Went to catch Singfest 08 at Fort Canning Park on Sunday. T'was a fantastic lineup consisting of the crowd faves Jason Mraz, One Republic, Pussycat Dolls & Alicia Keys. Oh, the organizers even brought nostalgia back with Rick Astley! Rick had crazy women throwing bras & panties up at him!  :)  Tickets were really cheap at $200 for a full 9 hours of concert. Kudos to the organizers!

The weather was great. We brought our fully stuffed picnic baskets to munch & nibble in between the dancing. Wonderful day! 

    
 

9 egg yolks were left over from the Swiss Meringue Buttercream for the cakes I baked over the weekend!!! What to do with them all? Sis suggested a quiche, so that's what I made for dinner! :)

Here's Gordon Ramsey's bacon, mushroom & rocket quiche, which I served with grilled asparagus with smoked salmon & shaved parmesan.


 

The Singapore Dance Theatre marks their 20th anniversary this year with Ballet Under The Stars 08 at Fort Canning Park. This year's BUTS showcases the best of SDT's repertoire over the years.

We brought food & snacks & wine & had a picnic at Fort Canning. Was so inspired by the performance that we stayed back after the show to do some dancing ourselves! :)


                         
                        
                          

Went to catch Joey Chestnut & Takeru Kobayashi in action at the inaugural Major League Eating Asia 08. Oh boy they sure can eat. They are in a class of their own man! They each wolfed down about 5kg of chicken satay wheras the amateurs only managed about 1kg. D, sis' friend is the only female competitor who qualified for the finals. Go Des! Great job :)

To the delight of his hoard of screaming fans, Kobayashi edged out Joey to regain his title! Yeah!

 
        

A 10" carrot cake for Cowfu. Iced with cream cheese flavored buttercream & decorated with a pistachio border. Excess batter made into cupcakes for sis' colleagues.

                   

I just love carrot cake! Both the local Singaporean type as well as the ang moh version! :)

For lovely images of Singapore style carrot cake, click here http://flickr.com/photos/47075868@N00/2148805884 & http://flickr.com/photos/lastboltnut/2148799814/in/set-72157594364571706/

Banana cupcakes with nutella centers, topped with a swirl of cream cheese buttercream & a chocolate transfer drawing.

         

I went to admire the displays at the Singapore Garden Festival currently on at the Suntec Convention Centre. There are really some beautiful fantasy & garden landscapes on show. Very inspiring! Picked up a couple of ideas for my home.  :)  But my fave area has to be the Orchid Show on level 4. The variety & colors of orchids are simply amazing!

There are also bargains to be had at the Marketplace area. Basil & mint plants only $4.90/pot!

 
       

More information here http://www.singaporegardenfestival.com/

Came back from Hong Kong with aching calves & sore gluts. Shopping's such a great workout! :)

Decided to try the latest fad in town - fish spa, to exfoliate all the calluses that formed over the weekend! These fishes are called garra rufa, same species as the 'doctor' fishes that clean sharks & mantas in the wild. They are supposed to feed on our dry & flaky dead skin.

It's a terribly uncomfortable sensation the first couple of minutes, & made worse when you see all the fishes swarming around you feet. The entire floor of the building could hear us screaming away! Very eeky! After you get used to the sensation though, it becomes enjoyable, especially around the calves area. Our feet & hands were indeed soft & smooth after the 30min session! :)

                        
 

  

I went with my group of best gal pals to Hong Kong over the weekend. We finally managed to arrange our schedules and find a time when all of us are able to pop over to HK for a weekend getaway. What with spending time as newly weds to becoming mummies to powering careers, we haven't been able to spend much quality time with each other without any distractions. We've known each other since we were young & innocent & hideous (pre contact lens era, bad hairdos, braces etc) 12 year olds! We go back a loooong way!

We had a blast in HK. Laughed tons, ate buckets & shopped till we dropped. Oh, & danced, & drank & flirted shamelessly too!!!  :)  It was really hilarious fun! It's uncanny how little we've changed. We clicked and got along just like when we were back in school. A little older & wiser perhaps, but still crazy!

