Life is what I make of it

and I think I may have been doing a pretty decent job of it lately. :o)

It's been a superb weekend. (Speaking of which, this reminds me of another one not that long ago that I've wanted to blog about but in the hustle and bustle of work it's been left half-written in the draft folder. I''ll get back to that sometime. Well, that is if I ever finish this one.)

Nothing quite makes me happy like good food does. (My friends can all testify to that. haha.) A good dimsum lunch in Red Star restaurant in Chinatown with a fellow foodie on Sat really hit the spot. Then I zipped off to Suntec City for a quick coffee with a friend, G, before going for my dragonboat training in Kallang.

This second session didn't feel as tough as my first training with them. That day, the coach had been moving people around a little, maybe to get everyone familiar with the various positions. However, we were all rather surprised when he asked me and another girl, Shan-shan to be the pacers when we were rowing back towards the dock. (It appears that he's never put girls in the 1st 2 positions at the head of the boat. These are usually reserved for the powerful guys.) I was very nervous but secretly pleased. hee. We did alright I think. I was a little slower than her though. (Need to correct my stroke a little. I'm rusty.) But I think I was following the coach's pace ok. She's good to be able to go that fast!!! (The people behind her could hardly keep up.) The only unpleasant thing was that my tummy finally gave in (dimsum and coffee didn't seem to sit well with being rowed around. ha) as soon as I got into the shower. And as I was throwing up inside, 2 evil aunties were outside complaining that I was taking too long. One of my teammates screwed them up for me but they were relentless with their screaming.

Anyhow, I felt infinitely better after my shower. Met up with a secondary school senior whom I've not seen for a while for the 'Grasshoppers' concert. A HK male trio popular from back in the eighties when I was in primary school. It was fun, even though I didn't understand what they said or what they were singing (almost all of it in cantonese). They danced well and their voices were pretty good too. Similarly unforgettable are the flamboyant costumes. A good experience in all since I've never been to a pop concert.

He had arranged to meet up with a few others whom I've also not seen for a while after the concert and asked me if I wanted to go along. Of cos' I said yes! It was nice seeing old friends again. There were stories exchanged. Well, actually it was more like one of the guys who's always been a bit of a Casanova telling us his love stories (all the way from Singapore to Argentina!!! teehee)

I woke up bright and early on Sunday despite having only slept at around 2am. Lately, it's been a little frustrating that I've not been able to sleep in over weekends cos' my body wakes up automatically and refuses to stay shutdown past 830am. I know in a way it's not a bad thing cos' then I have the whole day to do stuff. But sometimes I just want to be a pig. haha.

Anyhow, I had some breakfast, read the papers and set off to G's place for a day of baking. We had a quick lunch of pesto macaroni and grabbed some last minute necessities from Cold Storage Jelita before we could start. My first attempt at bread turned out, erm, let's say, edible. haha. Apparently (according to G), bread's not an easy thing to make. We used Jamie Oliver's basic bread recipe and I decided to put herbs in one loaf and black olives in the other. Very Italian eh? ^_^ Like the true scientist (me. haha.) and accountant (G) we are, we thought through what might have gone wrong. The dough had rised quite well through both their provings. And G was even saying he thinks they smell good and was sure they'd turn out beautiful. The disppointment came when they went into the oven. They didn't rise as much as they should in the heat. We discovered it was because the tins were bigger (a pound) than he thought they were so the dough (1/2 pound) was not nearly enough. And we had left them in the oven a little longer than we should have (I think cos' I was hoping against hope that they'd rise more.) they weren't burnt, just not as light as they should be. So yeah, I hope to try again.


Thankfully, the other item (cranberry & black current scones) was an absolute success! And if I may say so myself, positively dreamy! :) Just the right amount of sweetness and the creamy softness of which crumbles into pieces in the mouth. I'll let the photos speak. ^_^


P.S. There was just about enough for the family - they are usually the guinea pigs! Hee. Dad who doesn't normally eat sweet stuff said it was not bad. Mum being the way she is, didn't say anything other than a rather surprised-sounding 'You made this?' I wish the Sis was around, she'd have given me comments. (Though I'd expect no less than raving praises from her, right sis? haha) Ru, my cousin said it was good. G's review that it was 'the best-textured scone he's had in as long as he can remember, was really really nice, can't think of anything but good stuff to say about it', was really encouragingly. And that coming from (in his words) a 'professional garden party-going, tea and scone-eating Englishman', it carries quite a bit of weight. :>

I'd have made more for friends but this was only a first attempt. So if the above results are reproducible, I plan to make more the next time. :D

After we were done with our baking for the day, G made me a very English dinner, toad in the hole (sausages & yorkshire pudding baked together) with roasted onion gravy, mashed potatoes and steamed brocoli. It was delightful!!!

Fraser lying across my place at the table.