Gwen Stefani in Concert

7 of us were all geared up yesterday for an amazing night of Gwen Stefani's brand of bubblegum pop at her very first concert in this country, but it ended up rather disappointing.

The stage was plain, double tiered with the usual projection screen behind it, and a "live" screen on each side of the performance area. There were quite a few costume changes, all which she carried off very well but I felt that the breaks between songs for costume changes broke the rhythmn of the concert. Maybe I was expecting more "fun"? Maybe I had expected too much?

There were marked high points in the performance, namely when she ran straight into the middle of the audience, then running farther into the midst of the seats and stopped twice to sing her song. Those were truly great moments. A friend almost touched her as she raced up the stands.

Despite the countdown of our favorite Gwen hits, the whole evening left me unsatisfied, and not in a good way. I really felt that we had paid too much for our tickets.

Thank you anyway Gwen Stefani. :-)

Pea Place Dinner

It was another gathering of happy friends around yummy food and good booze.

This time contributions included roasted lamb, shabu-shabu, salad and chicken wings. All lovingly prepared and cooked to perfection!

"Only in America can you pick your nose and be a landmark."

Thank you Google Maps for more fun!

Heard that Google had gone in vans down America's streets snapping away, then pieced together millions of stills to give you the "Street View" on Google Maps. :-)

Search 181 West San Carlos Street, San Jose, California.
There's a guy there taking care of some personal hygiene.
Quoting an American radio celebrity, "Only in America can you pick your nose and be a landmark."
Kumxia for the giggles! :-)

Lamb Shank Green Curry

Kumxia for dinner!

A big thank you to a pair of friends, who opened their house to us last night to feed us and water us.

The wine and cheese and lamb shank green curry were super! The shank was so tender it didn’t need a knife! Yummy!

Kumxia! ☺

Nine Courses and Five Beers ago...

An enormous thank you to the man I married and a friend for making our first Dinner and Beer a tummy-felt success!

#1 - Crab salsa bruschetta.

#2 - Roasted peppers.

#3 - The cod was baked in a combination of miso, mirin and mushroom.

#4 - Lamb with dijon mustard.

#5 - Pork belly rolled in bacon.

#6 - Ribeye skewers with fresh herbs (middle plate).

#7 - A trio of sausages - farmer's grill, neurnberger and spicy italian.

#8 - Tri-fromage aragosta frittata, aka triple cheese lobster omelette!

#9 - Dual potato mash baked with hearts of quail eggs.

This was the assortment of bear that paired with the food famously!

Kumxia to those who labored to make the evening a deliciious event, and all those who lent us their empty tummies. :-)

7:59pm

Tonight was a rare treat. We were on our way home along the CTE before 8pm! As we approached the ERP gantry headed north, the large LED clock read 7:59pm. EVERYONE SLOWED DOWN! Hahaha… I think many people were slowing down to pass under the gantry at 8pm so they wouldn’t need to pay the S$1.

I guess that explains the signs we’d passed earlier, prompting heavy traffic ahead! ☺ Though there were a lot of people trying to get on and off the PIE via the CTE.

Thank you for a good chuckle!

It's the thought of the crepe cake that counts!

Heard from a friend at dinner this evening, about something that happened yesterday. The man I'd married had went way out of his way to try to buy me highly recommended crepe cake. When he got to the shop, he had $50 on him, but the cake was $60, and the store didn't take anything other than cash. So... no crepe cake.

With the direction my weighing scale's been going lately, I'm glad he couldn't get the crepe cake, though I thank him for the thought. :-) And my friend for telling me. :-)