We had our first staff meeting today.
Verdict : Unexpected but interesting events took place.
At first I thought they were joking, but they weren't! There were songs with ACTIONS involved! It was also my first time where we had to sing our national anthem before we start. So patriotic. Reminds me of school assembly once again.
It was quite entertaining seeing the uncles dance to the songs with such enthusiasm.
The first of many more.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Church Etiquette
As in love as you may be with your partner, I think there should be some sort of etiquette when you’re in church.
Just last weekend I was sitting two rows behind a young youth couple. Not sure if they’re newly dating but they were so distracting!
The constant whispers and giggles, lying on each other’s shoulder, kissing the forehead, playing with the hair was just unacceptable to me. They even had to hold hands the entire praise and worship session. I mean, seriously?? How are you to raise your hands in worship when your fingers are wrapped around each other? Before one were to go to the toilet or wherever she was going, they had to have a brief hug.. and another when she returned.
There was even a friend of theirs who was sitting next to them and the poor girl felt so uncomfortable. At least it looked like she was from where I was sitting.
It really irked me a lot. I mean, someone should really sit this couple down and speak to them because their actions are very distracting and to a point slightly disrespectful as well.
Just last weekend I was sitting two rows behind a young youth couple. Not sure if they’re newly dating but they were so distracting!
The constant whispers and giggles, lying on each other’s shoulder, kissing the forehead, playing with the hair was just unacceptable to me. They even had to hold hands the entire praise and worship session. I mean, seriously?? How are you to raise your hands in worship when your fingers are wrapped around each other? Before one were to go to the toilet or wherever she was going, they had to have a brief hug.. and another when she returned.
There was even a friend of theirs who was sitting next to them and the poor girl felt so uncomfortable. At least it looked like she was from where I was sitting.
It really irked me a lot. I mean, someone should really sit this couple down and speak to them because their actions are very distracting and to a point slightly disrespectful as well.
Friday, January 20, 2012
New Year, New Job
So it’s been 3 weeks since I started my new job. Been meaning to write about it but just haven’t found the time to.
No complaints so far, everything’s good. Looks promising.
Colleagues are ok, though I’ve not met all of them yet. The one thing that I miss about my old place are my friends. I miss the ‘snack’ and ‘ular’ periods that we had, I miss our lunches, I miss their jokes, I miss them.. Two of them were so nice to drive all the way to this side of town to meet me for lunch last week. Was supposed to meet up with four of them 2 days ago for dinner but decided to stay home and rest instead as I was still recovering.
What I love most about the new place – they RECYCLE! I’m big on recycling and it’s so fresh to be in a place that believes and practices the same.
They’re pretty cool too to give out half day Festive Season holidays. I’m choosing to use mine during the Christmas period and work through CNY.
It’s really quiet in the office now because 70% of them have gone on leave for CNY and will be back only in early Feb. But I’ve got quite a bit of work to complete for next week so that’s going to keep me busy.
Countdown, it’s 2 hours to the loooonnggg weekend!
No complaints so far, everything’s good. Looks promising.
Colleagues are ok, though I’ve not met all of them yet. The one thing that I miss about my old place are my friends. I miss the ‘snack’ and ‘ular’ periods that we had, I miss our lunches, I miss their jokes, I miss them.. Two of them were so nice to drive all the way to this side of town to meet me for lunch last week. Was supposed to meet up with four of them 2 days ago for dinner but decided to stay home and rest instead as I was still recovering.
What I love most about the new place – they RECYCLE! I’m big on recycling and it’s so fresh to be in a place that believes and practices the same.
They’re pretty cool too to give out half day Festive Season holidays. I’m choosing to use mine during the Christmas period and work through CNY.
It’s really quiet in the office now because 70% of them have gone on leave for CNY and will be back only in early Feb. But I’ve got quite a bit of work to complete for next week so that’s going to keep me busy.
Countdown, it’s 2 hours to the loooonnggg weekend!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Fraser’s Hill – Dec 2011
The Lees planned to go to Fraser’s Hill for a week after Christmas and Uncle Edward had invited my family to join. Fraser’s has been their holiday getaway for many years, since the Lee boys were young. The family decided to go ahead with the trip.
