Chocolate truffle cake from Prima Deli as mum and Dad like their cake. Coincidentally, today's Mother's Day is also Dad's birthday. Dad is 55 years old and I hope he remains jovial, healthy as always! 

Fairy Godmother gave me this silver chain and pendant as a belated birthday present. So sweet of her. I don't really celebrate my birthday, so I don't expect to receive anything from my friends. I'm just happy to have them as my friends! Sis also made this pair of earrings and gave them to me. When I wore them last night, the girls remarked that I'm starting to be vain like them. Haha. I guess I have always been simple in my dressing that wearing some funky accessories and top makes a lot of difference. 

I had beef bee hoon while Fairy God Mother ate beef hor fun. The food is not bad. We 3 girls browsed around Marina Square before heading for Ben and Jerry's ice cream shop at Suntec City. The shop is so colourful and cheerful. We shared a bowl of 3 scoops of ice cream (Choc chip cookie dough, chunky monkey and mango lime sherbet) and we felt satisfied after that indulgence :) 

I ordered a cup of hot lemon tea which reminds me of the honey lemon tea I drank in Hong Kong. Nice! 

I met my 2 girl friends for dinner @ Hans, Marina Square last night.Hui Jen ate this chicken salad. Haven't seen them about a month, I think. We were updating one another about our lives and feeling excited about Hui Jen's preparation for her ROM. Hui Jen is thinking of making her own wedding cake and thought of the idea of cupcakes arranged in a tier (like what I did for Slushy's baby Ainsley's birthday party). I offer my help if she is really keen on that and I will experiment on some recipes the next few months and see which one turn out best. 

I had my beef shepherd's pie for lunch with mum. Sis said it's not salty enough. I think it's most probably I didn't put enormous amount of cheese. Mum and I like the taste though :) 

Pip looks so adorable with her round button eyes and chubby body. 

I took Pip out to play on my palms and she is quite tame.I was surprised that she feels comfortable to clean herself on my palms. 

Me working on my home computer. I like to sit on the fit ball/Swiss Ball which is supposedly good for the back and works on the abs. I try to use it when I remember too. My friend and I ever wondered how our colleagues were react if we were to sit on these balls in the office. They probably think we are weird! 

I have been using my contact lens cases to hold my creams (face, hair, body). Since we have to change our case regularly for our contact lens, I think it's a waste to just throw the case away. And it's convenient to use them after my swim and when I'm travelling overseas. The cases are leak-proof too. 

The fillings in the shepherd's pie I made for my friends' bbq and my family in the late morning. This is the first time I made such a big portion! 

This was my breakfast yesterday and today. Muesli with milk and dried blueberries and cranberries. I felt healthy and ready to start my day after eating that :) 

Eating, eating and eating

After dinner, we went to Bakerzin for desserts. I had this Mint Chocolate Drink. Only slightly minty due to the sprigs of mint leave but the chocolate milk is quite potent. Now I still feel a bit high from drinking it. BB had waffle ice cream. The waffle is on the crunchy side with nice home made vanilla ice cream with strawberry sauce. Decadent :)

I have been eating out these few days. I'm meeting my sec school girlfriends tomorrow evening for dinner and on Fri evening will be going for a bbq dinner with my colleagues. On Sat, I will be meeting another 2 girlfriends for lunch. I think I need to give my stomach a break this Sun. I have told Mum that I will treat them to dinner another day.

I actually walked small circles around the cats when mum and I fed them just now. Luckily they just concentrated on eating and didn't feel disturbed with me hovering around, trying to burn some of the calories. Hee :)

I highly recommend this Turkey Cranberry Sandwich. The salty and sweet sourish tastes really go well together. 

I haven't visited Projectshop Cafe for quite some time. My friend, BB and I had dinner there earlier and this mixed greens pasta was one of the food we had. Quite interesting interesting - asparagus and even salted vegetable. 

Fish head curry. 

curry sotong 

Today's lunch with my colleagues was @ Samy's Curry near Holland Road. Briyani rice with masala chicken, pumpkin, long beans, mutton, etc. 

Goodbye, Ruth

Ruth left us this evening.

She passed away before I reached home after dinner with a close friend.

Mum said Ruth's eyes opened a little and teared when she was dying.

We are glad that she is no longer suffering.

She is a real fighter to hold on for so long.

I feel kind of sad that from 5 hamsters, we only now have 3 Winter White hamsters left.

Life is short for us humans and even shorter for hamsters.

The world's fastest Indian

A movie I caught with my friends on Sun. Under the New Zealand Film Festival. Based on a true story. Burt Munro (played by Anthony Hopkins) with the help of people who were won over by his determination and personality travelled from home in NZ to the Bonneville Salt Falts in US, Utah to participate in a race on his Indian motorcycle. With a heart condition and little money and some obstacles along the way, he pushed on to fulfil his dream. More details can be found at http://www.worldsfastestindian.com/

Burt said "If you don't follow your dreams, you might as well be a vegetable." :) I have to start find mine.

On Fri, I quickly rushed home from office for lunch as I needed to report at the school nearby to set up the polling station with the other team mates. I always enjoy eating Mum's porridge (full of ingredients like sausage/crabstick, soya bean/pumpkin, century egg, etc) and I like it cold.

Sometimes it's sad when my hamsters allowed me to carry them for a longer period of time only when they were ill or dying. Just now, Ruth allowed me to hold her in her palm for about 5 minutes and it could have been longer but mum and I had to go down and feed the community cats. She now stinks a little like baby poo but I love her all the same and hope she is not in pain.

Mum has been feeding Ruth with this brown rice powder concoction. She will also carry her in this way and hold a piece of leafy veg or bread for her to nibble. Ruth is really a strong girl - despite her movement being impaired by the growth on her left forearm, she still tries to move around her house. 

Stewed duck with ginger and mushroom. Not my favorite dish though but good effort. 

This is a normal veggie dish that parents will make. Not too salty, the way I like it :) 

One of the reasons I enjoy eating dinner with my parents is their nice dishes. This fish called "badang" is pan-fried after marinating with sambal chilli, light soya sauce, sugar and coated with corn flour. I must get Mummy to teach me how she prepares this dish. It's delicious. 

These have been newly planted at the bare patches near my workplace and the bus stop. I think they are a pleasant sight. I quickly took a photo of them when I left office around 3.30pm today to attend a briefing on my election duties this Sat. 

Baking is a good therapy for the mind when I am at home, not wanting to read, watch TV programmes or iron my clothes. I just baked some mini cupcakes with choc chips and dried blueberries/cranberries/raisins. Sis and mum commented that the cupcakes taste not bad. I shall bring some for my colleagues to try tomorrow. 

Goodbye, Salt

Mum and I miss his scruffy look, his body odour. I miss him running to my hand and running away when I tried to stroke him. Mum found Salt's body cold and hardened this morning when she was cleaning his house. He must have died in his sleep when we were all sleeping. We are surprised at his death as he had been eating well and did not look tired. Salt has been with us since May 2004 and was the last Campbell dwarf hamster we had. I hope he is already on his way to somewhere better.