When Daddy Bakes (1)

Over the last few years, I have developed a new passion in baking. It started off with baking cupcakes for our own parties and gatherings, to cookies and now I have ventured into cakes.

Last weekend I made two chocolate cakes at one go, and last night I made two cheesecakes. It was Tai-tai's special request.



Cakes in the oven.




Cooling off..



Almost there...



Voila!! The final product!

I followed the following recipe, which was easy to follow and led me to the desired results:

(Recipe for 1 cake)

New York Cheesecake

250g pkt plain Digestive biscuits
125g unsalted butter, melted
750g cream cheese, at room temperature
215g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Finely grated lemon rind from 1 lemon
2 tablespoons plain flour
4 eggs
300ml sour cream
Strawberries for decoration

Preheat oven to 160°C. Line the base of a 23cm (base measurement) springform pan with non-stick baking paper.

Place the biscuits in the bowl of a food processor and process until finely crushed. Add the butter and process until well combined. Transfer to the lined pan. Use a straight-sided glass to spread and press the biscuit mixture firmly over the base and side of pan. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.

Meanwhile, use an electric beater to beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and lemon rind in a large bowl until just combined. Beat in the flour. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition until combined. Fold in the sour cream until just combined.

 

Pour the mixture into the base. Place the pan on a baking tray and bake for 1 1/4-1 1/2 hours or until just set in the centre (a bit wobbly but this is perfectly fine and how it should be). Turn oven off. Leave the cheesecake in oven, with the door ajar of about 5 inches for 2 hours or until cooled completely (this will prevent cheesecake from cracking). Place in the fridge for 4 hours to chill.

 

Top the cheesecake with the strwberries.






Mes filles aiment à chanter la chanson française

Après notre visite en France en Septembre, mes enfants aiment écouter et chanter dans la musique française. 

Voici leur chanson préférée par Indila - "Dernière Danse":

Oh ma douce souffrance
Pourquoi s'acharner tu r'commences
Je ne suis qu'un être sans importance
Sans lui je suis un peu "paro"
Je déambule seule dans le métro
Une dernière danse
Pour oublier ma peine immense
Je veux m'enfuir que tout recommence
Oh ma douce souffrance

Je remue le ciel, le jour, la nuit
Je danse avec le vent, la pluie
Un peu d'amour, un brin de miel
Et je danse, danse, danse, danse, danse, danse, danse
Et dans le bruit, je cours et j'ai peur
Est ce mon tour?
Vient la douleur
Dans tout Paris, je m'abandonne
Et je m'envole, vole, vole, vole, vole, vole, vole

Que d'espérance
Sur ce chemin en ton absence
J'ai beau trimer, sans toi ma vie
N'est qu'un décor qui brille, vide de sens

Je remue le ciel, le jour, la nuit
Je danse avec le vent, la pluie
Un peu d'amour, un brin de miel
Et je danse, danse, danse, danse, danse, danse, danse
Et dans le bruit, je cours et j'ai peur
Est ce mon tour?
Vient la douleur
Dans tout Paris, je m'abandonne
Et je m'envole, vole, vole, vole, vole, vole, vole

Dans cette douce souffrance
Dont j'ai payé toutes les offenses
Écoute comme mon cœur est immense
Je suis une enfant du monde

Je remue le ciel, le jour, la nuit
Je danse avec le vent, la pluie
Un peu d'amour, un brin de miel
Et je danse, danse, danse, danse, danse, danse, danse
Et dans le bruit, je cours et j'ai peur
Est ce mon tour?
Vient la douleur...
Dans tout Paris, je m'abandonne
Et je m'envole, vole, vole, vole, vole, vole, vole

After many years...

Most people would have thought that I have abandoned my blog since no postings were made for quite a number of years.

True.

I have abandoned my blog. But only because it was involved in a situation that I do not wish to elaborate further. Suffice to say that I had swayed the content of my blog away from its original intention and now I wish to put things back on track (perhaps those entries are no longer around).

