Strawberries Strawberries Straaaaaawbeeeeeerries!!!

Again again. My entry's been dawdled like I'm the busiest person in this entire universe but the fact that I was actually doing nothing since my 4 nights. I, WASTED 2 WHOLE DAYS, lying in bed, watching telly. My schedule was "eat, lie down, eat, lie down, eat some more, and lie down some more". Haa! I was soooooooo extremely shagged from the 4 nights I almost swore never to do 4 nights ever again (I need the extra cash seriously). Good thing I'm on leave this week. Or should I say good thing sister "encouraged" me to take the week off so I don't get to bring forward my extra leave to next year and I get time off from the craziness at work. Oh well, I get to go for Camp Rainbow though. Coincident or fate, whichever. :)

Okays, if you ever asked, I would say my favourite fruit is Strawberry, period. Like all time favourite. Haha. So it took me quite some time to decide to bake this. Reason, I'm not confident enough and I don't think I reached the level where I can bake with just any fruit/ingredient given to me. I'd rather eat the fruit on its own than throw it away with my failed baking. Haa.


And seriously, I had a back up plan with this. If I really did fail in these strawberry cuppycakes, I'll keep quiet, secretly chuck them into the bin and pretend I didn't bake anything at all.

These are quite easy cupcakes I would say. Basic vanilla cake with fresh strawberries in it. I thought it would be better, say more distinct flavour, if I added the strawberries after I scooped the batter into the cupcake cases. Turned out to be too overwhelming so I mixed them into the batter instead. That resulted ok. Haa. I accidentally poured too much vanilla extract into the mixture though. Lucky it wasn't way too much that it became overpowering.

I almost cried when I tasted the first cupcake. No, not that its too delicious but I thought they tasted like banana cakes (I hate bananas)! Haa. I ate them when they were still warm so I tried again later at work and they were ok. Tasted like strawberry cake. LOL!

I frosted just ONE with the strawberry slice, solely for photo taking purpose. :) Was the first night of my 4 so I didn't have the energy to finish the batch with frostings. Not until my 2nd night. So those with the colourful sugar balls were frosted later.

I think I'm getting better with my frostings! No more 'sweet till you'll get diabetes stat' frostings!

Vanilla Bean CuppyCakes!

Gosh, look at the date. It's 11 MAY right now! This was supposed to be posted like what, 2 weeks ago?

Okays, works been extreeeeeeeeemely busy, I got sick and was too tired to blog. Numbers had been increasing in a SCARY manner at work. With our highest record of 730 when our norm was say 300-400 per day. Oh, number of patients.. forgot to mention. I had one granny who commented, "You guys work like you're fighting a war!". Haa. Yes, like you don't even have space to walk. And with the new batch of doctors (doctors rotate at every 3 or 6 months), it just makes everything worse. This batch I would say is irritatingly stubborn. I have NEVER in my entire 4 years as a staff nurse quarrelled with a doctor. (Literally shouting at each other kind of quarrel.) But I just did to one few days back. All I have to say is, as a nurse, it is my duty to serve and MY RESPONSIBILITY to make sure my patients get the correct stuff, even if its just PEDIALYTE(oral rehydration solution). I don't care what you practice in other hospitals or what you do in the army. This is a pediatric setting, NOT THE ARMY, and you f-ing stop comparing the patients here with those NS BOYS! I didn't know you can produce 30mls of saliva in 15mins. *Rolls eyes*

Okays, back to the cuppycakes. This was baked when the previous batch of doctors were still here. Aww, I miss them. Er.. actually I just miss working with him. Haa! Shit me.

Vanilla triple threat. Baked with real vanilla beans, vanilla sugar (I made) and pure vanilla extract. All the vanilla goodness in one small little cake. Oh, vanilla bean cream cheese frosting as well. This one is REEEAAAAL GOOD. Not trying to be thick skinned, but seriously, I'm very happy with the result. With its just nice sweetness, the vanilla flavour lingers in your mouth after every bite. I was craving for it even when at work. Brought some to work and it was gone even before the shift ended! Of course, I had comments which I really liked hearing. Haa! Joy said she still preferred the chocolate ones though. :)

Oh, I baked some white chocolate and cranberries cupcakes as well, out of boredom. No frostings so not counted. Hee.

The Cranberries were rather heavy so they eventually sank to the bottom. Will try dropping it after filling the cases if I ever bake this again. *Grins*

Next up, straaaaaawwbeeeeerries!!!!!!!

ThreeSixty Marketplace

Otherwise known as the Premium Supermarket (read: atas+++). If you think that the MarketPlace at Paragon or Raffles City is high class enough then you should really pop by this one at Ion Orchard. Yes, I was searching for atas baking ingredients AGAIN.

Although not very happy with the pricing, but I was, very happy with the stuffs they carried. Exclusive high end ang mo brands like Valrhona Chocolates, Hediard's luxury confectioneries, Waitrose.. bla bla.. Just minus the screaming and jumping as I browsed through the shelves cos I was alone. Haa! That was how excited I was. And no, I didn't buy all those at one go cos neither the recent salary increment nor the 200 bucks NTUC vouchers are enough/worth the splurge. Haa!

