Finally - tomorrow will be the last day of class! And it will be no-stress last day since our exam (today) is over! It's been pretty hectic baking 6 days a week; and I am most happy to take a break from:

-  waking up early for class and standing most of the day
-  dishwashing and scrubbing stubborn cake batter/ sugar syrup/hardened chocolate etc from pans/ mixing bowls. :))

Today's my only day off baking class (yes, I have class on Sun too...) and it so happens that I will end up learning how to cook black pepper crab/ red ruby as part of a short cooking class treat from D :P Have never spent so much time in a 'kitchen' ever!

If you're interested to take a look at my baked goods for the week, you can check out my other blog here :)

I suddenly find myself thrown into baking boot camp! Class overran today (10am to 8pm instead of ending at the official 6pm) and my afternoon after lunch was spent non-stop making cakes. It feels somewhat overwhelming but i suppose it gives me a realistic picture of a baker's life! I am pretty exhausted just after one day and wonder if I will remain so passionate about baking after this :P

Below: My Mickey Mouse and Hello Kitty cake "orders" as part of the day's imaginary cake "orders"- the cartoons are made from scratch (piped using pre-printed stencils as reference) using milk/ white chocolate

Come tomorrow, I will commence an intensive 14-day professional full-time baking course with Creative Culinaire. I signed up for this after much deliberation in January - since it was pretty costly and because I was wondering if it was really necessary for me to know all the things taught in this class. After the class, you're supposed to be able to know baking well enough to come up with your own recipes and be confident enough to start your own bakery. Seems like quite a feat in just 14 days - but the chef claims that we will be more than empowered by the end of the class. During the 2-day prep class this Thurs/ Fri just past, she proudly shared that several of her past students have gone on to set up their own shops etc.

For now, my objective is quite simple though - to just learn how to bake better, via understanding the science behind baking, so that I can troubleshoot my own baking failures in future. In an increasingly saturated F&B (bakeries included) marketplace, I don't think I want to put myself through all the stress and headache of setting up and running a physical bakery or cafe. At least not for the time being! I hope I survive the trials of standing most of the day and washing up (everyday for 6 days a week). The chef also joked that she might ask participants to come in in the middle of the night to bake/ occasionally turn off the aircon to simulate real-life conditions. If I remain/ become more passionate about baking after this course, I guess then there is a glimmer of hope for grander dreams heh. Wish me luck!

On a related note - I finally made and blogged about my birthday cake project here :)

I don't think I am ever going to my neighbourhood GP (under Healthway Medical) again unless it's like a life-threatening emergency. After discovering some traces of blood in phlegm (as I had a sore throat) yesterday morning, was slightly freaked out and thus walked across to see the doc though I knew they were not cheap. But having to pay $64.20 for some antibiotics, lozenges and phlegm medicine is just crazy - after consultation, I was pretty sure I wasn't even very sick.

D & I think that they intentionally dispense ATAS-looking drugs (ie. come in premium-looking boxes, with thicker packaging etc) perhaps to somewhat justify the higher fees. Worse still - the antibiotics was not even good and I half suspect it was the culprit for my stomach pain later in afternoon.

Lesson of day for self - Don't fall sick, especially when you are poor and car-less! :P

Today I turned 30 blissfully :)

Though I still have a long way to go in terms of -

a. figuring out my purpose/ calling in life
b. becoming (and remaining) optimistic, determined, focused, confident

and such...

I should also remind myself of and celebrate the countless blessings I've received in the past 3 decades of existence, such as -

a. having selfless, doting, caring parents and a nice sis
b. making wonderful friends along the way and managing to remain in touch with most
c. meeting D and getting married (seriously I was doubtful 5 years ago if I would ever marry)
d. and all the opportunities and other blessings in life I have received because of a, b and c and G.

and I guess many other cool things, but which my forgetful little mind fails to recall

On a more frivolous note - quite a few people asked me if I made my own birthday cake? To be honest I did think about making myself a most lovely 30th birthday cake - in girly pastel colours, with nice romantic ruffles/ rustic-look and all. And it would be the NICEST cake I've made so far. But in the end I couldn't bear washing loads of pans/ plates etc on my birthday/ birthday eve, and so the making of an elegant grand cake was shelved. But lucky me - D still got me a lovely little white chocolate yuzu cake for the occasion.

As for THE birthday cake- maybe I'd still try to do it tomorrow - when I am one day into being 30, and a little bit closer to the determined self I hope I will become :)

We caught Upside Down this afternoon - starring Kirsten Dunst and Jim Sturgess. Btw critics seem to think this is one of the better films Kirsten Dunst has done since her Spiderman days; but I think she doesn't do very much in the show either aside from looking pretty. Her co-star on the other hand has a meatier role and gets more fun/action with his part while looking quite cute :P Though the ending was slightly abrupt/ not very satisfactory, I still liked the show - and the gravity/ anti-gravity concept gave the movie an interesting (and at times humorous) twist.

