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Name: coolcat
Location: Singapore

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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Tuesday Blues

Here's something to help to chase away those Tuesday blues.. we had a long weekend becos of Deepavali Holiday. But like what Leon said.. "long weekend" is actually an oxymoron... it's never long enough.
A group of us had a bbq gathering on Sunday night at our place. Been a while since we met up. And since Monday was a public holiday, I sent out text messages on Friday night to meet. Abit short notice but most could make it. Yay!
But a series of weird events happened to me on Sunday.
I woke up early as usual. Checked my supplies and realised I was short on sone ingredients for the ice cream. So I went to buy the ingredients at about 9am. Reached home at 10.30 and started on the ice cream. As I was measuring out the ingredients, I noticed that the readings on the scale wouldn't stabilise. I thought it might be the batteries so I replaced them. And then the measuring scale wouldn't turn on! I saw water droplets in the display panel so I guess water must have gotten in. I tried to dry it with a hair-blower but all I could get was flickering on the display.
I didn't have another scale and my neighbour is at church. So no choice I had to rush out to buy another scale. The store had run out of the cheaper model. So I had to spend $45 on the more expensive one. Got home only to realise it runs on 9V battery! Argh!
It was already close to 11.30am so I got the kids to come with me to the supermarket. Might as well have lunch too. We got everything we need (I double checked this time) and loaded everything into the car. I went back to return the trolley and when I got back to the car, I COULDN'T FIND MY CAR KEY!!
I definitely had my car key with me cos I unlocked the boot. I searched the car boot. Couldn't find it. Re-traced my steps to the trolley bay. Nope!
In the end I had to call my hubs for the spare key.
By the time we reached home it was close to 2pm. Had to change my ice cream menu a bit so that I could finish them in time for the bbq.
This was one of those days!
And I still haven't found the car key yet.

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posted at 10/28/2008 09:55:00 AM |

Monday, October 13, 2008

Canon Digital Photomarathon 2008

This will be the 6th year I'm taking part.  Just checked the website.  They finally put up the list of prizes.  The 1st prize is the new EOS 50D.... hmmm...I was hoping it would be the EOS 5D MkII.   Nevermind, safe to say I'm going more for the challenge not the prizes.  Looking forward to it.


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posted at 10/13/2008 08:21:00 PM |

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Time

1 more week to my birthday... (i'm still young at heart!!)

1 1/2 weeks to Canon Digital Photomarathon..
2 1/2 weeks to Deepavali..
3 1/2 weeks to Bryan's b-day..
4 weeks to my sis's b-day..

dry period for 6 weeks! no holiday at all!?!
Gotta plan something then.. hmmm..

10 weeks to Hokkaido trip.. (yea!!)
11 weeks to Christmas..
Exactly 12 weeks to end of 2008..

Time flies

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posted at 10/08/2008 01:23:00 PM |

Friday, October 03, 2008

2008 Canon Digital Photomarathon (VI)

The moment I see Deepavali decorations up in Little India, I know. It's time for the photomarathon again. It's been a yearly event since 2003 and every year it's in October. And somehow, we would always end up in Little India without fail.
Gu's right. Every time when we took part we would complain like crazy about the tasks, vowing never to sign up again. But when the time comes, we just couldn't resist it. Leon & I signed up already. It's the challenge, I guess.
Leon said this time, he's gonna hang around Suntec City area, no more island-wide chase. I agree. Too tiring to be rushing all over the place to get our shots.
Hopefully the photo themes are a bit more interesting this year. They ought to take hints from websites like http://www.usefilm.com/ or http://www.dpchallenge.com/. Very interesting weekly/monthly photo challenges.
I was at Alan Photo Trading yesterday. Bought the EF24-105 f/4 L IS lens to replace my broken EF25-70mm f/2.8L. The focusing ring on the old lens was damaged during last year's holiday trip. Canon service centre told me they no longer have the parts for this discontinued lens.
I decided to get the EF24-105 because of the the longer zoom, the IS and the lighter weight (even though I'm a sucker for f2.8s). Bought a grey set so it's cheaper.
I need to do a rigorous lens test over the next few days since I'm only given the shop's 7-day exchange warranty. Planning to wake up early this Sunday morning & head down to Changi Beach for some dawn photo-shoot. I've been neglecting my photography for a while. Time to pull the dusty o' tripod from the store-room and get down to some serious shooting. Yeah!

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posted at 10/03/2008 07:44:00 AM |

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Durian Ice Cream

So far my ice cream attempts have been quite successful. The most popular one is the durian ice cream. Everyone who sampled it loved it!
I have given Syafiq a small tub of the durian ice cream. He told me the first thought that came into his mind when he took the 1st scoop of my durian ice cream was he wished he had finished the whole thing before his fiancee arrived. It was the 1st time he felt reluctant to share something with his fiancee.
I gave my Aunt Noy 1 pint. She called to complain it wasn't enough and wanted more. Said she would buy the durians if I don't have the time.
Fandy declared he would not 'friend' me anymore if I did not pass him some more of the durian ice cream.
Looks like I have a winner here.
But I have to give credit where credit is due. The recipe comes from Esther Ho. I think she's working on her website now and will also be publishing an ice cream recipe book soon. I'll link to her website once I have it. The ingredients in her recipes are measured down to the last gram. You can't go wrong if you start with her recipes and once you gain confidence you can start experimenting. Like my neighbour Hui Leng, she made Tom-Yam sorbet. Sounds weird but tastes heavenly. My only complaint about Esther's recipes is the sugar. Too much. For my ice creams & sorbet, I cut the amount of sugar in her recipes by 10% to 40%.
Well, if you're residing in Singapore and would like to learn ice-cream making, drop me an email.
I really enjoy ice cream making. The steps are easy and the ingredients are easily available. No big oily mess to clean up afterwards too.
My friends are coming over for a bbq next weekend and I think Chardonnay sorbet will make a wonderful dessert. I'm trying out this recipe now. Hope it turns out well.

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posted at 10/01/2008 03:58:00 PM |

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri



I wish all Muslims, especially my friends ....... Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri !

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posted at 10/01/2008 03:07:00 PM |