I have been feeling quite murderous towards grasshoppers lately - after finding numerous grasshopper droppings on my hydrangea pots and even some stuck on my front (sliding) doors!

Thought I had seen the last of the 2 resident grasshoppers (which I caught and threw out) but I discovered a third one this morning!!! I had better double the pesticide dosage. Sadly the damage is already done and it annoys me immensely to see black speckles all over the leaves, flower petals etc.

I hate garden pests!!

After some 3 months of procrastination, I finally got down to taking a new photo for my new IC; and uploading various scanned files for the online application. After a few failed attempts to upload photos, I finally succeeded in submitting the application. YAY. And my new address can finally and concurrently be updated haha.

The job search has also come to an end, and I will probably be back to an office life in a couple of weeks' time. I think it's about time even though I still haven't quite figured out what I really want to do. I suppose it will have to be an ongoing process and who knows, perhaps the new job will help me figure that out too.

My baking may take a back seat, but I will try my best to keep the little flame alive! I've been pretty hardworking in my kitchen - at least in the past week or two :) Check out some of my Mother's Day bakes on my food blog or on my FB page :)

I really need to exercise more and watch my diet henceforth :(

Before I knew it, it's already been a week since we came home!

In the week past, besides doing loads of laundry, I went for my first jog in a month (yes, sigh), checked out Tsukada Nojo's curious Bijin Nabe (collagen hot pot) with J, S & 'M', baked 3 cakes (one of which was for sale!) and resumed job hunting efforts. 

In other (happy) news, my little FB cake page is gaining more followers. Help me spread the word too if you like what you see! Also - head over to my food blog for some shots of a lovely cafe we visited in Queenstown during our NZ trip :)

We were blessed with lovely weather for our horseride through some Lord of The Rings film locations this morning in Glenorchy, a scenic small town near Queenstown, NZ.

Lunch at a local cafe was fantastic - had a most delicious grilled vegetable sandwich and chicken salad under the warm sun outdoors :) We also treated ourselves to a sinfully chocolatey but heavenly-tasting slice of brownie. Aargh, at this rate am pretty sure I will return home with a few extra pounds...

We had some luck with the weather yesterday and D got to visit his Hobbiton movie set after all :) today was a little cloudy and occasionally drizzly, but we managed to catch some really pretty glimpses of autumn during our long drive!

It's Day 3 of our New Zealand trip and we haven't been too lucky with the weather. It's been raining everyday, even in Whakatane - supposedly NZ's sunniest city. And so even our plans to visit a volcano island tmr morning had to be ditched :(

The first anniversary trip is starting to remind me of my honeymoon, weather-wise! It's not supposed to be raining all the time now! Hopefully it will turn sunnier, warmer soon..

In between job-hunting and trip-planning the past week, I suddenly came down with fever on Sunday afternoon - and it went up to a high of 40C last night! The fever has been on and off (typically in 3-4 hour blocks); and when the fever is really bad I just cannot muster any energy to do anything at all.. Though I seem to have one/ two other symptoms dengue patients seem to exhibit, we are praying hard it is not dengue... It's too early to tell though. Aargh :(

Here are some photos from our cooking class with local 'celebrity chef' Sam Leong and his wife Forest, at their new restaurant Forest at RWS. And hehe it was chilli crab, not black pepper crab.

The session starts off with a 4-course modern Chinese set lunch at their restaurant (the food was really delicious, we'd definitely go back again), followed by the cooking demo and a little hands-on for participants. Forest taught us how to make red ruby (yay, I will try it next time for house parties) while the husband shared his chilli crab recipe with us. The chilli crab tasted really good (they gave us fresh fleshy Sri Lankan crabs) but we're quite doubtful if we would ever be up to killing live crabs at home. Suspect we'll at most attempt chilli prawns if we're feeling hardworking (preparing blending the various ingredients for the sauce is a lot of work!)

a murderous moment.. 

blended ingredients to go into the sauce.. 

I really liked Forest as she was very sincere and personable. I really didn't expect her to be so warm since you know, they are celebrity chefs... Sam was relatively funny and approachable too, but I still like his wife better. Was pretty surprised/impressed too that the chefs themselves did the washing up after the demos. 

Btw, don't you think Forest looks like a certain local politician?? :P

On a not-so-related note, you can head over to my other blog for some photos of my exam bakes for my professional baking class, if you're interested to take a look! :)

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