Gluten Free Scones

Now that I'm avoiding gluten, I couldn't make it out of my favorite scones recipe. After searching around I found this scone recipe on Epicurious. The recipe below was adapted from Best Ever Gluten Free Scones submitted by Glutenfreelove.

Zeni Ethiopian Restaurant

Big platter with our combo orders. From 8 o'clock : lamb, cheese, beef, chicken, lentil, veggie, injera, yellow split peas, collar greens.

We happened to walk pass this restaurant one night and saw that this restaurant was pretty busy. We saw groups of people sitting down circling a low round table  containing food and everyone just used their fingers to dig in. So we decided we have to give it a try.

One weekend me and hubby went there and hubby asked if we could sit on one of those low round table but we were told that the area were fully occupied. So we got a regular clothed table. We looked at the menu and decided based on what most people have recommended on Yelp. Sambusa for appetizer and an order of meat combo and an order of vegetarian combo.

Rangoli - San Jose

I have worked in that area for quite a while sometimes in the past. Recently I met up with a friend there and finally got to try this Indian restaurant. The restaurant didn't offer buffet that day. But I got my Indian friend to do the ordering so I wasn't intimidated.

My friend decided on a lamb curry (lamb vindaloo) and a goan fish curry. Both sounded fine to me. I haven't had any fish curry for quite a while so it was exciting.

We sat around and chitchatting. She told me that the lamb dish was a complicated one that she didn't do it often at home because it requires a lot of spices. Good, it's a special dish. Anticipation building up now.

Gluten Free Bread

I haven't been able to enjoy a lot of bread ever since I decided to stay away from gluten a few months ago. Recently I have been trying to find recipe that I can try to bake myself at home. I haven't had a lot of luck baking bread before even with regular flour. So I was glad when this bread turned out not bad. It's a recipe by Michelle Palin's pull-apart dinner rolls from her blog My Gluten-Free Kitchen.

The recipe below has been adapted from her recipe.

Holiday Lights at Gilroy Gardens - Gilroy, CA

I have heard about this Gilroy Gardens since quite a while ago. I was sort of curious since we live pretty close but yet never been there. A friend recently asked me if there's any sort of attraction in our area that is suitable for children.. I told her about Gilroy Gardens but I don't even know what they have to offer.

So recently I was so excited when we won a pair of tickets to Gilroy Gardens. Especially in the month of December, they also have their Holiday Lights. I love Christmas decorations ! But most of their rides are more suitable for children 6 years or under. The only ride that we tried was the train ride around the garden. That was quite fun but since it was night time  we couldn't see a lot unless there was lights decoration on it.

Kyusu Restaurant - San Jose

Burmese style beef stew

We thought of going there a few months ago when I was searching for Burmese restaurant. But then we decided to go to Moh Kitchen in Milpitas instead. But last weekend, we were out with our friends and decided to stop by there for dinner. It was sunday night and we didn't have reservation. We got there at around 6 pm and it was pretty busy. There were a table available but apparently it was reserved for another party. They asked us if we could be done by 7. No problem at all. We were just hungry. That's all.

I don't really know much about Burmese cuisine other than Mohinga (rice noodle fish soup) and tea leaf salad. But apparently our friend ordered a take out before and she liked it. So we decided on tea leaf salad, Mohinga, Tofu gyaw (deep fried homemade Shan tofu), Burmese style beef stew, curry aroma chicken, a noodle dish which I didn't remember the name.

La Fondue - Saratoga

Items for the chocolate fondue (dessert) yum,,yum

Our holiday dinner this year was at La Fondue. I was excited about the idea though I have tried fondue before and didn't really think it was that spectacular. I was curious about the idea of having fondue as main course since it looked more like dessert to me.

Anyhow, so the day finally arrived. We got there earlier than our reservation time and they were able to sit us. The only bright area of the restaurant was the waiting area and as we walked further inside the restaurant I noticed the lights in the dining area was minimal. We were seated at the back of the restaurant. We got a corner booth that fit our party of 8 people. The ceiling was decorated with some antique looking chandelier. There was a big painting on the wall next to our booth with a huge metal crown decor placed between our booth and the one next to us. On the other corner there was a space that looked like a shrine with some statues that looked like Virgin Mary. Interesting.