After a tough week, the family decided to head over to Fraser’s for a shorter period. I thought it was a good move to go ahead with the short getaway. As tough as it was at times, as memories of Uncle Edward flood back and the overwhelming feeling of how much we missed him, I think the trip was somewhat relaxing for the family, or at least I hope it was.
This was my only 2nd time to FH. The first was in Sept 2007 for our very first YA Retreat.
But this trip made me fall in love with FH all over again. The Lees boys showed me different parts of FH that I’ve not seen before.
Just one side of the lavish garden.
We were also served scrumptious food at each meal with appetizers, main course and desserts. And to top that, waking up to the sounds of birds chirping, cool crisp air is just wonderful.
I really hope that we will be able to return here this year.
After a tough week, the family decided to head over to Fraser’s for a shorter period. I thought it was a good move to go ahead with the short getaway. As tough as it was at times, as memories of Uncle Edward flood back and the overwhelming feeling of how much we missed him, I think the trip was somewhat relaxing for the family, or at least I hope it was.
This was my only 2nd time to FH. The first was in Sept 2007 for our very first YA Retreat.
But this trip made me fall in love with FH all over again. The Lees boys showed me different parts of FH that I’ve not seen before.
This is where we stayed. It was absolutely gorgeous! I really hope that the Lees will be able to book this house again in future. Sadly I didn’t take pictures of the interior, but it was the residence of the Sultan of Selangor’s home many years before. High ceiling, fully carpeted flooring, 2 long dining tables, beautiful window panes with old fashioned hinges and so much more.
We were also served scrumptious food at each meal with appetizers, main course and desserts. And to top that, waking up to the sounds of birds chirping, cool crisp air is just wonderful.
I really hope that we will be able to return here this year.
Demise of Uncle Edward Lee
1 March 1949 – 20 Dec 2011
To many he was YB Edward Lee, but to me he was Uncle Edward. 20th December 2011 marked a very sad day for me. I lost Uncle Edward to a battle of cancer that he has been fighting with for 2 years.
It pains me so much that I didn’t get a chance to spend more time with him, to go out on more trips together, to ever call him ‘dad’ or the fact that he will never be able to play and spoil his grandchildren.
But the one thing that I’m truly grateful for is the assurance of his salvation and the fact that we do not grieve without a hope but cling on to a time that we will see him once again in heaven.
Uncle Edward was truly one of a kind. On many occasions he would share different stories with me and I was in such awe to meet a man of such integrity. He fought for good. He fought for justice. He fought for the people. This is far more than I can say about many other politicians.
A side that some of you may not know about Uncle Edward.
His Official Blog
Remembering Edward Lee
To many he was YB Edward Lee, but to me he was Uncle Edward. 20th December 2011 marked a very sad day for me. I lost Uncle Edward to a battle of cancer that he has been fighting with for 2 years.
It pains me so much that I didn’t get a chance to spend more time with him, to go out on more trips together, to ever call him ‘dad’ or the fact that he will never be able to play and spoil his grandchildren.
But the one thing that I’m truly grateful for is the assurance of his salvation and the fact that we do not grieve without a hope but cling on to a time that we will see him once again in heaven.
Uncle Edward was truly one of a kind. On many occasions he would share different stories with me and I was in such awe to meet a man of such integrity. He fought for good. He fought for justice. He fought for the people. This is far more than I can say about many other politicians.
A side that some of you may not know about Uncle Edward.
His Official Blog
Remembering Edward Lee
Monday, December 19, 2011
29 years
That's how long my parents have been married. It was their wedding anniversary two Sundays ago and I decided to cook them a special meal.
One of my favourite chef is Ina Garten also known as Barefoot Contessa. Researched up some of her recipes and looked through my new cookbook "Reader's Digest - Everyday Light Meals". (which mum got at a steal from Groupon)
The 1st appetizer was a Four Cheese Stuffed Mushroom. I learnt this from a different chef during my Pasta & Pizza classes a few years back. Never fails to please a hungry stomach.
For the main course : Fillet of Beef Bourguinon with Roasted Asparagus. While in the midst of making sure the beef cooked well, I overdid the asparagus. They became so crispy that they literally had a crunchy sound when biting into it. lol.
