The side effect of long holidays

Are you going back to work yet? Not yet? Already started work last few days?

Sigh... Last night I tried going to bed earlier - 1am ish - and I couldn't sleep. It's already almost midnight and I am not sleepy!! I didn't have a drop of coffee today hoping that I will have a good night sleep.

This, I guess, is the side effect of long holidays. Had not been going to bed any earlier than 3am and did not wake up till 11am (or even later haha) so now when it's time to have to wake up early tomorrow - to go to work! - I am suffering from insomnia. So called.

But, I must still try. Don't want to look like a panda on my first day at work.

Pineapple tart - a CNY must have!

Made 8 pineapples this year, next year I think I need 12 - depends whether the customers will be supplied by TeaRoom proper. If so, we will need more pineapples for TeaRoom but not much for home since I only need to bake for home. Or, I will buy home supply from TeaRoom. :)

I have only a little jam left in the fridge and will make some extras for home. I think my customers get more supply than my family and I do this year. Haha...

Pineapple tart making involves a lot of effort and man-hour, unless you buy ready made jam. Homemade jam is always fresher and purer. The jam consist of pineapples and sugar and nothing more. No additives, no preservatives and definitely no jelly added to give the mass.

Since one of the comments last year was not enough jam filling, the filling has increased this year. There are so far good comments from the customers, MFG was one of my biggest customers, also an agent selling on behalf to his friends. Thanks!

This year's comments were good however, there was one which said that the pastry was too crumbly. I am not exactly sure if that's just a matter of preference since most of us likes melt in the mouth (in other word crumbly?) pastry. However, only 2 to 5 minutes of extra baking time can result in a "tougher" pastry, but erm... is that necessary? I must check with other customers before changing method. Or perhaps the tarts for the last few boxes were not cool enough before packing, hence the moisture caused the pastry to turn soggy? Maybe soggy gives the crumbly effect? I actually cannot tell for now.

I hate to say this sometimes, but I actually tend to customize my baking more for the taste of the special ones more. Let's hope, finger crossed that my special ones actually represent the general public. Haha...

Cupcakes for Chinese New Year

Here are the CNY cupcakes again. It took me longer time to prepare three boxes of the CNY cupcakes, much longer than I would expect, so I didn't really have the energy and time to take that many pictures of the cupcakes.

The best of Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is here! The first day of the year of the Ox will be officially here in precisely 40 minutes. I've been baking pineapple tarts and pineapple tarts for the pass one week since I was back from the trip. I am really glad that the pineapple tarts I made were not too bad and they do have their fans, but we are facing a short supply at home. There have been some increase in orders hence not enough pineapple jam. No, I can't get pineapples in the market as you know, pineapples are actually one of the popular or shall I say must have items for CNY. Besides, making pineapple jam takes hours and I'm not about to spend so much more time in cooking up more.

Pineapple tart has always been something that reminds me of CNY. Used to. Now a days, I can actually bake them whenever I like instead of waiting for CNY. Anyways, I decided to limit pineapple tart baking to only CNY and Hari Raya.

Mandarin oranges also give me the feel of CNY a lot. We used to have cartons and cartons of oranges in the house and they will be gone before the end of CNY. I used to have a lot of visitors, relatives and friends to the house. Lately, CNY has been quite peaceful, with only those few relatives visiting and since we are now very weight conscious, we actually don't eat as much as last time.

And yes, we will always have one or two "kat chai" trees in the house (tangerine). Loads of red decorations, lighting and all types of cookies.

One of the major topic nearing CNY I notice is actually traffic condition. Me being a KL girl had never needed to experience travelling hours to get back to hometown. But I've colleagues and friends around me who'd told me how many hours they spent in the jam just to get back to home for the reunion dinner.

CNY is actually about reunion; about the feeling of togetherness and closeness when each member of the family takes a break from their duties and lives, to be back to where their roots is for this special moment to celebrate a better year to come.

It's not about how much money you give your parents, it's more of how much time you can spend with them (for those who stay away from their family). It's most of the time not about how much wealth we have (of course we want loads of wealth lah) but it's more of how healthy we can live. So, take good care of yourself and your health k.

