Mid-Week Musings

If you've got slightly more than a minute to spare...or plenty of time to kill..

That's Kaitlin attempting to self-feed! If you realise..there actually isn't any food in her spoon..but she continues to try and feed herself. So cute...macham playing masak masak! Reminds me of myself..when I was a little girl! Such a qtpie <3 12 more days till babygirl turns #thebigone :O 

We've been baking everyday..trying to get the perfect recipe and to practice baking Kaitlin's cake for her first birthday! That has resulted in me smelling like cake batter...and having cake every other day. Some of our baked goods also found their way to the bin..cos they were major fail :( Been busy searching for materials here and there as well. Kind of a mad rush..all for the sake of perfection! Oh well..if all fails..I might just throw the towel in perhaps a day before her birthday and just stick to the conventional partyware and decor that I can easily get off the shelves anywhere..and just order food delivery hurhur. She'll probably hate me for the rest of her life cos I ruined her first birthday :( well..I tried! Mommy ain't Martha Stewart you know!

August [ in pictures ]

So...I ended up not completing the August photo-a-day challenge D: #majorfail

I might consider doing the September one, and hopefully complete it! Anyway, instead of the usual Friday Five, I have decided to post my August..in peektures!

All taken with Instagram (@beaverwoo)! I didn't compile all the photos I took with instagram,but most! 

August was a good month in general! Celebrated my birthday (shall get to blogging about that soon...have been procrastinating cos so many peektures!), babygirl turned 11 months old, we visited new food places (nomxz!), brought Kaitlin to playgrounds quite a few times..met up with friends..and the occasional baking! 

This year, during my burfs, I didn't really know what to wish for..I guess when that happens, it's safe to say that you are happy and contented with life, and I think I am :) Of course, who wouldn't want to wish to be a billionaire and all..but I don't really waste my wishes on those, cos like duh, the likelihood is close to impossible! 

It was also a month where Daddy Li and I got into some serious discussion about our future housing plans. We applied for BTO!! Sadly, we are no.970 out of 572 units -.- What are the odds that we would get to select a flat and it's a decent one?! Oh well, we shall just keep our fingers cross. We also got into a not-so-nice fight during the middle of August..what were you thinking?! Everything is fine and dandy and married couples with kid(s) don't fight? Not true....but I must say, ever since we got married there was a significant decline in the amount of fights/quarrels we had *clap hands* *pat each other's back* :D <3

We also got around to having Kaitlin's photoshoot last weekend and had a mini family shoot in between :) Will defo post peektures when I get them!

2012 is coming to an end faster than you and I know it, and soon it will be 2013! I don't really like 2013..there doesn't seem to be alot of long weekends #justsaying Also, it has been raining so much, the laundry is not drying!! Please stop raining :( I don't like wet clothes and I want to go out without the pitter patter. It also makes me worry about us falling ill, which is never a good thing. Rain rain go awayyy! 

of lavender cupcakes

After a long day out at the ArtScience Museum, Lihai and I got home and we baked lavender cupcakes!

First time that I've ever used Lavender in cooking/baking, and I was just super in love with EVERYTHING about it. 

It's colour, scent, everything! It's really such a beautiful flower to use in your cooking/baking! Love the aroma. It makes me feel calm and comfortable, makes me feel like my heart is home. Idk if i just made sense there..but I hope you get my point. 

Of course since it was my first time using lavender to bake cupcakes, the cupcakes weren't awesome like they can be sold kind, but they were nice enough as a homemade afternoon snack! I couldn't stop nomming them, had like 4 in a day! 

I just love how I can smell the lavender whenever I take a bite. The lavender taste was not very strong either. Perhaps I shall try again sometime soon, and perhaps perfect it :D 

I really enjoyed having it with a cup of earl grey tea. All that was needed to complete the whole experience, was some quiet 'me' time. That's quite impossible when there's an infant crawling in the house. That's fine with me..I just comfort myself that the quiet 'me' time will come..yes, comforting yourself, and living in denial is quite a big part of the motherhood journey..If you are already a mommy you're probably going "yeah, been there, done that. totally know what she means" and if you're on your way to becoming one..just prep yourself for it cos it's gonna be one heck of a rollercoaster journey!


