Macau Day 1

Here comes the time of the year again where everyone will take a break and goes into the HOLIDAY mood. Having said that, I’m still trying to shake off the holiday bug in me.


This trip was an impromptu trip as I was thinking of Taiwan, Australia, Bali for my break. Somehow, someone, something prompt us to book a flight out to Macau and Hong Kong with Disneyland as part of our iti (I will blog on this separately). With a group of 7 it doubles up to a group of 17pax! Much planning on the logistic and it took me a week for this together with the iti. Glad that no lost child in this trip and everything almost goes as it plan.

We took the 6am flight and this mean waking up SUPER DUPER early in the wee hours. We were thinking, how on earth anyone will check in so early in the airport but when we reach there we saw a line at the check in counter. How kiasu Singaporean can be :p.
 All settled and I’m planning to catch up my sleep. Glad that Zach slept almost the whole journey. Good thing about Macau, there are free shuttle bus to bring you to your hotel or town! We reached our hotel (Venetian Resort) around 11am and we checked in our luggage to store as we can only check in at 3pm. This place is HUGE! It has few wings and the free shuttle to take to town is situated at the south lobby. It turns out the casino is situated at the centre of the hotel and we have to walk a little further passing through the shops and manmade Venice canal.

We took the free shuttle to Sands’ hotel and thereafter a taxi to St Paul’s ruin. There we spend about 3 hours having our lunch there and did some shopping on Macau’s snack before we took the free shuttle back to hotel to check in.

This is going to be a long post with pictures so, I will just leave the pictures with a short caption to illustrate our Macau trip.

The ceiling of the Venetian

grand hotel lobby

St Paul's ruin

local snack shops

Senado Square with X'mas deco

Zach is so amazed by the toilet - Bella Suite

Dad testing on the bed. Pass!

Next, our day trip around Macau where we hired our private vans to bring us around! It cost us only Macau$ 1600 = SGD300. That equates to SGD17.60/pax from 12-9pm (suppose to be 8pm). That’s really a good deal! Stay tuned!

Weekend Baking-Blueberry and Chocolate chips Muffin!

Getting into X’mas mood, I sudden have the urge to bake. Those we know me, I’m not a cake person and I don’t bother or travel far to have a good cake treat. Anyway, it was a long weekend and thinking of pasting my time with good use, hehe..like real, I decided to bake! Not the over elaborated kind but I decided to bake something easy and non-brainer. Also, less cleaning and do not require much ingredients to hunt and is easily to buy or have in your kitchen.

After work, I drop by Cold Storage. Browsing thru the cake section, I came across Krusteaz-Wild Blueberry mix! Turning behind the box, the instruction is so easy and what’s more I only need an egg, vegetable oil (I substitute it with butter) and 5.3oz of water (I substitute it with orange juice). In addition to this, I bought some muffins cup and a muffin tray.

After dropping home, I was so excited to start baking but I stop myself till the next day so that I can have it with my afternoon tea!

Here’s the ABC step by step to your Wild Berry Cup Cakes…! The good thing about this Krusteaz muffin mix comes with a can of blueberry! See, I don’t even need to run around to look for blueberry. It’s all in a box and I only need to gather a little strength to open the lid, ok, I use a can opener. Run through the berry under cold water. Drain and put aside.

This is what I prepare an egg, butter (half of it), Krusteaz muffin mix, 5.3oz of orange juice (not in the pic) and Hershey’s mini button chocolate (my own creation to throw in some chocolate chips..yummy!)

Break the egg, fold in the muffin mix, pour in the juice and start blending the mix.

Blend it till you get a velvety texture. If you still don’t, you are not working your muscle! Start blending or if you are just a princess, my advice get a machine to help you.

Next, pour in the chocolate chips and the last to go are the berries! You do not want your berries become to mushy.

Line the baking tray with the muffin cups and pour in about 2/3 of the mix. For deco, I threw in some choco chips on top of the muffin mix. Push them in slightly inside as they will stay put on top of your muffin prettily, else it will stop dropping off like rat shit when you remove them out from the tray.

