Success!

So, I had my first go at making my own Pad Thai on Saturday night, and as the title says, it was a success, yay. Sam & John agree, too, so I'm not just making it up. Not that its that complicated, really. Its all in the sauce, which I had so much fun making. I found the tamarind (secret ingredient) at Saffron India on Campus Corner, and had so much fun mashing it through the strainer after it had soaked in the water. But, basically, I heart new recipes. Especially if they are Asian. Here is the recipe I used (the 2nd one on the page) btw, if you are feeling experimental yourself. Obviously, I substituted for the tofu because tofu is weird.

The other thing Sam & I enjoyed on Saturday night, while simultaneously enjoying the Pad Thai, was GoodBye, Lenin!, a German film from 2003. We highly recommend it. And, the music was done by Yann Tierson, who also did music for Amelie. But, check it out for yourself, entertaining and stimulating.

Another highlight of the weekend was seeing Kid Koala in concert at the Union on Friday night. I've never really gotten into DJ's, etc. but its really a fascinating musical form. Before he began, he gave us a sort of crash course into how the turntables work, and what he would be doing, and durning the whole concert he had a spy camera so we could see just what he was doing. It was amazing! And thoroughly enjoyable, as he had excellent taste in music & sampled some great stuff.

But, capping off the weekend's cultural events was India Nite last night. There was beautiful dancing, singing, and spectacular curry, of course, courtesy Gopuram, the Metro's best Indian. It was great to be there with Sam, enjoying his adoration of Indian culture. And, apparently, one of Elise's friends, who was there and who doesn't know me, mistook me for her but realized that Elise probably wouldn't be 'hanging all over a skinny red-haired boy'. hehe.

Anyways... another great weekend. And back to the babes.

This makes me happy.

Apparently, while we were in England, the few tulips I planted decided to come up after all! I thought they were going to be a no-show. But this morning I looked down and saw this single bloom amongst the pansies. I love how flowers never get boring. Every time they bloom they are beautiful. I love the simple pleasure of them.

Anyways, the very short journey to England went very well. It was good to see family and friends again, the wedding was beautiful, likewise the bride, Susanna. It was fun to see the little different customs associated with the English wedding. One was the importance of the wedding car which delivers the bride to the church. Susanna had an old Rolls Royce, which Sam & his dad decorated with ribbons, as is custom.

Anyways... so besides boogie-ing (or as the Brits like to pronounce the oo same as in food) all night to DJ Johnnie G's sweet tunes, I really enjoyed our short time at the pub on Friday night. Sat around one table was me ('Mercan), Sam (Eng.), Peter the groom (N. Irish), his two best men (Aussie & Scottish-Korean respectively), the wife of the Aussie best man (Albanian), and another friend of Peter's (Minnesotan, currently teaching English in Hong Kong). I just love that kind of diversity. We had some nice conversation and some tasty beer before Sam and I went home to a horrible nights' sleep on account of the jet-lag.

Also a highlight of the trip was the part where, on account of me flying one day before Sam, I had a day in London with Martin, and he showed me around Parliament! And since he works there, I got to see extra stuff that regular tourists don't get to see, including the roof, oh boy. It was wonderful. We also went to Covent Gardens on Friday morning and had a wander around at all the little shops, etc. before I went to meet Sam at the train station where we headed up to Nottingham. Good times!

So now, back to the babies, the nice weather, and fresh farmer's market veggies. Mmmm. Wednesdays & Saturdays 8am to noon at the Cleveland County Fairgrounds, people!