Leftover roast turkey made tasty and succulent. I marinated it in half bowl abalone sauce mixed with half bowl of water.Then I greased the pan with olive oil, put the marinated turkey in the pan and slices of butter on top of it. Baked for 12 minutes at 180 degrees. The result was delicious on its own or with plain bread. or toasted on bread, covered with cheese.

Leftover Turkey Recipes For The Morning After

Turkey's dry.

Those 2 words sparked off this new foodxperiment which was a blazing success. Hubby and kids loved it.

My sister gave me the leftover Christmas turkey from the Christmas eve party with all our Godsisters and Godbrothers. Over the years, so many of my parents' church friends have adopted my mom and dad as their Godma and Godpa that I've lost count how big our adopted family has become.

In any case, after the feast, we still had loads of leftovers. My turkey loving family got.. the turkey.. well duh.

This morning, I stared at the 2 day old turkey wondering how to make the dry tasteless meat palatable to the picky males.

Turkey meat has little fat. Juicy steak, on the other hand, bursts with flavour and.. *gone into 7th heaven dreaming about my last Cedele's steak*

Back to planet earth.

Now, where was I?
Ah yes.
Turkey.

I whipped up a new turkey recipe on my own. Actually I rummaged the kitchen for whatever I could use to come up with something that tastes good.

Extra virgin olive oil. Check. I smeared the baking pan with that to prevent the turkey from sticking and to make cleaning up a lot less stressful.

Then all the turkey meat I could extract from the turkey carcass went onto the pan.

Next, I mixed half a bowl of alabone sauce with half a bowl of water and poured that over the dry turkey meat. Logic. Since the turkey meat is dry, water should remedy it. Tasteless? Add abalone sauce.

I mixed that well with the meat. Then added butter for flavour.

That went into the oven for 12 minutes at 180 degrees.

Once out the turkey meat was tasty and succulent.

Hubby ate that with bread. He preferred that to the cheesy version my sons loved.

The next part was a pretty standard breakfast my boys have come to expect.


4 slices of bread topped with the newly succulent turkey. 5 slices of smoked cheese and all the remaining pizza cheese in that half-used packet I found in the fridge.

I toasted that for 10 minutes.

Then cut that into 4 slices and served that to my hungry family.

They loved it.. and ate themselves silly. No one had any room for lunch after that.. but we did have chocolates. :-)

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merry christmas! wee tree

cousins

Detox session in a traditional chinese medicine spa. water was clear at the start of the session. the color changes according to the toxins dispelled.

Today's potato experiment.. I mean Potato Recipe

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Blu-tack man 2

I brought Lewis down to buy yoghurt and he pulled me to the stationery section and asked me to get BluTack.

He draws beautiful pictures. These would be displayed along the corridor. We ran out of Blu-tack to put up his latest creations, so I assumed the blu-tack was meant for that.

Turns out my creative little boy had yet another brilliant idea.

Lewis is taking his youtube channel very seriously. Inspired by claymation, he decided to do his own version.. using Blu Tack.

I'm really proud of my little boy.

chocolate covered longans from taiwan

Who do you think this is? No prizes for guessing... :-)

cheerleaders at the national healthy lifestyle campaign 2010

The new great singapore workout has just been unveiled at vivocity level 3. It's available at hpb.gov.sg.

great singapore workout at vivocity level 3. prizes and games all day today.

my new running shoes. nike air.

Today's Potato Experiment. I mean.. potato recipe.

Start by grilling sliced washed potato (skins on) and sliced ham in olive oil. Sprinkled with oregano. 10 minutes 180 degrees

Microwave (high setting) 4 cups of sliced potatos with water for 10 minutes.

mash 3 cups of microwaved potato, luncheon meat and 3 tablespoons of pizza sauce.

Arrange 5 slices of smoked cheese over grilled potato.

Cover the cheese, grlled potato and ham with mashed potato mix. Grill 10 minutes.

