The Apple's Diary!

Recently we bought a thermal cooker. We had been eyeing such a cooker for a long time and bidding our time for a good discounted price. Finally, we bought it. Endo Thermal Cooker 7L, going at a discounted price of $79.90 and a further 10% rebate using POSB Everyday card at Carrefour. Yesterday, we made ABC soup with it. Our ABC soup was boiled with pork ribs, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, onions and sweet corn. We threw in everything and let it boiled for about 10 minutes before transferring to the thermal cooker to let it simmer further. After 2 hours, we could smell the sweetness of the soup. Voila! Our ABC soup.. the carrots, the potatoes and the sweet corns were all soft. We were very impressed and very happy that we finally can have good soup. Using this opportunity, I also created a dish with Enoki mushrooms and pork loins. Stir-fried the pork loin with mixed herbs and then added in the Enoki mushrooms. Made a stock of dark soya sauce, sesame oil and pepper. The gravy was good for...

Last night, I caught Rui En in her travelogue show, 我行我宿. It was my first time watching this whole series and in last night's episode, Rui En travelled to Hokkaido in Winter Time. It was beautiful like how I always imgaine Hokkaido would be. Anyway, Rui En travelled to different lodging places and the TV crew would do a short feature in the lodging place. At this moment, I suddenly thought of a friend, Yagiza. I could imagine Yagiza travelling like Rui En on her back pack and staying in those small private lodgings. Enjoying simple conversation with the owner in Japanese and taking in all the beautiful sceneries with her Nikon. That would be such a beautiful slice of Yagiza's life. Don't you agree, Yagiza?

I'm in such happy mood and I can't pinpoint the exact reason. Perhaps it was this morning, I got a lift to work from my hubby. Or perhaps the weather is cooling, finally. Or maybe it is just weekend is around the corner again. Yipee! Looking forward to my evening exercise later!

I feel so bloated this morning. Decided to weigh myself. *Grasp* How did the 2kg sudden creep into my life? Is time to hit the exercise floor, put myself back into shape and fitness. Still want to wear that bikini for my sun, sea, beach holiday.

photo shot in auto mode I'm always amazed that my Robo is like a semi-circle when he sleeps in this position, considered that he was just a little baby when I got him.

Yesterday, a few of my colleagues and I were doing something that's really termed as Kay-Poh. We were checking out a wedding blogger's wedding details which had absolutely nothing to do with us. We scrutinised, we remarked, we commented. It was totally outrageously kay-pohness to say. This brought me back to my own blog, which I suddenly had a tinge of regret that I should have tagged my postings. This would probably helped direct more traffic to my site. Like all humans who compared, my little blogging site looked pale compared to the much read-after wedding bloggers for their latest updates. But when the dust has settled, my applets dropped, I begin to sigh a relief that I am still pretty much anonymous. Would I want to bring my entire life to public like a story telling session? Letting all kinds of people in the cyberspace to "check me out". The Apple's Diary is my electronic version of little journals I scribbed in throughout my growing up years. My own outle...

I have been bringing my Canon Ixus 300 HS out so that I can just snap photos whenever I like. There's nothing exciting in this weekend, just running errands and trying to recuperate from all the sickness that engulfed me. We had a casual late lunch at Bakerzin and I took out my camera to test out its various functions. Taking advantage of its $13.80++ daily set meal and its sweet temptation treat, we placed an order with clamshells and macaroni in tomato broth. Seriously, I am thinking of reprising this dish at home. Will try out next weekend if I can get the white clamshells from market. Blood Orange Soda to complete the meal. While a flat white goes with .... a slice of strawberry shortcake for my afternoon treat.

The Family Outing san Younger Brother It's Father's Day today. The whole family gathered at Pioneer Wharf restaurant for a family meal. Besides Father's Day, we were also celebrating Fat Baby (Kai En)'s 4th birthday and mei mei (Kai Xuan)'s 2nd birthday. The little ones are really growing up fast. Fat Baby is no longer fat. He's quite a mighty strong boy that really doesn't open his golden mouth. On the contrast, Kai Xuan has grown to be more active and lively, entertaining us with her silly antics. She's chatty.. yakking away... so unlike her brother. Wishing God's peace and love super abound in this family.

This whole week I was so sick. The vicious cycle of fever, flu, cough keep repeating itself. Went to 2 doctors. Changed my antibiotics 3 times. Now into my 3rd coughing syrup. Before thing gets better, my right eye got infected! I guess the infection started on Wednesday and I dismissed the tear discharges from my right eye as a sign of dry eyes. Didn't pay much attention. I went back to work on Friday and later in the evening, my right eyes got really irritated. At 11+pm, my darling jogged to the 24hrs NTUC to get me a bottle of eye wash. I thought that was all I needed. This Saturday morning, I woke up with my right eye plastered tight by sticky discharge. Went to the doc again. OMG! My right eye got infected as a result from my cold complication. Now on antibiotics eye drops and hopefully my right eye will recover soon. For now, I just have to be contended with big small eyes.

Whohoo... finally managed to borrow my favourite author Alexandra Potter 's books. Going to have a good read this weekend. Also, this interesting little book on happy marriage. My darling claimed that he read the whole book in 15 minutes. Hmm... I wonder if he is enlightened at all?

Mango Pomelo I am a big fan of dessert. There's always room for dessert even after a heavy meal. In this new cell group that I have joined, there's this guy who operates the Dessert Story. I have heard about his dessert stalls and finally, I went down to Anchorpoint to try out the dessert. My pick was Mango Pomelo served cold at $3.50. I shall reserved my comment over here. You may want to check out the facebook group of The Dessert Story for their various locations.

