One Big Yawn

Gosh here I am....7am in the office..
sipping my latte and munching my breakfast at the same time..
Didn't drive to work today..
well that explains why I am this early.

JS goes to work very early everyday,
hence he can whack 9 holes by 3pm...
if monkey do follow the same routine,
will I be able to get off work by 3???

NOT POSSIBLE at all!!!!! Though boss gave the green light.
I am still too tied with my work...
Must learn to relax a bit.
the other day attended a golf tournament,
with some private banking clients from a huge huge dutch financial institution..
the one with the lion.

and of coz princes, royalties...etc..*sien*
but their prizes were not so sien after all!!!
42 plasma tv, the massage chair with the brand O,
golfing gears....branded luxury leather goods...
and all the tech gadgets...I WANT!!!!!

all participants got something to bring home,
I should have gone to whack...
Since the party was so sien,
I had my own with my colleagues....
drinking and be merry as alwiz,

everyone waited for the princess to lit her ciggie,
and so the whole room starts puffing and polluting the air,
at a place where no smoking is allowed..
That's WHY she's the ROYAL HIGHNESS!!!
Just saw this pic taken 2 months back.
It's a one big fat pic of me.

I think right now at this very moment,
I am so much fatter than in the pic..
yikes!!!

My flight is at 7.30pm tonite...
as usual, rush tru my truckloads of work, meetings, traffic to get to the airport.

Spring popped out,
April is here....
where did Jan, Feb, Mar go????

Chef Takashi Kimura

Nope this is not Chef Takashi Kimura *it's home chef Lim JS*
Though often dined at Cilantro,
I've never met the chef in person before.

Just found out they have special Friday lunch,
as usual u eat wat the chef cook.
Frankly speaking, I can memorize the menu by now.
so requested something different fr chef...
He knows our palate...so out came a wonderful seafood pasta..
not in the menu.

Absolutely wonderful with conch, scallops and prawns.
and of coz the chilies in it...
hahaha that's monkey's palate.
And of coz it has to be linguine....no spaghetti, no other funny pasta.

and my fav leaves on top - aragula/rockets.
somehow it's not called Ms. Cherry's pasta....
instead...it's called Mr. Terry's pasta.....fark!
*I don't want to be shadowed by u anymore*
Prince C was not that happy the last round for the choice of restaurant I chose.
We had chinese at a chinese seafood restaurant...
coz I am so sick of fusion/mediterranean/rich food.

though we had a wonderful lobster sashimi,
and other absolutely yummy chinese food.
In the end he labeled me as "chinak"...WTF.
I had a slow roast lamb....and gave almost everything to both of them!!!
STOP pinching on my food!!!!
and Monkey don't alwiz get to pinch on their food,
coz they are still growing up...need nutrients..*duh*
well I do pity them after 18 holes at the course,
they'll need all the energy more than me.
we brought an awesome bordeux,
The same one that we had in HK..
but this time....it's much older..1985.
imagine after 22 years in the bottle...
it is still so beautiful.
Market price: RM 1800
We still have one more bottle left in Spore.

got some notes fr the sommelier on this lil jewel,
"structured and mellow"

When will I be able to describe wines like him??

and we told him about our Richebourg Meo accident....>_<
shy man!!!

"Oh dear....you won't be able to find anymore Meo around!!"

JS and monkey unisonly
"YES WE KNOW!!!"

Sommelier was so keen on the tasting notes...
we were too speechless over the incident to share anything with him.
All I can say is...."it's chocolatey"

"....and???"
" Mr. R, why don't u come over to my place whenever I open a bottle?"
"......hahahahaha......I would love to ma'am."

Prego, Westin Hotel

"Shall we go out to dine tonite?"
"What's the occasion baby?"
"hmmm...just felt like taking u out for dinner.....may I?"

so got a nice table at Prego Italian Restaurant..
but everything else was....*no comment but lotsa complaints*

their starter was a bit let down though it was highly recommended by our waiter...
the roast rack of lamb in thyme sauce was alrite

Staffs were of little experience....
they do not know how to handle our wine..
JS handled it himself and corkage was RM 60.

menu was quite extensive though,
Chef was a local one...don't mean to insult our capable msian chefs...
but Italian restaurant must MUST have an ITALIAN CHEF(s),
for it's authentic flavor.
for dessert we parked ourselves at Haagen Daaz nearby...
yes I rather have my dessert there!!

Monkey alwiz eppy eppy after her dosage of ice creams!!!
yes both of us were tipsy after only a bottle,

JS's eyes are really really brown in color.

Reminded me of Siew Ling who owns a pair of envious hazel colored eyes.
I want...erm...misty grey colored eyes!!!
Anyone out there with natural misty grey eyes???

Prego is not really that fantastic...
probably if u wanna catch a light pasta lunch with frenz,
that would be a nice place.

So when I was back fr Brunei,
JS cooked up a storm...
the moment the doors of the lift opened,
ooOOooo, I can smell the yummy dinner coming fr my unit.

MY FAVOURITE!!!!! lamb cutlet with coriander and spices....served with a lovely parsley & coriander dip.
caramelized pear and rockets served with blue cheese and walnuts

this was the SGD 80 burgundy....the label looked so similar to the SGD 800 Meo, no wonder...aiks.
my favourite lime cake!!!!

I was just away for a few days,
If monkey is away for a few weeks,
I wonder what will JS cook for me...
tee heee heee heee heee...

So on Sunday,
I teman-ed him shopping.

he showed me his ugliest face

Z Zegna at Avenue K is having a relocation sale,
everything at 40%, 60% and 70%...
and it's the latest spring/summer collection..
if only they have something for the ladies..

