Straight And Roll

Some people just can't be trusted, I found this case to be so true over the past few months. Let me start with this person whose job title is not very clear. She assisted us in a furniture shop where we order a dining table and some chairs. We picked the color of the leather cushion and the design. The deposit was paid and all were settled. After which, we had some discussion among our family that came along of whether we picked the right color. She overhead and kindly offered us a bunch of sample and asked us to get back to her in a week time to confirm the color, otherwise, she would order the color that we had chose.

That was what the four of us understood, on 9 August. A few phone conversations on some potential kitchen cabinets and a visit later on the same matter, one month and three days after, on the phone, still speaking to the same person, I asked when our dining table and the chairs ready. To my shock, she replied that she waited for me to get back to her on the leather color so she can order from Italy....!!!!!! Yes, this person said that and Italy too! Think of the weeks needed for this process! Think, think. She said that I was supposed to let her know what color it would be, that I was also supposed to return the sample. I am not Joe Wilson, but I must say that SHE LIED! I confirmed with my two kids and my husband who were there and they confirmed what I believed in.

What's upsetting is the fact that the interior designer that we engaged has not been a very straight forward person. He miscalculated the space, and was about the leave a cushion as a side table in one of the rooms, without consulting us. I heard no admission of fault here. He let the railings painted in colors of his choice, not ours, without prior consultation with us and built a side table light column along the bed without even consulting us. Does that qualify him as a moron?

moron:

1. A stupid person; a dolt.

2. Psychology A person of mild mental retardation having a mental age of from 7 to 12 years and generally having communication and social skills enabling some degree of academic or vocational education. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive.

Well, it could have turned out that we engaged a moron as our interior consultant, couldn't have we?? Should we have, I hope we did not become one by hiring one. (Sighh..........) What to do? Just a bad Saturday!

I baked some cinnamon rolls last week for breakfast to finish off the dough that I had left. They were soft, warm, sweet and cinnamonish.... giving me great fuzzy feelings unlike what I experienced last Saturday. Tomorrow is always another day.... and the sun'll come up tomorrow, Annie sings.

Getting The Bug...

I was not and still am not a a big fan of chocolate cookies. I would take one or two occasionally but would not jump into picking one. But when my sister asked me about the recipe for chocolate cookies from back when we were small, I started to think about them again. They were not my favorite either at that time, but I wanted to make some now anyway. Knowing for sure that they won't taste the same because the cocoa powder that we use now is different from then. Just wanted to do it.

I do not have the recipe that we used back then and had to find a recipe that looks reasonable enough to yield good results.

The recipe that I picked, which I followed really closely, however, did not give me a good enough dough that I had to add extra butter as I had used up all the flour and cocoa. Now they are more do-able to be pressed through a cookie presser.

In terms of taste? It is pretty much like chocolate cookies.....

It's Crisp Again ...

We just can't help it! We are so in love with crisp. Or at least, I am. The combination of oatmeal and wholemeal is just so delish, not to forget that they are healthier too. Putting them together with all sort of fruits and they are workable, so easily.

This time, since I still had some peaches and blueberries, I put them together. There's one more banana left in the fridge that was ripe and I also threw it in there. I was happy with all these cleaning up the fridge and ended up with yummy dessert!

Some Like It Lemony...

It is always easier for me to prepare dinner when someone ask for something specific. It was Lemon Chicken the other night, like the one served in Chinese restaurants. So, that's just simple. After all, I have got everything that I need to make them. Except, maybe, the expertise to make the dish taste really like those in the restaurants. Nevertheless, my dish was still complemented. I guess, when you love lemon, you just love lemon-related-dishes too. Most of the time....

Previewing New Place ...

It will be up, up, up, further up at the very top, there! On the other side though........ with a view like this:

Click the picture to see a bigger version. Can you spot Singapore Flyer and Esplanade at the far end and Singapore River just down below? The tall buildings on the right are in the Raffles Place area. Quite a bit to see just from one corner of the house. Hhmmmhh......??

Buns For Weekend Breakfast

I like to wake up early in the morning and to be the only one being awake at home. It is refreshing to be by myself while the sun has not risen yet and to be able to do things with no disturbance. Nobody asking any questions, no-one asking for something and nobody messes up what I have tidied up.

It is hard to find the quietness if you live in the city so I love the serenity once in a while if I could have it. Waking early on weekend can be hard when sometimes I need to catch up on my lack of sleep during the week, but if I have had enough rest, I won't be able to continue sleeping and I'd rather start my day early anyway. There's always so much to do! And the rain that fell hard yesterday morning and earlier on today helped bring down the temperature. Great cool mornings.

We have practically a wide selection of breakfast that we could just buy from across the street. It won't even take more than five minutes from where we live and we could have any Western, Indian, Chinese or Malay breakfasts, but most of the times, that would not be something that I prefer doing. I like to have the food that go to my stomach to be prepared by someone that I know, including myself. I don't recall falling sick after eating my food. I did fall sick more than a couple of times after eating outside food and I can assure you that it was horrible! I surely have learned my lesson.

