Outdoor Adventure

Sungei buloh is a fabulous nature reserve. A place where if you heighten your senses, you can see a lot of creatures that lives amongst us in their natural habitat in one of the last mangrove swamps in Singapore. 

We heard so much about it from the news, pictures that was posted by friends on FB and decided to bring the kids out on an outdoor adventure of a different kind. It was quite a long car ride from our place, and I would say that it wasn’t very accessible if you are travelling by public transport.  

The kids were pretty much excited about the trip when we set off but when we finally arrived, they were worried about how it will turn out. Given the fact that it is a nature reserve, and you will be expecting to see insects, worms, birds or even a chance to see the well-known crocodile that reside there.

We started walking around the area and managed to see a crocodile in the water, heron, monitor lizard, mud crabs, mud lobster beds, fishes, bats, spiders and webs... the kids were happy to feel the nature but it was the hot weather that they are not happy about. Well, it is after all summer and it’s outdoor right!

After an hour or so exploring this beautiful place, we decided to call it a day as it was too hot for the kids to carry on the walk. This is one good place to visit if you are looking for something different from the normal activities and outings with the family.

Fragrance Rice

Fragrance Rice would be one of my favourite childhood dishes made by my mum. I think this is much tastier than the usual fried rice. This simple looking rice consists of Chinese sausage, mushrooms, char siew and shrimp. This is so easy and I am happy that I managed to replicate this recipe.

I was able to make this dish under the supervision of my mum though she was only instructing from afar. Hahahaahah… I was attentive and managed to follow the steps and we were happy that it turned out to be so tasty. This is another recipe to be kept and passed down to my kids.

Our Little Chefs

School holidays can be boring when you are not able to travel or even have any outdoors activities due to Covid restrictions. Well, I guess the only thing to keep the kiddos occupied will be giving them some stuff to do on some days.

Well, today will be one of those planned activities days and we are making bread from scratch. I am happy that I bought the Thermomix before the covid and now we are able to make full use of it to make some bread. 😊Using the Thermomix to make bread is such a breeze. It will do all the kneading for you and all we needed was to put all ingredients and proof and baked it. 😊

The kiddos were happy to get their hands sticky to create their own bread. I prepared some fillings for the bread and I guess the most popular filling would be Nutella. Hahahaahah… the girls made some nice Nutella bread and I made some with pork floss, kaya and black sesame.

The girls were super excited and were seen at the oven checking out their bread. When they heard the oven alarm, they ran to check out the bread and cannot wait to take a bite. Hahahaahah… they finally got to taste their own bread after a few minutes and yes, it tasted really good. The texture was soft and nice though the filling was overloaded.

Now I have two trainee chef in the house and I am sure they will gets better with more training… hahahaahahh

Ban Mien

This is one of my favourite local hawker food which I used to have for lunch back in those days when I was working. I do miss this when I quitted and became a homemaker.

I cooked this for dinner today and introduced it to the kids. They were not convinced at a glance but did not mind giving a try. When they started digging in, their eyes lid up and gave me a thump’s up! Hahaahaah… that moment, I know I have succeeded.

This simple and stomach warming dish is easy to prepare. You just need to prepare the anchovies soup base, add in your own noodles, vegetables and an egg. 😊 Simple and yet super tasty. Woohoo… another dish in the house menu for dinner… Yippy!

School Holiday Activities

School’s out and kids are at home. The girls were given homework and projects to be completed during this summer holiday and Lady Faith was excited to get her hands to it.

The moment the terrarium set arrived this morning, she was all ready to get it done. She took time to read the instructions, prepare the items and started assembling them together. Though it wasn’t difficult, but I was happy to see how creative she can be with her hands. 😊

Once it was completed, she had pictures taken and did not waste any time to upload her project to the school portal for submission. She told me that it was really fun creating a terrarium and it was indeed therapeutic. Mmmh… maybe I should order a set for myself and create one too. 😊

Lady Faith Turns ELEVEN

Oh Mr. Clock, can you please slow down? I am really frustrated how fast time passes and with a blink of an eye, this baby of mine is ELEVEN! We would very much love to celebrate her birthday with a bang but with the Covid restrictions, she was only given the choice to celebrate it at home.

School closed and summer holidays began. Our birthday requested for one of her favourite dish and yes, she will gets whatever she requested for this special day. She was so happy that the kitchen smelt like Truffles and she just can’t wait to dish in the moment her lunch was served to her. Well yes, I stopped her for a picture before everything is gone in minutes.

She spent her day chilling out with her little sister and she was given the freedom to do whatever she likes for the day. We promised her that no school work and just a day of play. She certainly made full use of this special day and played her hearts out. They spent the whole day playing Lego, watching movies and munching on their favourite snacks. Well, that’s all we can give during this Covid time and we are happy to see her enjoying her special day.

Baked her a birthday cake and I was so happy to see her eyes lighting up the moment she set eyes on the cake. She was smiling from east to west and I am happy that the time spent on making this cake is all worth it. 😊

Though it was only just us, she was really happy and she told me that she simply love the cake and it was the best and prettiest cake ever! Awwwwww… how can you not be touched by such words from your own baby girl… I am super happy to bake you this cake and this would be our little gift to you though we would like to throw you a big party.

After clearing her big piece of cake, she immediately dashed to the living room and gathered all her gifts. It’s the time she had been waiting all day and yes…it’s unboxing time! Though it was under Covid restrictions, we are really blessed and thankful to everyone who sent the gifts or handed the gifts to us prior to her birthday. It definitely added more sparks on this special day. 😊

Happy blessed birthday our beautiful girl! May the good Lord always bless and keep you. May HE continue to watch over you and protect you always. We love you soooooooooooooooooo much and may you know nothing but happiness from this day on.

Preparation For Lady Faith’s Birthday

Lady Faith will be turning 11 soon and she requested a homebaked birthday this year. I am more than happy to bake her a cake on her birthday and with all the ingredients bought couple of days back, I am ready to start. 😊

It took me almost 1 hours to make her a non baked cheesecake and after having it set in the fridge for about 4 hours, I am happy to have them taken out and decorate them. I made some smaller version of her cake for my in-laws to share the birthday celebration since we are unable to gather once again due to the Covid situation.

It’s been two years and Lady Faith though felt sad not been able to celebrate her birthday with family and friends, but she is happy to receive homebaked cakes from me. 😊With that, I will definitely do my best to make her happy on her special day.

Made the Biscoff Loutus Cheesecake for her and here are the smaller version for my in-laws. 😊