December Project: Childhood

...Home

In a couple of days, Mama & Papa T will be moving out of my childhood home to a new place.

Needless to say I am brokenhearted to let go of the home I know and love so well. [Insert sweet sentiment about homes not being the buildings but the people and memories created there]. *Pooey* Imma miss that place.

December Project: Someone You Love

This little dude is turning 7 today, Happy Birthday Luca. Your Aunty Nic loves you! 

Food Porn Friday: Fat Kids are Harder to Kidnap

In college, my fellow swimmers and I used to have this saying, "Fat kids are harder to kidnap".

Think about it...

Needless to say, I still live my life by that motto, hence food porn Friday! Happy Weekending!

xoxo

The Kobe Beef Burger with Zuchinni fries from Burger Bar  in Las Vegas

Friday Pic

Hello faithful friends and fans! It's been a loong while since you've heard a peep from this cultural nomad. Once again, work is the guilty culprit. My time and energy was completely consumed by organizing an Italian wine week in Los Angeles, featuring only the native varietals of Italia.

After months, countless meetings and endless hours of work, our event (which took place from May 16-20, 2011) was a huge success and I can honestly say that I've walked away with great experiences, a decent knowledge of native Italian varietals, and a little crush on Italy. More on that later.

In the meantime, here is a picture from one of our events held during the week- a Northern Italy Fruili and Piemonte dinner at Culina. While I would like to claim credit for such a cool shot, this one was taken by a professional photographer.

Photo Credit: Maria Schriber

Happy Weekending!

Friday Pic: The Other City

I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I last posted something here. I am not going to lie, I'm definitely finding it hard to keep this blog updated. Especially when I feel like my job is taking over my entire life! Thank God I'm blessed with a job that I actually enjoy and derive a lot of satisfaction from.

Anyhoo... while I spend this weekend recuperating (kinda not really since the BFF Meeks is in town) enjoy this picture of a beautiful row of town houses that caught my eye on my recent trip to the Big Apple.

Happy weekending-- it's good to be home.

Friday Pic: My City

Two thoughts, 1. I love the city I live in and 2. I wish I had a better camera.

So folks, another week has come and gone, and another Friday is upon us. Unfortunately, my work week doesn't end here as I head up to San Francisco to help out at the SF World Spirits Competition, work some events and then travel to New York to work more events. In total I will be gone from LA for well over a week. Phew.

I love my job? Happy weekending!

Friday Pic: A Sneak Peek

It's Fri-Fri-Friday! Can you tell I am just a tad excited! :)

Anyway, for this week's Friday pic, I though I would give you a sneak peek, a glimpse of what's to come, a little something to wet your appetite for Monday's post. Doesn't that look dee-licious?? It's from my dinner at Animal Restaurant and let me tell you it was good. Real good. So stayed tuned.

On another completely different note, one of my dearest friend's Shannon is having toe surgery today and I wanted all you good folks out there to put in a good word for her with God. While the surgery is not a life threatening one, Shannon informs me it is going to be a painful one. Furthermore, Shannon is going to be in a boot and out of commission for a while and this will not do for the I-can-do-it-myself-I-am-woman type of girl that Shannon is. So pray for a speedy recovery as well.

Thanks Y'all! Happy weekending!

Friday Pics

Taken with my camera phone this morning:
Flowers from my dear sis-in-law and a snail mailed note from my darling nephew

It's another TGIF!

Work has been insane. My boss is on a 3 week personal vacation and this means I have twice the work load to deal with and also twice the exhaustion.

I might also add that I worked an event on Wednesday where I had to sit outside in the rain for 2 hours checking in consumers. And no- there were no umbrellas nor space heaters. It was miserable.

Needless to say, this week has been hard and I welcome Friday with open arms. TGIF

Friday Pics: Scanwiches

Hey ho friends! I'm so sorry for the blog silence this week (well I guess I did post on Monday, so at least it was not complete silence), but work this week has been kicking my flat Asian hinny. TGIF is all I can say.

Tonight, I am having dinner with my friend at Animal, a restaurant that I've been dying to try for some time now, so stay tuned for that post. Tomorrow, I'm spending the day exploring Old Town Pasadena with the Bro & Co. and I cannot wait to see my favorite munchkins.

But for now, before the week is up, let me share with you some sandwich food porn for this week's edition of Friday pics, courtesy of Scanwiches - a blog chronicling the deli delights all around New York City.

Enjoy and oh... you're drooling a little there, or at least I am. 

Friday Pics: Colors, Textures & Shadows

Friday Pics: The Way I Travel- New York

The Winter Whites of New York City.

Friday Pic: Corner of my Home (in Singapore)

My maternal Grandparent's wedding picture. Behind that is a old family picture taken in the early 90's. I don't know if you can see this but I am deliberately pouting because I was upset with Mama T that day and wanted to purposefully ruin her family picture. 

What a brat I was! 

But I guess the joke is on me since I now look like a tool in the picture. 

Happy Friday! I'm off to face the freezing temps in NYC tomorrow! 

Friday Pics

Yes, yes- I realize that the new year has long come and gone, and not only that, I realize that I have been MIA since Xmas Eve.

I truly am sorry for leaving you all hanging (because really, how does one get by without their daily, if not weekly, dose of "adventures" from little ole me) but what can I say, I got a little distracted during my time at home and then when I finally got back to LA, I was expanding all my energy toward catching up with work and settling back into my routine.

