Review: Olaf's Artisan Bakery & Cafe

After hearing Alex exclaiming about this particular place over viber and sometimes torture me with pictures of his loot, I was more than excited to try out the treats myself... Thankfully the wait wasn't too long and on the 3rd day of my arrival, Alex took me to Olaf's Artisan Bakery & Cafe at Mt Eden for a well-needed brunch!

My oh my was it packed. While queuing up, my eyes were glued to the cabinet selection... Alex was telling me to just pick whatever I want and that we could even take-away, but as usual, the Asian in me would be doing a lot of mental calculations and we ended up sharing an egg-benedict with some sweet treats...

Alex's first pick was that delectable portugese egg tart (that of course has a fancier name which I could not remember); while I picked that raspberry and custard brioche... Before we were about to pay, Alex suddenly ordered the third pastry (no idea what's it called) but turned out to be a let down...

I really love the raspberry and custard brioche as not only it will look good in pictures, it was surprisingly amazing!

I would say its a very well-balanced delight. you have the sourness of the berries, the creaminess from the custard, and some bitterness and sweetness from the decadent belgium chocolate... It's a dessert that won't make you feel 'jelak' or sick from it (if you get what I mean)..

The not-so-up-to-the-mark for us would be these two items here..

That pastry with the powdered sugar on top just tasted kinda 'meh' to me, and probably too sweet for my liking... And the husband's mocaccino with extra chocolate (He's the one with the sweeter tooth) turned out to be quite diluted and didn't have the 'kick'...

My flat white on the other hand,

... was divine...

I love how fragrant the coffee is with slight bitterness and punch, supported by the velvety texture of the milk.... Ahhhh... I love my coffee... hahahaha

And finally came our Eggs Benedict on Sourdough with in-house citrus-cured salmon

A lil hefty in price, at $21.50 one would expect at least some salad greens on the side but it is a pretty damn good dish. I particularly like the combination of the creamy hollandaise sauce and the runny yolks, together with the sourdough bread.... It was addictive!

Definitely a great place with great food! I rate it as 'WILL VISIT AGAIN, and AGAIN and AGAIN' lol.

The man I married

This entry had a lot of interruptions, causing me to write... paused... saved as draft... rewrote... reedited... paused... etc.

Because, let's face it... Marriage is not perfection. And is never as simple as 'happily ever after.'

One moment I would be in cloud nine counting my blessings; the next I would be grumpy and dissatisfied because of some disagreements that we had as a married couple. In fact, 30 minutes ago I just got rebuked by Alex for not bringing him the right black belt. Yup.

We are so different in so many ways and I get upset by how particular or even anal he is about certain things...

He is so disciplined and independent that he makes me feel useless and redundant at times...

He has a sharp tongue and when he is not in a fine mood, he unconsciously provokes and snaps at people... And I know I had been hurt by the negativity that comes out of his lips, especially when he says things like 'I should have known better not to expect much from you'....or.. 'I should have just done it myself..' (Referring back to how he wants things done in a certain way and I am just not good in following instructions or doing those same chores that I do back home in his ways)..

EVEN SO,

I do know that I married an amazing man.

He has his imperfections and neither am I a saint. I am messy, impatient, clumsy, which directly clashes with his perfectly aligned routines and methods.

But his imperfections also made him the man I have no regrets in marrying.

He is so disciplined that he wakes up at 6am, gets his breakfast done, wipes the car (every single morning), does a 30-minute sit (to strengthen his posture), reads the news, showers, shaves, and prepares for work even though he only needs to leave home at 9am.


He is so disciplined that every time he comes back, he would first clean the shoes he wore (special treatment and cleaning would be done for his white Lacoste), placed them back into the box, complete with the protective layer of papers... (While I chucked the shoes wherever, running into the house)

And when I asked why would he go to that extent, while assuming that he has OCD, he merely explained that he is maintaining the condition and quality of the items he possesses... Of which becomes a really important trait that sustained our Long Distance Relationship... As much effort as he puts in to care for his shirts, shoes, cars etc, he puts in even more effort in our relationship. Not a day passes throughout the 5 years and 8 months without communication between us. Other than a few instances that could not be avoided, we have at least 1 hour of interaction (be it through Viber, Skype or whatnot) Every. Single. Day.

As fast as his tongue is, as fast he is to pacify me and cheer things up. It's either I let go really easily or he is really good at being funny lol. Somehow, I never managed to put on that pissed off face long enough before I cracked out in laughter.