On this special occasion, I wish you happily and safely united with your loved ones. May you have a super fit year of the Ox with great success, good health, loads of wealth and total prosperity! Have a great celebration and Gong Xi Fa Chai!

White Chocolate Lychee Cheesecake

I was at the supermarket shopping for the cake ingredients to bake a birthday cake. Since it was near Chinese New Year, one big section of the shelf was taken over by can lychee display. I thought lychee could very well go with the cheese, hence this white chocolate lychee cheesecake.

The base of the cheesecake was the standard white chocolate cheesecake, the one with Mascaporne cheese. I love the taste and it was really well received. Got some marks for being some what creative too. And of course the best was when someone special requested for a second helping :)

The base was still oreo biscuit which is delicious and it is an all time favorite.

Decorated with some fruits. I would have to work on a more creative decoration in the future. And too bad I only managed to have two tiny pieces.

The Baker is Back

Since Monday.

But I didn't have the time to blog, very busy with CNY baking and deliveries.

Okay, some of you knew I was back lah, like Carebear since we already spoken to each other virtually on MSN; Wookie since I wished him happy birthday on Tuesday; And the best ever chapter of people discovering that I was back is this...

I was crossing the road from office to lunch place yesterday and there was a car which whooshed passed making a lot of noise. No, not the car making noise, but the people inside. Later at lunch place, I got a text message from SSB:

Woi look at the cars before crossing road la :)

Yiaksss... and we thought that was a bunch of crazy kids screaming in the car, haha... Thanks for screaming out my name, too bad I (and all my colleagues) missed that very glamorous moment. You don't have a bunch of people screaming wildly out for your name everyday, do you?

Hehe...

Yes... I will post more and upload some pictures soon. As for now, this moment, I need sleep!

The Baker is Away

From 14th to 19th January.

Doubt that I will blog tomorrow, so this is my last post before I leave the country. But then again, haha... one will never know, when the story telling mood is there, one simply must blog.

Hey, thanks KG and LP for the wishes, I'm sure I'll enjoy my trip despite the potential pressure I'll be getting from sharing room with mum for 5 nights. :)

Only went to combat tonight and skipped pump so I can come back early to do some packing for the trip. Luggage looks good, it's still more than half empty - all set for shopping! Yipeeee... Only need to be mindful of the flight weight limits for the luggage. We are flying MAS, if this were to be Cathay Pacific, they normally give a 10kgs extra weights free on return journey, to encourage more shopping in HK of course. 10kgs equals to a lot of shopping!

Meanwhile, there are just so much to do at work, you can't believe why since this is the time people wind down, relax and prepare for the festive holidays. So, I better go get some sleep. I need to wake up at 5am ish on Wednesday!

I'll miss my little piggy, sending her to the caretaker tomorrow. And I'll miss you all. See you when I'm back!

Live the Dreams!

I'm trying to stay away from coffee for at least a few days. I've not had one since last Friday and I hope I won't get insomnia tonight. So what do I do at Starbucks? There are actually plenty of tea latte. I like the green tea latte. And MC said TeaRoom needs a standard baked cheesecake. Okay, will work on that. Meanwhile, I've baked a white chocolate cheesecake.

Went shopping on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Need to get all CNY stuff ready since we won't be around for a week from Wednesday. Oh, check this out, we were at the mall and validated our parking ticket just in time to be within the free parking time limit! Hee...

Shopping is always accompanied by chit chat session at our favorite hang out place. And this time, I remember the topic. Yeah, we were talking about dreams.

It's actually really difficult and dreaming is a lot more easier.

Everyday, every minute we wish for our dreams to come true. In fact, it's my standard wish to wish someone their dreams coming true. Coming out from just dreaming about the dreams and actually live the kind of dreams you long for, is sometimes scary. Dreaming is one thing, we are still in the safe and comfort zone, but when the dreams come true, we will start to realize that there are a lot more than just a dream.

Having your dream guy becoming yours for example is not the end of the fairy tale, it's the beginning of a relationship and major commitment. It's also rather scary to discover the other side of your dream guy, the not so great stuff about him and the actual feeling of being with him physically by your side and not just in your dreams might be so very different.

