New Year’s Eve Dinner

It’s New Year’s Eve and what’s better than having a family dinner together right? We arranged this family dinner at Minori Japanese Restaurant located at UE Square and it is always nice to meet with family members as often as we can.

The a-la-carte buffet at this restaurant is really good and we hope our family members will enjoy the food here as much as hub and I. We ordered sashimi, tempura and many other dishes to share. Out of all the dishes, our favourite would be their teppanyaki vegetables and beef. It was really delicious and I guessed we repeated the orders several times. 

For the kids, they loved their agadashi tofu and the teppanyaki salmon as Lady Faith had about 3 portions on her own while little pumpkin had 2 servings of tofu too. Little pumpkin enjoyed the soup udon while Lady Faith prefers teppanyaki salmon with rice. Mmmh… guess we can visit Japanese joints more often in the future since everyone is enjoying Japanese food.

Maggie brought the kids down to the ground level for some fun while the rest of us preferred to sit around and chat as our parents were still waiting for their repeated orders of teppanyaki vegetables. Ahahaahahah…. 

It was once great family dinner on New Year’s Eve and we ended the night by driving down Orchard Road to check out the Christmas lightings before they are taken down tomorrow. 😊

Happy New Year everyone!

Ondeh Ondeh Cupcakes

A shoutout to Florence (my cousin-in-law).

Thank you very much for ordering these Ondeh Ondeh Cupcakes for your family gathering and I hope you guys will enjoy the cupcakes.

Brownies

This Christmas season is quite a busy period for me as I was blessed with many orders for muffins and brownies. 

Today, I delivered another 3 boxes of brownies to my ex-colleagues as she wanted to spread joy to her church friends and family. :) I am really happy that I have friends who are supporting me and giving me this precious chance to bake for them.

Thank you Rena for believing in me once again and do keep your orders coming ya.. :)

Crazy Christmas Party

Its been a long time since we last celebrated Christmas together. We are really happy and excited to celebrate this beautiful season with my closest buddies whom I grew up with. 

The Tans invited us to their place for this party and it was really great to catch up with friends and their families while the kids can play together. While the kids were chilling out at the living room, the adults just gone crazy with our own stuff. Vivian, as usual brought some interesting stuff to entertain us and we just got over excited with all her props. 

When everyone arrived at the house, we enjoyed the wonderful spread of delicious food prepared by Theresa and Maria. They never failed to whip up good food for all of us and I simply enjoyed the fried wantons which brought back so much school memories. Fried wantons used to be our favourite snacks at school where we usually buy dozens of them to share during recess or even after school.

We continue our craziness in the house and at some moment, the kids came over to check us out wondering what was the commotion about while the hubs were chatting away at the balcony catching up with one another over beer.

We tried to recreate the scene of those chalet days back in those old school days. I remembered I attended chalet stayovers almost every other weekend and somehow it was really fun to have about 10-20 of us packed in one small room. I wondered how we slept through… hahahaahah

We took the stairs and recreate the chalet scene and burst out laughing after seeing the pictures. It did not look close to anything like the chalet but more of a bunch of jaildogs or dogs behind the grills… hahaahaha it turned out to be hilarious!! 

Funny stuff always happens whenever we are together but today, we are missing Hairon who was at work and wasn’t able to join for the crazy fun! Thank you Zen & Za for having us and it was totally fun and another cool memory to the heart. 😊

Happy Holidays peeps!

Christmas @ The Tans

This year’s Christmas is such a blessing! We had been celebrating Christmas the whole week and after our family luncheon this afternoon, we are now at The Tan’s place for anther party.

Eric and Jose invited us to their place for this fabulous party and here we are! Eric, being hub’s friend since their Poly days and I am glad that they are still keeping in touch and I get along well with his wifey Jose. She is such a SUPERMOM who is generous at heart, great cook and very talented in her own way.

When we stepped into their cozy home, I was amazed how huge the spread of food was. The spread of food was so colourful, looked yummy to the max and the whole kitchen smells fantastic! I noticed that there were 5 cakes, a few different kinds of drinks were displayed on her island and she told me that she singled handedly baked them all and I was dumbfounded! She revealed to me that she has a secret helper – The Thermomix… hahaahahahah… She told me that some of the dishes on the dining table were also prepared by the Thermomix which got me really impressed.