It's been a while since I had some brioche based buns, I was craving for them and had prepared some dough earlier on during the week. Saturday morning, some of the dough was used to make some usual cheese and chocolate buns, they were our breakfasts! Except for the two that headed out all the wayyyyyyy..... to east coast for some wanton noodles.

Stuffed Mushooms

When it comes to mushroom, I have a solid partner in crime here, my little buddy. We both just love mushrooms. Almost all types, portobello, shitake, button, white, brown, Swiss, canned, .... of course, the pricey truffles!

On pizza, in soup, or in sauce. Japanese, Chinese, Italian syles? Just bring them on! Our latest craze is stuffed mushrooms. We had them made on portobello, the stuffing was a mix of cream cheese, sausage, chopped onion and garlic, basil and parsley, egg yolk and of course parmesan cheese. Surely, they are so good!!!

Babies Grow, Fast...

I cleaned up and tried to do a little packing up in one of the rooms here at our house yesterday, which I have been doing rather more diligently lately. I went through some ancient dusty stuff we have and I found some old spelling books, toys and art works from many years back when all the three kids were still in primary school, maybe grade 2 or 4 or younger, which seemed like yesterday. I suddenly felt a little pang in my heart, never felt that it has been that many years ago that my girls were small and now they are ginormous. It kind of saddened me in some way that that time has slipped away without me noticing much of it. How I wish I could cling on to the memories...

I came across some Pooh stuffed toys, little pony toys... and little dolls .... love notes for me from them and many more, and put them away in the box. Almost instantly wishing that I had treasured my time with them a lot better than I did and remembered much more details of everything that happened. I kept on saying to myself that it had not been that long, it could not possibly that long. Without warning, I know that the interest in the Pooh bear and his friends diminished and all those colorful little creatures are not longer something that they are keen about anymore.

Despite all the many conversations that I had with people about how fast the kids grow, I never really gave a lot of thought of it. I probably never really meant it much. In fact, there's a chance that I was probably just saying it. My babies that used to make a mess everywhere around the house and got excited over small little things have turned into much bigger persons. They still do make a mess, that remains the case. But they no longer excited about toys or sweets.

My babies have grown. My babies have really grown and about them being small, young, cuddly, kissable and trusting, is just no longer there. They are big and independent now. At present time, my brain has to keep a record on them being how they are at their age now and treasure the moment that I have with them. And stubbornly still try to hold on to the memory as tight as I possibly could, knowing also that no matter how tight I hold on to them, time will continue to run with part of it. I can't afford anything to slip away from me anymore, but probably I have to accept the facts of life.

The Packing Gets Tough ...

The big news yesterday was earthquake in Indonesia. Earthquakes come with no warning. This one as well. Came suddenly and shook the earth up. We have a whole bunch of people that we know and related to that were there and just minutes ago, were shaken by powerful earthquake in Java. They live in many different cities stretching across some 250km from one another. But from I read, Bali was also affected by the quake. DH was there to and had to go down the stairs 23 floors, along with everyone else that were in the building. Thankfully, everyone that I know, is safe.

27 more days before this month is over. I sound like a half-empty-glass kind of person, but not really. I am a half-full-glass person, I like to be positive and I like to work on my goals joyfully, with a little grumbling now and then, forgive me..... It's human to grumble a bit, it's human to err too. Just don't lose the focus. That's the key.

I have been working a lot on one room, the one left behind as the occupant is going for college. Just one room and that has taken enormous amount of time to clean up, to sort up and to organize. I am too frightened to think of the whole house that I have to pack for our move. Quite soon. But I just keep on going, sometimes a little bit less than I should, but I continue working. Outside this place, some furniture are being made. Some works are being done in our new place. It looks like a mess, the way it should.

I have been mainly preparing meals for three. It needs adjustment and I am working at it. Amazingly, the two kids here have been so good at working the food. They have been helpful at finishing the dishes prepared and diligently try to clean up the leftover. I am impressed. They are better than ever and they just deserve big blue ribbon and so much more love.

I made these banana and peach crisp yesterday, with wholemeal flour and oatmeal. Looks like, the three of us will be able to clean them up today. I feel healthy.....

It Is Unavoidable...

So now this is September and I could not run away anymore from the long to-do list with immediate due date in my hand. I can''t afford procrastination anymore or I might end up making a mess with the house move and having a very empty house. Everything that we need to have seems to need 4-12 weeks to make. But to begin with, I could not find or come up with the designs that I like and the people that are able to build what I want. Compromise appears to be the key word and my unwillingness to settle for less seems to be the hurdle. The saga continues ...

Let's start the new month with a view from the top, even though the sky was not too clear when this picture was taken. This, ladies and gentlemen, will be what we can see from our new place.