Monthly Archives: October 2012

Lazy Monday Dinner – Japanese Curry Rice

31 Wednesday Oct 2012

Posted by in Gastronomy, Home Cook Food, Kitchen wares, Shopping

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

This has got to be one of hub and my favourite lazy meal. It’s so tasty and easy to prepare. At one time, we have this almost every fortnight at home.

Not to mention, I just got something special back from Paris which I couldn’t resist using… My brand new cocotte – the 20cm black Staub. Yes !!! I am crazy enough to lug it back all the way from France. How can I resist?! It’s so cute and i love the color. And the price !!! (It’s only about EUR 72 after VAT – about RM 290). Hence, I’m going to use this little baby to make my Japanese curry.

For me, the most important thing for a good Japanese curry is the stock you make from vegetables. This gives it an extra sweetness (without adding sugar). I prefer to use Russet potatoes when making Japanese curry rice. The reason is because I love the soft grainy texture it adds to the sauce when some bits of the potato disintegrate.

Simple ingredients – Carrot, Onion, Potatoes and meat of your choice (I prefer to use pork)

Sauté the pork in the pot until semi cook. Let the meat rest before slicing it.

After that, sauté the diced potatoes, carrots and onion till brown. Add hot water to fully cover the ingredients. Allow it to simmer until all the vege is soft. With the Staub, I only need to let it sit for 10 mins on low fire and everything gets really nice and soft.

After that, place the meat into the pot and allow it to simmer for another 2-3 minutes. Usually, I add the curry roux block piece by piece. That way, I can gauge if the thickness is to my liking or not. Once all the roux melts, the consistency of the broth will be stew-like.

Serve it with rice. (I prefer to use the Japanese short grain). ** Remember to cook the rice first. ;p

Yummy comfort food in less than 20 minutes.

Hotel’s Turndown services

30 Tuesday Oct 2012

Posted by in Travel

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , ,

If you check the hotel star rating system, you will note the most obvious difference between the 4 star and the 5 star is the evening turndown service. Being a frequent business traveler, I’m proud to say that I’ve been quite flexible when it comes to hotel choices. I’ve stayed in no star / budget right up to 5 stars luxury hotels.

There are some hotels which claim that they are 6 stars, but, I read that most of it are just claims as there’s no hotel stars rating for 6 at the moment. Most of the time, 6 stars would mean that they are offering more than what the 5 stars required.

Back to the topic…

I’ve never really give the turndown service much thought. Normally, when I return back to the room, it is in a turn-downed state already. It has always been something that was done quietly and taken for granted.

But, during my recent stay, I was still in the room when someone knocked on my door asking if I want my turndown service. Immediately, I was in a bit of a battle. I just finished shower and I was uncomfortable having someone in the room with me. But, I also would love to have the room prepared for the night. Sigh… Finally, I yelled out “No but thanks”. So, this got me thinking about the turndown services hotel offers.

Some people question if it is worth paying the extra money to have the turndown services?

Well…for me, the main reason why I choose stay in a 5 star hotel, is for the luxury the hotel can offer me. Turndown service is one of the components, others being the posh carpeted rooms, marbled clad shower and tub, comfortable bed and linens, pool, spa, security, and etc. So, it is not so much about paying extra. But, getting what you paid for?

Is it something I need?

Not really. But, it does make my stay a touch more comfortable. I love the idea of preparing the room to be as relaxing as possible for bedtime. The most important component of a good turndown service is making sure the room is in a state where the guest feels relax and comfortable before bed. They usually prepare the turndown service around late afternoon or evening. The most common is having your blanket / duvet un-tucked so that it is easy for you to go to bed.

Some hotel will leave you chocolate, fresh fruits or flower on the bedside

(Shangri-La Singapore offers hot tea – which I found to be quite unique).

Most of the time, they will draw back the heavy drapes / night curtain to minimize any glaring lights from outside. Room lights will be dimmed. It does help to make the environment feels cozier. (This is in one of the hotel in Bangkok. They also placed one fresh orchid on the pillow)

Pondering on the topic, I ask myself this…

What would a great turndown service be for me?

  • Fresh towels. Clean and dry toilet
  • Fresh fruit (preferably those which are easy to eat like grape, orange, banana, strawberry, kiwi and etc.)
  • Warm milk with cookie (this might be a tad tricky especially if you don’t know what time the guest is returning at night. Actually, even cold milk with cookies would have been great. The hotel could always place a bottle of milk in the fridge with a note for the guest to enjoy it with some home baked cookies.)
  • Put on some nice relaxing music CD
  • Soothing lavender scented room. (Or the L’occitane pillow mist. Sometimes, I bring along my own bottle during my travel. Especially when I know I will be having long days of meetings)
  • Making sure the room is kept at a slightly colder temperature (between 18-20 degree Celsius)
  • Weather report for the next day.

Caudalie Paris Vine Body Butter

29 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by in Cosmetics, France, Pampering, Shopping, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

How many of you hate moisturizing your body? I know I do. Why?

1)     I am just plain lazy. It’s a lot of work to moisturize the whole body, ok! (At least a solid 15mins if you want to do a proper job)

2)     It’s normally so thick and creamy that it takes damn a lot of effort to evenly apply it. Or, you leave white streaks and patches around.

3)     The sticky feeling you get after moisturizing. Yucks.

4)     My fingers are so oily after I finish that I need to wash it off with soap before I can do anything else.

So thankfully, I’ve been blessed with relatively ok body skin.

Unfortunately during my early this month trip to France, my body skin starts to rebel against me. Sob sob… it got really dried and itchy. My once smooth skin starts looking like tree bark. As I have never had need to moisturize my body, I didn’t pack any lotion with me.

I made a quick visit to a local pharmacy (I think it was in Lille town centre) to try and get something for it. The pharmacist proposes I give Caudalie Body butter a try. She told me it was superb. I bought it on the spot, ran back to the hotel and start using it.

When I squeeze out the thick cream, my heart sank. It’s going to be one of those really oily ones. Ahhhh….. (I guess I really need it to be oily to drown my skin and bring it back to life)

When I spread it across my leg, I was shocked. It had not only glided smoothly across my skin, the body butter absorbs immediately leaving behind smooth silky finish. It was amazing how light the texture felt on my finger and the best part is it didn’t feel oily or sticky at all. It was so easy and effortless to apply.

The best part, my skin was back to its original condition (before I travel), after a mere 2-3 applications (about 2 days). It was really a good product.

I was so in loved with this body butter that I bought back home with 2 more tube… hehehe. The smell of the body butter is really nice too. (It’s like grape…mainly because their main ingredient is suppose to be the extract from grape vine)