Passion & Living ..

Back!

2008-05-22T00:46:00.003+08:00

I'm now here!

Yeah, i'm back :)

I miss blogging lah, bo pian. Grin.

Details

2008-03-22T23:24:00.002+08:00

ON

1. Girls Split-Stripe Hoodies

Cute cap sleeves and ultra-comfy cotton pique place this hoodie at the top of the fashion pyramid! A rib-knit v-neck and trendy long length complete the look.
2. Girls Tie-Front TopsJersey knit makes this top as comfortable as her favorite tee, but the cut gives it style to spare. Fashion-forward details include a square neckline, front tie, and trapeze style silhouette, all designed to flatter.
fabric & care
95% cotton, 5% spandex. 
3. Girls Convertible Color-Block Tube Tops     
Cool color-blocking and soft cotton pique with a touch of stretch make it sporty, but it's also just fine for those lazy days of summer that will be here before you know it.
4. Girls Flutter-Sleeve Tee Dresses     
A sweet silhouette perfectly offsets sporty stripes for a pretty sunny-day look that's fun and comfortable. Pair with metallic sandals to make the colors really pop.
fabric & care
95% cotton, 5% spandex. 
Machine wash.
Imported.
details
Scoop neck
Flutter sleeves
Smocked drop waist with lettuce edges
Gathered skirt
Hits below knee
5. Women's Low-Rise Cuffed Bermudas (12")Once you try Bermudas, you'll want to wear them with everything! This pair features scoop pockets, cuffed hems and a zip fly with button tab closure.
6. Men's Rugby-Stripe Sueded Jersey Polos     
Wide rugby stripes punch up a polo, lending it sportsmanly style that's sure to suit you -- whether you're hitting the links or flipping burgers in your backyard.
details
Rib-knit spread collar and trim
Two-button placket
Drop-tail hem
7. Men's Multi-Stripe V-Neck TeesThin multicolored stripes and a rib-knit V-neck give the classic cotton tee a trendy upgrade.
8. Girls Fold-Over Jersey CaprisShe's a girl-on-the-go and she needs activewear that will keep up with her. These stretchy capris fit the bill, and have cute contrast piping down the legs for added style. 95% cotton, 5% jersey.
9. Men's Twill Bermuda Shorts (11 3/4")     
Classic shorts in solid colors create a clean backdrop for bold printed shirts, graphic tees, patterned slip-ons and more. You're sure to rely on them all through the sunny season.
details
Slant pockets in front
Welt pockets in back
11 3/4" inseam
Hits below knee
VS

1.                             Foldover yoga pant
                        
       
 Gym. Street. Or just relaxing at home. Our yogawear goes anywhere, and is a great way to add some flexibility to your wardrobe. Contrast waistband. Imported cotton/Lycra® spandex.

2. Strapless bra top tube dress

 The essence of simply sexy style. Built-in shelf bra for support with no show-through. Ruching on one side. Slim fit. Imported cotton/spandex. 
          25" from waist.

3. Breezy boatneck dress

 Swing on the bright side this season, in a fit-and-flare shape. Open back. Cap sleeves. Button placket at back. Imported cotton/spandex. 
          17" from waist

4. Strapless smocked dress

A sweet choice for spring. Imprint your style with fun patterns and basic colors. Fit-and-flare empire-waist shape with ruffle hem. Smocked dress: imported cotton. Smocked dress in plaid: imported linen.

5. 
 The Miracle Bra®
           
Faux python-trim push-up triangle top

 Maximum push-up in a sleek, sexy shape that sizzles with exotic charm. Pick your top and bottom sizes separately.
• Removable push-up padding
• Underwire cups
• Decorative bow detail at center front
• Ties at neck

6. 
 Beach Sexy®
           
Adjustable triangle top

 Meet your match...or get into the mix. Our bikini matchmaker lets you create the perfect duo. Pick your top and bottom sizes separately.
• Light removable padding
• Ties at neck and back
• Cinched front
• Lined cups
• Imported nylon/spandex 
• Adjustable back closure
• Imported nylon/Lycra® spandex

Soccer cake!

2008-03-10T13:38:00.010+08:00

For Shuoze, who celebrated his 6th birthday in school.

Initially, he wanted a 3D bus cake which i agreed.

But after following me to Phoon Huat the other day, he insisted to change his bus cake to a soccer theme cake instead. Of course, i gladly obliged. It means less work and super easy for me :P

So basically, the boy picked the deco, and i planned the rest eg; the green grass, the flags and also the sandy soil.

Though easy, the boy loves it!!

He thinks a world of it. And most importantly, he thinks his mama rocks big time. Grin.

As for the cake, i did the norm. Moist chocolate cake which all kiddos like. One can never go wrong with chocolate cake with the kids.

Some pictures taken in school during the celebration.

Boys and i :)

Sz and his classmates

Sz and his class teacher, Mrs Vijay

Sz and his didi

Last but not least, little beep waiting for his 2 korkor at school :D

It was a happy day for all of us :)

First step

2008-03-04T11:05:00.003+08:00

Beep took his many first step yesterday!!

Finally.....................................

:D

Yesterday, didi performed during the morning assembly in school as one of the 6 ducklings. There were 14 students in class and he's one of the 6 who got picked :)

Anyway, i must say.. didi is the best!

Honest!

He was the best dancer and best performer. He remembered all the steps and did them all adorably!

He was so cute that his former teacher, Mrs Cheong couldn't resist but to pat his head and cupped his face after they were done.

The rest of the kids didn't do as well as him :P

I am so proud of didi. He made my eyes 'flood'. Grin.

Then today, Mrs Vijay, Sz's school teacher told me that Sz will be the farmer for the class play for the coming Friday. It seems that he is doing a fantastic job at it!

I simply can't wait. This time, i'm so not gonna forget the camera!

I miss blogging..

2008-02-29T12:39:00.005+08:00

I really do!

I miss the connection and interaction with people.

I miss writing.

I miss reading comments.

I miss spending time on the computer.

I miss photographing food pictures [no blogging, no motivation to bake liao :P ]

I miss having my work being read and appreciated.

I miss having to do research on certain phrases/ words that i need to use before posting my entry up.

My very last photograph after closing my blog. I don't even take photos anymore since then. Part of it because of no-more-blogging but the main reason is that i have really lousy cameras which i have totally given up on >.<

I feel lost from the outside world.

I am having withdrawal symptoms from no blogging.

I feel lonely.

I feel not so clever anymore since blogging does improve one's intellectual, eg ; improve one's english, keep the brain working coz blogging is like having an assignment, having to read up, do research on certain facts.

Sigh.

I MISS BLOGGING!

Eeeek!

2008-02-29T11:58:00.004+08:00

The Capsule Hotel Asakusa Riverside :

Great location but me no fancy at all.

I can never imagine sleeping in a capsule as such. It does not only look like an oven, it looks like the place where they store the body before being cremated!

And i. i. i am claustrophobic!

But the best part is, it's only a stone throw away from the subway and it only costs a little as $26 - $52, in Tokyo!!!

Still, i am claustrophobic!

Yeah, i am still here. Didn't leave again. Because the husband loves me, or so he claims =_=

2008-02-05T00:35:00.000+08:00

Dear readers,

I have decided to close down this blog finally.

Nope, there isn't any nasty comment nor nasty folk stalking me.

In fact, it has been very enjoyable for me, to blog.

Through this blog, i've got to know her, the beautiful stranger who has been treating me like an old friend. She was there for me when she thought i was having problems but i wasn't. She was also the first or rather, the only one who actually sent me birthday present through mail even though we've never met! (have u sent any birthday pressie to someone you've not met before?) And she was also almost the first person who would say 'I'd buy!' whenever i wanna sell something.

Babe, u have no idea how touched and how happy you made me y'know!

To this day, i have only met her once, for a brief 3-4 minutes? :)

But really, getting to know this girl is one of the most wonderful thing that has happened because of my blog. I am truly blessed for she took interest in me upon chancing my blog accidentally on a one fine day. Haha.

Anyway, thank you for reading and to those who sometimes leave a comment or 2, i honestly do love reading all your lovely comments.

Me like interactions [cos social skill is not needed] :P and i'm sure i will miss blogging for you. Blogging knowing that u have someone reading it and blogging knowing that no one is reading it are so totally different..

So yupyup, when u finally cannot access my blog anymore, that would mean i have already shut it down yea?

Last but not least, Happy Chinese New Year! May the year of rat will bring you much joy, happiness, health and good fortune :)

Love,
Sherie

Old vainpot

2008-02-05T00:06:00.000+08:00

Am referring to the husband!

Hb has been pumping himself up these days. Could it be because of me woohing and waahing over the nice springy square chests and those countable 6 packs on the models/actors? :P

Anyhow, it's a good thing i say.

Because..

. that means the husband is getting fitter and healthier definitely. Chances of me dying before him is there now! Hahaha :P
. hb will look good in fitting tops
. hb will look bigger and broader than me for once! [i hope]
. i will have a nice teddy bear to hug whilst sleeping instead of a bony one :P

Last but not least, now i can squeeze squeeze hb's D cup already before going to sleep or just to irritate hb whenever i feel like it especially if he were to do anything to me which he always does!

Or when hb is halfway taking his shirt off! *squeeze*squeeze*

Nice.

Ho ho ho!

Gf's wedding

2008-02-04T22:52:00.001+08:00

Another overdue post! *hide*

The gf's wedding was on Dec 15th!

Anyway, for the very first time, i was asked to be one of ji muis [sisters] for the morning tea ceremony as my other married gfs didn't have one.

The gorgeous bride and i. Gosh.. i practically had to hide my giant arms away because the bride's arms were like THAT! Nope, i won't wanna show or tell u how big mine is! 'giant' would do. I'm too embarrassed!

And then, THE wedding dinner.

All my life, i have not been to one this grand.

Sure, i have been to many many in 5/6 stars hotel but somehow, this gf's wedding tops the cake.

With the very awesome deco and theme, not to mention.. the food.

Sounds like any normal Chinese wedding dinner menu aye?

Then u are so so wrong!

Because that was what i thought too.

The .food. fits fine dining bill perfectly.

And it's not Cheena. It's fusion with the fine dining very artistic deco style which we were served exactly that for every each of us individually.

The quality?

I wasn't expecting much initially as i'd been to the exact hotel for another gf's wedding dinner 1.5 years ago. You know, the normal standard..

Until i had my first bite for dish no.1.

I was completely blown away.

There after, i kept looking forward to the next dish, and the next and the next, not only for the food but also for the presentation as well ;)

Just for you to get a rough idea of what i'm blabbering about, here's my dessert..

Mango Galangal soup - vanilla milk ice cream + almond twirl. Oh, the choc cake behind it? It's the wedding cake which the beautiful couple cut on stage! How cool is that?

I finished every drop of it needless to say though i felt like a stuffed turkey!

Unfortunately, this is the only food photo i managed to capture because i was too busy looking forward to the food and savouring them! :P

Last but not least, my ex schoolmates and i.

I don't remember telling anyone but this is my ugliest hair style ever!!!!!!!

I will be kind and spare you the details. But seriously, i had never felt so ugly in my entire life before. [right after facial not included!]

My hair was ironed to stick straight and totally flat! Like flat's FLAT. No kidding. I specifically told her stylist to just blow dry for the Pantene effect but die die also tried to persuade me to straighten it using the iron.

As a nice girl, i didn't have the heart to say no so many times.

By the time i got home, i had only 5 minutes [no thanks to the 'ironing'! which took more than an hour to do - she told me it'd be done in 15 mins and i stupidly believed her. Ugh. Simple blow dry would be just 10-15 mins max? which was what i had estimated that fits my schedule perfectly] to change and do my make up - which i didn't of course - take ang pow [i forgot about the money and had to borrow from friends!], clutch and visiting the loo before another gf came to pick me up.

Throughout the whole night, i was consciously messing up the hair [so it won't be so flat] or covered half my face with the hair because i was totally unpresentable :(

It was really a disaster -> me.

Thank God for the food and incredible companions whom somehow made me felt a little normal. Yeah, i thought i looked pretty abnormal. Haha :P

And the bride, whoaaaaaaa.. she was breathtakingly beautiful and she's my girlfriend! ^.^

The beautiful couple and our chocolate cake! ^.^

So beautifully captured

p.s : i also happened to have the worst break out ever on the gf's wedding day which started a week before that and lasted all the way to January due to switch in products. Ugh!

Peanut cookies

2008-02-04T16:30:00.001+08:00

This is another cookie i did for Chinese New Year which happens to be just around the corner!

Time really does fly!

I dare say this has to be one of the yummiest peanut cookies i've ever had.

Crispy on the outside but melt in the mouth once it's in. Very nutty and the sweetness is just right.

I love it!!

Credits : Jo, the IK Admin - xie xie nie .. if u are reading this Jo :D

As i had mentioned before, this is my first year to bake cny goodies. Usually i get them from my mil - who usually buys for me as well - but this year is an exception.

So far, i've done 3 batches [including today] of pineapple tarts and 2 batches of the peanut cookies for family, friends and relatives. The feedbacks i got is very positive [i only gave to 5 friends who live nearby mostly] even though the packaging was terrible! *hide* [everything was too last minute!]

So good that i actually earned myself a customer already, whom already 'booked' my 1st order for my next year's bake since i am not selling any this year. Grin.

Thank you Davis!! :*

In fact, i sort of know what kind of packaging i'll do too! Something not ordinary but very nice :P

OOooooo, i cannot wait.

Of course, i will be selling to friends only as i am closing this blog soon ;)

She so spoils me!

2008-02-03T23:30:00.001+08:00

I was supposed to surprise her but i got surprised instead! ^.^

This girl ah.. really knows how to spoil me!

First, it was an unexpected birthday pressie, followed by Xmas pressie [i also got her one early early luckily but sent out late though *oopps*!] and now, this!

Think the babe knows we like pork floss! Heh.

And also me liking make up palettes!

For the past half a year, i've been learning how to do eye make up especially when i have some special date [mostly with the girls since the gong gong husband doesn't know how to appreciate it. Lol - hb likes me without make up best.. men, say only right? :P] going on and so far, all attempts have been pretty successful!

So this palette really came in handy! :D

Nice colours, aye?

Even my not-into-eye-make-up-mil thinks the colours are very pretty! She even told me that she's been looking for such colours for a long long time already [and i thought she wasn't even into eye make up?!] ..

*ahem* I am definitely not giving her mine! *scowl*

Me like the leopard print many many oki! :P

Earrings madness!

2008-02-02T18:10:00.000+08:00

I love beautiful earrings!

That's the only accessories i wear actually. I don't really do bracelets [got watch and the jade already on both hands], necklaces [i think i've got short neck!] or anklets [er.. simply lor].

So, it all boils down to wearing earrings only.

My only accessory to dress me up :)

Usually, i get the nice but affordable ones because me money not enough to buy Katriel's or the earrings at Tangs' Level 2. Far too expensive for me even though i loveee them to bits. I only go to admire but never to buy.

However.

Recently i couldn't resist the temptation to not buy the slightly more expensive earrings. They are simply too pretty!! ^.^

But of course, they are not so that expensive lah but expensive enough for my $20 budget. Grin. Nevertheless, still within my 2nd budget.. $50 :P

So yup yup, may i present you.. my very gorgeous earrings [in my opinion lah! :P]

1st pair :

I'm currently searching for a gold hoop, same size as my silver one so that i can have more variety! :)

This is what i couldn't resist. The butterfly!

