What to Cook? What to Cook?

Anybody has problems wondering what to cook???

I am struggling each day... wondering what to cook. Some days I cheat lah... as in I just buy ready-marinated meats and just chuck them into the oven. Errrr...like yesterday. S1 was like "mmmm...taste nice. Quite different from your normal style"... not realising that it's because mommy didn't make it. My normal style sooooo not nice meh??

And what are we having today?? Just pork chops marinated in some garlic, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Gonna pan-fry them and serve over rice with some spinach. Donno how this is gonna turn out.

Why do I find cooking such a chore??? I used to enjoy cooking one wor... 

So what's cooking in your kitchen???

Moving to Munich?

No. No. Not talking about me. Although H's company has an office here, this city has not been offered to us. It is a nice city... but I think it would be quite difficult to live here as my German language is absolutely ZILCH. (You probably think that it would be the same in Helsinki...as I don't speak Finnish either. But EVERYBODY speaks English there. The moment I hesitate a little, English is immediately spoken. More about Helsinki in a different post)

Anyway, if you ARE moving to Munich and is wondering where the heck you are going to get those Asian grocery...FEAR NOT. Just around Roseinheimer Platz Station, there are like three asian grocery stores already. The Hong Kong Market is located inside the building that is attached to the Station, and just outside there are two - one I think is called Asian Shop and the other ..am not sure. They are pretty well-stocked. Well, well-stocked compared to the Jakarta shops that I am used to. Prices looked reasonable too.
I was just telling H that because we lived in Jakarta where everything imported is so expensive (cheese, wine, ice-creams, etc), the prices in Europe doesn't look as scary as I initially thought it would be. Actually, some things are even cheaper than Jakarta. Can you believe it? Haagan Daz is definitely cheaper here, amongst other things.

Of course, there are things that are waaaaaay more expensive than Jakarta...hair cuts, manicure, massages etc. But I chanced upon a salon that does Men's Haircut for 9 Euros. Not bad leh... and the salon looked decent and professional. Am sure you can find cheaper ones further afield from the city center. And there's a nail place (New York Nails?? I think it is called) in this Rosenheimer Platz Station that does Manicure for 15 Euros.More expensive than my usual Jakarta place but think boleh tahan too.. as it looked professional. Eh... some places in Jakarta would charge this amount for Manicure one leh...

Shopping in Munich seems nice.... although I have not really bought anything other than two pairs of Esprit tights from Karstadt Departmental Store (on sale... 2 pairs for 5 Euros!) and a set of fondue forks from Kustermann (very very nice homewares store!!). Besides the usual brands that we are used to, there are lots of shops that look really really interesting. The market - Viktualien-markt has lots of interesting stalls - fruits, vegetables, flowers, cheese, wine etc etc.. and the road lining this market is full of meat and sausages shops. Germany is definitely not a place for non-pork eaters. Everywhere also pork, which of course is good for porkers like us. Hahhahaha

Okay lah... I need to go sort out my voucher for my tour tomorrow...

The Hills are Alive.....

......with the Sound of Music. Ah..Ah..Ah......

Yes. For UN-musical people like me, Salzburg is home of "The Sound of Music" musical starring Julie Andrews; rather than the home of the world renowned Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (btw, that's not even his real name) who was born here. So instead of going for the traditional sightseeing tours, we went for a "Sound of Music" tour - visiting the key locations where the Hollywood musical was shot. With Hollywood being Hollywood, the story was of course exaggerated and changed. In reality, Maria married the Captain earlier than the Nazi occupation, and the oldest Von Trapp child is actually a boy NOT Liesl! And they did not climb over the mountain towards Switzerland as depicted in the end-scene of the movie. If they really took that route via the Untersberg (the mountain shown in the movie), they would end up right into the arms of the Nazis. They actually took a train to Italy....which was deemed too boring for Hollywood. :-)

