Paris

The weekend in Paris was good, thanks to dearest Mami and Jose. We stuffed ourselves with delicious crêpes and absolutely scrumptious, mouth-watering baguettes and pain au chocolat! At the end, we almost felt relieved that we didn’t actually live in Paris or we would probably swell up and infatuated with bakeries.

We went to Centre Pompidou on Friday evening and had dinner at a lovely bistro near by. The baked snails in parsley butter were to die for! The mains were delectable – roasted lambs, roasted ducks and grilled swordfish.

Saturday was a calorie-burning day. We walked around the city and ended the day with another tasty meal, courtesy of our dearest friends. It was really fun to have the Raclette Grill, melting various cheese and vegetables and other interesting tapas – all washed down with glasses of white….

All in all, we were delighted that we had the weekend like the locals and also got to spend time with friends.

Thank you Mami and Jose and be afriad...be very afriad...because WE WILL BE BACK!
(will publish photos soon)

Opening Time

I am afraid the café will be shut for a few days as je vais à Paris.

Rod lovie, have a fantastic party!
Missoni girl, please behave yourself and TRY not to get too wasted over the weekend!

My Gloomy Wednesday

I went to Janet’s class today and I just couldn’t do a thing! I wasn’t feeling particularly bouncy before I went but thought the class might lift me up a bit. The classroom was clammy and dank hence it certainly didn’t help when Janet decided to teach new postures. We did Dighasana A and B, Nata Rajasana A and B (they looked easy but were in fact really hard to do!) and then Eka Pada Raja Kapotasana! I thought they were way too hard as we didn’t do Surya Namaskara and I am not very good with balancing postures.

Oh! but I got a complimentary cup of coffee from Starbucks today, which didn’t taste very pleasant but hey it was free!

नमस्ते

Auto Marque

I am no automotive expert but somehow I just can’t get my head around with Lexus. I know they are reliable and relatively cost-efficient compared with their German/U.S rivals, but I simply can’t seem to apportion the infinitesimal love I have for cars to Lexus. So when daddy mentioned that someone is getting the LS 460, I was rather perplexed by the ‘new’ design because to me ,it comes across as an attempt to mimic the lines of the BMW 7 series rather than the dubbed ‘’L-Finesse’’. I know I can’t judge a book by its cover since it’s somewhat a showcase for the latest in automotive technology, from the radar-based cruise control system to the advanced parking guidance system which helps parallel-park the car (I must admit this is great news for me..who have tremendous difficulties in parking OCCASIONALLY!) – the driver controls the speed and it does the steering! It even uses body heat sensors to maintain cabin temperature. For now, I think I will just stay focused on the things I know or rather, I am interested in/love (like the pair of those dashing babies above) so that I don’t get chastised by those car gurus.

This Friday

At long last we are moving to the new office on Friday! Woo Hoo!

That’s see what’s near by:

- Threadneedles Hotel, apparently it’s THE new place than the blunt Royal Exchange.

- Royal Exchange, a potentially dangerous zone. There are too many temptations and it’s very easy just to pop in during lunch time for a ‘browse’! However, my favourites are not there, so it might not be that bad after all! Haha, so I tell myself.

And scary enough, that’s it really. Not any delis, local café or even Pret!!!

Having said that, I still very much looking forward to the move, shorter train journeys, well, just the reliable/cleaner DLR, no more smelly sardine-squish-like tube journeys! wheyhay!

恭喜發財 紅包拿來

祝大家在新的一年　　事事順利　　身體健康　　心情愉快　　豬年行大運

Today's Yoga Class

I have not been able to get into Marichasana D ever since I last went to Iiling’s mysore practice class three weeks ago which is really frustrating. I don’t know if it’s the shortened length of time of the fundamental asanas or I am just not as flexible as I thought I was.

BUT I was quite pleased that I was able to do Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana on both sides. My right side is definitely more tense and tight than left so it was good to be able to get into that today.

