Krabi

So it's been 10 year since i was last in Ao nang, the Xmas of 2003...it's may 2013 and I am now back with mr mo. This seaside town , though ravished by tourism is still beautiful , and holds a special place in my heart. I'd be happy to return once I find a quiet enough hotel to rest in. The mercure, though extremely comfy is way too concrete for me, far too much like the condos in Singapore. Next time, we will find something closer to nature....

I spent most of Thursday working after we arrived, but we finally got going on Friday"

Some things we have been up to, revisiting banana pancakes, finding an awesome local hole in the wall for dinner, diving and cooking class ! We met some really nice people this trip, well travelled and fun to talk with. With massages in tow, there is really very little I can complain about.

This holiday also helped me to unwind (though it took 2 full days before cracking down to hold mode), it also gives us much needed time to spend together away from the hustle and bustle of daily life.

Saturday night

This is what happens when mr mo is left at home for the evening. I'm clearly not complaining! :)

We are in business!

Almost 4 weeks after moving in, I am happy to say that the flat is finally coming together.After weeks of trying to find some space 'awkwardly' in the flat, we can now co-exist in the same room. four full weeks of furniture hunting of some sorts, we've finally managed to put the place together within budget. we've still got bits and pieces in the background that we need to put up, but we're almost there!

The muji beanbag which is a lovely gift from my ex-housemate, is thereabouts the most used piece of furniture in the living room.  We absolutely adore it - thank you so much!

Now we will shortly be moving on to phase 2 - the terrace. That in itself is a piece of work, it's difficult to find furniture to survive the tropical humidity / rain / shine. We've concluded that it is unlikely that our next place will have a terrace like this, so we'll go for something with a good price-quality ratio - hopefully it wouldn't fall apart on us within the first 6 months!

What we got up to this weekend
:: picked up my passport at the ICA - this place is a well-oiled smooth operating machine!
:: waited for the handy man (for a leak), for furniture delivery, for repair man (for the terrace), found an oven (finally) + barbeque pit. Balked at the grocery bill. Supermarkets are frightfully expensive in this country.
:: saw my grand ma who seems to have had a bit of trouble registering the fact that i'm back.
:: came home to a lovely pizza which we shared on the terrace, with some cheese and bread , until we were invaded by a colony of ants. Ants aside, it was a quiet, cloudless evening, with a few stars peppered in the sky, the city's midnight skyline in the distance, a gentle breeze after the evening rain, it was a lovely way to end Saturday.
:: i finally brought my print down to Merlin Gallery at the recommendation of friends to get the repair works assessed.
:: we were having my parents over for dinner, so it was another round to the grocery store for yet another frightful round of shopping.
:: we spent an hour or so in the sun at east coast park, and came back for a swim in the pool.
:: frantic rush to rustle up in the kitchen to prep for our guests.

My parents, they had proud little smiles on their faces - I guess they are finally happy and comfortable with the fact that i've 'grown up'. Oddly enough, although the work's situation is still uncertain, dad's condition is somewhat difficult, I have to say, this is the best place i've been in for a long while.

Missing a little bit of les frogs

Les Printemps aux chateaux, les fleurs , le nouveau, l'esprit, pour vivre, un coup du cœur, l'amour.

Autumn in Paris

:: En ce temps-là, la vie était plus belle :: 

Paris, 26-30 October 2011

 

Les feuilles mortes se ramassent à la pelle,
Les souvenirs et les regrets aussi

 Mais mon amour silencieux et fidèle

Sourit toujours et remercie la vie.

Sur La Loire

This summer has been long drawn out. I haven't been out of the city since June and have been in a little state of ennui, hence the lack of updates.

London, with its usual (un)ladylike temperant blowing hot and cold, sunny one day, and stormy the next, oh how I long for the sun!  On that note, I was really happy to spend a long weekend in sunny Tours.

The route to St Pierre des Corps was comfortable, serene and peaceful. No harrassed counter staff, no sprinting for airplanes, no turbulence. 

