Knit FO: The Mistaken Pumpkin

Really sorry I've been away for so long. Lot's of things have happened, but to keep things short: I resigned from my old job 2 months ago, went away to Europe for 3 weeks and start my new job on Monday!

And so, I return to this forgotten blog with a completed FO! I present The Mistaken Pumpkin.

Inspired by our first trip to Scotland (and by the fact that we were going to be there in autumn), I decided to make use of the Pumpkin Latte yarn I purchased from the Plucky Knitter in 2008 and found an extremely easy to understand and really pretty pattern: The Mistaken Shawl.

Completed in early August, I washed and blocked it immediately and eagerly waited to take pictures of it "on location". The perfect opportunity presented itself when we visited Roslyn Chapel, just half an hour away from Edinburgh city centre. The weather was sunny for long enough for us to take these pictures, before it started raining again.

I used 2 skeins of Pumpkin Latte and 4.5mm needles.

Andrea Bocelli in Singapore this weekend!

I can't wait!

Rommel and I scrambled to register online for the Andrea Bocelli tickets that YTL was giving out. We didnt get it though...

Then I found out my mom had tickets but gave them to a client without knowing that we wanted to go. I was upset of course but couldn't blame her really since the client wanted it.

Our luck changed last week when I got a call from Tan Sri's office asking if I wanted tickets! I nearly screamed into the phone. I was jumping all over the office that day though, so happy I was.

So it's set. We booked the flights and hotel last week, collected the concert tickets yesterday and I have my yarn crawl through Singapore planned (not that many places lah - just Spotlight and Golden Dragon really because of lack of time).

We're going to be ambitious and also visit the casinos. And I want to go to Universal Studios as well. I love amusement parks and am a huge fan of Disneyland (where one can never really grow up) so since this is the nearest "quality" amusement park to us here in Malaysia, I have to visit. (which reminds me, I need to plan a visit to HK Disneyland soon, it's the only Disneyland that I haven't been to.)

Do you think that's too much to do in 2 days? I dont know. I know I'll be exhausted!

Piggin' Out: Penang CKT and Assam Laksa

My report on my Penang trip is out, with this pic on the front page!

This is my favourite Assam Laksa in Penang - at the Air Itam market. I blogged about it in Aug08 and Apr09... after my foodie trips up to the food capital of Malaysia.

I then found out from my limo auntie (who always chauffeurs my mom around when she goes to Penang for meetings) that she thinks the best Assam Laksa in Penang is in fact the one on Penang road facing the police station. Later my uncle who lived in Penang for a couple of years in the early nineties, agreed and said the Penang road one is the best.

Penang is also famous for its Char Kuey Teow, perhaps none more famous than the Lorong Selamat one. I initially wanted to try the Ah Leng CKT which is somewhere near Padang Brown as it has mantis prawns and duck eggs (oooh premium CKT!) but when we got to the stall, it was CLOSED! Can you imagine my dismay?

*Note to self: Ah Leng CKT is closed on Thursdays

So luckily Lorong Selamat was not too far away and we headed there instead. So much hype, so much expectations... and sadly, the Lorong Selamat CKT fell short of expectations.

Don't get me wrong. It was good, but not as good as to warrant RM7 per plate. And it was much better than its nearby competitor - Sisters' CKT on Jln Macalister. Not sure if I'll ever go back to that stall again though.

And so, I guess this means another trip to Penang is necessary - need to try out the Penang road Assam Laksa and the Ah Leng CKT!

Pride and Prejudice - Tweets version

It's been maddeningly busy at work these two weeks with me leaving the office at 10pm some nights, only to be back again at the usual 7am.

But, my sister and I managed to squeeze in time to watch the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen. The movie is obviously an adaptation from Jane Austen's novel and so I set out to find out what the original story was like.

Conveniently, we have a copy of the book in our library. I vaguely remember if I have read P&P as a kid but the story line is most definitely familiar and since we have a copy of the book at home, I think I might have read it at some point. I'm babbling here. Basically, I read it over the weekend and have re-read some parts a couple of times for clarity.

Then, I joined the P&P fan club on Ravelry and someone mentioned this. It is absolutely hilarious!! Happy Reading!

