shopping for the littles

we're fortunate to have highly fertile cousins popping out babies left, right and centre. while this takes some heat off us to procreate (hello porpor, just pointing you've enough great-grandchildren without our contribution!) it does mean we're constantly buying baby clothes. in fact, my cousin has been sending her mothercare parcels to us for me to mule home and our doorman is starting to suspect that i'm the preggers person. 

most times, i spare the mister the agony because "if (he) wanted to spend saturday at le petit bateau, (he'd) have his own bloomin' baby!" which is very similar to what i snarl on planes ("if i wanted to be kept awake by a screaming baby, i'd have my own bloomin' baby!"). as you might've guessed, we haven't been child-proofed yet. nevertheless, with one little "cousin once removed" (he's not our nephew) turning one, and another just born, LPB presents were in order and the mister was coaxed into the boutique where he stalked off to a corner to reply "important work emails" i.e. be an insta voyeur :)

on the upside, i do think we'd be thick-skinned and ask for hand-me-downs from said fertile cousins eventually. to which the mister mused that, "considering what we paid, even if it's a girl she'll be wearing those bermudas!" methinks it's time to start saving for their therapy...

pop up in hyde park

we like bocca and like the ice cream even more but while the restaurant is atmospheric, i sometimes feel they get a little same-y after a while. this is where my ever-resourceful and ever-indulgent husband comes in. goodness knows how he consistently manages to suss out a good deal and when he learnt that bocca was doing a hyde park pop up, he scored us a mid-week table for two. now this may or may not have been precipitated by my latest housework blitz and i think at one point i told him in no uncertain terms that i was 1. on strike 2. not cooking. but the mister, he's got the patience of a saint and eats like a sinner ;) methinks he was secretly pleased not to have to eat my cooking. heck, i was openly pleased not to eat my own cooking!

 

dinner was in this beyoootiful white tent strung with fairy lights (i'm such a sucker for fairy lights). speaking of white tents, another day, another white tent! little did we know that the very next day we'd be in a white tent for the british red cross' 150th anniversary garden party at westminster abbey. now i've never been into westminster abbey so my inner perpetual tourist was thrilled at the prospect. but more important than my shallow elation was how we even managed to squeeze onto the guest list. it was a small party and a relatively modest one (i like that, don't you? if they'd free flow DP, they didn't, do think i'd have second thoughts about about contributing!) appreciate the staff are stewards of donated funds and we had such a lovely time learning about the ins and outs from our hosts. in fact, our host had been with the organisation for 15 years and this was the first time he'd been invited to the annual garden party. made me feel a little embarrassed that we were there when there are probably so many more deserving parties. not to take away from the mister and his awesomeness for spearheading a brand new thingum that's win-win and everyone seems pleased by. i'm so proud of him, my heart swells every time i think about his strong sense of social responsibility, about how he's all about giving back and making things happen despite the red tape. and as a medic, the british red cross is a cause close to heart and home and i'm so happy the mister feels the same.

oh but i was talking about the pop-up before this rare moment of altruism got the better of me ;)

the menu was admittedly limited but given their, well, limitations - it IS smack in the middle of hyde park- it was pretty well executed. charming waiter, good vino and before we knew it we were there for three hours. 

and on our way out, it might've been the wine talking but the mister convinced me this little critter was a dog. sigh. the mister, how he takes the mickey out of me :(

almost best pizza outside naples

when the in-laws were in town last month, we were spoilt for choice when it came to dining options. having sent a constant stream of photos home, they were completely clued-in about our hangouts. it's a happy problem, really, to have so much they want to do but so little time. ditto for so much we wanted them to try food-wise and so little time. one of our favourite meals in london was pizza at brixton. it's been hailed as the best pizza in london (hm, not so sure about that!) and while i prefer the pizza at made in italy, this little cultural foray into the hustle bustle that is market row was something they couldn't miss as tourists. was last there in winter and hadn't counted on the whiff of raw fish from the stall next door wafting over our pizza (urk...) but in-laws liked the pizza so all's good. it's chewy like naples and i like that they only do pizza. and there's only 7 (?) to choose from. we like places that pick one dish and do it very very well.

