Baked With Love

I am super thrilled when I received a message from Florence (my cousin-in-law) that she would like to place an order of 60 cupcakes with me. I was obviously excited but at the same time pretty much worried that I am not up to it.

I have been thinking and planning what types of cupcakes I should bake for little niece’s birthday as it will act as her birthday cake instead of on the sides. I am totally stressed out but the day came today, I welcomed my thoughts and inspiration to work on its own.

I began my baking marathon after lunch and I was pretty much happy with the outcome of my first batch of cupcakes. They turned out moist and tasty though slightly lacked of coffee flavour (Tiramisu) but I was delighted that the cream was perfect. 😊

Then I started baking the rest of the chocolate cupcakes and started on my icing while the cakes were cooling on the racks. It is my first attempt to make the vanilla marshmallow frosting and I was really happy that it turned out pretty well and lastly, my oreo frosting went super well too. It was indeed a great day to bake where everything came in place. After cleaning up, I was really relieved and gave a good tap on my own back…. hahahahahahah

I thank God for the patience and I managed to put if off. Now, I can only wished that everyone will enjoy the cupcakes tomorrow at the party.

My Way Of Saying ‘Thank You’

I am so happy with the recovery of my mum and decided to bake some brownies for Dr. Khoo and his staff since we will be returning to the clinic for her review after her surgery last week.

I was relieved and overjoyed to know that mum’s recovery speeding up and Dr. Khoo told us that both mum’s BP and ECG are normal. I am really thankful that we came to see him and I am truly blessed that God has led me to the right doctor to treat mum’s condition.

Thank you Dr. Khoo once again for the advices and thank you for the successful surgery.

Breakfast @ Starbucks Café

Well, I am no breakfast person for those who knows me very well but this time, I had to take my breakie just to have my meds. Where can I chill while enjoying the quiet time for myself? Yes, you might guess it… it’s Starbucks, one of my favourite coffee joint.

I ordered the multigrain egg mayo croissant with a cup of hot caramel macchiato and it was all so quiet in the morning. I am thankful that I was able to have some ME time and took my time to finish up the breakfast before heading home to work on the household chores while mum is recuperating from recent her Angioplasty surgery.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the breakfast time on my own and I guess I will do it again perhaps soon. Wanna join me anyone?

Faith's Birthday Dinner

Holy Moly!!!! IS THIS SERIOUS!!! I am seriously in denial and I really do not want to believe that my first born is NINE today! I always remembered her as a cute baby when she was little and many told me that she looked mixed.

Today, she has grown so much that she has already lost those baby fats on her face, but developed some fats on her belly…. Hahahaahahah… Oooopppsss….

It is a school day today and she was upset that she had to stay late for her CCA even though its her birthday. She returned home today with a small gift from Uncle Low (her school bus driver) and she was excited about going out for dinner as her birthday celebration.

We went to Pietro as usual for our dinner and we ordered all her favourite dishes. She did not hesitate to finish up her Truffle Pizza, seafood aglio and her favourite salmon. She too requested for a chocolate lava cake as her birthday cake as we usually skipped desserts during our casual dinner there.

The staff knows her very well and they were more than happy to gather to sing her the birthday song. When they started singing, the whole restaurants sang along as the crowd tonight was spontaneous too!

When we returned home, she gathered all her presents and ready to open all of them. Some of our guest who came for her birthday gave a gift to little pumpkin too and it was such a sweet gesture. 

Happy Blessed Birthday our dearest Tabi. We wish that you will continue to grow into a fine lady with love and be kind. May the good Lord continue to bless and watch over you always. We love you very much!

Faith Turns NINE!!!

Look at you my sweet Lady Faith!!! From the first moment I had you in my arms till now... I wish that those diapers & night feeding days are still ongoing.. you made me realised that now it’s all about books, projects, exams & movies we are exchanging. You’ve grown so much & those beautiful memories of you being little will always be in our hearts. May you continue to grow in love, happiness & stay healthy always. May the good Lord continue to bless & watch over you. Happy blessed birthday sweetheart & we love you oh so much!
💕

Lady Faith Turning NINE

How time flies… my baby girl will be turning NINE and next year… it will reach a two-digit numbers birthday! I am really still in denial but reality is painful isn’t it!

