Gorgeous Summer night

How's Summer doing there?

Here in Nagano, stepping in of September means the going out of Summer.








Bear decided that we catch the final fireworks of Summer last weekend. I couldn't be more pleased! =D



We got so much to thank the Lord for a splendid night out!! Smooth traffic flow, discovery of good bento ( 弁当、 packet food ) and good spot for pitching our picnic mat. Last but not least, an angry rain that raided shortly after the fireworks display. It would have been such a let down from above if rain descended during the fireworks show.

I don't know about you though... To me, fireworks hint romance. Fireworks remind me of a scene in Romeo and Juliet ( 1996 ), where the innocent young hearts fell in love at first sight under the fireworks galore. I don't want to know what fate Shakespeare has dictated for the star-crossed lovers, I merely wish to indulge in that magical moment... the ecstasy of falling in love... Tell me I'm not the only hopeless romantic around!

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Fireworks... their beauty is so terribly shortlived. I guess pictures can never be good enough to capture the gorgeous moment anyway.

As we left to get the car, the Bear said in his boyish fervour ' I would like to catch it again next year! '

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' Umm... we'll see.. ' said me. ;)

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Have a brilliant week, with everything falling in nice and timely. =)

First Heart, Heart Ring, Heart tales...

Weeeee!!!!! It's Friday, and we surely hope that it's going to be a fair-weathered weekend, like last week!





Announcing, my first ' Heart ' found in the lovely blues above! Spot the Heart!


We strained our eyes and observed with cynical seconds when we spotted it, quite sure that it would deform anytime with the wind, then the Bear broke out, ' THE CAMERA!! '







We were a little disappointed when the image didn't appeart too ' hearty ' on the cam's screen. Bear assured in his usual self ( and usual grin ), ' We'll find another next time !' It simply got me thinking, ' Where he gets all his positivity from?? ' Didn't all these futile months prove that it truly is a little difficult to spot a Heart in the sky?


And just when we've finished a good lunch and left to get the car, Bear repeated his same old lines of good positivity, ' We'll find one again! '. I couldn't help pretending to yawn at that but he interupted me soon enough, ' Look what I've found you! ' and so I lifted my eyes slowly...

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Bear found me a Heart Ring!


Did the Bear pre-arrange everything? Does he practise magic? We didn't have time to think, we needed THE CAMERA!


I hope you'll see a ' Heart ' gem on the ring. Gosh I would have drawn a graphical image of it to show you what I mean, if I have my familiar software on hand now!







How simply has this incident revealed the gray truth about myself. I'm constantly worrying, doubting, preparing myself for the imagined. And while allowing negativity to take over me this easily, I could have missed what's due to me while wallowing in meaningless ponderings!!

I'm all too thankful for my partner who helps me see matters in a different light. Not just this, but all his support and care during these 2 weeks when I was physically down and unable to do much. And just when I got all edgy again over matters he called ' trivials ', Bear coded thoughtfully the message we've received from Church on Sunday,

' Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ' Phillipians4:6-7


There are so much blessings I've received, and definitely not earned by worrying a single inch!

Are you a pessimist suspect like me too? I guess it's time to fling those cloudy thoughts away, and clear the skies for some surprize that's beyond our imagination.

Have a blessed weekend.

Beaming Sunflowers

Rain... More rain do I see these days, than golden rays of sun.

Oh but God is kind. =) We managed to embrace some sunshine on Sunday, after an overnight drizzle.





So we seized the morning before church, and had some outdoor fun. It's Summer, remember?





What's Summer without Sunflowers, and lotsa sunshine! Weeeeeeee!

And what marvel has the overnight shower done to these beauties! The sunflowers stood refreshingly cheery with droplets of sparkling dew!

Go on bumble buddies, carry that heavy coat of pollen home!





I was bad. I couldn't help getting crafty behind their backs... ;)





Sunflowers... they looked as if they've been sun-kissed, they were obviously beaming!





I couldn't help dancing in the Sunflowers galore!





Then, the sight below caught my eye. ' What do you see, Bear? '

' Oh, a drinking bug! '

Uh huh... that's Bear.







Well you tell me! ;)


I really thought there were only 2 of us in the wide open, until we've left. An uncle approached us and showed me his shots.


I was caught in his camera, doing my ballet moves. (~~;) AHH... I was totally embarrassed!!!


I hope you're having some good golden times too! Don't get naughty and caught though. ;P







P/S: Ah yes! Before I go, I wish to thank everyone for your concern. Stardust is getting better day by day! Bless your heart. <3

It's crystal clear

Look Darling! See what it's revealing...

Still seeing green

It's been cold here for the whole week. This late Summer has been a little chilly.



Lots of rain and even flood in other prefectures! We're truly fortunate though to be spared from violent downpours, and typhoos.

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It is the best time to catch sight of the fruitful braches now. Before long they'd be masked up, in order to be shielded from hungry pests. Go on, be fruitful and plenty! I simply love standing below the grapes in a quiet vineyard, and be consumed by the serenity...

I am the vine, you are the branches. The one who abides in me while I abide in him produces much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. John 15: 5

Flowers of Soba ( buckwheat ).




And a little closeup so that you can see the pollen in red. =)




And we're still seeing green, like young puny tomatoes.






