::fighting.cold::

still fighting the nasty cold with lots of fruits. lots of vitamin c.  the cold has bring forth a change of the program for saturday. today is the annual flower parade that you always looking forward to watch.  with such a nasty cold, you put everything on hold and decided to just stay at your cozy home and let the day determine by your body.  you're alright for most part of the day, but at time you just want to dive back to your bed....

you start your morning with kaiserschmarrn.  austrian "pulled" pancakes with a hint of dark rum. a favorite dish of franz joseph.  you fall in love with this too after a taste of it in hamburg. it's good to recreate this dish at home ^^.

 a little bit of kaiserschmarrn with a lot of fruits

 then you baked a balsamic vinegar strawberry tart, an entirely improvised version based on what you have at home.  that means replace bacon with unox worst and use whatever cheese you can find in your fridge and store bought puff pastry too!

the result is good.  the sweetness from the strawberries and honey, the tart from the balsamic vinegar, the smokiness from the sausage, the saltiness from the cheese, and a hint of fragrance from mint, all wrap in the puff pastry...

a perfect harmony.  even though your taste bug is not at it's perfect state, you could still enjoy this sweet savory dish for lunch.

friday.cold

cold has caught on me (again!). we do have "spring" like weather now, but it's misleading as one could under dress because the sky is blue and the sun is sunny.  whilst in reality, it's just a little above 10c.

i baked this today for tea, a very simple and in fact plain soy bean chiffon cake.

 it's good to go with a come of tea or coffee

though in reality i am fighting a nasty cold. i have been drinking honey lemon tea whole day

the cake is fluffy as any chiffon cake should be.  a treat of strawberries and whipped cream to go with it is great...  simple is beautiful.

signs.of.spring

spring is no more wishful thinking. spring is here (finally)!

 your spring bulbs are showing signs of life... these are the bulbs you planted last october...

 and all of them are growing! it's the first time you really growing your own spring flowers!

 you seeded some herbs two weekends ago, and they are growing too...woohoo!  though you couldn't recall exactly what you have seeded but you roughly know these are spring onion, chives and parsley..

 and after you transfer the first batch of herbs to the round pot, you seeded another batch of herbs... let's hope they will grow....

you also visited the garden center, in fact a bit too frequent that you told yourself you're not going to visit another one till your vacation.  after all, you got what you need last weekend. you are eager to see it too.

 and can't wait to use this in the cooler spring evening

or even during the day, who cares as long as it brings you warmth!

box.of.surprise

awhile ago you received a chocolate gift box from your work just before easter

it looks like a book at the first glance

then when you open, you realized it's chocolate from a very famous british chocolatier

you like the marmite, chili and salted caramel ones...

==
this post sits in my draft box for a long time, it's good to get it out finally.  weather is so much pleasant these days, though it will cool down a bit towards the weekend but nothing beat a pleasant spring day.  i am however having a itchy and a little block nose. i must have caught a cold again when walking round the east end yesterday evening.  anyway, let's hope i will not fall sick.  pray for me if you can.
==

east.end.girl

you're still fascinated by your recent london east end experience so much more that you now abandon the west end.

 on your way to the east end, the weather is so perfect for a walk, you original intention was to get to a thai cafe, for a light and casual dinner, but you got carried away by the narrow lanes and graffiti...

 and you start wandering around and eventually just follow your instinct....

 you ended up in brick lane again, thought that was not the intention....

 and you gave up the thai dinner idea and hopped into this very famous begel (beigel) store at brick lane

and have a salted beef mustard beigel for dinner, plus a long way back that equally fascinating...

love east end.

dreamy.cafe

saturday quality time with your honey. well, because one of you have to bring the car to service, so you decided you should have breakfast out there.  strolling through the old town aimlessly, you just chanced into this little cafe and decided to give it a try....

 the atmosphere is very homely and very cozy with the french period music, husky lady singer singing... it's really very inviting

 everything here is bric-a-brac, including this mismatched tea cup and saucer

 and all the tables are converted from sewing machine, with the famous brand still intact as table...

 your quiche lorraine, just a little suprise to see the crusty not, not the typical quiche lorraine that you know of

 and his full "dutch" breakfast, with cold meat, cheese and assorted bread...

you really do love this space, it gives you a lot of ideas...

although the food is really not value for money, certainly didn't up to your palate or expectation.  you can whisk up a more satisfying and yummy breakfast effortlessly.

perhaps you're here because this place really sold you a "dream", from that perspective may be the brief breakfast encounter is still worth while.

praise.night

look who's in the house?

 you went to praise night with a friend and her family.... this is probably the third or fourth time you hear him singing...

because a talented singer cum pastor was presenting on saturday praise night, that pretty much drawn all the indonesian to attend...  he is such a gifted singer

 with beautiful voice and a charisma that draw people to worship God. you have a very blessed night because people got to pay to hear him sing in asia, but at your church, you got it for free!

and a powerful message from a pastor who leads a big church in jakarta, he is also not a stranger to you.  meaningful message of genesis put forth to life, and you understand that in God life is full of dynamics, you will never feel bored or even get bored!

have a blessed new week everyone!

graffiti.brick.lane

another post where photo speaks louder than words! in these moments, silence is golden.  enjoy brick lane from my point of view! graffiti is it!