I know he has a lot of things in his mind, especially when our financial situation causes strains, but yet he puts me high in his priorities. For instances,

He is a man, who would warm up the bathroom and bring my towel in before I enter to shower.
He is a man, who would take the yoghurt out from the fridge and let it warm a lil for me, before I consume it.
He is a man who finishes up any food I cooked regardless of whether it was a successful attempt, not leaving even a single grain of rice.
He is a man who would make me desserts. I especially love his baked flans.
He is a man who massages for me, especially when I have menstrual cramps.
He is a man who would looked up bus times, restaurant reviews, and sends me a comprehensive guide when I mentioned about wanting to go into the city on my own.
He is a man who makes sure I have my vitamins, and that I use the hand lotion after I do any washings.
He is a man who goofs around and plays childish tricks with me lol.
He is a man who stood by my side even when he was persecuted.
He is a man who hugs me, kisses me, and tells me he loves me every day.
He is a man who prays for me, every day.
He is a man who held on for more than five years of long distance, albeit the MANY challenges and storms, and said his vows without any hesitations...


I may not have achieved many of my dreams and my current circumstances may still be a distance away from the ideal, but while many spend a lifetime searching for the right partner, I am glad that the man I married, is the man that completes me and makes me a better person, the man I could envision a lifelong journey with.

With less than a week to go before going back to Long-Distance-Marriage, I shall savour every single waking moment, with this man I married :)

Teacher's Day 2014

This entry is as obvious as its title. To be perfectly honest, there was nothing much to look forward to, for this year's Teacher's Day. Firstly, Nadia would not be around. Secondly, most of our students have already gone on their own holiday, skipping both Sunday and Monday of school. And thirdly, it is organised in a 'skema' manner with very very little elements of fun. Come on, last year we even had 'boling kelapa' - Coconut Bowling!

Anyhow, I had much lesser responsibilities for this year's celebration and only had to come out with a performance from the teachers. Even so, trying to garner participation from my fellow colleagues is like trying to get a cat to come down from a tree... It was ... hard. In the end, one would find it really hard to believe, but while I was in church, the idea just came really strongly onto me - to get my Asli kids involved in that performance. Not entirely sure whether it was a prompting from God but it was definitely an idea I love and a decision with zero regrets!

These kids were a delight to work with. We had so much laughter, I'm sure my fellow English teachers have too fallen in love with them, and despite the HORRIBLE PA SYSTEM on that very day, we had a blast!

I won't even delve into the many things that went wrong and made me cringe on that day, but just focus on the good parts - the parts I want to remember for years to come ;)

Presenting to you .... *drum rolls*...

OUR TEAM!

The girl power~~~

and the lovable kids~~~~ (I promised them to have the pictures printed out for their own keepsake)

and that lil cheeky one with all the dramatic poses... that's Eddy lol.


Oh, here's a more complete group of us - the English teachers who took the stage ~

any guesses what could the theme colour be?
Hmmmm... Such a tough one...

And when they saw us taking pictures on the stage, some of our senior teachers and admin wanted to be included lol~

So yea....

I know some of my teaching peers received a LOT of gifts from their students, with some filling up the whole car boot and whatnot... and my loot was definitely not as much as them. Then again, I have come to accept the lack of giving culture here and just went through the day with little to no expectations...

And I received two really really pleasant surprises.

The first one was so unexpected, hence adding on to how special it was...

An ex-student of mine, asked his sister (who is still studying) to hand me a gift...

 

Needless to say, I was completely blown away. This boy has always been great artistically and from what I know, he is currently studying graphic design in college... This has easily become one of my most-prized possessions! He even made my nose smaller!!!

Here's the original picture for comparison ;)

 

So talented!!!


The second surprise was this...

a closer look?

Yup. My first response was actually "WTH! Am I a troublemaker or something??? Hahahahaha"

Turns out, 'HAVOC' means 'GEMPAK' here, or in English, probably best described as 'wow, best, sporting, of that sort lol'. One must agree it means very very different from the English definition :p


So yea,

Teaching has always been a humbling experience, and Teacher's Day or Teacher Appreciation Day or whatever one decides to call it, is a nice way of celebrating a teacher's contribution. While I also know the many backlash from media about teachers being 'syok sendiri', unworthy of the tributes and gifts, and experience grief myself seeing many colleagues of mine 'skipping' the celebration and took their own 'day offs'.....I still want to thank many out there who made me feel validated and acknowledged.

Ego-feeding aside, I really love teaching. It is something I want to keep on doing, for the rest of my life.
And I hope, with age progressing and experiences multiplying, I would not be complacent, but develop and improve until I am proud to call myself, an educator :)