Bintan - Nirwana

It has been quite a quiet month. i didn't bake much. except for a Chocolate Mango Mousse cake.

What to do with the spare time? GO ON A HOLIDAY!!! haha..well it is just a weekend getaway but but it is the first trip with my dearest girlfriends since College and it was plan waaaaaaaaaaay before.

Since it was a long weekend, due to Hari Raya (a Malay New Year), the girls and I decided to head to Bintan for a relaxing time (Chilling, 'Nuaing', whatever you call it). We booked 2 rooms at Nirwana Resort which got 'upgraded' into a Suite (hmm not sure if it is the right choice to accept the offer in monetary terms but we accepted anyway). So we had a living room with 2 extra single beds prepared - there were 4 of us in total), bedroom with a King (or was it queen) size bed, a spacious bath area (with 2 sinks, a bath tub for soaking - no shower head, a shower area and a shitting toilet area) and a balcony. I think staying in a Suite like this is a much better idea than having 2 rooms as we are able to do everything together without having to move from room to room. It is so FUN!!!

I was responsible for the snacks and this is what I got based on the 'orders' 

Let me tell you...unless you are rich, please bring your own snacks. Seriously!!! SGD7 for a pack of fried fish balls, SGD4 for a pack of random brand potato chips?!!! 

Friend V was responsible for sandwiches to be consumed as lunch before we depart at noon! Nom Nom. Thank you V for the yummy and healthy sandwich! and also thank you V's Mom for the fruits to keep our digestive system working well during the trip :)

Let's check out the Suite shall we?

The brightly lit living room is what you see when you step into the Suite. Beautiful right?!!!

This is the other side of the living room.

Say hello to Mr Ele

Then we see the bedroom..romantic!

The changing area which i didnt mention earlier. And the big spacious shower area.

Check this out! Reversible FLAT LCD screen TV (random note: one of my friend CLL always check upon entering a hotel room. hahaha)

Balcony! that a cat passed by during the night which freaked me out! TT

Not forgetting Stich speaker to get us 'lancing' dancing through the night.

While exploring the resort, we found this!

FYI, we had instant noodles for lunch and went for Spa after that.

Dinner at pasar Oleh Oleh which ermmm I can say is food court standard but restaurant price.

This is some special drink that Friend C ordered which tasted not bad just a tinny bitsy sweet.

I was lucky to have ordered Olive rice n stirred fried chicken which tasted the best out of the dishes my girlfriends ordered. This cost SGD8 btw.

The next day, no picture of the breakfast because they aren't that great. :( We chilled out at the beach and pool before heading back into the room to nap. I love how clear the water in the beach is. So blue and pretty. I was so immersed with its beauty that ermmm oppsie...i didn't take any photos of it. =x I will try to get my hands on the photos at the beach from my gf and post it in the future post. We were lucky with the weather in the sense where when we were out, the sky shone brightly with Mr Sun smiling at us but when we headed indoor, the sky darkened and started to drizzle if not pour without warning. I guess we are blessed. ^^

After lazing around in the pool and beach, we cleaned up and had instant noodles for lunch again, then massage followed by dinner at Nirwana Kelong Restaurant. The best food we had eaten in Bintan. Please remember to make reservation beforehand as we almost couldn't get a table. The pricing is similar to SG. It cost us SGD96 for these 4 dishes including drinks and 2 bowls of rice. They have set dishes for 4 pax which cost SGD148++ but it seems too much for us to finish.

Then we had some fun with lips tattoo on our last night at Bintan!!!!

Then that is the end of the trip :( As usual fun time passes really quick. Before you knew it, it is over. sob sob...

The ferry ride back was quite bad, I felt slightly nauseous and had a bad headache. Probably due to hunger (i didnt had lunch) and ermmm me watching too much drama via my mobile on board. But I reckon the ferry ride contributed partly as well because a little girl was puking badly in the ferry. *green face T.T* So when I got home, I was super hungry. To the point of ermm fainting? hahaha.. I found no human in sight, not a single living thing (except the plants -.-). Hence, I whipped up pasta just to satisfy my growling stomach. Pasta with endame, onions, garlic, cheese and omelette.