forward planning

so in winter when it was dark, dreary and officially the coldest winter since 1962, i bought a picnic basket on sale. ever the optimist, i was sure i'd be able to use it soon. so desperate we were that we hazarded a picnic when the sun came out in march, albeit bundled in our winter woolies. 

hadn't realised i'd be waiting almost six months to finally break it out but when we did, oh what fun it is to ride in a no-horse open park! sorry, that's terrible improvisation. thankfully our picnic improvisation faired a little better and i've since come to realise that bubbles make everything better. in retrospect, was also quite silly to buy a two person basket because the mister is a social creature and we've yet to use our picnic basket just us two. the first time we were with my high school friends who were in london celebrating the end of their specialisation exams in edinburgh. and this time we'd houseguests and my oldest friend who was in london to watch her brother's admission to the cool club of surgeons. there's probably a more accurate name but cool surgeons' club sounds better :) but back to bubbles making everything better. ever the gracious guest, D brought good bubbles while N, his beautiful fiancee, brought a smooth brunello fresh from her tuscan holiday. and C bought half of pauls the patissiere. the mister and i rustled up some crisps (we've cupboards full of crisps!) and basil pesto for the cheese plate, with grapes and sourdough. it came together well and we brought a few litres of freshly squeezed fruit juice too because my dear C is allergic to alcohol. and there we go! picnic sorted :)

regents row

the mister loves markets, more so than i do. and he's always game to go a'exploring around londontown. his sister had told him about broadway market and we made the trek one weekend to see if it was all it was cracked up to be. pity the sweltering heat for i'm weaksauce and would've been better company had i not been hangry (not hungry+angry but hot+angry in this case!) but we did head down to regents row when we were done pushing our way cheek+jowl through the market. stopped by the cutest little floating bar and had a pineapple mojito that defo cooled me down some, and wandered up and down the canal, ending up at a vintage furniture shop. back on road level, a beat up old piano, torn sheet music, beer and a rosary made for some of the best jazz we've heard in some time. washed down with BBQ pork pho and vietnamese iced coffee (!), the afternoon redeemed itself :)

speakeasy

a friend graduated last month and we went for drinks to celebrate. it was a little speakeasy that, hmm, how do i put this delicately, had more style than substance. i liked the idea of it (detective agency) but the role-playing bit at the beginning where you sort of let yourself get interrogated by the hostess / detective agency boss...? was defo cringey. the mister kept rolling his eyes i had to elbow him firmly to remind him of his manners. the drinks were, if you ask me, trying too hard. their re-conceptualised old fashioned was so far removed from an actual old fashion that it didn't taste like one at all. which's pity because you know what they say about the wheel and not reinventing it. also, if it aint broke, don't fix it. but the company was good and we were happy to see dr. k so very happy.

ikeda

 

cha soba is yummy, tempura ebi is prawns bathed in carbs then deep-fried and by definition, yummy, so combining the two, you must get double yummy. but the synnergistic effect coupled with the surprise element made this little baby out-of-this-world yummy. short of describing it as life-changing, which it truly was, words fail me :) 

also, hands down the best ever cha soba, udon, somen and tonkatsu outside tokyo. before i tried theirs, i used to wonder "ok, it's just noodles, how good can it be?" and then i took my first bite and fell hook, line and sinker for ikeda. still feel the tempura at tenshin in singers is better but hey, when starved for authentic japanese food, thankfully one need not look too far in london. ikeda is a sweet little restaurant tucked away in mayfair. you're paying mayfair prices but it's third generation and family run. the boss lady is the epitome of elegance and why japanese ladies age so well is beyond me. in fact, it makes me downright envious and i hope to similarly preserve my youth by association.

the local

we'd a couple of days between houseguests and to celebrate it being "just us" at home again, the mister and i decided to check out a sweet little bar nearby. while i'm anti-hunting (killing for sport?! GO AWAY ALREADY!) i couldn't help but appreciate the beautiful trophy on the wall.

