Thursday, November 14, 2013
Rice Cooker Cooking!
So the story was, my manager decided to have a bet as to who will be able to lose 3kg in a month. The rules were that it has to be healthy dieting, and assuming there were 2 participants that lost 2.90kg and 2.95kg, the 2.95kg participant wins and you will lose if you go over 3kg. There has got to be some incentive in this isn't it? The wager was set at S$100 from EACH participant, and the winner takes ALL.
My colleague, Y, and I decided to take part. And I had thought about investing in a mini rice cooker for the office for quite some time now and Y was eager too.
Cost us S$29.90 but hey, there's a steamer too. It's not your fuzzy logic type rice cooker - I much prefer these type of rice cookers because you can "trick" the mechanism.
So lunch on Day 2 (yesterday) was
Bee Hoon (Rice Vermicelli) with Chinese Spinach, Chicken Fillets and Fishballs.
Our prep that was done in the office.
Tada! The bee hoon was a tad overcooked but we were not particular and it was a satisfying lunch.
And just now for Day 3, we made
Chicken Breasts and Chinese Mushrooms marinated with Oyster Sauce and Steam Xiao Bai Cai (Bok Choy) with Mixed Brown Rice.
Washed the rice and it was a one pot meal.
We had added the Xiao Bai Cai much later into the cooking process, hence when the rice was done the vegetables were slightly undercooked. We mixed it with the rice and kept it at "Warm" for about 10 minutes and it was done! We added too much water to the rice too, so that is something to note for tomorrow's meal. :)
Given the eccentric (rain and/or shine) weather the last couple of days, we are quite happy that we do not have to head out to the nearest mall for lunch and squeeze with the crowd. Hope this enthusiasm lasts!
Permalink \ j as m i n e _ left you a note at 1:14:00 pm
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Not easy being a mother, but I don't regret it.
Brings new meaning to Life!
Appreciate my personal time much more too.
Permalink \ j as m i n e _ left you a note at 10:03:00 pm
Monday, October 10, 2011
I still find it hard to believe that I am a mother now.
The past few months have been very eventful. All started off with a job offer in January. Exciting opportunity to explore regional role for recruitment. The headaches came and I thought must be the work stress hence hypertension got more severe etc. But then I just had that gut feeling that I could be pregnant. So I was. It was a difficult time for me, March and April. I was given 2 weeks MC in March and warded in April. However, workload was still the same and I had a tough time catching up. After speaking to Jay and my Mum, I decided to leave my job. Cried about it, but then I thought hey it's just a job, isn't it? :\
I was not fond of the idea that I had no income. I am not one who likes to depend on other people if I could do it myself. Looked for a part-time tuition centre job close to home, working max 6 hours a day earning $6/hour but it was a little pocket money for myself and to pay for some of the gynae visits.
In May, started to have little bubbles on my palms and soles, which developed into water blisters. Not sure what I came in contact with but that had to be one of the worst period of my Life. Angry red rashes spread throughout my body too. Cried daily as no one around me could comprehend my situation and I was 5 months pregnant then. Warded in July as I had fever and developed pus in my rashes. Felt really lousy throughout the pregnancy as I see other mothers-to-be in the same forum go for maternity shoots and had great skin.
Had to induce her she was not growing well due to my hypertension.
Ahh my Life.
Permalink \ j as m i n e _ left you a note at 2:26:00 pm
Monday, May 16, 2011
This was my lunch for today. Mum bought organic spinach, must eat healthy! The little squirts is thousand island dressing..HahA!
Made dinner for Jay this afternoon..chicken stew that I learnt from my Mum!
End product (with otah and spinach on the side)
Yum?
Permalink \ j as m i n e _ left you a note at 9:36:00 pm
Friday, March 11, 2011
Excited? Worried?
All rolled into one.
Permalink \ j as m i n e _ left you a note at 4:06:00 pm
Monday, January 31, 2011
On this post-it's-been-raining-nonstop-for-3-freakin-days chilly night, I just thought about:
- Getting lost in Yaohan when I was 4, but walking to the info counter and had them announced over the intercom that I was looking for my parents, and how proud my parents were of me
- Awarded Edusave Bursary twice
- Placed 3rd for creative writing composition and having that composition up on the school's notice board
- Being the only road traffic monitor in class
Oh how I thought the world of those achievements. They seem so small and insignificant now.
