champouf posted Baking Chocolate-Chip Cupcakes! on Monday, April 30, 2012
” Unfaltering desires, unfading dreams ... "
So I embarked on my quest once again: my quest to have my very own bakery! :) Even though it may sound like a pretty far-fetched dream, but I still intend on holding this promise close to my heart. A huge thanks is due with my beloved mother and dearest Hubby for supporting me and helping me along the way!!
My mother: a true passionate baker/cook herself, shared a few of her best recipes yet. I know because I’ve been eating all her delightful treats since young (this may be the reason why I was so chubby back then! Hahaha) and I truly hold these as precious memories close to myself. However, this time was different, I wanted to try a new recipe from a website I was browsing through. My mother looked through the recipe and changed a few ingredients impromptu just to make sure that it suits my family.
Not everybody from my family has a sweet-tooth. My grandparents for instance, don’t really like treats that are too sweet. My dad, too, doesn’t really like to consume stuff which are too sweet. However, my siblings and I ADORE sweet things. We have a whole gum of sweet-teeth (horrible pun I know!) and we always like to satisfy our cravings for it. So to make up for a few changes in ingredients, I just spammed the entire box of chocolate chips into the batter.
Which reminds me, before I go on any further, I’m baking Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Dutch Frosting! The recipe I’m following is really suited for those who have a HUGE craving for sweetness, and it actually has golden syrup in it! Hahaha, my mother was quite shocked to see the need for golden syrup as her own recipe of cupcakes does not require it at all. But we just followed through and used the famous brand Aunt Jemima Syrup which are normally used for pancakes. For those who doesn’t know Aunt Jemima’s Syrup is a brand of syrup that has just the right combination of texture, consistency and flavor.
Alright, so instead of going too much into wordy details, I shall just show you the pictures! :)
The making of the Dutch chocolate frosting! We literally used 2 and 1/4 cups of sugar just to mix the beginning batter.
Here we added a few more tablespoons of sugar to make the texture more consistent instead of its drippy form. Like this, it is easier to spread across the cupcakes for decorations.
We managed to make about 18 cupcakes, 12 big ones and 6 slightly smaller ones. As you can see, we really did not go easy on the chocolate chips.
And after letting the cupcakes cool down after taking out of the oven, we laid a few layers of Dutch frosting over it. However, we made a mistake: we should have put the frosting in the fridge for a while to let it harden so that we can actually decorate with the frosting with desired baking-tips. However, as the frosting was not solid enough, the decorations did not take shape.
It actually took quite short to finish getting the batter oven-ready. It was the waiting that was super long. My mother and I let the cupcakes bake for 30-40 minutes depending on whether you want the chocolate chips inside to melt to the gooey gooey chocolate goodness or just let it stay as it is. Other than that, we also wanted the top part of the cupcakes to have a cripsy-like texture. But of course, in the end we laid the frosting over it. But for those who prefers it to be more golden-brown, just let it bake for slightly longer. Of course do not over-do it till the cupcakes are burnt.
And tadah~ That is the end of our baking adventure. Cupcakes are probably one of the easiest things to bake besides Oreo Cheesecake, Brownies and Cookies(of any sort).. One thing for sure is that cheesecake do not require the oven, just put it in the fridge overnight. Brownies, cookies and cupcakes do not require much hand-to-hand- skills, just follow the instructions and do not over-beat the batter.
So my next challenge is probably either cakes or pies. I know pies are tough because sometimes the pastry does not turn out crispy enough or thick enough.
And before I head off to my crazy May-Travel, I’m probably going to stay in more at home and bake with my mother! :) Heehee. Wish me the best~!!!!! :D
Toodles.
champouf posted Thai Fiesta. on Saturday, April 28, 2012
My dearest and most beloved darling has been on a food-craving for the past few days.
With his incessant and consistent prodding by my ear-side has rendered me entirely powerless against him. For those who knows my darling well, they are very well aware that my lovely hubby has a huge appetite for his ultimate favorite munchies. Typically for this instance, he has a desire to just gorge on Thai food.
As such after one faithful day at the gym, Hubby and I made our way to Dhoby Ghaut: where just besides NAFA, lays a quaint shop that houses the best Thai food I’ve ever come to taste. Unfortunately, I’ve well forgotten to take a picture of the shop itself, but I assure you that this shop is right across the street of NAFA.
This curry is literally green! You may find it weird but the taste is SO exotic! I was practically digging into the soup most of the time. It was slightly spicy but it was worth it with my tongue being swollen.
This is not my first time eating here, but I tell you every time I visit this place, the food just gets better and better. I would really recommend people to eat here: not only is it cheap, but the portions are just big enough for my appetite. My dearest Hubby finally satisfied his desire for Thai food and so did I.