Lots of other interesting facts about the movie and the reality. Did you know that the real Von Trapp family runs a small hotel in Vermont, America? Perhaps one day, I will visit their Lodge. Yup. I have to say that "The Sound of Music" is one of my favorites! I really enjoyed this tour. Our guide, a Brit was funny, interesting and very animated. Before the start of the tour, I casually asked "Are we going to sing on the bus?" and the answer was a big YES. And SING we did! Hahahahha pretty fun. H, who was rather stoic throughout the tour (probably not seen the movie???) was singing and humming "the hills are alive....." whilst working on his computer just now. Got bitten by "The Sound of Music" bug too! Hehehe...

After the tour, we walked up to the Salzburg Castle (Festung Hohensalzburg). Wallow! I must be sooooooo unfit cause I was huffing and puffing and sweating like a pig! We weren't really interested to go in but after the strenuous climb, I think it is a MUST to enter the fortress. Paid the Euro 5.70/ person entrance fee, took an audio guided tour and came back down. Down was naturally a breezeeeeeee. Visited the main attractions - Salzburger Dom, St. Peter's Monastry, Getreidegasse etc etc before going up to the roof terrace on The Hotel Stein for wine and Italian Antipasti. Lovely views...But abit chilly though. Don't know why they didn't turn-on those standing gas heaters but had warm blankets instead.

And from here, we went to an Austrian restaurant for dinner. H insisted that he must eat Wiener Schnitzel, plus an order of ribs and beer. Couldn't finish, of course.... Had to 'ta-pau'...so that will be breakfast!!?!?
As shops close pretty early, we came back to the hotel immediately after dinner. Otherwise what else to do? Don't fancy going for a Mozart concert...

We will take a train back to Munich tomorrow.... H will be working in Munich for the next few days, leaving me to jalan-jalan ala the Lonely Planet...or maybe not.

Another Jumbled Post - 17 Dec 2010

Donno what has been happening but time seems to just whoooooooooooooooosh past. Now it is coming to the end of 2010....

Last Day of School
Yup. Today is the last day of school for the boys. BUT I told them to just NOT go. We have a plane to catch later this evening, and H said that we ought to leave the house by 4 pm as SURELY the whole of Jakarta will be leaving tonight, and traffic will be a nightmare. (Last day for many International Schools) Since they won't be studying at all today, might as well stay home and NOT chance the traffic. They usually will arrive at 3.30pm from school but if traffic is bad, they might only get home at 4 pm...then they need to have a shower etc etc.
Actually, S1 already missed school on Wed and Thurs... diarrhoea. Donno what sai he ate. Took him to the clinic yesterday...and the doctor wanted his stool sample which he couldn't give. But he's fine this morning.

Speaking of my S1.... I donno if is just bad luck or that he just don't process things in his brain. We both set out to pick S2 from school - on arrival at school, he said he didn't want to come down from the car. Thus he waited with the driver. When I came out, he blurted "we can't get into the car". Guess what happened... Driver was in the bathroom and when he saw the driver, he decided to get out from the car. Didn't bother to wait for the driver to get into the car. Came out and somehow LOCKED the car. So the car was locked with the engine and aircond running. You say lah! What was he thinking? We had to call a cab to get home. Poor driver had to wait for the leasing company to send the spare keys!
I tell you.... I feel like sending him to an ARMY BOOT CAMP to learn to think! Not just always so tidak apa and NOT processing things. Need some TOUGH love here... *sigh*

Baking Baking...
Have been baking quite a bit over the last week.... with orders from friends as well as for the Charity Bake Sale at school. Wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have so many baking disasters. The blender that I used for processing the sugar grains conked out (wrote about this a few post back), and I had to buy the fine sugar from the shops. Didn't realise that some had additives that made the cakes FUNNY. It was quite a nightmare! But luckily, eventually did manage to find the right type of sugar. Anyway, I turned down two orders this week. Figured that I needed the time to pack etc etc.

