All snuggled up and still eating!

So X'mas has passed and the new year is coming in 3 days. I'm still having the X'mas mood because we are still finishing up our X'mas lamb!

Yeap! Lamb stew and lamb with mixed peas for Fri and Sat respectively. Lamb tasted very good stewed and fried with Red wine, rosemary, basil and thyme. But too much lamb makes me feel heaty, so we are having a rest today and will have tofu instead.

Anyhow, X'mas was good, we had a party at Ron's place and had turkey and honey ham and lots of veggies and baby potatoes and baked fish. Afterwards, we took a bus to HV and had me a cup of Toffee Nut Latte and him Dark Cherry Mocha Frappacino whilst stock last till end of X'mas season.

The X'mas jingles are now replaced by Xin Nian ge over radio waves and CNY goodies will be everywhere. I'm not really looking forward to CNY but I don't mind buying nice Cow related decos and ang pows and eating pineapple tarts from Prima Deli and Prawn rolls from Bread Talk.

And there will be a wedding in 19 days!

Tiger?

A pretty cat resting above the letter box in the opposite block. Look at her tail, resembles a tiger's.

Merry Christmas!

X'mas eve evening was spent having dinner with hubby and mummy. Hubby bought a lamb leg and I cooked vegetable. Dinner was nice and cosy and it was raining.. really cold and windy. Let your imagination run 10x and the raindrops will be transformed into snow. Haha. 

Lamb with garlic and mint sauce.

Broccoli, asparagus, baby potatoes, baby corns and carrot bathed in margarine and dill.

Here's a little card I received from SPCA, it's cute and made me laugh. Pay attention to the sheep and turkey.

Have a lovely Christmas with your friends and loved ones!

Spread the joy of LOVE and the birth of CHRIST, our Lord Jesus.

Merry Christmas!

From The Moochs =)

Berry Christmas from Miss Strawberry Shortcake!

My Favourite childhood character

@ Tiong Bahru Plaza

OSCAR'S

Last night, Hubby and I went to for an oyster buffet at OSCAR'S - Conrad Hotel. The oysters were plentiful, fresh and were opened by the staffs as you choose.

There were 12 different types of oysters from Australia, France, Canada and Ireland. The biggest and chewy oysters are from Australia; and the France and Ireland oysters have a creamy texture.

I ate about 15 in total  ("0"), ok, that's not really alot. Haha.

 

I enjoyed the meal but I was stuffed really quickly. I ate turkey, lamb, sashimi, laksa and lychee chicken. I also had chocolate waffles (better than the waffles at Melting Pot), gingerbread ice cream (1st time I tasted it, very gingerish, haha), lavender and chocolate mousse and chocolates. No wonder I'm so full!

After we had dinner, we went for a walk around the fountain of Suntec City and took pictures with the Precious Moments figurines. We met up with D & L and chatted with them till 1130pm and caught the bus home.

Don't you  just love Christmas lights? The comfy feeling of the flickering lights? I love December wind and I love the scented candles of Conrad.

Pasta

My family loves pasta and I prefer the tomato based pasta anytime. So once in awhile, my mum would ask " Should we have pasta for dinner?" and I would take my favourite pasta sauce stored in a jar out and proceed to cook!

My all time favourite: 

Leggo's Tomato, Olive and Chilli.

When I'm feeling healthy, I add in chicken meat, but on days when I want to eat more processed food, I add in chopped luncheon meat. I used angel's hair and I topped it with lots of cheese!

I love olives and I'm enchanted by the arrays and varieties of olives at the counters of Cold storage and Market Place. There are so many types to choose from!

Package of home

I have sent hunnie a little something of home. I can't wait for her to pick it up from E.

Hope she will like it.

Shan't spoil the surprise by revealing what's in it.

waiting....

Foot in his mouth

Yesterday I had a visit from a HDB guy regarding some noise investigations around the block. He doesn't know where the noise is from. He asked what are we doing with the utility room, do I pound stuffs in early morning and whether I played with marbles *er ??!!?* I told him cannot be, there are no kids here.

Anyway, he proceeded to ask who lives in the room and asked some other questions I can't remember. I only felt that he was weird and ma y be a con when he left. Then a realisation hit me that I'm careless! I didn't take take down his badge ID and full name! I remembered his surname though, so I called HDB and verified that he is not a con.

Ok, the most annoying part about the whole visit was when he was leaving...

Him: (looks at my family picture on the wall) is that your sister?

Me: That's me

Him: oh... looks different... with the glasses (I was wearing glasses at home)....(and almost a notch softer)..... you put on weight...

Me:.................... what the ....??!?!?!!?

Arrghhh!

Busy, busy, busy.