Many things had happenned during the years of my absence from the blogging world. I have lost weight (a lot) and was invited by Kevin Zahri to share my journey in his website. And now somehow I am slowing gaining back the kilos that I have lost (sigh).. But I made a promise to myself that once I have sat for my final written exam this Sunday for my MBA programme, I will start my running routine again by utilising the treadmill that we have bought almost 10 months ago (yeah... still got another 2 more instalments to go).

We have moved to a new and bigger house. Tai-tai and myself spotted a new residential area not far away from where we lived on one evening, and it was a love at first sight for us. We sold the house to my sister and her husband, and moved into a 2.5 storey semi-detached house, much to the curiousity of our friends and relatives considering that there are only four of us who would be living in it.

My two angels are now in school, Aisyah in Standard 3 and Aliyah in Standard 1. I am very proud of my angels, and have always emphasised that they must try their level best in everything that they do. Both have surpassed the expectation of me and Tai-tai, especially our Aliyah who is so manja.

Above picture: Aliyah with her friends at school.

Our version of "The Silver Book"

Last week we took Aliyah for her usual follow-up at HUKM. This time around, the waiting was horrendous. We arrived around 1.30 pm in the afternoon and by the time our number was called, it was almost 3.30 pm.

Whilst sitting in the waiting area, I noticed two families (obviously related since they came together with small children) arrived and took the seat across us. One of the ladies was holding a child in her arms. The child was slightly under one year old, and was obviously cleft.

Bored and tired of waiting, I took Aliyah for a walk around the waiting room. This was the moment when one of the ladies (with the cleft baby) took noticed of Aliyah and encouraged her family members (the guys) to approach me for information. Of all a sudden, the father of the baby stood up and approached my nicely.

He asked "Bila buat operation bang? Tak nampak ketara pun kesan dia!"

I answered "First operation tu buat bulan 4, tahun lepas. Second one buat bulan 11".

The introduction then began.

We began exchanging notes with each other on the surgery procedures, feeding methods and shared our experience with them. We later learned that the couple came from Mersing and have 3 daughters. The third daughter was born with cleft lip only (palate normal).

Herman, the father, works as a fisherman and tour operator (fishing trips to Tioman Island). The wife, Amelia, is a home-maker. Both are 29 years of age. Their daughter, Seira, was referred to HUKM under the Ronald McDonald's Gift of Smile Programme after HSA in Johor Bahru refused to perform the surgery for some particular reasons.

Amelia told Tai-tai that they had a tough time going through the situation back home in Mersing. Having to deal with negative perception from the neighbours was tough, but what made it worst was the attitude of the medical personnel towards them who were not understanding and supportive at all. They had very little access on information regarding cleft conditions, and had no single idea about CLAPAM and the Gift of Smile Programme.

Looking back at ourselves, I could say that Aliyah is very fortunate that her Mummy and Daddy had access to information on cleft (particularly from internet research), family support and good medical facilities.

Seira undergone her operation last Monday. Tai-tai and myself visited her at the hospital. Amelia and Herman did not expect the visit from us at all, and were very happy and delighted to see both of us. For me and Tai-tai, sharing our experiences and giving support to other families under the same circumstances are part of our adherence to The Silver Book. If we are unable to provide monetary help, at least we can give our support...


Daddy: The Silver Book was issued as a guide for Malaysian's GLCs for achieving value through social responsibilities

La-gon Phuket... till the next Sawasdee!

We had great family getaway to Phuket as planned between 28 Feb to 3 March 2010. It was not only the first holiday for Aliyah, but for the rest of us, it was a good getaway after the last one we had in Langkawi in March 2008.

I managed to play around under the sun at Patong Beach to get my body tanned as I was hoping for (thanks to Banana Boat tanning oil with Aloe Vera and carrot extract). To tell you the truth, I felt that our vacation this time around was really a short one. Perhaps the reason for me feeling so is because it was an enjoyable and memorable experience.

We landed in Phuket International Airport around 9.45 am on the first day and rented a car so that it would be easier for us to move around the island. At THB1100 per day, Toyota Vios seemed to be a good choice. The only drawback on this option was that it worked on manual transmission instead of automatic. But I took up the challenge as opting for the next available automatic transmission vehicle would cost me at least THB2500 per day.

