places I wanted to visit

Yea. I love traveling a lot. Maybe its since I've been in Malaysia, where I learn the different culture, it push me to go to another places that excited. I am kind like a brave person, I like something new. I am always want to traveling abroad. But, I think I have to go alone, because mom doesnt like go abroad. Its because she is so lazy to be on board for couple hours. I think I should save money :P
Here are the place I wanted to visit a lot..

# Paris, France
Oh this is my dream to go there. Gosh. I always saw in movie about this lovely city. ♥
Its so romantic to be there. :)
My dream is that I go there for honeymoon with my hubby later xD or maybe someone propose you there? anything, first thing first, learn French and save money.. ♥

dont you feel its so romantic when you enjoy this view with your love one? XD

I always want to take picture in front of this place.

Gosh! Arc de triomphe! XD

# South Korea

Hmm. Annyeong-seo? Haha. Maybe its because I always watch Korean Series thats why im so interested to go there. I like it when I hear those korean people speaking. I want to go there when its winter :)

seoul in night

remember winter sonata?

Namiseom Island :)

hmm, autumn quite nice actually

# Switzerland

Its natural there. I like the environment xD. Milky Swissy!!

Especially when its winter =)

thats what I see in milk advertisement xD

whitey winter? Goshhhh!!

# London, United Kingdom

I think I should stick along my trip Paris-London because they are neighbour. Hmm. Arrrrgh. The hell i made this blog. Its really torture me now. I want go there!!! X(

When?

When?

When? With who?? X(

Biggy Benny!

aaaaargh one word : excited!!!

Buckingham Palace

# Maldives

Yeaaaaa its blue. clearly. fresh! Hmm I saw this one in Boys Before Flower series. Hehehe. My friend from Maldives told me that I have to go there. Maldives! The sunny side of life!

the underwater restaurant

I wonder how if the glass cracked and the fishes eat our food LOL

the resorts :)

Henry's Birthday, Part One

Henry's birthday was last week.  Now, we've been together for a lot of years, so I'm pretty burned out on ideas about what to get him or how to celebrate.  I mean, how many shirts does he need, anyway?

Besides, he could care less about clothes.  Those of you who know him can certainly attest to that!  He does care about wine, but he is far more knowledgeable about it than I, so forget it.  What to do?

Fortunately, I waited until the last minute because I couldn't think of anything (that, however, reminds me of the time my ex-husband didn't buy me a Christmas present for precisely the same reason - need I mention again why I am no longer married to him?)  In this case though, my procrastination paid off.

Our awesome friend Lynne (Sawicki) is the owner/chef of Sawicki's here in Decatur.  If you want it, she's got it or can get it.  Her sandwiches and desserts are legendary.  She specializes in meat and seafood but has expanded her scope to include catering services as well.  She knows her way around a kitchen like nobody's business.

http://www.sawickisfoods.com/

She decided it was time to host a farm-to-table dinner at the shop.  The date coincided with - you guessed it - Henry's birthday.  Way to go, Lynne!

Here is her menu.  Click on it so you can read it.  We could not have had a finer meal in the most expensive restaurant in Atlanta.   AND we got to bring our own wine.  That 1977 Chalone Pinot we rescued from Henry's collection was
P-R-E-T-T-Y wonderful.  Happy birthday, Henry!

Watermelon gazpacho with squash blossoms

The roasted trout with peeled cherry tomatoes, no less.

I could have made a meal of this!

The pork.  Picture doesn't do it justice.

I would SO order this again!

The cheese course.  You're kidding me, right?

Here is my adaptation of Lynne's baby squash salad.  So good and so refreshing.  It was a perfect counterpoint to the richness of the roasted pork and the potato tartilette.

SQUASH SALAD  (adapted from Lynne Sawicki)

2 organic yellow squash (the smaller, the better)
2 organic zucchini (the smaller, the better)
1/4 cup sherry wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Slice squash and zucchini into very thin rounds.  (If possible, use a mandoline slicer as you want the thinnest possible slices).  Place into a bowl and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together sherry wine vinegar and honey.  Drizzle olive oil in a thin stream, whisking well to emulsify.  Stir in salt and pepper.  Taste to adjust seasonings.

Sprinkle cilantro over squash.  Stir to combine.  Pour about 1/4 cup of the dressing over the squash and toss well.  Add a little more dressing if needed but do not overdress.  Any leftover dressing can be refrigerated for another use.  Taste to adjust seasonings.

Serves 4

So no worries, after this meal, I'm a long way from being a skinny cook.  Trust me on that one!  But, it was SO worth it.  Lynne - when is the next one?  We're there!

