The week that was

The Lavaux vineyards with its mountain the lake.

When the in-laws came to visit us last week and left only on Wednesday. They rented a mountain chalet for a week up at Glion. Its a pretty place but with limited compound. And even with that small amount of space, the care taker managed to grow tomatoes, zucchini, cherry trees and some herbs like basil and rosemary. The zucchinis was excellent! We made omelets with it and the zucchini flowers. Zucchini flowers are sold mostly at farmers market AND its pretty expensive.

Owen eyeing the cake with his hungry eyes...

Eating with his cousins

Owen had a blast with his cousins. He slept at midnight almost every night! And during that week, he hardly take his nap. And guess what? At night he'll be talking/have nightmares and during the day time he was so tired that he's so agitate that it irritates me. GRRRR.... Its like he's uncontrollable! And his misbehaves so badly that I had no choice but to punish him all the time! And I don't like punishing him. It gives me mental drain.

Hubs with Esma & Fabrice

Mum with Uncle Tony

Any ways when they arrived on last Monday, the weather was not o-operating at all. Its all doom and gloom till Wednesday. But then again it was OK as grand aunt couldn't walk that much due to her illness. So they went visiting around Montreux and Vevey. We even went around Lavaux vineyards terrace, stoped a few times to take some photos at Lutry and later on went for wine tasting at one of the local cellar. Bought half a dozen bottles as gifts for friends and family in France and for my dad.

What's a bbq party without kids?

The little star in the arms of 1st aunt

The family didn't really go visiting around Switzerland as planned but at least we get to be together for catch ups and a barbecue! So it was all good.

What a trip!

The proud big brother. More pictures here!

As many of you know, our family just had an addition. Little Kevin was born on 5th July 2010. It all happened in the early hours of the morning. I thought I'm just having episodes of tummy ache until there's some bleeding and labour pains started.

It wasn't painful but still... Good thing my bag was packed a few weeks ahead. Hubs jump out of bed and did a "rush job" on his morning routine.. hehehehe... Managed call the hospital mid-wife and to kiss Owen goodbye before heading out the door. Poor kid was still sleeping then, I didn't have the heart to leave him without telling him where we're off to. But then again, this time is different!

At the hospital, the only place with air-conditioning was in the labour room! We were pretty lucky to be assigned to a room with an extra lie-in sofa/bed for hubs! Having drifting on and off epidural, we managed to take an hour nap BEFORE the actual dilatation began. I had the "mild" pain relieve level as I could still feel the pain (on the level of 10, it was a 5 for me). They had to break the water bag in between labour. After nearly 8 hours, Kevin finally came to the world at 4:30pm with the help of the vacuum extractor. YUP! His head look a little awkward for a few days. In fact it looked alien like! LOL!

We stayed over at the hospital for about 6 days. Owen came to see us on the same evening Kevin was born. He was wearing this "Ok, here's the baby. So what can he do? Why are you guys so excited about? " look when he was here. I could tell he miss having me around at home whenever he came to visit us. But then again without mummy at home, he was the little terror according to grandma! He locks grandma out at the balcony, creates havoc for grandma to clean up afterwards, refuses to go to bed at the time mummy has established etc etc.... AIYAH!!! Mum says that only I could control Owen as he was bullying her! LOL!!!

As we were having a pretty hot summer (average about 32°c), the 5 night hospital stay was like sleeping in the sauna! We do not have even a small table fan... :( Gosh! It was so hot that all the babies were crying from 10pm till the wee hours. I had make a fan out of a piece of brochure, thank goodness it was made out of thick paper. I so wanted to get out ASAP but Kevin's jaundice level was rising but not enough to be put under the UV light (phototherapy). So in the end I'd rather stay on to make sure that he has clean bill of health BEFORE both of us checks out.

It was so nice to be back at home and sleeping in my own bed with some form of heat reducing instrument A.K.A. the fan. Owen is adjusting and is still adapting towards having to share mummy with his baby brother. Kevin was feeding every 2 hours for the 2- 3 weeks we're home but now he could hold up till 4 hours max at night. Which is a BLISS for me! I remember when Owen was hungry every 2 hours till the 2 month! ARRGGGHHHH..... I can't wait when he could at least hold up till 5 hours! But then again, I'd bet it won't happen with breast fed babies.

New addition to kitchen appliances

Our not so new but new to us Chinese Red Docle Gusto Machine! ;D

We have inherited a coffee machine from the Bernardo who works for Nestle on Sunday. They actually offered the machine to us before Christmas last year but there wasn't any place at that time to put it.

Now its sitting near our dinning table above my sewing drawers. Its a Dolce Gusto machine and not the Nespresso. Good thing as well, as we could make other drinks besides coffee. But then again, I don't think I'll be using it THAT often unless we have people over. Reason being the capsules are rather expensive to purchase on daily basis. A box of 16 capsules of decaffe Caffè Lungo would costs me CHF6.40. The same price for cappuccino light (8 cofffe & 8 milk capsules each). So for the moment, I'll stick to my Italiano stove top cafetiere and my battery operated milk frother for every day use....

