And I thought of sharing some pictures we took during our ski trip in this series of captioned photographs.

I would think the best way to express the beauty of the Alps, the skiing and snowboarding is through a poetry. But I am too much of an amateur, both in writing and in this sport to do so, thus this series.

I learned that it was not easy to lug a camera up the mountain for an amateur skier or boarder, even harder, for an amateur photographer like myself. But I was glad we managed to do it, without any serious damage.

Some of these pictures were taken using our compact Olympus Stylus 1010, others by our bulkier Canon PowerShot S5 IS. These pictures will be presented as they are, with little or no colour processing, except resizing and adding of captions.

So sit back, relax and be inspired. Hopefully.

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We discovered off pistes skiing which typically refers to any skiing a few metres away from or between controlled trails and slopes. Skiing on ungroomed and unmarked slopes.

We further learned about the many different types of skiing.

Day 1
we were told that Malcolm could try out the Cristal class
an intermediate class meant for kids 6 years old and above

After the first lesson
they told us that Malcolm is a bit too young
They will let him join the younger group instead

He was a bit disappointed as he thought the Day 1 class was really fun
He liked the instructor and she taught him things that he never learned

Day 2
he joined a new class
and went up a green slope using a T-bar lift which I never learned how to do

Day3
While up the mountain
My husband noticed a kid waving frantically at him
IT WAS MALCOlM!
signaling anxiously
‘LOOK Daddy! I AM HERE!’

My husband was in shock and disbelief
Our boy was not with the beginner group
It was not a green nor a blue
It was a RED run
and it was only Day 3!

And why did I ever think that he would need mummy dearest to protect him
I should be glad that he doesn’t bark at me to keep up with him!

I chickened out from the intermediate class this time for I can’t imagine calling myself an intermediate boarder when I can’t do my regular turns smoothly. Looking at all the young punks in my intermediate class did intimidate me. A LOT. I remembered how my last lesson had proven that Agility is inversely related to Age. The 10 year old in my last class was the one who needed the LEAST help and could maneuver the BEST!

I ended up with the beginner group, yet another group of young punks. In my opinion, the instructor was expecting more than beginner basics from the group. The pace was fast and as what I suspected, most of them had tried snowboarding before. And because the class was going at such a fast pace. the real beginners eventually suffered. By Day 3, 3 of the older guys in the class were out, reason for, they were too much of a beginner.

So there I was, fully decked out in my gear. Helmet, goggle, wrist guard, not because I wanted to look pro but more so to protect myself from an accidental fall. I would have seriously injured my head if not for a helmet I wore during my last trip. Icy slope plus an amateurish back edge descent was really not a good combination. In fact I looked more like a kid who would religiously wear a helmet because Daddy and Mummy said so.

I still fall but not so much on my butt. I had learned to conserve enough energy to last me through the 6 Days. My muscles still ache all over but by Day 4, I was actually feeling less exhausted. Perhaps the 9 hours drive from Paris to Flaine did drain me out, or perhaps my body had grown accustomed to the mountain air, or maybe my muscles may had gotten used to the strenuous workout. There were just too many reasons why an aging body is not at its best.

I fumbled with the t-bar lift, I gasped at the top of every daunting slope, I balked at every narrow turn, going through the steps in my head, hoping that I could make it without falling off the mountain into some deep abyss. To lean, to shift and to slow myself down. Because Flaine was situated at a higher altitude the snow was kept powdery soft despite continuous sunshine. Powdery snowy slopes were  definitely more forgiving for skiers and boarders than icy slopes.

By Day 6, I was the only girl left in the group.There could have been another 17 year old British girl if not because of a fall just a few hours before the last lesson while trying to avoid a block of snow. She hurt her back and bumped her head and decided to call it quit. I could understand her disappointment.

I heaved a huge sigh of relief when I finally reached the foot of the mountain on my last lesson. I squealed with delight and told the instructor with a straight face that I deserve a cert or some kind of medal to commemorate my achievement.

It turned out that our 1 week holiday was more of a terrifying experience than a relaxing one for me. Each time up the mountain,  I realized that I was pretty much alone, on my own even though we may be up the slope as a group. It dawned on me that I may have never gained the independence and confidence to excel in this sport. It is this, coupled with the demanding skills required that make this sport such a challenge.

I wish I could be more proficient, I wish I could worry less about falling, I wish I could snake down the slope like the girl in that hot pink ski pants, I wish I could glide and jump over humps and bumps like the little boy who went down on black with dad. My wishes may seem unrealistic but I hope it won’t be too far away.

For now, I am content to have completed the 6 day course, making down the slopes without major injuries. For this, by itself, is a triumph for me.

For 6 days, we skied and snowboarded
We woke up each morning at 6 plus to catch the first glimpse of sunshine creeping his
way up from behind the Alps
Engulfing the morning moon while spreading his rays and warming the snowy slopes.

