From the offspring... such a sweetie!




world-class fencer in the making, in her newly-acquired competition gear...



and finally, a batch of cakes made with tangerines from mama-ji's lucky CNY plant... yielded a dozen cupcakes topped with melted white chocolate tinted a pale orange, as well as half a dozen of them in muffin size.

February's coming to an end, it's been a whirlwind since school started.
Yiyi-ji's out of her 5-star stay in the hospital, and boy, that was one long stay. The bug's not quite cleared yet, but she's definitely looking better than she did a couple of weeks ago. Bet mamaji will have her fattened up back to original size ASAP.

As for the babes, well, S is rather disappointed her malay trip's been postponed due to the malaysian elections on 8 March.
Ah well, that's the way things happen sometimes....
Anyway, we're working on revision intensively this week, it's CA week!
Mummyji's gotta be honest, the babes do seem to be putting in more effort this year... so way to go, Babes! Mummy's proud of y'all and love you very much!

CNY 2008

traditional family picture on CNY Day 1... minus poor yiyi-ji this year, who was quite ill... (she's currently recuperating in the hospital now)... samyi-ji and samyijiong don't normally spend day 1 with the rest of us.


3 pretty maids all in a row



kids sending a hello to their mummy in hospital...


cheeky boy squeezing into picture


Ivan's 5th birthday present


cupcakes for our party!


Ivan's Spidey cake

mummyji's version of Yu sheng, with smoked salmon, rocket leaves


can I cut my cake now??!


birthday boy with the grands


birthday boy with the cousins

And we're set to start school tomorrow, after a long break, sigh...
poor yiyi-ji's still in the hospital, so we continue praying for her speedy recovery..
Lord hear our prayer!

Goodbye piggy, hello rat!

The Police concert was great... other than Sting who's looking fit and trim, you'd never think the other 2 could've lasted the concert.......but they did, and with such passion and energy too! Mummyji's really impressed!

and there's a correction to be made to the previous entry, Mr Sting said that it was the first time Police had ever been in Singapore, so that can only mean Mummyji's demented memory's got it wrong- it was Sting 14 years ago.... oops...

Nonetheless, mummyji'll like to state for the record that the four hundred bucks paid for the concert was worth the while. Not only was the band brilliant, it was also for the charity organisation WaterAid...

Lastly, Mummyji'll like to wish one and all A Happy Peaceful and Blessed Lunar New Year, 新年快乐, 年年有余!

Police Concert & halal Bak Kwa

Daddy- and mummyji at the concert

It's been 14 years already since Police performed "live" in Singapore. Back then, Mummyji and Daddyji weren't legally married yet.. ;p
Fast forward, 14 years later, with 2 beautiful babes, we're going to attend Police "live" in Singapore, again!
The concert's tonight.. and Mummyji's counting down to it. The last concert we attended was a couple of years ago, when Sting performed solo.

On a different note, mummyji's found the halal bak kwa she's been pining for! After searching online for some weeks, mummyji finally chanced upon this blog, got the address down and dear Daddyji took Mummyji there yesterday. Bought 3 x 500g packs of the Ayam Madu.
It's called Daging Dendeng Halal Sedap, but it really is a misnomer cos dendeng's quite different in texture and mode of preparation. But it doesn't quite matter to mummyji.... what's important is that it's authentic in taste, and CNY does feel more real with it! The babes love it too!

Have forgotten to take pictures of it in the ecstasy of finally getting to chomp on bak kwa! ;p
The stall is at Teh Tarek Coffeeshop in Haig Road, opposite the Malay Village and next to Darul Arqam. The coffeeshop looks like its got some promising local food too. Shall make it a point to eat there one weekend.

And oh yes, mummyji's really grateful to have found Putri Berendam's blog, hers is one mighty noble quest - the quest for halal food! She deserves a medal for her efforts! All that sacrifices, trying out all the food joints, regardless of taste.

3 cheers for Putri! Hurray, hurray, hurray!

paris vacation

We are in Paris right now, so no cooking or baking for a while..
some laundry for mummyji to do though, hmmm, here in the apartment which we've rented for our stay here..
no big deal there, cos no ironing to be done, hahaha

ok now, that's all there is gonna be for this week, a brief respite from all that walking, shopping, eating..

hey, Mummyji's on vacation now!


cheers, everybody! Check out our vacation photos @web.mac.com/mummyji

new bakes

Mummyji was pottering in the kitchen for a couple of days last week, simulating the life of a SHM (that's Stay Home Mum for you ). Forgot to get some shots of the plats du jour in all the excitement, only remembered the breks and dessert.


This is the batch of double choc muffins.

Cross-section of lemon-blueberry muffin, adapted from Dorie Greenspan's orangey blueberry muffin. The lemon zest and lemon juice didn't impart as strong a citrus scent as an orange would have, in mummyji's humble opinion. Well, guess the next time we'll just stick to orange as in the original recipe.

And here's a chocolate truffle pie, topped with fresh organic raspberries, baked specially for Mamaji's visit. Mummyji really liked the tart raspberry on the rich dark chocolate, but the little ones kept asking, Yi-ma, how come the berries are so hairy?
ahahahha

Aren't these cute? They just remind mummyji of a flock of plump geese sunbathing in a pond... hahaha
Actually they are Mummyji's virginal batch of meringues baking in a low oven.
They turned out pretty well, mummyji's really proud to say - they were crispy and light, not too sweet... simply fabulous!

And they're so simple to make too, just a couple of egg whites and half a cup of sugar whipped till they became a fluffy white cloud which could hold peaks, then baked slowly in a low oven of 100 - 120 deg C, with the oven door slightly ajar for an hour.
Mummyji's gotta do another batch for the beloved daddyji seems to like them with his morning macchiato cuppa.
Well, that's gotta wait for a couple of weeks, as we'll be off to Paris for our long-awaited vacation in less than 2 days!
Yay! Paris, here we come!
A very Merry Festive Season to one and all!
Au revoir!

P.S. Just in case u are wondering, the simulation of the life of SHM was pretty fun, except that it would have helped greatly if the FDW was still around! FYI, yea, we're in the midst of another maid change.... again....sigh... anyways, Mummyji'll rather not talk about this frustrating issue right now. Let's not dampen the countdown-to-vacation mood now! Watch out for our vacation pics....

parting shots of Hans... and welcome Svens

Yea, yea, Mummyji's a sentimental old ninny.. It's been 2 weeks since we've parted with Hans.. it's really time to let go.


Svens looking quite at home after being driven back from the showroom by a beaming Daddyji.
This new fella's literally oozing Nordic cool, he's effortlessly powerful and sitting behind the wheel in his cockpit (;->) never fails to set Mummyji's heart on fire..
May we have many exhilarating years of companionship, Svens! And wilkommen to the family!