Blogger had been pissing me off recently. Since it is no longer feel like a wedding blog, and I move to wordpress for a personal touch!

See you there! :)

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Happy Birthday!

My Danna's birthday is last Saturday! I ask him what do he wan for his birthday, he say he would like a homemade cake by me. And after giving some thought, he decide on Cheesecake~ He even specify he "don't want the sponge sponge one, is the thick thick creamy one."

Aiya, it means NY cheesecake lah, not japanese cheescake lah.

I though of the no-bake cheesecake. but the cheese cream taste much like custard cream then cheese cream. So baked, I must.

I google many many recipes on cheese cake before settling for this one from hundred eighty degrees. No prize for guessing my favorite place for cheesecake. And the result is great! Although the surface of the cheesecake crack =(

I manage to use fresh strawberries and jam sauce to cover them up. I add some gelatine so the sauce will hold up the strawberries. And the end result:

And off we go for KTV on Friday to celebrate his day. :)

The $10 KTV club at Aranda Country Club is awesome. We get free flow drink and 3hrs of KTV, it had been a blast! And the folks love my cheesecake. THJ even ask me if it is really baked by me, he say he would have believe this is store bought. =D whee~baking skill level up!

Yumm Yummy~

And tml is my birthday, but I'm too egar to try out a new recipe. I was thinking if I could combine two of my favorite things together for my birthday, they are lava cake and matcha. I tried to modify from the original chocolate recipe, and I only found this today. =_= Oh well, why did I just assume there is no one as crazy as me to make a matcha lava cake? I should have know that japanese are capable of everything awesome.

Happy 29th!

Apart from still too liquid (should have place in the oven for longer instead of 8 mins!), and a tad sweet (need to reduce the sugar by 1/2 I think, the white chocolate chip from phoon huat is just too sweet). It is amazing. tasting matcha and chocolate in my favorite way is just too good to tell ya.

I can't wait to perfect this cake. I will find the perfect mix for it.

Secret of Japanese cooking

As you folks had known, ms jess is amateur chef now. I cook almost everyday, expect on days I had class or work late. And since I'm on study leave now. My family had enjoyed home made dinner daily.

I make it a point to do western on Wednesday, and Japanese on Thursday so we have some "specials" to look fwd to. Last Thursday, I tried making terriyaki salmon (healthy fish) and was intenting to buy a bottle of terriyaki to marinate the fish. But then, I'm not too sure how much and how long is need so Google to the recuse.

I found myself at justonecookbook. And surprise that the author mention Japanese seldom use the teriyaki sauce that we are so familiar with.

They. Made. Their. Own!!!!!

Wtf?? And all these yrs I always though that there must be a special sauce out there in Japan that make their foods so good. I love to eat almost everything in japan! Their foods are beyond awesome! And I'm not too far from the truth of the secret sauce!

Last Thursday, I made the best chawamushi I ever tasted in Singapore, and the best teriyaki salmon ever. Ever!

  And the secret to this orgasmic taste is:

SAKE

Real sake. 

Not just cooking mirin sake kinda (ps. mirin is essential for most Japanese dishes too). But premium 大吟醸 (dai-ginjo). Yes, it cost me extra S$20 to buy a small bottle of it. But truly, the taste is worth more then $20. My teriyaki salmon and chawamushi taste even better then all the Japanese restaurants I ever went. 

And so, I found out one of the secret of Japan foods. Now I really want to know how could their eggs be so good. Maybe I need to rear a chick to find out.

Peak of Exam Period

Let be frank, binge eating is a HUGE problem during exam.

I fell victim to this pattern countless time and I want to stop it. it is extremely unhealthy, but sadly whose home doesn't have chocolates??? I use chocolate to bake, I need chocolate on and off for emergency moment (I have low blood pressure remember?).