This has been a fulfilling week so far.

sat: went to taka and bought a tempur pillow in an attempt to improve my hubby quality of sleep. there's a discount but it's still costly. well, sleep is very important and every minute of good, rested sleep is an extra minute of investment. That applies to me as well, I can't sleep when he's snoring for the cows to return home. haha.

++++

sun: As the pair of God-parent, (the chinese, old fashioned type) we went to witness Lucius being baptised at Blessed Sacrement Church in the afternoon. Both of us were happily snapping and videotaping away and it was a fulfilled moment.
We had buffet dinner at Holiday Inn Hotel; Melting Pot. The food was ok, variety was quite limited as there were no oysters and sashimi and that is no good. The types of cakes, pasteries and dessert was also limited. But I love the beef, potatoes and lamb. Overall it was ok, just not someplace I would want to spend my money at.

++++

mon: I went bersek at Popular buying stationaries and assessment books for my niece and nephew in Perth. well, my in-laws are flying off to Perth for their holidays and it was a mad rush getting all their stuffs in order, what needs to declare, stuffs to pack, so on and so forth.

When we got back at night, I need to check that my mum's stufs are in order as she is going to M'sia on Tuesday morning. At around 9, I sent my mum off in a taxi to my aunt's place and pray that she will have a safe trip. ( I was quite worried because of the highway crash in the news recently). She will be back tomorrow night and with lots of M'sia goodlies (Yay!)

++++

tues: Hubby sent my in-laws to the airport and we drove to Bedok to buy Nonya Ang Ku Kueh and wanted to eat bak chor mee (mince pork noodles). The ang ku kueh was soft, stuffed thickly with green been fillings with a hint of pandan. I like it very much. We didn't get to eat the bak chor mee as the market was already closed. I ate there once and I like how the chilli reminds my of the fish ball noodles in my Primary school. It's like a taste of my childhood and it's a familiar feeling.

later, we had dinner at Botejyu at Liang Court and ate okonomiyaki, pumkin tempura nad fried osyter. (I took pictures but have not uplaoaded them) I was pleasently surprised by the cashier who vounteered that there is a 10% discount for Citibank. Yay! savings!
There were many items not sold from the Hokkaido Fair and many items are now on sale at almost 40% off! I feel so auntie searching for offer items in supermarket hahah. We bought a packet of ramen that was selling at $19.80 (crazy!) during the fair and is now slashed to $5 (almost 70% savings!). can you imagine the cost price of the items? When I saw the lady changing the price of the sign, I grabbed my hubby's arm excitedly! =)

I like to buy items from supermarket, eg cold storage that are close to expiry. That is how I can get to buy expensive, imported items from US, Australia etc at a cheaper price.
2 years ago, after holidaying in Gold Coast, we were hooked on a particular brand of yogurt. It was so thick, so creamy, so rich. We ate this almost everyday in the morning, it cost around $4.50. When we returned home and as usual walking around supermarket, we went to the yogurt section and saw that it cost almost $10 here! Siao ah! That kills our cravings immediately. But the good news is, we managed to get the item at a 50% close to expiry and get to satisfy our cravings.

gosh, I can write so much about food!

++++

wed: went vivo to return my books at San bookshop to get my money back, shopped at Mango, they are having a 50% sale. I'm surprised the people were actually quite respectful when shopping there. there were no pushing nor shoving though it was packed. I didn't buy anything as the tops that I thought were nice were still too ex after the discount. I met a not so nice lady at Espirt, she irritated me as her mannerisms were quite annoying. She used her hanger to ask me to "siam". sigh, anyway, the top ( it's a brown striped polo tee that looks quite ah peh) that I have been eyeing for 4 mths is now on sale. I still didn't buy it. I also saw a red sports jacket that I like. Still thinking.....Cannot anyhow spend money....

++++


thurs: which is today. it looks like it going to rain and we haven't decide what we wanted to do yet.
i'm waiting for my char siew wanton mee.

++++

my hubby is on leave this week and I'm happy to be spending quality time with him. Food wise, I ate Laksa, mutton soup, roti prata and pig organ soup. Let's see what else I crave...

Indian rice with yummy Mutton curry

I had a craving for Indian food after reading hunnie's post!

So hubby bought me Indian food from school.. Mutton curry, potatoes and tow kuah.

It looks mashy and messy but it taste goooood! The curry.. just looking at the picture makes me smell the Indian spices.

Must get my Laska with si hum fix soon..

Glooy Gluely Jelly

I have a compulsion to do things in excess, so naturally I refused to listen to the instructions written on the package. Instead of adding 380mls of water which I think looks too little, I added approx 500mls (or more?) water.

so... it turned out wobbly. Haha. Looks better today though. The taste is there.I wonder if it would taste too sweet if I add in lesser amount of water?

