Small world

EE treated me to Japanese lunch this afternoon. She had been traveling, so it was great to catch up with her before she jets off again. As usual, we spent hours chatting and laughing. That was when we realised how small the world is.

First of all, I thought I spotted an old admirer in the mall. Even though I went through great lengths to avoid him, I ended up sitting behind him in the same restaurant. Halfway through lunch, EE's brother suddenly appeared before us. He was eating at Subway when he spotted us in the restaurant.

While chatting with EE, I found out that her daughter's (EH, my god-daughter) in the preschool that ordered our gardening kit for Children's Day next week. As it turns out, the school principal Melissa is a friend of EE's cousin. Melissa is now my customer and EH will be growing vegetables next week!

Talking about vegetables, I cooked my kai lan (kale) for dinner tonight. I had harvested them a little too late, so the stems were too fibrous and chewy.

There wasn't enough kale to feed the family, so I stir-fried some sprouts (dou miao) as well.

For protein, I seasoned salmon with salt, pepper and olive oil before chucking it into the oven for some 30 minutes.

I also made a seafood Cioppino using fresh mussells and shrimps cooked in spicy tomato stock. It looks messy but tastes delicious!

Finally, I made YK's favourite tofu drenched in sesame oil, soy sauce and oyster sauce and topped with chopped shallots and lightly fried anchovies.

It was a simple but satisfying dinner!