For the Charity Bake Sale, I baked both vanilla and chocolate cupcakes - Sent 14 vanilla and 8 chocolate cupcakes for the Bake Sale. Would have sent more if NOT for the "individually wrapped" request from the PTA. Such a bummer to put them in the little boxes.

Vanilla Cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes

Left the cupcakes with a PTA mom and then went off to attend S1's Sports Day. Was surprised that there weren't any moms! I guessed the Secondary School kids do NOT want their parents to come?? Well, S1 didn't win in his events. Oh well...

After that, I went to help out in the Cake Stall. Was a bit surprised that they priced my cupcakes at RP 30,000/-. That's about USD 3.30 each. By the time I left, all my cupcakes were sold. Was quite pleased... as was abit worried that there weren't a big crowd on that day.

Porky Lunch

Hosted a very porky lunch at my house last Friday... just had a few angmoh friends over for a Chinese porky meal. I have been saying that I will cook a porky meal for many moons. So decided to have one and get over and done with. What's on the menu?

Roast Pork, Fried Udon Hokkien Style, Fried Vegetarian Beehoon, Vegetarian Curry, Pork Spring Rolls, Vegetarian Spring Rolls, Coca-Cola Chicken Wings and Fried Gyoza. Cut fruits for dessert. The Vegetarian stuff was because I had a vegetarian friend over...

As it was a porky lunch...my friend said to take a photo and scrap it. The title of the page would be "Put a Pork on your Fork!" hahahahha

Porky Spread

Christmas Concert

As per last year, S2 participated in the school's Christmas Concert on Wednesday. I tell you ...this fellow is another irresponsible and tidak apa boy. I had to email his teacher to ask if he is taking part... I was supposed to receive a consent form in November through S2, which I did not! The teacher had to email it to me, and I only signed and sent it on Tuesday. Yeah. A day before the concert! When it was supposed to be handed-in in November!!

Even on Tuesday night...when I told him to pack his flute and his concert attire, he still said that he didn't know if he was playing in the concert! PENGSAN!!!!

The Primary Orchestra

(I need a terrer ZOOOOOOOM lens!)

Yeah. I know... cannot see anything. What to do? My lens on my DSLR is the normal one.

They only played 2 miserable songs. And I mean the tunes sounded miserable. H said that it sounded like "New Orleans Funerals". Hahahha...

Two hour concert but my S2 was only on stage for 5 minutes. H was like "ah?? Just that?" ...cause I rushed him from his meeting with his clients. Hehehehe

Okay...better go check what else to pack....

My Bread Maker CONKED Out???!??!?

When I saw Wen's brioche on her FB page, I was rather inspired to make my own too. So... this morning, I trot out to get the necessary ingredients... milk, eggs, yeast yadda yadda yadda.. Came home and took my bread maker out from the kitchen cupboard. This white elephant has NOT seen the light of day for FOUR YEARS!

Happily poured the brioche ingredients into the bread pan in the order instructed by the manufacturer. Program 1 - Check. Loaf Size - Check. Crust Colour - Check. Then I pressed START. I saw that the mixing started and then it stopped. Waited for a few minutes. Ooooi?? Nothing happening. Flour is very still inside the bread pan.

See! See!

Then took out my manual to have a look at the time sequence. Okay..it says mixing will be 10 minutes. Waited till then... Eiiiiiii? Nothing happening leh!

Fed-up. Turned off the power and tipped the contents into my mixing bowl. Had to resort to kneading the dough by hand.

Dough rising....the old fashioned way....

I 'boh kamm buan' (mm kamm yuen) and tried it again..... this time using the ingredients for a simple loaf. Dumped everything into the bread pan and pressed START again.

ALAMAK! No mixing again. So how?
Tipped everything out again and started mixing and kneading by hand. *sigh*

I wonder if my bread maker is punishing me for leaving it in the dark for four years. Donno where to send it to be fixed also...

Anyway, here's what I made today...

