Milk Allergy

Jeryn has Milk Allergy and is unable to take the normal cow's milk formula. She's currently on Nan 2 HA. I gave her some of the Laughing Cow cube cheese a few days ago and she seems fine and quite enjoys it.

So this morning, I tried giving her some baby yoghurt as she still seems dissatisfied after having her banana oatmeal cereal. She likes it despite it being still a bit cold from the fridge.

I thought: Great! Now she can take yoghurt which is a good first food for baby and another variation from her normal stuff that I can offer her. However, barely 5 minutes passed and she developed allergic rashes on the sides of her mouth! Sigh, too bad she can't take yoghurt. Usually babies with milk allergy are OK with yoghurt as they have been fermented and such... but not so for her I suppose. Is there such a thing as soy yoghurt??

Oh well, now I don't know what to do with the 3.5 tubs of baby yoghurt in the fridge. Offer them to Janelle I suppose...

Home Working

Today's the start of my new working from home arrangement
Per gynae's advice to minimize physical activity, I've mapped out an arrangement to work off home till condition stabilizes...
Most of my workload has been handed over to my delegated staff, so I've taken a backseat as "consultant"..

It's funny, but the last week when I was on hospitalization leave and weren't doing much, I wasn't feeling as bored.
Now I'm HUGELY bored!!!!
It's only the first day and I've no idea what to do with myself at home.
Boss is keeping me stress-free, so I've not a lot of work to do.

My cross stitch is finishing soon, left with only the border and backstitch.
Once done, it will conclude my 3rd piece - only 1 more to go before I complete the whole series.
Think that will last me till I give birth, which from then my life will be bustling with activity!

Cooked a simple dinner tonight.
Guess the plus point of staying home = to more homecooked meals.
Steamed mince pork patty + garlic fried sweet peas + corn & carrot soup
That should be healthy enough, with protein carbo and fibre.
The leftover soup is just nice for me to cook beehoon soup tmr.

I bought the ingredients for the CNY peanut cookies on sun.
Easy peasy stuff, real easy to make to.
Shall make a half portion to satisfy my sweet tooth, since I'm not sure if I'm up to making them for CNY this year.
I don't mind making the mini shrimp springrolls too, just that I just can't seem to fry them crispily enough - too much filling in each maybe? or wrapped too tightly?

Have loads of fruits at home.
Seem to be particularly drawn to orange coloured ones lately.
Oranges, grapefruit, persimmons, papaya, watermelon (oh this I just walloped all last nite), apples, grapes.
Better to munch on these rather than unhealthy snacks.

I'm thinking of having a dim sum lunch at East Ocean Restaurant on 30 Nov Sun.
It's at Shaw building besides Isetan Scotts.
Same date for me to go for my last facial too.
Sis, interested to join me??
There's a children and Tiger products fair then, so just nice to grab my sterilizer and hot water flask.
That should about conclude all the necessities for baby Josh for now (except for Desitin Creamy which I've not gotten yet).

Cool & Free Backgrounds

Like my new background? I just found this website which offers free backgrounds and best of all, you can change backgrounds as and when you like without having to change any of the blog's settings and format!! What more can you ask for?

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Merry Christmas!

What a Scare!

luckily it's a false alarm...

well i've been having cramps for the last week or so, sometimes regular, sometimes infrequent
thought I'll give it a check at the gynae

turns out the uterus seems a bit soft and the cervix was shortening
thus was put on injections (hurts hurts hurts!!!!) and medication and bedrest at home

yest i thought the cramps came back, it was better a day or 2 ago
so called up the gynae and made a trip down to mt E
monitored on the CTG for 45 mins, didn't appear to be any contractions
more like urterus irritability

dr chua checked all possible stuff that could have caused the cramps, but didn't find anything
good news is that the cervix is not further shortening, plus opening is tightly closed
am told to monitor, only if im getting painful contractions that increases in frequency, am i to call up and consult her immediately
else i'll be seeing her again next wed to monitor on the CTG again
just to be super duper safe, i'll told to do the glucose tolerance test this week
eeewwwww.... that means 3 tubes of blood at an hour interval each on an empty stomach...
all for you baby Josh...!