Dinner was washed down with a bottle of Chianti wine from Italy.
For dessert, I made a fresh lemon-lime sorbet. Sadly I forgot to take a pic of this. Always a next time for that.
Overall I was pleased with how dinner turned out except that everything was a tad too salty and there wasn't enough gravy for the steak.
But encouragement from parents and J surely motivates me to cook these kinda meals more often.
One of my favourite chef is Ina Garten also known as Barefoot Contessa. Researched up some of her recipes and looked through my new cookbook "Reader's Digest - Everyday Light Meals". (which mum got at a steal from Groupon)
The 1st appetizer was a Four Cheese Stuffed Mushroom. I learnt this from a different chef during my Pasta & Pizza classes a few years back. Never fails to please a hungry stomach.
2nd appetizer was Crostini with Thyme-Roasted Plum Tomatoes.
This was what it looked like before it went into the oven for 1.5 hours.
Voila!
For the main course : Fillet of Beef Bourguinon with Roasted Asparagus. While in the midst of making sure the beef cooked well, I overdid the asparagus. They became so crispy that they literally had a crunchy sound when biting into it. lol.
For dessert, I made a fresh lemon-lime sorbet. Sadly I forgot to take a pic of this. Always a next time for that.
Overall I was pleased with how dinner turned out except that everything was a tad too salty and there wasn't enough gravy for the steak.
But encouragement from parents and J surely motivates me to cook these kinda meals more often.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Chris Botti
Chris Botti.. ahhh I'm officially now a fan!
Nearly 4 months ago I purchased Chris Botti World Tour 2011 tickets for J's birthday present. I didn't know of Chris Botti and have not heard of his pieces before. But I knew that J really wanted to go see him live at the MPO so thought I'd surprise him with it.
And he was pleasantly surprised.
Unlike J, I still was no where near excited to see him.. until the day, 6th Dec arrived. The excitement built up slowly during the day with C posting different renditions and clips of him on FB.
When we reached MPO, we got word that his entire band was here to perform along with him. This was a real treat as we only expected it to be him and our MPO. But to have the whole band.. wow!
Billy Kilson, probably one of the best drummers I've ever seen played.
I was at the edge of my seats for a few of his numbers and he even brought along 2 guest artist, one of which was Lisa Fischer. She toured with Rolling Stones for 17 years and has been with Chris Botti for the past 1 year. She's one amazing talent!
Twas a very good night out and I hear that he may be coming to Asia next June again.
Nearly 4 months ago I purchased Chris Botti World Tour 2011 tickets for J's birthday present. I didn't know of Chris Botti and have not heard of his pieces before. But I knew that J really wanted to go see him live at the MPO so thought I'd surprise him with it.
And he was pleasantly surprised.
Unlike J, I still was no where near excited to see him.. until the day, 6th Dec arrived. The excitement built up slowly during the day with C posting different renditions and clips of him on FB.
When we reached MPO, we got word that his entire band was here to perform along with him. This was a real treat as we only expected it to be him and our MPO. But to have the whole band.. wow!
Billy Kilson, probably one of the best drummers I've ever seen played.
Image taken from here
I was at the edge of my seats for a few of his numbers and he even brought along 2 guest artist, one of which was Lisa Fischer. She toured with Rolling Stones for 17 years and has been with Chris Botti for the past 1 year. She's one amazing talent!
Image taken from here
He also brought along Caroline Campbell. This stunning lady has such a wonderful presence when she performs.
Image taken from here
Since S&C had quite a few of Chris Botti's dvd and cds, we decided not to buy any. But paid quite a good sum for a poster of him and then lined up to meet with him face to face and get it autographed.
Twas a very good night out and I hear that he may be coming to Asia next June again.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Casual Fridays
Got this from a colleague (yes it's ironic I know) but is there is some truth to it? Judge for yourself. Enjoy!
The HR department is well known for their many notes to employees. Here is one below
Casual Fridays:
First week
Effective this week, the company is adopting Fridays as Casual Day. Employees are free to dress in the casual attire of their choice.
3 weeks later
Spandex and leather micro-miniskirts are not appropriate attire for Casual Day. Neither are string ties, rodeo belt buckles or slippers.