I'm going o try it again soon. My mum likes jelly.

Building a new garden?

These 2 pics were taken sometime in Apr. Doesn't look like it needed much work isn't it?

The one on the left was taken on 28Nov, you can see that the lamp was taken down and moved maybe 3 meters to the left of the pre existing location. That took a lot of digging by the workers to locate the wire buried in the ground and to realign it to the new location. (3Dec)

There is not really a reason to blog about this except to ask, why in this time of economic downturn is there a need to destroy a perfectly good wall, sawed down a teenage tree and to dig up a perfectly working lamp? I'm sure there are places where the money in this town can be put to better usage. But nooooooo... it has to be this little quiet area. We have been guessing what is it they are building.. a little walkway?

Anyway, I'm thankful that the drilling (they drilled for about 4 days to destroy the wall and another few days for the other corner near the stairs) is over (fingers crossed). I'm eager to see what is being built.

I need, no I MUST get through it

I found this on this blog.

It's so cute and soooo funny.. the silly things that cats do.

Random: Haircut

I was inspired to have a haircut after watching a MV of Kelly Poon's 限時的遺忘 on Ch 54 last Sat. She cut her hair short and she looks so relaxed. Ok, her hair looks nice cos it's styled. Anyway, there goes my resolution of growing my hair long and I went for a haircut. 

As my face is round, I couldn't cut the sides too short.. so James modified the cut I wanted with this. Doesn't look anything like Kelly but I like it. Likes the jagged ends.

Wonder if I can ever grow my hair long. Cutting it just seems so much fun, look less tired and the head so much lighter, not to mention drying it.

Check out her MV.

YAwn..

Met her  downstairs when we were reaching home after Dempsy.

Oh my... look at those sharp teeth....

"the better to eat you, my dear.." (Little Red Riding Hood)

A good rub down

Thanks to Miz who gave me a gift voucher to House @ Dempsy, I had a really fabulous massage.

This was my first ever body massage where I have to take my clothes off ("_") and lie still and relax for 1 hr. Gosh, just thinking about me made me nervous!

But it was all good, I had the House Proud where I was kneaded and had all my knicks eased out with a good Tui Na rub. The masseur was from China and she have very strong hands. I was so relaxed that I couldn't keep my eyes open after the message.

Then I was rubbed down with ginger and black pepper oil and soon wiped off with a hot towel off all residual oil. It didn't strike me as being marinated until I reached home, I had a whiff of myself and felt that I smelt of foodcourt. Not appetising. Heh.

Hubby met me after the massage and we ate at Barracks Cafe.

From Left: One meter long sausage (chicken), Old-Fashioned American sliders and us posing.

I was still in a happy and relaxed mode. 

The food was good. Maybe I was hungry but the beef was medium rare and the bacon and chedder cheese made the burger extra yummy. It was accompanied with fries and sweet potatoes which was sprinkled with sugar.

The sausage looked like a snake and taste like sausage. (hmmm...) Love the sweet mustard dip. Complements well.

Meidiya Hokkaido food fair 21-30 Nov 2008

Liang Court

Crab Bento

I must say.. This taste as good as it looks!

The crabs are fresh, sweet, juicy with hints of vinegar.

This time we bought only one to be shared by the 3 of us... cos... expensive lah!

I miss Japan, and this is the closest I can get as all the food brought in for the Meidiya Hokkiado fair are from Hokkaido! Due the the increase in Jap/Sg exchange rates, things are expensive this time round.

The exchange rate is approximate 100 yen to 1.60 SGD; it used to be approximate 100 yen to 1.30 SGD.

...so... how to go Japan? Not only the exchange rates are climbing.... the tax to Japan cost around 600 SGD!!! It used to be around 300 SGD... sigh..

利利分明 Fried Rice

I've got a feeling that the mandarin characters are not quite right, but what  meant to say is that "every grain of rice is distinct".

I have watched a lot of TV shows that show how to fry a good plate of fried rice, the heat must be right and the motion of frying must be quick. 

Frying "利利分明" rice the "TV" way is tiring! Haha.. I tried it 2 Sudays ago. I have learnt that the best way to fry rice is to heat the oil, pour in the beaten egg, then the rice and fry it VERY quickly! This is to ensure that each grain of rice is coated with the egg and that the rice do not clump together.

By frying with the correct heat temperature can ensure that the rice is not too soggy.

Ok, so this is just a one time experiment and it is far from perfect... but just look at my rice.. it looks so good eh?

Ta daa! Black herbal chicken soup!

Ta daaa! Miz gave me a lovely stainless steel pot and I couldn't bear to use it.. bcos it's so shiny and pretty!

