For the Love of Food, Travelling and Life...

Broiled Parmesan Tilapia

2009-10-28T09:24:00.006-07:00

I didn't know fish could be this flavourful until I tried this recipe. I found this recipe along with the recipe for Shrimp Scampi and thought it will be a good idea to give it a try. Packed with cheese, mayonnaise and spices. A must-try if you like fish! Healthy too!!

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese
1/4 Cup Butter, softened
3 Tbsp Mayonnaise
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1/4 Tsp Dried Basil
1/4 Tsp Ground Black Pepper
1/8 Tsp Onion Powder
1/8 Tsp Celery Salt (I used normal salt)
2Lbs Tilapia Fillets

Steps:
1) Preheat oven's broiler. Grease broiling pan or line pan with aluminium foil/parchment paper.

2) In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder and celery salt. Mix well and set aside.

3) Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes.

4) Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to over cook the fish.

- Broiled Parmesan Tilapia -

It's a great dish to serve with baked/mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables. It goes well with rice too!

Shrimp Scampi

2009-10-19T07:17:00.002-07:00

About a month or so ago, a friend recommended that I try making some Aglio Olio, so I went in search of the recipe. In the process, I came across this recipe and it caught my eye. Well, it's shrimp, and I don't think I can resist any shrimp recipes.

Ingredients:
1 Lb Linguini (I used Spaghetthi)
4 Tbsp Butter
4 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I used virgin olive oil)
1 Large Shallot, finely diced
5 Cloves Garlic, sliced
Pinch of Red Pepper Flakes, optional
1Lb Large Shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 Cup Dry White Wine (I used white wine)
1 Lemon, juiced
1/4 Cup Parsley Leaves, finely chopped (not a big fan of parsley so I left this out)
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Steps:
1) Cook pasta al dente as per instructions on packaging. Drain and reserve 1 cup of water.

2) In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter in 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute the shallots, garlic, and red pepper flakes (if using) until the shallots are translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes.

3) Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Add to the pan and cook until they have turned pink, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the shrimp from the pan. Set aside and keep warm.

4) Add wine and lemon juice to skillet and bring to a boil. Add the remaining butter and olive oil. When the butter has melted, return the shrimp to the pan along with the parsley, cooked pasta and reserved pasta water. Stir well and season with salt and pepper.

- Shrimp Scampi topped with grated Parmesan Cheese -

Enjoy~ =)

Cornflakes Chicken

2009-10-01T08:40:00.003-07:00

As usual, I've been constantly looking for new ways to cook chicken (I don't eat beef and I don't really like pork dishes). I was checking my yahoo mail when I came across this recipe. When I first saw the picture, I thought the chicken was deep-fried (which I really want to avoid at all cost because it's unhealthy and leaves behind an oily kitchen). When I looked through the recipe, I was somehow shocked that it was baked, which is my favourite way to cook because it saves time (you can just leave it to bake in the oven) and it's healthier. A win-win-win situation because Ashley likes it too. He says it tastes kind of like KFC.

Ingredients (serves 4):
4 Chicken Drumsticks
4 Chicken Thighs
Salt and Pepper
1 Large Egg
2 Cups Crushed Cornflakes (I used about 3 cups)
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 Tsp Cayenne Pepper (optional)

Steps:
1) Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towel. Season generously with salt and pepper. Leave aside.

2) In small bowl, Whisk egg with 1 tbsp of water (I left out the water because I tried it before and whatever I want to coat the chicken with kept falling off since it's more diluted).

3) In a shallow plate, mix crushed cornflakes with olive oil, cayenne pepper (if using) and salt.

4) Preheat oven to 400°F. Working with one piece at a time, dip chicken in egg then cornflake mixture and press to adhere. Place on baking sheet.

5) Bake for 30 mins until golden brown and crispy. Sprinkle with salt and pepper before serving (I left this out since I feel the chicken is seasoned enough in the first step).

- Dinner on a weekend night -

A good side dish for this would be mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables (season with salt and pepper if you like). I steamed some brocolli and baby carrots to go with it.

If you like your chicken slightly sweet, you can dip the chicken in honey instead of egg before coating it with cornflakes. I believe you can use ranch but I've yet to try it. Will definitely experiment the next time.

Long-awaited Polo Buns

2009-09-24T16:22:00.008-07:00

Since a few years ago, my mum loves to buy bread from Breadtalk in bulk so that we can have it for breakfast for a couple of days. My brother particularly loves bread and he can eat a couple of those buns for breakfast. I think he even finished 1 whole loaf of those half-dozen buns before. I would always look for 'milkyway' (I suppose it's a polo bun since it looks like one and tastes like one) in the breadtalk bag filled with all kinds of bread.

I found this recipe from Lily's webby quite some time ago, but never had the chance to try it out. So, when I first got the standmixer, I knew I had to make some polo buns.

Ingredients (makes about 15 buns):
(A) Sponge:
350g High Protein Flour (I used bread flour)
2g Instant Yeast
210ml Water

(B) Main Dough:
150g High Protein Flour
10g Instant Yeast
100g Castor Sugar
8g Salt
8g Bread Improver
20g Milk Powder
35g Water
50g Butter
25g Shortening
1 Small Egg, beaten (for glazing)#

#I think it would be better to use just the yolk. I used the whole egg (including the white) and the top of the polo bun was not as yellowish as I exptected it to be but the bottom is already slightly burnt so I cannot put the bun in the oven any longer to brown the top.

(C) Polo Skin:
50g Butter
50g Margarine
100g Icing Sugar
Pinch of Salt
1 Large Egg, beaten
8g Milk Powder
200g All-Purpose Flour, sifted

To make sponge:
1) Combine all ingredients in (A) in a mixing bowl knead with a dough hook at low speed (I knead it at speed 2). Stop kneading when all ingredients are just combined to form a dough.

2) In an oiled mixing bowl, prove dough for 4-5 hours until surface of sponge dough looks perforated and forms spiderweb-like structure when pulled away from edge of mixing bowl.

- Perforated enough?? I wonder... -

- Is this spiderwebby enough?? Hmm... -

To make polo skin:
1) Sift icing sugar and milk powder into mixing bowl. Add butter, margarine and salt. Beat until mixture is light and fluffy. Add beaten egg gradually.

2) Fold in sifted flour until a smooth dough is obtained. Refrigerate skin dough in fridge if it's sticky and too soft to work with.

To make polo bun:
1) Combine sponge dough prepared earlier and all ingrdients in (B) (except water butter, shortening and egg) in a mixing bowl. Use dough hook of mixer to knead mixture at low speed (speed 1).

2) When all ingredients are just combined, add water gradually and continue to knead until surface of dough looks smooth.

3) Add butter and shortening a little at a time. Use med-low speed (speed 2) to continue kneading dough for about 10 mins. Increase to med-high speed (speed 4) and knead for another 10 mins. Dough should be elastic, smooth, non-sticky and pulls away from sides of the bowl. To test, stretch a pinch of dough. It should form a think membrane before breaking.

4) Divide dough into 65g portions. Roll each into a ball and rest for 10 mins.

5) In the meanwhile, divide polo skin dough into 30g portions. Round up. Dust each portions of polo skin with flour and press to form round thin sheet. Spray water on surfaces of bread dough and lightly press polo skin dough on each bread dough so that it covers 90% of bun's surface.

- Finally done!! -

- Close-up of my polo bun -

6) Prove bread for 1 hour or until double in size. If polo skin does not break as a result of the proving, use knife to lightly draw pineapple skin pattern on the skin. Brush polo skin with beaten egg and bake in preheated oven at 390°F (200°C) for 15-20 mins.

- Glazed and ready to bake -

- Looks good!! Happy~~ -

I find it's a little too hard. Like a bagel. Notice that my polo skin is covering the whole of the bread? I wonder if that is the reason for my bun being too hard since it might have prevented the bun from proving properly.And I think I didn't cut the pineapple skin pattern deep enough because they didn't crack at the right places when it came out from the oven. Other than that, it's good!! Ash thinks it's nice too. Will try to improvise and update.

Anyway, it's confirmed that we will be flying back to Singapore on Christmas morning. So we will basically miss Christmas flying since by the time we reach Singapore it will already be 27th (Singapore time). How nice would it be to be in Singapore by Christmas. Sigh.

Dark Chocolate Soufflé

2009-09-22T14:12:00.004-07:00

Chocolate never fails to brighten up my day. I think chocolate is the most delicious invention ever, period. That, I believe, most girls will agree with me.

Anyway, I bought a few bars of Ghirardelli dark chocolate for the cheesecake and I had a couple left and since I already have the ramekins (from the creme brulee), I made some chocolate souffle.

Ingredients (serves 2):
1 Oz(30ml) Heavy Cream/Whipping Cream/Double Cream
4 Oz(1 bar) 70% Cacao Dark Chocolate (I used Ghirardelli 60% baking Chocolate bar)
1/2 Tbsp Butter
2 Large Eggs (separated into whites and yolks)
A dash of Cream of Tartar (I left this out)
1/6 Cup Sugar

Steps:
1) Prepare 2 6oz (180ml) ramekins by applying a layer of cold butter to the interior of the ramekins. Use fingers to apply an even thin coat of butter to all parts of the ramekin including the sides. Pour some granulated sugar into the ramekin and shake and roll the ramekin to coat the bottom and sides with sugar.

2) Preheat oven at 375°F. Bring some water to a boil in a pot. Once the water boils, reduce the heat until the water just simmers. Place a small metal bowl over the pot to form a double boiler. Melt the butter, cream, and chocolate in the double boiler. Stir to help the melting. Once the chocolate has melted, turn off the heat. Whisk egg yolks into the chocolate.

3) In a medium bowl, whisk egg whites with the cream of tartar until the egg whites reach soft peaks (foam has reached the point where the egg whites stand up when the whisk is lightly dipped into the foam and gently lifted out. The tip of the peak should droop. If the tip stands up straight, then it has reached the stiff peaks stage). Add the sugar to the egg whites and continue to beat until you reach stiff peaks.

4) Adding the whites a little at a time, fold them into the chocolate mixture. Without over mixing, fold the remaining egg whites into the batter.

5) Pour batter into the prepared ramekins. Fill them at least 3/4 of the way up. Place ramekins on a baking pan and place the pan in the oven on a rack set in the middle position. Bake the souffles for 15 minutes. Serve immediately (either in ramekins or you can choose to remove the souffle from the ramekin once it's cooled).

- Chocolate Souffle fresh from the oven (it didn't have the chance to fall because we finished it in less than a couple of mins) -

For step-by-step guide with pictures, click here. I baked the souffles for slightly over 15 mins because when I checked the progress at the 15 min mark, the centre of my souffles are still moist. All chocolate lovers should try this. Have fun~~

Chilli Prawns

2009-09-16T16:19:00.004-07:00

Made some chilli prawns for dinner the other day. Used the sauce for chilli crab because the sauce is really nice. My favourite sauce for crab and prawns so far *drools thinking about it*

- Chilli Prawns -

Will be uploading the recipe for chocolate souffle next. Keep coming back~~

Szechuan Chicken

2009-09-12T23:12:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I feel so sick of eating chicken cooked the same way that I totally don't even feel like eating. So, I constantly search for new ways to cook chicken. I have always loved having Szechuan dishes, like Ma Po Tofu and Szechuan Vegetables Soup (which my mum used to cook and I will always have multiple sarvings of it), just to name a few.

So, when I saw this recipe for Szechuan Chicken, I knew I had to give it a try. I was a bit hesitant to try this recipe because the last time I tried a recipe from this website, it was for Coca Cola Chicken. I know, right? It sounds kind of too adventurous. And the results? Not so good. I guess it's becuase I didn't cook the chicken long enough. They were all soaked in the coke and they tastes kind of weird to me. It's kind of tasteless except for a tinge of coke, like I accidentally dropped a can of coke into the pot when I'm cooking.

Anyway, I decided to give it a try. No pain no gain right? I was happy that it didn't turn out as disappointing as the Coca Cola Chicken.

Ingredients for Szechuan Sauce (Yields 4-5 Tbsp):
1 Onion, chopped
5 Cloves Garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp Cooking Oil
1 1/2 Tbsp Light Soya Sauce
1 Tsp Dark Soya Sauce
1 Tbsp Black Vinegar
1 Tsp Sugar
1/4 Tsp Salt
1 1/2 Tsp Chilli Powder
2 Tbsp Green Onion/Chives, chopped
1 Tbsp Sesame Seeds (I left this out)

To make Szechuan Sauce:
1) Heat oil in wok. Add onion and garlic into wok and fry for a while.

2) Add the rest of the ingredients, except for green onion and sesame seed, and bring to boil over high heat. Once it boils, reduce the heat and simmer for a while, until it dries up.

3) Add green onion and mix well. Remove from heat. Add in sesame seed and mix well. You can prepare this ahead of time and refrigerate in a container until needed.

Ingredients:
800g Chicken Pieces/7 Drumsticks
1 Tsp Ginger, chopped
1 Clove Garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp Cooking Oil
1 Spring Onion, finely sliced
4-5 Tbsp Szechuan Sauce
1/2 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 Tbsp Shaoxing Wine
100ml Water

Steps:
1) Heat oil in wok. Saute ginger and garlic.

2) Add chicken pieces/drumsticks and stir fry until golden brown. Stir in the Szechuan sauce prepared earlier together with oyster sauce, shaoxing wine and water. Cover and simmer until chicken is cooked and sauce is thickened (10-15 mins). If it's drying up too fast, I would recommend that you add more water.

3) Sprinkle with green onion and serve.

- Szechuan Chicken all dried up -

My Szechuan Chicken dried up too fast and I find it's a little too saltish, so I would really recommend that you check on the progress of the chicken now and then and add more water if it's drying up. Ash likes it. So do I =)

Chicken Claypot (Rice Cooker) Rice

2009-09-11T10:12:00.005-07:00

I can't even tell you how much I love this recipe (from Lily's). It's extremely easy to make (there's not much to do for preparation except for marinating the chicken pieces a few hours ahead, soaking the chinese mushrooms, and cutting the sausages and mushrooms!! There! The steps are covered!!), you don't have to stand there and watch while it's cooking (it's all cooked in a rice cooker), it's a one-dish meal (you don't have to worry about what to serve it with), and best of all, you don't have any pots/pans to wash (you only have to wash the rice cooker!!!!)!!!! The most important thing is, it tastes delicious!! It's a great dish to serve and a delight to make (simple, fuss-free, time-saving).

Ingredients:
2 Cups Rice, washed and drained
2 Cups Chicken Broth
200g Chicken Pieces (I used slightly more)
5 Chinese Mushrooms, sliced
1 Chinese Sausage, sliced (I used turkey franks)
1 1/2cm-thick Salted Fish, sliced thinly (I didn't use any)
1 Tbsp Dark Soya Sauce#
4 Tbsp Garlic Oil*
1 Green Onion, chopped

#If you are going to add some of the marinade into the rice mixture like I did, you can leave this out since the rice will be salty already.

*I added a bit of garlic powder (about 1 tsp) into the rice mixture before cooking instead since I don't have any garlic oil around.

Marinade - 2 Tbsp Light Soya Sauce
- 2 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
- 1 Tbsp Dark Soya Sauce
- 1 Tbsp Cooking Wine (I used Shaoxing)
- 1 Tsp Ginger Juice@
- 1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
- 1/2 Tsp Pepper
- 1/2 Tsp Sugar
- 1/4 Tbsp Cornflour

@I didn't have any ginger juice so I ground some ginger (about 8 slices) instead.

Steps:
1) Marinade chicken and mushrooms in marinade for 30 mins (I left it in the fridge for a few hours for the marinade to work it's ways into the meat).

2) Put rice, chicken broth, chicken pieces, mushrooms, and chinese sausage (and about 1 Tbsp of the marinade if you like) in a rice cooker and cook.

3) After the rice is cooked, sprinkle salted fish on top, cover, and leave to stand for about 10 mins.

4) Sprinkle with green onion, dark soya sauce (if rice is not salty enough), and garlic oil, mix in to combine, and voila! Enjoy!

- Chicken Claypot Rice cooked in a rice cooker -

It's delectable even without the salted fish and chinese sausage. You can choose to cook this dish in a claypot instead. Do try this recipe. I have made this dish thrice in the past 1 month. That is how much I love it. So do Ash. 2 thumbs-up!!

Shrimp Fu Yung (Deep Fried Shrimp Omelet)

2009-09-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

I remember the first time I had Shrimp Fu Yung I fell in love with it. The Fu Yung I had later on in my life was, more often than not, disappointing. So, I went on a quest to look for the best recipe for Prawn Fu Yung that I can possibly find. I found one which looked promising, and so one evening in our little kitchen in ST, I gave it a try. It's not that wonderful (I'm not a very good cook afterall), but I think it's a good attempt, and it's yummy. Definitely a keeper.

Ingredients (serves 4):
3/4 Lb Shrimp
1/2 Cup Bean Sprout
1 Med Yellow Onion
1/2 Cup Mushrooms
2 Green Onions
6 Large Eggs
Salt and Pepper
1 Tbsp Chinese Rice Wine (I used Shaoxing)

Steps:
1) Rinse shrimps. Pat dry and finely chop.

2) Rinse bean sprouts and drain thoroughly. Peel and dice onion. Slice mushrooms. Wash and finely chop green onions.

3) Heat some oil in frying pan. Stir fry shrimp until pink. Remove.

4) In large bowl, lightly beat eggs with salt and pepper. Stir in the rest of the ingredients.

5) In wok, heat 2 1/2 inches of oil for deep frying. When oil is hot, gently ladle 1/4 of the egg mixture into wok. Deep-fry egg until browned (about 2 mins), then ladle a bit of oil over the top so that it firms up.

6) Use spatula to gently turn omelet over and brown other side. Remove omelet with slotted spoon and drain. Serve with sauce (recipe below).

Ingredients for Fu Yung sauce:
1 Cup Chicken Broth
1 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 Tbsp Soya Sauce
Salt and Pepper
1 Tbsp Cornstarch
4 Tbsp Water

To make sauce:
Dissolve cornstarch in water. Bring chicken broth to boil in a saucepan. Stir in seasonings and thicken with cornstarch solution. Keep warm.

