a darling-gonna-go-back-work sat...sian

Went marketing with Toom yesterday around 10am. The weather was fine and cool. We went Yue mei, Wal-mart as well as H-mart. I spent a total of $47! Wow, thats considered alot as compared to previous week.

This week, i need to replenish my brown and white rice already. Did not buy white rice as it was too heavy for me to carry, somemore i'm living on the 3rd floor. Will ask darling to go with me perhaps on Sunday or Monday. I bought half a duck. Duck is expensive here, and i really wonder why. Half a duck cost me $7! I also bought a tub of fish paste. Wanna try to make fishball with it. I was initially scared of its fishy smell but this brand of fish paste is tried & recommended by Toom. =)

I also went to get a shredder. Cost me only $1.49 and i think darling and i really need it for our cooking.

Got some dou miao to go with my congee dinner as well. As the dou miao cost quite expensive ($2.99/lb), i did not get alot. Intend to just stir fry dou miao with oyster sauce & garlic.

I came upon some Thai Tea and made me thinking about one of my favourite drink in singapore, Teh Si. After Toom & I reached home, she gave me a packet of tea leaves. She said that this tea leaves is very strong in flavour and very suitable for making Thai Tea/Teh. I will just have to add either sweetened condensed milk or evaporated milk with sugar. Awwww...so nice of her! :)) She also gave me some wolfberries as i could not find them in Yue Mei. And a small packet of chilli paste which she recommends me to mix with the fish paste and deep fry them as fried fish balls.

Darling called and informed me a piece of bad news. He had to return to work the next day @7.30am though its a saturday. During the past 2 days, the bad weather made it impossible for them to work. Thus some of them have to return to work on Saturday, whereas the others will return to work on Sunday. But monday might be an off-day for them! Yeah!!! I shall pray & hope! ;)
Immediately i started cooking my dinner. I thought it will be an easy task to cook century egg, salted egg & minced pork congee. But in the end, i got it burnt! Argh! As the pot was quite deep, i did not stir it properly. The whole pot of porridge had got slight burnt smell & taste, not over whelming though. I felt quite bad & found myself quite useless as i could not cook a proper pot of congee for darling. I called darling and told him about it. I was wondering if he would like to eat takeaway instead. He only replied that he will still eat the congee. And bingbing also did not mind the burnt congee too! When darling came home, he had a taste of the porridge. His first reaction was, "Is there a burnt taste? How come i didn't taste it?? I think its nice! This is the taste i wanted! I like the kind of 锅 taste! No wonder i couldn't cook it similar to those sold ouside. Now i know, the 锅 taste is a slight burnt taste!" I was quite puzzled and at the same time, i was happy. I fried some shallots, cut some own-grown spring onions and lots of chives to go with the porridge. I bought my chives for 1 week already but up to now, its still fresh! So happy! Last time my chives always spoil within a few days though i wrapped them in newspaper and placed them in the fridge. Its kinda frustrating and a waste of money. I researched on internet and found out that chives need to be placed in the fridge, upright in a glass of water. Like that, the chives can be kept longer and fresher! =)

After adding the fried shallots, sping onions, chives and pepper, the burnt taste is really no more! Darling even commented that this congee is better than all the previous attempts, Hehehe, a happy me managed to finish 1/1/2 small bowl whereas darling finished 1/1/2 BIG bowl! My darling dear just simply made my bad day into good again! =)

After dinner, darling & i went walgreens & wal-mart. He again kept on telling me how good his car & engine are & how well he is gonna maintain it! Hahaha, its really nice listening to his excitments.

We saw alot of mushrooms popping out in the moist soil now. Perhaps is due to the rain during the past few days. These mushrooms really look like a smurf village, haha!

I wanna get some more free pantiliner & listerine in walgreens. Darling found a Philips shaver & loreal men's cleanser on clearance while i found a Ritter Sport chocolate but in Marzipan flavour.

