Bored

I'm SO SO bored......

Is there any moms who are not working? Please let me know. I feel so alone right now :(

Most of the sahms i know have gone back to work. Either that, or working part time. Now, i hardly have any kaki to go hi-tea and lunches anymore. Sometimes, when i feel like chatting on the phone, i do not know whose number to call too since mostly are working except my bestie who happens to have sidelines to occupy herself as well. Sigh.

Being at home and pregnant is so not fun, unlike my pre-preggy days where i have activities to occupy me but now, nothing at all except baking and waiting for the husband to come home. Once it's passed 4pm, i'd be jumping with joy knowing hb will be back very shortly. Sounds bad doesn't it? So pathetic of me! *hide*

I guess it's really time to put in more effort and get to know more sahms like myself else i'll go mad with boredom. It's really very depressing to stay at home the whole time with nothing to do but to wait for the time to pass. I rather be very busy than to have nothing to do..

Can't wait for the baby to come out! Ugh.. 4 plus months more to go *faint*

p.s: the fact that hb will be working late today till 10pm makes me feel even lonelier and bored, hence triggered this entry of mine

Snowskin Mooncake

.
I'm absolutely thrilled to bits and pieces!!

Made the above 2 days ago and by today, it is all gone. Lol. It's pandan flavour snowskin (ping pei) mooncake with lotus paste and egg yolk. Pardon the egg yolk in the picture above. Probably it wasn't positioned properly, hence, only managed to capture a small portion of it only :P

This was my first attempt and i can't wait to make more, using other flavours for the skin such as rose and yam. Of course, i will be getting more paste too such as yam paste, white lotus paste and red bean paste for more choices.

I have already listed out one whole full list of peeps whom i'd be sending these mooncakes of mine to as a mooncake festival gift. Cant wait to see the joy on their faces :D

Next up.. would be baked mooncakes and also spiral pastry mooncakes [Crown Prince Hotel kind].

p.s: am wondering if i should start selling my mooncakes to friends and relatives.. can have more pocket money to go skincare shopping! :P

Dinner

What we had for dinner ~

My all time fav : sambal petai with prawns topped with fried ikan bilis

Har Lok

Simple stir fry vege with sauteed shredded pork

Bittergourd soup with pork ribs, wolfberries, red dates and dried scallop but it's not bitter at all after boiling it for 2 good hours :)

Weekly dosage : bird's nest with gingko nuts and another type of white nut

Corduroy & Finch

.

http://corduroylifestyle.com/

I have always wanted to try out this almost new restaurant along Bukit Timah Road since it was opened sometime back.

Unfortunately, i never had the chance to do so because my other hard-to-please half or rather, my cheena husband doesn't quite like places that is so chi chi or in another word, places that are pretentious (where you get scan from head to toe) unless it's my birthday, Christmas etc.. until 2 days back.

Whaddaya know, i love the place!

Great service, comfortable surroundings and not to mention, affordable prices.. Definitely the kinda place where you'll go with your gfs to chit chat and lounge the whole lazy afternoon away.. ;)

My bestie and i were seated on the second level, next to a book shelf. We spent almost 2 hours there.. savouring the yummy desserts mostly and yaking away.

Food wise, i would say OK. Bestie had seafood platter with lobster sauce. Basically, it's poached prawns, scallops and sliced fishes on mashed potato with lobster sauce. Pretty good i'd say but i think grilling instead of poaching would be so much more delicious!

I, on the other hand, had gourmet beef burger with cheese. It came with spinach salad and fries. Perhaps it was because i asked for medium well (preggy me), the beef was a tad too tough and dry for my liking. But then, a gf who has dined there before also told me the same thing. The burger wasn't something that she would rave about. So, next time if you were to go, i'll say.. skip the burger, mate'!

Both of us shared a dessert sampler for 1 which was more than enough to serve for 2 people! It was such a pretty sight! 5 little desserts arranged tastifully on a square see-thru plate.

Nice.

Definitely the highlight of the day =)

Too bad we didn't bring any camera with us that day. Speaking of camera, it's really about time to get one for myself!

Will i go back again? You betcha! *wink*

Pressie!

Guess what i got in the mail the other day??

This!! :D



My birthday pressie from my good friend in the States.. *smile*

A cook book and a book mark (which is loved by Shuoze) + lovely birthday card.

Even though it came 2 months late, but i love it all the same. Not that she forgot my birthday mind you.. but she opted for 'sea mail' instead of air mail. Totally understand why.. else the cost of postage will cost more than the book and keychain combined *gasp*

Can't wait to try out the recipes in the cook book!