- Piping hot Shrimp Fu Yung -

The result was a 'light and puffy' Fu Yung (which I personally feels a Fu Yung should feel like when you put it into your mouth) instead of being thick and heavy. Worth the effort of deep-frying (which I detest since it often result in a very oily kitchen).

Tempura

2009-09-09T21:53:00.000-07:00

My love for seafood goes way back. I remember my dad used to buy us crabs for supper whenever he return home late after work and I fell in love with crabs there and then. My love for prawns developed a little later, but I would never eat squid, clams, mussels etc. For some reason, the feeling of the thing refusing to break on my first bite gives me the creep. *grimaces*

Anyway, I had always wanted to make some tempura so when Ash suggests that I make sushi or something Japanese, I knew I had to give tempure a try (plus i bought a pack of ready made tempura mix a few days ago).

I made some Ebi Tempura and since I didn't know what vegetables to serve with it, I 'tempura-ed' some broccoli as well.

Ingredients for the dipping sauce:
1/2 Cup Dashi Soup (as usual, I used Chicken Stock)
1/8 Cup Mirin/Japanese Rice Wine
1/8 Cup Soya Sauce (or less)
1/4 Tbsp Sugar

Steps:
1) Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and heat over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Serve with chopped green onions if desired.

- Tempura Broccoli and Shrimp with dipping sauce and Teriyaki Chicken -

I didn't include the recipe for the tempura since I used a pack of tempura mix and all I did was to follow the steps on the packaging. Will try making some from scratch.

Leftover Potluck Dish

2009-09-07T16:11:00.007-07:00

Had another pot luck session with the wives over at Agnes' place weeks ago. I made some baked potatoes but it didn't turn out as I expected. The sour cream was over-powering and it smelt like the potatoes had turned bad, and in a rush, I forgot to add in some cream of chicken so the pan of baked potatoes was virtually tasteless (other than being sour). Total failure. I only realise I left out the cream of chicken when I'm home. With a big pan of baked potatoes left, I mixed in a can of cream of chicken and more cheese and threw it into the oven again for Ash's lunch the next day. I also made some curry chicken wings (thanks to Joy whose grilling cookbook is still with me) and egg salad for him to bring along.

Ingredients for Curried Chicken Wings:
6 Chicken Wings
3 Tsp Curry Powder
2 Tsp Butter
2 Tbsp Diced Onion
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Wine
1 Tbsp Oil
Honey

Steps:
1) Combine all the ingredients (except for the chicken wings and honey) in a bowl. Add chicken wings and marinate for half a day (I left it in the fridge overnight).

2) Place on a baking sheet lined with parhcment paper and bake at 350°F (175°C) for an hour. Brush some honey on the wings about 20 mins into the baking and turn the wings halfway through (30 mins). Likewise, brush the wings with honey at the 50 min mark (I left out the process of brushing the honey onto the wings and it came out ok).

- Baked Curry Chicken Wings with Baked Potatoes -

You can also prepare the wings for grilling and BBQ (as in the original recipe).

Ingredients for Egg Salad (serves 4):
8 Eggs
1/2 Cup Mayonnaise
1 Tsp Yellow Mustard
1/4 Cup Green Onion
1/4 Tsp Paprika
1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
Lemon Juice

Steps:
1) Cook the eggs in a pot of boiling water. Once cooked, remove the eggs and deshell (running the eggs in cold water helps in deshelling the eggs).

2) Cut the eggs using an egg cutter lengthwise and widthwise into a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients into the bowl and mix well.

- Egg Salad -

You can serve the egg salad as it is or you can also spread it over bread to make an egg salad sandwhich. Extremely delightful and easy to make.

Will be making some polo buns soon. Bought the pink KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer some time back and have yet to try it out before mailing in the rebate forms. Really need to do so since the processing of the mail-in rebate will take some time and we will be returning to Singapore in about 3 months' time.

Crème Brûlée

2009-09-02T14:13:00.003-07:00

I have always loved dessert since young, and I always have cravings for anything sweet - chocolate, candies, ice cream. Whenever I feel low, any of the before-mentioned would lift my spirits. My fridge is always stocked full with chocolate and candies. I don't think I can ever live without any.

So, a few weeks ago, I decided to make some creme brulee, since it seemed relatively easy to make, and the ingredients involved are very little (plus my heavy cream had been sitting in the fridge for quite a long time).

Ingredients (makes 4 servings):
4 Egg Yolks
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
3 Tbsp Granulated Sugar (or any sugar you may have in your pantry, except for powdered/icing sugar)
2 Cups Heavy/Whipping/Double Cream
1 Pinch Salt

Steps:
1) Preheat oven to 275°F. In mixing bowl, beat egg yolks until slightly thickened. Gradually stir in sugar and salt.

2) Heat cream in saucepan over medium heat. Remove before cream comes to a boil. Slowly stir in egg mixture. Add vanilla extract.

3) Pour mixture into ramekins (I used 4-inch by 2-inch ramekins) and place in water bath (by placing ramekins in a baking pan and filling the pan halfway up the height of the ramekins with boiling water).

- 2 creme brulees waiting to be baked -

4) Bake for 45-60 mins until firm.

5) Remove and allow to cool. Once they are cooled, put in fridge and allow to chill overnight. You can cover the top with clingwrap if you want, like I did.

6) When you are ready to serve, remove creme brulee from the fridge and if you had used clingwrap to cover the top, remove and gently dab the top of creme brulee with a paper towel to remove excess water. Sprinkle a thin layer of sugar on top and torch it. If you don't have torch, you can put it under the broiler for a min or so (don't worry, it will work. I tried it). Be very careful not to overburn.

- Broiled-top creme brulee -

Enjoy~~

Cantonese Steamed Chicken

2009-09-01T16:33:00.009-07:00

The chicken dishes I made so far were either stir-fried or baked, and I had been looking for an alternative way to cook chicken, so a few weeks ago, I searched for steamed chicken and came across this recipe which is extremely easy to make, but nonetheless delicious. I even used the same recipe to cook fish (using tilapia instead of chicken).

Ingredients:
4-6 medium-sized Chinese Mushrooms (reserve 1 Tbsp soaking liquid)#
1 1/2 Lbs Chicken pieces
1/4 Tsp Salt
Pepper, to taste
1 1/2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Chinese Rice Wine or Dry Sherry
1 Tsp Sugar
1 Tsp Sesame Oil
1 1/2 Tbsp Cornstarch*
2 Slices Ginger, shredded (about 1 Tbsp)
1 Green Onion, diced

#I left out chinese mushrooms in both steaming the chicken and the fish.
*I used cornstarch the first time (steaming chicken) but I find that the sauce is a little too thick for me so I omitted cornstarch the second time (steaming fish). I personally prefer the watery sauce (without cornstarch).

Steps:
1) Soak the dried mushrooms in a bowl of warm water for 20 mins, or until they have softened. Squeeze out the excess water, cut the stems off the mushrooms and thinly slice. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the mushroom soaking liquid.

2) Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Place in a heatproof bowl and add salt, pepper, soy sauce, rice wine or sherry, sugar, sesame oil, reserved mushroom liquid and cornstarch (if you want a thicker sauce). Allow to marinate while bringing water to a boil for steaming.

3) Place the bowl on a rack in a pot for steaming or in a steamer such as a bamboo steamer in a wok. Place the chicken pieces in the middle of the plate and surround with mushrooms. Sprinkle the shredded ginger and green onion over top. Steam the chicken over boiling water for 15 - 20 minutes, making sure it is thoroughly cooked.

- Cantonese Steamed Chicken -

I added some carrots on top of the chicken before placing the chicken in the wok to steam. On the side was deep fried tofu in teriyaki sauce, stir fried bak choy in oyster sauce, and, of course, steamed rice.

- Sakae Sushi inspired Deep Fried Tofu in Teriyaki Sauce -

We will be flying back to Singapore on Christmas Day. Our boxes will be arriving in Nov so I figure I will be extremely busy in Nov. A close friend of mine for 11 years will be coming to visit with his boyfriend (also a friend of ours back in secondary school) and will be staying at my place between 12th and 15th Nov!! I can barely wait!!! Keep coming back~~

Cheesecakes!!

2009-08-12T10:25:00.008-07:00

Ash and I both love cheesecakes so when I saw the recipe for cheesecakes and the beautiful pictures of the cheesecakes, I knew I had to try making some. Had been preparing to make the cheesecakes for months, buying the baking pans for the cheesecakes and getting all the ingredients (not that they are difficult to find, just that it takes time for me to convince Ash that I need them and I will use them real soon).

The first batch of cheesecakes that I made were not as I expected - they were slightly burnt on the top and they puffed up during the baking forming muffin-tops, which I later cut off and topped with syrup and almonds for photography purpose. Will try cutting down the baking time or reducing the heat the next time. I will advice that you try out using a small portion of the batter and checking the progress every 5 mins about 25 mins into the baking to prevent repeating my mistake.

Ingredients:
Crust:
2 Cups/180g Graham Cracker Crumbs
1 Stick/4 Oz Butter, melted
2 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Cheesecake:
3 Sticks/24 Oz Cream Cheese, room temperature
1 Cup Sugar
3 Large Eggs
1 Cup/8 Oz Heavy Cream/Whipping Cream
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
1 Tbsp Liqueur (optional)#

#I omitted the liqueur since I did not have any around.

Steps:
1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix together the ingredients for the crust and press into your preferred pan/pans (recipe is enough to fill up a 9-inch pan. I used 2-inch and 3-inch pans and it was enough to fill up 2 3-inch pans and about 14 2-inch pans). Set crust aside.

2) Begin to boil a large pot of water for water bath. In the meanwhile, combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl if you're using an electric mixer like I did) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla extract, lemon juice and alcohol (if using) and blend until smooth and creamy.

3) Pour batter into prepared crust and tap on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. *Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan.

*If the pan you're using is not airtight, cover the bottom SECURELY with foil before adding water to prevent the water from seeping into the pan. Do make sure to securely wrap the pans more than halfway up the pan so that the water is way below the gap of the foil. The cheesecake pans I used have removable bottoms to aid in demolding the cheesecake so I wrapped the bottom with double layers of foil.

4) Bake for 45-55 mins (like mentioned earlier, I would recommend that you check on the cake every 5 mins 25 mins into the baking) until almost done. The cake should be holding together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the centre. Close oven door, turn heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for 1 hour to let the cheesecake cool down gradually to prevent the top from cracking.

5) Remove cheesecake from oven (be careful not to spill the water all over!!) and lift carfully out of the water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter before covering and putting in fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

I made some chocolate-espresso cheesecakes by adding some espresso (combine 1/4 tbsp espresso powder in 1/4 tbsp of boiling water) along with 1 oz of semi-sweet chocolate (melted) to 1/4 of the batter and mixing until smooth and creamy. You can use smashed oreo cookies (minus the cream) instead of the graham cracker crumbs for the crust.

- Chocolate-Espresso Cheesecake drizzled with Hershey's chocolate syrup and almonds -

Although the top was slightly burnt, the cheesecake was still delicious enough for my first attempt. Ash prefers the original cheesecake. Will definitely make some again soon.

Updates

2009-08-06T11:42:00.004-07:00

Sorry for the lack in posts lately. Had been busy settling Sparkie's move back to Singapore. Still searching for an airline that will allow us to transport Sparkie back to Singapore as a carry-on luggage (so that he will be in the cabin with us under the seat) instead of checked-in luggage (in the cargo under the cabins). Will be updating real soon. Lots of recipes!! We will be visiting the apple farm this weekend, so do remember to come back soon~~!

Marble Cake

2009-07-18T16:08:00.005-07:00

I love marble cakes. Used to buy them alot in Singapore. Suddenly have the urge to make one myself and so I went about looking for recipes.

Ingredients:
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Butter, softened
2 Eggs
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Milk
2 Tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

Steps:
1) Preheat oven at 350°F. Grease and flour a 9-inch round pan.

2) Place all ingredients except the cocoa powder into a mixing bowl. Beat slowly to moisten then beat with electric mixer at medium speed for about 2 mins until smooth. Reserve 3/4 cup of the batter, and pour the remaining into the prepared pan.

3) Stir cocoa powde into reserved batter. Drop by spoonfuls over the top of white batter and swirl the cocoa batter using a toothpick to create the marble effect.

4) Bake for 30-35 minutes until done (when inserted toothpick comes out clean).

- 1st attempt -

I feel it's a little too 'crumbly' for me. Maybe I can use cake flour instead of all-purpose flour the next time. Will definitely try again.

Muah Chee

2009-07-13T17:34:00.006-07:00

One of my favourite snacks. Used to buy it from pasar malams for $1/pkt. Now I can make my own!! Thanks Joy for sharing this recipe and once again showing me how to make it =)

Ingredients (Serves 2-3):
1 Cup Glutinous Rice Flour*
2 Tsp Sugar
2 Tbsp Coconut Milk
1 Tbsp Cooking Oil
150ml Water

1/2 Cup Chopped Toasted Peanuts
1/4 Cup Sugar#
1 Tsp Sesame@

*Cannot be substituted with rice flour!! Tried it once. Failed terribly. Doesn't even form anything edible. Yucks.
#Sugar to be adjusted to own preference. I used only about 1/2 of it.
@I didn't have sesame so I did not add in any.

Steps:
1) If you're using raw peanuts like I did, deshell and toast peanuts according to the instructions on the packaging. Let cool.

- Raw peanuts -

2) In the meanwhile, mix glutinous rice flour, sugar, coconut milk, cooking oil and water in a microwaveable bowl. Be sure to mix thoroughly. Microwave mixture on high for 1 min, remove bowl from microwave, stir, and heat for another minute.

3) Remove from microwave. If it's not cooked yet, stir and microwave for yet another minute and repeat until it is cooked. Let cool.

4) If you've yet to remover the skin (not shell) of the peanut, now is the time to remove it. Grate peanuts in a food grater until it is to the fineness that you want. I grated the peanuts for about 30 secs. Add about 1/8 cup of sugar and taste. If you find that it is not sweet enough, then add more sugar until you're satisfied. Add sesame seed.

- Peanut-sugar -

5) Once the muah chee is cooled, you can start cutting it up into bie-size pieces. Brush some oil over the scissors before cutting the muah chee to prevent sticking. Start by pouring some of the chopped peanut-sugar into a shallow dish. Cut a piece of muah chee and toss it into the shallow dish of peanut-sugar to coat. Proceed to cut into the size that you want and it is ready to be served.

- Enjoy! -

All things Japanese

2009-07-01T14:25:00.011-07:00

Bought a few japanese snacks from the FaSoLa Shops in Narita Airport. Coincidentally, I bumped into BB's colleague while shopping for the snacks. He was on the same flight as me from Singapore to Tokyo, and we were taking the same flight to LA!! How coincidental is that?? Anyway, he offered me some time to use the internet (100yen/10mins) so I sent an email to BB. He even gave me the extra 100yen which he exchanged. How sweet!!

- Bought these for my family while on my way back to Singapore.
Left: Assorted Mochi
Right: Strawberry Mochi with Chocolate filling -

- Milk-filled Strawberry Mochi -

- Strawberry Chocolate Yatsuhashi -

I actually bought the Yatsuhashi because of the tin, but it turns out that the Yatsuhashi is quite nice. Loves the strawberry chocolate coating.

- What it looks like inside -

- Sweet DoRolls! Yummy!! -

I suddenly had a craving for sushi, so I decided to make some last weekend. It turned out pretty good! First attempt at making sushi. Not bad. BB loves the rolls. Especially the california rolls. His all-time favourite.

- Dinner on a weekend night -

- Ebi Sushi and Tamago Sushi - Nigiri-style -

- Teriyaki Chicken Roll and California Roll -

I actually bought some yellow pickled radish for the california roll like how my mum always made hers but the pickled radish we bought contains a sweetener which is suspected to cause cancer so we threw the whole packet away.

A) Ingredients for Sushi Rice (Serves 4):
3 Cups Japanese Rice
3 1/4 Cups Water (to cook rice)
1/3 Cup Rice Vinegar
3 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tsp Salt

Steps:
1) Wash and soak rice in rice cooker for about 15 mins. The rice that I bought doesn't require washing so do check the packaging to make sure. Cook rice.

2) In the meanwhile, mix rice vinegar, sugar and salt in sauce pan and heat on low heat until sugar dissolves. Set sushi vinegar aside to cool.

3) After the rice is cooked, leave it in the cooker to steam for about 15 mins before opening the cooker's lid. Scoop rice into a large non-metallic bowl (to prevent interaction with rice vinegar) and drizzle sushi vinegar over the rice. Mix well and be careful not to smash the rice. To cool and remove the moisture of the rice well, use a fan as you mix the rice. This will give sushi rice a shiny look. It's best to use sushi rice right away.

I shall start with the ingredients for the nigiri sushi. You can prepare these the night before and keep them in the fridge until you are ready to make the sushi.

B) Preparing Shrimp for Sushi:
1) Remove the head and vein of the shrimp. Leave the shells on. Rinse.

2) Thread the shrimp on a bamboo skewer (I used a toothpick) from the head to the tail to keep the shrimp straight.

3) Boil the shrimp in salted water for a couple of minutes (about 5 mins). Remove from heat and drain off the water. Cool the shrimp and remove the bamboo skewer and shell. The shrimps I bought is without shells so I steam them in salt water instead.

4) Remove the vein on the belly side. Cut the shrimp along the belly and flatten.

5) Dry the shrimp on a paper towel and it's ready.

C) Ingredients for Tamagoyaki (rolled omelet):
4 Eggs
3 Tbsp Stock*
2 Tbsp Sugar#

*The recipe calls for Dashi Soup but I believe you can use any stock. I used chicken stock and it came out fine.

#I followed the recipe and the omelet turn out a tad too sweet for me. I would recommend that you use about 1 Tbsp - 1 1/2 Tbsp instead.

Steps:
1) Beat eggs in a bowl. Add stock and sugar and mix well.

2) Heat some oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Pour a scoop of egg mixture in the pan and spread over the surface. I used a big frying pan so I poured about half of the mixture.

3) When it's about helf done, roll the egg to one side and pour the remaining egg mixture in the pan and under the rolled egg. Roll the egg again when it's half done to get a thick rolled omelet.