Anyway, after 2 mths, I finally took it out of the box, gave it a good wash and made black chicken herbal soup! I have cravings for black chicken.. and it's so hard to get them... NTUC, Sheng Siong... NONE! and the wet market at my place? Had only 3 chicken and it was sold out!

So imagine my happiness when my mum got the chicken from another stall which she doesn't patronised.

Oh, I love the soup! There's dang gui, wolfberry, red dates, Yoke chok (cantonese pronunciation) in it. We drank every drop of the soup!

So thank you Miz! The pot really boils very well! 

Daily Bread 16-Nov-2008

Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, 

“Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” —Genesis 28:16

"As Jacob did in Genesis 28, I like to remind myself each morning when I awaken that God is here, “in this place,” present with me (v.16). As I spend time with Him each morning, reading His Word and responding in prayer, it reinforces my sense of His presence—that He is near. Although we do not see Him, Peter reminds us that we can love Him and rejoice in His love for us with “inexpressible,” glorious joy (1 Peter 1:8).

We take the Lord’s presence with us all through the day, blending work and play with prayer. He is our teacher, our philosopher, our companion—our gentle, kind, and very best friend.

God is with us wherever we go. He is in the commonplace, whether we know it or not. “Surely the Lord is in this place,” Jacob said of a most unlikely spot, “and I did not know it” (Gen. 28:16). We may not realize He is close by. We may feel lonely and sad. Our day may seem bleak and dreary without a visible ray of hope—yet He is present.

Amid all the clamor and din of this visible and audible world, listen carefully for God’s quiet voice. Listen to Him in the Bible. Talk to Him frequently in prayer. Look for Him in your circumstances. Seek Him. He is with you wherever you go!  — David H. Roper"

This struck me, made me realized that I have, my hubby has and we both have so much to be grateful for and to honor in His words and name in such trying times.

He holds us close, He is present and He listens to us. We are never alone. 

He loves us and journey with us with his Love.

More Towgays

More pixs of my comfort food.

Look at the colours and how crunchy it taste...

I take awhile to upload pixs from my camera. There are actually more pixs of curry chicken, fried rice cooked last Sun and salted eggs.

I'm feeling hungry now. It's 12 MN...

Towgay with Giam Hu and Chilli.. =)

A taste of home. It's always the simple things in life that comforts you.

Towgay with Giam Hu and Chilli.. =)

Rifle and stuffs

so hubby and I went to Science Centre for the Defense TechX exhibition. We played with the SAR 21 rifle in a tactical game. The rifle is heavy, we aimed through the scope and shoot. Only hubby is wearing the vest, so when he is shot, the red light in the vest will be lighted. But since I am an immunity, they can't shoot me cos I got no vest, I get to shoot 2 cutouts and warned hubby of civilians around the corner.

we went IMM (Burger King and Diaso) and I had a massage by the OSIM uPapa at Best, then to Bt Timah NTUC Finest to shop.

I like the uPapa, relieved my aching back.

Cost of scallops

Before I forget, the scallops at Isetan cost approx $35 to $50 for 100g to 200g respectively.

Bento and Wine

So hubby and I went to ICA today He to collect his passport and me, my new IC. Yes mdm! It;s my coming of age IC. I'm 30! Woohoo!

Anyway, Isetan Scotts is having a Jap food fair and off we went to see what can we buy. We sample a couple of stuffs, most worthwhile scallops! It really ex.. I have to ask hubby exactly how much, he's sleeping now.. ssh. So we sampled and bought our dinner.

Here, before it's open..

and here.. yummy looking isn't it?

Hubby had pork don bento and me, crab don meat bento. It actually looks better then it taste, just so so, but hey, cheaper than eating at a restaurant.

Really love how the Japs packaged their stuffs, I'm a sucker for packaging!

Apparently rice is harvested in Autumn in Japan (early Sep), and they are called "shin mai" aka new rice. It is sweeter, chewier and softer. I can't taste the difference between that and Jap usual "old rice", they are equally soft. Well, maybe the "shin mai" is slightly sweeter. I believe the water used in various countries affects the taste of food. Hokkaido's rice is very tasty whether they are old or new, Australia's coffee is definitely better than home. It's definitely the water!

We also had a bottle of wine, I'm actually attracted to the cat on the packaging.. (see? I'm a sucker!)

Cato Negro, Cabernet Savignon Rose 2007

Central Valley, Wine of Chile

It taste good though, light, fruity with a hint of strawberry. We can't finish it, so it's in the fridge now.

Japanese New  Crop food fair 7-12 Nov 2008

Isetan Scotts

Autumn 2006

In Oct 2006, 2 years ago, mummy, hubby and I went to Hokkaido, Japan.

It was cold! I love Autumn, the colours, the food (salmon swim upstream in Autumn) and the layering of clothes that can never happen at home.

I miss Japan already.