Clockwise from Top:

Bacon & Onion Rolls from the Brioche Dough, Simple White Loaf & Mini-Brioche

Have to say that I was quite hardworking today. Not only I managed to sort out some photos in the morning, I was also at school for a meeting (I'm a Class Rep, remember?), did grocery shopping, made those breads above and even baked a chocolate cake.

Yummilicious Chocolate Cake ...of course yummy ler. The 70% chocolate bars cost a bomb! (Oops...forgot to remove the paper lining)

And not only that. I actually went to the gym in the evening!

Hardworking or not???

Melbourne is NO place for diets!!!!

I've said it, and will say it again. Melbourne is NO place to visit if you are on a diet! How to? When the produce is fresh, luscious and bountiful ? Even if you don't go out to the restaurants, a stroll in the market is enough to salivate!

On the first day in Melbourne, I went to Prahran Market on Toorak Road... Just couldn't resist the lamb, sausages etc etc on display. Called my sister and told her that I am cooking in the serviced apartment and she was like WHAT??? Shocked that I was gonna cook on the first day. Okay...not really cook cook. I bought a variety of sausages, a seasoned lamb loin, beef shashlik, pita bread, a variety of Mediteranean dips, a variety of desserts, fruits... All I had to do was chuck the whole lot into the oven. It was very very yummy indeed. Forgot to take photographs. Actually, forgot to take photos of quite a number of meals...didn't take of our Yum Cha at Westfield Doncaster, the pho bo in Footscray nor the yummilicious lunch at The Point @ Albert Park - one of the yummiest meal....

Anyway, here's some photos that we managed to take before diving in!!!

The next 4 photos were taken at The Press Club near Collins St somewhere.. The owner chef is the botak judge in the Junior Masterchef Australia. Don't ask me his name. I donno leh.... Donno what the dishes are called also...

Supposedly my "birthday cake" at Koko Black. Think this was at Lygon Street?? Too sleepy to remember.

Some seafood stuff from Claypots over at St. Kilda.....

Cheese Platter at De Bortoli Winery....

The next 4 photos were all taken at Yerring Station Restaurant ... the pork dish was really really good! Absolutely gorgeous!

Needless to say... all this eating has made me put on lots of extra weight! I should really have done what I said in the sponsored post before my trip...,i.e PACK SOME DIET PILLS in my luggage bag! Didn't lah... Now have to really eat light to lose the 2 kg gained over the few days in Melbourne!

Pearl of the Orient

Where? Penang Island!

The whole gang (okay...not exactly WHOLE gang, since 2 sisters plus my H did not come along) drove up to Penang on Saturday (7 Aug 2010) till Tuesday (10 Aug 2010). Sis No.2 and family drove up from Singapore the day before. We stayed at the Flamingo by the Beach on Tanjung Bungah. When we arrived at the hotel, we had a sense of dejavu - that's because we've stayed there before....when it used to be the Crown Prince Hotel. The hotel is quite decent....considering the price we paid. Didn't really look at the nightly rate until Saturday morning when my sister gave me the booking printout. RM 160 per room excluding tax. For a moment, I was a bit apprehensive...wondering if it will be a disaster. But the hotel have just been refurbished, thus rooms are really quite alright. The only complaint is that it was a bit chaotic during breakfast, and the spread was not great.

What did we do?
Eat and Eat and Eat, of course.
Only took photos of the food on the first day. Dad took us to this little restaurant on Tanjung Tualang (off Ipoh, near the coast I think). Food was alright but not worth the extra kilometers from Ipoh....especially with kiddos in the car.

The first night, we ate at the Red Garden food court. It was highly recommended by Trip Advisor. Aduh! Very lousy. This place really BLUFF angmoh one. We were all disappointed with the food.