4) Cut tamagoyaki into 1/2-inch thick pieces (or smaller/bigger, own preference) and they are ready to use.

For rolls, I cut the pieces into half to form strips and I used 3 strips of tamago in a roll. The recipe is enough to make 10 nigiri sushi and 10 rolls.

Making Nigiri Sushi:
1) Prepare a bowl of clean water. You will need it along the way.

2) Wet hands in the bowl of water to prevent the rice from sticking. Take some rice in your hand and shape it into an oval mound.

3) Put a dab of wasabi on the belly side of the shrimp(B)/under a piece of tamago(C) (optional). I squeezed some mayonnaise under the tamago.

4) Place the sushi rice on top of the shrimp/tamago. The wasabi/tamago should be placed between the sushi rice and the shrimp/tamago.

5) Holding the sushi in the palm of one hand, lightly press the sushi rice with the index and middle fingers of the other hand. Turn the sushi over so that the topping (shrimp/tamago) is facing you and press again before serving.

Our favourite - rolls. You will need a bamboo mat to make rolls.

Ingredients for California Roll:
Nori/Seaweed Squares
Sushi Rice (A)
Cucumber strips (about 1 cm thick)
Tamago Strips (C)
Crab Stick (cut into halves/quarters)
Mayonnaise (optional) (I used the japanese kind, which I prefer)

*You can include avocado and kampyo (japanese gourd) but don't have too many fillings in 1 roll to avoid having a roll so thick that you can't close.

Steps:
1) Place a piece of seaweed (shiny side down) on the bamboo mat. Evenly spread about 1 cup of rice over 2/3 of the seaweed, with the unocovered part away from you.

2) Make a slight indentation across, marking the lower 1/3 mark of the seaweed. Fill the indentation with the fillings of your choice. If you are using mayonnaise, squeeze the mayonnaise through the indentation before adding the fillings into the roll so that the mayonnaise is under the fillings.

3) Slowly fold mat over, tucking the closer end of the seaweed to start a roll. You might have to hold on to the fillings to prevent them from falling out when you roll.

4) Pull slightly on the end of the bamboo mat away from you as you roll to tighten the roll in order to prevent the roll from breaking down later on.

5) Remove roll from mat and cut into 6-8 even pieces with a sharp knfe (moisten knife to prevent sticking). Serve with soy sauce and wasabi.

To make Teriyaki Chicken Roll, fill the roll with teriyaki chicken (recipe below) and tamago following the steps above.

Ingredients for Teriyaki Chicken:
3/4 Lbs Chicken Breast/Thigh
Teriyaki Sauce

*If you do not have ready-made teriyaki sauce, you can make your own by following the link above. I used the ready-made kind.

Steps:
1) Tenderize chicken using a fork/meat tenderizer. Mix the other ingredients in a bowl and marinate the chicken in the mixture for 15 minutes in the refrigerator.

2) Heat some vegetable oil in a frying pan and slightly brown the chicken. Add some fresh teriyaki sauce into the pan. Cover the pan and steam cook the chicken on low heat until done (about 10 mins).

3) Remove the lid and simmer until the sauce becomes thick. Remove from heat. Slice the chicken and serve on a plate. Pour thickened sauce over the teriyaki chicken. You can use the sauce in the rolls.

Do try to make the sushi some time soon =) enjoy.

PS: Cheesecake is in freezer. Will upload pictures soon =)

Sun-filled, fun-filled

2009-06-27T12:06:00.007-07:00

Bb had his day off yesterday, so he brought me to Golfland Sunsplash at Mesa, Arizona because I had been telling him that I would love to visit a water park someday. It's about 2 hours' ride from our place and it costs $26/pax for visitors over 48" in height. For visitors under the height of 48", the admission fee is $19.50. For more information, click here. For most attractions, there's a height requirement so do check it out to avoid disappointment after paying for the admission.

We reached the park at around 12.30pm and spent the remaining 6 hours of the day checking out the water slides and the other attractions in the park. All in all, I had an extremely good time. Not much pictures taken though. We only had the chance to take a few pictures right before we leave the park.

- Taken from the locker area. We were both too tired to walk back into the park. -

- Sun kissed couple -

- Totally worn out and sun burnt but happy -

- Bb is happy too! -

Will be making some sushi later on. Excited!!

Homesick Dinner

2009-06-24T10:58:00.017-07:00

The very first dinner I cooked after returning from Singapore. I bought some Snow Crab some time ago from Fry's and it had been in the freezer the past 2 weeks that I was gone (Ash cleared the rest of the food except for the crabs because he didn't know what to do with it) and I missed Singapore Chilli Crab alot so I decided to try making some myself.

Ingredients:
2 Lbs Crab (get a larger crab for a decent amount of crab meat)
8 Cloves Garlic
1 Medium White Onion
8 Red Chilli Padis*
Some Dried Shrimp (optional)
2 Tbsp Oil
1/2 Tsp White Vinegar
1/2 Cup Tomato Puree
1/4 Cup Tomato Sauce
1/2 Tbsp Tomato Paste
3-6 Tbsp Sugar (adjust according to taste)
1/2 Tsp Salt
3 Tbsp Light Soya Sauce
1 Cup Water
1 1/2 Tsp Cornflour (if you want a thicker sauce)
1 Egg

*I used green serrano peppers instead because I don't have red chilli padis on hand and serrano peppers can easily be found in Wal-mart. I used about 4 of them and they tasted just fine. If you like it more spicy, add more of them.

#If you're using a smaller wok, you might want to half the ingredients or cook the crab in separate batches to prevent spillage.

@You can use 1 cup tomato sauce instead of 1/2 cup tomato puree, 1/4 cup tomato sauce and 1/2 tbsp tomato paste. In this case, you will definitely need the cornstarch solution to thicken the sauce.

Steps:
1) If you're using live crabs, stun the crabs by freezing them for 10 mins beforehand. Cut crab into sections. For detailed steps on how to cut crab into sections, follow steps 2-5 here. Crack claws of crab in several places with the blunt side of the cleaver to facilitate cooking. If you're using pre-cooked crabs, you just need to cut them up into sections.

- 1.9lbs pre-cooked snow crab clusters for less than $10 from Fry's -

2) Dice the white onion and remove the head of the chillis. If the chilli you're using is a bigger one like the serrano peppers I used, cut it into smaller pieces (about 2-4).

3) Grind the garlic, onion, chilli and dried shrimp with a food processor/grinder/chopper/blender for about 30 seconds or until it forms a paste. Do not add in too much dried shrimp. I added about 1/2 tbsp, just enough for a tinge of the flavour. The original recipe did not require that the dried shrimp be added but I thought it would be nice to add just a little bit of it. You can omit the shrimps totally if you want.

4) Heat oil in a big wok. Add the spice paste into the wok and let it cook until it dries up a fair bit (I cooked the paste for about 3 mins on medium heat to form a paste which is only slightly wet, almost dry, and very thick).

5) Add in the white vinegar, tomato puree, tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, salt and soya sauce. Pour about 3/4 cup of the water into the sauce (if you don't want a sauce that's too thick, add in all the water). Taste-test the sauce and add more sugar until you're satisfied.

6) Cook crab in the sauce until the crab turns red. If you're using pre-cooked crabs, coat the crab with sauce and heat through.

7) If you want a thicker sauce, mix cornflour with the remaining water to form a solution and add it into the sauce. Beat egg into the sauce and stir to mix the sauce with egg (I used 2 eggs because I love eggs). Once the egg is cooked, remove from heat and serve with rice.

- The end product -

On the side was stir fried brocolli with carrots, and of course, rice. We had a full and satisfied dinner that night. Chilli crab makes me a very happy stay-home wife.

Hopefully I will be able to make the cheesecakes very soon.

2 weeks in Singapore

2009-06-23T15:28:00.002-07:00

In case you haven't heard, I had recently went back home to Singapore to send my grandpa on his final journey. That was why I hadn't been updating my blog for the past 2 weeks.

I had wanted to stay for a longer period fo time, but my air ticket back to Tucson was already booked for 21st Jun, so I reluctantly left Singapore 3 days ago. My mum, uncle, and cousins were there to send me off. Another tearful farewell. I was sobbing uncontrollably on the flight to Japan (transitting to LA from Japan), and the guy who sat beside me must be thinking that I'm crazy. Anyway he moved up front to the empty seats so I had the 2 seats to myself (moved from an aisle seat which is my original seat to the window seat so I have more privacy).

It was harder for me to leave Singapore this time since there were problems at home, and I really can't bring myself to leave my mum like that.

Whatever it is, I'm back in Tucson, and will be updating very soon. Lots of things to do. Yet to unpack my luggage, and I still need to vacuum the floor. Just hope everything is fine in SG.

Honey Cookies for Sparkie

2009-06-04T17:43:00.009-07:00

Sparkie seems to be attracted to the scent of honey so I searched for a recipe for honey cookies and found one on the internet. This is my 2nd attempt at baking cookies (the 1st was Peanut Butter Cookie, also for Sparkie). Dog cookies are so easy to bake that I've totally stopped buying cookies from the stores.

Dogs are more forgiving than human. They don't care about presentation at all. The cookie can look like crap and they will happily finish all of it.

- The whole lot of them -

- The smell of honey made it hard for me to resist popping one of them into my mouth -

I bought a cookie press from Target some time back and decided to give it a try. Disappointed. The dough got stuck to the disc that was supposed to shape the cookie (the darker cookies in the beautiful flower shape) so I had to manually use a fork and cut them off from the press. Result: cookies cumbling from their supposed shape (at the bottom of the cooking rack). Fortunately it costs only $10. Will try with the recipe on the box of the cookie press to see if the problem lies with the dough *crosses fingers*

Ingredients (Yields about 40 small pieces):
1/2 Cup Shortening (room temperature)
1/2 Tsp Unsalted Butter (melted)
1/4 Cup Egg Whites (I used the egg white of 1 large egg)
1/4 Cup Honey
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1/4 Cup Cheddar Cheese (fine grated/powder form)

Steps:
1) In a large bowl (use the largest bowl you have to prevent flour from flying out later), beat* shortening and butter until creamy. Add egg whites and honey and beat until mixture is smooth.
*If you're using an electric mixer/stand mixer, beat on high speed for about 10 mins or until creamy

2) Beat flour and cheese into the mixture.

3) Using hands, gather ingredients and knead for a few minutes until a ball of dough is formed. Preheat the oven at 325F (about 163C)

4) On a floured surface, roll out the dough until it is about 1/4 inch in thickness. Shape cookies using cookie cutters and place them on a baking sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper to prevent sticking). If you don't have cookie cutters you can separate the dough into approximately 40 portions, roll them into small balls, and press them flat on the baking sheet.

5) Bake in oven until firm (about 10 mins). Leave cookies in the oven for another 5 mins to let them cool down gradually.

Sparkie loves these cookies. I love them too.

PS: Postponed the cheesecake baking to Saturday =) Can't wait.

Baked Chicken Wings

2009-06-03T15:40:00.005-07:00

Baked a second batch of chicken wings yesterday. The first time I did these was just a few weeks ago, and they were finger-licking good!! Ash and I kept craving for them so I made it again yesterday. I didn't know baked chicken wings can taste like that. I came across this recipe a few months ago on Lily's and had been wanting to try them but didn't have the chance. Now I'm hooked. Warning: extremely addictive. You just can't get enough of these.

- Packed with flavour. Yums -

Not only is this delicious, it's also healthier than fried chicken wings and it is extremely easy to make. The total time I took to prepare this dish is like what, 30 mins (including washing and cutting up the wings)?? The actual cooking time is 1 hour but all you have to do is pop them into the oven and watch the clock, that's it!! No skills whatsoever required. The only thing is that you have to marinate them overnight so you might need to do some planning beforehand. I've halved the ingrdients because I feel it's more than enough to serve 4.

Ingredients:
3 Lbs Chicken Wings
6 Tbsp Sugar*
6 Tbsp Light Soya Sauce
2 Tbsp Shaoxing Wine
1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 Tsp Onion Powder
1/4 Tsp 5 Spice Powder
1/4 Tsp White Pepper

*Lily's blog called for brown sugar but I didn't have brown sugar so I used white sugar instead. Adjust amount of sugar to your own preference.

Steps:
1) Cut wings into 3 parts - the drummette, the wingette, the tip and discard the tip(for people who likes to eat the tip, leave it attached to the wingette if you like).

I used a pair of scissors to cut the chicken because I find it easier to feel the bones.

2) Place the wings in a large bowl or a plastic bag that can be sealed.

3) Mix all the other ingredients in a separate bowl before pouring it over the wings and refrigerate overnight.

4) Preheat the oven at 350F (about 176C). In the meanwhile, arrange wings on a baking tray. I like to line the tray with parchment paper to prevent the wings from sticking to the tray and there'll be less cleanup afterwards. Bake for 1 hour or until well done.

This will be my favourite finger food for a long long time. It could be served with rice too. We had it for lunch yesterday with stir fry vegetables and the leftover meat from the dumpling.

- Leftover meat from rice dumpling fried with dried chilli -

Will be making some cheesecakes tomorrow. Excited!!

Making up for lost time - SoCal Experience (10-19 Aug 08) I

2009-06-01T23:17:00.046-07:00

Our very first road trip began on the early morning of 10th Aug 08 - destination: California, the Golden State. With us on the trip were Jinsheng, Jaslin and Junxiang (wow...all J's...). We set off at around 7am? Can't remember. It was about a year ago already! Gosh! Time sure flies.

Anyway, I had very little sleep the night before (was doing last minute packing as usual) so I was virtually asleep throughout the whole journey. One of the very few times that I woke I saw this, which I quickly took a shot of:

- Windmills!! -

The view outside the window kept me awake for the remaining 10-20 mins until we arrived at A&W for our lunch.

- Dreamily munching on an onion ring -

- BB posing with his burger -

We sure miss A&W's root beer float. I'd wanted to order their waffles topped with ice cream but thet don't have it there. Sad. I remember my uncle used to bring me and my siblings to the A&W in AMK and I would always have their waffles and root beer float. Sigh. Memories.

After a not so satisfying lunch, we proceeded to our first stop - Desert Hills Outlet. I think it's the biggest outlet mall I've ever been to. So far, at least.

- Towards the end of shopping, resting outside Bose -

As you can see from the picture, we're both empty-handed. I know, wasted right?? I think we were both tired. Furthermore, I'm not so much into Coach. Or Gucci. Maybe Guess.

We then checked-in to our accomodation for the next 6 nights in Anaheim - Castle Inn. It was just across the street from Disneyland (where we will be spending most of our time), which I think is pretty good because you don't have to drive (saves fuel & $$) and it saves time.

- Arrival at Castle Inn -

- JS looks like a father with kids Ash and JX -

The 5 of us shared an executive suite (consisting of 2 queen-size beds and a sofa bed) simply because it will cost less. One of the benefits of travelling in a group is saving on accomodation. Another benfit is that you can always have couple/group pictures =)

After settling down and deciding who gets which bed (JS, of course, gets the sofa bed), it was already past 8pm so we decided to have dinner somewhere near before calling it a day.

- My cheeky knight in shining armour -

- A preview of Disneyland -

- Lion statue at the entrance and stained glass windows -

- BB likes to let people know where he had set foot on -

- The night view of Castle Inn -

- The 3 musketeers -

Day 2
After breakfast (ham & cheese sandwhich), we set off for Universal Studios Hollywood!!! Had been looking forward to visiting my very first theme park in US. Extremely excited.

- Hollywood here we come!! -

- Arrival at Universal City -

- Entering Universal Studios Hollywood -

- The 2 extremely happy kids -

- Franken-Ash -

- Classic shot -

- They sure look like they're having fun!! -

- Look!! A horse carriage above the restaurant!! -

- BB on the red carpet -

We were all excitedly taking pictures the very moment we enter. I think we spent like 30 mins walking around taking pictures before we actually went to redeem our passes and actually entering the theme park. Was gald that we get to spend 2 days there. We were looking at the map of the park and planning out an 'ideal' route so that we won't miss any attraction. We had the whole day to take all the rides so we decided to cover the park in an anti-clockwise direction.

The very first attraction that we went to was the House of Horrors. It's a dark and windy terror maze where you will meet characters from horror movies, like Frankenstein and Wolfman, and was voted 'Best Year Round Haunted Attraction in America'. It was really quite scary because the whole place is extremely dark and you never know who you'll meet the next corner that you turn. The whole walk through the House of Horrors I was hysterically screaming and laughing and covering my ears and holding tightly onto Ash. A must-try. Fun. Warning: not for the faint-hearted.

- JS and Ash bracing themselves for the House of Horros -

- Movie stills from Psycho and Chucky -

- Me: 'Oh my god!! It's Chucky!! RUN!!' Ash: 'Don't be afraid! I'll kill him with my arrowhead bottle!! DIE CHUCKY!!!' -

- The bookstore where the romance bloomed in Notting Hill -

- BB in an English Telephone Booth -

- English royal guard refusing to look at the camera -

- ooo...cute... -

- Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II -

- Singaporean flagging for her bus in England?? -

- Beautiful English architecture -

- Garden of Paris -

- Jaslin and JX wondering if they should join the Fear Factor casting -

- Happy BB -

- Aww...cute~~ he's waving at me!! -

- Hunky Matt Damon -

- The Flintstones Presents: Rock Vegas Casino -

- The Flintstones Bar-B-Q -

- The Hulk under the attack of Rocky-Road-Popcorn Sheryl and Breast-Grabbing Ash -

We finally arrived at our very first ride - The Simpsons' Ride. I've got so much adrenaline rushing through my body I couldn't wait for our turn to get on the ride. The ride is actually a simulator ride (kind of like a faux roller coaster ride). I personally feel it was the fun-est ride in Universal Studios. It's extremely fun but less thrilling than the actual roller coaster ride, which is ideal for me because roller coasters are just too thrilling for me. I don't like the feeling of losing control. *grimace*

- The Simpsons' Ride -

- BB stoning in the line -

- Entertainment while in the line -

- Scooby doo waving to his fans. Rexie: 'RRROOOAAARRRSSS!!' -

- Scooby Doo: 'Fine, fine! I'll leave.' -

- Rexie wants some Rocky Road Popcorn -

Get ready to be soaked in Jurassic Park - The Ride. Dinosaurs and T-Rex popping out before making a splashing finish, this ride is not for the faint-hearted, and those who prefers to stay dry.

