Thursday, January 07, 2010
Finally finished painting the walls and ceilings of the living room as well as the study room during the weekend. Painted the walls with two different shades of whites. Never realised that white colour would come in a variety..in terms of brightness or darkness. The top layer of the wall was painted with pure white colour and quater of the bottom layer of the wall is painted with the colour named 'sound porcelain' based on the sample given in the dulux brochure. Initially dad and i thought the colour was so different from the sample shown..just looked like the pure white colour. Unexpectedly once we started spreading the paint..behold..it turns out well, still slightly different from the sample..bit grey-ish purple but can pretty much see the different shades of white. Not a huge contrast tho. LOL. I reckon white colour matches any other colours.
We were happy with the results, not to forget the amount of effort pumped in.
*Update 11.01.10*
Celebrated mom's birthday on sunday, I always (used to) make mom a birthday card whenever her birthday is approaching. This year, i thought of doing something special for her. Buying a gift for her is not as practical as i thought yet since i havent earn my own pocket money, it would be equally the same using dad's money to buy mom a gift. I wanted to give her something with some effort placed in it. A card was definitely one of it. So i decided to bake her a cake! haha. This would be my first time baking a cake without supervision.
During the weekdays, i took out all of mom's recipe books....cake decor book...browsed through and decided to bake her walnut cake, since she loved all kinds of nuts...plus i recently bought back 2kg of almond & walnuts all the way frm aus..so it was a score! i thought cheesecake was abit of a challenge maybe next time. I planned to decorate the cake as well, Youtube was a help..watched several videos of how cake frosting is done, how to make 7-minute frosting which did not turn out exactly as i expected when i did it..probably because the boiling water in the pot was touching the pyrex bowl on top of the pot itself. Also learned how to make paper cone..those used to draw patterns or flowers when icing is added.
Dad took friday off (this was unexpected) ahaha, part of it was to sort out my unactivated bank acc...and also get some ingredients to bake mom's cake. I have to hide all the ingredients and not making mom suspicious. So it was Sat, got up super early...did the laundry and immedietly prepare all the baking ingredients, tools etc. Everything was going perfectly. I realised my cake batter is more like batter for biscuits. Doesnt really have a smooth creamy texture..like choc cake batter. I thought something was laking. I added the exact amount of ingredients as stated in the cookery book, except reduced 5g of caster sugar. Then as i flipped to the front pg of the book, it says..eggs come in different sizes..in this recipe we used 3 large eggs..additional of 1 egg is recommended if eggs are not large. Darn it. Should hv added 1 extra egg..since i reckon the egg i used is small or medium. I knew the cake was going to be bit dry and just as well it was not a large cake..perfect size. Next, i placed the cake into the oven...in a round tray of course..but supported by grease proof paper made into a round shape cuz the round tray is too big. Baked the walnut cake for an hour (cooking book says 1-1 1/2 hour). In between, i started preparing the frosting..did some washing up..since i need to hide all the evidence and make the place look as normal as it can be.
After an hour, i think the cake was pretty much cooked..but just to make sure it was fully cook..i added another 10mins of baking. Checked again, im starting to smell some burnt smell haha..the top of the cake was abit burn as shown in the pic..thankfully not the whole cake. Initially it was suppose to be a round cake, after removing the grease proof paper..my cake didnt look as round as i thought...looked so out of shape..but i realised the bottom part is bit pointy..and i could possibly make it into a heartshape. So i took the risk! hahha chopped a small part of it..while waiting for it to cool down before i decorating it.
This is the outcome after decorating..
Also not as planne as i what i hv in mind.. cuz the cake was not thick enough. Did the Happy birthday writtings using Lindnt dark choc- chili flavour as well which i brought back home last year and was not opened yet. Wrote using a paper cone..thanks to Youtube LOL.
Next plan was to hide it. Nearly ran out of idea to hide the cake. good thing it fitted in nicely into one of mom's round container used to put tip-bits for cny. Hid the cake in the fridge at the wet kitchen..since mom wouldnt dig into it unless she has to cook dinner. Cleaned up the kitchen after that. Phewww it was good timing and mom came back without noticing anything lol!!
