Mini 摆家乐

The blown-up photo of the Paris Street scene is ready ! CK helped me to hung up on the wall ... pretty satisfied with it.

I did not honored my words of my last GSS buys ! With this new photo frame, I decided to have a mini make-over of the items placed on the high table with vases etc.

Bought these at IKEA separately. Have chosen 3 tones of fine coloured sands and a clear glass elongated vase with 4 cactus.

A couple of red & white vases ... and 2 round lightings ...


The blown up photo and mini make over of the items on the table ... very IKEA.

Change the stiff looking cushions on the sofa with 3 more cheerful and matching ones.


More photos along the corridor is finished. Still able to accommodate 4 more photo frames.

Jayden's First Birthday

Butter cake

Love this recipe ... cake is light and fluffy ...


Butter Cake Recipe






Ingredients:
2 and 1/3 stick (250g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
7 oz (200g) plain flour/all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
7 oz (200g) castor sugar (can reduce to 150g)
4 eggs
½ tsp salt
4 tablespoons fresh milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 190 deg celsius
2. Lightly grease the pan with some butter.
3. Mix the flour and the baking powder together and sieve. Add in salt and mix well. Set aside.
4. Use an electronic beater to mix butter and sugar until well combined or pale yellow in color. (Note: Sugar has not dissolved yet).
5. Add in the first egg. Beat well after each addition of egg until creamy.
6. Scrape down the sides for even mixing.
7. Add in vanilla essence and mix well.
8. Fold in the flour into the mixture and mix well.
9. Finally, add in the milk. Mix well.
10. Pour the mixture into the greased baking pan. Shake it lightly to distribute cake mixture evenly.
11. Bake until golden brown and cooked, about 40 minutes. Use a cake tester to test if it’s cooked. (For my oven, I think 35 minutes is just nice. 40 minutes will be a little burnt on the surface)
12. Remove it from the oven and let cool on the wire rack for another 5 minutes.


Using the recent square baking pan "bend n bake".... it was fantastic ! It does not stick and the cake could be removed easily. This photo showed "wavy" bottom of the baking pan when I reversed it over the chopping board.

Happy Father's Day ! (2010)

Father, Happy Father's Day ! May you be healthy and happy always !
(Oh, mum is in Malaysia)

GSS, misc & an "amazing" encounter

GREAT Singapore Sales is here once again! Time to do retail therapy ? Yeah, probably for the city folks who crave material needs as a form of encouragement and a pat on the shoulder for working so hard!











A medium size "Bagman" camera bag just for myself ! This camera bag can hold one EOS camera, one additional flash and one len.


A Velbon tripod for my EOS camera. For $90, I thought this was quite a good buy as the tripod provides relatively good support and ease of use. There is one disadvantage to such steady tripod, it's heavier.


Wiltshire "bend "n" bake" silicone bakeware which can be used for fridge, freezer, microwave and conventional oven ! Sounds too good ... the list goes on ... 100% food safe, stain resistant, will not rust, corrode, dent, rack or peal, suitable for temperatures -40 deg cel to 220 deg cel and distributes hear evenly ! All these fantastic selling points for $19.00! Looking forward to bake the butter cake soon using this baking pan.


Love this casual bag with it's brown stripes !


Bought these in Tangs ...


Retail therapy for CK ! He chose Samsung Galaxy to Iphone ! Okie, to him, Iphones are for aunties since aunties in markets and hawker centers used them. I think I am one of the aunties he is referring to ! Anyhow, Samsung Galaxy is kool! It is light-weight and the camera quality is much better than Iphone ! Overall, I was rather impressed with Samsung Galaxy.



Our old TV has given way ... sigh .. but luckily during GSS period ! So we bought this LED TV to replace it. Please last for more years, u are too expensive to keep changing !


Okie, this is not under GSS ... but we collected this blown-up photo back from developer today ! Can't wait for CK to hang it up for me ... (frame was bought in IKEA which was so much affordable)


"Amazing Encounter at IMM"
We were carrying things that we have bought and were waiting for the lift to the car park. As we were inside the lift (just 2 of us), a kid about age of 5 or 6 suddenly entered the lift. We were a bit surprised as he is still young and it was strange that he was alone. Things happened when the lift door was closed. Without warning, the little boy turned to CK and started to spit at him ! This was so sudden and the two of us were very shocked ! Goodness !!! CK pushed him aside as he was so angry ! I rapidly asked CK not to provoke him further ! At that instant, I knew the little boy was not sound in the head ! I was telling the boy to stay where he was and he still came forward to attack and to spit at CK again ! Sigh ! I really could not believe it ! Luckily, the lift reached the carpark level and we quickly got out of the lift ! Where were his parents or guardians ? How could they let a mentally stressed boy without keeping an eye on him ? Wow, this was our first time to encounter such an incident. Unforgettable ...

Taking a little break

I have recently told my reporting officer that I would like to take a 6 weeks unpaid leave in Nov till mid Dec this year.

I needed a break !

Ok, he has told my Director and hopefully she will grant my unpaid leave. I got news that she might want to meet up with me when she is free.

(For colleagues who are reading this, keep it a secret for me)

Helix Bridge

Images of Marina Bay area with the newly added Helix Bridge !