* I've already used up the 2 free CTG monitoring in my package - wonder how much per subsequent monitoring costs*

Oh a bonus that arose from this false scare was that i got a free 4D scan of baby!!
heheh got a pic of his face which was pretty clear!
he's sleeping then, so eyes were closed, nose a lil' big and plump lips!
kekeke look rather like hubby i find.... even though he begs to differ on the nose part!!

my hospitalization leave will end this fri, so next mon i'll be in to office
but will be talking to boss for a temporary arrangement to work from home
since i'm supposed to reduce physical activity in case situation aggravates again
will be working on the handover, so the next couple of weeks till delivery shouldn't be too stressful
anyway dec a lot of people are going on leave so all should be peaceful and quiet...

yest i've finally used my card pts to redeem for robinsons voucher
plus chris's, we have about $140 to use for baby stuff
wonder when their next storewide 20% sale will start
once it comes will be there to grab the remaining items - sterilizer, thermometer, baby wipes, baby bath etc...
finally feeling the urgency cos it's not long now to delivery!!!!!!

Cute Lil' Unicorn Pinata

We bought a little unicorn pinata for Janelle's 5th birthday party at her CC. Ain't it cute!

Looking forward to filling it with lotsa goodies this weekend. Think the children will love whacking it and picking up their spoils!

Attn: 姨姨... Janelle's Requested Birthday Present

亲爱的姨姨
我喜欢这个Barbie娃娃。请买给我！

Look Mummy! Hands-Free!

Physically, Jeryn can support her milk bottle and drink milk on her own. But she tends to get easily distracted and when that happens, she forgets about her bottle. So while I'm training her to hold her bottle, I still end up holding it for her most of the time lest her bottle falls on the ground and gets contaminated.

Zappety Zap!

Today, I washed some ikan bilis, pat dry and zap them in the microwave on HIGH for 1 min. Guess what? They really became crispy! COOL!! (Although I was a bit concerned about the smoke in the microwave while the ikan bilis were being 'fried'.)

Now, I really can believe that keropoks can be zapped in the microwave!

Try this... really COOL...

All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth!

Heheh... Jeryn has just sprouted her two lower front teeth! Looks cute but funny without the upper two... She loves biting stuff now though her drooling has lessened. She was playing with her teeth using her finger last few days, making lots of clicking sound. Cute!!

Started her on rice cereal again yesterday... Surprisingly, she took 2 teaspoons separately in the afternoon and evening! Phew... a load off my mind that she's finally eating something. Will try again today and see how.

20 Oct 08 - 26 wks 5 days

so fast, haven't posted for 10 weeks liao
baby Josh sure is growing fast and furious
doubled his weight in a month and is 1.1kg now
keep wanting to take pics of my growing belly as a reminder of the progress throughout the months, but never got around to doing it
will be nice though, to see the growth month on month

finished my 2nd piece of cross stitch for the 4-pc home series
just started on my 3rd one yest
really on the ball yeah, can't stop doing it!
at this rate, may be able to complete the series before birth!

cooked hungarian beef goulash yest
yumz!!
made it in a more soupy style, more like minestrone soup style than the thick stew type
had it with crusty baguette (next time shall be sure to get delifrance's - got the carrefour one out of convenience and it's not nice! hard like biscuit after a short toast in the oven, no good!)

the remainder i thickened up and made into mini cottage pies
hey, mashed potatoes ain't that tough to make after all!
just cut the russet potatoes into smaller cubes to make the mashing easier
then while it's still hot/warm, add in butter and milk
be sure to use more milk if u are making cottage pie, so that the mash does not dry out when u reheat it
so fluffy and yummy!

this weekend is a long weekend, gonna try my hand at yam kueh!
wah mega craving for that now, only the home style (or rather mummy's style) will do..!
recipe's not tough to follow, just that the frying needs a bit of work
wonder if my lil' wok is big enough to make
intending to make a bigger batch if i can, so that can share with sis & daddy (if he's back)
prob test out first and do in 2 batches?

16 Sep 08 - 21 wks 6 days

Yummy tonight going for chwee hueh and satay and springroll!!
Been very on chwee kueh for this pregnancy.. My cheap craving!
Satay long time no eat only
Springroll is the special on from tiong bahru bao shop
Got vege and meat encased in a super crispy and fragrant skin!
*triple droolzzzzz*

Been gaining weight at an alarming rate!
Original wt 45kg
First tri 43kg (dropped 2 kg)
2nd tri 48kg
Gained 5kg in 2mths… scary leh
Now approaching the 50kg mark.. Never hit that ever before..
Faints… super duper scary… and still have last tri to go
Heard that's when u put on weight even by breathing!
And the office security uncle also can see that im putting on the pounds *sobz*

Bust so big, no undies to fit anymore
Need to go for an emergency lingerie shopping asap this week
Good that sis got birthday 20% discount at metro, so more choices
Waiting for robinsons to have their next storewide 20% too, now that I've gotten my Robinsons card finally!

