Just a quick post to let you guys know that I’m still alive. No depression, no drama… I’m still here. Just taking some time off to focus on life, yoga and a new theme for the blog.
Oh! And planning for the next vacation! I’m finally jumping on the bandwagon to Bali. 25 years of life in Singapore, not once have I set a foot in the over-hyped island. All those times while my friends make numerous trips to Bali, I waited patiently for my turn. Wanna know why? Call me silly if you want, but someone mentioned to me that if an unmarried couple goes to Bali, they’re bound to break-up one day. I know. It sounds stupid but I love Fred too much and I don’t wanna be without him.
Now that we’re married, it’s a different story.
Till my next entry, I’ll leave you with some song that I’m addicted to recently…
PS: I’ve finally received my residency permit!!! Woohoo!
Spent a quiet Wednesday afternoon on a private little island...
...saw a magnificent rainbow...
...had eel yesterday for lunch unknowingly but enjoyed it tremendously in Jakarta...
Had another awesome Japanese food at Blowfish – Kitchen and Bar. Check them out here! I highly recommend the Orgasmic sushi roll!
I woke up this morning, I did the exact same thing that I always do; draw the curtains. To my surprise, I saw a demonstration taking place at the huge roundabout opposite the hotel. Now that is something I’ve never seen in my whole life. A crowd gathered together geared with posters near the fountain making their voices heard. At some point, I was even nervous that they might get violent. Thankfully, the major obstruction caused was just the traffic. Poor commuters stuck in their cabs/cars/buses. Now I know where the ‘famous Jakarta traffic jam’ come from. :-P
Makassar is the largest city in Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. I know that doesn’t say much but that’s pretty much around here. It’s developing and there are certainly more room for improvements. Click here if you wanna know more. Just don’t ask me why I’m here.
We arrived in the ’supposedly’ new airport which has been built for about a year, but sadly despite the gleaming outlook it projected, everything seems to fall apart on the inside. The roof is leaking, cracked window and the toilet, don’t let me get started on it. Oh, the men here are strange too. Or maybe they have never seen a Singaporean girl before. The way they stare at you with a slight corny smile pasted on their faces makes you wish that the floor would open up and swallow you right there and then! I felt so uncomfortable!
And oh, this is a box fish…
As you can see, it has the shape of a box! The skin is hard, almost ’shell’ like and it has a very bizarre taste. That’s what we had last night. Among other weird fishes. :-P
Valais is Switzerland’s third largest canton. Twenty percent of the canton is covered by glaciers, and yet the region has the driest climate with the lowest rainfall and the most sunshine of the whole country. Valais is also best known for the Matterhorn, one of the highest peaks in the Alps, and ski resorts, like; Zermatt or Verbier.
Click to enlarge
The dryness and sunshine of the valley are ideal vine-growing conditions and the canton’s 22,000 vineyard owners are famous for producing some of the finest wine in the country.
For the Swiss, the Valais somehow represents a piece of common heritage all but lost elsewhere in the country: in the most unlikely corners of Geneva or Zürich, you can find restaurants done up as traditional Valaisian-style darkwood chalets, complete with windowboxes full of geraniums and farm tools as decoration on the walls, serving up the local speciality raclette under a nameboard “Chalet Valaisanne” or “Walliser Stube”.
Predominantly, Valais is occupied mostly by the Swiss-French. They make up slightly more than two-thirds of the total population. The eastern part of the canton (Upper Valais or Haut-Valais) however, are occupied by the Swiss-German.
The capital of Valais is Sion and it is one of a few largest town apart from Monthey, Sierre, Martigny and Brig. Wine and fruit cognacs like; Williamine production and tourism are some of the main industries of the canton.
I never liked aubergine. I don’t like its texture. No matter how it’s cooked, I will never eat it. But somehow, this particular dish changed my mind. Gratin d’aubergines is a baked dish with layers of sliced eggplants, grated cheese and tomatoes. It is best served piping hot but I find it as good when it’s cold.
Ever since I had my aubergines obsession, I’ve been cooking them a lot at home. Sometimes, I’d even order it as a starter whenever we eat out. But I’ve never come close to Fred’s mom recipe. So last Christmas, I took the opportunity to learn from her. The only BIG difference between her recipe and mine is the way she prepares the eggplants. Prior to baking, the sliced eggplants had to be cooked. I’ve always bake them because it’s much faster, easier and undoubtedly healthier. However, the subtle caramelly taste of the aubergine is lost that way. That is why some people prefer to have them fried. I must tell you though, this option is rather sinful. Now Fred’s mother’s recipe is way more sinful but they’re certainly the BEST I’ve tried so far. And it only takes battered aubergines to do the trick.
Fresh out of the oven!
Serves 6
Ingredients:
extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 cans of good quality chopped plum tomatoes
a heaped teaspoon of dried basil (you may also use dried oregano as a substitute)
freshly ground black pepper & sea salt
lotsa grated parmesan cheese (better yet, you can use 50% gruyere 50% parmesan)
2 eggs
some flour
6 large firm aubergines, sliced into 1cm thickness
Directions:
Heat a pan for frying with cooking oil. Meanwhile, beat the eggs with some salt, black pepper and a pinch of basil. Dip the sliced aubergines in the egg, coat well with flour and fry them till they’re golden brown. Repeat this process with all the aubergines and set it aside.
Dipped in egg mixture
Then coated with flour
And fry them!