6 weeks later
Casual Day refers to dress only, not attitude. When planning Friday's wardrobe, remember image is a key to our success.
8 weeks later
A seminar on how to dress for Casual Day will be held at 4 p.m. Friday in the cafeteria. A fashion show will follow. Attendance is mandatory.
9 weeks later
As an outgrowth of Friday's seminar, a 14-member Casual Day Task Force has been appointed to prepare guidelines for proper casual-day dress.
14 weeks later
The Casual Day Task Force has now completed a 30-page manual entitled "Relaxing Dress Without Relaxing Company Standards." A copy has been distributed to every employee. Please review the chapter "You Are What You Wear" and consult the "home casual" versus "business casual" checklist before leaving for work each Friday. If you have doubts about the appropriateness of an item of clothing, contact your CDTF representative before 7 a.m. on Friday.
18 weeks later
Our Employee Assistant Plan (EAP) has now been expanded to provide support for psychological counseling for employees who may be having difficulty adjusting to Casual Day.
20 weeks later
Due to budget cuts in the HR Department we are no longer able to effectively support or manage Casual Day. Casual Day will be discontinued, effective immediately.
The HR department is well known for their many notes to employees. Here is one below
Casual Fridays:
First week
Effective this week, the company is adopting Fridays as Casual Day. Employees are free to dress in the casual attire of their choice.
3 weeks later
Spandex and leather micro-miniskirts are not appropriate attire for Casual Day. Neither are string ties, rodeo belt buckles or slippers.
6 weeks later
Casual Day refers to dress only, not attitude. When planning Friday's wardrobe, remember image is a key to our success.
8 weeks later
A seminar on how to dress for Casual Day will be held at 4 p.m. Friday in the cafeteria. A fashion show will follow. Attendance is mandatory.
9 weeks later
As an outgrowth of Friday's seminar, a 14-member Casual Day Task Force has been appointed to prepare guidelines for proper casual-day dress.
14 weeks later
The Casual Day Task Force has now completed a 30-page manual entitled "Relaxing Dress Without Relaxing Company Standards." A copy has been distributed to every employee. Please review the chapter "You Are What You Wear" and consult the "home casual" versus "business casual" checklist before leaving for work each Friday. If you have doubts about the appropriateness of an item of clothing, contact your CDTF representative before 7 a.m. on Friday.
18 weeks later
Our Employee Assistant Plan (EAP) has now been expanded to provide support for psychological counseling for employees who may be having difficulty adjusting to Casual Day.
20 weeks later
Due to budget cuts in the HR Department we are no longer able to effectively support or manage Casual Day. Casual Day will be discontinued, effective immediately.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
20 days to Christmas
Christmas is probably one of the best seasons for most people.
It definitely is for me. I love every inch of Christmas!
Christmas tree : Checked!
Tags : Checked!
Fruit Cakes : Checked!
Dessert Wine : Checked!
Cards : This weekend and post them out on Monday
Gifts : 2 more and I'm done
Wrapping : Halfway through
Cookies : Baking start on 21 Dec
Makan sessions are slowly filling up as well.
Christmas Eve Luncheon : Checked!
Christmas Eve Dinner : Checked!
Christmas Brunch : still free!
Christmas Lunch : still free!
Christmas Tea : still free!
Christmas Dinner : Checked!
I'm off the entire week after Christmas but will probably be away in Ipoh to visit mum's side of the family and head up to Fraser's Hill for a couple of nights with J's family.
Ahhh Christmas....
It definitely is for me. I love every inch of Christmas!
Christmas tree : Checked!
Tags : Checked!
Fruit Cakes : Checked!
Dessert Wine : Checked!
Cards : This weekend and post them out on Monday
Gifts : 2 more and I'm done
Wrapping : Halfway through
Cookies : Baking start on 21 Dec
Makan sessions are slowly filling up as well.
Christmas Eve Luncheon : Checked!
Christmas Eve Dinner : Checked!
Christmas Brunch : still free!
Christmas Lunch : still free!
Christmas Tea : still free!
Christmas Dinner : Checked!
I'm off the entire week after Christmas but will probably be away in Ipoh to visit mum's side of the family and head up to Fraser's Hill for a couple of nights with J's family.
