Chap Goh Meh

'Chap Goh Meh' also known as 15th of the Chinese New Year, the last day of celebrations for CNY. On this day, everyone in my family gathered together to have dinner together and not forgetting to 'lo hei' (lao yu sheng).

This is my 3rd Yu sheng from Sakae Sushi (SS). Had one on Friday and Saturday from SS.

I bought yu sheng from sakae sushi to have lo hei session with my family. And this will be my seventh lo hei session in 2010. The five pairs of chopsticks represent my dad, my mummy, my elder brother Elwin and my youngest brother Ken and oh, myself. Let's deviate alittle from the lo hei thingy. I had german food for dinner with some frds on Friday. This is what I ordered:

Just some lamb sausages with cabbages and onions. I didn't like them. But I like the company.

I miss my oven. I miss baking. The baking addict in me is feeling the withdrawal symptoms now. I can't wait to try new bake recipes and present the sweet treats to my family, friends and colleagues.

Memories from Hong Kong and Award

There are a couple of new shopping malls opened in Singapore recently. One of them is Ion, a rather huge shopping centre. No plans to boost the economy at the moment and we are happy doing window shopping. We explored every level as we are uhmm... we have too much free time. I saw 'ThreeSixty' and memories of my Hong Kong trip in 2009 came flowing back to me, still vivid in my mind. There is a ThreeSixty supermarket in Elements, Kowloon Station and they sell my favourite yorgurt 'Muller' brand. I want to go back to Hong Kong. I miss Hong Kong. 我喜歡香港 ! I can't wait to catch up with my friends in HK. Visiting HK is a yearly affair for me even if I am going there alone. And yes, HK is part of my travel plans in 2010. HK is always one place which is very close to my heart. My HK friends find it odd and unable to construe why I love HK so much, more than they do, apparently. To me, you do not need a reason why you like or enjoy doing certain things sometimes. Ok, that's all for HK now.

I have another happy news to share with my readers: I received another blog award! This award is given to me by Fimere of Aux Delices Des Gourmets.

With this award, I am going to dedicate to the following:

Lily's blog : Lily's Wai Sek Hong

Saveurs et Gourmandises

Sook's blog: My Fabulous Recipes

Ching's blog: Little Corner of Mine

Val's blog: More than burnt toast

Passionate About Baking

Cheers to all the food bloggers who always make an effort to feast the readers' eyes with their creative and yummy food presentations.

捞鱼生 & Happy Birthday everyone!

Yusheng literally means "raw fish" but since "fish (鱼)" is commonly conflated with its homophone "abundance (余)", Yúshēng (鱼生) is interpreted as a homophone for Yúshēng (余升) meaning an increase in abundance. Therefore, yusheng is considered a symbol of abundance, prosperity and vigor. Explanation above is extracted from Wikipedia.

 

I had 2 sessions of 捞鱼生 sessions with my friends (different groups) in one day. It was fun! As we tossed the yusheng, we will say auspicious wishes out loud, like great career for the new year, great health, great fortune etc. Everyone's mood is heightened during this tossing session. My first 捞鱼生 session was held at Waraku @ Heeren with my adorable friends. I always feel 10 years younger hanging out with them.

Yusheng session no: 2 @ Noble House

Dinner at Noble House was fantastic. Loved the Peking duck, the duck's skin was fragrant and crispy but unhealthy. I need to hop to the gym soon after savouring these delicious dishes. The company for the dinner event is amazingly entertaining as usual. Great food, great company on 20th February 2010 is truly unforgettable. Today is also 'Ren Ri' (人日); the seventh day of zheng yue (正月) aka the day of man. This is the day where all human beings are created according to chinese customs. For more detailed explanation, you can refer to Wikipedia . So, to my dear visitors who are celebrating the Lunar New Year on this wonderful day, Happy Birthday to all of you and Huat Ah ( local explanation: To prosper!!). 

Yay! Mandarin oranges and Ang bao

On the first day of reporting back to work;i.e. the fourth day of CNY, each one of us is given a pair of mandarin oranges and a 'ang pao' (red packet with some money inside). Boy, everyone was so happy!!! Can you feel the joy I am feeling? Heheehehe... See the smiley cat on the extreme left? I bought a mini pot of fortune bamboos. They are said to bring fortune to one... NOw, this reminds me of a song (my all time favourite), 'Money, money, money..must be funny..In the rich man's world..money, money, money, Always sunny, In the rich man's world...ah-haaa... All the things I could do... If I had a little money...It's a rich man's world...' Yes, I'm singing to myself softly to myself in my room now. I always sing this song when I go for singing session with my friends. I remembered I danced using Corine's style (you wouldn't want to see me dance, trust me) and sang during my last travel trip to Hong Kong. I performed in front of my gfs. They were laughing their ass off in the KTV room. I am not much of a performer but I enjoy making my friends laugh. A joker, yes I am. If I do make a fortune one day, I will sing Abba's 'MOney, MOney, Money' everyday. Joke of the day. Don't take me seriously. =)

H2Ope for Haiti

We have all read about the unfortunate happenings to the people of Haiti. Many have come forward to offer their help be it physical efforts or monetary donations. Let us all pray for the people in Haiti and do whatever we can within our means to help them.

If you wish to help, you can go to here.

Happy Valentine's Day

As mentioned in my earlier post, my mum kept my oven during the period of CNY, hence no baking for the time being. *sob* Since I can't do any baking, I shall make jello. I took out my heart shaped baking tray. I still happened to have a packet of strawberry flavour jello powder left and I used a can of longans. Here you go:

This heart-shaped jello with longans is meant for my family only. Not for any special someone. Not this Valentine Day at least. 

