Poco Loco Mexican Restaurant

R2 found a Mexican restaurant near our hotel after we arrived in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife. It's called Poco Loco (which means "a little crazy"). According to the article we found, the restaurant is supposed to be an excellent one. After all, hubby loves Mexican food. So one day we set up to go there in the evening because it's only open during certain times of the day. Here's their card:

We got there at 19.00 sharp and the place was still empty ha ha...The place is in a rather secluded area, rather close to the Orchid Garden in Sitio Litre. You have to walk along an alley in order to reach it. Here's R2 posing near the restaurant (to the left there was a slope going down towards the restaurant's parking lot). 

Anyway, because it was rather windy and the wind was cool, we decided to sit inside. When we entered the room, I saw many tables there reserved already, so we entered the other room and sat down to choose what to eat. The prices of the food are MUCH MUCH cheaper than that in Finland (2-3 times cheaper).

R2 ordered some fajitas, I ordered Aztec beef steak, whereas MIL ordered some chicken tinga. Not long after that, our food arrived. Unfortunately for MIL, her chicken turned out to be VERY spicy (she's not used to hot food), so she couldn't finish it. Fortunately R2 couldn't finish his, so MIL ate the rest of the fajitas (without the spicy sauce). My Aztec beef steak was HUGE (thick) and very tender, but it wasn't spicy at all, so I asked for some tabasco ha ha...

Here are some photos of our food...

Here are some photos of us going out of the restaurant...

If I remember correctly the fajitas cost around €11 and my food was about the same. MIL's chicken tinga was cheaper, about €8,50. So I'd highly recommend the place, even though you'd better ask first how hot/spicy the food is if you're not used to burning hot food ha ha ha...I think in general each time we went out to eat together, the total amount we spent for the food and drinks were around €25-40. Not bad at all! :-D

Making Siomay

I haven't been taking scenery photos for weeks because it's been mostly grey and it's even worse after some of the snow has melted away because that means it's the time for dark/brownish snow. Not nice. Plus the sun has been hiding for weeks and weeks. It did shine for a few afternoons, but it hasn't been seen again for a while, so that's also another reason. 

Anyway, considering the fact that I have some tofu and I've been bored with cooking the same food over and over again, I decided to make some siomay. Because there aren't ready made siomay skins, I wanted to try making some. In the past I settled by just filling in some paprika with meat, but this time I was bent on making the skins myself. It turned out to be pretty easy (100 ml flour**, 60 ml water, a pinch of salt, half an egg - I only used the white egg this time), though I have no noodle maker, so I only used a rolling pin to roll the dough until it was very very thin. I could only make 9 sheets of siomay skin but it was enough because I had bought some paprika as well.

* Note on the siomay skin sheets: To make sure that they don't stick to one another when you stack them up before filling them up with the meat, use maizena flour.

** I use puolikärkeävehnäjauho to make the skin.

This time I combined 400 grams of mince meat with 200 grams of pollock (fish) meat with garlic, eggs, pepper, and tapioca powder*** in my food processor. Once the mixture was done, I warmed up the steam pan and started filling some paprika with tofu and meat as well as filling the sheets of siomay skin with the meat. Normally in Indonesia they have a tougher type of tofu in which you can make a slit and fill up the slit with the meat, but the kind of tofu available here is the very soft kind, so I can't possibly do that. That's why I opted to just shove the tofu to the bottom of the slices of paprika and then covered it up with the meat. Of course one needs to eat these with sweet soy sauce, peanut butter sauce, and a dash of lime juice. YUM YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*** The amount of tapioca powder is up to you. I like adding more to make the meat combo more "chewy". :-D 

Here are some photos (those white stuff is the tofu):

My belly's very very happy at the moment HE HE HE HE HE HE HE...Experiment WELL DONE!!! :-D

CNY Memories

Chinese New Year has come and gone. I didn't feel anything at all because I have no Chinese friends here, so it's kinda pointless to celebrate it on my own (plus it's too tough to try to make some of the lovely CNY cakes that I love). The other day I was talking about CNY with a relative of mine and it brought back my CNY childhood memories. :-D

You see, we lived with grandma (mom's mom) from the time when I was 4 years old until her death (I think I was around 17 years old at that time). Grandma was a Catholic and when we were younger, every CNY she'd prepare a big table. On the table there would be special CNY food offerings for those who had gone before us as well as an incense bowl (now I seem to recall she also put the photos of her ancestors on the table). She'd burn some incense and put the incense sticks in the bowl. As kids, we just enjoyed doing something like that because we could only do it once a year and we'd just mimic her even without understanding what it meant.