Excuses aside, I promise, I am back, in 2011, with a vengeance! 

And, as a peace offering from leaving you all stranded, here is a small taste of what went down while I was back home in Singapore. Happy Friday!
 

While home, I spent some time reacquainting myself with a cousin who I haven't seen in at least 15 years? Here are 2 scenes from the balcony of her apartment building. 

I apologize for the hazy shots- it was Monsoon season, so rain and overcast skies was definitely an issue. For some reason, the rain always took me by surprise! Guess I haven't been back in Dec in a while.

You can see the Singapore Flyer and Marina Bay Sands in the background of this shot. Oh how the skyline of my city has changed since I left. 

 While somethings in Singapore have changed in the years since I've been gone, there are others that remain exactly as I remember it. Only in an island country as small as Singapore will you see evidence of people utilizing every single space available to them. I mean, come on, in between two escalators at a grocery store??

 

I also spent a lot of time with my BFF Meek. I met her in the CBD (Central Business District) for lunch on a work day and I cannot express how liberating it was to be the only person not in work attire for 100 miles. While downtown, I took a couple of shots of Boat Quay,

and 

 The Fullterton Hotel, which used to be the old General Post Office but is now a 5-star luxury hotel that has the best chocolate buffet! 

Then there was this wedding I attended...

Social activities aside, food was also a main agenda on my trip home...

My mom and I have a tradition of going to high tea with some friends from Church every time I'm back home. This time was no exception. 

Here is the wide array of fruits that were available at high tea at the Marriot Hotel.

 More Fruits! This time, the array of pre-packaged fruits being sold at the fruit monger. 

 Kumpong Chicken Rice- which basically translates to free range chicken rice.

 Dim Sum! The above abalone tarts were out of this world good!

 And my all time favorite, the Chili Crab...

... and the accompanying man tou! Mmmmm.

Stay tuned for more detailed coverage of my foodie eats in Singapore!

Friday Pics: A Christmas Edition

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

While I blast my jams (christmas carols, what else!) and preheat the oven in preparation for cooking  tonight's family xmas eve dinner, I do hope the Christmas cheer is as alive in your heart as it is in mine!

Friday Pics

The Presents Under My Little Wooden Tree

I leave for Singapore today!!! Excited does not even close to describing how I feel, for there's no place like home for the Holidays! Wish me safe travels ya'll. 

Oh, there’s no place like
home for the holidays,
‘Cause no matter how far away you roam
When you pine for the sunshine
Of a friendly face
For the holidays, you can’t beat
Home, sweet home

I met a man who lives in Tennessee
And he was headin’ for Pennsylvania
And some home made pumpkin pie
From Pennsylvania folks a travelin’ down
To Dixie’s sunny shore
From Atlantic to Pacific, gee
The traffic is terrific

Oh there's no place like home
For the holidays, ‘cause no matter
How far away you roam
If you want
To be happy in a million ways
For the holidays, you can’t beat
Home, sweet home 

Friday Pics and a Poem

Breakfast In Bed. Cardinal In Winter. Alexandra Grablewsk. Breathe

While I usually despise poems, this one made me laugh. 

Diagnosis

by Sharon Olds

By the time I was six months old, she knew something
was wrong with me. I got looks on my face
she had not seen on any child
in the family, or the extended family,
or the neighborhood. My mother took me in
to the pediatrician with the kind hands,
a doctor with a name like a suit size for a wheel:
Hub Long. My mom did not tell him
what she thought in truth, that I was Possessed.
It was just these strange looks on my face—
he held me, and conversed with me,
chatting as one does with a baby, and my mother
said, She's doing it now! Look!
She's doing it now! and the doctor said,
What your daughter has
is called a sense
of humor. Ohhh, she said, and took me
back to the house where that sense would be tested
and found to be incurable.

Happy Friday! 

Friday Pics: Sunset

Taken at the Dana Point Beach. Lovely sunset, freezing temps.

Friday Pics: Thanksgiving Table

Good friday friends. How was your Thanksgiving? Was it filled with thanks and turkey? Mine was, check it out for yourself!

Enjoy the long weekend!

xoxo,
Nic

Friday Pics: The Way I Travel- New York

After spending 2 days in Miami, it was time to take our event to New York City. Here are some pictures from my time there for this week's installment of Friday Pictures. 

 The Indoor Balcony of our penthouse hotel on the Upper East Side.

The views from the outdoor balcony of the hotel.

 

The Flat Iron Building.

And a little shout out to Eataly, the gorgeous new Italian food market and restaurant collection that we happened to chance upon, and also where I got to meet Joe Bastianich and Mario Batali (orange crocs and all). 

Boasting 50,000 square feet of restaurants and peninsular provisions, Eataly has everything you'll ever need with a fishmonger and butcher (and vegetable butcher) and an espresso bar, a wine store, a cheese store, a cooking school, a kitchenware department and a great deal more! Eataly literally took my breath away and I wanted to spend hours exploring every nook and cranny of this awesome space.

 

Happy almost-thanksgiving-but-not-quite weekend!

Firday Pics: Taste of Beverly Hills

We interrupt our regular programming to bring you a worldless recap of how I spent 9.02.10. - at a food & wine festival called Taste of Beverly Hills.

Geddit? Beverly Hills? 90201? 9.02.10? No? sigh.

And yes, I know this was over 2 months ago. But better late than never! Happy Friday!