Happy New Year's Eve! Best of 2011

What are you eating for New Year's Eve? We just made a simple curry fried rice. It's got 5Cs - carrot, cabbage, corn, curry and coriander leaves! Oh, and some crispy "chao-ta" bits (the best part)! Photo from my Instagram.

It's the final hour of 2011. Some will be partying, some will be cosying up at home. Quite a few perhaps contemplating what's past, and what they want in the new year.

As I look back in the blog, I see some of my favourite experiences this year. Here they are, roughly in reverse chronological order...

Armani/Prive in Hong Kong: fabulously surreal rooftop bar
Kuriya Penthouse: my first fugu
il Lido: best pasta of 2011
Jane Thai at Orchard Towers: superspicy, simple but good Thai
db Bistro Moderne: lunch with and by Daniel Boulud himself.
Chengdu Restaurant: authentic Sichuan that will put fire in your belly
My baking fervour, especially artisanal breads! Pity it ruined my oven...
Meeting Chef Mak of Tim Ho Wan fame: he is so down-to-earth!
Meeting Joel Robuchon again, this time with both his restaurants launched!
Meeting, OK, Glimpsing Donnie Yen at Wuxia Movie Gala Premiere. Right, it's not food, but some would say still delicious...
The Battlestar Galactica Ride at Universal Studios: you might spill from the thrill
The French Window in Hong Kong: sublime modern French with utterly romantic ambiance
and kicking off the year with my all-time most visited post - The List of Japanese buffets! This page alone got almost 70,000 views!

This is also the year I finally created the Camemberu Facebook page. Thanks to all who "liked" it.

As a family, we explored the rustic resort at Telunas, and also the Banyu Biru Villas on Bintan.

So there have been some memorable highlights, but 2011 was also the year in which some devastating events happened, like the 3.11 Japan earthquake and tsunami. It was absolutely crushing, and we scrambled to help even as we felt so small and distant. We also lost Chef Santi Santamaria.

I don't know what next year will bring. But right now, I am just treasuring whatever moment I am in.

Let me leave you with something cheerfully lucky from traditional Japanese pantheon. The Seven Lucky Deities (Shichifukujin) travel on their treasure ship (Takarabune) on New Year's night, bringing gifts and good luck. It's like they have seven Santa Clauses. I just saw this on Muza-Chan and thought it was really cute. I so want to go back to Japan...I miss it so much.

あけましておめでとう！Happy New Year!

image from Muza-Chan.net