Making up for lost time

Before I stopped working, I made a mental list of many things that I had wanted to do, things like golf lessons, cooking class, picking up a new language etc. Ironically, after I stopped working, it got difficult for me to find time to do them! Yes, its absurd, maybe even lame, but unfortunately its true. It's amazing how simple activities that we sometimes take for granted can really fill up your life!

Today, I received an email from a friend asking me why I have not blogged for the past few days. It kinda felt good that this friend has been following the happenings of my life, as I know some other people have. Truth is, I have been too busy the past few days to blog. Too busy to blog? How busy can a home-maker be, u may wonder?

Well, Colin had just come home on Wednesday from a business trip to China and Hong Kong. Having spent 10 days away from home, there was so much we had to catch up on to make up for lost time. The past few days have been action-packed for us, with me cooking dinner, us running errands together, daily workouts, visits to my in-laws, a day trip to malaysia, lots of conversation, and packing for our honeymoon! (we're going to Japan for 2 weeks. Yay!)

Before we leave for Japan, thought I'd share with you some photos of my lovely (at least I think so!) cooking for the past few days :

Chinese-style Deep fried chicken cutlet (Recipe from my bestie Jessie - really simple yet delicious! A must-try!) Marinate 2 boneless skinless chicken thigh in shaoxing wine and soya sauce. Coat with corn flour before deep frying for 10 minutes. Add a sauce of oyster sauce, vinegar, sugar, spring onion, water. Lovely!
Green vegetables with mushroom (Bought this vegetable coz a group of "aunties" were crowding and grabbing this uncommon vegetable, which name I had forgotten. Think i'm becoming quite ah soh! :Þ)

Tofu with minced pork, mixed vegetables in Hoisin Sauce
Xiao Bai Cai
Sliced beef with Capsicums (this one didn't look too appetising...and unfortunately, it tasted like it looked. haha!)

Visiting St Nicks - My Alma Matar

Founded by Father Nicholas Barre, Chij St Nicholas Girls' School is where I spent my best growing up years. I still remember how violently I argued with my Daddy when he had insisted that I go to St Nicks for my secondary studies. Back then, I had wanted to go to Dunman High School, for a really silly reason that the boy I liked was going there as well. Luckily, daddy stood his ground, and as I realised later, Daddy did know better.

St Nicks, in my opinion, is a school with a difference. With a mission "Simple in Virtue, Steadfast in Duty", our then principal, Mrs Hwang-Lee Poh See always emphasized on grooming us into ladies who were, in her words, "Wen(1) wen(2) er(2) ya(3), gao(1) gui(4) da(4) fang(1)". Whilst she emphasized on academics, the school never forgot to educate us in other areas like tradition, values, and culture.

Our school corridors were filled with wind chimes which tinkled and danced in the breeze. Our classes were named after virtues like Charity, Diligence, Faith, Grace, Hope, Justice, Purity, Steadfast, Truth, and Wisdom instead of the boring alphabet. There were pianos sprinkled around the common areas for those of us who liked to tinkle a few tunes during recess. There were also mirrors at staircase landings to remind us to be well-groomed at all times. The whole school would celebrate all traditional holidays like Duan Wu Jie, with Mrs Hwang leading all of us to wrap dumplings! It was here that I learnt how to work hard and play hard, it was here that I made some of the best friends of my life.

Today, I re-visited St Nicks, together with my previous band mates, Suan Suan and Jocelyn. Suan Suan had taken leave today, while Jocelyn is currently teaching English in the school. We spent 2 hours walking the ground that we used to roam, reminiscing the good old times when our band used to play the National Anthem at each morning's assembly, and not forgetting to recount the times when I got punished by teachers for not doing my homework, not paying attention in class, or even for not sewing my belt on to my pinafore! The food in the canteen still looked as unappetizing as ever, but we were so excited to see Uncle Mobeen's drink stall still there, after all these years!

We met up with the ever exuberant and lovely Mrs Julia Yeo (who amazingly remembered the names of half our class from 1993!)....

