And the fun begins…

We sold the Nissan 350z. Though at $1.5k cheaper than our asking price, we are happy that it’s sold and have one less big-ticket item off our mind. I’ll miss that car. You have been a great ride and a fun one too. Be nice to your new owner.

I cleared the drinks cabinet today. No alcohol in Kuwait, so we are giving all our drinks away. Sigh… the special reserve single malts, my favourite vodka, Adam’s favourite Gin, the tequila and together with a host of other drinks. We can’t take you with us but you’ll be in good hands and will be part of many fun parties.

The voltage in Kuwait is 240v so we have to get rid of some of our household appliances. We’ll be parting ways with our faithful Hoover, our almost new DVD player, our TV, my hand mixer and immersion blender and a few other things. We’ll just have to do some shopping when we get to Kuwait!

Ok, I am off now. I need to pack up the winter clothes since all will be going into the container, take photos of my handbags, pack them up nicely and add them into the inventory list for insurance purposes (very important!) and clear the pantry.

Loads to do today!

 

Nasi Campur

Once in awhile I miss nasi campur. I don’t indulge in nasi campur that often when I was in Malaysia but when I do, I loved it!

There are many variations of nasi campur here in Houston. I don’t like those Asian stalls at the food court level of shopping malls. I don’t think the food is authentic and more often than not, they are too greasy. I like getting my nasi campur from Chinatown. There’s a stall in a Hong Kong supermarket and it’s cheap! For $3 you get 3 dishes with rice and the portions are so big I can have it for 2 meals.

Sweet & sour pork, pork ribs and bok choy. YUM!

Pork, chicken and veg. YUM YUM!

Looking forward to at least 1 nasi campur meal when I am home. Wonder if there’s any good nasi campur in Kuwait.. hmm.

 

Cars and Friends

With the move, we feel lucky that we only have the cars to sell. Imagine trying to sell a house in this economy. We have put both our cars up for sale ~ Adam’s is available for immediately sale and mine will be available at the end of this month or early next (depending on when we’ll be leaving).

We have also been looking at cars to buy in Kuwait. Cars in Kuwait are very cheap so Adam is getting all excited. As good as the highways are in Kuwait, the drivers aren’t so Adam isn’t sure about getting a Porsche 911 as much as he would love one. We might consider getting a 4WD just so we appear more intimidating. I have read that the locals drive like maniacs.

Last night we had dinner with some friends and they started planning some weekend get togethers before we leave, it hit me then that we don’t have that many weekends left in Houston especially when I’ll be spending one of them in New York soon.

Goodbyes are hard and it’s something I have never mastered. It doesn’t get easier either.  I know I’ll make new friends in Kuwait but I’ll definitely miss my dear friends here. Sigh… no more happy hour at noon and girls night out to a girlie movie and drinks afters for awhile, until I meet new kaki. 

 

Tomato Basil Soup

I love tomato soup but not the Campbell kind. I have been making my own tomato soup for awhile. Adam loves it too, so whenever I have way too many tomatoes at home, I’ll stock up the freezer with tomato soup. (I label every container so I know which ones needs to be eaten first )

Tomato soup with toasted buttered whole grain toast

Tomato Basil Soup

Celery – roughly chopped
Onion – diced
Garlic - minced
Tomatoes – roughly chopped
1 can of V8 vegatable juice
1 – 2 cups vegetable stock (depending on the consistency of the soup you prefer)
Bay leaves
Fresh basil – chopped
Cream or Half-and-half - optional
Black pepper
Salt

First sweat the celery with bay leave, onion and garlic.

Then add in the tomatoes and some of the fresh basil.

When juices start to come out of the tomatoes and you get a wonderful aroma, add the can of V8 juice and vegetable stock.
Add remaining basil.

Let the soup simmer for 15 minutes.

Turn the heat off and  puree the bits and pieces in the pot with an immersion blender.

If you like your tomato soup creamy, add cream or half-and-half now.

Add salt to taste and freshly ground black pepper.

Enjoy!

 

New News

Got a nudge on MSN the other day. Was reminded that I have yet to update my blog. I know… I am sorry… well, I have been busy trying to score high points on Bejeweled on FB. No, that’s not entirely true. I have to admit I have been lazy. Somedays I do have something to blog about however it doesn’t stay in my head long enough for me to blog about it. Is that the problem with the person or the mind? Hmm…

I do have news to share. We are leaving Houston soon! Finally! We have been asking for a transfer since the beginning of last year and finally we can leave. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with Houston. We have been here for more than 3 and 1/2 years and we feel it’s time to go and explore a new country and experience a different culture.

We are moving to a country rich in oil (it has the world’s 5th largest oil reserves), is one of the richest countries in the world per capita and one of the smallest countries in the world in terms of land area. This country borders Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Yup! We are moving to Kuwait!

We are very excited with this move. We will be halfway between Malaysia and England which brings us so much closer to our families. My FIL lives in Turkey, that’s a very short flight away. Other than the fact that we will be closer to home, we are looking forward to experiencing the culture and living in this part of the world which gets some pretty bad press because most often than not, they are associated with terrorism.

Middle East countries also get bad press because of limitations on the rights of women. In Kuwait, women can work. They can drive if they are working or they have kids (Damn! I got to get a job!). Women do not have to wear a burqa however conservative dressing is required (need to start shopping for conservative clothes for desert weather).

Our biggest concern? In Kuwait, the import of alcohol and pork is illegal (though nothing is said on consumption ) Adam checked with some friends in Kuwait. You can get black market alcoholic beverages at a price. A crate of beer – US$200. A bottle of Johnny Walker Black Label – US$300. JD – US$275. Nah, we won’t buy them in black market. Adam suggested weekend trips to Bahrain or Dubai. There’s also the possibility of home brewing. We found a home brewing supply store near here and we’ll check that place out this weekend (no, I am not kidding)

No pork means no bacon, no pork belly, no char siew. Gosh. I am sure we will get over that. I love Middle Eastern food, I am so looking forward to sampling everything. I believe that would be the thing I will write about most when I get there.