The second day, we were supposed to eat "goo bak kee" (starchy beef soup) near Komtar but the place was closed. So ended up eating at the coffee shop next door. From here, we ventured to the famous Teochew Cendol Place... (if you ask me how was the taste, I say OKAY lah... but again I've tasted better)

Dinner was much better than the day before. Sis No.3 took us to this place which had tonnes of hawker food. We had satay, fried belachan chicken, popiah, chee cheong fun, assam laksa, curry laksa, pork porridge, lobak, apom, char kway teow, oyster omelet etc etc. Nope. No photos. Too hungry to remember to take photo. :-)

On the third day, we had lunch at Hard Rock Cafe after a fun day at the Penang Butterfly Farm at Batu Ferringhi. Dad had wanted to go into town for Nasi Kandar. But with kids and all??? We opted to go to Hard Rock Cafe. I was pretty happy with my Chicken Quesadillas....

For dinner, we went to Ocean View (??) for Seafood. We had Salt-&-Pepper Fried Mantis Prawn, Salted Egg Crabs, Teochew-style steamed fish, Steamed Prawns, etc etc... We were so glutton that we didn't take photos. :-)

On the last day, we stopped by Ipoh for lunch on our way home. The ho fun was okay. The chicken was only so-so. I thought the ones at Soo Kee at Seapark was much much better. The famous creme caramel was also just okay. I mean okay lah. But I won't purposely drive to Ipoh for these lor...

When we were approaching Ipoh, my S2 was like going "Hey! They have their version of Hollywood sign!". Yes. They do...

Makan Makan

All I have been doing since coming back is eating non-stop. Really really have to control my diet when I get back to Jakarta.... really don't want to go on medication for my over-the-limit cholesterol. Donno what I ate last night summore.... I came home feeling sick and vomited out all the contents of my stomach. And I woke up with rashes around my eyes in addition to puffiness. Wonder if I am allergic to something I ate last night???

Speaking of makan makan, feeling kinda hungry liow. Mmmm..what to eat for lunch??
Then there's tea with my ex-boss, and the steamboat and durian feast with fellow bloggers tonight. I lurrrrrvvvvvvveeeee steamboat and durians!

Dad's Specialties....

Remember my recent Chap Goh Meh trip home? We had a CNY Gathering cum Birthday Party for S2? Initially, we wanted to cater but they required a minimum order for 50 pax which was kinda too many. My Dad offered to prepare a BBQ..... which turned out to be waaaaaay more than a BBQ. We had the following fare plus much much more. Because I was summoned to entertain the guests rather than taking photographs, I missed out some of the food. So what was missing from my photos were:
1) Yue Sang
2) BIL's Roast Pork
3) The BBQ Food. Yes...we still had a BBQ fare of chicken, pork and chicken sausages, lamb, tiger prawns, sweetcorn, baked potato, garlic bread...

Fried Hokkien Mee and Mee Siam

from top-left: Fried Stuffed Chakwe, Fried Pei-pa Taufoo, Healthy Salad and Fried
Hokkien Spring Roll

"Tung Ku Kai Keok" and "Sui-kow"

(Errr...these were take after they have been half-eaten)

What happened to all the food??

(Was kinda late to whip out my camera...only managed to when food all "gasak-ed")

Platter of Mixed Fruits

As usual, the food was very yummy.

GOOD JOB, DAD!

And Thanks for all your hard work!

Though the food was yummilicious, there were leftovers. I told dad that if he does professional catering, sure lose money one....cause he doesn't know how to estimate the amount of food, plus he always want to "ka-liu"! Hehehehe...

Oh yeah...not to forget....

S2's Football Cake

(ordered From Australia Cake House. No time to home-bake!)

CNY Reunion Dinner

Yes. I know Reunion Dinner is on CNY Eve. We did have our dinner then...just didn't have the time to post the pictures until now. But still not too late as it is still CNY, right?

All the food on our Dining Table

The Must-Have Yue Sang

Fish Maw Soup in Superior Broth

(Pork Bones, Chicken Bones, Prawn Shells and Dried Scallops for the broth...)

