mid.autumn.bake.2

bamboo charcoal fish shape mooncake biscuits.  limited edition literally!
matt 4:19 and he said to them, “follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."

mid.autumn.bake.1

it must be the weather that you're back to the kitchen once again.  at least you're in the mood to bake.  as mid autumn is approaching, you whisked up these classical mooncake biscuits.  you have no plan to make the mooncake with fillings this year, so mooncake biscuits is it!
they're great snack, a tad too sweet so you have to consume in small portions...  happy with the result and it shows that your baking skill and feelings are not rusty.  still fit to be a baker wannabe.

metropolitano.revisited

this is the second visit to this lovely marketplace.  this time you got the opportunity to sample some dishes from a few stalls. you wish your foodie partners in crime are here with you, in that way you could sample more than your stomach can contain.
you had the good (wild rice and chickpea salad), the bad (freshly fried potato chips) and the ugly (gelato in three flavors)
you need to be back again to sample more food, and hopefully this place will not be demolished after the expo is over in october. fingers crossed. 

morning.run

with that much of dinner last night, you woke up the next day all determine to pay off some calories debt.  as such you went to the park just nearby your hotel for a run.  the weather is just fine nowadays as the peak of summer is gone and morning is just a tad fresh but pretty comfortable for a jog.
in reality you're more strolling than jogging as you stopped too frequent to snap these photos.  you explore the other area of the park that you haven't visit before.  the park is not too big but a decent size for a run.
the hint of autumn is visible now on the trees... with your weekly visit to parma, your summer is kind of extended and you won't mind that at all.
in fact you're truly thankful for your job that takes you to different cities.  it's a blessing!

crazy.cat

 at the rate that you're making your business trip to this city, you're repeating some of the restaurants again.  this is your second visit to crazy cat.  a restaurant with a feminine decoration and inventive and playful dishes.  let's say, it's just not typical parma dish...

 foie gras with apple and brioche as starter.  a good balance of taste and texture...

 grilled vegetables and fruits as your main.  this dish is inspired by the summer garden, very tasty and the grains that served along side made this a right portion for you.

without the carbs intake, you're allowed a dessert, this is the coffee creme brulee with anise ice cream.  when both are mixed together, it's taste like a very legit cup of cold cappuccino. you loved it as it's not too sweet and just right to finish off the meal.

italian.chocolate.pear.tart

another week, another trip and of course another layover.  this time you manage to try their chocolate pear tart.  it's indeed yummy delicious and you would have refrain from this calories loaded portion if it's late in the afternoon, but to have this as your second breakfast and skipping the lunch is alright (self justification).
anyway, this is a piece that you don't mind having again but not too frequent.

the aroma of embassy festival

this is a day when many countries decided to get together to show case their cultural, talents, cuisines and national products.  you arrived to the classical tent where a lady is singing the opera in different languages.  all lovely song and nice vocal...

hungarian sausage, by far the most expensive but it's home made and you can still taste the texture of the minced meat.  the mexican taco, you're deceived by the green jelepeno and the hot index almost blow you off your tolerance level.  the right is the plate of mezze-ish dish from georgia.

 pakistan's bryani rice, very similar to those you at back home except this is non-spicy version

egyptian sweets, coconut based, nut based all legit with a hint of crossover with turkish sweets.

 the haiti plate, some miss, some hit! the fried dough was good, so as the fried chicken and the spicy slaw, but the fries just cannot qualified as food for dutch standard...

the free paella-ish rice and the almost deceiving as meat caramelized banana. this was distributed free of charge courtesy of panama embassy, so is the piece of fried cheesy cassava.  you just couldn't take it due to the strong cheese smell but your friend liked it, so it's just a matter of personal taste.

 a day of cultural and food exchange.  it's definitely worth the trip and effort. 

