[penning down]

watching : House MD Season 8

Sunnie was nursing a cough since last week and with his CC organizing so many excursions for this month. It seems wise to me on packing him some packed snacks instead of the school pre-packed snacks ( biscuits and stuff )

He being a fan of my sun-dried & olive Focaccia( he calls them pizza bread ) , i knew that was the best thing to make for him.

I always follows the Focaccia recipe from happyhomebaking, which is very gorgeous in its way. and rustic with it chewy interior and hard crust. But being asian, i still prefer the interior to be slightly more pillowy.
From some of the info i gather, by mixing plain flour it makes the yeast ferment faster and the wetter the dough, the longer the fermentation is.
Which such , i began my experiment. 2 different foccacia recipes ( measurements ) from happy home baking

• Rosemary & Garlic Focaccia
• Rosemary & Olive Oil Focaccia

Both alterations, are as the below ration of bread flour : plain flour : water : yeast

• 4 ( 200g ) : 1 ( 50g ) : 137.5ml : 5g
• 2 ( 200g ) : 1 ( 100g ) : 190ml : 7g

i also omitted the rosemary and garlic by replacing them with dried mixed herbs ( use fresh if u can ) and also 200g of sundried tomatoes ( diced & squeezed ) & 50g of black olives ( diced & squeezed ).

*P.S. i always ask for some oil to store the sundried tomatoes and use them in my bread and also the drizzling of olive oil after.
The dough is to rest thrice, 1st after kneading for 10 - 15 mins till dough is soft and silky for 1 hr, 2nd after pouching them down for another 1 hr, the last time to rest the dough was 30 mins after i did the indentation of the dough.

Verdict 1 : Dough rise faster. Exterior was crusty in nature, have more chew on the bread than Experiment 2.
Verdict 2 : Dough dun rise as much. Exterior was crusty as well , bread was softer and absorbs oil faster. Sorry no pics … nxt time then

slurping up a bowl of Post Cereal with Strawberry Milk

So officially i did participate in the Food Revolution Day we had in Sg. Never realise but i did, hehehe. But that is just any Saturday for me being exhausted and all. Ever since i have my new place, i am making it an habit to churn out cakes & sorts for the weekends.

And just last weekend, i did stick to the principles of Food Rev by preparing the below dishes :

• Ginger & Onion Dip ( painfully grating ginger and slicing the spring onions )
• Cantonese Chicken ( Salt coated and stuffed with spring onion , garlic and lemon and keep the au jus hehehe )
• Sambal Petai
• Steamed minced meat with egg
• Old Melon Soup
• Dessert : Souffle Cheesecake Cups / Buttermilk Chocolate Cake

And yesh … i do love to cook
Post Note : I FINALLY BOUGHT MY KITCHEN AID !!!

watching : KONY 2012

Now i know this is going on and on in the internet as the directors have agreed that it is an social media experiment and which i have to give my 2 cents on it.. and yes i already said my piece in fb and merely copying it here.

Invisible Children is operating an organization like the old ‘NKF’ …

From http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/

“Invisible Children has been condemned time and time again. As a registered not-for-profit, its finances are public. Last year, the organization spent $8,676,614. Only 32% went to direct services (page 6), with much of the rest going to st…aff salaries, travel and transport, and film production. This is far from ideal, and Charity Navigator rates their accountability 2/4 stars because they haven’t had their finances externally audited. But it goes way deeper than that.”

i am a parent myself so pls trust me on how much i despise the kids slavery and prostitution, and i definately agree on the idea to have Joesph Kony ousted should be promoted. But listed in the video, it is also very much on spreading the word for Invisible Children. Thus please think twice before promoting/donating and if you do, decide to promote the event, please spread the correct and actual facts.

Lastly, i shall quote Katie J.M. Baker from Jezebel :
If Kony 2012 inspired you to donate money to the region, check out these charities, all of which received four star ratings on Charity Navigator: AMREF USA, Doctors Without Borders, and Water.org.

watching : 家政婦のミタ

I am always a fan of J drama and hearing how good this is, i just knew i have to get it. I also have a pet peeve to watch the foreign drama in their own language and rely on subtitles. I simply cant tolerate voice-over as i tink it juz hinders the flow of the show .. hehehe

Anyway just another short update on the renovation :

• Granite top for the kitchen top & bathroom up
• Kitchen cabinets up
• Electrical appliances coming tomorrow
• Curtains installation by tomorrow and monday
• Purchase of tv TOMORROW at IT show ( arghhzz the crowdsssss )

Pending :

• Layering of Wall decals for the rooms
• Final Cleaning !!!!

Ramdom quote of the day :
“It matters not whether you win or lose; what matters is whether *I* win or lose.”