Love ya Pek Yee *hugz*

Nutella Frosted Cupcake

I love Nutella!

But then again, who doesn't? :P

I have had this recipe with me for ages but always, there are other goodies to bake instead of it. So a couple of days, i've set my mind to do it for once and for all and boy, do we love it or what?

However, it is quite unfortunate that i actually experimented this recipe with unbleached all purpose flour which was going to expire instead of using the good ol' plain flour. As a result, the cake was abit tough instead of soft and moist. But the taste? One word -> Yums!

Will bake this again soon, but this time, i'll make sure that the good ol' plain flour would be used instead :)

Latest buy

Got this 2 weeks back i think but it was in the shopping bag till yesterday when i was clearing some stuff..

Love it to bits!

Find it really adorable.. but it doesn't come with the white ribbon brooch though. I have to search high and low for a suitable brooch and found this perfect baby at a shop in Wisma.

It's pretty surprising actually that i managed to buy something at all when i go shopping these days. Because of my current condition, i can only look-drool+forget about it but for this cropped denim jacket, i can wear it throughout my pregnancy period and of course, when i am not pregnant as well -- provided if i can still fit in that is, in the coming months :P

I even bought the same piece for my bestie's birthday! She was absolutely delighted :D

Ristorante da Valentino

Finally, Miss Very Busy -> Mindy called me for lunch after weeks of waiting. Lol..

We decided to go to Valentino to try out after hearing raves and raves about it. It's located at Jalan Bingka off Riffle Range Road, Bukit Timah Road. Get this.. reservations are a must even on a weekday afternoon! It's that hot..

Dunno why but everytime when Mindy and i go out for lunch, it'll rain. Every single time including our latest luncheon. Funny right? But it's never pouring.. always drizzling.. nice and cooling -- those that need no umbrella kind -- :)

Anyway, the food at Valentino was not too bad. We ordered the combo salad from the specials, chicken lasagna, gnocchi with cheese cream sauce and tiramisu. Salad was ok, would prefer more flavour on the dressing and it's darn expensive! Didn't know it'll cost us a whopping $22.90 because it wasn't on the menu. If we were to know, i don't think we would have ordered it.

As for the lasagna, i'd say.. pretty ok but i guess for Singapore's standard, it should be considered good. I've never ever eaten a very good one here. Bad ones? Tons!

I got to know gnocchi from my collection of cook books. Ever since i saw the pics of it, i've been dying to try'em! Unfortunately, the gnocchi in the cook books and the gnocchi we had was so different! The size, that is. Gnocchi at Valentino was tiny, like macaroni? And the gnocchi i saw in the books is as big as ravioli. Nevertheless, the gnocchi was good.. taste just nice. However, after a few spoonfuls, you'll get sick of it though, due to the cheese cream. Too rich. But oh well, now i know how gnocchi tastes like *grin*

One of the biggest regret of the day is that i never order their specials for pasta. It was stewed duck with homemade linguine. I've seen the dish being prepared by Jamie Oliver before and it looks so darn good! Was pretty torn between the gnocchi and the pasta but in the end, i picked the gnocchi. I totally regretted my decision the moment i saw the linguine being served at the table next to ours. Sigh. It looks exactly like Jamie's duck pasta. Dang! *bang head*:P

Tiramisu tiramisu.. We both love tiramisu to death! Lol.. Unfortunately, the tiramisu here wasn't as good as we've expected. The mascarpone cheese cream was nice but the sponge cake wasn't. Too bitter for our liking. Think they must have soaked it with lotsa alcohol.. Simply not for us.

Overall, we feel that the price is a bit too steep for lunch. For the amount we paid, we could have gone to Shangri La for hi-tea. Oh how i miss Shang's hi-tea... Yums!

But.. i will still go back to Valentino again to try it out with hb.. Hehe. This time, i'll order wood fire pizza and hopefully, the stewed duck linguine will be available then too! :D

Trip to dentist

Finally, after much procrastinating, i finally brought my boys to the dentist last week.

Korkor needed to do filling which came out 2 months ago and didi needed to do cleaning and perhaps extractions?

This time, korkor was pretty good. Not so much fidgeting and questioning like the previous visit. He could actually stay still at one go for 2 fillings! But of course, occassionally, he'll do things like waving to us, questioning the doc etc.. nothing major though :)

Shuoze at the dentist

A closer view

After korkor was done, it was..

Didi's turn!