This year’s birthday party is quite a POPULAR theme for the girls and yes, it’s the UNICORN theme. I have seen many places with unicorns everywhere and they are simply beautiful. My God-daughter Kiki also had the Unicorn theme for her birthday and Lady Faith loved the design of her birthday cake.

Well, I wasn’t too sure where to hold the party but finally decided to have it at Arteastiq located at Plaza Singapura after an Art Jamming session with Maggie & kids. I love the place and I thought it would be a perfect venue for Lady Faith’s birthday party.

After picking up the birthday cake from my ex-schoolmate Jaq, we rushed to the restaurant as the party will starts at 11am. I was really thankful that the traffic was smooth and we managed to arrive on time though some guest arrived earlier.

We started the Art Jamming session for the kids immediately and all of them were so excited to get their imagination run wild. While the kiddos were at work, the mummies get their free time to relax and chill out with friends around. I too had the opportunity to mingle with her classmates' parents and some of my friends. 

I went on to check on the kids a bit after settling the food serving with the staff and saw beautiful paintings in the art room. Many of the kids were painting their best and the colors of the canvas were vibrant and beautiful. I was really happy to see happy faces in the room and many of them are sharing colors and some are helping each other out.

After luncheon, we did not waste time to have the cake cutting ceremony done and it was quite a challenge to gather all the kids around the table as the space was not on our side. Everyone was so excited when the birthday cake was displayed and many came over to take a closer look and some of them even came to the front with phones to take picture. :) The cake was so beautiful and I want to thank Jaq for doing such a wonderful job! 

The kids were great and they gathered around the table almost immediately after we announced the cake cutting ceremony and they stood by the birthday girl and started singing. Thumps Up Kids!

I was happy to receive good feedback on the food, cake, the canvas paintings and even my homemade goody bags. I am really thankful to everyone who made the effort to join the party and share our joy.

Thank you everyone for your wonderful gifts, ang pows and most importantly your presence. 

God Is Great!

It was quite a nightmare for me when we first found out that mum might be suffering from arteries blockage after visiting A&E at Mount A. She was then asked to refer to a specialist for her condition and that was somehow the beginning of my nightmare.

For many nights before visiting the specialist, I was really worried that mum will suffer from a heart attack as she has been complaining about having the pain at her chest. I was really delighted to meet Dr. Khoo who is a cardiologist and he too suspected an artery blockage but gave us some meds to test out before he confirmed or planned for further tests.

After a week or so, we returned to visit Dr. Khoo and he somehow confirmed that artery blockage might be the reasons for mum’s chest pain and heavy panting while taking on the flights of stairs. To be more precise on mum’s condition, he suggested a CT scan to be done. We were agreeable to it and I hurried the appointment and had it done.

After 2 days, we returned to Dr. Khoo’s clinic and he told us that he was happy with the CT scan results as it showed that mum has only one artery blockage and the other two arteries were healthy. He suggested that we do an angioplasty for mum to clear the blockage and it is considered a day’s surgery.  

We returned home and discussed with mum on her condition and after speaking with her, she agreed to proceed with the surgery though she was really worried and scared. I made the call to the clinic for the arrangements and in a week’s time, we are schedule for the procedure.

I checked mum into the hospital yesterday and she was so worried that her blood pressure shot up to a high of 190! They calmed her down and gave her meds before they pushed her to the lab for her procedure. I was seated at the waiting room and it took less than 30 minutes, I saw Dr. Khoo walking out of the lab waving to me and gave me a thump up!

He then took me into the lab to see my mum and showed me the films on how they did the angioplasty. It was interesting and an experience for me to enter a lab where surgeries were done for the first time and it was really cool.

Mum was then transferred to the ICU for the night for observation and she was able to talk and very much awake. We visited her in the evening and she was looking great and she seemed to be enjoying herself talking to the nurses there and I am happy that everything went well.