and i love being newlyweds with minimal responsibility and all the time in the world. sure you've heard of DINK (dual income no kids) and worse yet, DINS (leave that to your imagination) but SINK (single income no kids), to me, is the place to be, as long as you're not the sole breadwinner heh :)

i've said before and i'll say it again that i'm humbled by the mister, by how hard he works and everything he does to support our little family of two. i know it's not easy and i like to think our lifestyle is far from lavish, but he spoils me nevertheless and for that i'm incredibly grateful. also, the C word has been coming up a fair bit lately and i'm so happy we're on the same page. as and when it happens (oh god please do give us children one day!) it'll be on our terms and when we are ready. i mean the whole point of tying the knot early-ish is so we've more time together, to see the world and realise our dreams (cliched but true!) before the pitter patter of little teos. strongly believe in seasons, and how there's a season for everything. we've had time to grow individually, and now's a time to grow as a couple before we grow with our offspring. looking forward to that :) but enjoying the present and what's immediately ahead too much to be too fussed about them bebes.

and, seriously, nothing beats the freedom of being able to just up and go, and the sweet joy of being selfish and self-indulgent. so on that note, we're just back from paris last weekend (second time in as many months, eurostar how i love thee) and we're driving from london to bruges to celebrate the mister's birthday and roadtripping norway next month. all these wonderful wanderlust-satiating things on a whim that we won't have the luxury of if 1. we had kids 2. lived in singapore. so for now, complain as i do about the tube, bus, weather and banks, london suits us just fine :)

maltby

it's no secret that maltby street market is one of our favourite parts of london, and we somehow manage to find our way there rain or shine, regardless of season. we've gone from huddling over a hot water bottle and toddy at the birdy bar, to inhaling ice cream in the summer heat. most times, a visit to maltby isn't complete without the 200m dash from the car to st john's for custard donuts. we're defo not morning people so getting our sorry behinds early enough to guarantee a donut is not going to happen. but we've been lucky so far and usually make it down to score a couple from the last six donuts left. cutting things too fine for comfort, but that's how the mister lives life:  on the edge. and after we've had our donut comfort, it's a power walk to the monty's queue. now we're not above queuing for food. far from! in fact, we've once queued 3h for life-changing tempura at tsukiji before the fukushima disaster. but that's another story. the queue at monty's is merely testament to the sheer goodness that is their reubens. we had the in-laws with us and ordered three (usually the mister and i have one each but i didn't want them to think their precious son was married to a glut who was going to eat him out of his house and home :/)

but i mean, come on, have you ever seen anything that beautiful? i don't even like red meat! nor too much salt! yet somehow this little sandwich has a hold on me that i can't shake.

matsuri

the mister's japanese client brought him to matsuri last month and he came home on cloud nine. he enjoyed it so much he even tried to swing a dear friend's graduation dinner from zuma to matsuri, albeit without success. but such was matsuri's pull that the mister forgot all decorum (granted among close friends decorum is the last thing we exhibit!) and practically hijacked a celebration dinner six years in the making (no, our friend wasn't repeatedly retained, he's a doctor), and hosted by said friend's proud parents.

anyway with the mister itching to re-visit matsuri with me, we needed no excuse to go by. but it so happened that we had last-minute guests in town because hey it's like the world and his wife are in london this summmer! and the only thing better than spontaneous drop-ins (so what if they were here to watch wimbly finals... i maintain it was us they came to see) is spontaneous drop-ins who love food as much as we do. so to celebrate their recent engagement and us all being in london together, the mister booked matsuri on their last night in london.

it was a substantial ten course omakase and below are the photo-worthy highlights. i.e. the mountain of lobster they teppan-ed on the spot, and FIREBALL ICE CREAM. yeah, totally a street-fighter moment.

(photo credits to the mister because he's steady hands and doesn't crack under pressure the way i do!)

kitchen table

to take the edge off our return from barca because coming in was a complete 'mare, the mister planned a kitchen*table date for the next day. and boy am i glad he did because when you arrive at 2am and have to host in-laws in a one-bedder, complete with 7am start because his sister was arriving bright and early from NYC, i was getting a'hangry. now i've been to b*dawgs a couple of times and really liked the place. to avoid the queue, i'd go really early or really late. but i liked the concept and well, bubbles and processed meat on a brioche bun. what's not to like?! so you can imagine my surprise when i learnt of kitchen*table but james and his missus are a lovely lovely pair and dinner was such good fun. would defo be back with more friends in tow :)