blessings in disguise

this is what you called blessings in disguise.  you left on friday mid morning, eager to return home since it's friday.  however, something is not always in your control.  you're boarded, the plane pushed off, move to the runway and already in the acceleration towards take off.
and suddenly, the captain announced a pull back due to malfunction of one of the backup computer in the cockpit.
plane defect happened sometimes but not in the motion of almost take off and pull back as you described.  it's was quite a moment.  but on the positive note, the airline take the flight safety to the fullest.
you're calm, you know there's nothing else you could do except waiting for further notice and further action. but the italians were impatience and almost create a havoc in-flight until the purser has to ask the technician who came up to the aircraft for diagnostic to make announcement of the situation in italian (hence this photo).
to cut the story short, the aircraft have to be reset by shutting down and rebooting to hope the backup system that died off will work again.  so 30 min gone and concluded the hope is now bubbles.  next action is to wait for the bus to fetch all the passengers back to the terminal, another 30 min wait.
finally you're into the bus and you got 3 messages that informing you're rebooked to the next flight is about to leave in 30 min. so as soon as you arrived the terminal, you ran to the check-in counter to get a new boarding pass and go through the security and back to the gate.  all sweat and just made it as last passenger to board.  just as you thought it will take off on time, the announcement came that due to bad weather in lowland, the fight will be delayed for one hour and subject to the further take off slot.
anyway, in short it's not the right day to travel but you're quite calm and peaceful. no sign of impatience and despite missing a few con-calls that supposed to take place that friday afternoon you just have to cope with the extended traveling.  so what normally takes just over an hour became a six hours journey and that made your friday.

metana

while lowland already turned autumn, it's actually still very pleasant here in italy. you're still in your summer work attire, sandal and in the evening, the terrace dining option is very tempting as it's just fine and perfect to sit out and dine under the star.
this restaurant is almost a regular place by now, while you like the food here, your colleagues like the density of the female clientele.
all three courses were excellence and the chocolate chili ice cream has elevated the spicy index to the next level. just loved it!

layover.cafe

you're back to your routine route this week.  flight to milan, overlay for an or or so at the central railway station.  visited your favorite cafe for a second breakfast, since your first one was taken before 7am.  then hop on to the train bound for your destination and start working.
this is almost your routine now.
you will try the chocolate pear cake next trip, it looks so tempting here!

::garden::

you visited your friend's vegetable patch. it's like an alice in wonderland experience to you. full of excitement and surprises as you see different type of vegetables, plants and flowers.  she has such a green figure and all greens are so lavish and fertile.
you took some fresh produces from your generous friend and turned them into a few dishes for your mil's bbq at your place.

::volendam::

the truth is you don't normally journey this far to the north of lowland.  not that lowland is a big country but there's just no compelling moment to make such trip.
the last time you set your foot here was many many years ago, it was on a spring day, sunny but windy.  the entire fishing village was almost deserted outside of tourists season.
this trip, despite of being late in the summer, it's just an exceptional warm and sunny day that make it worth the trip and visit. after all you are not too far from here after the cheese market and windmill.
you almost went for the traditional dutch costume portrait but got carried away by the souvenir browsing.  it's a pleasant trip.
and yes, it's september.

::yellow::

yellow is the new black?  you use yellow color today because it's the national day of your home country.
sunflower is not your favorite flower but it's yellow and that's all matter.
yellow color code has been used to denote bersih (clean) that imply democratic and corruption free during the two days of demonstration for your country that took place in the globally.

and today, sitting thousand miles away from your birth country, you just said a prayer that God will rebuild the land, restore the currency and bless the country and doing justice for your folks there  are fighting against a corrupted government for a clean country and a better future.

you're not politically savvy but you do care for the well being of your nation  after all it's still your motherland even though you have not reside there for more than 10 years.

psalm 24:1 A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD'S, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it.

windmill.schermerhorn

tourist in your adopted land.  a brief stopover at schermerhorn to pay a visit to the windmill after the cheese market.
you just love dutch country side in spring and summer. so pretty!

祝寿

so the plan was between a bbq at your place subject to the weather condition or an indoor dinner at your sil. it's never easy to plan in the lowland and particularly in the late august.
despite of many rainy days before, you're blessed with a fine saturday where you could call a bbq to celebrate your mil's birthday.
you're only given the tasks to prepare some salad and side dishes whilst the bbq meat marinate is all done by your mil.
weather really matters in this country and you're so blessed to have such a fine weather to celebrate this special occasion with family and close friends. you're really thankful to God for this.