Gastronomic Roller Coaster, Leonberg-Stuttgart

Here's a list of the things I ate in Germany:

1) Soft cheese with a sweet pickle and rocket leaves on chewy, crusty bread

2) Breadcrumbed fish fillet deep fried in rancid-smelling oil

3) Pretzel-like bread sprinkled with salt flakes - every day I sneak one twist up from the breakfast buffet - love it. Germans supposedly like it spread thickly with unsalted butter, but I like it plain

3) Chinese buffet - stir fried prawns and clams and - kangaroo! The kangaroo I have to say was great - tender and flavourful, reminded me of a mild-tasting, leaner wagyu somehow (or I have been deprived for a long time of hand-massaged, beer-fed, classical-music listening cow meat)

4) Poached (or boiled) chicken breast with chilli sauce

5) Quality Italian food in a most wonderful Italian restaurant located at the bottom of a hill, bordering a forest. Fresh roses in glass vases, crystal chandeliers, a big hunk of wood-oven bread on the counter, sliced fresh for customers, cosy, cosy little place. I ate rocket with olive oil and freshly shaved parmesan, breasoala (air dried beef), parma ham on melon, baby mozarella with tomato and hummus Antipasti, and a huge plate of spagetthi vongole (made with tomatoes, which I'd rather without)

6) A huge pau-like thingy filled with a liquorice-tasting fruit paste (which looked like chocolate - disappointed), and a pancake filled with stewed apples and raisins, all swimming in a pool of fake-vanilla creme anglaise kinda thing (custard sauce). I must say I had a really difficult time swallowing this. Don't ask me what this is, I've only been told it's Austrian in origin.

7) Dinner was wonderful today. Braised ox cheeks (all gelatinous and tender and melt-in-the-mouth) with sweet glazed carrots and fluffy on the inside, crispy on the outside potato pancakes.

8) Curd cheese - savoury (not so nice, tastes and smells like feet) and sweetened with sugar and vanilla (much better - like eating thick, thick yogurt)

And that more or less sums up. Of, and of course, copious amounts of bacon, bratwursts, black forest ham and mushrooms for breakfast, every day.

And that about sums up my culinary adventures in Leonberg/Stuttgart. Must thank my gracious and generous hosts who took me on a driving tour around the picturesque town yesterday, crossing centuries-old stone bridge (for horse carts) and the Stuttgart Summer Festival. All in all, a Business trip so much better than the last one in UK. Only thing missing is the biggest gap of them all - my AK.

My stomach is totally bloated from the oxcheeks now.

Deutschland DumDum

Missing BooBoo and AK, and everytime I'm at the station waiting or in the train, I pull out my camera and content myself looking at photos of US. Like this video of Boo trying to catch human-waving Mr. Men on the computer screen.

Oh how I miss them.

I've arrived at the home of the Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, or Siemens and Bosch, of SAP. Aiirved after sitting/sleeping in a not-so-comfy Business Class seat on a 777 for 12 hours (not trying to be ungrateful here, but the seat on the 777 so cannot compare to the one on the 747, the one AK and I took to London - this one is narrow, and the seat sleep position slopes at such an angle that I I tended to slide donwards when I tried to sleep.

Well, here's what I can say thus far:

1) Germany is a YAWN, especially on this bloody Sunday. Who the hell believes in closing up on Sunday anymore? Shopping is resting! And anyways I think it's all a nit hypocritical - I saw tons of people peering through the store displays anyways, it's not like they're spending the whole day at church or at a study group or something. And doesn't everyone need more STIMULUS in today's economy? Sunday shopping ban is totally ridiculous

2) Stuttgart is a rather pretty town, like 10% Paris and the rest like, erm, boring, GRAY or BROWN, totally uninteresting buildings. Some pretty architechture and gorgeous parks, but that's it.

3) Germans, so far, have the best attitude I've encountered in Europeans (the Dutch come a close second), not because they speak English (OK, I meant not only). They mostly keep to themselves, but when you need someone to take your picture, give you directions or even buy a train ticket for you, they're totally warm and helpful. Very good if you're alone.