I don't know how a post about cupcakes ended up in me talking about motherhood -.- Oh well, HAPPY THURSDAY GUYS! We're nearing the weekends!! (Y)

zero.zero

We started our Sunday morning with brekkie at home and then baking cupcakes! Pretty early to be baking cupcakes at 9 in the morning if you ask me..but, they turned out pretty good. Tried another chocolate cupcake recipe, but it tasted pretty similar to the ones we baked the last time..

Headed out for lunch at Zero.Zero with Lihai's friends and family. Didn't get a chance to snap peektures of the restaurant but the ambience of the place was super love and the view was really preets! 

Lihai and I got the Tao's Signature Set. Having tried Tao's before, I was pretty excited to taste what Zero.Zero had to offer, and I must say, it was pretty good! 

Zero.Zero
Add: 6 Eu Tong Seng Street, #04-86 The Central

Tel: 6224 4139

Opening Hours: Mon-Sun 11.30am - 3pm | 5.30pm - 10pm

Exploring Tiong Bahru (sort of!)

I really wished I brought my camera out so that I could take pictures of all the quaint places we went to/pass while exploring Tiong Bahru, but there was just too many things to carry. Actually, it was just Kaitlin, and her baby bag of stuff -.- Oh well, hopefully we could do it again sometime soon, and I will defo bring my camera out no matter what!

We went to The Orange Thimble first!

Notice how he has the same expression in every photo? Y SO WEIRD? But so cute! <3 No, we did not forget about Kaitlin!

She didn't wanna sit still and stuff, so it was quite hard to take peektures with her. I guess she wasn't in the mood for it! So Lihai and I decided to continue to camwhore on our own!

Finally, he gave some other expressions! -.- 

Portobello Sandwich

The Orange Thimble

Add: 56 Eng Hoon Street #01-68

Tel: 6223 8068

Opening Hours: Tue-Sun11am-9pm

Looks like a burger, but they called it a sandwich! Idk! Nothing fancy in my opinion but the portobello on it's own was nice! Really huge! Plus, I love mushrooms! How can you not?!

Anyway, love the atmosphere at The Orange Thimble! The artwork displayed there was really cute and preets too! I wanted to get some hand drawn owl artwork displayed there, but it was freaking $3k! I think it's a reasonable price to pay for artwork, but, not so good on my pockets, so nice for viewing only I guess. 

We strolled around and went to Books Actually and Strangelets. FYI, their next to each other. Open Door Policy was closed, and so was Tiong Bahru Bakery and Flea and Trees :( Forty Hands was crowded, despite it being a weekday afternoon so we didn't do much except walk around. Lesson learnt: DON'T GO TO TIONG BAHRU ON A TUESDAY! You would think that most places usually close on a Monday, but I guess, now the 'IN' thing is to close on a Tuesday so that when other shops are closed on a Monday, people would be able to visit your shop on a Monday -.- I think what I typed was very confusing, but well, I'm sure you get what I mean!

Before we left, we got Hainanese curry rice takeaways! There was a long queue earlier on, so we didn't bother and decided to just wait after the office crowd was gone. Even then, there was still a tiny queue and YES! the curry rice was that good! :D 

Later that afternoon, we brought Kaitlin down to the pool. Yes, I know..again! The weather was nice so we decided why not! Plus, we didn't know what else to do to entertain Kaitlin, so to the pool we went!

Then...

I spotted dragonflies mating on our water gun/pump thing! Was so intrigued I took like at least 10 photos, but of course, I shall not bore you with my weirdness here, so there are only 2 pictures! Nature really can be quite beautiful and interesting I guess. Hurhur. If Lihai is reading this, HI. I know you are thinking "OMG, geog geek" or something along those lines -.- This is not geography and this is really quite interesting what! To all others, I can feel you guys judging already! :(

Okay, enough about dragonflies, and judging and all..here are some peektures of the awesome people in my life:

After playing at the pool and showering and all, we made panna cotta and for the first time I used a vanilla bean! Hehe! Sorry, damn noob over here, always use vanilla essence -.- so using a vanilla bean this time, made me feel damn awesome! I didn't take any peektures though:( Our panna cotta turned out pretty good though we didn't whisk our mixture and merely stirred it only, but taste wise, it wasn't too bad okay! Shall try again next time!