I managed to catch up on my reading and finally finished Fuschia Dunlop's Sharksfin and Szechuan Pepper, a travelogue of a british lady who made her way through China. Stepping out in Tours, a heatwave hit me. 32 degrees! Wow, I haven't had that since I was back in Singapore during CNY!

We took advantage of the lovely weather to hang out in the sun with family, having a picnic, taking a ride on the boat, and dipping our feet into the cold rushing stream of the Loire.

We were on Ile de Simon and there was small sand strip where people were sun bathing and a man fishing in his bathing suit admist the shallow waters.

There they are, mother and son having a little bonding time against the beautiful greenery of the Loire Valley.

Pont Wilson, the main bridge that connects the North and the South of the city, one that we've crossed a hundred times in the last 5 years.

The Loire Valley, very well known for their cheeses and in particular goat's cheese, as well as their charcuterie finds its best in a cave a vins in the centre of Tours which produces an impeccable list of wines, fabulous cheeses and home made rillet. The owners of the restaurant are friendly and patient as they help select an appropriate wine and take time to explain each cheese on your plate. I know Mr Mo has spent many an evening in this restaurant.

^^ Cheese to be consumed in a clockwise fashion.

We also spent time wandering about the streets of the old town, as we have done so, many times over. That said, I am constantly surprised by new sites, and structures that i've overlooked.

Tudor like structures...

Majestic old mansions....

All hidden in this gem of a city.

And my favourite bit of all, taking in abit of sunshine and the last of summer as the boat laps lazily across the river.

The thing about france 12/365

Over Christmas, we visited Mr Mo's grandmother who now lives in a retirement home run by nuns, in Saintes. Some of you may know that Saintes is a Roman town in the southwest of france which sprouted in the 1st century. 'Saintes' somehow reminds me of the word 'saint' in english. Coupled with the fact that the town pivots about a magnificent Basilique, and that the retirement home overlooks a roman abbey, it is little surprise that this little town runs amok with some very traditional catholic families.

No, this post is not about religion, it is about tradition. The french tradition, to be precise. The four of us Mr Mo, his maman and Mamie Odette had lunch in Les Saveurs de l'Abbeye, a restaurant gastronomique which was situate right next door to the abbey. Food was simple, but exquisite. Soup served in coffee cups, tarte tartin served in what I can only believe was designed by a lopsided scandanavian glass blower. What intrigued me was that when we sat down, the table was set with plates, napkins, cutlery, and a very precariously balanced long stemmed vase. Very cute, but very dangerous when left in the likes of me or miss sotong.

After we'd ordered, the waiter sauntered round, and collected all the plates on the table. Unused! Mr Mo explained that the table needed to be 'dressed' and went on to explain table 'dressing' etiquette to me. At some point, Mr Mo recounted a story about getting his grandfather's pants up in a twist when he used to deliberately place his bread on the 'wrong' side of the table. 

Later in the week, when I glanced down at my plate after lunch, bread on the wrong side, fork misplaced, no one noticed anything was amiss, but I thought to myself, even though I will probably never really be propre enough, that is all part and parcel, and indeed something special about our cross cultural relationship.

That said, chopsticks please.

Merci beaucoup.

Paradise News by David Lodge 5/365

I finally read the book which was a gift from Mr Mo last Christmas. There was one line which spoke to me more than anything I've ever read. It said

"Whatever happens, ours is going to be a relationship of long chaste seperations and short passionate cohabitations for some time my dear, but better that than the other way round"

Ah...what wise words.

Perhentian islands

14 days ago, we embarked on quite an adventure. Of fish and various sea creatures, a cute little boxfish, sharks, the three legged turtle, and oodles of parrot fish. A place of solace, of silence and of peace - La Mer.

21 Sep 2010

Sans toi

ma vie est vide

je te manque....et..

