Kids..

They do say the darnest thing don't they?

The other day when we were in the car, i started giving the boys some nicknames just for tease!

Nick names -

1. Shuoze a.k.a boy1 gets Weng [surname] chou chou* because he likes eating his fingers. He can put all 5 fingers into his mouth at 1 go to eat, nibble and whatnots. Terrible. Sometimes, when he's too bored, he eats his shirt too! Eat and eat till the whole front is wet! *faint*

Because of this, he smells all the time, from his own saliva hence the nickname.

2. Boy2 gets Weng huaidan* because he has been extremely naughty these days. Hehe.. usually, he's the angel but now, *roll eyes*, he's a monster at times! So not used to it yet. However, despite him being a monster at times, he still has this adorable face that i cannot refuse to kiss even when he's naughty!

Some facts about boy2.

Looks wise, he's the odd one out among the 3 boys. But to those who got to know the boys better, they will automatically prefer boy2. He has this thing that draw people to him. Strange but true. You will wanna get into his good book somehow. He has something that boy1 doesn't. Adorable is the magic word according to the friends and siblings.

Boy2 wins people slowly but permanently where else boy1 wins people instantly but not permanently. Heh.

3. Beepbeep has no nickname for the time being, from me that is. But boy1 got one for him though. He calls him Weng CuteCute. Grin.

So, after i gave the boys their nicknames, they gave 1 to me too!

When boy1 asked me to guess what it was, i cheekily said 'Weng meili'! Hahahaa..

But it wasn't, unfortunately. Dang! :P

What nickname do you think the boy gave me? ^.^

When i first heard it, i burst out laughing so loud and hard that the tears came rolling out. I totally didn't expect that at all. Never! Ever! Not in this life at least.. haha.

The boy called me "Weng ma ren"!!!

Which means scold people in direct translation.

I asked boy1 why and he told me it was because i always scold them. Grin. Aiyo! *slap forehead*

So much for being the fun mommy!!

Now now.. i must really change that shouldn't i? Hahaha.. I refused to be remembered as the mommy who always scolds us. I want to be remembered as the mommy who cooks and bakes good food and the mommy who is fun and sporting too!

Most importantly, i wanna be the mommy who is also our friend :)

*chou chou = smelly
*huai dan = naughty

Financiers

OOooo.. i love these lovelies.

They are absolutely delicious!



They're made from egg whites, melted butter and almond meal. Again, looks can be very deceiving here. Heh.

I love its texture, soft and moist yet light. The almond meal is almost not there, you can't quite taste the graininess but the nutty almond taste is definitely there.

I like this better than Friands if you were to ask me. So if i've got extra egg whites next time, Financiers is the word :P

Because i did 2-3 types of cakes within a 2 days' span, i gave some to the boys' very nice paediatrician when we went to the East side to send the mixer for service.

Quite a girlie gift box aye? No other boxes!

In it, i packed 2 Financiers and a slice of Chocolate Truffle cake which i made specially for the husband before we left to KL. The husband has been requesting for it for months! Heh.

Cakes for the doctor :)

Hope the doc loves them as much as i do...

Recipe :

1/2 cup slice almond
6oz unsalted butter
1 tbsp vanilla extract
4 large egg whites (room temp)
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 1/3 cup icing sugar
1 cup plain flour
3/4 ground almond

1. Toast the almond slices till brown
2. Brown butter in a saucepan with vanilla. Cook over medium heat till butter is foamy and light brown. Cool to lukewarm
3. Beat egg whites and tartar till soft peaks. Then slowly add the icing sugar and whip till firm and glossy peaks
4. Fold in the flour into the egg white in 3 stages
5. Fold in the ground almond into egg white in 3 stages, follow by the cooled browned butter mixture in 3 stages
6. Divide batter. Take note that batter will not rise that much. Only slightly. Sprinkle the top with toasted almonds and bake for 12-15 mins in 150 degree oven

Bon appetite! :D

Funny ah beep

Sharing some of ah beep's funny photos :D

Ah beep's shocked face upon seeing the camera aiming at him when he was doing his big business. Hee...