Ingredients:

1 packet of Tortally Strawberry Jello (Instructions will show on the box)

1 can of longans or any fruits you desire.

Method:

1. Boil 250 ml of water. Pour the packet of jello into the hot water and stir until the jello powder dissolves.

2. Pour 250ml of cold water into the jello mixture, stir and mix well.Cooled the mixture.

3. Open the can of longans (any brand) and place the longans into the tray.

4. Place inside the chiller for 3 hours or until firm.

5. Serve when ready.

This is a simple and no frills jello dessert. It is nice to have them during the summer. Enjoy!

Another Award, just in time for CNY =)

I received another award callled 'Neno's Award' from saveurs et gourmandises who always showcase pretty looking creations on her blog. I do not know what does Neno's award mean, so I went to goggle on this award and  this is where I found the creator of the award. This award is dedicated to those who enjoy blogging activity and love to encourage friendship through blogging. I shall dedicate this blog award to the following:

My Fabulous Recipes by Sook

Aux Delices Des Gourmets

and to all bloggers who drop by my blog and read my posts . I am thrilled to receive an award on the first day of Chinese New Year. A good sign of a great Tiger Year ahead of me. Thank you very much.

CNY humble spread

On the first day of Chinese New Year, my mum prepared these dishes. They are for my relatives and friends who are coming over for CNY visit. They are simple dishes cooked with TLC which I never got tired of having them for decades. Mum's the best. When I woke up in the morning around 10ish (yes, I'm the lazy bum here), all the dishes are already cooked, nicely presented on the table. One dish which is not seen here, shark fins' soup -my mum's speciality dish. Life is wonderful as always when you are surrounded by a great cook. I am truly contented with a family who will always be true to me and who will never do anything to let me down.

Finally fixed my comments options

 I don't know what I did to my comments options. I don't usually receive many comments normally, so I didn't realise no one can post any until my friend, KJL told me she can't post her comment on my blog. Am never an IT savy person. So long I can post photos and some articles on my baking adventures, am very contented. I have fixed my comments box.... so, feel free to drop comments on my blog now if you try to earlier but unable to!! hhehehee

Chinese New Year will be on 14th February 2010, also falls on Valentine's Day. To me, it is just a normal day. If I were to choose, I would rather be out travelling out of Singapore than go house visiting during this festive period.  My mum kept my oven too. So I won't be baking for the time being. Till then, Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Valentine's Day. Thanks for dropping by. =)

=)

I am happy. I clinched a new sales deal for my dept. Even though it was not a major deal, it made me feeling good. My client was very easy-going and we hit it off very well. She said she enjoys chatting with me. I told her that I felt the same too. *Blushed* Probably, I was too chatty. I felt like I am back in audit. Some of my audit clients became my friends. Everything went on smoothly without any hipcups. After a week of unimaginable happenings, I finally see some light at the end of the tunnel. I felt blessed and I know that there is a guardian angel watching over me.

I like this particular quote from Helen Keller, “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” Things happen for a reason. And maybe, it is a blessing in disguise for me. Not gonna get upset anymore, be it personal or work. 

A Promise to deliver- Strawberry No bake cheesecake

Gonna make strawberry no bake cheesecake for my lovely colleagues in the office. I told them that I can bake this, bake that but not all of them tried my baked goods. And they started telling me, ' Eh, you always say you know how to bake this, bake that, but we never get to eat them one leh.' (Pardon me the singlish usage over here.) I promised I will bake them last week but I didn't. So, I am going to deliver my promise today. I bought fresh strawberries from Korea at a local supermarket and they taste really sweet. Remember I am one of the checkers for quality control of the ingredients and end product? It is never easy holding this task but I shall sacrifice myself. Hhehehe...

Korean strawberries, sweet.

I was feeling a tad blue over the weekend and the only thing that can cheer me up instantly will be baking. Baking never fails to blend away my sadness and releases the endorphins in me. Baking is always a joyous event even when I am doing it alone. However, it is always nice to have company to enjoy the baking process together.

For this recipe, you can go here.

With or without the strawberry jello? I like it with jello, of course!

I love Pineapple Tarts

I love pineapple tarts (PT). I really do. The only reason I repeat my recipes can be contributed to a few possibilities:

(A) I failed during the first baking attempt;
(B) Request from friends ;
(C) I simply wanted to bake again for some occasion;
(D) It's the one recipe which didn't fail me or rather, I didn't fail the recipe;
(E) All of the above.

So,so...anyone could have guessed why I baked pineapple tarts again. It is for our upcoming Chinese New Year (CNY)!! My mum helped me with rolling the Pineapple JAm (PJ) into balls this time round. Thanks Mum! I wrapped each of ball of PJ with the pastry dough myself. And this time round, I counted every single PT I baked. One hundred and twelve PT minus 2 ( each one safe inside my mum's and my tummy). There is a need for quality check, so we nominated ourselves as the checkers for quality bake fit for consumption. Truth is, Dad is taking a nap and my elder brother, Elwin is never keen in my baking adventure. In summary, there are only 2 nominees. ;)

You can find my recipe here

Enjoy and Happy Chinese New Year to all who celebrate CNY!

恭喜发财，万事如意，主里蒙恩！=)

Flowers help, even just a stalk

I told myself everytime, whatever I post here will be a happy post. I tried and I did so far. This is what an baking addict should be feeling, a Happy Baking Addict all the time. No recipe today but a free rose giveaways for me during my lunch time. I love receiving flowers & I don't desire buying myself any. Not that I am unwilling to spend the money, just adores the feeling of receiving them.

During lunch today, I saw a number of the working class girls holding a stalk of rose, I knew for sure there will be a free rose giveaway. So, I made my way to the right location and got myself a pretty decent fresh red rose. It made me happy.