At first I wanted to treat my Hubby, but he declined and paid for it. Maybe some other time I guess! Heehee. And after the dinner, Hubby and I went to Plaza Singapura to do some shopping. I bought my baking stuff while he bought the iPad for his father.
Our day was pretty simple actually ... Hahahaha.
Toodles. champouf posted May Jubilation! on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Lately I feel like I’m on a really longggggggggg holiday ... Actually I still am ever since the end of my Alvls which is pretty AWESOME. But I’ve been keeping myself busy for the last few months!
November - December: Was in Hong Kong with my family and Hubby~ :)
December - January: Visited a lot of Hubby’s relatives in China and literally shopped till I dropped.
Mid January - March: Had a part-time job teaching private tuition which had a super high pay.
End March: Spent the last week preparing every single documents for my University Applications.
Mid April: Had a part-time job working at an event at Expo with Cheryl.
Currently: Nothing to do.
Yea my life seems pretty on a roll now that I have nothing much to do. Anddddd, I’m having an interview for SMU Business school this Saturday which had rendered me sooo nervous that I ended up doing nothing but worrying. Lol! But yea, I picked myself up and looked through a few business/social articles just to help me feel prepared. Hahaha.
SMU is still a viable choice as it is convenient to commute to, plus I do not have to stay in a dormitory, considering that I am one who gets home-sick rather quickly. On the other hand, NTU has a good cheerleading team, from what I’m told, and I’m hoping to get into their team to improve myself quicker... Ahhhh :O
Besides the interview being the only “Main Event” of my month of April, the month of May is going to be somewhat kick-ass. Why you may ask! As some of my avid readers, they should know that in the entire month of May, I will be going overseas a lot!
First of all, I’m following Hubby back to his hometown in Nanjing to attend his best friend’s wedding! Of course we are visiting his family as well and Hubby bought an iPad 2 for his father. I was thinking of buying wine for him, but Hubby already had the idea of the iPad and so we went with it. We would be staying there for a few days before we proceed to visit one of his most important clients in another continent. All in all, after one week, we would have reached Singapore ... I think.
Second on the list would be going off to the wonderful land of Thailand with a few of our couple-friends: Raymond & Cheryl and Shihui & Jy. It was hilarious just talking about our holiday plans in Thailand. Because normally, we girls would like to do crazy-shopping for like ... oh I don’t know ... everyday?? (Rhetorical question!) But the guys mainly Raymond and Hubby wanted to just go down on all the delicious food they can find/smell/see. BUT, the funny couple: Shihui & Jy just thought of doing sight-seeing. And the rest of us were like .. alrightttttttttttttt?
Jy is a professional photographer, so sight-seeing to him is more like massive-photography-sessions. And Shihui as his girlfriend totally supports him in that, which is really sweet! So we were thinking of how to divide the days to include equivalent proportions of eating, shopping and sight-seeing. And btw, we are still thinking of how to do so.
Hubby was thinking of letting us girls do our stuff, while the guys go on a food-search, and Shuihui/Jy do their sight-seeing. However, I was quite scared that letting just two girls go on a shopping spree may be really dangerous! Considering that fact that when it comes to directions, my IQ level drops to a mere ZERO. I’m not kidding, I can get lost EVEN IN SINGAPORE. Wtf. Hahaha. And both Cheryl and I can’t fight to save our lives! D: So I’m still pestering Hubby and Raymond to accompany us girls. As for the other two love birds, they can be practically left in their own worlds haha :) OH RIGHT, plus we are able to do couple-partner-stunts while we are there in Thailand! :) Heehee because of that, Cheryl and I have been training really hard to make our stunts work! :D Plus Shihui used to be from Gusto and she is one of the most hardworking Cheerleaders that I really admire! It’s going to be sooooooo fantastic!!!
After Thailand, Hubby is the official tour guide of his best friend and his wonderful bride for their honey-moon in Singapore. They will be staying here in Singapore for about 3 days before setting off to another trip to TIOMAN! Yes, the amazing island of LITERALLY clear blue waters, and amazingly vivid-coloured fish. (Not to forget their delightful feasts for kings) Hubby is hoping that I would go with him and his friends as well, but I’m still thinking about it cause I bet I am just EXHAUSTED from all the traveling zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. (but of course I am not complaining~)
After this CRAZYYYY month of May, once Hubby and I have calmed down from all the traveling, we are still in for the next two packed intensive months. As Kosmos(cheerleading) is having a performance at the end of July, we are thinking that the frequency and intensity of trainings will no doubt increase, and whether we participate or not, we are definitely going to help out. And from past experiences, helping out a Cheerleading team is no joking matter. But we are still all hyped up about it :) It has been a while since we last trained hard as a team for a common goal, and I am really looking forward to seeing the whole team improve on a larger scale.
