what has been happening and what's in the pipeline

I am truly sorry I have not been around to tell you juicy stories. Well I have no excuses, I am just plain lazy ^0^. But I have been packing my life full of activities. Recently my bestie Amanda and I signed up for a gym membership and we have been going 3 times a week ever since. I would love to say I'm starting to see a difference, but honestly it really isn't anything to shout about, the change is so minute other people won't take notice yet. My next step is to change my eating habits, eat and snack on real foods instead of packed processed foods. When that sets in, my road to a successful weight loss program would be full proof.

So what do I make myself do at the gym? I consulted with a friend and he told me to do half hour of low - med intensity weights and half hour on cardio. So I do a range of weight lifting to tone and pump up my body's metabolism and tone certain areas and when I'm done I go my on to the cross trainer or bicycle. Sometimes before I go do weights, I brisk walk on the treadmill for 10 mins to warm up my muscles. I don't run on the treadmill because I have asthma and I can't run also I'm too heavy and it would hurt my ankles and knees the long run.

I am going on a program that teached me how to real foods.. Stay tuned for part two!

Oh and because I am such a disciplined girl, I bought myself tickets to watch MUSE LIVE in perth in December! Can't wait!

iBaked

Today I had my first full on experience in designing and decorating a cake. What do I mean by "full on"? "Full on" meaning, baking, layering, frosting and preparing the cake for decorating and not just baking, plating and serving.. I

I must say this was a very tiring process, but definitely an eye opener. The most difficult part i must say, was the making of the Marshmallow Fondant. I researched a lot on which icing is best to use. Although normal fondant is harder and sets quicker, a lot of people preferred to use Marshmallows fondant because it tasted yummier. Also, i couldn't find Shortening, so I substituted it with unsalted butter. Remember Grease your hand thoroughly, I didn't in the and beginning and lets just say I ended up getting caught in a very sticky situation. What ever it is, I am pretty proud of myself, for a first timer, I think i did a pretty good job, although I feel the cake could be less bumpy.

I leave you with some picture that brings you through my painful but fun process.

make enough batter for cake, can be single flavoured or layered.

I used 2 layers of mud cake and 1 layer of vanilla sponge.

Once cake is baked, take it out and allow it to cool on a cooling rack.

spread your buttercream frosting in between the layers.

So layers would stick.

Stack and layer the cakes

Frost the outside of the cake to even out the shape and sides and put .

it in the fridge untill buttercream hardens

While cake is cooling off, make the decorations

Once cake is cooled, cover it with fondant.

There are some good books you could refer to for designs

Stick in the decorations

And there you have a designer cake.

Here is the recipe for marshmallow fondant.

1 bag of white marshmallows (8 oz)
Water (2 tbsp)
Icing sugar sifted (1 to 2 pounds)
Crisco (shortening)
Heatproof bowl
Spoon
Sift
Food colors or cocoa powder
Flavouring optional
Note: you can offcourse use your kitchen mixer when mixing in the icing sugar. Just remember to grease the bowl and paddle attachment well with Crisco.

to the movies we go!

I know it's been awhile since I blogged! Been really busy with glücklich! Being the only elf -making necklaces, drawing shoes and making hair clips- doesn't really help either :( also i was away for about 4 days for a conference,

Anyways.. Despite being busy with all the handy craft, I still managed to squeeze in some time to go to the movies :) let me give you a little in-sight to what I have
watched:

1) Monga
A Taiwanese movie about 5 young guys who joined the secret society.. A walk through their lives full of Laughter, tears & fights. It also portrays their eternal brotherhood which was based on trust and protection and ironically betrayal.. I give it 10 out of 10 stars.. Absolutely loved cute gangster boys!

