Extended Family Lo Hei Lunch

How can we not meet our extended family members for Lo Hei!! I arranged a luncheon with the extended family members at East Ocean and I am happy that everyone took the effort to be on time.

Before the Lo Hei begins, I had our kids to greet their God-ma and Rie. Though it was not the traditional house visitation, I thought it was appropriate for the kids to greet the elders when we meet. Though the restaurant was crowded and noisy, the ‘bai nian’ managed to complete. 😊

As usual, Lo Hei is a joy for us especially when it’s only once yearly! The kids and adults tossed with well wishes and greetings and we hope this year will be smooth sailing for everyone though we were told that there were some cases of Covid-19 in Singapore and on the rise.

After the luncheon, we continued to celebrate Mizuki’s birthday though we are a day late but its worth the celebration. Who doesn’t enjoy birthday celebrations! Hahaahahahaha… Mizuki was happy to be surprised with a birthday cake and pressies presented to her by our kiddos. 😊

As hub’s car is under servicing and too early to collect, we went shopping with the kiddos and ended up at P.S. Café Paragon for desserts and coffee. The mall was super noisy as there were a few Lion Dance troupes around the mall performing CNY greetings at the shops.

Little Emma began to panic as she is no fan of Lion Dance, in fact, pretty much scared of it due to the loud noise and huge eyes of the Lion. Hahaahahahah… she is super sensitive to sound so… most of the time she was covering her ears while enjoying her chocolate cake. 😊

Thank you guys for taking time to meet up today and let’s meet again soon ya… 😊

Day 2 Of CNY

After the visitation by my cousin this morning, we had a good rest and we are off to our next visitation. This time, we are heading West as the gathering is held at one of hubby’s cousin’s place.

They managed to book a function room at their condo and hosted the families for this CNY gathering. As the family is getting bigger by the year, not many people’s house can accommodate 50 pax anymore. I thought it was ideal to have CNY gatherings in a function room where you can mingle around freely compared to be confined in one’s house.

When we arrived, we immediately get the kids to wish all the elderly and others in case we missed someone. 😊 The function room was spacey, and they arranged a few tables and many chairs for guests to be seated. The buffet line was placed outside the room which created more space for people to be indoor.

Hub’s cousin’s wife also brought us to her unit to view the place and it was nice. The ceiling was high, and they managed to build a loft to create a small room for their child. I thought that was a brilliant idea to create space. The kitchen is at a reasonable sized and I considered it bigger than many other condos I have visited. They joint another room to create a bigger master-bedroom with a large walk-in wardrobe. Overall, the space is well utilized.

Back to the function room after a tour of their unit. One of hub’s cousin, Serena, who never fail to entertain the kids. This year, she brought with her many stuff for the kids to do. She prepared musical box for the kids to decorate and there were so many pretty beads, charms etc. for the kids to get creative. The materials that she provided was amazing and I really take my hat off her for being so patient with the kids.

While I was catching up with some of hub’s cousins in the room, the kids were very occupied by the activities led by Serena and I believed most parents had a breather from their kids. Hahaahahahaha….. Thank you Serena for taking time and effort to bring all your stuff to entertain our kids.

CNY can be different if someone makes a difference. 😊 Happy New Year everyone and I too hope your CNY is different from the usual.

Cousins From Down Under

It is almost impossible to meet up with my cousin from my mum’s side of the family as they are currently living in Melbourne Australia. We visited Melbourne last December but did not have the chance to meet up due to their school schedules and commitments.

I am happy to learn from Claudine (cousin-in-law) that they will be in town for CNY and will be able to visit my mum. My mum was so excited when I told her about the visitation. It is the 2^nd day of CNY and she was excited to meet my cousins and their kids. She told me to prepare some goodies for them so it will be nice to keep them feeling at home.

When they arrived at my place, I introduced our kids to theirs as this is the first time that they meet. Somehow, they hit off very well and went off to play with my kids in their room. My uncle and cousins being first time visitors to my house, we gladly showed them around.