P/s: I'll need to do a short post on Penang - Lorong Selamat Char Kuey Teow and Air Itam assam laksa! I was there for a day trip yesterday (5 meetings!) but managed to squeeze in time for CKT (we had only 10 mins to eat!) and assam laksa at the end of the day before heading back to the airport. Such desperation!

And: Rommel and I are going to the Babyface concert tonight at the KL Convention Centre!

Have a Blessed and Joyful Christmas!

Wishing everyone a Blessed and Joyful Christmas!

Here are some pics from London.... (while we are still sorting the rest out)

My sister's graduation was held in Southwark Cathedral - which sounded awfully familiar to both of us and we didn't realise why until we got there. It's the church right next to Borough market! We knew it was in that area but hadn't realise that it was that same church we've been staring at all this while.


After the photo taking sessions, my parents and sister headed into the cathedral for the ceremony while Rommel and I headed towards iKnit (which btw I now realise I didn't take pictures in because I was busy playing with yarn).

Of course, we had to stop by and peek into Borough market, which was expectedly quiet on a Wednesday afternoon. My usual fishmonger was open though and I found it funny that they were selling curries from my part of the world.. I ended up getting their Furness fish soup which was good. And the Thai green curry looked good I must say.


This is me waiting patiently outside my favourite sandwich shop, Farmer Brown in Covent Garden. I used to live less than one minute walk from this shop during my uni days (so I ate there almost all the time!). This time around, we stayed at the Citadines Trafalgar Square (I got a good bargain for a 6 person apartment) which is about a 10 minute walk from Farmer Brown on New Row. Needless to say, I made everyone have this for breakfast at least 3 times (we were in London for a total of 6 days). When they were lazy to walk out in the cold winter morning, Rommel and I walked out and packed the sandwiches for them. Great, now I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!


And finally, I am grinning from ear to ear at the discovery of this market stall somewhere in Bath selling haberdashery. We were walking around going from one Christmas market to another when I stumbled across this place. I didn't buy any yarn though, having just splurged in iKnit a few days earlier. And, the yarns were mostly Sirdar and other brands which I knew I could get in Spotlight Singapore so why waste luggage space?

That's it for now.... Happy Holidays!

Bonjour from Paris

It's our third and final night in Paris before heading back to London. It's been pretty good so far... We've done the must-do touristy stuff (Tour Eiffel and Musee du Lourve done), had probably our best meal on this entire trip in a quaint French restaurant near our hotel (we're staying in the St Germain des Pres area) and also shopped quite a bit!

We arrived at Tour Eiffel around sunset but didn't quite manage to walk up in time to take sunset pictures. Patteh, Rommel and I walked up to the second level too and it was freezing! Good to know I seem to have lost my fear of heights this time around. The last time I walked up Tour Eiffel 4 years ago, I was scared to walk to the Level 2!

Here I am with my brother after we reached Level 2.

Sadly, we were not able to walk the entire Lourve (which I guesstimate to take about 3 days at least). But we walked through my favourite part - the paintings.
We met Monalisa, who has moved to a much better location from where I remember her to be. We also went to see Aphrodite (sorry picture is in my sister's camera).

That's it for now.... Now we have to decide where to go for dinner. We wanted to go back to that quaint little restaurant I mentioned earlier but it's fully-booked today (it is Saturday after all). I tried booking Ze Kitchen Galerie literally the moment we arrived but they were not as friendly and told us they were full for both lunch and dinner until next week. Let's hope we find something good!

And... we're back in London!

First: I stocked up on my yarn stash at iKnit!!! Had great fun in there playing with yarn noms while Rommel had some ginger beer and shandy to entertain himself. I also finally bought a swift and the KnitPicks interchangeable needles set.... Yippee! This was during sister's graduation ceremony since only my parents went in for it and Rommel and I had one and a half hours to spare.

After sister's graduation ceremony at Southwark Cathedral (which incidentally was RIGHT next to Borough market = perfect!), we headed for Shrewsbury to visit my brother. Or so was the plan...

We did see him yes, over dinner on the first night we arrived at our accommodation - Acton Pigot B&B which was 2 mins drive from Concord. The next day, we didn't see him at all! Cos we were too busy shopping at Cheshire Oaks up in Chester. I planned for this little "detour" to keep my mom occupied and shop she did. Ok ok, we all did!

We arrived back in Acton Pigot late in the night with our 9-seater VW filled with shopping bags. John, the owner of Acton Pigot, was amazed at the amount we bought.

