Hello 2023

Time is ruthless, and we have reached 2023 in the blink of an eye! What happened to 2022 – it just passed quietly and so quickly? Well, I do hope that everyone who is reading this had a great 2022 and I hope that 2023 will be a better one for you.

 

Today, we hosted our family to welcome 2023 at our humble home. I thank God for giving me the patience and knowledge to whip up a good meal or my family and so glad to have this closeness with my cousins and nieces. My kids had a certainly had a great time spending the evening hanging out with their cousins while we had a great catch-up during dinner.

I am glad that everyone enjoyed the meal, and I am surprised that my cousin who usually does not like brownies had 2 servings of my brownies today! Woohoo!!! How cool is that! After dinner, we sat around the dining table to discuss on the upcoming Chinese New Year arrangements so that we can have amble time to prepare the food and the visiting schedules. 😊 

I can’t believe that my kids are another year older and my elder will be turning to a TEEN this year! Arrrrggghhh… where did my baby go!!!!! I am seriously missing those baby days when I am able to pick her up in my arms and sniff her!!!

 

It’s 2023 today and there is no turning back. Let’s move forward and pray that 2023 will be a superb year for everyone! Happy New Year!!!

Christmas At The Tan’s

Christmas has always been our family favorite season and getting invited to friend’s Christmas party is definitely a plus point. I remembered being invited to hubby’s classmates’ home party was perhaps coupled of years ago. This year, we were blessed and were invited to join the fabulous party at the Tan’s again.

 

This time, they hired a chef to cook the meal for all their guests and we are so excited to be there. When we arrived, most guest had arrived and some of the food was already prepared, and the chef was still busying preparing the rest of the dishes to be served.

 

The host Eric was really efficient to serve us drinks and appetizers when we settled down our gifts for the family and gift exchange for the kids. Dinner was served shortly after some other guest arrived and it was like a buffet style party where everyone stood around and mingled with each other. I got to give thumbs up to the chef for preparing such delicious food for us and the roast beef was the highlight of the party. The meat was super soft and juicy; Lady Faith sneaked away from us to get herself a couple of servings too… hahaahahahah

There was music by Robert and some guest were singing and dancing while the kids had their own play time. I was chilling at the corner enjoying the music and soaking in the atmosphere of Christmas! After dinner, Josse (the wifey) started the gift exchange for the kids and it was great to see all kids smiling after receiving a gift from another child. 😊 

We want to than Eric and Josse for the wonderful Christmas Party and we wish everyone a Blessed Christmas!

Ooohhh… Poached Eggs

I am a great fan of eggs and my girls fell in love with poached eggs when I first introduced them at a café. They just love the oozing egg yolk on their toasted bread, and they have been bugging me to make them at home ever since.

 

I tried making poached eggs while they were at school, and it was not successful, but I did not give up. After many tries, I think I finally got it! Hahahaahah…. I did not tell the girls as I wanted to surprise them. 😊

 

On this very morning, I made poached eggs with toasted bun. I was really nervous as I was afraid that I might fail again and didn’t want to disappoint the girls. I was happy that it turned out pretty good and I managed to poached an egg perfectly for the 1^st time after countless tries.

The girls were thrilled to see their brunch on the dining table when they woke up and the feeling of satisfaction is seeing them enjoying every bit of the food prepared by me and giving me a thumbs up! 😊 It is all worth the many tries and the wasted eggs after all. 😊

Hot Cross Buns

Preparing for Good Friday.  

Godma’s Visit

Their offical Godma is a very busy woman who takes on duties as a doting Godma, a wonderful friend, a filial daughter and a passionte follower of Christ who serves in church. Despite her busy schedule and routine, she came to my house to pay us a visit. 

The kids were happy to see her and though she was able to stay for a short while, it matters a lot to the kids as they were able to spend some quality time with her. They spent time catching up and as usual, she will always remind the kiddos how much God loves them and how blessed they are. We are really blessed and honored to have her as our girls’ Godma who loves them and care for them. 😊

 

Thank you Sue for the beautiful friendship and you are such a wonderful Godma that was sent from above.

Little Pumpkin Turns SEVEN

How time flies! Our little pumpkin turned SEVEN today! She always feels sad when she attends her friends’ birthday earlier in the year and had to wait till the end of the year to celebrate hers. We always tell her that good things have to wait and the celebration will be bigger… hahaahahahah We also reminded her that she shares the same birthday month as Jesus and told her that she is really blessed.

