Little-Wonder.Net

09 February, 2008

Peace and quiet, and the rumbling of (bowling) balls.

23:40:42 | Daily Life, Events, People | writebacks (4)

I ain’t going to talk about Chinese New Year cos’ I presume almost every single person out there who celebrates it will be going on about it. So … it’ll be pointless for me to do the same. Nothing out of the ordinary on my side worth mentioning, so I guess I’ll skip it.

I’ve uploaded photos though - so I’ll let them do the talking.

Headed to Orchid Country Club yesterday with cousin David though - also as part of the Chinese New Year festivities. Things were a lot more interesting there.

Distant cousins - Jessica, Berenice and Grace.

Haven’t seen my distant family for quite a while (almost one year, in fact), so it seemed queer seeing them again. In fact, it was downright awkward.

I wasn’t particularly close to the kids on that side as I’ve only gotten the chance to bond with the older ones - so most of the younger kiddos were eyeing me as if I’ve sprouted an additional head. Thank goodness, kids are easy to bribe. All you have to do is to give them attention and they’re hooked. Okay, just kidding.

David and I did quite a bit of exploration of the grounds of Orchid Country Club - killing almost two hours in the process. All that wandering around reminded me why I love the place so much.

I recall falling deeply in love with the place sometime in 2003, but all that fizzled away slightly as the years went by. I guess it’s been a long time since I’ve had a good walk around the area. Peaceful surroundings, really huge swimming pools (they have a particular big pool that’s only about a metre deep, with a slide and waterfall and all the schizzle for non-swimmers like me, which is a big fat plus), much greenery and little gardens here and there.

T’was fun.

Wheeness at Orchid Country Club’s playground.

We strolled, we yakked, we took loads of pictures before heading back to the family’s suite.

The suite had a jacuzzi which was oh so huge. (?!?) But the sheer number of children who wanted to use it made it impossible for anyone else to gain access. They even had a piece of paper taped outside the bathroom for them to book their slots! Classic.

Oh, and last night was the first time I’ve touched a bowling ball in … years. Indeed, I’ve been an ex-school team bowler and all that shebang - but I’ve sustained quite a few injuries (twisted wrist, injured knee), fallen ill far too many times, and lost a grand total of seven kilograms ever since the last time I’ve attended a bowling training session so, I wasn’t expecting to be in tip-top form.

Neither did I expect to lift a ball without any difficulty. I was in actuality, already bracing myself for a fair bit of ball-dropping.

Nevertheless, I had the biggest shock of my life after having bowled scores like 157 and 174 which are waaaaay above my usual average.

I guess the fact that I was bowling without any form of competitive pressure helped a lot. Put me in a stressful situation - like a tournament, and watch my scores dip below one hundred. (In fact, yesterday’s bowling brought back back vivid images of my failed IVP and how I broke down crying in the middle of the competition, which was the exact competition in which I busted my knees and twisted my wrist, putting me out of action until now.) Yes I know, I’m my biggest enemy.

It was evident that my love for tenpin bowling is still there. Although I am not exactly in good physical condition right now so … I’ll relegate it to simply being for leisure.

Oh crap, I deviated.

So, there you go. That trip to Orchid Country Club yesterday brought back a fair bit of nostalgia.

And in case you missed the links for the photos: Chinese New Year, Orchid Country Club.

Oh, and Happy Chinese New Year to one and all.

12 January, 2008

A potluck is not a potluck without disaster cupcakes.

23:56:24 | Daily Life, Events, People | writebacks (3)

Potluck gathering this evening!

Pretty smooth apart from the fact that two people pulled out at the very last minute, and that the two batches of cupcakes I baked today were utterly el’ disgusto.

Which was very odd, I feel.

Ever since my very first attempt, I’ve baked three more batches of cupcakes on separate occasions, each progressively better than the last. But on a major day like this when I am baking en masse for a group of people, I have to get all the measurements wrong - resulting in screwed up cupcakes.

No photos, because they looked gruesome.

The cupcakes rose very nicely in the oven. But once placed on the cooking rack, all of them, and I really mean ALL of them collapsed like deflated balloons.

The resulting shape was just … flat.

Conversation with CY when he saw them cupcakes:
“You didn’t bake cupcakes! You made cookies!” Said he.

“No, they WERE supposed to be cupcakes. But I have no idea why they decided to collapse on me this time round,” me whines. (In a semi- panicky state.)

“Cookies,” he simply affirmed.

“Cookies aren’t quite as thick. Plus, they are not as soft as cupcakes,” I retorted.

“Okay - then you baked triple-layered lao hong (soggy) cookies.”

Thank goodness for my chocolate fondue maker, which I contributed to the potluck. Otherwise, I’ll have nothing to contribute apart from my disaster batch of cookies … err cupcakes.

CY made chicken cordon bleu - which he came over to my place to prepare with a white wine sauce that smelled heavenly.

Just got to admire a guy who can cook. So far, almost every single member of the male species I know are terribly undomesticated. Hahahaha.

In addition to the chicken cordon bleu, he was supposed to prepare mashed potatoes as well. But after hearing that Steffe dearest hadn’t prepared anything for the potluck, we decided to simply boil the potatoes, bring it over to her place (where the potluck was held) and make HER mash it.

The highlights of the potluck were CY’s dish, and the fondue.

Cupcakes were untouched, and I ended up flinging everything into the bin because they weren’t worthy enough to be eaten by anyone. (I don’t want anyone’s stomaches to suffer because of my baking experiments gone bad, thankyouverymuch.)

Meanwhile, I wouldn’t be baking any cupcakes for a while.

Traumatized. GRAR.

28 December, 2007

A tough decision.

23:21:02 | People | writebacks (5)

A little debate about which movie to watch.

Sidenote: I did mention before that I disliked going to the movies because I never fail to fall asleep in them. But only one type of movie will attract me to the cinema - and that is one with lots of comedy and cute, furry animals involved.

Regina: Let’s go watch a movie soon! Name a few?

“The Golden Compass!” suggested Steffe. Apparently, she seems pretty enthusiastic about the show although it didn’t appeal to me much. (See above reason.)

“Alvin and the Chipmunks?” said I.

Regina looked torn between the two at the moment.

“The Golden Compass is nicer! It has Nicole Kidman acting in it,” Steffe reasoned.

“I heard Alvin and the Chipmunks is good too! It has err… chipmunks acting in it.”

Sorry. To me, furry chipmunks beats any famous actor/actress any day.

And this movie still appeals to me (because of them chipmunks) despite the critics thrashing this movie to no end. What do they know? Typical critics - If it ain’t got any sex, it ain’t any good, eh?

I should be a movie critic. The more animals, the better the rating. ;)