So yeah. I try to stock up with healthy snacks like banana and fruits and nuts. But sometime sub-conscience mind can do things beyond your imagination. Just now I found myself holding a mars bar and was about to put them to my mouth when I saw this from a friend whom create the NO FLAB Mommas group to encourage us to lose weight:

And the mars bar stop half way and I was suddenly reminded of my goal: Stop binge eating during exam period. So I put down the Mars bar and ate yougurt instead.

Great to have friends that motive you to get out of sedentary lifestyle. Can't wait for badminton session after exam!

Countdown to exam!

It's 1:40am. Kids are asleep, and so do the husband.

And I am here trying to clear the mountains of works before going on exam leave! No fun been a part-time student!

May God give me the strength to get through this semester again! Amen Amen!

This weekend had been great, less drama then the sprained ankle weekend, but still drama. Just look at this:

How to jio ppl go ktv 之 book 了再逼人去。

Win right? Wonder what happened if no one turn up. But had to say this tactic very successful coz almost all turn up (only JD fly plane). After KTV, we went bowling as the folks are itchy for some exercise since they didn't book court this weekend. And we reach home at 4am.

BUT! We still can wake up next morning leh!

We pick up Kandro at grandma's and we went to botanical garden for brunch and brought mushi for a walk. Really, nice place to take a walk in the late morning, and I though we can do another walk at southern ridges after my exam. Ah... The shiokness of a car, we can go places that we were too lazy to go last time.

And poor hubby got a IT onsite support call from his mummy. Ha! So we went to in-laws place after shopping at Great World. And I saw Raiden Red Melon! *fan girl scream*

Raiden Red melon is from Hokkaido, technically "red meat melon". Of coz it is never as great as Yubari King, it is still the closest taste I can get to Japan! It cost $28 at cold storage and I'm sure hubby will not let me buy it. So, I bought it for in-laws *evil smirk* knowing MIL will cut up the melon and ask us eat after dinner. I got more than I bargain though, she gave me a thick slice (on top of the after dinner melon she chop up) to take home.

 And ending off this weekend with something simple to make:

Matcha Mushi-pan (Green tea steam cake). Perfect for a rainy day ain't it? Now, back to work!

Insomia

I can't sleep,
Because my husband snore.
He wouldn't admit it,
But he sound like an ogre.

When the thunders clapped in furry,
Mushi turn to a barking furby.
Quarrel with the thunder he must,
Terror behind the face he masked!

And to the kid room I go,
Kandro affected not ho!
Oh Lord I have only 4 hours,
In which no sleep I'll be owl.

Maybe I will read my kindle,
Until my eyes are needled.
Alas, fear I can't take my eyes off,
Harry potter make sleep time lost!

Maybe I will count some sheep,
But ruki teach us to count shrimps.
Well, I will just hide under the pillow,
Until my eyelids are lowered.

Tomorrow morning then 算账，
I will make him kneel 算盘。
Exhausted the brain I had,
It's time to hit the sack.

- grumbling from an annoyed and sleepless wife.

What a weekend

We went for our weekly badminton ystd afternoon. HJ was in a very competitive mood this session and he is scolding me for not running to get the ball. And Gavin is in the mood of making me run more. So they start to hit the shuttle in all directions to made me run. And then I tried to hit one that is pretty high by jumping up...

And then I landed....

*crack crack* 

I sprained my ankle. =_=

It is soooooo painful that all I can do is weep while grabbing to my ankle. Fortunately, there is no bone fracture, but it is quite a sprain.Went to sinseh recommended by PL for sport injury, and he is really good! My ankle instantly feel much better after treatment. Good thing must share right:

Yap Teck Seng Samuel T.C.M Physician
Blk 631, Bedok Reservoir Road, #01-914
Singapore, Bedok Reservoir 47063
Tel: 6242-1035
Operating Hours: 10am-8pm (Tues-Fri), 10am-5pm (Sat, Sun & PH), Monday closed.

All wrapped up!

