Because we love Baileys

Baked Baileys Irish Cream cakes yday (:

My first attempt at an alcohol-infused cake.

They were pretty nice, an odd infusion between the taste of Baileys and butterscorch.

Pictures time (:

I like this spinning effect.

This was taken when the mixture was beaten in high speed.

The aroma of Baileys filled the whole kitchen

After beating.

I like this dripping effect (:

These are the Mini Angel Pans I got.

The original recipe called for one big pan,

but I decided that smaller ones would lower the chance of the cakes being underbaked.

The last thing I'd want is to taste floury unbaked cakes.

Happy me with one of the pans (:

Oh, that was the Crochet top from LB.

Totally in love with this top!

Had buttered, floured the pan before dropping in the chopped pecans.

In hindsight, we should have added more pecans.

They add a nutty crunch to the otherwise densely rich cake.

As an experiment, we decided to add in some pecans into the mixture,

and to pour them into remaining the 2 pans.

It turned out that it was nicer for the pecans to be in the mixture,

than to be at the bottom of the cake.

Less messy, and more well infused into the cake.

The boy was the main chef!

In here, he was pouring the blended mixture into the angel pans

Managed to get him to pose for this (:

Nicely filled angel pans (:

After 30 minutes of baking,

this was how they look like in the oven!

Glaze now: Butter, icing sugar, water and Baileys!

And the cakes finished off with a shiny glaze on top (:

The taste-test came after we left the cakes to cool in the fridge

It was pretty nice and tasted nothing like any cakes I've ever eaten.

The Baileys taste mostly came from the glaze I guess,

but the cake itself is quite nice too. yays! (:

Psst, I thought the angel-pans were a really good buy too!

They make the cakes so much prettier.

And they ensured that cakes are well-baked,

cuz the centre of the cakes are always the hardest to bake nicely. heh.

Shall use them more often for future cake baking (:

For the love of food

Happy Boss' Day!

We decided to give our immediate supervisor a gift (:

But of course, it must be a fun gift!

Decided to get her this nodding Tomy figurine.

Even though it's a toy around for so many years,

many have deemed it to be a meaningless gift *coughs

But the idea of "nodding = yes" struck us!

That's why we wrote "For all future submissions & requests, pls say yes" *nod nod

lol!

She was quite entertained and surprised by the gift (:

Here's the tomy toys that the three of us have on our desks.

The thing about tomy figurines is that,

it's becoming quite tough to find the nodding one!

The other alternative of shaking its head from side to side was easy to find,

but for the nodding one,

I had to rush down to PS to get it after dance on thurs.

We had combed J8 and Compass Point earlier,

but just couldn't find the nodding head one. lol.

Here's us inside my cubicle,

taking pictures during our lunch time. lol!

------

Had the company dinner at Kiseiki Japanese Restaurant yday.

Was a buffet, ala marche style.

It was pretty decent, and the best part is,

we only had to pay $5 each!

The remaining cost was sponsored by company.. Whee~

Was looking at the price, and found out it cost $32.80++ for our dinner!

This is super welfare if you asked me (:

To the main topic,

Kiseiki works like marche,

you order stuff from a kiosk:

(Japanese Soba in this picture)

And here's the display of different soup/noodles to be ordered

There's the omelette kiosk too, similar to the Shokudo style.

But the interesting thing is,

you can choose the type of filling, and even the amount of filling

before you pass to the cook!

My colleagues were dumping all the fish flakes on top too (:

This is the grill section,

and they even offer rib-eye steak!

It was really good, I tell ya.

My table had like at least 4 rounds of it.

This is me at the Rosti Kiosk.

Hadn't realized that the staff had posed for the pic too. lol!

Happy us (:

I think we were the "youngest" table,

but we had the most food!

This was the amount for food we took for first round.

Some shots of food: Sashimi

Was fresh and had smooth texture

Prawns!

Crab that wasn't fantastic

Another shot of the crab: its meat this time

Scallops from the Yakitori kiosk

More yakitori

And more fried stuff

Chawamushi, tempura, hotpot, pasta

Then to my favorite! Desserts!

Tofu cheesecake (uber yum), cocktail jelly, mango pudding, cakes

Waffles (to be eaten with ice cream), Hot choc fondue, Chocolate brownies, fruits,

We were so so full from all the eating!

I think I ate more than 20 pieces of salmon sashimi, 2 crab claws,

a gazillion prawns, and had many choc-coated fruits!

Goodness, that should be more than enough to warrant 1kg!

Bah, it's really time to go on a diet! lol!

------

Plan of the day:

- Go swimming

- Shop for running shoes

- Dinner at Chompchomp (Sambal Stingray + Beancurd?)

Happy Bday Bop!

It's the boy's bday today!

Had the dinner with his family at a seafood restaurant yday.