When i first saw this pic, the first thing that came to my mind was beep getting shocked after realising that i was actually gonna take a photo of him doing it and trying to cover up as well, which explains the right hand 'there' :P [yes, me and my many imaginations! heh]



A more composed beep after knowing the camera IS going to shoot him no matter what. But still covering himself up there.. haha. I heart that chubby breasts!!! *squeeze*squeeze* :ppPPpp



The monster beep! Hahahaha.. i c.a.n.n.o.t stop laughing seeing this photo. Too bad the pic turned out rather blur else i would have sent it for some ugly-monstrous-face competition! Lol.



Another twisted face from beep. I love that small mouth of his!! ^.^

Green curry

Another dish which i whipped up using the pre-mix, green curry :)



I am a person who get 'paiseh' if i don't buy something after trying them at the supermarkets. I don't feel very nice especially when the aunties are always so friendly.

So usually, whenever i see the aunties giving out samples at the supermarkets, i try avoiding them by taking another lane or simple just smile and shake my head.

These days, i notice that the aunties got clever. They no longer target at the adults. They go for the children instead! They'll go 'boy, boy... come, come.. try this one. Very nice. Auntie give" etc.. and the boys, needless to say.. sure turn to ask me if it's okay to try. Seeing their eager faces, how can i refuse right? ^.^

So yeah, in the end, i got a packet of green curry (i quite like it actually - spicy!). Uh huh, instead of getting something for the boys, i got it for myself. Heh.

Verdict : i like it. Easy to cook and pretty good to eat. However, instead of adding coconut milk, i added fresh milk and a bit of yogurt. And a couple of chili padi to spice it up more! ;)

KKB rafting

I've been waiting for this day the longest time, with much excitement and fear.. yep, both at the same time!

This time round, i went with my gfs instead of the sisters.

There were 9 of us + 5 of my sister's friend and herself. This, happened only 2 Sundays ago but now looking back, it felt as though it has been ages already!

Hb was there too! :)

The alarm clock beeped at 5.55am that morning. Personally, an extra 5 mins of slumber matter quite a bit to me. Hence the weird timing. But mostly, it was because we slept just 3 hours ago.

Even after washing the face, i still felt worn out from the Karaoke that we had on the night before with the sisters and hb. For the uninitiated, i don't sing. I go because of the husband and sisters. It was fun albeit me not singing. It was fun watching the 3 sisters battling with the husband for the mic. Ha! Seriously.. i was like FINALLY! Because usually whenever we do go K, it'll be the husband and myself only and the hb sings by himself. No fighting for the mic.

Anyway, back to the rafting trip.

So yeah, we managed to drag our sleepy bottoms out of the house on time, shockingly. Met the rest for breakfast and then, it was rafting time!

After an hour of driving, we reached Kuala Kubu Bahru, a small town outside KL in Selangor. We went in 3 cars but hb and i didn't drive thankfully. For once, we were the passengers :P

Reached KKB at 8.30am sharp as instructed but the guides came only at 9am. To pass time, we slapped on sunblocks and took a couple of photos before going for breakfast again. Second round, mind you!

The gfs and i. From left : Sha Li, Lee Li, me and Carol (my bestie :D)

The guys took photos too but with Carol's camera. Not mine unfortunately. But to wait for Carol to send it to me is like waiting for the sun to rise from the West. Heh :P So no photos of the guys.

Another shot of us

If you're wondering what's that thing on my hand, that's gloves. Driving gloves to be exact. To protect my arms for sunburn and tan.

I got teased mercilessly for wearing that. Grin. The girls called it socks! *slap forehead* And they refused to acknowledge it as gloves, even till now. Heh. Funny gfs, aye?

The weather was pretty nice at first. But half an hour into the trip, the sun was scorching hot!

As a result, check this out. Hb's sunburn.



The photo was taken just 3 days ago. Imagine how it looks like for the first few days.. and mine too!

Even though i had the 'socks' on, it didn't help very much. Neither did the Spf50 which i slapped on earlier. Grrr...

This time round, the rafting was not 'that' fun even though it was supposed to be better. Afterall, the rapids that we went through was grade 3-5! The most extreme ones. So why it wasn't as fun as the one i went before this?

The guides.