Ahhh Christmas....
Hand-over
Countdown is now 15 days.
I was asked to start my hand-over and train the person who's going to take over about 60% of my roles at the end of Nov 2011. I've only taught her about 10% so far and have not handed anything over to her yet. Every 2 days I would ask if she has time to learn or when a new request for reports come in, I would ask if she'd like to do it alongside with me so that she could learn hands on. But each time she would either not reply my emails, ask me to do it first and she'll do the next round or keep silent. There aren't many other 'next rounds' coming up. Only 15 days left and there's lot to learn, some of which are quite complicated.
So yesterday I told her to come to me when she is ready to learn. I've done my part.
It kinda annoys me that she's not wanting to learn and there's not much time left. And knowing people here, the rumor would probably be that I just left without doing a proper hand-over.
I was asked to start my hand-over and train the person who's going to take over about 60% of my roles at the end of Nov 2011. I've only taught her about 10% so far and have not handed anything over to her yet. Every 2 days I would ask if she has time to learn or when a new request for reports come in, I would ask if she'd like to do it alongside with me so that she could learn hands on. But each time she would either not reply my emails, ask me to do it first and she'll do the next round or keep silent. There aren't many other 'next rounds' coming up. Only 15 days left and there's lot to learn, some of which are quite complicated.
So yesterday I told her to come to me when she is ready to learn. I've done my part.
It kinda annoys me that she's not wanting to learn and there's not much time left. And knowing people here, the rumor would probably be that I just left without doing a proper hand-over.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Capital FM
Yesterday, they launched it anew, Malaysia's first women's radio channel to go on air. Capital FM - Women The New Capital. Quite a good line up of handpicked celebrity presenters which includes Asha Gill (absolutely love her), Joanne Kam, Xandria Ooi (met her when she was trying out to be a UVJ for Channel 16 on Astro about 6 years back), Patricia K, Sheela Haran, April Kuan, Joey G and our very own Liang.
I've listened to a bit of 2 segments so far - The Jam Break and Talk of the Town. I shall reserve my comments on 'The Jam Break' for now, but enjoyed listening to Joanne Kam and Joey G this morning. They're quite hilarious. Yikes now I've gotto decide each morning if I'm going to listen to them or Noelle Lim from BFM's Breakfast Grille.
And I must say, they've outdone themselves with their selections of songs. They're even better now!
Looking forward to hearing the other segments.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Polka Polka
Polka dot dresses seem to be coming back into fashion. I wonder if I could ever pull this off.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Travelling
Now that's something that I really enjoy. I feel really blessed to get a partner that loves to travel equally as much as me. But the best part about travelling with him is that the expectations are not high. He's a simple person, much simpler than I am and I always feel at ease when travelling together.
No need to stay at posh hotels - as long as it's clean, we're good.
It's easy to find a partner that enjoys travelling, I mean nearly everyone does. But it's not easy to find a partner that enjoys and appreciates the same things in life that you do. God really is the awesome matchmaker.
We've been travelling together even before we got together, with different groups. And every trip has been memorable! I look forward to a lifetime of more trips with him.
No need to stay at posh hotels - as long as it's clean, we're good.
It's easy to find a partner that enjoys travelling, I mean nearly everyone does. But it's not easy to find a partner that enjoys and appreciates the same things in life that you do. God really is the awesome matchmaker.
We've been travelling together even before we got together, with different groups. And every trip has been memorable! I look forward to a lifetime of more trips with him.
Monday, November 14, 2011
37
Found out some upsetting news last week. Some things in life are truly unfair.
Reminder that I'm here not to please men but to please God and that my providence comes from God and not men.
Reminder that I'm here not to please men but to please God and that my providence comes from God and not men.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Singapore Oct 2011
While at MBS, checked out the screening period for Wicked. It's starting in Dec 2011 and only playing for 1.5 months. Doubt I'd be able to make that one as it's too soon.
We stayed with E & E. They were just such lovely host. Appreciate the time they took off from their usual schedules to spend with us. They even took us out for an awesome meal at Sambucca in Pan Pacific Hotel.
This was my main course & dessert. Mum had Wagyu beef - that was the bomb! Just melted in the mouth.