She told us that there was more food at their roof terrace and hub and I went up to check it out. At the roof terrace, Eric was in charged and there were meat and seafood with grilling equipment set up. It was pretty cool and his friends prepared some food for us to try out and I was really impressed by the no-smoke grilling equipment. Mmmh…. **thinking of buying**

I decided to check out the kids after spending some time on the roof terrace and found out that the kids were entertaining themselves with the obstacles course in one of the bedrooms. It was so cool and that room is the kids’ playground. Little pumpkin was playing cookery by herself while her sista was trying out on wing and taking on the obstacles.

After dinner, Jose gathered all the kids to the living room for the gift exchange and I was glad that I prepared some goody bags for the kids too to give them extra smiles. 😊

Thank you Jose and Eric for the fun party and we had a blast! 

Family Christmas Gathering

It’s always nice to have family and friends over to our house for a small-scaled party. This year, we decided to have a family Christmas luncheon at our place. Kitchen is smells fantastic as mum helped me out in the kitchen to whip up some dishes for the party later.

I whipped up the brussels sprouts with bacons, sauté mushrooms and baked salmon with butter and lemon. I also prepared the selections of ham and buffalo cheese as well. It was really exciting for me to prepare food for loved ones and I do hope they will enjoy the food. While I was playing with fire in the kitchen, hub headed out to collect the lamb and the pasta which we ordered. 

When the family members arrived on time, we began our luncheon with a bang. I was really happy that everyone came hungry and the food we prepared were almost cleared up. It is truly a satisfaction to see everyone enjoying the food prepared over wine and family chats.

The kids finished up their food quickly and rushed off to play at the upper room. We adults continue to sit around the dining table to chat over coffee and wine to enjoy the desserts. How can a meal end without any desserts right!

After our lunch, the kids helped to distribute the gifts from the Christmas tree and placed their received pressies under the tree. They are all excited about opening the gifts tomorrow as I made a rule that they will only open their gifts on Boxing Day. 😊

Thank you family for coming over and wishing one and all a Blessed Christmas! 

Blessed Christmas!

Wishing everyone a blessed Christmas and a great New Year ahead!

Happy Monday!

I set off early this morning to deliver the muffins that was ordered by Emma’s classmate’s mum for her office group party. As I sent little pumpkin to school and left the muffins with the teachers, little pumpkin informed the teacher that it was for her classmate’s mum. Hahaahahah…

This afternoon I will be meeting the gang for our yearly Christmas luncheon and I visited their office for another delivery before going to lunch. I am really grateful to my ex-colleagues for being so supportive towards me as they ordered cakes, muffins and even CNY goodies from me. Thank you peeps for believing in me and giving me a chance to bake for you.

It’s luncheon and I am all set to meet the peeps for our X’mas lunch. We met at our usual hangout Kith Millenia and this time, we have Agnes to join us too! It’s pretty rare to have her join us for lunch as she is always busy with work and hardly leave the office for lunch.

I am always happy to meet up with my ex-colleagues as they are like my family as we have been working together for more than 20 years! It was the friendship that we build and now it’s for us to take it to the next level. I always think it’s important to keep connected with each other so the next time we meet be it in a month’s time or 10 years later, we will still have a common topic to talk about!

Thank you guys for joining the X’mas luncheon and it was fantastic to see you guys! Blessed Christmas everyone!

Christmas Brownies

I am truly thankful for friends who trusted in me and placed orders with me during this beautiful season.

These brownies and chocolate muffins are made with LOVE indeed and I do hope you guys will enjoy them as much as I enjoyed baking them for you.

Thank you Stephanie and Rena for believing in me.

Blessed Christmas to the both of you!

Christmas @ SpringBloom

Christmas is just around the corner and nothing beats celebrating this beautiful season with your family or friends. 

My cousin KY invited us to his place to celebrate Christmas and we bought some food over to share with them. We ordered roast beef and I made some brownies and lychee tart too. When we arrived, Chef Florence was busy preparing food in the kitchen and the kids did not waste their time but get on to play with their cousins.

The spread of food was amazingly delicious and colourful! We gathered around the table to have a meal as a family when all have arrived. It was really yummy and the kids enjoyed their food as much as us. The kids continued their play while the rest of us continue to stay at the dining table to chat and catch up over root beer and tea.