Went out for buffet dinner at STAR hotel that night to celebrate mom's birthday. Had a good meal,, it was packed with mainly tourist. they were serving International cuisine that night, so for entree..there were fresh oysters,praws,crabs, larger praws, bread, a variety of cheeses and salads. The main meal was mostly chinese stir-fry, roast duck, a variety of indian food..comprised of Naan bread, lamb masalas..there was also kebabs, fried noodles, roast beef, skewers, omg long list to go..of course i couldnt manage to try all the dishes!! The dessert was mouth watering, cheesecake,...choc cake...creme brule........it was all yummy and sinful at the same time. I wanted to eat more ahahaha but my stomach was overloaded. That is the outcome of buffet. I reckon some of the food had lots of ajinomoto in it, cuz i was so thristy!! and blame of drinking too much water...that made me full quickly HAHA
Headed home and mom stomach wasnt feeling well. Some indigestion goin on, her stomach was producing some air and she just needed to let it out. It was so uncomfortable for her. Luckily the eucalyptus oil was abit of a help and burping out the air. Mom felt asleep on the chair and i was talking to dad till 12midnite. Then we decided to surprise mom!
Ahh i was so excited all over, my hands tend to shake if im nervous of over excited. Urgh hate it. So dad was the cameraman..he woke mom up and we sang happy birthday to her. Mom's facial expression was just blank...filled with blurness hhaaha. Then she said owww i was born pass 12midnight (for real, i didnt even know till that day). She kept asking..'you bought the cake or made it'..hahaha abit of disbelief...so i said 'ma is it possible to find such slightly distorted cake like that in the shop'?
Hahah it went well! mom was happy!!
Surprisingly on sunday, i went shopping with mom..dad dropped us at centrepoint and he went to sort out his things. Before that, Mom baked bread as well and the bread will finish baking in an two hours time..so dad voluntered to dropped us at the mall and he will come back and take the bread out of the breadmaker once he sort out his things.
By 3.30pm dad came and pick us up, went home and have a cup of tea..cut mom's bday cake at the same time and took some pic. Then dad told me there is a present in the drawer..so and so..i was like 'huh? present? since when'?
Surprisingly Dad bought mom a gift hahaa..a crucifix gold pendent. Lovely. This is so not my dad....but anyway mom was thrilled to bits!
So that was a good weekend. I have exactly 1more month in KK before i return to Aus. Geez time is flying!!!
We were happy with the results, not to forget the amount of effort pumped in.
*Update 11.01.10*Celebrated mom's birthday on sunday, I always (used to) make mom a birthday card whenever her birthday is approaching. This year, i thought of doing something special for her. Buying a gift for her is not as practical as i thought yet since i havent earn my own pocket money, it would be equally the same using dad's money to buy mom a gift. I wanted to give her something with some effort placed in it. A card was definitely one of it. So i decided to bake her a cake! haha. This would be my first time baking a cake without supervision.
During the weekdays, i took out all of mom's recipe books....cake decor book...browsed through and decided to bake her walnut cake, since she loved all kinds of nuts...plus i recently bought back 2kg of almond & walnuts all the way frm aus..so it was a score! i thought cheesecake was abit of a challenge maybe next time. I planned to decorate the cake as well, Youtube was a help..watched several videos of how cake frosting is done, how to make 7-minute frosting which did not turn out exactly as i expected when i did it..probably because the boiling water in the pot was touching the pyrex bowl on top of the pot itself. Also learned how to make paper cone..those used to draw patterns or flowers when icing is added.
Dad took friday off (this was unexpected) ahaha, part of it was to sort out my unactivated bank acc...and also get some ingredients to bake mom's cake. I have to hide all the ingredients and not making mom suspicious. So it was Sat, got up super early...did the laundry and immedietly prepare all the baking ingredients, tools etc. Everything was going perfectly. I realised my cake batter is more like batter for biscuits. Doesnt really have a smooth creamy texture..like choc cake batter. I thought something was laking. I added the exact amount of ingredients as stated in the cookery book, except reduced 5g of caster sugar. Then as i flipped to the front pg of the book, it says..eggs come in different sizes..in this recipe we used 3 large eggs..additional of 1 egg is recommended if eggs are not large. Darn it. Should hv added 1 extra egg..since i reckon the egg i used is small or medium. I knew the cake was going to be bit dry and just as well it was not a large cake..perfect size. Next, i placed the cake into the oven...in a round tray of course..but supported by grease proof paper made into a round shape cuz the round tray is too big. Baked the walnut cake for an hour (cooking book says 1-1 1/2 hour). In between, i started preparing the frosting..did some washing up..since i need to hide all the evidence and make the place look as normal as it can be.
