Festive Baking

I'd put off CNY baking till yesterday. All because I spent my evenings watching 'Coffee Prince'. Now that I'd finished watching the whole drama, I started off baking my first batch of pineapple tarts. This was my second attempt. The first was last year (after CNY though). I've never really fancied pineapple tarts. I baked it last year because Adrian loves them. It was quite a lot of work. Grating of pineapples, cooking the jam and making the tart itself. I made the 'closed version' last year. But that took ages. So this year, I tried the open version having bought the tart mould from Singapore. I'm glad they were quicker to make. The only worry I had was the jam drying out in the baking process but that turned out fine. I had made sure not to overcook the pineapple so that helped. I bought 2 big pineapples but look at the small amount of jam I had in the end.

So altogether, I only managed to make 52 pieces. Gave some away to a friend and Adrian and the girls ate quite a few, hence there aren't many left. I went to Sainsbury's to buy another 4 pineapples today since there's a promotion and had made the jam. I've caught the cold bug and don't want to keep late nights, so will make the pastry tomorrow. Hopefully, I can also make some kueh baulus and kueh bangkits too over the next couple of days. Kueh lapis maybe?

The Fat and the Slim of things

One thing I realised, to my pleasant surprise, was that I didn't put on any significant weight during my trip to Singapore. Perhaps my weighing machine has gone kaput or I had burned all the extra weight in the one day that I returned due to the cold. Why do I say I'm surprised? Simply because I ate way more in Singapore than I do in UK. Bak Chor Mee, Laksa, Nasi Lemak, seafood....anything! So where did all the extra calories go? My thoughts:

1. Walking

I walked alot in Singapore. To the supermarkets, hawker centres....... Even more when I was in Hong Kong. Due to the high costs of petrol, parking and ERP (seem to be mushrooming everywhere!), I hardly drove. Even when I took the girls out, we'd commute by MRT unless my parents insisted I drive or it was raining. It takes about 10min to walk from my parents' place to the MRT station. If I was going to Orchard Road, I had to change at Dhoby Ghaut which meant more walking.

Orchard Road = Shopping = MORE WALKING!

When I'm out window-shoppping alone, I don't eat. I'm not used to the idea of eating alone plus as Adrian puts it, when I see shops, I forget everything. I don't know about the rest of you but when I shop, I don't feel hungry.

In Hong Kong, I could shop from morning till night and you know what time do the shops close right? Most of the time, I don't even buy things. It's mainly browsing. Browsing I do, from one street to another, usually a few MTR stations apart.

Comparatively in UK, I drive. Alot! Other than walking Louisa to and from school (even then it's only on days when I don't have to drop or pick Lavigne from school) and going to music class, I drive. The reason being that supermarkets and shops are not nearby and I don't think I can carry more than 6 heavy bags of shopping (I do one main grocery shopping a week) up 2 slopes.

2. Mum = rubbish bin

When I was in Singapore, something was not quite right about my digestive system. I'd feel bloated for a long time after lunch (I didn't even gorge, just a bowl of noodles or something). So much so I didn't usually have an appetite to eat dinner. Still, I'd eat something. But unlike in UK where it's only the 4 of us eating and I don't have to keep any food for anyone after, I didn't have to worry about leftovers in Singapore because my sisters would be back for dinner. So if there were any leftovers, I wouldn't know. Whereas here, because I hate to waste food, I'll usually finish up whatever's left on the plates. BAD!

3. Less space to walk about

Our house here is very small. Just a few steps will bring you from one room to another. Which means that there is even less walking to do. To go upstairs, it's only one flight of stairs to climb. At my parents', there's 2 flights. Big difference if you count the number of times I go up and down.

4. Couch potato

I have to admit I watched much more tv than I usually do when I went back this time mainly because there's cable tv now. Even then, I hardly snacked. How could I snack when I was always feeling bloated? There was once when I ate Twisties and had diarrhoea immediately after. Grrrrr! I have a weakness for crisps. They have very nice crisps here. If ever I watch the telly here, I'll snack but thankfully though, not all the time. Still, extremely bad!

5. Heat = weight loss(?????)

A friend told me before that with the heat in Singapore, it won't be easy to put on weight due to all the perspiration. But don't we burn calories to keep ourselves warm in the cold? Hmmmmm......