Not that sociable. Another word, boring. And half the time, we couldn't quite make out what they were saying. If i'm not wrong, they're Kadazans or something.

The gfs wanted me to go with them on 1 raft minus hb. But i insisted on keeping the husband with me so in the end, there were 5 of us on a raft, hence the big raft we took.

The first rapid was the scariest among all. It was the video that i posted ealier.

The guys' raft got capsized. It was overturned at the very first drop. They were so traumatised by it that one of them actually skipped the grade 4 rapid, known as the 'chicken drop' which was a fatal one that killed more than 10 people this year alone. But i don't see that as 'chickened out' though.

As hb said, to say no to it is more courageous than anything else. It takes a lot of courage and bravery to say no, knowing that there will be so many 'mouths' talking about it, laughing at you so on and so forth.

But like what i told the wife-my gf then after some uncalled for something, it is absolutely OK. Nothing wrong with being scared or feeling uncomfortable. So what if he's a guy. He's human too. At least, i personally feel that he is much braver than the ones who insisted on going through that rapid with a very scared heart but the ego forbids them from doing the same.

So yeah, the guys' raft got capsized. As we looked on [we went first], seeing how they struggled, i almost wanted to jump into the river to help 1 of them who was a non swimmer because he didn't surface for the longest time. My heart almost stopped beating that moment. Later, i found out the other gfs felt the same as i did as well. Wanted to jump in and help.

Because we took the big raft, our chances of getting capsized were pretty slim. To be honest, i was both devastated and relieved. Haha. But the gfs didn't feel the same i think. They were much braver than i am. Athletes they are, you see.

Halfway through the rafting, we switched raft with the guys. But still, nothing happened to us! The guys got capsized twice but not us. In the end, the guides (the more sporting ones) secretly over turn the raft twice for us. Shock, yes. Fun, not really. I still prefer to let the nature takes its course :P

Oh, surprisingly.. the husband fell into the water during the last rapid which was a Grade 5. The only person in the entire raft who fell. Lol. How did hb fell? Hb himself also doesn't know. Heh. But the position he was in was the same as my position the previous time. A very easy position to fall in. I drank quite a bit of water though.

But hb managed to get back up into the raft himself in less than a minute. None of us knew he fell actually, until he was half way up and hb actually went under the raft! :P

Overall, i still prefer my other experience. More fun, even though the rapids were only grade 3. I really think it is because of the guides. They do make a huge different. Luckily i've got so very fun friends. Else, i sure fall asleep liao.. :P

Tips : if you don't wanna fall in or don't wish for your raft to get capsized, do go for the bigger raft. Smaller rafts get capsized much easily.

Feasting

One thing that i really look forward to whenever i go back KL is the food.

First, it's my mom's cooking. Then it's the hawker's fare. Last but not least, the yummy sambal that my mom makes :)

When we went back 2 weeks ago, mom requested for some home made cakes from me. I managed to do financiers and lime cream cheese pound cake with mango bits before sending my machine for service. That explains my lapse of food post yeah? :P

Lime cream cheese pound cake with mango bits.

As much as i would love to rave for this cake, i couldn't. Don't get me wrong.. i love the taste but unfortunately, not the texture. It was rather dry. Almost couldn't swallow without having a gulp of water kinda dry. Heh. Pretty bad isn't it?

Nevermind... at least, it's not the taste. Grin. I could always add an extra cup of milk or something the next time round, which is what i will do exactly.. if.. i do bake it again :P

Lime cream cheese pound cake with mango bits

On the day we reached, the mother cooked up quite a bit. There were plenty of yummy dishes but my favourite is the stir fry 'wild jungle vegetables' with sambal.

It was mind blowing i tell ya!

Wild jungle vegetables with sambal is the one of the right

Why such funny name one wonders?

Actually, no one knows the name to this vegetable. It is unknown. According to my mom and my helper [yep, the helped had it before too in her kampong], it usually gets picked in the jungle on the ground. It grows wildly on its own.

At the helper's kampong, whenever they wanna eat it, all they need to do is to go to the jungle's floor and pick. Helper called it 'pakis' in Malay. And i am wondering if it's the same as the paku pakis plant that grows wildly in the jungle..