All seems to be fairly together now.
The cupboards are being up by today and by thurdays the granite will be up as well. By which, we will only need to get items to fit in like our beds , sofa, consoles and any other electronics items..
Which reminds me that there will be an IT show coming and there we shall aim…

By which, i finally managed to clear off some of the procrastinating stuff that i have been dragging. Which comes to document the items here,

• Fridge Samsung RT45GEIS
• Washer LG WD1070MDS
• Dryer Ariston

they will all be delivered by 9th March and fitted
Well there ends my update for now .. Taaaa

watching : Big Bang Theory

And yes i am very childish to watch Skip Beat ! but i seriously prefer taiwan idol drama than any other KR drama .. sorry k-addicts …

Anyway how was chinese new year for everyone ?
Other than hb being in sg for just 3 days, everyday is just the ordinary for me ..

But still the renovation is getting on quite well.
Floorings are all done ( tiles for the living room , laminates for the rooms ) , trunking done for the air-con , electricity outlets done , and so is the false ceiling today ..
Which after the lights & fans will be up soon

Painting and aircon will be up by nxt week and finally carpentry … Lastly all is done and my nightmare is over …
To be truthfully, renovation is a nightmare for me coz i am the one mostly coordinating the whole project ( and becoz i am actually quite a picky person. ).
Due to hb being overseas most of the time, i have to make the crucial decision and i actually hate it … Not becoz i like to make decisions but i am unsure whether the decision i made satisfy hb or nt .. And Hb sometimes nt of very much help, coz he being him as casual as he is, am fine with anything

Now i need to source many different items :

• - dining table ( from ikea i suppose )
• - dining chairs
• - sofa
• - Fridge
• - Washer
• - Dryer

And yes i am repeating the above list from the last 3 post only becoz i am procrastinating ….

reading : Sidney Sheldon’s After the Darkness ( Kindle )

Well another week is over, the renovation is now still on progress. Had some troubles on the floor level and finally argued my way up to hve the hdb contractor to saw the doors of my place .. long story for tht and i will nt bother to jot it down here ..

While the tiling of the flat is being done , i finally bought the aircon for the flat
- Sharp Inverter with Plasmacluster® Ions : System 3 
costing us abt 3120 

I have also planned a couple of things for bb stuff :

• 2-in-1 Storage Bench cum Study Table - 120
• 12 Bin Toy Organizer - 150
• Airplane Book Shelf - 90  Safari Book Shelf - 150
• Bedside Table - 120

Total : 480 (1,2,3i,4) or 540 (1,2,3ii,4)

And thus we have the remaining items to purchase :
- Fridge ( 1k )
- Washer ( 700 )
- Dryer ( 700 )
- Dining Table ( 400 )
- Sofa ( 1.5k )
- Tv Console ( 500 )
- TV ( 800 )
- Shoe Rack ( 300 )
- Queen Bed ( 1.3k )
- Single Bed ( 800 )
Total pending : 8000 

Expiduture :
- Kitchen Set ( 2k )
- Air con ( 3k )
- Lighting ( 3.2k )
- Bathroom Accessories ( 1.3k )

Total spent : 9.5k

Ramdom quote of the day :
” Why do people say, ‘you’ve been working like a dog’ when dogs just sit around all day?”
watching : Daddy 101 xinmsn
Hb was back from KR on 22nd Dec and just flew back yesterday night , so it has been a relaxing 10 days for me with bb sticking like glue to hb.

Was on leave for the two eve of 2011 in order to do the following :
- Meet up with Contractor and cfm on details
- have some alone time with hb

Bought ourselves tons of stuffs :
- Ariston Hob ( 489 )
- Deliza Hood ( 789 )
- Ariston Oven ( 799 )
- Sink ( 489 )
- Tap ( 138 )
- Storage Heater ( 289 )
- Tap Mixer ( 285 )
- Bidet Spray ( 98 )
- Toilet Roll holder ( 49 * 2 )
- Toiletries Holder ( 38 * 2 )
- PL Down-Light ( 28 *4 )
- LED Down-Light ( 6 * 138 )
- Ceiling Fan ( 2 * 348 )
- Wall Fan ( 138 )
- Rectangular Light ( 3 * 168 )
- Round Light ( 3 * 78 )
Total Damage  : 2k + 3.5K + 1.3k = 6.8k

So we still need to cover the below ( estimated budget ):
- Air Con ( 3k )
- Fridge ( 1k )
- Washer ( 700 )
- Dryer ( 700 )
- Dining Table ( 400 )
- Sofa ( 1.5k )
- Tv Console ( 500 )
- TV ( 800 )
- Shoe Rack ( 300 )
- Queen Bed ( 1.3k )
- Single Bed ( 800 )
- Study Table ( 500 )

Pending : 7000 ( estimated )
Very broke now :(