Yay! I scored another cooking touchdown. A very simple recipe and the result is delish! I love the white wine sauce, slurp! I used Riesling for a sweeter flavour.

My only teeny boo boo was that I chopped the scallops. They are supposed to be whole. Hee, this is what happens when you watch TV while preparing dinner.

3 American high school students investigates why education standards are dropping in US.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7379357000737674731&hl=en

When asked who Gandhi was, the classic answer came. A hippie... Gandhi must be laughing in his grave.

I have to stop watching food shows especially at night. As beautiful food flash before me, one after another, I turn me into Pavlov's dog.

Current obsessions are Ace of Cakes, Iron Chef America and Throwdown with Bobby Flay. Damn, Top Chef season 4 only airs March. I will be back in Singapore then.

Meatball throwndown with Bobby Flay now.
I want meatballs.
I want meatballs.
I want meatballs.

We got mail! and it has Kelly's name and address handwritten on it. Could it be his mom?


There is no letter, Look what we found instead?


It's a newspaper advertisement from a used Ford car dealer. The deal is circled and there is even a note specially addressed to Kelly from 'J'.



*shudder* extreme Direct Marketing. Our first thought is 'It must be tiring to write so many notes.' and then 'WHERE did a car dealer get our names and addresses from?'

So did it work? Such tedious work to personalise every note and envelope would be the result of much research right? No lor, Kelly is not thinking of buying a car. In fact, he got his current car 9 years ago. Maybe it's time huh? hahaha. But Kelly doesn't like Ford cars.

Strangely, that very night Kelly had a dream about a car dealer. Looks like the ad worked on Kelly's subconscious!

Music

I've been living with a shadow overhead,
I've been sleeping with a cloud above my bed,
I've been lonely for so long,
Trapped in the past, I just can't seem to move on!

I've been hiding all my hopes and dreams away,
Just in case I ever need them again someday,
I've been setting aside time,
To clear a little space in the corners of my mind!

All I want to do is find a way back into love.
I can't make it true without a way back into love.
Oooooh.

I've been watching but the stars refuse to shine,
I've been searching but i just don't see the signs,
I know that it's out there,
There's got to be something for my soul somewhere!

I've been looking for someone to shed some light,
Not somebody just to get me through the night,
I could use some direction,
And I'm open to your suggestions.

All I want to do is find a way back into love.
I can't make it through without a way back into love.
And if I open my heart again,
I guess I'm hoping you'll be there for me in the end!
Oooooooh, Ooooooh, Ooooooh.

There are moments when I don't know if it's real,
Or if anybody feels the way I feel.
I need inspiration,
Not just another negotiation.

All I want to do is find a way back into love,
I can't make it through without a way back into love,
And if I open my heart to you,
I'm hoping you'll show me what to do,
And if you help me to start again,
You know that I'll be there for you in the end!
Oooooooh. Oooooooh. Ooooooooh. Oooooooh. Ooooooh Ooooooooh. Ooooooooh.


******

There are moments when I don't know if it's love,
Or if you do feel the way I do.
I need inspiration,
Not just another negotiation.

******

It's been pouring in Los Angeles, everyday for 5 days now. Weather guy says this will continue till Monday. Great. I have to say though the rains here are nothing compared to Singapore's thunderstorms where you get drenched even with umbrellas. They are more like bathroom showers here. Still gloomy weather doesn't inspire one to go anywhere.

After being cooped up for a while, I ventured out to the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. Cos I really really wanted to check out their current Murakami exhibition.



If you are wondering who is Murakami, he designed these.

hehe, weird picture to post but this is the only one I have of Singapore. Taken when Kelly visited me last year. I miss home but at the same time I don't want to go home because home means so many struggles.

Such a beautiful dish deserves a better name than Spinach-Filled Fish Rolls so I sought the help of an expert (Kelly) to rename it.

*drum rolls* Introducing "Le Fillet Ooh La La!"


Pièce de résistance


Spinach, goat cheese and cherry tomatoes salad

Source

Hot on the heels of iPhone, Apple introduces another new fancy must-have gadget. The MacBook Air. Touted as the slimmest laptop ever and it fits right into a mailing envelope. OOOH!

My last and current laptop are gargantum giants and lugging them around gives me backaches. It got so bad once I couldn't move my right shoulder without pain. A good thing I had my sinseh. and now I have the MacBook Air.

So what gives for its size 00?
1. No lan port. Bad for me since I am still stuck in the modem dialup era.
2. No optical drive = no more Heroes, Desperate Housewives or Japanese dramas on DVD.
3. No SD card slot. How am I going to transfer my pictures?
4. Internalized battery. Plugging into wireless gives it an estimated 5 hours of battery life. But if the battery fails, you got to bring the whole thing in for repair.

But a size 00 means
1. I can swing it about, flaunt it, do away with a laptop bag and carry it in a stylish tote.
2. an in-built webcam. Cool since K and I are hemispheres apart.
3. a multi-sensory touchpad so I can move my arrow on screen like it's an iPod.

Much as I love it, it's not practical for me. This is a work/travel machine really. How about a version 2 for the home? i would gladly sacrifice some weight and price. ;D

Review here
Specs here

There are so many things I want to do like pull out my 4 wisdom teeth, go for cosmetic surgery or travel but they can only be accomplished when I get back to Singapore. Ironically now is when I have time for them.

My heart was beating sooo fast! I was excited to start my first lesson but also nervous. The fact that Kelly drives a manual just added to the butterflies.

When I got behind the wheel, I just wanted to drive off. Hehehe. But K was very precise and patient. He ran through the basic functions and techniques with me and answered my numerous questions before he was assured enough to let me drive. I could see that he was nervous too.

In the end, I was surprised by how far I had moved the car. We started somewhere in between the white car and SUV on the right of the pic to where I am standing now. K is a good teacher!



First Lesson: PASS!

What's winter without snow? But California is the sunshine state so where can we find snow? High up in the mountains!


Kelly and I weren't the only ones looking for winter wonderland. The place was filled with picnicking families and kids laughing as they sled down slopes.

It is my last day in San Jose and I have time for a little exploration. So I head for downtown Mountain View which Kelly describes as 'charming'.

The centre of activity is Castro Street, a long road with every kind of restaurant -American, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, seafood and so on. Lunchtime at Castro is bustling.


Some cool restaurants



City Hall and Arts Centre

Today Angie and I set out to explore Sausalito! A mediterranean-style city in the Bay with pretty shops, seaview restaurants, colourful houses and many rich people.

It is a foggy day as I step out in San Jose.