It's funny how celebrations tend to cluster ard the same time,

so much so that it feels like I'm constantly feasting.

Lets see, we had our anniversary dinner at Brotzeit,

followed by the early bday lunch at Angus Steakhouse,

then there's the seafood yday,

and there's this company buffet at Kiseiki on Friday.

It's so hard not to get fat!

But since they've all been digested,

I shall not whine about the seafood dinner.

After all, they were worth the every calorie.

Psst, I only found out the chili crab sauce is worth 50 calories per tablespoon.

And to think I was happily lapping up all that sauce =x

ok, pictures!

Chilicrab (: I love the sauce!

Deep-fried crisp baby squids

Hot plate tofu (: Bb's fav!

la-la!

Prawn-paste chicken wings

Hot plate deer meat. Bb's fav too!

Stir fried chili kangkong

End of the dinner!

The meal was really pretty good, at great rates too!

There was a promotion of $28 for 2 crabs, which is mad cheap.

When I was telling the HDB girlies about it,

they were all saying they wanna go too. lol!

But it's kind of inaccessible I guess.

(next next to Causurina Prata house near YCK).

The boy also thought that the crab meat wasn't that tasty,

but I felt it was good enough (:

------

Ok. To prevent sounding like I've converted to a food blogger,

I should post about my recent buys too!

Decided that I really lack work tops,

so I bought 2 off LB's latest launch (:

Whee!

I like the crochet details of the navy blue top,

and if i'm not wrong, the length of it is quite long.

So can tuck in nicely into pants to avoid the babydoll top look (:

The second dusty pink top is a basic,

perfect for days when I don't feel like dressing up,

esp on rainy days (:

------

Before signing off,

just wanna wish the boy a very happy 24th bday!

Still can't believe we were the same age before today :)

Give me another 4 months, and we'll be same age again!

haha! ok, don't say I'm old! =P

Eat, Work, Love, Dance.

Currently pondering the many lines I remembered from the movie "Eat Pray Love"

It's funny how Liz finds each of the above in the 3 respective places she went.

It kind of made me reflective about things.

About how the concept of letting go is so nerve-wrecking for myself.

Yet, I feel Liz, her grappling with how she's like an empty shell,

who lost her appetite and zest for life.

Is that a reflection of a reality which I have no courage to face up to?

Or maybe I'm just (in bb's terms),

going through a phase of self destruction again.

Barely 6 months into my work,

I feel myself slipping away from who I was.

I had dreams, I had a life, I had an appetite for what was to be in the future.

Now, I'm caught in the daily work grind,

counting down to my next paycheck.

And being tired and annoyingly apathetic towards most things.

Is this what I really want?

Or am I just being ungrateful and whiney all over again.

I don't know.

Maybe it's too early to tell.

After all, I'm still adapting to my first job.

Liz had hers for years. and years. and years.

But I'm seeing signs of despondence in myself.

I want sleep, nothing but sleep.

I'm rushing and skimming through life,

everyday wishing the next day would come fast enough.

But the sad thing is,

it's like rushing through a dark tunnel,

unsure of what light there is.

Or is there supposed to be any at all?

I've stopped looking around,

and taking in the moment,

and doing just.. nothing.

Thinking of nothing.

"dolce far niente", the sweetness of doing nothing."

I need to learn to cultivate the sense of sweetness,

for doing nothing.

For now, I have nothing but guilt and emo-ness, when doing nothing.

I've been harsh, not just to myself (for which I'm not upset about),

but to others around me.

I've stopped speaking.

I've stopped trying to be upbeat and optimistic.

Until I caught this movie, plus a string of awful dreams last night.

I think my subconscious mind is is "SOS" mode already.

It seems to be telling me to "wake up"

and to be more appreciative, to laugh more heartily,

and to indulge in the moment instead of skimming over.

Stop being superficial and rushing through life, Eileen.

It's time to wake up.

And I'm sure glad for the wake-up call.

I'm not sure how, but I'm determined to make it work.

It's time to stop all these nonsense and to get a grip already.

------

Had a lunchdate at Angus steakhouse with the boy yday,

an early bday celebration for him (:

The thing about Angus is that,

for a 5-course meal, you only order the main dish,

then everything else comes as a surprise.

We both chose rib-eye steaks (:

The soup that came was crab meat chowder,

then there was the signature yummy bun with butter,

garden salad with tuna,

and ending off on a sweet note with tiramisu and mango mousse cake (:

"We all want things to stay the same.

Settle for living in misery because we're afraid of change,

of things crumbling to ruins.

Then I looked at around to this place, at the chaos it has endured -

the way it has been adapted, burned, pillaged and found a way to build itself back up again.

And I was reassured, maybe my life hasn't been so chaotic, it's just the world that is,

and the real trap is getting attached to any of it.

Ruin is a gift.

Ruin is the road to transformation."

- "Eat, Pray Love"