Colleagues, friends and comfort food

This morning, when I just reached office, my colleague alerted me about an urgent task I had to follow up. It's not something that my department should do but we had to help out. With the advice from my 2 colleagues,
I managed to settle the assignment before lunch time. Rachel also dropped by my workstation to share the goodies from her hubby. She asked me to give a packet to S too :) I think the close working relationship and friendship forged over the years are why I'm still in this job. I had pumpkin cous cous and Thai beef noodle salad take-away from Sumo Salad at 313 Somerset. I'm happy I had time to enjoy my lunch too :)

Bob and pillows

Bob has been waking me up before 6am and now he continues to sleep while I have to leave my bedroom for breakfast and work :)

Cute bag and Artichoke

Dawn gave Lingcat and me a cute shopping. Artichoke is a pleasant place to hang out and the service staff were attentive.

Lunch @ Artichoke

It is a hot day but I managed to remain cool from the walk from Bugis Station to Artichoke @ Sculpture Square along Middle Road. While catching up with Lingcat, Imp and Dawn, we shared some yummy dishes.

Cinnamon's relaxing moment

When the boys are not out, Cinnamon will sometimes jump up onto the perch near the window to rest.

Saturday's home cooked meals

Mom cooked asam instant noodle with veggie, canned top shell and minced pork for our lunch. As for my dinner, I quickly whipped up a simple soup of dashi stock, coriander with the tau pok and fishballs that S gave yesterday evening. I also had my cheese and nutella buns :)

Cat grass

They aren't cheap but a necessity to lure Angel and Bob to their rooms. sometimes they don't grow as much and fast as we want, so Mom will get wheatgrass from the supermarket as a substitute in the meantime.

Baking bread using Tangzhong method

After hearing a friend mentioning that this method will give a soft bread, I googled and found a number of blogs raving about this method and showing the photos of the yummy looking bread. Today I decided to try making them. The Tangzhong mixture that was mixed with the wet yeast mixture and dry ingredients is the secret to the soft bread. I thought using the electric mixture's dough hooks would help to make my life easier but I had to keep scrapping down the dough climbing up the hooks frequently, I made the dough manually instead. It's quite a tedious process but I am happy that the bread buns are quite yummy :) I did cheese, nutella and peanut butter buns.

Miumiu on my foot

When we were feeding Shadow in the park this morning, I noticed S' cat, Miumiu walking back to the bushes near their house. I went over to greet her and she sprawled onto my foot and meowed :)

Dinner @ Hediard

It's a good thing we girls shared the food and dessert as I'm still feeling full. I like the prawn mango salad and the cheese sandwich looking dish. The thyme creme brûlée was nice. The earl grey macaroon was big and rather sweet. The madeleines were complimentary. I enjoyed my rooibos tea (which has a subtle sweetness) and of course the company of my 2 good friends :)

Blythe dolls and my new bag

I had dinner with FR and SP at Hediard Cafe Restaurant at Tudor Court. Before the food arrived, we admired the dolls and there was a gift presentation. I received my Christmas gift number 2, a reversible bag from the girls :)

Choc chip, cheese or cranberry buns

I haven't attempted to bake bread for a long time as it's time consuming and I ended up with hard and dry bread. However, this recipe (http://farmchickskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/06/quick-easy-bun-recipe.html) looks promising, so I gave it a shot just now. It's easier than the other recipes as I don't have to wait for the dough to rise but I still had to keep adding more flour to the sticky dough and my fingers until I can divide the dough into smaller
buns and add chocolate chips or shredded cheese or cranberries into them. I'm quite happy with the taste and smell of the buns. Hope my family will like them too :)

Cool Sunday morning with Bob

It's 7am. I have been awake since 6am to visit the toilet, clean up Angel's litter tray, wash a bit of clothes and sayang Cinnamon before returning to my room. While surfing on my iPhone, Bob continues to sleep :)

Bob's adorable sleeping position

I like how he covers part of his face while sleeping. Last night after a few attempts to approach cinnamon hiding under the coffee table, he relaxed and napped on the comfortable chair, 1.5 metres away from Cinnamon.

a little sad

We had an argument yesterday morning. There were tears and harsh words. Sometimes it's good to thrash things out and understand how the others feel about certain issues but someone will get hurt. I always believe in open communication in the family. I feel a little sad but can still take my lunch with Mom and dinner with parents. Hopefully, sis feels better after cycling and dinner with her friends

Fern & mangoes

After feeding the community cats, Mom and I noticed a "weed" growing in one of the plant beds and decided to bring the fern home :) We also bought my favorite mini mangoes. I'm not a big fan of the big honey mangoes but I love these mini mangoes that are sweet and slightly sourish. I remember having loads of them during my 1st year studying in the university when I was staying in the hostel and enjoying them alone while studying in my room.