2) Book of Eli
A story which setting is based on post apoccolyps events. About a guy named Eli who has a very impt book which apparently is the last book of its kind. This book was suppose to be wipped out and destroyed, but he managed to keep it from the authorities who was destroying all books that describe life before the "flash" which erased everyone memory. Turns out it was a bible and he was given a task to travel to the west to pass the book to someone who would protect it. Along the way he meets people who got in his way.. He made friends.. Bonded with people and finally after all the hurdles he delivers the book, but died.
Honestly the trailer made the movies soy d much much more interesting.. But who can resist denzil washinton! Not the best movie but story line was simple & straight to the point with a little twist. I give it 6 out of 10 stars

3) Iron man 2
Need I say more? Who doesn't know iron man.. The latest super hero created by marvel! Absolutely loved iron man 1 and same goes for number 2.. Now I can't wait for 3 :). The grapics of high tech monitors & projections won my heart! 10 out of 10 stars..

Coming soon...
Can't wait to catch Robin hood and eclipse!! :)

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

just cheat

The latest trend now amongst celebrities (besides popping babies) is to cheat on their partners. Just shortly after the whirlwind situation with Tiger, our very own Singapore mega star Jack Neo, got his cat pulled out of his bag! I didn't know he was such a huge star, even the Sydney Morning Herald featured his story! click here. Either that or we are lacking of news to cover in Australia. Well sometimes bad publicity is good publicity.

withdrawal symptoms

Haven't been blogging, I'm in one of those.. i feel awful moods.. maybe its because i am having one of those "i miss my family.. but it was my choice to come here" episodes. I know what you are thinking! I just have to keep telling myself.. "you will be fine"

My perth trip was fun, relaxing and heart warming, getting to see how my sis & brother in law raise their little one is just amazing! I must say cheah, you are doing a great job. You are an amazing mummy and your baby is the most amazing little girl i know. That little one is fiesty and has alot of character, just like her mummy. Yet reserved, observant & quiet just like her daddy.. oh and really kay po just like her yee yee.. Getting to see the Loo sisters was great too, this trip was short but very, very worth it. You know how your heart feels warm and fuzzy?? This trip made me feel like that. haha gosh.. this is overwhelming! I miss you guys! I'll post pictures soon, promise!

So what other withdrawal symptoms am i suffering from? alot i guess.. some are bad habits.. some are good memories.. others are just redundant and unnecessary emotions, which i think i should already have kept in lock and key.

i just have to keep remembering that, it is not going to be easy and the road ahead is not going to be smooth sailing, but at least in the near future, i can look back and say "hey, wow, you have came a long way to this" and then give myself a pat on my own heavy shoulders.

estoy comenzando a caerme

me dije que hace tres años era la vez última que me caería.
¿Por qué la gente escucha sus corazones? debe haber un manual escrito para ayudar a los que se caigan. ¿puedo realmente ser feliz? deseaba que fuera joven otra vez, juego de la fuerza mis tarjetas con el hin diferentemente.
¿usted me encontrará realmente? no dure por favor demasiado, mi amor.

i miss my spanish classes.. :)

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is around the corner! This is the first time in 27 years I am not celebrating this festive season in my home country! First time I am not waking up on brand new bed sheets changing into brand new clothes and running into my mom's room to wish her a prosprous new year ahead and giving her a pair of mandarins and a red packet.

It is going to be the first year that I am not going over to my bestie's house on the third day of CNY to gamble! However, it is a good thing I would still be with family! The cousins have picked perth as the middle destination. The reason is all of us wanna see our little Gem Caitlin! I am dying to hear her call me Yee Yee in return I would give her a BIG red packet!

So to gear up for this festive season what have I been doing? Just yesterday I invited a bunch of friends over for a tiny reunion dinner, I know it is a little early and CNY is not till next week, but I'd be in perth the entire 1st week of CNY, i thought it would be good to do it earlier.

We had a feast i must say! With 2 steam boats bubbling away on the dinning table and accompanied by soft drinks and deep fried chicken wings and Zai-a vegetarian dish an important symbol of longevity and prosperity because of the ingredients used. Also i exerimented with making Bak Kua which literally mean dried meat. It is mince pork marinated rolled into thin slices and dried in the sun and then bbqed. Yums! A must have for all household celebrating CNY. Here are some pics to share!

The ingredients!

Marinating the meat!

Mixing it!

Rolling it!

Drying it!

BBQ-ing it!


Done!