There are only two weeks left until I return to “reality”, it is unthinkable how I would feel the moment I see no more mountains surrounding me.

Two days ago I went on a road trip with a good friend to Lake Louise. It had just snowed, the sun was peeking through the clouds as we arrived, it was absolutely dreamlike.

We could not help but to dive into the fluffy snow. It was complete abandonment.

The weather is definitely colder than I expected. I would describe to you how beautiful it is here and how great it is to be able to breathe in the fresh air, but I don’t think words suffice. So, here are some photos until I write again (I’m super tired at night after a day or working.. maybe it has to do with the altitude, or maybe it’s the 2h time difference). However, even though it’s only the first day of the program, I am really LOVING IT. (see my lack of adjectives? my brain really isn’t work right now)

’til next time!

In the quiescent darkness I blossom for you.

Whenever we are too busy, Eric loves to order this kind of spicy pad thai (it’s not traditional but we like it) for take out. One day I decided to try it out (my own rendition of course), because I really love the taste of Thai basil in a stir-fried noodle dish.

So, here is the recipe as requested by my dear friend Jean (sorry it’s so late!).

You will need:

1/ one soup spoon (in Chinese cooking we measure with a soup spoon) of Thai red curry paste. this is the kind I use:

2/ fresh Thai basil
3/ string beans
4/1 red bell pepper, sliced
5/ if you like spicy peppers, you can put in some as well
6/ peeled shrimps (you can also substitute with poultry or red meat; the only meat I eat is seafood)
7/ juice of 2 limes (I didn’t happen to have them, so I used apple vinaigrette instead; white vinegar can also do)
8/ 2 soup spoons of fish sauce
9/ 2 soup spoons of soy suace
11/ 3 soup spoons of sugar
12/ Thai rice noodle (enough for the serving of two)

Preparation:
-  soak the rice noodle in lukewarm water before you do anything else

Now, cooking!
1/ (you will need a steeper pan or wide pot for this)heat up the oil, put in 1 spoon of red curry paste, mix well
2/ put in the string beans, stir well (maybe around 5min)
3/ put in the sliced red bell pepper (and other pepper if you wish), stir well
4/ now put in the soy sauce and fish sauce, stir and mix
5/ after about 5 minutes, put in the peeled shrimp, stir for about 3 min
6/ put in the lime juice and sugar, stir for another 4 min or so
7/ at this point, drain your soaked rice noodle and put them into the pan/pot (the noodle should be still a bit hard, but definitely much more softened)
8/ stir and mix well, until the rice noodle absorb all the liquid, add water if needed
9/ if you want to fold in an egg, just push everything to one side of the pan/pot, crack open an egg, after it cooks for about 1 min, fold it into everything else
10/ put in the fresh basil leaves (I like a lot of them, but if you don’t like the pungency, put in a few) and stir them in
11/ after the texture of the rice noodle is right, turn off the gas/heat and serve!

Had a long day.

Going out for a lovely dessert in the evening definitely relaxes me a whole lot. Decaf earl grey with red velvet cake is such a delicious combination!

This morning I took out the bitter melon and cut it open, only to realize it was RED inside. This startled me. But upon research (thanks google) my worry that the melon might have been some form of mutant was eliminated – the seeds are red because it’s over ripe, and the seeds are sweet (plus a hint of spiciness). :)

Please keep warm, I hate being sick.

Yesterday I did a photoshoot with a lovely girl, here’s one photo from the set.

I also wanted to just announce that I think the World Atlas app for iphone developed by National Geographic is one of the best $1.99 I’ve ever spent. A list of my favourite iphone app is definitely coming soon!

Quite satisfied: picked up after 24h and also got a six-month warranty from Nikon. :)