I am still trying to recover from my cough so we decided to go for Teochew porridge. But it is not going to be any Teochew porridge but one that is popular. We drove all the way from Buona Vista to Bukit Merah View to seek out this popular eatery that taxi drivers like to come. Welcome to Blk 116 where we would be uncovering the gem in this lackluster estate. When you drive past from the main road, you would have noticed the car park lots in front of the famous Teochew porridge are always occupied. But fear not, go past and park at the bigger carpark behind, which happens to be in front of the hawker centre. In this kopitiam, you will only find the snake queue for one stall... and that is.... Yes... you are right. The taxi drivers like to come to this hunt for their breaks and almost all the diners in this kopitiam are eating from this stall. We randomly picked a few dishes. (1) salted vegetables Don't underestimate this plate of salted vegetables. It is by far one of the best I ha...

Hats off for my Robo. Sticking out his head to sleep in this position.

After been sick for so many days, I finally feel so much better. I'm able to get up as my usual work time and not feeling any worse. Now that the fever has gone, the throat swelling has gone, I'm left with this nagging dry cough to combat. Cross my finger that I will be this well this whole week.

Pretty Cupcakes sitting in the fridge. Can see but cannot touch.

Sore throat, high fever, flu and cough. Cooked myself a small bowl of plain porridge with fish balls. Though I am sick, at least my porridge still tasted good.

Last night, I told my Darling that I really like "alkaline" dumpling aka Kee Chang . He went out and bought a big bag of it. But I got so sick, vomited and high fever, that the Kee Chang just sat in the fridge. Hope to enjoy the Kee Chang soon....

We went to the PC show right after the cleaning lady was done. By the time we reached Suntec, it was almost 6pm. Yes, there was still a crowd but it wasn't like the last PC show where people swarmed the escalator and you need a guard to control the human traffic flow. I guess it's because everyone got what they wanted and Canon set up a booth at level 1 main entrance. Panasonic chose to do it with their retailers. Sony was absent with their usual level 3 showcase. After comparing with Panasonice Lumix DMC-F3, I decided that I still preferred Canon. And there... I paid $599 for my BLACK Canon IXUS 300 HS. Got it from Song Brothers. The whole package came with 2 x 8GB SD card, a camera case, a mini tripod, a pair of mini speakers, screen protector and a calculator. Hope to bring my new IXUS out for some good shots soon.

Baked Macaroni Cheese with Ham In a rush to finish the grocery shopping, I forgot to put Parmesan Cheese in my basket. So I made do with my BBQ smoke flavoured cheddar cheese. The effect was not ideal but my "guinea pigs" commented that the taste was great. I personally found that it was a bit too dry, so I have made a mental note that the sauce needed more water the next round. Steamed Cod Fillet Everyone's favourite at the table. Stir Fried Cai Xin This round, I got the flavouring right. Not too salty and not too bland. With wolfberries, prawns and mushrooms, it made the plain cai xin interesting. Just that there's too much gravy around, making the veggie like soaking in a bath tub. Pan Fried Pork Loin It was a twisted event that my 1st attempt of pan fried pork loin turned out tasty. Right after I was done with the veggie, I threw in the pork loin and it soaked up all the oyster sauce. Will attempt a 2nd time soon. Broccoli Everyone was surprised my soup turned i...

Last weekend, we spent some time scouting at People's Park for a good package to Bali. I guess July is considered a high peak season for Bali so things do not come cheap. For 2 to go, for a 4 days 3 nights stay, flying with Garuda Airline, staying at a 4-star hotel - it's almost $1200. We decided to reconsider our options and someone suggested Phuket. Ah.... Let's see what Phuket has to offer. Perhaps it is due to the recent unrest in Bangkok, tourism in Thailand suffers from a backside. Hotels are slashing their price almost by half. Air tickets are a lot cheaper as well. Besides Phuket offers the same beach resort as Bali, why not? So Phuket, here we come! ......... except we haven't booked anything yet! Haha.... Phuket Patong Beach

After I have spoken to Dear Hubby about my wish to get a new camera, he has been very helpful in reading up all the specifications and make his recommendation. Upon comparisons with the different IXUS cameras, we decided that the NEW IXUS 300 HS would be much worth for its price tag $599. Picture Source : Canon Camera The only thing is that there aren't a lot of colours to choose from, unlike the IXUS 130. So my pick would be BLACK. Picture Source : Canon Camera Will be going down on Sunday evening for the last minute bargaining at the PC show. Wish me luck in securing my targeted camera!

I missed cooking. In this week, I actually managed to do 2 dinners in a row. Seafood Soup I was a little disappointed that my seafood soup did not turned up as yummy as my first try. Perhaps the sweetness of the prawns was missing and I added too much water, diluting the flavour. Macaroni in Soup This was much better but I think there's still room for improvement. What's next? I'm hoping I can do my baked macaroni with cheese and ham this weekend. *Cross my fingers*

Qn : What lies underneath this block of flat? Ans : The French Stall Surprise Surprise Surprise! In this quiet estate, there lies a french restaurant. Darren had actually wanted to bring me here on my birthday but it was closed on Monday. Finally, we got the chance to visit The French Stall . The service was quick and polite. We were ushered to the Al Fresco dining area immediately. If you are like me, worried that you cannot comprehend the Français menu, be assured that the menu is first in En Anglais then la Français. We made our choice for our 3-courses dinner after deliberating for a while. You may wonder if they serve ice water or warm water since they are set in a housing estate. Well, they do and they serve it like in a proper restaurant. We had our ice water in a green bottle. And my camomile tea served in a Lipton mug. Food was served fast and just warm enough to partake. For Starters : Hers : Traditional Onion Soup . His : Half a Dozen Escargots served in Garlic Butter Sa...