Ta-DA! Looks good eh?!

Of course, it tastes good and yummmmmy too! Don’t you think you can bake like a professional now with Krusteaz?

Yes, you can! Go and try it and they have other flavours too!

Cycling @ East Coast Park

After sometime, I manage to fulfill one of my waiting lists that is – bring Zach for a spin at East Coast Park (ECP).

It was a good and bright Sunday morning and Dad, Lily and Sis was in town. I marched the troop to ECP for early in the morning with MH half sleeping. We reach the Family bicycle (Carpark E, near to the East Coast food court) kiosk at 8:15am and rented the bikes for 2 hours. I wasn’t’ very happy with this shop due to some incidence happen later on. We went there after a few times and I feel their service level sucks. I may consider other kiosk in future and I’m sure there are plenty out there.

It was our very first time we did the tandem cycle. Initially I was a little skeptical as I have not done this for sometime. Considering that I’m the “main rider” and carrying Zach and Mh (who was heavy :p), maneuvering the bike needs skill. Anyway, we manage to cycle at least 10km. The bicycle route is very scenic and if you go there before the sun is up, the air will be very cooling and pleasant to ride.

Zach was a little confuse intially. Am I on a stroller with mum?

 

Here comes the threesome

 

Say Cheezeeeee!

I'm BACCCCCCCCCCCCK to blogging!

Hi everyone! I'm back to blogging after so many donkey months! I had missed out so many activities to update eveyone and I had a very strong intention of abandoning this blog. You know, it's just like an old car engine that has been sitting in the garage making pretty and collecting dust.

Anyway, I'm all energised and I just cant wait to blog! Stay tuned and you will see updates in this blog soooooooon!



Sneak peak…

this shows how long I have not been blogging. Zach has been growing so much and he’s coming to 2 this 3rd Dec09!


This weekend, we have decided to venture out again to look for a play school for Zach. Oh yes, we did a trial class for him at Julia Gabriel and he joined the Bilingual Playclub for 18-3 ½ years. Boy, it was fun and he had a blast time there! However, we decided to source for more options to compare as both of us know nuts on this play school thingy and more options will at least gives us a well informed decision made.

Wish us luck and will update you again!

Chill out at East Coast PArk

Chilling out at East Coast Park and just people watching on a Sunday late afternoon. Wasnt there for people watching but I was there waiting for my sis as she went off cycling on the long stretch. Came without a book/mag to past my time, so the only way to fill my boredom is to people watch and eavesdrop on ppl's conversation...hiak hiak hiak...

Ming Court Dim Sum in Ipoh town

When we were young, before the North-South highway I always remember Dad always love to stop by at Ipoh when we were on the way to Penang. I dreaded the feeling of waking up as early as 5am to reach Ipoh in time to catch the hot and steamy dim sum. I just couldn't understand why we have to eat the "heavenly" dim sum as to me I'm always sleep deprived from his food excursion!

I guess age tells me things has change. I'm starting to follow Dad's footstep now. Maybe I should blame it all in the genes.

We started off our journey on a Tuesday morning around 8am. I wanted to depart at 6am however I just couldn't wake up and we over slept and manage to move our butt at 8am. We reach Ipoh around 10:30am and the place is always crowded. Parking at this place is no fun as we always having problem in finding a parking space. I just couldn't understand the public parking system in Ipoh. It's not the same as in KL. Finally, we manage to locate a private carpark just beside Ming Court Restaurant. We pay the parking attendant RM3 for a very bad condition road and all cars are parking back to back. You need to leave your car keys with them which I hesitate for a while before finally found a lot which we don't need to leave with him.

Dad found a table rather quickly next to the cashier and we settled down quite fast and we start grabbing har kau, siew mai, steamed chicken leg in black bean, steamed pork ribs, fish ball, chee cheong fun (this is very good), porridge, char siew pau, fried bean curd with prawn and many more. i was so hungry and i start attacking the food and always I forget to snap pictures again. tsk tsk....fail big time as a blogger!