In Singapore, darling & i always like to buy Ritter Sport Rum & Raisin. Really taste very nice! Overall in walgreens, we spent $22 on 1 pantiliner, 1 250ml listerine, 1 philips electronic shaver, 2 loreal men's cleanser & 1 Ritter sport chocolate (only $0.60 though price tag is $1.29). In wal-mart, darling wanna get some stuff for his new car. He got a pair of windscreen wiper, floor mat, a leather cleaner & a windscreen solution to repel rain, sleet & snow.

We also got some dishwashing liquid & carpet powder as they are on clearance. Only $1 each which is very cheap! I like to use carpet powder everytime before vacuuming the floor. Will make the whole place nice-smelling!

We also bought a box of strawberries. Long time never eat strawberries already. Its not expensive, about $2.28 per box. Look at how red these strawberries are!

In total we spent about $40+ there. After we left wal-mart, darling immediately changed his windscreen wiper and put the floor mat in place. Haahaha, i am of cos again the photographer taking photos of a little boy tidying up his toy car.

When we reached home, already 9pm. Darling wanna cleaned up Chocolate chip's cage again as its quite dirty already. Liyi is coming back and very soon, chocolate chips will be happily hopping in his own house!

I also asked darling to help me shred the leftover turnip and carrots. Wanna make popiah again while darling is @ work. Hehehe, having a shredder really makes a world of difference!

Darling at i woke up at 6am today. We were both very sleepy still but no choice. Can't sleep without darling so guess i will not be returning back to sleep too. I shall wait for darling to come home and we'll sleep together tonight! :))) Last night at 3.30am, i woke up and gave darling a kiss. Hahaha! It was a SURPRISE!
Tonight's dinner will be fried popiah with fried beehoon. Simple and easy, and hopefully no more obstacles for me! :)))))

a wake-up-late day

This morning, i kept apologising to darling. We woke up late!! When the alarm clock went off at 6.15am, i snoozed it off and went back to sleep. In my head, i could dream of someone telling me that i am late! But i didn't wake up still. Suddenly darling woke up, and he shouted, "OH NO!" I was startled! I turned my head and saw the clock, ITS 7.07AM!!! ARGH...darling is late by 30mins already! MY first sentence that blurted out through my mouth was "Da, i'm sorry, i'm sorry." I was feeling so bad when i was preparing darling's lunch bag and his water bottle. It was our first time getting up late. Darling called his colleague yingjie and zhixuan and informed them that he would be late. However to my surprise, darling was very relax! He kept asking me to take it easy! Argh, being a typical singaporean, how can i be relaxed when my darling is late??? Hahaha! And of cos, we still had our hugs and kisses before he left the house at 7.25am. =)
Last night, our dinner was fried chicken wing, yellow squash soup & stir fry cabbage. The fried chicken wings were good. The inside is juicy while the outside is crispy! Darling marinated them the night before. I prepared 1 egg to mix thoroughly with 1/2 cup of milk and a plate of flour (with garlic powder, salt, pepper & some chili powder). I coated the chicken with the egg-milk mixture then the flour mixture before dropping it into my deep fryer. Darling likes the yellow squash soup too. He said that it was very sweet. As i did not have enough pork bone, i put in 1 corb of corn. Unexpectedly, it really turn out great. Next time, i will try using 2 yellow squash with more pork bone, without the corn.

While i was deep frying the chicken wings in the balcony, i saw darling's car. I quickly ran into the house to get my camera and snapped! There were a few times, i stood outside in the balcony & waited for darling. And there is once he told me, "I really feel happy when i see you waiting for me at the balcony! I feel very fortunate."Darling had to help me wash the plates and bowls in the sink when he reached home from work yesterday. The flour too made a mess on the kitchen counter, haha!

