Pappas

I could be wrong, but I think I've read somewhere that Texas has the most number of restaurant chains in the whole of the US. Last night, we visited one of the many --Pappadeaux's Seafood Restaurant.

We ate like there's no tomorrow!

For starters, we had the Blackened Oysters and Shrimp Fondeaux.


this dish was delightful!

And then we had Alaskan King Crab Legs to share:



The portion was huge -- 5 king crab legs piled on top of a mound of spaghetti at $6 per leg! You see, this is actually an entree, and not an appetizer.

Before our main courses arrived, we were already pretty full with the fondeaux and crab legs. We were also served half a baguette, which our waitress had wisely advised us not to load up on, and then served with even more bread. This time, garlic bread, which was so good, I had to bring it home.

I knew there was no way we would be able to finish everything when I saw this:



Costa Rican Mahi-Mahi with Crawfish Etouffee

And we had 2 of those-- one for me, and one for Yifan!

I'm pretty sure our waitress was trying her luck when she asked if we wanted dessert at the end of our dinner.

Being Nice Is Not Easy

Just read:



Smart Vs Pretty by Valerie Frankel

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Homeward bound in just 4 days!!

I've compiled a list of things I need to get while I'm back, and a mental list of where to go/ what to eat. I'm actually a little excited about the flight back this time around, because we are going to be flying with SQ, and I think I can bear the 4-hour domestic flight from DFW to LA.

While I am happy preparing for the trip back, there is just one thing I am not too happy about. This morning, Yifan received a parcel when i was not at home. A parcel that I had not been expecting at all, because as far as I know, the order was supposed to be cancelled more than a week ago. Which brings to me this -- if you want to order something and have it shipped to my house, please be polite enough to inform me beforehand. As it is, I already feel cheated when you ask if I can help you get one item which, later on, turned out to be three items.

I do not mind helping people get stuff from the US, even people whom I don't personally know, friends of friends, people whom Sue-ann refer to as " so far relation". So the least I expect is some courtesy on their part. I am doing them a favor. Now i have hundreds of dollars worth of goods in the limited luggage bag space for me to check-in and declare GST. Who is going to be responsible for the goods if my luggage bag were stolen during transit? Why should I even have to check and double-check with them and try to get in touch with them (to confirm their orders), when they don't seem to care?

Maybe the next time I should help ONLY IF they are ordering from Abercrombie.

My Creations

Yifan and I have very specific roles when it comes to grocery-shopping. Since I love eating vegetables, while he prefers to eat meat, it became an implicit arrangement between us that I would pick out all our vegetables, and he the meat when we go to the supermarket.

His favorite part of grocery-shopping is buying seafood.( remember the clam chowders in seattle?) And he can never resist himself when they sell grouper fish heads.

So this was what I cooked last night:



My very own creation-- Braised Grouper Fish Head.

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I've seen pa tie a tie thousands of times in my life, but I have never once learnt how to do it despite years of wearing a tie in school. I thought I'd try doing one last night since Yifan has a client's D & D to attend tonight, and the dress code was formal ( Black Tie if I am not mistaken). I know that he should rightfully attend in a tuxedo, but he only has a jacket suit so that will have to do. And he doesn't have a bow-tie too. Anyway, this was how my tie turned out:

OMG!! It looked more like something a kid wears to kindergarten. I don't know what I did wrong, but the tie ended up being very short.

Before anyone panicks ( or laughs his head off while imagining Yifan in the tie), that was just for my practice. I will never let Yifan walk out of the house with that thing around his collar.

And in case you're wondering, Yifan can't manage a tie too! :-)

Kimchi is good, but Miso is number one

Just read:



On The Couch by Alisa Kwitney

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I've finally finished watching both My Name Is Kim Sam Soon and Full House. Can't say which one I liked more, because thankfully neither one falls into the "female lead falls for guy, female lead gets diagnosed with a terminal illness.. blah blah" category.

I'm not sure which series I'm going to catch next, but Princess Hours seems to be a very long one??!

My requirements for choosing drama serials are very simple.
Basically, it must have a happy ending, so something like Autumn In My Heart is not really what I am looking for. I want pleasure in entertainment. I don't like feeling sad after watching a movie.

I hate overly- drawn out scenes and slow-moving storylines. The series I will never forget and that best illustrates what I am not looking for is Winter Sonata. I remember once when I was out late with a friend, and she called home to ask her dad to record an episode of Winter Sonata. (!?) She too hated the story, but it was the actor, Bae Yong Joon, that she wanted to see.

I am very much out of touch with what's in in (asian) Entertainment and Movies. ( These days, I read The New Paper and I see faces and names that I don't recognise. It's weird. Dawn Yeo? Huh? No, I'm not referring to the female blogger, but I read Dawn is someone from Mediacorp Ch 8. And just a few days ago, Yifan told me Fiona Xie won the Most Popular Actress Award at Star Awards. Hmm, and I thought people didn't like her cos she always tried to act-cute. Or maybe things have changed since I left Singapore. ** lots to catch up on when I get back** ) Anyway, like I was saying, I don't usually know which are the more popular k-dramas, so I go by the popularity of the cast in the drama, which really means names I recognise. So that day, I caught the first episode of What Happened In Bali. The series had Ha Ji Won, one of my favorite actresses, in it. Sad to say, it's been more than a week, and I've not gone beyond the first episode. In fact, there were times when I struggled to watch it till the end.

