Reminiscence's of Tioman

Was packing for Friday's trip when my mind was bombarded with images of previous dive trips there. Decide to go through the past photos taken. Hopefully I can get some breakthrough shots this time round even though my Nikon is no longer around. Wish us a safe trip okay?

More photos : http://www.flickr.com/photos/ting-family/sets/72157600993520973/

20 July'07 ~ Jayden's Birthday

Brought Jayden to the good ole Swenson at Thomson Plaza to redeem his free Firehouse Ice Cream as we remembered there's quite a lot of kiddies rides there as well. Yah... he's at the age of enjoying such rides. Too bad Jerome is out of that phase so he was rather impatiently waiting for us.

Next we moved on to Pasir Ris Farmway 2 to look at Marine fishes. Thank goodness both the boys are fish lovers!! Jayden was happily pointing out colourful fishes. We did not manage to find any ideal shop to help set up our first tank, instead found a shop that sells puppies rather cheap!

Then papa decide to move on to Pasir Ris Farmway 1... and guess what?!?! We found a newly opened prawn pond!! And according to Mark... a great fishing pond too cos they r adding a good variety of fish to attract customers now. Couldn't resist so we ended up prawn fishing for 3hrs. Jay had fun pushing the chairs everywhere since its a relatively safe place so i let him be. Jem won a mini scissors and colouful sticky tapes from a machine he played.

And.... we all forgot about Jay's birthday cake. Planned to get him a Thomas the Train cake from Polar initially but it was too late by the time we remembered... so we got him a piece of chocolate cake from Mc Cafe instead. Thanks God that we did buy some cute candle holders from Daiso some time back and it wasn't so bad afterall.

More photos : http://www.flickr.com/photos/ting-family/sets/72157600957944396/

Chocolate cupcakes

Supposed to try out this mini chocolate cupcakes quite some time back cos we bought the tray and paper lining for some time already. Mark helped to clear the housework yesterday so that I can bake. Hmmm... think his face turned as black as the cupcakes when i confessed I had lost the recipe.

Thanks to Joey who passed me this recipe to bring the smile back to his face.

But I skipped the frosting cos i find frosting really too sweet for my liking though she suggested a cool cheat way of using nutella. Added in chocolate buttons in the middle to have a gooey chocolate filled centre instead.

Chocolate Cupcakes:
1/4 cup (25 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 cup (120 ml) boiling hot water
4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) (57 grams) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cups (95 grams) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and lightly butter or line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

Cupcakes:
In a small bowl stir until smooth the boiling hot water and the cocoa powder. Let cool to room temperature.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Then in the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat until incorporated. Then add the cooled cocoa mixture and stir until smooth.

Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 17-20 minutes or until risen, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

More photos : http://www.flickr.com/photos/ting-family/sets/72157600776362639/

Duck Porridge Dinner

Bought 1/2 a roast duck from Giant today. Was thinking how to 'process' it so that Jem n Jay can enjoy with us. In the end, decide on duck porridge so that they can eat easier.

Duck porridge :
Throw in the bones with some meat into the porridge to simmer together for flavouring. Added some dark soy sauce to taste. Finally, shred some duck meat as garnishing.

Duck Meat :
Heat up the meat till smoking. Drizzle plum sauce that comes with the roast duck together with dark soy sauce for fragrant. Garnished with zucchini sticks.

Not bad.... the duck meat didn't get as dry as the olden ways of stir-frying with dark sauce and garlic.

Cultural Walk

Brought the boys for a walk sometime back, thought it will be an interesting itinerary to share..

We drove to Pahang Street for some Middle East Kebabs. Pretty good food and nice environment for their $20 Set Meal. (http://www.amirahsgrill.com/default.asp). It has nice decors and artwork to let the boys have a feel on Arabic artifacts.

Then we walk over to Kampong Glam and simply let Jerome thru the shops looking at batiks, handicrafts etc.. and then through the stretch of road flank with Malay tailors on both side. Mark and I was so tempted to make a set of their costume for wedding shots.

Along the way, Jem found a DIY aeroplane that turn with the direction of the wind. Indeed these people are creative.. cos i found a guy blending in traditional Malay designs into casual wear even on jeans. They are pretty cool pieces to wear!

Next we drove on to Chinatown... but the boys were tired out from the walk. So we grabbed some tong sui from Temple Street and 'paktor' a bit while they zzz on at the backseat. Brought them in to see the new temple but my, they are strict. As usual i was don in my sphagetti straps tee which they do not allow entry to the main hall. But they did offer me a shawl to cover up which i decline cos the thought of sharing with so many people made me itched.