..as well as Ms Leong Choon Fah, teacher-in-charge of the Symphonic Band during our time...
I also couldn't resist taking a photo of my "favourite" room of the school, the Sick Bay! haha! I used to report sick when I didn't study for tests and would head there to "rest"! :Þ
Though the building facade has changed, though more than 90% of the teachers are new faces, it felt like yesterday that I was still a student in SNG. Its always nice to come home. After we left St Nicks, we headed to the newly opened AMK Hub for a late lunch. Over pasta and dessert at New York New York, we chatted and exchanged life stories for the next 3 hours! Here's my lunch of Tagliatelle Arrabiata with Meatballs followed by Fried Mars Bars with Ice Cream
Suan Suan and her Manhattan Sunrise And finally, Jocelyn's very "muddy" looking Mud Pie!

Charity starts from your heart

Was channel surfing just now when I chanced upon the Ren Ci Charity Show on Channel U. I have always been a firm advocate of all charity work. I believe that giving is much more fortunate than receiving. While I was growing up, I tried to do as much volunteering as I could. I sponsored a child from Uganda through World Vision, gave free tuition to kids from a children’s home, wrote for a children’s newsletter, and helped out at the annual Camp Sunshine (a 3-day residential camp for children with cancer and other terminal illnesses). I also pledged donations through flag days as well as monthly contributions.

However, in the last 5 years, I got “too busy” with my career, with relationships, and with many other things in my own little life that I forgot about giving to others. The situation was made worse by the now-still-ongoing NKF saga, which shook my faith in “charity” organizations.

Yes ok, I was one of those who immediately ceased my monthly donations to NKF upon realizing the meager percentage of our money that actually went to the patients. It just didn't feel right that my money went to a gold tap in the CEO’s office. After that incident, I looked at charity organisations and events with skepticism. I started to think that the only way I want to help others is through my own actions, and not so much my money, which could end up being managed by dubious characters.

Well actually, simple actions that come from your heart will make a great difference to those who receive it, especially so when they are least expecting it. There is a saying that if you have a little and you give it out, it becomes a lot. If you have a lot and keep it in, it becomes a little.

We can all help others in our own little ways, for example, holding the lift door for a limping old lady on a walking stick, helping a mother lift the wheelchair of her child up the stairs, guiding a vision-impaired man across the street, giving away books, toys or clothes (not the old and tattered ones of coz!) to people who need them. These are things that might not take even 5 minutes of your time, yet it will brighten your entire day (as well as that for those who you helped)!

Think about it, start being less selfish, and start giving! :)

An eventful Saturday

This morning, I was at the market to buy some breakfast and my weekly dose of The Straits Times when something horrifying happened! A really pretty girl, probably in her early twenties, wearing a sexy tube dress (well, actually on hindsight, why was she all dressed up to come to the wet market?!) was at the newspapers stand next to me. She raised her arm to reach out for a copy of the papers when a strange smell wafted across my nose. I turned, and there it was, a bush of damp armpit hair staring back at me, just inches from my face! OMG! Startled, I dropped my papers, and ran away (yes, I ran).

I mean, girls, whilst natural beauty is great, please put in some effort in removing your underarm hair! Yes I know, hair removal can be tedious, painful, and expensive in some cases, but, please! Spare a thought for others around you who could be scarred for life with that close encounter with your armpit hair. And if you just simply insist on keeping them, at least keep them covered up coz they simply look disgusting, even on the most beautiful celebrities!

Nowadays, even some guys (not just the metrosexuals) are shaving their armpit hair for hygiene purposes (I hear Frank Lampard had inspired his fellow Chelsea mates to sport hairless armpits). So, come on, if even men can do it. Nuff said.

Apart from this horrid encounter, my day went great. Met up with my aunty Xianling to catch up over dinner at Vivo City. Well, actually Xianling is my daddy’s cousin, which makes her my aunty, but really, she is just the same age as me and we used to be faculty mates back in uni! However, today was actually the first time we hung out together and it was nice! She’s a really sweet girl and I realised today how alike we both were in many ways (it probably runs in the family!)

