White Neck has a habit of using his paw to topple the plate of water sometimes. Naughty cat! :> 

I took time off yesterday and couldn't resist trying out this nutella cake recipe. Instead of pouring the batter into a baking tin, I decided to portion it into 12 muffin cups and sprinkle the tops with chopped hazelnuts and cranberry. My parents like the taste but sis finds it too dense and the nutella to be pathetic. I will definitely add more nutella or switch to chocolate chips if I use this recipe the next time. 

I haven't been drawing for quite some time and thought my blog has been lacking in photos of cats. So here's a big-eyed cat to brighten up my blog :>

This photo of my cupcakes is taken by Fairy Godmother using Slushy's camera. I attempted to use the icing and the coloured bits to decorate the tops of the cakes - hearts, stars, smiling face, flowers and out of shapes! :> 

Ainsley's birthday party

The highlight of this week was the party and the challenge for me was to bake about 30 cupcakes and I managed to do so by baking one batch on Fri night and another yesterday morning.

I think the party organised by Slushy was a great opportunity for Ainsley to interact with us and the playmates, friends and relatives to catch up and for everyone to celebrate Ainsley growing up and reaching 1 years old in a few days' time.

Besides catering for 55 people, Slushy also made potato egg salad, tea eggs and teriyaki and rosemary chicken wings. Hui Jen also brought her famous baked rice. The guests were spoilt for choice. Fairy Godmother also did a beautiful flower arrangement on the spot.

Read more about the party on Slushy's blog!

I'm back!

The computer repair guy sent back my computer @ 1pm, so I'm now back @ blogging and surfing. The past 2 weeks were kind of strange without being able to blog and surf @ home. However, it freed my time to do other things like playing with my hamsters and cleaning up my room and reading.

News

The computer guy called me yesterday that my computer kept hanging due to the motherboard and it would cost me $320 to get a new motherboard. I told him to go ahead as it’s really strange not being able to surf the net and blog the past week.

For the past 2 weeks, I have been using my handphone camera to take photos, which are not as nice as my Casio digicam. However, my camera has been away at the Casio Service centre and I have not heard from them. Today, I called the centre and the guy told me that it will cost at least $240 to repair the faulty lens and he does not recommend me to repair. I guess I will have to start hunting for a new camera.

Lunch with Slushy

Today Slushy was attending some course at my office building and we had lunch by sharing a Subway Roast Beef foot long sandwich @ Far East Plaza. I also brought her to my favorite fruit stall upstairs and we had cut fruits and juices. The one-hour seemed to pass quickly and it was time to go back to work.

I just showed Slushy my workstation before she left this building. She commented my workshop seemed kind of bare as I didn’t put many personal effects. I think it’s also because most of my stuff are still in the boxes (since I shifted from 23rd floor to this 11th floor on 15 Aug last year!).
It was really nice to see Slushy and I look forward to her baby Ainsley’s birthday party this Sat. I shall see if I have time to walk down to this shop (few streets’ away) to buy containers and paper cups for my cup cakes this Sat. With my computer away for repair (again!), I guess I can find some time after dinner :>

Cupcakes

I baked them on Hari Raya Haji. I wanted to experiment on the kind of cupcakes I can bake for Slushy’s baby Ainsley’s birthday party next Sat. My family and friends seem to like the taste :>

My loot from Bangkok

Bras and the birthday presents for Slushy’s baby Ainsley are not in the picture :>

Last day in Bangkok

After a hearty breakfast, we decided to explore the Pratunam market across the road from our hotel. The shops sell wholesaler items like clothes but we didn’t see anything that we fancy. We spent a few hours in our hotel room, freshening up and lazing around until it was time to leave for the airport.

Foot massage

On Sunday after lunch, we managed to look for the King and I massage place opposite Westin Hotel after walking one big round but were disappointed that they only had oil massage available. We were so looking forward to foot massage after walking so much with our already aching feet and legs. In the end, we went back to the Chit Lom station and start looking for places for takeaway dinners. We rested our legs @ Gaysorn (branded good boutique) before walking back to Central World Plaza. Sis decided to get the Levi’s belt she has been eyeing and we bought Dunkin Donuts ham and cheese croissants and donuts for dinner.

I suggested the crazy idea of massaging each other’s feet using my Loccitane’s cooling gel. I was so ticklish by the sight of sis doing it for me. Haha.

Sunday lunch in Bangkok

Lunch on Sun was at See Fah restaurant where we had rice with tom yam soup and chicken with chilli and basil. The soup was thicker and sweeter than the one we had earlier and I prefer the earlier version. We also bought some choc chip buns and cookies.

Meals on Sat night in Bangkok

I had pretzel hot dog and latte. Sis ate 2 sour cream pretzels . That was before we ventured to Suom Lom night market on Sat night. After a few hours of walking and empty handed, we went to the Starbucks near the train station and had iced chocolate drinks and shared a piece of strawberry cheesecake .