Oh gosh, Josh!

kekeke trying to come up with a catchy title...
but there's a meaning behind it... my baby's name!!

does Josh sound good?
it gives a very happy feeling, at least to me lah
conjures up the image of a bubbly outgoing boy boy!

well i've been cracking my brains and the net for unique names
wanted one with D, but all not nice
plus couldn't agree on one with hubby too
he's bent on Darius or Dylan, while i love Josh or Torres!!
see... me so much more imaginative and creative!

may come down to a point whereby we choose between Josh or Dylan
which would you choose?
or any better suggestions??

Which stroller to get?

Bugger, this is giving me a big headache!

hubby likes a stylo 3 wheeler with reversible handles, but the price!!!!

incredible and mind-boggling, close to 1K for it!

no way man, what if baby doesn't like to sit in it later? *pengz*

was at Robinsons Centrepoint for a browse around during lunch

saw this super stylo Ferrari baby seat and matching stroller!!

but the stroller is like a sack of rocks... 15kg!!

just imagine lugging 3 bags of rice lor... no way lor...

but the infant seat is so nice and cushy... wondering if it's worth to just get that at $279...

then saw this Graco combi (infant car seat + stroller) on sale for $499

quite a good deal i find, just that it doesn't have the reversible handle and isn't the lightest like Combi...

thinking whether i can live without having baby to face me hehehe

looks-wise it's pretty sturdy and relatively cool-looking

think i should just get this?

Teacher's Day 2008

This year we bought 4 cute animal containers and filled them up with chocolates and sweets for Janelle's teachers in her CC. She also made some cards with the help of her daddy using art punch. Then I also made Lemon Cheese Cupcakes for her to bring to school on the day itself.

Cupcakes before dressing up

Cupcakes after dressing up. Isn't it a world of difference? And looks so pretty!! BTW, all the cupcake toppers are painstakingly printed, cut, aligned and glued together by hand. 够诚意了吧！

Current cravings...

heheh this is definitely a non-exhaustive list
cravings have set in and there are loads I wanna eat!

Chef-cooked
Chicken fajitas @ HV Mexican restaurant
Express teppanyaki @ Tampines Mall (spicy pork slices set)
Curry Favour @ Central/ Cityhall - eaten and satisfied
Yuan Chun lor mee @ Amoy St
Aburiya @ Robertson Quay (wagyu beef cubes)
Shimbashi soba @ Paragon - eaten but can go again heheh
Seoul Garden bbq steamboat
Seafood crispy noodles @ Crystal Jade
Kazu Sumiyaki @ Cuppage; OR Shunjuu @ Robertson Quay
Aston Specialties @ The Cathay (steak?)
Rosti @ Marche
Beef teriyaki rice @ Waraku

Self-cooked
Chef Yong's baked rice
Chef Yong's beef stew
Chef Yong's chix noodle soup
Steamed silky tofu with minced pork, shitake mushrooms in oyster sauce
Fried wantons
Jap potato salad (recipe book - with cucumber and wasabi)
Pauline's yam kueh
Pauline's Hainanese pork chops with tomato gravy
Pauline's glutinous rice (with loads of dried shrimps and mushrooms)

man... am i droolingz buckets as i type...!

PS: heard an old saying that a preggie should eat whatever cravings she have during pregnancy, else later her baby will drool a lot when he/she is born... anyone heard of this?

anyway be it true or not, me gonna go fulfill my yearnings and stuff me face!
glorious food, here i come!!!!!!!!!!!

26 Aug 08 - 18 wks 6 days

Been having stomach pains on and off since the past week
Similar to diarrhea pains, but does not necessitate a trip to the bathroom every time the pain strikes
Sometimes it just comes and goes off after a while
But darn painful man
Wondering if it's a mild bout of stomach flu?
As the pain occurs around the area where baby is, am just worried that it may affect baby

Am on leave tmr for mummy's death anniversary prayers, may try to get an appt with Dr Chua just to make sure everything is normal
Hmm turned out Dr Chua appts are packed again, so settled for another gynae
Anyway since it's more to ensure that baby is fine and not affected by the pains, another one is fine
Aiyah but today wearing dress and that gynae is male somemore, lagi paiseh
Went toilet and diarrhea again
Dunno what's wrong with tummy, keeps churning
Butt darn painful sia

Hiaks hiaks… despite the on-off tummy grouses, I still went to buy mooncakes!
Today is by Four Seasons (not the hotel though)
Got myself 2 durian snowskin (freezing in the office fridge now) and 2 white lotus with double yolks
Heheh that is left with only one now, cos I wallop one down together with my staff!
Yum yumz…!