And (I would say special) ingredients like er.. Himalayan Pink Salt, Quinoa flour, Arrowroot Powder (those funny looking plant they grow during CNY), Rose Petal Jelly, Lavender Sugar, and PINK PEPPERCORNS!! Who da hell uses PINK PEPPERCORNS during our day-to-day cooking??!! Especially in asian homes. *Rolls eyes*

Look at the PINK crystals! :)

Okays, just these few pictures otherwise I'll look like a freak snapping pictures of supermarket shelves. Haa. Didn't manage to snap those Valrhonas cos there were salespersonssssss at the counter though nobody was buying nothing. Hediard was right next to the cashier so.. yea, gotta be discrete laa. Those I took were at like far far deserted corners. :)

Oh, they have cuppycakes APRON, OVEN MITTS and COOLING PADS!! No no, not lappy cooling pads. Haha. Like cooling racks, the cooling pads to cool cuppycakes. Quite dumb actually. But really cute laaaa! Only thing I bought was...

Plain cupcake cases. I think second to those classy looking pleated cake cases are these. Okays, which ever. I think PLAIN WHITE cupcake cases are classy, period. 100 cases for $4.50, quite reasonable laaa. In fact I would say its cheap for Waitrose products. :)

Okays, shall end abruptly like this. I'm tired of typing.

CuppyCakes No. 2: Minty Coconut Milk


Found this recipe like really randomly. I thought the photos looked really gorgeous so I decided to bake it as well, not knowing the outcome will be like what it was. The frostings are intensely, gives-me-goosebumps-ly SWEET! Gosh, I could sense my diabetes coming with just 1 bite. Haa. BUT, I got this totally unexpected review from Dr Chin. She commented, "I love the frostings! Its really good!".

I almost fainted.

Frostings are just plain buttercream frosting (that sucks) and the cakes are, erm... minty coconut milk with desiccated coconut. Haa. Very comprehensive description I know. Cakes are abit heavy, I agree. Not sure if its the butter I used. They ran out of the usual brand (I prefer) so I just grabbed the only unsalted butter available (and the last pack of 3), out of desperation. I thought it felt funny, like more creamy, while beating thou. Will try to finish it with the triple choco I'm gona do tomorrow for night shift. :)

Oh, and no more buttercream frostings! :)

Triple choco cuppy cakes.

Okays, this should have been up like eons ago. Er... nah, just last week. No time Too lazy to post it here since I already done it in fb. Haa. Its baked specially for Joycelyn, her birthday. :) I call it triple choco cos its everything chocolate, duh. Black from inside out, literally. Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate filling and made-a-mess-anyhow chocolate frosting. *Grins*

This shall be the first entry in my cuppy cake journal. Ain't gona count the very first which I made. Those without frostings, cos it ain't a cupcake if its without frostings! Haa. Thats all for now! :)

Vanilla beans!!!! Finally found them at Paragon's Market Place. Sighs. All I can say is, atas ingredient can only be found in atas places, like the one mentioned. Haa. And the one I bought is not the most atas. There's this other brand's vanilla beans, or vanilla pods which ever, which costs 14 bucks for 2 small little beans/pods can!! I almost got that cos it was the first thing I saw. Thank God I walked the whole market place laa. Just when I was about to give up, I saw this, which costs $13.50 for 3 long beans/pods. Cheaper but still looked quite class laa. *Grins*

Ever since I started reading about baking/cupcakes only did I found out that, vanilla, the more than often forgotten flavour is actually quite an atas ingredient in the baking/cooking industry. And those cheap vanilla essences we get from supermarkets are nothing but FAKE or artificial vanilla flavouring. Some do not even contain real vanilla. Haa. Perhaps thats also why it's become such a neglected flavour, cos we're not tasting the real thing. LOL! So now that I found the vanilla beans, my next project will (obviously) be none other than vanilla cuppy cakes! After I make the vanilla sugar, that is. :)

Saw this cute little grater while walking down the aisles and I just have to get it! But I reckoned I can use it to grate chocolate shavings and stuff so its not really a buy-on-impluse thing ya. :)

Went on to Kinokuniya after that to browse through some books la. Been awhile since I last stepped into a bookstore or library (Oh, I did during my adv dip, to do assignments mainly). Haa. Not that I don't like to read. But me being the lazy me, all I ever want is to lie in bed and do brainless stuff (like watch telly or fb) after I get home from work everyday. Work is draining enough to even have any brain matter left. Haa.

But today I wanted to checkout how much that Martha Stewart's cupcake book costs so... yea. 45 bucks for one book. Okays, too much a splurge for me. Soooo, I bought this other one instead. TEN BUCKS for a 200 recipes cookbook! Plus there's savoury cupcake recipes! As you know, I'm not exactly a sweet tooth so, SAVOURY IS MY CALL! I suppose. Haa. And there's cupcakes for adults (read: alcohol content). So all you alcoholics out there, this is for you laaaa. Oh, did I mention that its just freakin 10 bucks already?! Haaaaa! Okays, to be exact, its $10.17. Lalalala.