Cute yeah? And it's very affordable too! Only costs my mom RM2 for the whole bunch :)

Then, there is chee cheong fun, the Malaysian version. My absolutely must-eat whenever i go back, apart from my mother's lao shu fen. Luckily the mother knows me well. She will buy them automatically without having me to ask her to, knowing my love for them. Hehe.



The mother buys them raw. Then cooked it herself. More economical and definitely yummier!

Besides the jungle vegetable, i saw something else that is also 'quite cute' too. We've never seen anything like it before.

Check this out!



What do you think it is?

Is it asian's brinjal? Or is it ang moh's egg plant?

Nope. It's not!

It is chili padi!

Yep, it's chili padi in purple! So pretty isn't it?!

Taste wise, i dare not try. Heh. The chili lovers parents warned that it is extremely spicy but fragrant. Hence no trying for me. Not gung-ho enough ah! ^.^

I so want it!

We were invited for a presentation by a hotel Vacation Club**. Not TimeShare definitely. No no no no no! [think Ratatouille :P]

So we went just for fun but mainly because i was greedy. You see, they promised us a $200 shopping vouchers from Takashimaya so i die die also dragged the husband along. Heh.

Bet you'll be thinking, what if they hard sell, lock us up etc yeah? It's quite a risk to take isn't it? I was really ON for it because it is backed up by Citibank. We were invited because of Citibank too. So with such a reputable bank backing it, how bad can it be right? Moreover, they say it's obligations free, no hard sell etc.

So off we went with no intention to buy whatever they'll be presenting us. I know, we're bad! Lol.

However, what was presented was quite an eye opening. The benefits, the rewards gosh.. i was practically screaming 'i want i want!' inside me before she, the sales person even finished presenting. It was a 1 to 1 presentation.

And i'm not alone. Hb finds it extremely attractive too!

You know, whenever i switched on the telly, watching the Travel channel especially when they are recommending those beautiful, awesome hotels, i could only drool and wish i could go there 1 day too.. but i know deep down, i could only wish.

I don't think i will pay so so much just to spend a few nights there even if i'm rich.

But with what was presented to us, it seems possible!

The earlier photos that i saw earlier at the gallery at the place where the presentation was held, the 'i-wish-i-could-go' hotels which i've seen on telly.. they are not just a dream. It is possible to go too without breaking your bank's piggy.

But.

Yes.. there is always a but isn't it?

We'll have to pay a lump sum up front.

You can choose to pay it by installment, be it 5 years or 10 years on monthly basis or if u're rich, just pay 1 lump sum!

And then, the yearly maintenance fee.. which we think it wasn't too much to ask for for the next 49 years.

Uh huh.. the membership is valid for the next 49 years. We can travel and holiday like the stars for the next 49 years. You can choose to sell it off earlier if u so wish. Or you can pass them on to relatives or friends too.

Everything's flexible.

And it's not just hotel stay. You can use your points to exchange for air tickets + hotel stay, cruises all over the world, present a holiday for 2 as a gift if you can't make it that year, or just let the points roll forward then holiday longer the next year, so on and so forth.

Seriously, this is some really good stuff here.

Unfortunately, we said no. Sadly. As much as i would love to. We said no.

Because we cannot afford it now.

We can, if we really so want to. But it is not practical to do so. It will be an added burden.. to me that is, to come up with a sum every month for the next decade or less. Yes, i'm the one who settle ALL the bills every month! Ugh.

So yeah, we passed it just like that. Watching my can-only-dream-but-almost-can-come-true-dream slipped just like that. Heh.

Oh well, at least, i still got what i wanted in the end. The $200 Takashimaya vouchers :P

So for now, it will be mooncakes, here i come! :)

But hor, yesterday night after giving hb his goodnight kiss, i told hb that i will, be going for it when i turn 30... that, will be 3 years from now. An ample time for the husband to earn enough, i hope.

** a vacation club by a reputable 5-6 stars hotel group

p.s : guess what was my dream last night? Heh. Yeah.. i actually dreamed that we joined! And i was happily vacationing in one of the hundreds hotels. Ha! Yeah, dream on...

