It's been a wonderful couple of days since I've flew back home.
Ben picked me up from the airport when I touched down. I think I sorta teared a little because I missed him so much! That, and I attempted (but failed) to leapt into his arms like the movies. Only because he looked so damn good in his blue blazer, mustard jeans and striped tee. (Look who's the smooth talker now! ;) )
If I have not said this before, I'll say this now - Ben is the type of guy who basically has 90% full of checkered and striped shirts in the closet. Partially because I chose them, but also because he looked really, really good in them!!
Okay, back to me. And my trip.
So, on the same day when I touched down, Ben took leave and we went to JEM, the newest shopping mall for dinner and to check out the place. It's a nice place, like a mini town area with all the nice usual brands like Topshop, H&M and what not. Singaporeans' hobby is checking out new malls.
Then on the second night, met up for dinner to celebrate Aunty Angela (a dear family friend)'s birthday and met up with Chanel, Mabel & her beau at Butter Factory for a night out! Enjoyed dressing up and dancing the night away to loud R&B music that pumps my body and soul, spending happy times with my bestie, and getting all happy!
Man, it was just pure joy!
What's even better than that, was to have guys coming up to Ben and telling him that he has got beautiful friends! (That ahhem, includes me, and of course, Chanel!) AHAHAHA!!! I'm not sure why they are blind to the fact that I'm with him! Like body language and all, it clearly says that Ben is my beau!
My dearest hubby shrugged them off in his typical fashion while Chanel screams that I still have market value. I think she was pretty high at that point already. HAHA!
As always, after a fabulous night of partying...I always somehow, still find it in me (despite being hilariously high) to use my phone and take a picture with my hubby. Maybe because Ben is playing basketball weekly with his mates now, so he looked a lot tanner next to me. I like that, I like him to be tanned, so man! HAHAHA!
Moving on, I then spent the next few days hanging out with my brothers, Chanel, met my Mummy N and Daddy Lim for dinner, lunch, brunch...spent a good few days going around buying baking supplies and ordering fruit liquors which, my dearest hubby collected it on the way to work one morning.
With everything I need in place, I got down to baking.
First and foremost, I had to try my hands at glazing with ganache and baking a good chocolate cake for my family. I spent quality time with oven, getting once again to connect with my oven, using the oven thermometer to determine the temperature before baking.
I prepared the ganache and the glaze, left it to cool outside, baked the layers and then assembled the cake, before glazing the ganache glaze over and piped the borders around it. Instead of my previous school design, I changed it a little and turn the Alhambra into a gigantic piece of chocolate bonbon.
My family members loved it! It was not too sweet but just the right and perfect combination.
My family helper, Emi was quite surprised that I finished the cakes in like 3 hours. Usually when I bake in the past, I will be in the kitchen for hours, from morning to late evening. But that is the old me. The new me is fast, organized and whips up good cakes! =D
I missed having golden cake boards. I can't seemed to find golden cake board for the sizes of the Alhambra.
Then, the next recipe I have on the menu to bake, was this - Cake Aux fruits.
My two dads loved a good old fruit cake. So I baked them both a loaf of fruit cake for breakfast. The only thing I didn't have time to do, was to do my own rum raisins and find some better quality candied fruits. I bought those packets from Phoon Huat instead. Perhaps I will look into purchasing some candied fruits back home during my September trip.
I guess my biggest compliment is when Daddy Teh came back home one night and had one slice of Alhambra and two slices of the fruit cake at one go, and he told me it was very good, so much better than before. I was secretly jumping for joy within my heart. HAHA!
It's a pity my this side of the loaf didn't have any cherries. Otherwise it would add much colour to my fruit cake.
On one of the days in the week, I found time to hang out with my bestie, Chanel by having brunch at the Hatched, the only breakfast place I've tried and loved! Sad to say, their outlet at the Holland Village isn't as good as their original outlet at Evans' Lodge. The poached eggs was not up to standard, and their creamed spinach was horrible.
The only saving grace was the smoked salmon which obviously, wasn't smoked in house. Then, we ordered the fries with melted cheese and bacons. It looked so good but fell so short on the tasting part. I don't know which is worse. I guess it was a tie. I liked the 5 pieces of jalapenos better than the plate of fries.
Guess I'll have to start visiting the other breakfast places like Rider's Cafe and stuff. On the bright side, I had a great time hanging out with Chanel, talking about everything and anything and we even met the previous night for Karaoke.
I also managed to bake two apple tarts and practice the tecniques required to line a dough, do the crimping on the crust and of course, baking the tarts. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of my product, so I guess we'll just move on from the apple tart to the below - Strawberry Charlotte!
Remember when I tried Chef Marc' Strawberry Charlotte and I said I had to bake this for home? I'm glad I did! But I had to waited till about now to finally bake it. Because we had to find the strawberry liquor and that was hard to source for!
Baking the charlotte cake gave me a chance to practice my folding in and making sure that my lady finger biscuit did not collapse. I took into consideration that the temperature in Singapore was about 30℃, I piped these fingers in my bedroom, where the air con was switched on and it was at 22-23℃. I also rolled out my dough in my room as it was much cooler and made it easier to line the tart mold.
Of course, I made sure not to make a huge mess, and kept my room really cleaned. It was worth it! Look at my lady finger biscuits! So orderly, even sizes and the shapes is there. Previously when I tried my hands at baking the pear charlotte, my mixture was pretty liquid due to over mixing. But not this time, baby, not this time!
I remembered Chanel came over and was shocked to find that I bake my own ladyfinger biscuits! She initially thought I bought it from a bakery store and just did the assembly. HAHA!
What's a charlotte without a pretty ribbon? In order to create a contrast, I used black ribbons. Pretty isn't it? I can stare at this all day long! That said, this is a cake best eaten on the same day, otherwise it will be all soggy due to humidity.
That said, I will be heading back home in a couple of days' time. I know when I'm back in Bangkok, I'll be missing everybody so much, and I'll need to re adjust myself, my mind and stay focus again. In the meanwhile, I'll just enjoy every single moment here.
I guess only when you are away, you'll know how important home and family is.
I feel guilty at times for not being able to be there for my family members, but I know they are all rooting for me and they have my back. So I will not disappoint them! I'll be heading back to Bangkok this coming Sunday, and intermediate classes will start on Monday, early morning. I'll say "Bring it on, baby!".
I'm so ready for Intermediate! =)
Till then!
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