Chinese New Year Celebrations 2009

Every year it's the same thing. Reunion dinner at the In Laws' and visiting relatives the next day, and it's always in the same order of which relatives to visit first. Then Day 2 for us is free as we have no one else to visit. This year tho Edmund had to work full day on Saturday and then the morning of Sunday. So it didn't feel like we had a 4 day weekend. And he was already back at work on Wednesday Day 3.

Caelyn's angpao loot was quite a bit. And she's now at the age where she understands what's going on. Her face lights up everytime she gets an angpao from someone and she'll smile and stick out her tongue. She can even say 'Gong Xi Fa Cai', softly as it may be it was very cute. And she can also say 'Happy new year!' and shake our hands...hehehe..She's definitely cute when she doesn't throw tantrums.

The only weird thing that happened this year was when someone mentioned that their son's name was also Caelyn, but spelt Caelan....hmmm....how weird is it for a boy to be called Caelan?

So how was your new year?

at Reunion dinner

T
his year's reunion dinner felt like just another Sunday dinner with the In Laws since it fell on a Sunday. And there's also no dressing up with the family. This year we had steamboat tho. My MIL's cooking is pretty plain and I knew there wouldn't be any dipping sauces to go with the steamboat stuff, so I made and took along my own sauce creations - a Sesame Paste Sauce and Ponzu Sauce with grated radish. Surprisingly my in laws liked the Ponzu Sauce. I was surprised becoz they don't usually like any salty stuff.

Caelyn with her cousin Dylan


Ok, this is a totally bad fat picture of us


with the sister in law

Caelyn at Mos Burger. I know it's not part of CNY but it was the day before :) She looks really pretty here.

Creamed Smoked Roe Spaghetti

There is a Japanese type of pasta that uses Mentaiko (marinated roe) as its sauce. A while ago my Mum bought this ready made Mentaiko sauce from Takashimaya and it was pretty good, but was pretty expensive for a pasta sauce I thought, but I guess it is from Japan. Anyway as I was walking around Ikea with my friend, she recommended me to try the Creamed Smoked Roe in a tube in the fridge of the food section of Ikea. She told me her husband loves the stuff and so I thought I'd give it a try. I tried it on some Meiji crackers and she was right they were pretty good.

For some reason I decided to experiment and try adding it to some cooked spaghetti. I added some olive oil and the cooking water to loosen up the sauce, added some black pepper, shredded seaweed and topped with some Red Lumpfish Roe that I also got from Ikea. It was soooo delish, I scoffed it down within minutes! And it tasted similar to the Japanese one that my Mum bought and cheaper too. I cooked it for hubby and surprisingly he said it tasted like Carbonara sauce. That's interesting. I guess the taste is a bit similar because Carbonara is egg based and there's also smoky bacon in it. So the smoky eggness of the Creamed Smoked Roe tastes similar. This is now one of my most favourite way to eat spaghetti.

After mixing

The tube of Creamed Smoked Roe from Ikea


Red Lumpfish Roe frm Ikea

Ever wonder.....?

Ever wonder what your life would've been like had you made different choices? Like if you hadn't taken a different study course, go to different uni, not met your hubby/wife, not moved to a certain country. How interesting......

Disney Naturally Restaurant @ Anchorpoint Mall

As a Disney enthusiast it is no surprise that I ended up at this restaurant. As my friend and I were headed to Ikea at Alexandra with our kids, we decided to try this place out. I guess it being a weekday, the restaurant was rather empty and quiet. And what surprised me the most was how simple the menu was, only consisting of pizzas, pasta and one pot meals (like stews). The dessert/drinks side consisted of mickey shaped waffles, ice creams, fruit blended smoothies, milkshakes, and some kids drinks, as well as fruit punch and soft drinks. The annoying thing was when we sat down the staff didn't tell us how to put in our orders. I had assumed the waiters would take our orders, but turns out we had to go to the counter, put in the order and pay on the spot. Cutlery was also self serve. The food itself was alright, reminds me of the food that you get at the Disney parks.

With a separate area for the kids to play computer games in and a big projector tv screen playing cartoons, it's a great place to bring the kids to for a relaxed meal. But of course it also means that the kids will probably be more interested in watching the cartoons or playing on the computer rather than eating their meal. So here's a tip, get a table closer to the computer so you can just reach over to feed them.

Below photos were taken with my camera phone cos I forgot to bring my camera.... So, sorry for the grainy shot.

The entrance

Mickey shaped seats. Tv Screen playing cartoons.

Mickey and friends watching you eat.


This light in the ceiling rotates round and round.
Little shop area with some Disney merchandise


The Menu, certain meals come with a free Mickey and friends notebook.


The open kitchen area.

Underneath that sign is a washing area.


Spaghetti Bolognese. Comes with a Mickey shaped bread roll.Portions a little on the small side for the price you pay.

Seafood Chowder (Soup of the Day)
Pasta Carbonara, again with Mickey shaped bread roll.


Mixed Berry Smoothie, it had some kind of princess name I think. This was sooooo goood.