Our next trip was to Bath which was supposed to be some all historic site visit but I also timed that to be at the same time as the annual Bath Christmas market (read: SHOPPING). I'm not sure now if that was a good thing because it was raining all of Saturday, the streets of Bath was so packed with shoppers and all restaurants and cafes were full of ppl. Madness!! We ended up heading back to the hotel early after sunset mass at the St John the Evangelist church and packed Thai food for dinner! The weather improved the next day so we had some time to shop in Bath.... *phew*..

Now back in London, spent the whole day at Westfield, the new shopping mall near Hammersmith since the weather was looking good at all for walking about outside. My brother is on his way down from his Cambridge interview (hope it went well, Fatteh!) so we're waiting for dinner....

That's it for now.... more updates to come!

Hello from London

It's Day 1 in London and it's cold. We spoke to friends and shop assistants and they said it's the coldest day so far this year. The BBC weather forecast says it's supposed to get warmer tomorrow. Let's hope so!

We had breakfast at my old favourite: Farmer Brown on New Row in Covent Garden... Yum! Pictures to come.

We also covered a good number of places today. Started with sister's uni for her to sort out stuff, then St Pancras Intl to collect our Eurostar tickets and then it was Camden Town since we were already up North. Came back to the centre for some M&S essential shopping.

Ok that's it for now! Someone's waiting to use the computer.... Ta.....

Phuket August 2009

For my birthday this year, I asked for a family trip to Phuket. It helps that my birthday falls on the day after our Independence Day (31 Aug) so there's usually a long weekend involved.

Here I am snorkeling at Ko Khai (Egg Island, because the island is shaped like an egg according to our guide).


Rommel and I fell in love with Koh Khai during our February trip. We took the full day Koh Phi Phi tour which included a stop over in Koh Khai to swim and play with the fishes.... We enjoyed Koh Khai so much (and thought Koh Phi Phi was just too commercialised) that we vowed to come back just to Koh Khai on our next trip....

This time round, we found a tour that goes to only Koh Khai... perfect! We set off around 10am, arrive at the pier at 11.30am and are on Koh Khai in 20 mins.

The fish were really hungry when we got there since the masses who come to visit after Phi Phi had not yet arrived. We were smart this time round too, we'd bought 2 loaves of bread at the convenience store near the hotel - cheaper than what they'd sell on the island! We had fun feeding the hungry fishies!


We also spent time on Patong Beach, which Rommel and I didn't get much time to do on our last trip (3 days was NOT enough!). We thought this picture was really funny cos I was trying to take a picture of Rommel and a drop of seawater got in the way.


Still on Patong Beach, I slept on the beach while Rommel and Fatteh jetskied. The people there were so kind to move the umbrella as the sun was setting so that it wont get into my eyes. Great service!

We also drove around Phuket (which is really easy by the way, can't really get lost as long as you have a map!). We stopped at one of the peaks which had great views of the island. There we met this friendly dog who ran over to my mom the moment it heard her open a Ferrero Rocher packet. Smart!!


Lastly, shopping in Phuket is amazing too! Not only do they have the el-cheapo t-shirts and cheesy souvenirs (for those who like those things), we found this shop in Jung Ceylon shopping mall that sold t-shirts designed by locals called Monkey See. I found this knitting-related top there!

We have more pictures from Phuket lurking around but this is all I have at the moment... Ta!

Winter wardrobe all set... I hope

I've been busy knitting and crocheting hats and scarves for the family in preparation for our London/Paris trip.

Recent FOs include:
1) Grey hat and scarf set for my dad. Both are very simple knits. The hat is simple stockingnette in a round with gradual decreases on the top. The scarf is the most basic - garter stitch scarf. But I didn't have the time to make something more elaborate because I'd also spent time looking for an ideal yarn. I finally

2) For Rommel, I had made Boo scarf a year ago. A simple checkered pattern with Rowan RYC Luxury Cotton DK in a brown/black mix which he bought for me from John Lewis Oxford St last year. This time, I made him a matching hat from the same yarn but I decided it might not be warm enough given how cold it's been in London! So I made him another hat using leftover Debbie Bliss Merino Aran in black.