Westin St Francis - San Francisco

Christmas tree in lobby area

Last week my office had an event at Westin St Francis hotel in San Francisco. I was excited to see the place. It's a historic five star hotel in the Union Square area of San Francisco. This hotel has been famous as the location for the annual reporting of Chinese New Year parade that usual starts in China Town area and finished in Union Square.

The venue for our office was on top of the back tower - I wasn't sure if there was any name or what floor was it because I went up with a bunch of other employees and I didn't remember anyone actually pressed the floor but we got there nonetheless.

Fish Market - Santa Clara

Blackened catfish with grilled veggies and fingerling potatoes

We had a pre-holiday dinner for our office last week at Fish Market. On a Friday night, the restaurant was packed. We had our reservation and it took us maybe around 10 minutes to get our table ready.

Our group shared a salt and pepper calamari and an artichoke dip. The artichoke dip was supposedly a very popular appetizer according to our server. That was indeed a very good dip. I skipped the bread that came with it and just tried the dip. Rich, gooey and cheesy. It would have gone very well with the bread - too bad I'm on my gluten-free diet.

 I ordered a blackened cat fish with fingerling potatoes and grilled veggies for the sides. I have never had cat fish before but I think it tasted like tilapia with nice seasoning on it. Some part of it tasted a bit chewy, I wasn't too sure if it supposed to be like that instead of flaky and came right off. But all in all I enjoyed my order. It's a good place to go for seafood. I don't mind going back again to try other items on the menu.

Fish Market
3775 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95051
(408) 246-3474
www.thefishmarket.com

Gudeg : A Must Try Yogyakarta Cuisine

My gudeg take out box - not very pretty but very tasty

If you visit Yogya (or Yogyakarta whichever you want to call it) make sure to try Gudeg. It's a local dish made of young jackfruit, palm sugar, and coconut milk. The result is a dark fragrant sweet dish served with steam rice, egg dish, chicken and sambal krecek (a dish made of beef skin crackers). It may not sound interesting but seriously you should give it a try. Gudeg is one of those dish that requires long hours of cooking so it's not something that you'd try to do at home.

If you're in Yogya, there are so many popular gudeg places. I know that because I googled it and was overwhelmed by a lot of recommendations. Just like with a lot of dishes everyone has their own preferences. Since I am an outsider I went with the closest one to the one I could get.

Jang Su Jang - Santa Clara

Platter of bossam, the sliced pork was behind and the pink/white thing was the pickled daikon with napa cabbage below

I have been eyeing this restaurant for quite a while. It looks a bit fancy so I sort of wanted to save it for special occasion. But the chance finally came when our office decided to have a dinner outing there. Yay !

Our original plan was another Korean bbq place but they couldn't take any reservation so last minute we decided on Jang Su Jang. When we got there it was 6:15 on Friday evening. It's a good thing we got reservation because there were a few parties waiting to be seated and we walked in like some VIPs.

Jejamuran - Sleman, Indonesia

In a loose translation, jejamuran could mean mushroom etc. So we found this restaurant on TripAdvisor and a few more bloggers's recommendation as one of the must try. Being a foodie I was intrigued. So I listed it as one of the places of interest.

It was a great thing that our driver Pak Rujiyanto knows his way around Yogyakarta all the way to Borobudur. Because if I were to direct him I don't know if I would be able to. Though I came prepared with my Google map print out.

This restaurant has mushroom as the main ingredients - any kind of mushroom. In fact they had a little area in the restaurant where they show case different types of mushroom.

Tips for visiting Yogyakarta and Surrounding

Borobudur
Borobudur is about 26 miles away from Yogyakarta so most of visitors to Borobudur would be coming through Yogyakarta. One could stay in Yogyakarta and take a day trip to Borobudur or join one of the tour offered by local tour operator. Or stay at Manohara Hotel which is within walking distance from the temple itself.

Entrance ticket for foreigners are US$20 per person. If you're travelling with another person and sharing a room, the cost of your room would be only around US$36 (we paid $76 a night). And as a guest at Manohara, you get a multiple entry pass to the temple.

