May Day Birthday

The month of May holds many of my family’s birthdays – starting first with Mummy dearest!

Wishing you the very best in health, joy and love!  Have a fab holiday! Muacks!!!

Visit Japan

Japan will forever hold a special place in our hearts. It’s the place where the Man and I dated long distance after he proposed to me, packed his suitcases and left our tiny island to the land of the Rising Sun to start a new job. It was there where we lived for about a year straight after we got married. It was somewhat the land of many firsts for me in my life – where I learned a new language, learned to do housework properly, cooked a proper meal and of course, learned that I could be independent.

The day we received news that we had to relocate back to Singapore, I actually felt a sense of sadness. I didn’t want to leave this country that I had somewhat grew extremely fond of in a short span of time. So, we made a point to try and visit Japan at least once a year if we could.

Sadly, after the tsunami, we didn’t really get a chance to for we moved to Geneva. I missed Japan to bits – the food, the culture, the nature and the bustling city. When the pals decided that Hakuba was the place to head to for our annual winter hols, I was thrilled. The snowboarding trip was long and the stay in Tokyo was rather short. I left the city craving for another trip and guess what? My wish came true!

The Man is heading to Tokes for some business and I’m tagging along this long weekend! Woo hoo!!! And you know what’s the best part?

Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) are in full bloom!! The last I saw this pretty flowers was in 2007 and I can’t wait to see this marvelous sight! Keeping my fingers crossed that it will still be blossoming when I head there.

And vain me even got a set of Sakura nails to go for the floral viewing. Hehe… Friends said this set was rather unlike me and I have to agree for given a choice, I would go with shocking pink nails with skulls and cross.

Until then, will catch you again next week. Enjoy the long weekend break!

Happy Birthday!

to this crazy Man whom I chose to spend my life with.
You sometimes drive me up the wall with your crazy antics
But then again, it’s the crazy side of you that make me laugh.

Have a great one today!

xoxo! me and Sparky

My 2012 in review

Just like that 2012, you are coming to an end and what do I make of you this year?

I often describe life as a roller-coaster ride in Space Mountain. There are ups and downs. You take the good as it comes along with the bad. You don’t know what each turn may bring as the ride happens inside a dark tunnel. But you either scream to chase away those fears or squeal in delight when it’s just a bump that doesn’t send your heart plummeting.

That’s what 2012 has been for me. The highlights? The travels we’ve done in Europe before packing our bags and moving back to Singers. Despite me saying that I don’t really enjoy living in Geneva, it has been kind. We made some really good friends and it was the perfect springboard to most of our winter snowboarding trips.

The Man and I finally got to spend more time with my fur-kid and my loved ones. We welcomed a new nephew to the family and we saw many of our dear friends add a new life to theirs. My youngest sis is back for good and embarked on her career. While I initially experienced difficulty in going back to the workforce but eventually went back to The Company. Phew! On retrospect, the couple of months that I took looking for a suitable job saw me embarking on a daily exercise regime and taking up a hobby which I always wanted to do – floral arrangement.

The low-lights for the year? There are some but the one that tops it all is tumbling down the stairs. I now gotta pay extra attention when climbing up or down the stairs. Thankfully the episode left me with some superficial scars and not anything more.

So 2012. You have been good to me really on this roller-coaster ride and I hope that 2013 will be kind to me as I buckle my seat-belt in anticipation for the ride when the clock strikes 12 tonight.

To all who has been following my adventures or misadventures on this little blog of mine in 2012, a BIG THANK YOU to you! I hope 2012 has treated you well and I would like to take the opportunity to wish you and your loved ones a Happy 2013!

A simple Feast with these easy recipes

Thought I better get round to posting some of these recipes of the dishes that we whipped out during our simple Christmas feast for we will definitely see most of these back on our dining table when entertaining at home.

The starter was these really delicious stuffed portobello mushrooms with chopped mushroom stems, prosciutto ham, onions, parsley, rosemary, thyme and since we didn’t have any bread left at home. The helper crushed some crackers and I threw them into the mix. Pan-fry the ingredients and then stuff them into the mushroom caps. Drizzle a little olive oil and pop them into the oven. After approximately 20 mins, these babies should be done.

Next, we always need a side of veggies to make our meal a little more wholesome. This is simple to put together. We got some pumpkin, broccoli and corn for the roast. All we did was to drizzle the olive oil liberally, add some salt and srigs of rosemary and thyme. Pop them into the oven for about 20 minutes. Remove broccoli and pumpkin from tray, pop the tray with the corn into the oven for about another 10-15 mins and it should be done.

Highlight of our meal has got to be this Truffle Butter Roast Chicken recipe that I got off from Lavishley. Simple yet extremely flavorful! This is definitely making a comeback at our parties!

Last but not the least, the Man’s favorite molten chocolate lava cake with salted caramel ice-cream that I got from Marks and Spencer.

Hope these simple recipes would inspire you to cook more for the coming year. It definitely has inspired us to come up with a New Year menu.

So this is Christmas…

Nothing fancy.  Just a simple home-cooked meal spent with my loved ones – the Man and the fur-kid.  With no plans in place, we scrambled to put together a meal.  I had no time to go to get festive florals, so I did the best I could to decorate the table as Christmassy as I possibly could.

Don’t think I did too bad putting together the setting for our dinner.  Thank goodness for candles and tea-lights that I stocked up plus the Christmas napkins that Mom gave me, they certainly came in handy.  Phew!

Made a simple meal – Truffle Butter Roast Chicken, some Roast Veggies and these awesome Stuffed Mushrooms.  Thanks to Lavishley who shared the recipes!

The Man also threw in one of my fave white Burgundy wines while waiting for the bird to be roasted and we have a winner this Christmas!    I’m easy to please.  Hehe..

And the birdie does look pretty fine yeah?  It tasted really good too!  Truffle butter stuffed in between the skin of chicken make the skin really crispy.  I usually discard the skin but I didn’t for this.  The Man perfected roasting chicken as well for this bird came out just right.  Not too dry but the meat was moist, juicy and tender.  Yums!

And what do we have here?  Though he couldn’t part-take in the feasting, he did try to join in the fun.  The Christmas carols we played in the background must have put him to sleep.  I’m pretty certain he’s dreaming of fish and bones to the tunes of ‘Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas!’  I’m so pleased that we are back in Singers this Christmas.  Despite missing rolling in the snow, nothing beats spending time with the fur-kid!

I hope that you are having a splendid time ushering Christmas! From our little family to yours, have yourself a wonderful Christmas and a great start to the new year!

We are six

Wow… has it been 6 years already?  Felt like we just turned 2 or something?!

You don’t love someone because they’re perfect, you love them in spite of the fact that they’re not.

Jodi Picoult

♥♥♥ Happy Anniversary! ♥♥♥
xoxo