g for goodbye (for now)

this is not a tribute for a fallen (and risen) friend, as no words are enough to express how much he meant to us and how much we are going to miss him. so it's just to share some random thoughts at this speechless moment.

as one of my fellow bloggers (and friend) commented, the past weeks have been a shock, an emotional roller-coaster ride, a time of mixed feelings, sadness, hope, unity, friendship, mutual support and comfort and a time that we really depended on God and truly felt His presence and love and blessings. and He did answer our prayers. never thought of small and trivial things such as walking on the street or spending time with friends can be a true blessing in disguise.

from the first day i knew you, the day you broke out weeping in front of everyone during the alpha weekend, to this day, you've been an inspiration to me, touch us all in so many ways, and such a sensible, intelligent and cool dude to hang out with. true, during alpha weekend i did think you were such a wimp crying so loudly, but let's just leave that in history. even in the last few days, you never failed to amaze us with the spirit and will to fight on. it's an honor to call you a friend and a brother in Christ.

thank you, adrian, and btw, please tell God we say hi now that you see Him face to face.

weather forecast

i guess a weather forecast cannot be more depressing than this...

source: retrieved may 21 2007 from mpinews.com website.

aspasia

always look forward to trying out this "new" italian restaurant, especially good ones are few and far between in hongkong. either they are all too presumptuous, or getting cliche already. i know this is not a particular new restaurant per se, but hey, if we haven't tried it it's new to us.

this evening, we picked the tasting menu, which comes with appetizer, pasta, choice of main dishes (2 selections) and dessert. it's such an obvious choice that we didn't even take a glance at the a la carte menu.

amuse bouche is a green pea soup with white asparagus foam - very light but tasteful. many previous reviews commented on the grissini served with test tubes of dippings - chickpeas, sweet bell peppers and cucumber - well put it this way, i do give marks for its innovativeness. plus the bread is great - it's a huge farmer's bread and i ended up finishing half. sigh - definitely not the way to start losing weight.

next came appetizer, scallops with foie gras and grilled pumpkin. the sweet pumpkin does match well with scallops and foie gras - good idea. squid-ink spaghetti with seafood, our pasta course, is definitely the highlight of the evening. texture's just good, and it came in such abundance - perfect for a squid-ink pasta lover like me.

there are 2 choices for main course - a braised wagyu beef with chantelle mushrooms and red-wine sauce, and sea bass in "aspasia style". we both picked the beef. well, nothing really wrong with the beef, but i guess it's either not enouch sauce on the side, or the sauce is not strong enough to accompany the beef. i like the polenta side though. or perhaps we still had those squid-ink taste in our mouth that sorta disrupted the course. seems like i never had a decent wagyu beef in any restaurant in town - better off doing it at home. in retrospect, perhaps sea bass would have been a better choice.

dessert's a cherry napoleon with home-made sweet corn icecream. pleasant surprise - and gave me idea for the next round of home-made icecream.

service's consistant and attentive, and the wine menu has okay selection across the usual regions and detailed description on each wine. that sort of compensated the lack of sommelier in its wait-staff. the wine we picked, on their recommendation, is too light and closed for our dishes, despite a decent nose. ah... now i know and will never pick an italian pinot noir again, nor trust any sommelier-wannabe. a barolo or sangiovese would have been a much safer choice.

anyway, i would say it's a casual fine-dining place and reasonably priced ($588 pp for the menu), and we were told that the tasting menu changes every 2 weeks with seasonal choices. this is definitely a place that we will return - hopefully fairly soon, not only for special occasions but for those random nights that i crave for a simple, casual italian supper.

details:
when? may 18 2007
where? aspasia
occasion? wife's birthday (hey, happy birthday again!)
menu highlights? squid-ink spaghetti
drinks? torti pinot nero 2003

best of the rest

finally, the final whistle's blown for the premier league, and spurs retained the unofficial title of being "the best of the rest" - placed 5th behind man utd, chelsea, liverpool and arsenal. and no more late-season blunder as we have seen for the past few seasons - that's a sigh of relief.

all in all it's been a decent run for spurs this season. it was quite a testing time for us as we were in the hunt for trophies til late stages and at the end we played almost 20 regular games more than last season. yet we have retained the consistancy in form and the attacking team's been superb all season long. definitely can't complain about being semi-finalist in league cup, quarter-finalist in both fa and uefa cups, and high finish in the league (plus qualification for uefa cup again!)

so here's my little tribute to all the great players that fought hard for tottenham hotspur this season. keep it up! we expect even more next year! and hopefully with the new broadcasting arrangement in hongkong with "now tv" i can watch even more of their games on tv. hurray!

charity for animals

i am not an animal lover per se - well i don't hate them but just never too fond of keeping one at home - but here's a group of people in hongkong that show genuinely interest in not only their own pets, but other sick animals who can't receive proper treatment because their owners can't afford the vet.

they are working hard to raise money to operate a non-profit vet clinic that offers service at cost, and to bring awareness to those in need. please visit their website and consider giving support to such noble cause.

glory spurs

around this time last year we were at fourth place looking at a place at the champions league and then suddenly, boom... that was snatched away from us in the very last match. i know that was probably only a fluke that we were even that close to being 4th, but still, it was a dissappointment losing that.

well, this year we are in a similar territory again - having full control of our destiny. if we win the last 2 games (which are at home against blackburn and man city), we will end up 5th place again, with a berth in the uefa cup.

looking back, this season's been full of up and downs for spurs - failed to win away league matches til december, flirting with the bottom half of the table, then beat chelsea at home for the first time in as many years, and afterwards, came an amazing cup runs domestically and in europe before bowing out immaturely.

judging from the roller-coaster performance of the team and a history of last-minute blunder, i am holding my breath before the final whistle was blown on saturday. but hey, as long as spurs' in europe again, i am happy, cuz my gut feeling's telling me, glory's awaiting for spurs next season.

pasta for alcoholics

my latest "invention" - vodka-cured salmon pasta with vodka cream sauce

brunch

my espresso panna cotta... i do echo the view that it's so easy to make! yum!

a morning can't be better spent than baking and cooking random stuff and then have friends coming over to hang out, relaxed and just have a good time.