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!