Latest addition in the kitchen

I must admit that I have lost touched with what technology has improved over the years in terms of household appliances. After hunting for a new rice cooker for the past few weeks,  I have decided to get a Tiger cooker at the recent Isetan private sale as the quality of the inner pot seems to convince me that this is a good buy. I have compared zojirushi (starting price is $259) with panasonic (starting price is $119) previously in best denki and realised the price variance between these 2 brands are attributed to the following main factors:

1) made in japan

2) quality of the inner pot

So when I saw the functions and the inner pot of the Tiger rice cooker in isetan,  which was going at almost $200 cheaper from its retail price with limited stocks of 50 pieces, I decided to go with tiger instead of Panasonic.

It is an amazing find. The first day I used it to cook rice, the boys commented that the rice smells so nice the moment dinner was served (without realising that I have changed to using a new cooker). Personally I think the rice is much softer and taste better! ( using the same old pack of rice that we have been eating).

I went on to try cooking porridge and brown rice with this cooker and it provided relatively good results. Coupled with the fact that this comes with a timer, it really gives us more flexibility and convenience especially if I need to be out for a while without having to worry when to get the rice done. Am happy with this buy..

Resorts World Sentosa Trip 16th to 18th December 2013

We did a staycation at RWS the last 3 days in Hard Rock Hotel. This trip was initially planned to happen during the June holidays but we had to cancel it as the haze condition was so adverse then.

Our itinerary was planned as such:
Day 1 : Universal Studio
Day 2 : Adventure Cove Park
Day 3 : SEA aquarium

We started the day early with breakfast at Mac's near our place. Thankfully, we set off our area at 9am in the morning and managed to reach Resort World Universal Studio just before it was opened. On that day, there was a dramatic accident happened at the Sentosa Gateway where a Malaysian car had over-turned! and we saw that over-turned car when we drove passed the lane. It was quite a sight.

Strangely, the weather for the last 3 days were scorching hot, and we were fully sun-burnt by all the walking and playing in the parks. There was no sign of rain at all.

Day 1 : USS



 

Last year, Ethan missed the Transformers ride as he missed the minimum height requirement. Although he hasn't grown any much taller this year, but he finally got admitted into this ride this year barely passing the mark by 2-3cm!

Ethan's elated face

it's the 1st stop and Caden looked drenched!

After the ride, Ethan and Caden were thrilled!

Treasure hunters ride - no waiting time required in the morning

dino soaring

 This time round, USS had a moving dinosaur that is 'trapped' in a mini-truck which looks quite real

With Sinbad

by 1pm, the queuing time for each station is 30mins minimum

Ferris wheel

Fairy God-mother

This year, we were fully exhausted by 4pm in the afternoon and decided to end our outing at USS. Probably the hot sun and the humidity, coupled with the long queues prompted us to call it a day and check into our hotel room instead. We covered most of the rides but only once, and thought we could come back into the park again at 5pm to continue with the rides. However, the boys asked to play at the beach pool in the hotel in the evening instead so we ended up swimming in the evening.

Our Hard Rock hotel

We didn't bring along our phones and camera to Adventure Cove knowing that it will be difficult to take the shots there. As Ethan fell short of the height requirement for most of the rides, we only played at the treetop and tidal waves areas during the 5-hour stay there. I think the boys enjoyed the wave pool a lot and basically rushed to the pool each time the alarm came on (indicating the next oncoming wave session).  Personally I only like the Adventure River as it's quite an experience but I think it's something that you will only need to do it once in your lifetime. Given the amount of entrance fees you have to pay to bring in a family of four, I think it's worth a miss until the children are really slightly older (at least pass 140cm).


Day 3 - SEA aquarium

We only planned the SEA aquarium visit after our lunch on Day 3 as we decided to spend the morning leisurely in the hotel pool. We swam for almost 2 hours after our breakfast before checking out the hotel at noon time. Ethan was so influenced by how his brother has swum in the pool and had given a go in dipping his head into the water for the last 15 minutes of play. I hoped this experience opens up his courage as we are preparing to get him started on swim lessons next year.