Air Asia Meal : YOG-CGK

Yogyakarta and Jakarta flight really isn't that long that requires meal. But our flight was at 1 pm. It's a bit too early to have lunch on the way to airport so I decided to order in flight meal. Just a bit out of curiosity and also to give us a bit snack until we have chance to get real meal.

Nasi Padang from Air Asia

One tips if you're planning to have in-flight meal from Air Asia. Pre-order online because you get benefit of discounted price and also more selections. Some option like the one we ordered was only available if one pre-ordered online.

From right to left : rice topped with balado anchovies, green chilli, cassava leaves and rendang beef.

Borobudur Temple - Magelang, Indonesia

Just after sunrise

Borobudur temple is a Buddhist temple located in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. It's about 1.5 hours by car from Yogyakarta. Borobudur is one of the attraction for visitors to Yogyakarta, More details about the temple can be found on Wikipedia.. And if you choose to stay at Manohara hotel there's a channel on TV that explained each reliefs carved on the temple. A very interesting program.

Manohara Hotel - Magelang, Indonesia

This hotel is located within the compound of Borobudur Temple. As guests of the hotel we were given multiple entry pass for the temple. That's the reason why we chose this hotel.

The rooms are bungalow style with gardens around it. It's a small hotel with only 35 rooms so it's quite easily fully booked. And this hotel is the only one with direct access to Borobudur Temple.

Room had wood laminate floor and a glass rolling door to a patio. We had difficulty opening the door so we didn't get to enjoy it. Water kettle with cups, tea, etc were also provided. We didn't get to use this since we had breakfast in the cafe area.

Indonesia Visa On Arrival - Jakarta

If you hold passport from any of the following countries then you could get a Visa On Arrival (VOA) at some of the port of entries. The cost of VOA is US$35 and it allows you to stay for up to 30 days.

In the last several years we had quite a few annual trip to Indonesia and our port of entry is Soekarno Hatta airport. And every year we always come across confused travelers at the arrival area. Lack of signage was one of the issue. Another one was the long line at the immigration line.

A few things I would like to share here if you're coming through Soekarno Hatta airport :

• When you reach the arrival area, look for sign for VOA, it's usually a very short or no line at all. Prepare exact change of US$35 and your passport. I doubt they even need to see your passport, because the payment is actually collected by an onsite bank. But I always prepare my passport anyway. Once payment is collected, they'll give you a receipt/voucher.
• Bring your receipt/voucher along with your passport and arrival card and find the line to the immigration. This is usually a very long very slow moving line.

EVA Air meals : TPE-CGK

Regular lunch meal :
yellow noodle with chicken with gravy
chicken salad with green peas
fruit bowl
banana bread

Oriental vegetarian meal option :

Stir fry rice stick with mushroom and vegetables

Green bean salad with artificial ham

Fruit bowl

Flower mochi with red bean paste

This vegetarian meal was the best oriental vegetarian meal for the whole trip from San Francisco to Jakarta (Indonesia) via Taipei (Taiwan).

Pedro's - Santa Clara

Menudo

This restaurant is one of the businesses that benefited from the new Levi's Stadium. I said that because when we went there last weekend, there was a guy that stood just at the entrance to the parking lot. He wanted to make sure that we were there for the restaurant and not to use the lot as stadium parking. Some other lots in the area rented out parking space for $25 a piece. So judging the location, people could stop by for a bite before the games.

Anyway. We were there just for the food and companies of a big group of friends. We made reservation ahead of time so our table was already waiting for us. And arriving at 10:45 gave us an advantage because the restaurant wasn't very busy yet.

Taiwan Cafe - Milpitas

Their specialty : pig hock. Got to try it just to know.

We have friends who just came back from trip to Taiwan recently. They bought a unique deck of cards featuring popular Taiwanese food. Those cards really were distraction. We couldn't just play with the cards without getting side track talking about food.

One of our conversation was where they normally go for Taiwanese food in San Jose. Knowing that at one point, they lived in Taipei for a few years. I was curious to find and maybe to have someone who could order for us if we visit a Taiwanese restaurant. *wink wink*. They told us about Taiwan Cafe in Milpitas. And today we got to try it out with them. Yay.

Maeuntang - spicy fish soup

On Saturday, as we drove along El Camino in Santa Clara, we passed by Korean Secret Garden restaurant. This one wasn't a title of the popular drama but actually was a restaurant. Years ago, we went there to check out maeuntang - spicy fish soup. Now that I thought about it again, I started drooling. So I decided to make it.