3) Another black hat - this was crocheted with minimal stretch using the same Debbie Bliss Merino Aran but ended up being too small for Rommel. I think it fits my dad's head alright but if he feels uncomfortable with it, I can wear it! This is a spare hat.

4) For my sister, I made the Ice-cream sundae hat using Katia Austral which I got from Jet Sun. The name should say it all - the yarn is striped in really sweet pastel colours. I followed the basic hat pattern from my Knit Cafe book.

5) Lastly, a simple garter stitch stripe scarf made with the softest and possibly most expensive yarn I have: two skeins of Misti Alpaca - one in teal and one in baby blue. Purchased from Loop, Islington. To share between my sister, mom and myself.

For us girls, I can go into more detail about what we are planning to wear:

Our winter wardrobe includes our matching earmuffs, scarves and gloves sets from Burberry - I'd bought the purple and orange ones in London years ago and we got the pink set in Hong Kong in 2002.

Next, winter coats - my mom will finally be able to use her Max Mara olive green coat with rabbit fur trim. She bought it three years ago in preparation of our Japan trip but she then had her fall and surgery so we cancelled that trip. I was supposed to be good and just use the existing coats we have but I saw this really nice dark brown one in Massimo Dutti last weekend and bought it. My sister is wearing "Foxy", our Max Mara cream coat with fox fur trim.

Footwear: My mom bought 2 pairs of boots in the past weeks while I bought a pair from Aldo. I'm having a tough time deciding what other pair of shoe to bring along. My sister is going with her basics - closed-toe Birkenstocks with socks. Rommel has also gotten a new pair of boots for the trip - Timberland.

Sorry there are no pictures of the recent FOs - I rushed to make them, then got them washed and have kept them with the rest of the stuff we have to pack - which is all dumped onto my brother's bed for now. Will post pictures of all of us wearing them during the holiday!

Ta for now, back to work... Have a good weekend!

I'm dreaming of...

.... lazy holidays and balmy beaches.

I know I've been quiet of late, busy with work and whatever else... And internet at home has not been cooperative so I haven't been bothered to even turn on the laptop.

So I've decided to "steal" pictures from my sister's Flickr page.

This is my knitting corner in our room at Pangkor Laut. Wish I could be back there just chilling, spending time at the amazing spa and chomping on delicious food.


We also had fun trying out batik painting...


My finished piece.... It now hangs on my room door.


Just a quick knit update:
- Lots of FOs to blog about:
1) Completed another cap, this time for Rommel.
2) Crocheted a shawl for my aunt's birthday this month. All washed, blocked and pictures taken. Just need to post pictures!
3) I started a winter scarf last night for my sister and I to use this winter. Simple garter stripes using the softest yarn I have - and at GBP10/skein, it's also one of the most expensive yarn I have. Misti International Chunky, bought at Loop in London last year.

Oh ya, I bought loads of yarn at Spotlight during our trip to Singapore (Hari Raya weekend) - Almost for S$2/ball! What a deal.... Pictures to come!

Ta!

Pangkor Laut - the links

Sorry I haven't had time to blog about Pangkor Laut and since my sister has been more efficient (and also hogging up bandwidth at home!), here's her take on our weekend getaway - Part One, Two, Three and Four.

I've also managed to upload some photos on Facebook last night so here they are!

In a nutshell, it was an amazing holiday, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, stuffed ourselves silly and got the best service from the staff at Pangkor Laut. We also got to swim in the private pool of one of the Estates, partied the night away in the Estates and chill out on Emerald Bay.

Pictures to come soon.... Back to work!

Sun, sea and surf in Bali

What do you think about when you think of Bali?

Is it the sun?
(Amazing sunset at Pura Tanah Lot)


Or is it sand?
(Tanjung Benoa beach)


Perhaps its the surf?
(Surfing at Kuta beach)


What do you do in Bali?

Laze around by the beach while trying to get a decent tan? (I tried to get a tan and failed miserably again)


Relax with a massage?
(SAng Spa, Ubud)


Have meals with amazing views?
(Lunch at Grand Puncak Sari restaurant, Kintamani)


Balinese food is definitely pork-laden....

We had sate babi everyday..
(The best was at Grand Puncak Sari)


We also tried the famous babi guling (suckling pig). To ensure authenticity, we got our driver to recommend a roadside stall in Kuta where the locals eat.