After an hour, i think the cake was pretty much cooked..but just to make sure it was fully cook..i added another 10mins of baking. Checked again, im starting to smell some burnt smell haha..the top of the cake was abit burn as shown in the pic..thankfully not the whole cake. Initially it was suppose to be a round cake, after removing the grease proof paper..my cake didnt look as round as i thought...looked so out of shape..but i realised the bottom part is bit pointy..and i could possibly make it into a heartshape. So i took the risk! hahha chopped a small part of it..while waiting for it to cool down before i decorating it.
This is the outcome after decorating..
Also not as planne as i what i hv in mind.. cuz the cake was not thick enough. Did the Happy birthday writtings using Lindnt dark choc- chili flavour as well which i brought back home last year and was not opened yet. Wrote using a paper cone..thanks to Youtube LOL.
Next plan was to hide it. Nearly ran out of idea to hide the cake. good thing it fitted in nicely into one of mom's round container used to put tip-bits for cny. Hid the cake in the fridge at the wet kitchen..since mom wouldnt dig into it unless she has to cook dinner. Cleaned up the kitchen after that. Phewww it was good timing and mom came back without noticing anything lol!!
Went out for buffet dinner at STAR hotel that night to celebrate mom's birthday. Had a good meal,, it was packed with mainly tourist. they were serving International cuisine that night, so for entree..there were fresh oysters,praws,crabs, larger praws, bread, a variety of cheeses and salads. The main meal was mostly chinese stir-fry, roast duck, a variety of indian food..comprised of Naan bread, lamb masalas..there was also kebabs, fried noodles, roast beef, skewers, omg long list to go..of course i couldnt manage to try all the dishes!! The dessert was mouth watering, cheesecake,...choc cake...creme brule........it was all yummy and sinful at the same time. I wanted to eat more ahahaha but my stomach was overloaded. That is the outcome of buffet. I reckon some of the food had lots of ajinomoto in it, cuz i was so thristy!! and blame of drinking too much water...that made me full quickly HAHA
Headed home and mom stomach wasnt feeling well. Some indigestion goin on, her stomach was producing some air and she just needed to let it out. It was so uncomfortable for her. Luckily the eucalyptus oil was abit of a help and burping out the air. Mom felt asleep on the chair and i was talking to dad till 12midnite. Then we decided to surprise mom!
Ahh i was so excited all over, my hands tend to shake if im nervous of over excited. Urgh hate it. So dad was the cameraman..he woke mom up and we sang happy birthday to her. Mom's facial expression was just blank...filled with blurness hhaaha. Then she said owww i was born pass 12midnight (for real, i didnt even know till that day). She kept asking..'you bought the cake or made it'..hahaha abit of disbelief...so i said 'ma is it possible to find such slightly distorted cake like that in the shop'?
Hahah it went well! mom was happy!!
Surprisingly on sunday, i went shopping with mom..dad dropped us at centrepoint and he went to sort out his things. Before that, Mom baked bread as well and the bread will finish baking in an two hours time..so dad voluntered to dropped us at the mall and he will come back and take the bread out of the breadmaker once he sort out his things.
By 3.30pm dad came and pick us up, went home and have a cup of tea..cut mom's bday cake at the same time and took some pic. Then dad told me there is a present in the drawer..so and so..i was like 'huh? present? since when'?
Surprisingly Dad bought mom a gift hahaa..a crucifix gold pendent. Lovely. This is so not my dad....but anyway mom was thrilled to bits!
So that was a good weekend. I have exactly 1more month in KK before i return to Aus. Geez time is flying!!!
11:04 PM