As any cooking, first thing first was to look for a recipe. When it comes to Korean food, I would always try Maangchi. So the recipe here was taken from Maanchi with a few variants here and there.

Next page for recipe

Amazon Locker

Recently I purchase a couple of books through Amazon and when checking out there was an option to pick it up from an Amazon Locker. What the heck is that ? Well, only one way to find out which is to try it myself.

Apparently this locker option has been around for quite a while. I guess I haven't bought anything from Amazon that's why I wasn't aware of that. So instead of sending it to your delivery address, the package will be sent to a locker location of your choice. You would receive an email containing password to open the locker. It's that simple.

Mango Garden - San Jose

Lunch deal - free entree for a group of 6

Apparently this restaurant has been opened for a year. And to celebrate their 1 year anniversary they have a deal right now. For a group of 6 people, they would take the price of 1 entree off (the lowest price entree). Look at the picture of the flyer for more details.

Anyhow hubby loves Hainamese chicken rice and when I yelped it I found out that this restaurant serves chicken rice as well. So off we went on a Saturday afternoon. It was a late afternoon lunch - after 2 pm. So I was surprised to see that the place was actually very busy. Almost all the tables by the walls and windows were taken. So we got a table in the middle of the room. The layout of the tables weren't very good. It's good for parties of many people because they could accommodate on their long row of tables joined together. But the tables were quite close to each other so less privacy for a party of two like  us.

Tapioca Express - Fremont

left : calamari (spicy) - right : sweet potato fries (salt)

Passed by a Tapioca Express and felt like having some deep fried snacks. I haven't been in any Tapioca Express lately so wouldn't sure if they'd have any snacks other than the drinks. This location actually offered a variety of snacks and meal options. I was surprised to see fried banana in the menu. But was told that they didn't have the batter for it. Darn it.

Wingbox - San Jose

Our tray of awesomeness - waiting for us to check them out

We were invited for dinner at our friend's house last weekend. The menu was wings from Wing Box in San Jose. That friend had told us before about this chicken wings place that opened near her house. I have been meaning to try it out so she just provided us the opportunity.

Beside the chicken wings, we also tried the sweet potato fries which was okay only. I have tried better sweet potato fries. The chicken wings came with 4 different sauces which was colorful (see that in the picture).

The green color sauce was honey wasabi; the red color - curry ketchup; the yellow color - dynamite sauce: the orange color - creamy sriracha. I didn't care much for the sauce because the wings were very flavorful already. Though the sauce could be used as dipping sauce for the sweet potatoes fries which was just plain fries.

From right bottom clockwise : Singaporean street, Thai basil chili, Vietnamese fish sauce and spicy garlic

We tried four different flavor of wings which was spicy garlic, Thai basil chili, Vietnamese fish sauce and Singaporean street wings. Most of them were pretty similar with sticky sweet glazed on the wings/drumettes. Except for the spicy garlic which wasn't sweet and was mostly spicy with a bit of vinegary taste. I couldn't quite decide which flavor I liked best. They were all good. I couldn't say finger licking good because that phrase was taken already. But it's that good. I guess if I am to try it again I'd go with the rest of the flavor that I didn't get to try the first time. And looking at their website they do have a few more interesting flavors.

WING BOX
1715 LUNDY AVE. #162,   SAN JOSE, CA   95131
1-855-WINGBOX (9464-269) 

White Elephant - Santa Clara

Khao soi - northern Thai chicken rice noodle with coconut broth

One of the exciting thing about moving is the possibility of checking out different restaurant in a new neighborhood. So one day we passed by this Thai restaurant at the corner of Lafayette and El Camino Real in Santa Clara and thought we should give it a try.

The place was kinda small. More like a place one would go for take out rather than eat in. It was a nice Saturday afternoon but there was only one table occupied when we walked in around 1 pm. I was hoping that it wasn't the sign of the quality of the food.

There were five of us so we had more flexibility in ordering. We got mostly noodle dishes because those were the ones we don't normally make at home. We ordered pad Thai, pad see ew, khao soi, chicken satay, tom yum noodle soup and roti.