2nd pair :

Bought this because i needed a black pair of earring and i find it quite special too. Me like the stone in the middle ;)

Forgot what stone it is though. I was told by the lady boss. For these 2 pairs, i had a total of $10 discount because the lady boss liked me! She said we got 'yuan' worr. Grin. Yay for me definitely :P

3rd pair :

Lovely isn't it? I couldn't take my eyes of it! Plus the auntie oh.. wah, really know how to talk man.. i was resisting hard initially. Then, she talked and talked and talked and finally, i relented. As she said, for Chinese New Year mah! Oki lor... i also got discount [15%!] for this pair. Tee hee hee...

Aihss.. how to say no?!?! 

I loveeeee my new earrings!! :P

Why do i need an OK camera?

2008-02-01T22:13:00.000+08:00

because i need one.

Not a good enough answer?

Fine.

Here's why :

i - i love and enjoy photography tremendously though my standard is not there yet definitely
ii - lucky beautiful shots make me happy
iii - the 1 years and 4 months old pocket size camera $599 (or was it $699) cannot make it. the quality is worst than a $200 Canon
iv - the 7 years old $1.6k camera also cannot make it. Because ~

it can only take at most 10 shots at 1 go before the batteries die even though i fully charged it beforehand
even after charging the batteries but leaving it there for 1 day unused, i couldn't use it again the next day to take photos
the problem doesn't lie in the batteries. i tried many different sets already but with same result
if i were to use normal disposable AA batteries, it will only last me for less than 30 shots. Worth it?
oh, the best part is.. sometimes just right after baking when i'm all excited with the goodies and really wanna snap a couple of photos, the camera refuses to work at all due to low batt or worst, just right after getting 1-2 shots or 3-4, it goes 'diiiiiiiiiiiit' and shut down by itself. Wah seh.. the reaction/expression of me is totally priceless man..
it has ugly camera bag which stains my white bag or my not-black tops

v - last but not least, because i say I WANT ONE!

The thing is.. i am not sure which one i wanna buy first.

Buy headache, don't buy headache.

Ugh!

Best is to buy 2 together lorr :P

On the Christmas afternoon...

2008-02-01T10:20:00.001+08:00

Yeah, it has been that overdue!

It happened on the Christmas afternoon of 2007.. when hb was at home [which is pretty rare, especially in the afternoons] and i decided to bake everyone something mainly because hb loveeeess freshly baked goodies and he cannot resist it :P

I picked something chocolate-y as it is everyone's favourite.

An almost flourless warm and dark chocolate cake, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream of course! :)

It's pretty nutty actually as the almond meal replaces most of the flour.

I like!

It was just too bad that i couldn't find any Christmas-related cake decoration to put on top of the cake, especially after the layer of snow white layer of snow i shook on top.

Otherwise, it would be perfect for a nice lazy Christmas afternoon tea.

Pistachio cake

2008-01-30T22:03:00.000+08:00

I was mesmerised by the simplicity of the ingredients and of course, the nuts.

It uses olive oil instead of the butter.

However, because of that.. the cake isn't that fragrance.

Me no like.

I still like butter better :P

Next time if i were to bake this again, i would substitute the olive oil with the butter for sure.. and also, be less generous with the nuts too.

Heh.

Beep's 1st birthday party

2008-01-29T13:05:00.000+08:00

It was my 1st time organizing a party for the kids.

The 2 elder boys never had one before. Usually, it'd be celebration with the in laws and that's it. But for beep's 1st birthday, i itchy backside went on to organize one and i'm sure glad i did :)

As the party started around 2.30pm, it meant tea party. No real food. Just finger food and all.

The kids 

I like having not too many people in parties. Nice, cozy and comfortable. I'm not so much of a social butterfly. In fact, i don't really know how to socialize. In some ways, i think i'm very much of an introvert :P

Beep and i :D

For the party, i only invited 2 close gfs over + their brood.

It may sound very few but when they were all here, gosh... it was worst than pasar malam! Lol.

But i like.

The gang :)

The food that i prepared with 2 helpers :

Fish ball, cherry tomato, ham, cucumber + fish ball skewers

Sausage roll - the shortcut way :P

Fondue!

The cube cake that went into the chocolate sauce, marble cake which the gfs ta pao back - everyone loves it! 

Besides the food above, we also have the boring ham and cheese sandwich :P

Last but not least, pressies for the birthday boy!

Simply lovely ...

And the gfs didn't only gave pressie to the birthday boy, the mommy also have! *yay*. So nice of them. Heh.

2 of the items were lugged back all the way from the UK ;)

Thank you Angels *muaks*

All in all, it was a happy happy day for all. It was a blast =)

It's hard not to love him!

2008-01-29T09:19:00.000+08:00

He may be the middle child but i don't think he would get that middle child syndrome.

Because i love him to bits and pieces.

He is really my sticker.

Video-ed by the husband. Do turn on your speakers ;)

Among the 3 boys, he is the stickiest to me. Not sure about the baby though.. coz he's still so little.

People love him because he is he.

Mature [when his classmates are sitting down on the floor for story time, he actually paced around them with his hands behind like a principal!] yet naive [that silly boy.. he actually hides back the same place his brother hides just because he couldn't find his brother there! lol].

Adorable and cheeky at the same time.

And he doesn't give a damn if you don't like him when he says he doesn't like you. He only cares if the mommy dislikes him. But he says it in such a way that it is hard for you not to like him further! :P

p.s : see what i mean? He is so Shin Chan! Bottomless as usual.. :D

My 1st attempt at pineapple tarts :)

2008-01-25T09:34:00.000+08:00

I have never wanna attempt making pineapple tarts because of the tedious process.

But mainly, because i'm not a fan :P

However, this year.. for no apparent reason, i just wanna try making them. You could say it's for the CNY spirit. Or probably i just wanna bring back my childhood memories and also for the boys' memories too.

I remember my mom used to make the bee hive [not sure what u call it in chinese] and all sorts of keropok whenever CNY nears. I also remember going into the kitchen, stole them and ran into the bedroom to eat. Heh.

So for the boys.. i would love them to remember me as the mommy who bakes near CNY... all kinda goodies and yummy goodies too to be exact. Goodies that they will always remember fondly till old. Goodies with the distinct taste and texture that no money can buy.

As if! Me and my wishful thinking as always :P

Anyway, the tarts....

Bone breaking hardwork for more than half a day!

The tedious part is rolling the dough into thin small lengths, which explains why you don't see this 'design' outside. Only homebakers would attempt this as far as i can tell.

If not for the 'X', we could have wrapped up 2 hours early.

As for the filling, i loveeeeeeeeee it!

For a non-pineapple-tart-lover, it's quite amusing that i could like it. Heh.

I think it has a lot to do with the sourish taste. I used a non-ripe pineapple + a ripe one. Also, it's moist and not too sweet, unlike the ones they sell outside.. which are pretty sweet, not sourish and can be quite drying too.

Because of the successful filling that i did, i couldn't wait to make the tarts.. i was so excited you know! Lol.

In total, i managed to churn almost 6 tubs of pineapple tarts.

1 for myself, 1 for in laws and 4 for my mommy. Yupyup.. we'll be hitting the road again in a while, after much persuasion from the sisters :)

AND THEN.

This morning..

sobs..

sobs..

SOBS!!!

The beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep threw all of them to the floor!

He climbed onto the table top and threw them 1 by 1 onto the ground with much strength. 99% have broken 'X'.

The tarts break very very easily. Because the texture i made is those melt-in-the-mouth sort. So, it's extremely fragile.

Helper re-arranging them again but discarding the X bits and the bad ones [mostly into our own mouths. Heh]

Then we decided we would make do without the X top since most it are broken. What a waste since the tough part lies right there :(

Oh well.. mil told me to look at the bright side. At least, the baby didn't fall down from the table and hurt himself which is true. That would be infinite times worse than having broken-ugly pineapple tarts..

And hence, from 4 tubs, it's down to 3 tubs for mommy. Thank goodness i gave mil hers last night *phew*.

As for now, no more pineapple tarts for the notti beep! :P

Hb's special birthday cake

2008-01-24T14:13:00.001+08:00

I have quite many overdue posts that i have yet to post and this is one of them :P

Hb's birthday cake which i baked a day after beep beep boop's birthday.

I actually brainstormed quite a bit to make something special for the husband. As the hb likes chocolate cake a lot and he loves my chocolate truffle cake, i decided to do a little adaption to the truffle cake.

This is what i came up with :)

I also made the chocolate '#' myself!

Not too bad aye?

Because i didn't have the normal chocolate that is meant for chocolate moulding/shaping, i used my ValRhona 55% chocolate to do it. Yes, it is possible b.u.t it will melt very quickly in our tropical weather.

Right after i took an exact 4 shots, the # started to bend foward. Heh. Good for me though, coz it went straight into my mouth there and then :P

What i did to the truffle cake :

. add a layer of feuilletine on top of the bottom sponge for the added crunch
. add whole roasted hazelnuts in between the 2 sponges in the chocolate truffle layer
. last but not least, lots of roasted almond bits to my top chocolate truffle layer

Sliced [psstt : i made the diamond shape chocolate myself too! ;)]

Side view. See the whole hazelnut at the bottom? *drool*:P~

Up close : fr bottom - chocolate sponge, feuilletine layer, chocolate truffle with hazelnuts, chocolate sponge again, chocolate truffle with almond bits.

Guess you can tell i'm a total nuts freak by now aye? :P

So how do we like the cake?

Let's just say.. i didn't even wanna share it with my in laws! Heeee.. we had the whole cake ourselves, 3 adults + 2 children but consumed mostly by adults. Very greedy me >.<

Edited to add : 2 tbsp of rum were added to the chocolate truffle too!

Monday blues no more~

2008-01-22T17:17:00.000+08:00

Between hb and i yesterday.. closed to noon time - sms while i'm driving. Very bad i know but i only do so when it's safe eg ; red lights :P

Hb : with kids now?
Me : not yet. Just got the car [from servicing]
Hb : busy today?
Me : very. why?
Hb : Got time to hear me say something?
Me : [oh shit.. doesn't sound good. Heart starting to beat faster. Could it be.. that?!?!] sure. call me in 10 mins time. call house phone
Hb : no need to talk over the phone
Me : then? sms?
Hb : I love you.
Me : [stunt.paused.absorbed.smiled] :O

As for the rest of the day, i was almost grinning from ear to ear!

For the record, i couldn't even remember when was the last time hb said that to me! It has to be eons and eons of years ago.

Definitely a beautifoooooooool Monday morning for me :D

Not a hickie!

2008-01-21T12:26:00.000+08:00

Stop staring already!

The 3 small red patches on my neck are not hickie, aiyoh!!

They are eczema, which i never had before in my entire life. Not only on the neck, even the corner of my right eye also kena which resulted me getting red eye twice :(

They aren't healing, in fact.. they're getting itchier and itchier.

It's rather embarrassing to have the boys' teachers looking at neck, the car service advisor stealing glances at them and even my god-sent-helper confessed that she initially thought i had a wild night with the husband! *smack forehead*

I so need a dermatologist now, before CNY comes!

No go

2008-01-20T16:38:00.000+08:00

The husband prefers me to not sell anything at all.

If really want, he would like me to bake and give the cakes to family, relatives, friends or the needy instead :)

Edit to add at 5.31pm :

Just read today's paper. Such a pity that home bakers who used to sell their goodies to public are not able to do so now because i would love to purchase some homemade cookies this coming Chinese New Year definitely. But now it's restricted to friends/family only.

And that also means i won't be able to sell anytime i like too! *boo-hoo*

Just to add..

2008-01-19T17:31:00.000+08:00

that if the feedback is good, the sale will be on. Will decide sometime next weekend ;)

And meet up on the weekend and sometimes weekdays in town area is not impossible.

If you are the east, you can collect the cake from my sister in law's salon which is near Katong Mall.

On top of that, delivery to 1 destination will be absolutely free if you place an order of 8 cakes [auspicious number again! :P ]or more.

If you are not comfortable to leave a comment, email me! at maameemoomoo[@]gmail.com

I'll be very glad too :D

Gold Bar anyone?

2008-01-19T10:21:00.001+08:00

When i was a little free the other day, i baked myself an orange and lemon cake.

My first reaction after i unmould them was 'woww.. it looks like a gold bar!' and it really does i tell you.

Couldn't get the colour right! Me want new cam cam! >.<

This is really my kind of cake.

I will never ever get bored with it at all. I can even eat the whole loaf! It's my absolutely favourite.. butter cakes. What's more, orange and tangy lemon flavour...

Simply heaven.

When i had my first bite right after it came out from the oven, i really thought i could fly. It was very very good.

Indescribable is the word.

And then i thought 'why not make this my Chinese New Year bake project?'.

I'll call it Gold Bar!

Pretty auspicious for the festive season give-aways don't you think so?

So i talked to a 1-2 close confidantes and they were like, good idea! But the problem is where do i start? How to find customers?

Advertising in the forum is a no no because forums don't allow it.

My blog isn't a food blog. It's a personal junk blog actually. Lol. Hence, i never wanna advertise it at all. In fact, i don't even leave any link to my blog in the comments i have made in floogers, gfs, anons' blogs.

BUT.

That doesn't mean i don't welcome you the readers hor. In fact, i am already feeling slightly weird and abit conscious knowing there are as many as 100 readers [okay, i don't really keep track but it's roughly there :P ] per day reading my blog but hardly any comments!

In case you do not know, i enjoy reading comments quite a lot. Grin. They keep me going :P

Anyway, back to my CNY sale.

So, what do you think?

Should i go ahead?

Will you buy?

I actually baked 2 loaves very recently as a present to sil. I tied them with bright red ribbons and they looked pretty awesome. The peeps went 'whoa'. Grin. Too bad i didn't manage to take any photos as i was rushing out for the salon opening ceremony, an unofficial one.

The feedback i got was very encouraging hence, me wondering about it.

So yeah, will you buy for your own consumption? Will you buy to give away to family and relatives?

And if i do sell, i would be selling for $16.80 - auspicious number! :P

It's a 9" x 4" loaf cake by the way, made with top ingredients eg ; lurpark/president butter, huge fresh eggs from Lim Chu Kang (definitely pricier than NTUC's) and most importantly, made with lots of love too. Heeeeeeeeehehhe :D

Will appreciate all comments. Do leave one please!

Ari-gato!

p.s : sil's new salon is located near Katong Mall, just a few shops away. If you like to try out new good stylist, do give them a try! ;)

Looking for such tops...

2008-01-18T10:49:00.000+08:00

I know this has been in the scene for quite sometime already but being me, i'm just realised i like it now. Heh.

Mainly because i got myself a pair of full length leggings yesterday :P

The top i'm looking for [with the tight band-looking-thing at the bottom too!]

If you have seen it anywhere, do let me know yeah? :D

Thank you soooooo much in advance!

Amazing

2008-01-17T21:33:00.000+08:00

I have been feeling a bit under the weather lately.

Yesterday because i had a chance, i took the opportunity to chant for 20 minutes at mil's house, unknowingly. Usually, it is just 5-15 minutes the most.

I chanted while pouring my woes out to the One.

I had never done that before.

I was so emotional that i almost cried. I never knew through chanting one could feel that way at all. I've heard about it though but never gave it any thoughts at all thinking it was pretty impossible until yesterday.

I asked for a sign.

And a sign i got.

Believe it or not, on the very same night!

I received a mass email from a gf [whom i haven't been really keeping in touch with] with a link which t.o.t.a.l.l.y answered what i asked for.

Simply amazing.

Last night, i slept very well.

Something i had not been able to do for the past few days.

