New Year's Day 2010

Winter in Harbin

Went Harbin on an all gals ski trip... temperature dipped to as low as -26 deg C, so shiok!!

Mountain view from our hotel room at the Yabuli town. The winding trail between the trees is used for cross country skiing.

In the ski lift in full (bank robbing) gear .. you can see the reflection of our 3 lady ski instructors in our ski goggles. Only on our final day there then we found that the male instructors were better - teaching-wise and also cuter, hahaha... :P

(left) me and my chums... (right) before going down the botak ski slope.. there was very little snowfall during those few days at the ski resort, plus winds were strong so it was more like SKATING down an ICY slope... super challenging!


Sumptous breakfast spread at the ski resort for 3 of us... the freezing weather really upped our appetites :) Candied fruits selling outside the ski centre, very crunchy and yummy to eat in subzero weather, my favourite snack there. RMB 10 can buy 5 sticks at closing time.

Saint Sophia Cathedral... beautiful Russian church located a couple of blocks from our hotel in the city... had a hard time taking a decent picture of it in the night coz my frozen fingers could not hold my camera properly!

安安的抱枕很臭。。。

Ever since I bought the new books for Pi Pi, she would always ask me to read with her. Tonight, as usual, she went to the book pockets and brought her books to me, one by one. At her 11th book, her enthusiasm ran out and she began to rub her eyes, so I shooed her off to drink her milk, potty time, then into her PJs, then I turned to my PC to check my mails.

A while later, Pi Pi knocked on my door, came in and said "妈咪一起去睡觉，不要做工了。安安累了，要去睡觉." I was like.. wow, since when she learnt to speak so coherently?! Then she turned and beckoned at me with her hand...so I followed her into my bedroom and tucked her in. She mumbled something about "安安的抱枕很臭。。。安安有很多书本。。" and the next minute she was fast asleep. I wonder what she did in the day that made her so exhausted, coz she usually takes half an hour to drift to dreamland...hmmm...

The thought of her muttering half asleep was enough to put a smile on my lips.. she has grown up quite alot since I returned to work... :) :)

Pi Pi... here and there...

mata kuching?


I'm a big headed insect


do I look fat in this t-shirt?

安安跟弟弟洗头 (Di Di's eyes are focused intently on the TV)

Look at my scrunchy face!!

at Lei Garden for 公公's birthday dinner

Pi Pi is happy just sitting in a stationery kiddy ride :)

Treasure hunting at 爷爷家

Exploring T3 with Pooh... like my short short fringe? :)

Di Di ...here and there...

It's mighty hard to catch shots of Di Di as he is never still for a second... and tends to grab the camera once he spots it


Pi Pi calls this "botak Di Di"


Swathed in his favourite blanket and enjoying his thumb

Pi Pi trying to make Di Di smile, but he is too engrossed watching... TV.. as usual

Pressing buttons at his favourite Gardenia vending machine


Pi Pi and Di Di relaxing on the mini sofa at Queen's Avenue @ Tampines One while mummy was checking out the Blue Label bags

Fun at home

I haven't been blogging for the longest time... been so overwhelmed by work and the kids... chicken pox, HFMD, flu, cough, viral fevers etc etc...

Here are some of the rare moments when sister and brother play together without exchanging punches and blows..


We can Share!!!! ... a rocking horse.. :) :)

Now you see it...

Now you don't.... (Di Di's head...)

"Say Cheese!!" Pi Pi in her favourite pose with mummy's favourite bear (who is 3 times older than Pi Pi!)

"See, I can also sling my bear bear like Mummy slings Di Di :)"

Enjoying a stroll in the estate

Milk time :)

Honey rolls - 2nd try

The rolls came out slightly more even sized than 1st try, but my glazing/egg wash was not quite right, instead of a shiny top, it looked so dull..

Banana Chiffon

Tried my hand at the Banana Chiffon cake, following the recipe from Chef Judy, adapted for 9" tin. I did not mash my banana finely and my cake turned out very blemished.. with splotches of banana interpersed throughout the cake... taste was okay, but I still prefer the citrus chiffon cake!

Looks like I need to work on my photography skills.. or I need a better camera huh...;)

Honey Rolls

My maiden effort at making bread rolls by hand... was inspired by Raph's mummy (our ShiFu! ~ recipe from her too) who baked beautiful yummy bread. I must admit my skills are quite lousy, the rolls are so unevenly sized!! I used soy milk and raw honey and the rolls turned out soft and nice, but looking quite ugly .. haha... for once Pi Pi's daddy didn't complain that home baked bread was yucky and dense.