Moh Kitchen - Milpitas

Ohn no kauk swe - Burmese coconut noodle soup with chicken

All of a sudden had an urge to eat some Burmese food. So I did a search to find one in our area. Found this restaurant on Yelp with promising pictures. So there we went this weekend. The place was small inside with simple tables and chairs. We got a table next to the window. It's a big window overlooking the pa rking lot. We looked at the menu and knew what we wanted. We ordered mohinga, ohn no kauk swe and see kyat kauk swe.

We got our ice water and "strawberry milk" drink. I don't quite remember what was the official name for the pink milk drink but it did taste like strawberry flavored milk. Not bad.

Mei Wah - Veldhoven, Netherlands

Babi panggang - a must try

As Indonesians, we learned through history that some of our culture and language was influenced by Dutch. So when we were in Eindhoven, I wasn't quite surprise to learn that the Chinese food there was influenced by Indonesian. The Chinese food was more like Indonesian style Chinese food. Even some of the items in the menu were in Indonesians. Babi panggang for example. It literally means roasted pork. Though on the menu was elaborate as fried pork with sweet chili sauce.

The restaurant that we went to was Mei Wah. Located on a strip mall just around the corner of the location of our business trip on Provincialeweg. In fact the walk there was pretty nice. We passed a windmill.

Pho 909 - Milpitas

Grill pork roll - make sure to check this out

We were in the Milpitas area and was looking for dinner. My eyes caught the sign for Pho 909 just in the same area as the Ocean Pacific supermarket. So there we went. At around 8, there were a few tables occupied. Nobody even acknowledged us, so we took initiative and seated ourselves.

Their menu was quite extensive. They also served dishes from central of Vietnam like Bun Bo Hue and Banh Beo (little steam rice cake served on bowl with dried shrimp topping). But we opted for something simple and hearty. I chose the chicken pho (pho ga) and hubby chose seafood pho - the spicy one. Apparently they have options of spicy or non spicy.

Pizza My Heart - San Jose

We didn't plan to visit this pizza place. After a movie Sunday, our nephew wanted pizza. It just happened that this restaurant was right next to the theater.

There was a line inside when we walked in. I was looking for the menu to be posted but the full menu was actually printed and put right on the counter next the entrance. We selected a large size pizza with half Maui Wowie and half Fort Point. It took about 20-25 minutes for the pizza to be prepared. But when it came out it was well worth the wait. It was piping hot and we all attacked the pizza including our nephew. He enjoyed his choice of Maui Wowie and he could have finished the half if we let him. I tried both flavor but liked the Fort Point better so did hubby.

I think we'll be keeping this pizza joint closer to heart after Pizza Chicago and Costco Pizza. The only complaint hubby had was the thin crust. He didn't feel that the pizza filled him enough.

Pizza My Heart
850 El Paseo de Saratoga
San Jose, CA
(408) 364-0400

Merit Vegetarian Restaurant - Sunnyvale

We were taking a friend and her family out to dinner. Since she and her family are vegetarian we found this place on Yelp. On a Saturday early evening the place was surprisingly pretty busy. When we arrived close to 6 pm, there were a few tables occupied. I didn't think the place was going to be pretty busy because of their location on Lawrence Expressway. I guess there were quite a lot of vegetarians out there.

Their menu was pretty decent. We picked an order of imperial roll and fried dumpling for appetizers. And for the entree we chose lotus salad, vegetable combo soup, spicy Thai fried rice, eggplant and tofu claypot and spicy green bean. There were 4 adults and 1 kid. So I think that amount of food should be pretty good.

The kitchen was pretty efficient. They could whipped out orders in like 10 minutes ! I am not kidding. Me and hubby got there first. While waiting I thought let's order some appetizers. Our friend already said that they were close by. They got us our appetizers in less than 10 minutes. Even our friend still hasn't showed up yet.

Veggie Grill - San Jose

Veggie Grill - Buffalo Bomber

Ever since the visit to the vegetarian restaurant, Merit. Hubby’s has been looking forward to try another vegetarian restaurant. So he finally found one, Veggie Grill in Santana Row. So off we go on a weekday night.