Grand Marnier orange muffin with chocolate chips and cranberries

2008-01-17T18:47:00.000+08:00

I've been extremely busy these few days!

And i think i will be even busier for the next 2-3 weeks :P

But. It is happy busy. Busy clothes shopping actually.

Not for me of course but for the boys. However, in between.. i do sneak in a couple of minutes for myself to look see look see whenever possible. Grin.

Anyway, last week i baked some muffins for a gathering with the gfs.

You know, i think to date.. i feel muffins are the hardest thing to bake. You must never over mixed them or else, they'd be as hard as rock.

Fortunately, i remember the no.1 rule very well and although the muffins weren't as yummy as i had anticipated.. they weren't hard, unlike my 1st experience quite some time ago.

The lighting was really bad when i took these pictures so you can't really tell what's in them. Basically, as mentioned in the tittle.. it has got chocolates and Grand Marnier soaked dried cranberries in them.

For myself, i find them okay, not too bad. Not to say super yummy nor yucky at all. Somehow, i actually feel they were pretty healthy in fact!

Initially i was so worried about the muffins' appearance [they weren't pretty at all!] that i almost refused to bring them for the gathering.

Because i didn't have much time left for another baking session, i had no choice but to pack them along.

But guess what?

The girl friends liked it!

Either that or they were being very very nice to me. Ha! :P

Bad mommy!

2008-01-14T23:44:00.000+08:00

*ahem*

That's me.

I've been teaching boy1 quite a bit these days and boy, i am very bad.

I am very very ashamed of myself you know.

I've been impatient. Very. I mean, how could he not understand?

Proper nouns and common nouns. Give examples.

Cannot?!?!?!

And the rotan 'sits' right in front of him *hide*.

Sigh.

I can just imagine the boy's fear whenever i say homework time! [he told me so during normal conversation time] I am so very terrible :(

And and the thing is, i don't even remember knowing what were proper nouns and common nouns when i was 9! *runs away*.

Me must change.

Me will change.

Poor boy1.. for having me as his mommy.

Double sighs :((

Mood : terribly upset

No.1 birthday cake

2008-01-12T09:51:00.000+08:00

Inspired by my family friend's dog, a Dalmatian no less :)

Beginning of the year spells h.e.a.d.a.c.h.e for me usually.

2 of my boys' birthdays [the old old one and the baby] are in January, on the 8th and 9th to be exact!

However, it is the baby's cake that i'm getting headache at. The old man's cake can anyhow decorate or even no decoration also can but never for the little one. Oooppsssss~ :P

Moreover, there will be a small party for him so all the more stress! Heh.

As i couldn't find any cute no.1 cut out for the cake that i wanna make, i actually cut it out myself freehand with no guide or whatsoever just like that using 2 cakes, a 7" square cake and a loaf-looking cake which i anyhow agar-agar hoping the cakes will somehow form a number 1, which fortunately they did :D

Like i mentioned earlier, i decorated the cake the way it is because of the Dalmatian i saw and played with. Initially i had no idea how to decorate the cake though the number.1 shape is already there but when i saw the dog.. it was *ting*ting* in the head.

Simple but adorable.

So i thought why not?

Then i don't have to brainstorm anymore come January :P

Nevertheless, i was worried mad because the whole idea seems good and workable in the head but when it comes to really doing it, i have no idea how it'd turn out as i have no prior experience in decorating using melted chocolate on fresh cream + the number 1 shape might not be achievable.

And we're talking about having the cake for a party on the very day itself that i'm decorating it.

Pretty brave of me isn't it? Heh.

But worst come to worst, i'll just drive down to Bengawan Solo to buy one! No biggie actually :P

Anyway, the cake i used is Japanese Souffle Cheesecake, which i had baked before quite sometime ago because it is truly very yummy [in my opinion that is :P].

The cake tastes pretty much like Ichiban Boshi's cheesecake but very slightly heavier. I don't like it too light because i won't know when to stop eating.

Slightly heavier is good. At least, i can feel it is there. Heee..

All in all, i must say i'm pretty pleased with my end result of the cake. But there is something, or rather 2 things that bother me slightly when i was working on this tiny project of mine.

i - the cake's baking time turned out to be 2 hours instead of just 1! So 2 cakes = 4 hours. Imagine my horror! Till now, i still do not know why it took 2 hours per cake when previously it was just an hour.

ii - the colorful sprinkles' colour ran! within an hour after throwing them on. Why oh why?!

Now now, i'm really dreading for March to come. Headache ah!!!

But happy headache though. It's the only time of the year where i can and will challenge myself ;)

超級星光大道總決賽 - 林宥嘉 (b)

2008-01-10T23:00:00.001+08:00

My 1st toy boy :P
I've never liked or rather idolised a guy/ man who is younger than me before and he's the first. Lol.
I thought his voice was bloody awesome.
I'm mesmerised.

Totally.
Somehow i prefer this lad better than the crowd's favourite, Aska.. who has got hb as his fan already.

Birthday dinner => instant noodles?

2008-01-09T22:51:00.000+08:00

Sort of.

Because that was what the pig requested for this year as his birthday's dinner today.

Usually, we'd go up to the in law's place for a mini celebration but this year, our 1st year actually.. hb wanna stay at home due to the late working hours.

It's that time of the year again. Clearing the year-long-kept-precious. Heh.

Big abalone for the adults and the tiny one for the kids :P

So last week, i opened 1 can and cooked it with the exact noodles and exact style i cook today. Hb loves it, which, is why he requested for the same dish again today.

The instant noodle

Of course it is not really that instant noodle noodle.

The similarity ends at the noodle used.

For the broth, i used ikan bilis [as usual], accumulated prawn heads and the abalone broth itself that comes together with the abalone in the can. (no salt needed)

And oh, some wolfberries too!

As for the rest of the ingredients used, it's no secret at all.. as you can see from the above picture :)

(the usual minced pork, sliced mushrooms, prawns, egg, fishballs, vegetables and sliced abalone)

The instant noodle :P

You know, my 2 boys who usually need an hour to finish up their dinner actually finished their noodles within 10 minutes. No kidding here!

Hb and i were amazed to no end :P

It is really good. Trust me!

Go and try cooking it yourself. Hope you will love it as much as we do :D

Anyway....

Happy 35th Birthday to my pig! :*

May you .... *toot*toot*toot* [censored! *ahem* for some reason]

Oink oink :@

The sweetest thing

2008-01-08T08:55:00.000+08:00

These days, whenever i hear this song 'The Sweetest Thing' playing on the radio.. i'll think of beep because he is really the sweetest thing ever.

The clip below was recorded by the husband on the first few days after we came back home from KL.

psssttt : he knows he's being filmed hence the very shy and conscious face! Tak boleh tahan.. Heh :P

It's Beep's 1st birthday today! :*

And he hasn't taken his first baby step [read : walking] yet unlike his 2 other korkor who started walking on the day before their 1st birthday but i am not complaining because i much prefer beep to crawl a little longer before he starts to walk. Good for the brain they say...

The birthday boy is currently taking his nap... i can't wait for later!

*off to decorate the cake*

Keeping my fingers cross that it'll turn out okay as i've planned! [the cake decorating that is]

I am gonna resist!

2008-01-06T23:45:00.002+08:00

It's driving me nuts.

I can't seem to find a cute number 1 that i can copy or print out.

With only 2 days more or rather 1 day more, i am very tempted to just pick up the phone and dial the number.

Worse come to worst, i'd just cut free hand? >.<

My bad.

Very last minute decision and planning.

Tomorrow's gonna be a mad mad day for me. Hmm.. actually, this whole week's gonna be a mad mad week!

Green tea cuppies II

2008-01-05T14:11:00.000+08:00

Something baked for the family when i went back early last month :)

Green tea cupcakes with green tea cream cheese frosting

It was quite a disaster.. heh.

The cake was not as nice as the first time because i somehow beat all the eggs together instead of doing the usual because i was pressing for time!

So the cake was very muffin like instead of light, fluffy and to-die-for.

Quite an embarrassment i must say.. but i still gave the bestie some!

I am shameless :P

AND sadly, the family dislike cream cheese frosting, just as i had expected! But i couldn't do buttercream frosting fearing that they will not be able to withstand the long journey.

Another cake i did was chocolate yogurt cake with lotsa walnut which i LOVE to death [a recipe which i thought of myself! :)]. Unfortunately, i didn't manage to take any pics of it.

In 2008

2008-01-03T09:35:00.000+08:00

i will ..

. be a kiasu mommy - go full force in tutoring boy1 to prepare him for primary 1 next year

. not blog so much anymore

. bake less too, probably once a week and if i do bake, it'd be something simple because time is awfully precious now especially beep is coming to 1 year old soon and the boys are really growing up!

. definitely go for a well deserve holiday by end of the year

. climb a mountain

. earn a Padi license

. have a 4 digit saving [yeah believe it or not, that is how poor i am :( ]

. have a new husband! *oh yeah!*

i hope to ..

. hold my full head stand [minus wall now which i managed to do it at my first attempt!] longer

. do a perfect split

. lose another 2 kg! *as always!* :P

. have more arm strength

A toast...

2007-12-31T13:49:00.000+08:00

(photo taken from the gf's hen's night actually :P)

to 2008.

Happy New Year!

May 2008 will be even better for all of us :D

ATV adventure

2007-12-29T11:15:00.001+08:00

My holiday back home will never be complete without going for an adventure trip ever since my very first one not too long ago.

This time round i opted for the atv biking adventure over the others cos it looks so much fun annnnndd it was!

The trip lasted for only half a day. Too bad my second sister's schedule didn't coincide with mine for this holiday - she's only going back mid of next month - so what she did was to call us twice when we were in the jungle. Heh.

She was like bad bad me! For organizing one without her. Lol :P

Sorry sis!

Anyway, the atv looks pretty easy and not challenging at all.. at least, that was what i thought initially and bet you feel the same too but it is so not.

Before we embarked on our adventure, the guide had to trained us for 15 mins on how to operate the atv [very complicated but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty ok], which has a manual gear - that means, we had to adjust the gear accordingly just like a car or a motorbike - and also, we had ride on it for many many rounds in the training area for us to feel comfortable and confidence.

The trainer would watch each of us to see how we fare.

If he feels that we couldn't make it, he will not allow us to continue on with our trip... Safety always comes first.

Unfortunately, my mom didn't manage to pass the test. Yep, mom came along too! She's one sporting mom yeah? She loves outings like these in fact. And my youngest sister almost couldn't make it too! That baby.. ha!

So the mother was not allowed to ride on her own atv. She was told to follow the trainer as a pillion rider instead.. very much to her relief. Yes yes. She was relieved to know that :)

Because the whole thing sounds pretty scary to her.. and to most of us too especially the going up the hill part which the steepness is around 60 degree!

There were so many stuff to remember especially when we are on the slope. Eg :

. No putting our feet down when the atv is not balanced - one or two wheels are not on touching the ground due to the unevenness because it's a jungle track after all. According to the trainer, such reaction is a reflex. But we have to counter it. We have to keep our feet on the atv at all times

. must lean forward at all times else we'll really feel like we are gonna topple

. must accelerate gradually. Sudden acceleration = backward summersault and we definitely would not want that, would we?

. no avoiding holes on the track. So that's back to point 1.. which means the atv will have one or 2 wheels in the air

. no stopping in the middle of the slope. We have to keep on moving no matter how scary it is

Honestly, we were all pretty scared and the guide was worried for us too!

Even though the very nice guide wasn't oblige to come with us, he actually followed us till the slope and helped out through the riding up, holding on to our atv so that we really wouldn't do a backward summersault.

When we first saw the slope, we all wished we were in our mother's position, that is.. as the trainer's pillion rider. I felt giddy by just looking at it. We all went 'oh shittttttt...' ahahaha. I had tons and millions of butterflies in the stomach i tell you and i am so not joking about it.

All ready to go.. see the big rock? We went round and round around it for more than 30 times!

My heart beat darn fast.

I was scared. So were the sisters. Hehe... All of us were worried about 1 thing only. Which is - sudden acceleration = backward somersault. Heh.

Anyway, we turned out doing exceptionally well. We made it! Woo hoooo~

The trainer was really pleased. So was the guide.

In fact, the trainer was pretty taken by us that at the end of the journey, he actually told us that we were alot more skillful and 'terel' than he had first anticipated. He thought it was his doomed day that day when we 5 ladies went marching in to his shop that morning. Lol.

After the first slope, we rode a little while before the slope no.2 came.. a more dangerous one definitely.

The thing is, usually after you managed to go through the first obstacle successfully, the second one doesn't seem so scary anymore though the fear is still there. We were definitely more confident compare to our first attempt on the slope.

The ride through the jungle was a pretty scenic one. Not sure what type of jungle it was but we sure saw many bamboo trees or rather, we were surrounded by them. I almost could imagine myself in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Heh.

For our final adventure, we were asked to leave our atvs and hiked for a good 10 minutes ONLY to the waterfall.

Hiking time!

The short hike wasn't tough but there were some difficulties eg; crossing a wobbly handmade bridge. However, it was good fun!

I wish the hike could be longer. I enjoy leisure walking in the jungle tremendously [sans leeches that is].

Finally..

The waterfall!

From here, we hiked up further, to almost the top of the waterfall at about 2 storey high.

But not before the sister spotted my bleeding leg.

Initially, the sisters thought i had hurt myself during the ride, scratched against something etc but i was VERY sure i didn't.

Then.

Almost simultaneously, our heads screamed LEECHES!!!

The sisters, especially the eldest sister and my mother instructed me to pull up my pants further to check if the leech was still there. It wasn't.

I tell you, i almost wanted to strip down to butt naked if not for the 2 men there. I cannot imagine how high up the leech could have gone!

Not to mention holes >.<
Then, the sisters and mother started to squeeze my whole upper thigh damn hard and did the rub down motion, hoping they could squeeze the leech to death and bring it down too.

Guess what?

It worked!

The sister got the leech but alive, stucked to her finger. Now.. it was her turn to scream. Hehe... The very amused trainer [after witnessing the whole incident] offered his expertise then. Just dip the finger to the water and the leech will let go. Easy peasy.

Yeah, so the sister saved my life! *phew*

Just before we leave the waterfall to resume our atv biking, the sisters spotted this.

Aarrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh~

Why oh why?

Me again!!!

That #$%^&* leech!

This time, the trainer came forward to save me by offering his finger to the leech. By then, we were pretty cool by these leeches already which explained the photograph. The sister told me to hold still and snapped a couple of photos of it before the trainer stepped in and told us that if i don't want any scars on the leg, i better get it out fast.

He proceeded on to show us his 10cent scars on his legs.. due to scratching.

This, i can attest to it.

The first bite on the leg near the shin that i had on this trip?

Until today, the little punctured hole is still there and i scratch it like nobody's business but still with a little conscience thankfully. Extremely itchy. Sigh. I wonder when it will stop itching and go away forever... grrr.

Nevertheless, the trip was a good one. Everyone enjoys it and so did i.

If you need more information, go here.

ppssssstttt : the guide is quite a cutie! Reminds me of my Hyun Bin.. hahaha. Sshhhhhh.. don't tell the husband!

For first timer, it's advisable to do the Khamisah Waterfall Adventure first. No kidding. You will need the basics and familiarity before embarking on the tougher trails. I almost wanted to take up the harder trail initially and i'm glad i didn't :P

It's a fun fun day!

2007-12-27T23:19:00.001+08:00

One of the programs that i had lined up for the boys to do during the very long break was to bake.

