This August is indeed a rainy season.
And since there was nothing much to do, I made puddings!
Croaky says he prefers muffins, cupcakes and scones though.
I wouldn’t have known there’s a difference if not for my gluttony husband.
He should lose some weight!

And our Woollycroak adventures continue…
As mentioned in our last post, our next destination was San Francisco.
But I forgot about Napa Wine Valley, which was a prelude to our SF tour.
Napa Wine Valley is a very much celebrated place in the US. It is the next popular destination to Sonoroma if you are into scenery, wine making and wine tasting.

The pump prices in the US fluctuates from place to place. We were always on the look-out for cheaper gas along the freeways and further off major cities. The most expensive gas – close to USD 4.90 per gallon (1 gallon is the equivalent of 3.8 litres). So the price of USD 3.55 (above) is the equivalent of SGD 1.30 per litre! That’s quite affordable right? You are quite wrong! A 3.5 L car on a US freeways, running 300 KM/day drinks up way too much petrol. If you consider travelling from Ang Mo Kio to Woodlands is a big distance, you need to transplant yourself in US. To the Americans, driving is a commodity, not a luxury!

And they are really moving their house - literally and physically! What an interesting sight.

We reached the train station just in time for the departure of the Napa Wine Train at 11.30 a.m. We were still browsing at the traveller’s centre at 11.15 a.m. when we realised there was only one wine train departure per day and the train station was a 15 minutes drive away. Luckily Hertz NeverLost directed us there just in the nick of time. Phew.

And we bought the train tickets. Not cheap. About 90 bucks per person (if my memory didn’t fail me).

Croaky deciding what to eat for lunch…

And Woolly happy to be on the train.

The Americans were always more than willing to take photos for us, even without our asking! Where else in the world do you find such civility?

Taking in sips of gourmet Napa wine… yum yum.

Not much left over. Wine tastes much better in the sun.

And the retake of the famous sign board. The first time we took our picture, the train was moving forward and Woolly only took half of the sign board. So we didn’t get a good shot. So on our return journey, we counted down to the very minute the train would be moving across the sign board and wahla, we got our picture! All thanks to the time-stamp technology on modern day digital camera, we were able to have precision in our timing. For your information, this train is moving about 45 km/hr and the whole train ride is 3 hrs!

And my favourite shot – Croaky ducking his head out to help me look out for the sign-board before it zooms past us! This is now my desktop wallpaper.

More of San Francisco in another entry…

This happens to be a replication of a palatable dish at a restaurant which Croaky and myself frequent.
Happens the rice noodles are bit over-cooked and Mr Picky complains it is too soft and gooey.

He should try to learn how to cook one of these days!
 

Recently, Croaky spotted some dark specks in our display cabinet.
“Yikes, what is this?”

I took a closer look. It’s dried pollen from our withered bouquet.
I took out the bouquet and shoved it right under Croaky’s nose, “Don’t you remember this?”

“What is THIS? I did not BUY this” – referring to the bunch of brown flowers.

“Yes you did. It was our bouquet for the ROM and I am going to throw it away because it is shedding pollen everywhere”

“Are you not going to take a picture of it before you throw it into a bin? Such a waste! I KEEP everything (referring to his Garang Guni pad next to his bed).”

We can’t keep everything in life, can we? Some things must go. But they stay in our hearts…

After years of retirement from the beading scene, I made my way to handicraft stores at Chinatown again. The reason? I was tempted by some designers out there who crafted really beautiful victorian styled jewelery and decided to try out on my own. I must have bought over thousands of beads in my lifetime, and have lined the pockets of those handicraft shop owners really well! Each time I walk out from their stores, I would be $20-30 poorer. O dear, this is even more addictive than smoking.

Close up view of the pendant.

And this is my final product. I haven’t thought of any name for it.

I am already looking forward to starting my next project this weekend

Not too long ago, Woolly and Croak got themselves hooked on fishing. As a start to their new-found hobby, they invested fervently in an extensive range of fishing equipment. To date, their collection includes 3 heavy duty fishing rods (including a 3 meter rod!), a pretty looking toolbox, two foldable stools, a cooler box (to contain the catch), night lamps and fishing hooks, weights, lures and bells in a myriad of shapes, sizes and colours. There was even a box of latex gloves to keep Woolly’s hands clean as she disengaged the worms from their “cocoons”. They did their homework by surfing fishing forums, reading books on fishing-related techniques, speaking to acquaintances with vast fishing experience. However, those efforts were simply not enough. Woolly and Croak have no luck catching fishes. Their only prize, so far, has been an unfortunate boxer fish which they stumble upon on their 3rd fishing trip.

Croaky getting his spool ready for his long cast.

And he looked every inch of a professional fisherman at work.

They spent their weekends munching their curry puffs and watching the planes land along Changi coast. To Croaky, time was well spent lazing around and stringing his $1 “sotong” bought from Sheng Siong. He described himself as a “fish-feeder”, doing charity to the poor sea creatures who are in dire food shortage. The recipients, on the other hand, were insatiable.

I think it’s time they consider purchasing a waterproof video camera to catch these underwater thieves.

Simplified recipe for sambal kang kong goes like this:
Ingredients
(1) A packet of kang kong – the above costs 30 cents, can you believe it?
(2) chopped garlic
(3) dried chilli – soaked and cleaned
(4) dried shrimps – handful
(5)Tomato ketchup – 1 to 2 tablespoon
(6) Sambal sauce – 1 teaspoon will do (or half if you prefer less spicy)

Steps:
(1) Heat oil in wok
(2) Stir fry the garlic, chilli, shrimps and sambal sauce until fragrant
(3) Toss in the kang kang. Add in a bit of water if you like
(4) Cook the kang kong until it is dark green and soft
(5) Add in the ketchup

The ketchup is my own personal innovation to dilute the sambal and give the sauce a thicker taste. It seems that even 1 teaspoon of sambal is too spicy for our tastebuds.

I was actually soaking in sweat while trying to finish the vegetables. So hot! Aiyoh.

Not too long ago, I bought a beanie kit from the children’s section at a departmental store and experimented with loom knitting. It’s easy to pick up and it’s fun to do. Children’s DIY kits can be rather innovative these days. I’ve done glass flowers, wool fairies and plaster fridge magnets.

The threads on the loom. I love the alternating bands of colours.

The completed beanie.

And on my head.

Croaky says I look like a clown…
I will make a brown one for him one of these days.