Not so nice people and nice people

The flea market on Saturday was a little disappointing but i've been expecting that.
It has been quite a while since the flea markets first started. I guess it is pretty norm that the 'fire' is slowly fading, well.. at least with the locals' Gen x and y that is. The filipinos were still at large. So were the aunties.

I was pretty lucky coz it rained only in the morning on Saturday, much to my delight. In the afternoon when i started at 3pm, the sun was scorching hot almost throughout which resulted some tan lines on the arms and the face is definitely 2-3 shades darker! *sobs* :(

Initially, i thought of staying till 10.30pm but it was too tiring. I tell ya, if i were to do this for 7 days in a row, 2-3kgs of fats will absolutely melt off! Heh. Hb and i left around 9pm. I still had about 30-40% left over and i just left it there but not without shouting, free free!

The crowd came rushing madly faster than you could say cheese! I was pretty amused. One minute, there was hardly anyone anymore and then another minute, there were more than 10 of them. Grin. But seriously, given the price that i was selling, i really rather give them away than to continue battling with other stalls. I was, indeed the stall with the lowest price.

At one time, it was 2 for $1!

Not earrings or what but tops and bottoms!

It was pretty frustrating actually even though most of the stuff weren't mine. Imagine selling a bottom for $0.50 when you got it for more than $50?

When it was still a dollar, they die die also want you to lower it to $0.50 and then some, when you said it was $5, they will only pay $3 and then tried to suck up by paying compliments, act merry and scoot off.

I really rather donate.

Yeah, no more flea-ing for me. The tan, the weariness, the time and the frustration aren't worth it.

What was worst is the people in charge who came checking. I didn't have that problem 2 years ago. But last Sat, these people were trying to act macho and garang. You know, by trying to search for a bone in an egg like that! *roll eyes*

They are the information peeps if i'm not wrong. I guess it was because flea market time is the only time they can show their 'power'? Haha.. and so they did. They even left a pretty not-so-nice-n-friendly remark which i cannot stand at all to my neighbour stall - 'make sure you move your shoes inside. I w.i.l.l [yes, she stressed on this word] come back and check later!'

Sheesshh... if she had said that to me, i think i would have rolled my eyes at her!

Firstly, the shoes weren't blocking any walk way or anything. Just because it was outside the line, she had to say that. And for myself, she told me to empty the boxes which i used to put my clothes in, saying boxes are not allowed. We were supposed to dump them onto the floor. Ha!

Damn ridiculous right.. and that was like 7.30pm already!!

I didn't quite budge.. i had 6 boxes and i emptied one before i decided not to anymore. Simply because i find it ridiculous! Really.. i don't see the point at all. Why no boxes? Why must dump onto the floor? My boxes were about the same size, in the line, didn't make searching and finding difficult and most importantly not harming anyone/anything. So why no boxes?

I would have emptied if if she had said it nicely and with a smile. But she didn't. It was as though she was trying to intimidate us, the sellers who were renting from them.

Anyway, as much as i dislike flea-ing anymore, i'm glad i did it, twice. Because i hardly get to interact with others, it is through flea-ing that i see the many colours of the humans. Mostly greedy and some, really nice people who will not take advantage of you.

Sometimes, it is beyond your imagination that people who will drive you up the wall by bargaining and more bargaining are people who are well dressed ones. Then people who you think might bargain, they just smile and take it as it is.

Baby + car

Been feeling really lazy these days.

For the record, i've not been going for my classes since i got back last Monday! And of course, the fats are spilling out from the pants that i wear often.. ugh!

I m.u.s.t get back to the classes and start eating less. Been having an elephant appetite too *shake head* :P

For the meantime, it'll just be pictures with not much write up. Heh.



I love this shot!

Taken somewhere near Berjaya Times Square, after we had our lunch at a nearby Ampang Yong Tao Foo restaurant...

Holy cow!

Check out the amount of stuff i'm gonna sell tomorrow for the flea market!!



Scary isn't it?

Am still sorting!

Didn't know where or how to begin at first.. *headache*

Stuff are from myself but 90% from the in laws... Hopefully everything will be sold in no time. So, if you are free, come on down yeah?!