It's nice to see green everywhere, though I know that shades of Autumn are slipping in soon.




But season brings new stuff and goodies in its generous carriages! I really ought to appreciate seasons better. =P

Could it be the chilly temperature ( or the Olympics withdrawal?? ), Stardust has been down with mysterious pain for the whole week. A good dose of sunshine will be make things better I think... and I really hope that the weather gets better soon.

Here's wishing you a splendid weekend! =)

At the vineyard

After the rain.

Thank you, Olympics 2008

Now that the much anticipated Olympics 2008 has come to an end, a gush of emptiness simply sweeps over me...

Singapore managed to clinch its first silver medal since independence! Although this is nothing compared to the achievement of many other countries, I can't help but feeling joyful about it. =D Congratulations Singapore!! Well done!

Anybody watched Synchronized Swimming and Gymnastics Rhythmic? I couldn't take my eyes off the beautiful performance the atheletes presented!! Here, take a look of what I've found from the internet.

Olympics... what a fine and noble way mankind chooses to pit against each other. Apart from the thrill of witnessing the victorious instant, I'm all moved by every countenance found on the atheletes. Their resoluteness built over the 4 years was all evident in their pupils. The sweat and tears shed to relate true tales of defeat or victory... I'm all moved by this real life human drama of effort, breakthrough, and mighty hearts.

Thank you, Olympics 2008. I can't wait to be touched again in 2012.

Watermelon Sherbet Dew 西瓜西米露

Personally, I don't hate summer so long as the heat does not find my skin. =P Summer means I'll get a taste of my tropical homeland! =D

There's watermelon for Summer!! Long live shortlived Summer!

YES! Summer is so short ( read ' short ' quickly! ) in Nagano, it lives like a fly! We have no time to lose, it's like attending a buffet style fruit bar with a specified time limit ( Do you know? Some buffet restaurants in Japan actually impose a time limit like an hour to 90mins? )

（～～；）けち。。。 Stingy...　

Back to watermelon. I was watching TV the other day and suddenly slapped awake of a memory. It featured a recipe of a dessert, that I used to love so much when I was in my teens!


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It must have been more than 10 years since I had my last... I was a perfectly slim and ' no sugar ' girl back then, dad often had to crack his head to wheedle me into having some. It took long enough until a star stall began its hot business. It was the stall's 西瓜西米露 that taught me : desserts ARE pleasurable. =)


It's haarrdd to translate from the Chinese expression, I'll let it be called ' Watermelon Sherbet Dew ' (~~;). Anyway, the name tells it all, there's ICY WATERMELON SHERBET!





What I've enjoyed in the past, were mouth-sized balls of icy watermelon sherbet, in cold and sweet milky mixture. There were slippery sagos, some corn toppings, all in a decent bowl size and it was merely for a dollar! My family had their sweeter choices though. I was stuck with this until we moved to our present home, and we patronized the stall no more because of the distance...


I really wonder if the stall still exists now... it was such a popular stall and the talk of the neighbourhood back then...




The recipe suggested milk instead of coconut milk though. We can always decide a different arrangement, can't we? ;) Anyway, I ran the first trial by using soya milk, which is gentle with my tummy. The result was close, or not so close, thanks to the absence of coconut milk. Oh but it's so expensive here, I guess I'll just put up with having none. I would have added some sagos if I have any on hand, next time perhaps. ;) I couldn't care thinking about other likeable toppings, to relive that teenage moment was what's all on my mind...

Go taint the milk with watermelon's juice, it gives a pretty hue of pink. =) The color isn't so obvious in my pictures though.





So, ahhh... here you go, a fragment of what I used to love when I was in Singapore...






Recipe for Watermelon Sherbet Dew


Note : Estimate the required amount, it shouldn't be too difficult. Just be careful with the amount of milk used. There may be an overflow when sherbet is added.



Watermelon

Milk/Soy milk

Coconut milk ( optional )

Condensed milk

Corn

Any other topping that you may like to have. ( eg. sago ) They may be agreeable.


1. Prepare watermelon into mouth-size pieces. Cut them into cubes, or you may prefer shaped cutters. Freeze them for about 2 hours to achieve sherbet state. Know your fridge and determine the required time. You won't like having watermelon hails instead.


2. There must be scraps of watermelon after obtaining the mouth-size pieces. Squash the flesh to get juice out from the fruit. Pour the juice into the milk/soy milk to get a desired nice pink. You may like to squash a little more fruit in order to achieve a deeper pink.


3. Sweeten milk/soy milk with condensed milk, check the taste after adding 1 tablespoon each time, until desired sweetness is achieved. As the sherbet hardly increases the sweetness of the milk mixture, go sweeten it to your heart's content. Rememeber, it's a dessert. Get a good chill for the milk mixture. Chill, not freeze.


4. Get corn ready and put aside.


5. To serve : ( Optional : add little coconut milk to mixture to boost the flavour, stir well ). Drop sherbets into mixture and top with corns, ready to go. Serve quickly because the sherbet melts readily within the mixture.


Huh? Did I hear ' What about the remaining watermelon then... '?

Have a great weekend!!

P/S : Anybody staying at Tampines, near the 100 plus market?