chowbe: November 2006

Goodbye ...

Just back from a quick trip to Los Angeles ... I'm quite glad that I decided to make this trip since I ended up just in time to see my godmother (who's also my aunt) before she rested in peace ... although maybe I should have gone earlier when her condition was better.

Regrettably I feel that I have never really gotten very close to her that we can have "heart to heart" talk about all things since she went to US when I was very young (I believe soon after I was born) ... so I only started to know her through the years I spent in the US starting 9th grade. She's never been the warm and "chatty" type ... but I know that she's always very happy when me and/or my brother visited.

When I saw her at the hospital ... so fragile and weak ... and likely in pain ... I felt quite helpless and hoped that the suffering would end soon. I last visited her on Wednesday morning ... not sure if she even knew I was there ... and then got word when I got home in the afternoon. At that moment, I somewhat felt relieved or even comforting to know that she's in a better place ... and only a few days later on the way back on the plane that it finally sunk in and felt the sudden loss.

Wish her great happiness wherever she is now ...

EXP

Last week, went to EXP twice (Thurs and Fri) ... all because of free juice. The place has been quite crowded since opening, likely because of the free juice coupons that were generously passed out at other Maxim restaurants. Friday was the last day to use the free juice coupons, so needless to say, we did not miss the chance ...

Below are a couple of samples of the dishes ... actually quite tasty.

Wonder if business would be still so good next week ... with no more free juice!

When the Wind Blows

It was a sunny day on Saturday ... and surprisingly to find it quite windy at the tennis court. After hitting one basket, I found a cut on my finger and went to clean it out. After taking care of my finger (putting a bandage on), I suddenly noticed that the two tennis racket covers were "gone".

Guess where they went ... (see photo on left) ... and then another gust of wind came ... and off they went again (see photo on right) ...

talking about getting them cross court ...

Goodbye - Star Ferry

<-- before

<-- after

Mo has told me about the moving of the Central Star Ferry a few weeks back, however, it didn't quite sink in ... until today when arriving there, there were quite a number of people taking photos everywhere.

Since I have my little FX-9 with me, I of course didn't waste the chance to shoot some myself ...

Not quite sure where the new one would be ... but saw that "Central Pier" sign when looking a bit ahead (see photo #2) ... so thinking that must be it ...

It's a bit sad to say goodbye ...

Pantry - BYOF

Today was a special day at Pantry ... Jamie, a friend, travelled specially from Singapore to be the guest cook for the day ... with two specials on the menu. When Mo and I arrived (which was quite a bit passed 1pm), we found the place quite crowded already ... and turned out that most of them were either friends of Jamie's or the two "partners in crime" of Pantry.

The special dishes were quite good ... I liked the Laksa more because it's less spicy. What's even more special is that Jamie actually brought 25kg worth of food (ingredients) over from SG for the special dishes ...

At the end of a long day, we joked about having this guest cook event every month ... E gave it some thoughts, and then mentioned that over half the patrons today were friends ... so we now have a special name for the guest cooking event ... BYOF ... haha!