Because my grandma was a pretty prominent figure in her family, many relatives would come to visit us on CNY, including her elder sisters. Normally (as far as I know) the younger ones are supposed to be the ones visiting the elder ones. As young children, we enjoyed being able to meet our cousins and play with them. We also enjoyed meeting our aunts and uncles because usually they'd give us red enveloped filled with money HE HE HE HE HE HE...Oh, and let's not forget all the delicious CNY food that we'd be able to eat! My mom's family (grandma's big family) is famous for being wonderful cooks (including the men), because from ages ago, they had learnt to earn money by selling food. Even until today there are still many people who know my grandma's name related to her delicious food.

Because we weren't rich, mom would sometimes made us some new clothes (she always has a stack of cloth ready to be turned into new clothes) for the event so that my parents wouldn't have to buy new ones. 

Anyway, what I suddenly remembered while replying to my relative's email about CNY was one of the traditions that we did a few times when we were still young. Grandma bought some fake paper money and then she taught us how to fold them into something like this (when I googled them, I found out they were called joss paper). Click on the link to find more info about joss paper.

Here's a video clip on what we did back then:



I remember with the help of many cousins, we ended up making dozens and dozens of them. And after that, we'd burn them one by one in a huge tin. Of course as a young child, being allowed to burn stuff safely was fun ha ha ha ha ha...One thing I think I missed during our childhood was the dragon dance. My mom told me that when she was younger, the dragon dances used to be held on the streets and they were so beautiful. I think these days there are more dragon dances because the government has considered CNY as a national holiday. Still I'm glad for these lovely memories. :-)

Honey, You Make Me Fat!

I hear those words from R2's lips every now and then LOL!!! You see, normally he eats a normal meal once a day. In the morning and evening he'd drink coffee with a sweet bun, a piece of sweet bread, or a slice of cake (depending on whichever I buy/make for him). During the night while watching TV together, though, sometimes he can't resist temptation, esp. if I've make him something that he likes. On the other hand, I'm someone who eats small portions of food MANY times a day (esp. when I'm working, I tend to eat more depending on what kind of shift it is - if I have to use more physical energy at work, then I'll eat more).

One thing that I like preparing for the both of us is chili tuna puff pastry. So I just have to buy a package of frozen puff pastry from the supermarket as well as Pirkka Tonnikalaa chilikastikkeessa (a can of chili tuna). Then I'll take out the frozen puff pastry and wait until they're soft, cut them into slices, and just spread the chili tuna on top of the slices, put them in the oven until they're brown. The chili tuna is already hot enough and delicious enough so that I don't even have to add any spices there. Easy peasy! So whenever I make something like this (or other types of snacks that we both like), he'd sometimes tell me, "Honey, you make me fat!" LOL!!!


The other day he joked to me that whenever we travel, he'd find this type of trouble: I tend to get hungry more easily ('coz of my eating habit), so we end up eating more often than he'd like to eat, BUT more often than not, he doesn't want to just sit there and drink something if I'm eating something in front of him. 

So he said, "Let's say we travel somewhere, then as usual you'd get hungry more often than me and I'd have to eat, too. And then I'd try to tell myself that I'll compensate the eating with walking some more...BUUUUTTT then because of all the walk, you'll get hungry even more....ARRRGGHHH!!! Honey, you make me fat!!!"

ROFL ROFL ROFL ROFL...what a vicious cycle! :-D :-D :-D I LOVE growing old with him! He makes me laugh! :-D
 

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Kampsut (Traditional Blood Cakes)

The other day I tried making "kampsut" or "kampsuja" (traditional blood cakes in Lapland) that my MIL usually made. I wanted to make them using reindeer blood, but alas, when I went to the store, the only thing available was cow blood, but that's OK 'coz the recipe that I followed used cow blood instead of reindeer blood anyway.

Here's the Finnish recipe as well as the photos: Kampsut.