Korean dramas are good, but there is just something lacking that makes Japanese dramas so special. Maybe it's the fact that I grew up watching 101 Proposals, Under The Same Roof, Tokyo Cinderella Story etc, so watching Japanese dramas bring back a certain nostalgia. Believe it or not, but this morning, I actually searched in youtube for the OST of Long Vacation.

I think I am going to start watching all the Takuya Kimura dramas.

The Start of a New Decade

Happy Birthday Yifan!!


pre-birthday dinner at Sura


anniyo haseyo

The Actual Day

fried rice at home.. *i promise tomorrow's dinner will be a scrumptious one*


happy bday, with love

And lastly, meet my new hairstyle. :-)

Pre-Christmas fun

We attended the Christmas Party organised by Bella Vida last night.





The party was only going to begin at 7pm, and we were the first people to arrive.


... and there's the DJ setting up shop


the dessert table!

Throughout the night, Yifan played pool with the guys, while I sat chatting with a nice middle-aged lady.

We had a very enjoyable evening, and more so when we both won prizes in the lucky draw! We couldn't believe the good luck we had. Yifan won a liquor basket, and I won a $10 Starbucks giftcard.



I was hoping to win the "$150 off next month's rent" actually. No such luck, but at least I didn't win " an hour with a personal trainer". Somehow, I saw that more as a punishment than a prize. Hahha.

Imitation?

Just read:



A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

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On our last day in Seattle, we bought some Japanese snacks back home. I don't know what they are called, but they taste so good.



The exterior is fluffy, and tastes a little like those neng kueh that we eat during CNY. Inside is the most wonderful chocolate cream filling. We also bought a packet with red bean paste filling. That disappeared within a couple of days.

Then there were the mini-eclairs. 6 of them in a little box. Those were yummy too! Yifan ate 2 of them while onboard the plane back to DFW.

We thought we hit gold when we saw something similar over here at May Hwa Supermarket. Yifan grabbed a pack of the Japanese pancake-looking thing with red bean filling, and a packet of this:




They look a lot like eclairs, especially when we saw them in the freezer at the supermarket. Yifan took a bite yesterday... and regretted buying it. First, they are NOT eclairs, and secondly, he said they didn't taste fresh.

( we actually saw the exact same mini-eclairs that we bought from Seattle, but those looked horrible, and had ice forming on top, and so Yifan bought the lookalike instead)

Lesson learnt: Always be sceptical of items you find at a Chinese supermarket. Often, they aren't as fresh as they should be.

This weekend, we are heading down to the Korean supermarket, where hopefully, we will be able to find what we really want. :-)

On Thursday

2 days ago, temperatures plummeted and it snowed!!


the before


the after

I know it's not very much snow, and hardly anything to shout about. But still, this is Texas.

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Nothing tastes better than hot, delicious home-made food on a cold snowy day. Presenting the latest dish-- Drunken Chicken.

So Long, Seattle

Our flight was only leaving Seattle in the evening, so we had nearly an entire day to explore.



We hadn't had time to check out the asian foodcourt in Uwajimaya Village the first day we were there, so we thought we'd head over for some breakfast, and do a little shopping.



Thai red curry chicken and rice. Nothing breakfast-ey about it.


I was a little surprised that no one knew that scenes from Sleepless In Seattle were filmed at Smith Tower. It's an old film, so it's no wonder Linda and Hendry have never heard of it. I had a vague impression of it too, and only remembered the tower had an observation deck, and looks a lot like the Empire State Building.


University of Washington
Another tradition of ours-- visiting the local colleges. This time, it was University of Washington.


me using my handbag and pretending that it's a book




squirrel on campus grounds


on my way to the restroom in the faculty of business

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. ie Drink more coffee.



We thought Tully's Coffee tastes much better than Starbucks'.

University District




Lots of asian eating places in the university district-- vietnamese, thai, indian, japanese, you name it, they have it. But if you are looking for authentic asian food, stay away from this area.

Fremont
Fremont is a bohemian area north of downtown Seattle. We had wanted to visit the Fremont Sunday Market, but the rain was a dampener, so very few stalls were open.



This drawbridge is the official entrance to Fremont.





statue of Lenin


the Fremont Troll under the Aurora Bridge

It began to snow heavily when we left for Seatac Airport. When we stopped along the highway to fill up the tank, I took the opportunity to catch some snow.



I wished we could have stayed for another day. By 5pm, it was snowing really hard, and it took an hour to defrost our plane before it could take off!

Afterthoughts:
We both love Seattle, and we hope to go back next summer.
I not only left my heart there, but I left these too...


One of the straps broke while we were roaming the streets in university district. I had to throw them away at the airport.

25th nov: markets and more!

Rise and shine-- some pictures from the rooftop garden in Mediterranean Inn before we set off for another long day.



Boeing Tour

One of the must-see for anyone who visits Seattle and its surrounding areas-- Boeing Assembly Plant.