Best shopping bargain: 6 pairs of Nine West shoes for S$320!!!
Best local eating spot: jing wei ju on 2 Peel Street (signature dish - roast lamb shan dong style)
Best night spot with live music: INSOMNIA
Favourite group photo:
 
Favourite 'fugly' photo:


It's been such a blast that we've vowed to make this a bi-yearly event. Can't wait for the next trip!  :)

Had some relatives from the Big Apple in town. Took them out on a boat trip around the outlying Singapore islands. Fishing, swimming, pigging out.... Fortunately the weather held up and I managed to get a tan too!  :)





 

Made this jelly to be served with cheeses. Had a slight problem with the pectin from Phoon Huat. Somehow the jelly was too soft, even after re-cooking it. Perhaps the concentration is different from those sold overseas. Gotta tweak the recipe. Taste was yum yum though...

                                 

Update: Used gelatin powder to firm up the jelly and it worked! Texture is perfect now.  :)  Hopefully the taste isn't compromised!

The red glutinous rice wine that mum & I made was finally harvested after 21 days. I find it to be slightly on the sour side. Does anyone know why?

     

The 1st dish that I made using our wine was drunken chicken. Chicken thighs were marinaded overnight with the rice wine, ginger, scallions, soy, pepper and sugar. The whole dish was then steamed for 40 minutes and kept in the fridge overnight before serving. The wine and chicken juices will harden into a flavorful jelly, otherwise known as aspic in culinary terms. Slice chicken just before serving together with the aspic. The flavor was not too bad but I think can do with more alcohol. But then I'm an alcoholic... :)

                                                                   

Hubby's so proud of his tool board which we set up together in the storeroom over the weekend. Ain't it cool?! :)  Gosh, we are getting so domesticated!!!

                                         

Have been pigging out too much lately so I thought I'd make a vegetable curry dish for dinner. A mixture of cabbage, carrot, turnip & long beans were used, with the addition of quail eggs and tau kwa. Very yummy with plain white rice.

Yes, it was plenty of vegetables but it just struck me that the coconut milk's not that healthy. Will try to substitute the coconut milk with skim milk or yoghurt next time and update on that turnout.
                                                                   

Bought this wooden cinnamon bowl from Bali for salads as it's sufficiently deep. It's also light and un-breakable, making it easy to pass around. The inner surface is lined with the pretty iridescent mother-of-pearl shell. Very pleased with this purchase.

                                            
Tried this recipe from Take Home Chef which called for coating a frenched rack of lamb with a breadcrumb mixture flavored with orange and rosemary. I thought it sounded interesting but the taste can be improved upon. Will work on it...Hands were too oily to take a decent photo after the carving. Sorry!
                                                                            

Singapore finally bid farewell to the National Stadium (a new sports hub will be built by 2013)...Hubby had a few glorious moments on the track in his younger days so he brought me there to savor the memories and snap some photos as keepsake. I felt a little sad as the grand old dame was looking rather shabby and desolate...

                                              
                           
 
              

Thanks to the boss of Boon Tong Kee who shared his company's recipe for a Singapore favourite - Hainanese Chicken Rice! :) 

According to him, the 'secret' in making the chicken oh-so-tender is to hold the chicken by it's neck and dunk it 5 times (in a up & down motion) in hot boiling water flavored with ginger and scallions. After that place the chicken breast down in the hot water, turn off the heat, cover the pot and let stand for 1 hour. Place chicken in an ice bath for a taut glistening skin. Chop into bite-size pieces for serving.

This is my attempt...Not too shabby! :)

                                                                     

I bought the Canon Ixus850 IS for hubby's birthday last year (which I have been hogging!) and he bought me a Nikon D80 for mine this year! Yippee! Thanks dear! :)

We set up a photography showdown with each other on Sunday. Location was the Floral & Forest Walk sections of the Southern Ridges Walk (http://www.nparks.gov.sg/southernridges.html ). Yes, I know it's a terrible disadvantage for him to be using a point & shoot while I use a DSLR! Hehe... 

Sunday turned out to be cloudy, which wasn't perfect for a photography sesson but it made for an thoroughly enjoyable walk. A nice cool day with lovely views...what more can one ask for? :)

Here're some of the photos...

By hubby
    

By me
     

Had to fill up some bare spots in my garden so went flower shopping at Far East Floral. Wow, just realized that even potted plants are getting expensive here in Singapore!

Bought 2 pots of Anthurium, 4 pots of Petunias and 2 pots of Cuphea and a pack of mosquito dunks. The bill came up to almost $100!

*sigh* Inflation's a killer!

            

Have been feeling slightly lazy to cook lately so bought a pack of tortilla wraps, striploin and an assortment of vegetables to make beef wraps.

Real easy dinner. Slice vegetables, grill steaks, spread on cream cheese, pile ingredients onto tortillas and voila, dinner! :)