- Thumbs-up!! (picture taken before the ride so we're both dry) -

Our final ride for the day was Revenge of the Mummy - The Ride. I will say it's more thrilling than the Jurassic Park ride, and drier.

- All soaked from the Jurassic Park ride -

- He has nothing to grab on to -

That basically sums up the rides in the park. We then went on to cover the shows. Backdraft was just around the corner. Off we go!

- Fire effects from the hit movie (now our clothes are dried!!) -

- Waterworld featuring water stunts (great...now we're wet again...) -

There are actually soak zones in the audience seating which I think we took since we didn't intend to stay dry anyways (summertime). Anyway, I don't think the audiences at the back were spared of the splashing, so prepare ponchos if you want to stay dry. Don't worry, I've seen some audiences covered in ponchos. Seriously. Even in the soak zones.

- Spongebob and Patrick looks happy!! -

Final stop - Shrek 4D. Get ready to be transported into the world of Ogre where the characters in Shrek come alive you can even feel Donkey sneeze in your face, literally!!

- The 3 little pigs soundly asleep, and tied up -

...and they live happily ever after...

Day 3
Last day in Universal Studios. We intend to cover the rest of the park.

- Day 2 @ Universal Studios -

- Alex from Madagascar -

- Spongebob entertaining the crowd -

- Catch of the day -

We started the day with the Studio Tour where we get to go behind the scenes and see the actual sets of movies like War of the Worlds, King Kong, and Jaws.

- Where the directors live while working on the set -

- Special effects of the Fast and the Furious -

- Leftovers from Jurassic Park -

- What is everyone looking at?? -

- ???? -

- Shouldn't we get going already?!?! (Not my hand, in case you're wondering) -

- Lookout!!! (the front row is now officially the soak zone...) -

- What it looks like from behind -

- The actual set of King Kong -

- Up-close. Familiar?? -

- Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives -

- Wreckage from War of the Worlds -

- BB is a star!! -

- So am I!! I'm red-carpet ready!!! -

- The group of us in Hollywood -

- JS & Ash Flintstone -

- BB trying to figure out which way he should face (apparently the wrong way) -

- Universal's Animal Actors -

- Let the show begin!! -

- A Sheltie who can locate lost items -

- Oh...whose bra is that?? -

- Pinkie: 'Who took my bra?' -

- Pinkie: 'Gimme that, you pervert!' -

- Dog agility test -

- Say cheeeeeese!! -

- Amazing show!! *misses Sparkie* -

- Fear Factor Live -

The live show is not as intensed as the one on TV. No gross gourmet, no death-defying stunts. Disappointed.

- BB with his idol -

- Hulk sure is angry -

- BB's feet compared to Hulk's -

- BB getting wasted in LA -

- Gimme more money -

- Cut! Good take! -

We were done with Universal Studios so we proceeded to Universal Citywalk.

- Live performance at Citywalk -

- Bubba Gump - Forrest's run across America -

- The walk down Citywalk -

- BB: 'Yay!! We're done in Universal Studios!'

- Hard Rock Hollywood -

- OMG...is it going to fall over and crush me?? -

- iFly, you fly, everyone can fly! -

- Jurassic...Parking?? -

- End of Universal Studios tour -

SoCal experience to be continued...

Making up for lost time - Food Escapade I

2009-05-30T17:14:00.019-07:00

In the period that I went missing, I was spending time in the kitchen experimenting with all kinds of recipes.

It all began with a CNY pot luck session with Joy, Agnes and Xiao Jing. I still remember fretting over the dish that I will contribute to the session.

For the past 12 months or so Ash had been eating virtually the same dishes every other week - I will normally cook a 'Soup' dish that will be able to last us for 2 days/4 meals (serves 8); it will either be curry, braised pork/lor bak or bak kut teh (loosely translated as meat bone tea); and for the remaining 3 days of the week it will be stir fry (1 dish of meat, 1 of vegetables, and sometimes 1 dish of eggs). It was really very simple meals - nothing too fanciful, nothing interesting. I remember there was a time I got so sick of my own cooking I stopped eating rice totally, and turned to finger foods that I stocked up in the freezer - nuggets, fish fingers, fries, garlic bread, pizza...

Anyway, I decided to try making a dish I learnt some years back from my mum - fried breaded egg mayo. It's actually egg mayonnaise wrapped up in bread like a flat rectangular curry puff, coated with egg and bread crumbs, then deep fried. Something fairly easy to prepare. I would say it came out pretty good, considering that I made it from a 6/7 years-old memory and that the bread presented some problems while I was at it (I'm not sure if it's the dry weather here or the quality of the bread but whenever I try to roll the bread flat it will tear or chip off at the edges and when I try to wrap it with the egg mayo it kept tearing).

- There's like a dozen eggs in this small tray -

By the time we reach Joy's place everyone was already there (and I presume they were all starving since it was already past 8pm). So I went into the kitchen and was welcomed by this view:

- A sumptuous spread contributed by the potluck-ers -

I know right? My platter of rectangular mayo puffs looks so weird on that tableful of food. All of them are like so pro. There's even carrot cake (Agnes made it from scratch)!! That's one of Ash's favourite dishes so I quickly asked Agnes for the recipe.

While we were chatting after dinner, I found out something even more amazing - Joy made Bak Kwa and the thing is, it tasted like those commercial ones!! Needless to say, when I heard that, my jaw literally dropped. She then told me she also made pineapple tarts and butter cookies. Of course, I pestered Joy for the recipes. She told me she would be making another batch of pineapple tarts sometime soon and asked me to join her so she can teach me. So nice right?? Happy.

After about a week or so I was at Joy's place and the 2 of us made a batch of tarts and cookies the day before our husbands leave for an exercise over the weekend so that they can bring it with them.

- Mouth-watering pineapple tarts and butter cookie (in the background) -

I was extremely happy because Ash loves pineapple tarts and he likes to munch on butter cookies while watching TV. He would always buy a big tin of Danish Butter Cookies back in Singapore. I'm sure he would like the cookies. They are extremely yummy. So are the pineapple tarts. I finished my portion of tarts and cookies in 3-4 days. That's how yummy they are =)

This got me into the cooking mood. I decided to give the Bak Kwa recipe a try a few days later and I'm glad I did because they came out pretty good. The only thing I didn't like was that it wasn't sweet enough. I did not follow the amount of sugar on the recipe as I did not have a kitchen scale back then and I added the sugar according to my estimation (I know, I suck at that). Ash liked it though =)

My kitchen cabinet used to be quite empty. Now, it's stuffed with measuring spoons and cups, kitchen scale, big and small mixing bowls, baking sheets, cake pans, flours of all kinds...

I love to spend time in the kitchen, and when the recipe came out surprisingly well, it makes the rest of my day an extremely happy one =)

PS: Joy, thanks for sharing recipes with me and letting me spend time making a mess in your kitchen =)

Happy Rice Dumpling Festival!!

2009-05-29T14:49:00.016-07:00

It's been a long long time (almost a year!) since I last updated my blog and I think it's about time I do.

Anyway, happy belated Duan Wu Jie everyone!!! Hope everyone had an enjoyable Rice Dumpling Festival, because I did!!

It all started when the (self-acclaimed) Real Housewives of Sonoran Terraces came together to make rice dumpling at Joy's place. I was the frist to reach at 12.15pm (first time eh?) and the rest (Xiaojing, Agnes and Michelle) arrived shortly after. We started by preparing the ingredients to fry the rice and the meat and everything else (Joy had done the soaking of the bamboo leaves, rice and water chestnut prior to our arrival).

- Different coloured strings prepared to differentiate the different dumplings - Blue ones for guys (pork belly), Red one girls' (the leaner pork ribs), Green one mine (without mushrooms) -

It was all fun and laughter until the real wrapping of the rice dumplings came. We watched a video from the source of the recipe to prepare us for the wrapping. The lady in the video made it seem easy but when we really got down and dirty to do it we almost gave up. It was not much of a problem getting the ingredients into the cone we formed using the bamboo leaves but the real clumsy part came when we tried to wrap up the remaining of the leaves around the rice to form a dumpling. Rice leaked out, and there was rice all over the table and floor. In fact, the rice was everywhere - in the pot of meat, the bowl of dried shrimp and of course, on our fingers. You can sense the frustration in everyone and the desire to give up in the silence that lingered around the table in Joy's kitchen.

We also had difficulty trying to secure the dumplings with the strings to prevent water from seeping in when we boil them. Joy was so fed up that at one point she even asked (in a joking manner, of course), "Why does Qu Yuan has to drown himself in the river??"

- Agnes and Xiao Jing tying dumplings on the makeshift "dumpling hanger" -

- Joy and Michelle busy wrapping the dumplings, and of course, I was busy taking pictures using Joy's camera -

- It certainly looks good, considering that we were first-timers -

Judgement day came when we all anxiously waited for the first batch of dumplings to be cooked, and by cook I mean boiling it for 1 hour (recipe called for it to be boiled for 2 hours though). Imagine the agony of waiting while wrapping the rest. Joy was eagerly checking in on the dumplings to see how they were doing in the boiling hot water, and she was dismayed to find out that some of the dumplings were leaking and some of the rice was swimming in the water.

The time finally came to test our work and we were all excitedly waiting for Joy to take them out of the pot and open one of them to try (while still wrapping dumplings). Joy tasted the rice, said it was not bad, except for the fact that it was a bit too salty. She then moved on to the chestnut, but it was not soft enough, so she put the whole batch back into the pot and boiled them for another hour.

We were finally done wrapping all the dumplings but the firts batch of dumplings were still not ready so we sat around chatting and munching on Julie's love letters and sipping Bacardi's. I love the feeling of spending time with the bunch of them, like I have a life outside of the 4 walls of my apartment, outside of my life with Ash. It's not that I don't like to spend time with him, it's just that I miss having friends around.

Anyway, the 1st batch of dumplings were finally done at around 7pm and we all excitedly crowded around to taste it. I think we were all happy with how it came out (at least I am). I love the rice. It brought me closer to home.

- The delicious rice dumpling lovingly wrapped by the wives. You are welcome to drool at it =) -

We boiled the 2nd batch of dumplings and while waiting, we sat around and talked about sales, husbands, and everything else in between gobbling on the dumplings and indulging in Baskin' Robbins' Very Berry Strawberry ice cream, which Joy generously shared with us.

When the 2nd batch of dumplings were finally done at 9pm, we each took a share of the dumplings and the leftover meat and dried shrimps and left Joy's place.

All in all, I had a wonderful Rice Dumpling Festival.

4am

2008-07-23T04:03:00.000-07:00

And I'm awake.

I went to bed at 11pm, and fell asleep not long after that. I woke 3 hours later, and for some reason, after tossing and turning in bed for about an hour, I couldn't get back to dreamland.

I think I slept too much the night before. I woke at 2pm yesterday, probably too tired from the late nights for the past few days. Will definitely go to bed early tonight.

Watched Wall-E last weekend. Well, what can I say? I love animation. I saw the trailer for this movie coming in November. It's about the adventures of a dog named Bolt. When Ash and I saw the trailer, we were both positive it was Sparkie's breed - a Westie. However, when I tried to get more information of the movie, I was astonished to find out that it's supposed to be a German Shepherd. Bolt doesn't look anything like a German Shepherd. For one thing, he's white. I've never seen a white German Shepherd before. And, he's so adorable and so cuddly - nothing like a German Shepherd (personal opinion). They look so ferocious to me.

- Movie still from Bolt -

- German Shepherd -

Does the 2 look alike in any ways? Other than the erected ears, I don't see much similarities between the 2.

I yahoo-ed German Shepherd and found out that there are actually white German Shepherds. I bet most of you didn't know that (I'm not that ignorant am I?).

Also, the sequel to Ice Age (Dawn of the Dinosaurs) is coming next July. Totally can't wait. I've watched Ice Age ample time and I am still not sick of it. I find Scrat (the creature who is always an inch away from his beloved acorn) especially funny.

Starting to feel the impact of lack of sleep. Will probably take a short nap in the afternoon.

New hairdo

2008-07-15T16:01:00.000-07:00

Nothing much to update. Everything has been virtually the same everyday - wake, eat, bring Sparkie out for a walk, surf net, watch tv, eat, play with Sparkie, watch tv, eat, train Sparkie, watch tv, sleep, wake, eat, bring Sparkie out for a walk...

Sparkie's been well though. There's no more bloody poop, although there's still ocassional diarrhoea. We try to bring him to the park weekly/biweekly so that he has a few acres of land to run freely. We had him shaved at his body because it's getting warmer, and he looks so funny - with a poofy head and a fluffy tail - but, nevertheless, still as adorable, and super lovable.

- Sparkie - poofy-headed, fluffy-tailed, and body-shaved -

- White hairless rat -

- What did I say? Still so adorable and super lovable!! -

- Still the same old lazy Sparkie -

- Doesn't he look like a cat from hindsight? *purr* -

- Sparkie: 'Will you stop it already?' "-_- -

- Sparkie: 'Daddy~~ make mummy stop!!' -

He is getting more playful by the day. I'm happy to see that he's so active now, not so much like the sickly pup I brought home.

Last fri, Ash had a day off, so we went on a short trip - to Phoenix, about 100 miles away. We set off at about 8am and had breakfast with Jaslin, Junxiang (Jaslin's hubby and Ash's colleague), and Jinsheng (Ash's colleague). I was a bit bored of my long rebonded hair (I'm starting to feel that it's elongating my face too much and making me horse-faced) so I decided to try out a new hairdo (not really new new, but DIY new - had my hair curled at my wedding). As you might have guessed, I woke up at around 6.45am to set my hair. The result was amazing, considering the fact that all I used for the hairdo was a couple of ponytail holders, the hairdryer, hairspray, and a bottle of styling spray.

- A new me - in Jinsheng's car, on the way to breakfast -

The wave didn't last very long (despite the fact that I sprayed ample hairspray all over). By mid day, my hair was almost back to it's original form, but with little waves here and there. Probably I should look for a stronger styling spray.

I liked the effects very much (at least at the very beginning), it's not too "perfect", not overly done, and somehow, I thought it refreshes my features. Most importantly, it doesn't make me look too old (at least that's what I thought). Definitely worth trying again, with a spray that has a stronger hold.

Thought of going to the salon to have my hair permed, but worried that it might not come out the way that I wanted it to be, then it will be a waste of money and waste of time. So, in the meanwhile, will stick to DIY-ing. Not that bad afterall. You can curl it when you want, straighten it if you like, and it's more affordable. Time is not a factor, since I have lots - well, at least at the moment.

Also, I have started experimenting with makeup. I bought lots of covergirl makeup as a start. You can see the bronzer effect in the above picture. I decided to go with natural colours because well, they are more natural, not too heavy, just the way I like it.

My ACCA application is still in process. Might not be able to take my first set of papers this Dec afterall. Sad.

I had a weird dream last night. In the series of weird dreams, the green chilli padi I bought last weekend turned red, my mum came all the way from Singapore to look for me to borrow few hundred bucks from me (the airfare costs more than that), I was busy with something while my mahjong kahkis continued without me (3 of them), and speaking of weird, one of them was a friend of mine who backstabbed me back in poly. How weird is that?

1.5 year more to go...and still counting down...

Updates

2008-06-19T15:38:00.000-07:00

Been 2 weeks since I last updated, and more than a month since Sparkie's homecoming.

He's growing well, making himself comfortably at home, and bonding well with us. He still have ocassional diarrhoea (1-2 times a day), but there is not much bleeding these few days (the only time there is blood in his stool this week was 2 days ago, and there is only a drop, which is great, considering the condition he was in when I first brought him home).

I tried weighing him on the normal weighing scale a few days ago but the reading came out ridiculously low. The first reading I got was 1.8kg, and I realised that his front paws was off the scale. So, I put him back on the scale (luckily he's not a big breed so he was able to have all 4 paws on the scale without any difficulty), and it read 2.8kg this time (around 6lbs). He was 7lbs around a month ago and it seems impossible that he lost weight since I know for sure he's getting bigger.

When Ash came home that night, I told him about the incident and he told me that the normal weighing scale (intended for human usage) will be inaccurate if you're weighing something/someone below 6kg. I thought through it and came up with a brilliant idea to get an accurate reading for Sparkie's weight (at least I think it's more accurate than 2.8kg).

First, I stand on the scale and take my reading. In order to make sure the reading is correct, I stood on the scale again. Both readings were the same. Then, I picked Sparkie up in my arms, and stood on the scale with him. His weight (according to the method I used) is 4.6kg (10lbs). See, I knew he got heavier, much heavier (starting to ache if I hold him for more than 5 mins).

I've started training him a few days ago, since I feel that he is physically and mentally ready for obedience training. He starts to understand the "wait" command, and I introduced him to the "down" and "up" commands today. Notice I hadn't taught him one of the very first thing you will want to teach a dog - sit. Well, he was basically sitting most of the time (even before I can open my mouth). Will have to figure out a way to teach him to sit.

A few days ago, Ash's upper lip cracked (probably due to the heat) and it was so swollen and so bad it looked like there is a mini burnt sausage hanging on his mouth. It looks like he kissed a scorpion/bee/snake/something-venomous and got a love bite from it. He looked poisoned. It wasn't me, swear to god.

Last night, he couldn't take it anymore so he decided to peel off the dried out skin and dried blood that had formed on the lips and luckily for him, it got better today, much better. The lip was no longer as swollen, and the crack is not as severe.

As for me, I had finally sent in my supporting documents to ACCA. Unfortunately, they need to take 6-8 weeks to process and I couldn't start studying for the papers since I have no idea which papers am I exempted and which are not, so I couldn't purchase the study materials even with the publishers' contact.

We are planning on a 2nd trip this August. We will be visiting Los Angeles and San Diego this time. We will be going to Disneyland, Universal Studio, Legoland, Sea World, and of course, there will be shopping at the outlet malls. Ash originally planned to go next month but their Chief Commander is returning to Singapore this July, which means there will be a parade, and so his leave application was not approved. We will be travelling along with Jaslin and his husband, as well as one of Ash's colleagues.

