Good Night Sleep???

We have finally managed to install aircond in our room (finally, after much procrastinating .. hehe)

Well, it surely make me have a better sleeping quality and I can get to sleep more easily this day, 10pm already feel so sleepy and already went to bed. The thing is now, I always wake up around 3-3.30am. And it feels so fresh like I already have all the sleep I needed. but of course, it is really early, and I need to force myself back to sleep to wake up at 6.00am.


At 6.00am when the alarm rung, I felt so lazy to get up and just want to sleep a bit more. I feel tired like I did not have enough sleep. So... should I immediately wake up at 3am, instead of go back to sleep and try to wake up at 6am... gosh, my body clock is all messed up :p

Working the Victoria Busker Festival

We thoroughly enjoyed working the Empress Hotel lawn this afternoon in the Inner Harbor of Victoria.  We have already been in two newspapers and will be in The Globe and Mail tomorrow.

Come check us out this week.

CARROT RICE

Ingredients:

Cooked rice ... 1 cup (we can use the left-over rice too)

Grated carrot .. 2 tbsp

Turmeric powder ... 1/8tsp

Red chilli powder .. 1/8 tsp

Garam masala ........ 1/2 tsp

Salt .... to taste

Oil

For Tempering:

Cumin seeds .... 1/2 tsp

Mustard seeds ... 1/2 tsp

Urad dal / chana dal ... 1 tsp

Asafoetida ......... a pinch

Dry red chillies ... 1-2

Curry leaves ....... a sprig

Method:

1. In a pan heat a little oil. Add the tempering ingredients. When the seeds crackle, add the grated carrot.

2. Season with salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder and garam masala. Saute for a minute.

3. Add the cooked rice and mix well.

Serve hot.

Linking this to:

Veggie/Fruit a month - Carrot

@ - Kaarasaaram & Mharo Rajasthan Recipes

Iftar Moments Hijri 1432

Any One Can cook - series 26

@ - Taste of Pearl City

Quick Easy Recipes

@ Food Blog News

Day Six - A little piece of paradise

6.3.11 : 154/365

On the sixth day we made our way back to the beach that we had checked out earlier called 'Le Diament'. This name covers a town, beach and that rock you see up there in the distance. The rock itself is 2.5 miles off the coast and stands proudly out of the water for everyone to see. The beach is very long and the water is active and yet crystal clear. Thanks to the sheer length of the beach, large portions of it were virtually secluded - fantastic!

Here were the fruits of my shutter happy labours, it was just so beautiful;

I'm pretty sure this is where the crazy waves took the goggles clear off the mister's face!

When we got back to our village, there was a really pretty sunset;

What a relaxing day!

Gardening In June

First off.  I must apologize for being so far behind on my blogging , I just can not seem to get my writing mood working properly .   Now lets get caught up :))
June is an exciting month to be gardening ... everything is starting to takeoff, and if you planned it well, you can even have a few salads , and some tasty early crops.   Radishes , lettuces, spring onions, even peas ...  plus of course the herbs.  MmmmMmmm so exciting to watch, kinda painful to have to wait for it all though !

My 1st 3 sisters plot is doing well., I should have waited a few more weeks before planting the beans though , they ended up going a little wild without a nice corn stalk to grow up . 

1st week of June,  everything is safe from frost now , cold frames have been removed... its time to grow!! 

The peas needed a little help climbing the chair.  

The maple sticks were plenty strong enough to support the peas, but for future reference , make sure they are dried!!  Hahaha they started sprouting on me.  

June is great for lettuces.. not too hot . Mmmm fresh garden salad!   I'm not very good at thinning , but am getting better .. esp. now that I just eat the thinnings. 

Basil :)) My favourite herb.   This year I'm growing most of it in containers, and only one test patch in the ground.   

By mid June ..  the peas were flowering!!  

Mid June again , my first full salad from the garden .. lettuces, radishes, onions, and a few herbs. 

I cut a large bunch of my oregano, and hung it in a breezy sunny spot to dry out.  Funny, i don't like fresh oregano, only dried. 

