My Long Lost Interest

I have always been interested in cooking, not exactly the act of it but rather, more of browsing through pages and pages of colourful cookbooks and recipes. :p Over the years, I never really get to the practical part of cultivating this interest.

Something came over me the other day to put my long lost interest to a test. One fine Saturday, I prepared a home-cooked 5-dishes-1-soup lunch for my family and invited my sister over for the treat (with the ultimate motive of wanting her to give comments for my cooking).

The 5 dishes consisted of:

1. Steamed Pork Ribs with Black Bean Paste

2. Broccoli with Mushroom and Dried Scallop

3. Chicken with Cashew Nuts

(This is P's favourite dish)

4. Squid with Celery and Dried Chilli (I cooked this specially for my sister because she loved to eat squid!)

5. Cold Tofu with Pork Floss

(This is Rachel and my sister's favourite dish)

6. Shark's Fin Soup with Crab Meat

Overall, I was happy with the dishes I prepared, except for the failure of one dish: the Shark's Fin soup with crab meat which I have overcooked and added too much water.

I'd love to experiment with my own cooking again....perhaps to cook for more people next time. Anyone dare to sample? You are invited!

Arrival of A New Angel!

A new angel joined the family on Jan 12, 2009. It was baby Cheryl, my sis-in-law's first newborn child. Baby Cheryl must be a really smart baby to know that she has to be out from her mummy before CNY so that she can collect ang pows from all the uncles and aunties during CNY. But it must be hard on mummy to be having her confinement during CNY period where everyone else can enjoy nice food and CNY goodies.

I am really looking forward to be back to Malaysia in just a week's time for CNY so that I can see my little niece and hold her in my arms.

Isn't she adorable with big eyes like mummy?

Little Words & Actions

At 17 months, Shannon is able to do:

• walk steadily.
• climb up and down steps.
• kiss on the cheek when asked to.
• wave bye-bye and do "friend-kiss" when asked to.
• pick up a rubbish on the floor, go to a dustbin and throw it inside when we say "pick it up and throw away".
• lift up her clothes when we say "change change".
• brush her finger downwards against her cheek when we say "shame shame".
• point her finger to her hair clip on her hair when we ask "where is mei mei".
• point her finger to her forehead when we say "pain pain".
• point to a photo frame with her sister's photo inside and say "jie-jie".
• point to a Pooh Bear sticker on the bathroom glass panel when asked "where is Pooh Bear".
• put her finger on her lips and say "Shhhh" when she sees someone sleeping.
• tap her hand on her chest to tell that she is scared.

These are the word(s)/phrases Shannon can say at 17 months:

• jie-jie (first person to learn to call)
• ma-ma
• pa-pa
• mum-mum (for eating)
• 1, 2, 3
• ball
• bear bear
• wo-wo (for dog)

These are my lovely angels:

New Angel

There is a new member to the family... a beautiful little angel. More updates coming soon.

I attended a F1 Race!

How I wish it was real!

Nah...it was my Company's annual meeting event where they shared the Company's results for last year and plans for this year, followed by teambuilding activities and the day was ended off with a Gala dinner. The theme this year was F1 Race for the meeting and F1 Glam for the Gala dinner.
This is my first work experience in a Sales & Marketing environment with S&M people. I must say they are a real bunch of creative, fun-loving, daring, spontaneous, sporting people. They have all kinds of ideas and can do all sorts of funny stuff. What was worth a praise was that the organising committee planned, organize and execute the entire event in-house without engaging any event company, from all the logistics work of sourcing for venue to indoor props design and making, the scripts, skits, speeches, costumes, company results and future plans presented in such a way that synchronized with the F1 theme, show hosting etc etc. So much good work and great effort!

The energy level was really high throughout the whole day. I had a good time too! I think they are all charged up and ready to race off for a better year of achievement! Congratulations for achieving the S$50M milestone!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

My dad turns 64 years old today. We celebrated his birthday a few days earlier and got both my mum and dad to post for a lovey dovey photo. It's really heartwarming to see both of them getting on well as they grow old together. Surely, they have their usual squabbles like all couples do, but living to this age, I can tell that they are contented just to have their children and grandchildren be with them. I am just as contented to have them around and grateful for all that they have been through to bring us up. I have not been the best daughter to my parents, but I am constantly striving to be a better one. I want to be able to do much more for them just like they have done for me all these years.

Mum & Dad, I wish you good health and happiness!

Love from your daughter.