Since it was Hari Raya the day before, as usual, I got invited to my one and only 'Malay' friend's (a friend for 12 years and counting. also a neighbour for more than 12 years) house for Hari Raya visiting. These are the yummy food prepared by her mom which I always look forward to. kekeke...The homecook ketupat! Yummy chilli sauce / gravy, etc...<3<3<3!!!

Selamat Hari Raya!

xx,

Pam

Caramel Apple Mousse

This is an impromtu project where i was surfing the net for inspiration of business name and pretty things, i just thought i need a break and whipped up something (also a good way to use up as much of my leftover cream as i can). To be honest, yesterday was a lazy day where i didn't want to bake anything and having to clean up the trays and oven. Hence, i came up with this non-bake dessert. Seriously, the person who invented 'digestive biscuit' base is a life saver on a day like this!!! :)

I shall stop blabbering and go straight to the point of my post. This non-bake Caramel Apple Mousse is super easy and fuss free (ok not as easy as those 1 bowl mix batter such as brownies but still easy enough). It taste light, refreshing and the poached apple just gave it a nice crunch which provides an interesting texture.

I m doing a one man show and having only a mobile phone as my camera, i am only able to take picture of the completed product. I have not upgraded myself to a foodblogger who is able take picture at every step of the baking (non-bake) process whom i salute to (it is not easy to remember to take picture at every step of the process). This cake will be part of my catalogue. :) i am quite proud of it as i came up with the entire recipe myself. the ratio of the ingredients, the flavour, the components, etc. except for the caramel mousse recipe which is taken from my school (Le Cordon Bleu - LCB London)

Starting from the bottom: Digestive biscuit base, caramel mousse, poached apple, apple vanilla mousse, apple syrup glaze.

For those who have been making pastries, will know that this is a simple cake to make and you can easily try it out at home. however, for non-bakers, i am sorry i can't disclose the recipe as it will be part of my catalogue in my future shop. Hope you will understand. 

Back to praising :| the cake: The most awesome part is that the cake is non bake. So those who does not have an oven at home can make it. Another good thing about it is that it does not contain eggs :)

Just some updates, i am currently into fondants and royal icing which i have yet to get my hands on. probably soon. i had made some orders on ebay for the tools!!! hehe cant wait for my new toy to arrive (it might take about 25 days though). I realized cakes covered with fondant and cookies decorated with royal icing is just like scrapbooking! which means craft work. I LIKE!!!! I <3!!! I LOVE!!!! :)))) found a new love to embrace! dreaming and thinking about them just makes me happy. hahaha.. it is nice to be happy with simple things like these =x

xx,

Pam

Mango + Cassis = Yummy and the many delights this week.

I had just tasted my new creation and I will be thick skin enough to say it is GOOD! :) ain't too creamy, ain't too sweet, ain't too sick, refreshingly delicious =x

Biscuit soaked with cassis (blackcurrent) syrup, filled with mango mousse with black current jelly centre and mango compote. Topped with cassis glaze.

this week is supposed to be tart week. however, i only managed to work on 1 tart which is the Frangipane Tart. SG is not know as sunny SG for nothing. Hence, with the hot weather in SG, i had to keep putting flour to my pastry dough when moulding to prevent it from breaking even though i sort of 'froze' the dough (i already tried to minimize the amount of flour by working as quickly as possible). The tart is slightly hard as compared to the ones i usually make when i was in London but it's still acceptable. i filled it with almond cream which was slightly too sweet. but when topped with persimmon, it was just right. texture is good with persimmon. i like! :) 

had an order form a friend who wants something fruity. she had seen the cake topped with piped roses and loved it. hence, requested for me to decorate this fruity cake as such. 

the cake might look as though it was filled with super a lot of cream! but fret not i dislike overly creamy cakes as well. only the top is filled with cream due to the rose piping. to neutralize the flavour and texture, the side of the cake is only being spread with a very thin layer of cream which is then surrounded by chocolate sticks. the inard is filled with a layer of kiwi (slightly tangy) and a layer of mango. the verdict will be out tonight when my friend had it cut. praying hard that it will be good :)

that's all folks. have a great weekend. <3 u ;)

xx