry konyaku jelly as the dessert.

it's a successful party and everyone enjoyed themselves.  as for you, it's tired but you deserved a tap on your own shoulder, as you have stand the chance of clinical execution independently feeding just less than 20 people.  it's certainly a successful summer garden party!

feeling truly thankful and blessed for the fellowship and the perfect weather.  thank you Jesus!

p/s: photo courtesy from your talented sister who kindly agreed to be the photographer of the day.