To "X" out "CHRIST" from "Christ-Mas"

Ten years ago, when I was in charge of publishing our BEC (neighbourhood Catholic community) newsletter, we had an article contribution from a youth. It was an article about "Taking the "CHRIST" out of Christmas - literally to cross out Christ. The article was an eye opener. Until today, I cringe whenever I read or hear wishes of Merry X'mas!


A quick reference to Wikipedia provided this information: Some believe that the term is part of an effort to "take Christ out of Christmas" or to literally "cross out Christ";^[2] it is also seen as evidence of the secularization of Christmas, as a symptom of the commercialization of the holiday (as the abbreviation has long been used by retailers).

(Sorry, still busy. Just managed to do a quick post.)

#2 sent me a message from Genting

#2 left for Genting on Sunday morning. It's a trip organized by her school. Hubs sent her to the 'meeting point' at 8a.m. on Sunday. I was told that a Genting bus picked them up and they were to take the cable car up to Genting.

#2 sms-ed me at every point of her journey to update me even though I didn't ask her to do so. I think it's a habit that she's acquired since young. Hubs and I have allowed her to go on excursions, competitions, music festivals and MPO concerts, on her own with school/music school organizers since she was 9 years old.

I wasn't keen on her going to Genting because of the pollution and advised her to think properly before deciding. I think she wanted to spend some time with her friends before she transfers out of her current school.

I thought that the trip was very cheap - Sunday to Tuesday @RM175/=. Ha! The catch was that, only accommodation and breakfast was provided!

I was amused with one of the sms that she sent me yesterday.

"I jz paid rm15 for a plate of wan tan mee.!!=s so expensive that i have to eat all d vege n 'choong' too.!! Too expensive to throw aside. XD."

Hahaha! I was tickled! Whenever we eat noodles and soup, #2 would pick out all the 'choong' and vegetables and put aside, not wanting to eat them. She would also make a fuss if her order came with the 'stuff' (she calls them stuff) after she had specifically told them to omit.

Well, this is a learning experience. I showed the sms to hubs and he laughed and said that if that were true, he'd be very happy because then she's learnt something from this trip.

Perfect Waffles

I made waffles for breakfast this morning. I think I have the perfect recipe. *blush*

I own two waffle irons, one non stick "Rowenta" (German) which produces 5 slice (heart shape) thin waffle and a "General Electric" (US) three slice rectangle Belgium style waffle (square) and find that both produce different textures with the same recipe.

The 'thin' Rowenta waffle iron produce crispy waffles with the same recipe and the 'thick' GE waffle iron produce the crisp waffle on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

I want to share this recipe with you.

Recipe:
2 eggs
1 tbsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
160 g melted butter
400 ml milk
2 cups regular flour
4 tsp baking powder

Method:
1. Whisk egg, sugar and salt with Kenwood balloon whisk till fluffy and non drip.
2. Meanwhile, melt butter over low fire.
3. Add milk and butter alternately until finish.
4. Add dry ingredients and whisk until no more lumps.

Viola!! Delicious waffles. Serve hot with maple syrup or ice cream as a dessert.

I like to serve my waffles savory style. Usually serve them for brunch with Sardines cooked with big yellow onions, #2 loves this combination. I've also done it with fresh or canned button mushrooms - sliced and sauteed with lots of sliced garlic and peppered with mixed spices and salt - heavenly!! You can serve with Heinz beans, scrambled eggs and cheese for breakfast - the choices are unlimited. Waffles are the best!!

note: Sorry no pictures because #2 brought all my rechargeables to Genting for her school excursion.

SICK?

Yesterday, #2 made a statement! "I think I'm going to be sick! Why? I asked. Because I've not had Japanese food for sooo...... loooonnggggggg!! (about ten days) I think I'm going to be sick, she says again!"

#1 rebutted. Yeah!! That's because Grandma has been around and cooking Chinese as usual. *Guilty* I tilt my head a little lower and give them a grin because I know I've not been cooking. I've been at camp and in training with the Youth group.

This morning, #2 moaned again. "I'm getting more sick today. If we don't eat Japanese today I'll just start to melt away. Okay, we'll have Japanese for lunch before the training begins at 2pm, I reply."

#1 said: Hey! Aunty Jen said that there's a shop selling great "Pan Mien" in Sunway Damansara (#2 and I love Pan Mien). Okay, then let's go and eat "Pan Mien" I say. Oh! NO! We don't! says #1! If you two decide to eat "Pan Mien", I will get sick and melt too!

Hey! So what about me? I asked! Doesn't my vote count? Both said that I could eat either and that both of them would be sick if I decided on "Pan Mien" so we ended eating Japanese.

