Monster chocolate muffins

I baked these on Sunday using a recipe from Joy of Baking. I followed the instruction to fill the batter to the brim. A mistake, as while baking in the oven, the chocolate lava started to flow out. Hee. Hence the muffins looked monstrous instead of lovely. They were quite sweet too. I will have to look for another recipe, as the texture is a little too moist for my liking. At least, sis seems to like it than my other healthy bakes :)

My cute ABC babies

Sometimes I will hug or give them a kiss when they give me that adorable. And if I am fast enough, I will quickly take a photo.

When Angel is relaxed

I can stroke him using my feet. I don't know why he prefers them to my hands.

Good Omens

I finished reading the book "Good Omens" by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman last night. I started reading i. a week ago before Pratchett passed away on 12 Mar. The storyline and characters in the book are interesting, funny and at times charming, heart-warming. It is not as dark as Gaiman's Sandman, even though there are angels, demons in Good Omens. 

Below is a para I like from the book, where Adam Young, an 11 year-old antichrist, a tool to end the world, said to an angel and a demon before the planned Armageddon: 'I don't see what's so triffic about creating people as people and then gettin' upset 'cos they act like people,' said Adam severely. 'Anyway, if you stopped tellin' people it's all sorted out after they're dead, they might try sorting it all out while they're alive. If I was in charge, I'd try makin' people live a lot longer, like ole Methuselah. It'd be a lot more interestin' and they might start thinkin' about the sort of things they're doing to all the environment and ecology, because they'll still be around in a hundred years' time." 

I have not read any of Pratchett's Discworld novels, but after reading his obituary in the papers and Good Omens, I will be keeping a lookout for his books at the library.

Developing a taste for horror stories?

Last year, I was devouring almost all of the comics novels I could find on Sandman by Neil Gaiman from the library, after attempting to read "A Game of you" I bought from Sunny Bookshop years ago. Strangely, I couldn't go beyond the first few pages of that story then, but last year, I could easily flip page after page and even read more stories of the series. I like some of the illustrations, which could be quite gory at times, and the interesting plot. A good summary is found a. http://www.neilgaiman.com/p/Cool_Stuff/Essays/Essays_About_Neil/The_Sandman_Summary. 

During the recent flight back from Tokyo to Singapore, I watched the 1st 2 episodes of a Japanese anime "Parasyte: The Maxim" and got hooked on the story line of a high school boy Shinichi having to live with and work with an alien parasite Migi (who ate up his right arm after his failed attempt to eat his brain and control his body) to fight with other parasites in human hosts. I have caught up with the rest of the episodes and eagerly waiting for 20th episode to be out this weekend! 

I like the storyline and a few times I cried for Shinichi's loss. Over the Chinese New year holiday, I found another interesting horror Japanese anime "Tokyo Ghoul" - another school boy Kaneki Ken who got attacked by a ghoul (human eating monster) Rize and ended up having organ transplant from Rize who got crushed. Kaneki experienced hunger for human flesh and had to learn how to survive as a half human and half ghoul with the help of his new ghoul friends who were trying to blend into the society and only survive on suicide victims and enjoyed drinking coffee. Season 1 has 12 episodes showing fighting scenes between the special investigators and the ghouls and the physical and emotional torture and changes for Kaneki. I'm waiting for Season 2 Episode 8 to be out too :)

Happy Lunar New Year

On the eve and 1st 2 days of the lunar new year, my family and I will have dinners with our relatives from my mom's side. For most of them, we only see them once a year. Lots of eating and shaking of hands with greetings and wishes. Some of the ang pows have lovely/cute designs.

The good memories of the work trip in Tokyo

The recent work trip to Tokyo late last month was quite tiring due to lack of sleep, but I was able to enjoy the food ("goma" black sesame pudding, teppanyaki dish of mixed rice, soba and beef tendon for lunch, warm udon with tempura for dinner, udon soup with tempura at a different restaurant for lunch), as well as a bit of sight-seeing (Asakusa and Sky Tree) on one of the nights with my colleagues.

DIY desserts

Last month, I managed to squeeze in some time to make a chocolate cake using coconut milk and dorayaki (Japanese red bean pancakes). This weekend, sadly I can't bake, as I have been down with cough and runny nose. I'm looking forward to other weekends to try new recipes :)

Goodbye 2014, hello 2015

Last year ended peacefully and well with a few gatherings with good old friends over yummy food and family at home :)

My adorable babies :)

I love them all.

Last work trip in 2014

I brought a Christmas edition Sonny Angel, a gift from Happy Blythes, with me on a short work trip to Kuala Lumpur on 23-25 Nov. I had some fun taking a few photos of him in the hotel room on the first evening :)

My models

I was trying the Manual function of the camera in my new Sony Xperia Z3, as the auto mode does not seem to give me nice shots. I read that the 20MP camera does not perform as well as other brands, so I'm quite happy when the photos of Bob, Cinnamon and Angel didn't turn out too badly. The photos capture the details quite well. However, there is a few second lag from the time I press the button, so I have missed the cute moments when ABC moved faster than the camera.

Goodbye, iPhone

My iPhone 4 is my first smartphone after my Motorola and Nokia handphones. It has been easy to use, and at a work trip late last year, it was a bit wonky and this year was slow and hung at times. I was undecided on which smartphones to get, even after reading numerous reviews and playing with them at the shops. Motorola Moto X? LG G3? Samsung? Nokia Lumia 930? iPhone again? In the end, I got Sony Xperia Z3, which is quite cool :)

My cute baby

Bob never fails to make me smile and give him a hug when he looks so cute or charms me with his adorable ways :)

Goodbye, Kiki

I saw you for the last time lying still at the carpark lot, not your usual spot at the void deck. One of your beautiful eyes was out of the socket. Was it abuse or car accident? I cried a little as I placed you in a box and passed to the cleaners. Rest in peace, Kiki. You will be missed by us.

Stamping, baking and sewing

On Saturday, I had fun decorating a gift wrapper with rubber stamps hand carved some time back. I baked some chocolate muffins for my family and S in the warm Sunday afternoon. That night I was inspired to sew a felt clothing for the gift for S :)

A week ago

Fatcat could still go to the park to rest and wait for us in the evening, even though he couldn't eat much.

Goodbye, Fat Cat

I rushed out of my bed and the house yesterday morning, after receiving a call from S that he found his body lying at a carpark lot. Hopefully Fatcat didn't suffer much. We last saw him at the void deck (near the carpark lot) in a cardboard box on Wednesday night. He has lost a lot of weight and was already not eating for 2 days and just drinking water. I had wanted to bring him to the vet on Friday or weekend to put him to sleep. I held Fatcat's cold and slightly stuff skinny body, our oldest community cat and said my goodbye.

National Day weekend

I was feeling a bit down over the weekend, partly due to the realization that my job of 14 years may not be something I want to do for the rest of my life and I do not know what else I can do. I'll have to work hard in exploring my options. The cats are a good distraction - this friendly chap whom mom and I met outside our "territory" just relaxed near a lift lobby of a HDB block when I said hello to him. I somewhat cheered up when I made myself some spinach cheese oat pancakes for dinner yesterday. Nevermind that mom found it tasteless when she tried one and tasted some non-cheesy parts. Haha. I like them :)

Angel is back

to his old self, sleeping in his cute poses, having a good appetite and chasing Cinnamon :)