what's for christmas?

last year, i made little cups of tiramisu for christmas. i made tiramisu on a couple of other occasions too, so i thought people around me would probably be sick of my tiramisu by now. i saw this recipe on baking bites and thought that it'd be pretty fun to make. after all, chocolate and peanut butter are like best friends on earth.

it turned out to be pretty fun, but extremely time consuming too. it took ages for the chocolate to melt, and when it did, it took ages to paint the cups with the outer coating of the chocolate.

told you i was feeding the multitudes

i decided to use half the amount of sugar stated in the recipe but my peanut butter still turned out to be a little too sweet for my liking. i'd probably not add the sugar next time unless i'm using dark chocolate with a high cocoa content.

the cups turned out not too bad, and it was quite a treat when the flavour of the peanut butter started mixing with the chocolate. i'd bought the semi-sweet chocolate block from phoon huat to make these, but i still think the chocolates were too sweet for my tastebuds, so if you like dark chocolate, splurge a little and get those 87% cocoa blocks from lindt or even valrhona chocolate! if you really do use valrhona, please remember to give me some of your chocolate cups. ;)

hmm, what can it be?

i put the cups into plastic bags before wrapping them in the serviettes which i had leftover from my birthday party. clean ones, mind you. add a christmasy clip and it's done! to those who have already ate some, it's not the best la huh but my lurveeeee is in those cups k. merry christmas!

click on the picture for the recipe

why must nice things be expensive?

got these extremely cute pencils from the christmas mart in bugis junction for my swimming kids. the brand's gruppi guppo if i'm not wrong, and they've got lots of super cool stuff like these stationery and those old school metal casing robots and ferris wheel. but as all these pretty things are, they cost a bomb considering they're not exactly the most practical things on earth. but still, eye candy. =) go take a look they're gonna be there for a few more days!

it's all about perceptions.

in the true spirit of giving, mike always insists on little gifts for both our families each christmas. not too expensive, but as a representation of our thoughts and love for them. usually you have a christmas tree and then fill it with presents, this time round we got presents first then then lugged the christmas tree out from the storeroom, 2 days before christmas!

what a grand tree!

no matter how big or small your christmas tree is, or whether you even have one, have yourself a merry christmas, because all you need for christmas to shine is a smile and a hug to the ones you love.

what a mini tree!

Blessed Christmas everyone! =)

d&d

last saturday was mike's company's annual dinner & dance and i was kindly allowed to grace the occasion by being the photographer for the evening. the photos turned out to be less than satisfactory, but that's another story for another day.

upper club @ CHIJMES

usually event photographers run around the place in shirt and jeans at their most formal, but it was quite funny that i was shooting in "full glamour", with makeup, dress and heels on. luckily i decided to bring along my coat so that people won't have to see my armpits in full glory each time i raise my arms to take a shot.

any photo will look good in b&w

mike decided to sponsor a makeover at jean yip for the dinner since it's supposed to be a formal gala affair. after the nightmarish experience (the kind you wish to erase off from your memory) at jean yip for my jc grad night it took tons of persuasion for me to finally agree to go there again. fortunately the guy (yes, guy) who did my face and hair this time wasn't too bad at all. you'll only see me so dressed up once in two blue moons, so don't laugh ok.

the marketing manager and his photographer

us not in slippers for once

bragging rights.

"let go and let God". you always hear that phrase, but it's definitely easier said than done. last term, i not only had to settle my exchange, coach, but also work part time with the school. last term, was the first term i swore to do something more than just study, and so photography came in. last term, i reminded myself constantly about how big His hands were. last term, was the term which i worried the least about how my grades were going to turn out - not that I didn't worry at times. and so i let go and let Him. yet last term saw the best grades I've ever had in all 3 years in SMU. sorry, but i just need to show off how great my Jesus is. =)

put your best shoes on.

only 38 minutes passed, a long way till the finish line.

two sundays ago, about 40,000 not very sane people woke up at around 4am, dressed in their best sports attire and congregated at the esplanade link for the annual Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon. i, being the ever enthusiastic sportsperson, was of course present too - to run around taking photos (hehehe!) and more importantly to support mike in his first half marathon in a long time. if you are my friend you'd probably know how passionate i am about running as an "enjoyable" activity.

being the tech-idiot that i am, i realised that i only have 90% of my photo memory left on blogger because i didn't shrink the photographs in my previous posts. how?!?!? snaps and bites may have to close shop like that man. for now, i've posted some photos taken that day on facebook. click on the link below and feel free to tag any comment!

http://smusg.facebook.com/album.php?aid=21211&l=c5452&id=762633905

carnivorous chew & cheong

last monday mike took leave to recuperate from his victorious standard chartered marathon, so we decided to head down to vivocity for lunch and a movie. after a pre-race carbo load, we decided to have a meaty lunch instead. so we had a slice of steak each..

small steak

NOT!!!!!!

instead, we had a protein overload at Carnivore. serving 9 varieties of chicken, pork, lamb, beef and fish, the goal for lunch was just whack-till-you-drop-or-puke. the Brazilian Churrascaria's not a new concept, with the one at Sixth Avenue being around since don't know when, but this was my first time trying it.

which part of this photo looks like "a slice" to you?

before entering the restaurant, i was briefed by captain mike that the strategy to eating at Carnivore was to beware of the booby trap (salad bar) and just set my sights on the targets (meat, meat, MEAT!). we were given a small tag each, with one side saying "Yes Please" and the other "No Thanks", so that the waiters will know when to serve you the various cuts of meat stuck on life threatening skewers.