 

After a staycation at Shangi-La Hotel Singapore over the weekend, we brought her to one of her favourite Italian Restaurant, The Pizza Bar for lunch. She ordered her favourite Truffle Mac & Cheese and gave a thump up for the lunch (as usual). Headed to town to shop for her birthday gift and this would be the best moment as she gets to choose whatever she wants and no one is complaining… hahaahahahah

In the evening after a simple family dinner at home, we had a small cake cutting ceremony for her to sum up the whole week’s celebration. She is really happy though no big parties but she mentioned that she had a ball of a time too. 😊

Happy Blessed Birthday Little Pumpkin! May the good Lord always keep and bless you with happiness and good health always. We love you soooooooooooooo much!

Birthday Staycation

It’s Little Pumpkin’s birthday in a few days’ time and we decided to have a staycation at Shangri-La Hotel Singapore since we are unable to host birthday celebrations due to Covid restrictions. She was so excited when we told her that we would be heading out for a simple celebration, but she had no idea that we would be going for a staycation.

 

When we arrived at the hotel, she asked if we would be having luncheon at this hotel and when she saw us unloading our bags, her eyes lit up with a bright smile. She was so happy and kept thanking us for bringing her here. We did a brief check-in and were assigned to our room without delay. After checking into our room, we hurried to book the activities for the kiddos. 

We played the hotel’s history hunt with the kids as they want to win a prize once all clues are found, and they were so excited to get it done quickly. I am happy that the hotel provides such interesting activities for the kids and at the same time, they can learn the history of the Shangri-La Hotel. Thumps up!

For dinner, we booked Waterfall Ristorante (one of our favorite Italian Restaurants) and man… little pumpkin was so happy and enjoyed her pasta so much. She said that the kids’ Beef Bolognese is the best she ate so far. The restaurant manager kindly arranged a tiny birthday cake for her as we mentioned that we are celebrating a birthday upon reservation. 

It makes us happy to see you happy Little Pumpkin. We love you so much!

Woke up early this morning for our breakfast at The Line and thankfully, it was not as crowded as we expected. The buffet line is closed but we can order our breakfast at our table and be served. Honestly, we preferred the buffet breakfast as we can check out dishes and take whatever we like but at this moment, we are only able to order and wait for it to be served to our table.

Let’s hope the covid situation will be stabilized or in fact, be over soon so that we can get back to our life before Covid.

Right after breakfast, the kids wasted no time and got changed into their swimming costumes and plunged into the pool. We couldn’t swim yesterday as it was raining, and the pool was closed. The kiddos had a ball of a time in the pool while I chillaxed at the sauna.

Happy Blessed Birthday Little Pumpkin

Yearly, we try to provide our little pumpkin with a celebration for her birthday by organizing a party with family and friends. This year, we had to give it a miss due to the Covid restriction where we are only allowed to have not more than 20 pax for any gathering.

 

We decided to hold a smaller scale birthday party for her at home instead and inviting parents in law over dinner and simple cake cutting ceremony. Though the baby girl is upset and disappointed but she was happy when she saw the cake I made for her. 

I made her favourite Oreo Cheesecake and had it decorated with her current favourite cartoon character – Peter Rabbit. I made some mini cheesecakes to distribute to my sis-in-laws so they too can enjoy the sweets at the comfort of their home. Little Pumpkin is really happy that we had this little celebration at home. 😊

Tamago En

 Since we are unable to travel during this year’s school holidays, as parents, we need to plan activities for the kiddos. Well, as Christmas is drawing near, I decided to go shopping with the girls instead.

 

We headed down to have lunch at Tamago En located at Vivocity as this is one of the new popular Japanese joint and we are happy to give it a shot. 😊 There was a short queue when we arrived but were given a seat not longer after. We took our time to browse through the menu and yes, it was simple Japanese food, but the most attractive and popular dish would be their pancakes (which is the desserts).

We ordered our mains and the pancakes as desserts (of course!). I would give a 7/10 for their mains and 9/10 for their desserts. My girls love pancakes, but I thought it was quite sweet for my liking. However, over all experience was pretty good as the café is really cute and lively. It makes you happy when you dine there. 😊

GRACIA Celebration 2021

I am a super proud mother as Lady Faith is receiving the Mother Mathilde Award for the 1^st time. This is a school award, and I am sure as parents, any awards given to your child will made you proud.

 

The Mother Mathilde Award is a prestigious title given to a Primary student who has fulfilled the holistic criteria of the award, namely in the area of

(1) Academic excellence, 

(2) CCA achievements, and 

(3) Leadership & service to school & community. 

 

The recipient of this award should display the determination, the tenacity of not giving up despite all the odds and the courage that Mother Mathilde had. Like Mother Mathilde’s leadership qualities, the recipient should also exhibit the ability to make do with what one had and to think creatively of ways to meet challenges and rise above the adversities.

I wanted to be in school to witness this beautiful moment but due to Covid restrictions, (YES, It is COVID again), school is not allowed to hold such events but only be able to receive the award from their Form Teachers and have a picture taken. Very disappointing indeed but well, I am still a proud mother! 