So we spent 1 hour there,
trying every single damn nice pants/shirts/shoes...

and FINALLY.....
my company's plastic has arrived...
Thank u Boss.
Now I dun have to go pokai spending my own $$$ first,
on company's expenditures...
*sigh of relief*

Brunei Darussalam

There's free lunch after all,
only in Brunei.

Here are wat I've discovered,
during my uneventful visit there..
even when I told my media that Monkey will be in Brunei...
"Brunei??? aaahhh YAWN....enjoy."

cept that I made new frenz there..
Mr. N, a German who works for the Sultan designing his private planes/jets..
Mr. L who owns the most exciting retail outlets in town,
Mr. S who owns the hotel I stayed in, the malls that I visited, the road that I stepped on.
and of coz pretty sweet Vienna who's fr Miri....
Bandar Seri Begawan is a small town,
with 300k ppl in the whole country..
so that left with 100k in Begawan itself.
nothing much changed though
compared to 20 years ago...according to Chris da Boss

so why there's free lunch in Brunei anyway??
lemme begin my findings...

1) Free education
The government will sponsor everything from your
tuition fees to textbooks,
to lodging to cost of living,
to the underwear that u'll wear..
to any country which you wanna further your education.

2) Bountiful jobs
When you are back...
there are already jobs waiting for u...
starting pay for a fresh grad is BR$ 2,500
same currency as SGD...go figure it out.

3) Free hospitalization
Yes we do get these as well....but theirs is 1st class..
If u need to perform an operation overseas..
the Government will fly u there, pay for your accommodation,
allowances for spouse/family members who's there to take care of u..
Government will pay for your hospital fees, bla bla bla bla bla...
and fly u home....

4) Free entertainment
Imagine the Government built a theme park as big as Disneyland.
with roller coasters..ferris wheel...space shutter...bla bla bla bla bla..
and it's free...
just walk in and ride in any of the rides you want...
It's even bigger than Disney HK.

Merry go round!!!

yes they call their theme park a playground...WTF!!!!

5) Free 5 stars concert
Imagine the Sultan paid USD 50 mil to Mr. Michael Jackson
for two appearance in Brunei...
One only for the royalties..and another for the rest of Bruneians..
and it's FREEEEEEEEEEE

anyway it's quite a boring life there for this hyper active Monkey

Empire Hotel & Country Club

it's a 6 stars hotel

it faces the beautiful South China Sea

this hotel used to be the holiday home for the Sultans,
until they lease it out recently..
WTF!!!! only a holiday home already so beautiful..
I really do wanna see the palace.

Chris da boss drove me by

Can't see much, it was covered by lushy trees...i can't even see the palace!!!!

one of the beautiful mosque

Plenty of beautiful mosques around

one of the shopping complexes - Yayasan

Carol's Wedding Reception

I missed Carol's wedding early this month,
all in the name of w-o-r-k.

I'm gonna miss another party this week,
coz monkey goin off to Brunei tmrw,
*yawn* boring rich country.
and more parties to be missed next mth.

well, should have gotten used to it by now.
I have celebrated my own b-day 5 times overseas,
so u can imagine....there goes my life.

the bride and the groom....yum cha session
Marching in elegantly
Vonne and Cheng Man *is that CM?*

Connie, Lu Ai, Michelle, Vonne
with Wendy and Lay Kheng at the back

Connie and Su San, their dresses looked so similar in prints...sweet!!

Michelle & Vonne

pssst...where did u get the top Michelle??? Lurve it!!

Wendy, Vonne, Michelle, Connie, Lu Ai, Su San, Lay Kheng, Huey Khee

I must not...I will not..I shall not..I cannot
miss the next wedding!!!

A Million thanks to Vonne and a big hug to her for all the fabulous pics!!!!

le Tour de la Bourgogne

We are planning to do a tour at Burgundy, France.
This coming October....weeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Since we are goin to be there,
might as well do another champagne tour...
at Champagne itself..

Lawrence the wine enthusiast is goin,
Augustine the wine expert, our wine lord, wine trader is organising,
Terrence of Culina Gourmet Shop is joining,
of coz JS and notti Monkey..

and we will be asking Prince C today.
after calculating I-Ching's due month...*she's 3 mths pregnant*
confirmed Prince C can go.

suddenly....*the braking and screeching sound....nyeeeeeek*
Monkey blurted out...."I cannot go" >_<

JS --__--"

"I am organising a party for Raja Permaisuri and it's Ramadhan Month."

JS -_- stress gile

Since I can't blog bout "le tour de la Bourgogne"
I will take u to "le tour de la Briyanni"
Monkey made this.Step 1: Fry the marinated leg of lamb with 1 tbsp olive oil/ ghee.
Leg of lamb is the most tender part of the lamb.
Marinate it with garam masala, tumeric, cumin and salt.

You don't want to overcook them!!
with the remaining juice and fat fr the lamb, sautee the garlic, ginger and onions till it's translucent.
then fry the basmati rice for 2 minutes
next arrange the lamb on top neatly and pour in the chicken stock
jam the bugger into the oven for 45 minutes at 2oo
serve with cilantro/coriander
it's yummy and of coz different fr our usual fantastique briyanni gum..coz I followed Bill Granger's recipe...so it's gweilo style. Budweiser and SingHa

I am still trying to see how can I go to Burgundy in October.
dom dom dee dum...

Desserts galore

No matter how full I am,
how round my stomach is,
be it after a full 4 course dinner,
or 13 degustation size meal...

There's alwiz room for desserts...
So during the weekend...
I made these.

Little mini lemon pudding with yogurt and blackberries
egg custard tart served with plenty of blueberries

after this, no other egg tart is yummy...cept Leonard da chef's egg tart.

There goes my weekend..
no mood...dunno wat to blog..