Bring your maids along if you want ;)

The flea market is at Tangling Mall, from 3pm - 10pm.

See ya, i hope :D

p.s : if u say u're my blog reader, discounts guaranteed! lol

NoooOOooo~

The friends have invited me to join FaceBook and i did sometime ago..

Thought nothing about it then..

Thought it will be something like Friendster and all those networking sites BUT..

Now that i really started on it (just today, browsing more), i'm HOOKED!It's very addictive!

It's really fun and cute! :D

Feel free to add me if you want... email me for my private email account! ^.^

Spidermommy and spiderboy

That's us! [boy1 and i ;)]

It wasn't in the itinerary before we went back.

It was an impromptu plan which came about when i met the gfs on Thursday afternoon, chilling out at the bestie's house.

Bestie is currently waiting to start work at the hospital and another close gf has recently started her own company which, is a very good thing because that would mean flexible schedule, and we can practically go anywhere we want during the week days!

So rock climbing it was for us + the elder boy of mine. Didi refused to join in no matter what i say/do. Hehe.. He was pretty scared :P

During the safety talk

It was Laurence (the only guy with us) and my first time doing it. Sha and Carol had done it before. Sha is the experience one as she had done it more than thrice already. And of course, it was the boy's first too..

Me on our 'practise' wall

Rock climbing isn't exciting but it is v.e.r.y challenging.

It involves a lot of arms' strength which i definitely lack of and a bit of the legs' strength too. After doing 3-4 walls, around 9-10 climbs, my arms were shaking and trembling, literally. But the legs were fine.

Me belaying Shuoze

Even though it wasn't exciting, i quite like it. Pretty addictive.

Every time when i fail to climb to the top for certain walls, i get pretty determine to do it again and again till i manage to. However, for other walls which i know i cannot, i just stop. What is also interesting is that sometimes, after your first climb and you somehow didn't manage to complete it, you'll get down, stare and start doing a 'mental' climb in your head before you start your second climb again. Heh. Cute aye?

And for some other times, you'll even stop in the midst of it and start doing the mental climb before continuing :)

For Shuoze, it was a lot tougher as he is still a child. The walls were meant for adults and imagine the difficulty he encountered!

He needed to really stretch and use his legs + arms strength in order to get himself from one step to a further step. After seeing him completing 2 walls, all the way to the top, i was amazed. Seriously, i was so proud. I mean, he's only 5 and he could do a grade 5B wall!

All of us looking up at Shuoze, cheering for him

However, he did stop in the midst of the climb, looked down at me and told me he was scared. Which kid wouldn't right? It was so high! But the friends and i will cheer on for him and tell him it will be ok, and if he's tired, just let go, we'll be there to catch him. Most importantly, do not look down! It's rather scary you know, even for me when i do look down..

The first few times, i was his belayer and the last few times, he actually went to join my friends instead. Heh. And i thought he was pretty cool when i told him to do the 'L' shape when he was coming down and i didn't even teach him about it but thank god he knows.

For the time being, the best i did was a Grade 6A and nothing more than that. The next time i go, i am so gonna tackle that 6C wall which i didn't manage to climb.

Hb is very very keen to join us the next time i go. I wonder how hb will fare... because from what i see, i think girls are definitely better at it! :PppPP [if we have strong arms that is] We are, more agile and flexible :D

Err, but first, anyone has dumb bells to loan me? :P

Mango lime cheesecake

I'm back again, unfortunately...

Wish the holiday was longer :(

I must say, this trip home was one of the best one i've ever had... mostly thanks to my childhood bestie's presence who is finally done with her medical studies. I really felt as though we were 17 again!

Didn't change one bit, at least i think both of us didn't. Heh. Still as goofy and talkative as ever (which i can be with certain clique of friends). Gosh.. :P

It has been sometime since i really talk to my gal pals over the phone except for my Sg's bestie of course. You know, ever since the SMS came about, and emails + MSN, i hardly talk on the phone anymore. Do you?

Initially, it did feel weird u know when my other bestie called and we started talking over the phone for more than half hour because these days, friends call up only to ask about stuff/meeting time/meeting point etc and that's it plus, the last time we phone hog was back in college or something!