Since we can’t drink, what’s there to do on weekends? Most expats join a private beach club. No, you still can’t drink there but at least you have the private beaches to use, gym, pools…etc. There are 2 that we get a corporate rate on so we’ll do that when we get there.

As for now, the paperwork is tedious. There’s so much required and most of the documents required have to be translated into Arabic and then certified by the State government where that document is issued. We found a company that will do it for us. Their fees aren’t cheap but it saves us time.

If all the paperwork goes well, the movers will be coming in to pack up our apartment at the end of this month. Glad I don’t have to do the packing and moving but I am giving away alot of stuff now just so we don’t take too much of what we don’t need with us.

We will leave Houston for England and we will spend 2 weeks there. Adam will then be off to Kuwait and I’ll  head back to Malaysia. I’ll spend about a month in Malaysia since the Kuwaiti government will only process my visa once Adam is in their country. I have no complaints there, a paid ticket home to see my family and friends and makan makan! I am sure I’ll see some of you when I get home ~ so looking forward to that.

 

Pizza

Adam and I have pizza once a week. It’s easy because it comes frozen in a box and it taste good. Since I love to try my hands on making my own, I made my pizzas from scratch. Yes, I knead the dough myself. This is the outcome.

Pizza ~ Seafood and Diabolo

Seafood pizza with a hot salsa base topped with shrimps, mussels, squids and shredded Asiago cheese.

Freshly baked seafood pizza

Pizza Diabolo (inspired by a pizza we had in the Dominican Republic) has a hot salsa base and topped with fresh red onion slices, pickled green chillies, fresh basil, Prosciutto de Parma, Lomo and loads of Asiago cheese.

Pizza Diabolo

Love it!

 

Groceries

I have to admit, I love shopping for groceries. There’s one store that I especially love. They sell the freshest vegetables, fruits, seafood and meat and have a great selection of International imports. Eventhough things at this store cost abit more than others, I think it’s worth it.

My weekly routine is writing my shopping list on Sunday and go shopping on Monday. This Monday, I had a shopping list with 9 items. It seemed like I have everything I need at home, so it’ll be a short shopping list. Great! I ended up with a cart full of stuff and $120 later, I realised I only bought 6 of the 9 items on my list!

Not sure how that happened. I need to focus the next time I get groceries.

 

All Well

I noticed I am way behind my entries. Somedays I have an entry saved as draft and forgets about it. I have to be more diligent.

I have finally found a way to import my blog entries from Friendsters. Maybe I didn’t try hard enough before, it’s very simple actually. I am glad I have all my ice cream review entries back! I have tried so many ice creams and would like to list them all!

Would also like to write about my travels, cooking and life in Houston more. Hope I get back into blogging soon. Some days I just feel so… lazy.

Hope all is well with everyone.

 

Cookie Exchange

I went for my first ever Cookie Exchange party. It is a very American concept done around Christmas where everyone brings cookies for everyone. The party I went to was a little less formal. It was a girl’s only party and the entire evening was spent eating cookies (and some savoury snacks) and drinking wine!

Such is life. It was a lovely evening. It’s nice to indulge with the girls knowing that everyone will gain as much (if not more) weight than you that evening. Love it!

 

Turkey 10 – 19 Sept 08

I wanted to write about our trip to Canada when I remembered that I promised to write about Turkey but I have not done so!

We flew over to Turkey from England. My FIL and his wife have been spending alot of time in Turkey for many years now but have moved there more permanently in the last 2 years. They picked Gocek because it’s a sailing haven and it is a beautiful place.

Helen, Bob and Adam at the Swisshotel Sunset Bar in Gocek.

My in-laws live up the mountain in a village called Goceviocek. They recently completed the building of their house which has a magnificent view.

The house and check out the view!

Most of our time at home is spent by the pool. We love the beautiful sunset.

The view of the town of Gocek from up the mountains.

The other reason for this trip (other than spending time with family) is to do some sailing. Adam has not been sailing for years now. And as for me? I have only been on a day-sail once in Houston. I was very excited to get on the boat and see the beautiful Mediterranean.

Father and son on HMV at Port Gocek to get some work done before we went sailing the next day.

Day 1 of sailing. Check out the Skipper.

Anchored at this bay for lunch and some swimming before sailing back.

Day 2 of sailing. We sailed to Fethiye for lunch and to get some fresh seafood for dinner.

Carpets anyone?

Trip back was rough. It was my turn to take the wheels.

Adam’s step sister and her partner came over to meet us up. With them, we went on a 2-night sailing trip to the nearby bays.

Emma and Hamish have arrived! Lunch at home before we head out for our sailing trip.

The guys hard at work preparing to set sail, after stocking up the boat with beer.

We spent our first night at this bay.

Some whiskey after dinner. A nightly ritual.

The next day, after breakfast and a dip in the sea, we headed to our next location.

This is where we anchored for the night, dinner at that restaurant up there which serves some really good Turkish food.

All dressed up for dinner.

Sailing was alot of fun. We totally enjoyed ourselves. While we were out one day, the guys decided on a ‘competition’. The guys will hold on to a rope tied to the back of the boat. The boat will start moving, pulling them along while increasing in speed. The one who hangs on the longest wins. Check out a video of that competition.

Adam won at 7.2 knots. I gave it a try after that but let go at 3 knots as I felt my bikini bottom slipping down! It was a wonderful trip. Everyone had so much fun. We are looking forward to doing it again.