Cover mashed potato with smoked cheddar and grated morazella.

Arrange cocktail sausages and microwaved potato slices over the cheese. Grill 10 minutes.

Cover with smoked cheddar cheese and morazella cheese. Grill 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

Cut and serve off the pan.

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safra bay run 2010 certificate

kinderjoy hunt

secondary kids

My potato experiment. Grilled potato base + herb garlic butter + butter+ smoked cheese to glue it to the softer steamed potato on top. gacon grilled on top. Topped with smoked cheddar and morazella. Hope the kids like it.

got this in the great easter womens 10k race pack. Anyone used it? Does it work? contains ribose, creatine, carnitine and caffeine

toothy trampoline@health zone near outram mrt. 3 second hospital ave. near sgh. An educational fun fair for kids. entrance fee $1.50 per kid $3 per adult

My niece's birthday party

Karen, my baby sister's been planning this for ages.

Baby sister. How long ago has it been since I could call her that?

Decades ago, when I was small, I kept bugging my mom to give me a sister. An only child with only adults for company, I was very lonely. Karen came along. My baby sister. Now a mother herself, of 2 adorable little girls.

She baked up a storm these in preparation for today's party. Kemi's one month and Kay Lee's belated 3rd birthday.

The kids were perpared for water play.

ok, having my sons play water bombs with the little ones was out of the question. my boys holed up playing xbox instead. Favourite character : Vega. Boys = violent games? My hubby gave Lewis tips on how to beat the opponent.

My dad and uncles 1,2,3 and 4

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kueh pie tee. home made by a nonya grandma of k&k

Boanona and my grandpa

Bought a gigantic custard apple the other day. It was 3 times the size of the ones I remembered from my childhood, but not as sweet. The sweetest ones were from my grandpa's garden, when I was but a little girl, barely 6 at that time.

Staring out of the window, I'd watch Ah Kong, an avid gardener, tending to his plants. He had green fingers. Rose bushes flourished in his care. In the center of that tiny patch of land, our garden, was a boanona (custard apple) tree. He was always carrying 2 pails filled with water. Either washing the house, tending to his plants, or cooking up a storm in the kitchen.

Grandpa was a fantastic cook. Mom and dad were worried about me when I was little as I was a finicky eater. The only thing I'd eat for lunch would be one chicken wing, cooked by grandpa. They couldn't get me to eat anything else.

Grandpa loved steak. A peranakan working for the British army, our meals were typically nonya cuisine mixed with western food. Steak, with that tangy thick brown sauce.. HP sauce if I recall correctly. Living with him, I grew to love steak. When I was older, mom would take me out to mom and daughter lunches when her work permitted it. We'd go for steak.

Ah Kong didn't cook. She was very sick. Bedridden most of the time. Grandpa ran the home on his own. Ipoh, his sister, helped him.

Grandma and my grand aunts were always dressed in baju kebaya, complete with the silver accessories, brooches and all... Stuff I rarely see these days, outside of festivities, where the theme happens to be Peranakan. Somehow, I feel that it is a dying culture. Maybe it's just me, but I tend to feel like an outsider when I step out of my extended family.

The series Little Nonya had me fixated. I felt like I had revisited my long forgotten past. Even my kids had no idea about their peranakan heritage. I married out of the peranakan community a long time ago.. and into my husband's world. I don't even own a kebaya. I hardly watch much TV. Even when I do, it would be Octo, with my kids, or Channel 5. There's this joke that if you see a bunch of middle-aged peranakans watching a chinese show, it's probably Little Nonya. That said, I only caught the last few episodes.

Back to that custard apple. It reminded me how much grandpa loved me. He loved each of us and saved something special for each of his 13 grandchildren.

I lived with him when I was small. Each time a custard apple appeared on the tree, he'd tend to it carefully. He fertilized all the plants in the garden with natural fertilizers -- from us, actually. The custard apples were left to ripen on the tree to perfection.