The place wasn’t too busy because it’s sort of early for dinner. Though the Counter next door was busy. We studied the menu and hubby gave a few suggestions based on the reviews that he had read. I’m all for what other people thinks. So I went with what’s good. Don’t try to be adventurous and should stick with what the restaurant is good at.

Troll's - Horseshoe Bay, BC - Canada

We have been to this location about ten years ago. That was my first visit to Vancouver, BC and surrounding. I didn't quite remember the name of the restaurant. But for whatever reason, the calamari here left me a deep impression. Years passed and every now and then the calamari experience comes and knocks on my head. So finally this year we have enough time on our trip to make a side trip to Horseshoe Bay. To verify whether my memory was accurate and put it to rest.

Red Lobster - San Jose

I got this gift card for Red Lobster from Christmas time that I just came across recently. So I decided to give them a try. We did a take out order from them one night when we were lazy to cook.

Lobster crab and seafood stuffed mushroom
I loved stuffed mushroom so this one promised both items : seafood and stuffed mushroom. It came with like 5-6 stuffed mushrooms. But the stuffing was overflowing so I couldn't taste much of the mushroom. And there was gravy around the mushroom which I assumed works better with the biscuits (parmesan biscuits) provided. The mushrooms were good but the parmesan biscuits were a bit too salty for my taste.

Hon's Wun Tun House - Vancouver, Canada

Big shrimp, bell pepper on top of rice noodle

This place looked like a small take out place. Nothing fancy. But once inside, it's actually a big place with two open kitchens on the back side. And if you're wondering what kind of cuisine they serve, it's a Chinese restaurant. I don't know where they got the name from. It seemed like it supposed to be Hong's because Hon's sounds like it supposed to be Honey.

Anyhow, their menu was quite big. According to our friends who took us there, their wonton soup is worth trying. So hubby picked a combo of wonton with yellow noodle. They provided a list of items on item A and another list of item B. So what you do is just pick each item to make up a combo you like.

The other dishes we ordered were spicy green bean, salt and pepper chicken wings and stir fry rice noodle with sauce.

The wonton looked simple not much green onion for garnish but tasted good. The chicken wings of course was no brainer. It's hard to find chicken wings that are not good. The spicy green bean was crunchy and sweet.

It was a nice fulfilling meal with good companies.

Hon's
1339 Robson St
Vancouver, BC V6E 1C6 Canada
604 685 0871

Norboo - Vancouver, BC

fried chicken with cheese with shredded green onion as topping

This restaurant is located downtown Vancouver just further down the street from the busy street of Robson. Around the area there were quite a few Korean and Japanese restaurants. Our friends been to this one before so that's where they took us for dinner.

The menu is small but consisted of quite a few pages. Some with pictures which helped a bit in deciding. I saw that they serve gamjatang (spicy pork bone soup). Literally gamjatang means potato stew but I guess through out the years, the potatoes becoming less and the pork bones more. Beside the gamjatang which is enough for four, we also ordered spicy fried chicken with cheese.

Noodles & Company

Finally had the chance to try the Noodles & Company in Cupertino. We saw this about a month ago. This location at the corner of the Target mall used to be a Baja Fresh.

We went there with our little 12 year old neighbor. There was a paper menu outside with pictures so we stopped by first. By the time we were at the register it didn't take long to place our order. Though I changed my mind from Japanese pan noodles to Thai hot pot. And I was glad that I did.

Korean Economy Meal - Santa Clara

I accidentally visited this tiny food court inside the Kyopo Plaza on Homestead/Lawrence Expressway one hot afternoon. I just came out from a visit to the Kaiser facility on Lawrence Expressway and thought where should I go pick up a quick lunch that didn't cost too much on my pocket and didn't take too long.

There was a bakery inside the Kyopo Plaza and there was a few other stalls. The one I went to was the one next to the bakery. They had prepacked tray of food. They all looked yummy. I quickly pick a tray and then went to pay. Only then I thought OMG...I hope I have enough cash in my wallet to pay for this. I don't think they take credit card. But to my surprise it only cost less than $7. Quite a decent amount of food. And they tasted yummy too.

The rice roll (kimbab) had enough pickle in it to make it crunchy instead of abundant rice. The shrimp/veggie patties were tasty. The japchae (stir fry clear noodle) was good though a bit oily. All in all a decent lunch. I would love to go back and explore other options available.