You can use Google Translator to translate the page, though I'm not sure how accurate it is he he...To me making this reminds me of making "baso" or "Indonesian meatballs".

Here are the ingredients:

5 dl reindeer or cow blow (1 dl = 100 ml)
1-3 dl water (I used only 1 dl water)
0.5 tsp salt
0.5 tsp baking soda
9-12 dl rye flour

I think I used close to 12 dl rye flour instead of 9 dl. And the cow blood I bought from the supermarket was conveniently packaged in a 5 dl bottle, so all I had to do was let it melt (it was in the frozen section of the supermarket).

Anyway, you just need to combine all the ingredients and let it be for a night if possible. I actually only let it be for a few hours 'coz I didn't have time, but I put it in the fridge. After a few hours, I took it out and then made them into big balls and then I boiled a lot of water in a HUGE pan (the bigger the better, esp. if the balls you make are big). Make sure to add enough salt in the pan so that the blood cakes will have some taste, though. If you don't want the blood cakes to stick to one another, it's said that you'd better add a new ball after the first one has risen to the surface. And make sure to put the balls in the pan after the water has been boiling. The recipe says that it takes approximately 45 minutes before each ball is cooked (though of course it depends on how big you make them).

To enjoy these blood cakes, it's better to eat them with "voisula". Just slice up lots of onions and cook them with butter until they're soft, then add more butter (as much as you want) and a little bit of milk. And remember to add some cranberry jam if you can find some!

Hubby loves eating them this way: heat up some of the "voisula" in a pan, then slice off some of the blood cakes for one serving and slice off the baked potatoes and just mix them all up. That way you get the onions and butter mixed up with everything and it's just delicious! :-D

The good thing about making these cakes is that I can save half of them in the freezer, so I don't have to start all over again next time he he he...Bon appetit! :-D


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3BT: Random Days

1. Kissing hubby by sucking both his upper and lower lips (and in the process getting tickled by his grown moustache) LOL!!!

2. To sit on the carpet in front of hubby's couch while he was sitting there, then looking up and being able to see his nostrils very clearly from that angle. What a view! :-D

3. Booking a spring trip to Rome. WOOHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOO!!! Can't wait!!!

4. Hearing a small boy (perhaps around 5 years old) babble about money to his mother, which made me and a couple of elderly smile because he just wouldn't shut up.



5. A customer saying, "I'll arrange everything so that the barcodes of each item I bought was facing you so that you don't have to turn them. I don't want you to suffer from de Quervain syndrome." AWWWWWWWW...it was the VERY first time someone had EVER done that!!! So heart-warming! :-D

6. The smell of Indonesian potato croquettes being baked in the oven and then after they were done, the taste was just SO heavenly.

7. Me: (jokingly) STOP drinking coffee!
Hubby: (without missing a beat) STOP eating chili sauce!
Me: UGH! That was a sucker punch!!!!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHHH...

7. Watching this video:

A Quickie Before Work

I'm just gonna post random pics that I haven't posted before ha ha...My mind's elsewhere this week and I bet you know where it is...OUR HOLIDAY PLANS!!! Yep, can't wait already to just go and board the plane. The other day I booked a massage for us in Bangkok. We'll see how it goes. I'm gonna report about it later on ha ha...

OK, here goes...

Flowers in front of MIL's apartment:



The ice-cream I had when the company treated us to dinner. VERY yummy!!! :-D


The pepper pork steak I had. It cost 19.50 Euros - no way I'd ever want to pay for it by myself, though it was good. :-D


Another lovely cloud formation - the photo was taken already last month in Kelujärvi.


Last photo was taken after the company dinner. Photo taken at around 11 pm. Yep, it's getting dark now during the night. Midnight Sun is over he he...


OK, now I need to get ready to work!!! Have a blessed day, people! :-D

Back from Budapest!!!

We had a GREAT time in Budapest and the weather was pretty nice, too. It went even as hot as 25'C on Thursday. In the mornings it was rather chilly (around 11-15'C) and the wind could be pretty strong and cold, but after midday it was nice and warm (18-25'C) and we even sunbathed while resting our weary legs and feet. Why weary legs and feet? Because R2 didn't want to use any kind of public transport, so we walked everywhere. Yep. EVERYWHERE. Good thing they had plenty of clean stairs and benches around the city to sit on he he he...

