Backyard Barbecue, Steak Dinner, Apartment Style

Ryan has been searching for a steak.  The search began a few weeks ago, after (or maybe it was before) our return from Singapore.  We looked at our nearby grocery store, but nothing met Ryan's standard.

Recently, he enlisted help from a friend (acting as our translator), and we successfully were able to obtain steaks.  Our driver, Vitaly, with his vast friends network, knew of a meat shop.  Ryan was prepared, with picture in hand.  He took a drawing with various cuts of meat, which the butcher found to be very amusing.    When the butcher brought out the entire back section of the cow (matching the correct area in Ryan's picture), I did NOT find that very amusing.

Ryan returned to our apartment, and began the marinating process.  He chose an excellent, and very tasty marinade.  His one main obstacle, no grill.  His solution was a grill pan.  Everything turned out extremely well, and our dinner guests were delighted.

Our guests of honor were a few Russian friends from Ryan's office.  It was not your typical backyard barbecue, but it was a very close comparison.  Ryan and I miss our friends in the States, and the get togethers we have.

Our dinner event also coincided with my first attempts at Poker.  It was easier to learn than I originally thought, but my Pagels, frugal side was obvious.   All bets were non monetary, but I was still very reluctant.  Ryan, the master griller, came out the winner. :)

On the left, Dennis and his wife.  On the right, Victor.  

Change of photographer.  Now Anna is in the picture. 

A Successful Birthday Celebration

I am speaking entirely for Ryan, but I would say he had a successful and happy, birthday celebration.  He received cards from family, and Macy too (thanks to my Mother's cleverness).  Co-workers were very sweet, and gave him gifts.

As the loving wife, I took it as a great labor of love (awww) and planned his surprise birthday dinner.  The fact we were going to eat dinner was not the surprise, but what we were eating, Ryan had no idea.

His birthday was on a Wednesday, so Tuesday I baked his favorite (recently promoted to favorite) cookie, Peanut butter, M&M, oatmeal cookies.  They were his work, birthday treats.

I sent Ryan off to work Wednesday with his cookies, and began my dinner preparations (after a trip to the gym, of course).

My planning and gathering of necessary ingredients began over a week prior to his birthday.  I have said many times before, but cooking in Russia is a sport, with many necessary game plans.  I had my game plan:

Determine Ryan's favorite meal? 

 Not an easy question to answer, the man loves many kinds of food, but I had to narrow it down to one choice.

Confirm decision was correct.

This was done during a dinner conversation, where Ryan and I were discussing our favorite food, favorite meal, favorite ethnic food, etc.

Collect necessary recipes.

Thank you internet, you make life grand.

Collect necessary ingredients.

Not so easy, but I did my best with what I could find.  All items from scratch, no shortcuts in Russia.

So you are probably wondering, what did I make for dinner?

Appetizer: Shrimp Spring Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce and Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce

Main Course: Vietnamese Chicken Pho (basically Vietnamese chicken soup)

Dessert: Jack Daniels Cupcakes

The meal idea came from one of Ryan's favorite lunch restaurants in Houston, not to mention he ate spring rolls and pho any chance he could while in Singapore.  The Jack Daniels, well, his signature drink, Jack and Diet. :)

One super cute, happy, hungry, birthday boy.

Birthday dinners were always a big thing, growing up.  On your birthday, you chose the restaurant the family would go to.  On a separate day, my Mother would prepare a home cooked birthday dinner, based on the birthday boy or girl's request.  I loved this tradition, and I wanted to continue.  The hours of prep, planning, and creating were worth it, to see Ryan's excitement.  

He has also made use of his birthday gifts.

The last time we were in Moscow, I went to Nespresso and bought their newer coffee cups.  Everyone knows Ryan is obsessed with his coffee, and Nespresso machine. :)  

Randomly, I found these cappuccino stencils.  Ryan was very sweet, and made a design on my coffee.  :)

Again, Happy Birthday, Love!

Russia without Macy

I am sure many of you are curious how I am handling Russia without Macy.  Things are actually going well.  Our trip to Singapore and Indonesia, and our upcoming trip to Houston has kept me busy.  I have also returned to my gym routine, Russian lessons, and will soon resume teaching English lessons.

A large amount of time is also spent cleaning, it's a habit and a personal obsession.  Recently, it has come to my attention, our vacuum seems to be acting unusual.  Never before, has it ever made a noise of vacuuming anything in our kitchen.  Yet, in Macy's absence, whenever I vacuum our kitchen, it goes crazy!  I hear it vacuuming all sorts of crumbs, and food particles.  And I thought I was a neat and tidy cook? :)  I wonder if Macy's absence has anything to do with this new development? :)

I know Macy is loving her time with Mama and Papa Pagels.  Any habits she may be picking up (morning peanut butter, and Keebler crackers) are fine by me.  She is loved (spoiled) dearly, and it brings me great joy to know she is in such good hands.  Shhh.....I even think Mama and Papa Pagels are quite infatuated with their furry, four legged grandchild.  :)

Macy in the backseat, waiting for Mama Pagels to come out of work. During my time in the States, I would borrow my mother's car.  When I would pick my mother up from work, I would often times take Miss Macy along.  Macy would sit and observe any parking lot activity with extreme dedication. 

Life in the States is grand.
Macy now has monthly puppy pampering.  She returns after her pampering sessions smelling fabulous, and looking fantastic.  

Always the lady.
I did not want her on my parent's furniture, but my parents allowed it.  Luckily, she is using her manners and sitting politely.  