I have seen schools offering baking classes to the young ones, so i thought why don't i conduct one myself instead of paying the school to do what i know though there will be some difference of course. [between baking in the school and baking at home with mommy]

What i did was to prepare the dough in advance minus the boys' help.

After that, it was hands off for me.. totally.

And it meant just that, totally hands off for me.

The boys did the kneading [slightly], rolling, stamping etc themselves.

All by themselves.. with a little help from the helper though.

And i?

Just standing around, trying NOT to give any instructions at all which i managed to successfully *grin*, carrying the baby and watched the boys have fun or rather, watched the boys fret mostly over their difficulty in stamping the cookies and trying to get the dough out in one piece. Heh.

Nevertheless, i was rather impressed with the results.

Orange butter cookies

Not too bad aye? ;)

Sure. There were some disfigured Hello Kitties. There were also some disfigured Stars, Hearts and not to mention.. the broken giant Star and Gingerbread Man.

But what matters more is that the boys had fun which they claimed they did and they loveeeeeeeed the cookies to bits!

The hint of the orange zest in these butter cookies was very refreshing.

Initially, i wanted them to continue on with decorating/piping using the icing with colours but by the time the cookies were baked, all of us were very much worn out.

So, that was that. No further decorating/piping.

While i was away...

2007-12-27T22:39:00.001+08:00

my garden angel has been taking care of my precioussssss...

Not only the plants did not turn brown and wilt, they are thriving!

LOOK!

Remember my poor tarragon which died on me few weeks back?

The last stalk standing is now flowering!

Yellow flowers...

Ahhhhh... :D

And then, i have other surprises too!

To my delight of course... Yes yes, i cannot stop gushing and smiling! :P

The died-ed tarragon is re-growing again.

See the baby tarragon?? ^.^

However.

Unfortunately.

Although all other plants are doing very very well, in fact.. the husband has harvested more than 10 bright red and very spicy chili padi when i was away, there is this one plant that isn't doing so well afterall... :(

My poor poor mint.

Hopefully now that i am back, i can nurse it to its healthy self once more [and not the reverse i hope!]

*definitely keeping my fingers cross*

Anyway... thanks heapsssss, garden angel *muaks* for your time and effort spent although you came home at 9pm daily but still took time to sayang my plants as instructed *ahem* :P

Away~

2007-12-05T10:14:00.000+08:00

Will not be blogging for the next 2 weeks.. :D

More friends...

2007-12-04T11:34:00.001+08:00

Added more plants to what i had initially.

This is how my corridor looks like now.. still waiting for the husband to weld a few of the hanging racks for me.

However, after a couple of days.. most of the plants got moved to the balcony where the morning sun shines.

The corridor gets no direct sunlight at all :(

Some of the new plants i got :

My prized possession : rosemary

I never get bored from smelling it. In fact, i do that almost every morning! :P

Then, my not so stable tarragon.

I can't a bigger, stronger pot apart from this pot.

Other plants that i got are mint and spearmint[for the boys' cough].

Then, i planted some of my own. Those are roselle [from seeds where the fruit was given by the guy who attended to me] and spring onion [from shallots -my own].

Check this out!!

One of my chili padi turning red!

A few days later, which was yesterday...

I harvested 4 of them from the plant.

Super duper red! *yay*

But i haven't eaten them yet though.. so not sure how they taste like. Heh.

Then... *sniffs* i found out that my tarragon is dying on me :(

Not all though, 3 stalks died and one still thriving. Hopefully the thriving one will survive.

Run Lola Run!

2007-12-03T16:38:00.000+08:00

If you ever see a couple sprinting towards a car, laughing and screaming like a madman, you can be very sure that the couple will be the husband and i.

Because both of us are always running to the passenger door, not wanting to be the driver whenever we go out for some quality time.

Unauthentic German pork knuckles

2007-12-02T21:53:00.000+08:00

The first time i had real German pork knuckles was when we were invited by a German couple friend for dinner over their house.

They specially flew the pork trotters here just for us when they went home for holiday. Man, it was enormous!!

However, it didn't quite leave an impression except the crispy crunchy skin which i didn't get to eat much then due to my then-braces.

Feeling a little adventurous these days, so i decided to try baking my own German pork knuckles. Usually, whenever i have pork trotters in the fridge, it'd be used to make Teochew braised trotters but not this time round! ;)

My very first attempt of baking pork knuckles..

After doing some recipe reading online, i decided to adapt my own version, remembering well what i dislike when i had the friend's authentic knuckles.

For one, mine was a little more flavourful.

I didn't just roast it like that with salt and pepper.

What i did was to boil it with a pot of chicken stock together with some root vegetables for over an hour + salt. Then, it was roasting time for 30-45 minutes but not before i rubbed the skin with lots of oil and salt to make it real skin.

While roasting, i didn't baste the skin even once with the good gravy to keep the skin dry and crispy. For the last 15 minutes before it is done, i switched my oven from roasting to grilling simply because i was kiasu! I really wanted a to-die-for skin! Heh.

Verdict : awesome! The skin was done exactly what i wanted. As for the meat, ooh la la... moist, soft and tender + full of flavour, from the chicken stock with root vegetables. Not even a single piece of meat could be found on the bones at the end of the dinner.

It was a total hit!

Everyone loves the skin to bits, especially the kiddos.

Will i cook this again?

You bet!

Despite the many many work.

p.s : wanted to take more photos but unfortunately, as USUAL, the camera battery died on me on my very first click. UGH!

Fudgy chocolate cream cheese swirl brownies

2007-11-29T16:42:00.001+08:00

My second time baking a brownie. The first time i baked one was years ago and it didn't turn out that fantastic.

This time, i made it again but using another recipe because i simply couldn't resist the very tempting looking brownies anymore!

~These incredibly fudgy brownies have a chocolate cream cheese layer sandwiched in between. Crave.

It was truly deeply wicked.

Mind blowing!

I couldn't.. or rather, we couldn't stop eating it. It was gone on the day i baked it.

The amount of good chocolate used for this brownie was HUGE. Given its not so big size, imagine how super chocolate-y it is!

And that chocolate cream cheese swirl in the centre?

I must say, it complements perfectly with the fudgy chocolate brownie. At first, i wanted to do some chocolate ganache to top it off but after trying the first square, i decided it'd be wiser not to coz i really don't wanna get constipated the next day and the day after too! :P

The brownie was good enough to eat on its own but i like to eat mine the traditional way ;)

Warmed brownie topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream + a little drizzle of chocolate fudge.

It was 'MMmmmmmmmm....' throughout no joke.

I was a very satisfied girl that day :D

Apom balik

2007-11-28T22:05:00.000+08:00

Last Sunday was not the usual Sunday we have because we were bringing the boys for Scrooge in the afternoon. At last...

I think i was more excited than the boys you know.. Grin.

And just so you know, Scrooge was very good. I was entertained silly! So did the boys.. but hor, the doink husband actually fell asleep!!!

Lol.

Terrible man.

So yeah, the Sunday was not the usual Sunday hence our normal routine wasn't being followed. Which means, i could make apom balik for hb to try finally... freshly made apom balik!

And mostly, can clear the peanuts liao *yay*! :P

The first piece i did was for the boys and helper. I wanted to do the Malaysian version as i like them better but unfortunately, the creamy corn that i bought didn't turn out as what i have been anticipated.

The creamy corn from Mili looked darn funny. Maybe because i haven't bought any before but i don't think it was supposed to look like what it did. So in the end, i picked a few corns here and there instead of spreading half the can like that the usual apom balik sellers back in M'sia do.

As for the remaining corn [roughly 98% left], it ended up in the rubbish bin.

The first piece i did didn't turn out nice, be it the taste or the browning of the skin.

It wasn't sweet enough.

The apom balik's skin wasn't browned evenly and i suspected it was because i used oil.

Hee.. i think it looks more like roti prata than peanut pancake yeah? Kekeke..

So, for hb's piece, i made some changes.

i - no more using oil before i pour the batter in
ii - more sugar was added to the peanut mixture
iii - definitely no corn as the few corns that i put in earlier didn't taste nice at all
iv - butter was spread on the apom balik before the peanut mixture is added in

And this is what i got :)

Nicely browned throughout!

I was pretty satisfied.

As for the taste, it turned out good!

Everything was nicely balanced out, the sweetness and the peanut mixture sans corn.

And oh, the texture was wonderful too! As you can see from the photo above, the texture was springy and chewy, not too hard, not too dry, not too soft but just nice .

Very very nice. I like very much.. :P

The fussy pot husband who initially went 'ugh' at the thought of eating my apom balik had to swallow back his own word after eating it. Heh.

In fact, hb likes it so much that he actually finished the whole 4 sub-pieces for the second piece that i made and the photo taking was done in a lighting speed because the husband was simply too impatient to eat again.

Real pig ah.. *kabish*

Tak boleh tahan! :P

Mexican chocolate delight

2007-11-27T17:47:00.000+08:00

Initially, i wanted to bake a nice looking cake for my gynae and the nurses because the gynae was nice enough to prescribe me some medication [which other docs wouldn't wanna give me] without having me consult her first, which means.. i saved more than $50+! *yippee*

Then i realized i've got no eggs. And the egg auntie can only deliver it in the evening. My bad~

Again, i flipped through some recipes and discovered one nice looking dessert which doesn't need eggs so, here it is..

Mexican chocolate delight :)

"Mexican chocolate delight, commonly used in hot drinks, consists of dark chocolate flavoured with cinnamon. Occasionally, they are flavoured with other spices and include nuts~" Crave.

It was supposed to be nice looking but sadly, i didn't manage to do it that nicely due to 2 reasons.

i - my choc mousse was stiff though i beat it to medium peaks form. How? After folding the medium peak's mousse a few times to combine other ingredients, it became stiff! Hence, i couldn't just pour the mousse in and let it level nicely itself. I had to pipe it out and level it with the back of the spoon :(

Note : will beat the cream till soft peaks next time round.. Or less than that..

ii - the prepared mousse and chocolate not enough although the recipe says 'makes 6'. I actually did 1.5 portion which means i should get 9 cups instead but i didn't even get 6 cups. So, the chocolate ganache was really not enough to have me cover the first layer of mousse nicely and not enough choc mousse for the final layer too :(

Note : ha! I just, JUST saw that the cups used in the recipe are smaller than my fist! No wonder... *smack forehead* Aiyoh.. me the champion! Heh.

So not nice looking hor.. :S

BUT, they taste awesome!

So that's abit consoling. Grin.

I'm not a big fan of mousse but the combination for this small cup is pretty impressive. Chocolate mousse infused with cinnamon, chocolate ganache with 4-5 tsp of Grand Marnier [added the 3 extra tsp myself], then topped with fresh cream infused with cinnamon again + some cocoa powder on top.. one word, power!

Especially the chocolate ganache. Hee hee hee... and oh, the slight hint of cinnamon rocks my boat too!

Nice.

I am very certain that my throat was warmed throughout the night after i had it and i was slightly, slightly high.

I find that eating all 4 layers together is the best. Eating layer by layer isn't exactly that exciting. So the spoon must scoop deep deep for that power ummmppphhh! ;)

Because of the not-enough-mousse-and-ganache, some of the cups are filled to half only.

And the thick skin me included them as well in the box of 6 that i gave. Lol. I was too lazy to make another more presentable dessert ah.. Heh.

Where are ears..

2007-11-27T17:41:00.000+08:00

I have always been a listener.

And i like being one too.

But sometimes, once in a bluemoon.. i need a listener too.

Gardening

2007-11-26T14:32:00.001+08:00

I finally did it!

After months of talking about planting my own herbs, flowers and other edible plants, i finally bought 2 pots 1+ week ago when i was at the wet market with the husband on the morning i was gonna do my lasik.

It wasn't planned.

We were walking around after our breakfast when we came across a small section where potted plants are sold. Perhaps because they just sprinkled some water or perhaps it was the morning dew, the plants looked too good to resist, as though they were screaming 'bring me home, bring me home' to me.

After looking through at some 30+ pots of different plants, i picked only 2.

Thai basil and chili padi plant.

I almost couldn't make up my mind. Initially, i wanted 4-5 pots but the husband was like.. wah, how to carry ah?

Fineeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...~~~~

Furthermore, i know nuts about growing plants, so it's wise to buy only 2 and see if they'll die on me. 2 pots will be my first baby step :)

Up close with my new friends.. :P

My chili padi plant.

Currently, they are flowering and all the chilis are still green in colour.

I read through some gardening forum and it seems that i'll need to pinch the flowers away to make way a better looking bushy plant.

But, er.. how to pinch??

Additionally, it's like so sayang to pinch the pretty flowers away.. Hee.

Then, my thai basil.

Hmm.. no flowers yet. Actually, i didn't know that thai basil will flower until i saw some at a farm/nursery last Saturday. The flowers are purple in colour.

Hou leng ah!

I can't wait till my basil flowers but for the time being, let's hope the plants won't die on me first! *fingers cross* :D

Ccrrrrooooaaakk~

2007-11-23T13:53:00.000+08:00

Boy1 is currently attending a 1 week holiday programme with an enrichment school. Everyday, the students will go places, doing really fun activities all day long from 9 to 5.

2 days ago, the boy was brought to a frrrrrrrog farm and he brought this home!

Huge tadpole!!!

I've not seen one this big before. All along, the ones i saw were small, cute and swim really fast, here there everywhere. Huge ones are so not so!

Boy1 didn't only brought 1 home, he brought 2.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

They do gross me out. I want nothing to do with them at all. But in the end, I relented and decided to keep them because the boys seem really thrilled with it. Furthermore, they promise that they'll take good care of it.

Every morning and evening, the boys will go outside the corridor to feed the tadpoles, wake them up and even talk to them. The 2 elder ones will just squat down right there, have small discussion between them and occasionally, laugh out loud.

It's rather heartwarming :)

And then yesterday when i was tending to my new plants, i saw this!!!!!

OMG!

Legs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The tadpoles now have legs!!!

Shit.

They are transforming.

Then, on the very night, i dreamed about the tadpoles turning into frogs overnight and jumped right into the house, causing a huge havoc.

Oh no!!

I think the next time when i see them having 4 legs, i'll tell the boys to bring their new pet to the canal downstairs to set them free.

Me shouting and screaming like a mad woman when the tadpoles really turn into froggies and start jumping and hopping around the house and corridor ain't gonna be a pretty sight. And i think the boys will definitely join me when that happens.

What i want..

2007-11-22T22:10:00.000+08:00

** very personal and long. Not suitable for the unkind ones.

Friends, relatives, family always ask me this but friends especially.

As some of you might know by now, most of my very close girlfriends are quite something in their career. High achievers and have very good jobs.

So naturally, because they care.. they kinda worried for me, me being a stay at home mom - full time, no working experience, no 'real-world' experience, no nothing, basically, still quite naive and very much the same old girl they know back in Secondary school [which is why they are very protective of me in a lot of situations eg ; when i accidentally got drunk last year].

They'll go..

What if something happens to my marriage? What am i gonna do? Financially?

Will i ever work? What? Where? When? How?

Yada yada yada.

The girlfriends even discussed this issue once among themselves and then talked to me on a very serious tone over dinner one time when we had a chance to meet up. Yes, they care that much. But mostly, because they don't want to see me wasted just like that, they say.

Because they think if i do go to work, i can do quite a bit, according to them of course *ahem*.

But the thing is.. i had already let it go, albeit a bit reluctant in the beginning.

If i have only 2 choices, family/love or career.. i pick family/love. I know i wasn't like that long ago but i guess my priorities changed as i age, even though i was only 19. I don't just fall in love blindly and take the next big step. I know what i want and till today, i still know what i want.