Almost half a year since I'm here. Yet to accomplish much (other than fulfilling my longtime wish of getting a dog), but had been enjoying myself so far. It is definitely a whole new phase in my life, newly wed, whole new environment, new role, new responsibility. I'm still learning, stumbling, but never failing to get back on my feet, because I have a family now to call my own.

Dead or alive?

2008-06-05T07:43:00.000-07:00

It has been nearly 2 weeks since I last seen the litter of baby hamsters. There is no sight of them, nor do I hear them make any noise. I suspect that they were all eaten up by the mother.

2 days ago, I decided to end the guessing game and explored the cage using the igloo in the cage. I wanted to minimise the posibility of human contact on the litter (in case they are still alive and around) as J mentioned that the mum will swallow the babies if they smell of human, fearing that someone will take them away from her. After a few tossing and turning of the bedding, I gave up and is convinced that they no longer exist.

Sad, but I think I've already done my best to try to keep them alive. I've removed their father (who reportedly was trying to eat his kids), moved the cage to the kitchen (out of reach and sight of Sparkie - more privacy, less threathening), and refrained from touching anything in the cage.

I've returned the father to the pet store which I bought him from as I did not want the same thing to happen again. They say they will put him up for adoption as the hamsters they have there are all supposedly females (well, I thought so too, but I know it wasn't when a litter of baby hamsters appear after more than 4 months).

As for Sparkie, his condition is improving. He had completed his Giardia medication and he is eliminating more normally now - solid, and less bloody (although little blood is still seen in his poop). He used to eliminate in three instalments - the first will be the normal solid one, the second will be watery, and the last and final one will be pure blood. Now, his poop comes out in 1 full payment.

His stool was sent for Giardia test 2 days ago and we are still waiting for the results. Ash suggests bringing him to the park this weekend, and I thought it will be a good idea. It had been nearly 3 weeks since he last went out for a walk. I think he will be super happy and will be running around like mad.

Looking forward to the weekend.

Summer's heating its way in

2008-05-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

May is ending in a few days, and June is making a big fat sizzling entrance, literally. Weather forecast says it will hit 40 degrees celcius this Sun (1st day of June). The mornings and nights are still quite cooling now, so we still had not switched on the aircon. Just hope we won't need to on it anytime soon, which is highly unlikely.

I've already obtained my driving license and have since tried to drive our mpv once - to Bank of America, which is like 5 mins' drive? It's a whole lot different from driving a sedan, and I stepped on the gas pedal a bit too hard and the vehicle jerked a little, scaring the both of us. And the view is different too. Don't think will be driving much anyway.

Ash has returned to work yesterday after a super long weekend (3 days off work since last Fri, which stretches into the weekend and continues on Mon and Tues).

Sparkie is getting along fine, still infested with Giardia, still bleeding, but nevertheless active, especially in the late evenings, around 8pm, when he will run around the living room, playing with his own toys, and playing with us. He is getting his 2nd dose of medication and hopefully, his last.

3 days ago, on Memorial Day, I got the shock of my life. New members were added to our small little family, super duper unexpectedly. This was what happened on that eventful day:

We went out for a little shopping and came home shortly after 4pm, and Ash went to his colleague's place to backup our files into a DVD (my laptop doesn't have a DVD burner). So, alone at home, I decided to check out the hamsters. To my amazement, I saw that there were a tiny speck of blood on one of the hamster's tiny nose (I was still in my lenses then). I then saw the other fella with more blood on her nose, so I reached into the cage to try to grab it in order to check if there is any injury anywhere on her (I thought Sparkie had hurt them somehow or they had been fighting aggresively and injured themselves). As usual, she tried to run away and I managed to grab a small part of her bottom. She struggled a little, so I grabbed harder, but she still managed to get away. I felt somthing moist and warm under my fingers.

Instinctively, I quickly removed my hand from the cage to see what was it that I have came into contact with. To my horror, I saw a little creature covered in blood squirming in the heap of litter. It looked somewhat like a lizard (at least that was what I thought at that very moment), but without a tail. I almost fainted. I thought a lizard (those that we see in houses in Singapore) had fallen into the cage and my little hamsters viciously tried to fight it off, explaining the blood on their noses.

I looked closer and found more of them in the litter. That was when I realised that one of them had just given birth. Oh, so that was why I had found one of them getting chubby recently. Frantically, I called Ash on his cell, but no answer. So, out of desperation, I called Jaslin (the wife with the Shi Tzu), and she told me to leave them alone. I asked if I should seperate the babies from the adults because I heard from a friend that the mother will eat her babies if you don't seperate them. She said no, because the babies need their mother's milk.

Then, we started discussing how the babies have came about, because according to the pet store, both the hamsters I bought are supposed to be females. So she asked if it's possible that I brought home a pregnant one. I thought it over, and it seemed impossible too because back at the pet store, the hamsters in the cage that the 2 hamsters were grabbed from are all females (at least that's what the label outside the cage reads). Furthermore, it has been around 5 months since I owned them (the gestation period is only about 20 days). So the only possibility is that one of them is actually a male.

Later in the evening, she came over with her husband for dinner along with another of Ash's colleague. After dinner, they were observing the hamsters and they suggest that I separate the male because it seemed like he was trying to eat them up. Thus begins the mission - to grab the 2 adults with a plastic bag (to prevent human scent from coming into contact with the babies) and put them in the fish tank which I've bought to contain them when I clean their cage, and keep the male in the tank.

Now, the male is all alone in the fish tank. I'm thinking of getting another cage since I will have to seperate the males from the females once the babies are weaned. Speaking of the babies, I haven't seen them since the day I seperated their daddy. I wonder if the mum had eaten them up. Guess I'll just have to observe them over the next few days.

Bad, bad weather

2008-05-22T09:57:00.000-07:00

The weather was getting hot a few days ago, and it even hit a freaking 39 degrees celcius 2 days ago. I thought we wouldn't need to on the aircon since the nights here are mostly cooling and Ash won't be home as much (he is usually the one who sweat much more).

However, 2 days ago, I gave up trying to withstand the heat and decided to let cool air flow in the place. Sparkie became more active (he had been restless the past few days, probably due to the heat) and he was running around the place, playing with his toys, and I was happy too, without having to take frequent cool showers, and most importantly, not having to sweat through lunches.

Today, the temprature dropped (currently at 20 degrees) and there is a weather alert about strong winds (may gust over 40 Miles/hr) and the posibility of a thunderstorm. And I have to attend my final driving lesson. Nice.

Contemplating if it's worth going for it today. I might jolly well be blown off by the winds, or even struck by the thunder while on the road.

I think I'm being paranoid. That's what happens when you have an over-imaginative mind.

Well, the weather here had always been on the extreme ends. I even witnessed a mini sandstorm halfway through my lunch. The group of us were so amazed (first time what) that we kept exclaiming and were so worried we will be swept away (at least I was). The others in the restaurant just continued what they were doing, eating, serving, and that was when I felt like such an idiot. They must be mocking at us deep in their hearts.

So there's probably nothing to worry. I just have to be very careful.

Just hope all will be well.

Final lesson

2008-05-22T09:47:00.000-07:00

I will be taking my final driving lesson today, after which I will be able to get my driver's license!! Gosh...am I excited...

It is so much easier to get a driver's license here - 8 lessons with the instructor, 320USD, and less than 6 hours. Honestly, I don't have much confidence so I probably won't be driving much. Maybe I won't even drive at all.

Look out commuters, here I come.

Homecoming

2008-04-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

It has been 3 days since Sparkie came home.

Last Sat, we went to pick him up from the store at around 5.30pm, a few hours after his lunch, so as to prevent him from getting carsick. However, on the way home, he was shivering and all despite my efforts to calm him down (even wrapped him with a towel that I brought along and put him on my lap). Then, the unthinkable happened - he was so scared he lost control of his bladder and did his business (big and small) on me just as we drove into the parking lot.

I didn't know what to do, so we quickly let him into his crate to finish all his business but there was nothing left. We thought he was alright so we did not lock him up in his cage and let him run around excitedly in the apartment, exploring the place. When he reached our room, we saw from behind him that he was squatting down at the foot of our bed and I remember hearing him making weird noises. I went over and saw red jelly-like stuff on the floor and other liquid stuff around, which until now, I did not know what it was (must have been his vomit). So Ash checked if he's alright while I cleaned up the floor.

After a while, Sparkie seemed to be better and he was so excited he was sniffing out the whole area wagging his tail.

- Sniffing around inquisitviely -

When I sense his excitement dying down a bit, I let him have his dinner (it was already 6.45pm).

- 2nd love of my life -

After dinner, he continued exploring his new home and we played with him for awhile. Then, I saw him yawning and he started walking towards the corner of his crate. He lay there, yawn again, lay his head on his forelegs, and fell asleep soon after. I spent a few minutes squatting in front of his crate, adoringly admiring him. Well, you can't blame me.

- Look at how angelic he looks -

After a few hours (guess he really was tired), he woke up and looked at us, sleepy-eyed. So, I let him out (after he's relieved himself) to play.

- Dragging his chew stick across the living room -

- Exploring his loot at bb's foot -

At around 11pm, we decided to go to bed and so Ash carried the crate into our room and all 3 of us turned in for the night.

After 2.5 hours, I was woken up by the rustling sound of newpaper from the crate. So, I switched on my bedside light and went over to check out on Sparkie. Apparently, he was looking for a place to relieve himself and he wanted to get out of the crate, but he couldn't hold it and had relieved himself inside. So, I opened the crate door, let him out, and cleaned up the wet newspapers. After putting in a set of fresh papers, Sparkie went in the crate, all happy to have his sleeping place cleaned, and went back to sleep.

The same thing happened at 5.30am, so, fearing that I will wake Ash up, I carried the heavy crate out into the living room, changed the papers, gave him breakfast (abit early, but he seemed hungry), and played with him.

- Staring curiously at the device I held in my hand -

- The adorable look on his face which make me cave in each and everytime -

At around 7.30am, he went into his crate and rested his head on the floor, so I locked his crate, and went to take a nap in the sofa. It was hard, because the sofa is not really that comfortable to sleep in, and it was really cold out in the living room without a blanket to cover my body. So, desperate, I took the blanket I bought for Sparkie (which he did not use), covered my legs, and tried to fall asleep.

After what seems like forever, I finally fell asleep.

At around 11.30pm, I was woken up by the sound of Sparkie biting his food, so, thinking that I didn't lock his crate door, I jerked up from the sofa, only to see Ash standing in front of me, and Sparkie happily enjoying his lunch. Relieved, I laid back down, and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Yesterday, it was particularly energy-draining, having to clean up his pee and poo from the carpet, trying to guess when he's having to go, following him around to prevent him from relieving himself outside the crate (which is very hard because dogs will try to keep their sleeping place clean), and keeping him busy. It was harder when I have to prepare dinner and Ash had to keep an eye on him. He was basically doing his business everywhere and anywhere in the apartment (other than in his crate), in the living room, the walkway, the study room, the kitchen. Ash was so sick of cleaning up after him he almost gave up, if not for the fact that I have to get dinner ready.

I felt especially guilty because Ash had never wanted a dog. I knew how hard it had been for him, and sometimes, I wonder if it was a wise choice to get a puppy eventually.

Anyway, after dinner and somemore playtime, he fell asleep at around 10pm.

- Falling asleep in his favourite place - all stretched out -

- Eating again at 11pm -

- Hanging out in his bed - which he had yet to sleep in -

Just hope that he will grow up all healthy and happy.

4 more days...

2008-04-15T07:49:00.001-07:00

Sparkie will be coming home in 4 day's time. In the meanwhile, I kept myself busy reading up on books about raising puppies so that I can be a better pet parent to him.

We went to visit him again last Sunday and he was still coughing =( to top it off, we saw blood in his stool. I told the staff there and she told me they will send the stool to test for parasites. She gave me a list of veteranians to call to fix an appointment next weekday so in case Sparkie is infested with parasites we can get him treated earlier. I really hope he will get well soon.

Recently, I had gotten closer to one of the wives here, Jaslin. We both had a common topic now (other than husbands) - dog. She bought a Shi Tzu about 3 weeks ago and it is so adorable it took my mind off Sparkie for a while. It has been hard, being away from him, knowing he's sick and there's nothing much I can do for him.

In any case, the 2 weeks of wait is well-spent. It gave me more time to get prepared to bring him back to a safe environment (it gave Ash more time to accept him too, which is good).

Ash had been very supportive and recently, I can feel that he's more receptive towards the idea of having a puppy around the house (if not excited!). Really can't wait for Sparkie to come home. Miss him so much =(

My first pet dog!!

2008-04-09T16:12:00.001-07:00

Finally, after months and months of pleas, the almighty God and Buddhas finally answered my prayers and decided to talk Ash into getting me a puppy.

We bought a male Westie puppy last Sat. It is 14 weeks and 2 days old (3 months and 9 day old) as at 9th Apr 2008. If you did the calculation, that's right, he's born on 31st Dec 2007. Isn't that cool? He's super adorable. We were able to interact with him for a while in a room specially designed for that purpose with doggie toys in it and he kept sliding across the room trying to catch the toys we threw. And he's so small!!

But the vet kept him back because he was sick (flu I guess) and he was coughing and sniffing. He need to complete a course of antibiotics before he's able to come home next Sat. So, in the meanwhile, I set up his cage in the corner of the living room, laid out his bowl and bed, his drinking bottle, treats and toys, while waiting for him to come home. I'm so ready for him, but he couldn't come home till next Sat, which seems like forever and I miss him so much =(

The empty cage and bed makes me miss him even more =(

Anyway, we are able to visit him as often as we like at the pet shop so we will be visiting him this weekend. As for his name, after discussing with Ash (he had no objections whatsoever), we decided on Sparkie (not Sparky, S-P-A-R-K-I-E, Sparkie).

Can't wait for him to come home =(

10 more days...240 more hours...

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, or not

2008-04-07T16:24:00.003-07:00

Vegas had been so much fun and we took so many photos, it took me days to upload and sort out the pictures and finally post this entry.

Day 1
We boarded the 7.30am flight from Tucson and left for Las Vegas on 22nd.

- View from up and above -

The flight took an hour or so and we arrived at Vegas, all tired, but nonetheless excited, picked up our luggage (which we were forced to check in due to having too much liquid in the bag), and left for our first destination - the Stratosphere, from where the 4 of us (me, bb, and 2 of his colleagues) will WALK to the Vegas Premium Outlets (which is like, I dunno, probably 2km or so away from Stratosphere?), with all our baggages.

Trust me, it's not that easy, not only because of the stuff we're carrying in our hands and the distance, but also the path we had to take, through the crazy traffic and hardly any proper pedestrian pavements like in Singapore. And why didn't we check in to our hotel before doing our shopping?

Like any other hotels, the check-in time for Imperial Palace is 2pm, but not wanting to waste a day, we decided to do some shopping before that, so we went on to book the 7.30am flight (which we later regret very much).

Having to fly that early has it's own downsides. I had to wake up at 4.30 am to brush and get clean, and it was the first time I had to get up this early, not even the day we left Singapore (we stayed up the whole night packing and my gfs came over to my place to say their final farewells, and didn't leave until about 3am. It was hard and all, hugs and tears from best friends who had been there for you through your ups and downs for a decade.)

Anyway, back to the trip. Yah, and so we walked quite a distance from Stratosphere to the mall. It was tiring, but worth it, because we get to arrive at the mall just about the time the mall is opened (around 10 am), and you don't have to waste time queuing at the fitting rooms or the registers on a Saturday in LV, and best of all, you get virtually the whole shop to yourself.

The mall we went to is one of the many malls commonly known as "outlet malls" in US, where crazy shopping happens, with sales of brands like Guess, Gap, Polo Ralph Lauren, Hugo Boss, Puma, Nike and Oakley. They are all authentic, and my guess is that they are off season, justifying the reduction in price.

- BB just outside the mall -

- Tired but happy me in the midst of shopping -

All tired and satisfied, we left for Imperial Palace to check in around 2.30pm. The room we had on the 18th floor was nothing great - our air conditioner was dusty, there was no cabinet or any furniture of that kind for us to lay out our body lotion and stuff in the room so we had leave them all cluttered on a small round table in the room, apparently for dining purposes, and the view out of our puny balcony consists partially (close to 70%) of the wall of the hotel. Obviously they don't see point of doing up the rooms when people coming to Vegas spend most of their time in casinoes, shows of all kinds, nightclubs, bars...

Anway, we settled down, freshened up, and met up with his colleagues at 3.30pm in the hotel lobby. We then went on to explore the row of hotels and malls alongside Imperial Palace, known as the "Strip".

- with bb on an overhead bridge across Bally -

The good thing about having his colleagues around (other than the fact that one of them had been to LV before and he can bring us around without getting lost) is that we can have pictures taken together without having to compromise with the shots passerbys took because if we're not happy with the picture, we can simply ask his colleagues to take another one =)

- Paris Las Vegas and part of the magnificent Eiffel Tower -

- Planet Hollywood -

It's hard to get a shot of the buildings without having a passerby getting into the picture with the crowd on the streets. It's very much like Orchard in Singapore, just that LV is bigger, and the traffic here is crazier. People who have been to Indonesia or India or will probably know what I mean.

The architecture along the Strip is astonishing. It is so beautiful we couldn't stop taking pictures after pictures, and eventually we decided to hold on to the camera instead of having to dig into his bag every few seconds.

- bb with the amazing architecture of Paris Las Vegas -

- bb's shot -

- A weather this hot calls for Aquafina -

- If a bottle is not enough, there's more here!! -

- Inside Planet Hollywood -

The weather was so hot, we got tanned so bad and the flash from our camera only made it worse (and the backgroud looks so dark if not for the neon lights). So, we asked for another shot to be taken, this time without flash. This was what I meant - not happy, take another =)

- 2nd attempt, much better =) -

The insides of the hotels were absolutely stunning. Their ceilings are made to look like the skies on a fine day, cloudy, but bright. The bars and restaurants have boards with neon-lighted-worded boards. It feels like you are outdoor when you're actually indoor, which is super nice, because you get to enjoy the feeling of freshness and freedom of the outdoor, while enjoying the shade from the glaring afternoon sun.

