Back from Cairns

WE ARE BACK~!

Phooo it was a peaceful time out in Cairns. Shopping, walks by the lagoon and basically chilling out with zero housework refreshed my mind quite a bit. And being a quiet and simple town, transport wasn't an issue, so we just zoomed around in our rented baby buggy.

Taking a lil fella around wasn't as tough as we thought. He was such a sweetie pie smiling and coo-ing with anyone who stopped for a chat.

The "to see the Great Barrier Reef" on my to-do list ~ checked

Nandos craving? checked

Roast chicken from the supermart? checked checked checked. we had roast for dinner 3 times during our stay!

The spinach & cheese scone @ Bakers' delight craving? checked

Shopping at Supre, Sportsgirl, Portsman? checked. but no yield.

TOY shopping? checked, checked, checked. (Target was having a toy sale! i nearly went nuts)

And the visit to Rusty's market almost drove me crazy. I wanted to bring the whole place home!!!

Yeah, weird, but almost every time i step into a foreign country, supermarket shopping is top on the list. And each time i do that, i get excited. The supermarket shopping was great. The market shopping, even greater. It felt soooooooo nostalgic. I haven't been to such markets for a long time. It reminds me of the days i used to follow mum to the market!

Well, anyhow, i controlled the urger the bring the whole place home and ended up with a couple of yummy tomatoes, passion fruit and capsicums.

Just look at the colours~

And tiny too!

Each a length of 5cm only.

Did a simple shoyu stir fry with sesame seeds

The dark purple was the sweetest.

The skins were thin, the flesh super sweet. YUMMY

OK, now the sad story of my plants.

Apart from Ms. Rosemary, the rest are really tiredly brown.

The sun had been strong i guess.

But look at what is climbing into our terrace!!!

Pretty yellow flowers from outside!

which i am so thankful for cos it brightens the place a bit apart from the tired browns.

And what we ordered online last month came the next day after we came home.

Beautifully ripened sweet peaches.

Back to the weather, the sun has been fierce these few days, and it is really tiring us a lot.

But the laundry dry up crisp,

and i have started sunning my sour plums

which have been soaked in plum vinegar for awhile

can't wait to try this year's

Dinners have been simple for the weather doesn't give one much appetite.

Tonight was

Oven baked spring rolls

filled with simmered dried daikon

a frozen portion of the stock i made last month and hid deep in the freezer since i was trying to avoid the shrimps in it after the lil one's vaccination for fear of inflammation.

Edamame and white bait rice

Cold miso soup

When J saw me adding ice cubes into the soup bowl this evening.

He asked if i was alright.

hehe

we haven't had this before in our home, but it is a very popular dish on the table in summer.

When you just have to appetite, this refreshing miso soup filled with summer vegetables, fish bits, tofu and grated toasted sesame gives one energy to continue facing summer.