I cut my finger with the tongs while deep frying the chicken wings. Argh!! Its so pain lor. I keep telling darling, "Da, pain pain!!" Haha! Darling had to bring a plaster and put it on for me. But it was lucky he joined air force, not medical =P

After dinner, i was craving for chocolates. And a Dove hazelnut chocolate caught my eyes. I asked darling to open for me and asked him, "Is there a golden ticket inside there?" Darling even answered me in a very patient tone, "No, this is not a wonka's chocolate. This is dove." Can't my dumbo sense that i am only joking??! Hahaha~~

Tonight's dinner simple and easy. Century egg, salted egg & minced pork congee. Good for a cold weather like today! :))

menu for next week

Finally got my menu for next week out. Will be going with Toom to do some marketing tomorrow. Went to Toom's house to have some meals before and i must admit that she is really quite a good cook. There is one time she made a Thai dish, glass noodle with minced pork. Wow, i was really impressed. This dish is sour and spicy! Really suit my taste bud! :) But too bad, darling does not like sour stuff...

Sat Lunch - Leftover minced pork congee from tomorrow's dinner

Sat dinner - Popiah, steamed glutinous rice/sushi

Sun lunch/dinner - Porridge with raddish egg & steamed glutinous rice(optional)/Laksa

Mon - herbal chicken soup, eggy shrimp tofu cake, vegetable

Tue - Hairy gourd soup, Tonkatusu, vegetable

Wed - Yong tau foo soup, Taro meatball, vegetable

Thurs - watercress soup, fried pandan chicken, vegetable

Fri - steamed pork & egg with tofu, nonya chicken, vegetable

I also haven done my bobo chacha. The water chestnut i bought were spoilt already, hai~. I have to buy more tomorrow. Will do it on sunday night so darling will be able to bring to work for after dinner dessert. Oh, my tau suan received good reviews from darling's colleagues! Hehehe, they said mine was nicer than those sold outside! =)

nice temperature

The sky is starting to get dark again. And its only 22 degrees now. Nice temperature.

29 months :)

Darling finally drove home the new car yesterday. I could sense that he was very excited about it throughout the day! Just like buying a little boy a new toy car, haha! :)) As it was a second hand car, the interior is kinda dusty but quite well maintained. However the exterior is good. But despite the rain, darling still wanted to bring a pail of water and a cloth to go down to clean it! I was so amused by his action that i followed him down and be his photographer =) People must be thinking that we are crazy! This couple is cleaning their car on a rainy day, hahaha!

Darling even took me for a ride around our apartment. Haha! Very nice and comfy and the interior is much more bigger than our old green Honda Accord. I just like the sun roof! Seems so sporty! Everything seems good, except the remote is missing. Well, i am sure darling will get it asap. :))))We will also need to go to Wal-mart to get some leather-care, new windscreen wiper as well as a blindspot mirror. I need the blindspot mirror for my parking. My parking sucks :(( If i did not remind darling that it was raining and dinner was ready, guess darling would have continued to stay downstairs to tune the radio, polish his leather seats etc!

Dinner was great and i like the curry flavoured potato croquettes. My second attempt on this but still taste nice! Darling's char siew is also yummy! I guess its bingbing's favourite! She can eat alot whenever darling made this char siew using his secret recipe. Haha! Darling even tried out the char siew sauce. He used the leftover char siew sauce which was stuck on the pot to make the sauce. His first trial and unexpectedly, it came out great! Exactly the same char siew sauce we ate outside!

After dinner, darling went to clean chocolate chip's cage. Had to clean it every 3 days because darling is afraid that the bunny might not like itself in this dirty cage. The bunny now seems more relax with darling and me. Not so afraid of us anymore. He was put out of the cage while darling cleaned the cage. The bunny attempted to escape but i already used some paper cupboard and surround the area, haha! It wanna escaped by crawling under the sofa but the bunny is way too big to get under it. It was a funny scene though. After the cage was cleaned up, the bunny seemed happier. Hopping here and there in the cage.

I was browsing though F21 website last night. Since i do not have my own car now, the only way for me to shop is throught online! Yeah! Nothing can stop me though, hahaha! I saw 1 skirt and 1 dress ($14.99). They are under sale items and not expensive. Darling also agrees that they are cute and i feel like getting them. But just now when i browse through the items sgain, the skirt is gone...argh! Should i get the dress now???

