Jamie Oliver & Nigella Lawson

I've been back to Singapore since 25th January, and it's all so indescribably wonderful!! Have been gorging myself with all the local food like my favourite chicken rice, laksa, prawn mee. hokkien mee, just to name a few; and not in my favourite order. And of course, not forgetting my mom's cooking! For foreigners travelling to Singapore, I hope that you'd take time to explore and try the local dishes, which should make you return for more. However, you should be careful with ordering spicy food as the local taste can really be too hot perhaps for foreigners.

So, what have I been doing besides indulging in gluttony? Well, I've been watching TV to my greatest content! There are several channels that I can't watch in Japan and it's just ... so rejuvenating to enjoy them again. My favourite channels? Discovery Channel, National Geographic, Animal Planet, and Discovery Travel & Living!!

Some faithful follow-ups are productions by Mr. Jamie Oliver and Ms. Nigella Lawson. Well, they are cooks who present western dishes, from home cooking, to season's cooking, exquisite dinner to serve guests and etc.

I enjoy Jamie's shows, those he cooks in his country kitchen, shares tips on growing vegetables and sometimes; cracking hilarious jokes. I think the camera man does a fine job by giving a soft touch to make the scenes look warm and ' homely '.

Today I learnt that growing basil helps keeping harmful insects away from tomatoes so it will be splendid if they can be planted close. The aroma of basil seems somewhat unpleasant to insects, thus keeping them way off.

I look forward to the day of planting my own vegetables and herbs. I think Jamie can teach me a lot on that =)

As for Nigella, she is absolutely beautiful and her presentation tells me that she loves cooking in her womanly way. Am I actually watching her making eyes, or watching her cook?? I can't decide... Note, I'm not a lesbian and married to a wonderful husband, and I admire anything beautiful. I love her kitchen no less: white, spick and span, no nonsense. There's something similar between Jamie and Nigella perhaps: a full body that speaks the volume of love they have towards food.

Both Jamie and Nigella are bold in their cooking, using generous portion of olive oil, great experiment with herbs, various cooking methods, emphasis on colors and presentation. I've yet tried their mouth-watering recipes thus unable to vouch anything yet, but their passion for cooking inspires me. Just a few episodes make my day and get my imagination running wild. Should I try that chicken using X, or maybe I should quit Y and try Z instead..? Oh, my hands are itching and strangely, I'm eager to go back to Japan and play in my kitchen again.