When we first got there, it felt weird to see dilapidated old buildings side by side with newer buildings and they all had different styles. One thing that captured my eyes was the fact that there were plenty of small streets in the city centre and people could park parallel on both sides, leaving only the middle lane for one car to pass by. Here's an example:


We arrived in Budapest in the evening and R2 was really hungry, so we didn't have time to browse around for a resto. The minute we found one, we just went for it ha ha ha...It was actually rather pricey, but we enjoyed the food and the service greatly.

I ordered seafood soup: fresh shrimps, oysters, and fish (3500 HUF or around 13 Euros - in Finland it'd have cost at least 1.5 times or twice as much). Here's a pic of it (the serving was twice as much in a huge bowl so I was really full after eating it - btw, the serving bowl isn't in the pic):


Here's the cheapest food we ate in Budapest. I bought Chinese noodles plus sweet and sour chicken. R2 ordered potatoes and spicy chicken and we bought a bottle of Nestea ice tea and altogether they cost 1700 HUF (around 6.4 Euros). And you know what? The chili sauce was TERRIFIC 'coz they use FRESH chili!!! :-D


Here's a sneak peak of Danube River at night:



I think here are the highlights of our trip:

1. Labyrinth. It's an underground labyrinth/cave. It was VERY dark and thrilling. We deliberately went there at night so that it'd be so dark and we had to bring a lantern to circle around the caves (lanterns were provided). It cost 2000 HUF per person to get in (around 7.5 Euros) but we felt it was WORTH it. I'll write more about this in a separate post 'coz I have too many photos.

2. Gellert Hill. Had to walk up many stairs, but the view from the top of the hill was just MAGNIFICENT. :-D

3. Castle Hill. Another hilly area.

4. Opera House. The hour long guided tour cost around 2900 HUF (around 11 Euros).

5. The Free Budapest Walking Tour. We really had a nice time walking around for 2.5 hours and listening to the tour guide. I'll also write about it later on.

What's interesting is that some places have toilet codes on the receipts, so before going to a toilet, you have to buy something and then punch in the codes. Good thing we didn't throw away any receipts - otherwise we'd be in HUGE trouble. Here's an example of the receipt:


OK, I won't write more here, but later on I'll write about our trip in details along with plenty more pics, so beware HA HA HA...

3BT: Random Days

1. Hubby insisted on cooking today 'coz he wanted to cook the food the way he liked it - not the way I liked it. It's NICE to have him take charge in the kitchen once in a while.

2. Hubby made pancakes on Sunday. Though I can make them myself, it's again nice to be able to just sit down and eat without having to do anything else beforehand ha ha...

3. Buying face mask 'coz I still have some leftover budget for this week's grocery budget HO HO HO HO...

4. The other week after I received my paycheck, I decided to pamper myself by buying Bailey's and Kissanminttu (Cream Mint alcoholic drink) and they didn't even ask for my ID this time HA HA HA...

5. When I got back home with two bottles of alcoholic drinks as a treat, I found out that hubby had bought some chips and dip HUA HA HA HA...so that day was our party dayyyy at home!!!

6. Having some troubling questions and getting the answer. THANK YOU, God, for your answer!!!

7. Getting some opps to write. ;-D

8. Trying to recreate the kind of food that my Mom used to cook and I managed to do it. It tasted HEAVENLY!!! :-D

9. Just created another 2011 Calendar filled with flowery images from Lapland. Here goes:

Lapland Flowery Images Calendar 2011 by ailema4ever
Design a photo calendar online at Zazzle

Crete Diary #1

When we were at the hotel, we tried mini golf once 'coz it was free. Here are some pics of us playing mini golf. I must say it was my first time trying it, but I managed to get hole-in-one TWICE in different holes HUA HA HA HA HA...I felt GOOOODDD!!!!



However, we couldn't swim as much as we wanted to 'coz the water was still FREEZING. Fortunately there was an indoor swimming pool (albeit a small one) and I swam there twice. We did swim in this pool below twice, though.


Here's a photo of us sitting on the free shuttle bus to downtown Hersonissos:


There are many trees like this around the area, apparently more for decoration purposes or something.


I LOVE this store's facade 'coz it's just SO pretty!