It was nice to see my mum catching up with her younger brother as she was not able to meet my uncle due to the Covid-19 situation. Though it is not so serious in Singapore compared to China, we must be cautious about the virus too.

It was great to catch up with my cousin and we managed to learn more about their lives in Australia. I do hope to meet them again perhaps in Melbourne or Singapore soon. 😊

Thank you for dropping by today!

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Woohoo!!! It is a brand-new year once again! We have entered the Year of the Rat and let us hope it will be a smooth and good year ahead!

Mum woke up early this morning to prepare the vegetarian dish for our luncheon later at cousin’s place and the delicious smell of this dish woke me up too. Vegetarian dish is one of mum’s signature and a MUST-HAVE for CNY. It has been a tradition I guess but I cannot leave this dish out yearly and I can eat that almost everyday as it is soooooooooooooo GOOD!

We set off to Cousin BG’s place and she was still busy in the kitchen when we arrived. This year, we have the pleasure to include Rosana to join us and she prepared her signature pan fried wantons too. BG prepared most of the dishes and Florence prepared by favorite dish yearly and I really thanked her for that. 😊 The dish that she prepared (pan-fried chikku) reminds me of my late aunty always and I would want to include her dish in our CNY lunch just to remember her. 

This year, it is pretty much unlike the past. We used to visit my uncle after luncheon at BG’s place yearly but this year, there is no need to visit as my uncle passed on last year…. Anyway, I hope we can continue to the tradition of visitation to family or extended families during CNY so that we can at least meet up once yearly to catch up with each other.

After the luncheon, we headed down to Singapore Shopping Centre for another party. This year, there is no house visitation but a gathering at a rented office instead. Leslie’s cousin kindly arranged the gathering and ordered the food for everyone. It was a cozy room where it was able to house about 40 pax and some were chilling outside the room.

Though the kiddos only get to meet their cousins once every year, I was happy to see them being able to hangout together and seemed like they get along very well with each other though not too close. 😊 CNY is one of the occasions where you bring families together and catching up with people whom you do not meet often.

Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous New Year!

Happy Lunar New Year!

CNY Reunion Dinner

It has always been a yearly affair that we have our family reunion dinner at my Gujie’s place but this year, we decided to host it at our place instead. We prepared most of the ingredients for our yearly family steamboat and cousin bought the yusheng to save us from queuing. 😊

Everyone arrived early or on time and we started our dinner with Yusheng. As we tossed, wishes, greetings and blessings were spoken and even the kiddos involved too. This is one of my favourite moments for CNY and always looking forward to it. 😊

As some of us were helping to clear the Yusheng, the others were cooking the steamboat ingredients to save some waiting time as the kiddos should be getting hungry. We were thankful for the contribution of a fantastic spread of food on the table and they are a real table of plenty. 😉

This year, I am glad that we hosted the reunion dinner at our place as I was able to prepare more desserts for everyone. I made the jelly cheesecake which I eventually became part of the celebration. Baked the cake for both Florence and Brian who are celebrating their birthdays in end Jan and early Feb. Since my birthday also falls on Feb, we celebrated together. I am happy that everyone enjoyed the desserts and the jelly cheesecake.

Thanks for coming over to our nest for reunion dinner everyone and see you tomorrow!

Birthday @ Halia Botanical Gardens

I have heard of Halia Botanical Gardens but never gotten the chance to visit. Today, I am happy that the birthday girls chose this restaurant and I am excited to try their food.

After meeting up with Marion, we took a cab to the restaurant which was kind of not too assessable if you do not drive as the bus stop is situated at the main road and you had to take a long walk through the greenery to reach the venue which might take you about 20 minutes.