Perhaps when mum comes over this Saturday, I'll give her a treat. She's such a coffee drinker! hahahahahaa....

Being 3.....

I'm now 3!

Owen had his 3rd birthday party on Saturday. His actual birth date is on 11th June, and he shares the same birth date as June of NNC! ;) Now more the reason NOT to forget June's special day eh? *wink*wink

We just had a small gathering with some close friends as our families aren't technically able to be here. We have limited entertaining space at home and we don't really entertain that often. So whenever we have friends over he'll get so excited that he'll forgo his afternoon nap!

Spidey cake!

There's Carmen & her boy, Jules; the Bernardos: Cheche, Tony & Regina, the Kuntz: Nina, Andreas and their little princess, Emily and a long time uni friend, Azni. The weather was cloudy but still really warm and thank goodness it didn't rain! We had a little barbecue, with our electric grill of course, on our balcony. As usual hubs man the grill.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OUR SWEET BOY!

Look! Even Grandpa Tony is helping.... ;)

BTW, what's with men and grill? Perhaps its the ONLY time to show off their "cooking" abilities? I've notice how men tend to LOVE grilling meat over fire (even on electric grill!!). I think its genetics or due to our ancestral heritage OR they could be reminiscing about their camping days?

Any ways, we got him a Spiderman cake. I seriously do not have the patience to decorate cakes, although I'd like to learn the basics next time. So this time round, I ordered it from a Filipino friend who makes really gorgeous birthday cakes at home. LOVE the marshmallow icing and cake as it wasn't too heavy nor too sweet. But we did ended up with blueish/pinkish teeth/mouth! LOL!

It really felt like it was yesterday when he was born. How time flies! And now with him being fully toilet trained (day time and no need reminding. YAY!) before his 3rd birthday, I really hope that he keeps up his good work and then we could be able to rid off his night time diapers as well. He'll be going to school/kindergarten next year at 4, which is hard to believe for myself. I guess we'll better take advantage of having short breaks/holidays out of school holidays BEFORE September 2011.

My cuppa

Toasted English muffins with cappuccino.... heaven!

Cappuccino (decaf of course!) happens to be just the thing for a sunny morning like today. I do not have a machine, we don't drink enough coffee to buy one and plus there's just no place in the kitchen for another hardly use bulky thing. So what I bought a year ago was a 1 cup coffee percolator also known as Moka Pot. Why 1 cup? Hubs is not really a coffee drinker, will only drink coffee while driving long distance.... LOL!

My cute moka pot with its tall frother

So I got that and also a battery operated milk frother. Having worked at coffee shops (no, not like the ones in Netherlands!) during internships and part-time jobs, basically learned a little about making milk foams that could make a toothpick stand manually. Which is taking cold milk, pour it into a steel jug, turn on the "arm" of the coffee machine full and then steam the milk in the jug by just making sure the tip is just below the surface. Full cream milk creates the best froth. And if you're using a battery operated one like mine, make sure the milk is warm enough and just put the tip of the frother into the milk and froth away! :D Btw, you'll need a container that is tall enough as frothing milk could rise up....

Big, plum and juicy strawberries

Since we're having spring at the moment, strawberries are abundant now and we're eating them almost every week. I think I'll buy some more today to make strawberry compote (sauce) for that bucket of vanilla ice-cream in the freezer..... Can't wait till end of June though. That's when we're having cherries!

Home of a Needle Worker (too!) - FINISHED!

Mental note: need to polish up photo taking skills....

Hurray! I actually finished it a few days ago but didn't really had the time to blog about it. I could say this piece is actually a very relaxing piece to do. Made some changes to the house and also the spool of thread. At 1st I wanted to change the white heart into red but decide against it. Colour too clashing and so I left it as it is.

Recently hubs was asking me what am I going to do for work in the future and he suggested that I sell some of my work online. I was like; how much am I going to sell them? Do I have the time to do them with the kids? My workmanship to me is not that good to actually sell yet, and finally; I don't have a proper place where I could actually put all my stash and my finished work, AWAY from the kids.

Honestly, I really feel my stitching and sewing is not as good some friends I know from NNC. So doubt that anyone would buy beginners work as well... And then hubs mentioned something about buying our own place in the future and then I could have a work room to myself! That would be a dream come true if we EVER decide to buy....

I could get use to this....

Hello Kitty is peeking.....

diet! Hahahahahaha..... That is one good thing about being preggers, one does not need to follow a strict slim down diet! LOL! That is provided that one was in shape BEFORE being preggers.... Otherwise, its the doctors' advice to follow.

I was really craving for a rich, flavourful (is there such a word?) butter cake. And this morning off I went to the shops to get a bar of butter (250 grams) and used the whole bar for the cake after lunch. Lunch today was just home made salad with last night's left over baked chicken & potatoes, all mixed up with some tomatoes, corns and mustard vinaigrette dressing.