Then grandpa would give me the largest and sweetest custard apple to this waiting grand daughter.. with love.

Grandpa. I miss you.

trying this out.. need sleep.. desperately.

Rising From The Rubble - Singapore Story

I was feeling down. But when things seem their worst, they can only get better.

Remembered a tale me late grandfather told me. About our minister mentor, then prime minister Lee Kuan Yew. The day he cried in front of the nation he led.

Dug up an old video -- about when Singapore was kicked out of Malaysia. With no natural resources, correct me if I'm wrong but I remember grandpa saying that Singapore had only $4,000 savings, as a nation. We seemed doomed.



Not enough drinking water. Not enough resources to support the nation. The only thing we had -- our people.

Our forefathers struggled to build our nation.

This is Singapore today.

which

cadbury chocolate from australia

blueberries

photographers on candid camera

this is huge in perdo. at vivo city. my photo doesn't do it justice. close up, the blocks are made of different materials

found this at vivocity fountain area. it's huge in real life

how true.

How To Make Pizza Bread Breakfast Kid, Teens and Tweens love.

Ok. This doesn't look like much but the moment these were ready, my kids rushed to serve the food while I prepared tea. By the time I got to the table with tea, the piranhas had emptied their plates. They looked at me eagerly and asked for seconds.

1. Pour a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil into the grilling tray.
2. Spread the oil over the tray with bread.
3. Arrange the bread on the tray and sprinkle dried organo leaves on the bread.
4. Place slices of ham on the bread and sprinkle more oregano on the ham. Add sliced capsicum and mushrooms and salami if you have these on hand. I ran out of all these so had to make do without them.
5. Arrange smoked cheddar cheese over the ham.
6. Add grated morazella cheese
7. Grill at 180 degrees for 10 minutes.
8. Cut the "pizza" and serve.

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In The Navy - Muppet Show Childhood Memories

As I ran on the treadmill, the music sent me back to the days of my youth. The song went

In the navy. We can sail the seven seas..
In my mind's eye, I saw the macho pigs from the pigs in space segment of muppet show dressed as sailors.

The chorus -
We want you as a new recruit..
had the entire cast of the muppet show chanting in my head, with a ship as part of the back drop, in the grand finale of a typical episode of muppet show.

Was I even a teen back then? Memories of my own childhood flooded me as I was whisked back to those evenings with mom, dad and my little sister in the sitting room in our bedok flat, watching our weekly fix of muppet show.

Life was so simple back then. No worries about paying the bills. Only study, friends.. in a way, I miss those carefree days.

I'd spend an afternoon playing the piano. My dad would whisk my mom off her feet and dance. A waltz, cha cha.. or whatever ballroom dance appropriate for the music I played.

Music.

It played a huge role in my youth. My cousins and I could spend an entire day composing music. Most of the Wee cousins were musical, playing one instrument or other. Kev played the guitar and drums. Angie once sat on the swivel chair with 2 synthesizers, a piano, an organ and a flute for a performance in church. She played all of them in one piece, putting down the flute to play both synthesizers, swivelling over to play the piano.. boy did she look stressed.

Fast forward several decades.

I'm no longer a teen. Now I have two sons - a teen and a tween. Both my kids are musical. I'll be taking them for their piano exams next month. The older also plays the trombone and guitar while the younger mixes music using the computer.

They were musical since small. The elder boy danced to Pacabel while he was still in my womb.

Music runs in their veins.

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My Optimistic Late Grandpa

I was reading a booklet about optimism. One thing that struck me was the optimistic mindset of survivors. In face of adversity, optimists take action while pessimists stand around passively as they give up hope.

My grandpa was an optimist.

His favourite catchphrase, which kept playing on in my head was, "God helps those who help themselves"

During world war 2, when the Japanese troops occupied Singapore, Chinese men were rounded up, lined up in front of their graves and shot. My grandpa was one of those selected for slaughter.