Mickey shaped pepperoni pizza. The crust either had herbs or flecks of spinach in it. The pizza was big enough, it's the size of a regular pizza from pizza hut. Enough for 2 to share I think.There was a number of topping combinations on the menu.

Botejyu Restaurant at Liang Court

A few friends had told me that Liang Court had been renovated, so off we went to check it out. It was really really quiet, seemed even quieter than before. But maybe cos it's a weeknight. We looked around to see what we could eat for dinner. There were several Japanese options down at Meidi-ya Japanese supermarket, but we decided to try out Botejyu. The restaurant seems to specialise in Okonomiyakis and Omu rice or noodles. We ordered a Seafood Okonomiyaki and Seafood Omu Noodles and crispy Cuttlefish tentacles. The presentation was appealing and the seafood filling was quite generous and most importantly the taste was good. So two thumbs up for the place,

The restaurant's Interior

Caelyn arranging chopsticks

Cuttlefish Tentacles

Seafood Okonomiyaki

Omu Seafood Noodles

The Inauguration Day

It was rather strange to watch snippets of the Inauguration on Entertainment Tonight (American show) and on the local news and realise how emotional I felt as I watched the whole thing as if I was an American myself watching my new President being sworn in. If I could feel this emotional, I can just imagine how much more magnified those feelings would be for an American, especially a Black American to be watching it. It really is a day in history to remember.

Caelyn's first bike riding experience at East Coast Park

Caelyn had been obsessed with bicycles lately so we took her to East Coast Park for her first bike riding experience. We were a little apprehensive that she might be scared sitting in the child seat on the bike or that she'd ask to get off half way through our ride. But she was so brave, saying 'Caelyn not scared', surprising even myself. And she had a rolling good time as me and Daddy played catch-up with the bikes. I hadn't been on a bike in a very long time, since I got pregnant with Caelyn in fact, and when I got on the bike it felt so exhilarating. I had so much fun. I definitely want to do this more often. Only thing tho is that there's quite a lot of people on the bike path and it gets a little narrow for riding. Oh and I had to suddenly stop a few times cos people made sudden turns and in the end my poor sandal suffered as it broke under all the sudden tugging.

Bike rental at East Coast Park is $8 per bike for an hour. But we were given the bike for 2 hours, we assume because we rented at 5pm and 7pm was closing time so they let us have the bikes till closing (which we didn't do since Caelyn was tired). Either that or maybe they've changed to 2 hour rentals? Not sure on this one....

I saw rollerblades rental next door, maybe one day I'll be game enough to give it a try.....

Grilled Chicken with a Thai Marinade

Recipe from: Classic Thai Cooking Course by Kit Chan


This chicken is really yummy, and since I baked it in the oven and then grilled it under the broiler I bet you that it would taste even better if grilled over charcoal. Great served with rice or as I have done, served with roasted potato and a salad.

Recipe is for 4-6 people.

Ingredients:
1 chicken or chicken parts (about 1.5kg)
2 limes, cut into wedges, to garnish
2 red chillies, finely sliced, to garnish

For the marinade:
2 stalks lemon grass, chopped
2.5cm piece fresh root ginger
6 garlic cloves
4 shallots
1/2 bunch coriander roots
1 tbsp palm sugar
120ml/ 1/2 cup coconut milk
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce

1. To make the marinade, put all the ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth.

2. Put the chicken pieces in a dish and pour over the marinade. Leave in a cool place to marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight. For a healthier version, be sure to remove the chicken skin.

3. Barbecue the chicken over glowing coals or place on a rack over a baking tray and bake at 200C for about 20-30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked and golden brown. Turn the pieces occasionally and brush with the marinade.

MY TIP: if you bake the chicken in the oven, sometimes it takes too long to brown, so bake until the chicken is cooked and gril under the broiler to give a nice brown colour. This is especially helpful if you've removed the skin as the bare meat doesn't brown as fast when you just bake it.

4. Garnish with lime wedges and finely sliced red chillies.

Marina Barrage at Night

The Marina Barrage is actually a really really nice place to visit as you get a beautiful view of the Singapore city skyline. The grassy patch at the top is also a nice place to have picnics and dare I say even solemnisations. It's a romantic place to take your date to as well

Good place to bring visitors to. I will definitely come back during the day to see the day view.

For more info on the Marina Barrage, go to: http://www.pub.gov.sg/Marina/Pages/default.aspx

See the kids playing in the water?

The Marina Integrated Resort being built

There was some kind of Malay show/gathering going on.

Pasir Ris Beach

Took Caelyn to Pasir Ris Beach playground the other day. She was a little intimidated by the number of kids there, so much so that she didn't even go down the slide (which is her favourite). She moved at a snails' pace while the other kids swooshed passed her up and down the stairs of the playground.

It's been pretty windy recently so it's nice to be at the playground without feeling the heat too much. Pasir Ris Beach is a great place to bring your kids for the playground, but definitely not for the beach itself whose waters were a bit murky. Not nice.