1 more day..

Tomorrow is the last day I could enjoy having chauffeur to work everyday..

Waking up only at 7am and bz with my own stuff and get ready to bring Jared for his school bus at 7.20am

But after that, for everyday in the next 3mths I need to wake up at 6.15am for 966 at 6.45am..haiz

Hopefully I can lose more weight since need to walk 10mins to the bus stop every morning..hehe.

Really sianz

I didn't know how the last time I managed to survive through 8mth (with 2 mth holiday in US though) life like that..and carrying a big tummy..and the Mas Selamat has made my life even more difficult. Traffic jam all the way, causing comp bus cannot reach on time..and I need to walk from office to Marsiling MRT..etc etc

Hopefully time will pass faster this time round..

The worst thing is the kids have not even clear all the clothes from the purchase 2 yrs ago..and now daddy got to shop more..faint

I'm the only 1 who has clear all the clothes from US..except 1aerospotale yellow t shirt, which is now still too small..hehe..

Can't believe daddy bought the few clothes for me, including tommy brown t shirt, abercombie blue t shirt, and many more aerospotale t shirt..and I only managed to lose some weight to fit into them since last mth..The clothes was bought 2yrs ago!!!!..hehe..

Now sianz cos still no plan to visit US yet..if there's a date set, I think I'll pretty look forward..but not now..heh

Honeycomb cake

[considered a success, since there's tunnel ..which I got so surprise!]

Recipe from Jo Deli&Bakery

INGREDIENTS:
Makes one 8" round cake


210g sugar
240g water
80g butter
6 eggs
160g condensed milk (no condensed milk at hm, replaced with evaporated milk)
180g all-purpose flour
2½ tsp baking soda

METHOD:
Caramelize sugar over low heat in a saucepan until it is golden brown. Stir at all times.
Add water to the caramel. Be careful as the hot caramel will splash when water is added. Continue to heat until syrup is homogeneous. Remove from heat.
Melt butter in hot syrup. Let syrup cool down completely.
Preheat oven at 180 degC. In a mixing bowl, lightly beat eggs with a hand whisk. Add condensed milk and mix well.
Sift flour and baking soda into another mixing bowl. Pour (4) into flour and mix well.
Add cooled syrup into batter. Pour batter into a greased 8" x 3"(H) round cake pan. Leave batter aside for 5 minutes to enable baking soda to react prior to baking.
Bake cake with bottom heat only for 1 hour or until skewer inserted to centre of cake comes out clean.
Leave cake in pan for 5-10 minutes before turning it onto a wire rack. Let cool before cutting.


NOTES:
For members or visitors who have seen and tried the previous version of honeycomb cake, you, including myself, might encounter problem of not getting 'tunnels', although there seemed to be no problem getting larges holes in the cake. So here it is, a foolproof honeycomb cake recipe. This recipe has lesser water, higher baking soda and higher egg contents compared to the previous version.
This cake is called 'Bolu Sarang Semut' in Indonesia while it is called Honeycomb Cake in Malaysia. The correct texture of this cake should be chewy or bouncy, and resemble tunnels extend from the base to about 2/3 the height of the cake (see close shot above).
Cake batter should be runny.
Please adjust baking time according to the characteristic of your oven.

Overall cake turned out not bad, even though I got scared by the lumpy texture after I mix everything..The smart me just let the mixture go thru the sieve again..heh..But next time must try with condensed milk, cos cake turned out not as sweet..

Interesting Conversation with the kids

Kaylen's 1st complain @ 20mth 24day

Daddy & me were watching tv in living room.
She was with jared in bedroom playing with toys.
Suddenly we heard her crying aloud..but since we were so used to them playing and ended w some fighting & crying..we took no bother..hehe..
Then suddenly Kaylen walked out of room..telling us this

Kaylen: koko dui1 wo3 (instead of tui1 she sounded more like dui1, koko push me)


Me at kitchen, washing dishes
Me: Jared, daddy is going to america, are you sad?
Jared: yeh, I'm so happy!
Me: Why?
Jared: Then I can play no need to do work
when I told this to daddy, daddy asked him, yeah, so that you dun need to play violin, and can write anyhow, because mummy will say it's ok right?
hah.

That's what happening all the time.

daddy wanted him to write real good handwriting with all the small letter align to capital letter etc..but I'm fine if the words does resembles, and as long as I can read.
And the next few mths is gonna be really challenging on violin practice..cos I cant even hold the bow correctly, and cannot even play a thing..haiz. But the rest of the home practise, like writing, doing worksheets and reading..no problem for me.

Universal Studio Singapore, 28 May Vesak Day

Jared 's reading update

@4 yr 6mth

-> Completed 3b peter and jane
-> Read 1st 2 page of 6a
Words that he cant read: her (he read as here, afternoon, Pam)

Jared driving

Backdated post for 18 May

We saw this at united sq, and jared keep asking for it..so since daddy leaving for US soon..we decided to let him play, cos very costly $7 for 10mins..

At first daddy wanted to be the driver..but I ask him why not trust of our son..so he said ok...