After lunch we went for the youth training and both were very contented! No wonder #2 in her blog states that 'Some people eat to live, I live to eat'.

Tags

Gosh! These Tags are taking a toll on me. I don't think I'm made for them. I think I'm going to 'pengsan' soon. Some tags, I don't even know what to write, that's why I shy away from tagging others. I'm going to take leave from Tags for a while. I hope my blogger friends understand.

I've been really busy preparing for an upcoming Youth Rally in December. We've got a team of youth who have been training for the last 8 months to facilitate this program. It's been a challenging journey and we're on our last lap.

I ask you, my friends to pray for us, in your own way and your own religious inclinations. All prayers are welcome!

Again, I will be out from Tuesday to Sunday to supervise the team practicing. Take care!!

TAG: Hogwart Invitation

Got an invite to Hogwarts sorting from Sting ... let's see which house I belong to

You need to take a test first before you to know which house you are in.

Seems, I belong to Hufflepuff - Loyal, Dependable, Harworking *blush*

Which Hogwarts house will you be sorted into?

Your in-depth results are:
Hufflepuff - 17
Ravenclaw - 12
Gryffindor - 11
Slytherin - 6

*** start copy paste this invitation***

I know what you’re all thinking, “Not -another- sorting quiz!”, but before you get bored and leave, let me say a few things about it. This is not the ordinary sorting quiz that you’re used to. Unlike all those other quizzes infesting the Internet, this quiz actually sorts you for who you are as a person, not because your favorite animal is a lion.

I made this quiz as a reaction to all the bad sorting quizzes. The problem with most of the existing quizzes, is that the questions rarely have anything to do with which house you would actually be sorted into. Your favorite color doesn’t effect which house you belong to. Not every Gryffindor likes defense against the dark arts, not every Slytherin likes potions. Just look at Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Each is in Gryffindor, but each has a completely different disposition. Harry’s father was often a bully and a thief, yet he was still in Gryffindor.

This quiz will actually ask you psychological questions with a variety of answers that can’t easily be determined as to which house they fit into. This was meant to be more like what the Sorting Hat does. Just remember though that you must answer these questions truthfully in order to get an accurate answer.

Also these questions are written to take place in our world, not the world of Harry Potter. I didn’t give a Harry Potter theme to the quiz because the answers are more accurate this way. As Muggles, we don’t have any idea what it’s like to be faced with a troll or a bogart and we’ve never played quiddich. Our answers may be skewed as to how our favorite characters would act instead of ourselves. However, we all know what it’s like to live in the Muggle world because we do it every day.

Please take the test and copy paste this *master list* after you are sorted and don’t forget to tag your friends! Let’s see which tower has the most members!

Gryffindor: Karen Adrian Eric Speedcat
Slytherin:
Ravenclaw: Mr. Fong Jojo kasper794, Wen, Dora, Sting,
Hufflepuff: Trinity Amel Jo-N sasha, Bento Pet,

***end copy paste***

And this sorting hat goes to the following Muggles:

Tag You, You and You!!!!

Here's 5

Got Tagged by Jo-N

Thank you!

5 THINGS FOUND IN MY BAG

{Bag? Oh! You mean my "CARRY ALL"!}
Tube of Dettol cream, "Kwan Loong minyak kapak", pens, handphone, thumb drive and maybe fifteen other items!

5 THINGS FOUND IN MY WALLET

{Loyalty and Credit cards, Cash, Receipts, Coins and Holy Picture}

5 THINGS FOUND IN MY ROOM

{King Size bed, Study table and Chair, Two Bedside tables, Night lamp and Chest of drawers.}

5 THINGS I’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO DO

{Watch more theatre plays and musicals, Bring my daughters to watch the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, retire in a place where I can enjoy clean water and clean air, have more kids and spend more time enjoying my hobbies}

5 THINGS I’M CURRENTLY INTO

{Packing Bento, Baking cuppy cakes, cookies and more cakes, blogging, experimental cooking and 'lepak-ing' with my kids (holidays)}

5 BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE TO TAG

{To all the beautiful bloggers who come a visiting, please be welcome to do this tag!!}

Away until next week!

Friends, I will be away with our Church Youths @ camp for the next few days. Will only be back on Sunday and hopefully back to blogging on Monday!! Take care and have a great weekend! Cheers!!

Music filled week!