It worked well in the beginning. Little did I know that the journey to Patong Beach, as well from one beach to another, would be hilly with winding roads (just like Batu Ferringhi in Penang). Plus, our hotel was located on the slope of a hill.

After checking in, we went out for sight seeing only to be caught in a traffic jam due to flood at one of Patong's important junction. We had to take an alternative route to our hotel, which took almost an hour. Tai-tai and the kids were so tired at the end of the day and we ordered room service dinner from the Malaysian restaurant located at the hotel lobby.

The second day was spent on Patong Beach. We arrived in the morning around 10 am and left around 2 pm. We had sandwiches, bananas and mangoes for beach snacks and later ice-cream to cool off the heat. After going up and down Patong Beach, we went back to the hotel and had the same dinner arrangement as the previous day. The only difference was on the food selection.

We spent the third day driving from one beach to another on south-west part of the Island, mostly for capturing the moments and beautiful landscapes on Tai-tai's DSLR camera. We found out that Surin Beach was much more beautiful than Patong Beach, and decided that it should be on the priority list for our next trip to Phuket. Our activities later during the day was restricted to souvenir shopping (at Jungceylon Shopping Mall), seafood hunting (for lunch) and foot massage (for relaxation).

The fourth and final day was spent for last minute shopping at Patong Beach. We left the hotel at 2 pm to catch our flight at 6.10 pm.

I am planning to visit Phuket again perhaps in another two or three years' time, and I'm glad that Tai-tai gave her concurrence on this. But one thing for sure, the next getaway destination for us could either be Bandung, Bali or Hong Kong, I hope.

Too late to usher in the new year...

It's almost the end of the second month of the year 2010, and yet my blog has not seen any postings for this year insofar. It never actually crossed my mind that my first entry this year would be in February!

It all came down to time availability. I was so swamped with work (and I believe it's the same case with Tai-tai also). As a matter of fact, my first half of February was actually spent in Ghana. Gosh... the travelling itself was so taxing. Coupled with the fact that I had to be away from Tai-tai and the kids for almost two weeks, my last trip was really dragging and appalling to some extent. The only good thing though was that I did not suffer from diarrhea when I reached home.

I am still busy with my work at the office, but I'm taking some time off next week to lie down under the blazing sun in Phuket. Yeah, you heard it right! We're leaving for Phuket this Sunday! I really can't wait for the day to come.

Perhaps there would be more blog postings during our stay in Phuket, who knows?

The end of Aisyah's music class

Last Friday marked the last day for Aisyah's music lesson. To celebrate the graduation ceremony, the school had organised a mini concert and a small makan-makan pot luck style for the parents. The kids were supposed to present 5 songs.. Aisyah only performed the first and the last bits. Despite this, I must say that I was very proud of her.

Aisyah, although quite a talkative and active child at home, is indeed a very shy girl outside her house especially in the presence of strangers or to unfamiliar faces. She always looked forward to her weekly music lesson, although she might not perform or participate in the classroom activities. Her music teacher advised for Aisyah to repeat her course rather than continue to the next level. She worried that Aisyah's shyness would limit her learning as taking part in classroom activities is the main core of the next class.

I must admit that her shyness sometimes worry me, and it reminds me of my childhood days. As a child, I had low self-esteem and always thought that other people were much better than me. When I was in Standard 5, I was just a fat boy with lots of pimples on my face who was always being left behind by my friends due to my inability to play badminton with them. Yeah, I always get bullied! Yeah, I sucked at it!

I promised myself that I would never ever let my children to go through the same situation like their Daddy. I want Aisyah (and definitely Aliyah) to be more active and full of energy like their Mummy. I know for a fact that Aisyah could easily outperform the kids who were on stage the other day (I saw her signing and dancing in our living room - the same string of songs over and over again). I just need to polish her PR skills.

Perhaps its time for us to enroll Aisyah in a kindergarten. Not for her to learn things but more for her communication and inter-personal development.