In the SEA aquarium:-  At the touch pool

touching baby shark

 

Sea jellyfish

White spotted Jellyfish

 

Star of the SEA aquarium

This is another expensive attraction that we will not make another visit the next time. We went to Underwater world a few times and had better up close and personal experiences in Underwater World park. SEA aquarium is extremely packed with tourists and you see many people busy crowding around each station admiring the breeds. Underwater world comes with a live performance show which was missing in SEA aquarium.

Reading back one of my older posts, I have to promote the Underwater world instead:
http://my-precious-baby.blogspot.sg/2012/12/sentosa-trip-day-1.html

It's good that the weather was kind to us for the last 3 days as there was no rain at all throughout our stay. Strangely, tonight back in our home, a heavy downpour lasted since 7pm (and it's still raining now). Not sure if north-east area is more prone to rain in the past weeks..

On a overall basis, it's still a good break for all of us, given all the happenings in the past few months. The boys seemed to enjoyed themselves very much too and Ethan started asking when can we return right after we leave the RWS carpark this afternoon!

Caden's ABRSM theory exam

Caden completed his Grade 2 ABRSM theory exams on 26 October at East Asia Institute of Management. When I brought him to the exam venue, I was surprised to see so many candidates sitting for the exams on that day - it's really amazing to see so many children being part of this event (the same place was held for exams from Grade 1 to 6).

 

And we only got to know his results from his teacher recently - thankfully, he passed!

 

It was tough revising the exams with him, given that there are so many meanings of the piano terms to memorise, which were greek to me. The teacher told us that he can skip the Grade 2 practical test this year, and attempt the Grade 3 practical test come October.

 

Hopefully his passion for piano stays till then and he can pull through the exams. Fingers crossed.



 

relieved face after the test

I am a random cook

I attempted to do a restaurant quality kind of broccoli dish (minus scallop and prawns to control cholesterol) on Tuesday and Ethan gave me 2 thumbs up for that dish.

 

As I will be doing heavy duty housework today,  I thought of having this same dish on last night to finish up the last bunch of broccoli I have in the fridge.

Turns out that I forgot how I did that on the day before! 

So I had to recreate the dish again.  After some taste testing during the cooking,  I managed to get back the same taste.
 

So here goes the recipe (better have this documented before I forget the next round again)

Ingredients

Broccoli

Garlic (sliced)

Carrots

Seasoning for the broth

1) chicken stock

2) hua tiao wine (1 tbsp)

3) soy sauce (1 tsp)

4) pinch of salt for final taste

5) sugar ( 1/2 tbsp)

6) sesame oil (pour around the veg during cooking)

Steps

1) fry garlic till fragrant and add in carrots 

2) add blanched broccoli and chicken stock
3) add the rest of the seasoning and bring to boil
4) use corn starch solution to thicken the gravy (go easy on this if you want to have the sauce for your rice)

What I did last night was to add in more chicken stock so that the sauce can be used to wet our rice. It's really nice and easy for the boys to eat their rice.

Besides broccoli,  I had a go at making lemon chicken.  The fried chicken on its own turns out tasty as well (my ah lou didn't even need the home made lemon sauce to go with the chicken)

Before frying

half a portion was more deeply fried - these are only for adults

Again,  the quantity is not sufficient for us simply because its really nice :) I have done the children's favorite ABC soup last night to complete the meal.

I realised that I like to cook with the instinct I had on that day. Having said that, I shouldn't be bothered to even document down how I cooked the dishes!
 

The art of Fried Bee Hoon

I attempted to whip up Fried Bee Hoon last week when Kimi was around in my place for dinner and it turned out to be good, surprisingly. It is a known fact that Fried Bee Hoon, seems to look simple on its own but to get the right flavour and texture, requires some level of art.

 

I remembered how much I loved my mum's version of Fried Bee Hoon when I was young and reminisce the times I gobbled up 2 plates each time she cooked this.

 

My boys loved whatever I cooked for them so Kimi's feedback will be objective. Last week, she asked for second helping after finishing her first plate in no time and even wanted a 3rd helping but I told her to just have the eggs instead. It is assuring that she enjoyed the food so much as she is really a very small eater to begin with.

 

Today, I asked her what does she want for dinner and she order Fried Bee Hoon again. So I tried frying on my second attempt with the same method.

 

This is the kids version of Fried Bee Hoon - with their all-time favourite ingredients: Ham, fish cake, eggs, carrots, mushrooms and prawns (for adults).