Looking forward to the weekends! Perhaps, we'll be baking again!:)

Great Weekend!

It's Monday again! The weekends always pass by so fast!

We went to the PC Fair at Suntec on Saturday. It was so packed and we went off empty-handed. I actually had stuff I wanna buy, but I was too lazy to squeeze through the crowds and have more people hand me flyers after flyers. What's more, Kaitxz fell asleep halfway! That made me wanna get out of there pronto! Especially with the noise there, I didn't want babygirl to go deaf! We left and I saw Red Mango at the MRT so we had some froyo. Ended up walking over to Bugis!

Yayy! We finally had Ah Chew Desserts! Had been craving for damn long and it's been quite a while since we last went there together. I think the last time we were there was when the tiny one was still in my tumtum! Lucky it wasn't crowded when we went! I remember it used to be super packed, and sometimes you would have to wait for a table zz. 

Lihai ordered Mango Sago and I got the Steamed Egg Custard! Super love the egg custard there! When I was staying at CCK, they have Dessert Story at Lot One, and they sell it there too, but Ah Chew's one is wayyyyy nicer! Lihai doesn't like it though, cos he says "got the egg taste, later mouth very smelly" -.- Not true okay! His Mango Sago was super nice except they put tiny ice cubes inside which we found would have been better without. We ended up spitting them out. Feel like going back there for more desserts already! Plus, the prices are super affordable! 

Ah Chew Desserts

Add:1 Liang Seah Street 01-11 Liang Siah Place

Tel: 6339 8198

Opening Hours: Tue-Fri 12.30pm-11.30pm | Sat-Sun 1.30pm-11.30pm

After desserts, we were being greedy, so we shared a plate of Char Kway Teow. It was just across the street and we couldn't resist! Well..we did resist the awesome duck rice we always eat when we are at Bugis. We went grocery shopping and then home! 

Cooked dinner and brought Kaitlin out after that for a walk. We usually do that after dinner cos Kaitlin can get quite hard to deal with in the evenings and will make noise if we stay home. She usually keeps quiet if we go out, so duh, we'll head out, so our ears can take a rest! Went to Forum and brought her to Toys"R"Us. 

It was quite amazing how Kaitlin survived on 7 hours with no sleep! Yes, the naughty girl refused to nap until about 7ish, but we didn't want to let her cos that would mean she would not sleep at her usual time of 930/10, so we had to keep her entertained with minimal noise and fuss from her! Lihai and I were mighty pleased with our accomplishment :D

Sunday saw us heading to ToTT for lunch! Lihai wanted bak chor mee but the weather was too hot and he didn't want to travel so far in the end.

ToTT

Add: 896 Dunearn Road, Sime Darby Centre

Tel: 6219 7077

Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 10.30am-9pm | Sat-Sun 9.30am-9pm

We ordered Cream of Mushroom Soup, Cold Angel Hair with Garlic Prawn, Sundried Tomato and Caviar, Pan Fried Dory and Durian Tempura to share. There was nothing much to write home about for the Mushroom Soup and Dory. The tempura was as nice as the first time I tried the Chempedak one!

Walked round the ToTT Store and Kaitlin finally fell asleep! We wanted to head home but ended up wandering around town cos I was filling super nauseous after the bus ride. Wanted to get ice-cream or something. In the end, we didn't and went home with a bottle of ice lemon tea -.-

We baked chocolate cupcakes and they were delish!:D Love how moist they are and they were not overly sweet! I didn't really want to bake chocolate cupcakes cos I was afraid they would turn out super sweet and I didn't want to have to eat cupcakes I don't like right, but since Lihai wanted to, I was all for it! and yayy! They turned out great!

We super love baking our cupcakes in the silicon moulds cos they cupcakes always turn out perfectly! Makes me feel like getting more, but nah, not at the moment! We made some buttercream icing as well for some of the cupcakes. Thank goodness we didn't make icing for all cos that would have been too many too sweet cupcakes!