For now, I just hope to heal as soon as possible. It is really frustrating to walk like a penguin. But alas, my misery did not end with this! The gang decide to come over for MJ and Wii that night and needless to say, I break my wallet on the table again! luck is just not with me. :(

But.. Look who I have with me ystd! Rayden! The cutest boy ever! Everyone know that I am basis toward girls. =p And I am not sorry abt it, coz girls are just sooooo sweet and cute! I never like baby boys. I goes gaga over baby girls, but meh on boys. But Rayden melt my heart, and broke the record for been the only boy that I went awwww for. He had the most beautiful eyes I ever seen in a baby! I fought for the God-ma post, and I *think* I got it. Kelly say ok ma! Haha!

How not to love him???

So well, we wii & MJ until 3am+. Needless to say, we concussed until 12pm the next day. I'm really upset that we can't go for a jog, I was going to explore punggol waterway! Well, next time!

And.... 1 month and 2 day to...

Atas on the cheap

Today I decided to have cod fish with shimeiji sauce for dinner. 

We went to the wet market at rivervale plaza and bought quite lot stuffs. Veggie, minced meat, and we head to the fish monger to buy cod fish. And was very very shock at the price! $11 for 1 fillet!!!

Been cheapo, I refuse to buy. And saw another stall selling 3 fillet for $5 of a common fish (forget what name). So mama jess bought it.

I cook the fillet the same way as cod, but check the fish to prevent over cooking. And it turn out awesome max!

Dinner dun have to be an expensive affair, substituting with similar local products could do the trick. And my family think that the dinner is good. :)

Fish Fillet with Hon Shimeiji sauce

Badminton

It all started 3 weeks ago when Weifu jio us go Cheng San CC to piak the feather ball.

Honestly, I wasn't thrill. Been hited in the face for countless time is bad enough, and playing against all these pros? It is pride down the drain faster then NEWater treatment. But I really miss meeting up these folks, so I though fuck the pride, having fun with my friends is more important.

Boy, I glad I went. :) Somehow my LASIK-ed eyes could see better, I guess my lazy eyes in the past didn't give a good judgement of the direction of the shuttlecock. Although not as good as my pro friends, it is decent enough to play a game.

So, we had been meeting up almost all weekend for games. And today we played from 4:30pm to 9pm. I never sweat so much before sia. All the running, laughing, and smacking. And we had been teaching Kandro how to play, and she is getting the hands of it. And it is please that she got all excited when we go for the badminton session. I always prefer kids to sweat it out then looking at their iPad whole day.

Playing badminton for 4hrs plus certainly cause a pain in the legs now. Kandro and I were nua-ing in our sofa while Gavin playing D3 lazily. But ain't it perfect to sweat it out together with Family and Friends, and to nua together again?

 

Until next guys! Let do it again. :)

New nest

We have more or less settle into the new house. Mushi really love to run ard the house, I guess he must be happy with the ample space to run. The new home had kept us busy for now...

And... I never though I would enjoy cooking this much. =)

Halfway there...

Ok, so I gotta over the sadness of no tatami, and trying hard to think on the bright side on the amt of $$ I save, and how gorgeous my vinyl tiles are.

Danna and I went over the home during last weekend, and we are happy that the kitchen is almost done! What we are left is to install the hod and tralah! A kitchen!

Let start with the door shall we? Uncle BK (Our designer) initially propose a usual bi-fold door for the kitchen to help to cut our cost. But seriously...

Kitchen door???

I think guests would have though that is a toilet. Even if I make it a glass door. The aluminum frame is still going to make it look like a toilet door. After round of discussing from no door to glass door to sliding door, we finally decide to continue using bi-fold door coz mushi will have to access the service yard most of the time. But in-lieu of aluminum frame, uncle BK use wooden frame (it is actually laminate, solid wood wld have cost a bomb) to match the carpentry of the house.

And I'm very please with how it turn out!

Just perfect! Plain perfect! Exactly how I want it to be! It cost more than a bi-fold door, but it super worth it! Since this will be one of the 1st thing we will see when stepping into the hse, why not make it pleasing to the eyes. :D

Next, we move on to the kitchen itself.

