Bread Attempt No. 2 on a Lazy Sunday

Today was another lazy Sunday for me. I didn't go anywhere as I just wanted to laze around at home.

Felt a little lousy in the morning as I was about to prepare toast for M when I saw that the loaf of white bread which I bought for him on Friday had gone mouldy (only 2 days + I had put it in the fridge!). There was only wholemeal bread left which I knew he didn't like but nevertheless, he still ate the sandwich that I prepared happily (I know he was pretending). But I was pleased that I managed to fry bee hoon for him for lunch as finally (God bless!), I bought the correct type of bee hoon! The last few times, I bought tang hoon instead because I couldn't understand the Vietnamese words. :(

While M was practising his golf at Hanoi Golf Club in the afternoon, I decided to make my own bread rolls. Found another recipe on the internet which looked "workable" but reduced the amount of sugar from 105 g to 75 g as I don't like my bread too sweet. Also shaped the rolls in a different way this time and they turned out quite well! Tadah (Look below)! I was quite pleased with my end product and M found it quite tasty too. (*Grins*)

Freshly baked bread rolls out from the oven...

Tomorrow's breakfast! :)

Had wanted to bake fish and cook a simple soup for dinner but realised at 5pm that we had run out of gas. Aargh! M suggested that we order pizza from a nearby restaurant, Al Fresco's, which I agreed. So we ended up having Hawaiian Pizza for dinner. Quite satisfying except that I thought it was too cheesy for me. Still prefer to make my own pizza. :)

A popular pizza eatery in Hanoi, Al Fresco's.

Our dinner!

Today's really not quite an eventful day but the nice aroma of my bread rolls made my day. :)

Bleu de Thuy - International Food

Located along the "Food Street" in Hanoi (Tong Duy Tan), Bleu de Thuy is a quaint and cozy restaurant that serves international cuisine at affordable prices. The service there is quite good, with friendly English-speaking waitresses.

The entrance of the restaurant.

M and I went there today for lunch because we both wanted to "break" my usual Japanese food routine. I ordered a salmon salad while M had a set lunch (main course + dessert) which consisted of pan seared shrimps and chocolate panacotta.

The home-made bread. I couldn't resist a second helping!

My half-eaten salmon salad. Forgot abt the picture earlier as I was hungry. :)

M's chocolate panacotta.

We both liked the bread though I was definitely crazier over it than M. It just tasted so soft and crusty! I enjoyed my salad too as the grilled salmon complemented well with the salad veggies. However, my favourite salad was still the mushroom salad (with duck meat and soba) which I didn't order today because I wanted to try something new. M's pan seared shrimps were quite disappointing too. The portion was small and he found it so-so. But he enjoyed the dessert which I found a little too sweet for my liking.

The salad cost VND 70,000 (around SGD 7) while the set lunch was VND 96,000 (ard SGD 9.60). Overall, I would say that it is value-for-$ though for guys, the portions could be a little too small.

Bleu de Thuy
Bar-Cafe-Restaurant
28, Tong Duy Tan, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi
Tel: 04-9285900

Masuda Japanese Restaurant

As mentioned in my earlier post, Masuda Restaurant was where I celebrated my birthday with M. Located along Ba Mau Lake, it is one of my favourite Japanese restaurants in Hanoi. The prices are fairly reasonable and you can get a good lunch set for around USD 6 - 10.

I promised to upload some pictures on the food so here they are. I wanted to take a picture of the entrance the other day but forgot to do so. Anyway, enjoy the foodie pictures!

My favourite cha-soba - healthy and yummy!

The combination of sashimi, eel and egg in the chirashi don was perfect.

Complimentary chawanmushi and salad.

Masuda Japanese Restaurant

No. 9, Ba Mau Lake, Phuong Lien

Dong Da District, Hanoi

Opening Hours: 11am to 2pm; 5pm - 10pm

Open every day except during Tet Holidays

Baking Sweet Buns

I have taken quite a bit of interest in baking recently and my aim is to bake a loaf of soft delicious bread. Last Sunday, after our tim sum lunch at Fortuna Hotel with our friends, I had this sudden urge to bake my own bread. This time, I buffered more time to allow the yeast effect to take place. The end result was 8 "fairly nice" buns.

M commented that the buns were not sweet enough which was true because I deliberately added less sugar. I found the texture a tad hard though it was an improvement from the last round. My next attempt will be to make wholemeal buns and this time, I will try to improve on the texture and perhaps add a little bit more sugar to make it more flavourful.

三十岁了！

我今天三十岁了！

很奇怪，我并不惧怕这个岁数。三十岁的我，在性格上还有很多地方可以改进，例如：脾气，急性子，小气，天生忧郁的个性，等等。但现在，我比以前更清楚的知道自己应该在那一方面努力。这份自我了解，得来不易。 人都是这样，往往想挑战自己。我呢，就希望能让自己的性格更完美一些。（少少也好啦！）

今天中午，M同我到一家我十分喜欢的日本餐厅Masuda吃午饭。这家餐厅位于小湖旁，环境非常优美。当侍应生领我们到用餐的房间时，我俩忍不住笑了出来！因为我们是第三次来到这间房了，似乎是属于我们的感觉。我点了我最爱吃的生鱼饭和冷面，M则选择了日本咖喱饭。那里的菜肴真是一级棒，小菜也很丰富。下次再把照片放上来吧！

回到家里，我第一件事就是打电话给我的家人。三十年来，这是我头一次在外地过生日呢。听到妈妈和小弟的祝福，心里非常开心。爸爸也通过妈妈转达了对我的关怀。感觉好窝心哦！

傍晚时分，M带了一束玫瑰花回来，让我觉得很怪，因为他知道我并不喜欢花。原来是他同事的一番心意，我的司机还送我一个巧克力蛋糕。真是让我感动。原来在异乡过生日也能那么温馨。

生日快乐！