Butternut squash raviolli with lamb
Strawberry & Passionfruit Pavlova
Friday, October 28, 2011
Roar!
How many of your grew up watching Walt Disney cartoons? I sure did. And Lion King was definitely one of my all time favorites.
So many cousins and friends who have gone to London & US say that Lion King is one of the must-catch musicals. Oh btw.. I'm a HUGE fan of musicals. At that point of hearing all this, my only hope to possible ever watch Lion King is to travel to those countries cos it didn't seem like it would ever come to Malaysia.
Then last year, the crew came over to Singapore and I told myself that I must catch it. Because if I don't, I may never get another chance. Months and months passed by but I didn't have enough cash to go over to watch it. Not to mention that the SGD was just getting stronger. Then the news came from a reliable source that Lion King signed a one year contract and the last show would be on the 30th Oct 2011 because Wicked will start playing in Dec 2011.
Desperate to catch it before it ends, I started hunting for the best dates and flight prices. Managed to get a great deal with AirAsia for a return flight (which cost cheaper than taking the bus), booked my Lion King tickets online and arranged accommodation.
I was still pretty low on cash but received a wonderful early birthday present from J who paid for my Lion King tickets.
So tonight, mum, LY and I will be heading down south for the weekend.. Lion King tomorrow afternoon and a little time to sightsee, catch up with a couple of friends and a cousin.
Weee... best birthday present ever! Gotto brush up on my songs now.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Friday, September 30, 2011
Mum's Birthday 2011
We did a big-do for mum's birthday on the 17th of Sept. It's our first time organizing such a big party for her. She was away in US and came back just a day before her birthday. I decided that I wanted to make her birthday cake and starting planning a couple of months before, but it was so stressful! I've made cakes for so many of my cell members and close friends and thought that if it's for my mum, it has to be extra special.
But the problem was, previously when I made those cakes, my mum was always around to supervise and guide me. This time I was on my own as I wanted to surprise her.
So a week before, I still had no solid plan on what cake I would make her. Then decided I'd just go ahead with one of my initial plan of making her a sponge cake filled with strawberries and cream. But.. I've never made a sponge cake before!
Mum was due to return on Friday morning, so I planned to make the sponge cake on Wednesday after work, then fill and ice the cake on Thursday and then hide the cake away in my cousins house for her to be surprised by it on Saturday at the party.
So on Wednesday evening, I started on the sponge cake. I remember mum telling me not to stir the mixture too much because you need the air for the cake. So when I put in the oil, I didn't stir it in enough and it sank to the bottom of the tin. I tried very gently to stir the mixture while still in the tin but unfortunately when the cake came out from the oven, the bottom of it was not so good. That wasn't the only issue, the cake was not high enough! The plan was to make 3 layers of cake but I only could cut 2 layers of this cake and had to throw away one of it.
So I took half day off on Thursday to make another sponge cake because the cake needed to be cooled before I could assemble them.
Then came the slicing on the cake.. I couldn't for the life of me find both the slicers that my mum owned. I looked in all the cupboards and drawers so finally resolved to slicing the cake with a huge knife. Needless to say, the layers didn't come out even but hopefully no one noticed it when they were eating the cake.
Finally when I was done with the cake, I found the slicer! Doesn't that just always happen? It was right at the back of on of the drawers that I must have opened easily 5 times to look for earlier.
I bought loads of strawberries for the filling and topping.
1st layer
2nd layer
All 3 layers assembled together.
Also bought mandarin oranges, grapes, peaches, kiwis for the topping.
Voila!
Mum was so surprised when I showed her the cake on Friday morning. Was not able to keep it in my cousins house because it turned out to be too big. She kept asking me 'Are you sure you made it?' and J had to confirm that it was me who made it. She was so proud of me.
Thankfully the 12" square cake was more than enough to feed all 70 guests. Some of which were just standing around the table where I was cutting the cake to be served to the guests and helping themselves over and over.
I was truly proud of myself. Mum taught me well. All those years of helping her in the kitchen cutting butter, breaking eggs, separating eggs, whisking cream, folding in flour did not come to waste.
But the problem was, previously when I made those cakes, my mum was always around to supervise and guide me. This time I was on my own as I wanted to surprise her.