4) Except for that train conductor on today's train, which I took from the Main station to Leonberg, a tiny little outskirt town where I'm bunking (where the pump factory is). Came in, started yelling at me in German. Someone was kind enough to translate, and turns out woolheaded me got into the wrong train compartment - I was in first class when I was holding a second class ticket. I was so tired I didn't catch the bloody sign above the window - 1st Class Ticket Holders only. Yeargh (so stupid) - presto, a 40-euro fine. Sigh, I feel like the truest idiot of them all. And yes, the sign was in German and English.

Oh, for Saturday, when AK, Boo and Bee will back together again!

BooBoo and the Laundry

Have I mentioned that I am a real wuss?

I cannot stand the feeling of being alone in the big house, let alone at night. So BooBoo is kind enough to accompany his mama, and making a big fuss out of it too.

He sat in between me and the computer monitor, his eyes fixed on the screen as I went through my MUSIC, transfixed on "plenoptic", the screen saver-like Windows Media Player feature.

Here he is having a jolly time wrestling with my laundry basket. I'll let the pictures tell the story

- suffice to say My BooBoo really cheered me up last night :)

Floaty cotton dresses - more of 'em

Oh for spindly legs (and a bottomless bank account)!!

This find, from Elizabeth and James (don't ask me, must be some American brand) is positively dreamy. The front is pretty simple, and the back features a gorgeous lace panel thingy.

This one is also pretty, but more normal beach cover-up from Melissa Odabash.

Both images are from Shopbop.com

Darnit, my elliptical just kaput-ed, I think I crushed one of the ball bearings forcing it to run un-aligned. After shoving the bearing back into the cavity, I got onto the trainer and pedalled again. Now the bloody chain broke or came off the gearwheel or something and I'm just too lazy to put take it apart and put it back together again.

Now where's my man when I need him??

Floaty cotton dresses

Not sure if it's just the midnight madness, loneliness syndrom (alright I am pathetic, I know) or whatever.

I normally wear sleeker, more streamlined clothes because of my, erm, larger frame.

I have large bones but luckily - thanks to a weight loss streak last year, not so much flesh. My shoulders are abnormally broad for an Asian girl. My legs are fleshier (albeit long) than I'd like. So am afraid that these flouncy numbers, meant to hang on rail-thin, tiny girls with long, lean legs, might make me look twice as broad as I already am. Sigh.

But that does not mean we cannot admire these pretty things and crave.

And I LOVE floaty, feminine, fluttery clothes like these.

Seriously contemplating the Topshop one right now. Not good.

Aren't they gorgeous?

"Kite and Butterfly" cotton lace dress from Shopbop.com

Topshop cotton dresses/tops

Missing US

I miss the noise.

I miss bickering about where we don't wanna eat, and ending up with no choice in Miri.

I miss giggling together at BooBoo's antics.

I miss Team Debbs & AK tacking BooBoo's litter (hey, misery loves company).

I miss going to sleep in the knowledge of being safe and secure.

Oh for goodness's sakes Debbie, it's only been one day. Get a grip on yourself.

I AM PATHETIC, I truly am.

Needless to say, I'm lonely in this big, quiet, dark-at-places house and I miss my partner in crime so, so much.

To AK, I hope the test results show themselves soon, so you can come home sooner (or at least when I get home from Deutschland).

Missing you like mad, you goose, come home so you can drive me all crazy and make me wanna belasah the feathers out the pillow I use to hit you, so we can drive around Miri complaining about the town, so we can visit the Babies Ella and Isaac (or have them visit BooBoo), so we can go to Medan Selera and wallop grilled stingray and deep fried sotong and sip coconut.

Lonely Me

No heart, no heart.

Here's hoping that this week will fly us by.

Next week, am off to Germany for work. No heart for it, really - just get the job done and away with.

AK, am missing you already!! Come back, come back, BB.