I also received a PINK care from Victoria Secrets! So happy! Its for $10 off a bra and a free panty! Woohoo...more free panty adding to my collection! =)))))

This morning when the alarm went off at 6.15am, i opened my sleepy eyes and gave darling a kiss, "Happy 29th month anniversay" Where were we 30 months ago? Searching for each other?" Today marks the 29 months of knowing each other. Darling and i really met in a very fateful way. And i'm really very thankful that fate brought us together.

Happy 29th month

nice cake!

Darling was asked to go back to the morning shift again this week. Thus, darling's lunch today is a simple one as i was informed rather last minute yesterday. Its bak kut teh, an fried egg and some boiled vegetable. I did the bak kut teh from scratch using only garlic, pepper and light soya sauce. This is the teochew style which darling likes. As i had a bad experience of eating spoilt bak kut when i was young, i totally avoided it since. I only drink the soup.

I also quickly made a chocolate cake for darling's breakfast. This chocolate cake is in my must do list for about 3 weeks already. This cake is unusual becasue of the fact that its steamed instead of baked. The recipe is so easy to follow and best for dummy like me! I also did a chocolate frosting and spread it on the cake. As i do not have the proper equipment of doing frosting, my frosting came out looking not so good. Haha!

But the result & darling's review? Good of cos! Its really moist and soft, unlike those sold outside. The sweetness is just right and the cocoa taste is perfect! Darling likes it though he does not have a sweet tooth! He had it last night for supper and breakfast this morning :)))

Today, darling will collect our new car! Yeah!! Hopefully this car will be problem free then we will be able to use it for all our future tours! This way, we will be able to save on car rental! Darling also managed to sell the red Mitsubishi Lancer. He honestly told the buyer about its problems but the buyer is still willingly to buy it. So happy! :))) Another good news is darling told me that he will most probably be able to go on leave in December! Hurray! Means Disneyworld Florida! Miami Beach! And most importantly, 17 more days to my pre-wedding anniversary celebration in Las Vegas & Los Angeles! :)))))))))))))))))))))

Tonight's dinner will be char siew, potato croquettes & stir fry vegetable. The char siew marination and potato had already been prepared. Only left the cutting of the vegetables.

finally, we bought a car

Had a busy morning today. The rain finally stops but the air is cool. Bye to Summer and hello to Autumn.

Woke up at 8am today as darling had an appointment with an car agent at 10am. We had coffee and Toom's cookie for breakfast. The cookies are actually surrounding some chocolates! They will taste even better if i put them into the oven for 10mins and allows the chocolates inside to melt..Nice!

Hurray! Finally we decided on a car! Its darling's dream car - Honda Accord. Its silver in colour, with leather seats and a sun/moon roof! The price is resonable and the condition is good. We are able to collect the car tomorrow! :)))Will post photos for our new car tomorrow when darling drives it home!

After taking care of the paper works, darling will now need to return his rental car to Enterprise. We came home firsrt as i will drive the old red Mitsubishi Lancer with darling to Enterprise. I was feeling kinda jittery as i never drove this Mitsubishi Lancer before. However, this car stalled on me when we are on the way out of our apartment. Darling had to push the car to the side in order not to obstruct traffic. I tried to restart it several times but in vain. Darling stepped on the accelerator while starting the engine and it works! So, darling and i decided to switch cars. I will drive the rented PT Cruiser while he drove this red Mitsibishi Lancer. Luckily, we managed to get to Enterprise and home safely without anymore obstacles.

We came home after that for lunch. Lunch was simple. Its just plain porridge with vegetarian fried gluten, leftover long beans & butter chicken.

Darling bought a new auto insurance for our new Honda from Geico. Geico is not cheap ccompared to other insurance companies but their service is really good. 1 call settles everything. I went for a bath while darling was calling Geico. Suddenly something strike my eyes. Its my mirror. During darling's first exercise, i bought some stickers and scrapbook materials to decorate my toilet big mirror. =) Its just a simple decoration of 3 words "I LOVE YOU" & some heart shaped stickers. Its nice looking at this whenever darling & i use the toilet!