"Sang Choy Pau"

Steamed Whole Pomfret

Fried Yue-Tiow stuffed with Prawn Paste

Fried Hokkien Noodles for Longetivity

The CNY Cake was only fried much later....when we weren't so stuffed. So no pic for that.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR to ALL!

Xin Nien Hao.

Xin Nien Kuei Le.

Xin Nien Jin Pu.

Wan She Ju Yi.

Happy Halloween!!!

We are indeed sad souls.... Not invited for any Halloween Parties.

No Trick or Treat for the kids.

So what do we do?? We went to Ritz Carlton for a buffet dinner. We were done is less than an hour....

I told H that if it's just us (with no friends whatsoever) we should NOT go for buffets anymore.....seems like we just eat and go, like eating Char Kway Teow in a coffee shop only. H was like "Full already. Go home and sleep lah. What for stay here? Do what?"

That's true lah.
Another reason we shouldn't go for buffets anymore... we don't eat as much as before. Old already. Can't eat that much. Not worth it. (Yes. Yes. This is KIASU talk. Must eat 'kau-kau'!!)

Plus these days, I prefer my Chinese COMFORT foods.... my noodles, porridge etc as compared to roasts and steaks. Think my boys did eat "enough" to match the price (boys still half-price) but don't think I did....so RUGI lah. Hahhahaha.

So better just stick to my chinese roast pork and duck place next time.

Oktoberfest...

Eventhough we are 6000 miles away from Germany, the main social function in the month of October is still Oktoberfest. H's company had a number of tables at this function for some staff and customers, and I tagged along.

It's quite fun with singing and dancing...and lots of Heineken!

The ballroom is decorated like a tent

This is the band...

There was a lot of food....Halal and Non-Halal. Naturally, both H and I were only drawn to the Pork Knuckle, Pork Belly and myriad type of Sausages.

Some of the Yummy Pork Sausages
(There were more!!! I just didn't take the pics...)

We each got a MUG as door gifts, which we then use to FILL UP with Heineken.
This is what the night got to.... H jumping up on the table (on the right)dancing the night away. Unfortunately, it wasn't me (thank goodness) on the table dancing with him. It was a dude.... Hahhahahah

Foods We Eat...

The main thing that one does during their holidays is of course EAT!

Since we were in two different cities, will post them in two different sections.

ROME

I have to say that the restaurant service in Rome is not that good. Or maybe I am just too used to the attentive staff of the restaurants here in Jakarta. And the funny thing about Rome is that you are charged a different price when you sit-down to dine. For example, there was this cafe which charges EUR 3 for a takeaway granita. And once you sit-down, the price shoots up to EUR 5. Gila!

We had quite a number of dinners inside our rented apartment...which was kinda nice. I would really recommend staying in an apartment when travelling with kids. It's so much more convenient. I could still feed the boys breakfast whilst still in my PJs! Hahahhaahah...

The supermarket nearby had roasted pork (Italian "Siew Yoke" as my sons put it) which was really yummy. Crispy skin and with layers of fat in between the meat! Heaven! We loved this so much that we had this two days in a row. We actually wanted to eat more of this on our last night, but it was sold out! The Parma Ham was also sooooo good. And the creamy fresh milk! The milk was really really good.....even the boys could tell the difference. They were kinda disappointed with the English milk when we were in London. :-D

There was this Cafe by the Vatican City that I felt was really really CUT-THROAT. All we had was 2 sandwiches, a plate of sausages, a bottle of Fanta and a cup of fruit salad. The bill came up to EUR 49!!!!! Really want to cut the tourists' throats! I forgot to jot down the name of this Cafe. Otherwise sure I will tell people NOT to go there!!!

Other restaurants that we patronised were not so terrible. We went to Galilei which was behind our apartment block.

We had Parma Ham, Spagetti Bolognese, Sausages, Aubergine Parmigiana and a big bottle of water....and the price was EUR 37. Compare this with the GILA Cafe above.