I kinda drop in some chocolate chips.... ;)

I decided to use my rose silicone mould since that its been a while I've used it. I didn't realised butter cake was sooo... EASY to make! Its just butter, sugar, eggs, self rising flour (I had to make my own as they don't have this type of flour here), vanilla essence and some milk. Here is the result; rich, moist, super FATTENING (!!!!!) butter cake! Muahahahahhahaha......

Aaaaaaa......tchoum...

Seriously, I need to get myself in better shape after this. Am having sinus headaches for about 3 weeks now!! ARRGGGHHHHHH.... And of course being preggers, I'm not allowed to take meds to help with recovery. *sigh....

And to make matters worst, Owen and hubs got sick as well! Hubs, thank goodness, recovered in just a week but Owen, he's got ear infection, eye infection, stuffed nose, coughs and fever as well. Took his almost 2 weeks to recover from it. And while the little one is sick, he's just so clingy to mummy.... Not something I want when I too am not feeling any better.

I think Kleenex would be very happy to know that their products did sell out very well as almost every one was sick these past few weeks.

I hope things will get better as the weather is FINALLY warming up a little starting today. Although a little bit windy but still at least the sun is here to stay! :D And I really need the sun to cheer me up now. At 34 weeks of current pregnancy, I've never encountered so much health related problems as with when it was with Owen. I have a feeling that this kid is going to weight a little less; Owen was 3.99kg when he was born. But still, I hope he'll be on time (unlike his big brother) and be born healthy.

For the moment I'll just have to sit back and enjoy the ride (frequent kicks and restless sleep). Until he gets here, I'll have to start stitching up his birth sampler in weeks time and also finish my Little House Needleworks: Home of a Needleworker (too!). At the moment its half done, so I'm just proud that I'm keeping to my stitching schedule FOR ONCE! LOL! Pictures will come soon enough, in say 2 weeks or less.... See how ambitious I am? LOL!

In the eye of the Tiger year

It was Chinese New year on Valentine's Day. Actually It still is CNY, until 28th of February as for us it runs for 15 days. We went back to hubs side of the family last Thursday.

Owen looking handsome in Chinese style clothing

Click here for more photos....

Paris was freezing cold!! And it was so WINDY! I think that its because 3rd SIL's place is right next to the Seine river, that makes the wind worst. What's worst than the cold outdoors? Cold indoors! LOL! Heating costs are rising so they try to limit their electric heating at home. But then again, their heater isn't as efficient as ours at home as its one of those typical one unit wall hanging type and not the floor heating. We were always in thick polar sweaters, pants and socks... :p But thank goodness it was for only 2 nights before we go to Rochefort, 1st SIL's place. Now there is what I call OVER HEATING! LOL! We actually sweat while we slept at night in winter.... And I end up having flu with soar throat the next day. :(

Oh well! Besides that it was fun to see them again and having the 4 little boys playing. OK, "fun" might not be the word to describe the chaos, noise and at times crying of what happens indoors.... The little ones slept each night at nearly midnight! Owen developed dark under eye rings by the time we come home, as he was sleeping so late and waking up so early in the the morning to continue playing!!!

Funny quilts wall hanging
Click here for more photos....

OH! Did I mentioned that I managed to persuade hubs to let me go to this craft show in Paris? hehehehehe.... Yes he did! *HUGS!!! This time I went WITHOUT THE BOYS, knowing how bored both of them will get with me going oohhhhsss and aaaahhhssss over fabrics, buttons, craft books, etc etc. LOL!

There were a lot of people there, mainly women of course! And the stands were quite interesting all in all. There were some displays of hand made quilts, contemporary hand made art, granny squares etc etc. As this silly women forgot to take her camera with her, photos shown here were taken by mobile digital camera.

And did I get anything for myself? OF COURSE! :D Needless to say, I was a very happy women that whole week, even with the chaos operated my the little ones!

An old ladys' curse

Drag Me to Hell. Thank goodness I didn't waste $$$ in the cinema verison!

Was quite disturbed after watching "Drag me to Hell". No, I wasn't even spooked with the movie! As some people know I just don't like watching horror movie coz of the spook factor that lingers on. I stayed away from movies like Saw and Hostel. Am still spooked with Nightmare on Elm Street series!!!


Now why am I disturbed with this particular movie? You'll have to watch it to find out what I mean. The following comments are ONLY MY PERSONAL VIEW. IT IS IN NO WAY TRYING TO BE FUNNY WITH ANY OLD LADY AND THIER "BLACK MAGIC".

First of all, Christine Brown as the character. Ok, she's a bank loan officer at a bank in LA. I for on will not EVER employ this person as the loan officer. Why? Cause she is NOT a person with eye for details. When one works with numbers, one has to be detailed, be it as in checking certain things twice, making sure that certain statements/paper works are in order. I may not work with numbers, but having influenced by parents' need for detail, and their most preferred line "a black & white" due to their line of profession (a mechanical design engineer & an accounted clerk, I say this is a no-no in banking.