We had wanted our kitchen to match closely to the laminate of our living area. But this would mean DARK wood hue. Uncle BK is not very keen on it as dark hue will make the (already very small) kitchen even smaller, he is a fav of white. :p But I'm very keen to maintain a consistence look on the whole home, so we come to a compromise. Top cabinets will be white, while bottom will be dark wood. It turn out to be a perfect combo:

The white top cabinets make the kitchen much brighter. while the bottom dark tone merge well with our home. And also, I took Ronald's tip of having all drawers for the bottom cabinets, it make retrieving stuffs so much easier!

The oven, hood, and hob are from Eletrolux. It is a package special of $1,499! We bought it immediately when we saw the offer. ha!

The Granite kitchen sink is Carysil Salsa. Danna was actually keen on getting a round stainless steel sink coz it look so unique. Sadly we are unable to find a quality one that is 50cm in diameter. The only one we saw is at IKEA... and no where else sell such round sink more den 45cm. :( After some though, we decide to get a granite sink as I like the feeling of no "Ping ping pong pong" sound that we always get when washing in a stainless steel sink.

In short, I really love my new kitchen, small size, but a powerhouse! Can't wait to start my cooking & baking adventure!

1st weekend after exam

What a fulfilling weekend after exam! Brought mushi for grooming yesterday and bought Danna's phone (his Note had been dying on him. haha).

Today we went Robinson sale at expo!

The result (when the wife is around):

But! It is super worth it! Especially the 450 thread count bedsheet! I can't wait to sleep on it! ^^

And also... Hubby bought me a warm water bag for my relief from bodyache...

It is not cheap... But I really hope it will be a good snuggle when I have the aches. Thank you hubby! Choosing you to be my hubby is the best decision ever!

No more Tatami! *cry*

So... It is actually one thing lead to another...

The original design is, to corner off the TV area (aka tatmi area) with a divider as guest room when need. And we intend to do the air con back to back with Kandro's room. Liddat we oso wun need to see ugly trunking running in the living hall. Below is the diagram to aid your understanding:

BUT!

计划永远赶不上变化！！！

The air-con dude realise that the wall between Kandro's room and living hall is actually METAL! Which means they are unable to run the trunking from her room to the hall, and trunking had to run across the living hall to place that air con in the original position. So ID make a quick decision to put air con at the wall above the entrance to the corridor to minimize the look of the trunking.

Of coz, this will means that if I put the divider to corner the original area, the air from air con will not reach it. WHICH MEANS! People come sleep at the tatami area cannot on aircon, 那我放 divider 个屁啊？？！！So I make the decision to take away the divider.

And now the tatami area look extremely funny in this small room coz the purpose is gone. It is suppose to do a job with the divider to segregate the "guest room" from the other area. But without the divider, every thing look weird. I did explore shoji screen... But it couldn't achieve the same effect as a real divider...

And we took another look at the living hall again. After tatami (without divider), the hall area will look kind of.... small...

So I (Danna is more den happy to give the tatami up due to the cost), took the painful decision to say goodbye to the tatami.

Don't talk to me. It still hurt.

Making of our nest - Journey started!

It had been a month since we collected the keys, but we could do any reno until now!

WHY?!

(1) HDB took forever to do my cement screed. It is only 3 weeks later I saw workers in my unit. But well, free thing ma, can't complain.
(2) We had to apply permit to hack down the wall between Kandro & our room.

And today! I saw people hacking down the wall!!!! WHHHEEE~~~

I still very happy that my idea of "Modern Ryokan" is taking off! Of coz Uncle BK was puzzle why I insist on tatami mats (those cost a bomb!) but he design our house according to the way I wanted and trying his best to help us to save cost.

Our color theme is mainly earthly colour. Think of wooden floor (we use Vinyl in lieu of wood, poor lah), wooden (laminate) shelf, and plain colour.

 When I (yes, me. Coz Danna say I'm the creative director!) 1st started out on searching for design, I don't jump into style too fast. My 1st thought is "how to make it multi function?", as you know, it is 65m2. I can't do anything much to the bedrooms as they are tiny enough. The only option is the living area which will combine living, entertainment, dinning, storage, and home office.