20 Aug 08 - 18 wks 1 day

Wow been 3 weeks since I last came in here
Nothing fancy happened in the interim
Except for the wonderous fact that im starting to feel my baby's movements!
No wonder everyone says the feeling is hard to describe
I would say it feels like light rippling, like how it feels when u are in a pool and someone swims past u
Real amazing!!
Wouldn't say I feel the movements very frequently, but at least once a day
Sometimes I feel him in the night, when I wake up to pee
Maybe cos I woke him up too hahah!

Got quite bad diarrhea yest afternoon and nite
Oh man, my butt absolutely hurts!!!!!
And the intermittent sharp tummy pains… make me worried as to how I'm gonna cope with the labour pains
Prob will be telling the nurse to bring on the epi once I'm admitted!

Oh oh, a hot topic among the womenfolk in SG these days - the enhanced parenthood plans
If my edd is accurate, I'll be enjoying an additional month of ML, total of 4 mths!
Plus 1K more of baby bonus, 4K total…
Now fingers crossed that edd stays in Jan…
But I do feel sad for those MTBs who are due between now to Dec
Will feel so cheated since these new perks do add up to quite a lot
Imagine if u are intending to take no-pay leave to extend ML, this new perk will save u a month's salary!!

I cancelled on my CL, gonna use my MIL instead
For sure there would be conflicts, but really have to try to ren and close an eye
Not like own mummy, she's still an outsider after all
But I get so defensive when darby tells me to let his mum call the shots
He's my baby leh, don't I have any say over his upbringing and well-being?
He is my son, don't ever forget that!

01 Aug 08 - 15 wks 2 days

So darn sleepy…. And right after lunch too
Very warm afternoon
Walked out to killiney kopitiam to buy my fav nasi lemak in banana leaf
Coupled with a apple cranberry juice from 7-11
Stuffed… prob that's why so sleepy
Lunched in too, so did not get to walk about much
Was slumped at the desk cos I just feel my energy draining away
Still have 3.5 hours to the end of day

Though im coming close to 4 mths now, my weight has yet to bounce back to my original pre-preggie weight
Still hovering ard 43, 44 kg
A bit worried cos it seems like everyone in the forum is putting on weight, at least a couple of kg, except for me
And I did recall gynae saying she's expecting about 1.5kg per mth from mth 4 onwards
Am I not eating enough? But I don’t feel hungry leh.. Bloated at times and not fantastic appetite too
But baby bump has been steadily showing, so I guess baby is absorbing my food nutrients?
Will be going to gynae in 2 weeks' time to check baby's progress
Hopefully all is well…

Now pretty busy with searching for baby's name
Although there's still plenty of time, still would be nice to have a name so that we wouldn't always refer to him as baby
More personal I find…
Darby's very keen on Darius Woo… im ok with it, but still want to see if I can find any other potential ones for more choices

Taka's having a baby fair again on 7-24 aug
Pondering if it is still too early to go buy baby stuff
Not sure if it's really cheap too cos not familiar with the usual pricing
Prob shld do some homework to make sure am really getting a good deal before deciding

Yest ended with a spot of surprise - sis got me the narcissus canned pork!! Woohooo!!!!
It invigorated the cooking mama in me, so gonna cook my fav pork trotter beehoon tmr for lunchy!
Suddenly felt like making some wantons to go with it, wonder if the frozen pork in my freezer is still edible
If not maybe just make prawn wantons??
Either that or I dump the prawms in with the beehoon to fry… less effort lah
See tmr if im lazy or effortful!
Tonight just need to soak the chinese mushrooms (lots of them!) and put the prawns in the lower compartment to defrost
Tmr just soak the beehoon, fry up everything and will be done!
Thinking if I am up to making some fried shallots, but those have been lying around for ages, scarly got maggots!
But beehoon with fresh shallots so nice leh… increase umami factor by 10!

14 Jul 08 - 12 wks 5 days

Baby's 70% likely to be boy boy!
Went for scan 2 days ago and saw a lil' white dot between the legs
According to sis, gynae is not likely to reveal unless she's pretty sure
Just added in the 70% to safeguard her interests ba
So I guess that's that!

