Hard at work, out!

One of my resolutions was to get fitter this year. Being here, and having the chance to go for road trips around the USA, and visiting the famous national parks, but not having the endurance and breath to appreciate each park in their entire beauty sickens me.

I wanted to be able to organise hikes to go up hills and mountains to take photos of the beautiful land around us. After all, when we do go back to SG, its only gonna be bukit timah hill to climb. So this winter, I've been trying to push myself to work harder at it. Lose weight or not, I want to push myself to get a fitter body, get a leaner body with strength rather than flab.

So my workout this week, consists of Bob Harper's newest DVDs, that I got from walmart for $9.


I did the 30 min toning section from the DVD on Tuesday which gave me a good 2 days of arms, thighs, and butt soreness. I could barely walk or do anything.

Wednesday: REST and unable to do anything at all. Due to soreness in entire body.

Thursday: I attempted the 1 hr cardio in the DVD and I had to take several breaks thru the workout to survive. My lungs felt like it was gonna burst. I had to switch to lighter weights in the middle of the workout because my arms were too sore to carry the 5lbs anymore. My thighs were shaking.

Friday: REST! I woke up feeling aches in every part of my body. My lower back suffered alot from the swings and squats in the workouts in this DVD. Bob Harper seems to enjoy doing lunges, and squats. Most of his workouts seems so consists multiples of variations of lunges and squats. Its really bad on my knees and hips though. I might not be able to do this DVD as often as I would like, but its a good addition to the collection I currently have. Adding to that with my hard core cardio at the gym, I should be good.

Saturday: Walk/Jog 5km on the treadmill at the gym. Finished it in 45 minutes.. I know i'm still quite slow. But I guess I should be able to slowly work up my timing right? After all, fitness is personal, and I should be going at my own pace and improve on it without wearing myself out.

I also bought this on the sale last weekend at Walmart. And I've been using it for some additional toning moves after my workouts. Did some crunches, followed by push ups and back extensions. Will try to add more moves as I go along, still reading up on how to use it to the fullest extent. ;)

Am heading to the gym tomorrow again. Lets hope I can keep this schedule every week and I will be off for a great start to 2011. My other goal is to cook as much as possible for this year, to cut down on our expenses, hopefully to bring up our savings.

My third goal will be to complete the certifications that I want to get. Which means, I gotta start studying loads!!! Sigh.

How has your week gone?

Coming soon!

I've been really getting lazy. So lazy in fact. I have alot to update. I have lotsa beautiful pictures to show. The amazing canyons and rocks that USA have to offer, a beautiful sight. But I've been so "busy" with catching up on my favourite dramas and shows, that I hardly blog. Somehow, mindlessly watching these shows do not give me anything interesting to blog about.

I haven't been doing much experimenting in the kitchen either. Well, unless u consider doing bubble tea a new twist to my kitchen repertoire. I did much baking over Christmas, and have a few interesting recipes to share. Even more upcoming bakes for the Chinese New Year. Bear in mind that where I am now, there's no Bak Kwa. And its a torture. I go through like 3kg of bak kwa every year in Singapore, by myself. I've gotta do some experimenting in the kitchen to try to get thru this MAJOR MAJOR craving of mine. Not forgetting pineapple tarts and such. I'll be back with some interesting results and more photos..

This weekend, I'll be in for a thrill ride.. We're going a little further down, to do something I'd probably would have never attempted in my life, but I do not want to regret not trying. I'll be back with some sneak peeks. Till then, please keep visiting! ;)

I'm not dead, I'm just playing in the kitchen.

I've not fallen of the face of this earth, neither have I eloped with my husband. I'm just currently busy with all my holiday baking and such. Last couple of weeks, my husband has gone away for detachment, and I was busy hanging out with the other wives, which I've managed to get to know better over the time that our husbands are away.

Now that he's back, I'm actually busy with all the holiday baking for the little goodie bags that I intended to give away to the friends that I've made here. Well, isn't Christmas all about the joy of giving? I'm not the buying gifts kind, as I believe nothing can be a better gift than food. Food being home made by myself. Its a gift from the heart, hand made with sweat and love.

