sweetness!

So after all my car rants, I've finally got a new one! It still hasn't quite set in that I've bought it until I actually look at the car but oh it's gorgeous and drives like a dream! Can't say anymore than that cos a picture is worth a thousand words!

But I've also to say bye to Vincent, my little fox. always reliable and fun to drive. An excellent first car and one I would have held on to if I could. He would have been 15 months old in 3 days' time! Goodbye my darling! It's a good thing I have my Jag to get me through this tough time.. :)

my new obsession

I've moved on from food recently because my stomach can't expand anymore and there aren't so many michelin star restaurants in abundance back here in Dundee.

So my new obsession is cars!! Goodness I think I'm driving everyone nuts with talk about cars.. I've been thinking about getting an SUV like the Tiguan because Volkswagen has always been reliable but scratched that idea after my family got one. What is the point of getting a car that we already have right? So back to the drawing board. Thought about the Golf R but they're not cheap.

I really like the BMW X1 but then it's diesel which means I wouldn't be able to take it back with me to Singapore.. I wish my Fox could come too but for the amount it costs to bring it in, it's not quite worth it. If I were as rich as Lionel Richie, I'd keep every car I'd ever owned as well.

So my sister recently introduced me to Top Gear and James May was test driving the Jaguar XF. Wow. No other words but wow. I think you would squeal with delight every time you turned the car on and you'd feel every penny was worth it!

Phoned up the garage to test drive it tomorrow but the petrol cars are in low stock so it might take a little while to come.. But anyway, I can't wait til tomorrow!!

thanks a lot

My sister says that I make really nice oyako don, so she was going to make spam msubis to go with the oyako don. Only later I found out what a high opinion she has of my food:

Jo: Can you make some oyako don for me to bring on the plane?
Me: Really? You like my oyako don so much?
Jo: Yeah I hate plane food. It tastes better than plane food.
Me: Thanks alot for the compliments. -__-

Sigh.

the cost of indulgence

Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester.

I think that sentence sums it up. Anyway, chose it because it was awarded its third michelin star this year. Also meant that it was cheaper than the other 3 michelin star restaurants :)

We were greeted at the Dorchester by really friendly staff although someone asked if we were going to eat at China Tang, the Chinese restaurant. Didn't come all the way to London to eat Chinese food but maybe it's good.

Decided to go for a 3 course dinner as opposed to the tasting menu because there was tons of seafood on it. Plus I wasn't that hungry. The first waiter came round with a trolley of champagne. I went for the house champagne which was realy good. £14 a glass but worth it.

Then for little pre-starters they served little choux puffs - cheese, paprika and pepper. Light and fluffy little things, quite delicious indeed. The waiter insisted that we polish off the last remaining two choux puffs which we did without much hesitance.

Oh but my starter of Hereford snails in parsley butter with potato gnocchi and bacon! Oh to die for. The escargot were so nice and chewy with no gritty bits that you sometimes get. The gnocchi would just melt away into your palate, which is brilliant because too often handmade gnocchi can get really thick and pasty. The bacon complemented the snails perfectly, not too oily and providing a nice crunch. I think I could have eaten another plates and forgotten about the rest of the dinner. My sis had the foie gras which is cooked in the best way - pan-seared! Although I think parts of it were a bit on the salty side.

While waiting for the main course, they served some amuse bouche of lobster ravioli. Very nice indeed, even though I'm not a seafood gourmet.

I had the main course of the beef fillet and seared foie gras. Absolutely delightful. I'd asked for the steak done rare which was perfectly cooked with the lovely juices oozing out. And the foie gras gave an extra zing of flavour to the taste of the beef. Yum indeed. My only gripe was that it was accompanied by this cheap lettuce which dulled the taste somewhat.

By this time, we were starting to get really full. I had the chocolate dessert while my sis had the lemon souffle. The grapefruit sorbet was very nice and good for cleansing the palate and the flavours were very nice indeed. I can't say that the dessert really left me as speechless as the starter but it was good. However, they also served an assortment of lemon, almond and coconut macaroons which I thought were the best ever. Crispy and fluffy and so delicate indeed. Plus the pralines that they had were so amazing as well!!