Along the beach in Hersonissos, there are so many restos with a beautiful view like this (note: those flowers are REAL):


We tried visiting different restaurants to try out their food he he he he...

Apparently in summer there are usually many Dutch tourists in Hersonissos area, so many cafes/restos offer Dutch menu, such as the one I ordered below:


It's called Bami Schotel (10 Euros) and there's also Nasi Schotel and Lumpia, etc. I must say that the satay sauce tasted so similar to the satay sauce in Indo, so I was VERY VERY VERY happy with my order. ;-D

I've uploaded some videos to youtube, but they're still being processed, so I'm going to link them later on bit by bit. Gonna exercise now after a long break he he...

Doing The Trip Alone

As you probably know, my Indo trip was the first time I had ever been separated for a long time with hubby after I moved to Finland on March 2007. A part of me didn't want to go, yet another part of me was SO excited to go back to Indo.

The weird thing was that, during my trip back and forth, SLEEPYHEAD ME couldn't sleep on the planes. That's something I wasn't expecting. Even last year when R2 and I went to Indo, I could still sleep on the planes, but this time I couldn't. Dunno why. I was SO frustrated 'coz my eyes were SO tired and heavy and I could feel something pounding behind my eyes after a long while. I threw up twice on the way to Indo. Good thing was that I didn't get sick on the way back - I think it had something to do with the fact that I spent a night at Marriott Hotel nearby Hong Kong airport so that I got at least a 7-hour decent sleep despite the long journey.

I had a terrible jet lag when I arrived in Indo (had a HARD time sleeping for a few days at least - this didn't happen last year) and R2 also had trouble sleeping (he woke up almost every night and had a hard time going back to sleep). So my heart was torn in two - 'coz R2 suffered as well.

Thankfully my brother has bought a laptop and subscribed to a better inet connection, so R2 and I could chat a few times a week and we could also use our webcams to see each other. The bad thing was that my bro's inet connection wasn't strong enough to stream two webcams at the same time (Yahoo Messenger kept on shutting itself down), so we had to take turns in seeing each other ha ha ha ha...but all in all it helped a lot. R2 also called me using Skype a few times. THANK GOD for technology!!!

The first week in Bandung was TERRIBLY hot (around 30-32'C), but then it started raining almost daily, so the temperature got down. One morning I found out that it was only 22.5'C he he he...nicely cool!!! Mind you that when I left Finland, it was -5'C.

After being in Bandung for about 2.5 weeks, I felt like wanting to go back to Finland again. This time I didn't have too many things to do, so it felt like I was doing nothing much except eat, sleep, talk with my family and friends, go to the mall, etc. I did enjoy my time there, but I THINK the longer I stay in Sodankylä, the more I'll feel that Bandung is TOO chaotic, crowded, and noisy.

I have to admit that it feels like my elbow room is WAY too restricted (I almost felt like wanting to scream to the people there: "Move away from me!" - crazy, eh?). I feel that there are too many people, too many vehicles, too many street sellers (some of them put their stalls almost in the middle of the street!), too many wild drivers in Bandung. It's pretty logical why I feel this way...let's look at this info from Wikipedia:

The population in Sodankylä in 2009: 0.76/km²
The population in Bandung in 2004: 14,976/km²

Anyway, I did eat a lot of different kinds of food he he he...to make my posts not too long, let me just share a pic of a tropical fruit called "manggis" in Indo (for some reason I don't remember the English name) that I managed to find in Bandung that I can never find here in Sodankylä:


Notice the 7 "petals" at the bottom of the fruit...they represent the number of "pieces" of manggis there are inside. When I was a kid, whenever manggis was in season, we used to play this guessing game...we'd cover up the bottom part and ask our friend to guess how many manggis pieces there were inside he he he...


The inside of the fruit...you can eat the white parts (there are seeds inside the big ones, but you can swallow them too). See? There are exactly 7 pieces he he...If I remember correctly, there are usually around 4-7 pieces (no more, no less).


I've taken plenty of videos of Ken, as well, so I'll share them later along with other stories and pics. I still have plenty of things to do now...such as blog-hop ha ha ha...Btw, THANK YOU for all the birthday wishes! :-))) My birthday was spent in my in-laws' where we had moose and potatoes and also a chocolate cake he he he he...;-D (And I don't feel a year older WA HA HA HA HA HA...)