But it is nice. I really miss those days... when there is no SMS and the only way we can communicate is by calling.

Anyway, i'm still in the midst of sorting out the photos which i took in KL. Will do my story tomorrow, i hope..

As for now, cake photo for you which i did before i went back :)

Mango lime cheesecake

Guess i don't have to say it was my first attempt anymore do i? Heh. I love trying new recipes. I will only repeat baking certain cakes which i think is good. Otherwise, it is new recipe all the time! :P

This cheesecake is pretty similar to my mango mousse cake actually. But we definitely prefer this one. Probably the lime added some zest to it and there was cheese too. All the better for us coz hb and i are cheese cake lover.

Gave a quarter to an old neighbour and boy, instead of her being pleasantly surprise, it turned out it was me in the end because the aunty actually got me a lovely cook book after she found out about my baking passion!

She actually got me "the cookie book" - the only cookie book you will ever need. So nice of her yeah? :D

And then, i also passed some to bestie who later served her friend who came visiting a small slice. And guess what? The friend wanna order the whole cake from me! Hehehe.. :P

Hey,

I'll be away from today till the 12th, going back to my mom's place and rafting!

Am driving up alone with 3 boys + helper.

Kinda scared actually especially when there are so much news recently on road accident, robbery, raping, hijacking and i'm all by myself, and more vulnerable so with the 3 little ones *shudder*

Leaving in approximately an hour after this.

Anyway, have a good weekend everyone!

Love,
me

Tiramisu

I totally forgot about wanting to take a picture of it [the tiramisu] until the very last minute.

Initially, after seeing how it messy and yucky it looks in the photos, i was pretty adamant about not posting this up at all but then, i was kinda keen to do a write up for it since it was the first time i used mascarpone for my tiramisu.

Grin. Yupyupyup... my first time using mascarpone!



All along, i've been using cream cheese as mascarpone's substitute for i heard better raves on cream cheese than mascarpone.

Then one day i decided to use mascarpone instead, you know.. just to see the difference between one and another. Everything else [the ingredients] was the same except the cheese.

Verdict : i prefer the cream cheese for its cheesy taste. Mascarpone is pretty bland. Not sure if it was the brand i used or what but overall, mascarpone couldn't do what cream cheese does. I read that mascarpone's cheese fat is 3 times the cream cheese but it definitely doesn't seem or taste like it at all... Eating the creamy part was very much like eating whipping cream. Maybe next time round, i should try another brand's and then judge again.

p.s : how you like your tiramisu is very much a personal reference. I may like the cheesier version using cream cheese but i also have a customer's daddy who prefer the lighter version made from mascarpone for it isn't that cheesy.

But it's a good thing that i like the cream cheese better isn't it? Because mascarpone is much more fattening! Heh. [if what i read is correct that is]

Facts found :

Mascarpone.

And more.

Then this.

Hmm... So, mascarpone is indeed more fattening than cream cheese.

Our almost-weekend

First and foremost, thank You for such a wonderful weather which i'd previously prayed for. My prayer was indeed answered. Just for that 2 days that we needed it to play.

And now, it's back to rain sun rain sun rain but mostly rain again.

It was my first 'holiday' with the boys, by the sea.


I had fun. So did the boys i'm sure :)

If you were to ask me, what is 'xin fu' or 'hang fok' [blissful]?

This, is it.

Yes, they are in their briefs only! :P

Heh.

Abit obscene i know especially that they are boys but me like!

3 small boys and me.

A sight that is not uncommon in the household. We do this a lot and usually, the top most will fall and scream with laughter. Then a mad fight between the 2 elder boys for the spot on top of me. Ha!

The little one will remain at the bottom, not squashed of course. Enjoying his view on top before he decides that he has enough and start protesting.



A very beautiful evening at the park. Quiet and peaceful. Awesome weather. Nice.

We even saw tadpoles at the side of the road. Too much water from the grass. The last time i'd seen a tadpole gotta be when i was 8! I was catching them at the longkang with a couple of childhood friends back in my kampong days.