So a week before, I still had no solid plan on what cake I would make her. Then decided I'd just go ahead with one of my initial plan of making her a sponge cake filled with strawberries and cream. But.. I've never made a sponge cake before!
Mum was due to return on Friday morning, so I planned to make the sponge cake on Wednesday after work, then fill and ice the cake on Thursday and then hide the cake away in my cousins house for her to be surprised by it on Saturday at the party.
So on Wednesday evening, I started on the sponge cake. I remember mum telling me not to stir the mixture too much because you need the air for the cake. So when I put in the oil, I didn't stir it in enough and it sank to the bottom of the tin. I tried very gently to stir the mixture while still in the tin but unfortunately when the cake came out from the oven, the bottom of it was not so good. That wasn't the only issue, the cake was not high enough! The plan was to make 3 layers of cake but I only could cut 2 layers of this cake and had to throw away one of it.
So I took half day off on Thursday to make another sponge cake because the cake needed to be cooled before I could assemble them.
Then came the slicing on the cake.. I couldn't for the life of me find both the slicers that my mum owned. I looked in all the cupboards and drawers so finally resolved to slicing the cake with a huge knife. Needless to say, the layers didn't come out even but hopefully no one noticed it when they were eating the cake.
Finally when I was done with the cake, I found the slicer! Doesn't that just always happen? It was right at the back of on of the drawers that I must have opened easily 5 times to look for earlier.
I bought loads of strawberries for the filling and topping.
1st layer
2nd layer
All 3 layers assembled together.
Also bought mandarin oranges, grapes, peaches, kiwis for the topping.
Voila!
Mum was so surprised when I showed her the cake on Friday morning. Was not able to keep it in my cousins house because it turned out to be too big. She kept asking me 'Are you sure you made it?' and J had to confirm that it was me who made it. She was so proud of me.
Thankfully the 12" square cake was more than enough to feed all 70 guests. Some of which were just standing around the table where I was cutting the cake to be served to the guests and helping themselves over and over.
I was truly proud of myself. Mum taught me well. All those years of helping her in the kitchen cutting butter, breaking eggs, separating eggs, whisking cream, folding in flour did not come to waste.
Macaroons anyone?
I finally went for my Macaroon class on the 24th Sept. The voucher expired a couple of months back but the person teaching the class was nice enough to extend the due date for me as we both had a miscommunication on my earlier set date for the class which caused me to miss the class. The new date fell on J's birthday but I decided to still go for it, didn't want to take the risk in case he doesn't organize another class.
The class was small, only 3 students plus 1 teacher. So we paired up and I was paired with the teacher as the other 2 students were a mother-daughter duo.
I decided to make a strawberry flavored macaroons and the other duo a coffee flavored macaroons. We also made 2 different fillings - chocolate mint and salted butter caramel.
The process of making the macaroon is simple enough however the trick is to finding the right heat for your oven. My macaroon batch were the first to go in the oven and they turned out well however the 2nd batch of the coffee macaroons cracked as the oven was too hot. I now need to find the right heat for my oven at home to bake my macaroons so that they will come out perfect and not cracked up.
I was not very keen on the fillings that I learnt though, felt that there was too much going on.
Strawberry macaroons + Mint Chocolate fillings = too many flavors blended together
Plus the fillings turned out too watery and I had to put the macaroons in the fridge. This kinda changed the texture and flavor of it a little.
I'm going to try making my mum's recipe for the ganache filling and google up some other cool recipes for fillings.
Will distribute out that batch if it turns out well.
The class was small, only 3 students plus 1 teacher. So we paired up and I was paired with the teacher as the other 2 students were a mother-daughter duo.
I decided to make a strawberry flavored macaroons and the other duo a coffee flavored macaroons. We also made 2 different fillings - chocolate mint and salted butter caramel.
I was not very keen on the fillings that I learnt though, felt that there was too much going on.
Strawberry macaroons + Mint Chocolate fillings = too many flavors blended together
Plus the fillings turned out too watery and I had to put the macaroons in the fridge. This kinda changed the texture and flavor of it a little.
I'm going to try making my mum's recipe for the ganache filling and google up some other cool recipes for fillings.
Will distribute out that batch if it turns out well.
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