Lunch at pierre

Very stressful at work and too lazy to update my blog although there's a backlog of pictures yet to be posted. I can totally see this year as the "fan tai shui" year for me, seems like all the share price movement has gone in an opposite direction of what I have predicted...all the vote changes have not been working accordingly, i feel obnoxious looking at the px movement on my bloomberg screen. i am not happy with what i have done for the past 3 months, even though i still rank the 2nd place for the year, the hard work i put in didn't generate much value and i HATE to be wrong. There's really nothing much one can do as a fundamental analyst, just chase after the market and buy the crappy stocks, i am now completely fed up.

It was two weeks ago we dined at pierre again for lunch... everything was great as always, although my dishes were slightly bland comparing to others... what best about being a regular at a fancy restaurant is that you can get all the perks for free. we've got each of the chef created special platter for us and received so many extra items our dining table was not big enough for all the plates.

first of all, phillip's special appetizer platter.. foie gras pate, cavier.. I wonder if this is for the dinner..

amuse buche
appetizer - foie gras ravioli
entree - fillet of code with squid ink gnocchi
nicholas' special dessert platter - chocolate tarts (very tasty with caramlized almond pieces inside), mashmallowy ice-cream
nicholas made a glove sculpture to go with the parfait cubes.. very creative but very creepy.....

for formal dessert we had chocolate souffle
and the 9 conduit - apple and pistachio meringue and sorbet with argula leaves inside, interesting, huh!
oh yeah.. we also had the ice cream cubes which was standard complimentary sweets...

Being 30

Being 30 doesn't scare me at all... many girls have problems or emotional breakdown passing this 30 line, especially for the ones without a relationship, a family, a career and/or a meaning life. I can't say I have everything I want, but I do enjoy life as it is. I am grateful for what I have, and understanding who I am makes it easier for me to jump to another check box. I do whine about work - I am not the kind that can work forever, I enjoy making sweets more than building a financial model; I do crave for more - work achievement, promotion, better compensation; I do think I deserve more than what I have now - not out of greed, but thinking needing more to make my life complete.

I hate being early 20s, that's the time when we all do and say stupid things and have disproportionate confidence and ego. Look, the most interesting TV shows feature the lives of late 20s - 40s, those feature the early 20s are only for kids. Being 30s is wonderful, is carefree, you make enough money to travel comfortably rather than staying at hostels and travel on train like a can of tuna fish, you are knowledgable and wise enough to make decent conversation with older people/professionals, you are exploring life like a discovery channel of your inner self.

I obtained a lot of wisdom from my friends, colleagues and family. The worst outcome is to choose a path that you are not content with from the beginning. Understanding and evaluating the consequences is the most important part of the decision making process, refuse to compromise doesn't mean you are not willing to sacrifice, trusting and believing in yourself is the most important driving forces.

OK.. enough of these mental bullshit...another day at pierre for a cooking demonstration. I love the restaurant, the staff, the food, the vibe...this is indeed my best restaurant in town.

The menu was exquisite and luxurious, this is by far the best that I have had in my life.

1st - poached egg with cavier - which was named after me, I wonder what's the implication....

2nd - foie gras with lobster consumme

3rd - lobster tail with white balsamic and ginger sauce

4th - guinea fowl with vegetable stew

5th - red pepper compote, caramlized walnut tart, raspberry sherbet

I am soo glad to have my friends with me for this exquisite lunch. We had so much fun, so much food, alcohol, secret sauce of making all these complicated dishes..

Thanks ALL for all these presents..haha....it is so obvious to tell what I love most and you all know me so well! I just had my perfect 30th bday.  =)