We attended a German Jazz quartet on Tuesday (30 Oct 2007 @ 8.30p.m.), last week. Root 70 was led by the German made famous Jazz Trombonist - Nils Wogram. My kids were trilled with the 2 hour performance. I've not reached that level of appreciating Jazz music so I was nodding off several times during the concert. Hubs was out cold, short of making his own music. When they performed their final piece, I was ready to get up and go but the crowd encored and I sat back down. Sigh! Had to go through another mind boggling piece of instrumental.

The quartet, which consists of trombonist Nils Wogram and drummer Jochen Rückert (both from Germany), and saxophonist Hayden Chisholm and bass player (double bass) Matt Penman (both from New Zealand).

I was shocked at the size of the Roses in the middle of the bouquet!!
Call me ignorant, but I've never seen any Rose in such a size!!

Lovely flowers tied to each pew in Church.

Part of the flowers at the base of the Altar.

More lovely flowers from the Wedding on Saturday @ Church.

The above group named "The Mosaic Jazz Group" played at a wedding which we attended on Saturday night. They played and sang and were quite entertaining. They added new pizazz to Sway by Pussycat dolls, Nat King Cole's Unforgettable and the list goes on. That evening's Jazz performance was much more soothing to the ears.

Friday night, found ourselves in Genting Highlands Resorts Hotel. Before watching the much anticipated Rose, Rose, I love you, the kids insisted that I go with them to First World Hotel to watch the fiasco there. It was a journey of corridors and escalators before we reached First World Hotel.

It was noisy, polluted and there were bright and bling-bling lights everywhere.
Look at the pictures!

Wheee! They brought the Oscars to Genting!!!

Flying Swans gliding around looking for people to ride them.

Slot Machines are no longer only for Adults. These are "Dress Barbie" slot machines
where you slot in your payment for a game to dress Barbie. *Shakes head*
I'm glad I didn't bring #3 with me because I'd have to deal with a very unhappy kid.
For the boys, they had slot machines for the 'dinosaur game'.

More bling-bling lights!!

Food, herbs and more herbs!!!
Unfortunately, some of these containers had lots and lots of weasels in between the food stuff.
It was quite gross.

My favorite!! Pity couldn't smell anything other than second hand smoke, McD's and KFC!

Quick breakie with the kids this morning.

For those of you who were asking for pictures from the musical Rose, Rose, I love you. We weren't allowed to take pictures in the concert hall. My two daughters managed to take some pictures with Tin Tan and Soon Yoon but it's in their phone. Sorry!!

Hari Raya cuppy cakes!

Daughter #1 made these for my neighbours Hari Raya open house yesterday. Notice the 'ketupat' and Mosque designs. I wasn't home when she did the icing and I was quite impressed that she was able to handle all these by herself.

She even had a 'beach' scene - the one topped with an umbrella. Cool!

Rose, Rose, I love you - the musical!

I was awed with the musical "Rose, Rose, I love you". This is what my eldest daughter wrote in her blog.

**************************************


"Now, about Rose Rose I love you.
Definitely worth the watch!
No regrets! =)
If you have the time, PLEASE GO AND WATCH IT OKAY!

You have to understand abit of Cantonese though. =)
But definitely worth watching! =)

This musical was inspired by the former Cabaret Queen of Malaysia, Rose Chan.
The crew and cast hopes that this homage does Rose Chan justice.
I think it definitely did her all the justice, because then you understand why she actually went into this whole "strip dancing business".

The ultimate, and cutest part of this entire musical were the "stilletos", consisting of this three girls (Angie, Colleen and Anrie) who also performed with Lit in Girls Just wanna Have Fun in 2006 @ Bangsar Actors Studio.
Carmen Soo who played "Ah Xuan" referred to the Stilletos as the three aunties who shared ONE brain. hehehe. It was really funny. Plus, they were named Ah yat, Ah yee, Ah sam!

Okay. Here's the highlight. They all can sing.
What am i saying?!? It's a musical. Stupid me.

The way they distracted you and changed the set? cool-ness. hehe.
the set really brings you back to the era of big bling lights. =) *chik chak*

Thanks to Aunty Winnie's daughter (Yim Mei Choo) who was the scriptwriter of this musical, we got to take a few pics with Tin Tan (Rose Chan) and Soon Yoon ("Lau Pan" - read in Hokkien) after the musical. =)

There was this singer, Zalina Lee who had an amazing voice.
Amazing and literally to die for. Loved it! POWER!

Like a Virgin, Material Girl, Black eyed Peas, Pussycat Dolls, Beautiful Girls (Sean Kingston) and I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor) Rose, Rose I Love You (Yao Lee) done in both Mandarin and English.

