Saturday Afternoon in Vivo CIty

We went to Vivo City, a 10 minutes bus ride, yesterday afternoon to see whats cooking with the annual Great Singapore Sale. My gosh, the mall is so people infested...everyone shopping in different stores taking advantage of the great sale. I did manage to buy for myself, was able to get a Marks & Spencer jeans at SG$30 (up $99)...yup, its a good buy already! Anyways, 3:30pm, we had our lunch at Marche. Its a nice restaurant where they give you cards and then you go around choosing the food you want and then swipe the cards everytime you order. I got roasted kampung chicken, mashed potato, and rice for KC and me to share. Hubby ordered sausages and mashed potatoes. Not contented, I ordered ham and cheese crepe to share with hubby. After our nice meal, I headed to Daiso to buy some baking stuff again. Oh this place is heavenly with the store selling all items at $2. Its a japanese store and you can find all kinds of unique items worth bringing home or giving as gifts. After this, hubby, KC and I went to Giant supermarket to do some grocery. Luckily, I found out that they chop fresh chickens so I got one whole for me and asked that the head and feet be removed...and also chop the chicken in small pieces...alright, I dont know how to deal with whole chicken so I normally just buy the chopped ones which are more expensive.

After doing our grocery, it was 8:30pm already so hubby and I decided to grab our dinner before heading home. We went to this restaurant called The Chicken Rice Shop. We chose a set meal for two at$23.90. But to my dismay, except for the oyster sauced veggies, everything was a flop and their specialty chickens were not even half good of what we get from the hawkers at my place. I will never ever go back to this place definitely! This gets zero stars!

Envirosax: I love it!

Ever heard of Envirosax? Its been in the market for some time already, maybe since last year. Apparently, moms in Singapore are crazy about this and I decided to buy one for myself and a kids version for my little KC. So what is it anyway? Envirosax are eco-friendly reusable shopping bags printed with exciting trendy graphics. So its hitting two birds with one stone...you get to help the environment by saving on plastic bags and at the same time shop in style! And whats nice about it is that its so lightweight and foldable that it woud barely take space in your bag. Just take it out when your ready to use it! Below is a pic of what I bought for KC and she enjoys carrying it in her shoulder everytime we go to the grocery even if its still big for her... well, the little girl has style!

My first home-made cupcakes

I finally did it! Since it was a holiday yesterday and hubby was home to help take care of our little KC, I finally had the perfect opportunity to try bake some cupcakes. Once KC fell asleep in the afternoon, I rushed to the grocery downstairs and bought the ingredients I needed. Got everything except that the butter is expensive. But never mind... I did hope that the price will be worth it after I see the cupcakes done.

So once I got home, I prepared my tools and ingredients. Hubby gave me a hand by measuring the flour while I operated the electric mixer. After a series of measuring and mixing, I finally finished my cupcake batter and the proceeded to bake. Actually had to bake 2 batches of cupcake since I only have those small table top ovens. After dinner, when the cupcakes have cooled already, I prepared the buttercream icing and then started decorating the cupcakes. And finally, this was the result of my hard work...

Its still not as perfect as the ones you see selling in stores but its definitely a good start! Overall, the cupcakes were yummy and not as sweet as it looks. Little KC loved it so much especially the icing. "Kap" she would say which actually means 'sarap'. I am looking forward to making more cupcakes... hopefully, by Christmas time, I will be able to make the perfect cupcakes to serve my family when we go back to Manila.

Moroccan Brochettes by Hubby

Today, Singapore is celebrating Vesak Day and its a non-working holiday. We decided to stay home and just do some home cooking since most of the hawkers (food shops) in our area will be closed. Hubby promised to cook lunch after we bought our first grilling pan yesterday. So I just sat down and waited for his super special first time to cook dish.