Like korkor, didi was just as good if not better since he doesn't ask any questions or suddenly talk in the middle of the procedure :P

The doc and nurses were full of nothing but praises for them and thankfully, didi's 4 front ugly teeth have stopped decaying. So what i have to do daily now is to floss and brush for him to make sure the decay process doesn't start again.. *phew* I actually thought he'd have his 4 front teeth extracted! :D

Anyway, i am very glad that both my boys aren't terrified of visiting the dentist. In fact, they look forward to it. Lol. Perhaps it's because of me? You see, i used to bring them both to dentist with me whenever i have my monthly check up for the braces. They'll sit on my stomach and watch the doc does his things, pulling.. twisting.. plucking etc. So they are pretty used to it and thus, when it is their turn, they do the same thing i did. Lay still and not move? I dunno.. will ask them when they are older :)

Goodboy didi, all ready..

Doc explaining to him but i don't think he understands lah! Haha

Extremely upset

Alas, the news that i've been dreading to hear finally came.

My maid will be leaving us in 2 months time for good after working for 2.5 years here with us. It's pretty shocking. Never expected her to leave this early. All along, she planned to stay on till her passport expires which is on January 2008. Because of one phone call, it changes all.

Her husband requested her to return for good and that her son also needed her by his side. Plus, her son has been asking for another sibling to play with. As a mother myself, i could understand her agony, between to stay on or to go home. Of course, like any good wife, good mother, family comes first. That i do not blame her. I would have done the same too if i were her.

I managed to have 2 talks with her after she told me of her decision but to no avail. Sigh. Seems like she is pretty set on it this time. She even cried -- she thought i didn't know but i saw her secretly wiped off her tears -- when she turned down my request to stay on and thanked my profusely for being such a good employer to her all these time and the wonderful time she has with my boys. For the record, she loves, loves my younger boy like her own.

Because of this, i have troubles falling asleep each night, fearing the thought of not able to find someone like her the next time round. Like all employers would say, finding a good and reliable maid is better than striking 4D toto. How true.

I am someone who dislike changes at all especially when i am feeling nice and comfortable like now. I dread the thought of starting all over again with a new person who will be sharing my life with.

And the worst part is, what if i am not able to trust the new maid and kids refuse her? Does that mean i will have to be with the boys 24/7? Does that also mean the end of our (hb and my) dating life? Does that mean we cannot sneak out in the middle of the night to go supper after kids have fallen asleep? Does that also mean i wouldn't be able to go out on my own (aerobics, facial, luncheons, shopping, etc), leaving the kids in her care anymore? :(

Scary!

Please please, let me find someone who is as good as my current maid. I dare not ask for someone better, someone who is as good and reliable will do.

Shuoze's virgin ride

Hb got Shuoze a kiddie helmet last Sunday after feeling guilty over what he did -- i know ok!

After we got home, we realised hb got cheated because even my big head could fit into the helmet! Oh well, the kiddo got really excited and he was practically kissing everyone and everything, including the bag i was carrying when we told him that he will be riding with his father.

So even though the helmet was a tad too big for his small head, we still went ahead and let him ride.. We didn't have the heart to tell him "cannot ride anymore because the helmet is too big for you".

Plus, deep down inside me, i know hb will really take good care of him by riding really slowly and carefully :)

In the end, hb brought him to Lot 1 Shopping Mall which was 10 mins away to jalan jalan and we, the kaypohs -- me, didi and helper followed behind in the car but missed them in the end because they were really too slow to keep up with them! Hehehe..

All ready to board..

Boarding.. without help

All set to go..

And off they went..

Cute :)

Baby and the ball

Yupyupyup.. it's baby and the ball :D

Someone refused to go to bed without the ball. So, the mom has got no choice but to give in. Thankfully, baby fell asleep within minutes and 'the view' was simply too adorable *thick skin mom* not to be photographed. Lol..

The ball was still nicely being hugged by baby even though he was already asleep :P

View 2 - 2 hands hugging the ball ;)

The Ship Restaurant & Bar

Initially, we were supposed to dine at Pete's Place, Grand Hyatt Hotel. You see, i was craving for fresh made breads and pasta. But then, hb wasn't quite keen.

So, in the end, we ended up at The Ship Restaurant, located at Shaw Centre before watching How Much Do You Love Me at Lido.

It was really disappointing, for the above both.

The food was really pretty bad. One of the worst place i've eaten sad to say even though its reputation was supposed to be along the line as Shashlik- hb's fav restaurant. What's worst was we paid almost a $100 for the meal! Ugh.

Really not not not not not not not worth it..

