Another triumph for the day

For my friends who are familiar with Trooper's antics, here's his triumph for today :

Jumped and stole 1/2 kg of Bee Cheng Hiang Bak Kwa from the kitchen
(Kitchen counter is at least 3 times his normal height)
Devoured the meat (by himself) through a small opening in the package while Bruno looked on and barked his lungs out
Burped and went to the toilet numerous times from all the oil and meat consumed

Afternoon with Friends

Desserts at Salut during one of my memorable and very pleasurable afternoons with my good pals.

I'd indulged in the starters and mains too quickly to remember taking any photos. (darn!)

When I'd been satiated visually and physically, it was time for desserts and also to whip out my trusty camera.

The ever popular profiteroles

This one I cannot quite remember - some chocolate mousse and walnut cake if I recall correctly


The very very very good creme brulee - I never fail to have that where possible

Poached fruit of some sort.

We also polished off a bottle of Alsace Riesling that afternoon, before proceeding to One Rochester in search of some Dr Loosen.

Unfortunately One Rochester was unavailable due to a private function. We went to other establishments but to no avail.


After numerous phone calls, us industrious people found Dr Loosen at Cluny Court, but they offered no drinking area for us to chill. So we brought our purchase to another outlet at Rail Mall and sipped our Dr Loosen.


What a lazy but exciting afternoon. I can't wait for my dear friend to return to have another lazy afternoon together.

In the meantime Happy New Year everyone!

Accident

Poor Bruno is home nursing an injured paw today.

While playing rough and tumble with Trooper this morning, he must have accidently injured himself without realising.

I woke up and noticed him licking away at his paw, and saw the trickle of fresh blood on the floor.

Here's his bandage.

And here's his nail. He'd disloged his entire nail and his "toe" was bleeding profusely. That's when I ticked him for not allowing me to trim his nails. Esp this "thumb" nail of his that's extremely long.

Poor Bruno, I can understand the pain he must be in - imagine having the entire nail ripped off by force. Owwwwwww!

At least the rest of the gang is not disturbing him. Its funny how they seem to know that their brother's not having a good day today and just went about their own business. Even Trooper is keeping to himself instead of trying to rip his bandage apart. Good boy Trooper!

Cleansers and Coffee

Decided to use an organic soap on Bruno this evening for his bath. Dr Bronner's castille soap - organic, SLS free and smells heavenly. Check out the link here. Lavender did seem to have a calming effect on Bruno as he seemed a lot calmer after the bath!

These wonderful soaps are now available at selected Guardian pharmacies. The other scents - peppermint and almond are my other favourites!

On the topic of organic cleansers, a friend introduced a new face wash which is also SLS and paraben free. At the retail price, they give Aesop a run for the money.

While searching for cleansers I chanced upon Ah Yuan organic soap which is 100% natural and handmade. Mr Chiang Jung Yuan the founder and soap maker discovered his remedies while making soap for his sensitive skin condition, and they say the rest is history. In taiwan, it has taken only 3 years for his products to be ranked on par with Crabtree and Evelyn, L'Occitane etc in terms of brand presence and price. Read about it here.

I bought the organic oat soap which claims to be good for skins that are oily on the surface and dry underneath. The soap lathers well, and smells wonderful too! I just hope that the soap continues to lather well as it is SLS free.

After all that shopping, I settled for a cuppa at Tully's Coffee (as opposed to my usual fav Starbucks) The extract below is taken from Wikipedia :

Tully's Coffee is a specialty coffee retailer and wholesaler based in Seattle, Washington. Its stores serve specialty coffees, espresso, baked goods, pastries, and coffee-related supplies. Tully's currently has the highest sales of whole bean coffee in grocery and supermarket stores. Tully's Coffee is well known for once following an expansion strategy of opening stores adjacent to the opposing coffee giant Starbucks, also based in Seattle. There's a running joke in Seattle that the easiest way to find a Tully's is to stand in front of a Starbucks and turn around. The busiest Tully's in the world located inside the Boeing Everett factory, near where the 747s are built.

After my first sip of Latte without sugar, I'm sold on Tully's! The coffee was smooth, robust, full-bodied - more european than american. ie not acidic . The milk was full bodied and the coffee smooth - the combination was perfect. My perfect cuppa which made starbucks pale in comparison. Maybe its the beans, or the milk, or the froth. I can't quite put a finger to it. But the coffee was perfect.

If only there were more Tully's...... And I hope they keep this standard. Maybe it's the smaller scale of operation now that helps maintain the high standard they have now.

Price of Tully's is similar to SB, but I'd gladly vote for Tully's now.

Waiting for the year to end

Typical afternoon for Trooper. "When's the year coming to an end? How are we celebrating Bruno's birthday?" Too much thinking makes a puppy sleepy

Back to thinking... why does everyone get a day off on Bruno's birthday?

I wonder what happens on MY birthday......

Mmm ......zzzz...zzz

New Year

Happy new beginning to the new year. Started the new year with a new clay japanese clay pot.

I've always wanted to try my vongole and finally got down to it tonight.

Just a simple concoction of chopped onions, garlic, olive oil and sea salt. Add some very fresh clams, and white wine. Voila! This is the aftermath of dinner. Ooh I am beginning to like my vongole....

The new pot has been useful as it conducted heat a lot faster than most conventional clay pot, and keeps the heat for a reasonable period of time over a meal. Looks like I can be making stews more often now!

Hmm the pot comes in a variety of colors - black, cream, brown and yellow. Maybe I should get the yellow side dish pot since it's so handy!

A delicious german riesling to accompany the meal tonight.

And finally some home made tiramisu to end the meal - Yummy!

So happy new year and happy birthday Bruno! Cheers everyone!

Happy New Year my dear friends

It's the end of the year. Turbulent, fast, exciting and exhilarating.

It's time to renew resolutions if any, and time to take stock of what we have accomplished and plan for what's to come in the new year.

Appreciate what you have been blessed with in the past, have courage to embrace challenges of the future ; and be endowed with the wisdom to accept what is present is just a phase in passing.

Amidst the flurry of Christmas and New Year greetings and smses, I received one which struck me deeply. Thanks Charlie!