Kyopo Plaza
3521 Homestead Rd, Santa Clara, CA 95021
(408) 243 9005

Mohinga - The Burmese Fish Noodle Soup

One of the dish that I enjoyed on this visit to London was a Burmese dish called Mohinga. It was supposedly served for breakfast but of course one could enjoy it anytime of the day. I looked up the recipe on the internet and stumbled upon MiMi's website : Meemalee. She is a writer, a cook and a food blogger. Her new book titled Noodle! will be out soon. :) Yay

Anyhow, the recipe seemed simple enough though certain ingredients I completely omitted because my first encountered with Mohinga didn't come with it. My adapted version below is a lazy not so authentic Mohinga. Click on the link to MiMi's website above for her original recipe.

Recipe on the next page.

Oyster Card : To Buy Or Not When Visiting London

Visiting London this time wasn't exactly planned as a sightseeing trip. Nonetheless, I spent a bit time looking into it thinking if we had time, I would know at least a bit.

The name Oyster card was mentioned in Visit London as best ticket for London trip. So I took a look into it and decided that we needed one.

We arrived at Heathrow Airport in the afternoon. Follow the direction to the Tube. By the end of the tunnel and just before entering the underground station we found the ticket machine. We tried to put it on a credit card but it was rejected. And it only worked when our friend used her debit card. We weren't sure whether the card was rejected because it didn't have chip on it or simply because it was a credit card.

NH Conference Centre Koningshof Hotel

Room key. This hotel is part of the NH Hotels which was based in Madrid, Spain

This hotel was located just a bit in the wooded area in Veldhoven. We needed an accomodation for 1 night and I happened to stumble upon this hotel on Agoda. Looking from the pictures and the reviews we decided to make a reservation.

The taxi cost from Veldhoven would roughly be around EUR15. From the Eindhoven airport maybe around EUR 26. We took it from a strip mall just off the street that lead to the hotel and it cost us EUR 13. The taxi from the airport only allowed 4 people in a taxi. While from other part of cities seemed to be fine with 4 adults and 1 kid.

Lobby Area

We arrived at night so I only got to see the lobby area which was pretty nice. And when the receptionist had to explain to us how to get to our room and later on we found that we were lost. I realized that this hotel is huge. Next to the lobby was an Italian restaurant and a bar. Also a dining area for breakfast which was big.

Wagamama - Ealing , London, UK

A picture like this outside the restaurant lured me in.

menu

The place looked like a cozy cafetaria from outside. Long tables with bench style seating with open kitchen on one side. I was intrigued because of the picture of bowl of noodle soup posted outside. What could be better than a hot bowl of noodle soup in weather like London ? Well, actually if you are like me, you could use a hot bowl of noodle soup in what ever kind of weather. Anyhow..

I ordered a wagamama ramen and hubby ordered one from the chilli dishes called firecracker chicken. For drinks we chose the free green tea.

Byron - London, United Kingdom

Hot A Doodle Doo - chicken breast marinated in spicy sauce

We chose this restaurant because it looked warm and cozy. We just came in from cold wet London weather. When we finally sat down and handed the menu, I realized it's a burger restaurant. Yum. I could use a burger.

The young one in our group got his mini crayons and sketch paper. The rest of us got our menus. My eyes fell on their special limited time item Hot A Doodle Doo. Husband ordered a chicken burger. He ordered root beer with his food. I chose ginger beer. Regular soda seemed a bit boring. But guess what, a few minutes after I was told that they were out of it. Oh well, I opted for something warm. Hot chocolate. Seemed appropriate for the weather.

Airbnb : 3 Bedroom Apartment West London

Bedroom on second floor

This is our second time using Airbnb for accomodation. This time we rented the whole apartment since we got a bigger group. The landlord replied pretty quick considering our last minute decision to rent it. I was relieved since we were going to leave the following day and still haven't gotten any accommodation.

I was a bit worry to pick this property because there was no prior reviews. Those reviews did help when pictures don't say a thousand words anymore. But since time was limited we decided to jump on it.

There was nobody to meet us at the property when we arrived. Based on the instruction provided through email, the keys would be left in the lock box outside. The email also provided password to the wifi and places of interest around the area.