Then there's the CG of the movie. It sucks. Notice how fake the eye balls and the hand of the old lady. One wonders if the old lady is a robot! Freddie Kruger has more realistic scars and what nots that. The story line is not really realistic in a way. Something is just missing. For example she's a vegan, OK. But is being a volunteer at a puppy shelter got anything to do with being a vegan? DUH!?! Don't get me wrong, but it just sends out the wrong signals. I love animals, even own dogs for that matter but I eat meat.....

So apart from being shocked & surprised, being scared on a scale of 1 to 10.... Well, for me it'll be a 3.

So I'll have to stop being a critique for this movie here, as to not to offend any Gypsy old lady who would give me the Lamia curse!! *shivers


As far as curses are concern, I come from a country where black magic/dark arts are practiced. That doesn’t mean that I totally believe in them and it also doesn't mean that I don't believe it exits. It does but then again, if one leads a correct path of life to the Almighty and do not offend any persons (by being arrogant, cheat, lie etc), I don't believe that curses will work on these people. But I do believe that the person who puts a curse on others will get what is waiting for them later.... What goes around comes around. By the way, people who dabble with curses/black magic etc are playing with fire while adding more oil onto the fire.

Neighbourhood Patchwork Expo

Happy dance...

I was quite surprised to received a flier saying that it'll be in a school cafeteria, running for a week starting from the 16th till 24th October . Since the school (middle school) is just basically across the street, I decided to go have a look.

And turn....

And SMILE!!

Its free entrance (YAY!) and all the lovely work done are made by a regional patchwork club. the lady at the entrance I think was quite taken by me as I was the only Asian there and she kept on asking me if I'm into quilting etc etc... I told her that I'm just a beginner trying to learn the ropes from books and "sifus" at NNC! LOL! Told her as well, it was an enriching experience having to frog and redo some (well a lot) of blocks on Owens' quilt. Took me ages but I did finish it in time for winter.... LOL!

The patchwork/quilts were sooooo...... LOVELY! There aren't words to describe them. The use of other materials like beads, feathers, organza, wool and ribbons were really what made some pieces stand out in terms of theme. There's two with Japanese theme, teapots, scissors, African, flowers, reflections..... I would say about 80% of them were hand quilted! I mean WOW! I don't think I can spend all my attention hand quilting a piece. I don't have that kind of "stamina", if you know what I mean....

Then there's this particular piece with miniature flowers that were actually hand sewed! Man, I am just lost for words with the attention to details that lady has. There's one thing though, I didn't know that one could piece together using metallic threads... And also by using variate colour threads... Hmmm, I learnt something today! ;)

As with most art expos, there are bound to be some pieces being put on sale. But the question is how do you put a price in a piece that take long hours of pin pricks and painstakingly put together? There's one GIANT quilt (about 173x220cm) is selling for CHF3500.-!!!

And BTW, I didn't go with Owen. God knows he'll be running around, touching those lovely pieces and as if we weren't poor enough, mummy has to fork out a fortune to buy a piece that he solid with his grubby hands! *shivers

So instead after my walk around quilts, I brought him out to walk amongst the falling autumn leaves and to the park. He had fun making noises while walking (or rather stomping) on them. Then he picked up some leaves and start dancing around with them! LOL! It was fun watching him having fun....

PS: FOR FULL PHOTO REPORT PLEASE CLICK HERE!

The end of De Fil en Aiguille?

Just got news that my favourite mag is closing shop (thanks Rose of NNC!). Its so SAD!! So I went to look up on other French bloggers to see if its true. Here's a letter from the editor herself to a French blogger :

http://clarelis.canalblog.com/archives/2009/10/07/15337128.html

This is a copy/paste thing, please use the Google translator...

A nos chères lectrices,

Toute la rédaction a appris la semaine dernière (à notre grande surprise) que nous étions en cessation de paiement.

Nous avons, pendant 12 ans, essayé de donner le meilleur de nous même à nos lectrices, et avons toujours fait ce métier avec passion.

Nous savons peu de choses sur notre avenir : la direction nous a informé qu'un liquidateur judiciaire allait reprendre les comptes de la société et c'est lui qui prendra désormais toutes les décisions.

Croyez bien que nous sommes toutes désespérées de cette situation pour nos lectrices, et pour toute la grande famille de passionnées du fils que nous étions.

Depuis que la nouvelle s'est propagée, nous avons reçu un certain nombre de témoignages de soutien, de compréhension, très chaleureux, de la part de nos lectrices. Nous en sommes très touchées et chacun d'eux nous va droit au coeur

Merci encore pour votre fidélité et encore une fois, croyez bien que nous sommes navrées d'avoir ce sentiment "d'abandonner brutalement" nos lectrices contre notre volonté.

Sophie BESTER (rédactrice en chef) et Judith DESSONS (rédactrice en chef adjointe)

Looks like I'm gonna have to look for another cross stitching mag to buy from now on. So sad that its such a sudden end to a 12 years running magazine. Its even worst I think for the employees and designers attached to the mag, that the directors of the company decide just to drop the bomb. I hope subcribers could get their refund....