This plant is one of the many assembly plants in the US, but the Everett location is the only location that has tours that are open to the public. This is where the B-747, 777 and the new 787 are built.



one of the many hangars at the site





The guide told us a funny story about this picture on the hangar/factory (the largest in the world. Look how small the cars are!) It was actually an ad for some European brand of biscuits, and in it, the model, Regina, was trying to portray an image of being light and carefree. Boeing bought the rights to the picture and used it on their hangars. I wouldn't have guessed. Doesn't this look very much like those Singapore Airlines ads?



It's not very clear from the picture, but there were 2 SIA planes, 1 Thai Airways and 1 Emirates plane all ready for pick-up. Notice it's only asian airlines ( and a middle-eastern one) there? US airlines aren't doing very well.

Boeing is very strict with security at the plant, so everyone had to leave their cameras, purses, cellphones etc behind before we began the tour. Hence, no pictures. Let me try to describe what I saw. The hangars are HUGE. Each hangar could fit 2 planes back to back inside. Lots of cranes and people working on the planes- both men and women. The place is so big that people ride on bicycles to get around. They label the planes according to the nth plane that a particular airline has ordered from Boeing. We saw the 64th B-777 that Singapore Airlines ordered.

The guide told us that on the average, it costs around US$60 million to build one plane. Imagine how much the planes are being sold for! And airlines have to pay cash for the planes.

Some facts of the Boeing plant ( as far as I can recall):
A day's electric bills run up to US$45,000.
The company hires more than 100,000 employees in the whole world, of which 60,000 or so are in Washington.
The plant runs 24 hours a day, so employees come at staggered timings.
There are dunno how many (10 i think) cafeterias in the plant, and they serve more than 100,000 portions a day.

The tour was really interesting, and it felt good to see the SIA planes parked outside the hangar. This is one place where you can proudly say that you are from Singapore, and you know that the other party has at least some idea of what you are talking about. * national pride all the way*

After our guided tour, we roamed a bit at the gallery and took part in a research study for Boeing. Basically, it was play-acting where we were given allocated seats in a mock-up, and had carry-on luggage that we were supposed to stow away in the overhead compartments. There were built-in cameras to record participants' responses towards everything we saw in the mock-up. Fun!

Pike Place Market

Pike Place Market was bustling with activity when we got there.

those are chillie peppers-- in all shapes, sizes and colors





Lunch was at Market Grill.



We had salmon sandwich, salmon with rice, and a clam chowder to share.

Next, we looked at all the fresh seafood the market had to offer. This is always Yifan's favorite part.










We actually bought more than $40 worth of smoked salmon home. And Yifan is still talking about ordering more salmon online, since it's now buy 5 boxes get 1 free!!


in his element

Starbucks

Seattle is the home of Microsoft, but did you know that Starbucks Coffee originated from here too? We have never been much of coffee-drinkers but we knew we had to visit the original Starbucks outlet ( which happens to be situated really close to Pike Place) and get ourselves a mocha frappucino.




In the picture, I was actually holding onto a cup of Pepsi.Crazy, I know.


oops, the lady at the far end is calling out to me


that's number 1 for the first starbucks outlet, in case you're wondering... btw, yifan made me do this

That's not all to Seattle. Seattle is also famous for its clam chowder. Remember we had clam chowder for lunch? While we were looking for the Starbucks outlet, we came across another stall selling clam chowder. Yifan bought yet another bowl... and a lobster roll. And we'd just finished lunch!!



2 bowls of clam chowder later, and we were off to Capitol Hill. Pictures of downtown Seattle taken along the way to Capitol Hill.

Capitol Hill- Famous Graves

I don't know much about Bruce Lee but I do know that his grave is in Seattle. So is his son's, Brandon's.

We only had a map of downtown Seattle, so looking for Capitol Hill was going to be a problem, or so Yifan thought. He found the idea of walking up to people and asking for directions to Bruce Lee's grave ludicrous. He said people wouldn't know what I was talking about. Well, I proved him wrong. I asked an old lady working in a florist, and she immediately knew what I wanted. (haha yifan!) The graves are famous, you know!

Looking for the cemetary was a piece of cake. It was looking for Bruce Lee's grave that was tough. A man at the florist told me that Bruce's grave was atop a hill, near trees, but we got there, and saw that the whole place was full of little hills, and trees! We circled the cemetary a couple of times, and just when we were about to give up, a group of people came walking in our direction. Turned out that they too, were looking for Bruce's grave. One of them even had a map of the cemetary!! Don't ask me how he got it.

We had dinner at Wild Ginger-- a restaurant that serves asian fusion cuisine.

This is the only part of our entire trip that I wished had not taken place. I had Panang Beef Curry and it was horrible. So much for the raves that Yifan read about on forums. Well, I should have known since what do angmos know about asian food?! The restaurant was packed, but it was packed with caucasians.

We roamed the streets and shopped a bit after that unsatisfying dinner. (oh wait, i think we shopped before dinner.. but anyway)





xmas caroling in the mall






space needle at night




seattle at night-- taken on rooftop garden of Mediterranean Inn