When we arrived at the entrance of the Orchid Gardens, we had to take a short walk to the restaurant (so, a lot of walking if you are not driving). The restaurant is cozy and nice. We were seated indoor as we thought it will be safer as it’s a garden after all and you might get uninvited visitors like monkeys, flies or even bats to share your food if you seated outdoor. 😊

We ordered the set menu for 4 and I was surprised that the food served in this restaurant is really good though the food portion may not look like it’s for 4 but we were actually stuffed even before desserts were served. Overall, the food was great except for the desserts which did not awe me at all. I would suggest that if we order from their a-la-carte menu if you are not planning to share or perhaps just visit for a trial.

Time passed extremely fast when you are having so much fun with friends whom you love. Thanks for recommending this place Ron and I am sure I will be back again with the family soon. 😊

Happy Blessed Birthday to Vian and Ron! Wishing you guys a healthy year ahead and stay forever young! Cheers to many more of friendship!

My New Yorker

I have many friends who left Singapore for work or starting a family overseas and I am glad that today, I am finally meeting up with one of my close buddies who returned from New York for CNY.

It’s been a while since we last met, and I was disappointed with myself for not being able to attend her farewell party and sending her off at the airport due to personal matters. She has been my friend when I entered primary school. Though we were not close till we were in P5, I was happy that we make our friendship work.

We became closer when we were in our secondary school and were in the same class till, we graduate. We had so many beautiful memories together and I would consider her as a friend whom I shared my school life with. I invited her to be my master of ceremony (Chinese speaking though she isn’t perfect) for our wedding and I was glad that she did coz’ she made the party more fun than the usual dinner we have been to.

When I learnt that she is back to Singapore via FB, I was really thrilled and booked her schedule so that we can meet. I was really happy to meet her after 3 years or so and we did not loose touch. It was like good old days when we met, and our topics never run short.

I was glad that Theresa and Hairon were able to join us as she misses them too. I wished we could do a bigger gathering, but time isn’t on our side as she will be in town for only a week plus and it’s CNY period so, family time is more important to her.

Well, I am happy and blessed to spend some time with her at least and I am sure we will be able to meet again soon in the near future.

Take care Marion and miss you!

Family CNY Reunion Dinner At Peony Jade

It’s the time of the year for our family CNY reunion dinner and this time, we ventured out to try dining at Peony Jade instead of our usual Spring Court, Golden Spoon or at home. Peony Jade at Keppel Club, known as one of the Michelin Plate 2019 and 2018 as well as Michelin BIB Gourmand 2017 & 2016.

We ordered their CNY set menu for our family and it turned out to be superb! All of us enjoyed their yusheng very much and even the kiddos wanted a third serving. Their yusheng was unique and very tasty in its own way. The other dishes were great too and most of us enjoyed their fish maw soup and their crispy roasted chicken.

We incorporated the reunion dinner with the birthday celebration of our two special January babies – Nicholas and Maggie. We gave them a surprise and bought the famous durian cake from Jane Cake Station which was super YUMMY!!!

The reunion dinner was fantastic with good bonding of family members and the birthday celebrations too. Wishing everyone a Happy CNY in advance. Cheers!

Our Crazy Yearly Affair

It has become more like our very own ‘D&D’ for CNY. This is one gathering we are always looking forward to yearly and no matter if we are still working in the same office or already left for years. This is the night that we will gather and have loads of fun together.

Yearly, Leng and I will plan the menu though it has been almost the same each time we dine at Spring Court. Honestly, we do not really care about food that much coz our focus is to meet up and have fun.

I arrived at Spring Court early this year met up Rie to hang out to get some CNY goodies together. It is rare for me to shop in Chinatown during CNY period as it is always crowded. This year, I thought it was quite quiet… perhaps its still early to shop for some.

Back to join the rest at Spring Court after a short walk with Rie and glad that most of them were on time this time. We are always taking pix to kill time waiting for the rest of the members to arrive. Meeting up with friends whom you treasure is always precious and catching up with each other always a joy.

We began our dinner with the birthday buns provided by Spring Court for the January Birthday Babes though one of them is missing due to family matters. It was then our yearly tossed of Yusheng and we can never avoid the mess on the table after tossing! I am sure all well wishes are heard and looking forward for them to come true for us.