This morning, I returned to Mt. A to discharge mum and I was surprised to see her walking around in the ICU when I arrived. She was talking to the nurse and all her stuff were packed. After settling the hospital bills, I went to pick up at ICU and the nurses requested a picture with mum which was quite funny. They wished her well and told her that they wouldn’t want to see her back at the hospital… hahaahah…. She thanked them and off we go!

I am truly thankful to Dr. Khoo and all the staff at Mount Alvernia for taking such good care of my mum during her stay there and I thank God for his grace and love towards my mum. 

With this experience, I learnt that we should never take our health lightly and we should always stay healthy and it's always best to seek doctor's advice whenever we are unwell.

Jewel Changi

Jewel Changi Airport officially opens its doors on April 17 2019! With 280 shops and F & B outlets at Jewel house in a 10 storey complex, you will be spoilt for choice when it comes to what to eat or where to shop. Add a spectacular 40 m rain vortex and a five storey garden called forest gallery to explore, there are plenty of things to discover at the new Jewel @ Changi Airport.

Yes, after the hype about our new proudest spot in Singapore, we are here to explore this beautiful place. This place is connected to Changi Airport Terminal One and they shared the same carpark too. When we stepped foot on the ground of Jewel, I was welcomed with the beautiful water glass at the basement where they housed most of the eateries and food court. We quickly took a short walk around that basement for some photo taking and decided to have our early lunch to beat the crowd. 

It was too long that we decided to dine at Pow Sing where they are famous for their Hainanese Chicken Rice. We were seated almost immediately though the lunch crowd were slowly marching in. We ordered some of their signature dishes like their chicken rice, Hainanese pork chop, chap cai, fried egg and their sambal kangkong. The food was pretty tasty and we were relieved to see our family enjoying the food though it was slightly pricey for such simple food. Okay… it’s at JEWEL outlet so… guess price has to be high.

Right after our lunch, I rushed to queue up for my MUST HAVE Brown Sugar Deerioca Milk by THE ALLEY. I have been waiting patiently for them to open this outlet in Singapore and I am happy that I was able to get my hands on it. 😊 We took about 15 minutes to queue and waited about another 15 minutes for our drink to be ready. Well, to me, I think it’s all worth it as the drink was delicious! it is unfortunate that they only have 1 size for their brown sugar milk or else, I would want to order the largest size…. Hahaahahahaha

We continued to explore the Jewel and headed up to the upper level. My eyes were opened with joy and pride when I saw how beautiful this place was. It was like a beautiful indoor garden with a huge rain vortex! OMG!!!! I was blown away actually and I couldn’t stop taking pictures of it. There were so many people around and yes, it was hard to take a nice picture with just yourself in it but what the heck, it’s a public holiday so… I trust that almost ½ the Singaporeans were here today. 

The elderly decided to sit around and enjoy the view while we took the kiddos to explore the shopping mall. As we walked, we found that it was too crowded and too big for us explore… I guess we will be back at Jewel when it is less crowded to some exploring and shopping. 

Jewel Changi Airport, simply beautiful and it’s the Pride of all Singaporeans!

My Little Creative Pumpkin

This little pumpkin was quietly playing building blocks on her own while we sent her sister to the study room to prepare for her review which will take place in 2 weeks’ time.

While I was relaxing on the sofa enjoying the TV show, she came over with a roar and asked me to look at her latest creation. Okay, I pretended not knowing what it was and she was happy to explain the whole picture to me.

She built a house for her dinosaur and was very proud of herself that she managed to create the dino and its house. It was really cute and I did not expect her to create this masterpiece. 😊

Way to go GIRL!

Mother’s Day Celebration

This year’s Mother’s Day celebration, we decided to go buffet instead of our usual Chinese sit down dinner. We browsed and found this pretty popular Japanese Buffet joint located at Orchard Central (though I dislike this place).

Kiseki, which is known for their MEGA buffet that comes in small price was really crowded when we arrived. We had to queue to enter the restaurant even with a reservation. I guess it was extremely crowded due to Mother’s Day. 

