GOING BRIT

Ate fish and chips @Lad & Co with Wai Ling, my bestie from childhood.  

I used to dislike peas.  Today I'm thinking the mashed peas are not so bad.  #aging

BELGIAN PRALINES

Look what my BFF brought me all the way from Belgium!  

HAPPY MOMENTS

Happy times in the month of May 2015.

May 5, 2015 (Tue)

Woke up to a spectacular sunrise.  Ten years ago on this date (05.05.05), we moved into our current apartment.   Life hasn't been a bed of roses but that makes me cherish the happy moments even more.

May 7, 2015

Tryphena's friend sent her a carton of mangoes from Myanmar.  She could've saved them all for her family.  Instead she was kind enough to travel all the way to my office to bring me two mangoes!  This lady is sweeter than those mangoes.

May 8, 2015

Spotted a yellow bird in the trees outside our office!

May 13, 2015 (Wed)
Shared a chilled slice of Durian Cappuccino Cake from Goodwood Park Hotel with Agnes.  We snuck to the rooftop to enjoy this.  Some day, after Agnes goes back to the US, I'll be glad we found time to share a slice of cake and a happy moment.

May 17, 2015 (Sun)

Wai Leng took me out for an early birthday celebration.  We went to My Dining Room at Suntec City Mall for an awesome dim sum lunch.  The roasted pork was to die for!  After that we hopped over to Cathay Photo at Marina Square, where I splurged on a new camera lens.  I was wondering if Leng was going chide me a little bit but she told me, "If this is what you want then go ahead and buy it."  No chiding, no questions asked.  She's a true BFF.

May 22, 2015 (Fri)
Pain au Chocolat aux Amandes from PAUL. Thank you for spoiling me, Ken Hsu!

May 23, 2015 (Sat)
Late lunch with Lee Ling in Vivo City.  We sat down to eat at 2:30pm and hung out until almost 6pm!

May 24, 2015 (Sun)
Went to Sembawang for facial and bumped into Chew Ling!  What are the odds?

May 26 - 29, 2015
Time alone for reflecting and refuelling

May 30, 2015 (Sat)
Happy birthday to me.  Thanks, Mum, for the birthday ang pow.

Once you learn to cherish the little things around you, everyday is a happy day. 幸福, 其实 已存在我们平凡生活中。

守候 ｜ 考验

又忙碌了一週，好不容易迎来週末。今天和好友慧玲共午餐。慧玲的生日是在九月十二日但为了生活各自忙碌，拖到今天才请她吃饭。我和慧玲认识四十多年，仿佛在彼此身边已守候一辈子。虽不常见面，一旦碰面就无所不谈。两个女人聊天，分享发生在家里头和工作上的事情。话题有严肃的，也有说三道八的。东拉西扯，就这样过了一个愉快的下午。 有慧玲在身边的日子，我不会孤单。

父亲从昨天为了母亲买了两颗龙珠果而一直脸黑黑。每每碰到这种场面不禁觉得沮丧，我和母亲到底要忍受这种心理煎熬到什么时候？最近开始有所领会：上天只会给予我们能够克服的考验，不是吗？ 

本想晚饭后钻进厨房做道简单的点心，可父亲差我到药房买东西。今天的天气真的好热！回到家的时好感觉好累，但还是强迫自己把需要的材料一一秤完，放在冰箱里头。这样的话下个星期天就可以快快动手啦！:)

CELEBRATING A BIRTHDAY. AND FRIENDSHIP.

These pink roses were baked specially for my childhood friend Wai Ling, who celebrates her birthday today. Wai Ling and I have been friends since we were in kindergarten. We even shared the same classrooms in primary, and most of secondary school. Not many friendships make it this far. I cherish what we have.

When I was in Taipei last month, I bought a book by Pierre Herme,  In it is a recipe for Cake Ispahan.  As soon as I saw it, I knew it would be perfect with my new Nordic Ware Sweetheart Rose Cast Aluminium Non-stick Muffin Pan.

The startling combination of raspberries and scent of rose petals make my little sponge cakes clear winners.  I wonder, however, if the book was really written by Pierre Hermé himself because the Cake Isphan in the PH Paris website looks nothing like the one featured in the book!



As I was whisking egg whites at the dining room table a fairly large wasp, obviously attracted by the scent of rose essence, flew into our apartment.  It hovered over my left shoulder for about 2 seconds before dancing into the living room where it was spotted by my parents.  My mother went up in arms, rolling up the magazine she was reading, baton-like, to hit the poor thing with.  The insect, sensing impending doom, fled through the living room window.  In it's haste to get way, it didn't fly out.  Rather, it accidentally slipped off the window ledge and plunged!  It was extremely comical to watch.

Happy birthday, Wai Ling!  May our friendship lasts a lifetime.