After scrutinising a few restaurants, we settled for Thai Express (some of the other restaurants were either too crowded with snaking queues, or too empty for our comfort. haha!) Anyway, here's what we had for dinner -

Popiah pancake

Stuffed chicken wings

Prawn Toast (the most yummy of the 3 appetizers)

Olive fried rice with chicken (This one tasted better than it looked and oh, pardon my half eaten chicken wing at the left bottom corner)
Spicy basil chicken with rice (very spicy as it is fried with chilli padi, and oh, pardon Xianling's half eaten chicken wing at the top right hand corner. See what I just said? it runs in the family!:)

After a nice long dinner with Xianling, as I was driving out of Vivo City's carpark, I bumped into (not literally, of coz) my long-time-never-see, ever-elusive gal pal Shuying. I have been trying to ask Shuying out for what feels like eternity, but we have never gotten to meet up due to her extremely busy schedule (haha!) and there she was, car next to mine! We both rolled down our windows and chatted for a precious 60 seconds before the traffic light changed colours and we had to be on our ways again. Sometimes the best things just happen when you least expect it! :)

Cooking for one

Since i embarked on my home-maker journey, Colin has put his travelling on hold so as to spend more time with me. For the past 1 month, (incidentally, today is the 1st month anniversary of me being a home-maker! YAY!) Colin worked from home everyday, and we managed to spend a lot of quality time together, with me being extremely motivated and excited to cook and try new recipes (well, actually, all cooking is new to me!)

Alas, life still needs to go on, and Colin had to start travelling again. So, since the beginning of this week, I have been home alone, and weirdly, my motivation to cook left the house together with my husband. I mean, the effort in preparation and cleaning after didn't seem worth it when you are cooking for just one. After 2 days of instand noodles and junk food, I decided to snap out of this pathetic state coz after all, now's the best time for me to experiment before I present any new recipes to Colin! So, here are some photos of the meals I had in the past few days!
Dried Hong Kong noodles (Fortune brand) with braised mushroom and chestnuts

Porridge with minced pork balls, peanuts, and dried scallop (using rice cooker)

Stir fried pork with sze chuan vegetables (eaten with rice)
and for last night, Instand Noodles! (yea alright.....so I ran out of ideas again....haha!)

A rude awakening

Sundays are Family Days for us. We would spend our mornings at the club (Colin would play badminton with his friends while I would leisurely swim my 10 laps and have breakfast by the pool) before we headed to Colin's folk's place for lunch and to my folk's place for dinner. Today was no exception.

This morning at the club, as I made my way out of the pool towards the changing room, I ran into a security guard who greeted me with "Good morning M'am, brought your children swimming?" His words cut my heart like a sharpened knive but I managed to snort a "Good morning" and even forced a smile through my grinding teeth.

No offence to mothers reading this, I'm really just a paranoid person who still insists that kids call me "jie jie" so good gracious! What could have made this security guard think I was a mother bringing my children to swim?

Perhaps it was my flabby tummy which he might have thought was post-delivery? or perhaps it was my "aunty-looking" swim suit which I like to swim in coz they are practical and coz I never have to worry about them slipping or exposing too much flesh? Perhaps the rumour that women who stay at home instead of work very soon acquire an appearance of the "huang lian po" is more fact than fiction? Or, as Colin suggested (while trying hard not to laugh), perhaps he's just a very short-sighted security guard who forgot to wear his glasses to work today. Well, perhaps!

A homemaker's weekend

I always get excited on Fridays, coz Friday evenings signalled the start of the weekend, and weekends are supposed to be filled with fun and treats! Having said that, weekends are also when I do my house-keeping, chores like laundry, changing of sheets and covers, cleaning of toilets and floors. Although I am no longer working, I choose to still save my house chores till the weekend coz I want to feel the difference between working and not, i.e. I really want to enjoy my weekdays by just doing things that I enjoy doing, not spoil them with chores which I am already used to doing on weekends.

Anyway, yesterday I excitedly told Colin, "Yay! I'm so glad the weekend is here!!" He replied nondescriptly,"Everyday is weekend for you, you jobless girl." I pondered on his reply and realised that it was not entirely true. Firstly, he does not work on weekends which mean we get to spend more quality time together than on weekdays though he works from home on weekdays. Secondly, weekends are when we visit our folks for our once a week family get-together, which is nice, especially when Ah Boy is back from his studies.