Breakfast @ Grand Diamond Hotel

I won’t say the buffet breakfast there was fantastic [22, 39, 85]but it helped to keep our stomachs full and we were ready for intensive walking and shopping / window shopping.
My plate (1st round) on Sat morning:

Our last breakfast in Bangkok on Mon: Sis' plate looked like some French dish
and my 2nd last plate had to include the yummy breaded pork cutlet

Pets sold @ Chatuchak

It’s amazing to see numerous puppies , some kittens, rabbits , young squirrels , guinea pigs and hamsters sold there. I wonder if the locals have the right mindset when they buy them home as pets. So far I have noticed 2 stray cats, 4 or 5 dogs on the streets (not sure if they are strays or have owners), a few locals carrying puppies or toy dogs, 2 shops with dogs.

What I like about my Bangkok holiday

1. Seafood dinner: Sis and I met my friend and his wife for dinner on our first night in Bangkok. The curry crab, spicy seafood tom yam soup, claypot vermicelli prawns, fried prawn cakes were delicious. I was so excited and happily savouring the food that I had no time to dug out my hp to take some photos of the food.

2. Chatuchak Weekend Market: I bought most of my purchases there – tops for Mum, myself, 2 bags, slippers and nice keychains. Sis also got herself some tweed looking jacket and some other stuff (which I suddenly can’t recall). I like one of the shops “Nice Little Clay” where I got a bag with cat cartoon and I was tempted to get a similar looking cup and T-shirt. There is also this groovy shop selling beaded “curtains” and lamps. So pretty!

3. Some parts of Central World Plaza (aka World Trade Centre) – Both of us bought the same shoes (different sizes and colours) from Zen the departmental store. A halter-top for me at a open concept shop outside Mister Donut.
I managed to buy some stuff as Ainsley’s birthday present. I will give it to her and Slushy at her party next Sat, so I shan’t reveal the items.

4. Suom Lom Night Market – I prefer Chatuchak to Suom Lom as there are more interesting stuff. At Suom Lom, most of the shops selling clothes and décor items look similar. I only manage to buy some nice keychains and sis didn’t find anything she likes. This is a unique shop selling quilts and cushion covers

5. Train network – Sis and I have no problem in getting around Bangkok after we have learnt how to take the train to Siam Square, Suom Lom night market.
Cheap Wacoal bras from MBK’s Tokyo department selling at $20+ to $30+

6. This is the first trip that Sis and I traveled together and I was glad that we didn’t kill each other and got along fine :>

My home computer is down again

It was all right when my sis was surfing the net. Then it hung. We restarted and it just can’t get past this page to the Windows page. We restarted a few times and it just hung. Sigh. I will have to get the computer repairman to come down and have a look this weekend again. I will try to post some entries about my Bangkok trip after office hours :>

Leaving for Bangkok today

The flight to Bangkok is 12.25pm. It will be my first time visiting Bangkok even though I had to land @ Bangkok in Nov last year to get to Hua Hin. Sis will be going there for the 2nd time and she will be planning the itinerary. I have a friend and his wife who are already there since yesterday and we will meet for dinner tonight. I hope I can find interesting stuff there, especially with cat motifs/picture or even hamster ones. I will miss my parent, hamsters and the community cats whom we have been feeding daily. Mum will continue feeding them.

Take care, everyone. I will be back in Singapore next Mon evening.

Strange

My CPU is back. The computer guy said that apparently the 2 USB ports in front of my CPU is faulty and killed his thumbdrive. Most probably, that's why it can't detect my sis' new iPod Video and later my camera SD card reader. The weird thing is the new USB port is not reading my scanner now. Urggh. I don't know what is wrong. I shall wait after my Bangkok holiday with sis (starting this Fri and ending next Mon) before I decide what to do next. I'm thankful that at least I can still blog. Hee.

My casio digicam is also down for diagnosis @ the service centre. The customer service person said they will call me sometime next week or following to let me know the problem and quote me the repair cost. I will be in Bangkok with no digicam. I have a few friends who have offered theirs but I decide to give my handphone camera the challenge of capturing some nice photos.

It has been crazy @ work and with this and that breaking down on me, I'm really looking forward to a nice holiday.

New Year's Day: 2 half loaves of wholemeal bread and white bread expiring on that day. What to do? I decided to make bombay toast on my own without mum around. After the experience, it seems that wholemeal bread doesn't make good bombay toast and white bread absorbs the egg and sugar mixture better. My family feedback that I should be a bit more generous with the egg and sugar but I think I did rather well in my first unsupervised attempt :>

This was taken on New Year's Eve by my handphone camera. I had to make do since my camera broke down. I tried to make these choc-centred cookies look more appealing to children because I'm thinking of baking them for Slushy's baby Ainsley's birthday party on 21 Jan 2006. Maybe some cupcakes too. I will need to conduct a baking experiment after my Bangkok holiday this weekend :> 

New Year's Eve

The computer repair man had to carry away my CPU as after tinking with its insides and my faulty USB ports, the new ports that he has installed still didn't work.

I baked a chocolated centred cookie with some coloured bits on top as decoration. After taking a few photos, my digicam went bonkers and subsequent photos have white horizontal line appearing.

What a way to end 2005! Without photos and unable to blog. It feels strange but it does free my time to do other things like reading, packing my room, etc. I hope my CPU and digicam get well soon.