Space is a huge concern to us, I work from home at least once a week, so a workstation is a must (I did try to explore the bomb shelter..). And more space please!

I start my search googling "small home", "space saver" etc.. Houzz.com and apartment therapy is truly great sources of inspiration. ;)

And also I remember the Ryokan I'd stay in 2010. The room are NOT big. It is the size of a usual double bedroom. But it look super spacious and is comfortable too. And since I love Japan so much, why not I bring it in my home?

So I decide to have a tatami for my living corner. So that it can be a dinning, living, entertainment and guest room. It is hard to visualize by words. I shall wait for the final result to be out.

Visiting the house tomorrow. =D

Sakura

Honestly, I never though of seeing sakura is such a wonderful experience.

I blame it to my irrational hate for pink. Don't ask me why, I can't even explain why I got so irks by this half-red, half-white colour. Maybe it is neither here or there so I hate it. And yes, my fav colour is red. kthxbye.

Ok, back to topic. So viewing the sakura is totally unexpected! Sakura bloomed extremely early this year by a shocking 10 days! So when we reach Tokyo on 22nd March. It is mankai! And to my surprise, they are actually more white then pink! And later on I realize that the pinker (and supposely prettier one) are late bloomers, it start to bloom after we left Tokyo.

And I have to admit, SAKURA IS BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! 

Will you look at this?????

We spend our days doing nothing but hanami all day long, and end up having little time to go shopping. But somehow we still bought back a full luggage of foods back. Women.

Hanami in action!

Foods make us super happy.

We camwhore all day long.

"Dango for you?"

"Flower-eat"

One of the most memorable moment is I went for night hanami at Naka-Meguro alone, as the girls wanna to get Tokyo Banana and shopping, I decide to head for some sakura at meguro after seeing cheesie blog about her accident discovery of Meguro.

Naka-Meguro

Did a google of it and realise that they have night illumination! I always wonder what so fun about night hanami since you can't see the flower in true colour... But Japanese always have a way to make it awesome, so I went with extremely high expectation. And boy, I m not disappointed. It is so beautiful I almost tear, and I wonder why do Japan love me so much.

Sep 2010, my 1st trip to Japan is full of discovery and eye-opener. From Tokyo to Mijiyama, it is trip of a lifetime. And I change my views of the world. I become less angry, more thankful, and most importantly, I finally come to the place I planned all my life.

June 2012, (impromptu) balcharlette trip to Osaka, I met an awesome friend Seiji. He show me to places that not much tourists had went to. Most memorable is the trip to Koyasan, where I got to see the tomb of all the samurai I read so much about.

Jan 2013, Honeymoon @ Tokyo. It is my 1st time seeing snow! I can't explain the excitement and even though it is a snowstorm, I'm still glad I witness the beauty of winter. And I finally saw Fujisan after 3 trip to Japan. What a beautiful mountain.

March 2013, Girls trip to Tokyo. Really, seeing sakura is something that is wonderful. I never seen something so beautiful before. And been surround by it make it so surreal.

Thank you Japan. Thank you.

And see you again.

Pitta 00

We went to Disney for the last 2 days of our honeymoon. Had to say it is a wonderful end to our honeymoon. On the last evening in Tokyo, I manage to convince the husband to spend abit more on dinner. Pls lah, be at least a wee wee romantic can?!

Nabei, airplane take budget, hotel also budget, go onsen also choose the most budget room, stay Disney also must go for the cheapest Disney official hotel.

WHERE IS THE ROMANTIC IN HONEYMOON???!!

So well, initially I want to save the trouble and dine at "Carnival" in our hotel, which serve french cuisine:

Look good right???!!! And the reviews is good! The resturant is located at the top level of Sunroute Hotel Tokyo Plaza, and overlook Disney and Tokyo Bay! And it have a reputation of been uber romantic.