And i think. A lot.

You'd be very surprise that i actually have almost all the answers to everything that has got to do with my life, even in awkward situations.

But as for now, what do i wanna do with this life of mine? [provided if all goes well lah *fingers cross* :P]

I'm gonna continue to do what i'm doing, a full time homemaker. Believe it or not, i love my life now... more than any other lifestyle i could think of.

After that when beep is 3 and start going to school, i'm gonna start working part time. Because i didn't have that piece of paper, it'll be hard for me to look for normal jobs and man, i'd be 30 then! Who in the world would wanna hire a no experience, no everything 30 years old mother?!

Yeah, i have thought about that too, quite embarrassing actually.. so, what's left for me to do?

Sell property/ insurance/ join MLM?
Hb will be the first to say NO.

Sell my bakes?
Hmm.. as much as i like baking, i realized i won't be able to sell my bakes for long term after my short stint of doing so few months back. I dislike the inflexibility to bake what i want to, what i feel like. I dislike baking something over and over again when what i really want is to try out new recipes. Unless i'm like super famous and have strong customer base who trust me 100% and let me pick what i wanna bake for them instead of being asked what to bake for them, then it's another story aye? But that is like so so impossible because to achieve that and if it's indeed possible, i will still need to do the conventional way first to earn my customers' trust.

Help the husband out?
That, is an option. But if possible, i think the husband will not want me to.

Then, i thought of being a yoga instructor.

Ooooo yeah!!

I love practising yoga. It's another passion of mine. And i think i'm pretty good at it. Uh huh.. i am! :P

I dare not say and will never say i'm good in baking because i don't think i am and honestly still think i'm an amateur, but when it comes to yoga, i dare say i'm pretty good :Pp

Of course, i haven't mastered everything yet and i still have a lot more to improve which is why i only thought of teaching when beep is 3. I have 2 years more to further improve myself.

I did consult my instructor before on this and it seems that if i want, i can actually take up the yoga instructor course now!

But but.. cannot lah! I don't think i am good enough yet and secondly, can you just imagine if my students can do better than me? What will they think?

Just like how i can do most postures better than my relieve instructor. If it's just 1 or 2 postures, it's totally fine because everyone has their own weakness but most postures? Hmmm.. But then, admittedly.. she's good at teaching and i do enjoy her class quite a lot :)

Guess i am quite a perfectionist when it comes to issues like these. I just don't wanna do it now knowing i'm not that good yet and furthermore, beep is only 1. I still wanna be with him 24/7 =)

So yeah, yoga instructor it is - what i want.. though it's nothing much if were to compare to the gfs but i like. I'll do it on part time basis so that i'll still have time for the boys. And nope, i will not open a small yoga school, like what my mom has been hoping for because it's too much of a commitment for then and even for the next 15 years to come.

Perhaps when the boys are married.. then i'll think again. Heh.

p.s : i just realised that i've got 5 classmates [including bestie] who became a doctor, out of the 20 odd classmates whom i still keep in touch with. Not sure if there are more [total : 39 students].. Shites! I'm so not gonna go for any reunion man... I never did actually. Hee..

Peanut butter cupcakes

2007-11-22T10:15:00.000+08:00

Everytime when i received a notice from the boys' school saying they'll be having party and food needs to be contributed, i'd start having headache.

Because the party isn't just once a year, it's every term and it could be twice a term sometimes!

Term 4 just finished last week. The last day of term 4 usually means X'mas party for the boys and parents are asked to contribute food if possible. This time round, i feel i should make something nice for the teachers as well instead of just for the the children hence, more headache!

I have to come up with something that will entice the old and young. Chocolate is out of the question because i bake chocolate cake too often for the parties. So, what's left for me to bake?

Orange cake?

Not sure if the kids will like them.

Oreo cake sounds good.

But i didn't have the ingredients on hand.

Then, i went browsing.. looking through my handwritten recipes and cookbooks for ideas and i finally came up with something.

Peanut butter cupcakes!

I like the way the peanut butter came oozing out a little. Biting into these babies are totally orgasmic especially when they are fresh out of the oven.. Very very yummilicious.

Which is an excellent choice.

i- it's simple and easy
ii- i can finally clear my peanut butter which will be expiring end of this month!
iii- not many adults and children will say no to peanut butter, right? *i hope*

But as they were cooling on the rack, i thought they look a tad too plain for the children to fancy it. For one, i know my boys will not go 'wahhhhhhhhh' when they see it so, i decided to play dressing up!

Keeping in mind that i need to finish the decoration within 15-20 mins, i came up with something really simple again.

Peanut butter cupcakes with Nutella. Should be quite a nice combination me think.

Nutella, right from my unopened bottle.

Then, with some variety of toppings ; rainbow sprinkles, heart shapes, candies.. the boys were all ready to go!

And of course, i left some naked.. for the teachers who might not like them dressed up :)

Beef III

2007-11-21T13:29:00.001+08:00

And then, the very next day..

for dinner.

See what i mean about me being wild on beef last week? ^.^

Sirloin steaks with creamy worcestershire + fresh tarragon sauce served on top of a bed of creamy mashed potato together with grilled portobello mushrooms [again] and green peas.

Because of my lack of skill, the steak was either medium done** [when i followed the Cold Storage's recipe] or almost rare [when i followed my cookbook's recipe]. Haha.. Lousy me! I simply cannot gauge leh. Think i need to cook this dish more when i have the extra $$ to spare.. :P

But one thing i noticed is that even though the steak was almost done, it wasn't tough to eat, unlike the ones sold outside. It was still nice to chew, juicy and.. well.. nice. I wonder why.

And yes, i got a tad wild on fresh herbs these days too!

**medium done - opps, i mean medium well!

Beef II

2007-11-21T13:21:00.001+08:00

I was wild on beef last week.

First it was the Wild Rocket burger.

Then i just have to have pasta bolognese but with extra special ingredient.

Fresh basil leaves!

Gorgeous!

I have never never bought / cooked basil leaves before. This is my first. I got pretty excited. I wonder how the pasta will taste like with basil leaves.

Will it taste awful?

Will it taste yummy?

Or simply, indifferent?

Bad picture, bad bad picture! Not enough lighting!

Easy peasy pasta bolognese.

I must say, the basil leaves did make a different. I like the distinct taste and smell of the basil in my pasta. Very nice. Very herb-ie.

Cute.

:P

I like mine [the pasta] abit wet, from the pasta's cooked-in-water so that i can slurp and slurp and make a mess out of myself. Grin.

Creamy bolognese ones? I like them too.. but since it's home cooked, i prefer the healthy version. I like the good feeling it gives in the tummy ;)

Saturday is the fun fun day!

2007-11-21T10:51:00.000+08:00

Not the previous Saturday but 2 Saturday ago of course!

After the boys' art class at UE2, i decided to just chill out a little and let the boys have some fun before dinner.

But before that, it's hair cutting for the 2 younger ones. A very much needed cut! Now i don't have to keep repeating that beep is a boy, not a girl.. :P

Beep who refused to be cooperate. It was real tough! U can never imagine man... The amount of silly entertainment i did was enough to last me for 1 month! Lol.

After the painful hair cutting session, i took the boys to Laurent's Chocolate bar and cafe at Robertson Walk.

Our Chocolate Truffle cake!

It was really good. The chocolate was awesome but i think they could be slightly more generous with the chocolate for the in between layers... The chocolate sponge was really good though. However, it didn't quite feel like chocolate truffle cake. More like just a very rich dark chocolate cake?

The 3 piglets and the mommy pig.. See didi's new hair cut? So boy!

The abit garang + ah beng beep with his new hair cut. No more girlie beep yay!

I like Robertson Walk. It's a very nice place to go on a Saturday evening. Quiet, breezy, cooling, peaceful and plenty of space for the kids to just run wild and not having me to worry about them bumping into things or being out of sight.. very very nice.

It's a place where i can bring a book to read while the helper sits down and help to look after the boys.. and the plus point will be good cakes!

I like.

The boys who got recharged after downing the chocolate cake + a cuppa ice chocolate but then, they never really ran out of battery before y'know.. 

It was a lovely Saturday.. and i'm pretty sure we'll do more of this very soon :)

Lasik-ed

2007-11-19T10:08:00.000+08:00

I'm up and about again, well.. almost :)

Thank you for all the well wishes.. they made me very happy :P

The minor surgery said is actually lasik. I finally went for it after a year of procrastination! Now i'm specs free *yay!!*

It feels great waking up having a perfect 6/6 vision everyday.

No need to go look for my specs in an almost a blind state anymore. No need to keep asking my helper to look for my specs when i can't find it myself. No need to ask the husband for help to look for my specs when my helper can't manage to locate it. No need to ask the boys for help to look for my specs when the husband can't find it either. Now i can spare everyone the agony already. Grin.

And most importantly, no more looking like ah soh at home ;)

The only downside i have for the time being is halos and glares at night which means, i have difficulty driving at night. When i do, it seems like all the cars are having their high beams on!

Terrible.

However, the doc said i will get better as days pass. Halos and glares are worst for me than for others because, according to the doc.. i have bigger pupils than others [mine's 8mm]. If you have the normal size pupils, it won't be as bad.

Anyway, the whole surgery was s.c.a.r.y. albeit short. Actually, make that very scary. I had so much difficulty to concentrate as instructed. I think it was the calming pill that i took. I just wanna die in there.

And don't even get me started on after surgery condition. I had it bad. I had ALL the side effects which is not common. I couldn't open my eyes and when i finally could, i cannot keep it open for more than 3 seconds. I kept tearing. Then i cried, occassionally. It was painful. I felt as though there was chili in my eyes. It stings! Sunglass wasn't enough for me. The glare was really bad. I had to cover my whole head with my jacket, like a bandit, even in the building. I was very giddy.

I really didn't see all these coming.

Because the last time the husband had his lasik done 2 years ago, we actually went shopping at Orchard after that! The husband didn't have what i had. My sister in law who had her surgery done half an hour after me didn't have what i had as well. We actually planned to go for a nice lunch after the surgery but because of me.. we had drive thru McD and i didn't even eat my burger till i woke up in the late evening.

I wonder if it has got anything to do with my pupils' size.

But i tell ya, the doc is really good and nice. I totally recommend him.

And hor, i don't even have astigmatism now. How cool is that? ^.^

2007-11-16T10:42:00.000+08:00

I'm very nervous and scared.

Will not be blogging until i feel okay...

Going to the hospital in 5 mins time!! *cold sweat*

Concert 2007

2007-11-14T22:14:00.001+08:00

It's the time of the year again!

Boy, was i excited or what! :P

Shy boy2's 1st concert!!!! And the boys looked awfully awesome in their costumes.. Hee hee hee.

Don't ask me why that expression on boy2... I dunno either!

Boy1 is the supposed to be dancer.. and he really looked like one too, doesn't he? Lanky and tall.. i just cannot imagine didi in that costume. Hahaha.. it'd be darn funny!

And didi is the tin soldier from UK. Wait till you see his full costume.. so very adorable! Together with the hat, white gloves and drum... I tell ya, i was swelling inside! *thick skin mommy*

On the way to the concert.. i did the make up! Compulsory.. Again, the funny face from boy2! Hee..

We were extremely late this year... didn't have the chance to take any photos before concert. Something that i do every year without fail :(

Anyway, korkor performed first surprisingly. Usually the performances start from the lowest level but this year, it's random. I must say that this year is boy1's best performance so far. He was well behaved. Unlike last year, he was looking everywhere and anywhere, not really concentrating.

Then it was didi's turn. The shy shy boy2 was fantastic! I was extremely proud. Don't know why but everytime when i see then boy now boys on stage performing year after year, i still feel overwhelmed with emotions... i simply couldn't stop the tears from flowing.

Silly billy me!

Finale, together with other students

Then some post concert shots..

Can't leave him out, can i? :P

And then of course the little stars of the day :)

As a reward for the boys' hard work, we had pizza for dinner! Something which excites the boys to no end at all times =)

Wild!

2007-11-13T23:12:00.001+08:00

FINALLY!!

I finally ate 'the' burger from Wild Rocket.

Met up with a gf for lunch on Deepavali to get some stuff from her and i die die also must drag the gf for lunch at Wild Rocket with me because she is almost the only one i know who love and will eat such a huge burger..

And she's skinny!! *pout*

We both ordered the set lunch instead of ala carte because obviously, it's more worth it ;)

Our starter..

Pan seared tuna with wild rocket

Both my companion and i agree that having only wild rocket is abit too much to take. Too bitter!! It'll be good if they had added other leaves as well, eg ; baby spinach etc!

I finished my tuna but not the leaves.

Nothing to shout about for this starter but me like the sambal on top on the tuna though :)

Then, 'the' burger!

It looked too awesome to just post only 1 photo! So 3 it is.. just for the burger :P

No fries... instead, we got this papadam? Cute. See the juice? A bit bloody.

Abit closer...

And up close and drool!

And of course, dessert.

Vanilla ice cream with black sesame.

The burger was pretty good. Juicy!

Before i could take my first bite, the juice came oozing out out of nowhere just because i grabbed the burger a little. Heh.

The juice that came out was slightly bloody but surprisingly, when i finally gotten my first bite, the pattie was just pink and no blood at all! I had mine done at medium and my gf had hers medium rare, which wasn't bloody as well.

THAT means, the next time i go again, i'll definitely get mine done at medium rare because i like it more juicy and tender!

And i like the yellowish sauce too! *lick lips*

However, i personally something is amiss when i was savouring the burger. I wonder if it's because of the lack of flavour in it? Or merely because i wasn't eating the burger in whole, as in.. not able to sink my teeth into it in its towering form due to the environment. Too embarrass to do so!

I bet if i were to do that, i'll definitely get lotsa unwanted attention / stares for opening my mouth THAT big. Grin.

Initially for my dessert, i wanted to try their famous kueh bahlu tiramisu by just paying an extra few dollars more. Then we saw the waitress carried the ice cream with black sesame to the next table and we were sold!

The black sesame with vanilla ice cream looks too good to pass. We immediately changed our initial order :P

And true to its look, the dessert didn't fail us one bit.

I tell ya, the thick thick black sesame paste was to die for and when combined with the vanilla ice cream, whoa.... totally wicked!!

I polished off every single bit for my 3 course meal except the wild rocket [for the starter] whilst the gf, didn't... now we know why the thin ones always stay thin and the thin-wanting-to-be-ones will just stay wanting-to-be!

Heh.

Besides food, i like the location of the restaurant as well. Though secluded, i like it. I like the fact that it is so close to nature and it's on a hill. Right opposite the Hangout Hotel is the National Nature Park. Because of that, it's quiet and very peaceful. It somehow reminds me of where hb and i used to go for our nightly walk back in Melbourne more than half a decade ago.. A walk that we never fail to go at around 1-2am even when it was freezing!

I like.

p.s : T, sorry for the late entry. Couldn't find the camera till today!

Butter!

2007-11-13T16:09:00.002+08:00

I almost got a heart attack when i saw the butter's price last week.

Instead of $3.05, it's now $4.50 at least per block for President and Lurpark. It's a 50% increase at least!

Because i use butter quite a bit, i hurried down to a shop downtown when i had chance and got myself a ....

BOX!

at $4 a block.

For 20 blocks, i'll save $10.

Worth it?

Nope.

Because just 2 days ago, i saw Lurpark selling at $10.50 (roughly) for 3 at NTUC, a packaging which i thought had ceased for good since i didn't see it on the shelves for almost a year already.

Ugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thankfully i didn't purposely go to town just to get the butter. It so happened that i was nearby when i got it. But still.... ggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Yeah, go ahead and laugh at me!! Especially you! since that very second when i smacked my forehead.

Lesson of the day : no more help-the-husband-save-money attempts!

Cinnamon teacake

2007-11-11T21:59:00.001+08:00

Been craving for cakes quite a bit.

Solid ones.

Most importantly, simple and something that i'd not tried before.

And this, almost fits the bill.

Except that it was not solid enough for me.

It's rather spongey and light.

I wanted a heavy cake. But then, what did i expect?!

The butter required was only 60g!
Duh~

:P

Heh.

I guess i was hoping for a miracle to be honest. With only 60g butter, 2 eggs .. for a 7" cake, fat chance!

But the cake was great! That i must admit though it wasn't what i was craving for. Like i mentioned, the cake was light and moist. Almost like a sponge cake but buttery enough not to be one.

For a while, i thought the cinnamon will be folded in into the batter but nope. The cinnamon was merely something that got sprinkled on the cake on top of a layer of butter coating and together with the caster sugar.

Without sprinkling it, the cake is just a buttercake-next-door :P

Oooooo... my fav pic! I'm pretty proud y'know.. lol *thick*

See the texture of the cake?

Spongey and light aye?

With today's soaring prices of certain staples [read : butter], this cake is real good. Gentle on the pocket :)

2007-11-11T20:56:00.000+08:00

It's not a criticism, it's mocking.

I already knew i have it and even wrote it down.

And it was 9.30AM on a SUNDAY!

+ that wasn't what i tried to send out of it. What happened to most of the stuff in it?

It's rather funny how people like to scrutinise the little ugly details and ignore the big beautiful part.

Sigh.
It hurts badly.

It's raw lor..

Wedding band lost?

2007-11-10T12:18:00.000+08:00

The husband lost his wedding band yesterday.

hb : i must go get a new ring already
me : *ting ting ting in the head* why?
hb : i lost mine today

Hb was playing with the ring when he was having lunch when it got lost. I suspected it was because he took it out, played, ate, then forgot all about it until he was in the car.

I really don't know whether to be angry or happy. But i think i'm 20% angry and 80% happy. Of course, i didn't show that i was happy! I controlled darn hard not to grin but acted angry instead when i questioned hb.

And then.. still acted irritated when i made the following statement.

me : where got people buy just 1 wedding band ah? It comes in 2! And i don't think it's auspicious for a couple to wear a different wedding band! *squinting at the husband for an answer i was hoping for*
hb : then we go get a pair lor..
me : sheeessshhh!! Okay lor!

Kekekekkeke.. i was practically jumping up and down inside me!! I had to run out of the room to break into giggles right after that. Hahhahaahahaha.. :P

Because the first thing i thought of instantly when the husband told me that he needed to get a new ring was this.

Women.. cunning little creature aren't we? *hiak*hiak*hiak* >.< **praying hard that the husband won't be reading my entry for a week starting from yesterday**

Me the wife

2007-11-09T12:51:00.000+08:00

Nice me ~

considerate - even when i'm still boiling in the middle of the night, i don't send my sms-es to the husband who is sound asleep. Because i don't wanna wake him up and lose his precious sleep. Instead, i'll send it to his work phone. He'll see it in the morning.
nice - nice lor. I practically live for the husband *hide*
loving - i love to dote on my man. Whenever i go shopping, i'll think of the husband and try to buy something back for him.
affectionate - i love to touch hb's face when we are about to sleep, stroke his hair and i love looking at hb when he's sleeping + love hugging and small pecks
not a nagger - it's the husband, not me! :P
no PMS - really! My mood is usually dictated by the husband's mood *hide*
no tantrums - i am not someone who is unreasonable. I don't simply flare up for no reason.
forgive easily - all the husband needs to do is just push some right buttons and i'll be okay again :)
faithful, fiercely - my brain rules the heart in this case
not materialistic - well, at least no longer is! Hee hee hee.. :P
dislike quarreling - i don't spoil the day with remarks which are uncalled for. Even if i'm unhappy, i rather keep quiet most of the time for peace's sake. I wasn't like this in the beginning but after a while, you'll realise quarreling is exhausting.

Not so nice me ~

like to sleep - i can sleep till noon if i want!
i don't wake up to prepare breakfast [but the brekkie is already on the table hor] for the husband at 6am - i need my sleep mah but i do cook lunch [for kids] and dinner [for the whole family] on daily basis okie!
stubborn - i do think i'm right most of the time, which i am! Er.. see.
dislike housework. Period.
vindictive - only to the husband! eg : if hb mistreats me, i'll ill-treat him back. Hohoho.
not an excellent mother. I don't live and breathe children, sadly.. as much as i wanted to.
i'm an A *blush*. Used to be a full B pre-kids. Ugh.
er.. i'm quite lazy too. Hahaha.. like to sleep + dislike housework = lazy!

There are many types of wives around. Friends, family, relatives and some, i even read them through forums!

Some very garang, some very nice but not too many unfortunately [same goes for nice husbands of course], in another word, all kinds.

Most of the time, i'm pretty nice, soft and submissive. But the husband cannot bully me. Because when he does, i'll bite.

And my purpose of this entry?

To let hb knows he's very lucky lorr. Hahahahhaa...

So don't take me for granted hor, PIG.

But then, the husband has never. never told me that he's lucky to have me before *sniffs*. The pessimistic husband says he will only know on the day i die. Grrrrr...

p.s : or maybe not so lucky after all.. since my list of not so nice me is so long! o.O

One tray dinner

2007-11-09T10:33:00.000+08:00

One of the simplest dinner one can prepare..

No skills needed, not much washing, definitely easy but nevertheless yummy. A sure hit with both young [my 3 angels] and old [the husband of course!] :D

Why one tray dinner?

Because... i really did chuck everything in into that one baking tray!

Grilled chicken 

And some asparagus, potatoes and lastly...

the highlight of the day.. and also the main reason this dinner was cooked ->

Portobello mushrooms!

It was my first time buying portobello mushrooms and grilling it at home.

To be honest, i'm not a huge fan of mushrooms. I can live without it. I bought because i remember vividly how fond the husband was when we had some grilled shiitake mushroom over the dinner in a Japanese restaurant a couple of months back.

I wanted to whip up something similar.

And i'm pretty damn pleased i did.

Lemon yoghurt cake with blueberry

2007-11-07T10:01:00.000+08:00

Whenever there is an opportunity, the family will ask me for my bakes. Very 'fan' you know! [hint to the no-automatic sisters, HINT!] :P

Initially the greedy sisters and mother wanted 3 different type of cakes! But because of my tight schedule nearing the weekend, i could only squeezed in one. Hehe...

And i picked lemon yoghurt cake which i had done once earlier.

Reason being is that i needed to clear my yoghurt and lemon.. Lol.

And of course, they are truly delicious despite on their plain look when not dressed up. Plus, my younger sister in law has been requesting this cake for sometime already ever since she last tried it. So frustrated she is until she wanted to 'order' from me :P

In total, i baked about 3 dozens of them.

Gave a few to boy2's teachers, some for testing, some for sil and the rest, my greedy family :)

Because i didn't have enough yoghurt (short of half a cup), i substituted it with 1 cup whipping cream + another cup of milk. I remember quite clearly that the last batch could have used another cup of milk for a perfect texture, hence my adaption for this time round.

I was half accurate.

When the cakes were fresh out of the oven, it tasted so heavenly. Moist, soft and just right for everything!

However, after being contained in the container for 1 day, the cakes became a tad too moist for my liking. Now i know what to do for my next time round.

If yoghurt isn't enough : 1/2 cup whipping cream + 1 cup milk.
If yoghurt is enough : 1 cup of milk.

But i tell you hor, no one else noticed the extra moistness in the cake leh! I was the only one... they were nicely chomping the cupcakes away till no more left.. oh, left 1 actually :P

Shopping!

2007-11-07T09:10:00.000+08:00

I was feeling bored yesterday around 12ish midnight.

This, is what happened when one's bored.

Eyeing on :

Front

I like the details and the not so expensive price tag ;)

Back

Front

This one is on sale!! Costs around USD$30+ only. Cheap aye? ^.^ I want!

I love this especially the hood. Hehe.. me think it's good for rough wear eg : trekking in the mountains :)

Then last week, me bought :

Dang! Pics too small.. Can't see the details that i wanna show eg : neckline, sleeves and the back of the dress which has got a tie.

Then the gf showed this to me saying that she thinks i might like it and u bet i do girl!

Unfortunately, the one i wanted was black not lemon but at USD$11+, lemon will do too!! Kekeke.. :P

Hope the order will go through because till now, no confirmation yet :(

And my lemmings... Heh.

Tried 2 jackets are Zara last week and i am still thinking about them :P This time round, Zara has got quite a few nice coats that made me wanna buy them all!

Something similar to the ones i have tried :

The similarity for this piece with the one i am eyeing on is the neckline but the Zara's looks abit better and it's a 3/4 sleeves in chili red with black buttons. Very classy and chic~

The second outerwear that i tried on was picked by mil. Mil loves asking me to try on clothings for her to see, especially the ones she fancies but it was me who fell in love with it in the end. Grrr.. :P

It looks something like this except that it's shorter, different colour, different belt and slightly different neckline + not so bulky. Zara's more fitting.

Very chic i tell ya!

But but.. *sniffs* the price is pretty exorbitant :(

$219 each!

How to buy?

Er, don't ask me why outerwear..

Nope, i'm not travelling anytime soon. It's just that i like collecting nice clothings and i have this small obsession with dresses and outerwear especially. Lol.

For just in case mah! ;)

Malacca

2007-11-06T09:45:00.001+08:00

I last went when i was 12 years old with my parents and sisters. The only thing i remembered was the red church, the A Famosa and the ruined church-looking building on the hill.

Since 1-2 years ago when the boys were a little older, i wanted to bring them there quite badly everytime when i travel pass it on the way to KL. But because i was alone with the boys, i don't quite dare and if we are with the husband, hb isn't keen *kabish*.

So it was a good thing that my younger sister who is currently working at Maersk managed to book her company's holiday house in A'Famosa Resort for 3 days 2 nights last weekend. I finally get to bring the kids to the place i have once been when i was a child!

Additionally, it was with my own family [parents , sisters and nephews]. Double joy! ;)

Some random pics picked out of the hundereds.. Heh.

In front of the red building, with windmill behind us

Do ignore my jacket. I had it on because it was too hot! I can feel my skin burning without it. Malacca is hot... super hot!

The sister who loves beep to bits...

Stairs, stairs, stairs and more stairs! *faint* 

I love going out / holiday with my family. They really know how to help me to take care of my boys. When beep first saw them, he cried like nobody's business. But the sisters were pretty adamant on carrying him. So they spent quite some time playing and fooling with him to warm him up a bit.

Before i know it, they were already carrying him! This, is what i really like about my family. They love my children and they show it. They don't give up easily. My sisters will keep on trying and trying till they get him.

And best of all, they will help me to hold their hands when we are out, clean them up when they are dirty, basically, doing things that mothers should do without me asking them to. Going on a holiday with them is almost like going for a holiday myself sans kids!

Simply fantabulous! Grin. [yeah, lazy mommy here!]

Heh. The sister who can't keep her mouth to herself! :P

On our second day, my eldest sister and family joined us but by the time she got to Malacca, it was already supper time!

Then on our last day, we went to the Safari in the resort. Eldest sister got us all a discounted ticket at half the usual price through contacts and it was her treat! Yay.. :D

Heffalump and us :)

The place where we had our lunch in town was pretty cool! Check out the pic below.

I had chicken rice balls and the rest had the normal rice because they have already tried the balls before. Unfortunately, the rice balls are nothing to shout about.

Basically, they are shaped into balls that's all. Because of how they are made, the rice is pretty hard. Me no like. Give me the normal fluffy rice anytime!

There are also a spiral staircase and a place where u can rent the King's costume and take photographs for a fee in the restaurant. And oh, there was an antique trishaw in it too.

After our lunch at Jongker St, we walked over to a shop opposite which sells excellent chendol and ice kachang. Another adorable antique shop...

So cute hor.. ;)

The boys and my nephews and their play station *shakes head* Boys!!

And the sisters?

Guess what were they doing? ^.^

Kidnapped my beep!

They brought him to the room for a molesting session! Hehehehee.... It was only when beep started to protest then i got to know about it :)

Too bad the trip was just a 3d2n thingie.. aihs. We had so much fun!

I love love love love my sisters and family. They truly rock! My sisters are not only my sisters. They are my confidante, best friends and activity partners. Too bad my 2nd sis wasn't able to join us this time round. She is residing in Taipei. Too far to come! :(

Sometimes i wonder how life would be without my many many sisters.... i simply cannot imagine if i only had 1 brother. Scary!

Driving up north

2007-11-05T12:36:00.001+08:00

I drove up North again last weekend, for 3 days 2 nights stay.

It's tiring. My most tiring journey so far i must say.

Because there are 2 newly installed speed cameras! I think most Singaporeans would not have known because the signs are in Malay unless they are informed or a seasoned traveller.

For those who drive up often, the sign is a small rectangular yellow board placed right in the middle of the road divider which says 'Awas Perangkap Had Laju'. There you have it. Keke.. the Malaysian's TP is so gonna hate me now! :P

The 2 mentioned speed cameras are only in the Johor state. After that, no more cameras but there'll be real police though.

There was one incident happened which got me laughing out loud evilly. Lol. I'm mean!!

When i was driving up on Friday, a car opposite flashed at us [other cars and i]. Usually this means police ahead. The few cars and i slowed down of course. Then, suddenly a Z4 zoomed passed us from behind, my guess is he was going at 160km/h at least and even tailgate a poor car right ahead of me so close so that i frowned though it wasn't me that he tailgated.

Right after the poor car changed his lane, the Z4 of course revved up and on the go again. But guess what happened after that?

In less than 5 seconds, i saw the Z4 being pulled over by a police car. Hahaa.. The last thing i saw was the police officer walking over to the driver who happened to be a young male driver. Hehehehe... I tell you, the look on the driver's face was priceless. I burst out laughing so loud and evilly that my helper who was sleeping woke up asking what'd happened.

Seriously, serve him right!!

But but.. i do do the same too, speeding. However, i don't tailgate until that close lah you know. So very dangerous. I bet yeah, other drivers do laugh at me too whenever i got stopped by police for speeding. Grin :P

Oh well.. but i was really good during this trip up. Honest.

That is why i said the trip was tiring because i normally do a 140km/h at least. The length of this journey is almost the same time i take to travel back to KL. I was that slow *yawn*.

Plus i have to i- keep an eye on the road, ii- check the rear and side mirror every 3-5 seconds when i'm on the fast lane over taking to see if there's a mad driver who tailgates me in that few seconds [it happened really, in just 2-3 seconds.. it was like now you don't see it, now you see it, in a mere few seconds. They are that fast!], iii- keep track of my speed - 110km/h throughout [don't want my effort of not speeding to go wasted just in case i got caught for that few seconds of unconscious speeding] iv- keep a look out for cars opposite who are kind enough to flash to warn and v- entertaining the boys too!

Tired ah.. but i think for now, i'll keep to 110km/h. Damn those cameras but but they are good for peeps like me :P

Oh, because i was good, i also managed to siam another road block yesterday on the way home.. Hehehe. U say lah, the cameras good or not? ^.^

If not for them, i would be RM100 or more poorer!

Financiers give away

2007-11-01T14:09:00.000+08:00

Something which i have said i would bake again. Financier ;)

This time, it was meant to be given away though, to some nice aunties and in laws whom i felt i owed big time. Hehehe...

