News?

Well there isn't much to say, which is why I haven't posted anything other than Youtube videos for a while :-)

Sonia and I are taking a few days off in Phuket this weekend and into next week. We looked at the past months and realised that we have not really had a "holiday" in quite a while - the wedding in "all-y'all-ville" does not really count as a holiday... So we are heading to Phuket on Saturday morning, and back to Bangkok on Wednesday. Sonia is to turn off the CrackBerry, and we will (intermittently) check email for anything important.

Next week we (I) will be moving us to a new apartment in Kowloon. Yes, you heard correctly, we are venturing across to the dark side. After a year and a half of residing on "the island" we will now have an address on the mainland. At least for a while, during which time we will need to decide what we are doing. Of course we might find that it is too strange, in which case we will scurry back to the safety of the island.

And that is about all I can think of to tell this time. No new cooking adventures, no trips anywhere, no purchases, no problems (so far, at least). Just the wet (sort of) season in Hong Kong.

Till next time...

Don't you wish you'd done something like this

Instead of the slow-step down the aisle on your big day?

Cheesecake 2.0

Well last night I set out to make another cheesecake. This time it was to be a full-size thing instead of the 1/3 recipe used to make 6 tiny ones last time.

And of course since I have already made the plain cheesecake, I thought I would mix it up a little. The flavourings that I have in the cupboard are... wait for it.... Rum and Raisin. Surprise.

The cheesecake has turned out a little "creamy", I suspect because I did not cook it for quite long enough? Still it tastes great. Having cut it into eight pieces, and eaten one for afternoon tea (I am about to go to the gym to work it off), I am faced with needing to cut each piece in half. Way too big for one sitting....

The finished article, with a piece cut out.


And a single delectable piece.


And remember that I am mixing all of this by hand. I did cheat and use the blender to mulch the biscuits into crumbs, but other than that it was a saucepan (no bowl big enough) and a wooden spoon. Think of the muscles!

Is this real life?

Very funny/cute....

Beatboxing

Can you believe that he does all of this with just his mouth? No instruments...

And now, back to the news

Well it has been a while since the last update. Not too much has happened...

1. Monday, Sonia and I hired a car and drove around Hong Kong. Literally. We drove up to Sai Kung (look it up on Google Maps), then across the top of Kowloon and across to Lantau Island. We had intended to get down to Cheung Sha beach, but were not aware that private cars are not permitted to drive around most of Lantau. So we turned around, came back to HK Island. We decided to drive past our old place (new blocks of apartments have been built close by, so it looks a little crowded now), then on past Stanley to Shek O. Then back around the eastern side of the island towards Central.

Promptly got lost in the one-way streets around Happy Valley, having originally intended to head for a petrol station prior to giving the car back. In the end we came across a petrol station in Wan Chai, which enabled us to avoid extortionate charges when giving the car back.

We were lucky with the weather. The night before we had been watching the lightening, thunder, and heavy rain, thinking that the Monday trip might not be a great idea. In the end it was fine all day.

Possibly the highlight of the trip was lunch in Sai Kung. HKD 100 for the two of us to have noodles and dim sum: spring rolls, siew mai, pork spare ribs, bbq pork steamed buns (favourite), and something else that I cannot remember. Getting the same in Central would be more than HKD 200, so it was a great deal.

2. Shingles. I have them. What started out looking like I'd been bitten by an insect overnight, turned red and angry. After a couple of days I went to the doctor, who has given me pills to take. The most frustrating thing is that there is no known trigger - he said it was nothing that can be identified, but might be stress (not me), tiredness (nope), or something else (who knows?). Still, it is a good excuse for not going to the gym for a couple of days.

3. The Mac broke, again. I tried to turn it on, Tuesday morning. It sounded like it was working and made all of the usual noises, but nothing on the screen. This is the second time it's broken - the first was a power supply problem. The Mac is back today, with a new video card. I wonder how long it will be until something else goes wrong. Luckily the warranty is covering everything other than the frustration of losing the machine for a few days.

4. Next weekend we will both be in Bangkok, and likely to catch up with the Ellwoods.

That's all we have time for tonight...

Where can I get one?

Learning Cantonese

Very amusing...