anniversary

 it's been some time since i last took a photo of every. single. course.  at a restaurant because 1. i don't take very good photos and would never do it justice 2. it's an azn cliche i rather not be associated with. doesn't mean i don't like food photos (totally voyeuristic that way!) but i try not to take them myself. or post them. but now and then, some thing comes along that is truly photo worthy and then i succumb. like at our anniversary dinner. it was also fortyone courses. which had me waving a white flag at 38 (so close!) while the mister valiantly ploughed on with it and finished my share of 39, 40 and 41. i'm a sucker for bells and whistles and was naturally blown away by the ice cubes (ya, i'm easily impressed!) and the presentation. but with fortyone courses, some are bound to stand out more than others. i felt the azn-inspired dishes weren't as well-executed but that's because i've a spoilt palate when it comes to asian cuisine. 

more than the meal itself, i really enjoyed being able to celebrate turning one with the mister. it's been an amazing year and getting married is hands down the best decision i've ever made. we dated for five years before and i thought that was good, and then we got married and things got even better and now i'm almost evangelical about marriage because it's been such a journey and i'm happier than i've ever been. excited about what lies in store and can't wait to do cool stuff with mister planner supreme. we're driving to belgium this month, and up the coast of norway next month. and like with our wedding, i just need to turn up ;)

el quim

el quim was life-changing. and if you're a regular reader, you know i try my darndest not to name drop. i'm happy to share, albeit privately, so anything you want to know, please do email me at mysterymeatballs[at]gmail[dot]com. just don't believe in free advertising (haha who am i kidding, i swear only two people read this, and one of them is my kaypoh aunty in singers) but also don't want to be hampered if i were to be less than flattering about a certain place. the last thing i want is a libel suit slapped on this little blog. but yes, i do make the occasional exception if the place is truly truly fantabulous and el quim was. the baby squid with egg was out of this world, the foie gras burger almost indescribable and the razor clams fresh like anything. the waiters were easy on the eye and the best part was we got talking to the boss man and he told us he had just been to singers, to c*apella for a food fair and was opening a branch in HK. boo! why not singers?! it's in la boqueria and it's a bit of a squeeze but be patient or go at off-peak time because it was my favourite meal in barca. and seeing how we'd been to fortyone*deg, restaurant*gaig, dos*papi and cal*pep, it had some pretty stiff competition. cal*pep was also amazing and i would do it all over again in a heartbeat. so yes! there you go :) one little barca plug.

restaurant gaig

followed my restauranteur/food journo neighbour's hitlist to this lovely little establishment. what made it even more homely was how chef gaig, the man himself, came out to say hello and spoke to us with one of the waiters playing interpreter. now my in-laws have gifted with pretty discerning palates and this lunch had us all raving. FIL went as far as to say it was one of his best meals in recent times, and he had just flown in from paris where they had been wined and dined!

didn't photograph everything (we ordered off the menu and had a starter, main and dessert each) but did snap the cheeky photo here and there. oh and that plate of 3 slabs of foie gras? mine, all mine :)

barca beaches

barca has a special place in my heart. the last time i was there, i was on my grad-trip and traveling by myself. however, i bumped into so many friends in barca (talk about good timing!) that i'd company when i wanted, and time out when i didn't. was spotted by family friends in the big zara (where else?!) and taken under their wings and fattened up. possibly my first meal in a nice restaurant with tablecloth in two months :) will always remember the kindness shown and i'm grateful for chance meetings in faraway cities. the mister had also been to barca with friends while he was on exchange in 2007. admittedly, we traveled very differently then and while i had read about the big names on the barca scene, my tuition-teacher budget extended to one hot meal a day. so we were really excited to finally eat our way through barca when we went back this summer. mind you, they weren't all big names and what i really enjoyed about barca was how haute cuisine was amazing, but the simpler (but not inexpensive :() stuff was even more amazing. it also helps that my (then) tuition kiddies' father is a prolific journo specialising in food so no prizes for guessing whose list i turned to when we re-visited barca on a slightly longer shoestring. i liked how the list wasn't all about m*stars, neither was it all tapas bars. but as this post is about the beaches, maybe more on the restaurants tomorrow.

so the mister and i moseyed to the beach, contemplated moving out of our apartment and into the W (i kid) and then plopped ourselves down by the water to watch the sun move across the sky as we played real vs fake (boobies). it was a hoot ;) sunny afternoons spent in the shade with my love, with sangria and good conversation is golden.

