Wake Up and Smell the Cake

Took the bus with Husband to Junction 8 for lunch! I forgot that he sent the car to the workshop, so I happily went to the basement. Haha. It's very very rare to get Husband to take the bus. Very exciting I should say :)When car rides are too frequent, taking public transport is an adventure! We should do this more often! Walking before and after lunch, and taking the public transport too. Weekend zoomed by because both days were working days sadly, but I brought Junior along so it wouldn't be that bad. Junior was very well behaved. His appetite was good too! He will eat the porridge I brought from home, AND eat again when it's our turn to eat! Thank goodness I brought a lot of his clothes cos most of his tops were smeared with watermelon juice. Am looking forward to this weekend where finally we don't have any commitments and we can have pure family time. And it'll be Junior's first playgym lesson after signing him up a week ago. Exciting! No baking la

Tomorrow's the day! After 31 days of waiting, finally. Lots to do for Husband's return! I've already baked him a welcome home cake, his favourite, the butter almond cake. More or less done with sprucing up the house, got some air freshener, did some clearing up, I even ironed 2 weeks' worth of his work clothes hahaha. Oh! Spruced up the car too! Cleaned the carpets, cleared up the boot and seat pockets and what's left is a final car wash tomorrow. Need to pick up the staff cards for sentosa and the zoo tomorrow too for some family bonding time and hopefully the rain won't spoil our fun. I don't know why but I'm more hardworking when Husband is away haha! 28 hours left! :)

It's been ages since I've checked the countdown website! So today, on the last full workday before Husband returns, here's the countdown check! Yay! Soon soon :)

There are a few stages to missing someone. One, extreme sadness. This is where you'll cry buckets and not care how horribly puffy your eyes and nose are. You'll cry even more when others ask how you are doing. Two, angry. You get angry at him for leaving you, for upsetting your routine which you really love. You get angry cos you feel he doesn't have to go, and you might feel like his job is more important that you. Three, impatient. You're not angry anymore, but you can't wait for him to come back and you count the days and hours everyday, few times a day in fact. Four, what's pasrah in English? Give up? Well yeah something to that effect. Since the days pass by so slowly, you can't be bothered to check anymore and you're tired to feel any sort of emotion. Five, I don't know. Haven't reached stage five yet. Or maybe there's only 4 stages haha. Okay till five! I am tired I'm going to bed. Good night!

Junior & I have been Tango-ing with Husband these past few days. Thank God for technology. Junior is pretty clingy lately. He feels like his routine is out of place, and we have to get him accustomed to the new routine. And we've made a big achievement - Junior can sit by himself in his car seat without crying big YAY!! Now it's easier for me to move around with him thank god! Countdown check: 24 more days to go. It breaks my heart when I see Junior looking for his abah, like last Sunday he searched all rooms then told me "don't have", and yesterday he climbed onto our bed, leaned against Abah's pillows and complained. He's like saying, why isn't abah here? :( Sad rite! Sigh hopefully Junior won't be so affected by it and may the days pass by quickly.

Yesterday night, Junior pointed to the door when I asked him if he wanted to sleep. He wanted to go back home and sleep. He misses our home. Aww my little angel, mama misses our home too. This morning, he didn't want me to leave for work. It's not his usual routine being left at home without a short drive to his grandparents'. Our boy's a big boy now, he knows his routine and who's missing. I hope it gets better for him, we have 27 more days to go sweetie before we reunite with abah.

Today I brought Junior home for the first time since his Abah flew off. The first thing he did was to search all the rooms looking for Abah. Aww. My poor little boy. He looked at me, and shook his hands in the air indicating that Abah's not here. The past few days at Nyai's didn't feel that bad but here in his own home which he was so eager to go back to by the way, he was expecting Abah to be around. We had lunch, then he wanted milk and he fell asleep after that so I let him sleep on Abah's side of the bed with Abah's pillows. When he woke up, he rolled around in bed, not wanting to do anything else. I tried to interest him in painting but he wasn't amused. Maybe after my chores are done we'll go back to Nyai's so you won't feel as sad. This is the first time my little boy really notices that his daddy is away, worse still he will be away for a month. I hope he will feel better, babies shouldn't have to be sad.