As u can see from how long since I've last posted, I guess u get the idea of how busy and slacking I have been. I'll be back with the cookie recipes I've been experimenting with, and some pictures!

Meanwhile, Happy holidays to everyone. Merry Christmas, & Happy New Year..

What are your new year resolutions? Made any? I'll post my resolutions after I get back from my hectic kitchen baking.

I'm a woman who never understands women.

So I'm re-watching my favourite TV series, that shows the love of women BFFs, fashion, sex, money and power.

I just simply love the way things are in that show. I just love how the women in the show are just not as judgemental of each other as compared to women I've met in my life. It just seems that the women I've met are always "jealous", always judging and always gossiping. I just hate all that. When will I ever find women who can just be like them? Close friends that stick by you whatever happens?

I've always been competitive in my work. I believe in since I'm working for money, why not do the best I can in the same number of hours I'm required to work, to earn the most out of it? I always put myself in the shoes of my boss, and push for the sales, push for the commission. Bring home the dollars, and nothing else matters.

I always push for a pay raise, a promotion within the 1st 3 months of work. And true enough, my last 2 jobs were the same. I got promoted to Asst Manager in my spa job. Based on the fact that I had the best customer service, and I had the highest tips, so to speak. $10 tips per customer were not a stranger to me. I could bag home $40 tips on top of my pay and commission any single day. And all these, from serving women, who I could totally envy their lifestyle.

On my last job, a office job, I aimed to hit higher standards. I wanted to bring home the $ for my wedding. And tried to climb the corporate ladder. Within the first months, I was doing acceptable sales as part time, if not better than what the full timers were doing. I went all out! The 2nd month, I was put to full time, and by the 3rd month I was full timer, I had my pay raised. Of course, that also meant higher targets. But I did hit all my targets, in fact, I hit the highest sales ever in the company within 6 months of the job. And I had all the bragging rights, since no other person in the company did that before.

Of course, all that came with a price. Gossips, back stabs, everything. I left my first job because the other women tried to steal my customers, and back stabbed me to the boss, behind my back. The 2nd job, I left because I was going to get married, and leave for USA. I could deal with all the gossips, all the hate. My boss knew my work style, and I came to work everyday to work on my own, for myself. And I didn't have to bother about anything else, other than the fact that I had the biggest pay check every month, to afford all the stuff and holidays I wanted.

I'm the kind of girl, who's direct, who loves to shoot straight to the point. If I'm not happy, I say it out, and we fix the problem, and get over it with a good glass of liquor. And I stay true to it, I leave it at that. I don't gossip anymore and I have fun after that. Many friends have stated, I'm a man stuck in a woman's body. I avoid gossip that all women love.

I have no idea sometimes, how women work. I used to have great girl friends, back in secondary school and part time work days. But stuff happened, and things changed. And we just came apart, and went on our own paths. I guess thru all the experiences in life I've had, I just grew up differently and thought of things way differently from other girls around my age.

As much as I yearned the times where we had girly fun, I'd much rather have a gay BFF or a patient man most of the time. One who could listen to all my rants, not feel that I'm too vulgar, enjoy liquor, or judge me for who I am. I've been away from women for so long, I'm actually finding it weird to blend in with a group of women now. Probably I love my peace. I dont know.

I've been hanging out with other wives since the Hubs left for his detachment. But who knows, this might be group for me. This might be the crowd that I could mix with. Maybe I've come to terms with how women are, and might be able to blend in. Maybe married life might change me. We'll see.

Cold and snowy...

Its snowing most part of the day today.. Started off with light flakes.. And now progressed to full snow mist for the last few hours since 5pm.. Its 11pm now and it hasn't stopped. Forecasts seems to state that its gonna last through the night till tomorrow and another inch of snow expected tomorrow. Damn. Winter wonderland? You bet. Do I like it? Hell no!

Its way too cold.. The moment I open my windows the slightest bit, the snows comes blowing into the house. Freezing. I can't even stay outside long enough without my fingers freezing out.

Hopefully it'll get warmer in the afternoon so me can go out and shovel away the snow from my doorstep, and hopefully get to other wife's house to bake our Christmas cakes.