barca coffee

now the mister is just about the most resourceful person i know, and with his boundless energy, traveling with him is not for the nua. knowing i'm inherently nua and would be a very happy hermit if not for him, the mister has long learnt to manage me. unlike our earlier action papa (because action mama is not the word here) galapagos honeymoon, barca was meant to be a relatively chilled anniversary break, until i realised the mister had no intention of taking the metro. which meant we walked everywhere and from morning till night. probably the only exercise i've gotten in months (shame!) but it's precisely because of the mister's dogged determination to cover as much of the city on foot that we chanced upon this little tucked away gem. coffee collection (?) was down a quiet alley and we were en route to caravelle for the best aussie brekkie since, well, sydney 2010 when the mister's coffee senses went a'tingling. 

now there's granger&*co in londontown and it is our go-to for crack-of-dawn breakfasts. any later and be prepared to queue with the disgruntled notting*hill hipster set! neither the food nor service is amazing but it'll have to do when we want aussie coffee in london. so you can only imagine how thrilled we were to have proper aussie in barca :) even the mister's papa, who so kindly let us crash his holiday, was impressed! this coming from a former kitchen hand then waiter down under back in the day. if nothing else, his aussie palate is pretty well-tuned!

pre-anniversary

okok i know i need to stop harping on this anniversary thing and i will stop soon! promise ;) but do indulge me a wee bit more if you'd like to see? and if it's any justification at all, the mister and i have never had an anniversary before. sure, i remember when we met, and when we went on our first date, but really beyond that we kinda went from hanging out to being engaged. sorta skipped right through the whole "oi, ai steady mai?" and valentines*day? not our thing. month-a-versaries? even more so not our thing. yes, time and place for everything and yes i'm not belittling the many people out there who do celebrate every month but the mister is low-maintenance and i like to think so am i. well, i thought i was until he surprised me with one helluva first anniversary present which sort of leaves me with the happy problem of never ever getting another anniversary present. don't think i'm even allowed to ask for a push present at this rate. in fact, we probably can't afford a kid for another four years after he splurged on the surprise. well played, K, well played! way to go to buy himself time ;) 

well we were spending our anniversary in barca but had to squeeze in a pre-celebration with friends in london. it so worked out that one of our friends who came to iceland for our wedding, and three friends who'd flown to singers from ithaca and melbourne, would be in london on the eve of our anniversary. and because i'm a sentimental sap, it felt like our welcome dinner in reykjavik all over again. chose the chef's table at japanese*supper*club we like and cracked open our wedding dom. now while we had told our iceland guests not to give us anything (i mean, they did just come all the way to one of the furthest reaches of the earth to watch us brats exchange i dos) we did instruct them to load up on duty free alcohol as the mister had managed to lawyer his way to waived corkage. so our generous generous friends bought so much alcohol that we'd plenty left over and had been slowly making our way through the stash in london. we were saving the dom for our first anniversary, albeit with great difficulty, but was so glad we did :)

luiz outdid himself and being at the chef's table with 4 friends was all the more awesome because we got ring-side seats on the action and, here's when i become anti-social, didn't have to make small talk with strangers. win-win!

endurance day

 

was thrilled to have a brief respite from family-hosting (my folks had just left, the mister's folks had yet to arrive) and seized the chance to brave an 'endurance day' with these fine young men. it meant even more that exactly a year ago, they'd come all the way to iceland to watch us get married. i mean, sure i adore them but i don't know if i'd ever travel more than an hour to witness them say i do ;) and on the topic of endurance and respite, i did have to slip away for the afternoon to give them a break from me. because goodness knows i'm only tolerable in small doses. there may or may not have been rat roadkill involved before this, and i may or may not have accidentally shrieked right into someone's ear, and may or may not have been roundly chastised and told to man up. at which point i decided that it was chicks before you-know-whats and linked up with M for tea instead. but that didn't stop them for dressing up to the 9s and landing on my doorstep for dinner. thankfully the mister was around to hold fort because there's only so much testosterone i can tolerate. this was another speedy meal but any excuse to fine tune cooking-on-demand and when everything is washed down with more single malt than sensible, and talk turns to impotent vikings (?!) it's time to say goodnight. 