And that concludes my really dreadfully long and tedious post. Hahahaha. It is a basic summary of my month of May and I am very excited for it. The fact that I have so many things on my schedule again makes my heart go into adrenaline-rush-mode. The month of May is definitely going to be the best month yet!! :D
Wish me luck for the interview~ toodles!
champouf posted Nothing Is Bringing Me Down. on Saturday, April 21, 2012 Everybody has a sob story to share.. And if they don't find peace but keeps harping on the past, you have my condolences.
Yes this post is directed to this person who hasn't find her peace even after I've found mine. My friend gave me a heads-up on this person's blog entry on me and I went by to take a look. Right, she says I am a childish person blah blah, but I've grown from the entire experience and I don't give a shit whether she + her clique hates my guts. So she posts on her blog that the only thing I can find fault with is her being fat and that I deny a lot of other issues as well... Okay so? I don't see how the past has anything to do with me right now. Sure you know where I live and even posts such a daring statement such as "I know where you live, and I do have means to do terrible things to you." Ermz, okay wow are you threatening me? Because if you are, I really don't think it's all that effective. So who is being the childish one now? And ahhh, FYI, posting such shallow threats on a blog doesn't really do much good ..
I don't see how it helps if one keeps harboring on the past and keeps posting sob stories about oneself. Seriously wow, I'm really shocked considering how this person has the guts to call me childish. I even admitted that I was childish back then and apologized to all those I've rightfully wronged. Key-word 'rightfully'. But she still can't let go of the past.
About the issue of being fat, I did mention I don't have anything against anyone that is fat. Well the funny thing is that I used to be overweight, but I have never blamed anyone for mocking me, bullying me or ruining my life just because I'm fat. Instead I used it as an motivation to lose weight and even joined Cheerleading - a sport which weight plays a huge part in. Do I complain? Do I sit back and sob? Do I blame or post horrible things about those who have wronged me in the past or called me fatty bom bom? No I did not and I'm proud to see myself growing from it.
Sad to say, I can't say the same for this particular person who makes an effort to even make me famous on her blog. No thanks really! I appreciate the effort but I don't need your sob story to rocket me to fame.
As of now, if you are still reading my blog, I'm here to say that I'm living a pretty awesome life! I've graduated from JC, waiting to get into University, improving a lot in Cheerleading, have a bunch of fantastic friends whom I treasure a lot, have an awesome boyfriend whom I am going to spend my entire life with, my boyfriend is doing great in his job, I'm starting out my own mini-business soon (even though it's a small step at a time, but patience is a great virtue), and I'm 3kg away from my goal weight of 42kg ... I'm basically living my dream! Why? I didn't let my past hold me down. Sure it was hard to come to terms with certain issues, but I only took them as lessons to change myself and I'm glad I've come so far. Once again, what you have said on your blog is not going to bring me down. I'm going to rise up again, and in a few more years, let's just see who is living out her dream :)
Toodles and I wish you best of luck in life~ (^-^)b champouf posted Love for Cheer! on Friday, April 13, 2012
Lately I've been really happy with my improvement in Cheerleading! :) Even though the improvement may seem quite insignificant at the moment, but I'm sure that with progress, no matter how small it is, it will always build up to a more excelling path.
My first improvement would be my twist~ I'm always so scared of twisting as in the air, I can't really control my body very well. It just seems like I've to do a lot of stuff up there in the air: lock tight, pelvis out, hands by the side, squeezing one's butt etc etc. And with an added twist, I've to make sure that once I reach the highest point, I twist my hips as hard as possible to make my whole body go with the flow. As such locking up there is super important.
My first try was alright, I got to twist but it was not very nice because it seemed like I was struggling a lot. After a few more tries, I got the hang of twisting one round. But the problem was that I twisted too slowly. So I was quite sad and all. Another problem was that sometimes my legs would entwine and I would end up in a very awkward position when I go down for cradle. I guess it was because I was too nervous and stressed! The next training, I've decided not to think too much about it and when I did my twist, I went for a 1.5twist!!! And that was super close to a double down (double twists in the air)! Omg. It was too sudden. At first I thought maybe it was just luck, but I tried a few more times and I kept doing a 1.5 twist. Plus Hubby told me that the first time I did it, my body was super tight which made the twist really nice! Awwww. I was just so happy!!! :) So I've learned that whenever it comes to stunts, I would not force myself to think too much. Cheerleading has a lot of Physics involve and I always overthink. NO MORE THINKING when doing stunts. It is just all in the feel and I should learn to cope with that. Hahahaha.