Feeling all emotional thinking about the send off tomorrow. One month is long. 32 days to be exact. That's actually more than a month. 5 weekends. Brings me back to 2009/2010 during those London-Singapore shuttling days. That was worse though, 8 to 10 weeks apart each time. But I thought days like those would be long gone, but here I'm facing one really soon. I'm really trying hard not to cry, although I have already teared but thankfully I have my flu to mask my runny nose. To make things worse, I was listening to a playlist of songs with the word "home". Great song choice, Far. Have switched to noisy rock music, but it doesn't seem to make me feel better. Tomorrow will be the send off, I'll expect that I'll be crying till my eyes are puffy. Oh wells. But on the bright side, I have things to look forward to. A confirm pecah perut lunch with colleagues after that, Junior's play group trial on Saturday morning, and an ex-classmate's wed

Birthday celebrations are never one day affairs these days. We started off with the Battleship movie which I totally was against watching previously, but because it's the boy's birthday, I reluctantly agreed. And I loved it! The plot was kinda normal bang boosh shoot shoot stuff, but there's humour and I especially like the Jap guy who was made co-captain! His ideas are awesome. Oh! And the part where the navy veterans helped out too! Enjoyed the entire two hours haha! Birthday boy gave me that "see I told you it's good" look when the movie ended. Heh. Fine fine I'll join u in such movies again next time haha. Saturday, I planned for a morning picnic at Botanic Gardens and a visit to the farmers' market for some yummy cupcakes but it rained the entire morning so we had to change plan: lazed around at home for a bit and then off to the market to get ingredients for big feast (birthday boy's request). The rain subsided in the later part of the m

Other Half got for me a stand mixer yay! ♥ Not a fancy schmancy one, no metal bowl. Just a basic mixer. One which I think if Junior were to use and spoil it, I won't mind. HAHA. I wanted to get a Philips mixer but I got Kenwood instead. Have yet to unwrap it haha. Now I can whip cream and eggs! Frosting here I come! But before that... My first experiment shall be Marble Cake using Optima Flour ! Or if I'm feeling adventurous, Chocolate Banana Cake , something which Other Half would very much prefer. Heh. Here's to many more cakes! :)

Just a simple, quick lunch with Other Half. Bank - BK - bus ride back to office. And it is bliss ♥ :) First lunch date since I came back to work.  First time on the bus together here! Funfun :) We should do it more often! Heehee~

Am at my mum's house now, have been staying here while Husband is in NY for a work trip. Yes! A work trip when baby is only over two weeks?! Sadness. Even the mother of the baby is extra sad :( Can I blame it on post-natal hormones? Haha. He flew last Sunday night, and for the whole day, Junior refused to sleep, only wanting to be cuddled and given attention especially by daddy dearest. It's like he knows daddy dearest is flying off. Heart wrenching. But since Sunday, Junior's been a good boy behaving himself. But sometimes he still wants attention and to be cradled. I guess that's normal for newborns. Five more days till Other Half is home! :) I miss him. Somehow I'm reminded of days of London, cos he's very very far away. If he were to go, say, Brunei, it won't be as bad. New York is just so, scary. Watching too much crime dramas like CSI New York and my favourite Bones makes US sound dangerous with their small, dark alleys and guns!! Guns! Is it real

Life has been good, and very much in love with The Husband :) Am always thankful to be married to him, to have someone as amazing as him to spend my life with. He's more than I could ever ask for, sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve him. Anyhoo!! Was on half day yesterday, was awaiting shelves and drawers for the baby room, and I did loads of things! When I go on leave, it's superwoman time! Especially when The Husband isn't around to tell me to not exert myself too much hurhur. I do admit, it's tiring, but kinda fun too! And anyway I didn't have internet nor cable TV to entertain myself haha. Managed to cook a proper meal (by this I mean there's vege) and made begedil too, mopped the kitchen and did laundry including bedsheets (ironed, no less)! Haha! The bright sun was too tempting! Tiring but satisfying. Wanted to transfer some of baby stuff into his room, but I'll leave that to today or tomorrow probably. Baby's arrival in a few weeks'