AND.... I've decided. I'm gona keep a notebook of all the cuppy cakes I baked. Like those journal tingy. Haa. So after my tenth, I shall reward myself with that Martha Stewart's book. :) Something to keep myself motivated. *Grins.

Shagged from Hazmat training. Dehydrated +++++. Haa. The way I perspire.. will not lose to some guys I bet. Even Yanti was shocked at the amount of sweat my body produced. Her rubber gloves got wet just from adjusting my hoodie before we stepped in the smoke chamber. Haa! She didn't even touch my face laaa. Okays, in case you're wondering, the hazmat training requires you to wear the chemical agent (CA) suit and APPRECIATE the difficulties faced when working in that alien-looking suit.


Anyways, thank God that KK's designated triage area during a Hazmat incident is at the taxi stand (read: sheltered) if not, like today we only stood under the hot sun for a mere 15 mins, I'll just perspire till I dry out and DIE. Haa.

Joy's birthday's tomorrow and I am sooo gona bake her cuppy cakes. Crossing my fingers and hoping the frostings will turn out ok and the little cupcakes will turn out pretty.. :)





Gosh, even my entry is so no-strength. Zzz...

Cuppy Cakes!!

Finally, moved my arse to bake those little cupcakes. *Grins.
Been wanting to bake, read blog after blogs of cupcake making, of course I drooled after looking at some. Haa. Okays, not really a sweet tooth but the cupcake photos looked bladdy tasty and pretty, I couldn't help it laaa. So I went picking baking stuffs like cupcake liners/cups, piping bag, and the ingredients here and there. The butter was parked in my fridge for a few weeks I think. Haa, but not to worry, they don't spoil that fast. :)

Yes. Plain choco cuppy cakes. Very good for virgin cupcake baking I would say. *Gloats. The muffins previously were kinda erm... unsuccessful. Haa. So I didn't wana start off with those really fancy stuff, and I thought its wisest to do chocolatta, the most acceptable flavor.

Brought some for BFF Kevin when I went visiting just now. He's admitted for unstable angina. :( But its like the best time to bring it for him though his dietician told him to cut down on unhealthy food. Haa. Should have taken a photo of him gobbling down the cupcakes. The look on his face was.... rewarding. Haha. He even licked the papers clean can!

Okays, enough of praising myself here. The girls shall taste it on friday at my place! Prolly with some icing, if I have time. ;)

Butterflies in my tummy. Hates the feeling of uncertainty. Sighs. Worry too much maybe? Or am I just being.. woman. Is this what I really want? Though I have already, more or less, decided on what to do. Thats the thing. Choosing between what to do and what I want, any difference? But of course. Cos what I want may not be what's right to do. Duh~  Oh well, nonsense me. I'm so blaady fucking sleepy laaaaaaa.

Oh, Body Worlds' closing and I f-ing have not stepped in there yet. Rolls eyes. Sounds silly if i go alone eh? Maybe I should just face the fact that I might miss it once again.

Argh~~ I want a simple life!!

Gosh, I'm so messed.

Bank de Idea

Happy Lunar New Year to ALLLLL!!~
Been really busy recently with I don't know what, seriously. Maybe weddings (no, not me), CNY, work.. lotsa stuff. Which explains the lack of posts, or rather, short little previous entries. Each time I click on the 'new post' button my mind goes ___________________ literally. Too tired to think even nonsense.


So, now that I have a wee bit of time, and I don't really wana "neglect" this place of mine, shall share a little of my erm... joy, to whoever's reading this (yes, thats you.).


As you can see, Bank de Idea a.k.a. BDI, is what we have the hospital have for every staff to 'bank' in ideas that can either improve on work processes, increase patient satisfaction or say, have a better working environment. BUT, for some reason (I see as most people are in disfavor of changes) this BDI tingy had been neglected for quite awhile, especially my department.


Okays, I'm getting tired just like you. Long story short, we're supposed to bank enough ideas for the department to maximise our BONUS. Meaning, to get the full amount of what we deserve we have to hit quota. And I banked one just few weeks ago and IT GOT APPROVED!! PLUS, 15 bucks into my pay next month!

Haa, like its gona make alot of difference. *Rolls eyes.

Still, its a good start of the new year. I've had enough of 'tiger is a bad year', 'this is not a good year especially those born in the year of tiger" blah blah..


Kays, shall update at work later if I have time. :)

All I want for ma berfdae this year is............

Shall not ask for sponsors. :)

Spring Cleeeeeeaning!! Realised just how much rubbish I store in my room. Haa. Totally shagged. I NEED MY ENERGY BOOST!

Anyways, I'm so cursed laaaaas! ROFLssss!

I feel like shit. Seriously.

Virgin Manicure.

:)