Kaitlin refused to nap again and was making quite abit of noise from the time we started baking our cupcakes, so out we went to get dinner. Went to Orchard Towers to get chicken wings from the Thai eatery on the second floor. It was quite a funny experience! The place was rather happening when it was like only evening time on a Sunday! Got home and cooked pan-seared scallops for Lihai and he cooked steak for me! Forgot to take a pic of the steak cos I was too hungry and couldn't wait to eat the steak!:(

All in all, it was a good weekend with the people I love and of course, yummy food! #glutton

Goodbye May, Hello June!

It's June! Half a year has gone by! Can you believe it? Seriously! 

Here's stuff I was doing/up to in May but didn't have the time to blog about!

Lunch meet-up with Karyan and Ronald at ToTT!

        Cold Angel Hair Pasta with Garlic Prawn, Sundried Tomato & Caviar

Also ordered the Chempedak tempura and it was damn good! Their famous for their Durian one, but I'm not really into Durian! According to Karyan and Ronald, the Durian one is good as well! Food was pretty good! Good in the sense that after I left to go meet Lihai, I wanted to go back to ToTT for second helpings! Lovely afternoon with awesome friends + great food = BLISS

The very same day...when I met Lihai..I was hungry again -.- and also, cos I knew he had maggi mee at home, I wanted him to have a proper lunch so we went to sushi tei at HV. In the evening, he went over to Melben seafood at AMK to collect the crab beehoon. SO EFFING GOOD! Yes, he went all the way just to get that, cos we were super full from lunch at sushi tei. OMG. Just looking at that beehoon, makes me want to eat it again now! The beehoon is damn good, even without eating the crab meat. Quite lazy to peel and all, esp when I've got to keep an eye on Kaitlin, then need to wash hands halfway and stuff. 

One of our weekends! Before bringing Kaitlin for her trial at Gymnademics, we went over to the usual place we go for dim sum at Thomson! It's affordable and nice + has the rustic feel. Idk how to describe but it's nice eating there. Different from a restaurant and feels like authentic hurhur. Tried to get Kaitlin to nap while having dim sum and thankfully we managed to if not she would have been cranky at her trial. The place was so bloody far. Like super far from the main road. Lihai and I almost died walking in cos we couldn't find a bus or any taxi to get there. We googled map and found it was walkable and tried to walk there but omg nearly died. Thankfully we had salted caramel ice-cream:D:D Tried their earl grey ice-cream as well! Our ice-cream was like melting super fast under the hot sun, we kinda had ice-cream soup -.- 

After the trial, we went over to Forum, so I could show Lihai the bambinoLUK series which I thought was pretty good but so pricey! We didn't get it in the end, cos we are still considering. Basically cos Kaitlin won't sit still and listen so it's quite hard to teach her. She'll just end up taking the materials and put in her mouth or just not pay attention. Got back home and went swimming and then we baked! Baked apple cupcakes on Saturday and blueberry coconut cupcakes the next day! Both turned our pretty yummy!:)  

Kaitlin all dressed up to go to BIY. It's a baking shop along Newton road area. Went there to see what stuff they had there. Baked again on one of the weekdays! This time was chocolate chip cookies made from scratch! They turned out really huge!

Kaitlin at her trial class at Julia Gabriel! I think Kaitlin is still a little young compared to the other kids, so I think I will only send her a little later. Lesson wise, almost the same as the first music trial class she went to. They didn't have any arts & craft that day, but I heard that they do let them play with paint..so that sounds fun! I'm quite bias to sending her there cos I went to JG when I was young too and it's fun!

Pictures from when a squirrel came to visit us..AND STOLE OUR PLANTS AS FOOD! So cute right the squirrel! But who knew..it was a MENACING SQUIRREL! We've been seeing squirrels around, but this time it came really close by! It came to our balcony to steal our herb plant! WTF RIGHT! It still paused there while we looked at it then scurried up..and then look back at us to observe. But since the squirrel is so cute, I FORGAVE IT for stealing my plants hurhur. 

So May was quite fun, though there was a little bit of issues here and there with regards to unsightly creatures. Here's hoping June would be a fantabulous month, but honestly I really doubt so, could Lihai is gonna recourse soon :( *sobs* Hope June will be a great month for all! :D