During dinner, we have our Karaoke system on with songs that we love and usually started to dance. We are always diverted during our dinner especially when the songs that we love are playing. We did a mass dance too and at one point of time, the restaurant manager even came into our room to join us with singing and dancing. It was hilarious!

Before calling it a night, we had the birthday celebration of the January babes’ birthday! It was such great fun that none of us want to miss. Till then, we will meet again next year to create more crazy moments!

CNY Celebration @ School

Little pumpkin was very excited about CNY celebration at school and she cannot wait to share the homemade goodies with her friends. She dressed up in one of her favourite CNY dress and was happy to pose for a picture before leaving home for school.

When arrived at school, it was great to see all her friends dressed up in their CNY clothes and all smiles when I told them to look at the camera. They then showed me what they brought for the party and all were really excited to eat the goodies rather than to learn about CNY. hahahaahahahahah

Happy partying at school baby girl!

Ondeh Ondeh Tarts

Many have heard or tried Ondeh Ondeh and lately, it is a trend to transform these traditional goodies into cupcakes, cakes or jelly. I too was trying something new and decided to bake Ondeh Ondeh Tarts instead.

I would consider myself as someone who is not good at making pastries and this time, it took me a long time to perfect the tarts. The ingredients are easy to make but the tart pastries are difficult for me. I checked out the recipes for pastries and I am glad that I managed to pull through.

The most tedious part of making these tarts were having to fill the tarts without having the pastries hardened. I took about 40 minutes to complete them and put them into the oven. I have never felt so helpless when it comes to baking but this time, I felt lost! Hahahaahah…

After putting them into the oven, I patiently waited for the oven to beep. When I removed them out from the oven, I was really happy how pretty they turned out. My little tester Lady Faith was the first to taste and she gave me a big thump up and told me that it was so yummy! Mum tested it and gave me a thump up too and I was overjoyed that all hard work has paid off as it turned out delicious!

I packed them into little bottles as a treat to some special friends whom I will be meeting and hoped that they too will enjoy them as much as we did at home.  😊

Milk Bread

I have always wanted to try baking our own bread for tea or breakfast but just didn’t have the courage or perhaps time to get me going.

Today, I finally pick up the courage to bake our bread for the 1^st time. I have chanced upon a pretty cool and easy recipe on Thermomix and decided to give it a shot. Well, the Thermomix made it so easy as I do not need to do much and the dough is all ready to proof.

The dough was ready in 40 minutes and I placed it on baking mat and gave it a roll before shaping it into a braided shape. I was really happy with the results after baking it for a good 35 minutes and man… the kitchen smells great!

After its cooling period, I took the first cut on the bread and it was so soft. Mum and Lady Faith had the 1^st try with butter and they gave thumps up for the texture and taste. Mmmh… now that they had approved the result, I am happy that we can make our own bread at home from now. Woohoo!!!

Whale Tea

Well, it is a bubble tea craze in Singapore and there are many different brands of bubble tea shops opening every parts of Singapore.

We chanced upon this new bubble tea joint near our house and we decided to give it a try. Lady Faith chose the brown sugar fresh milk while we tried their tea selection. Well, I would say that their brown sugar fresh milk was not too bad though the pearls were pretty hard for my liking. Their milk tea was not as nice compared to Koi and Gong Cha if you ask me.

Overall rating, I would give a 6/10 where there are rooms improvement on their pearls. 😊

CNY Dinner With The Ng’s

This is a rare opportunity that we can somehow celebrate CNY with the Ng’s in Singapore as they mentioned that they are able to celebrate CNY only once every 4 years due to Australia school holidays.

This year, we are happy to have them back to Singapore and we arranged dinner at Spring Court where they had always wanted to try. We browsed through the menu and decided to order some of their signature dishes instead of having their set menu.

It was our first time having Lo Hei together and it was truly fun. The kids were also participating in the tossing and saying all the well wishes as we tossed. Though it was a little messy after the tossing, but it is definitely a memorable experience for everyone.

