Let's Go ... Ecuador

It's vacation time. We're leaving for Quito on Friday! I'm so excited and a little stressed out. My last day at work is Monday which means I only have 3 days to prepare for the trip and run errands before I leave. This includes paying tuition for the fall, picking a new health insurance plan, filling out some surveys for school, sending out my free ipod rebate, laundry, packing, driving an hour to Dartmouth to drop Moxie off. Arghk the list goes on. Being an adult isn't fun =(

But on to photos. Here's a sneak preview courtesy of our friend who works for unesco in Ecuador:



We'll be staying in Quito the capital city for 2 days and spend a week in the Galapogos. I've always been fascinated by that place since reading about it in our Campbell biology text in Junior College hehe :)

Happy B'day Moxie!

It's Moxie's second birthday today! We weren't able to celebrate last year since we were in Singapore for our wedding, but I sure made it up this year! I baked her a yummy cake: banana honey center with yogurt and blueberry frosting. Don't think I did a very good job with the cake since it came out kinda tough ... oh well I figured Moxie would be forgiving anyway since she even eats paper towels. This should be a treat in comparison!



The doggy birthday cake:


Here's her new birthday bed! Her old one is all ripped up, destuffed, and disgusting. Yeah this is what us strange pet people do =)

Old Bed


New Bed ... Ahhh better! Though I'm quite sure she prefers the old bed haha

Heat Wave

OMG I am wilting. The weather has been unbearable the past few days. It felt like a hundred degrees (38C) out this afternoon. OK I exaggerate, it was actually only about 32C ... but still! And to make things worst, I've been having this persistent migraine the past couple days, I think from being out in the sun too much. =( ... I know I should be able to handle this better having grown up in Singapore. I'm getting weak and pastey! Help!

I decided to make cold noodles for dinner tonight since our apartment felt like a friggin oven. I found a recipe for Hiyashi Chuka online and ended up giving it a try since I had most of the ingredients.

Tada! Looks yummy and healthy doesn't it? I substituted buckwheat noodles (I have no idea what chuka is) for chuka noodles. They're easily found in any japanese grocery. Did you also know that soba noodles have lots of health benefits? It is high in protein, low in calories, and thought to lower blood pressure and have anti cancer/aging properties. Have I sold you yet? hehe



This was surprisingly easy to prepare since not much cooking was required aside from frying the egg. Here's my modified recipe. You can add any vegetable you like, or add cold tofu, natto etc.

Ingredients
* 2 Bundles soba
* 1/4 lb. strips of honey turkey (any kind of cured meat will do)
* 1/2 cucumber shredded
* 1 tomato sliced
* Handful of mung bean sprouts (blanched in hot water)
* 1 corn on the cob (microwaved)
* 6 Shitake mushrooms (boiled and julienned)
* 2 eggs (removed a yolk)
* For Dressing: 1/3 cup water / 3 tbsps rice wine vinegar / 2 tbsps soysauce / 3 tbsps sugar / 1tsp sesame oil

Preparation
1) Beat eggs, add salt and pepper to taste, pan fry as an omelette
2) Boil mushrooms, blanch mung beans in hot water, microwave corn and remove kernals
3) Boil noodles according to instructions on package and run under cold water
4) Prepare sauce according to instructions above
5) EAT :)

Pirate Thieves!

Them thieves stole my $7.50!!! We watched Pirates of the Carribean 2 on Saturday afternoon to escape the heat. I had such high hopes for the movie since the entire cast was back. And Pirates of the Carribean is only like my favoritest movie of all time. You see, I can watch it over and over again without getting bored. *blush*

But I digress, the sequel stunk! The first hour was entertaining but you soon realize that the plot is going no where. The story around Davey Jones' locker was shakey. And I got most pissed off when *ahem* love interests change at the last minute. *$*@#*@ How can it be? They deprived me! I get my kicks out of watching protagonists hook up on the big screen. The movie then ends abruptly because they have to set up the plot for Pirates 3! *shakes fist* I want my money back! I also need to rewatch Pirates 1 to wash away the bad memories of the second movie :P

Anyway I am at work now after a busy weekend. My last week here! But me so sleepy. I had an awful headache last night (most likely from the sun and heat) and took some sleepy-time exedrin which hasn't worn off yet. I need my bed ....*Yawn*

Fair Weather Fan

YAY Italy won! =)

Ok so I know I haven't discussed soccer on my blog. And DH calls me a "when it's convenient", fair weather fan. Probably true, but to my credit I've been rooting for the Italian team since the days of Roberto Baggio and Panini sticker books! (Did you know that those sticker books still exist?) I also think the Italian goalie Buffon is so super cool. He's has all these good saves and is intensely psychotic looking. But do you think he waxes his eyebrows? I swear the man does!!!

In my expert eyebrow connoisseur opinion, just like a girl gets her brows done before a big occasion, Buffon got his done to look good before the world cup haha. See ... too deliberately clean. And omg do I see an arch??



We also had a mini World Cup BBQ Party. We had burgers and to keep with the Italian theme I also made tiramisu. I love making tiramisu because the recipe is so easy and it's always yummy! It took me about 20 minutes to prepare.

I used this recipe. But modified it by substituting half the coffee mixture for kahlua to give it an added kick :) Also remember to beat the egg whites till stiff peaks are formed (i.e. when you dip in a spatula and pull it out, the mixture will form a little peak). I didn't and the creamy layer turned out too wet. Thankfully it still tasted delicious!



Au Poivre Patty from Whole Foods:

What We Did ...

It was a productive 4-day weekend. Besides trying to drown Moxie in the pool we accomplished other things too ...

1) Checked out Jockey Hollow. It's weird that places in the NY/NJ region are often called blah blah hollow. You know like Sleepy Hollow, Jockey Hollow ...what gives! Surprisingly Jockey Hollow is actually somewhat historic since Washington and his troops camped there years ago.



2) Barbequed - But of course, it's July 4th!


3) Visited the Central Park Zoo. I first learned about this zoo from the movie Madegascar. But damnit the movie lied. There were no hippos, lions or giraffes! The kids were devastated and cried their little hearts out... ok ok I jest :)



4) The dogs had their incessant lovers quarrel. Don't think he's figured out she's an "it".


5) Visited the mother ship in soho! Beam me up scotty!


6) Dined al fresco and met up with A & N in the city


7) Hung out with A^2 or soon to be A^3?

OK Have I bored you enough with the photo whoring? =) You can see the rest here!

Moxie's First Paddle!

Instead of working on my cover letter for school I spent all evening mucking around trying to compile a video of Moxie's first swim. Ain't I the proud parent!

We visited my cousin over July 4th and dunked poor Mox in the pool muahahah. It turns out that all dogs can actually swim. Yes, even stumpy, pudgy Moxie! I suppose that's why they coined the term doggy paddle. Moxie was really freaked out and you could even hear her breathing really hard as she paddled. HAHA we're evil.

I spent hours on this so you have to watch it! She is mad cute ... ;)



Of course no dog was spared from this experiment. Next we pushed poor unsuspecting Pasha (the wolf) in as he circled the pool. Sadly I didn't get a video of it. We tried pushing him in again but he was too smart to be dunked a second time bleh :P