When my TeaRoom dream comes true, as another example, will be the start of all kinds of potential nightmares. Starting a business is definitely not going to be easy and the pressure is going to be so intense when financial is not looking good, if there's not enough staff, not to mention not enough customers and all kinds of product and services related issues.

But we just have to take the first step! If we are afraid of falling, we will never learn to walk right? (for that reason, I never learnt to ride a bicycle :P). So, if we are lucky enough to have our dreams come true, I think we should go all out to make sure our dreams are exactly, if not better, like how we've always dreamt for.

I wish my neck pain will go away soon!!!

Not ideal but I think it's still okay

Told Carebear just before going off from work that I was lazy to go to gym due to some blood lost issues. Well, yeah, it's laziness more than anything else, haha... BUT I still went to the gym lah.

Arrived MML at 7pm ish for the originally planned to join pump class. As I said, I was extremely lazy today, so a 45 minutes of waiting time before the class would start sounded very boring to me. Therefore, decided to just use the machines.

While I was getting a drink before I started my workout...

FF Staff who looks like a PT: Hi
TTB: Hi (and moved over a bit thinking that I was blocking his way to the magazines/ newspaper area and continued observing the jam class from the juice bar area.)
PT: (after a while) Are you waiting for someone?
TTB: (I really couldn't believe that. MUST I be waiting for someone?) No. I'm waiting for the class to start. (Okay, so I lied)
PT: Oh! Okay...
TTB: (A bit annoyed - Why so strange this guy???) Why?!
PT: No, I thought you might need some help.

Geezzzzzzzzz. What do you mean by I "need some help"??? Help me with what???

Did I look like a newbie who was lost in the gym, couldn't find my way to the studio/ cardio machines/ locker room/ exit??? I was fully changed into workout attire which didn't look brand new, come on...

Or perhaps I looked like I might need some help in using the machines? BUT I was at the JUICE BAR, not the workout area. Grrr...

LUCKILY he left me alone after that. I think I was already growing horns and I could almost feel my vampire teeth too.

Okay, calm down. See... This was one of those days when I am extremely, super duper inpatient!

Anyways... Instead of pump, I did a 5.5km rowing within 30 minutes and some abs exercise after that. Could have gone further with the rowing, but I was sort of day dreaming during most of the time and didn't even realized I've slowed down.

By the time I finished stretching and cool down, the pump class had only just started. Glad I decided not to wait for the class actually, it allowed me to leisurely spend some time in the steam bath and I got home early and comfortably.

Okay, yoga tomorrow which I'm sure can be achieved.

In preperation for my trip

The baker will be away next Wednesday onwards for a week. :)

So in preparation, I need to workout out max so that I can eat all I want some what "guilt free" next week, and also to "cushion" the damage of all the feasts to come.

But sigh... I've just some how managed to increase my energy and strength after the 3 pump classes last week, after next week, I will be back to ground zero and have to restart again. Anyways, so far so good this week - did back to back BC and BP last night; done RPM today. (TD if you are reading this, yes, RPM is not quarterly event now a days haha...). Tomorrow rest day to nurse my muscle ache. Thursday I'm hoping to join another pump class, Friday yoga and I guess that's it before the trip. Perhaps I can catch another combat next Monday if I'm not too busy, but I doubt so. Carebear, I won't see you till I come back. Or even maybe after CNY!

So, I suspect the muscle pain is mainly from combat. Normally happens when I don't do combat for a long time. Then also the new release is quite effective in working out both upper and lower body. Those punches were really something! And doing pump after combat was no joke.

There was no "& Co." on stage last night for pump. It's more entertaining when Carebear has someone to talk to her on stage. Okay okay, we are not at gym to be entertained, we are there to workout!

No more surprises from pump since we have been doing this for 3 weeks. However, this was the first time (after my long break) in using my usual weights AFTER a tough cardio class (tough lah for me!). I have to say, carrying 10kg for squat is definitely much much much more effective. And same goes to the lunges workout, adding the 2.5kg plate at each side made a great difference. I cannot imagine carrying 5kgs on each side, don't think I can move my legs! My fingers might just fall off too carrying such heavy weights. Haha...

Nevertheless, I reduced weights for chest and back track. Heh...