Super big one at the side is for the husband's breakfast

First, it was the egg auntie. Yupyup, i have got an egg auntie! Heh. She delivers eggs to me. Fresh eggs from Lim Chu Kang whenever i needed a tray of them - 30pcs. All gorgeous eggs and you can really tell.

There was once she even brought me 2 types of really fresh vegetables, from Lim Chu Kang again. So fresh that my helper couldn't help but to smell it. Hahahaa.. though they weren't flowers!

Okayyy... fine..... i did the same too! Lol.

I can't decide which colour i like better, the fairer ones or the more golden ones. So i baked 2 batches of 2 different colour financiers :P

Then there's aunty Shirley who never fails to bring me cook books whenever she comes to visit. She used to be hb's old neighbour who works in a publishing company.

Every now and then, the workers are asked if they want any of the excess books that got printed and this very nice aunty Shirley will always get some for me and my boys :)

Of course, for the in laws too. It has been quite some time since i last gave them any of my bakes because these days, we usually eat them all! *hide*

Knowing how much my mother in law fancies nuts and more nuts, half a dozen got set aside just for her but it turned out that she only had one of out 6, as usual... though she openly commented that she loves it.

One thing about my family of in laws is that they never over eat. No matter how delicious the food is. I'm amazed at their self control. Totally. Why oh why do i not have it? Dang!

pssstt : even my boys inherited it, believe it or not.. amazing! Boy1 can say no to chocolates *gasp* and ice cream too.

Financiers.

The other time i didn't have the chance to take a closed up shot of it but now i do :)

It's really soft and fluffy.. not spongey like some sponge cakes though. Because of the ground almond used, it's slightly grainy which i love.

I wanted to use sliced almonds for the topping but when i was about to finish, i realised i didn't have sliced almonds after all. Didn't want it plain so i substituted it with freshly roast walnuts. They taste just as nice if not better...

I will be making them again very soon no doubt since everyone loves them and no egg yolks! Excellent.. :)

Rendition

2007-10-30T21:24:00.000+08:00

Over the weekend, the husband i caught Rendition on the big screen.

I watched mostly for Reese Witherspoon and the husband watched mostly because he had no other choice.

After the movie when we were on the way home, we discussed quite abit about it, rendition. I never knew what the word meant, never knew such word exists [yes, my engrish is very bad!] until the movie.

Rendition : secretive, controversial American government practise of abducting foreign people who are deemed security threats for detention and interrogation in unknown locations overseas.

Another word will be scarily maddening. Note : maddening used here has got more than 1 meaning.

The movie itself though slow, it was intense. Very. I couldn't wait for it to end, for i couldn't really breath anymore. I sympathised with the characters played by a few of the actors and actresses, including the heartless Meryl Streep.

I can't quite say i can understand what they are going through because i've never gone through it and hopefully will never go through it. But i certainly could feel it for them.

Rendition is a very cruel thing to do. I hate cruelty. Any kind. Any sort. I condemned such act. To put a human being through such act is purely inhuman. It's barbaric, illegal and totally indefensible method.

Like the movie, i truly believe if you were to really torture a human in such a way, even if he/she is NOT guilty, he/she will somehow come out with an answer merely to satisfy you and be taken off hook for a while because that is what you want [there's a Shakespeare quote for this but i forgot and i can't find it]. No answer? - because you are truly innocent-. Continue torturing!

Mad.

A kind soul is the husband but he begs to differ on my views. Yes, cruel no doubt, he said. Hb then asked me a question. Would i rather 1-2 or more innocent die out of this practise : rendition or the whole lot of hundreds if not thousands of innocents to die?

I insisted that there must be another way to force a person to open up, even the worst of the worst lot. When i was asked what? I couldn't think of any, sadly except torture.

Is that it? Must we really resort to such act to force answers out, just for that small glitter of hope that we can save thousands of lives with one or two of the answers provided out of the thousands gotten from the innocents and the real terrorists over their dead bodies? And not care how some of the innocent people die? And not care of how the family of these innocent people feel?

Then the husband asked me this.

What would i feel then, say, if a bomb went off, an act by the terrorists at the apartment where my family in KL reside and killed my whole family instantly together with the thousands? How would i feel? Will i still be against rendition?

Me : well.. at least they are not tortured! It was an instant death. No pain.

I know the answer is pretty absurd, but i dunno.. hm.. anything that has got to do with torture, i simply cannot take it and will not accept. But you know what?

I do think the husband has got a point. I'm so into this anti-torture thing until i do not want to accept or see the bigger picture behind it. However, i did shoot one question back to the husband though. Grin.

Me : so, if u were caught through rendition, and were tortured the way the poor guy was tortured in the movie, would you still think that rendition is quite a must?

Hb : i cannot answer such question for i have not gone through it and will never go through it. So i will not be a hypocrite and tell you what i think now for i really would not know what my answer would be then.

Me : *roll eyes* CHEH!

So, am i still against rendition like what i thought i would 100% before talking to the husband?

Honestly, no and nor i support it. I'm sitting on the fence as for now.

Warning!

2007-10-30T17:33:00.001+08:00

Everyone should not pick this up when you see it in the supermarket, be it in NTUC or Cold Storage or at some mini mart.

Because it is so darn good that i actually ate it with my noodle soup too! Something which i have never attempted and will not even think about it with other sambal.

As the name suggested, the chili is crispy and very spicy too, not to mention, very the good. Everyday, i look forward to my lunch and dinner because of it and i can eat up to twice my usual portion! *shudder* I literally eat it with e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. Once, i even tried it just like that, without anything *hide*. Paiseh ah!

Now that my sambal is finished, i dare not buy it anymore. Putting on 1 kg is bad enough. I don't want another kg with another bottle!

However, the most unfortunate thing about this chili is that it contains MSG :(

But still, do give it a try. Just 1 bottle and you will understand why this entry is being posted up. Heh :D

Interested?

2007-10-27T11:53:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was my first time fiddling with a SLR.

I love it!

I took a couple of test shots and i really like what i saw on the camera screen. The camera said is Canon EOS 400D. However, i'm still hunting around to see if there's a better one. If you have one that you know of or owning a good one, please please.. let me know yeah?! :)

Anyway, check this out, for those who are interested in photography and SLRs.

I'm thinking of organizing one. But i need another 19 or less participants.

Interested?

Email me at maameemoomoo[@]gmail.com now!

Date : to be confirmed later on... sekali no one interested how? :P

Tagged!

2007-10-27T10:48:00.000+08:00

Got tagged by Bernice from Baking Journey for this Meme :)

Five Things

Found in my room:

. Denon stereo + speakers

. table lamps

. whole lot of skincare on my bed side table because i don't have a dressing table :(

. CDs, hb's

. books and mags, temporarily for my leisure reading before bedtime

I have always wanted to do:

. volunteering work

. go backpack around the world with a partner for 1-2 years

. live in a different country every 1 year to learn their culture, lifestyle and their cuisine and how to cook them :)

. go for teeth whitening. Heh :P

. baking complicated bakes especially cakes but i don't have the time for it unfortunately which explains why the bakes i do are pretty easy peasy ones

Found in my bag:

. wallet

. handphone

. house keys and car key

. a packet of tissue

. a bottle of water

Found in my wallet:

. ID

. driving license

. Amore member card

. Spinelli store value card

. and credit cards of course! :P

I am currently into:

. yoga - have always been

. outdoor sports

. photography

. travel and planning my itinerary - another have always been :)

. moulding the kids to be a better person

+ baking bread and complicated cakes if i have the time

Candidates to tag :

Hee.. i'll skip tis! :P

A happy day :)

2007-10-25T13:57:00.001+08:00

I was a very very happy girl yesterday!

Very very very very happy indeed. Hahahahha...

It has been quite some time since i last splurge for myself.. as far as i remember, ever since i was pregnant, i never buy things in huge amount [read : $$] anymore. After i gave birth, i did buy abit here and there but those were all online purchase. Hence, doesn't count hor :P

Yesterday i went shopping with mil, aiming to buy only 2 items, a pair of black shoes for the boy and a tub of night cream for myself.

However, in the end, i ended up with these!

See my gorgeous make up box on the left? *beam* :P

Grin.

Scary yeah?

Don't ask me why but according to mil, she thinks i bought them because it was very worth it. Haha.. mil knows me pretty well. She knows i do not anyhow spend or buy unnecessary things like her. She knows i'm very careful with my money or rather, hb's money.

So yesterday was truly an eye opener for her! [according to mil herself] Never had she seen me spend so much for the past 7 years. Not at 1 go definitely. After that, she reasoned it out herself, saying i must have thought it was really worth spending since i really bought them all after all :)

Honestly, i am not so sure myself :P

Note : the amount i spent yesterday may be peanuts to most of you! but to me, it's quite a sum okie... since the husband only earns a meagre pay.

Initially, i wanted to buy just my night cream. Then i saw the make up set which i have been eyeing for quite sometime through an ad in the paper, which i could get for only $98 because i'm eligible for it.

The make up set is available at $98 for any purchase over $100.

And then, i saw this bag.

It was love at first sight! I heart the material. If i'm not wrong, it's suede. Very nice!

However, i can only get it if i make another purchase of $200 and above. The night cream cannot be included because i am using that for the make up set already.

After browsing for a while, i decided to go ahead with another $200+ purchase because i saw 2 items which i have been wanting for the longest time. The SA further convinced me how good they are, this and that.. and most importantly, i really should start using it before it's too late, she said. Hehehe.. oh well, vanity and beauty.. it does come with a price, doesn't it?

Furthermore, my 26 years old sil has been warning me recently that the husband has been mistaken as her 'didi'! (younger brother) My soon to be 34 years old, 1.81m tall husband who has very prominent lines [in another word, wrinkles] like the railway track at the end of his eyes whenever he smiles as sil's didi?! *faint* She went on to tell me that i should really really take care and maintain my face so that i won't age faster than the husband.

With that thought in my head, how can i not buy the other 2 items?! Kekekeke.. :PppPP

Together, i bought 3 items + $98 make up set. The rests are free :)

My new make up set :)

Up close and open..

I (heart) the casing. Quite glam, no? :)

Ahh.. and then, one of the main reason why i bought the make up set.. 4 brushes which i desperately need!

But i am not sure how good they are since i am a make up idiot. A complete idiot. Trust me. And i am not proud of it. Bleah.

And oh... on top of the free bag i got for my $200 purchase, these 7 pcs of free gift was also in my reasoning on why i should buy the 2 other items :D

A small gold make up pouch just for the brushes on the back ground, together with the 7 pcs free gift

U say lah, how to not buy?!?!?!

I was so thrilled last night that i couldn't fall asleep till 1am. After that, i actually slept with a smile. So very silly, i know!

My very first real make up purchase that exceeded $60 *hide*. Got a feeling that i will not be buying anymore make up for the next 3 years at least - not joking! [yes girls - u know who u are! i know i am pathetic! I simply cannot justify the exorbitant price of those make up stuff. I can never be a make up junkie ah! When i am really in need, i'll just to one of your houses oki? :P]

As for now, the boys and i will go on a grass and water diet for the next 1 month due to my extra spending.

Sigh.

Bun bun buns..

2007-10-24T10:50:00.001+08:00

Yes, i'm still obsessed with the whole bread/bun thing. It is an obsession that has got no ending. I love bread, buns of any kind. But if i can only pick one, it's European bread for me.

For the rest of the family, they like the normal asian bread/buns. I guess a wife , a mother gotta to do what she got to do..

Sacrifice *ahem*.

Till today, the only attempt i did on bread and buns are all Asian ones. Because that's what the boys eat, the big boy and the small boys.

Last week was a good week for me. When i went visiting to a new friend's house, i got myself a very good bread recipe.

I didn't ask of course, knowing the friend uses the recipe to sell her very famous black pepper chicken buns daily. But the very nice friend gave them to me voluntarily. She was so enthusiastic about the whole thing. Honestly, i have n.e.v.e.r met anyone who can be this excited when it comes to giving an almost stranger a recipe she uses for her own business.

I am very touched and grateful.

Equipped with the friend's recipe, i tried making some buns that i anyhow create using whatever i can find at home.

This is what i came up with :P

Ham and cheese with cheddar cheese filling. Yes, i really anyhow hor...

But at that time, i wanted to finish off the cheddar cheese, so i went ahead to use it as filling too, which i must say, wasn't too bad after all.

I know the cheese on top looks really funny. That was because i couldn't grate the cheese at all. The helper actually froze the cheese after i used it the last time which she shouldn't. So when i tried grating it after that, the cheese broke into many many lumps, big big lumps and small small lumps.

That was the main reason why i wanted to use up the cheese actually. Because i know if i didn't, i won't wanna keep it anymore :)

This bread by far, has the best texture i ever did.

I love it. So did the very fussy hb.

For once, the husband never said that the bun is too heavy. And all of us felt the same way too. We fancied the buns so much so that all of us, including the little boys, finished the whole tray of buns in 1 morning!

I made 9 buns that day.

Each adult had 2, and the children had 1 each + 1 test bun which we tried straight from the oven.

Thank you very much Kak Siti :) [if you are reading this ]

p.s : i know i still haven't mastered the art of bread/bun making yet.. so, please don't laugh yeah!

Good food, excellent host

2007-10-23T10:27:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday, i was invited to a new friend's open house. A very nice and friendly friend whom i got to know through a cake decorating class sometime ago.

We didn't keep in touch since then until i texted this new friend for festive greeting since she was celebrating her Raya :)

The first thing that hit me when we first arrived was her house.

It was beauttiiful and very modernised. Totally unexpected. Now, i dare not invite this new friend over to my house anymore! Too malu ah.. :P

As i had imagined, this new friend was still as friendly as ever. We hit it off from the beginning, once more, as though we had been some friends for years already. We yak and yak.. and the food, whoa.. very the sedap i tell you.. *drool*

The pretty house and yummy food + kpo boy :P

We had nasi briyani with 2 meat dishes. Oh, there was salad too. And not forgetting, a countless kind of cookies and cakes, all made, baked, cooked by the new friend.

This chicken dish is so unforgettable!

Ayam masak merah

Very spicy. The chicken is fried till just right, with juices retained unlike some stalls outside, fried till all dried up. I really do feel like attempting this myself after getting some cooking tips for the 'shifu' :P

As for the kids, they had the rice with a little bit of the beef dish.. which is just a little bit spicy.

The beef.. so tender! I suspect this dish has been slowly cooked for hours with love hence, the beef has that 'fall apart easily' effect in the mouth.. Heh.

Now, the best part is the cookies and cakes. But it was so unfortunate that i didn't get to eat the very fanciful cakes at all.. because the lovely 2 tier serving plate got moved here and there to various groups so, kinda paiseh to just walk up and take a few slices. The face skin not thick enough ah! :Ppp

Nevertheless, devouring the cookies made up to it.

Different kind of cookies.. the green one with peanut filling is absolutely divine! Melt in the mouth and then suddenly, crunch peanut filling. Yumsssssssss~

One of the friend's husband colllection. So cool yeah? Too bad i forgot about the Hard Rock one.. Dang!

Finally, us.. with our new friend :)

We all looked kinda worn out because we were in the hospital earlier for nearly 3 hours!

I call her Kak Siti.. It sounds better and more respectful but i wonder if that's okie with her because i do know some might find it offensive, mainly because it made them seemed so old like that but of course, that wasn't what i meant at all.. I better ask this friend what she prefers because i don't wanna seem rude :P

And last but not least, green ang pows for the boys. Their very first green ang pows... Previous visit to hb's collegue place, we got red ang pows instead of green. So, that doesn't count ya!