To make the sauce, get a pot big enough to hold all the ingredients together. Heat a glug of olive oil and sauté the chopped onions, garlic and basil till they’re fragrant or until they are soft. Add the canned tomatoes, give it a good stir, then put the lid on and simmer slowly for 25 – 30mins. When the tomato sauce is reduced, season it carefully with salt and pepper. Add this point the sauce maybe a bit sour, add a tablespoon of sugar if needed. You can leave the sauce chunky or purée it.
Heat the oven at 190 degrees C. Get yourself an earthenware and glaze the bottom with butter / oil. Start with a little amount of tomato sauce then a thin scatter of parmesan. Followed by a single layer of aubergines. Repeat this step until you’ve used up all the ingredients, finishing with a little sauce and a layer of parmesan. I like to drizzle olive oil at the top just before baking. Place the dish in the oven and bake for half an hour or until golden, crisp and bubbly. Serve immediately.
The evening of December 24th is very much a family celebration in Switzerland. This is the evening on which the Christmas tree is brightly lit and decorated in all its splendor complete with wrapped gifts underneath.
Presents under the Christmas tree!
Starters : Shrimp cocktail with cognac & grapefruit sauce
Main course : Filet mignon with chestnuts & brusselsprouts & spätzle
No feast would be complete without cheese platter
And finally, dessert : Paradiso cake
Presents comes after midnight where everyone gathered together to give and receive while enjoying a glass or two of Amaretto and Williamine.
Since I’m writing this in Switzerland and we’re behind by 7 hours from Singapore, technically, it’s not the new year for me. At least not yet. So here we go…
For 2010, my resolutions are :-
Quit smoking
No timeline exactly but I’m giving myself some time till after our wedding (before the end of the year). YES! I’m getting MARRIED!!! Back to that in another post.
Get a driving license
I could’ve gotten it way before 2010 but unfortunately, I failed the test. Looking at the bright side, I don’t have to do the theories and practical lessons all over again. Next test: 17th February 2010. Wish me luck!
Speak better French
I can’t express how crappy my français is right now.
Eat right & keep fit With all the junk food and no exercise I’m getting, I wouldn’t be surprise if I get a heart attack or gain 10kg in 3 months. Salads, vegetables, cereals, grains… here I come!
I can’t think of more resolutions for the time being. So that’s all for now. Too much going on in my life at this very moment and I’m just dying to settle down and be quiet. Yes! That’s it! That’s one of my resolution for 2010…
As much as Fred digs my apple pie, I can’t deny that he prefers the one of his mom’s. You may wonder why but lemme tell you this… Today, I’ve learnt how to make the EASIEST apple pie, ever! And the secret actually lies in the apples themselves. Now I’ve been mistaken all these while thinking that his mom must’ve used those Granny Smiths but no, no no no. All these while, she has been using pommes Canada.
What is pommes Canada? Honestly, I don’t know. But what I do know is, they’re not red and not even green. Literally translated from French to English, pommes Canada is Canadian Apples. I’m not sure if I can find them back at the supermarket at home but I’m pretty sure I could make do with other apples. Like Fred used to say, “so long you don’t use the green apples”. Now for the recipe…
Directions:
Preheat oven to 220 degrees C. Roll out the dough and place it on a flan pan. Arrange the apples on the dough and bake for about 45mins to an hour. Remove from oven and sprinkle sugar and cinnamon immediately. There aren’t a lot of sugar in this pie because the apples are sweet enough, so don’t need to add more sugar!
Sometime last evening, we caught up with Didier & Romaine in Sion for vin chaud.
Vin chaud literally translated from French to English, means hot wine. It’s actually a mulled wine and usually red, combined with spices and typically served warm. It is a common knowledge that wine often go bad. However, by adding spices and honey, it could be made drinkable again. Thus, the birth of vin chaud. This drink is a specialty in most wine producing countries; such as France, Italy and Switzerland and they differ by the type and amount of fruits or spices added in.
After our petit rouquin, we took a walk down the main street of Sion along the marchés de Nöel (Christmas market).
When we got home after dinner, it snowed! And oh how it snowed. It was my first time experiencing snowfall and it was incredibly beautiful! Little flakes of ices floating down towards the ground illuminated by the street lamp. It almost looked like rain, except it leaves everywhere it landed a blanket of white powder. We bundled ourselves with hats, scarves, UGGs and headed outside…
Trying to catch the snow with my tongue
And finally, jet lagged from the night before I fell asleep on the couch while watching CSI in French (YES! They’re dubbed in French!).
Yesterday has got to be the most gruelling day in my entire life!
Woke up around 9am, finished packing and went through all the nitty gritty details before leaving the house, like; making sure the fridge was shut, switch off all the electrical appliances and blah blah blah. Left the house for the airport around 11 and had a little more than 2 hour to wait for the flight. The plane arrived and we left Singapore on time for a 13 hour journey. Although the flight was uneventful with no violent turbulence, I got no sleep at all! Spent the whole time curled up in my seat watching movies. Thankfully, the flight wasn’t fully booked so we had an empty seat in between us and took turn to stretch out.
Flughafen, Zurich
We arrived in Zurich around 8pm local time and made a mad rush for the trains. Spending further 3 hours traveling on 3 different trains to get to Sion, Valais. Zurich airport to Bern, Bern to Visp (I slept through the 1 hour journey) and finally, Visp to Sion. The transfer in between the trains was the biggest challenge because each time we alighted, we had to run to another platform to catch the the other. The trains were tightly scheduled together and if you miss it, you had to wait for at least another hour in the bitter cold. Yes! It was BITTER COLD with torturous wind at -10 degrees!
Just landed; having the 1st ciggy
Our total traveling time had been more than 18 hours inclusive of waiting time and transfers. I can’t remember feeling more drained than I was last night. After a good warm meal, we finally had our deserving rest.
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