Dates: 2nd-4th & 9th-11th Nov 2007
Time: 8.30pm
Venue: Genting International Showroom
Tickets: RM68, RM88 & RM118
* 10% off for Astro subscribers
* 15% off for Genting WorldCard members

For tickets, call 03-2718 1118

Who is Rose?

little boys sneaked in to watch her
grown men fought to have a feel of her
today old men reminisce at the mere mention of her name
and young men wonder about her claim to fame

women young and old are still amazed gawking at her beauty, appeal and grace
wishing ever so secretly for her style and sensuousness a charm so irresistable, a love so venomous
she is the flower of Malaya
she is the rose that grows and lingers in the minds of
those who remember the forbidden dance perfected by her

Penny (Music Director) was telling us after the show that they had to use
approximately 6o mics! 40 wireless ones and 20 more for the live ensemble. wow..

And the props? Amazing.
Costumes for the two main casts were specially done up by Melinda Looi. =)

If this interests you, there's one stripping scene. Pole dancing included.
Go see for yourself.

Three cheers to IE for this wonderful and memorable production.
Shit. I wanna go watch again next week. =s

There was actually alot to learn from this musical.

"Food can simply eat. Words cannot simply say."

"I don't believe in luck. If you want something, you have to work for it."

The musical ended at 11 plus.
We went down to Gohtong Jaya to have dinner/supper.
Nice yummy food!"

Reached home about 2am!
Next day supposed to go sing for wedding in the morning. =_='

**********************************************
Just to add to my daughter's post, the musical was a blast with lots of jokes and laughs! The musical was well choreographed.

The only set back was the entire "Genting" environment. It was full of sound pollution, light pollution and air pollution. It was so horrible that I had to down two Panadols to curb a persisting headache! I'm certain that I'm not going back there anytime soon!!

TAG: The Age That I Wish To Go Back To

Thanks Sting for this Tag: The Age That I Wish To Go Back To.

I guess I'd like to re-live the moment when I had my eldest daughter, eighteen years ago.

It was during that time in the hospital, experiencing all the 'trauma' of being a new mother that I realized how much Mum sacrificed in her life taking care of my brothers and I.

I was so overwhelmed with the delivery of my daughter that I felt a sudden and great sense of appreciation for my mother. I remembered how when we were down with fever, she'd be rubbing hard boiled eggs on our fore heads and tummies to remove the 'heat'. It was like a ritual and we'd be inspecting the coins to see if they had changed to that 'mysteriously' bronze or black color. How she would stay by our side all night long even though she had to work in the morning.

Doing this tag reminds me much of "that time in my life" when I was 'enlightened' on how Mum had sacrificed for us and how she'd journeyed with me through life.

Yes, indeed, if I could, and in fact I have already, 'realized and re-lived' "that time in my life" just by doing this Tag.

Thank you Sting for reminding me what a great and fantastic Mum I have! *sniff, sniff*

********************Start copy********************
Instructions:
Title: The Age That I Wish To Go Back To
Requirement: Write about the one age that you wish to go back to and why?
Tag Mode: 5 bloggers
1st - You leave their blog and post link and add to the list below.
2nd - Let the blogger you want to tag know they been tagged by comment in their blog or etc.

The Age that they Wish to Go Back to:
Amidrin wish to go back to age 22 to correct back some mistakes in life.
Lemonjude wish to go back to age 6 to enjoy kid’s life.
Hui Sia wish to go back to age 16 to meet her first lover again.
Giddy Tiger wishes to go back to a childhood life with no worries in the world.
Rinnah wishes she could turn back time to the happiest days of her life.
Ehon doesn’t wanna go anywhere.
Chen wanna go back to age 19 to take a different pathway in life.
LB prefers to go forward, but failing that, would wish to be in China cir. 220 BC Qin Dynasty.
Everyday Healy wanted to be back in 2005, just to hear her grandpa said "Goodbye".
Sting feels that she should go back to save her rabbit...

Bento Pet has Déjà vu-d "that time in my life" eighteen years ago...

********************End copy********************

So dear friends, when do you want to go back to?

ling239

ilovepearly

Jo-n

Jane

meatball

"Rose, Rose, I love you" and Bento #52

I baked a Chocolate cake yesterday because I want to pack some for tomorrow when we go to Genting Highlands to watch "Rose, Rose, I love you". For the more 'matured' Malaysians, the name Rose Chan should ring a bell. She was the legendary Cabaret Queen and 'stripper' who eventually died of cancer.

The script for the musical "Rose, Rose, I love you" is written by Yim Mei Choo and directed by Low Ngai Yuen. The stars are Tin Tan (singer Ah Niu's sister) and Carmen Soo.

