Neither tough nor capable

I don't think I am tough but most of the times, I just know that I must act tough...coz it is necessary so as to move on in life.

I don't think I am capable but many times, I just know that I must always learn to find a purpose in what I do...coz it is important to remind myself of that little light at the end of the tunnel.

Lunar New Year

We kinda decorated a wall of the apartment...heh, guess who bought that big Chinese knot from China :P

Yusheng from Paradise Group for our reunion dinner at home...we love it but Didi and I kinda wished there were a few more slices of salmon :P

Peng cai ordered from Paradise Group...delicacies and more delicacies. We could not finish the whole big pot of it during our reunion dinner. We also ordered a roasted chicken. Erm, I thought I was craving for more vegetables for our reunion dinner :P

Mummy never fails to cook this dessert during CNY...love the gingko nuts! Maybe I should eat more to boost my memory :P

One step closer to...

Someone like you

What is the difference?

My mother drew a distinction between achievement and success. She said that achievement is the knowledge that you have studied and worked hard and done the best that is in you. Success is being praised by others. That is nice but not as important or satisfying. Always aim for achievement and forget about success. ~ Helen Hayes

The one important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one's work seriously and taking one's self seriously. The first is imperative and the second is disastrous. ~ Margot Fonteyn

Have I ever told you that?

To me, it's difficult not falling in love with that pair of endearing eyes. They seem to have a way of bringing comfort to one's life and probably adding a little sunshine to each day. Have I ever told you that? Thank you Sunny baby...

Resisting temptation

Didi is back in Singapore to spend Chinese New Year with us. He is now munching on some "Chicken in a Biskit" with a glass of chocolate milk while I am blogging. Ha, the biscuits looked so tempting and I could not help but took a couple from the box, goodness, real addictive! Used to like that but stopped myself from eating those as they could really be salty and sinful. But really could not resist temptation when I saw Didi eating them for supper :P The most horrible thing is, he told me that he has also bought a bag of Ruffles chips and he's always glad to share that with me too. Urgh! My determination to not eat those snacks and chips seemed to waver...With Chinese New Year round the corner, more temptation, oops!

Go Spanish at Bilbao

The bread served seemed a little too hard for our liking.

This (Calamares En Su Tinta) was recommended but we found it nothing really special.

Tigres Bilbao...Yummy! Our favourite tapas, it's kinda like a mussels-like dish

Cochinillo roll...real tender pork with crispy pork skin, love the red capsicum that came with it

I was so very impressed with both of us for finishing almost the whole pan of paella. It was supposed to be meant for two but I think it can easily feed four :P Ha, I thought the rice was kinda addictive, a must try at Bilbao!

Met up with PY for a Saturday lunch just last week. Well, I guess we are no longer students busy doing assignments. Both of us are back at work but we told each other that we must find time to meet up and pamper ourselves with good food :P So, lunch last Saturday was our first for the year 2012. PY is very much a foodie so I always leave it to her to make decisions about where and what to eat or how we should pamper ourselves :P PY was craving for Spanish food so we had lunch at Bilbao, a Spanish restaurant located at Somerset Road. Both of us tried Don Quijote at Dempsey and we kinda still prefer Bilbao to Don Quijote. The paella is one of the reasons for our preference.

Mummy's birthday!

Mummy dearest...you are always the most beautiful woman in my life :)

Hungry, hungry! I came from work, kinda tired but so comforting to be able to have a good meal with my family :)

Peking duck...I am not usually a fan of it but I would say it's a good starter to our meal :P

Vegetables with bamboo shoots and...erm, not sure what that sauce was but it was recommended by the staff so we give it a go. Good choice!

Fish was firm and tender too...as usual, we finished every bit of the fish, including the head. We were 'trained' to 'tackle' every bit of the fish :)

XF was craving for prawns...if only I knew how to prepare that sauce with lotsa garlic :P

I am so glad we decided to try their oxtail...so tender and the sauce, goodness, I kinda licked my plate clean! The nai bai was really crunchy and to me, a perfect complement to the main

Not many kinds of ingredients in the noodles but still flavourful...Mummy's favourite!

It's always lovely to celebrate birthdays together as a family, isn't it? We celebrated Mummy's birthday early January while Didi and XF were back home. We decided to have dinner at our family's favourite restaurant - Hua Ting. Well, you see, it never seems to disappoint, be it the quality of their food or their service. And at times, I think they are also able to surprise us with a couple of interesting and creative dishes which never fail to bring delight to our taste buds. One would realise that you don't really need condiments to complement dishes prepared at Hua Ting. I guess food prepared are naturally flavoured by the ingredients in each dish.

Lunch + Dinner...just for my family

Sweet and sour pork...my second attempt I think. Hmm, a little tough but maybe coz I have removed the fatty parts of the pork belly? Well, I think the deep frying part needs improvement too :P

Thanks to Kat's century eggs from HK, I was able to prepare cold tofu with lotsa century eggs

Didi wanted to eat stir fry bitter gourd...we love it with carrots, fishcake and eggs

Dinner...made too many wanton in the afternoon, so left some to be deep fried in the evening

Lunch...my 'signature' fried rice (haha), braised chicken with dark sauce and wanton soup

Goodness, it must have almost been a month since I last updated my blog. Thank you to those who have texted me to ask how I have been, especially having not heard much from me in my blog. Well, I am okie, just kinda busy at work I guess. Ha, but with all your encouragement and lovely texts, here I am, silly gal updating her blog again! :) Prepared both lunch and dinner for my whole family one of the days in December (kinda clean forgotten the date) while Didi and XF were back in town. The day started with a trip to the wet market as well as the supermarket. Sometimes, I thought I kinda love the excitement of planning meals and cooking them for lovely people in my life. I sure hope they do enjoy silly gal's simple homecooked food...

An update

• XF and Didi are back, or rather they have been in town for almost a week. Certainly glad that we have managed to catch two movies so far :)
• Switched to "work mode" since I was back from my Cambodia trip. Hardly any time for denial or to ask myself if I was ready to start work, I guess just kinda naturally got 'churned in' and was surrounded by responsibilities, schedules, deadlines and timelines once again. Just spending some time now getting in touch with my heart and asking how I feel about being back at work again...
• I bade farewell to 2011 with a smile on my face. It was a good year :) Sure hope that 2012 will be as good as 2011 and most of all, let us continue to enjoy those little and simple gifts in life...Happy New Year, silly gal :P