Abundance This Weekend

As I've said in my other post, last Friday we went to my in-laws. That same day in the morning I weighed myself and realized that I had GAINED WEIGHT!!! ARRRGGGHHH!!!! I didn't even know that I weighed that much now as it didn't feel too much. I'm back to my highest weight now and I need to do some diet (cut off some snack, esp. if it's late snacking!) before I go back to Indo, since I KNOW I'll gain weight there.

Yeah, I know I'm fussy right now about this weight thingie since I'd made a commitment to myself prior to moving to Finland that I'd stay in a certain range of weight he he he...I don't want to be too skinny, but I also don't want to be too heavy as it's hard to lose weight (but don't worry, I still love myself HA HA HA HA). But why do I talk about this topic here? Because it's related to "abundance" LOL LOL LOL!!!

And here's one joke for you HI HI HI HI HI HI...

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Anyhow, after going back from the mine, for some reason I was SO tired that I took a nap. I think it only took me less than 2-3 minutes to fall into dreamland. At around 4 pm Arttu went home and I woke up. He had initially thought that I would've been ready to leave right away, but I just woke up and I was still sleepy hi hi hi...

Hey, come to think of it, I've been more tired than usual these past few days. Must be PMS he he he he...;-D

Well, back to the story: we packed our bag and brought everything we needed. We had decided to make some pizza there, so we had bought all the necessary ingredients. Arttu also bought some hamburgers since he thought we could eat them on Friday night and we could make the pizza only on Saturday. It was a nice sunny day to start with and we left home at around 5 pm. ;-D

When we arrived in my in-laws, we found a note written by my mom-in-law. She gave us instructions on which house plants to give water to and how much water we should give. They're still inside now since it's still too cold for them to grow outside. After all, they're still so tiny he he he he...but she's going to take them all out in summer. ;-D

She also said thank you for our willingness to spend the night there. Hey, it's MY pleasure he he he he...She had actually bought PLENTY of food for US!!! Dear goodness...you should've seen how much food she had in her fridge. She bought a WHOLE roasted chicken and also two slices of uncooked steak and as usual, she had plenty of milk, bread, cheese, and other stuff.

Amazing woman!!! I haven't actually told you this before, but twice Arttu was making coffee in her house and twice he forgot to put the coffee pot below the coffee maker. The result was of course obvious. Coffee trickling all over the counter and at one time it even trickled down to the cupboard below the counter so he had to take out all the stuff from that counter and cleaned it.

But what was her reaction? She just laughed!!! Can you believe it? Another amazing thing about her is what she wrote in the note. She said that later on it would be her turn to help us out "if" and "when" we had kids HE HE HE HE HE...

She actually wrote down "if" and "when" just like that and I TRULY appreciate that. She had never told us that she would love to have more grandkids (she only told me that after I had told her that I would want to try having a kid at the end of this year). I'm SO SO SO LUCKY to have such a grand mom-in-law HE HE HE HE HE HE...

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Back to the topic hi hi hi...Arttu and I brought a big box of game we bought at Lidl some time ago. There are many different types of games in that box, including chess and backgammon. We played different types of games during the night and then he introduced me to Mikado. Does anyone else know what kind of game Mikado is? I had NEVER heard or seen it before, but it was VERY interesting hi hi hi hi...

Just click on the link to read about it. We were giggling and laughing while playing it. We had to really concentrate on picking up the stick one by one without moving the others he he he he...We went to bed at around midnight. My mom-in-law had prepared clean sheets and pillows for us to use on their big bed HE HE HE HE HE...

Arttu watched Jackie Chan's Tuxedo on TV for a while (their TV is in their bedroom). I couldn't bring myself to watch it till the end, though, since I was SO SO SO tired. Zzzzzz....

In the morning we woke up late HO HO HO HO...BLISS, BLISS, BLISS!!! Arttu made some coffee and we drank it. Then since around the yard there was still plenty of snow, I played potkukelkka (kicksled) for a while...sliding around the VAST yard here and there while Arttu changed the car tyre hoods.

