salads | shimworld

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So yesterday, 3 days to the Brunei Darussalam 28th National Day celebration, I returned to Radisson Hotel to finish off some work that were omitted previously — a different perspective of Tasek Brasserie and the Business Centre.

The idea for the brochure was simply an overview shot of Tasek Brasserie restaurant. As a chef was in the vicinity, I asked for 10 minutes of his time to pose for this shot. I quickly setup a Full CTO gel on a flash right next to subject while another across the room for ambient.

Shooting at the Business Centre took longer than I realized. Got this shot of the restaurant landscape out of the way before lunch hour. If you think this shot could do with people in it, I agree but unfortunately time was a luxury this time and client needed just this.

I wrapped up the shoot after 2.5 hours and looked forward to lunch at what has become one of my favourite venues to dine in — Tasek Brasserie (including DEALS of course). Now, I am not a big fan of heavy meals so when treated to lunch compliments of the hotel, I had no knee jerk reaction to head to the buffet table. Instead, I savoured the opportunity to go a la carte and enjoyed a light and delicious Caesar salad with the works. The last time I ordered one was at least more than 10 years ago and it wasn’t that interesting to be memorable. This one, however, is a different story — it’s very good, I’d go as far as saying I loved it and wanted more. I finish off lunch with the only beverage that made sense: cappuccino to wake the senses for my long drive home.

Tender roasted chicken caesar salad with perfectly poached egg sprinkled with beef bacon bits, crunchy lettuce and delicious dressing. Click on photo to view a larger version like you really want to :)

As beautiful as a glowing orange sunrise is along with the silhouette it produces, it is fairly rare. On this particular morning at 6.30, an excited Jewel dashed into the bedroom having caught sight of the unusual orange ambiance in the kitchen shot through the large architecturally-inspiring window! In my semi-conscious state, I picked up my 20D and 100-400mm and fired off a series of shots aimed at the distant trees for focus lock. Don’t even try to aim at the sun and for your sake don’t look at it longer than you have to!

Recently, someone asked me if I had stopped eating! That someone happens to be a SHIMWORLD reader who in her words said, “… love your food photos” and she regularly feeds off the Food Page. But her earlier comment isn’t too far from the truth. I have indeed stopped eating but not starving myself. The change of work strategy now sees me more grounded in front of the PC and I have to be careful not to feed that spare tyre any more than I have to. Back when I was gunning weddings and corporate events, there was more than enough exercise to weight in check, these days my fingers are pretty fit. This was my breakfast this morning—Lemon Pepper fish fillet in crispy Japanese crumbs, baked beans and alfalfa sprouts along with my morning starter, Nescafe Gold.

There was a time I used to make salads regularly and with whatever ingredients that came to mind. The whole idea of salads is use items that are raw and fresh so this typically includes green (and sometimes purple) veggies, onion rings, smoked salmon, croutons and occasionally included cooked items such as sliced hard-boiled eggs! I honestly think this sort of indulgence probably isn’t very healthy either … it looked fairly rich even with generous helping of 100% Pure Olive Oil, I eventually got disgusted and stopped making them unless someone else makes them. The one salad I absolutely love is Fratini Restaurant’s Caesar Salad. I dine there so much that they remember to serve my caesar with smoked salmon instead of chicken.

These days, I have all but simplified my love for the greens into just dipping them in an amazing bottled Paul Newman’s Own caesar dressing that you can find in Supa Save Supermarket (for Bruneian readers). I also pick my fresh greens from Supa Save that’s sandy right off the shelf. I no longer go through the trouble of mixing the veggies in a bowl with olive oil and dressing. In order to minimize wastage, I dip the leaves in a bowl of dressing and this has become the new way of eating for me and Jewel, the only other member who shares my love for greens.