Not sure what sort of "review" to give here for RPM, I'm not an expert and I don't do this class often. Suffice to say, I had a great workout today. I am expecting good satisfying muscle pain on my thighs and bum tomorrow.

Okay, better go sleep. Cheeky Gal bumped into me today and was able to tell that I'm lack of sleep. I look that bad? Oh, finally able to wish Little Bro and Hobbes happy new year. I can't believe we've not seen each other for half a year. Erm... I did "see" Little Bro last few weeks, when I walked passed the studio with LB conducting a class inside. :p

I have picture of fruit tarts, but they don't look so great. The selected tart for the photo shoot was not a very good one... Will see if I feel like posting them.

And I baked scones and biscotti too during the weekend but didn't take any pictures of those since I've published them so many times. So did you girls like the scones?

Sometimes you just have to give up

Don't you think you have no choice sometimes? Well, giving up is a choice. So, let's put it this way - sometimes you have no other choice but to choose to give up.

Especially when you know there's a problem. Not to say that the problem will be solved for sure when you give it up, but one just need to try giving up and see how it goes.

I've simply got too many accessories dangling from the phone. The handphone is designed with one special area for some string to be hung, but I guess two is too much. Therefore, the phone cover has been a little bit loose (couldn't snap shut properly) which is causing the phone to keep telling me that it cannot detect my memory card.

Or it could be the memory card problem, nothing to do with the accessories.

Anyways, I've given up on one of them, the accessories, the one MFG gave me. Because I still think that one from Carebear, with the Olympic 2008 message, is very cool.

Next time I should write it down

There again... I was talking to MC at Starbucks this afternoon about some blog title and topic and... I forgot! Again.

I had to go to work tomorrow. Sigh...

I planned to go to gym for some workout until I was tempted to go shopping with MC. Went to The Curve and it looked quite peaceful when we arrived compared with what I saw on TV last night about the countdown at TC. Since I've sort of overspent, I didn't want to buy anything but just to window shop. And I wish those credit card sales people can take no for an answer, instead of persisting on and on and on about, well, I have no clue what they were going on and on about. All I did was replied "happy new year" when he greeted me. You pay for being courteous sometimes.

We had late lunch/ tea at Starbucks. The waiter/ barista was a bit annoying - didn't speak clearly and cracking jokes which were not funny at all. Humph...

MC said my blog title was supposed to be the WIG - Wildly Important Goals. Or something like that. Oh yeah. We were saying, instead of calling our new year resolutions as resolutions, we shall call them WIG. Maybe CID - Crazily Important Dreams?

My CID would definitely be to open The TeaRoom. Next year.

After enjoying our first half of this public holiday, we went to pick up a 5-year old kid. I amused myself by creating some very funny question and answers with this extremely smart kid...

Aunty TTB: Can you speak Cantonese also?
Kid: Can
Aunty TTB: Wah, correct answer.

Aunty TTB: Do you speak Mandarin?
Kid: Yes
Aunty TTB: Very clever
Kid: Correct answer ah??

Haha... You see, sometimes when we were asked the "Do you..." or "Would you like to..." or "Are you..." questions, our answers would normally be "can". Well... can, but yes or no? In school, our answers would ONLY be considered correct if we answer the "yes I DO" or "No I WOULDN'T" or "Yes I AM" correctly.

Kid: One tree will grow one fruit. (or something like that) Either mango, or rambutan...
Aunty TTB: What about watermelon tree?
Kid: Watermelon cannot grow on trees. They "live" on the ground.
Aunty TTB: Oh... so clever. Do you know why watermelons can't grow on trees?
Kid: Because ah...
Aunty TTB: Because they are fat, so they can't climb on the trees
Kid: NO LAH!!!

Hehe...

Later at home...

Kid: Aunty MC, may I use the toilet please?
Aunty MC: Okay

I like this kid. Very well manner.

I must say, the possibility of kids (or even adult) constructing that question into this is high - "Can I "borrow" your toilet?" Heh... direct translation from Chinese.

Okay. Since I didn't workout this morning, I decided that I really MUST go for a jog around the neighbourhood. It was great, MC and cousin came along and we had a good workout, plenty of fresh air and great gals chat.

I'm working tomorrow but the girls and boys will be going to the zoo. Enjoy!!!