In pitch darkness, he waited with the other victims uncertain of the fate that the Japs had in store for them.

While others waited for his death, he took action.

He prayed to God, whom he had heard about. Then he ran for his life. From the slaughterhouse to Katong. Across half of Singapore from what I understand.

Miraculously, although Japanese soldiers were posted at every gantry, no one stopped him. He made it all the way home, where grandma, dad and my uncles (was my aunt born yet?) were praying desperately for him. Grandma was crying.

Once the fugitive arrived, tears stopped, joy came and the entire family packed minimal belongings, and fled.

My grandpa lived to the ripe old age of 91.

My son's favourite birthday gift

Grandma got him a gift he really loved, which my hubby and I fully approve of.

A game catridge for his DS (we aren't too happy with gaming during schooldays).. but waitaminit.. this Pokemon DS game has him walking as many steps as possible. It comes with a pedometer which is totally integrated with the game. 10 steps gives him 1 watt. 10 watts give him a chance to find a special pokemon.

Kids these days rather sit around and play computer games, DS or hand helds all day long.

Gone are the days when kids spend their days running around playing catch, or getting the necessary fresh air and exercise. Today's kids are sedentary.

If we aren't careful,m Gen Z is heading towards obesity.

Well, that game had both kids walking around as much as possible to gain watts. When my son's tired, his brother takes over the pedometer and walks around, trying to get in as many steps, and therefore watts as possible, to give them an advantage in that game.

Game makers out there. If you are reading this, one way to get parents to endorse your game is to include a pedometer or some other means to get kids physically active. With more games like these, hopefully we'd see a fitter and less sedentary gen Z.

Birds and The Bees

Have you had that talk with your kids about the facts of life. About the difference between men and women and especially, the changes they will eventually face in puberty?

First questions would probably appear when they are really small.. when the opposite sex goes to the toilet. Boys pee standing up while girls sit to pee.

When exactly do you talk to your kids about such matters?

Differences in anatomy?

Well, you could refer them to a children's science book so that they can read about the differences between the sexes.

To be honest, my husband and I err. and ermm... all the way about where babies came from. Well, the kids learnt about that in Primary school.. from the teacher during their lessons.

While my hubby and I were still figuring out how to tell the kids where they came from, my young kid told me this tale:

A little boy went to his mom and asked "Where did you come from"

Mom said, "A stork brought me to grandma"

He asked his dad where he came from.
Dad said, "Grandpa found me in the rubbish bin."

He went to grandma and said, "Funny, no one here has gone through natural childbirth."


Puberty's around the corner for my sons. The oldest will be thirteen this year.

I tried to bring up the subject about what he would have to expect. The best I could come up with was "If you wet your bet at night, you wash the sheets yourself."

My ten year old answered, "Oh, wet dreams."


You see, several years back, whenever my husband and I went to the bedroom and locked the door, my son would bang on the door and yell "What are you two doing in there!"

One fine day, both my sons approached us, standing side by side with solemn looks on their faces.

"Brother and I talked about this and want you to know that we don't want sisters. We want baby brothers."

Guess it is kind of late to tell them about the birds and the bees. I think they already know.

Milk and honey baths for eczema

When my kids were small, I bathed them in milk, honey, scented with mandarin orange. They loved it!

Here's the recipe

4 cups whole milk powder
1 cup honey
5-7 drops mandarin essential oil

Fill a baby bath with warm water.
Add the milk powder, honey and mandarin essential oil. Mix well with your hand.

Bathe the little child in it, scrubbing with a face towel to clean them up.


As they get older, you can make a bath ball to scrub them in the shower.. or in the bath tub if they prefer.

Fill a clean cotton sock with milk powder and add a few drops of mandarin essential oil. Use that to scrub the kid with.

By the way, after bathing with milk, remember to rinse off all traces of milk as in this weather, that milk will leave the kid smelling like cheese as the day goes on.