Here's one kept mag that I find quite good. Main & Merveilles by Les Editions de Saxe, its a little bit more expensive than DFA. Why I like it? Partly its because there's Isabelle Haccourt-Vautier (French XS designer). I love her charts... ;) BTW, to those following Isabelle's mystery sampler chart, there's part 5 and 6 out now for down load. Any one wants to do a RR on that?

Finished! AT LAST!!

Close up of the case...

This pic is SUPPOSED TO TURN!!! @%&? blogger!!!!

Here's my latest finish! Its mum's birthday gift; a glasses case. Paul gave me an idea of what to make for my mum. And its FINALLY finished! Yes, I know, I know! I'm such a slow stitcher that I've got to make this first in time to make it for her birthday in November! LOL! Imagine if I were to make Christmas tree ornaments! I'll have to start in summer or even spring just so that it'll be ready for Christmas! LOL!

So why is it that I'm such a slow stitcher? Well for one, I'm a L-A-Z-Y ass! LOL! Then, there are times I do wander off doing something else that some how manage to catch my interest; like reading OR worst still starting on yet another project. May be while stitching a piece, I got bored half way. Especially if its a big piece and have repeated patterns. I think I should stitch smalls or even medium sized pieces so that it'll at least make me concentrate on finishing it!

The case with satin cords.

Oh BTW, its my first time stitching on black linen. I would not say that I "love" it, in fact thank GOD I have pretty good eye sight now (with glasses of course!), its was pretty challenging to "stab" the needle on the fabric the correctly! And I did this with the help of my clear dinning table. Had to hold the fabric slightly up so that light go through and that I could see the grains....

Mum was complaining about how she can never find her glasses where it should be. Trust me, even if its right in front of her or on her head, she just can find it! So I made an attached cord with it, so that she'll be able to wear it around the neck at all times! Made it black coz I think clear colours are pretty easy to get dirty or stained.

So now, next on my plate is to finish up my other half done pieces! Otherwise hubs would not let me get new stash - one of the worst case scenarios he could think of now..... :( And here I'm saving up for Feb 2010 craft show in Paris....

Rude people

I really like this video by YouTuber, Englishteaboy. Watch the whole vid to get what I mean, by clicking on the title. What he said is quite true, people are just rude these days. Especially in the city.

I mean, won't it be nice to live in a place where people are just nice to each other? Won't it be nice if that sales person at least smile or say hello to their customers; not just coz they are getting a commission out of your purchases OR you're just good lookin (!!). Even if they don't do it, why don't we take the first step by being nice instead? I'd bet it'll make their day.

In his video, he mentioned that no one says G'Day (he's an Aussie) any more. Well ... its not quite that do-able when you live in a city. Even if one does it, it'll make him/her wanna past out due to the fact that they'll be greeting everyone while on their way to work/school etc.

However, not that I think people are just rude by not saying thank you, please, hello, cutting the queueing, but they also lack common manners. Common manners like closing one's mouth while yawning, sneezing outwards to other people (not only its rude but its one sure way to contaminate others with your germs!), speaking with a full mouth, by holding doors open for the person behind, ignoring seating priorities for pregnant women/old persons etc etc. I mean won't it be nice to not to have experienced these small or menial things that will ruin our entire day? I know I will have a great day just because someone in front hold the door open for me and not slam them in my face!

But then again I do wonder at times, are be being rude by saying you're welcome to someone who had not said thank you in the first place? There are times like these that a simple you're welcome could give one a blank look, a fuck off or whatever look from the receiver....

Let me be clear here, I'm not trying to be the patron of saint of social manners but I do try to make it a point everyday to be nice to other people first. The saying "do onto others what you want other to do onto you" rings clear. And I know we would all LOVE to live in a better and nicer place!

Random thoughts

Random thoughts

Some of the things that I do wonder and think about ALL day and it sometimes tend to keep me up at night...

1) Firing a gun. Wonder what's that like? I 'd love to try that out some time in the future. Well, I almost did it when a friend who owns several hand guns and a couple of shotgun offered to bring me to the shotting range. Wonder if the offer still stands?

Don't get me wrong, I'm normally not a viloent person, just the idea of handling a gun makes me curious.

2) Does thinking about someone else; ex-crush or lover, qualify as cheating on your spouse? What I meant to say is that, having the what ifs on our past relationships and also perhaps having day dreams about some one else other than the person you're with means that we going to cheat on them? Or does it means something else deeper? Deeper like, it's time to spice up our life as a couple? Deeper like, we are or will be having problems in our current relationships? Or I'm just being delusional? I just don't know what it all means now. Think it time to chat with the shrink?

3) Been having some really unhealty thoughts this past week. Unhealtly such as wanting to take off alone some where until futher notice. To party like mad like I used to. Well, not really MAD as per say. But just chill, you know with friends. To hit the trails if I can. The more I try not to think about it the more I'd like to do it. After having Owen, I feel like I'm just stuck here. Like I'm not really moving forward. I enjoy being a mum and all. But there's still something missing. It feels like I've not fulfil it just yet.