Permalink \ j as m i n e _ left you a note at 8:42:00 pm
Sunday, January 23, 2011
In the blink of an eye, the first month of 2011 is going to come to an end.
Was down with a bad flu the first week of the new year. Upon recovering, I met up with ex-colleagues Anne and Tiffany, along with Kayla for a sumptuous buffet feast at Oscar's. That same week I had the same buffet with Sophie, Evangeline and Candace. I really enjoyed the catch-up dinners that week, it felt too long! And again just on Tuesday, Sue gave me a unexpected treat at Oscar's! It is never boring with Sue and we always have something to talk about. Have yet to meet up with the Easties but CNY is not too far away so I guess that's a good opportunity. Same goes for the Purple Sage gang! It's been yonks since I've remembered heading to the KTV on a work day with Jane, Jenna, Rui Ting, Lilin, Michelle, Patrick! I'm sure we have plenty to catch up!
I've been gorging myself with yummies since the wedding, and I put back on the hefty 5kg that I lost! So after CNY it's back to vegetarian diet once more to get "back in shape". HahA! So how are you going to spend your CNY?
Permalink \ j as m i n e _ left you a note at 7:24:00 pm
Sunday, December 26, 2010
"How's married Life" is what I have been getting a lot these couple of weeks at family/friend gatherings.
I guess it is not really "married Life" until it is just the both of you? Plus it is a really odd arrangement we have now; Jay stays at his place on his work days and only comes over to my place when he is not. So we only stay together at home 3 or 4 days out of 7 days in a week? It is primarily due to the fact that there is a direct place from his home to his company (and there are days when he has to reach work at 7am!). So I felt it didn't make sense for him to stay at my place when he has to take bus-train-bus-walk to his company.
Regardless, it has been very sedentary as well in view of the festive season. Since the wedding I have put on 3kg and I think Jay has put on double that HahA. I keep telling myself to eat lesser/go vegetarian the next week but it's been many 'next weeks' and I have finally decided to blog and officially state I will go on vegetarian from 1 January onwards (except special occasions) HahA!
Nonetheless, it feels that we are closer now that we are married, and he takes even better care of me now which I'm ashamed to say I have not done as well. Work has been frustrating me quite a bit and I have been neglecting a lot of family and friends.
I guess the choice is pretty clear?
Permalink \ j as m i n e _ left you a note at 5:17:00 pm
There were plenty of things to worry about in 2010. Managing work and (school) work. Planning a wedding. Finding time to spend with my family and Jay. And then news came my Boss is due for maternity leave from June to early August. I guess that period of time must have been the most stressful period for me, having to deal with final semester, (October) wedding and reports/ad-hoc duties at work. I really wonder how I made it through that period. Definitely some brains cells must have died in the process.
Now that I've graduated and became a Mrs., somehow the worrying don't seem to stop. Actually, I worry about other matters. Like how can I go for cervical cancer vaccination when I am pressured to have a child, my Dad's health (always thinking about it), my Mum's mood swings which screams "menopause has arrived!", housing matters, financial matters (saving for "emergency fund"). At this point the most worrying seems to be financial matters.
I don't think and I hope we are/will be poor in the sense to make ends meets. I feel we can, it's just that there is not much savings and somehow there's an alarm going off in my head how should I manage my money blah blah blah. Of course I am saving already and trying *somewhat* hard not to spend it all away, but seeing your friends having it their way do doesn't bring much of a moral booster?
For example my sister in law. Her fiance and her recently got a car, bought the DBSS apartment at Simei and getting married next year and they seem to be taking it really easy. Looking back at how Jay and I scrambled to save up for a wedding in 8 months seem to be really sad/funny. I don't know. Maybe it's quarter-Life Jasmine talking here. And my secondary school classmate who is also blissfully married to her husband who also has a car, bought their resale flat and both having stable careers.
With all respect I am not talking about materialistic needs/desires here. I just wonder how they make it because I want to be like that. To have good financial sense and to be able to manage my money properly so that I have money when I need it. I want to take my Mum on a well deserved holiday to Hokkaido like she always wanted, with plenty of money for her to spend. To build railings etc at home for my Dad and provide him with better medical needs. I want have a home of our own with Jay, and have child so that my Dad can see his grandson/daughter.
Or maybe I am just thinking too much.
Permalink \ j as m i n e _ left you a note at 4:59:00 pm
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Oh it has *really* been a while!
Permalink \ j as m i n e _ left you a note at 12:53:00 pm
currently
michelle's clubtee