Then we also let Kaylen on it...the car before that the younger sis fight with the older bro to handle the steering wheel..in the end she need to come down, and cried big time..We were worried how Kaylen will react in it too.

And it turned out Jared is not a bad driver, and Kaylen had the potential to be our miss congenality and bye bye to everyone smiling through out!..hehe..Wonderful experience..

Since then we hardly see the car rental at united sq anymore...

Kite day

The last weekend be4 daddy leave for his US trip..we had arranged lotsa of activities for weekend..1 of them is kite flying..we always noticed an area at Sengkang got so many ppl fly kites..then 1 fine day while going for dinner from Sembawang during 1 weekend..We noticed there is an area with so many ppl flying kites too! It was such a beautiful scene.

So we finally go..but the waraku kite cant be fixed cos 1 part gone..so we bought another kite on the spot...but finally did not mange to fly..wind wasnt strong that day..and the string keep got entangled up...

These pics were enhanced with photoshop for iphone..like the effects a lot and also the easiness of using the application.

This is Jared @ 4yr 6mth after learning violin for 7 mth...seriously learning probaly 4mth..the 1st 3mth he was running around in the small classroom, and no practise at all at home.
Still some mistake ..and I had to bargain an iphone session for the recording of this tune..heh. He had a great time driving racing car on iphone after that..
and we don't know what's the song name..
Still thumbs up for Prof Thanh & daddy for the patience...next 3mth will be difficult period for me..I got to coach him myself..*faint*
p/s if I had a chance, I probaly won't send him for music course at such young age..and probaly should have let him do piano instead.But nowadays when I asked, hey, since you don't like violin, why don't we stop the class? His reply, mummy, don't talk nonsense ok.

Kaylen is 20mth old!

Taken with iphone..and beautify with facefinish..looks so much like dslr quality!


Talking
She is talking so much more.
Can answer a normal conversation but all in mandarin.
Hardly heard her speaking in bb language anymore.

Singing
Singing many more songs
latest is little einstein cos koko like to sing it. heh

Notti gal
Bite koko
Hit koko or anyone when angry
Doodle on koko book..
(my heart aches when i found her doodle on P&J 3A book, jared has never doodle on any books before since young)
Simple love to tear away library books or koko story books...

Bad memory
Can remember any color yet.anything you asked her is Bai2 se4 (white color)..hehe.


Conversation
Me: I love you
Kaylen: Happy to you


Me:ni3 jiao4 shen2 mo4 ming2? (what's your name?)
Kaylen: Xiang2 yi4
*me shake shake my head*
Kaylen: Xiang2 ying3

We also heard her counting
twenty one, twenty two, twenty three....and so on..

That's cos koko like to count nos. like this too.

Happy Mother's Day 2010

A card he made for me.. he definitely could write better in chinese than me heh!


That's his proper drawing of me!..He can't really color properly yet, and refuse to attend art lesson..But i'm surprise I look good in this drawing..!!
Jared's drawing of me at K1 4yr 5mth

IPhone my mother's day pressie

Totally amazed, I can check mail, surf net, facebook,check recipe at my finger tip wow

Got it with comp's singtel offer..port in from other comp $300 off hp!..What a good deal to get it at $218, and mthly $28 per mth...

Then i got headache with the cover..found the cheapest after checking out a few shops at TPY..cost $8,..same thing can cost from $18, $12...

Thanks dear for sponsor!

Phuket: Hotel Burasari

The pool and its area..beautiful..but very small pool ..good thing is its shaded..so no worries of getting tan when swim in noon time.


2nd floor room are mostly elite room with the cloth...it look so romantic.



nice pool area

breakfast area is also very resort style..

The sofa bed, supposedly for Jared to sleep at nite..But it's always daddy who sleep 1st there with his dirty body..

Views from balcony..pek chek corner unit cannot see pool clearly..but its hot there..so we hardly spent time at balcony.

The room..Thai elite room..

The bed..super comfy..super big..3 of us sleep there still got extra space to turn.

The only complain we had was air con not cold enuff..Had to call them 2x on the 1st nite..to check on the aircon

Cost: $630 for 3Night

Day 3 2May Phuket trip

Today is a relaxing day no day trips to rush..just go according to the heart... So we woke up later than usual..had long breakfast..and followed by a long dip in the pool... We only left the pool when it's close to lunch hour, back to room and get changed..and get ready for our exploration around patong..

We walked all the way to Jungceylon..but Jared got angry & grouchy along the way, complaining its too hot and he is already sweating....Finally we reached Jungceylon after 10mins walk..had lunch in the foodcourt, we was pretty cheap..but not all the stall are good though..Jared fall asleep after lunch.. Instead of carrying him around, we found a place for massage..

Initially daddy and me were both doing foot massage (half hour for 180baht) but half way I decided to change to thai massage..so I get to do massage in a enclose area while Jared sleeping beside me on the other bed..Good feeling..but my poor bones almost get wrecked w the massage..hehe...