Our apartment, perched at the edge of a hill, overlooking a pine forest, was a little cozy nest, for us to rest our tired body after a day of downhill charge. Simple home cooked food was our best treats at the end of the day and to refuel ourselves for another day of daring thrill.

The French Alps at Flaine was an awe inspiring view.
And to think that I had seen the best during our last ski trip in Wengen.
I was wrong.

This has to be my best chocolate cake to date

NO creaming
JUST mixing
and I supposed it is healthy too
as there is NO butter
maybe it should be called a MUFFIN cake instead

Recipe was approved by my 4 year old
who refused to take banana
But because it was so chocolaty
he ate everything

it’s really a BANANA Chocolate MUFFIN Cake !

I got the recipe from here
A little improvisation
with less sugar and
minus the chocolate ganache
I topped it up with some fresh banana slices instead
We Love it!

Ingredients

Dry
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 3/4 cup plain flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt

Wet
2 eggs
2 banana mashed
1 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
1. Whisk Dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl
2. Whisk Wet ingredients in another bowl
3. Mix Dry and Wet ingredients together till just combined
4. Pour into baking tin (I used a 9 inch by 2 inch round baking tin)
5. Bake in 180 deg C for 35 to 40 minutes for until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean

kimchi…checked!

ah zhar…checked!

coffee…checked!

plaster…checked!

bandage…checked!

painkiller…checked!

we are off for our 1 week bootcamp!

My husband was away for work this week

He came home last night

and had a surprise

Happy Valentine’s Day !

A few months back

My 5 year old Travelmate left without bidding goodbye

Then came the Thinkpad

One has to agree that they make the best keyboards

though its design might  appear to be stucked in the 20th century

Adapting was a breeze

Then things get a little lethargic

an attempt to tweak its performance

left me ‘Windowless’

COMPLETELY

So I am now declared FREE

freeware, shareware, opensource

and thanks to Kole’s sharing sometime back

I managed to survive without my Photoshop

Even my new OS Ubuntu sounds ulu

Not sure how well I can survive

but I AM SURVIVING

and who knows

maybe this might finally be the time

for me to break free

from the clutch of proprietary software

An ingenious creation
born in a Harvard dorm
promised many wannabes
whom are as brainy as him
made possible by worldwide zealous fans
just like you and me

Like many
I was drawn
yet like many that came before
I lament and nick pick on its flaw

A basket of friends
whom I poke and buy drinks for
send a flower and write on walls
even rear a dream pet
I never had before

All these at my desk
All at my fingertips

a frivolous way to connect
the lamest way to care
egos fed
in an inane way

Then came this
a wake up call

To redeem myself
from this inanity
this superficiality
this vacuity meaninglessness

I renounced

Note : Thanks Regina for the link.

We are planning for our ski trip next week and while my 4 year old is all excited  and anxious about his intermediate lesson, I am frantically searching for something that will help cushion my butt when I fall!

Anything such as a tailbone protector?!

And of course he HAS to have a say on the song to use for HIS video when he saw me working on it.

Clutching on to a piece of cardboard
he jumped onto my lap and said
“Mummy help me cut here and here”

Next, he passed me 2 straws and added
“Help me cut here and here”

Then with the scotch tape, he instructed,
“Stick the cardboard behind here and the 2 straws under here”
indicating his back and arms

And with that, he crashed himself onto the floor and exclaimed
“Look Mummy, I am a PLANE!”
“This is my TAIL FIN and these are my ENGINES!”

We visited a friend of mine, an American Chinese who met her French husband a few years back when she came over to France for voluntary work.  After she went back to the States, they started a long distance relationship. Few years later, they got married despite parental objections and they are now living in France. They have a beautiful daughter and another baby boy on the way.

We visited their new old house situated 45 minutes away from Paris. They bought the house recently. It is a house with a huge yard. They got it at a good price and you can’t find anything this big at this price within Paris. 3 days out of a week, my very pregnant friend commutes to the fro Paris for her part time job.

Because the house is considerably old, there are a lot of fixing and cleaning to be done. The wooden floor creaks, the windows need better insulation, the heater is not working, the gate is pending to be built. When we visited them, they had their truck parked right in front of the house as a temporary gate. It cost a lot of money to get all these fixed especially in France where everything is expensive and labour cost is exhorbitant thus they needed to prioritize and fix the most urgent things first. They bought a wood burning furnace to temporarily solve the heating problem.

Despite the condition of the house, my friend was really happy with their new home. I could see from her eyes and through our conversation how excited and proud she is with her new place. She especially loves her backyard which yields numerous fruits and vegetables during warmer weather and her husband loves the garage which allows him to store all his working tools. He is very much a handy man.

My friend’s husband is a tree pruner who takes pride in his laborious work. We call him the tree doctor because to be a tree pruner, he needs to be able to tell the sick trees apart from the rest. Different measures are taken to deal with different types of trees. One may think that being a tree pruner means going around chopping down trees indiscriminately.  On the contrary, his job is to help to save trees and he believes in the world’s conservation efforts to help save the earth. Unlike in Paris where they use large machines to chop and prune the trees to shape, he climbs his trees with the help of harness, and then cuts the branches with hand held tools.