The dishes we ordered were superb especially the lobster though I am allergy to it, but it was totally irresistible. It was soooooooooooooo GOOD!!! The cod fish was simply heavenly too even the kiddos cleared their plates too. It was great to catch up over a fantastic meal and what matters is the people whom you treasure are at the dining table. 

They will be returning to Perth after CNY and guess we will not be meeting up till our next holiday together perhaps. I am looking forward to June or perhaps the year-end holidays so we can either visit or travel together with the Ngs again.

Meanwhile, safe trip and have a prosperous year ahead!

Butter Cookies

I remembered tasting the butter cookies by Jenny when Leng bought it back from Hong Kong years ago and I fell so deeply in love with since. It is expensive but delicious indeed. 

I chanced upon this recipe while browsing the internet and after fine tuning it, I am happy with the results. I was really happy with the feedback when my friends told me that they tasted great and pretty similar to Jenny Cookies… woohoo!!!

Now, they became one of the cookies I will bake for friends and relatives during CNY. 😊 

The Moment My Heart Sank

Weekly I send Lady Faith for her Creative Writing tuition at the nearby Mall and I will park her at the center and set off to run my errands during that 2 hours.

While I was done with my ‘ME’ time at Starbucks, I received a call from the tuition center when I was about to head to the supermarket. The teacher spoke to me and told me that Lady Faith injured her hand when the table fell on her. I was shocked to her the news and rushed to the center immediately.

When I arrived, Lady Faith came out of the classroom crying and grabbing her hand painfully. I took a look at her finger and the teacher told me the how the accident happened. Lady Faith sat at the edge of the table while they had a Q&A session when she placed her hands on the table and attempted to hop. That was when the table gave way and slammed onto her fingers when she fell with the table.

It happened in a spilt second and Lady Faith started cry as the bruise on her finger gave out the signal of PAIN!!! The teacher hurried to nurse her with cold pad and followed up with a phone call to me. I was standing there looking at the fingers and my heart felt for her too but I remained calm to assure her that everything will be alright.

I calmed her down and told her to get back to class since she can still sit and listen but not doing the writing. The teacher was surprised that I sent Lady Faith back to class but I told him that I had some marketing to do and will return to pick her up as soon as I am done. I looked really calm but I tell you, I am shaking inside!

Upon seeing Lady Faith walked back to the classroom with her teachers and friends, I dashed straight to the supermarket and sped up my marketing needs. Within 15 minutes, I am done and I rushed back to the center and picked up Faith. At that moment, I felt a little bad as I forced her back to the classroom even though she was in so much pain. She did not complain but told me that she will bear the pain till we get home to nurse her.

As soon as we stepped into the house, I quickly took the cold pad to nurse her bruise once again and cleaned up her wounds before I applied the lemongrass oil on her finger. We wanted to bring her to the doctor but she said she will be fine.

Before she went to bed, I applied the lemongrass oil on her finger once again as I learnt that the oil will heal bruise and hopefully she will gets better tomorrow.  

Baking Marathon Begins

It's the time of the year once again for baking marathon to begin.

Let's begin with the 1st batch of Cornflakes snacks... yummz… my kids enjoys having this snacks even not during CNY. What about you?

Back To School

OMG!!! Another had just passed us by and now we are reset! We have entered into the Year 2020 and today, the kids are heading back to school once again.

I am usually emotional when it comes to the first day of school. I can never come to terms with my mind that my kids are no longer babies and I can no longer carry them with the baby carrier!

Lady Faith is in Primary 4 this year while little pumpkin is K2! I really can't believe that they are growing so fast that I can't catch up! Sighz….

Anyway girls, wishing you a blessed day at school today and just to let you know that we love you very much! 💗💗💗

Chocolate Brownies

My first orders of the year and I want to thank Regina for believing in me. I hope you and your family enjoys the brownies.

Happy New Year everyone!