Pretty excited cos it's the first time we have a boy baby in the family
Bit worried/ concerned abt how to look after one, where there are difference ba
Bought my first set of baby stuff yest at ikea

A chest of drawers in birch veneer, set of 10 white hankies, blue non-slip bathtub, blue net collapsible laundry container
Set us back by 300 bucks, that marks the start of heavy duty baby expenses!!
That chest of drawers sure is heavy, hubby groaning under the weight and had to make 2 trips
Wonder if I need to vacate the house when he sets it up?
Or must it be done out of the house totally?
Hmm… but I wanna see the fixing process leh.. Like to see it being turned from planks and bolts to a complete furniture
But looks like I wouldn’t be able to liao :(

03 Jul 08 - 11 wks 1 day

Didn’t know that pre-delivery visits can be claimed via medisave too
Just found today on the forum
Meaning gotta make sure I keep all the gynae receipts, and file them all away
Have to bring them to the hospital so that they can submit to CPF together with the hospital bill
This I gotta remember and pack into overnight bag!

MS seems to be getting better bit by bit
Though still there, it comes slightly less often and im able to drink more plain water now
Still have a lot of fruits to go through today
Had strawberries in the morning, now finishing the grapes
Still have a chestnut apple and nectarine to go
Am I loading up on the vitamins and fibre!

02 Jul 08 - 11 weeks exact

Heheh today is 11 weeks exactly, 1 more week to the end of first tri
Really hoping the MS will go away and leave me with a happier self and better appetite
Quite guilty actually, cos im not feeding baby with healthy foods
Had sinful LJS for lunch, chicken set with sprite
All oil and carbo and protein and sugar
Really dunno what to eat and since my legs brought me there, I just ordered and eat
Nice to meet 2 colleagues there, so we get to lunch tog, even though I was nearing the end of my meal
Then slowly rolled back to office, feeling extremely bloated

Wonder if the MS is subsiding, cos it feels less bad during mornings
But during the day it's still omnipresent
Now it doesn’t help if my tummy has food or not, can eat and puke at the same time
Really really hope it goes off completely very soon…


Gynae check next week will be during the triple test and NT test too
Test for baby's risk of DS
Worried and scared and dunno what to do if the tests turn out negative
Very stressed over this
Sis keeps telling not to worry unduly over it, everything will be fine
But my worrywart nature prevents me from resting on my laurels, even though I know there is nothing I can do about it


Super cannot tahan my hot and stuffy cube, so moved out to the round table to work instead
Luckily got wireless to access, and much much cooler and can feel the air con
Think I'll be sitting here more often going forward
Sure beats my lousy cube
Got privacy but no air!!!! *faints*


Next week will be a busy week
Out of office for 3.5 days to be on course, no chance to wfh
But at least on course will end by 5, which is a plus pt
If no overrun of course
But I bet a lot of people will be wanting to leave on time lah


Just now there was a mini explosion at the Singapore Power building
Apparently a lot of people heard it, but as usual im oblivious to it until my staff told me about the smoke
Went out at lunch and all the smoke has cleared, didn’t smell anything out of the ordinary
Seems like the SP folks were evacuated out of the building while the fire was cleared
Some of the power in our buildings were affected too
Worst is the lift breakdown at HQ for the 1-18 floors
So our staff are all waiting at the lobby for the power to be back in order to go back up to their offices

20 Jun 08 - 9 weeks & 5 days

Today was the first time for lunch that I felt like having some food.
Prob due to the shen3 qian2 wang2 show yest nite, nasi lemak popped into my mind
So off i went to killiney kopitiam to buy the traditional banana leaf wrapped coconut rice
Popped over to 7-11 to buy a guava juice to complete the meal - all for just $2.55!!
Finished almost all of the rice, except for the heavily-chillied bits, which was too much for me
Feeling nice and full now, but hope don’t progress to become bloated

There's a meeting later at 2pm, which will stretch for the most part of the afternoon
Good also cos time will pass faster and it'll be weekend before long!
Yeppety yep it's fri today, yoohoo!!!!!!
Tmr's gynae day, gonna see how my baby's progressing and listen to his/her heartbeat
Honestly the thought if me having a baby inside me still hasn’t sunk in

Oh I came into office today with a lil' surprise pressie on my table
It's a bottle of sugar coated gummies in a transparent pill bottle
So cute!!! It says on the label "HAPPY PILLS - Turn dreams into a sweet reality"
Isn't that sweet?? And the myriad of coloured gummies is just so pretty… thnks pris for the gift
It sure did cheer up my day!

Darn I can feel the bloating setting in
Shucks should have eaten slower
Eyes closing of own accord as I slump down on the desk… zzzzz…..

Hail to the Queen!

heheh I'm back!!
been a way too long hiatus since i last blogged in here.
read through the past blog entries and felt so nostalgic... so decided i shall come back and use this as my online journal.

am in a new phase of life.. with a lil' life inside me!
my clone! not in height though i hope hahaha...
yep yep. me micropea... am expecting... lil' nanopea!
all 18 wks and 2 days...

watch out for a series of upcoming posts that i wrote over the last couple of wks
when i was really bored in office and looking for an avenue to look busy kekeke...

stay glued... i mean GLUED!!!!

