Onion Soup

Onion soup has alway been one of my favourite appetisers. I always had the impression that is difficult to prepare this dish, until I stumbled upon this cool website called Open source food. This website is where all food enthusiast come together and share their recipes. I love sites like this as they usually share home cook recipe which is easy and convenient.

Anyways, I found the fairly simple recipe here and decided to give it a try since I had all the ingredients in my kitchen. Surprisingly, in my freest attempt, the soup turned out pretty well. There is still much room for improvement because I didn't caramelise long enough. Other than that, the taste is there.

I am definitely going to cook this dish again. This time around, I am going to make sure I get it perfectly right.

P/S - It is amasing how domesticated I have become ever since I came to Hamburg. I guess these are the basic survival skills =D

***
Through the eyes of Song Yia

Read more

Moulin Rouge Paris

Booking
Woohooo, I finally visit the original Moulin Rouge in Paris. I made my reservation online via the official website. You have the option to make a reservation by phone as well. It is highly recommended to make a reservation during weekends or else there is a very slim change to gain entrance at the door. It is usually fully booked.

Cost
We decided to opt for the 11pm show because it was the cheapest which cost 89 Euros each. They do offer dinner with the show but we skipped it because it was way to expensive ranging from 145 Euro-175 Euro per head.

Queue
We arrived at 10:30pm and there were already a long queue outside. Despite having a reservation, we had to join the queue because the previous show which started at 9.30 was not finished. We were only ushered to our table at 11.00pm. So, if you are planning to visit the Moulin Rouge, be prepared to queue.


Seating & Performance
As we were seated, we were served out bottle of champaign. I was rather disappointed with our table because it was right in front of the stage which does not gives us the full view and effect of the stages. The show started around 11.30pm and I was taken away by the costumes. It was all about bling blings and large feathers.

For the men, they would be enjoying the various boobies displayed on stage. As I was so close to the stage, I can can literally calculate the moles or freckles on the dancers chest. Okay, I am not going to dwell about my table anymore. Overall, it is worth to visit the Moulin Rouge once. The dance performance was good and they have other funny performances which was pretty entertaining. I would say the highlight of the show would be the can can. It was their finale performance and hence I believe it is one of their best performance. Oh yeah, did I mentioned the other highlight is tonnes of boobies =P.

There is another cabaret show in Champs-Elysees called Lido.We were told that it was pretty good as well. So maybe is another alternative to Moulin Rouge if you are not able to get yourself tickets.

***
Through the eyes of Song Yia

Read more

Beijing Summer Olympics

It looks as if my blog is slowly dying. As of late, I have been overwhelm with work that blogging is not even at the back of my mind. Instead I would return from work and switch on the TV to catchup with the the Beijing summer Olympics. I have been following the 2008 Olympic closely mainly because it is hosted in China and also the interest to watch world class athlete compete.


I was rather disappointed with Malaysia's performance in the finals. We literally gave away the gold medal to China. The least I expect was some short of a fighting change. Instead we were finished within 30 minutes.*Sigh* I guess when you reach to this level of the competition it is all about the mental strength and not succumbing to stressed. I cam imagine how intimidating to in a stadium filled with Chinese fans and supports. Anyhow, I am still awfully disappointed with our performance.


Well, China is on a roll with their gold medals. There are consistently on the top of the medal count table.They have gone so far for the preparation of the games and it was interesting to see how China leveraged on their 1.3 billion population. China should be very proud of their achievement thus far. They are on the world's stage and have proven truly proven themselves.

***
Through the eyes of Song Yia

Read more

Bonjour Paris

I turn 24 today and we decided to spend my birthday in Paris as I always long to visit this city. Even though I spent a short time in Paris, but I love this city. The city has to offer so much history, culture and art.

Initially, I was rather skeptical about Paris because I always had the impression that the French were arrogant and unfriendly towards English speaking tourist. To my surprised, the French are very friendly people. Just a simple "Bonjour" and they are more than happy to provide you assistance. I believe time has changed and we all should learn to remove the stereotype we have towards the French.

We joined the free 3.5 hours walking tour by New Paris Tours which was insightful as they bring you to the key tourist attraction and also gives you a brief history of Paris. The guides are mainly students who are doing this out of passion. Even though this is a free tour but the guides work for tips. Averagely, each individual tip around 5-10 Euros. It is up to you, no obligations.

I strongly recommend this tour because it gives you a brief idea where are all these location. After the tour, you can return to the spots that interest you. Besides, it is always nice to have someone to verbally explain the history. And things becomes so much more meaningful when you understand the story behind it. By the way, this organisation is quite established as they have the free tour in various cities like Berlin, Amsterdam and London. You can get more information about the tour here.

***
Through the eyes of Song Yia

Read more

A camera for turning 24

Check out what I got for my birthday. Benny got me a brand new PINK camera. I love it. It is slick and its my favourite colour. It was just a perfect gift for Paris as I need a good camera to snap all the pictures (more to come in the upcoming post)

Benny wanted ti surprise me with the camera, however I was so nosy that I found it before he could surprised me. Funny thing was, when I asked him what was in the bag, he didn't bother to lie and allowed me to look into it. He said it will be too difficult to lie because I will be asking tonnes of questions if he did.

Sorry Benny, I didn't mean to ruin your surprise.

***
Through the eyes of Song Yia

Read more

#7 Desperados

Desperado, a tequila falvoured beer. I was first introduced to this beer via a TV advertisement. I like the taste. It is refreshing and the mix of beer and tequila goes perfectly well. You must not forget the lime as it gives it the extra kick!


This beer is often portrayed as Mexican, but it is actually brewed in France with 5.9% alcohol content.

***
Through the eyes of Song Yia

Read more

New Office

I moved into my new office this week. It is located closer to home which saves me 15 minutes walk. The office is open space in contrast with the previous individual office rooms.

It is a modern open space where it is designed in such where you have your privacy. I was also told that the walls are made of special material that will absorb noise. So far so good, the noise level is okay. Compared to KL, it is very quiet. I think the Asians are generally louder people. Well, at least I know I am loud =P. I think I need another week or so to gauge the noise level. Currently, the floor is not fully occupied.

The best part about moving is the company's canteen which is located 2 minutes away (walking). The canteen is lovely. As it is located on the 7th floor, it has the entire view of the Alster. I can't really comment on the food as the canteen is not fully functional. Thus far the food is pretty okay. It is also affordable as subsidised.

I will take some pictures of the office and my desk before everything becomes a mess.

***
Through the eyes of Song Yia

Read more