Residents' Day

Once a year, the kids will have a chance to get together with other children in the same condo on a large scale basis - Residents' Day!

This year, again Nic won a prize for the coloring competition :) while E participated just for fun. His ladybug was superdee colourful and I thought it was very creative. He insisted on doing every single stroke of colour on his own!

The weather was rather warm and humid and their rosy cheeks were just so pretty! That didnt last very long as they quickly sneaked back home for a quick chill as soon as they were done with the coloring!

Puff pastry recipe

E's favourite "japanese biscuits"

Water dough
250g flour
25g butter
2.5g salt
10g sugar
10g milk powder
138ml cold water

Oil dough
150g butter
25g flour

Method
1. Mix all ingredients for water dough (add water gradually)
2. Knead till a smooth dough is formed.
3. Rest in freezer for 10 min.
4, Mix ingredients for oil dough.
5. Rest in freezer for 10 min.

6. Roll out water dough into a rectangle,place oil dough in the middle and wrap it up by folding the 4 sides.
7. Roll out the dough and fold 4 sides and rest in freezer for 5 min
8. Repeat step 7 twice.
9. Shape as desired.
10. Bake at 230C for 5 min, reduce to 200C for another 10min/

Japanese pastry

My little boy's favourite Japanese pastry :). The ones sold are much larger in size and are difficult to be carried around and so I made a miniature version. They were very well received at home especially by the 2 Mr Hong.

For recipe, see here.

Enjoy

Fans on the plane?

E is such a cutie.

The city we visited is only serviced by a small airline from where we are.

When we were comfortably seated, E observed the plane and asked a very interesting question.

E " Mummy, are we taking a plane?"

Me " Yes, sweetheart"

E" why are there 2 fans hanging on the plane?"


Well, he wasnt wrong. It was a propeller plane! What an eye opener for the kids!

Xiao Mantou

Guess what these are?

Hand made "wang wang xiao mantou"! Every single one of them :)

Eversince the plasticiser saga, we have banned all Taiwanese products in our household. E is a big fan of such little treats and I had to figure out a way to satisfy him. If I wont buy them, I will bake them!

They were very well received indeed. Even I like the texture and taste. It is 95% close to the store bought product. Guaranteed healthy with no added chemicals as I only use organic flour and low cholesterol eggs, and sugar of course.

Blue belt, brown tip

It was another early Sunday morning for us. Nic had to get to the grading hall by 730am for some final practice, as arranged by the instructor. By 9am, all were in the hall, waiting for their turn.

Nic did well and the instructor signalled that she had passed with ease. We left the venue at 945am for a proper breakfast. N actually walloped the entire bowl of Ipoh Hor Fun which is her favourite dish and prior to that, she already had 2 bananas, a small bowl of honey oats and a bottle of milk at 715am. Yes, I meant a bottle of milk....she is still on the bottle at this age!

Believe it or not, since Day 1, my little warrior has never practised the stunts and patterns though she has been told umpteen times to do so and it is a MUST. All the parents I have met so far, confirm that thier children actually do practise at home.

N relies entirely on her memory to perform the stunts which amazes me. I guess, this is a god gifted ability which we should be thankful for and treasure. Well, now she is a Blue with a brown tip technically! 3 more gradings to go and she would be a POM (black equivalent) as she is of insufficient age to convert. Keep up the good work, sweetheart!

Strawberry Tart

A delicious fresh strawberry tart laced with chocolate ganache. Absolutely yummy :)

Banana raisin chiffon cake

My mom's favourite banana raisin chiffon cake. We all loved it very much as it was light and refreshing.

Fresh durian cake

When my parents were here last month, I baked my mom a durian cake - early celebration of her birthday. The vanilla sponge was layered and coated with fresh durian flesh and fresh cream with freshly roasted almond flakes as toppings.

E shunned the cake while N devoured 3 slices. It showed a vast difference in their preference. Overall, thumbs up from Mum and Dad :)

One theme two output

I guess this is pretty obvious. One was created by Artist N and the other by Artist E. :)

One depicts maturity to a certain extent while the other is full of creativity and innocence.

Marble cranberry walnut cupcakes

Soft and cottony cranberry walnut cupcakes. Light and refreshing.

I had some extra swiss roll batter and I made 5 cupcakes which N devoured 4 instantly. :)

E and his hamster

It was meant to be a short visit at our neigbouring unit. E ended up conquering their hamster cage and its content! He insisted on bringing the hamster home and keeping it as his pet! Our neighbour was kind enough to let him have it for several days. :)

He has been very diligent in feeding the hamster and he spends time watching him and talking to him. How very sweet :)

Flower buns & red bean buns

Soft and tasty buns - cheesy flower buns and black sesame red bean buns.

Day 4

Again an eye opener for the kids. A ferry ride with the vehicles!

See how naughty these 2 were! They used Grand aunt's hair roller as their own!

Great grandma were so pleased to see her great grand children again though we just parted for a month. (She visited us in May).

That concluded our vacation. We left in the morning of Day 5!

Day 3

We planned to visit the monkeys on Day 3. They were not co-operative at all. We gave up after waiting for 20min for them to suface. God was kind. As we were driving out, 1 appeared and followed by many more! The kids were absolutely thrilled. They were happy!

In the afternoon, we just lazed around in the hotel. There were planned activities for the kids (and adults too). N attended the "circus school" with full attention from the coaches as she was the only student! There were not many kids there as their school holiday was over! This was followed by T-shirt painting!

It was really a 3 minute love! E gave up within 3 minutes as he insisted on erasing the wrong colour! (How do you erase it? Excuse me!) I had to finish it up for him. N was better. She completed it but it was not of her usual high standard :)

Days 1 & 2

During the school holidays, we made a trip to visit my brother and parents. It was a short but certainly enjoyable trip. A trip for them to get to know their uncle, auntie and cousins much better. They enjoyed playing with one another and I guess N did pick up a few Cantonese words here and there from her cousins. What a good cultural and language exchange :)

We checked into a 2 bedroom suite and there was an abundance of space definitely.

We heard so much of the famous char kuay teow and thought we should give it a go (even after a big seafood dinner). Guess what? Dad waited for 1 hour and 5 minutes just for 2 takeaways! We thought he got robbed after waiting for 30minutes for him to return! Well, my verdict? It was good but I would not waste 1 hour and 5 minutes of my life waiting for it again!

Rose Buns

Look at these lovely roses! I absolutely fell in love with them. I wish they could be preseved eternally :)

Raspberry Mousse Recipe

Ingredients
a. 1/2 cup hot milk
b. 1 tablespoon gelatin
c. 1/2 cup whipping cream
d. 1 tablespoon lemon juice
e. 200g raspberry
f. 30g sugar (to your liking)


1. Dissolve b in a. Set aside
2. Whip c till thick. Set aside
3. Add d into e and blend.
4. Mix 1,2,3 and blend.
5. Add sugar to taste.
6. Spread over first layer of cake. Keep in freezer for 15min.
7. Spread remaining over the top and side of the cake. Keep in fridge for at least 3 hours to set.

Your finished product here. Enjoy!