Prawn wrapped in Yam

Steamed pork ribs. The meat is tender enough and very juicy

Most of the dim sum here are handmade. As you can see the consistency of the size and look is way out. However, with a bite you will forget the cosmetic look anymore.

Siew Mai

Whenever I have dim sum I must order the chicken feet.

Chee cheong fun that comes in 2 version. Prawn or char siew (BBQ pork)

Their signature fish ball

Penang food feast

Taking a break from work is a blissful feeling and coming back to reality is like robbing away my dreams. Yes, that happens to me last week when we took a week off from work to KL and Penang. We flew via Tiger Airways to KL and from there we stay a few days before we depart to Penang on 2nd Jun09.

This whole trip was about stuffing ourself silly with the good foods and just R&R. Besides this, I manage to clear some loooong outstanding stuff on my condo and this sums it off a very fruitful trip ever!

Today, what I'm going to blog about are the food we had during our trip. Thou I didn't manage to snap as many pictures as I wanted but the pictures I'm going to post will always remind me to go back there for more! And am very very glad to know that now with budget air I can visit Penang even more. Yay!

We started off our journey by stopping by at Ipoh for the good dim sum there. I'm going to blog on this seperately.

Here's some of the shots I took and savour and I'm going to let the pictures to the talking from now...

Mt Erskine Mee Goreng. The mee is not too wet and dry. Very balance texture.

Mt Erskine wet popiah, very yummy!

Old school peanut soup. Peanuts used were fresh and the soup is just not too sweet.

Gandum - the very same stall of peanut soup

Throughout my Png trip, I order this drink - "Ampulak Swee Buoy" I just love the taste. Sweet and sour and final taste very very refereshing after you had all the heavy stuff meals.

This is how Mt Erksine foodcout from the outside looks like. Many food stalls in here but cleanliness wise, to your own judgement. So far, none of us running to the toilet during this trip.

One of the Penang food which you can't get elsewhere is the Penang chee cheong fun. I just love the gravy that it comes with the Hae kor, tau cheu and some other sweet stuff which I can't figure it out. I normally will get them to open up the rice noodle but on that day, too many food makes my mind very absent minded.

The right way to eat this stuff is to mix all the ingredients once it arrives and start attacking.

Ooo, going to Penang without tasting their steamed otak means you had not complete the food journey. I had this very tasty otak that fills with chunks of fish meat and the spices are just right on the spot! I found this gem in the foodcourt of Super Tanker - nears to Lip Sin Garden.Highly recommended. I will definitely order this again if I go there.

Next, Penang Asam Laksa. my all time favourite! My dear cousin who is a very good cook decide to try out her culinary and turn them into money spinning. She started off to test market at a very cozy place which is at the foot hill of Bukit Jambul. This place is full of healthy looking people who goes to climb the hill for their daily exercise and on the way down, they will stop by at my cousin's stall to pack or have a tea break.

She opens her stall as early as 3pm and will be there till runs out. You will be surprised that they are many climbers there as early as 3pm when the sun is scorching hot. However, this place feels very cooling due to the trees that surrounds the hill. One thing that peeve me off is the mosquitoes. Go there armed with lotsa citronella ointment or you can always pack them home to eat in your comfort home :).

Here is where my cousin stall located.

I didn't manage to snap any photos on Png char kuay teow and the kuay teow teng. But if you are there, do try to go to Penang Road near to the old Odeon cinema coffee shop which sells very good char kuay teow, kuay teow teng and Penang Lobak. It's always pack with diners during lunch time. We manage to find a small table next to the cashier and it was hot and squeezy. But the good food makes the whole effort worth going.

A visit to Singapore Zoo

As you may notice, I have not been blogging for sometime and this post is an outdated post which I deliberately amend the post date back to the past.