The backdrop for Upside Down is a world (or two worlds) divided by wealth (and gravity). And it's becoming pretty clear to myself that I am somewhat drawn to movies that explore this rich-world-oppresses-poor dynamic. Recent films I've caught and like, which similarly explore this theme include In Time and The Hunger Games. I suppose deep down inside me the issue of rising social inequality bugs me a bit - and so I like watching shows that make me reflect/ think a bit more about the issue. Though admittedly I haven't quite stepped out of my comfort zone to do anything very much for the needier/ poor... :(

Anyways, here's the trailer! It's still showing in theaters here, if you want to catch it :)

A useful reminder/quote spotted in the pages of a book at the kikki.K store at ION Orchard - though probably not always true :)

A belated Valentine's! I never really had this day off since starting work - but this year, I had the luxury of spending Valentine's with all my favourite people! But ended up overeating :(

It's my mum's birthday - and so after making slightly cheesy heart-shaped fried eggs for breakfast I spent the rest of the morning baking her a tiny chocolate layered cake. Treated parents to high tea after the mini surprise birthday celebration at home; and ended up having cake before, during and after high tea on Valentine's...

Cute love-themed items part of our afternoon tea set :)

After the high tea outing, I came home to a surprise home-cooked meal by D! And since D now works near Ann Siang Hill, he also brought home my favorite mont blanc from KKi! I really shouldn't have eaten any more cake after the indulgent afternoon tea, but it was too difficult to resist treats from KKi... 

The CNY break brought some girl friends home, and we were able to chill out at one another's homes the past week - starting with crepe-making at J's place on the afternoon of CNY Eve and mini chamomile tea cakes at my place this afternoon :)

It's a good change to have friends to bake with - without J and S's creative inputs I would just have done a very purist flower decor for all my chamomile cupcakes :) Instead, we ended up with a 3D mouthless cat; a blueberry studded cupcake; a tic tac toe board, a chick-and-egg pair, among other design variations ;)

After much procrastination and missing the chance to free-ride (when parents and in-laws got it done) I finally dragged myself down to join the bank queue for new bank notes for Chinese New Year angbaos. it's my first time fulfilling my married grown-up duties, and definitely not the last. I should just have gone earlier, because even at 3pm on a weekday, I ended up waiting 45 min for my turn.

Interestingly, there's now such a thing as 'good-as-new' $2 notes, but it seemed rather unpopular with several of the aunties behind me in the queue. When told that there were no brand new $2 notes, all of them decided to only change $10 notes. Seems like for some people (for whatever reason) having a stack of new notes in running serial number order matters. I later also found out through an OCBC info-ad on one of their LED panels that good-as-new notes are apparently more environmentally friendly, since printing so many new notes apparently wastes quite a bit of energy. And probably incurs quite a bit of cost too, though that wasn't highlighted. When it came to my turn, since the good-as-new $2 notes looked relatively new, I happily got those. Can't be bothered to join another 45 min queue to get BRAND NEW but not so environmentally-friendly $2 notes :P

If all goes well, I might get a regular stint with the St Andrew's Autism Centre as a 'baking volunteer' organising baking sessions for the young adult Autistic clients. The first session will be held this Fri - but if my three weeks of volunteer experience at the Tues clay workshops can be relied upon as gauge of client interest, am not particularly hopeful the clients will be very interested in this. Nonetheless, since this will be with another group of clients + they get to eat what they make in class I hope that I will be proved wrong and they will grow to enjoy baking!

On a separate note - D always comments how I frequently get packages through the mail. They are either books or clothes I buy online (which are usually cheaper than what I can get in the stores/ or not available otherwise). With the books - I occasionally get pleasant surprises. Bookdepository.com offers free worldwide shipping (partly why I buy from them) but they usually take so long to ship that by the time to book arrives I'd have forgotten what book I got some 3 weeks ago. And so today's surprise came in the form of tiny beautiful things - which arrived just after I finished Hector And The Search For Happiness, an easy-to-read and relatively enlightening book with little nuggets of wisdom on finding happiness.

Hope this will be another light but thought-provoking read for the weeks ahead. Something for me to turn to when I need a break from doing up my CV...

I've gone nuts over strawberries this week - baking strawberry cupcakes and another strawberry ruffle cake consecutively this Tues and Wed. It makes me really happy whenever something new turns out well; and I'd have all sorts of ideas about selling them. Seems like I may actually be getting somewhere, as 3 little orders have come in the past week or two - and these were orders for the more recent creations. There is rather little to be earned from making these cakes though - and so for now it still seems like a pretty wise decision to go look for a job soon :)

I've also made some progress with my volunteering - the Children's Society volunteer role was no longer available by the time I went down for an observation session on Monday, but there seems to be another more suitable opening for me elsewhere. My first session with some Autistic youths at the St Andrews Autism Centre (it was a clay-molding workshop) went quite well; and I will probably continue to volunteer again next week. I seem to be quite drawn to the world of autism; perhaps because I am mildly "autistic" at heart - OK to be doing my own thing; and once upon a time, having to socialise and talk to people was a huge disincentive. :P

I've been debating whether to commit to a longer-term volunteer role with the Children's Society; or with any VWO types for that matter. While I always think that I want to help people, my efforts are frequently half-hearted, ad hoc and a bit "三分钟热度". Long-term commitment seems to be an issue for me and so I don't recall having volunteered at the same place for more than a month? (except the one time I volunteered for several months with the Oakland Children's Hospital autism intervention program). This often also means that I don't really stay long enough to make much of a difference to whoever I was hoping to help.