Derived from "The Book of North African Cooking" recipe book, hubby prepared a dish named Moroccan Brochettes. Its made of minced beef, onions, garlics, chilis, parsley, oregano, paprika, cumin and fresh rosemary. Its almost similar to our Kebab in Manila except that it has more cumin taste. Overall, the dish was excellent, still juicy after the grilling process. What made it even better is the yogurt as its sauce and ofcourse, the taste and aroma of the rosemary in the middle of the brochettes. Definitely a must cook again dish!

Sundays with hubby & KC

Sundays are always for my family. Its the only rest day for hubby... yup, he works on Saturdays! But its been like that for so many years that im used to it already.

Anyway, for today, my family went to the Singapore Flyer not to ride the soooo expensive gigantic ferris wheel but to have lunch at Popeye's (finally a branch near our place!). This is one of hubbys' favorite fried chicken fast food chains. Its available in Malaysia and inconveniently in Singapore Changi Airport. Manila used to have Popeye's but its gone now...I think.

Once we got to the Singapore Flyer place, we just made a quick tour of the place to check out the other restos' available and then headed to Popeye's. Price were reasonable enough. I paid like SG$15.80 for 2 sets of 2pc chicken with 1 siding and biscuit and drink. Upsize included. But I was a bit disappointed coz the cajun rice was not available. I really prefer rice!!! But nevermind, all in all, the food was super great! A lot lot better than the KFC here in Singapore. The chicken was finger licking good and the skin was so crispy nice. Ok, I can hear the calorie police coming...

You cant actually see the chickens in the pic above coz the fries are way too dominating...as I said...UPSIZED!

We really had a nice lunch and I cant wait to go back to that place again. I give Popeye's 4 stars for such a great taste and good price. 1 missing star for not having rice!

I was planning to write about our lunch only but I guess I can squeeze in a few of our pics in the Singapore Flyer. Again, we did not ride the thingy... $29.50 for adults and $20.65 for kids is just way too much for me. Yes, it is currently the world's first biggest but there will be promos next time or even free tickets so its nothing to panic about.

KC playing with the rocks in the garden

KC by the man-made waterfalls and koi pond

KC knows her letters
A view of the Singapore Flyer cabins from below
KC & Hubby and the gigantic Singapore Flyer

Starting on my goals...

correction: "SOME OF MY GOALS"

Goal # 1
This is my first ever posting... some of my friends have been blogging for a long time, y not me? Thus, let me see if I can do it as well. I want to know if blogging can also be a part of my life.

Goal # 2

Believe it or not... BAKING is one of those goals. Yes, I told hubby and my sister and my mom that I will learn to bake this year. Self-study though. I am really keen to learn coz I want baking and the fun part of decorating be a mother-daughter activity for me and KC. I can say that Im a good cook... but a total disaster when it comes to baking. Well, I did use to bake a few years back. Apple pie and the no-bake bueberry cheesecake were my two and only specialties. But when I came here in Singapore almost 6 years ago... well, I guess I lost those special skills along the way.

So rewind to 5 days ago.... KC & I attempted to bake brownies. I bought the ready-mix Betty Crocker fudge brownies. I decided to do half od the box only coz my target eaters were only hubby and KC. So bake bake bake we go.... mix here and mix there, put in the oven...wait wait and wait.... and............................

SURPRISE! Yes, I was surprised coz the brownies were burnt and hard as rocks. Remember Charlie's Angel where Lucy Liu baked some muffins and when Cameron Diaz threw it, it practically ruined the door.... something to that effect. Luckily, 1/4 of the baked goodies (or baddies) were still edible and my daughter had a blast eating it!

So this afternoon, while little KC went to sleep, I decided to give it another try. I WILL NOT GIVE UP! And following tips from my mom and sister (Fairy Godmother gave them both baking skills and left me with the cooking skills instead), I was able to bake the 2nd batch of brownies nicely. Well, its still not perfect but Im just happy now that its not burnt and its 100% edible.

Lesson learnt: 1) Dont give up. 2) Always check the temperature of your oven :)

Im taking it slow... next week, I will experiment on cookies. And then hopefully cupcakes or muffins next month. We'll see...