Tea. Tea. I love tea. There was something about their earl grey tea that had such a pleasant aroma. Different from most other earl grey teas I've tasted. I seem to recall that taste once somwhere before but I just can't recall.

After the two of us were practically on the floor following the immense dinner, they rolled along a platter of 6 pastries. Disappointingly we were too full to eat it and the waitress herself looked disappointed not to serve it. She also tried to fill us up with some sweeties of caramel and marshmallows, but sadly I only brought along one stomach, not 4!

As we left the restaurant, the staff handed us a box of glazed orange cakes each for our breakfast the next morning. What a lovely touch indeed.

Was the experience worth it? Totally! The service delivered by the staff was impeccable and so smooth. The food was excellent (though I admit not all the courses were the best I've ever tasted) and the price extremely reasonable for a 3 michelin star restaurant! Although next time, I'm determined to eat everything they bring.

Next stop - Le Jules Verne atop the Eiffel tower (also by Alain Ducasse)!!!

a life less ordinary

London has been a whirlwind of fun and I'm back here in Dundee again. Perhaps I could have stayed longer had I chosen not to indulge as much but I definitely needed a good break.

We started the trip with a meal at Koya, a Japanese joint specialising in udon in Soho. It was good udon, but not great unfortunately. And that's that. This was followed by the musical 'We will rock you' - definitely worth watching. It's fun and lively and who doesn't know the Queen songs?

The next morning was breakfast at the Wolseley. I find that breakfast is something that can never get that special. I don't know why but I thought maybe the Wolseley would change my mind considering all the reviews I read about it. Well... the food was good I suppose. But the service completely ruined my dining experience. One thing people know about me is that I love tea. Absolutely adore tea. Will probably drink any kind of tea (proper tea, not that herbal fruity junk). And I returned the tea saying that was NOT earl grey. Instead of taking it back to the kitchen to check, the waitress insulted me by saying 'Oh these are made from tea leaves, maybe that's why it doesn't taste like earl grey to you.' I started going off at her and asked her to taste it herself! That's how mad I was. Never drank the foul thing. Not enough bergamot or tea leaves even and the water in London tastes atrocious because of the amount of chlorine in it. Definitely not fit for brewing tea. So if you're having tea, it needs to be good and strong, or get mineral water. CONCLUSION: Do not go to the Wolseley. I think the waitress was sent to serve another corner of the restaurant and no one apologised for the mistake.

KOBA: A Korean restaurant also located in Soho. Amazing. Nothing but amazing. The food was good and authentic, the service too was impeccable. We seemed to have some communication problems with the waiter which sent us into peals of laughter rather than frustrate us. So it was all good.

Monday was going to be my day. Afternoon tea at the Berkeley followed by the musical 'Love Never Dies'. When we arrived, they took us to our table with my name on it. How quaint. And the sweets and pastries were so well done! I have to admit that there was a bit too much sugar but then it's the look of the tea that takes your breath away more than anything. There was this lavender cream thing which I just couldn't stomach though. A bit like drinking hand soap or something but service was excellent and the food otherwise was great! They even insist that you take home the little desserts that you've not been able to stomach!

PRET A PORTEA AT THE BERKELEY: 4.5 stars out of 5. Definitely a fun experience. I just can't wait to go to the next one when the new spring/summer collection comes out.

I'd been aching to watch 'Love never dies' for ages but it had mixed reviews. Still, that wasn't going to stop me because it was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber. My sister didn't seem to enjoy it that much. But I think it still had some excellent songs and you couldn't fault the Phantom's and Christine's singing voices. Absolutely beautiful. The only thing is that the storyline was just well.. not quite right. Or even, not quite there. So.. if you're a musical buff and you've seen the other great shows, then go watch this. It's worth watching but I'm not sure I'd go a second time. Think I'd buy the soundtrack though!