May be it's time I take a solo trip to recharge. To think about things I wanna do and to rethink my goals.

4) On the subject of infidelity. What would you do if that person does not even admit what they did was down right horrible and hurtful. But instead blame us for their behaviour? I'll be just totally lost for words and I won't waste my time trying to reason with them. I mean what's the point?!?

If this would to happen to our relationship; one of us falls out of love, we would just find a way to work things out for both of us. I mean there's just simply no point being unfaithful behind each others backs right? Truth, my friends is the way to live a sane life...

So you now know some of my strange thoughts. What about you? I'd bet you have some like all "normal" people do.

Sent from my iPod

Visiting the house of Cailler

Maison Cailler, Broc

Was a pretty nice Sunday. So with nothing much to do, we decided to go up to Broc for a visit to the Cailler (Nestle) chocolate factory.

Welcome to chocolate alley.... Owen and hubs

Caillers was one of the oldest chocolate making factory in Switzerland - since 1819. The location Broc, is very idyllic. With the green mountains (snow capped in winter) and hectares of farm land (mainly for milk production), the whole area screams "TYPICALLY SWITZERLAND"!!! LOL!

The chocolate alley....

OH! BTW, did I mentioned that the factory visit was a free visit? Even better was they give out free samples of chocolates! YUMMMMMYYYYY!!! Owen was so happy with this of course! LOL!

Some of the old chocolate making moulds.

So back to the main topic here... :p They show you some of their methods of chocolate production. Don't think they'll show people their WHOLE methods though. We saw how cocoa was roasted, processed into delicious chocolate before mixing other ingredients like milk, nuts, caramel, honey etc etc.... At the end of the visit, there's this small corner where they show case some of their history. From the 1st chocolate wrapping paper, the founder to the machines that was previously used in their factory.

1930's Nestle's "stamps"; small gifts hidden in chocolate bars then.

As such no visit would be complete without making a stop at their shop for a couple bars of chocolate right? BTW, this visit is not recommend if one is on diet! As it is, we smell like chocolate even after we reach home... hehehehehee...

PS: pictures were NOT good as was taken with my lousy phone camera... Time to change the phone! hehehehehe...

The end of barbecue summer...

Keeping the rolls warm in the oven...

It has been rainning for most of last week and for this coming week, although it looks good but its still windy during the day and cold in the evenings. Yup, summer is going away pretty soon.

Like every year, our building had a pot luck barbecue on Sunday. It was not bad meeting up with some of our neighbours although almost half did not turn up. Think its because this event tends to run till late and most of those who did turn up are middle aged rather than seniors... I think they might be afraid that they'll fall asleep half way while roasting this meat! muahahahahaha.....

Which reminds me, I did experienced some senior clients that fall asleep in the restaurant while I was working some time back. Had to wake them up when food was served, then they'll fall asleep again after eating and wake them up again when its nearly closing time!! We were pretty much being nice to them... :p

Not bad-lah... hehehehe...

For this barbecue, I made fried spring rolls, some fish & prawn crackers and for, dessert cassava cake - AKA bingka ubi kayu/manioc cake. Was my first try and it wasn't bad. It has been a long while since I ate this, once only fairly recently at a family friends bbq party when we were at La Rochelle, France.

Another yummy close up....

I've no idea it was so easy to make! If I've known earlier, would have made them more often. Just need grated cassava, coconut milk, a couple of eggs, some sugar, some salt and some grated coconut (optional). Mix them together and bake for about 1 hour or until cooked.

We're having bbq party again this coming Sunday with some friends, by the lakeside this time - if weather permits! I think I'll make them again for dessert.

Paris - Rochefort trip

One of the tower by the sea, La Rochelle town.

Was a late summer trip this time to the in-laws. As usual there was lots of eating involved! LOL! So this time I did not forget to take some meds for indigestion, you know for just in case for all those GOOD FOOD.... I love eating for pleasure but then again having too much pleasure will upset the usual running of the system... :p

The boys: Hugo, hubs, Jean-Marc (BIL) and Owen.

August is the height of summer here, where by temperatures could reach 38°C or 40°C in some parts of Europe. Yes, global baking is in for this century.... Had to slap on SPF 50 sun block almost everyday Owen and I was out this time around.

We drove from here to Paris - 5/6 hours drive, stayed over at 3rd SIL place. Then drove for another 5 hours to Rochefort, this time with BIL and friend - Hugo. THANK GOD BIL brought Hugo along for this trip! hehehehehe... Reason? He's very (VERY) good and patient with kids! I mean the guy could and can play for hours with Owen! Its just AMAZING!!! I mean I couldn't get through the day without having either a headache, brain drain and being tired at the end of the day being with the little guy.... :p

Owen checking out older cousins' Nintendo DS...

