bicultural diinner

C and i have been swapping english for french at dinner on tuesday and this week, A joined us. now, A's a legendary cook, having grown up in his chef father's kitchen so even A cooking something as simple as pasta was pretty darn good, especially because he did the sauce himself. no instant nonsense from a bottle, just fresh vegetable goodness.

incidentally, when i was emailing this photo to myself, i accidentally sent it to my father who promptly went into a panic and demanded to know who that 'terrorist-looking dude' was. in fact, he even thought it was some secret code message for i've kidnapped your daughter now gimme the ransom. oh daddy!

C working on the appetiser

and my corridor mates as they were engrossed by family guy. it's such great bonding. american hegemony transcending all cultural boundaries :)

B taking a break from family guy to make the most of his yoghurt

engrossed P

N of morning put-together-ness and terre d'hermes

(yes, i do feel outnumbered at times!)

but i'm fortunate to have really sweet corridor mates who all crowded round when i sought their opinion on do or die. even showed them a simulation and they were (almost) unanimous about do. except C. J, too, was adamant that i shouldn't so i attribute it to a french preference for... (oops, nearly got me there!)

and true to form, i successfully destroyed my sole contribution to the french dinner. bought some powdered seafood bisque in lisbon that we never used so i thought i'd attempt it back in stocks. nevermind the instructions were in portugese. P from poland translated it for me, although he doesn't speak portugese either. i think he made some guestimates and um i subsequently ruined the instant soup. there were mysterious lumps in it that i strained out but the soup was weird nonetheless. darn. it's officially a new kitchen low. thank goodness for polite friends. you can't imagine my sheer embarrassment at serving A of refined palate honed over years of excellent, professionally prepared fine french dining my disastrous soup from a packet. i was mortified.

not the best plating but yummy nonetheless. they've promised bona fide french fare next tuesday. psyched!