Another improvement I've made was Hubby managed to toss me to hands! :) Considering that I am not the lightest flyer and I've a phobia of doing advanced stunts. But after getting tossed to hands by another guy, Hubby decided that if he could not take my first-time, he would take my second-time. And he did!!! Up there, we even tried straight up liberty and after a few tries, I got the hang of it! :) Heehee.
In addition, not only Hubby managed to throw me up to hands, even Raymond managed to do so! Hahahaha, which helps to boost my confidence even more! :) Heehee. And the main course of this entire meal would be CUPIE!!
That's right! I finally managed to do a successful Cupie with my darling Hubby! :) All the times we trained on the ground was not in vain! No wonder Hubby grilled me so hard into building a solid foundation. Once the foundation is there, the progress of improvement would speed up quite a lot! And it really does help! :D
Here is the picture to prove it! :) Heehee, but of course Hubby says we have to practice more to make it more perfect~ Heehee.
And with this, I am more inspired and motivated to do even better in Cheerleading! Wish me luck~ :)
champouf posted Tioman~ on Wednesday, April 11, 2012
HELLO EVERYBODY!
Oh god. It has been AGES since I last stepped into my own blog :P As usual, I've been busy having the most luxurious time of my life! Hahahaha :) Seriously, ever since my Hubby got me the iPad, I've been watching various shows on it! Dramas such as BBT, HIMYM, CSI etc, and Anime such as Ouran High, Katekyo Hitman Reborn, The World God Only Knows.
And finally, after so long of procrastinating, I'm finally getting down to business and blogging about my trip to the wonders of Tioman Malaysia!
Hubby, Boyboy and I went there for 3 days, 2 nights, but we practically had the time of our life! We ate like kings, played like there is no tomorrow, and continued eating. Hahahaha, it is a wonder that I managed to shed all the extra weight within a few days :P
But of course, the plus point of this trip was not all about the eating and the merry-making, it was Mother Nature who caught all three of us by heart and surprised us with how wonderful life can be without cramming ourselves in the hustle bustle of city life. I am serious.
So anyways, we took a private bus from Singapore to Malaysia and the total journey was like 3 freaking hours just to reach the jetty. However we were early! The ship did not leave the harbor till 2pm and we were there at 10am! We had four hours to kill!!!! We walked around the jetty looking for things to do but in the end we just bought snacks and watched a few movies which I've downloaded on the iPad.
Time finally passed by within the inch of my very life, and we started to board the ship. We thought that there would only be a few people, but to our surprise, there was this HUGE crowd waiting to go to Tioman. The three of us had to freaking squeeze through the entire crowd just to board the ship. Once again, the journey was TEDIOUS. It took us about one hour to get to the island and before that, the ship was delayed for about half an hour. Plus, inside the ship was stuffy and really hard to breathe which made the journey even more excruciating. Thank goodness I managed to doze off despite such rough conditions.
When we reached the island, half of the day has gone by and we started looking for our room. We had to walk quite a long way as our hotel was located on quite the far end of the island, but it was a good walk because we got to admire nature at its peak form! So anyways, here are some pictures! :)
Hubby and I at an open-cafe! :) And this cafe has some really good food so we ate most of our meals here, trying out their different specialties! :)
Hubby took this picture of me~ It looks super natural right? And I didn't do any photoshop at all, I just added the blue-ish effect, the rest was nature's doing :)
As the island was situated next to the ocean (DUH! That's why they call it an island), there was this constant breeze that just cools the island itself. Plus, there are no tall buildings on the island so the breeze is really strong even if you are deep in the island. As such, despite the sun devious glare, I did not exactly felt hot all the time thanks to the ocean breeze~ It was truly awesome.
Even though the sun was already setting, there were still fishermen out there working hard. After they bring in their catch, we get to treat ourselves to an awesome BBQ, fresh from the sea!
If you stare into this picture deeply, you can see this ANGMOH sitting on the beach reading his book. I liked how this entire place just brings out the natural feel of us human beings. Even though I spoiled everything by bringing an iPad to such an island, still I felt myself appreciating nature at its rawest form.
Hubby and I preparing to have our BBQ feast on the first day! :)
This is Boyboy who just came back from swimming in the ocean. Well, since the inhabitants were pretty open people, walking around half-naked (top half naked mind you!) all the time, Boyboy decided to impart in their 'culture' as well.
Early in the morning and the fishermen are already out in the ocean working hard.
This is another angle of the restaurant that the three of us frequent a lot :) I love the somewhat Hawaiian decorations out and about.