We walk on to the little shops along the way and end with dinner along the street. Tiring?? Indeed ... but i had to get them used and enjoy it before we move on to musuems. Alas, we will have grumbling kids next time if i do go back to backpacking.

Keen to join us next time?

Photos on the Outing : http://www.flickr.com/photos/ting-family/sets/72157600790109085/

Water Chestnut Drink

Had some leftover Water Chestnut from making the wanton some time back. Decide to bring it to boil with some Honey Rock Sugar so that we can have a nice change from the usual Barley water. Sipping it chilled in this crazy hot weather is heavenly...

Thought for the Day

This keep surfacing in my mind today....

------------------------------------------
When Life hands you lemon, it's simply time for lemonade
------------------------------------------

Tonight's dinner

Stingray curry is on the dinner table tonight. A dish so apt to my mood recently...

May the smoothness of the ray soothe the ever present sting.
Can the robust spice add some fire to the dwindling spark?

If the longbean represents the dreary longing,
then let the heart of the cabbage nourish the one in me.

Should the tomatoes be sour...
Let the wholesome taste make me complete once again.

Ending for 08 Jul Prawn Fishing Session

In case you are wondering what happened to the prawns we fished.... there it goes, our dinner last night.

Thomas the Train Cake

09 July 2007, yeah.... our Jem turned Three !! It's scary how their joyous youth makes one realised how much we have aged. It still seems like yesterday that i shivered from the epidural shot.

But here he is! Our little chap has already grown to a fine lad who will not hesistate to tell you "No!" and chooses the tee he wants to wear

He chose his cake... n ate it as well

Birthday Celebration Continues

On 08 July 2007, though exhausted from the night's partying... we went in search for a nice meal with the kids.

After thinking hard for an ideal kiddie meal as a treat for Jem, we settled on Sakae Sushi. Off we go to Sun Plaza as Jem wanted to 'catch fish' that day. He had the Fire Engine set and Jayden had a Little Mouse made of potatoe salad.

However, as we headed out to Bottle Tree Park.. it started to poured heavily. Stuck in the car... the kids dreamily Zzzz.. away. When Jem finally woke up, i brought him to the pond and ask him again whether he wants to 'catch fish'. Being 'King' for the day, my majesty proudly shook his head and proceed to waved goodbye to the fishes. Argh!!!

With his sudden change of mind, we decided to wait for Uncle Ivan to go prawn fishing instead. On the way, we couldn't resist packing some Chong Pang Nasi Lemak...

Well, the day ended with Jem switching between his beloved Mack and the rod while Mummy fish all the way... Jay and daddy? Enjoying the scene and beer lor!

More photos for the outing http://www.flickr.com/photos/ting-family/sets/72157600753587580/

Birthday Bash on 07 July 2007

Jerome's turning 3 and Jayden's 1 this month!! Time truly flies... so in order not to shortchange Jayden, we had a celebration for his first birthday.

This is the 'banner' we made since Jerome's idol now is Cars from Pixar. And we made it a surprise by putting it up the night before after he went to bed. It's delightful to see him go,"LOOK!! WOW!! Car car yo yo!!"

The party did went well though in between for a moment i worried there's not enough food to go round. Hahaha.. there's left over in the end but everyone complained not enough curry sauce!! Golden Advice we received from our older folks.."Prepare 3 packet of sauce when you cook for 2 chicken portions".

The cakes were great! We had McQueen's agar agar ordered for Jem. Lychee Martini to be shared by Auntie Priscilla cos it's the actual day for her birthday and our little boy, Jay. In additional... we had cutie cupcakes, lovingly baked by Auntie Suzanne. YUM!!

We had vodka tasting going as well at the same time... and i hardened my heart to open the latest Pear Absolut (only becos i know Mark flying this month). Nice going.. with my young cousins happily sipping their Screwdriver concoctions (and no aunties knocking on my head). The vodka jellies wasn't much appreciated tho.

Everyone seems to be in a pretty good mood.. not heady from the alcohol i hope.. and the evening round off with a nice dinner at Sheng Shiong with MIL's family.

And of course there's wrappers ripping time with Jerome in search of his Mack from Auntie Regina.

Well more photos can be seen from here http://www.flickr.com/photos/ting-family/sets/72157600746713631/