Any ways, this time around we Rochefort & La Rochelle is basically crawling with tourists - as per usual but there's more French tourists than English speaking tourists. Guess with the bad economy, people tend to not leave the country for summer holiday. Which is good, coz the money stay within the country thus stimulating income for the locals.

Don't think he'll let Owen have his turn though....

FINE! I'll just play with your toys. :p

We went to the beach, of course. But I really do not like the beach we went to this time. There's more pebbles, washed up corals/some small trash, and the water is not clear as it was cornered off by the municipal to make a pool like thingy instead of open sea. So THAT makes the water stagnant, cloudy and most of the time smelled like algae... YUCK!!! Its nice to swim as there's basically NO waves coming into the man made bay/lagoon. BUT I'd rather swim in the open sea!

We tried to go to Ile de Rè this time but it'll take us 3 hours of traffic jam to get there.... So the beach sucks this time. At the very least we did a nice beach in Malaysia! hehehehe.... With warm, crystal clear water that is!!!

BTW, this just come to my mind. If peeing in the swimming pool is forbidden, what do you think about peeing in the sea? I think its yucky to pee in the sea, but many people just do it! SO DO NOT ACCIDENTALLY GULP SEA WATER AS THERE MIGHT BE PEE YOU'RE DRINKING!! HAHAHAHAHAHA.... OK, enough of this.

The little ones "recharging their batteries with some chips!

Owen had a GREAT time playing with all his cousins (they are all BOYS) while we're in Rochefort. The little ones slept at around 11pm every night while we're there. We've been having problems with going back to the old routine with his sleeping time ever since we got back. ARRGGHHH.....

Back after 4 years.... This time with a little one!

Besides that, we were invited by the Boisselier (I hope I got the name right!) - a very close family friend, for a paella dinner. It was huge!! And it was really good with all those fresh seafood. They have a beautiful home. Their home is where hubs came to pick me up when we got married in 2005. We had our evening wedding reception on a boat. I was a good experience....

The GIANT yummy paella... :D

Its so nice to see them again as they do travel a lot ever since their retirement. I love their court yard. They planted an olive tree in the middle, some roses on the sides and apparently an orange and a prune (or was it a peach?) tree in big pots. I would love to have a court yard/winter garden if we ever could afford to buy a house here.

Would love to go back the next time. And this time I'll make sure we'll go to Ile de Ré...

Medieval Festival 2009 Aigle

This is a back dated post.

Meaning to blog about this last 2 weeks ago but as usual things come up. So here goes....

1st of August was Swissyland's national day. Since the whole country was on a standstill, with some exceptions of course, we decided to head off to Aigle (means eagle in French) for their Medieval festival . It was a really nice and hot day; cloudless skies!!

Aigle is a vineyard district not far from our place, about 35 mins drive. When we arrived in town, it was pretty strange as virtually EVERYTHING is shut and there was NO ONE on the streets to say that there's some kind of festival going on! Hubs kept on asking me "Are you sure there's something going on?!?"... That was not untill we decided to park the car and walk towards the chateaux where it should be held. Now chateaux Aigle is a small castle - ok, make that minuscule... In fact, I won't even think it should be called a chateaux!

Any ways, we had to pay for entrance (CHF15.- per adult) for us and Owen gets to go in for free since he's below 6 yrs old. Walked thru a couple of guards (teenager with spears!) and then a long cobbled/pebbeled path to be welcomed by actors dressed up in middle ages costums. From the hair styles down to wooden clogs! Well, we don't call them actors if they don't act real right? hehehehe...

There were huts/stalls selling their wares, from candles to fur, knives, swords (I swear!), tapestry, clay ware, baskets, clothing etc etc. They even show how the items that they sell were made during the middle ages. We went around and the interiors of the chateaux. It was quite interesting to see how, when and where the grapes were planted, trimmed, plucked, distilled and the final product; wine. The tools used were show cased as well as the hundreds of old wine labels from almost all over the world.

Food was interesting as well. They have a huge barbecue pit at the entrance of the chateaux with chickens. The BBQ chicken were really good by the way. Food were served in plates and bowls made out of coconut fibers and the spoons were of thin wood if I'm not mistaken. I doubt that we would pay for the same price if plates/bowls were made out of wood! They made really delicious apple juice as well there. It was served in jug form with tumblers, hand made pottery I should think. It was about 35°C or 34°C but the juice stayed cool, which was an excellent thirst quencher.

We had fun discovering the chateaux and the festival. Here I leave you with some photos from our outing at my WEBSHOTS album.

THE WRITING WAS ALREADY ON THE WALL SO LONG AGO

For your reading enjoyment.

This has been going on for far too long. The MACC acts like God. They kidnap families and torture those they arrest. They threaten those they interrogate with death if they refuse to talk.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The writing was already on the wall very much earlier. Alarm bells were wailing like banshees. But this was largely ignored. It was ignored because it was Malaysia Today that had triggered the alarm bells. Malaysia Today is not the most reliable source. It does not offer the best of information. What Malaysia Today dabbles in are rumours and innuendoes.

