Wicked and Wonderful

I just have to share what a delightful weekend I've just had and (even though most of you know already) what a wonderful husband I have. He made sure my birthday weekend was pleasant in every way!

Dragon over theater stage at Wicked

Some weeks ago, we had already bought tickets to see the musical, Wicked for this past Friday. It came to Singapore just before we left for the December trip back to the U.S. and I was hoping it would still be here upon our return. An evening out at the show would be a fine way to celebrate my birthday! And indeed it was!

On Saturday we lounged for awhile which was a real treat for both of us. It's one of the first weekends that we haven't felt some urgent need to do something related to work, re-settling or something else. Later that afternoon we made our way to the movie theater and went to see Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady". As expected, she did a phenomenal job portraying Margaret Thatcher and well deserves her nomination for another Oscar! Afterwards we had a light bite to eat at this wine bar/restaurant. It's part of a chain we discovered on our recent trip to Phuket, Thailand and not only love their selections of wine but their prices are actually reasonable!

Sunday morning we again took our time and eventually made our way over to a local coffee shop that has been recommended from a couple of sources. Despite it's peculiar name (Loysel's Toy Cafe) and almost hidden location along the river walk near our apartment, we were thrilled to find it! They have won an award for their hand-roast coffee and serve up a proper English breakfast (as well as an array of teas and fresh-made pastries). A real local treasure! But that was just the start of this really big day!

That evening I steered John toward this Indian restaurant in the Little India section of Singapore. It's one I learned about through another friend (she and I are planning to take a few cooking lessons from them next month). I was craving a lamb curry and I thought it would be a good idea to try out their fare. Well, we were not disappointed! We shared not only a Lamb Masala but another vegetable curry, a fish tikka dish with rice and naan bread that was all scrumptiously prepared and served authentic style at the little tables where we sat on the floor. We also learned that every month they have a chili challenge where you are invited to try dishes varying in degrees of spiciness from 1 to 9. (Our masala dish was only number 2)! if you complete the dish then you get a little prize on the wall - a clothespin with your name on it attached to a string indicating your level of accomplishment. So far there is only one person who has successfully met the challenge at level 9! But I think John is up for a go the next time around!

On top of all this, John also presented me with a beautiful bouquet of my favorite flowers, star-gazer lilies. What can I say? It was a truly wickedly wonderful weekend  - and I owe it all to John. Thank you honey!

Biscuits, Butter and Beef!

Biscuits hot from the oven

I can finally report success with a batch of homemade (as in, from scratch) biscuits! You may recall that since our apartment came with no oven we supplemented with a portable microwave/ convection combo oven. My initial attempts at baking have been mediocre. This time I decided rather than use prepared baking mixes I would go back to an old original recipe. I purchased the basic ingredients and gave it a try last weekend. John and I were both well-sated after our simple but delicious breakfast that also included freshly diced Thai mangos and bananas.

However, since our arrival in Singapore I continue to find my grocery shopping experiences producing various jaw-dropping scenes of sticker-shock. As a case in point, I needed to buy butter or shortening for my recipe. While perusing the shelves at the various choices in this category I found the "healthy" alternative (like a brand of margarine such as Earth Matters) at the price of nearly $18 for a 1-lb package. The real butter was "only" about $6/lb. Guess which one I bought?

Strawberries and Cherries
Market price "bargains"!

You can see what I mean with other examples in a few of these pics. My latest gasp was when I decided to get some ground beef for our dinner meal earlier last week. In my cooking, I've been sticking mostly with simple meals that are either entirely vegetarian or may include a bit of chicken or fish. I knew from our time in Hong Kong that for some reason beef is expensive in Asia (even though much of it (like the produce as well) comes from Australia. Geographically Singapore is not that far away so I thought perhaps beef would be fairly reasonable. WRONG! An equivalent pound of ground beef (not even top sirloin) is $18 here! Check out the price of other beef cuts here (fyi, 1 kilogram = about 2 pounds). It is apparently a delicacy on par with caviar or something like that!

Breakfast is served

So next time you chow down a burger in the States, I hope you will appreciate each precious bite and we'll "make do" with our biscuits and butter on this side of the planet!