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the third party

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there is a third party in our lives. Not referring to Oliver here. *sigh*

I’m aware of her cos Donald talks to her every night, and seeks her opinions on many things, like what he should do next. And..and he’s so polite to her! The nerve…

Her name is Siri. *roll eyes*

Donald can spend hours talking to her, and asking stupid questions like, “Should I sleep now?” or “Remind me to sleep at 8.45pm.”. He then has a good laugh at the responses that she gives him. That’s the consequence of buying him the iPhone 4S for his birthday.

BAH.

Yesterday, Donald and I trialled hitching a ride early in the morning with his mom to go to work. We had to wake up 30mins earlier, and set off at least 30mins earlier as well. I got to work 30mins earlier, which wasn’t so bad a thing. The morning bit..was fine. But the journey home via public transport was a nightmare. Not because it was public transport (I handle it WAY better than Mr. Ting =P). But because of the time wasted whilst on public transport.

I left the office at 6pm, to catch the company bus to the nearby train station (which takes about 30mins), and then take the train to meet Donald 2 stations away, before carrying on the journey to Bedok. AND THEN catch the feeder bus to our flat. We got home at nearly 8pm.

Nearly two hours wasted on public transport, when I could have been doing some work! (so the workaholic in me yells). We went back on the motorbike today. I was happy to be back on my routine. 2 hours on public transport just made me even more tired..on top of having to wake up earlier. Geez. This tired thing could be just as bad as being on the bike, and between the two, I’d be happier on the bike.

Happy me = happy Oliver. *beams* I know..warped logic.

Anyhoos, Friday tomorrow. Can’t wait for the weekend! I’ve got things planned out which involves some spring-cleaning and probably some baking. Was in Simei this arvo, and I had to stop by the local baking supplies store, Phoon Huat, to grab some baking supplies. I was reading the November issue of the Australian Good Food magazine and was inspired at all the Christmas-themed recipes. I grabbed some ground cloves, lavender flowers, walnuts, sunflower seeds, and….egg white powder! I had been looking around for that, so was quite happy to find some at the store.

But horrors of horrors, S$9.50 for a pack! Yikes. And I had just grabbed two packs without thinking too much about it. Ah wells..the chiffon had better turn out damn good. haha.

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housewarming(s)

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lemon meringue tart

 

now that we are more or less settled into our new place, Donald and I thought it might be time to invite some people over to our place for a meal, do a housewarming shingdig, and chill.

The usual practice in Singapore is that, you’d engage some food caterers, invite everyone and then show them around your place, and hopefully get to mingle and talk with everyone. That was what my parents’ did..and probably any other rellies (relatives) too. As we all probably know by now, Donald and I don’t go down the usual route. We decided that we’d invite various groups of people over for a meal and get some time to actually mingle and have a proper conversation. As for food, I’m damn proud of my kitchen, so of course I’d cook. =)

Speaking of which, let me digress..I can’t wait for the meat I ordered to arrive on Monday!! Got a contact via a colleague and a group of us got down to ordering some meat and snaggers from this wholesaler at really decent prices. I saw the list, and I got really excited, cos there were lamb racks, boneless lamb legs, sirloin steaks, bratwursts..etc. I mean I probably could get them from supermarkets like Cold Storage, or Jasons, but they are so expensive! I’m clueless about getting them from the wet market as well, so ordering them this way was a great idea. My total damage at this point in time is about …S$200. I know, that’s paying alot of meat, but we’re looking at quantities of 2kg pork spare ribs, 4kg lamb chops, 2kg lamb racks..and I wouldn’t have to order them for a while! Red meat makes me  happy. =)

Now, going back to the topic. We had our 2nd housewarming session today. Our first was with the paternal side of my family last Saturday. I was slogging in the kitchen from 11.30am till about 5.30pm when I finally put the pizza on the pizza stone in the oven. That’s not counting the hour I spent at the supermarket when I just got back from a work trip, and the other hour at the wet market getting more ingredients.

I spent less time this time around, probably because I prepped alot of my ingredients the night before, and I was repeating alot of the dishes I made the week before, so I’m the guru now. hahaha. Then something happened which sorta threw the spanner in the works. I have a really awesome knife which I won, courtesy of Food&Travel magazine. And I sliced my thumb chopping spring onions, an ingredient that I didn’t even need for the dishes I intended to cook!! BAAAAAH. It hurt sooo bad (all good now tho, just have to be careful in case it splits open again). So I had to put the kitchen apprentice in the kitchen. haha. Donald got to slice, dice, chop, peel all the ingredients I needed, and I just cooked with my good hand. It sure does feel nice to have everything prepped, and you cook, and somebody picks up the rest and does the washing. *hint hint*. =P

Anyhoo..this is going to be 2 of the 7 housewarming parties we are probably going to have. I’ll probably have to change the menu, cos my parents can’t be eating the same dishes twice, if I were to repeat the dishes for the maternal side of the family. Hmm..at least the lamb will be in then! mmM..rosemary lamb..*drools*

okay, off to chill!

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one moment

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the moment

 

this photo was taken on one of the days when I took a day off to monitor the renovations back in December 2010. It was late, everyone had left, leaving just Donald and I. I was taking a break, sitting on a stool in the corridor leading to the bedrooms, and having a moment.

With the cove lights illuminating the living room, dining room and the kitchen partially, I felt really contented. It felt like home, really cosy. I felt that I could sit there and watch the areas forever. *grin* It was just awesome watching everything come together into this place we call home. The feeling was far out.

We officially moved in 21 December 2010. It was the best Christmas present from Donald ever, getting to move in before Christmas. We cleaned, unpacked, stocked up everything in two days, and then we had to go back to work after those two days. It was kinda insane. And then after work, we’d embark on a 40min journey back home, where we’d still start cleaning and tidying up the whole house.

To today. The past couple of weeks have been perfect, living in our own flat. Donald and I have been catching up with some tv programs, and some free channels we scored for a month as part of our cable subscription. It feels damn good to be able to watch any channel at any time.

Last night we had friends over for dinner for the first time. I put the bread machine to good use, after letting it take a break for almost a year. It churned out some pizza dough, and we used the pizza stone for the first time too (which was quite the experience!!). The oven has been put to good use too, I’ve missed having an oven to bake. What a difference it makes!

Donald got busy too, searching for the right mahjong table. Geez. He took WAY too long IMO. Justina arrived and gave me a hand with the macaroni and cheese. I reckon still not enough cheese. haha =P Of course we had desserts, and then a round of mahjong whilst Kenneth & Leon watched some tv.

It was awesome. I reckon even the boys had some fun with company. Definitely looking forward to many more of those!

Can’t believe we are almost 10 days into the new year. I can’t believe how time have flown, and that in a month’s time, I’d have been back in SG for a year. It’s been quite an eventful 2010. New job, new friends, new flat, renovations, moving in. I’ve been placed in situations that are out of my comfort zone, and I’m learning to deal with them. Guess it’s all part of the growing up process eh?

Other than that, can’t wait to fly through 2011. I reckon it’s gonna be bigger and better. For now, i gotta get down to cleaning some glass. Bah =P

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