Anyhow, the pounds will start to pile now that I'm back. Unless I'm very religious with my yoga and exercise. One thing is for sure, the scale may not show much weight gain but all the food that I ate had definitely found home in my face. FULL MOON!

What have I been up to lately?

Sorry for the lack of posts. Friends on MSN probably wonder what I'm up to since I'm hardly online these days eversince getting back to UK. It's not that I don't sign in to MSN, I hardly use the computer, let alone digiscrap, upload photos, blog, surf net. I had to change my schedule and routine. For now, I'm in total charge of the kids and the house. I wake up much earlier to get things done - getting the girls their breakfast, make Louisa's lunch, get the girls ready for school, do the washing up and bring them to school. When they're at school, I do the supermarket run or do the household chores. Then it's picking Lavigne up from school, give her lunch, let her watch a little CBeebies while she eats her fruits and then spend some quality time with her before going to pick Louisa. Tea-break follows (usually some biscuits/small waffle and milk) and then it's homework for Louisa and working on exercise books for Lavigne if they don't have ballet or music classes to attend. When they're done, they get to watch CBeebies while I cook dinner. Since we came back, the girls had been taking turns to sleep really early (sometimes halfway through dinner) due to the jet-lag. If they stay up long enough, I'll wash them up before tucking them into bed. If not, it's carrying them upstairs to their beds, giving them a wipe before changing them into their PJs. This jet-lagging business has been going on for a week now. Hope they will recover totally soon. Once done with the washing-up, I'll watch an episode of 'Coffee Prince' before reading a book and then go to bed. This is my life, for now.

Back in UK

After all the hoo-ha, we're finally back in UK. All of us are still trying to adjust to the time here. The girls are back in school and I'd been busy unpacking and getting things organised. Will post later about my trip.

UK bound

This is it. We, the 4 of us, will fly back to UK on Monday, 14th Jan. Been so overdue, the homegoing. Wasn't able to get any seats earlier than 15th hence on waitlist everyday. So now, even though we're leaving one day earlier, it still makes some difference. The girls will be able to get to school one day earlier. Beside, I am getting really bored here. I know you must be thinking I'm crazy. But when you're on holiday for too long, you become lethargic. I know it sounds ironic lah! Soon, I'll start complaining about my life in UK again.

New Look

After more than a decade, I finally went for the snip. Remember I said that my hairdresser refused to cut it short the last time? Last Sunday, I went with my 2 sisters and all of us changed our hairstyle. I ended up with the shortest cut. This style wasn't what I had in mind. My hairdresser told me this time that she'd to cut it in a way so that once I get back to UK and it starts to grow longer, my hair won't be too unruly. She knows I don't go to a hairdresser there and I cut my own hair, which in her opinion is a bad job. Even though I'd wanted a change, I wasn't mentally prepared for a short hairstyle this time, reason being that I'd planned only to go there for a trim to shape it up before I leave. The 3 of us waited for the hairstylist for 1 hour and during that time, we flipped through many hairstyle magazines, discussing what we wanted. Chose a few but mine were all rejected :( all because she knows I don't have time to style my hair and I cut my hair (by a professional) only once a year. She went 'Ready? I cut already har.' I wasn't wearing my glasses but from what I could barely see in front of the mirror, it was very short. My heart started beating faster and I thought 'Oh S***!' Wrong move! Big mistake.' So I begged her not to cut my hair into a boy's style to which she replied 'No lah! How can a boy have a bob hairstyle?' Both my sisters consoled me in the process by telling me the back looks nice. But I don't want just the back to look nice. I want the whole hairstyle to look good. When she was done and I'd put my glasses back on, I didn't have a rude shock. The style was better than I had thought. Do I like it? I can't say I do. But it's a good change. Anyway, hair will grow and if I really don't like it, I can wear a hat. Beside, my hairdresser said 'Who will see you in UK?' My girls said I 'look weird but nice'. My youngest sis said it's nice but I will look better if I highlight it and that I look my age now. Looking back at the photo taken after my previous haircut, I think I look better then. But heck! HAIR WILL GROW BACK! and washing and drying is such a breeze. I will save on shampoo and conditioner. Below is how I look without any styling, a 'wash-and-go' look. I do apply some clay if I'm going out, in the hope to look 'better'.