记得 (by 张惠妹)

谁还记得
是谁先说永远的爱我
以前的一句话
是我们以后的伤口

过了太久
没人记得当初那些温柔
我和你手牵手
说要一起走到最后

我们都忘了
这条路走了多久
心中是清楚的
有一天
有一天都会停的
让时间说真话
虽然我也害怕
在天黑了以后
我们都不知道
会不会有遗憾

谁还记得
是谁先说永远的爱我
以前的一句话是我们
以后的伤口

过了太久
没人记得当初那些温柔
我和你手牵手
说要一起走到最后

我们都累了
却没办法往回走
两颗心都迷惑
怎么说
怎么说都没有救
亲爱的为什么
也许你也不懂
两个相爱的人
等对方先说
找分开的理由

谁还记得
爱情开始变化的时候
我和你的眼中
看见了不同的天空
走的太远
终于走到分岔路的路口
是不是你和我
要有两个相反的梦

谁还记得
是谁先说永远的爱我
以前的一句话
是我们以后的伤口

过了太久
没人记得当初那些温柔
我和你手牵手
说要一起走到最后

我和你手牵手
说要一起走到最后

我怀念的 (by 孙燕姿)

我问为什么
那女孩传简讯给我
而你为什么
不解释低着头沉默
我该相信你很爱我
不愿意敷衍我
还是明白
你已不想挽回什么

想问为什么
我不再是你的快乐
可是为什么
却苦笑说我都懂了
自尊常常将人拖着
把爱都走曲折
假装了解是怕
真相太赤裸裸
狼狈比失去难受

我怀念的是无话不说
我怀念的是一起作梦
我怀念的是争吵以后
还是想要爱你的冲动

我记得那年生日
也记得那一首歌
记得那片星空
最紧的右手
最暖的胸口
谁记得
谁忘了

想问为什么
我不再是你的快乐
可是为什么
却苦笑说我都懂了
自尊常常将人拖着
把爱都走曲折
假装了解是怕
真相太赤裸裸
狼狈比失去难受

我怀念的是无话不说
我怀念的是一起作梦
我怀念的是争吵以后
还是想要爱你的冲动

我记得那年生日
也记得那一首歌
记得那片星空
最紧的右手
最暖的胸口
谁忘了

我怀念的是无言感动
我怀念的是绝对炽热
我怀念的是你很激动
求我原谅抱得我都痛

我记得你在背后
也记得我颤抖着
记得感觉汹涌
最美的烟火
最长的相拥
谁爱得太自由
谁过头太远了
谁要走我的心
谁忘了那就是承诺

谁自顾自地走
谁忘了看着我
谁让爱变沉重
谁忘了要给你温柔

我怀念的
我还有想要爱你的冲动
我记得那年生日
也记得那一首歌
记得那片星空
最紧的右手
最暖的胸口

我放手
我让座
假洒脱
谁懂我多么不舍得

太爱了
所以我
没有哭
没有说

Bockwurst

I tried this Pan Pacific Pork Bockwurst, available in the supermarkets. Taste like the bratwurst in the pasta served by Bakerzin! Yay! Now I don't have to specially go down to Bakerzin to satisfy my craving for the bratwurst!

BTW, what's the difference between Bratwurst and Bockwurst anyway?? I'm not a sausage expert, so as long as it tastes good, who cares about what it's called! Bockwurst is a German kind of sausage. A white wurst traditionally made from ground veal and pork.
Bratwurst is similar but rarely has a veal component while bockwurst is usually primarally veal. A bratwurst is composed of pork, beef, and sometimes veal. Small bratwursts originate in Nuremberg, Germany; the more common longer, thicker form can be found almost anywhere else in Germany.

A "Bratwurst" meal often is eaten with sauerkraut, mashed potatoes and roasted onions.These sausages are usually eaten with a hot or sweet German mustard or sliced and eaten as Currywurst. Bratwurst is almost always served with a hard German roll and usually accompanied by a beer. It is a popular snack in German-speaking countries, where it is sold at various fast food outlets and is often consumed while standing. While bockwurst is flavored with chives and parsley and eaten with bock beer. A natural casing sausage, it is usually cooked by simmering although it may also be grilled.

Vitamins for baby's health

Dear Sis

Congratulations on the new life growing in your tummy! Cannot imagine you being a mummy!! And gosh... I'm gonna be an 姨姨 too!

As pregnancy does have an adverse effect on our brain cells, as in you do become more forgetful, I've decided to document information here which may be useful in future for your baby as well as for my own reference.

