Beautiful Music

Found this beautiful piece of Aria Celestina Canon in D song and have to share with you!

Xmas at Royal Copenhagen Tea Lounge

Spent Xmas with Teddy at Royal Copenhagen Tea Lounge (within Takashimaya Shopping Centre) having a peaceful and delicious tea there. The queue became quite a wait as I noticed it built up after we got our seats. Lucky us ! We also manage to get a window view of the Orchard Road.

The decor at the lounge was elegant and lovely. At the entrance of the lounge were some beautiful flowers. I like it so much that I could not resist some pictures of it !

Walking inside the lounge, the place was cosy and surprisingly a little noisy with the diners all chatting away in different languages and accents. Japanese, English, Koreans and Chinese. Many different mixes of people there.

The side wall were lined with the fine pieces of the Royal Copenhagen dining ware. Hmmm, what a a beautiful sight! Each meal on every table was also served with the fine Royal Copenhagen dining ware and cutleries. Admiring the cutleries and dining ware was already well worth the time spent there ...

Teddy had his coffee served in a nice R.C Year 2002 coffee cup. We also ordered the Roasted Mushroom Soup and Salmon Platter to try. (** These were chef's recommendation on the menu) Found the Roasted Mushroom Soup a little too roasted and nutty for my taste. The ingredients added to the soup were interesting. Think it includes small tomato or carrot dices making the soup crunchy to slurp!

Somehow I like the Salmon Platter better. 3 salmon slices rolled with turnips and another 3 smoked salmon slices set on top of potato slices. Served with plenty of greens, herbs and garnishes. Tasting light and refreshing for a beautiful sunny afternoon! It was indeed a wonderful tea at a lovely place for a merry christmas day!

Merry Christmas !

Here's wishing all a merry christmas....

Joy to the world! The lord is come.

Let earth receive their King.

Let every heart prepare him room.

And heaven and nature sing.

And heaven and nature sing.

And heaven and heaven and nature sing!

MERRY CHRISTMAS !

Christmas Party

Christmas season is here again! Had an early small potluck party at my house over the weekends. Tried my hands on making the Italian bruschetta and whipping up the delicious, creamy Wild Mushroom Soup for my guests!

And of course, to meet the hungry needs of the guests, we also ordered the Royal Copenhagen Tea Lounge's roasted chicken (approx 1.5 kg) and the Potato & Onion dish to spice up the festive atmosphere a little. Mom prepared seafood fried rice and a whole pot of healthy green garden peas with carrots enough for a big feast. Yum Yum. Bro & sis-in-law chipped in with Delifrance assorted tarts and cheese croissants. Teddy topped it all with honey baked ham and some fresh Japanese sushi (salmon belly, tuna..etc gunkan) from the supermarket. We also had free flow of nice Apple juice throughout the party! It was definitely a feast fit for the royal king and queen !



Here's the recipe for the delicious, healthy and creamy Wild Mushroom Soup:
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking: 20 minutes, serves 4

Ingredients
20 wild mushrooms, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp butter
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 onions, chopped
3/4 tin Heinz chicken stock
200ml thick cream (Bulla)
Handful of chopped coriander
Salt & pepper to taste

Method
1. Melt butter in cooking pot and saute garlic and onions for 1 minute. Sir until it is well mixed with the butter.
2. Add wild mushrooms and saute for another 2 minutes.
3. Add chicken stock and thick cream. Bring to boil, then simmer for 10 minutes until soup turns light brown and thick. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Sprinkle with garnish, chopped coriander. Serve with herb bread.

I love this creamy, delicious and nutritious soup!

Birdies Ahoy! Jurong Bird Park

Its school holidays and being a nice sunny day, brought my nieces and nephews to Singapore Jurong Bird Park ... Havent visited the Bird Park since my school days, easily 10 years now! Gosh. There was a new African wilderness wetland which I have not seen before. Many birds I have not seen before like Birds of Paradise, Scarlet Ibises, Spoonbills ...

Realised the park did not changed much over all these years apart from new exhibits and some relocation of the bird exhibits. Is this good or bad? I dont know but I definitely enjoyed the familiarity of the tram ride, welcoming macaws photoshooting and the birdshows. There was still my favourite Penguin Showcase and the Owls World of Darkness - which I love best! Of course the bird shows are still as fantastic! If there's anything you wouldnt want to miss, its definitely all the live bird shows! Professionally done by the bird trainers and still as entertaining as ever! Sat through 2 bird shows at 11am and 4pm. The "Birds n Buddies" Show (show venue at: Pools Amphitheatre) and the "Kings of the Skies - Birds of Prey" (show venue at: Fuji Hawk Walk) but unfortunately missed the earlier "Fuji World of Hawks - Birds of Prey" show.. The kids definitely enjoyed themselves. Having got a chance to get close to nature and the birds! Definitely spent some good time there! Its good to learning about nature and birds all over again sometimes..

See a shot of my favourite birdshow here... can you spot the hawk?