You can make that milk bath or shower treat for yourself too. It's great for the skin!

Running Against Depression

Been down with flu for over a week and haven't been able to run.

Don't know whether its from fighting off the flu bug, plain exhaustion from trying to do so much in so little time, or just that my body misses my daily runs.. but I'm really getting a bad bout of blues. It started getting obvious on Friday and is getting pretty bad now. Pre-Monday Blues?

Or lack of exercise.

To be honest, I've always had my mood swings. Then i figured that running worked wonders for my mood. Starting the day with a good long run, returning all drenched in sweat beats coffee anytime. Hey, it's even better than chocolate.

From running to lose weight, it became running to stay sane in a world that sometimes seem insane.

Ok, its time to stop and count my blessings.

Here in Singapore, we have it pretty good. It is perpetually sunny (then we could complain about the relentless heat.)
There's food to eat anywhere, everywhere. Good food at that if you explore your neightbourhood, or just go to places recommended by friends. There are hawker centers and food courts everywhere serving dishes from all over the world. If you want something nicer, you could always go to the fancy restaurants in every hub here. One can never be short of places to eat in Singapore.

Another blessing - this is a relatively peaceful place. You can go for a walk at night without worrying about getting mugged. At least the chances of that happening in Singapore is pretty slim.

There are trees and greenery everywhere. If you look carefully, you'd see wild life. From squirrels to birds to stray cats. Then you could complain about the snakes in certain places overrun with tall grasses.

It is all a matter of perspective.

Time to focus on the good and look at the positive side of everything.

Maybe I just miss my runs. The runner's high to kick start the day with. Or if I want to sleep a little longer, that good sweaty workout during my lunch break. It isn't just for the body. Running.. physical exercise actually, is great for the mind too.

First thing I'm gonna do once my nose stops running is to go for a good long run.

Mother's Day Cards Over The Generations

I just realized another difference between Gen X, Gen Y and Gen Z

Gen X kids give their moms handmade mothers day cards.
Gen Y kids design and print mothers day cards for their moms.
Gen Z kids give their moms flash animations.

When I was a kid, I'd make mothers day cards for my mom using cardboard, my array of pens, dried flowers and other real world materials. You know, traditional mothers day cards of Gen X?

Gen Y kids (the more tech savvy ones), with access to computers and publishing software make mothers day cards on their computers. Mothers receive their cards made of folded paper, beautifully designed, fresh out of the printer.

This mother's day, my son, Gen Z 10 year old kid, gave me my mother's day present. He kept it in the net book for my private viewing as compared to the stuff he makes for his website.

He started with a heart felt powerpoint presentation. Then he showed
There were 2 stick figures, a little boy representing him, the lady, me.
In the simple animation, the boy ran to his mom. A beautiful, animated pink heart appeared. The boy jumped and kissed his mom. It was beautifully done, made with lots of love. It's a mothers day gift a mom would remember for life.

my brandy brownie chocolate truffle specialty

What do you get when you combine a great brandy brownie filled with macadamia nuts and brandied raisins.. with a dark chocolate truffle in a dark chocolate casing?

That was my chocolate project for Chinese New Year. Made 8 of them. 1 was left in the deep freeze section of my freezer and forgotten until last weekend.

I took it out, thinking I'd bring it to work for fellow chocoholics.. but it didn't make it out of the house. Luke and I finished it up, a piece at a time.

That brownie was so hard, I needed a chopper to cut through that hard chocolate casing. That was a couple of hours after I the regular section of the fridge, where we keep the rest of the chocolates.. and other food stuff.





This is best eaten right out of the fridge.

How was it made?

First, I made the brownies, with macadamia nuts and raisins.
Read how to make brownie recipes for the step by step guide on making chocolate brownies.

Next, get a clean, dry, small plastic dessert bowl, the size you want your brownie truffle to be.