GNC GoldMinds DHA 200 - Omega-3 fatty acid derived from Marine Microalgae Oil (S$36.48)
Solaray Multidophilus (from GNC) - Probiotics (S$69.50)
[I'm consuming the above in order to fortify my breastmilk for baby's intake]

Nordic Naturals Children's DHA (from Vitakids) - S$29.90
ChildLife Multi Vitamins & Minerals (from GNC) - S$54.50

Banana Cake

I made Banana Cupcakes yesterday night as my bunch of bananas are sitting on the counter-top ready to be claimed by mould if I do not consume them soon. This recipe is a keeper. Its still moist and soft today and not too sweet. Yummy!
Banana Cake

Ingredients:
180 g Butter
180 g Caster sugar
2 nos. Extra large Eggs - beaten lightly (130g without shells)
250 g Cake flour
1 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
220 g Bananas - mashed
50 g Dairy whip cream (can substitute with evaporated milk/fresh milk)
1/2 tsp Banana essence (can substitute with vanilla essence)
2 Bananas - sliced

Method:
1. Cream butter and sugar till light and creamy.
2. Pour in eggs gradually and beat till creamy.
3. Add in whip cream, mashed bananas and banana essence and mix well.
4. Add in cake flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and beat for a while only.
5. Pour into an 8" round tray, and arrange sliced bananas on top.
6. Bake at 175C for about 50 to 60 mins. or until cooked.

(Source: http://auntyyochana.blogspot.com/2006/07/banana-cake.html)

Note:
- I made these into cupcakes. This recipe yields 16 medium-sized cupcakes.
- I baked them at 175C for 25 mins.

Diaper Cake

My colleagues got me a Diaper Cake for my DD2. Isn't it cool?! There are diapers inside the cake and its covered with towels and blanket.

Steamed Double Yam Kueh

This is my virgin attempt at making yam kueh... Been wanting to make one eons ago, but never quite got down to it. This afternoon, I finally made up my mind to make one as I've been craving for fried yam kueh for sometime, but unfortunately, there's nobody to make one for me. :(

Steamed Double Yam Kueh

Ingredients:
600 g yam(steam and mashed)
400 g yam(cubed, then steamed)

Batter Mix:
400 g rice flour
40 g wheat starch [Also called “Tang Mein Fun” (cantonese). It’s the flour that is use to make Har Gow aka Shrimp dumpling that is served in Dim Sum restaurant. The wheat starch helps to moisten the kueh, making it a bit "Q-Q. If not available, can omit.] ~ I used Tapioca Starch as a substitute
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
900ml Boiling hot water

Filling:
150 g dried shrimps (soften with water, diced)
10 chinese preserved mushrooms(soften, sliced thinly)
300g pork belly(blanched in hot water for 1 min, then cut into thin shred)
1/2 tbsp salt
3 tbsp Fish sauce
1.5 tbsp sugar
1 tsp pepper

Method:
1. In a wok, add 2 tbsp of cooking oil, stir fry dried shrimps till fragrant.

2. Add pork shreds to fry till cooked. Add mushrooms and rest of seasonings.

3. Stir fry for 3 mins. Set aside

4. In a pot, add hot water and batter mix flour. Do not turn on Fire yet!! Stir to dissolve. Mixture looks like milk. [You have to stir till there are no lumps. One way to cheat this process is to add tap water to stir first. So if it’s 900ml boiling water, you minus from this. Add 200ml of tap water to stir the flour till its watery, no lumps. Then pour in the rest of the 700ml hot water. The other way was to add more hot water, up to 1.2 litres of hot water in total. If you add more water, you have to cook longer, so that the water will evaporate and the kueh will be firmer.]

5. Add mashed yam and stir to mix

6. Add filling ingredients and cubed yam

7. Stir to mix everything evenly

8. Turn on low heat/fire. And stir continously until batter is dry and sticky

9. Brush a round pan with onion oil and pour yam paste into it.

10. Flatten with a spatula.

To Steam using wok:
1. Make sure wok is already hot and ready for steaming.
2. Place pan of yam kueh to steam over high heat for 30 to 40 mins.
3. Remove to cool and sprinkle with chopped spring onions and fried onions.

To Steam using a Microwave oven:
1. Fill yam paste in a casserole dish.
2. Spray water on top of the paste till its wet.
3. Pour 1 cup of water into the rotating tray.
4. Cover the casserole and Microwave on HIGH(100%) for 10 mins.
5. Continue to MW on MED (70%) for another 5 mins.
6. Remove and garnish with spring onions and fried onions.