When the Anti-Corruption Agency, now called the MACC, kidnapped the family of a police inspector, Malaysia Today raised the alarm. They had kidnapped the wife and child of a police inspector who had investigated a Chinese underworld boss on the instructions of a higher-up with the rank of ASP.

The inspector was just doing what his boss had ordered him to do, and that was to open a file and launch an investigation into the activities of the Chinese prostitution, loan shark, drugs and gambling syndicate. And this resulted in the detention of three syndicate bosses.

What the MACC wanted the police inspector to do was quite simple. They wanted him to change his report so that the three underworld bosses can be freed from detention. And he would have to do that if he wants to secure the release of his family.

The police inspector refused to do that. Instead, he made a police report. And so did his wife. But nothing was done about the matter. The MACC officers were not arrested and dragged to court on kidnapping charges.

The MACC then leaked information to the media that they are investigating a very senior police officer, the Director of the CCD, for the crime of not declaring RM27 million worth of assets. The fact that MACC investigations come under the Official Secrets Act was not a hindrance. After all, the OSA is only used against opposition supporters and not against those who serve those who walk in the corridors of power.

Nevertheless, the Director of the CCD was finally not charged for not declaring RM27 million in assets. He was charged for using police property for his personal reasons, something that all government officers, ministers and politicians do blatantly every day of the week. But his real crime is that he detained several Chinese underworld bosses who control the prostitution, loan shark, drugs and gambling business all over Malaysia.

Then they arrested the lawyer who acted for the CCD Director. The MACC officers came to his office on the eve of Hari Raya and handcuffed him after roughing him up like one would do to an armed bank robber. To ensure that the lawyer suffered the greatest embarrassment this Hollywood-style arrest was done in full view of the entire office.

Malaysia Today wrote about all this. Malaysia Today not only wrote about all this but Malaysia Today repeated the stories again and again to make sure no one would say they somehow missed the story. But still nothing was done. No one denied the story. More importantly, no one did anything about what Malaysia Today revealed.

The MACC has been a tool of those who walk in the corridors of power for a long, long time. Officially, Barisan Nasional has 14 component members with Umno as the lead partner. Unofficially, Barisan Nasional has seventeen component members. The Election Commission is the fifteenth component member of Barisan Nasional, the Malaysian police the sixteenth, and the MACC the seventeenth. They all serve the interests of Umno and the Prime Minister.

The writing was already on the wall very much earlier. Alarm bells were wailing like banshees. But this was largely ignored. It was ignored because it was Malaysia Today that had triggered the alarm bells. Malaysia Today is not the most reliable source. It does not offer the best of information. What Malaysia Today dabbles in are rumours and innuendoes.

“Where is the smoking gun?” they ask. “Show me the body!” they demand. No gun, no body, then no crime has been committed.

Well, today, there is a body. It is the body of a most unfortunate Chinese opposition member who was arrested and tortured by the MACC officers. Yes, he was tortured. And he was tortured because the MACC wanted him to talk.

But he could not talk. He could not talk because there was nothing to talk about. The MACC wanted him to finger his comrades in the opposition. They wanted him to implicate his friends in the opposition for various crimes that the MACC alleges had been committed by those in the opposition.

He tried to explain that he is not being stubborn. He tried to explain that no crime had been committed. He tried to explain that he could not possibly implicate his comrades in the opposition for various crimes if these crimes are merely a figment of the MACC’s imagination.

So they continued to torture him. And he could no longer stand the torture. After all, he is not the macho type of man. He is but a gentle man who only wanted to get married this weekend. That was all that he wanted.

They threatened to kill him if he refuses to talk. With tears running down his cheeks he begged for mercy and pleaded with them not to harm him. They threatened to throw him off the top floor if he refuses to talk. Sobbing like a baby he went down on his knees and begged for his life.

They dragged him across the room and opened the window. Then something went terribly wrong. It was supposed to be just a threat. They just wanted to put fear in him. They did not really want to throw him off the top floor.

They just wanted him to see what the ground floor looks like from the top floor.The unfortunate young man panicked. He went ballistic when he saw the distance he would have to travel before hitting the ground floor. He struggled. They could not hold onto him. Gravity took over and the life of this young man was prematurely snuffed out.

The MACC then announced that they had released him the night before. They failed to announce that they had not released him from custody but released him from this world. Then they suddenly found his body the day after. He jumped. He committed suicide. He took his own life. He was never tortured. He was not dragged to the window with the threat that they would teach him how to fly.

This has been going on for far too long. The MACC acts like God. They kidnap families and torture those they arrest. They threaten those they interrogate with death if they refuse to talk.

And now one young man has really died. But no one will be punished. No one will be punished because they will say the young man took his own life. Why he took his own life no one knows. He was never tortured. He was never threatened with death. He was not made to look how far down the ground floor is. He was not accidentally dropped when he panicked and struggled and they could not get a good grip on him.That is what they will be telling you and me later today.