Tuesday was shopping day. We took a train to the shopping outlet at Bicester and went mad. I blame my sister for awakening the sleeping giant. I was never much of a shopper and didn't budget much for actual shopping because I knew I wouldn't really spend on these things. I came back with a Burberry coat, Ugg boats, a Mulberry pouch and a huge hole in my purse. I think we'd have stayed longer if we hadn't run out of money, so definitely make a trip to Bicester if you're flush!

We were still aching for another meal at Koba but didn't have time and went straight to our next musical 'Wicked'. I'd heard really good reviews and it was really good in fact. I think I'm still a more intense person and lean towards the Phantom and Les Mis sort of shows, but Wicked is still worth watching again.

Wednesday was our last day in London so we saved the best for last. Or so we thought. I took Jo to Marco Pierre White's King's Road Steakhouse and Grill. Great ambience and very lovely decor but the food was just disappointing. The pork belly was a good starter which made things look very promising, but the steak was charred unfortunately. The creme brulee, which I'd long been craving for, was covered with this impenetrable layer of over-caramelised sugar. I felt utterly disappointed with this meal. A waste of stomach space in fact.

And to save the best for last was our michelin star experience. Which definitely is worth a post of its own. Heh.

the disease to please is hereditary

On Friday I was asked to work an extra shift but I really didn't want to and didn't have the guts to say no because I felt bad so got my friend to say no for me. Still, I went home feeling really guilty about it even though I had no reason to! Anyway, after about 10 hours of deliberating, I decided at 11pm that I was not going to do the shift. I was going to enjoy my Saturday off because I'd be working again on Sunday.

That was until I got a text from a friend saying that they'd really appreciate me coming in. After reading that message, that was me roped in and I jumped out of my bed into my car. I thought that by hiding on another floor, none of my colleagues would find out, that was until I ran into my consultant who'd come to see a patient. Bottom line is, I've lost the respect of everyone I work with for not being able to say 'NO!' My sister calls me the world's biggest pushover. The title used to belong to my mum so it's definitely in my genes.

I actually went to google 'people pleaser' and it's nicknamed 'the disease to please'. I still get a good feeling knowing that I've helped someone out and shared their load, plus I get paid for it! But not sure if I'm bordering on pathological! Guess I'll leave that to my sister, the budding psychologist, to diagnose. Though I have this morbid fear of confrontation as well which is probably why. Don't think I'm completely nuts yet because this side of me didn't surface til this incident and people seem to think I'm quite firm. We'll keep that illusion going for as long as we can, though probably not for much longer.

Enough ranting for now. I'm off to watch an audience with Buble.. I love Michael Buble!

oklahoma!

I first visited the UK when I was 8 years old and we stayed in my aunt's house in Leicester for a couple of weeks. There wasn't much to do in Leicester and every day we'd go to Debenhams to shop, my little sis would sit in the Postman Pat van and my dad would sit at the cafe outside Debenhams drinking tea. As for me and my older sis, we'd order jam doughnuts and squeeze out all the jam. Once Debenhams kicked us out for the day, we'd head home and just watch tons of movies. That's when my little sis made us watch Postman Pat, Grease and the Sound of Music a thousand times... But my aunt also had Calamity Jane and Oklahoma which I loved and now have the DVDs of!

I actually just bought the Oklahoma soundtrack too and watched Calamity Jane on the telly today! Oh I just love Howard Keel! Found out not long ago that Jeremy Brett, one of my favourite actors who plays Sherlock Holmes, was also Freddy Eynsford Hill in My Fair Lady!

Oh I love old movies and musicals.. Edinburgh playhouse will be showing Oklahoma but I guarantee I won't find any company to go with me.. Today they showed the movie 'The Prince and the Showgirl' starring Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivier. It was a wonderful movie but the ending seemed a bit.. well sad in a way. I watched 'The Children's Hour' starring Audrey Hepburn last time and it was a bit depressing as well, but just watching these stars who shaped the film industry was just brill!

Signing off for now to sign to my Oklahoma soundtrack!