sofas in fabulous colours and textures

simple, linear designs to lessen the cluttered look of any apartment

I have browsed catalogues (paper and digital) of Ikea since I don’t remember when. I have made kitchen layout using their online tools. I have fantasized of furnishing our master’s bedroom with Ikea products. I have dreamt of IKEA in full colour and Dolby surround sound.

When I got to Jude’s apartment, the first thing I noticed was the kitchen implements - the flatware, pots and pans and even the condiment receptacles. All got IKEA proudly stamped on their bottoms and I was like “They have AY-KEE-YA here?” Sure they do but it wasn’t until my second visit when I finally located their outlet in Causeway Bay.

I had only an hour left to go see the rest of what’s there to see. There’s a bus scheduled at sometime past 6 and I have yet to jam the pasalubongs into my pink luggage so the last minute Ikea sighting was very limited kind of sighting. I wasn’t even able to explore the lower floor where the accessories are. And I wasn’t able to touch all that I wanted to touch but it rekindled my old love that died when we moved to Manila.

And we were transformed to being young lovers again — with all our hopes and dreams before us. We examined kitchen furnishings, tabletops and sinks and ran our hands against all touchable surfaces. We made calculations and measurements (they have tape measures and pencils and papers for your shopping list) and renewed our goal to build us our dream home together.

To me the whole experience was like a very solemn renewal of vows — vow to love and hold and raise children and shop together.

We couldn’t have chosen the most auspicious (to borrow a Chinese Astrology word to mean the opposite) time to see Macau. We woke up really late — at 11 am we rushed from Lockhart Road to Sheung Wan Station. The moment we stepped out of the safety enclosure of the apartment, the chill clawed at us. The new jacket that I bought offered very little protection.

The TurboJet is the HK version of our SuperCat. I think we got ours from the Chinks at a year-end sale. It’s bigger than our fast crafts but not entirely impervious to the angry waves. The water reminded me of latte with the white froth and it worsened the puking reflex that I have been trying to keep at bay.

I asked for the puke bag and the attendant cheerfully handed me the menu: “Food,” he said. “No, I don’t want food. I want to puke,” and I made puking actions. He dashed back with the puke bag and I think he was silently cursing me or maybe praying for the gods to spare his boat from my puke.

Macau is relatively cheaper than HK. We were able to get noodle soups at decent prices and the tastiest jerky at 50 MOP a kilo. It was the deal of the day. We went to some casinos but we didn’t really try our luck at the tables — not my idea of fun anyway.

Macau is Christmas decor meets Chinese lanterns. A mash-up of culture and architecture. In some aspects, cheesy, in other, outright wacky. And I cannot connect it to Vegas.

a lamp inside MGM

oranges and flowers near senado square

chinese boxes at some antique shop

centre of attraction for the day

casino lisboa as viewed from whynn

your notes read like this:

this critical mass can also be called cancer. also elusive dream.

convolution can cause spasm and ticks. spastic.

pride and prejudice among fatsos.

technology is the be all and the end all of all.

empty words that reverberate against the emptiness.

struggle for dominance in the decaying hierarchy of vanishing hairlines and limp penises.

It means something. Something.

from the motley crew. max is busy eating… will pose soon.

Last night, Marini asked me what to do with her leftover egg whites. She was making leche flan. I offered meringue and frittata. She opted to do meringue kisses while an idea, a really sinful idea that I should have vanquished right away crept into my consciousness. The next hour or so was spent browsing for Brazo de Mercedes recipe and the accompanying reviews. Do people really try out those recipes and go back to rant and rave afterwards? I am now very skeptical.

Anyway, I wasn’t that skeptical a few hours ago and while I was still in the office and should have been thinking of work, I called home so yaya can buy the ingredients and prepare the utensils.

To make the story short – the making progressed beautifully. My meringue was perfect – satiny and stiff and it was browning in the oven in this delicious color that reminds me of girls lying on tanning beds. Of course, I have to take pictures even at such early stages! The yolk and milk mixture was challenging as the yolks curdled right away but I salvaged that by turning off the fire and beating it ceaselessly then straining the lumps from the mixture.

It’s the rolling part that pissed me off. I poured the milk and yolk mixture and attempted to roll the fat log but the !*#$8% oozed out of the baking sheet and onto the floor. Most of the filling is now on the floor.

I am trying to salvage the brazo by putting it in the freezer. I’ll check it in a while to see if it holds its shape and yeah, I will post the pictures.