Although there's nothing much in the shops inside the hotels that interests us, we spent about an hour in each hotel just walking around and taking pictures. Most of the hotels have the sky ceilings, but each hotels have their respective themes, so each time we walk into the the next hotel, we can't stop shooting.

After we're satisfied that we had almost combed the whole of the first level of Planet Hollywood, we went on to explore the other parts of the strip.

- A beautiful red Saturn on display -

- Harley Davidson Cafe - where all the HD lovers gather and chill -

- HD outside the cafe -

- Sexy lady near the cafe -

- A super happy bb -

There are alot of people dressed up like the lady above for visitors to take pictures with, but it's a habit to tip them. We were not used to the culture, and it's not their habit to ask for a tip from us, so we forgot about it and walked away after thanking her. It's later when we saw the stash of cash in the lady's bra that we realised that we were supposed to tip her =P

We continued walking down the strip and stopping ocassionally at some of the shops to look at the souveniers.

Slowly, the sky got dark and before we realise, it was already 6+ so we went for dinner in a Chinese restaurant nearby.

As the sky got darker, the sight along the strip becomes more glamorous. The city lighted up with all kinds of colours - red, blue, yellow, green, white, even pink.

- there are shows for the ladies too!! -

- A statue of the Ox on the streets -

- isn't he cute? I made him do this...lolz -

We saw this big coca-cola bottle outside a shop and bb's colleague (who had been here before) told us it's the showcase mall so we decided to pop our heads in and see what's in store for us. Immediately, we saw a few people crowding around a certain subject of interest so we went over to join in. This was what the commotion was about...

- the coca-cola bear~~ -

I attempted to wrap my arms around him to make it seem like I was hugging him but he was so big it seems like I'm falling into him instead -_-

I didn't ask for another shot because there are too many people waiting to take pictures with the bear and so we moved on to M&M's world (next to the coca-cola store).

- Smirky M&M's and smiley me -

The store is definitely my favourite. Firstly, I super love chocolates (which girl doesn't?) and my favourite of all time is M&M's. Secondly, the store has tons of interesting M&M's dispenser which I almost forced Ash to buy for me out of impulse. Thirdly, there are M&M's of all sorts of colours, shades and sizes lined up in dispensers on the wall (they even have it in baby pink!!!). Lastly, and most importantly, the staff there are so much fun!! While we were halfway through looking at the stuff, we hear a song playing and then we started hearing poeple in the shop cheering so we looked up and saw the staff dancing to the tune and singing along. Some patrons in the store joined them while others clapped and cheered them on. They look like they were having so much fun working there. That's something which lack in so many Singaporeans - the passion for their work.

We were on our way out the store when we see a woman turning the handle of a machine close to the entrance so we went over to see what it was. The machine is like one of those machine in Singapore which dispenses toys in a round see-through conatiner. What came out, however, was something very interesting and so after she's done, we went over, fed the machine 2 quarters and a penny (51 cents), and I started turning the handle eagerly.

- I'm so excited!! -

- Ta-dah! -

Miraculously, the machine is able to transform the coins we slotted in into the coin above in a matter of seconds!! Isn't that amazing??

- Green M&M's mascot standing outside -

She was shaking her bottom and dancing and looks so happy and excited.

- Night view of Vegas -

We walked around abit more and decided it was time to call it a day (it was around 10pm) so we went back to our respective rooms to bath and get ready to sleep. After Ash is done showering, he went to the casino at the first floor of our hotel to "try his luck" while I take my shower. He wanted to wait for me but I told him I was tired and thought he could use some "time alone" so I asked him to go ahead without me.

About an hour and a half later, I was getting tired and was getting ready to go to bed when he came back. I didn't want to ask because I know he lost some money. He changed and got into bed, and then he asked me to slap him in the face -_-

Turns out he lost all that he brought down.

I thought he will say "Okay, I had my try at it, I'm contented, no more", but he asked me if I want to go down and play (hoping to recoup part of the loss). I said no, knowing that it will only add on to the loss. He said ok and lay in bed with eyes shut. For a few minutes, he tossed and turned in bed, so I asked him if he can't fall asleep. I know he was thinking about the money he lost at the table so I agreed to go down.

Initially, my luck was good, and I won $30. I thought I could win more so I continued, but it was a mistake. It led to more losses, and eventually, I was left with $10 and we went back to our room. Ash felt super sian, so he asked me to go down again with him, this time he will play and when we have won back $30 we will leave. So, we went down again, won $30, and went back to our room.

Finally, Ash is able to sleep.

Day 2
The next day, we met his colleagues at around 11pm and headed for Chinatown, which is off the strip, for lunch at a Korean Restaurant.

On our way there, we saw a building which caught my eye.

- LV School of Dealing -

- Inside the restaurant - tired from last night's episode -

After lunch, we went back to the strip and arrived at the Forum Shops.

- 2nd round of shopping -

We didn't spend much time inside - the items are too pricey.

- The Mirage -

- The impeccable Pallazo -

- With Nicholas Cage at Madame Tussauds -

- "Hey buddy...can I talk to you in private?" -

- The canal between Pallazo and Venetian -

- Parallax error - was actually pointing to the Phantom poster behind -

- The Blueman Group inside the Grand Canal Shops -

- Inside the Grand Canal Shops -

- A boat in the canal -

It feels so much like we're in Venetia. There is actually a guy rowing a boat with passengers in it through the canal and singing so beautifully. They must have came in from the canal outside the hotel.

- Beautiful man-made waterfall inside the GCS -

The hazelnut and chocolate gelato in my hand looks so yummy I disregarded the fact that it was the 3rd day of my period and forced Ash to get it. No wonder they call Vegas the Sin City.

- Treasure Island -

- More shops along the strip -

- The ship outside Treasure Island -

- Moomoo-headed battleship -

- The Venetian from across the street -

- Statue of Siegfried & Roy - Masters of the Impossible -

- Trying to communicate with the dolphin -

- Outside the Forum Shops -

- The best pic of us for the whole LV trip -

- Hey you... -

- ...come here if you wanna take pictures -

I was trying to take a picture of this mechanical-sounding guy outside a bar and he was signalling for me to go over, so that was pretty much how the picture ended up like this.

- bb trying to imitate the statue at the junction -

- 2nd attempt -

- "I'm imitating him" -

Was trying to take a shot of Ash pressing on the head of the statue, but it was really hard doing it on a travelator.

- Inside Bellagio -

- The gigantic wooden horse emerging from between shops -

- Huge dragon toy -

- attempting to act scared -

- The mighty Caesars Palace -

It was so huge we almost got lost trying to look for an exit.

- The Pepsi ad over Flamingo -

- Wah...hot babes direct to you - in 20 mins! -

- Catching gossips of the sin city -

- With a cuddly white lion -

It was late and we went back to our hotel, and Ash was drawn to the Blackjack table, losing even more money -_-

Day 3
As usual, we met for lunch, this time sushi buffet back at Planet Hollywood. By the time we are done, it was around 1pm and on our way out, we saw people standing around a big pool of water with logs and ropes around it, supposedly to prevent people from getting too close and falling in. So, curious, we joined in the crowd.

- Kaypoh me waiting for something to happen, probably the sky falling? -

After a minute or so, the something we were all waiting for finally happened.

- Rain falling!! -

- And thunder too!! -

- Wah...so pro...even got visual and audio effect -

After the show was over (which took around 2-3 mins), went to the bar to get drinks in a Eiffel Tower-shaped bottle. Ash and I had Strawberry Margarita. We were drinking in broad daylight. lolz. Ash kept asking me not to drink too much, but it was so nice I couldn't stop.

- View from beneath the magnificent Eiffel Tower -

- This is super yummy! -

- bb thinks it's nice too -

It's hard to get a shot to take in the whole of Eiffel Tower like Ash's because in order to do so, I will have to bend really low in the middle of the street wearing a dress, so that was the best I could do.

- Look at the crowd!! Reminds me of Orchard Road -

- Nah...don't say I selfish -

- The super high roller coaster outside NYNY -

- Showcase Mall we visited 2 days before -

- The famous Brooklyn Bridge -

- Old NY *slurp slurp burp* -

- Plain Narcissism -

- Can spot me? -

- Entrance of NYNY -

- The Excalibur -

- The four of us -

- Happy Easter!! -

- Statue of Liberty in front of NYNY -

- Cheers!! -

From Excalibur, we took a tram to Mandalay Bay. The tram is every much like the LRT we had in Singapore.

- View of Excalibur from inside the tram -

- We saw the Sphinx and Great Pyramid on the way too -

- The pool in Mandalay Bay -

- At the entrance of Luxor -

- I love Vegas!! -

- Egyptian water fountain inside Luxor -

- Glowing Statue of Liberty? -

After Luxor, we pretty much visited all the hotels and shops along the strip, so we went back to the hotel to take a rest before having dinner. On our way back, we passed by this shop selling custom t-shirts where you can design your own tee and saw this explicit sign outside the shop and Ash quickly took a picture of it before the owner realise.

- funny... -

Ash said he like the dress I was wearing so he asked me to pose for him at the hotel lobby while we were waiting for the rest. I decided to let him take a hiao mi.

- Can get any vainer? -

After dinner, Ash and I decided to walk around while his colleagues went to the casino. On our way back to the room, we chanced upon the water display outside Caesars Palace and stood at the side to watch. It was breath-taking, like water dancing gracefully in the night. Romantic.

- Look at how high the water went for us =) -

The whole trip was fantastic, and the extra bag we brought along came in handy.

Our conquests

- 'Just Petals' EDT from Gap - $7.99 -

The first thing we bought during the trip. The perfume smells so nice and so sweet I had to buy it! It's original price was $14.99 - $7 savings!!

- White Guess bag - $64.99 -

The picture is too dark to see clearly, but the 'G' attached to the magnetic clip is studded with diamonds. I think it's the bling-est thing I ever bought my whole life. Lolz. The retail price was $99.99. Ash bought 2 tops from Guess as well.

- White Guess V-Neck top - $26.99 -

- Brown Polo Tee from Guess - $26.99 -

The 2 tops were retailing at $37 each. The total was less than $100 ($90+) after 25% discount (including tax) - more than $70 in savings!!!

- Whisper White-Grey Violet Empress Jacket with detachable fur detail at hoodie from Puma - $49.99 -

The whole string of description came from the tag, except for the "detachable fur detail" part which I added myself. This jacket was retailing at $135!!! What a steal! Another $85 added to total savings.

- White large bag from Dressbarn - $20? -

Can't really remember the price of the bag, but it's around $20. This was the last thing we bought at the outlet. Total savings: a whooping $162!!!

The list of items below were bought from stores along the strip. All nice and very affordable =)

- Brown skirt - $14.99 -

- Black LV Jacket - $10 -

- Baby Green Jacket - $10 -

- Pink LV Capri - $10 -

- Black pumps with exchangable ankle straps (ribbon or normal strap) - $34.99 -

- Eiffel tower bottle - $14.99 (including drink) -

The memories - priceless

Bad dreams

2008-03-19T07:59:00.000-07:00

You know how they say when you go to bed with a full stomach you will have nightmares? I'm starting to believe in it.

Last night, we finished our dinner at around 7.30pm, after which I went on to do the dishes. Speaking of dinner, I think I'm getting better at it. Lol.

Anyway, after I'm done with the dishes, I ate 3/4 of a pear and Ash had the remaining, while we watched AFV. After a while, I started snacking, despite the fact that I'm still quite full. At around 9.15pm, we decided to turn in (what a healthy lifestyle).

Once I lay on the bed, I suddenly felt a weird sensation in my throat and for a moment, I thought I was going to throw up on the bed.

After almost an hour lying in bed, I finally fell asleep, but not for long. I remember waking a few times in the middle of the night.

Worse, I dreamt I had 3 organ malfunctions and was admitted to the hospital -_- I can't remember what all the 3 was, but I remember one of them was the liver. The doctor was shocked and told me that I need to get an operation immeditately, or I'll die. How bad can it get?

When my alarm clock went off at 6.30am, I was still in the hospital, and everything was moving so slowly. I woke, feeling dazed, and lay in bed thinking about the dream, and how real it seemed. It still send my hair on ends talking about it now.

Probably next time I will think twice before going to bed feeling all full.

Miserable day in

2008-03-14T18:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I had to spend the whole day without tv and internet connection due to some communication problem which lasted pretty much the whole day. The problem started shortly after Ash left for work I think, because he was using the internet (which apparently was still working then) while I was preparing lunch till around 2.

The porblem started when I tried to on the tv only to get nothing on my set except a black screen with white dots which seems to be screaming at me "Shut the damn tv coz it's not working anyway!!!". So I went into the study room to check my mail a while while the tv network recover itself.

To my dismay, the internet connection was down as well. It reminded me of a scene from Gremlins where the little vicious monsters tamper with the antennna to probably lure the victim out of the house or just to amuse themselves -_-

So, I returned to the living room, and sat down at the sofa, wondering about the things I could do. I could go to the gym, but I was just too lazy, so I took out my iPod, connect the speakers to it, and started scrapbooking in the living room. It managed to keep me occupied for probably an hour, before I realised that the stock cards I bought to frame the pictures are torn off when I tried to cut the framing piece out "-____-

With nothing better to do, I tried to on the tv again and alas! It's working again! So, I happily sat in front of the tv, surfing the channels, and managed to catch Ice Age before it starts at 6pm.

Just as it reaches the part where Diego passed out after taking a blow for Manfred, the black screen and white dots appear again, leaving me sitting wide-mouthed in the miserable corner of the sofa. I almost wanted to slam the cable box on the carpeted floor. Seriously.

I gave up after a few desperate attempts and went to take a shower before having dinner.

The connection did not recover until almost midnight. So I spent 4 agonising hours eating, reading the magazines, playing all the games that is in the system and doesn't require an internet connection (see how bored I am), and sending text messages to poor Ash who's at work to let him know how miserable I feel.

At a minute just before midnight, I went out to try if the cable connection is still down, and I have never felt happier in my life (I'm not exaggerating) to find it working again, for good.

That's the downside of getting your tv cable with your internet subscription in a bundle, when anything happen to one, the other suffer as well, and pray to god it happens when you are sleeping and recovers when you wake.

Great day out

2008-03-12T15:53:00.000-07:00

The water for the area is cut off as they are replacing the backflow assemblies (device preventing water from flowing back to the source) to the property. We filled our bathtub with water but it is quite inconvenient to carry the water around to wherever you might need it so there's nothing much to do around the house. Snack - no water to wash hands (unless I want to carry the heavy bucket of water up to the basin to wash my hands in exchange for some comfort from cookies/chocolates); wash clothes - no water; clean the kitchen floor - no water. -_- I picture myself joining the queue with my grandparents for the water rationing exercise in Singapore in 1963.

Anyways, we spent the whole day last Saturday outside, and I guess it's the most enjoyable weekend we had since the first day here. We went to lunch with Ben and JS (Ash's funny colleagues and MJ kaki) and after a full stomach of food, we walked to the store opposite the restaurant selling electronics (like Courts) to let our food digest.

Our next stop was Tucson Mall. We walked around for a while before feeling tired and bored so we went on to Starbucks to just sit and talk. We spent about an hour there just talking about stuff like school days, and relationships back then. We stayed around till almost 6pm and decided it's time to go for dinner, although most of us were still full.

Bored, with nothing much to do, I took out my camera and took some pictures.

- Ben and JS all hungry again? -

- With Ash, Junxiang and Jaslin - photo courtesy of Jaslin -

We were so bored, we decided to have a photo contest and started taking shots at a bottle of Heinz from different angles, with flash and without flash, with menues and glasses of water, and their senior (who had done some research on photography) will be the judge. And guess who took the best shot?

- It's taken by me loh! Gift? Talent? lol -

You know how sometimes you get bored waiting for your food to be served in a busy restaurant on a weekend evening and armed with a camera you decide to take fun pictures, stupid pictures, pictures of nothing in particular? I had it that day, and took in some fun.

- Inspired by the famous quote: Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil -

It take more than a camera to take this shot. It requires courage (with the angmohs looking at you from the tables around you), creativity (to come up with such a funny theme for the pic), and people game enough for the shot.

Food was served shortly (didn't feel the wait was agonizing as we were having so much fun with the camera) and everything was great. The food was great; the place was great; the service from the waiter was great; the company was great (probably it is the people you are with that makes everything a whole lot different).

After having my fill, with the guys happily chatting away on topics I couldn't relate to, I looked around the room and saw these wonderful decorations in the eatery so I ignored the glances from the angmohs and took a picture.

- Mini tricycles lined up on the walls above the windows -

If I grew up in the states it would probably bring back tons of memories, the first tricycle I had, the first time I rode, my first fall, my first conquest.

The Americans place such emphasis on the experience customers get from dining, and most of them relates to being the lunch/dinner table in your neighbourhood. They feel that dining with the poeple you care is very important, and you can feel it from the importance they place on Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas Eve dinner and wedding receptions, where friends and family gather round the table full of food, eating, drinking, catching up, sharing their lives and experence, merry-making...

That is something which I think we should treasure too, and is certainly lacking in Singaporeans. In the past, Chinese New Year eve means reunion dinner at your grandparents'. Now, it seems like we are too busy to spend the few hours out of the 365 days to meet up with family members you wouldn't get the chance or reason, or even, an excuse, to see them.

Sometimes, I really envy the relationships family memebers share with each other in the western countries. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side.

Anyway, after dinner, we headed to Fox & Hound Smokehouse and Tavern, a pub located nearby our apartment. It is just like most of the pubs along Clarke Quay, with alcohol (duhz), pool tables and sports channels screened on huge plasma screens.

The guys started playing pool, and we ordered drinks. The thing about menus in US is that you would never know how much your check will be until it comes. They don't display the price for most of the items, especially their drinks.

I ordered a Strawberry Vanilla Mojito (pronounced as Mo-he-toe), which the only thing I remember is that there is strawberry, vanilla, and rum in my drink. The reason I chose this drink over the others is because the drink just seem to pop out to me the moment I open the menu.