It was 10'C and the sun was shining, so I had to put on my sunglasses while playing with my mom-in-law's potkukelkka. YIPPPIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! After a while I got sweaty hi hi hi hi hi hi...Then he had to bring in more firewood to the living room. After that we started making pizza together. FUN, FUN, FUN!!! ;-D

After eating pizza, he watched TV for a while as I read some magazines. We only got back home at around 7 pm. At home I watched "P.S. I Love You". I think the movie's OK. I had some teary moments in the movie he he he...

I like the fact that at the end of the movie, the writer doesn't "force" the main character to have a relationship with anyone in particular. I like the fact that it's so clear how one needs time to grieve and let go. One good thing about the movie is that it reminds me to cherish every little moment with my hubby and that I shouldn't sweat the small stuff in love.

One of my fave quotes from the movie is this:

"We're so arrogant, aren't we? We're so afraid of age, we do everything we can to prevent it. We don't realize what a privilege it is to grow old with someone...Someone who doesn't drive you to commit murder. Or doesn't humiliate you beyond repair."

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Note to Self: The other day Arttu had a car accident. He had to leave to a certain place very early, so he got a bit sleepy while driving to that other city. He crashed into a pole and broke the right rear-view mirror. I was SO SHOCKED when I heard about that. I'm VERY thankful that he's okay. I hugged him SO tightly after he told me about that. Phew!!! I hope God will let us grow old togetherrrrrr...and hopefully grow wiser.

Lady Luck

I had this weird connection with my Mom back in Indo when it comes to food. LOTS of times when I craved for something, yet I didn't tell her what I wanted, the next day she cooked the EXACT food that I had been craving for. Unbelievable!!! However, it's not "that" unbelievable as after all, she's my Mom, right?

Now after moving here for almost 5 months, I have to tell you that Lady Luck seems to have followed me here. I've had that kind of connection with my mother-in-law. Well, she doesn't realize it as I haven't told her about it, but there're already 4 instances when we "clicked" when it comes to food.

As you know, I'm on a tight grocery shopping budget, so I can't afford buying fish (sure we can buy fish once a month but only a small amount of it). Two months ago I was craving for fish twice and twice my mother-in-law satisfied my craving by cooking fish when we visited them.

Then two weeks ago I was craving for something soupy. We visited my in-laws again on Saturday as usual and ta daaaaaa...what did I found? REINDEER SOUP!!! YUMMY!!!

Then just last week after having lunch and sauna, we were lazing around on a daybed (hubby was watching F1 qualification). I was reading a book and thinking how wonderful it would be if I could cook sausage at home. Unfortunately, I had eaten our last sausage the day before and we couldn't possibly buy more at the supermarket as it was late already (around 7.30 pm). Then what happened a few minutes after I had that thought? My mother-in-law came into the room and asked if we would like some grilled sausages. Talk about "coincidences"!!! Of course I said YES right away HA HA HA HA HA...LOL!!! Boy, my belly was SO HAPPY then. *HUGE GRIN*

So, I sure do hope this luck continues he he he he he...^________________________^

Scared of Exotic Food?

WARNING: For anyone who just had dinner or a meal, DO NOT read this blog! It might cause your stomach to turn. And for anyone who's HUNGRY, DO NOT read this blog as well. Read it at your own risk.

Two days ago I decided to make an Indonesian snack for us both. When my hubby went home from work, he asked me what they were. (I'll add the pics later) I told him to try one. Then he asked suspiciously, "Is there any frog meat inside?" I replied, "Yep, frogs, snails, snakes." (Actually I made a dough out of flour and the filling consisted of vermicelli, peas, beef, carrots, mushrooms)

Yeah, a funny thing about inter-cultural marriage is food. Whenever I try to cook something "exotic", he'll ask me what it is and I'll do my best to tease him. *evil grin*

What do people back in Indo eat? Yes, they eat snails, frogs, and a few people like eating dog meat, as well. They also eat snakes, cow's intestines, cow's brain, cow's tongue, and chicken feet. I ABSOLUTELY adore frogs, cow's intestines, cow's brain, cow's tongue, and chicken feet (especially my Mom's version of those food). I've never tried dog meat, though. They say it makes your belly feel like burning after you eat it. Snails? Yep, tried it once but not too fond of it he he...

If I remember other odd things about this topic, I'll surely post 'em later. :-)))