Etsy Shop Now Open

After so many of you pressured me into selling my creations, I have officially opened my new Etsy Shop. I only posted three pair of earrings to see how it goes. I'm kinda excited about this. Check it out, and tell your friends!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/pix3lator

White Wednesday Coffee Table

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a good weekend and are having a good week. Its that time again White Wednesday. For more White Wednesday go see Kathleen at http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/ there is always good inspiration there and check out her front porch (I love it). For this White Wednesday I decided to show you my new coffee table, I really like it. It has a great marble top and a can of Martha Stewart paint (white of course), now I have a new coffee table. I picked it up at Scott's last month, from my friend Angie, and I'm glad I did...

A beachy arrangement with a fun crown I also picked up at Scott's from another friend, Amy.

It has great details, we should all have legs like these......

More summer time.....

Rusty candlesticks add a little texture, along with the vintage books.......

The before shot, it needed a little help, and it got it.......

For more White Wednesday go to http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/, you'll have a good time.

See you all next time.....

Opinion (plus outfit): If I don't care what you do, shut up your fucking mouth (thank you).

Yesterday I spent my afternoon with my friend Javi. We ate at a japanese restaurant and then we walked to Demasie Cafe for an ice tea. On our way, we passed around La Pedrera, another wonderfu building designed by Gaudí.

(the rest of my day and my opinion HERE)

And after our ice tea, he took me a picture at Plaza Catalunya with a big fail... but it's at the end of the post, so just wait for seeing it! Befre that, I need to talk a little bit about why I hate sometimes people (yes, I hate people rom time to time, it's true and I'm sure you're gonna understand me!).

I'm sick of people who don't have the guts of telling you things in your face but they think it's funny saying aloud when you're passing behind then. This is so normal in Spain: if you're dressing in a "strange" way, they don't say anything to you in your face, but when you pass near them, they shout you, push you or say something to you, just for hurting yourself. They don't expect that maybe you can stop and say something back, right? And if you do this, they want to fight because "who are you for telling me this". Excuse me? Who are YOU for telling me something in the first time!!

And this situation happens to me almost every day. I know, I know what are you gonna say: ignore them. And believe me, of course I do, almost all the time. But then, there's a day, a moment, when the drop raises the border of the glass. And you just crash, and say what you think.

I cannot understand this kind of people. I mean, if I don't look at you, if I don't say anything about you and your awful clothes (believe me, sometimes I look at them as "Sorry, have you just looked yourself in the mirror today?"), why they have to say anything about me? It's so unpolite, and I don't understand why people is so unpolite these days.

There are some places where others can look at you, but keep their opinion to theirselves... why they don't do this here? Is the same in your countries? I really would like to know your opinion!!

Anyway, here you've got my picture. The fail? Yes, I was so happy with my lovely hat, lovely socks, lovely skirt, lovely shoes... we took the picture, only one. We went home. And when I get there, I found a lovely fat man without t-shirt behind me. But you know? I liked the picture, so here you've got. A fail, but I don't mind!

PS: I'm just a nerd and yesterday, when I wrote this, I was half-sleep and said that La Pedrera was Dali's art. It's from Gaudí. GAUDÍ, YOU FUCKING SLEEPY BITCH!! XD!!

June 29, 2010 Ubud to Manggis: The Cremation

July is the cremation season in Bali. Typically when someone dies, he or she is buried. When the village or collection of villages has saved enough money to stage a cremation, the bones of the deceased are dug up, wrapped in various ways and carried in procession to the cremation site.

At the site, paper animals of various sorts are waiting under the palm trees to hold the bones and offerings.

Gamelan music from two groups envelopes the area in sound.

Families mill about holding photographs of the deceased, spreading out picnics, and having a good time. Ultimately the bones are burned. This simple description in no way conveys the magnificently beautiful chaos of the festival. And it is a festival. The burning of the bones allows the spirit of the deceased to reincarnate in another family member so there is good reason to celebrate.

In order to attend, we had to garb ourselves appropriately. There were several purveyors on hand more than willing to wrap sarongs around us (long pieces of brightly-colored cotton fabric), tie them in place with silky sashes and give Ben the suitable head gear. While we didn’t exactly fit in, we were mostly ignored in a very pleasant sort of way. Inclusion is a basic tenet of the Balinese culture and we were included with absolutely no fuss or bother.