He truly believes in what he is doing and it is this belief that sees him through working more than 12 hours a day, waking up at 5 in the morning every day.

Her husband pretty much spends his off days working around the house. Chopping woods, gathering and aging them, preparing for colder weather and working on projects for their home. My friend and her husband have huge plans for their home. They want to extend out the kitchen area, grow an organic vegetable farm, install more glass panels for the kitchen area and many many more. All these they intend to do themselves.

When we were there, my friend and I bought groceries from the open market opposite her house. We cooked simple lunch while the men worked hard in the backyard chopping woods. Malcolm was happy to hang around the fireplace, occasionally helping to manually fan the fire. Once a while, the daddies will bring in yet another pile of aged wood, ready to be used. Life was simple.

It was the first time that I met up with my friend’s family and the visit left me thoughtful.

In my friend, I see a courageous woman who is brave enough to leave her comfort zone to be with the man she loves. Living in a foreign land can be hard without family support but I admire her optimism and her ability to find joy in the simple things in life.

In her husband, I see a hardworking man who is driven by belief and dream. A man with big dreams for his family. A man who seem to have reached the apex of Maslow’s ladder. I can’t help but to compare him with many whom are deemed ‘’successful” in our society yet can’t tread beyond the D-needs.

For a while I felt that he had bypassed the law. Or perhaps it could be flawed. Then maybe he did not. Maybe all he did was defy the conventional belief of infinite and insatiable wants. Yet how many can even come close and I know I may just be one of the guilty ones.

Heroes

Before my husband has the chance to jump on me and accuse me of not being fair
I made some of his favourite Kimchi and stuffed him with this

In fact it was more to appease his taste bud
for he has been lamenting about how perfect it will be
to slurp a bowl of hot spicy kimchi noodle in this cold winter night
and guess what
he was right !

Recipe for Kimchi

Ingredients
1 Napa cabbage
salt
1/4 cup of flour
1 1/2 cup of water
1/8 cup of sugar
1/2 fish sauce
2 cups of korean hot pepper flakes
3/4 cup garlic minced
1/2 tbsp ginger minced
1 onion minced
4 green onions cut
1/2 cup of chives chopped

Method
1. Cut the cabbage into half and slit it at the core
2. Soak it in cold water and let it drain dry
3. Sprinkle it with salt
4. Set aside for 2 hours
5. Turn the cabbage over so that they get salted evenly
6. Let it stand for another 2 hours and the cabbage should have shrunk

To make the paste
1. In a pot, mix flour and water
2. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly
3. When mixture starts to bubble, add in sugar and continue stirring for another minute
4. Let it cool
5. Add in fish sauce, garlic, onion, green onions and chives into paste and mix well
6. Coat each leaves of the cabbage with paste
7. Pressed it with both hands
8. Store in air tight plastic container or glass jar

You can eat the Kimchi fresh or ferment it

To ferment the Kimchi, leave it in the container at room temperature for 1-2 days before storing it in the fridge

To make Kimchi Noodle
1. In a pot of water, add dried anchovy and kimchi
2. Bring to boil
3. Add pork slice (optional)
4. Add noodle
5. Crack an egg (optional)
6. Sprinkle with some green onions

Serve HOT !

Note : It took me 1 day to make this. The time is mostly spent waiting for the cabbage to soak in the salt. The rest of it is fairly straight forward.

I get to know this Korean lady. Each time we meet, she will bring along some homemade Korean food.

We love Korean food. My husband loves kimchi and Malcolm loves Korean pancakes. So you can imagine how happy we were when served with authentic Korean food. But of course that’s not enough, we need MORE.

So for the past week, I have been whipping out something new, yet another Korean dish.

Our favourite last week are these Vegetable Pancakes.

They are so easy to make. I cook them almost every other day. We had it for lunch and made it again for dinner and we don’t seem to get tired of them. We are so hooked.

What I really like about this dish is that it is loaded with lots of wholesome vegetables and because it is pancake, Malcolm wallops everything up with ketchup within minutes.

Vegetable Pancakes with Prawn

Ingredients

1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup water
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chives chopped
1/2 cup green onions
1/4 cup onions
1/4 cup carrot shredded
1 cup zucchini shredded
1/2 cup prawns chopped (otional)

Dipping Sauce
1 tbsp of soya sauce
1/2 tbsp of vinegar

Method
1. Mix flour, water and egg in a mixing bowl
2. Add in vegetables and salt
3. Mix well
4. In a heated pan, add some oil.
5. Spread vegetable batter thinly and lower heat down to medium
6. Place the chopped prawn on top and press it with the spatula
7. Flip it to the other side when it is brown

Serve hot with dipping sauce.

Make 3

Note : You can vary the vegetable according to your liking