We took time out to chat with the elderly and get the kids to be involved during the gift exchanged and we found out that the kiddos had something up their sleeves. They were preparing themselves to present us with their very own Christmas Fashion Show… hahaahahah… it was pretty creative and enjoyable to see them dressing up and walking down the hall to showcase their creation. :0) 

It wasn’t long after we went back to the dining table to enjoy our desserts and I was really happy to know that everyone loves the brownies and lychee tart. 😊

Thank you KY & Flo for having us and it was a fantastic family gathering! 

The Joy Of Sharing

Christmas is the time to share joy and happiness with people whom you love and treasure. I just love this season and as usual, I baked some goodies for some special people whom some I regards them as my extended family members.

Brought the cupcakes and brownies to my ex-colleagues to cheer them up at work and at the same time, not forgetting the pressies for some of them too. Yes, one of my buds said that I am like Santa Claus … bring bags and bags of pressies to everyone during Christmas. Hahahahaha… but don’t you agree that this is the season for sharing joy?

After spreading joy at the office, I brought Lady Faith for X’mas shopping in town where I finally managed to get hub a gift from Ixi:z, a brand that was from our school days and now made a comeback thanks for my friend! Thumps up Eugene! With this gift, I am sure hub will be happy!

Emma’s School X’mas Party

It’s the favourite season of the year for most of us when it comes to Christmas! Yes, Christmas is around the corner and little pumpkin’s school is celebrating it today at school.

She was so happy when she woke up this morning and got ready quickly so that she can bring her goodies and pressies for gift exchange at school today. She got ready in a flash and hurried me to send her to school as soon as possible as she mentioned that the party will be celebrated in the morning after their breakfast.

The school requested parents to contribute some goodies and you might guess it right that I bake the goodies for her party. Little pumpkin requested for chocolate muffins as she told me that her friends love them and it will make them happy. 😊 Her request is granted obviously! Hahaahahaha

Happy partying darling!

Cookies Baking

I was requested by the kiddos to have a cookie baking session as Lady Faith’s cousin Zoe and Shana would like to make their own cookies for their parents. I gladly agreed with and welcome them to our home today for the class. 😊

They arrived early but little pumpkin wasn’t able to join the fun as she has enrichment class to attend at school. The 3 musketeers were all ready to get their hands to make the cookies. I prepared all the ingredients and had them weighed before they arrived so that it can be done quickly.

They listened to instructions and started to put the ingredients into their bowls given and mixed them up as told. There were some ingredients that I left it to them for weighing so they can learn to be precise when it comes to baking. They worked together and did very well indeed.

After mixing all the ingredients, we rolled them into a dough and put it into the fridge for it to set at least an hour before shaping them. While we were waiting for the dough to be ready, we had our luncheon and the kids managed to have some playtime before the dough is set for shaping.

The kids hurried to get ready when I took out the dough from the fridge. They started to shape them and they even added extra chocolate chips before I put them into the oven. They were so excited to see and taste their product that they set their timer with my oven too... hahahaahah

When they heard the beep sound in the middle of their game, they came rushing to the kitchen and check out their creation and products. It was really great and the whole house smells like Famous Amos!!! Haahahahahah…

We tried the cookies after they were cooled and it turned out to be pretty delicious! I am so proud of the girls that they were able to listen to instructions and made their own cookies for the first time! Well done girls! 

A Different Status

I am really honored to be invited to be part of MC D&D though I am no longer an employee of this company. Today, for the first time, I am attending this party as a partner of Linda. The feeling was kind of weird but I am happy to be joining the party as I was able to meet some ex-colleagues and bosses whom I had worked with for many years.

When we arrived at the venue, catching up with ex-colleagues was the best thing and many of them still looks the same though our conversation topics are different from the usual. It was more of catching up and missing those close bonding.

As usual, the D&D agenda did not really change much except for the Long Service Award segment was taken off. The food was not too bad but who cares right… I was really having fun with my fellow ex-colleagues during the game segment and it was like working with my friends all over again but in a different way.