We were given a long table by the window side and though there wasn’t much view but guess it good enough to look out instead of looking at the food all the time… hahahaahahah…. Well, there were lots of counters serving different types of Japanese food. Lady Faith did not waste anytime and she went for a walk to check out what food she would want to try.

There were lots of her favourite food such as udon, chawamushi, tempura ebi, makis, Japanese salads and savory food. Little pumpkin being not the picky one eats almost everything. We ordered the hot pot and she enjoyed those mushrooms, tofu and cooked salmon. 😊

It was too much of food to select and honestly, I was spoilt for choice. I began taking the mild ones like the sashimi and the salad. For first timer to this restaurant, it will be overwhelmed by their selections of food they have but for those who are not a big eater, then it will not be that worth for a meal here.

Overall, the experience was not too bad, food quality was not the best you get but varieties are good. We noticed that some staff were not attentive and show us a black face when we requested them to clear our plates but I guess there are just too many plates to clear for them during this peak hour.

Will I be back to this restaurant if you asked… well, I will probably but not on their busy period or during a special occasion. It should be a nice place to chill with friends and eat the night away!

Happy Mother’s Day to all Mummies!

Wonderful Party @ Swensen’s NEX

We are very honored to be invited to join in celebration for Rei’s birthday at Swensen’s. Lady Faith was so happy when I told her that we will be attending her friend’s party and I am sure she can’t wait to see all her K2 friends.

When we arrived at Swensen’s located at NEX, I was really surprise how big a party they have for this party and this is definitely a good location for kids’ party. Yes… you might guess it… I am considering this venue for the next party. 

Before the fun begins, we got the kiddos to have their food so that they can enjoy the magic show later. We do not know what to expect from the magic show and we saw them setting up and it looked pretty professional. 

When the show began, the host gathered all the kids at the front seat and all were very spontaneous. Little pumpkin was pretty much shy at first and did not want to join her sister but sat right at the back of the crowd instead. When the show started, she wasn’t much interested till she saw what the magician did and she began to enjoy the show thoroughly though she refused to move to the front.

It was indeed a very entertaining magic show and we parents enjoyed ourselves too. There was also a photo session with the bunny which was the highlight of the whole show. All were well mannered and queued for their turn for the picture. Thumps Up!

After the show, the kiddos started playing with each and the adults helped out to prepare the cake cutting ceremony before time runs out. It did not take us much effort to gather everyone as all the kids were so happy and excited to eat the ice-cream cake.

It was such an enjoyable celebration and I do hope to have the same idea for our little pumpkin too. Mmmh…. Guess I got to put into planning soon.

Thank you Belinda and family for inviting us to this wonderful birthday celebration for Rei! Happy Blessed birthday Rei and may you continue to be blessed with love and happiness around you.

Rie’s Birthday Celebration@Tung Lok Signatures

I am always happy to spend some bonding time with my so-called Extended Family Members and this time, we are back to Tung Lok to celebrate our youngest member Rie’s birthday.

I was busy baking a cake for her and it turned out to be horrible so, I attempted to bake again and I do hope she will like it. I am not a fantastic or expert baker but I enjoyed baking for loved ones and seeing them enjoying my cakes, it just made my day.

We arrived at Tung Lok early and Leng started ordering the dishes as she knows the menu or perhaps the CHEF well to get some special dishes on the table tonight. We fully trusted the dishes in her hands as she never disappoints. 

I would say that today’s dishes were delicious! It was not only food that we enjoyed but it was the fellowship we had together. Though we do not meet as often as we would love to, but it was some special bonding in all of us that there isn’t any barrier whenever we meet. 

After our delicious meal, we had the staff to prepare her birthday cake to be served. I was kind of worried as the table beside us were celebrating birthday too and their cake looked amazing! When my Ondeh Ondeh cake was placed on the table, I was glad that it didn’t looked awful as they plated the cake so nicely with decoration. 

We had our own soft celebrating and then the moment of truth! She cut the cake and I was happy that it turned out not too dry and I was so relieved that they all loved it! I was so glad that I did not ruin her birthday! Before we called it a night, I was happy to present them the Mother's Day cookies which I made specially for them and I hope they enjoy it too.