Director Low Ngai Yuen and music director Penny Low worked on a previous production; "The Girl from Ipoh", unfortunately I didn't get to watch that.

But I did get to watch "Girls just wanna have fun" end of last year in Actors studio, a pop musical of hits from the 60's, starring the LiT performers (KL's all-women A Cappella group) under the music direction of Penny Low. It was a fantastic production and night of beautiful songs and well choreographed dance.

Penny Low's musical direction of the A Cappella singers was absolutely awesome! I've met Penny several times and she's exudes simplicity, confidence and certainly every inch a talented musician.

Anyway so much for that, I just love musicals and can't wait to watch "Rose, Rose I love you", partly also because Melinda Looi designed the costumes for the two main casts. I'm told that there is even an Orchestra backing the singing. I'm looking forward to that.

Ahemm.....by the way, this is not a promotional write up of "Rose, Rose, I love you". Many may think that this type of musical is not suitable for children but I've been assured that there is NO nudity and indecency in the musical. I'm excited about going up the 'hill' tomorrow!

Anyway back to bento-ing. Like I said earlier, I baked a Chocolate cake because I wanted to bring this up to Genting for the kids to snack on. We have a room there which we can rest for a couple of hours before the musical starts and I'm sure the Chocolate cake will finish as fast as the passing hours.

This morning's bento was quick. I bought some fresh Radish last night at Tesco. Since this morning's salad didn't have any color and I didn't want to use carrots again, I scrapped the Radish with a mandoline and mixed it with some baby romaine, topped it with Parmesan cheese and Kewpie Mayo.

I added a few grapes into the same box. In the other box, you can see the moist Chocolate cake and some Gyoza. There is a Hello Kitty sauce cup with some Gyoza dip.


I was on the line with my bes-test friend who now resides in Quebec, Canada for two hours last night. She has no inkling what bento is about and in the last three months of nagging her to read my blog had proven futile.

Last night I brought her on a tour of my blog. Amidst the Ohh..s and Ahhh...s I realised that for people who don't know much or anything about bento, they can't even envision the whole end product, i.e. with it's cover and strap and all.....so I decided that I will even post up photos of the bento boxes for their benefit!

Another bottle of cold juice in an insulated bottle bag.

Omurice

No Bento again (through no fault of mine - I'm raring to go)! Tried cooking Omurice for the first time. Wikipedia doesn't really do justice in describing Omurice.

I Googled the recipe and fried the rice. It's basically fried with chopped onions, I used duck meat instead of chicken as in the recipe. Then I mixed in some tomato sauce at the end.

The omelet is supposed to be a little under cooked and soft when placed on top of the rice. You're suppose to slit it open to cover up the rice. Mine was a little over done but still very tasty. Look at this link and see how simple and delicious it is. There are two methods with the eggs in Omurice. One is to top the rice with the omelet and the other is to wrap the rice with the egg. Look at this link for the second method.

Check out Peony's site - a fellow bento blogger for first hand pictures from Japan.

Missing layer from Tag

Oops! Faux pas! When I read ling's subtle message, I realised that I am supposed to tag another five people from ling239's tag.

Personally I'm okay with tags, I only don't like chain letters.

It can be fun to do. However, if you are tagged by me and choose not to do it, I understand. Please don't feel obligated or feel bad. It is, after all, in the name of fun! Have fun! Thanks!!

Layer Twelve: Tag Five People
1. Sue from: Cooking Momster Corner
2. Terri from: A Daily Obsession
3. Judy from: Grandmother stories
4. nightwing from: Carpe Diem
5. Elaine from: wokkingmum

Bento #51

I am inspired by what the Japanese government is doing to improve the health of it's people through healthy eating. If you read my last post you would find that in their initial attempt, they have taken an unprecedented step to advocate and introduce a healthy diet in schools. Can you imagine, in one month they don't serve the same menu? Amazing! They have nutritionists to draw up a healthy menu and yet variety is their priority.

This morning's bento box contains "Vegeroni Spirals" tossed in garlic oil. Next to it are some skewered fish balls and tomatoes. On it's right are cheese and salad sandwiches. I topped the salad with freshly crushed black pepper for extra flavoring. Next to the sandwiches is a box of white sauce for the pasta, cooked with cheese and salmon bits.

In the middle is a fruit box. Guess what fruit? On it's left is a bottle of 'leong cha' (Loh Hon Koh).

