Why the Love of My Life is the Love of My Life

He surprised me with a pre-x'mas pressie and this beats any pressie hands down. Drumroll....We are going to Jamie Oliver's Italian Kitchen for Christmas eve dinner!!! Yay! Throw in the champagne!

So torn between the Sirloin and the Tuna. Looking forward to having the Panna Cotta as well.
More updates to come...

Here's the menu:
http://www.jamieoliver.com/italian/singapore/christmas-booking/

Fri-date

I am one lucky lady tonight because the awesome spouse treated me to Tampopo for our dinner date and I ordered black pig ramen. The succulent thin layers of black pig melted in my mouth and the soup tasted like it had been richly brewed for hours.

tampopo.cfc.com.sg

Tampopo is affordable and their ramen is pretty decent for the price you pay. Fantastic place for no-frills, value of money ramen fix.

To make our long overdue date even sweeter, he got the kids and I Krispy Kreme donuts for dessert!!!

And to top things off, he re-stocked our Nespresso coffee capsule inventory to last a couple more months. Wahahaha.

What a fab way to usher in the weekend.

35 and Counting

Today I turn 35 and received our new bling bling bed frame order!!! Love it very much!

We also got the kids a new white double decker bed frame. Very nice. Can be split into 2 individual beds when needed.

The good old other half treated us to chilli crab at Jumbo Seafood.

And bought me a fabulously yummy strawberry cheesecake from Pattiserie Glace for my birthday!

www.cakeglace.com

Being my husband's wife has its perks? ;)

Thank you for 11 years and counting of birthday surprises!

I must have done something right in all my wrongs. Extremely grateful.

Our Small & Humble Nest

We finally got the keys to our tiny new flat 1 week ago and here are some updates.

First of all, the last of all the lights finally went up today and it also happens to be my favourite of all the lights in the flat. This Turkish ceiling lamp was bought by my husband on one of his business trips to bangladesh and it looks stunning hanging in the small balcony.

What you see on the left side is the view of the upcoming down town line under construction. This is only ready in year 2017.

Vanity top in small master bathroom without DIY illumination.

Vanity top with DIY light illumination done up by my husband. Cost of light strip: <S$10

Master toilet bowl installed with a bidet.

www.whitebidet.co.kr

Small living room feature wall halfway done. Shall post up pics after its completed.

DIY clock in the small living room done up by my husband.

Part of our tiny and compact kitchenette

 

Very awesome husband got custom made curtains from Bangladesh and the curtain tie backs from Bedok for our small sliding doors. ;)

DIY shelf bought from Qoo10.sg and done up by my husband for the small common bathroom

Door to our small yard

Legate invisible grilles for our small windows.

www.legate.com.sg

 

Cracked tiles that need changing in both small bathrooms. Dusty dusty.

To be continued...

Mummy Love

No matter what happens to me out in the real world, the one thing that keeps me going is my family.

Tonight, I came home to my mummy's home made fish and chips and found this heart shape moulded rice packed away for me.

Actions do speak louder than words and a picture does paint a thousand words. Goodnight.

P.S. The fish was fantastic. Here's a picture of it.

Bellabox - Little Box of Small Surprises

So happy my Bellabox came today!!! Ordered my little box of surprise online at bellabox.sg

In my box I found, activa Well Being Hair dietary supplement capsules which I am a little skeptical about consuming. Based on the ingredient list shown, the capsules contain watercress, bilberry and fish oil to name a few. I am still contemplating this one.

2nd thing in the box was a Model Co Fat Lash Volumising Black Mascara. I am pretty keen on trying this one out. Who wouldn't want some fat lashes!???

3rd thing was a tube of Jyunka Ultra Defence UV Pro SPF 50. I will definitely try this out. Since sun protection is a must, lets hope its not too thick and sticky on the skin.

4th surprise was the batiste dry shampoo in coconut and exotic tropical scent. Not in confinement and not in West Africa at the moment so I may not need to use this just yet. Could come in handy after a Korean bbq meal though.

Last surprise were 5 capsules of DU BOIS perfume. Not sure if they all smell the same. The smell is pretty strong though. Will have to try them out one at a time.

Cat and the Fiddle Cake - Maneki Neko

How time flies. The boss is another year older today and we got the privilege of having great tasting cheese cake from Cat and the Fiddle for her birthday.

The boss' partner got her a Maneki Neko cake from Cat and the Fiddle and it was very yummy.
Every bite taken into this cold and creamy delight was rather pleasurable.

According to the Cat and the Fiddle website, this cake is made with lemon, mandarin orange and yuzu aka pomelo to which I find to be a rather special and interesting ingredient to put into a cheesecake.

We have tasted lemon cheese cake before which can be overpowering but never pomelo cheesecake until today and I must say this tangy twist is what adds that refreshing oompf to the cake.