After we finished massage after an hour later, Jared also woke up from his nap..so we went walk around in the mall and carrefour..When its about evening time, we went out of the mall to explore again..and walked thru Bangla road where the pub action is all there..and finally we ended at Patong beach again!.. It was cooling in the evening..stayed there for close to 2 hour while waiting for sunset..Jared enjoyed playing in the sand..and even took off his shoes to walk on the beach..

There were many ppl parasailing..so very nice to watch... The sunset was so beautiful..and daddy went around trying with the camera..and showed me his work even w/o dslr..hehe.. p/s even jared knew i wanted a dslr..waiting for daddy to buy me hehe... Then we walk again to find place for dinner...while walking Jared started to grouch again complaining too hot and tired, but once u carry him, he will be all awake... Found a seafood stall for dinner, ordered some prawns, pineapple rice , steam fish, basil leave w chicken...and finally took the tuk tuk home with the exorbitant rate of 200baht for a short 5mins ride..

When we got down Jared said we should take the tuk tuk to go shopping and come back..hehe.. We took an early flight to home the next day. This was much an enjoyable & relaxing trip as compared to the Tokyo one without bringing Kaylen along..I love phuket v. v. much and hope to go back soon...hehe..

While we swam in the pool, Jared had picnic with the food we brought over..complimentary chips from hotel, seaweed..and more junk food..heh

The elite pool access room..very nice, once u step out of room you're in the pool already..pic taken by our Jared

Back to hotel room..his fav to soak in the bath tub with all the corals & toys..

Me at hotel lobby..so beautiful place...

Walking to Jungceylon

Jungceylon Mall


Jungceylon mall



At the beach again...beautiful! and Jared was so happy

Our feet on the fine sand

Like this pic a lot

Bye bye Patong..bye bye phuket...

suddenly so many ppl came to watch the last glimsp of sun, before it drop into the water! We spent close to 2hr at the beach waiting for this moment..heh

The last dinner at Phuket...we had some seafood..& basil leave with chicken..

Tuk tuk to go back to hotel..Look how happy Jared was!

Reached hotel..

Calling Kaylen..they talked for a while

Phuket trip pics

Day 2 1May Phuket Trip

We got a travel package to Phi-phi island from Charlie at 1500baht each, while Jared is considered infant-free!

Took a quick breakfast and went to wait for the transport to Phiphi island, at 7.45am. After a long ride to the harbour, there was lot of ppl waiting to go Phiphi..

Being the 2nd boat of the day, we arrived Maya island quite early before the crowd...Maya beach which was small, but is very very beautiful with its white sand and blue water..I just cant wait to dip into water when I'm there..but Jared as usual is so scared of the water, so we dump him aside with all his sand toys..where he had great fun...

Daddy and me took quick dip each time, and come back to check on Jared ocasionally..and finally we convince jared to come to the water for a while..heh..
It was a 40mins stop over only...

Then we board the boat again, to viking cave, monkey island & stop for feeding fishes with bread..snorkel at the middle of the sea.

Daddy and me took turn to go down..Jared surprisingly was very excited to see us changing into snorkel gear..and very encouraging for us to do down..

After the snorkelling we went to another island phiphi don for lunch..its a very run down place and lunch was buffet style..By now Jared already very tired, and keep asking to go home..daddy shared story about the speedboat 's motor and what he see while snorkelling to keep him awake...and stuff him with more food...heh..

Finally he fall asleep when we were back on board in the 40mins ride to Khai island. But woke up again at Khai crying to go home again..and feeling uncomfortable with the heat, and his eyes..Took a while to pacify him, and finally we had to keep collecting coral to put in his dump truck to make him happy..hehe..There, again we took turn to snorkel..since we already paid for the fins..hehe..while some english guy made sand castle for jared which spike the day for him. hehe..

Khai island is only 15mins away from harbour..and we reached hotel at 5pm+...after a good wash up...we had Khantuk dinner which was complimentary from hotel..The dinner was with live traditional band performance and thai dancing..and we seemed to be the one booking the whole restaurant al the time..Phuket is really quiet at this time monsoon season plus the bangkok chaos..



Breakfast in hotel..yummy..


Maya bay..The beach

Sand play at the beautiful beach

Sight seeing on speed boat

Finally our tur to take pic on speed boat..all the while a lot of ppl keep posing

Snorkeling...Jared help to take our couple pic..so sweet of him..hehe

after lunch, at phi phi don island..tired & hot!

Reaching Khai island after 40 mins....view from speedboat, need to pay 120baht for 2 sunbed..but finally we took 3 sunbed hehe..

posing by the beach..

Khai island is famous for a lot of small fishes nearby the shore..we bought a full loave of bread to feed. Jared got frighten by the strong wave while feeding...so I brought the remaining 3/4 bread to feed while I snorkel..all the fat fishes came by ..so fun!..only 40baht the full loave of bread.

Jared with his sand castle..made by the guys from England, sitting next to us..

Rest & relax...2hrs was easy to pass...We were there from 2pm to 4pm..Drinks & fruits were free flow..by the tour operator

Complimentary dinner by hotel..the beef curry is the yummiest curry I've ever tried!

again the banana in coconut milk is superb too!

this is a very nice couple pic of me and daddy..hehe

Phuket trip pics