One of my New Year resolutions is get a good grip of the primary series so that I can advance to the intermediate series. I think I was a bit too ambitious as it takes years to master the primary series and I am now just ‘trying’ to do yoga three times a week, which isn’t exactly ideal nevertheless I still remain hopeful! hahaha

नमस्ते

Le fromage

One of my new favourite foods at the moment is Brie. I’ve never been a cheese lover until I encountered a fabulous cheese board experience with some good Merlot. And all of a sudden, I cannot wait to try all different varieties, the really ripened ones, the younger ones and have yet to taste the ones with herbs, nuts, peppers or even mushrooms?! Though the one I really want to try is the Brie de Meaux.

I wonder if I can cook brie with anything? Suggestions are welcome!

Eight

Went to Eight again yesterday to celebrate a colleague’s upcoming birthday. I felt more at easeas I almost felt like an intruder last time. I was the only female there, well, apart from the two that work there. It is, after all, a ‘boys’ club. It is located at the end of a tiny blind alley way and you come up with a black door that looks like a…….black door which people would probably assume there were rubbish bins in there.

Anyway, as a private members club, it is apparently a good one….not that I would know since I’d never been to any before Eight. There are three Brunwick pool tables, a 60 inch plasma at one end, a punch bag (? Yes I did wonder too), a cinema, a dance floor and a couple of poker and card tables.

The service really is second to none but then I suppose you get what you pay for.

There were two other female present when I was there last night so perhaps that was one of the reasons that I didn’t feel too weird or it could be the red wine I had.

All in all, interesting experience but a rather bizarre scene to see people playing pool in such ‘oppulent’ surroundings!

To Macaroon or not to Macaroon?

Had lunch at Ping Pong last week (and I can only describe it with one word – BLAND. The dumplings were soggy and bland, the tea - I ordered Black Jasmine tea which was supposed to be STRONG but it was bland and not to mention that they serve tea with glasses? That is so not right! I certainly didn’t understand the hype of the décor as it was bland. There wasn’t anything special with the whole place. Anyway, back to the main subject .. ) and saw Le Pain Quotidien across the road and I was absolutely thrilled. I know it’s been around London for a while but they weren’t exactly ‘conveniently’ located for me as I am not really a Notting Hill/Kensington gal. The reason I love it so much is because it’s the only place we’d go for breakfast/coffee/tea/lunch whenever we visit Brussels. I just love their bread and tarts too much.


So I went there with sis on Sat in preparation for her birthday rundown - thought it’d be a wise idea (not!!!) to stuff ourselves with endless of carbohydrates! We ordered the bread basket which is huge, with the capital H! We then went to Ladurée to pick up the birthday cake and bizarrely enough that ‘someone’ with the same name called to cancel the order on Friday?! errr, here is what I didn’t understand, I had paid for it prior to that and made it crystal clear that it was a BIRTHDAY CAKE (as per the requested birthday plate) to be picked up so why would I want to cancel it?! And the scary thing is that someone with the same name? could it be a pure coincident or it was a genuine mistake and they were just fluffing? In the end, the manager offered two mini cakes and a box of 15 or 20 macaroons. The rose petal still remains my favourite.

Finishing Postures

Managed to go to yoga class this afternoon and was quite pleased with some progress despite hadn’t been practicing for a week. When I did Urdhva Padmasana today, I was rather stable and stayed for about 10 breathes.

And and and – when I was in Baddha Padmasana, I was able to grab both sides of my toes! The fun didn’t stop here – I did not only do Utpluthee but stayed for 15 breathes! The breathing technique is really great! Though I still seem to have really tight hamstrings and so when it comes to Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana, I just can’t get my legs straight. Um, as Iiling says, practice, practice, practice!

नमस्ते

''Happy'' Roses

Saw those multi-coloured roses in Metro this morning and wasn’t too sure what I thought of them. Those flowers have been developed by a Dutch businessman who dyes each bloom in the colours of rainbow. Apparently, the dyes are produced from natural plant extracts and are absorbed by the flowers as they grow. A special process then controls how much colour reaches each petal – with ‘spectacular’ results…or not.

So if people who want to impress their other half on the coming Valentine’s day, Happy flowers (because they also do multi-coloured chrysanthemums) may be one of your options!