Meeting People (edited)

Yesterday, I brought the girls to Paragon to eat Fish and Chips at Fish & Co. Lavigne eats most local food but not Louisa. She always tells me, 'I want to eat angmo food'. We were early so they played upstairs at the play area. That was when we bumped into Jet Li, his wife(?) and his daughters playing there too. I think when one tries hard to hide his identity, the more he will be recognised. How many people will be shopping at malls wearing shades and caps? Both he and his wife were wearing them.

Then today, I had lunch with my parents at IMM and did some shopping at Daiso. I was pushing Lavigne in her stroller and she was singing and making up stories while I shopped. I noticed this lady with a young boy looking at us on a few occasions. Perhaps Lavigne was attracting the attention with her not-so-soft voice, I had thought.

While waiting for my parents outside the store, I saw the lady again. This time, she walked towards me and told me she wasn't trying to pry but asked me if I am Roslyn and that I live in UK. At that point, I was sure she's one of my readers here. I tried hard to recall if I know her. So I asked through which blog did she get to know about mine? I think she said it's from her sister's or friend's link's to another person's link to mine. I didn't really get the picture. Anyway, thank you for coming up to say 'hello'. To any other readers out there, if you bump into me somewhere, please feel free to come to me to say 'hi'. It's nice to know you read my blog.

Update (5th Jan):

I met up with a 'blogging friend', Joan, today. A few days back, she posted on her blog saying that she's giving away some books. I couldn't believe it when I saw the titles. 'Confessions of a Shopaholics' and 'The Baby Group'. I've always been a big fan of the Shopaholics series. Coincidentally, I was reading an old copy of Her World the night before and had come across a review of the book by Rowan Coleman. I had read her other book 'The Accidental Mother' so am interested in reading this one. Anyway, I've always been drawn to novels such as these, including the two Yummy Mummy books eversince I became a mum myself. Luck was on my side when I was one of the firsts to respond to Joan's giveaway. I'd always seen the photos of her and her cute baby, Clare on her blog. So it was really nice to finally see them in the flesh. Thanks again for the books, Joan. The Shopaholic book is hilarious!

Update (8th Jan):
A Singaporean lady left a message here and I made a wonderful discovery that her sister actually lives just a stone's throw away from my place. Like myself, she's very keen to get to know more Singaporeans living in UK so it's nice we found each other. Soon, I'll be able to hold a gathering for Singaporeans after knowing quite a few in the past year.

A new year and we are still here

It's now the year of 2008. Totally unbelievable. It's amazing how quickly a year can pass. No, I'm not in UK but still in Singapore. Stuck, wanting to go back but can't due to unavailability of seats. Confused? I don't even know where to start. Ok, the girls and I were due to fly back last night and have the countdown on board Boeing 747. But my 2nd sister came back from Sri Lanka yesterday morning and advised me that I shouldn't go back yet. She said that I am not emotionally ready to leave with the girls since there was a 'family meeting' just the day before. She knew I could cope but was worried I'll be too depressed cooped up in a small house with 2 demanding children and no husband. (Yes, I have depression or 'condition' like some had said and am not ashamed to admit it. It's not some kind of terrible sickness and I am not on medication whatsoever. Furthermore, I have it due to all the surrounding circumstances. By the way, I am not mental or looney even though I have depression.)

Adrian said he couldn't go back with us as planned as he had students to meet. That was news to me which I got to know at the 'meeting'. I was adamant on leaving. Then everyone suggested we extend our trip for another week. So rang up SIA but the earliest availability is 15th Jan. I wasn't even prepared to stay an extra week, let alone two. I was all ready to leave until my sister managed to convince me otherwise yesterday morning. So we cancelled our check-in, changed the departure date to 15th and put on waitlist for 5th and 6th. I really doubt the waitlist will come through. There's 3 of us, not just 1 and according to the operator, they have a very long waitlist. How I will survive the next 2 weeks, having to always think where the girls should be - Hougang or Yishun. Please let the waitlist come through so that we can leave. I can't bear to see Lavigne always itching all over everyday and the heat rash she has and Louisa has to miss so many days of school, not forgetting there's also ballet and music classes.