Based on my judgement, the first layer seemed to be a thin layer of gelatin infused with yuzu (pomelo), orange and lime skin but I could be wrong on this. Flavours are very concentrated in this layer.
The 2nd layer was definitely cheese cake and it was not very sweet.
The 3rd layer had a milky taste and creamy texture to it but I'm not sure what it was exactly.
And the bottom and final layer was the biscuit crust which I thought was a little too fine in texture, and not buttery enough in taste.
The layers do compliment each other very well though.

Another plus point about the cake is its reasonable cost - a 1.1kg cake only costs $28 to buy.

I really liked the cake.
Awesome choice by the boss' partner.
Will buy for myself and my family in the future.
4☆

REFERENCE: www.catandthefiddle.com

Mummy Joyce's Super Grain Porridge Recipe - Quinoa Seeds

Our TCM doctor told us to feed Quinoa seeds to our kids as a staple food to stop them from getting sick easily and after months of searching, we finally found organic Quinoa sèeds from an NTUC in Punggol.
These seeds fly of the shelves very fast and they take ages to replenish stocks once sold out so once we saw them, we bought a packet to try straight away. A packet costs $7.50.

If you do a Google search on these grains, you will find plenty of good things people have to say about this super food.
Quinoa seeds are basically gluten free super grains packed with plenty of good stuff like protein and vitamins for the body and both our kids love it.

So here is how I cook it - I boil in water till soft, 1/4 cup of quinoa seeds with a little white rice, some rolled oats and/or barley and a sprinkle of Chia seeds, which happens to also be another super food packed with lots of omega 3 and vitamin B.**

I then add fish meat or pork/beef and bovril/fish sauce (optional) into the water together with broccoli or any other veggie of your choice for more fibre and flavour.

The grains, although almost tasteless, emit a fresh grainy fragrance and the quinoa seeds have a bit of a nice soft crunch to it when bitten on.

Do feel free to improvise on the recipe to your liking.

I truly find this mix of super grains better for health than the usual white rice porridge we always make.
Must try!

**Chia seeds can be bought from shops selling organic food products and a packet of about 400g can cost up to $15 - $20 per packet.

Stew on It Beef Stew

My mummy made us beef stew for dinner and I love her stew so much, I want to share her recipe with everyone.

As we are Chinese, her recipe has a little Chinese twist to it but that is, I feel what makes it, the ultimate comfort food on a cold and rainy night.

This picture doesn't do the stew any justice at all by the way...besides by the time I whipped my cam out to take a picture, my daughter had already eaten half the bowl. Lol.

Here is our family's beef stew recipe:

Before you start, go to your local market and buy about 1kg of beef from the butcher. We usually buy the leg portion of the cow. If you really don't know which part of the cow to buy, tell your butcher you want to make stew and he should be able to recommend the best parts for that to you.

Step 1:

Slice the beef into cubes about 5cm x 5cm in size and season with 

Some basil, 1 small teaspoon of black pepper, about 2 teaspoons of salt and some oyster sauce. A little light soya sauce can also be added if you want.

Step 2:

Fry about 5 big onions (roughly chopped), 

6 cloves of garlic (finely chopped) together in some oil until fragrant before adding the seasoned beef cubes,

3 carrots (sliced into rough cubes) and 

about 4-5 potatoes (sliced into cubes) in to fry some more.

Fry all for about 5 mins. Make sure all sides of the beef have been pan fried before you move on to step 3.

Step 3:

Add half a cup of red wine,

 1 star anise, 1 small cinnamon stick, 1 bay leaf and the *bottom end portion of a chinese celery stalk to simmer for a few minutes before

Adding about 2 cups of hot water into the pot/ wok.

Continue to simmer for 1-2 hours on low heat.

Step 4:

After about an hour or two,

Add a tablespoon of corn starch mixture into the simmering stew.

Leave to simmer for another few minutes before turning fire off.

Before serving, sprinkle chopped chinese celery leaves on top.

*The chinese celery stalk end is not a must but we find that it enhances the taste of the stew a lot more.

Hope you like our version of beef stew as much as we do.

Princess #2 @ Talent Plus Playgroup

Our younger daughter started play school at Talent Plus in Punggol this week and she loves it so far.

Her 2 hour lesson starts with her teacher taking her temperature and disinfecting her tiny hands and usually ends with a story telling session.

Each 2 hr session includes song and dance, art and craft and story telling as well as play time.
There is also 1 session taught solely in Mandarin per week. There are no classes on weekends, during school holidays and on public holidays.

Her teacher does not speak very good English but she is nice to the kids and I am pretty happy with their curriculum. Most importantly, princess #2 seems to be enjoying the activities very much.

Our main objectives are for her to socialise and play with her peers as well as to exhaust some of her forever going energy level. :)

There are a teacher and a teacher's assistant per class and her class has about 10 - 15 children.
The monthly fee is $155/month. Material fees are $95 paid every half yearly. 2 sets of uniform are $50. And a non-refundable 1 month deposit of $155 is required upon registration. This deposit is to be used to pay school fees for the last month of school of the year.

Because it is not a childcare, they will call you to come change your child's diaper if she/he happens to poop during the 2 hr class.