Lots to upload.. But its cold now, and I'm lazy.. Will try to pick up the pace after tomorrow. Will take pics of our cake baking...

Till then!

Bad luck.

Busy scrambling to get my driver's license. Yet no testers are free to take me for my test. I'm really pulling my hair out now as of what to do, as I'm gonna need to get it before the Hubs leave.. Stress.....

Haven't been cooking much this week due to trying to arrange my test, since its really based on the weather. We scheduled it over the weekend, but there was a storm, so it was cancelled. Once its good, and I get hold of the tester, we drive out and take it. The weather was great this morning, but the tester was no where to be found. How bad can my luck be? Sigh.

I'm not dead yet, in fact, I have loads of photos to show... No worries, plenty of posts to come by next week. Once I've settled most of what I need to before the Hubs fly.

Recipe: Pandan Chiffon cake

I've been craving for Pandan Cake for awhile, being in USA and not being able to conveniently get "local" food from stores is killing me. I've been cooking and baking a storm in my kitchen since I've started "playing" in the kitchen. Its where I let my creativity flow, and cook my heart out for my hubs and friends.

I've did the cake 3 times, each time changing the recipe a little. This is the one which got the best feedback, being the softest texture. It did sink alittle, but its really soft, as what the tasters preferred. Its a wee bit sweeter, so I'll go about reducing the sugar next time around.

1 cup all purpose flour (150g)
3 heaping tbsp of corn flour
1/4 tsp salt
8 egg yolks
9 egg whites
1 + 1/4 cup of coconut milk (300 ml)
4 tbsp pandan leaf extract
160g castor sugar
1/2 tsp pandan essence ( I use the indonesian brand, which also gives a green colouring to the cake)
1/2 tsp cream of tar tar

Preheat oven to 350F.
Mix coconut milk and sugar in a sauce pot and let it boil slightly. Stir to prevent from burning. Leave aside to cool.

Mix all purpose flour, baking powder and salt in a big mixing bowl.

Separate egg yolks and egg whites into separate bowls.

Mix the yolks, coconut milk mix, pandan leaf extract, and essence in a bowl, and whisk.
Add yolk mixture into flour mix. Use the whisk and stir till smooth.

Pour egg white, castor sugar, and cream of tar tar into a large mixing bowl. 
Use hand held mixer to whisk it to stiff peaks.

Gently fold with spatula egg white mix into egg yolk mix, till thoroughly mixed.
Pour into ungreased tube pan.
Level and bake 45 minutes.
Let cake cool upside down in pan for 1 hour.
Run the back of butter knife through the sides of the pan before popping it out to slice
Done!

Still not perfect, but getting better..

Some things I've learnt along the way:
-Take care that the coconut and sugar mix is not too hot to cook the yolks when you pour it in to mix.
-It will take awhile to whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks.
-When you fold the egg white mix into the egg yolk mix, careful not to let more air bubbles into the mixture. Its best to do as gently as possible, while allowing the both ingredients to blend with each other as much as possible.
-The mixture will be very watery, but don't worry about it. When did my first cake, I was worried that it wasn't going to rise, or that its too watery, it will come out as gunk. But it came out quite well, and we finished it in an hour out of the oven.

-To remove as much air bubbles as possible from the cake, drop it from about 2 inches above the table carefully. Or you can hold it firmly with 2 hands, and slam the bottom of the pan onto the table.
-It is very important to let the cake cool completely before taking it out of the pan, or it will crumb terribly. My first cake had to be eaten in handfuls rather than slices.. because I could not wait for it to cool!
-It is important not to grease the pan as you want the cake to "cling" onto the sides of the pan to rise as much as possible.
-Do not fill the pan to full as the cake will rise, and will result in a dome bottom. I fill mine to half, or 3/4 full.
-My last try, I lined the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, as I had alot of problems removing the cake from the pan, even after running my knife through the sides. It did not change any consistency of the cake, and allowed me to remove the cake easily from the pan.

Please try and share with me your photos! Let me know how I can improve this cake if you've done some experimenting on your own.. ;)