With Pink Stripe

We found our first white Four O'Clock with pink stripe this morning. Lovely!

Covering Four, Cooking For One

Starting from yesterday, over the next few more days, our family of five are spread in four Continents. All these kids are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to experience the life, temporarily, in different countries. I.e. to study (Ha!). One in UK, with a Summer program that is about to kick in next week Another one is in Kalahari, South Africa, experiencing the privilege to teach children there. The first born, is cramping up two years of German into an 8-week Summer session. I hope they all come back happier and richer in experience and have more appreciation towards the good and wonderful life back home.

I have been surprisingly productive, getting a lot of my paper work done and my Summer cleaning on the way. It was wrong of me to think that it was going to be miserable to be all alone with everyone being thousands miles away. The challenge is mostly on the meal that I have. I am left with some foods that are not necessarily my first or second pick or my pick at all, but as they need to be consumed, I need to eat them up so that they don't go wasted.

My lunch fulfilled the mission of clearing up the kway tiauw and fish cakes in the fridge. I stir-fried the noodles with chicken and some vegetables as well. That's just sufficient. I won't be preparing anything for dinner, I think. I am tired now.

Sushi Dinner, For One!

I anticipated my unwillingness to prepare dinner on my own, for myself alone. When I was out yesterday afternoon, I got myself a Yakitori lunch to go and some sushi for dinner later. Having lunch so late, I was actually not in the mood to have dinner, but I thought, I still needed to grab something anyway, so that I would not have any craving in the middle of the night. Just sushi.

It's so quiet here...., night number 1.

I Think We're Alone Now...

The last two standing staying have just left to airport, heading later to London. It's time for Moorhuhn Kart! Oh, yeah.

Ein Deutsches Mittagessen

We nearly ended up with a British meal yesterday, but the restaurant was very crowded and after we sat down, we were told that it would take at least 30 minutes for the food to be ready. A minimum of 30 minutes, the captain stressed it out again, as if he hinted us nicely that it would take basically almost forever and we should just go elsewhere. It was way past 1 o'clock and my favorite risotto with wild mushroom was no longer available too. We, decided, to leave. It was just not the time for us.

DH was in a little adventurous mode and was willing to try another new place, a German one. We went to Brotzeit instead, indulging on sausages and sauerkraut among others and sharing grilled chicken breasts with mashed potatoes. Eine gute Mahlzeit!

Chopper Practice

It's all purely educated guesses, but I am quite confident that I am right. I saw choppers, that's my first guess, I thought they were small planes, but upon observing further, they should be helicopters by definition. They were carrying Singapore flag, flying from somewhere down south to the east where the forthcoming celebration is expected to be held. My second guess is that they are practicing for the National Day celebration, which will be coming in about six weeks.

It's hard to believe that we will be hopping into the second half of the year in a few days..... Where, oh, where, has the time gone?

Hot And Hotter!

We really have lots of chilies from our chili plants, one by one turning red and getting spicier by day. Some days are really hot and humid here and the appetite for chili is not quite there. Nevertheless, it's a pretty scene to looks at, these chilies.....

The Bread!

I made this bread last Sunday, the dough that I had was more than enough for me to make this and a couple of pizza for the young guests we had. In fact, I still have a lot left..... What to do, what to do next...

Turning 14!

Happy birthday, girl! May the best in the world be yours! Tons of love from your dear old mum!

When your youngest one turned 14, you are a century old. Next year, I will be a century and one old. Not exactly.

I baked the mini cakes and cupcakes and made the icing, but the birthday girl and her friends decorated the mini cake and other cupcakes for a pre-birthday fun yesterday. As of today, she is officially 14.

The Dough

Anticipating a number of kids coming to our place, I prepared myself with lots of bread dough. The above was not the only batch, I got another one safely stored in the fridge. I planned to make bread and pizza. I am ready and stoked!

Nuggets!

I always think that chicken nuggets should be universally liked, but even in our household, there's at least one person that constantly tries to stay away from them. Another one just loves them and appreciate them like some precious treasure. I like them too, the homemade version that have the basic things like minced chicken, blended together with salt, pepper and some herbs, along with an egg and a tablespoon of flour. And have them deep fried in canola oil. That's it.

Ending School Year!

The school ended today. It seems like it just began three days ago, yet three terms have gone by, faster than I could keep up with. The two that are still going to school here said that they didn't want the school to end. Hmmh......sounds good, doesn't it? Kids that love school! But wait, dig further. DH said, "I thought you said you hate school." "I do, I hate school. But I like my friends."There we go, they are normal after all.

Anyway, they will be kept busy this summer holiday that I am almost tempted to bet that they are going to hate it when the school is starting again. But they again, my youngest one always likes school, she always loves to go back to school. Weird. What's wrong with her??

I won't miss getting up at 5:30 though, although I have a strong suspicion that I will continue to wake up unnecessarily early. I won't be seeing much of the scenery like up there. That's a 6:44AM scenery this morning. We'll see.

Getting The White

We had our first white Four O'Clock flower blossomed this morning. It was a thrill as always, for me, to see the first one. A special one. I am sure more will be coming out son too...

Self Photo

Taken during the crazy-wind-blowing-session the other day. Not mine!

Blown Away

We had very strong wind coming from the east side and blew some of our plotted plants away. I thought the rain was coming next, but it never did. Maybe tonight. The plants survive. All's well! Another Sunday has gone by....

Thanks Miss K for the picture.

Blueberry Or Cheese?

I baked blueberry and cheese wholemeal muffins this morning. Nothing fancy, I used the basic muffins recipe from Better Homes and change part of the flour using wholemeal flour instead of the plain ones. I mixed half of the batter with enough frozen blueberries and the rest with grated cheese. I like them as much.

The First Yellow

A few weeks back, we got some Four O'clock seeds. The caddy that gave the seeds to DH have separated them nicely in four marked bags. We have gotten yellow, white, orange and a combination of red and white. I planted some and most of them grew. Just today, we have our first yellow flower. Nice.

Testing ... 1,2,3...

EOS 7D is definitely a great camera, I am still in the very early stage of learning its features.

I took some pictures and haven't done much more than I did with my previous EOS 450D. I like the camera though, of course. At least, it looks so coooool......

7D

A "Yipeee!!!!" early Anniversary present, Canon EOS 7D. Solid and yet to be tested! Models needed!

Banana Pancake

Sunday morning with gray sky. It's kind of cool-ish outside. Banana pancakes with homemade caramel sauce are just right.... We are on lei--zeeee..... mode.

Croquette!

Croquettes are in many similar forms around the world, so many countries have them with slightly different variations. The rolls are made from mashed potatoes and we filled ours with minced meat and carrots, seasoned with salt, pepper and grated nutmeg. This Dutch version is widely available in Indonesia, but I hardly see them in Singapore. I thought about this last night when I was about to sleep and nearly forgot all about making it today. Thanks P for the assistance!

Hardly Look Like China...

I love Shanghai. I wish I could there more often. But with everybody's schedule, it is a little hard for me to make it there anytime soon. I love the buildings there, some parts have strong historical values and connections. The buildings in the Shanghai Bund, facing Huangpu River look absolutely gorgeous and give an impression as if you were not in China....

Thanks DH for the picture!