To Serve:
1. Wait for it to be completely cooled before slicing.
2. When its hot (just out of steamer), its too soft to be cut.
3. Serve with chilli sauce or sweet sauce or just freshly cut chilli.

Note:
- I made half of the recipe above which is just nice to fit my wok. Yields 1 x aluminium square pan and 1 x aluminium rectangular pan.

(Source: http://www.kitchencapers.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=7276
Contributor: Gina)

Redman Huat Kueh

After seeing all the raves about this Redman Huat Kueh ready-mix on the forums, I also bought 1 box to try out for myself. This version is the brown coloured one and it indeed is very easy peasy. Just add water or coconut milk to the ready-mix and it is ready for steaming. Each of the steamed Huat Kuehs also look very pretty... all smiling!! Taste-wise, its more towards the brown sugar "Wah Ko Kueh" version that they sell at pasar malams.

CNY 2008

This year, attempted a few new recipes. But the Desiccated Coconut Pandan Cookies and Potato Chips and Cheese Cookies didn't turn out good. However, I like the Pineapple Tarts and Almond Cookies. Have a look at my goodies at the end of the day!

This Desiccated Coconut Pandan Cookies smell very nice when just out of the oven. Taste crunchy and good too. But after it cooled, it turned out soft and not so nice afterall.

Pineapple Tarts 2008

This year, I tried out 2 different Pineapple Tarts recipes. Although both taste quite similar, but texture-wise, Gina's version tends to be more crumbly and melt-in-the-mouth, while using less ingredients. Will definitely use her recipe again next year!

Pineapple Tarts 2008

Ingredients for the Tart pastry:
570g Top flour/Cake flour
60g sugar
370g butter
2 eggs(110g)
Pinch of salt

Method for the Tart pastry:
1. Sieve flour, add salt and sugar and mix together

2. Rub butter into flour(use your fingers)

3. Beat egg lightly and add to the flour

4. Knead into a soft, sticky dough and leave it in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Ingredients for the jam:
3 pcs fresh, half ripe pineapple
2 pcs of cloves
200g sugar

Method for the Jam:
1. Remove skin and black eyes from pineapple

2. Grate pineapple and squeeze out the juice.

3. Juice can be used for other dishes, but NOT to be use with this.

4. Put pineapple into a large pot and cook.

5. Cook over medium heat for 2 hours.

6. Gradually, add sugar and cloves.

7. Cook for another 30 mins or until it is dry and sticky.

Method to assemble and bake:
1. Roll pastry to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into a special tart cutter.

2. Fill tart with pineapple filling

3. Bake in oven at 200 C for 20 to 30 mins till golden brown.

Important notes:
- Pineapple jam should be sticky and has a bit of liquid..not dry like those sold prepacked by Phoon Huat. Pineapple jam must be completely cooled before using. Best results will be adding some strands of dough on top of the jam. As the butter from the dough will seep on top of the jam and make it more tasty.
- Why use half ripe pineapples? Because it has less juice when its grated. If you use ripe pineapples, when you are cooking the jam, more liquid will come out. and you have to cook longer than 2 hours.
- No need to add egg wash to brush on top of tart before baking.
- Also note that there are 2 methods here: Rubbing in(butter with flour) Using Cake mixer to beat butter, sugar, flour. With Rubbing in method, the tart pastry is soft and crumbly after its baked. Depending on your taste and preference, you can do it either way, it will still work.

My Notes:
- I used the creaming method using a cake mixer.
- I used the ready-made pineapple jam from Phoon Huat (AAA grade). Find that its OK as I'm not game to stand over the stove for 2 hrs just to cook the jam!
- As you can see, I rolled the tarts as enclosed balls as I find it too tedious to make the open-top versions. The dough tends to "melt" quite fast, so got to work fast too.
- Can add 1 tbsp of milk powder into the dough mixture if available.

(Source: http://www.kitchencapers.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=6986&highlight=pineapple+tart
Contributor: Gina)

Almond Cookies

Made this Almond Cookies for CNY. Nice, very crumbly and fragrant!


Almond Cookies

Ingredients:
600g Plain Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
2 tsp Baking Soda
225g Sugar
400g Chopped Almonds
1 1/2 bowl (~400ml) Corn Oil

Method:
1. Sieve flour with baking powder and baking soda.

2. Add in almonds and sugar.

3. Add in corn oil (Add bit by bit till dough forms. May not need full amount) and mix well. Dough should form. Add more oil if mixture is too crumbly.

4. Divide into small balls.

5. Apply eggwash and bake at 175 degrees for 20 mins.

Note:
- Can replace almonds with peanuts.