The double Helix Bridge will lead you to the Marina Sands hotel and Casino. The bridge looks very scientific ... DNA inspired bridge ?


Marina bay is constantly under construction for the past 1 year ... a bet that it will be very beautiful upon completion.


A popular spot for many photographers to capture the bridge with the lighs reflecting on the waters below.


On the bridge itself. I love the details on the bridge. However, when you are on the bridge, you cannot view the lightings as much as when you are viewing outside the bridge.


Note the bright spot light on the right ? I was trying very hard not to capture that strong light into the photo ! There are too many constructions going on and the bright spot lights does pose a problem to take in the whole scenery.

That reminded me ... I must get a good tripod soon.

Recipe (CK's Birthday)

Strawberry Pretzel Squares









2 cups finely crushed pretzels
1/2 cup sugar, divided
2/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
1-1/2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
2 Tbsp. milk
1 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping
2 cups boiling water
1 pkg. (6 oz.) JELL-O Strawberry Flavor Gelatin
1-1/2 cups cold water
1 qt. (4 cups) strawberries, sliced

Make It!
HEAT oven to 350°F.
MIX pretzel crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar and butter. Press onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan. Bake 10 min. Cool.
BEAT cream cheese, remaining sugar and milk until blended. Stir in COOL WHIP; spread over crust. Refrigerate.
ADD boiling water to gelatin mix in large bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Stir in cold water. Refrigerate 1-1/2 hours or until thickened (spoon drawn through leaves definite impression). Stir in strawberries; spoon over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm.

* Use a square pan instead. I did not have a suitable square baking pan, therefore got no choice but to use a round one. Use the suggested size. If the pan is too small, the strawberry with Jello appeared too much ... like mine ... Portion is good for 8-10 people


Mango with Glutinous Rice (Thailand Dessert)


Ingredients
1 cup of Glutinous Rice (soaked in water for 30 minutes)
1 Mango (sliced)

Toppings
200ml coconut milk (u can buy those packet type in supermarket)
White sugar (2 tablespoon)
Salt (1/2 tea spoon)
Pandan leave (1 piece) - I could not find any pandan leave that day. With pandan leave it'll be more fragant.
* Portion is good for 1-2 people

Method
1. Mix Toppings and cook 1 minute till just boil
2. Drain rice and transfer to a casserole, add water just above the rice. Cover and cook on high heat for 10 minutes. Check the doneness.
3. Ass 1/2 portion of the Toppings into rice and mixed well. Cover ans stand for another 20 minutes. Serve with mango slices and remaining Toppings.


Chicken


Chicken breasts (2 pieces) - you can use chicken leg portion which is more tender
Cheese 2 pieces
Ham 2 pieces
Mayonnaise 2 tablespoon
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Parsley leaves (optional)
Chilli powder (optional)

Method
1. Butterfly chicken breast meat, season with salt and pepper. Put ham slices between the slits.
2. Heat browning dish for 6 minutes, sear meat and cook on high heat for 3 minutes.
Put cheese slices and Mayonnaise on top of each meat. If you have parsley leaves, u can sprinkle on top and cook for another 1 minute until cheese melted. Add a dash of chilli powder if you like.

For the mushrooms (you can use any type of mushrooms), sliced them. Dash some salt and pepper to taste. Mixed well. Add oil into pan (small fire), pour in mushrooms, stir fry. Pour some water and oyster sauce. Bring to a boil and serve.

CK's Special Day - 9 June 2010

Bobby, Happy Birthday to you !

So this was your little surprise on your Birthday, hope it was a pleasant surprise for you because surprises come in 2 forms ... like you always quoted.


Think kids might enjoy this strawberry cum Jello cake. The base is made of crushed Pretzels mixed with melted butter and sugar. Our Birthday does not really appreciate this type of Ah Moh cake. Hmmm. Maybe will bake a butter raisin cake in future.


Glutinous rice with mango ! Thai dessert ... saw this in a recipe and have decided to cook this. Think CK will like it ... yes, he did.


Microwave cum Baked chicken ... (after microwaving, just felt that they were not pretty enough, therefore baked it for another 10 minutes to get that brownish look)


There you are ! All for the Birthday boy to come back from work ! I took pm leave to do the food preparation.

Our May and June Birthday friends
Venue: PuTien @ CitySquare Mall (not the one in JB)
Whose Birthday : Jun Long (Happy belated Birthday, our May Birthday boy !)
: Fang, CK & Colette (Happy Birthday to our June babies!)


Little Birthday girl Colette with Daddy and Mummy

Couple photo (never mind about the busy background). Oh, scarf was bought in HK (vain vain)

Mummies and their little princesses

Especially "cropped" the unnecessary people in the background :)for the sweet couple !

The 2 growing teens !

LL and Tiang (as usual with her chopsticks)

It is a ala-cart buffet. (For desserts and small appetiser, you will need to help yourself to the counter near you)





A jolly Birthday song sung by all ! Happy Birthday to the foursome !


Mango cake from Breadtalk, pretty yummy !

Here we are ! It was our special day indeed ! Lots of fun and laughter !

Cutting the cake, a lot commotion regarding the "touchy" topic here .... fun !

We were the last to leave the restaurant .. come on ... it's a tradition to take group photo before leaving !