We had Borscht soup which was not too bad but Shashlik still wins, a steak each. Hb had the prime roast steak which was tender and ok but too bad, the sauce on it spoilt it all and i had the New York steak which tasted pretty good but it was overdone to almost 100% cooked even though i requested for medium. Last but not least, our dessert-baked alaska. Gosh, this was the worst. It's not even edible except for the ice cream. Imagine, the dessert was as big as a rugby ball but the total amount that we eat was only equivalent to 2 scoops of ice cream.

And all the above cost us $100, much much more than what we would have paid if we were to dine at Shashlik.

Lesson of the day : stick to the planned plan and not listen to the husband! :P

Non baked oreo cheesecake

Baked this 2 days ago..

Compare to baked oreo cheese cake, i like the baked version better for its texture. Not too soft.

But appearance wise, this one wins hands down of course. Lol.

Poor hb, after waiting for months (since March 06 when i did the baked version), he finally got to eat it now only and i guess it's well worth waiting for. He gave this cake 2+1 thumbs up *wink*wink* :D


Non-baked Oreo Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Makes one 8"

2x 125g packets oreo cookies, cream removed (roughly 25 pcs)

70g butter

Filling:

3 tsp gelatine, dissolved in 60ml water

Juice from 2 lemons (about 80ml) : i only used half lemon else too sourish for our liking

500g cream cheese, softened

150g castor sugar

240ml whipping cream

1x 125g packet oreo cookies, roughly chopped

1. Prepare an 8 inch loose bottom or spring foam round cake tin. Wrap loose base of tin with aluminium foil (for easy removal of cake later) (optional). Place a piece of shiny contact or plastic strip (for making mousse cake) of 2.5-3 inch height around the inside of the tin as a collar.(optional as well) : i skipped both
   

2. Melt butter over medium heat. Set aside.

3. Place biscuits in food processor and process until finely crushed. Transfer to a bowl. Add melted butter and stir until crumbs are moistened by butter. Transfer crumbs to the prepared cake tin. Press firmly over base and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

4. In a stainless steel mixing bowl, dissolve gelatine in 60ml water. Add lemon juice into the gelatine and heat the mixture over a pot of simmering hot water, until gelatin is totally dissolved. Set aside to cool to about 60 degC.

5. In another mixing bowl , beat cream cheese and sugar until creamy and pale. Add in whipping cream and continue to beat for another 3 minutes (to whip the whipping cream up).

6. Add in the gelatine mixture and blend with mixer until just blended.

7. Pour cream cheese mixture over biscuit base and chill overnight or until firm.

8. To remove the cake from the cake tin, push the loose bottom of the cake tin up. Unwrap aluminium foil from the base. You can try to slowly push the whole cake on to a cake board (leaving the foil behind), OR just wrap the foil onto the cake board (without having to remove the foil). Carefully pull away the contact or plastic strip. : since i skipped the 2 options above at step 1, i just run a sharp knife around the cake, open the springform pan and slowly push the whole cake to my plate with the help of a knife :)

Ah-ha!

It works.

Hohohoho.. :P

La la la la, La la la la..
Elmo's world..

Icing on the cake..

To me, being married is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me.

And the best part of it?

To have someone sleeping next to you every night.. someone who you will feel safe and protected with, someone who will hold your hands while sleeping through the night, someone who you can cuddle and nuzzle before and in the midst of sleeping, someone who will bid you goodnight with a kiss, someone who will be there to listen after having horrible nightmare and list goes on...

So, can you imagine when you are being deprived of all that when that someone goes else where to sleep because the fan was too strong for his comfort? *boo-hoo*

I am someone who need to be loved and show affection all the time despite my marital status and the number of kids i have or will have. In another word, i am a very high maintenance girl when it comes to love.

Pppssstt: hb's collegue once wished him luck after our firstborn came out because according to him, i will now be neglecting hb and concentrate my love and care on the baby instead like most women did after they have babies. I guess i'm simply one of the kind? Lucky hb or unlucky hb? :P

Yes, you may argue that as long as things are okie, he treats you right, love and care for you all the same, sleeping together or not doesn't make a different!

But that is so not true, well, at least, to me, it's not..

No matter what happens, at the end of the day, a couple needs to sleep together.. even when fighting. These days, whenever i think of the wise words that have been told by mil, i realised that as i'm growing older, i do find truths in what she says.

Last time, i'll just 'smile' it off. Not just about sleeping together but other stuffs concerning men too. Afterall, she has eaten more salt than i have on rice.. *grin*

I think sleeping together (no, not that sleeping together, you ham sups out there) is the most intimate gesture that a couple can do (provided that you are cuddling or holding hands that is) and without fail, i look forward to it every day..

I dislike sleeping alone. Period.

*ham sup = perverts