it has been quite a while....

hello~~~ *waves vigorously..i am still here!!! HAAARLOOOOOOOW!!! ok this should be loud enough to let you know of my presence. keke

start off with a piece of GOOD NEWS (why should we add the letter 'S' behind the word 'new' even if i only have ONE news to talk about...hmmm..ok cut the crap) anyway i had managed to get Samsung Galaxy S2 before CNY! woo hoo!!! awesome eh :)

Recently, I have been selling little afternoon tea cakes to my family and friends for the upcoming Valentines Day (they were itching to taste some home made cakes ever since i left for London). They were all very supportive and encouraging. If only the laws in Singapore ain't that strict, I will be selling cakes online to the public =x However, I understand the reasons behind these restrictions and I know the Government meant well :) I wouldnt deny, looking at how much SG had grown, I m very proud of the SG government.

Back to the cakes: I made Brownies that everyone has been craving for and Lemon Cake which is something new to them and they love it (and i will add, even more than the Brownies. yea you can say we are unfaithful..but at least we speak the truth). I intended to introduce Choux Pastry to them as well, which i am very sure will be the winner out of the other 2. However, there's too much work involved especially in a small kitchen of mine with the tiny oven and the tiny space available. how i miss LCB kitchen with everything of the perfect size and availability.

Some of them got to taste the Choux pastry though and many love it. They love the cream in the pastry as well as the Choux itself. Those who usually do not eat Choux Pastry tried and love it too!!! felt very accomplished =x haha but yes i shall not be complacent. I don't have to remind myself that we learned to make Choux Pastry at Basic level (and it is what i got for my Basic Prac Exam) Hence, there is no excuse for not doing a good job. i should be glad that i didnt let myself down.

Other than these, I had orders for Birthdays as well.

The above is the 1st cake (Mango Lychee Mousse Cake) that i had sold. my dearest friend ordered from me for her mom's birthday. Thank goodness her family loves it. :)

Before all these busy cake selling period, it was CNY. Mummy and i had been busy making CNY goodies out of recipes from her good old days which.....apparently should turn out really awesome. I had tasted and tried and they are indeed awesome to the max. however....trying to replicate it after all these long long years, the result turned out negative. :( we tried making Kueh Bangkit, though the recipe and methods looks super easy but seriously it's a b**** to perfect it. i m serious. This is really a cookie that requires SKILL! by the way my mom gave up on it. lol but not me! the tiny little percentage of Peranakan blood in me tells me i am so gonna perfect it and not give up. Not only this, along with other Peranakan (Nonya) food, i volunteered to learn from my Uncle how to go about making them. it will be sad to know that all these tradition and yummy food will be lost along the line if none of us were to learn them. hope i m able to recreate the exact taste of each dishes. stress!!!! 

 That's the unsuccessful Kueh Bangkit (i knew what went wrong with it after speaking to my uncle about it) this cookie should turn out light (as in the weight) and melts in your mouth (literally) with the lingering fragrance of pandan leaves and coconut.

The above is custard butter cookie (recipe from mom's friend). They are quite tasty though i still prefer mom's melt in the mouth butter cookies. keke. i practiced piping rosettes out of the cookie dough. how was it? hehe

CNY is one of the best festive season. We had reunion dinner, family visiting, gathering, gambling, etc...

This year, I helped out with the preparation of reunion dinner (it is where all paternal  family gather the night before CNY for a dinner)

wooo yummy food..we have got bamboo shoots stew (-my favourite, not shown in the photo), Kueh (for dipping, which i don't know what it's called), 'Dong fen' (it's not as easy to fry as it looks), bean sprouts, cereal prawns, century eggs, fried fish, roasted duck, pig's organ soup, chicken curry and many many more..recalling all these food makes me really hungry right now.

From Day 1 of CNY onwards, families will go visiting. As for my family, I will follow my maternal family to visit my grandparents' brothers and sisters. :)

on the top left corner of the photo, they are pictures of my great grandparents. :) Visiting in the day and this is what we do in the night (see photos below)

 we have POKER night!!!

 and MahJong Night!!!! hehe

a little Monday Blues is getting to me :( you might be wondering why...it is because i am currently helping my Uncle with his business and i have an assignment to complete. However, i am lucky to have flexible hours when it comes to working with him. as long as the task given is completed, all is good :D i aim to finish by this week so i am able to focus on the cakes. i have a few ideas on hand to work on (referring to the cakes) hope they will turn out good :) praying hard and crossing fingers and and hmmm trying to stay positive and focus.

i need lots of strength, discipline, patience and positive attitude. 

xx