Our table would be considered as the most happening one in my opinion as we had the loudest and the craziest people together. It was really fun and we enjoyed drinking and I am really missing these people but not the company… hahahaahahah

Well, the party ended pretty early but we stayed a little longer to party on. The DJ was really prompt to play our favourite songs whenever we made a request. The fun was somehow cut short when many hotel staff started clearing up the ballroom and DJ was slowly lowering the volume.

Thank you Leng for inviting me to this party and I had fun!

Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast

Good morning Desaru! The weather here is very cold which is not too norm. We are experiencing the temperature at 23 degrees as it was raining and windy.

As our plan to bring the kids to the water park next door has to be cancelled, we put them at the Hard Rock Kids Club instead. They had fun activities for the kids the whole day and we only need to pick them up for lunch and dinner only. Cool stuff indeed.

When we picked them up for lunch after our morning workout at the gym which was located just next to the Kids Club, the kids told us that they had so much fun and can’t wait to get back to the club. They told us that they had done some activities like drawing, painting and had played some computer games at the game room.

For the elderly, they did not have much things to do due to the rain so they stayed in their room and given this time, we were able to share with them our Melbourne trip. It was quite a good opportunity for us to sit and chatted with them over coffee.

After picking up the kids during dinner time break, we decided to head out for dinner instead of dinning in the hotel again. He went to Jade Garden which was about 20 minutes’ drive from our hotel. When we arrived, it wasn’t crowded as the restaurant is big and spacious. We asked for recommendations and decided to order some of their signature dishes. Their portion was reasonable and the food was really tasty. The kids love the egg and tofu dishes so much that we had to make a second orders. 😊

Though this is a short trip to Malaysia but it was all worth it as the kids got to spend time with their grandparents and we will drove back to Singapore tomorrow morning as I have a dinner to attend.

Thanks for the memories HRH.

Desaru Here We Come!

After resting for a day returning from Melbourne, we are setting off again but this time, we have our parents with us. We are heading to Desaru for a short trip to have the kids bond with their grandparents.

We set off pretty early hoping to avoid the traffic jam at the causeway but guess it is not avoidable as we were stuck in the jam for about 1hr 20 minutes. It was not as bad but it’s a waste of time after all. We dropped by at the new shopping mall in JB to have our lunch before continuing our journey to Desaru. 

Journey from JB to Desaru was about one hour and with the GPS, it took us safely to the destination without any delays. When we arrived at Hard Rock Desaru Coast, the sky was not too friendly and turned a little dark. We hurried to get the kids to change and dashed to the pool before it pours.

I was rather disappointed with the pool as it was pretty small compared to the one at Resort World Sentosa. The pool was crowded but the kids managed to have a dip with their dad for at least 30 minutes before it started to pour.

There wasn’t much stuff to do since it was raining so, we rested in our room and headed down to the restaurant for dinner. Their main restaurant was serving buffet dinner and it was very reasonable priced.

It was quite a tiring day for us after a long drive from Singapore and we turned in early to charge up ourselves for tomorrow. 

Thank You Melbourne

After a week or so vacation in Melbourne, I am really having mixed feelings as we will be flying back home in a couple of hours’ time! The landlord for the apartment was really nice that she managed to provide us with late checkout and I was happy that we were given more time to do our late minute packing and also to clean up the apartment before handing it back.

We set off after checking everything and headed down to town. We walked around town and managed to do some sightseeing before heading for our lunch. Found the famous Flinders Street where you can find beautiful street art that are connected. The kids were amazed how beautiful the street paintings were and wondered if there are any in Singapore.

After spending an hour or so in town, we headed to lunch our Japanese lunch before heading to the airport. We had okonomiyaki for luncheon and it was really good. It reminded me of Nanja Monja where you get to prepare the okonomiyaki yourself.

It was almost time to set off to the airport though we are pretty much early. I wanted to have some time to shop at the duty free shops at the airport so we decided to check in earlier than usual. I did have a blast shopping after checking ourselves in and even had time to take early dinner at Hungry Jacks before boarding.

Melbourne has been really kind to us and we had a blast too. The kids enjoyed themselves so much during the trip and we will definitely be back again in the near future!

We are coming home Singapore! 

Let’s Shop!

As our holiday will soon come to an end tomorrow, it’s time to do some shopping before I do some packing tonight.