So it was major fatty food alert for the birthday/Good Friday weekend.Yes I know! Backdated post! It started off with Cream Cheese Brownies, for birthday boy's birthday cake! :) I searched for a fool-proof recipe and I found one at Betty Crocker's website using their instant brownie mix, and made a few adjustments. Filling 8 oz cream cheese, softened (recipe only used 4oz but I thought that's too little!) 1 egg 3 tablespoons sugar 1/4 teaspoon vanilla Brownies 1 box (1 lb 2.4 oz) Betty Crocker® Original Supreme Premium brownie mix Water, vegetable oil and egg called for on brownie mix box Sprinkle-happy semisweet chocolate chipsand white chocolate chips :) Heat oven to 170ºC. In small bowl, beat filling ingredients until smooth. Set aside. Make brownie batter as directed on box. Spread 3/4 of brownie batter in a 9 by 9 inch pan. Spoon filling by tablespoonfuls evenly onto brownie batter. Spoon remaining brownie batter over filling. Cut through mixtur

I am stressed. Yes, I am. After a long long time. I am seldom stressed. It's Other Half's birthday very very soon and I don't know what to get for him. I gave him a suggestion which I thought he'd be okay with cos it's practical, but he wasn't excited about it. Bummer. I do have something planned for morning, but that's just about it. Morning only. I am hopeless!! I have to come up with ideas fast!!! :(

Was clearing my Pictures folder, and I came across this, which has so much meaning for us now ♥ :) And I love you very much, my dear husband :)

Some belated food fotos. Lasagna dinner last Monday I think? Haha. Had more time to cook than usual but Other Half wanted lasagna. Nothing great about it except that it's the prettiest lasagna we've made! And a point to note, include chili sauce in the tomato paste! Hehe. Too much tomato and cheese is kinda jelak. Used pizza cheese mix for this, and leftover mozarella + cheddar mix. The three layer lasagna And this is the oats prawns. Deep frying prawns is totally NOT recommended. Oil splatter EVERYWHERE !!! I had to mop the floor after that! It's more violent than frying fish omg!! Didn't even have time to put the lid to prevent all that splatter! Recipe was okay, except that I should have not been clever-clever and added sugar. Fried oats is already sweet by itself. Made the condensed milk cake without a weighing machine! Used some conversion table from the internet, and guestimates using my measuring cup and spoons. Tasted so very rich! Could reduce the conde

No western menu yesterday! Changed to chicken curry instead hahaha. And stir fried some french beans for myself haha. A proper meal! :) Chicken Curry 5 pieces of chicken 1 big onion + 5 garlic, blended 4 (I think?) tbsp Malabar Masala curry powder (I refuse to use any other especially Baba's) 3 medium tomatoes 1 tbsp chilli kisar 1 medium sized onion, sliced usual spices (cinnamon stick, star anise, clove) 3 potatoes (optional) 1 tsp salt My sweet Other Half helped cook :) We searched high and low (NTUC doesn't carry many curry brands) for this Malabar Masala curry powder. Finally got it at where else but Mustafa, my all time fave grocery store! HAHA. Should've bought a bigger packet hehe. I don't like Baba's cos it's not spicy enough. And sadly Baba's is e v e r y w h e r e. Oats prawns postponed to today! :)

Today three years ago is a date I won't forget :) The start of something new, the best thing I've probably ever did and definitely not regretting that bold step. Yesterday's ayam sambal tomato turned out great! Yay! Was a mad dash at the kitchen. Other Half dropped me off at home and went to practise his golf while I cook. Quite a rush and kitchen was turned upside down but it was worth it! The only thing to improve is not to use too much oil for the sambal. The onions were happily swimming in the oil HAHAHAHA. No wonder it turned out nice! Took a bit more than an hour to prepare everything, I think I need to find ways to cut the time for cooking, like pre-peeling the onions and garlic maybe since I've already tried frying the chicken at the same time I cook the sambal. I think yesterday was a good start and a confidence booster definitely! But today, I'm not cooking hahaha. We're out to celebrate a special date ;) And I still have leftover chicken which cou

Have been living in our own home for 6 days in a row! And I love it :) Never mind there's no internet yet at our house (the iPhone tethering is quite sufficient for now) nor do we have cable TV, I have loads to do! Haha. Actually we only got to use the TV yesterday after my dad gave us a better connection cable. Haha! Other Half was so bored not having anything to watch for the past few days. TV addict! I on the other hand am still getting used to the washing and (minimal hurhur) cleaning (have not done mopping), and some sort of cooking which can't be called cooking yet, and best of all! New bedtime! Sleeping early and waking up early is a good routine. Yesterday morning I went to Chong Pang market without my mum. Huhu. But in the end I still needed to call her to ask something. Not very independent yet. The butcher recognised me though! Even though I haven't followed my mum to the market for years hehehehe. He thought I was buying meat for my mum. Tried baking usin