What a lovely day..

Because of the 1 sms sent, i had so much more in return especially a new friendship with this nice new friend. I am so glad :D

Sage rocks!

2007-10-22T13:20:00.001+08:00

Though the husband never did anything for me, but i still carried out my 'tiny' plan on surprising the husband with the place that i was gonna bring him that night for our Anniversary celebration.

A few emails exchanged with Kimberly and voila! Out came a 4 course menu for the husband...

Something for us to bring home...

Sage managed to live up to my expectation after all. Not only was the food excellent, the service was impeccable too. Kimberly, the restaurant manager who also happened to be the wife of Jusman So, the chef who owns Sage was very pleasant and friendly both online and in person.

Perhaps because Kimberly knows that the dinner was my treat (using hb's money though :P) for our anniversary, she threw in a complimentary starter for both of us. It was probably some puree - can't make out what and what but there was definitely tomato in it - topped with lovely caviar and a pretty small tree. It was just too bad that i didn't think of taking a photo of it at that time.

Then, there was some bread and butter, which was okay, nothing fabulous. I very much preferred Ember's and Garibaldi's which in my opinion were excellent!

For Appetizers, hb had :

Escargot & Prawns
A risotto of Burgundy escargot and tiger prawns flambéed with pastis, Parmesan crusted poached egg and Italian parsley foam

and i had :

Oysters & Vichyssoise
Pickled North Brittany Fines De Claires oysters topped with avruga caviar and cave aged Kaltbach Le Gruyère on a bed of leek & potato vichyssoise

No pics for both too unfortunately. A real pity because the presentation was beautiful!

I love both appetizers. They were so so good. I normally get sick of risotto pretty fast but not hb's! It was so full of flavour. Very delicious.

For mine, it was abit out of what i had expected. Mainly because it was served cold. The oysters were fresh, not smoked or grilled, minus shell, served on a bed of creamy soup made from leek and potato. One would be quite sceptical initially but trust me, one bite and that's it. You will be sold. I totally finished off everything, not a single drop of vichyssoise was visible on my plate. Heh.

For the soup, we only had 1, which was "Cappuccino of wild mushrooms". When they mentioned cappuccino in the description, i never thought much of it until i saw the soup.

Now we know why it is Cappuccino aye? It does look like Cappuccino, and we drank it as though it was one too! :P

Hb's main :

U.S. Beef Tenderloin
Charcoal grilled U.S. beef tenderloin resting on potato aligo scented with white truffle oil, glazed asparagus and white pearl onions with smoked bacon and natural jus

Usually, people say a picture says a thousand words but but.. not for this case though. All the photos on this entry were taken with hb's N95. I didn't bring my camera that day. But come to think of it, even if i did bring my camera, i doubt the photos that are taken with it will be any better anyway...

The beef was purrrfeect. There isn't any other word to describe it.

I really dig the potato. The truffle oil was the winner of the day. It was my first time tasting it - the truffle oil - and i'm totally blown away [yes, i'm very outdated!]. I cannot imagine eating the real stuff! Heh.

I can just envision the husband ordering the same beef dish again and again when we do go back to Sage in the future and honestly, so will i!

My main :

Lamb Loin
Australian grain fed lamb short loin with a cassoulet of summer beans scented with garlic, rosemary and lardons, crispy Parmigiano Reggiano and Roma tomato coulis

Guess what's the honeycomb lookalike biscuit?

It's crispy Parmigiano Reggiano. Simply brilliant!

I like the loin quite a bit. It was smoked and grilled i was told. The combination of the lamb and beans were abit fancy which is something that i have yet comprehend. When it comes to food, i am still a conservative idiot. This, has a lot to do with the husband for being a purist and not experimental enough. Hehe.

Perhaps if we do eat out more often at such places, my appreciation will soon come very naturally *hint*hint*. Lol.

So yeah, i am still not that used to eating Azuki bean with lamb in a savoury dish. I'm more used to it in dessert. But all in all, it was worth trying it out. Something different and it was rather nicely put together :)

By now, i was filled up to the throat hence, it was dessert sharing with the husband.

Lemon & Triple Cheese Bavarian
Mascarpone, ricotta, cream cheese and Meyer lemon Bavarian with peanut butter ice-cream and baked honeyed-lemon filo

Even though we didn't comment much, both of us know that the dessert was nothing spectacular. The only thing we liked was the peanut butter ice cream which rocks! I am so gonna experiment this myself, making peanut butter ice cream using my brand new ice cream maker machine. Yay!

The Mascarpone,  ricotta, cream cheese and Meyer lemon Bavarian with biscuit base.

The food was so good that i requested to be put on their list for the coming Christmas eve dinner!

Now i truly understand why it was Sage Sage Sage here there and everywhere. They are worth mentioning. I simply cannot wait for Christmas to come.. *greedy eyes* ;)

Chocolate and hazelnut cheesecake

2007-10-19T09:20:00.001+08:00

Craving for some cheese cake... So i baked one :)

Chocolate and hazelnut cheesecake

The recipe called for an oreo crust base but because i didn't have any oreo left, i decided that digestive would do too. Didn't wanna wait any longer to make this cheese cake since i was craving rather badly.. heh.

The chocolate ganache topping was something which i added myself for indulgence. It turned out perfect.. goes really well with the cheesecake i must say.

All in all, all of us had a blast eating this.

The kids wanted more and so did the husband. It got so precious that i didn't even give any to the in laws as i'd planned earlier. Bad bad me! Hehe. Yupyupyup, so in the end, we ended up devouring the whole entire 8" cheesecake ourselves which got wiped out on the very next day i baked it.

Scary hor? :P

Recipe for a 7" round cheesecake:

Ingredients :

7" round oreo crust

Filling :

Cream cheese 450g
Light brown sugar 3tbsp
Vanilla essence 1/3 tsp
Corn flour 2 1/3 tsbp, sifted
Nutella 150g
Eggs 2, large
Whipping cream 75ml
Milk 75ml

Method :

1. Prepare round Oreo crust
2. Preheat oven to 160
3. Beat cream cheese and light brown sugar at medium speed till creamy with an electric mixer. Beat in vanilla essence, sifted corn flour and nutella until smooth
4. Lower speed and add eggs, one at a time mixing till incorporated. Gradually add whipping cream and milk until well mixed
5. Pour filling onto prepared crust. Bake in a water bath for 1 hour 10 mins to 1 hour 30 mins or until edge of filling is set and centre is slightly wobbly
6. Turn off oven and leave cheesecake inside for 30 mins with oven door closed. Prop open door and leave for another 30 mins. Remove cheesecake from oven and cool on a wire rack.
7. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours before unmoulding. Decorate as desired before serving

Oreo crust :

Using 100g of oreo cookies

Method :

1. Wrap a springform pan with a layer of aluminium foil. Place on a baking tray and set aside.
2. Break cookies into large chunks. Place in a blender and pulse until finely ground.
3. Transfer ground cookies to prepared pan. With your hands or the back of the spoon, press firmly into an even layer on the bottom of pan. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using.

Source : Crave, Mac Woo and June Lee

Have fun! :)

The husband and the mom

2007-10-18T09:50:00.001+08:00

Over the weekend, i brought all these home for the husband.

Not from me of course, but from the husband's mom - my mil [mother in law]. And i'm not even a teeny weeny bit of jealous i assure you. In fact, i was pleased. I like it when pil dote on their son :P

some clothings, hb's favourite snacks, some self-grind cordyceps in tablet form + cell protection supplement

Mil is a little more expressive. She dotes on her only son whenever she can.

Buy him this, but him that. Cook him this, cook him that. Sometimes, when i say something about her son, she would no doubt defend him too, especially whenever i complained that the boring son always wanna eat porridge almost every weeekend.. Lol.

But when i think of it, if i do have a son like the husband, i would also dote on him ah!

I still remember what happened on my birthday eve this year.

I had a date with the gfs in town. Hb was supposed to send me there and have his facial nearby at 7.30pm. It was already 7.10pm when we were about to leave in law's place when suddenly, mil asked if we could drop her off at the nearest bus stop [she was going for a meeting at Jurong West, at the very West].

At that very moment she asked, i knew what will happen, knowing the husband so well.
Obviously the husband wouldn't drop mil off at the bus stop and let her take bus to her destination! Hb will definitely send her there.

Sidetrack : I am one who dislike being late. I like being punctual.

Before hb said anything, he put his left hand on my right thigh and squeezed lightly. Kinda like getting me ready for what he would say next. I knew what he was gonna say and i was spot on because i was contemplating on doing that too..

Because the place mil was going was pretty far and if i were to tag along, i will surely be at least half an hour late, so hb turned to me and suggested that i take a cab instead. He will drop me at the nearest bus stop. As for his appointment, it doesn't matter anymore.

Imagine how my face changes colour then. Haha. Volunteering it myself is one thing and asked to do it is another different thing. But then, i was really expecting it so.. it wasn't so much of a 'heart attack'. But as all of us know, 7pm is peak hour time. Getting a cab from the road side is as good as getting a cab near midnight hence i told hb that i will to tag along afterall.

Throughout the journey, i couldn't even manage to say a word. I don't trust my own voice. I dare not even look at mil too. I am one who cannot mask my own true feeling. I do not know how to no matter how hard i try. My face is me. My face expression cannot lie and i know it.

All i could do to ease my anger and frustration was to sms the gf :P

What's more is that halfway there, mil actually asked hb to pick her friend! *smack forehead*

Anyway, after we dropped mil and her friend off, i couldn't bring myself to speak to the husband anymore even though i know that what he did what the right thing to do. But i was too angry about the whole situation and me being 35 mins late. So i calmly told the husband to leave me alone for the time being until i feel better which i did after i met up with the girls. When hb picked me up again, i was talking to him as though nothing had happened before and i can tell hb was pleased.

The thing is i was extremely angry then. Angry for what happened. But i wasn't angry with the husband [okie, maybe a little because he did place me at no.2 afterall! grr.. :P] nor mil. If hb is the kind who would really drop off his mother at the nearest bus stop, i don't think i would marry him in the first place. Seriously.[btw, that was how hb won me over in the first place after an almost failed courtship, by being so very nice to my mom.. conman donkey!]

And i also happened to know that mil was truly happy that day for what had happened and i am glad. When i relate the story to my own mother, my mom was sighing.. say this is the kind of son that is worth giving birth to. Grin. So, how can mil not dote on her this only son aye? :)

Volcanoes

2007-10-17T11:05:00.000+08:00

This was made last minute for hb's aunt's birthday celebration quite some time ago.

Volcanoes : these moist chocolate cupcakes with creamy cheesecake centres are sure to be a hit with both children and adult.

How very true.

I tell ya, it was really good. The adults and kids love it tons!

Of course, i didn't send these cuppies the way they look here. I got them all dressed up in pink buttercream frosting together with some colorful sprinkles and wordings. At that time, i had enough of 'all-dressed-up' cupcakes photos since i just baked the teacher's day batch not too long ago. So i decided not to take anymore pics with the decoration.

But now, after a month of not seeing any colourful pics of desserts on this blog, i kinda miss looking at them. In fact, i yearn to see some colours again! Too bad about my decision then.. hehe.

Anyway, this cuppies are so delicious and very easy to make too! They'll be on my often-bakes list for sure. Writing this entry makes me wanna eat them right now.. *drool* :P

The original recipe calls for quite a bit of cocoa powder which i simply refused to follow. It was a bit too much in my opinion. I cut down almost 2 tbsp from it and the cuppies still turned out fantastic.

That left me wondering.. what 'if' i actually follow the recipe to a t. Will the cupcakes taste much much better?

Recipe :

Ingredients :

Cream cheese filling

115g cream cheese
55g castor sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 large, lightly beaten egg

Fudgy chocolate cupcake batter

100g cake flour
5 1/4 tbsp cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/3 tsp salt
100g butter, softened

20g castor sugar
70g light brown sugar
2/3 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 eggs, lightly beaten
140ml milk

Method :

1. Prepare cream cheese filling. In a medium bowl, blend cream cheese, sugar and vanilla essence until smooth and creamy. Gradually add egg, beating until smooth. Set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 182. Line cupcake tin with cupcake cups.

3. Stir together cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt until well blended.

4. Cream butter, caster sugar and light brown sugar until smooth and fluffy. Gradually add in vanilla essence and eggs.

5. Add flour mixture and milk in 3 separate additions, starting and ending with flour mixture.

6. Divide batter. Create a cavity in the centre of each cupcake with the back of a spoon. Fill cavities with cream cheese filling.

7. Bake for 25-30 mins. Leave to cook in tin for 10 mins.

8. Remove cupcakes and leave to cool completely on wire rack before serving.

Makes 12 cuppies.

Another milestone

2007-10-16T13:57:00.000+08:00

Beepbeep has been attempting to stand up + climb on his own since 2 days ago.

Then yesterday when we were out at night, beep finally managed to do it on his own! [this definitely spells more headache now.. hehe]

The helper managed to capture one of his first successful climb of the night. I totally missed it! But luckily, there's video to watch :)

I thought it was pretty hilarious with all the 'go up, go up'. Like the baby can really understand? Heh.

And since i was already posting up 1 video, i might as well post another to bore you a little more coz i don't quite fancy posting up videos so often.

This is how we get the baby to sleep. The helper and i. Quite a task isn't it? :P

Speaking of videos, the husband took a video of himself and the baby few days back and when hb showed it to me, i almost laughed myself to a hysterical state in a nice ambience restaurant! How very embarrassing... but too bad, the husband forbids me posting it here due to some scenes of nudity [of the husband], disturbing scene [for the audience] and violence [from the baby]. Dang! :P

Hari Raya

2007-10-13T08:58:00.000+08:00

Yes!!

We got invited for lunch today by hb's Malay collegue from another company for Raya.

I'm ecstatic :D

I can't wait for the ketupat, nasi pulut, rendang and many many more! Hehehehe... *drool*

And of course, Selamat Hari Raya Adilfitri everyone!! :)

Curry noodles

2007-10-12T09:12:00.000+08:00

As i flipped through my collection of hawker food cookbooks, i cannot help but drool at almost every single picture that i saw. But i can only pick one recipe to cook for the day.

So i picked this, to replace our usual rice and dishes dinner.

Curry noodles.

It's not your everyday laksa that you see in the food court/ hawker in Singapore. This, is a Malaysian version. Malaysian version is quite different. It is like eating chicken curry with noodles. In it, it has got bean sprouts, tau pok and of course chicken. You can add cockles too if you like.

Yes, the newspaper again! Hehe..

This is my first time attempting the recipe in the book. Without knowing how reliable the book is, i prepared myself for the worst.

But it turned out much better than i have expected, thankfully. Even the helper commented that the standard of the curry noodles i cooked is on par with what she have had outside. She enjoyed it very very much despite having a huge ulcer in the mouth. I am pleased. Extremely.

For myself, i lurvee it. It was really good, to me that is. For the husband, perhaps he isn't used to eating the Malaysian style laksa, he was not sold.

As i was slurping the noodles down, i secretly planned to cook this for my parents when they come visiting.. I am sure they'll be very proud of me. Haha :P

Due to the fact that this was our dinner, i have no choice but the to take the photos at night, in between me-just-finished-cooking and me-cant-wait-to-eat-it short break. The photos turned out a bit yellowish and dull than its real colour. So not appetizing.

See what i mean about the camera and its sensitivity? :(

Knowing what to expect, i didn't bother putting in any effort for the photo shoot mainly because i cannot wait to eat it! Grin.