- My Strawberry Vanilla Mojito -

After a few attempts this is the best shot I took of my drink; it's much pinky-er and prettier in actual. I guess that was why it attracted me, and I did not regret getting it because it's what I had imagined my ideal alcoholic drink would taste like. It is sweet, but not so sweet that you will get sick of it or get thirsty from drinking too much at a time, and the most important thing is, it doesn't taste like it contains rum at all, which is good for me because I don't really like strong alcohol-tasting drinks.

- Ben's order -

I had no idea what he ordered, but I thought it was pretty intersting the way they serve the drink so I took a picture of it.

We stayed for quite a while and by the time we reach home, we were so tired we went straight to bed after taking our showers.

Ash was so tired he didn't get out of bed until 3pm. I woke abit earlier at 11+ and decided to check my mail, as I am still eagerly waiting for the reply from the ACCA office in UK. It seems like I'm in their black list and they couldn't care a hoot about me, because it had been 2 weeks and I still don't get any response from them. It has been almost a month since I registered and still, my registration is in the process -_-

Sometimes, I feel really fustrated. Is it really that hard? I think I'll miss the deadline for the registration of the June paper. I'm so pissed, and helpless. I don't think there's anything much I can do anyway except waiting...

and waiting...

...and waiting...

First stop - Las Vegas

2008-03-07T13:17:00.000-07:00

We will be taking a flight to Las Vegas, Nevada, on 22nd March and won't be back till 25th. 2 of Ash's colleagues will be with us and 1 of them had already been there before, so he can bring us around.

I'm excited because this will be our first tour in America and what's more, it's Vegas we're talking about! I'm not so hyped about the casinoes, it's the glamour of the city which excites me the most (other than never-ending shopping spree). The flight will be a short 1 hour flight and we will leave Tucson at 7.30am. It costs around USD270 each ($146.50 for Airfare and around $123.50 for 3 nights' accomodation).

That is one of the perks of being in US - you get to visit places like Las Vegas, Hollywood, Florida, and even Hawaii at lower airfares (compared to being in Singapore).

Another plus point of living in US - you get to watch most up-to-date reality shows like Project Runway and America's Next Top Model. Also, the tv gameshows here are crazier (at least that's what I feel) and the audience is a much more sporting crowd.

Also, the people here are so friendly, helpful and have more sense of humour. They also have more empahty, and alot of times, you desperately need that.

But I still prefer living in Singapore. Although it's high-humidity summer all year long (which results in unbearable stickiness in most people), there are some periods in between where you get cooling weather, like the few weeks/months before I leave, and I heard from my mum it's still quite cold at night these days. Also, you don't get extreme temperatures like 40/-ve degrees celcius. You won't fear for sandstorms, serious fogs or black ice (very thin ice forming on the roads which is not very visible and can cause very serious accidents).

Anyway, I'm really excited about the trip. Think we will have a wonderful time there, and will definitely take lots and lots of pictures. We will be staying in the Imperial Palace, and I'm looking forward to find out the imperialism of this palace =)

12 noon

2008-02-22T12:25:00.000-07:00

And I just woke up not long ago. Ash had went off to work like 5 hours ago and I haven't had my breakfast, and it's already time for lunch "-_-

I'm such a lousy wife. I am O-M-G-so-lazy and I feel so useless, staying at home the whole day and not being able to accomplish even a single task that I set to do (other than preparing a meal). All I did at home (when he's on morning shift) was to sit in front of the pc for hours till it's time for lunch (around 12.30pm) and I will off my pc, go to the living room, on the TV, prepare my lunch (instant noodles/finger food mostly), and sit in front of the TV set till it's time to prepare dinner (probably around 5). Once I'm done with dinner Ash will already be back by then and we will have our dinner, rest a while (in front of the TV again), bath, and return to the sofa till it's time to sleep (mostly around 10-11pm).

How much lazier can I get? The gym is only a few metres away from our apartment and I am so lazy to even step out of the place (except for yesterday when I went down to check my mailbox as I was anxiously waiting for the prints I ordered online). US is making me sooooo lazy "-_-

Firstly, it's the weather (especially so in the winter). It's so cold that it's so hard for me to crawl out of the warmth and comfort of my bed, harder for me to get out of the warm shower (I now spend half an hour inside compared to around 20 mins in Singapore - extra 10 mins just standing under the shower head and letting the warm comfortable water run through my body), and even harder to get out of the cozy seat in the corner of the sofa with the heater in front of me. Basically, I'm hibernating. I just get around to fulfil my basic needs. I even feel reluctant sometimes to get around to shop (other than for groceries). One of the reason is probably due to the fact that I'm so heavily clothed that when I want to give some tops a try, it turns me off so much when I remember how much clothes I have to get out of everytime I'm in the dressing room that I immediately gave up the idea.

Secondly, it's the convenience. Everything you need is so easily available online that you don't feel like stepping out of the door. You can get practically everything and anything through online shopping. Wal-mart has a website where clothes, electronics, entertainment, jewelry, photos, anything for your home from bath and bedding to kitchen and dining, and even medicine can be ordered online and they will deliver right to your doorstep! And it's not just Wal-mart, many other businesses have their own website where they offer online shopping as well.

I'm so blaming everyone for my own laziness "-_- alright, I admit, I AM JUST PLAIN OUTRIGHT LAZY!!! I'm going to be more diligent. That will be my new year resolution. LOL.

I am such a lazybone. I think it runs in my blood. I talked to my mum a couple of days ago and she told me that my sis is still unemployed (since she left her job in probably early October last year). Notice I used "left" and not "quit" because she just kind of stopped going to work without letting the company know and when they call, she refused to answer thier calls. I heard from my mum that she had applied for a few jobs but had no interviews so far. I guess it's harder for her to look for a job right now with an 'O' level cert and a bad record at work.

If anyone has any vacancy can please kindly email me the details? I will appreciate your help. I think she knows what she's doing is wrong already (after suffering poverty for a few months). She had always been a hardworking person, and she learns fast.

I know what laziness can do to people, especially when it comes to work. That is why I'm eagerly applying to take the ACCA papers here, despite the difficulties I encountered so far - no one to contact directly, long waits in between replies, and not being able to get through the application after so many months (been trying to register since I was in Singapore). I won't give up, because I know I NEED to get the ACCA certification no matter what.

Hopefully, I will be in time to register for the papers coming December. I had already registered as a student but apparently, there seem to be some problem. Just hope they will be able to reply me ASAP because I definitely don't want to miss the deadline for registration of the December paper.

The weekend is coming. Hope everyone will have a good weekend =)

Shivering

2008-02-15T16:28:00.001-07:00

I'm shivering now. It's 7 degree celcius and it's getting dark.

The reason - rain in the morning.

We didn't turn on the heater last night as Ash felt warm (even after removing the comforter), and I regretted not having the heater on last night, because when I woke this morning, it was raining, and I was freezing in the bed.

The rain lasted for quite some time and at 2pm, it was only 5 degree celcius.

Hopefully the temperature will go up tomorrow. Pray that I can survive the night without shivering.

Finally it's friday. The plans for tomorrow will be shopping at a tax free mart. The taxes we pay for everything here (like GST in Singapore) varies in different places. Like the Wal-mart just beside our apartment, charges only 6.1%, whereas in most places elsewhere, the tax is around 8%. The mart we are planning on going tomorrow is tax free (at least it applies to us) because it's inside a military base and military personnel can shop tax-free there. So good.

It's President's Day coming Mon, but Ash has duty, so he will get his off-in-lieu on Tues. Anyway, hope all of you will have a great weekend =D

So sweeeet!!

2008-02-14T15:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Ash was on night shift, so I was home alone for quite a while.

So, as usual, I spent most of the time on the internet (that was when I decided to check my mail, blog, and read up recipes), watching TV, and tidying up the apartment. Most of the time when he's on night shift, I will try to wait up for him because I don't feel safe sleeping without double-locking the door (there are 2 locks on our door, 1 of which can be locked/unlocked by the key, and the other 1 is locked/unlocked only from within, so normally when I have to go to bed and he's still not home, I will unlock the 2nd lock before going to bed). Most nights he will reach home around 2/3+ am, so last night, when I start to feel bored and tired at around 1.30am, I called him on his cell phone to check if he's coming home anytime soon. To my surprise, he was already in the parking lot of our apartment.

So, I waited while he make his way up, and went on to open the door for him when he reached the doorstep. Usually, I will just wait for him in the living room watching the TV while he shower and have supper (he will normally be hungry by the time he's home and will have bread/cereal before going to bed, but surprise surprise, he lost 4kg within a month anyway "-_- wth). However, last night, I was so tired, I decided to check if he's hungry, so that if he's not eating anything before going to bed, then I will just brush my teeth and go to bed. He said he's hungry and would like to eat the pizza that he brought home the night before.

Since he will take some time to bath and the pizza need only a few minutes to heat up, I went back into the living room to continue surfing the channels (nothing much interesting late at night, and it's too late to watch any movies).

After Ash had his shower, he came out and went in to the room again, which, thinking back, is quite unusual as he will normally prepare whatever he want to eat quickly and just sit beside me (think I was too tired to think). Seeing that he's already done showering, I took out the pizza from the fridge and put them in the microwave to reheat the slices, and continued my channel-surfing while waiting for the pizza to be ready. After probably 2 mins or so, Ash came back out into the living room, carrying a plastic bag. I was curious about the plastic bag that came out from our room, because from what I remember, there shouldn't be a Wal-Mart plastic bag in our room (normally I will just empty the contents in the bag and stuff the empty plasitc bag into the drawer in the kitchen), so I asked him what was in the plastic bag. He brushed it off, saying he can't remember (which is odd as he don't ususally clean up the room by picking up a plastic bag which has been left in the room for quite some time, and if he just emptied the contents, he will surely remember what was in it), but I was so tired I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

After he had his supper, we decided to go to bed, so we carried out the normal procedure - I will bring in whatever that we need to bring into our room, and he will bring in the heater, switching off the light as he leave after I had switched on the light in our room, if not it will be too dark and we won't be able to see anything. When I switched on the light in our room, I was so surprised that I exclaimed so loud he can hear from the living room. This was what I saw on my bedside table.

I was so surprised and happy, I wasn't tired anymore, and went to hug him, and kiss him, and thank him. I kept asking him when did he buy it, because 99% of the time he went out, I was with him (except when he went to work). He didn't want to tell me, saying that some things are best kept as secrets -_-

It must either be the morning he went blading with his colleagues without me as I was so tired and not feeling very well or the night he went out to get a TV with Benny and I didn't go along because it was so late (it's around 1am). They weren't very expensive, but it's the thought that counts. He knew I love chocolate, so he bought Hershey's "Pot of Gold", nicely wrapped in a heart-shape box, and a pink cup with white, brown and pink hearts printed on it. The cup comes with chocolate cookies packaged in a beautiful pink box with brown strips.

I didn't get him anything though, because my initial plan was to make him a scrapbook, but I couldn't get a chance to print out the photos for the scrapbook, so the scrapbook will be given to him on his birthday (12 days away), hopefully.

The weather got a bit colder today, and the wind is really strong. Ash said he heard there will be a thunderstorm coming, which is really bad, because it will get freezing cold at night, and the next few days will be cold too. It's getting so drak now, I think it's going to rain anytime. Maybe it's not as bad as I thought. I can probably see ice dropping down from the sky too, which I missed the last time it rained.

The weekends are coming soon, and I am looking forward to it. That is when Ash will have more time to spend with me, and we can go around Tucson shopping =)

P.S.: Hope all of you had an unforgettable V-day =D

Happy V-day!!!

2008-02-13T15:29:00.000-07:00

Happy valentine's day to all~~

Hope all of you will have a great valentine's day (& evening, & night). Treat yourself and your loved ones to a sumptuous meal, a great movie, and indulge in the sweetest dessert. This is the time to reward yourself and your special someone for everything and anything =)

Most of the times, as a relationship gets older, we tend to take each other for granted, that whatever the other party is doing is what he/she is obliged to do, just because he/she had always been doing all these things and so it's natural that he/she should continue doing it. So we become less appreciative, and have more expectations as the relationship moves over time.

That is partly why the longer 2 people stay together in a relationship, the more frequent they quarrel, and the more intense the quarrel tends to get.

Probably that was why there is Valentine's day, when lovers express their love for each other, a reminder to the 2 why they had fallen in love for each other, and to appreciate everything about your partner.

So go on, tell your loved ones that you love them, and is grateful to them for whatever reason (that includes your parents and friends) =)

I love my family, my buddies, and my life. I'm grateful for living my life, for everything that everyone has done for me, and to me, for without them, I wouldn't be who I am today.

Back to Valentine's Day. Did you know how Valentine's day came about? I was curious, so I searched Valentine's Day on Yahoo! and found the following:

One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men -- his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.

According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl -- who may have been his jailor's daughter -- who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today.

And so, Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial.

Once again, happy Valentine's ^^

To those attached, enjoy your day with your special someone. To the single and available, hope you will find your love on this heart-warming day =)

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. -Lao Zi-

Young love is a flame; very pretty, often very hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. The love of the older and disciplined heart is as coals, deep-burning, unquenchable. -Henry Ward Beecher-

Love does not dominate; it cultivates. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Happy CNY!!

2008-02-11T15:05:00.001-07:00

Wow!!! CNY flies past real fast. Ash and colleagues get to enjoy a super long break from Wed (Tues was CNY celebration so no work for them too), so we went around town to eat and shop. It was a fun-filled CNY, despite the fact that we are all so far away from home and family, with pot lucks, mahjong and poker sessions, and movies together.

My pet hamsters are slowly adapting to their new home too (did I mention I bought a slightly bigger 2-storey bungalow for them?), so all was well.

Also, I finally managed to pack most of the things in the apartment, and the living room is so much cosier and tidier. The weather now are getting warmer, hitting 25 degree celcius in the afternoon. I like the weather now, except that at night it will still get cold, probably around 10 degree celcius.

Ash also managed to get his vehicle a couple of weeks ago. It's a white minivan, quite big for the 2 of us, but when we go on tours, it will come in handy, I hope.

Hope everyone had an enjoyable CNY =) GONG XI FA CAI!!

Last day of Jan 08

2008-01-31T15:19:00.000-07:00

Time flies real fast. It's already end of Jan. I've already been here for more than a month (37 days to be exact).

This one month had been busy but fulfilling, touring around Arizona, preparing our apartment for habitation, opening up boxes to fill up the empty spaces in our place, in our heart.

I made new friends here, with both Singaporeans and the people living in America (neighbours + 1 family of 3 we met in the supermarket who are super friendly and even offered to send us back home knowing that we didn't have transportation at that time). I've also acquired new family members (btw, decided to get a slightly bigger cage for them consisting of 2 levels so that the pair can have more room). I've enjoyed pretty much here, except for the fact that we will be here alone on CNY *sobs*

Luckily, Americans have quite a number of holidays, and we get more holidays than the Americans, as we still get to enjoy CNY, Labour Day and National Day (even though we're here). So, coming CNY (Thurs + Fri, and possibly Wed as well), they will be off work and we can go drive around!! Yipee!! =D

I'm still packing the things in the living room into the apartment. Hopefully by this weekend, I will be able to pack all the stuff. Looking forward to CNY. Probably can video chat with my mum and my buddies ^^

New Family Members!!

2008-01-29T15:17:00.000-07:00

In case some of you start wondering, no, I'm NOT PREGNANT...hahaz...

After a few days of pestering, I finally got him to get me a pair of super-duper adorable hamsters. Initially I suggested that we get a puppy, since I am alone at home most of the time and I could use some company, and a dog is the ideal pet to get as I had been dying to get one for the past 20+ years (abit exaggerated, but very close). But he is strongly against the idea and so I kept bugging him for a few days (even before he sleep) and we both gave ways and decided on getting hamsters.

They are adorable because they are hamsters, and they are super-duper adorable coz they are Roborovski Dwarf Hamsters!! They are so tiny that even adults only measure 4-5cm, and they are so cute I haven't think of a name for them. We just bought them last sun and they haven't left my sight since then. I kept my eyes on them every chance I get because I don't want to miss out any moment that they are active (they are nocturnal, so there are seldom times when I get to see them active, other than coming out of theit cozy little hideout to grab some food and water).

However, them came out to play just when I started blogging. I think they must be hungry, sleeping for so long, probably hibernating. Normally it would just be the smaller one coming out, running around, biting on the wire enclosing them (either trying to escape or grinding her teeth), exploring the small spaces in their home, etc. Today, the elder one came out first. Seeing that she is munching on the remaining food in their bowl, I decided to get them some fresh food. About 2-3 secs after I added fresh food in their bowl, I saw the smaller robo's nose poking out of their hideout (super cute loh), and she too, came out to grab some bites.

Not wanting to waste the chance, I quickly ran to my room, grabbed my camera, and took some shots of them together.

- The 2 anonymous (as of 29th Jan 08) robos munching on on their favourite food of all time - sunflower seeds!! -

- Still busy munching away -

- "What you looking at, huh?" -

- A clearer view of the adorable pair -

Probably I should get one more robo, then together, they can form the female version of Alvin and the Chipmunks, lol. Then I would call the bigger one (existing) Amy (replacing Alvin), the smaller one Tiffany (replacing Theodore), and the new one with specs Sammie (replacing Simon). LOLZ.

They really remind me of the chipmunks.

- Can take pictures with them... -

- ...bring them drinking... -

- ...bring them shopping... -

- ...shower them with love and gifts... -

- ...coz they are SOOOOOOOOO cute... -

- ...especially Theodore!!!! -

The show is really nice. They are super adorable. I think my robos are the closest to them (in terms of the degree of adorable-ness and probably their looks, other than the fact that they are both rodents). Lolz.

Anyway, Amy and Tiffany (their temporary names) went back in to their hideout. Probably sleeping again...hahaz...aren't they cute? Gtg wash clothes liao. Will update again soon =)

Busy busy...

2008-01-23T09:43:00.000-07:00

After weeks of waiting in agony, our stuff finally came. It's agonising as most of our stuff are shipped here, and the things we brought over with us when we fly over were very limited.