BUT! 

at a heartbreaking price of 8,500yen (S$135) per pax.

So Danna refuse to pay for it. He insist that it is totally not worth to pay for 给猫吃的份量。

Boh bian! Surf trip adviser to see if there are any atas (but must be cheapo) alternative around Disney, and happened to see Pitta 00 located at Ikspiari Mall (outside Disney)! The reviews look great, and one mention there are 2 seating place inside. One formal, and one for family (causal). Oh wait, that could be a (near) romantic place! And the foods are not expensive, moderate restaurant pricing.

Original wooden fried pizza

Danna cannot complain! I DUN CARE COZ I WANT TO ROMANTIC DINNER OUT! And some more this restaurant got win awards one hor!

We order clam chowder as a starter, and surprise it actually meet our expectation! Maybe we are cold and hungry and all foods taste good. But I never had a clam chowder that you can actually taste the "salt" from the seafood! Most of the chowder I had are overpowered by the cream base. This certainly raise the bar for main courses.

Awesome clam chowder

We order pizza and pasta for main, since it look like it is their signature dishes (picture sibei big). And OMGWTFBBQ it is OYISHII!!!!! The multi-award wining wood fired pizza is a must try! Crust is crispy! And I totally dig the slight cao-ta taste of it. Cheese is well mix too, and tomato sauce have the right tinge of juiciness & sour.

 And here come the most fascinated part! The waitress roll a tray to us and ask us if we want cheese! And explained that the pasta will be mix in this giant cheese "bowl" (can't find a better word).

I got so excited that I keep taking picture, eh, so much for "romantic" sia

Oh Lord, the pasta is soooo good! It taste WONDERFUL!!!!! The cheese is well aged, and it goes so well with pasta! OH GOSH! The best carbonara I ever tasted! Not over creamy with the right taste of cheese! Goes well with the salty bacon!

Heavenly pasta

Last up, we order desserts! Didn't really have much expectation as we are too overwhelmed by the main. But even the desserts also win us hand down. We are sold, this is the best place we had dine. Sushi Dai may be great due to the fresh ingredients. We love the sushi and friendly chefs of coz. It remains the best place I dine in Tokyo until then.

But Pitta 00 is more then just ingredients, the skills of baking pizza, and effort, and even the service personnel are beyond good. And God know why is their desserts are so good too!

Tiramisu

Ichigo cream brûlée

The Tiramisu is nice, the right wetness and nice coco powder! The way I like it. Yum! Danna decide to try strawberry cream brûlée, and just one bite he exclaimed that this is the best  cream brûlée ever! I try a bit and YES!!! IT IS!!! I'm sorry I can't even describe the feeling. Maybe it feel like orgasm, food porn indeed.

At the end of the dinner, the bill arrived... And Danna open up the bill, and.....

"WHAT????"

 Really Gavin, it is better then the $270 (17,000yen) french dinner that I proposed.

About S$78

 ===========================
Trip Adviser's reviews
Pitta 00 Ikspiari's web page

Memories from Holy Matrimony

As many of you (that have the address of the blog) knew, I engaged Ronald for my church wedding photography. I can't really tell you the rate coz it is a superb friendship rate.

Today, I received the photos!

Come in a lovely CD!

Including is a short photo montage of the day which I love it very much, it totally capture the moments of a wedding. Truly did not feel wasted for paying to capture the memories. Check out their facebook for their portfolio.

Before I actually could find time to upload the pic (I blame work and my new house), here is a few pictures for your viewing pleasure:

I never though I had the chance to walk the aisle.

Cute little one!

With my God-pa.

The "I do" moment

with Fr. Siew that baptize me, and wed me to my soul mate

Wonderful bridemaids that did my make-up and hair.

Kiss to a lifetime of promise.

Best photo!

"Ello! Stupid Cupid!"

My Bro-in-law is hilarious!

With my backstage helpers! THANK YOU!

Refuse to give up on psycho-ing annual trip to Nihon.

And, this is the start of our life together ♥