"ow my eye! my eye!"

first, a bacon wrapped chicken chunk came, and before i could finish it, the head chef came by with lamb. about 0.005 seconds later he magically appeared again with buttered dory fish and walked off with a smile. by this time my plate had fish, chicken and lamb all either half eaten or a quarter through. suddenly, from the corner of my eye, i spotted an ominous shadow approaching. 5 minutes later, our plates had fish, chicken, lamb, beef, pork, and sausages.

"please, eat my meat or i will be sad."

with each bite i took, a new slab of meat fell onto my plate. so i quickly flipped my tag to show the bright red "No Thanks" portion and felt safe from the skewers. lo and behold, mr magical chef popped out of nowhere, totally ignoring the tags, smiled and said, "some pork for you madam? it's very nice i took 6 hours just to roast it". tell me, would you even be heartless enough to say no?

delicious steak, and you can have as much as you like.

action aside, i must say some of the meat were good enough to be served alone for people to pay a premium for it. i especially liked the lamb, which was very well handled and seasoned such that every mouthful was absolutely fragrant less the funny smell lambs usually have. the buttered dory was also done perfectly - very fresh, very soft and very yummy! couldn't say the same for the pork though, for both cuts that i had were somewhat too tough and i couldn't chew on them at all.

the service staff were excellent, well trained and friendly. the chef was warm, gladly smiling for my kanon and definitely ensuring that we don't leave the restaurant without a burst button. however, at $25 each during lunch, i think Carnivore's only worth the money for guys (99% of the customers during lunch time were males) because i think i fainted at like the 4th slice of meat. and you're talking about me ok, not some skinny hag.

i swear the people there are up to no good. they must belong to the MEFA - make-everyone-fat-association.

enter at your own risk!

turning of age.

finally! after almost all the 1986 babies in this world celebrated their 21st birthdays, it was time for mine! =) i didn't want a party because I've always thought that it was weird to have different groups of people in your life to come together and talk amongst themselves, not to mention the 0.001% of the time you really have to get a decent conversation going, but i really wanted to take this day to thank everyone who's been a part of my 21 years. and so i succumbed.

mike brought me to Food for Thought for dinner one day and boy, the moment I walked in, I fell in love with the decor and ambience. it looked as if a whole english diner together with its traditional glass panels, chalk written boards and pastry stands just migrated to S'pore. It boasts of being "a quirky little indie diner where you can get great comfort food at a fair price... and discover simple ways to give back to the local and global community". all i could think of was cosy, cosy cosy! it was a tough fight between Charlie's Corner's laidback atmosphere and this, and i eventually settled for Food for Thought. Sorry Charlie!

diner's namecards-turned-invitation cards.

on a small budget and space constraint, it was torturous limiting my guest list to 20. sorry my dearest hcanoe babes for meeting you all at a separate time! fast forward a flurry of planning and emails, the day came for my very first partayyy.

balloons were purple.. not blue!!!

it was a thanksgiving themed dinner, with a specially created menu thanks to Chef David.

starter: shitake mushroom and fennel soup

mains: roast leg of lamb withrosemary and garlic, beef striploin with onions and thyme, slow roasted pulled pork steaks, gammon ham, mixed green salads with oriental dressing, roasted corn with chilli and lime butter, potato gratin with cream and onions, sweet potatoes, handmade foccacia

dessert: red velvet cake

drink: watermelon mint freeze/lychee sage freeze

the full works.. gorgeous platter

the food served was nothing short of fantastic. my favourites were the pulled pork, potato gratin and the sweet potaoes. the pork was roasted until it was soft and every bite was flavourful. the sweet potatoes were extremely fragrant and.. sweet! special mention should go to the corns! it was a simple dish but it was the best corn i've ever eaten. the food was much nicer than those served on the main menu, if only everyday was thanksgiving day. =)

i've never seen a red coloured cake in my life until the day mike brought me here. Chef David refused to tell me what ingredient made the cake red though. the recipes online added red colouring but since Food for Thought doesn't approve of artificial flavours, mike suggested cherries but i think it's beetroot. B-E-E-T-R-O-O-T! *gasp* who cares what it's made of anyway as long as it tastes devine.

my birthday cake

the desserts are all made by various hidden "Aunty Talents" in Singapore. a great concept i must say. the signature cake would be this Shi's Old Fashioned Red Velvet Cake, doesn't disappoint if you're a cream cheese lover.

i must also add that a portion of Food for Thought's profits goes back to society via various community projects such as the Clean Water Fund. the staff were all very friendly, making you feel happy just being inside the diner. All in all, i'm very impressed by the concept of the diner and though there are some kinks to be evened out, such as the efficiency of the service, i'd give them two thumbs up considering it just opened in July.

Kanon the Kamera

dear friends and beloved family, thank you for coming, and thank you for Kanon. =)

hello.

hello! years after blogspot started, here i am finally with my own.

a number of reasons why it seems like a good time to start blogging, with absolutely no intention to bore you with things like what time i woke up today and who i spoke to and what i ate..

wait.. maybe just the what i ate part. =)

1) snaps
i've always been interested in photography and since school issues have finally been settled, i can finally start working on it! so i'm hoping this blog can be a space for me to post my photos and receive feedback for me to learn. so much to learn so little time!

2) bites
inspired by the love for good (but doesn't necessarily mean expensive) food and the numerous food blogs like smitten kitchen with gorgeous shots of delightful bites it's orgasmic. food and photography, that's just plain sexy!

3) exchange
like winnie the pooh celebrating 80 years of adventure (hehehe), chewy chew is going on her adventure to the netherlands! since an exchange is like a once in a lifetime experience, i figured it's just right that i should write about the chian-adventures!



i hope i actually do what i just said hahaha... so let the journey begin, be my guests and let the multitudes be fed with 5 loaves and 2 fish!

=)