The things that came were so much I spent the whole day yesterday unpacking the stuff from their boxes. I have yet to pack the stuff into their respective places in the apartment, they are all stacked up in a corner of the living room. The only stuff I managed to get in place are the things that are supposed to be in the kitchen, since I was unpacking the boxes in the kitchen.

Working through the day is really tiring, but fulfilling because at the end of the day, I managed to get work done. Happy.

Just talked to my mum on MSN using video call. It's nice to see her and hear her voice again, thanks to my bro who took the effort to get it going. She looks tired. Has always been tired, having to juggle work and household affairs all by herself. Lucky that she has friends to talk to and to share her woes and worries.

It's only in times like this that you realise how much work she has done for the family, and how much she has given up. That is why they say motherly love is the greatest. They carry you for 40 weeks in her tummy, and suffered morning sicknesses, backaches, heartburns, and leg cramps, and think that it's worth it when they hear your cry for the first time, and see your smile for the first time. They give unlimited love and care, and don't expect anything from you. Even when you grow up, leave them to set up your own family, find them a nuisance, send them to nursing homes, they still think that you are the best thing that happens to them, and you will forever be their child.

This is how strong the bond a mother have for her child. And how unconditionally she is willing to give just to know that her child is happy.

Cherish every moments you get to spend with your family. They are the only ones who won't leave you no matter how different you are, what a loser you are, what happen to you. They will always be there for you.

This reminds me of a story I heard when I was a little kid.

Long long ago, there lives a man who is very wealthy. He has 4 wives, and these 4 wives are very different in age. His first wife, like him, is in the 40s. His 2nd wife is in her late 30s, and his 3rd wife, in here early 30s. His last wife is the youngest of all, in her early 20s.

And so, the 5 of them lived together, 4 women sharing a husband. As a typical man would, he favour his youngest wife the most, and spent very little time and effort on his first wife, who went through thick an thin with him while he build up his business, and find means and ways to finance his business when it just started.

One day, the man fell sick, and the doctors had no remedy for his sickness, and that was when he knows his time is up, but did not tell his wives as he was afraid that they could not take the blow.

At his deathbed, he had no choice but to tell the wives the truth. His youngest wife, on hearing the news, scrambled to her room, took all her belongings, as well as all the money the man had left, and ran out of the house.

The 3 remaining wives broke into tears, and the man told them to remarry, to find their happiness which he unfortunately, could not give them anymore. The 3rd wife dried her tears, went on to pack her case, said her final goodbye to the man, and went off to look for her next happiness.

His 2nd wife went to fetch a glass of water in hope of trying to make the man feel better during his last moments. The man took a sip, and said his last goodbye to his 2nd wife, who kissed him goodbye and went off to pack her case as well.

The 1st wife stayed by his side faithfully, despite the numerous times he asked for her to leave. She laid beside him, talking to him and cheering him up. She told him that it will be fine, everything will be alright, and that she will never leave him, come what may.

The man now feel guilty and heartbroken when he realised how old and tired she looks, now that she lie beside him. It has been many years since he last took such a close look at her. She held his hand, and accompanied him on his last journey.

The 4th wife is like our liabilities, acquired at a later part of our time and taking whatever monetary posessions we have in the world during our darkest times, leaving us in disbelief.

The 3rd wife is like our friends, who will be sad but someday, will forget us, and have other friends in their lives.

The 2nd wife is like our siblings, who will be there for you when you need them, but still will leave you someday when they have their own families, their own kids, their own lives.

And the 1st wife, needless to say, is like our parents, who give unconditionaly, be there to help you succeed in life, go the extra miles for you whenever you need help, without hesitation, without asking for repayments, and without regrets. And even when you neglect them in your life, start your own family, lead your own life, they will always be there for you, whenver you need anyone. They are the only ones who will not desert you even during your darkest period, staying by your side, doing whatever they can to ease your pain, help you up, and give you a fresh start in life again. They will never leave you no matter how ugly you look, how miserably you treat them, what flaws you have, how heinous a crime you commit.

This is how great their love is. It is uncomparable, immovable, and lasts...forever...

...Continued...

2008-01-10T10:29:00.000-07:00

Day 6 (31st Dec 07)
We finally get to move in the apartment after hours spent at the rental office signing the lease and settling other administrative matter. The apartment is quite big, considering the fact that it will be just the 2 of us staying in the place (& Ash won't be at home most of the time so it will be just me, alone in the huge apartment).

- Picture taken while standing at the entrance -

- The kitchen with dining area at the back -

- View from kitchen window -

- View out of the dining area -

- Moving on to the other parts of the apartment -

- The living room cluttered with furniture... -

- ...a cosy fireplace in a corner... -

- ...and a ceiling so high up you can play badminton indoor!! -

- View from living room -

- Bedroom 1 - study room in the making -

- The tree growing out of the bedroom's window -

- The walkway leading the study room to our bedroom -

- The first room along the walkway - the laundry room -

- The bathroom just outside our bedroom-

- Our huge bedroom still looking empty -

- View from our bedroom window -

- Our private bathroom -

- Our own walk-in wardrobe -

- The box of Godiva chocolate which I still can't bear to eat -

Day 7 (1st Jan 08)
New Year practically slipped past me. Didn't realise it was already 2008 until I finally decided to adjust the time on my watch to reflect Tucson's time. We spent the new year shopping for groceries.

While we were having lunch inside a shopping mall, we saw an interesting sign outside the restrooms.

- Restrooms available for the whole family...wow... -

Life in Tucson

2008-01-10T09:23:00.000-07:00

This will be a super long post I think. Lots of photos and updates of my first week in Tucson, starting from the first day we landed on Tucson.

Day 1 - 26th Dec 07 (Tucson Time)
We didn't take much photos as we were all soooo sooooooo tired and the only pictures we took were...

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- Our room in Country Inn - View of the mini living room -

- Sleeping time *yawns* -

Day 2 - 27th Dec 07
The next day, we had to wake at around 7 to have breakfast at the lounge of the inn. We finally had the energy and mood to take some pictures (we didn't suffer much of a jet lag and we slept like pigs through the night till our alarm went off and slapped us back to soberness).

- The view that welcomes us when we step out of our room -

- Me standing at the parking lot of Country Inn -

After a full stomach of scrambled eggs, wafers, bagels, cereals, coffee & tea (we were so hungry), we met up with the person-in-charge of the orientation program for our first week here with Ash's colleagues, who also arrived Tucson on the same flight, at the inn lobby.

We were drove around Tucson and were told of the the things to look out for, like the different road signs and what they mean, as well as the driving habits here. I enjoyed the drive, and there was one particular driving habit (or should I say rule) which I found was very intersting. Whenever a driver see a stop sign (similar to those in Singapore) in America, he/she has to stop, regardless of whether there is any oncoming vehicle from the other lanes.

When I say stop, I am referring to a complete stop (not slwoing down), and anyone who didn't obey this rule will be prosecuted by law. And I'm not kidding. I totally respect this rule, because without it, there will be many more accidents.

- Cactuses and other plants covered the lands of Arizona -

- Clouded sky -

- One of the interesting road signs we saw on the way -

Notice the green sign on the top right corner that reads 'Thornydale Rd'. Think it got it's name from the cactuses that grows along the road. Lol.

- See how thorny and huge this cactus is compared to the road sign? -

- Railway track along the way -

- Beautiful picture taken by Ash -

- Burger King in America -

- Cactuses of all shapes and sizes grew along the road -

- America's flag near a petrol station -

- More pictures of nature at work -

- Magee Rd = Maggie Rd? -

Day 3 (28th Dec 07)
As usual, we woke in the morning to have breakfast at the inn and went on to meet up with the rest.

The first thing that we need to do was to open an account with the bank, after which we were sent to the T-Mobile shop within the mall to get ourselves a mobile phone and a line.

The shopping malls here are unlike those in Singapore. It is not a building within which all the shops operate, it is an area where shops operate individually (see below).

- Rows... -

- ...and rows of shops -

- Me and Ash in the car -

- Our future DBS in Tucson - Bank of America -

- Oh my god~~~ Maybeline sales~~ Buy 1 get 1 free!!! -

- My new Nokia 5300 in purple -

- Man selling newspaper along the road -

- Blue version of Hulk in yellow sunglasses?? Run for your life!!! -

Day 4 (29th Dec 07)
We continued to be brought around and searching for the best bargain we can get for stuff like notebooks, TVs, beds, etc. We also bought a couple of things for our new place.

- The big "A" representing Arizona -

- Sightings of a small part of a rainbow -

- Picture of a mall -

- Cute retro vehicle outside Firestone store -

- The ever happy hubby -

Day 5 (30th Dec 07)
Today, we went to this Chinese restaurant which serves traditional Chinese food for lunch. This is the first time since we stepped foot on Arizona that we get to taste REAL chinese food and we were all so happy.

It is also today that we really feel the cultural difference between the Americans and the Chinese, especially in terms of eating habits. The first dish that came was the soup (included in the meal), and we all liked the soup. The waitress later came to clear our soup bowls and left a plate of sauces on our table (pic below).

- Diluted wasabi and sweet sauce -

When we were served our food, the only utensil that came along was a fork. So, instinctively, we picked up the spoons that came with the sauce (although is was quite small) and started munching our meals. It was only after we settled our bills that the person-in-charge (seated on a separate table as us as the group was too big) told us that actually, the spoon that came with the sauces were intended to spread the sauces on our food. The Americans usually have thier meals with forks (even for rice) and if we wanted spoon we have to ask for it. Interesting huh?

- A close-up view of the hill - grown with cactuses -

- Just before sunset -

- Beautiful image of the hill while the sun goes to rest -

There will be more pictures (of our apartment) in the next post, as there are too many photos here and it is starting to hang a bit =)

Those were the days...

2008-01-08T14:27:00.000-07:00

I just caught up with my super long lost primary school close friend in msn. We had quite a chat, and we talked about friends we both know (basically everyone in school who is in our batch since there wasn't alot of students around), as well as the teachers. We talked about the friends that we met up lately, how little everyone had changed, and she kept exclaiming how fast time flies.

It brought me back to the times we spent together in school. Although the school is torn down several years ago, the memories we had there still lives in our heart, even till today, a decade after graduting from the school.

And somehow, I wish I was 11 again. At that age, we didn't have to worry about anything. Life was carefree, sweet, and simple. The talks about "first & second choices", the guy from the next class, the letter writing (despite the fact that we are seeing each other almost everyday in school), the recess times spent in the school's small but cosy canteen, playing 'five stones' in school, running around, not having to worry about people staring at you, judging you, the days spent in your project mates' homes sticking pictures and writings onto sketchbooks and construction papers, the board games we played in class after exams, and admiring how cute our PE teacher looked.

Those were the days, when you don't have to worry about anything, about money, about relationships, about work, about time. The only worry at that time was datelines - of projects and homeworks, and probably how angry your mum will get when you don't go home straight after school.

I really missed those days. Do you?

Finally...

2008-01-03T14:09:00.000-07:00

I finally managed to get the internet connection hooked up in the apartment. It has been a long long journey from Singapore to Tucson (around 24 hours) and it sure is tiring. So tiring that me and Ash didn't suffer much of a jetlag. The first night we reached the inn we were sound asleep by 12am, and we slept through the night until the alarm woke us up. We were very lucky, for most of the others (his colleagues) woke up in the night between 3-4am (6-7pm in Singapore).

However, I suffered seriously from another symptom - homesickness, and it was very hard on me. I missed home dearly, where my family and friends are. So, I took out my camera, looked at several pics, and wrote the following draft in my notebook:

26th Dec 2007, 9.45pm

After more than 24 hours of travelling and waiting, we finally arrived at our destination - Tucson, Arizona.

The journey was long and very tiring - both physically and emotionally. We reached Changi Airport at 4am yesterday morning to settle our check-in and other administrative matters. Then, having another 3 hours to go before boarding the flight, we proceeded to have our breakfast.

My mum and brother reached the airport at around 5.30 a.m. and my mum started telling me once again the things to look out for while in US, and that was when I don't find her naggy at all, because I know my mum has my interest at heart, and that will be the final time in the next 2 years that I'm going to see her and hear her talk in my face. I know she is worried about me, especially after her friend's son, who happens to be working in the States as well, told her how dangerous it is here, that many rape cases happened recently to Chinese women. She was totally freaked out, and very worried for me. All I could do was to assure her that I won't be going out alone here, that I am a typical Singaporean and too Kiasee (scared to die), that I will only go out when Ash is with me.

We stayed around for a while and before we knew it, it was 6.15am, and we had to get ready for departure. So, we joined the queue to enter the departure gate. Along the way, we said our final farewell, and I did something which had not been practiced in our family before - I hugged my brother and asked him to take good care of himself while in NS (he'll start serving NS on 11th Apr 2008), and finally, I hugged my mum and reassured her that I will take care of myself and asked her not to worry about me. There and then, I felt a surge of emotion coming up my throat, and I held it back, because I didn't want my mum to worry, and I didn't want to get my mum crying with me.

When it was our turn to cross the gate, I patted my mum on her shoulder and told her I will take good care of myself, and that Ash will take good care of me, and went past the officers at the gate. I tried not to look back, as my emotions swallowed me, and I started tearing. But I know if I don't do it now, I will have to wait for 48 months before I can see them again, so I looked back, and tried like hell to hide my emotions, and when I turned around, I saw my mum walking away to hide from me, and I know what she's doing - just like me. At that very moment, I couldn't hold back any longer, and I let it all out. I kept waving to them, and wiping my tears away, but it kept coming, and it got worse when Ash came to hold me in his arms. I waved to them 1 last time and I walked on, and told Ash to just keep going, and we went in, not looking back.

I was glad my buddies weren't there to see me off, and that they came over my place and stayed for a couple of hours before I left for the airport. This way, I don't have to deal with my emotions for them and my family all at once, which I don't think I can handle. Ever.

We boarded our first flight at around 7, and flew for 6.5 hours before reaching Narita, Tokyo. We didn't have to check out our luggage, so we walked around for about 3 hours before boarding the 2nd flight - the longest flght (9.5 hours). On board the 2nd flight, as there was no entertainment (we had no personal tv screens so we had to watch whatever was showing on the shared screen) and so I took out my camera to look at the photos we took in Japan. We laughed at a few of the pictures and when I saw the pictures I took with my family, I started missing them, and I teared once again. Ash comforted me and told me 2 years will be over very soon, and I tried not to think of it so much, and fell asleep.

Throughout the flight, I fell asleep and woke for several times, and that was when I started to feel very uncomfortable. My butt and knee was aching from the long hours of sitting, I started having MC, I felt cold and giddy, and I thought I was going to throw up. I kept looking at the time and finally, we reached Los Angeles. I thought my torment was over, that I could finally get a place to rest, but we had to queue up at the customs to get through, and when I saw the queue, I almost fainted. The queue was god-knows-how-long long. We joined the queue behind a Japanese couple and another Japanese couple stood behind us. While waiting for their turn, the Japanese couple in front of us kept talking non-stop, and I was amazed at how un-tired they looked (they were on the same 9.5 hours flight with us). After about an hour or so, it was finally our turn to clear the customs. The custom officer serving us was quite quiet, and his movement was quite slow (maybe because I was very tired and hence, the lack of patience).

After clearing the customs, we went on to collect our baggage and check in again. As there was not much time left, we proceeded to the waiting area of the gate which we will be boarding our final flight and shortest flight (1.5 hour) and sat there to wait (we thought we can start boarding the plane around an hour before the flight). After around an hour or so, we thought we were able to board the flight, but when we looked on the LED screen behind the counter beside the gate, we saw that it shows the details of another flight. So we continued waiting at the holding area and we were only able to board the flight at around 2.15pm local time (the flight was scheduled for 2.09pm). We were too tired to find out why at that time but thinking back, it could be because that particular flight was a domestic flight.

By the time we reach Tucson, it was already past 3pm (27th Dec, 6am Singapore time), and the whole lot of us were tired, cold, and hungry. I and Ash mananged to get all of our baggages on time, although not in a very good condition (there were scratches all over our brand new luggage), but some others were not as lucky - their luggage didn't arrive on time. So we headed for the inn.

We reached the inn around 4.30pm and we were so tired we didn't have much appetite during dinner (we had buffet at this Chinese buffet restaurant). The buffet costs around USD12/person (including tips and tax), which amounts to SGD18/person. After dinner, we went on to Wal-Mart to get drinking water (tap water in US contains sodium) and some snacks in case we get hungry when we get back to the hotel. A 2.5 gallon (9.46 litres) bottle of drinking water costs around $2 (we took the cheapest already) and so we bought 1 of that, and a 6-bottle pack (500ml) of drinking water so that we can bring with us when we travel around. Thereafter, we will bring the 2.5 gallon bottle back to refill (33 cents/gallon).

When we reach the inn, it was around 8.30pm, and the very first things that we did was to quickly bath and brush our teeth (we haven't for more than 30 hours). I have never felt so happy and clean in my whole life. I'm not exaggerating.

However, after we settled down, I suddenly suffer from acute homesickness and I couldn't stop the emotions and tears that I had been holding back throughout the journey. I really miss home. I miss my family and friends. How I wish I could hug my mum right now. I miss her.

-End of draft-

Photos

- The gerz at my place before flight -

- Was bored waiting for breakfast so took a picture of my Xmas gift -

- Me & Ash having breakfast at the airport -

- Me, mum, bro, and mum's fren with daughter -

- Ash & colleague Benny feeling tired and bored on the flight -

- @ Narita, Japan "Yay~~ We're finally here~~" -

- The view out Narita International Airport -

- Japanese vending machine -

- The recycle bins by types -

- Drinking machine (thought it looks like urine cubicles in male toilet) -

- Travel Insurance Machines -

- Huge Gundam Figurine -

- Foodcourt in the Narita airport -

- Shop selling Japanese stuff in nice packaging -

We didn't take any photo in Los Angeles International Airport as we were too tired and there were not much time for us to walk around.

More updates about life in Tucson coming up. I have ample time here for that now. Lolz. Took alot of pictures here, as if I'm on holiday here. Will post them soon, probably tml. Missing everyone in Singapore...hope I can be back in Singapore soon *sobs*

P.S: I'm listening to the National Anthem right here in Tucson on 933. The feeling is so weird.