TOMATOES!!!  Yeah !  I will have to wait at least another month to eat them ... but I'm so very happy.   Proper spacing of my tomato plants this year , has made a huge impact on how many tomatoes per plant I'm getting .  Don't crowd them, it does not get you more tomatoes.  

June is full of flowers!!  These are Scarlet Runner Beans.  

Radishes are a great early crop,  in less than a month you are eating them!  

By the 3rd week of June , things are really starting to pick up!  The squash is starting to sprawl out :)) 

Same with the peas, by the 3rd week ... I'm eating them on every trip to the garden . 

My Bright Lights Swiss Shard is doing amazing , and tastes just as good! 

This radish was growing for  about 35 days !  It was huge :)) 

The peas finally climbed the chair :))  Will be drilling a few holes in the seat for next season ...  to let a little more water underneath . 

By the end of June , the onions I left in the ground last fall have gone to seed.  Time to clip the heads and try and save some.  

That brings us up to July !  Ill be doing a two part post for that as there is so much going on !!   I have a garden journal , so If I have skipped something , or not explained it fully .. please just leave a comment below , and Ill happily fill in any blanks!!   Either that or jump over to my Facebook page , and check out the daily goings on there.

Happy Gardening !!

Happy Birthday Celine ... and Gina!

My friends and I celebrated Celine's birthday last night in Greenbelt.  Our original plan was to have dinner at the favorite "ng Bayan(i.e. our group)" Chic-Boy along Jupiter St.   But we were upgraded to Mr. Jones!  Gina, the sister of Celine, who is also celebrating her birthday today gave us a couple vouchers and Celine took care of the rest of the bill.

We were so happy because the whole gang was present.  Hahahahahaha you should have heard me singing in my head, "Hail! Hail! The gang's all here!"



Thank you Sherman for taking our picture!

Earlier in the afternoon, I was already browsing the net for the menu of Mr. Jones.  I could not decide what to order, until the last minute.... I had the burger.



I wanted the Big Mama's Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf but it had a side order of fried egg which turned me off. Well, perhaps I can try it next time as long as it is not in the evening.

Sherman had the U.S. Beef Tapa and Garlic Overload.



Guess what Jing ordered?  Bowl of Chili!  No surprise there.  I also wanted it but  we got different kinds of food.



Corry and Mona shared (split into two) Two Dogs on a Bed



and  Mac and Cheese.



  I loved the Mac and Cheese!  I kept on "pilfering" from Corry's plate, there was this distinct taste I am familiar with but could not identify.  I looked at the menu again and it had truffle oil! Hahaha ... because the name of the dish is: Wicked Truffled Mac n' Cheese.  I am not a pasta fan but would order this again.

Mariger's choice was Grilled Steak and Crispy Pear Wedge.  It is their equivalent of Caesar's salad.



Mayette had the Fish and Chips.  Huge slipper sized fish!



Jon's order was the Even Better Yankee Pot Roast.



The birthday girl had the Giant Tacos!!!





I can not remember the name of her chosen dish but it was really huge!!!!


After dinner, we moved to Cerveseria, Greenbelt 3.  It is our favorite "drinking" place.



Not that I drink.  I was kidding them earlier that I will order Frozen Mango Daiquiri without the rum  hahaha meaning Mango Shake!  Corry and I were the only ones who had non-alcoholic beverages.  I tried their Watermelon Green Mango Shake.  ASIM!!!!!  hahahaha  I had to add a couple of packets of Splenda, then it became ok.

My friends and I would like to go back and try their Spanish dishes especially the "cochinillo".  The tapas bar looks like a cozy library with chandelier made of candle wax.



During the weekends they have a dj who plays house or 80's music but not too loud because my friends and I could still hear each other.

The BEST thing about Cerveseria .... I could be in shorts and my Birkenstock!  Hahahaha This is not the place for people who like to dress up and "BE SEEN".  Cerveseria is just a comfortable place to chill out and dine with friends,  hahaha especially people my age.

Everybody had a great and fun night!   Thanks Celine and wishing you and Gina a very Happy Birthday!