Oven: 1, Niki: 0

During the week of July 11-17 most of our time was spent prepping things for the BBQ that we were hosting at our place for Mark's coworkers that Saturday. Although, we did manage to do some non-BBQ related things during the week. 

Mark and I had lunch together at a place called Streats Cafe early in the week.  We dined on Japanese noodles and Dim Sum.  Our food wasn't terrible but it was not good and definitely not our favorite so far.  And we think we know why now.  As we were leaving the restaurant we noticed their conveniently placed (concealed) food/restaurant grade of a "B". In Singapore all establishments that serve food are graded A-D by the government and the grades must be displayed for customers to see. An "A" being the best, "D" being the worst.  The grades factors in things like overall cleanliness, food hygiene, employee hygiene, food transportation, food preparation, etc.  A "B" is still a good rating but I had only eaten at "A" places thus far and I'm now convinced that you can taste the difference.  Even though the food was less than mediocre, it was still a good day for a lunch date because I got to enjoy a really nice walk back to the condo.

Pretty sky view on the walk back from lunch with Mark

Mid-week Colt had scare when we were headed out for his afternoon walk. A very tiny lizard ran inside the condo from under the door - I guess that's what happens when you live within a few degrees of the equator.  I actually almost stepped on it thinking it was a bug at first.  And Colt was frantically lifting his feet to get away from it (he is scared of EVERYTHING) and also almost stepped on it in the process.  As soon as I realized what it was I put Colt in his room and began my attempts to catch it and get it out of the house.  I love lizards but (and I think I can speak for Mark too on this one) that is not something we want to find crawling on us in our sleep.  So, after about 10 minutes of playing "catch the lizard", I finally caught it with some old Glad tupperware.  Don't worry, I released him outside by some flowers.  He was really cute and smaller than a quarter!  I jokingly sent Mark the below picture in a text saying, "Can we keep him?!"  His answer was a quick, "No."

Lizzy with the friend I gave him until I could take him outside

Later in the week is when I really started to get everything going for the BBQ.  I had lots of cleaning to do and had to make several trips to the store during my quest for Velveeta cheese which (sadly) ended in failure as every store I went to had been out of it since July 4th. Apparently, Americans cleaned Singapore out of it then to make mac-n-cheese.  But, all was well I found an almost-as-good recipe online, Mom's is still better though (I think I just earned some brownie points).  On my way back from one of the many stores, I walked through Kim Seng Park in the rain which was actually kind of fun and refreshing. Kim Seng Park is a park along the river and close to our condo that I walk through often.  It is named after a philanthropist from the mid 1800's.

Information board at Kim Seng Park

Just a walking in the rain through Kim Seng Park

In addition to mac-n-cheese ingredients, during the shopping trip I also picked up charcoal and ingredients for broccoli salad (Gayle's recipe), Apple crisp (Anne's recipe), German potato salad (Oma's recipe), and peach pie which I did with white peaches (also Anne's recipe).  I had never made the later two recipes but everything turned out edible (and good!) so I was happy and I've never been so thankful for the Vogel Cookbook!  With all the ingredients, I had a lot to carry so thankfully in Singapore you can order your meat online and get it delivered to your house.  We decided to do brats, burgers, and chicken.  But, Mark was most excited about the new utensil I picked up for him to help with our problem of the burgers falling apart.

Mark's new tool for cooking and flipping burgers

My first try at peach pie.  It may not be pretty but it did taste good!

Colt was clearly a big help with the kitchen duties...

 After a relaxed Friday night, we woke up early Saturday to get ready for our guests.  Mark's boss Sherman and his wife, Liz, were the first to arrive around 6:30pm.  They brought with them a delicious chocolate mousse desert and a gift for us.  They got us two Maneki Neko cats which I had been telling Mark I wanted!  Maneki Neko cats are Japanese "money cats" although some people incorrectly refer to them as Chinese which may be because they are sold a lot here in Chinatown.  The statues always have a raised paw and what the raised paw actually means differs depending on where/who you hear it from. But, what I've heard and read most is that a raised left paw means "bringing the wealth" while a raised right paw means "protecting the wealth".  The cats also always have on a collar and hold a coin which also carries meaning.  Some of them, like ours, have moving paws which signify an "endless beckoning gesture" or endless wealth (let's hope it's true!).  There are a lot of folk tales surrounding the origins of these cats so no one really knows where they started but they have been traced back as early as the 1870's.  You see these cats in a lot of stores and restaurants throughout Singapore.

Our gold Maneki Neko (Vito) which is now on our bookshelf

Our white Maneki Neko (Marilyn) which sits next to the TV. Thanks Sherman and Liz!

By 7 to 7:30pm most of the coworkers had arrived so Mark started the grill and I began bringing out the food.  My only major fail of the night was a burn to myself when removing the mac-n-cheese. Who knew ovens were so dangerous?!  After chatting and eating for several hours, we began some games.  Mark and I introduced them to a drinking game we learned while at Purdue that we call Boiler Pong and we also played one they suggested called Categories.  It was a fun night!

Host and Hostess at the grill

Above view from BBQ pit

BBQ area

Getting the charcoals ready

Pool view 1

Pool view 2

Street view from BBQ pit

Showing off Colty's tricks but I wasn't quite ready

Colt getting some pets

Mark doing some cooking

Playing Boiler pong...Did I mention that I hate beer?

Chin Wee and Jeremy playing Boiler Pong

Chin Wee, Mark's coworker, and his fiance

(L to R) Chin Wee, Jeremy, Anchalee, Pauline, Howard, Mark, Niki

The group playing categories

After a fairly late Saturday night we had a relaxing Sunday with the only chore being clean up.  Colt also made time for a nap while I nursed a wound. I may not be cut out for this cooking stuff after all, haha!

Colt's cute nap face. Aww, he's sticking out his tongue!

My injury, I think I'll survive though