Healthy, Friendly Japan - Lifestyle, Star online

Please read the article published in the Star newspaper on Sunday, October 28 about Healthy, Friendly Japan. It's about how Japan battles with obesity and lifestyle-related diseases like any other advanced nation. Japan, not a nation to take things lying down has drawn a battle plan to improve healthy diet efforts.
In an unprecedented initiative in the world, the Japanese government is not only providing healthy lunch meals at a highly subsidised rate in public schools but also in it's national movement, nurtures people into practising a healthy lifestyle.

Watch this Movie depicting a lunchtime scenario in a public elementary school.

Bento #50

This is a delicious bento. In the back bento box are vegetables tossed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Used cookie cutters to cut carrot stars for color and another STAR - shaped egg.

In the front bento box is Udon noodles lightly tossed in garlic oil and topped with kamaboko.

We were at a wedding dinner on Saturday and there was a lady sitting next to us with beautiful, porcelain type skin. We just couldn't resist asking her for her beauty regime. She shared with us that when she was young, her mother used to force her to eat lots and lots of vegetables and fruits. So much so that she never had a chance to eat tit bits like her two other brothers. She was so traumatized by the disparity that she decided only to have one child so that her child would not have to suffer like her, being set aside and treated differently. That bit of personal sharing blew us away.

She was so bare with her hurts that we could only share her languish by providing a listening ear. I would never put my children through such 'abuse' for finer skin. I could, perhaps add on the fruits and vegetables to their menu and encourage that they maintain a balanced diet.

#3 asks for cupcakes!

#3 celebrated children's day at school on Friday. On Monday she'd already requested that she bring cup cakes to school. #1 loves her very much and condoned without much ado. Because it's a kiddies party, she was game for 'a little of everything'. Just 'tembak' for the experience.

#3 came home elated and talked non stop about how the head mistress, teachers and classmates enjoyed the cup cakes and were trilled by the designs. Obviously she ate the nicest of the lot - according to her, the purple one with the jelly beans which look like balloons.

#1 also wrote some Chinese characters, forgot to ask her what they meant. #2 and #1 hasn't been going to school because one has pharyngitis and the other just feels 'a little under the weather'? So while they are both off school there has been no bento and whilst one is under medication the other continues to be on a baking frenzy.

Tagged!!

My first tag by ling239
Thank you.

Layer One: On The Outside
Name: Known as "Bento Pet"
Birth Date: Same as the most popular 24 hours convenience store
Current status: Happy
Eye Colour: Dark brown
Hair Colour: Dark brown
Righty or Lefty: Right - definitely


Layer Two: On The Inside
Your Heritage: my religion
Your Fears: you really don't want to know
Your Weaknesses: my hobbies

Your Perfect Pizza: laden with CHEESE, CHEESE and more CHEESE!!


Layer Three: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
Your Thoughts First Waking Up: Bento?
Your Bedtime: past midnight

Your Most Missed Memory: telephone conversations with my dad (deceased)


Layer Four: Your Pick
Pepsi or Coke: neither
McDonald's or Burger King: An occasional dose of poison? McD's will do.
Single or Group Dates: At my age? You must be joking!
Adidas or Nike: You want to ask my girls?
Tea or Nestea: Neither, for me it's Coffee!
Chocolate or Vanilla: Definitely chocolate.
Cappuccino or Coffee: Coffee.


Layer Five: Do You...
Smoke: No and I don't enjoy breathing in secondary smoke either.
Curse: Sometimes, at the people who smoke.
Have a crush: All the time, with McVitie's digestives
Think you've been in love: Many times over, with each baby.
Go to school: Yeap! Learning all the time from the cycle of life.
Want to get married: Been there, done that baby!

Believe in yourself: Often enough

Think you're a health freak: Huh? What kinda question is that?


Layer Six: In The Past Month Have you...
Drank alcohol: Occasionally
Gone to the mall: Often enough
Been on stage: Yes
Eaten sushi: Hey! Sushi is my second name!
Dyed your hair: What an embarrassing question.


Layer Seven: Have You Ever...
Played A Stripping Game: I only strip carrots and radish and all the hard stuff!

Changed Who You Were To Fit In: No masks for me thank you.


Layer Eight: You're Hoping
To Be Married: Are you sure you tagged the right person?

For a: couple more kids?


Layer Nine: In a Boy (For guys, In a Gal)
Best Eye + Best Hair Color Combination: So long ago, forgotten already
Short Hair or Long Hair: Does it make a difference?

Layer Ten: What Were You Doing
1 Min Ago: Decided to do this tag
1 Hour Ago: Baking cup cakes for #3 children's day celebration tomorrow
4.5 Hours Ago: Having pizza with the 3 girls for lunch.
1 month Ago: Busy, busy, busy
1 Year Ago: Never dreamed about producing iced cakes from this household.