We basically ate in restaurants that are convenient to wherever we were....There were only a few that we selected specifically.

One was Armando Al Panthoen, which is located near the Pantheon. It is listed in TimeOut's Critic's Choice.

Can't remember exactly what we had. Think there was a Seafood Risotto, Spagetti Carbonara, Ravioli, A half-bottle of wine.... The food is okay lah. I think the Italian Food at Portovenere at the Ritz Carlton here in better.

The second place was..... San Crispino. It was touted as the BEST gelato in Rome, and some say Italy!

So of course must go and SAVOUR this gelato. It is located near the Trevi Fountain. It's NOT cheap. EUR 3 for a single-scoop cup. And it's not even full....as the base of the cup is slighly raised from the bottom! But what to do? The gelato is indeed pretty good. After tasting this, boys refused to EAT any other gelato....and we did go back another day. Talk about being spoilt!
(When you first enter, you probably go "Eh? Italian gelato or Indian??" as the staff's all Indian.hahahaahh)

Also, went to Caffe Greco, which is located on Via Condotti. Went there because it was in my DK Guide Book. Opened in 1760 by a Greek, and has been visited by Keats, Byron, Casanova, mad King Ludwig of Bavaria etc.
What's my verdict? Very expensive for so-so coffee! Even S1 said the coffee was not so nice. I had a hot latte, S1 had a cold latte (big boy already mah!) and S2 had a fresh orange juice....and the bill was EUR 23! EUR 7 for each coffee, and S2's orange juice was EUR 9! And that fella just gulped it down in like 5 seconds!!!!!!! Oh well....

LONDON
We had a couple of meals at our serviced apartment. Shepard's Pie, Cumberland Pie, Sandwiches, Pates etc. ...but not as often as I would like. I was looking forward to eating M&S's Chicken Kiev, and perhaps some big fat English sausages, but didn't managed to.

We had quite alot of sandwiches. H absolutely loves the Bacon & Egg sandwiches. I actually like BLT (bacon, lettuce & tomato). We had them in the park a few times. Lovely jubbly. How I miss that!

As you know, we went to Halepi over at Baywater for my birthday. My sister, G and her fiance R joined us. So it was Taramasalata, Hoummos, Lamb Souvla etc etc... with Chianti.

This trip, seems like eating alot of pies. I had pies for lunch both at Porters @ Covent Garden, and another pub (cannot remember name) @ South Ken.
But I have to say that the pies were pretty good at both places. (Except for S2's Shepard Pie at Porters. Don't know why it was soooo sour. Used too much vinegar. But couldn't really complain as it was free for kids)

And of course we had scones and cream! So yummilicious and absolutely FATTENING! At Harrods, we had a tier of scones and various other items - both sweet and savoury. Boys cleared the plate clean!

And then more sweet-things at the Cafe at Buckingham Palace. Yeah. Now I can say that I had tea (err..actually a latte) at the Queen's Residence!!!
Met my old friend D and his wife for an Indian dinner on Sunday night at Khans @ Baywater. Again, G and R joined us. We then had drinks at Whiteleys. You must be wondering how come my boys allowed us the time for drinks... Well, there was an internet kiosk at Whiteleys. Gave them 2 quid each to play their online games which accorded us 2 hours of chatting. :-)

Other places that we ate... some odd Japanese/fusion restaurant near Oxford Circus. Simply ate there because we needed to be quick in order to catch the 'Sister Act' musical.

And being the Chinese woman that I am...of course must go and eat CHINESE food. Went to meet my old friend SH (who drove down all the way from Oxford with her older son) at Royal China for dim sum; to Crispy Duck for crispy aromatic duck and crispy beef (I know. Very angmoh food. But suddenly reminiscent about student days) and to this other Chinese restaurant for KwayTeow and Noodles....

Okay lah. Brain not working already....