I have not been to Zoo for ages and I can't recall when was the last trip to Zoo. At this age, Zoo is the last place in your mind, maybe mine, as looking at the animals just don't amaze me anymore. However, things have changed recently when Zach starts to learn his animals from the Big Book which Stella bought for him. He can point to the Elephant, Panda, Polar Bear, Cat, Dog, Lion, Tiger, Turtle, Owl, Butterflies and many more... :). Of course, I'm so proud of him and I don't think I score like him when I was his age.

With this, I'm so eager to bring him to Zoo to let him have his first hands on, ok maybe he can't touch the tiger, lion or polar bears but at least he gets to see the real stuff rather from the boring picture which I keep repeating to him.

I have some free passes as my company is a Zoo friend. My FIL and Mh's friend where invited and off we went to Zoo on an early Saturday morning. I was beaming like a child again and I can't wait to show Zach the various animals. And of course, I think this was my 2nd visit to Sg Zoo since I was like 4 years old?? So, to me it's like a new attraction to me all together and I heard good reviews of Sg Zoo. My colleague was a fan and she goes to Zoo every once a year! She can even recite the animal feeding time to me and she had drew a well map to follow on so that I will not miss out any of the feeding time. She can even highlight to me which one to make a go and which is a must/die die must see. Do let me know if you need the itinerary from me.

Anyway, I told myself to take it easy as we may just play by ears on whatever comes along. It's more like the animals suit Zach's time than we suit their time :p. We didn't manage to cover the whole place as it starts pouring madly around 2pm and by this time I was so drained and tired from the chasing and entertaining the animals, yes trying to attract their attention to look at us so that Zach can have a good view of them and at the same time entertaining my son so that he knows that is an elephant/tiger/giraffe/zebra and what nots...I came back with an aching body. Yea, surprise isnt' it? I should be strolling and enjoying the animals but I end up like running a 10km marathon.

There was a water play area for kids. Zach was initially grumpy as it's near to his nap time but when he saw the playground at the water area immediately his level of energy from 0 to 10. He had fun time and MH was busy running after him. I take it easy by having some KFC at the open area. Besides KFC, there is Ben & Jerry cafe next to KFC. I didn't manage to roam around the area as there's another big playground and a flying fox next to the water play area. Besides this, I understand there's a petting zoo around the area. I was too tired for all this and I just don't feel like dirty my hand and petting any animals. I decide to stay put where by butt is and enjoy my KFC :p. What a bliss.

All in, I must say Sg Zoo do impress me and I would love to go back again to cover the rest that I miss. The landscaping is nicely done and I can see they put great effort in maitaining the place to attract the locals and touries. Oh yes, the tram which we paid $5/pax is well money spend. To me at least, we just hop on when it starts pouring and when we were so damn tired in walking it is like a blessing to us. Yes, the place is not big but I guess running around with a hyperactive kid takes the toll on me. The tram serves the purpose.

Ok, what are we waiting for? Of course, it's picture time!

Group photo

A nice walk where you can hear the birds chirping and you may able to see some monkeys

Malaysian Tapir, Zach still thinks this is a cow (he is partly right)

White Tiger
Elephant during the token feeding. I guess Zach enjoy the elephant the most. But he was running away when he see the big fat elephant trunk coming towards him! haha..at least he's scare of something here. Maybe I should get an elephant toy trunk to discipline him

Look at the trunk, a little intimidating to me too :p

Zach with Gong Gong
Orang Utans doing the stunt
Sexy Zebra
Another sexy one. Tall and Slim giraffe

Forest Trail - I enjoy this very much. Lotsa butterflies, peacocks, ducks, bat that comes near to you. Zach loves it too and he was waving his hands and say fly fly when he sees the butterflies.

Here a Bat-Man in action

Butterfly sucking the juice from the watermelon. Look so inviting!

Raccon. Bored look. Badly needs some entertainment.

A tired looking Zach with yi-yi after his round of play at the water playgound
We were waiting for the Rainforest show but it starts to pour and it was cancelled. What a pity and I heard it was a good show!
We call it a day after this and home sweet home...