Melt hersheys chocolate chips or any baking chocolate you particularly like. Put the chocolate in a microwavable glass container and microwave for 1 minute on high. Coat the inside of the bowl with this melted chocolate.

Leave it to set. Refrigerate it if the weather is warm.

Now make the truffle.

1. Heat about 3oz of fresh cream in a microwavable glass container for 1 minute in the microwave oven on high.


2. Pour in 1 bag of hersheys chocolate chips and stir until it melts


3. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence and 4 tablespoons of icing sugar (more or less sugar according to your taste. Taste test a little of the gooey chocolate mixture and add more sugar until you think it is perfect


4. Add 1 tablespoon of brandy and stir well.

Now cover the base of the chocolate shell in that dessert bowl with the truffle mixture and wait for the brownie to bake and cool.

Cut a piece of brownie to fit into the shell and put it on top of that truffle base.

Fill up the rest of the shell with chocolate truffle.

Seal it up with melted chocolate and refrigerate until hardened.

You would probably be left with some truffle mixture and melted dark chocolate.

Refrigerate the truffle mixture until it firms.

Scoop with a melon scoop and put it on baking paper.

Spoon melted dark chocolate over each scoop of truffle.

Refrigerate until it sets.

Now you have bite sized chocolate coated truffles to accompany the brandy brownie truffle. A chocolate lover's idea of heaven.

Hawker Center Wildlife

Are these birds pigeons? Our entire family came down with the flu bug, so we took a trip to the family doctor for consultation and medicine. After that, we went to our favourite hawker center for lunch.. ok, my son protests. Not his favourite, but us, the parent's favourite hawker center.. because they have a duck rice store with good food at low prices, to us anyway. He's reading over my shoulder as I type, protesting about the food there... anyway, I noticed a white pigeon hopping around, helping itself to the crumbs on the floor.


I ran around the hawker center taking photos of the white pigeon. There were others, but not as pretty as the one I photographed. Some passerbys stared at me... who's this mad auntie running around with her handphone, peeking under tables, chasing a bird.

Anyway, my younger boy compiled those photos into the video in this post. Enjoy!

Facebook on my android phone

I switched to an LG phone on android recently. The first thing I wanted to do was to get into facebook.



The problem is everytime I login to facebook through the browser, i get a blank screen.


Went to android market to check out the facebook solutons.


Downloaded facebook touch after checking out the available solutions.


So far so good. Am able to post and read emails and use the basic facebook functions with facebook touch.


love it

disclaimer

just to let you know that my views on this blog are my personal views. likewise with my personal you tube channel and personal tweets and personal facebook account.


and personal everything.

these are my private thoughts. experiences i'd like to share with you.



my personal views are not those of the organization i work for.



i'd like to keep my work and my personal life separate :)

kiwi berries for kids

I love trying new things, fruits included. My kids are among the first to try whatever new stuff I chance upon. Especially if its full of vitamins as is the case with all edible fruit.

At the supermarket, I saw a box of miniature kiwi fruit. Kiwiberries, they were called. Interesting. I bought a box out of curiousity.

When I told my kids I bought kiwiberries, they weren't too excited about trying them. They complained that kiwi fruit is too sour for their liking.

Kiwiberries look like kiwi fruit minus the hair. They are the size of the blueberries, which I often give my kids due to the rich antioxidant content of these berries.

Kiwiberries too are rich in anti-aging, cancer-fighting antioxidants -- vitamin C and vitamin E. It contains loads of fiber, some calcium, potassium and vitamin A.



On the inside, they look exactly like kiwi fruit. Green on the inside with a white center lined with tiny black seeds.


After much coaxing, my kids tried the berries. They thought these tasted like blueberries and not at all like those sour kiwis these berries resembled. They loved those weird little berries.

I thought kiwiberries tasted like mangos. What do you think?

How to make brandy brownies

Imagine a sinfully rich brownie, crispy on the outside, rich and chocolatey on the inside with that touch of orange brandy that makes it superb.