Congratulations Darling for your wonderful achievements! Keep up the excellent work!

Last Day Of School

Today is the last day of school for the year and we decided to pick up the girls at their school instead of having them to board the school bus. When we arrived at their school gate, it was flooded with parents, helpers and grandparents so, we stood away from the school gate to wait for them instead.

 

As the kids gradually were released from school via classes, we waiting patiently for our girls to show up at the gate. As they were excited that we are picking them up, they did not take their time at all but hurried out of school to meet us.

 

The first thing she mentioned was ‘Where are we going for lunch Mummy and Daddy?” we laughed and took them to find out when we are near to the destination. As we hit the highway and the girl started guessing and they managed to guess it right when we took a turn into East Coast Park. They both started shouting out the café’s name and got so excited. 

It was a quiet afternoon at P.S. Cafe indeed and we were able to enjoy our lunch at our own pace. The kids ordered their favrouite dishes like Cheeseburger and beef Bolognese while I took the pasta and hubby had his spring chicken. We absolutely enjoyed our luncheon given the space, the quietness and of course we dined as a family. 😊

Happy School Holidays Girls!

Comfort Food

When I was younger, I remember my mum used to cook porridge and fried noodles as breakfast for family every Saturday. My grandmother, aunties and my cousins will gather around the table catching up with each other over breakfast. Those were the good old days.

 

I fondly remembered how yummy my mum’s porridge was and I am missing it. While mum is not able to cook for now due to a bad fall recently that injured her leg. I asked her to teach me so that I can master it and cook it for my kids. Mum just briefly told me the ingredients that I need but to someone who is clueless in cooking porridge is quite a challenge… hahaahahahaha.

Mum was patient and taught me step by step while she was seated in the dining room, and I was trying my best to make the porridge to her standards. When it was finally completed, I took a small scoop for her to taste, and I felt good when she gave me a thump up! I couldn’t believe it till I tried it myself. 😊 I would say that I did its justice, and my kids love it too. This will be another recipe from mum to keep. 😊  

Happy Children's Day

 Happy Children's Day!

Mid-Autumn Festival

I remembered celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival was one of the best moments during my childhood, especially when I was staying in a shophouse where I used to hang out with my neighbours. During this season, parents will buy mooncakes for the family and lanterns for the kids.

 

On the day of the festival, we will have early dinner and when the night came, the family will gather at the living or dining room to cut the mooncake and enjoyed the moonlight with a warm cup of Chinese tea. As the adults were enjoying their mooncakes and tea, the kids lit up their lanterns with candles and started to walk around the neighbourhood.

 

Some kids will show off a few of their handheld lanterns and others were limited to one lantern per child. Kids will gather around when a lantern candle burns out and start helping each other to light it up again. It was such an amazing activity to participate in during that time. That would be one of the few nights that the kids were allowed to sleep later than their usual bedtime. 😊

 

In the modern world now, we do not really see kids walking with their lanterns around the neighborhood. Most of the kids are either at home or skipped the practice. This year, being the COVID year, the streets became a dead town when it comes to night. You could not find a soul outside your house even during this festival.

 

I did not buy mooncakes this year but decided to make my own. I made the Ondeh-Ondeh and the dark chocolate snow skin. It was delicious and it was quickly snapped out by the kids. Since there was no one out on the streets, I lit up my kid’s lantern and let them have a fair share of lantern walk just outside our gate. Though they were the only kids with lanterns, they enjoyed walking just outside our gate and the strolling down the single lane passing my neighour’s house. 

This is indeed a quiet Mid-Autumn Festival and I do hope that we can celebrate this festival with more crowds next year.

What A Rare Visit

I was totally taken by surprise when I found this little cute Ladybird Beetle on my pillar wall. Initially I thought it was a stain but when I looked closer, it was such a beautiful sight to see this little cutie. It wasn’t moving but stayed put on the wall allowing me to take some pictures of it.

This is such a rare sight indeed and I am so stoked that this cute little Ladybird Beetle paid us a visit. 😊My kids were super excited and took a closer look at how beautiful it was. 😊 Honestly, we don’t spot Ladybird Beetles anywhere in Singapore, not even the gardens but am super stoked that they came pay us a visit. 😊Let’s hope to see more of these species around more often. 😊

Punggol Settlement

September has arrived and the kids began their one-week school break. We as parents ran out of ideas how to spend time with them especially during this Covid restriction period. There are limited things we can do as we are not allowed to travel. We are stuck!

 

The kids became restless as they were bored. Finally, we decided to bring them to cycle at Punggol Settlement. When we arrived in the morning, we were happy that it was not crowded, and many cyclists were masked off as the government allowed masked off when you are exercising. The kids, however, were worried so they put on their masks as they rode on their bikes. 