Layer Eleven: Finish The Sentence
I Love: my God, my family and friends
I Feel: frenzied
I Hate: that's a harsh word!
I Hide: my bento stash from my hubby
I Miss: my dad

I Need: to control my blogging addiction!!

Bento #45

This was yesterday's bento. I couldn't access the internet the whole day so I could only post it this morning. On the left is a bun loaded with tuna mayo. In the foil cup is macaroni cheese and next is a box of raisins.

On the right are more fruits, just mangoes and watermelon. #2 deliberately reminded me that there must be fruits in her bento. I guess she's still trying to manage her weight, although I think she looks absolutely fine.

ADDICTION!!

I had some problem uploading yesterday's bento onto my blog the whole day. I couldn't access the server and it just wouldn't connect!! I don't know what you would do but I was completely stressed and fidgety.

I'm sure for now that I'm an ADDICTED blogger! I checked my computer like a hundred and fifty times for any trace of internet access! I even tried to get 'hooked' onto my neighbour's wireless but that didn't work either. I was calling every known source to try to get my internet access going. No avail and no success. I think I spent more time clicking my mouse yesterday than I do on a normal day.

When I shared with hubs what happened, he grinned and said "Praise the Lord"! Finally my wife has time to do other things! Huh! Very funny I said! But deep in my heart, I knew that he's been really patient with me. I sleep very late some nights either updating my blog or reading in the toilet. I know that's a gross thought for some but that's the only way not to 'kacau' his sleep. I had the *guilty* word hovering my head the whole evening!

This morning the computer could access the internet again. What the heck! I'm still feeling guilty but life has to go on. I just need to prioritize! Yeah! See if I can discipline myself a little. *Sigh, still trying to convince myself *

Cup cake craze!!!

I promise you, this is not going to turn into a cup cake site!! It's just that #1 and I have been so busy doing all these for our BEC elections tomorrow. No! No! I'm not campaigning for any post in the elections with my cup cakes!! It's pot luck and we thought we'd bring cup cakes this time.

This stand can hold 19 cup cakes. There are a couple of extras which will go onto the tray tomorrow. Pictures were taken in a hurry because #3 is sick and I was shuttling between baker and butler duties today!!!

Bento #44

It must be the cup cakes! We've been baking dozens of them and it's made Bento-ing so difficult to crank up! Monday - yesterday, the kids didn't want any Bento. This morning's light and easy bento was just watermelons in the shape of tulips and mushroom and some blanched carrots acting as 'orange leaves'.

Wafu burgers wrapped in sushi rice and some 'pulut tekan' (presssed glutinous rice) and kaya.
#1's God ma made the 'pulut tekan' and gave us a box over the weekend. It's very nice.

Happy Birthday Luke!

I know I said no more cup cakes but this time I asked #1 to ice some for an old friend who turned 71 years old yesterday. As usual we were in a frenzied hurry because we had long and lazy brunch and #1 had a futsal game in the evening. She's getting good at this and my number of pipping nozzles has increased over the last one week and so has ingredients and accessories. *sweat, sweat, sweat*

#3 iced this and insisted that I upload the picture onto my blog!! "She said: Tomorrow morning I want to see the picture on your blog okay? I'm going to sleep now mummy, I love you!!" How to resist such sweet temptation?

Swap items transacted!

Sometime in August 2007, I put up some items for swap. I had bought extra wiener molds and some food dividers so I thought that instead of keeping them, I'd look for someone interested in these items and make a swap.

I was in for a disappointment because no one responded. Anyway, weeks later when I was surfing other bento sites, I found "Apple" (she's taking a break from blogging now) who was looking for winier molds. Jackpot! I quickly communicated with her and offered her my swap items. After 'negotiating' , we agreed to make the swap. Fortunately my mum's friend travels Malaysia - Singapore like some people travel on the LRT (very often) and she agreed to do me the favor of meeting Apple. I am so happy to finally own some egg molds!!















I always felt like there was some 'deficiency' in my bento stash. I didn't have the 'infamous' egg molds!!! At least now I own two egg molds, thanks to Apple!! I am so happy. Along with the egg molds she bought me some silicon containers, sauce cups and gave me a fish shape sauce bottle. Thank you very much Apple, I am very happy with the swap. I hope you are too!












This is what I swapped with her. They mold the winier or cocktail sausages into shapes of Octopus, Crab, Tulip and score the sausages for easy cooking.

I am looking forward to Monday when I can begin my bento packing.

More cake?

Monday

#1 and #3 has the same God parents.