More bread rolls next weekend! :)

Citrus chiffon cake

I had intended to do my favourite orange chiffon cake using the KA... in the end I had to use my small hand held Philips to whisk the egg whites (took ages!!) after the KA died on me.

Max's mummy shared this great recipe with us and the cake turned out soft and springy and smelling wonderfully citrusy! I thought it was a little too sweet, but the others liked it. The kids loved the cake and the best part was, Por Por actually gave a thumbs up for the texture! :) :)

Hmmm... how come my chiffon cake is domed when those sold outside are flat on both ends?

I have lots of strawberries in my fridge... wonder if I can make a strawberry chiffon cake? haha..

KaPuT....mummy is heartbroken..

My beloved KitchenAid mixer went "POP" this morning and Pi Pi's daddy says it is a GONER... all because I went to use it at 5 am in the morning and plug it into the wrong outlet on the transformer. The refridgerator power tripped and my transformer fuse fizzled out. *SOB SOB SOB*.. and this is only my 2nd time using it!

Pi Pi's daddy said luckily I didn't burn out the KA on "Li Chun" (the first day of spring??), else I will be burning out the appliances at home for the rest of the year.. *&&^%$#...

Raph's mummy suggested I bring the KA to Mayer for a check and hopefully able to repair it... I really hope so!! else it feels like I have just flushed an iPhone down the toilet :(

Mummy's new toy

After weeks of pondering... I finally took the plunge and ta da!!!! keke...

Terrible twos... once again

Di di has finally started walking by himself! and he also has new antics up his sleeves, like dropping to the ground, writhing around on the floor, hitting his head against the playyard and bawling his eyes out at the same time... ie Throwing Tantrums... when he does not get his way.

Thank god Pi Pi is more "reasonable" now (ie able to have negotiations with her) though she still pick fights with Di Di. Okay, Di Di provokes her too... like pulling her hair when she walks past.. her new antic ==> biting Di Di's fingers and toes! and just yesterday, Pi Pi bashed ME on my temple with the wireless phone with all her might, OUCH! I was totally stunned, hopefully no cracked bones :(

CNY baking I

Some of the cookies done for CNY... milk cookies with M&Ms (a big hit with Pi Pi), pineapple balls and green pea cookies.

Also did some small little lowfat tofu cheesecakes for CNY reunion dessert at Por Por's place =D Can you see the helicoptor cartoon on the cheesecake?

Japanese steamed cheesecake

This is one of my all time favourite (recipe from Raph's mummy)... a light and subtle cheesecake which everybody in the family loves! the hole in the cake is of course Pi Pi's good work... :)

Stress?

Pi Pi caught chicken pox from school and she's scratching like a monkey, especially in the middle of the night. Was woken at 3am by her scratching and frustrated whimpers (poor girl)... after applying bitter gourd juice on her limbs and rocking her to sleep, I gathered up some recipes faxed across by Bern's mummy and went into the kitchen to destress!!! haha...

This was the output from this morning's baking frenzy :

1. Garlic and Rosemary Focaccia Bread (play cheat.. breadmix + bread machine)

2. Chiffon cheesecake

3. Milk cookies

4. Pineapple tarts

Garlic and Rosemary Focaccia Bread
I bought a Wright's breadmix which requires water and olive oil only... how easy!! the bread turned out really soft and nice but not as herby as I would like it to be. with a dip in balsamic vinegar + olive oil and that was my breakfast! even di di loved it.... keke..

Chiffon Cheesecake
Failed!! The chiffon cheesecake didn't turn out as fluffy, maybe coz I did not beat the 4 egg whites to stiff peaks - my arm was on the verge of dropping off due to fatigue, next time will use mixed instead.. hmmmph!!

TT tasted the cake and asked "orange cake?" *FAINT*.. di di ate half a slice and pi pi ate 1 slice!!... she's the best.. first bite and she proclaimed "NICE!" it tasted more like an eggy cake (ji dan gao) to me :P

Milk Cookies
They tasted abit like Kueh Bangkit to me!! nice and super easy to make :) THanks to Bern's mummy who faxed me the recipe together with many other cookie recipes.....!!

Pineapple Tarts
still trying to tweak the new recipe to my liking.. find the crust taste abit bland despite using golden churn butter as recommended by Jonas' mummy... so sad I lost my own recipe :(