As it was breezy to cycle as it was not crowded, we managed to ride further this time. It took us about 2 hours to cycle and back with some resting time in between. The kids were happy, and they enjoyed themselves very much. Well, I am happy that we can do some outdoor activities with the kids despite the covid situation.

After burning some calories, we headed to have our hearty brunch at Wild Seeds located at Seletar Aerospace. We were happy to be seated almost immediately as it was not fully filled when we arrived. We noticed the crowd starting to flow in after we placed our orders. Thank GOD!

We love their pasta and sandwiches there and the kids enjoyed their kids meal as usual. It was quite a good brunch with the kids, especially after 2 hours of cycling. 

Ban Mian Style

I remembered that I used to patronize this stall at Marina Square Food Court or Suntec City Food Court when I was working at MC and they served very delicious Ban Mian. I used to dash to queue during the busy lunch hours as this is one of my favourite soup noodles. Though I am not a fan of Ban Mian but were able to choose the types of noodles available.

 

I enjoy this dish especially when it is on rainy days. I usually take my time to finish this as it is so comforting to tummy and it is absolutely delicious. I have not eaten this for a long time, but I do miss the taste of it. I took up the courage to try cooking this dish to satisfy my own cravings and at the same time introducing this comforting food to my kids.

 

Well, this is something that is not that hard to prepare. We only make the soup with anchovies and the rest are ingredients like noodles, eggs, minced pork, and vegetables. You can also add mushrooms or other ingredients like salmon, white fish or you can have it just with vegetables. 

I would say that I did quite a decent job with this dish and now it has become a family’s favourite too. 😊 Woohoo!!! 

Visit To MC

During Covid, my previous office went through a major renovation, and they revamped the whole concept. It is now on hot desk system as most people began to work from home instead spending their 8 hours in the office.

I was informed by ex-colleagues that the office is ready and invited me to visit them.

I had lunch with some of my close friends and visited the new office thereafter. I noticed the difference instantly as the reception has changed into a place with which I am no longer familiar. As I entered the office by the side entrance, I noticed that there were many plants around and empty tables that are placed in a more relax position. There are many dividers in between tables and there were lounge chairs or a super private meeting room for one person. Strange but cool if you want to get away from the rest.

 

The whole office has become modern and super spacious which I am not sure if that is good or bad. There was also a ‘dance floor’ in the middle of nowhere and was told that they left it empty for other reasons. Hahaahahah… I can do yoga on that floor man!!!

 

As I strolled through the whole office, I realized that they have loads of plants in some corners to beautify the area and some plants works as dividers between departments. I thought they had gone too far as it looked more like a garden and looked out of place. 

I enjoyed the office tour as well as catching up with some colleagues whom I have not met for a long time. It’s good to be back but not to work… haahahahahaah

Super Delayed Birthday Celebration

I am truly blessed with many good friends and buddies in my life and these two ladies are one of those exceptional people in my life. We became friends when we were 7yrs and till date, we are still as close as ever. Though we have different commitments with family, work, and kids, we took time out to meet as much as we can.

 

Today, we celebrated Edelyn’s birthday though we are 2 months late. Yes, her birthday was in June, but we only managed to meet today due to Covid restrictions and other matters. We had a great lunch at Beauty In A Pot located at NEX and man, it was really delicious. This is the first time I am dining here, and I gave it a thumps up for its soup base – collagen soup. It was so yummy that I think I can drink up the whole pot!

 

As this is a steamboat joint, we ordered some dishes like vegetables, meat and seafood to compliment the soup. I really enjoyed having the soup with the noodles and it was just so comforting to the stomach. After our sumptuous lunch, we were greeted by the staff with a cute rainbow birthday cake for Ed.

 

She was so shy and wanted to hide away but we told her that we should celebrate as the restaurant was not too crowded and we should feel free to sing!! Ahahahahahaah… it is always nice to celebrate birthdays with friends for you are always allow to do silly things with them without being judged. 

Happy belated birthday Ed and may you continued to be bless with happiness and good health.

Yam Tart

I have always wanted to make tarts but did not get down with it till today. I chanced upon a recipe on FB and it looked easy and simple to make. I bought ingredients in advance especially took time to find the Thai Yam which is highly recommended in the recipe as they are soft and sweet.

 

I am new to tart making and took me quite a while to get it done and it was messy everywhere… well, after the pastry is done, and the yam paste is ready, it is time to put them together (that is the best part of the whole process).

After allowing the tart to cool for about 5 minutes, I tasted it, and it was pretty good but I think there are many rooms for improvement as the Yam paste is kind of blend (maybe more sugar should be added) and the pastry was not to my ideal texture. I will try to try this tart again after mastering the tart pastry. 😊