It was their God pa's birthday on Monday.
#3 called God pa up early in the morning to wish him "Happy Birthday".
Following that, she offered God pa a birthday cake to be baked by #1.
Of course she nicely forgot to inform #1 to bake the cake and when #1 came back from visiting God pa, she found out that there was a Birthday cake outstanding.

Tuesday
#1: "Hmmm... how ah Ma, she asks?" Can we ice another cake?
Mum: Haiez.... no, no, no! Don't 'kacau' me!
It's the holidays and I want to enjoy it by relaxing!
#1: Only one cake mum!
Mum: Hmm...okay, okay!

So our expedition commenced!
Along the way, we decided to try to bake cup cakes because it's so popular these days
(never baked them before) - cup cakes, here we come!

Went to the Wilton shop to buy some supplies and get some ideas.
I was told that I could use my butter cake recipe to bake the cup cakes.
Bought some cup cake cups, food color and some nozzles.
These are our first attempt at cup cakes.

We baked a whole cake and the balance became cup cakes.
#1 tried out the new Wilton food colors and iced the cake.
It was a disaster!
Wrong color combination, wrong nozzles, wrong spelling and all things wrong!
Looked at each other and decided the same thing.
Forget about the cake and try icing the cup cakes.

This was the final result!

Gosh! I quite admire #1 and her determination.
I just helped her with the cake and the rest she did herself.
Denon's cake was her first actual attempt at baking and
I'm happy that she's more inspired than put off by the 'hard work'!

Wednesday
#1 reminds me that she's organizing a surprise Birthday party with "M's" mother.
It's for "M" her gym partner, partner in crime, coffee 'kaki', study partner (?), swimming buddy, jogging buddy, old school friend......the list goes on.
What can I say? Ah...okay, okay.

#1: Mum, can you make some sushi for "M's" birthday?
Her mum is doing the rest of the cooking.
Mum: For "M", sure why not! Just remind her that
'unfortunately, my husband doesn't bake'
I grinned at #1.
(we both break into loud guffaws)

#1: Errmm...Can we bake some more cup cakes? I want to do it for "M".
Mum: Hello!! Not enough cup cakes ah? We've been baking cakes since the holidays started!
Can't you see that we're all putting on weight with all the butter and cream!!!!
#1: Yeah...! But I still want to bake and ice cup cakes for "M".
Mum: Haiez...I think you will soon be known as
"#1 (name) - surname - cup cake" if you keep at this!

Bake! Bake! Bake!
Ice! Ice! Ice!!





Sweetheart(#1)!
If you read this, can you please give your mama a break from baking. Your mum isn't called 'Bento Pet' because she bakes, it's because she loves bento-ing and not baking.

Spring Cleaning!

The kids are on holiday for a week. No Bento packing but a lot of spring cleaning of the cupboards. I cleared out the cupboards and took some pictures of my ever-growing Bento and accessories collection!

Top, clockwise from left: Shuttle flask bag which contains the flask and three small containers in front together with the white chopstick holder. Next is another red flask with two containers. In front of the red flask are two pink bentos with a movable partition. Next to the pink bento is a double layer red tiffin styled box. In front and side are two sandwich boxes with fixed partitions. (I haven't used them for a long while). The colorful tupperware with the individual sections are good for a Chinese style meal plus two dishes type of Bento.

Above, some of my two tier Bento boxes.


Above, some of my single tier Bento boxes and side dish boxes.


These are the Bento accessories which are in my cupboard. I think that I should stop buying and stocking because suddenly, I realise that there seem to be a lot!


The tupperware right at the top contains food cups and sauce bottles. In front of it are food picks for skewering small bits of food or vegetables. I've got some fancy food dividers on the right and some wiener cutters in the middle. Right in front are some spoons and forks, sized for Bento boxes and on the left top you can see more sauce bottles.


This picture has most of my cutters in two boxes. You can see my limited number of pipping nozzles, some more food divider grass and leaves and some yellow plastic flowers in the front row of the right box. In front of the two boxes are some more side dish and sauce containers. In the front middle is a box of Glad 'rainbow' bags - good for sandwiches. Left is a box of zip lock plastic bags for freezing udon and sorts.
The yellow bottles in the back are used to freeze soba dipping sauces and tempura sauces. Next to them are tea containers. I now officially own six because I love them and are so useful containing my different variety of teas.

I've uploaded pictures of some of the above items in my older posts. While packing I just gathered them together and took these pictures. There are some more knick knacks and loose pieces here and there which I have not sorted out. Perhaps another post.

I'm still working on the Japanese ingredients part II, so look out for it soon!!