Second day morning: The tide was really shallow which allowed us to venture quite out in the ocean and we found a lot of awesome stuff out there! Hubby caught a few crabs but he let them go because the crabs quite bubbling at their mouths which I felt was quite disturbing. Hahahaha it looked like it wanted to poison us or something D:
And here is Boyboy sitting on a speedboat! Half-naked as usual LOL.
And it's snorkeling time!!! :) I did some snorkeling as well and saw many beautiful fish underwater. I tell you, the ocean water was so clean, it was freaking crystal clear that you can see deep underwater from just swimming on the surface! I'm serious! Hubby bought an waterproof camera just for this occasion and snapped lots of pretty pictures of the underwater life. We still haven't got to the job of developing the waterproof camera so you guys will have to wait for us to do so :P
After snorkeling at a certain area, the person brought us to another beach at another island in which we could do more snorkeling at our own will. Of course I was too tired from drinking too much seawater and feeling all bloated. Plus my eyes were super pain as I accidentally rubbed my eyes with my wet hands and I'm like "WHY AM I SO FAIL?!"
You can see how bloated I am from drinking lots of seawater D: Please ignore my fat thighs D: That is the consequences of joining Cheerleading!!!! T.T
Hubby wanted to stunt with a pretty scenery behind, and he got his wish! :) Sadly I still don't look so flattering in my bikini D:
And here is Boyboy pretending that he is some mermaid with sand on his eyes being his 'eye shadow'. Hahaha this kid always never fail to make me laugh till stitches.
Finally all the food pictures Hubby and I took, all complied into two!! :) Heehee, and that reminds me: there were a lot of cats on the island and they were so accustomed to the presence of the locals that they were super friendly to us strangers as well. Of course, we returned the favor and fed them with all the remaining food which we could not finish. Trust me, when Hubby and Boyboy order food, they order twice their usual amount and they know that I am a person whom can't eat a lot. So yea, there were a lot of leftovers. But it was a good thing because we got to feed the cats! Heehee :)
So after three days, we took the ship back to Malaysia Jetty and returned home safe and sound in another private bus. It was quite a journey and the three of us no doubt grew tanner. REALLY TAN. My grandmother joked that Hubby and I looked like Malays on our first day back in Singapore. It was just that bad. Right now, my skin color has not really returned back to the way it was, but then again I doubt it will do so D: Sighs* Hahahaha
Still, it was an awesome trip!! I would really recommend this island to all those who likes adventure, nature or just enjoying a few quite days without having to worry about the problems of life. I felt more relaxed than usual after my trip and I managed to recuperate from having been stressed out a few days before. However, I had to put in more effort than usual to lose the extra weight, but all in all, it was worth it! :)
champouf posted Quick Update! on Monday, April 2, 2012 Hey guys sorry for leaving a stench of constant neglect on my blog :P just that the last week has been really hectic and emotional for me: so much so that I have no mood to blog :(
But yes I'm feeling much better right now! Why? One reason is because as I'm speaking now, I'm currently on my way overseas! Oh but it's not far, I'm going to Tioman - a little island in Malaysia with beautiful, breath-taking sceneries! Hubby has been wanting to take me there for so long that we almost forgot until we finally managed to remember. So after a hectic week of prepping my final items for University applications and studying for my Final Theory Test, I'm finally giving myself a break! :) can't wait to go there and just indulge myself within the pleasure of paradise!
Another reason why I'm so elated is that yesterday during Cheer training, my Hubby finally managed to toss me to hand without much trouble! It has been our dream to do that without support and we finally did it ... Thrice!! :D back then it was like we didn't have enough chemistry to do it together, and the one fact that grind Hubby to really go beyond his abilities and throw me way higher than I've ever felt before, is that just on Saturday, a male base from Wildcards popped my cherry of tossing me to hand with much ease. Hubby has been wanting to steal away my first time, but so far has been rather unsuccessful. So actually I don't really count my first time with that Wildcards guy is because up there I was not exactly very stable, not as stable as I have with Hubby :) so yay! Now we can proceed to do many more other stunts up there without having people to assist us up there. Like what Hubby said before, "As long as you can pop the flyer up there with your own ability, practically half of the stunt is already done, the rest counts on your creativity to do whatever you want up there."
So congratulations to me! My friends all were super supportive all the way and I want to thank them for it, cause they know that both Hubby and I have been working really hard to achieve this part of our dream.
Other than that, I've nothing else to repot! But I'm thinking that nothing can dampen my spirits for the next few weeks after knowing that the impossible is just within grasp.
Toodles and see you all soon after 3 days! :)
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