We played host to a GOB this afternoon. Here's some pics:
Lining up the boys - look at how Jaeden slowly but surely sinks into the sofa in his "sedia" pose while the other boys roll around and get chummy ^__^
Daniel: A you! This is my sofa! Get off!
Jaeden: Sorry dude. I can't move. I jus sit wherever daddy puts me.
Daniel: Marrrmeeee!!!
Kayla: Hey hamsome, wanna date me?
Daniel: GULP
Ok mammies, grab your tot and smile!
Now it's the daddy's turn!
Missing in picture: The Kwoks + The Kwoks
But more seriously, it was really good to interact with other families with young babes. I was encouraged to see how other mothers are doing (and to learn that I'm not the only fan of Gina Ford's schedules for babes!) and thank God for the fellowship and support we have in Christ. Plus, it was a real riot to see Daniel interact with other babes. After 3 days of visiting relatives and friends, I think Daniel is in desperate need of a long break of quiet. Am looking forward to the days reverting back to their normal peaceful selves...
What's Chinese New Year without a jaunt round Chinatown? Well, I know. There are many reasons NOT to jaunt round Chinatown during the Chinese New Year period, namely the massive crowds, the noise, the impossible parking situation, the possibility of theft and pickpocketing, the list goes on. But since Husband & I live next to Chinatown, we managed to overcome the parking situation by walking to Chinatown and avoided the massive crowds by choosing a weekday night to walk around. The result? A fairly enjoyable trip to savour the sights and sounds of Chinese New Year. Here are some pics to share - Happy Chinese New Year to all readers!
A quiet night in Chinatown
But along Smith and Temple Streets - hordes of people! Still not as bad as weekends though :)
The ever-trendy chocolate fondue fountain has made its way to Chinatown! Had to take a shot of it.
Over the Christmas period, I read in Epicurious about making homemade hot chocolate mixes and giving them away as gifts. After a bit of surfing, I discovered many recipes for homemade mixes, including one for homemade Chai tea from Allrecipes.com. Chai tea always reminds me of my Indian friend from college, Devon. I have fond memories of him heating up a small pot of milk in the dorm kitchen and then throwing in tea leaves and some spices. While he was doing this, I would be standing around chatting about what we learnt in philosophy class or about the latest news on campus. And as we talked, the smell of Chai tea brewing would fill the air. Ahh...I can smell it even now. Sigh...
I was delighted to find out that all the ingredients for Chai tea are easily found in Singapore. The key X-factor ingredient - cardamon - was found in a provision shop run by Indians near my house. Here's what cardamon looks like:
The smell of cardamon is unmistakable. It is the essence of the smell and taste of Chai tea.
The rest of the ingredients were easily found in grocery stores and supermarkets. The Allrecipes.com recipe has garnered no less than 169 reviews, 99% of which are stark-raving compliments. So, with a high degree of anticipation and excitement, I ground up my first batch of Chai tea mix today and am pleased to report that it has received the Star of Approval Rating from Husband.
Here's the recipe which I adapted to my (and Husband's) taste buds. Enjoy!
Chai tea mix adapted from Allrecipes.com
2 cups unsweetened instant tea powder
2 cups nondairy creamer
1.5 cups sugar
1 cup milk powder
2 tb cardamon *
4 ts cinnamon powder
2 ts five spice powder/allspice powder
1 ts nutmeg powder (optional)
1. Blitz the cardamon in a grinder until the seeds come out. (Mix the cardamon with a bit of creamer if the grinder cannot grind such a small amount of cardamon on its own.) Sieve the ground ingredients to get rid of the cardamon shells.
* Alternatively, you can use 3 ts of cardamon powder, if you can find it!
2. Combine the rest of the ingredients with the ground cardamon seeds and mix thoroughly. Grind the mixture in batches to produce a smooth consistent-coloured mixture.
3. When ready to drink, take 2 heaped tablespoons of mixture and dissolve in a mug of hot water. Drink in the goodness!
Note: Compared to the recipe on Allrecipes.com I increased the cardamon content quite a bit because I prefer a stronger cardamon taste & smell. I also omitted the french vanilla creamer since to me, that would be making Vanilla Chai tea, not the regular normal Chai tea that I remember Devon making. Here's some pics of the ingredients and the final product:
This was a bit hard to find, but eventually found it in a provision shop!
All the above spices were from Phoon Huat but you can pretty much get them anywhere.
The finished product - homemade Chai tea mix! ^__^
My attempt at artistically arranging the mix & its ingredients on a pretty plate!
Chai tea warm in belly... YUMS.
Who knew the humble cloth diaper would have so many uses?
We were given a stack of cloth diapers by my bro & sis-in-law even though we used disposable diapers from the start. The cloth diapers were used as burping cloths, mini pillows on his cot/infant seat/pram (to catch Daniel's regur and dribble when he lay down), wiping cloths, even as swaddling cloth sometimes! They were really handy!
Yesterday, we discovered a new use for the cloth diaper - making Daniel laugh! The little squidge has been laughing and squealing here and there for the past month, but we never quite caught it on video. This video doesn't quite capture the laughing, more the squealing but here we go anyways:: Daniel & The Cloth Diaper^__^:
You know how you always see the happy smiley faces of babies on blogs and other websites. Well, inspired by KPT, I thought it'd be good to show some of the other "faces" of Daniel, to balance things a bit and to dispel the notion that babies are smiley all the time. Here we go:
Yo yo yo, wassup dawg? This bath is chillin man! Power to the hood bro, power to the hood!
I say mother, DO stop pointing that shiny object in my general direction.
zzzzz....snooree.......zzzzzz.....snort.... zzz......
Hee hee. OK I shall not blackmail my son too much. That's enough photos for now. And to top it all off, here IS a picture of a smiley baby. ^__^ Happy Thursday!
Last night, I made this for S & K. ^__^
Daniel: Mommy mommy, why are you putting me on the kitchen table?
Mommy: It is because... we are going to eat you for dinner!
Daniel: Dope!
Mommy: JUS kidding. We're not eating you tonight. Maybe some other day, when there's nothing left in the fridge.
Daniel: Hee hee. I knew you were kidding Mommy. You are so funny, always joking, like the time you put my head in the toilet bowl and said you were going to flush me away. I love you Mommy. I love you. Love love love!!
Mommy: Ah hrrrmph. Keep quiet. Let me cook Daddy's dinner in peace.
(No babies were hurt in the production of the photologue above. ^__^)
More seriously though, doesn't Daniel look so cute in his new Bumbo
Seat? We just rented it from Rent-From-Us.com.
Figured it'd be cheaper to rent as new Bumbo Seats are expensive &
last only till the little tyke can sit up by himself, which should be soon
enough. Bumbo seats are for babies who can hold their necks up by themselves.
Lil Daniel, thanks to all the tummy time his mommy has subjected him to, is
able to hold his head way up high now and therefore, is ready for the Bumbo
Seat! It's a real convenient piece of baby furniture as it's very light &
you can bring the baby around wherever you are in the house. Also, it gets
the squidge used to being upright and he likes it because he can see more
things from that position. The Bumbo Seat gets three thumbs up from Mommy!
Now... back to cooking bulgogi for dinner...
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