Last evening, we went for a 7.30pm movie and my popcorn fix at Balestier Cineplex (we love to go there coz its the only place we can flop around in our shorts and flip flops and not have any problem whatsoever getting great seats for the latest released blockbusters). After the movie, we headed off to Zion Road hawker centre for a very satisfying supper.

We had my favourite prawn noodles from Noo Cheng Adam Road Prawn Noodles (we usually go for the $5 bowl, which comes with succulent tender pork ribs), Foo Kee's deep fried tofu with fish meat and fried vegetable fritters, and Lao Goh's fried carrot cake (all highly recommended!)

Holland Village

Holland Village, also known to many as the Bohemian Village of Singapore, is always bustling with life and activities. It is an area where east meets west (a good mix of locals and expatriates), and where the old meets the new (you can find traditional coffee shops and a wet market jostling for space aside ritzy wine bars and fine dining restaurants).

I like Holland Village for two simple reasons : firstly, the many eateries and chill out bars sprinkled all along the area. Secondly, the amazing magazine stand that sells any magazine you may think of. My only gripe about the place is the parking (lack of, to be specific) at any time, any day. Thankfully for valet parking, which is fully reimbursable with purchases from some of the outlets in the village.

Colin and I spent our afternoon at Holland Village as he attended his monthly appointment with his friend cum hairdresser, Gabriel from Blitz Salon. We had lunch at Hog's Breath Cafe, sharing a beef and vegetable soup, a full slab of baby back ribs, and a chicken schnitzle. Food was alright, but as we did not have breakfast, we gobbled everything up in 10 minutes! :)

While Colin had his haircut, I shopped. There are at least 3 discount stores in Holland Village, including a Factory Outlet Store (FOS) which was having a closing down sale with 30% discount storewide! The trick about shopping in discount stores or flea markets is to "grab" anything that catches your fancy and never let it go! You never know when you will come across the same item again! Here's my loot for the day, a pair of cute abercrombie shorts, a sporty hollister t-shirt, and a cheery halterneck top! All for $33 after the discount!

Wanton Mee

I love noodles. Some people can't live without rice, some can't live without bread. Give me my noodles, and I'm a very happy girl. I love all kinds and varieties of noodles, from simple instant noodles to chinese mee pok to japanese ramen to italian pasta. One of Colin's favourite noodles is Wanton Mee, which is what I cooked for him today.

Wanton (云吞) is a Cantonese word literally translated as 'swallowing of cloud', and refers to a minced meat dumpling common in Chinese cuisine. I thought this was quite interesting as wantons floating in the soup did really resemble clouds in the sky!

Here's my version of the Wanton Mee!


My wantons were fat with succulent tender meat and shrimp, crunchy with bits of water chestnut, BUT!! They were hopelessly bland as I did not add enough salt or soya sauce when I was marinating the filling! *horrors* The only redeeming part of the dinner were the sweet char siew (thanks to the char siew rice stall at Pek Kio market!)

Just when I was starting to think that I was getting quite good at cooking, tonight's dinner really brought me down! We ended up throwing out half of the wantons.. :(

Thankfully, we had a big honeydew in the fridge which I quickly cut up for us.
After tonight, you can bet that we'd be running out to one of our favourite Wanton Mee stalls for our next Wanton Mee fix:

1) Fei Fei at East Coast Hawker Centre
2) Koung's Wanton Mee at Geylang Lorong 13
3) Kok Kee at Lavender Food Square

This is for the Family

After experiencing tremors from yesterday's 6.3-magnitude earthquake in Sumatra which killed 52 people, I once again got reminded not to take people around me for granted. To all my family and friends out there, you all mean the world to me though I may sometimes get too embroiled in my own life to call, maybe I never remember your birthdays, or maybe I just have not made an effort to make contact with you!

I decided to spend the day with Mummy and Ah Boy. Colin dropped me off on his way to a meeting this morning. I lazed around, doing nothing, (which is actually what I do best), listening to stories from Mummy while lying side by side in my previous room, including one in which she got chased by 2 huge rats whilst walking home one night!!

After lunch at Sakura (the buffet is reasonably priced at $18 nett after SAFRA discount), we proceeded to catch a movie together, something we have not done for at least 15 years!