 

 

And she asked for 2nd helping again - today I cooked lesser portions as I thought they are not too hungry..

 

Perhaps, I should explore to add more vegetables / meat to cultivate their taste-buds in the next attempt.

 

Notes:

This was cooked with prawn soup base, fish sauce, soy sauce and pinch of salt. Simple seasoning but tasted well. Best is to fry the bee hoon for about 5-7 minutes with the seasoning using the heat to soak up the soup base.

Changi Airport T3

We decide to bring the kids out to T3 today since Ah Lou is clearing his annual leave this December. Today we have Kimi with us so there are better company for the boys.

This year T3's theme is Spongebox Square Pants. We visited the main section to have a view of Spongebox room and there was a room for the children to write their Xmas wish and mail to the Santa. Although we knew that the wishes will not be fulfilled but we have asked the kids to write down their Xmas wish to keep this belief alive.

Writing his contact so Santa can deliver his wish



Dropping his postcard into Santa's mailbox

We made some spend in the airport so the children can play on the bouncing castle. This year, there is a requirement to show $15 per receipt to admit one child for a 10min play. I recalled a few years back we could get into the bouncing castle for free and last year we only need to present $5 receipt to admit one child.. It's getting more expensive these days.



Excitedly waiting for their turns



briefing on safety measures before play

Play begins!

Gigantic slide

Kimi's turn

After play

As Ethan falls below the 1.2m height limit to get onto the slide, he was only allowed to play at the tots area - which was fair bit of kiddish for him. Thankfully, the 2 more sensible children did not request to get back into the castle for 2nd round, knowing that it takes a lot for us to admit them in.

The children wanted to do the T3 slide @ Changi but it was under maintenance.

My new status

I have been playing the role of SAHM (stay-at-home-mum) for the last 5 days. Still cannot believe that I have actually taken the leap to do this. Somehow we have decided to take this route because of my FIL's current health condition, I guess this arrangement may last for about a year or so.

It's been tough for me to get adjusted to this new lifestyle. My last month in my workplace was still mentally challenging and demanding, spending long hours to get a few decks done for countless management reviews. These few days, my challenge at home was in fact to plan and whip up balanced and healthy meals for the family.

As a result, I turned to ogle at the household appliances, like magic cooker, air fryer, multi-purpose rice cooker and robotic vacuum cleaner.. these are the equipment that can help to streamline the tasks at home in a more efficient manner and in turn, I can spend more time to research on home tutoring and coaching the boys..

Since I had been working in an environment which practise prioritising spend, I have made up my mind to first spend my funds on the rice cooker and magic cooker by these 2 weeks so the essential cooking demands can be addressed. At this point, I just need to read up more on magic cooker and decide on which brand to buy.

Given my usual self to get as many things accomplished as possible, I have also learnt to slow down my pace at home on my 2 boys. Each day, their play time is 2 times longer than the piano practice and assigned homework.. and I guess this routine can continue for the month of December to let them recharge before they hit into the school days next month.

I have somewhat been influenced by Ah lou's belief of valuing frugality and simplicity after all these years. We decided to work on the household chores all by ourselves, and this saves us about $260 per month. I have also learnt to spread out the work in the following manner which can be done even when school re-opens:

1) Monday- sweep and mop
2) Tuesday - Dust tops and iron
3) Wednesday - rest
4) Thursday - Vacuum and Mop
5) Friday - Change bedsheets
6) Sat - Ah lou cleans toilets
7) Sun - rest

Besides the above, I have also progressively started clearing out the cupboards, wardrobes to do some spring cleaning. This week, I have done Ethan's and Caden's sections. I choose to think that this is a good form of exercise for me, and will help to get my heart condition back in the right shape again. And more importantly, I am keen to demonstrate to the boys that things in life should not be taken as granted and they should learn to be as independent as early as possible. Without any domestic help at home, the boys have been told to help out as much as possible to lighten my workload (very much depending on how much they 'teng' me!!)

And of course, the best part of my day is to get into the bathroom after cleaning up the kitchen from dinner cooking and soak myself in Crabtree's lily shower gel.. that's therapeutic..

Am looking forward to the staycation in hardrock hotel in 2 weeks time!