Our first stop will be visiting the Rod Laver Arena where the famous Australian Opens is held annually. It will be a dream come true to be present here to watch a match but it will only happen in January yearly. Nevertheless, we are happy to step foot on this ground to check out the arena. We wanted to do the stadium tour but due to some constructions were going on for next month’s Australian Open, we had to walk a long way to get to the Rod Laver Arena and was told by the staff that we had to get our tickets at the Main building which was near the carpark!!! 

The weather today hits a high of 39 degrees and we finally experienced SUMMER in Melbourne. This certainly feels like Summer finally but it was way too hot to be outdoor today. The kids were complaining about the heat as we had to do lots of walking with no shade or shelter around us. There is no way that we could turned back to the starting point as the timing for the tour will be over by the time we arrived at the main center.

Hub and I decided to walk around the free area while the kids rested under the huge tree nearby. We managed to watch some Playoff games at the smaller courts and saw some tennis players who might be the next tennis star in the future.

After a torturing walk around the arena for the kids, we finally set off to have our lunch at Gold Leaf Chinese Restaurant. The food was pretty good and the kids enjoyed their dim sums as they were craving for some Chinese food. 

We did a short round of shopping at the outlet stores and ended some with little damages this time. 😊 I guess we have to thank the HOT weather today as it totally spoilt my mood for shopping under such horrible heat. I would say that this would be the first time the kids suggested to head back to the apartment to rest as they couldn’t take the heat.

Back at the apartment, I did all the packing up while the kids took their naps and charged up for dinner later. I was so glad that all packings are done and I have some space for last minute shopping tomorrow before heading to the airport. 😊

We decided to head down to have dinner at Chinatown since it’s our last night in Melbourne. We chanced upon this cool Teppanyaki Restaurant and gave it a shot. When we were seated, we realized that they only serve set dinner and the price was very expensive. Hubby said that it wasn’t nice to walk out and being the last night, let’s have a good dinner. 😊

Ginza Teppanyaki was really fantastic! We enjoyed not only their food but their entertainment. Each table has a chef to prepare your meals and at the same time, perform tricks and played games with you before he leaves the section. They played some cool engaging games where they are suitable for both young and old. It was really fun and we even managed to make some friends after playing the table games together. 😊

Sighz… it’s time to head home tomorrow and though I am excited to be home but I am missing Melbourne already.

Our Sunday In Melbourne

It’s Sunday and we as Catholics, would like to take every opportunity to visit or attend mass even when we are overseas. This time, no exceptional too. We found a few Catholic churches around our area and we decided to attend mass at St. Patrick’s Church.

Hubby dropped us off at the entrance while he parked the car and when we entered this beautiful church, I was taken by surprise that it was almost empty. I did not expect this low turn-out in church at all as back home, it will be overcrowded even if you are 10 minutes early before mass begins. I was hoping that more parishioners will be flooding in when mass started but I was wrong.

I was really affected by the scene in this church and I pray that more Catholics will return to church soon. I am really blessed that churches in Singapore are flooded with people weekly and I pray that it will continue to stay that strong.

After mass, we set off to Russo Estate Winery for our brunch. It was about an hour drive from the city and when we arrived, it was quiet. For a moment, we thought they were closed but the fact was, we were just early and they were just preparing for restaurant to be ready. 

The staff allowed us to be seated while they continue to prepare and we took our time to browse through their menu. Well, it’s really different when you dine in a winery where they served only a-la-carte or set menu compared to the one we tried in Perth where they had buffet.

Anyhow, we proceeded to order kids meal for the kiddos while hub and I ordered different dishes to share. Their food portion was pretty reasonable and it was definitely tasty! It was worth the drive but then again, it wasn’t that cheap to dine in a winery to be honest. 

After brunch, we headed back to the city. We decided to do some marketing at Queen Victoria as we would want to have some homecooked food tonight. We had such a wonderful time doing our marketing at Queen Vic as there were so many things to buy for dinner and our dinner will be definitely cheaper than our brunch today. Hahahaahahah

Before returning to our apartment, we dropped by at the supermarket to buy some snacks and wine to compliment the dinner. 😊 While hub is settling the kids, I prepared dinner. 😊 As there wasn’t much stuff in the kitchen pantry, I only used whatever it was available but everything turned out to be delicious and all plates were cleared. Yippy!!!