Darling and i also had a 1 hour nap before darling left for work at 3pm. He needs to report to work by 4pm.

Before entering dreamland, darling and i had a role play with the soft toys. Little smartie (darling) is coaxing his girlfriend, Poodle (me). Haha! And of cos, we used one of our quarrels as the scenerio & our dialogues were exactly the same! We really had a good laugh. :)))))

Love quarrels is not always a bad thing when true lovers happily make up at the end.

Last night, darling came beside me whien i was using the laptop.

Darling: Dear, we might not be able to get a car in singapore next time. We may have to wait till our financial is stable before we can afford such luxury.

Me (smilingly): Before we got together, i already know you do not have a car and we have been taking public transport since. Have i ever complain to you before? No right? But what if we have a baby? He/she will be staying with me after we go back singapore until our new house is ready.

Darling: I will go down everyday to see the baby of cos. At the most, i will buy a bike. As for the car, we may have to wait till you got a job.

Me: Yup, of cos if u do not mind, of cos i do not mind. i am just worried that u will be tired...

Darling: Nah, i will not be tired. I will go down every day

Darling knows that i am not the type of girl who needs to be driven all around and he also understands that the thing i want most in our relationship is for him to be happy & we be loving forever. However I know darling is still trying his best to make me happy. He is still trying his best to get me the best. He is also trying his very best to get me whatever i want. But i myself could feel my heart aching when i can sense his eagerness and disappointment :(( We never had a car when we were dating. We also seldom bought each other expensive pressies (except for a Tag Heuer couple watch which darling paid in instalments). Our wedding affair was very simple and on a budget. Even now, we try to live & eat on budget. Nevertheless, i feel happy. I know darling is happy too. My hubby is such a silly darling dumbo dear, isn't it? =)

Certain things keep you going, and every once in a while there'll be something that makes life good. Right now, you're my thing. You make life good.

still raining

Darling came back at around 6pm today. He was changed to night shift starting from tomorrow this week. Thus tomorrow he will start work at 4pm. Darling likes my butter chicken today. Its my first time making this dish and both of us like it. Its quite aromatic because of the curry leave and butter i suppose. After leaving aside for tonight's dinner, darling & bingbing's packed meal tomorrow, there is still leftover. Well, I suppose it will be our lunch for tomorrow with porridge.

Tomorrow morning, darling and i will return the rental car & car hunting. He spotted a Honda Accord online @ a resonable price. We decided to buy a car and sell away the red mitsubishi lancer. With this new car, we will be able to tour around the states and save on car rental. However, with the red mitsubishi lancer, i do not think we will be able to go more than an hour drive :( I decided to do away with a car on my own. This way, we are able to spend lesser on auto insurance as well as petrol. With a car, i also tend to go out more often & this will lead me to buy more stuff. No good..no good =( Anyway if i need to run errands in future, darling will leave the car for me and he can car pool with his colleague.

Toom gave me some thai dessert and chocolate cookies today. She made them all by herself. The thai dessert looks very appetizing. Its made of colourful rice cake strips, coconut and black sesame seeds. This dessert is sweet and the rice cake is chewy. Nice :))

After dinner, darling and i went to kroger, walgreens & wal-mart. Still kinda drizzling though. Got more free stuff from walgreens! Happy! :)) In wal-mart, i got 10 hangers @ $1.25, 1 contact lens solution @ $4 after a $3 coupon, a dozen of egg for baking @ $0.98 & a pack of potato chips for free after coupon. Hehehe! In Kroger, i got a bunch of banana & yoplait yogurt for $2.

After darling came home, he calculated the expenses for holidays as well as for a new car. Haha, my mummy told me before that a man in serious business is the most charming. I guess its true! :))


Well, i guess its time we must start to be thrifty. No more luxury shoppings and eating outs. Well, actually i don't mind because i prefer to eat home-cooked food. And i like to stay home and cook with darling. We can talk, laugh, experiment and take lots of photos! I guess this is one way we communicate.

"Communication is the oil that lubricates the frictions of life."