We decided to watch Jack Neo's new movie, which is a satirical movie that explores the intricacies of office politics in the Civil Service, seen through the eyes of blue-collar worker Shui and Vice President Tanya who, through a freak accident, swap souls and bodies. They each experience life in the shoes of the other and come to a better understanding of the plights and challenges facing the workforce in Singapore.

Being someone who had previously spent more than 5 years in the Civil Sector, I could identify with many of the issues raised in the movie. There were both hilarious and heartwarming moments weaved into the movie, and I must say I thought Fann Wong acted quite well in the movie. However, I found the entire movie quite scattered as it tried to cover too many issues without much focus. At one point, it also got a little draggy and even was on the brink of boring. All in all, I would say that I preferred Jack Neo's I Not Stupid to this (only caught 2 of his movies so far).

After the movie, I made my way home to cook dinner. Here is the menu for tonight :

Hairy Gourd (Mao Gua) with Niang Dou Fu

- This is a dish that I fell in love with when I ate at my parents-in-law's house during my first visit to them. Chop the hairy gourd (looks like a hairy cucumber) into pieces. Add some boiling water to the pan and simmer till the vegetable is soft (around 10 minutes). Add Niang Dou Fu of your choice and 2-3 cubes of fermented beancurd, some sesame oil, and sugar. Simmer for another 15 minutes before serving.


Brocolli with beef - Heat some butter on a pan. Lightly sear the the beef (sliced tenderloin).
When beef is half cooked, remove from flame. Next, heat olive oil and fry garlic till fragrant. Add Brocolli and fry for 30 seconds. Add some water, close the lid and simmer till vegetables are cooked. Add in beef, oyster sauce, fry for another 30 seconds and serve.


Lotus Root and Peanut Soup
- This is my favourite soup (i love the peanuts) and it is really simple to make. Boil some pork ribs in water for 3 minutes (to remove the blood and smell). Next, throw the pork, corn (chopped), lotus roots (chopped), peanuts, red dates into pressure cooker. Fill up with water till the water level just covers the ingredients. Boil for 1.5 hrs in pressure cooker. Yummy-licious!

Earthquake!!!

Yes, you read right! Today, at around 11.55am, as I was surfing the Chloe website next to Colin, who was busy clearing his 100+ emails, I turned to him and said "Darling, I feel quite giddy, maybe I'm still tired from our Bintan trip." He then replied "No love, our whole house is shaking! I think we are experiencing an earthquake!"

While Colin was trying to look around to see what was happening, I shouted "Let's run into our bomb shelter!" We both laughed, but I was quite serious, grabbing the kueh lapis we bought from Bintan (just in case), and pulling him by the hand into our bomb shelter. While inside, we both laughed while I got all melodramatic telling him I love him and am glad we were together at this time.

Approximately 90 seconds later, the tremors stopped and I immediately went to the CNA website which reported "Breaking News - Tremors felt in various parts of Singapore as Earthquake rattles Sumatra!" Being on the 20th floor, we felt the tremors strongly as we could literally feel our flat being swayed from left to right, to and fro! I could not but feel sad for the Indonesians who actually got the real-deal earthquake in Sumatra.

Ok, let's move on to something on a happier note. Our short Bintan getaway was fabulous! Golf-perfect weather, amazing sea-breezes, lovely food and wine, great company, cheap massages, what else could one ask for?
During this trip, I decided to tag along with the golfing trio and I got my first taste of driving a golf buggy. It was pretty fun and I learnt to appreciate the game, learning golf terms like birdie and par. My only gripe was that although the sun was gentle, and I had applied sun-protection, I ended up with streaks of sun burns all around my neck and arms! Haha! :)

On Saturday evening, we chilled by the bar to catch the match between Liverpool and Man U. My condolences goes out to all Liverpool fans out there. Liverpool played well and had dominated the entire match while Man U was almost completely lost in the game. However, with only minutes to go, and with only 10 men, Man U scored a goal which won them the crucial 3 points for the game! I was CRUSHED as I silently rooted for the "good guys" Liverpool who I thought "deserved to win" as they worked really hard on the pitch, with all their players running after every single ball. But, as Kao Fu put it, "This is life. Life is never fair, and can even be cruel sometimes." Fancy learning a life lesson from a soccer match!