Beijing Revisted

This is the second time I am visiting Beijing. Unlike the previous trip in autumn, it is freezing cold during this time of the year. Temperatures can get below freezing point during the early mornings and late in the evenings.

While we enjoy the cool room temperature (not more than 22 degC, since I don't turn on the heater at all), it can be quite a daunting task just to step out of the apartment. It usually takes us 10mins to get dressed! Although I only need a sweater and a outer jacket (I have got an extra layer of fat to protect myself from the chilling wind!!!) , I still finds it very troublesome! I really appreciate how easy and quick for me to get out of the house back at home...in t-shirts and shorts and a pair of slippers ;) Over here, I wish I have a few extra pairs of hands just to juggle with the kids' gloves, hats and even scarves! It is just so 'lay-chay'(which means troublesome in Singlish)!

It is much 'warmer' (back home in Singapore, we won't call it 'warm' when the average outside temperature is 5 degC) during the early afternoons. So I plan our days such that we go for a stroll at the park after lunch, or go get groceries at the nearby local supermarket. It is really no joke having to lug bags of groceries and walk in the busy streets with two kids in tow, in the cold.


The service apartment that we are staying comes with a fully equipped kitchen. With my dream built-in oven, microwave oven, electric stove and even a dish washer. Just for the record, this is the first homemade lunch I made when we first arrived. It was just simple ham and egg sandwiches with some fruits and yoghurt. Incidentally, I noticed the people over here seems to like yoghurt a lot...I was very surprised to find so many different brands of yoghurt at the supermarket shelves.


The above photo was not taken at the supermarket...it was taken at the park. I wonder what's the name of this plant? It looks just like some cabbage to me. Don't you think so?!


There is also the red version...


Pretty isn't it? I wonder whether these are edible, I bet they will be really great for salad?!

This is a rather short post, will blog about a more decent home cooked meal soon.

Rigatoni Gigante

This pasta shape intrigued me! It was essentially rigatoni, only bigger! I took the Italian flavored meat loaf I had left, and broke it up into little pieces.. I mixed it with a red pasta sauce, and simmered while I grated Romano and Parmesan cheese. I sliced some lightly smoked Provolone and topped the pasta red sauce mix with all these cheeses. Baked for 30 minutes at 350F, it was a classic Italian flavored dish that was quite filling!

J & J

No, I did not manage to bake or even cook since my last blog post. Yet, this post is some what related to cooking.

Ever since the children came along, I hardly have chance to catch any movies at the cinema. To me, Spiderman, Batman Forever, Star Wars, and even Narnia don't count. I consider myself to be a very lucky person to be able to go on movie marathons whenever we went on holidays. Despite being coop up in a cabin high up in the sky, I got my fair share of movie-indulgence, having watched some good movies, be it action-packed thrillers or romantic comedies. I even managed to catch a few good Japanese movies, like the 'The Professor and His Beloved Equations' and 'Kabei - My Mother'. Although they are not blockbusters but these are the kind of films which will give me lasting impressions, I will still be able to remember the stories years later.

This time I saw "Julie and Julia".

I only got to know Julia Child when I first attempted to make a sponge cake. In fact it was through this video clip of Alice Medrich's Chocolate Genoise Cake that I first saw Julia Child on video. Then I spotted her book "Baking with Julia", written by Dorie Greenspan, sitting on the library book shelf. No, I didn't borrow the book. Back then, when I was so new in baking and cooking, I was rather intimidated by the sheer volume of the book. I left Julia Child sitting at the back of my mind since then.

Early this year, I saw segments of the movie trailer on the 'Entertainment Tonight'...while commuting on a public bus. It was interesting to know that they are going to make a movie about Julia Child, and Meryl Streep, who happens to be one of my few favourite actress of all times, would be taking on the role as Julia. I told myself I should really make an effort to go watch the movie when it opens in the theater.

When the movie was finally released in Singapore in October, I did contemplate whether it would be feasible for me to go catch it during the short 2 hours of my free time. Well, too many things happened, and my movie-outing didn't work out. I could only satisfy myself by reading the movie reviews by the local papers. It was only then that I learned that this movie is not just about Julia...there is this other lady, Julie Powell who started a project to challenge herself to cook 524 recipes from Julia's first cookbook in 365 days, and, blog about it. How interesting!

I am glad I was able to watch this movie eventually! I enjoyed every bits of it, especially whenever Meryl Streep appeared on the tiny screen in front of my seat. I think it was because of her that I tend to like the Julia-side of the story line. The Julie-side of the story did strike a chord though...especially the blogging part...when she received her first ever comment, and about her wondering whether anyone out there actually reads her blog. I have had the exact same sentiment when I first started this blog. At a certain point in time, Julie suffered for her blog, resulting several meltdowns along the way. I hope I will never ever land myself in the same frustrated situation. I would rather control my blog than to let it control my life.

If you like cooking and blogging just like me (and you don't have to be a fan of Meryl Streep your know), I hope you have already seen this wonderful movie, otherwise I wish you will be able to get to watch it somehow...