So yes, I miss my little pumpkin butt.  Our apartment is very quiet, and I am missing my snuggle buddy.  As I mentioned earlier, I know she is cared for, and loved deeply.  Macy is going to have to go through an adjustment period when she returns to Russia.  

Thank you Mama and Papa Pagels, for taking care of Miss Macy.  

Happy Birthday, Ryan!!!

Your last year was full of exciting times, adventures, and memories.  Best wishes for another fantastic year, and many more to come! 

I love you!

Mangrove Tour

*This is my 100th post*

During our stay on Bintan Island, we decided to book a small excursion.  It was a great opportunity to see another area of the island, and tour something that Bintan Island considers very important.  Mangrove Trees are no longer cut down, and preservation organizations are working to maintain the trees and their surroundings.  

Our tour concluded with a coconut treat.  Based on our experience with the coconut: 1. Ryan and I would not manage well stranded on an island...2. Ryan learned what part of the coconut to eat....3. I learned how much coconut water is actually in a coconut...4.We decided that #1 is no longer true, we feel we learned how to adequately cut and consume a coconut.  (I still prefer buying coconut in a bag at the grocery store)

Monkey.

Our tour guide's office. 

Safety first, our tour included insurance.  Not sure if it made me feel safer, or more worried.  Was there a reason they provided insurance?  And why is my life only worth 10,000 Singapore dollars?

Mangrove Tree.

In the past, Mangrove trees were cut to produce charcoal.  This is a remaining hut where the charcoal was produced. 

Crazy roots.

Mama Mangrove.  The oldest tree in the area. 

Ryan took this picture.  Our boat captain spotted a snake, and felt it was necessary to stop the boat, UNDER the tree where Mr. Snake was napping.  Seriously, I spent the entire time wishing for him to move the boat, and just waiting for a snake to fall in the boat.  

We learned there are 3 different types of roots.  Pencil.

Wave.

Another monkey. (not one of the root types)

Knee.

Low tide, so we could see the crabs crawling out of their holes.  (Right side of photo)

The great coconut experience.
Comment of the experience, "Crunch....Ryan, are you sure you are supposed to eat that part?"

"I don't think we can possibly drink all this."

That's all friends.  Our time in Singapore and Indonesia was fantastic and memorable.  I am thankful I was able to join Ryan in Singapore, and that Ryan was able to plan our weekend trip to Indonesia.
I look forward to future travel in 2012.

Bintan Island, Indonesia

We knew Singapore was close to Indonesia.  We also knew we wanted to try and visit Indonesia, if possible.  Ryan put these thoughts into action, and scheduled our weekend in Indonesia.  Everything was very last minute, ferry and hotel was booked on Wednesday, we were scheduled to depart Friday.

Friday afternoon, I left our hotel in Singapore with our weekend luggage, and met Ryan at the ferry terminal (he was coming from work).  Ryan, once again, worked his magic and got us a later return ferry for Sunday, giving us more hours on the beach.  The changed resulted in a crazy last minute arrival of all our luggage to the ferry terminal (another test of my patience), but all was well, we were on our way!

We felt like we were in Greece again.  Luckily, this ferry ride was much shorter.  The weather outside was cloudy and rainy, but I kept my fingers crossed we would have abundant sunshine.

Mr. Super Worker. :)  This may have been a first, or at least the first time I have seen this: Blackberry open and resting on laptop.  

Hello Indonesia!  Nice to see you!

What's first on the agenda?  Find a nice, cold refreshment.  Drink in a coconut?  Don't mind if I do.

The next morning, we awoke to the sounds of the ocean.  The hotel had guests bungalows along the beach.   I crossed my fingers and tiptoed to the curtains, hoping for no more rain.  Oh, get excited!  Rain was gone, hello Mr. Sunshine.  The curtains were ripped open, Ryan was hurried along.  It was time for breakfast, and finding our spot on the beach.

View from our front porch.   

Ryan spent a lot of time swimming.  I spent a lot of time tanning.  We did take a walk along the beach to a smaller, offset area.

We found these little guys everywhere!  They would pop out of the sand as we were walking along.

I may have officially lost my mind with this blog post.  Me in a bathing suit.  

To make things even.  Isn't he sexy? :)  I snapped this photo, along with the next few during another walk.   

Spoon.  Need I explain the reason for foggy picture?  Really need to work on an anti fog lens, or my patience.  

Shoe.

View from the beach chair.  

After a long day at the beach.  We showered up and made reservations for dinner at a highly recommended seafood restaurant.  

Upon return to our bungalow, I discovered this little guy on our bathroom window.  Luckily, he was on the outside. Surprisingly, I remained calm and took a picture.

Restaurant view.  

Very nice man tried to take our picture.  Could not figure out flash settings.  We thanked him for his time.  Just put the background from the previous picture, behind us.  :)

Chili crab, you are so messy, and I have to put forth a lot of effort, but you are so tasty.  

Another weekend activity was a Mangrove Tour.  We did this one of the afternoons, but I will save that for the next blog post.  

To end this post, and to remind myself how drastically different weather can be around the world.  This picture was taken prior to our departure from the hotel.  We left the hotel, boarded a ferry to Singapore.  A long flight from Singapore to Istanbul, and then Istanbul to Moscow.  Upon arrival in Moscow, my skin was still slightly pink with sunburn, but our bathing suits were long gone.  We were back in our snow boots and winter coats.  :(  Very strange to put on snow boots, and say "ow, the thick socks are irritating my sunburnt feet." 

Thanks for the excellent weather, Indonesia!