You don't have to go to a 5-star restaurant for that when you can make that brownie in your kitchen.

Here's how to make delicious brownies part 1

You need 3 ounces plain flour
2 ounces cocoa powder
90 g butter
8 ounces castor sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
half teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 ounce raisins
4 ounces macadamia nuts
1-2 tablespoons brandy

1. Sift the flour and cocoa
2. Mix the butter, castor sugar, vanilla, salt and eggs with the flour and cocoa
3. Stir in the raisins and nuts

Ok, so I uploaded part 2 of the video to the wrong youtube channel. It landed up on my son's channel, together with his bionicle and penguin videos. Duh.

That's what happens when mother and son are net enthusiasts who share the same computer.



1. Pour the mixture into a greased lined baking pan
2. Bake at 175 degrees celsius for 30 minutes
3. Remove from heat, remove the paper.
4. Pour 1-2 tablespoons brandy over the brownie.

Serve hot, or let it cool and serve at your convenience.

Monkey Attack At Bukit Timah Hill

We brought the kids up Bukit Timah Hill for a family picnic.

I prepared their favourite breakfast. 2 Subway style sandwiches - Bread with italian herbs, 1 filled with with cheese and bacon the other with cheese and honey baked ham. That being the day after watching Diary of a Wimpy Kid with my kids, with that whole subplot about the "cheese touch", I was afraid they'd shy away from breakfast because of the cheese.

That was the least of my worries.

The street near the foot of Bukit Timah Hill could be mistaken for a monkey village. Those little critters looked really cute, perched on cars, running around with their young.. with their babies clinging under them as they ran past.

As we got out of the car, my 10-year old son clung on to a colorful bag of dried nuts and fruit which he wanted to eat at the top of the hill. That got the monkey's attention. They ran for him and tried to grab his bag.

Terrified my son ran back into the car and shut the door. Those monkeys were far from docile. The pack ran to the car and tried to get to my son. The poor boy was terrified.


We tried to shoo the monkeys away but they ignored us.

Finally, we got into the car and drove off, leaving the monkeys behind.

That traumatized my boy. He kept crying and refused to get out of the car after that. My husband and I tried to persuade him but he refused. Big strong daddy promised to protect him from the monkeys but he still sat in the car crying. Finally, we told him he could choose to sit in the car alone or join us hill climbing, in our protection. He joined us and thankfully, the rest of the outing turned out well.

As we climbed the hill, we saw sign boards telling everyone not to feed the animals.

You see, by feeding wild animals, we are harming them, not helping them.

Wild monkeys and other creatures are usually able to forage for food in the wild. By feeding them, they come to rely on getting free food from humans without looking for the food themselves. They get bold and eventually, they approach people for food.

If food is not given willingly, they simply help themselves.. like what happened with my kid. So when you see cute monkeys out in the wild, please do NOT feed them.

How I Started Running 10k

I love my job but miss my long morning runs. What used to be a daily affair is now once a week - when I'm off from work. 2km to 4km runs just don't cut it. To me, nothing beats the sweat and euphoria (runner's high) I get from running 10k first thing in the morning. It beats coffee and dare I say it.. it's even better than chocolate.


Early morning runs are fabulous. I took this photo during my run this morning. The place is so serene. There is a sense of peace in nature, surrounding little places like these throughout Singapore.

This love for running is a recent thing. Something I took up as I approached 40. I was never athletic when young and honestly, I hated running.


When I was young, the only time I'd run was during the actual 2.4k run that was compulsory for all students once a year. That and PE classes. Or when I was late for a class or an appointment.

Once out of school, I avoided running unless I had to. Hated it. I'd rather swim or cycle or dance instead. Need calorie burning aerobic exercise? A long walk down Orchard road, hitting the malls along the way was my version of 'running'.