Les paroles....your father was a duck!!!

je sais, tu aimes charlie winston, oui, et a cause de toi, je l'aime aussie..

ouai mais nous avons juste commencer notre vie...

et nous avons beaucoup les choses d'apprendre

nous prenons notre temps d'entendre les mots,

prends soin de faire de la carasse entre nous,

j'as pas envie d'etre une autre place

mais j'ai envie de faire une histoire avec toi,

fermes les yeux et je me les ferme,

et j'apprends de tomber amoureux avec toi

Le Grand Palais

Les gens me disent que l'automne est une saison tres triste. L'ete a passe, les vacances ont fini, il faut que nous travaillions. Pour moi, c'est une saison un avec un peu du nostalgie, les petites animaux vont preparer d'hiver, les feuilles mortes se ramassent a la pelle, les arbes presque nus. mais il ya les colouers tres riche - d'or, des rouges, des jaunes, ce n'est pas les colours naturelle a mes yeux. La transformation magnifique, et La Paris a cette saison, c'est mon monde special, ma petite saison d'amour .

:)

Chingford on Saturday

Now tell me, don't you think this is just marvellous???

Restaurant Gastronomique

So Mr Mo took me to Rive Gauche, la restaurante gastronomique a Tours on Saturday. It was a lovely thought and I was super moved after being bummed about not being able to try Kursaal when we were in San Sebastian.

The food was exquisite, beautiful flavours and the sommeliar definitely knew what he was doing and recommended a very young but flavourful Gamay 2007 from the Loire.

The experience was interesting and my taste buds were delightfully tickled by the artichoke puree on a parmesan biscuit, spiced choux and rock melon sorbet. The aperitif and pre dinner munch definitely amused my bouche.

The slow cooked poitrine de porc fermiere laquee aux epices douces cuite 16 heurs a basse temperature was divine, and the pork was well flavoured and it melted on my tongue. The jeunes pousses de salades a lhuile de pepins de courge was a little disappointing as it tasted a little less than a sad little tawgay salad. Mr Mo had a fantastic presse de foie gras de canard a la poire tapee confite au vouvray that was very well complemented by pain grille a la noisette et au raisin :). the wine jelly on the foie gras, ahhh..heaven

I've forgotten the name of the main course but it was a lovely grilled canard with skewered vegetables (courgettes, tomatoes) on a bed of shitake risotto. This was absolutely sublime. Mr Mo had a fish of the day which was a very flavourful wild salmon on a bed of summer veges with a shrimp sauce.

We wrapped up the night with a nougat de tours servi tiède, lait glacé au kirsch
Médaille d´or 2009 and a tendre macaron parfumé au poivre de Tasmanie,
and a fantabulous Marmelade de mangue et son sorbet aérien. I don't quite understand why desserts in a restaurant such as this has to have such sweet and heavy desserts though. It was a little bit of a rain in the final touch on an otherwise perfect parade. We had the same issue when we were in L'Hedoniste the last time.




Verdict for the evening - wonderful food and would recommend it to anyone who visits Tours. However I am just not a nouvelle cuisine person, give me a good cut of beef or street food any day. :)

Rive Gauche
23, rue du commerce - 37000 Tours

Tower hamlets on a friday evening

5 June 2009, on the way to Tayyebs, Whitechapel's hidden gem of indian food with Mr Mo :)

Comment tu te sens?

Je me sens bien. Tres bien.
Avec toi.


29 March 2009
Paris, France

And who can forget the Eiffel Tower?

29 March 2009
Paris, France

te souviens- tu la 2006?

Voici la butte Montmartre. C'est belle ca...

Te souviens- tu? nous y sommes alles ensemble a 2006.
A Avril 2006.
en 2009, nous y sommes alles encore dans la petite weekend a Paris.
Alors, rien n'a change a Paris.
Mais j'ai changee. Je me suis perdue.

28 March 2009
Paris, France

Here kitty kitty...

Les petits plaisirs au souk de la Medina


14 June 2008

Marrakesh, Morocco

Like children..

Ouai, moi aussi

18 June 2008

Oualidia, Morocco