euro*disney

now i'm a big fan of tokyo*disney but after the tsunami*tragedy, japan is a country i'm sadly staying far away from. call it paranoia, but when chemicals have half-lives longer than collective memory, and germ cells are particularly susceptive to genetic damage, i'm going to do what little i can to not endanger future babies teo. yes yes i'm aware of recent reports that radiated areas around chernobyll have recovered much faster than anticpated, and that the animals have adapted and aren't mutant or anything, and the implications this has on the recovery of fukushima but my i still rather err on the side of caution, much to the mister's chargrin. i've a feeling once we've completed our national service, it'll be one japanese foray after another. also, it's quite embarrassing to still be going to disney*land with no legitimate children in tow (my siblings are both in their, gasps, 20s!) but do you ever need an excuse to visit the magic kingdom? i think not :) spent a while trying to resist, to rather spend my time in paris like a grown up but my sister is persuasive and off we went.

it was a walk down memory lane and i'd never been to disneyland with the mister so that's a first for us. without realising, we also scored our first first anniversary present in the form of the most unglam photo ever! it was a shooting game and hell-bent on winning (sigh, that's us) we hadn't realised our photo would be snapped at some point. so i look like quasimodo, all hunched and squinty (hey, no one told me i didn't have to align the bits on the gun to shoot straight! and the mister is a picture of grit and determination. think liam*neeson on the poster for taken2...

scenic route home

checked out late, had seafood lunch on the other side of town (it's small, so 'other side' was literally a 10min walk from the hotel!) and moseyed around till our hearts content. by the time we were bruge-d out, we had some time to kill before our late train back to london. foreseeing this, the ever-resourceful mister had already plotted the scenic route back to calais. he's got this amazing ability to call-forth exactly what he wants. one of my happiest memories with him was when we were roadtripping sardinia and we were along a coastal road. it was getting late and we hadn't booked accommodation (defo one of our more spontaneous moments). we were passing inn after inn, most with limited vacancy and i was getting edgy, naturally. while would've been content with any one of the guesthouses we were passing, but noooo. the mister was insistent of only stopping for a hotel built into the cliff. so there i was getting more and more anxious because i'm a complete worrywart, certain we'd end up sleeping in our car in the lay-by when suddenly, the mister screeched to a halt. the hotel he pulled up in front of was indeed built into a red rock cliff BUT IT WAS CLOSED (we were traveling off season). 

yet somehow, mr. resourceful managed to call the number and convince them to open the hotel for us. for one night. i'll never know what possessed the hotel to do that, but they did, which led me to fearing for our kidneys, lest they be harvested in the middle of the night. but the mister, he was pleased as punch as and we watched the sunset from our balcony, i realised how i really needed to keep him around. because without him, i'd miss out on so many of life's great adventures. 

 (stock photos of hotel from google images as i only have photos from our balcony!)

so back to the mister's incredible ability to find exactly what he's looking for. a coastal road with small fishing villages along the way? check. instead of going straight back to calais, we went a little further, passing through wissant, audinghen and audresselles. along the way, we passed cap blanc which's where the germans fired their cannons to england from.

we made short stops for coffee etc in the little towns, before hitting the beach at audresselles. honestly, not the most scenic of beaches but we have bad fear of missing out (fomo) and just had to go for a walk before dinner. dinner was the freshest seafood at a tiny family-run restaurant, the boss catches the seafood fresh in the morning, and the lady boss cooks. they didn't speak a word of english but never fear, after my one month's intensive french in 2009 (haha) we got by.

 oh and if you squint, you might see the rainbow!

the end.

being tourists in paris

it so happens that some of our dearest friends live in paris, and i've had the privilege of spending many happy days as a guest* in their home. in fact, they were even so kind as to come all the way to singers for our wedding celebration a year ago. hadn't seen them since and am always happy to catch them, be it in paris, chamonix or london. so it turned out to be paris this time and despite their big move and les garcons' major exams, the family turned out in full force for dinner at the lourve. now i was initially apprehensive because cafe*marly had TOURIST written all over it. but it turned out to be quite the palate pleaser, and dinner while it's still bright out with a view of the pyramids? count me in.

*reading this again got me all nostalgic and gosh i used to be way more healthy-living than i am now :( oh medsch, what have you done to me!