Just another weekend project

The last 2 weekends, I had enough fun experimenting with things that I put in a 'to-do-but-never-get-a-chance' list. I made yogurt. And I baked cake: Pandan Kaya Layer Cake.

My yogurt experiment went quite well. The yogurt was too runny for my liking. On the second attempt, I managed to get the texture that I want, at the expense of the fat and calories. Well, life is full of trade-offs. You can't get your creamy yogurt and not get fat!
Note: A friend who watched Oprah's Dr. Oz told me that calcium actually helped to bind the fat. So, if yogurt is full of calcium, so I don't have to worry about consuming too much of the full cream milk yogurt, do I? Again, I did not watch Oprah, so I don't know how true is the statement.

If people ask me on what can define the south-east asian food, my answer will be: Pandan. In the funny english terminology, it is also called screw pine. While green-tea is now such a hit, I still favour my old fragrant friend, Pandan. Although my son thinks that it's smelly, I still think that this is an exotic herb from south east Asia. Something that define Indonesian, Malaysian, Singaporean, Thai, and all the other Asian countries. The soft fragrance that the leaves ooze, that is so comforting.

People in Singapore and Malaysia are more than familiar with Pandan Kaya Layer Cake. I think this is a modern twist on traditional cake. The so-called pandan kaya fudge is supposed to be the kaya layer of the cake, made of coconut milk, pandan (screw pine) and green pea flour. It reminded me of the custard layer in kue sarlat. The same tastiness of the coconut milk. And don't forget the Pandan smell. The cake is either sponge or chiffon cake. I chose chiffon cake. Chiffon cake is not something that I have mastered, so I figured, it's good to have a chance to practice. For some reason, my chiffon cake always shrank after I took it out from oven. I figured it has something to do with the temperature management.
This time, I baked my chiffon cake in 160 C. The cake did not shrink at all, to my delight.

The fudge turned out easier than I thought it would be. It's not too runny. In fact I enjoyed making the fudge so much, I was thinking of making this cake every week.
One problem, though. My other half does not like Pandan. So, he sacrificed himself when he ate this cake for his breakfast.

To my little boy on his 5th birthday

My dearest little boy,

Has it been 5 years since we have you in our life?

Somehow, we just can't imagine our life without you.


Looking at you now, it's just hard to imagine that you were actually the same baby that we saw in the 3D ultrasound long time ago! The baby that we saw in the screen were only 6 cm long. But you were such an active baby even then. I remember looking at the alien on the screen, boxing and cycling non stop, and wondering if the doctor were actually just lying. Maybe you're not really our baby. Maybe your father and I were just looking at some video on someone else's baby. So hard to believe that the little thing we saw in the screen turned out to be you. The perfect you.


You and your cheerful smile. You and your mischievous laugh. You and your sunny nature. You and your kind heart.


And, it is even harder to believe that the little baby with twinkles in his eyes, can already praise me, "mama, why are you so good in baking cakes?"
You really made me blush when you said that.


Your mama learns baking so that you and your little sister will have a home-made birthday cakes year after year.


Happy birthday, my little boy!

Remaining of Sakura

My boss must have secretly read my earlier blog.

A month after my earlier trip to Japan, another business trip to Japan was confirmed. The exciting part was to know that I might be able to see cherry blossom. My counterpart in Kobe dashed my hope during one of the calls that I had with him, "Nope! It's been raining heavily the last couple of days! By the time you reach here, there will be no sakura left for you to see!" Okay, forget about Sakura, anyway, I come to Japan for business. Business aside, it should be fun to visit Japan in different season other than winter. Deep inside, I still harboured the thought of seeing sakura during my trip. I wish..I wish..I wish!

This time around, I did not get the luxury of getting decent flight hour. Instead, I had to take midnight flight to Osaka. With barely 3 hours of sleep that night, my colleague and I were welcomed by the 2-hour long queue in immigration. What a great way to start our trip.
After we cleared the immigration, the reality sunk in. I had to go to Kobe on my own (actually there's my colleague too, but she's a first-timer to Osaka). For the first time, I've got to rely on myself to go to Kobe from Osaka. While for other people, the trip from Osaka to Kobe seems to be efortless, for me, it's a real challenge. That's because I have no sense of direction. I could not even tell the difference between left and right. Everywhere looks the same to me.

Long story cut short, somehow, I managed to reach my hotel in Kobe safely. By the time I was getting closer to town, I could see some flowery trees on the streets. Sakura! Yes, some of the cherry blossom still held its power. Yay!!!!
I brainwashed my colleague to go to a place that I've been wanting to visit for so long. The old town, Kyoto.
So, after lunch, we started our small adventure. We took a train from Kobe to Kyoto. I expected to see the temples, old Japan in Kyoto. However, after I stepped out of the train station, I was greeted by shopping mall and Isetan. I looked at my colleague, "Do you want to go to Isetan to look for our Blue Label? Or do you want to see the temple?"
We've finally decided to look for the temple first. After all, it's just the sensible thing to do. People go to Kyoto because of the temples, not because of the shopping malls.

Another challenge. After I popped out my head from station, I did not see any temple. I saw buildings, but no temple. So I went to the tourist centre, and found out that the temple was not within walking distance from the train station. To go to the temple, I needed to take the bus followed by another 15 minutes walk.
So based on the advise that I got from the tourist centre, I took the bus to Kiyomizu temple, boasted to be the one of the oldest and most beautiful temples in Japan. The 15 minutes walk was a breeze, for there were a lot of things to see a long the way.

It's very good advise for Kiyomizu temple is famous for the sakura. I reached my hysterical point when I saw the lush sakura at the entrance of the temple. They were waiting for me!





We had to cut short our visit to Kiyomizu since it rained.
Of course the day would not be perfect without the visit to Isetan. It was in the train station, anyway!

For the rest of the days, business as usual. I could barely find time to take a look at the other side of Kobe. It's always office and hotel! Not much to tell.

This time around, I did not get to eat my favourite kobe beef. I just did not have the time. Anyway, it's business trip.

Some things worth noted down from this trip:

1. Cherry blossom will not produce cherries. Well, some species will. Different people came up with different opinion on this.

2. Singapore MRT treat the passengers like human. In Japan, I had the chance of experiencing how it felt to be the human sandwich. The train was so packed and crowded, I did not have room for my own feet. The good thing was, I did not have to care about losing my balance and fell down, as there would be no room for me to fall down.

3. Male chauvisnism is still very strong in Japan. The factory manager refused to shake hands with me and another female colleague! On one occasion, they even made me and my colleague wait outside the restaurant, we were not allowed to sit in the restaurant until all the guys came out! Hmm..lucky I am not a feminist!

4. I have the renewed faith on all the things pastries and cakes. Japanese love them. I love them. We share strong bond, Japan and I.

Boss, if you really read this blog again, what about a trip to Sagami next? Then I can visit Tokyo. I wish..I wish..I wish..