After pregnancy and child birth, I really ballooned out. From 50kg, I was 78kj before the birth of my second child. The baby and placenta was about 5kg at most. The rest of just me. That was when I actually took a serious interest in losing weight.

I did consider slimming pills until I read about Andrea De Cruz's case. She had liver failure from taking Slim 10 pills -- a popular weight loss pill sold at reputable pharmacies all over Singapore. She nearly died. To cut the story short, her other half, Pierre Png (then boyfriend, now husband) donated half his liver to her, saving her life.

Striking diet pills from my list, I thought of dieting. Didn't last long as I love food too much. In any case, starvation diets or fast weight loss methods just aren't sustainable. Once you eat normally, you'd balloon out again, so food intake should be in moderation, allowing treats now and then to avoid binging.

Exercise was my final hope. That has to be paired with sensible eating habits. I started running every morning. On days it rained, I climbed up and down the stairs.

I started off with 2k jogs, which became runs. Over time, I increased that to 4k, 6k, 8k and eventually 10k when I had the time and on weekends. Through these runs, I gradually lost weight, going down from maternity dresses (I wasn't pregnant. Just looked that way) - to size XL to size L and finally, size M over the months.

Then when I left my previous job, I ran 10k every morning.

What started off as a way to lose weight became more of an addiction.

I had insomnia. Couldn't sleep at night. Couldn't think in the morning. Needless to say, my work was very badly affected. Running helped me beat insomnia. After a good run in the morning, I'd sleep through the night. Something that had eluded me for months.

I was depressed a lot those days. Okay, maybe more feeling down as I hadn't actually reached clinical depression, but I was rather moody. Starting the day with a run got me off on a better footing. I felt better throughout the day for it, even after the endorphins had worn off. Also, the time I spent running was time I spent communing with my God. Time I'd sort things out in the quiet environment, so close to nature. it really helps me stay sane in all circumstances.

You know what?
If you have a weight problem, feel stressed, or depressed, or suffer from insomnia, don your running shoes and just do it. Go for a run. It really helps.

My son's a genius!

I bet that's what all moms think about their own kids. I think both of my sons are geniuses and have been counselled many times that every kid is just as smart. It's just that we moms think that our kids are above average. But then again, if every kid is above average, then what's average, or below average.. really?

Anyway, every kid has his or her strengths. Mine are creative. My ten-year old is a self-professed geek. He's had his own youtube channel for ages and loves shooting videos.

Mom here, finally decided to get into the fray. I started my own youtube channel and it's all about... chocolates..

It all began on Sunday. I wanted to shoot a chocolate making video and asked my son to be my camera man. But the boy had tons of homework to complete. Or maybe he was feeling creative.

I fell asleep. In my sleep, I heard him ask me for pencils to make something. I mumbled yes... dreamily.

When I woke up, my boy showed me his invention:


He used the pencils to make a tripod stand out of a cardboard box. It was sized to fit my cell phone perfectly. To shoot that photo, I used my cell phone and put my husband's cell phone to model it. That doesn't fit too well. My cell phone sits beautifully on it and is at the perfect height.

I shot this video with it.


Dedicated to chocolate lovers around the world
:D

Hummingbird Sleepover -- or was it a sunbird?

Was that a hummingbird or a sunbird?

Actually, that bird is a frequent visitor in the garden. It loves the flowers there. That tiny fella hovers in mid air while it drinks nectar from the flowers. It moves really fast.



Last night, it perched on the curtain rod of the bedroom where it retired for the night. When the sun came up, the little fella woke up and flew out of the window. Now I don't think it got lost. I believe it was simpy adamant about spending the night in the house.

Found out this morning that that sunbird or hummingbird (blue feathers covers most of it, except for the sunny yellow covering its belly) had been following the maid most afternoon. She tried to chase it away, but it followed her wherever she went. Eventually, it probably got bored as it flew out of the house again.

Caught a few more photos of the friendly little bird last night.


Can you spot that little critter in these photos below?