Coincidentally - as I was pondering more deeply about underlying reasons for my lack of commitment, D shared his PS' recent observation of good-hearted Singaporeans who lack stamina in volunteering  - with most just volunteering once-off, or for ad-hoc events. So perhaps I should feel less guilty in that 'poor stamina' in volunteering isn't all that uncommon. But then again, comparing yourself to people who are 'worse off' or just like you is typically but a self-consoling/ feel-good strategy. So maybe this is really something I ought to work on in the new year :P

I wonder if it's coincidental that various wise words about giving also recently popped up, both secular and non-secular. Maybe it's really time for me to try to step out of my comfort zone and be more serious about giving.

"You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give" - Winston Churchill 

"Do not withhold good from those who need it, when you have the ability to help. Do not say to your neighbour, 'Go! Return tomorrow and I will give it,' when you have it with you at the time" - Proverbs 3:27-28

I had a pretty good start to the year - managed to catch up with a few old friends over brunch/ lunch/ dinner/ whatsapp the past week; successfully baked two blueberry-themed cakes (I've blogged about one of them here); checked out some possible volunteer opportunities and made a sensible decision to perhaps start looking out for and hopefully secure a suitable job in the next couple of months. I also restarted yoga lessons with my neighbourhood instructor this morning, and with 2 pairs of new running shoes - hope to be disciplined enough to exercise more the rest of the year.

I also decided to give myself a new hairstyle, and I can't decide if I should laugh or cry at myself now. I now have a very short fringe - which is a fine line between high-fashion chic and looking like what I used to look like in Sec One. Given how little time I typically devote to styling my hair, I am afraid it will soon deteriorate to look like the latter...

Anyways. It's one-hour to a girly gathering at my place tonight, where I'd get to taste J's home-made banana walnut froyo and get some feedback on my dark chocolate sunken souffle cake... :)

A belated but happy 2013 to all!

It's scary how almost 5 months have flown by since I left my job. Am still thinking about my options, but time seems to be ticking away really quickly - while I have figured out a few things I'd probably not want to do for a living, I still haven't quite figured out what I really want to pursue. Thankfully a couple of friends in similar situations have been somewhat encouraging, that it may not be too bad an idea to take more time to think it through thoroughly either. Hope I will make good use of the next few months to gain greater clarity.

On a happier note, I discovered a flower in my garden this morning! Check it out here! :)

It's been a crazy few days of baking - made 60+ over 120 cookies, a pecan pie, a cashew 'cheesecake' and pumpkin cake the past 2 days.. N more cookie baking later today!
Think I'd take a baking break over Christmas!

Below: Some self packaged home-made cookies ;)

My very first Christmas tree!

I came home slightly disappointed with Bali - I think it has probably grown too touristy for my liking. And even Ubud (where Julia Roberts' character retreated to in the movie Eat, Pray, Love) was not spared from the "assault" of tourists...

I can see how Bali can be a really charming place, but the swarms of tourists (esp in the Kuta area) just put me off somewhat. Perhaps the tourism industry has provided a good source of income/jobs for locals, but have mixed feelings whether such development is good or bad for the locals... having little kids walk past you (even in the villages in Ubud) calling out "money money" makes me feel like tourism has corrupted their innocence. The frequent traffic jams have also prob made Bali a less liveable and much noisier place. Perhaps I happened to only see the really touristy areas, but I feel like I should have visited 10 years ago!

Ironically though because the Kuta part of Bali has become so internationalised, I was actually able to do some decent shopping at a newly opened mall Beachwalk. And ended up buying 1 dress, 1 top and 3 pairs of flip flops for myself..

On a separate note, i think Qatar Airways prob has one of the best airline entertainment systems around! They let you watch movies right away after you board, and continue to let you do so even after landing! Heh. I managed to catch 2 rather different but good movies - Tim Burton's Frankenweenie and Never Let Me Go (Based on Ishiguro's novel). Sadly since the flight wasn't very long I didn't manage to finish Never Let Me Go - but it turned out to be surprisingly good (though depressing).

I also found a new favourite song with meaningful lyrics and a very catchy tune - the ending song for Frankenweenie Love Is Strange. Enjoy!

Am off to Bali for a short weekend trip! It's first time in Bali but prob the last trip for the year.. :) And with a pair of new sports shoes, I shouldn't be struck with falling soles a 4th time ;P Hope we can also come home with an affordable but nice painting for our house!

[afternote: we arrived 2 hrs late due to flight delay and since it was getting late decided to try the pizzeria at the resort.

We ordered a signature 'volcano pizza' - which turned out to be this inflated bao1-looking thing with a 5-second blazing fire. The bao1 skin was later cut and removed to reveal a steaming normal pizza within ;) somewhat gimmicky but definitely memorable ]