The boys were pretty excited about them. The tadpoles were literally swimming away of us whenever our hands go near them. We just squat at the side of the road and started playing 'catching' with them. Giggling and more giggling from us seeing them running havoc-ly. Cute.

Then at the park, well.. i guess if you were to know me by now, i'm not the sort of mother who will just supervise :P



The blue tee person on top is me!

The boys didn't manage to climb to the top. Tough stuff i must say. But for the boys, it was mostly because they were too short. Hehe. The gap between one rope to another was hugeeee.. Seeing me so high up, they were like -> "mommy, be careful! mommy, you so clever leh! mommy, help me!"

Sometimes, i think i'm too playful to be their mother you know. Lol. Other mothers who were there were like :O and O.o hahhaaha.. Serious! So paiseh!



All in all, i really enjoyed myself. Can't wait for the next 'holiday' with the boys! :)

Poor hb.. still in reservist. But hb did come to visit at night for a couple of hours before booking in again.

Beepbeep who just stayed put in the stroller. He has got 8 teeth already at a mere age of 7 months old!

Back bacon...

is my new favourite!

Ever since fil bought a packet for us, i was sold.



I really really really love it!

It's not as fat as bacon and they are much tastier too, in my opinion that is. Usually for bacon, i will try to separate the fat from the meat (yes, i know.. i'm so not fun! what's the point of eating bacon right? -_-) but for this one, i gobble everything in and not feel that guilty if you know what i mean.. Saturated fat what? *close both eyes*



Our extremely simple lunch during the lazy days.

Yeah, i know i should at least have some decency to add in the lettuce or something but but.. i don't have the heart to spoil the very sinful lunch eh.. just for the "eat your greens' sake". I mean, i can always eat the greens later or something, if i am still keen that is which i usually wont :P

Btw, i'm a salad lover!

Teacher's day cuppies

a HUGE hug and thank you to you who ordered :)

It was a sold out order! (but we had 4 ourselves as a reward which is a must! :P)

The design this time round was almost the same as some of the previous ones. Reason being is the design which i had in mind didn't work out! Boo-hoo..

A teeny weeny change for this one. Reminds me of lotus somehow, but don't ask me how even though it really doesn't look like a lotus!

The initial design involved drawing a heart shape in the middle with pink butter cream and then filling the hearts with 1001s colourful sugar balls. As for the side, it'll be stars and more stars with different colour.

After trying the design out on more than 4 cuppies, i realised that my imagined design will be just that, an imagined design. Heh.

It will not work out on the real cupcake especially if i'm using a pastel colour for drawing. The 1001s' colour are over powering!

Another not-much-change-design :P

However, i will not give up!

I will try again the next time round using a more vibrant colour. No more pastel!

Let's see if it works. If it doesn't, hehe.. then an imagined-design it will be.

A slight close-up shot of my cupcakes

Anyway, i love seeing the teachers' face when they received the cuppies! :P

It makes me happy seeing them so happy. So i guess the 7 hours of back breaking labour were worth it after all. Yes, 7 hours or more all together! Baking, decorating and packaging...

Who says cake selling is a piece of cake?

If not for my passion, i wouldn't do it for sure!

A not-so-close-up photo of the cupcakes

For this sale, even though i mentioned i was gonna advertise it else where besides the blog, i ended up didn't. A bit shy ah! Hahaha.

Yes yes, shy! Imagine. I'm pretty good when it comes to selling and promoting stuff for others (i've done sales quite a fair bit during schooling time -road shows mainly-) but when it is MY own stuff that i do it myself (selling my brand new unworn clothes not included!), i simply cannot. The face skin not thick enough. Grin.

But err, blogging doesn't count okay? I'm merely stating facts when i blog. Not good i'll tell you. Good i'll tell you too. After all, i started this blog for myself, when i'm old and needed to walk down the memory lane. Heh.



Last but not least, they are finally all dressed up and ready to go!

Some went to the teachers and some for customers' own consumption :)

Oh, to the still angry Primary 1 teacher who bought from me.. If you're ever gonna try giving me a $10 +/- tips again in the future, i will n.o.t take your order again even though i was as pleased as a er er.. what ah? *scratch head* Anyway, I'm very the serious hor!

Again, thank you all for buying and support! ;)