We wandered around for several hours, watching, listening, wondering when something was going to happen. Just like everyone else. Because we were on the way to our next hotel and had several more hours to drive, we left before the burning which apparently isn’t as dramatic as we had imagined. More like a smoldering than a conflagration. Still we were sorry to miss it.

indeed money is not everything.

money. it is important now days. it could be everything, but in the mean time, it could be nothing. it is nothing when u wake up in the middle of the night in a million bucks bed & full of expensive furnitures in ur room and find out, that u r alone. it is nothing when there's no one else living in ur big castle on ur own & u have to watch tv, with no one by ur side. it is nothing, if u had the same nightmare, everyday.

money. it is one of the biggest main point of living in this world today. ppl fight because of it, well, some ppl were married, also, because of money. money can kill, money can cure, money can save a life, money can satisfy u and it turn the world upside down. a poor man could become a millionaire in a blink of an eye, so did the other way.

but sometimes the world seems unfair. those poor ppl keep on being poorer and those who r rich, getting richer. but i wonder, why did most of the richest ppl commit suicide? and why are ppl so desperate that they could kill, kidnapped their own fmly members, for money? what does it mean?

perhaps, when u had money, u're about to participate urself in a, should i say, a field or modern war? which, u don't need a gun, or an armored fighting vehicle moving on caterpillar tracks. all you need are just -- a mixture of greed, with no mercy, and violence.

at the end of d day, what did all the money got u into? -- trouble, loneliness & feeling of sorrow of being NOTHING. u might be living like a king, and the world is a heaven to u, but when it is the end of the world, and u die, u have NOTHING. or perhaps u're going to HELL if those money wasn't urs at the first place. think twice. money ain't everything.

Grilled Portobello Burger with Onion Jam

  

    
New ideas for recipes come in many different forms these days.  In addition to cookbooks, we have cooking magazines and newsletters.  We've gone digital with cooking websites and blogs.  Now add to that Twitter where in addition to the latest celebrity news we can get a recipe from our favorite celebrity chef.  One the one hand, it is another example of our abbreviated and dehumanizing modern existence when the recipe comes to us as: Rst 1#tomtllos,1 on,3 grlc,3 serranos;puree;sear n oil 2 thkn;simr w 2c broth,.5c crema.Oil,micrwv 12 torts,roll w rstd veg,sauce, chs, bake (Roasted Vegetables with a Creamy Tomatillo Sauce, Rick Bayless).  On the other hand, it is nice to get just a single idea that can pique our curiosity and fit into our busy modern lives.  The recipe below came from the Food Network's Twitter with the admonition that it was so good it made them cry (and not from the onions)!  By this time of summer, I'm tapped out of burger recipes and looking for something different.  I've gone through fish recipes too, so now a portobello mushroom recipe is timely.  Also, using red onions in the summer months and knowing that caramelizing onions brings out their sweetness plays on the wine sauce/jam this recipe suggests.  Food Network suggested a yogurt/mayo spread for the bun.  I omitted that because the onions in wine sauce would be more than enough to help the burger go down.  Besides, why add unnecessary fat?  I paired this with green beans in pesto (ok how about why eat fat as mayo when you can have it as pesto?!), a preparation I use sometimes with steak and is a decadent way to get your veggies.  Try this for a quick and different summertime meal.  Serves 2.

    

Ingredients:

4 tbsp oil

1 large red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp dried thyme

salt/pepper

1/2 cup red wine

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 garlic clove crushed

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 portobello mushrooms, stemmed

2 hamburger buns

    

Directions:

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium pan over medium-low heat.  Add the onions, 1/4 tsp thyme and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Cover and cook to soften the onions but not brown, stirring occasionally, about 10 to 15 minutes.  Add the red wine and simmer until the wine is reduced to about 2 tbsp total.  Add the honey and vinegar and continue to simmer gently until the onion mixture thickens to a jam-like consistency.  Meanwhile, preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat.  Brown the hamburger buns if desired.  Whisk together the remaining olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, 1/4 tsp of dried thyme, salt and pepper.  Coat the mushroom caps on both sides with the olive oil mixture.  Grill the mushrooms, turning as needed about 3 minutes per side.  Place on buns with onion jam mixture spooned on top.  Serve.
    

June 28, 2010 Close to Ubud, Bali: Street Food

On the way back to the hotel from our expedition, still pretty buzzed from the coffee, we stopped at a road side store so that Ben could purchase some Balinese beer and a package of clove cigarettes to bring back to a friend. Outside the store was a small food cart with a very cute young fellow hanging out, waiting for business. We ordered a king-sized omelet—without having the faintest idea what that might turn out to be. It cost 23,000 Indonesian rupieh or about $2.30. Basically I wanted (1) to give this young fellow some business (2) to eat some street food for which Bali is famous and (3) to see what he would produce and take pictures of the process. I was successful on all fronts.

First he mixed up some eggs and green onions in a metal cup.











Next he twirled the pastry until it was incredibly thin, slipped it into some hot oil, and poured the egg mixture into the middle.




















He skillfully folded the pastry around the egg, basting it with the hot fat until it was crispy and golden, drained off some of the oil, and cut it into small serving pieces.

Enough food for a party of 10 or 12. We took our box back to the hotel and the four of us ate the contents with glasses of beer. Probably not a wise thing to do just before going to dinner. But it was delicious--the perfect street food.