Thank you extended family members for always believing in me and supporting me on what I love to do most. Love you guys!

Happy blessed birthday PIC and may you continue to do well in what you does best and God bless you always!

Mother’s Day Celebration @ Emma’s School

It is a yearly affair that the school will organize Mother’s Day Celebration. I am always more than happy to join as it is interesting to see what the kids has put together for their mummies.

The teacher got all the mummies and their child involved in a ice-breaking game where everyone is involved. We held hands and had to pass the hula hoop around without using our hands which was pretty interesting and fun. This time, it was the mummies who were more excited about the game than the little ones… hahahaahahaha

This year, they prepared Japanese style food where mum and child will make their own maki together. As little pumpkin is pretty much clueless on how to make it, I stepped in to help and she just ate happily. Hahahaahah…

Thank you Star Learners for organizing this cool party for all mummies. 😊

Ondeh Ondeh Cupcakes

I have heard about how yummy Ondeh Ondeh Cakes or Cupcakes from my friends who had tried but to me, I am totally clueless. Checked out on the internet and found a couple of good recipes to test out.

Since I am baking a cake for my best buddy’s birthday tomorrow, I took on the Ondeh Ondeh cake for the firs time. The first attempt was quite a disaster and couldn’t help but to bake another one. The first attempt’s sponge cake was too hard and the icing was way too sweet for anyone’s liking.

I was pretty much okay with the second attempt and had to stick with it as I did not have time and energy to bake a third one. I used the left over to make them into cupcakes and I was pretty happy that mum gave the green light to pass.

I tried the cream and it was not too sweet and pretty yummy actually. The cake is still a little tough but I guess I can improve on that. As for the coconut filling, it was yummy! I am finally contended and I hope that my buddy will like it though I do not have much confidence.

I hope to try it out again and look out for my next post in future if I improve yea…. 😊

Hello Bossy!

I was so happy to hear that my ex-boss Yatomi-san will be visiting Singapore again but this time, representing another company. He retired from MC and joined a new company in Japan and I am so happy for him.

He visited Singapore on a business trip and he was so kind to invite us to have dinner with him though he no longer represents MC. I would have to say that not many bosses are like him who wants to keep in touch with ex-staff after they retired or leaves Singapore. I am so glad that he is one of those few who are really super nice.

While it was still early for dinner, my buddy was able to meet to have a short tea with me and so, we went to Tiong Bahru Bakery for our dose. I enjoyed the coffee and food there but it was almost time for dinner so, we kind of restricted ourselves to indulgence. 

Dinner started on time and I was happy to see Yatomi-san and his two new colleagues when they stepped into the restaurant. I was quickly introduced to his new colleagues and they were really nice and warmth people. In fact, I knew one of them, Koide-san for a long time but only through writing while he was seconded to MC last time. We finally got to meet today and he is really a super funny and witty guy!

During dinner, we had so much fun getting to know each other and we talked about how we missed Yatomi-san and the wonderful office environment we used to have as the vibes are totally different now. Many old colleagues had left for better environment while many stayed put waiting for retirement or perhaps retrenchments. Sighz… how sad isn’t it!

Yatomi-san told us that he will try to visit Singapore as often as possible on business and we do hope to meet him again in the near future!

Thank you boss for having us to dinner and we miss you!

Vanilla Cupcakes On The Demand

While my kiddos noticed that I have been baking fiercely last week and there was some icing still available in our fridge, they gently requested for some cupcakes. I was tired of baking the whole week but I am happy to bake just to satisfy their craves for the oreo icing. 😊

Yes, I whipped up a dozens of cupcakes but packed some to share with her ballet friends as we will not be able to finish all the cakes.

Well, my family and friends made me a happy baker all the time. 😊 Thank you for giving a chance and trust in me.

Oreo Cupcakes By Request

I was asked by a close friend to bring some cupcakes to office when I meet them for lunchie as they did not get to eat last week. 😊 I was more than happy to bake some Oreo Cupcakes again since I have the leftover icing from the massive baking last week.

Happy that they are enjoying my cupcakes! Cheers to a good day ahead!