And for spiritual healing, we visited temples, the largest and most important being Pura Besakih with its extensive grounds. Amazing...From Bali with love...

More pictures on FB.

Piggin' Out: Assam Laksa Air Itam

This post just needs this one picture. Just look at that lovely bowl of assam laksa heaven. Staring at it now makes me want to go back there just to eat this.

This, ladies and gentlemen, was the highlight of my trip to Penang. Assam laksa from the stall next to the Air Itam market. My cousin Su Ling was raving about it during our last trip in August and insisted that we all follow her there to eat this. We'd wondered what was the big deal really.... After all, we get pretty good assam laksa back home too.. We soon found out why....

Shen, shall we make a trip to Penang just for this when you guys come back?

Piggin' Out: Penang - wantan mee

Rommel still wasnt satisfied with our hawker food feasting in Penang because he'd wanted to try the Lorong Selamat char kuey teow but we'd gone and eaten at other places and so we never got round to Lorong Selamat.

So, after saying bye to Joyce and Arnaud who headed to the airport, we decided we'll finally go there to check out the most famous of char kuey teow.

We got there in decent timing, parked the car and were promptly told by the parking attendant that all the char key teow stalls there closed on Tuesdays. "WHAT???" we said disappointingly. But the attendant was nice enough to recommend the kopitiam at the corner of Lorong Selamat and Jln Macalister as he said the wantan mee there was not too bad.

Disappointed and hungry, we said okay. We'll give it a try.

First to arrive at our table was the wantan soup. (I always order wantan soup. I love dumplings and can survive on dumplings alone. It's also my benchmark for good wantan.)

My verdict: Love the wantan skin texture... soft and delicate, unlike the ones we sometimes get in KL where it's too thick and starchy. The pork and prawn fillings were crunchy, yum.


The wantan mee came next. This was a realy surprise because I've never had wantan mee like this before. The sauce wasn't the usual dark soy sauce thingy. Instead, it was light coloured, slightly starchy and laden with chee yau char (crispy pork lard). The sauce gave the noodles a nice, glossy sheen. Tasted good too with the chee yau char. Then again, anything tastes good with that! The noodles itself were nice, not too tough and chewy.

We noticed that there was a stall selling hokkien char oyster mee. We had no idea what it was and so we had to order to find out! What came looked like yellow noodles stir fried wat tan style with some oysters in it. After the delicious wantan mee, this was pretty much tasteless. I don't think I'll order this again in future...


And so, despite not having eating the Lorong Selamat char kuey teow yet again, we found something else that was pretty good too! That gives us the perfect excuse to go back to Penang, don't you think?

Piggin' Out: Penang Nasi Kandar

Restaurant: Nasi Kandar Masjid Kapitan Keling
Previous review: August 2008

During our previous trip to Penang, we made our inaugural visit to this nasi kandar institution. Recommended by local Penangites, we headed towards Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling immediately after crossing the Penang bridge on a Friday night. All to dig into a plate of steaming hot rice banjir-ed in kuah campur.

So of course, we had to make at least one visit the next time we were on the island. After our pigging out dinner feast, we chatted for about an hour while letting our tummies "rest". At around 11pm, we took off from Jln Macalister. You cannot miss the long queue that forms at the side of Masjid Kapitan Keling....

We weren't actually hungry but we just had to try a bit of everything....

But like before, my favourite was the nasi kuah campur... Simple yet delicious...


Told ya I was excited about eating here.

Piggin' Out: Penang hawker food

Foodie trip to Penang over the weekend with Joyce and Arnaud...

Part of our plan was to have a full-blown Penang hawker food feast (what else do you go to Penang for really??)

So we headed to the stalls along Jln Macalister near the Sunway Hotel. I'd eaten there a couple of years ago with my mom and a few clients and remembered it was pretty good.

Our dinner included....

Grilled stingray
(rather thin slice but pretty tasty)

Kam heong-style stir fried lala
(pretty good, fresh and decent portion)

Leng chee kang

Char kuey teow
(which sadly was not up to par at all)

BBQ chicken wings
(too sweet)

Pork satay
(not too bad, something we don't usually get since it's pork)

Popiah
(I thought it was too wet and so I didn't like it but it was Arnaud's second time trying it after his first time in Singapore and he said it was way better than what he had there!)

Tom yum noodles
(not too bad but I've had better ones)