Banana Chocolate Muffins

It's been so long ... oops... so much to update, so little time.

We had spent time with cousins who trotted across the globe, nursed sick boys (the usual fever for S.P but a really nasty experience with Microplasma for Peanut - he had a high fever which hit 40 degrees C for a few days and could not walk because this particular strain of bacteria attacks the calf muscles! Took a whole week to recover, dah), gone on a holiday in Phuket, hosted Peanut's birthday party at home, attended 2 birthday parties, enjoyed the boys' first Mandarin speaking puppet show (The Monkey King's 3 encounters with the Skeleton Spirit - pardon, my crude translation), watched a play (Pinocchio - not too bad for a local production; almost magical except for the big blue bird which looked ghoulish), celebrated Halloween, visited the zoo (in torrential rain typical of this time of the year), went for our first McDonald's organised Superhero party, performed in the school's annual concert (the boys, I mean), had numerous playdates with neighbours' kids and watched the latest instalment of The Chronicles of Narnia - the Voyage of the Dawn Treader (highly recommended, totally captivating though a little long for Sweet Potato).

There, that's a quick summary. Well, until I find time to sort out my thoughts and photos for some of the backlog, here's a recipe to keep you distracted - for those who enjoy baking.

Banana Chocolate Muffins
(Adapted from Nigella Lawson's recipe - see title link for original recipe)


2 very ripe or overripe medium bananas (or 3 if you like your muffins with a strong banana taste)

125ml vegetable oil (or 120g melted butter)

2 eggs

100g soft light brown sugar (or caster sugar)

225g plain flour

3 tablespoons (Nestle) cocoa powder, sifted

60g of grated dark chocolate (optional)

2 teaspoon of baking powder


1. Preheat the oven to 190°C and line a muffin tin with paper or muffin cases.
2. Mash the bananas by hand. Still beating and mashing, add the oil (or butter) followed by the eggs and sugar.
3. Mix the flour, cocoa powder, grated chocolate and baking powder together and add this mixture, beating gently, to the banana mixture, then spoon it into the prepared papers.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, by which time the muffins should be dark, rounded and peeking out of their cases. Allow to cool slightly in their tin before removing to a wire rack.
Serves: Makes 12

Sweet Potato is growing smaller

Dear, stop whining; you're not a baby anymore.

No, I'm still a baby. I'm growing smaller and smaller and smaller.


What's 'friend' in Chinese?

朋友


What's 'swimming' in Chinese?

(Silence, in thought) I'm tired.


Call 'popo'.

I'm sick.


(Note: It's the truth - he was running a fever. But I'm clueless as to why to his little mind, that is good justification for not addressing the elders.)


Call 'yima'.

I'm sick.


Peanut, don't touch that dead insect. It's dirty.

Ya, never bathe.

Wati asked, "Who never bathe?"

The bee, loh!

This morning, I went to the market, but gor-gor stayed at home.
Peanut corrected him, "No, that was yesterday. Yesterday was Saturday and today is Sunday."
No, gor-gor. You are wrong, not so fast. It's not Saturday, okay. It's Sat - tur - day.

Sweet Potato, it's time to stop playing; it's bedtime.
10 minutes, please.
Hmmm, 5 minutes.
10 minutes.
No, 3 minutes.
10 minutes.
No, 2 minutes.
10 minutes.
No, 5 minutes.
(Emphatically) Okay, 10 minutes.

It's the Inaugural YOG

Peanut had a school excursion to watch the YOG Games last week - they watched the Triathlon competition:

Best friends share .... lice:

No prize for guessing what's the Fun Friday theme for August. Ah, but guess whose name will appear on this sportswear:

Answer? Be patient, you'll have to wait for my blog post covering tomorrow's event.

The day we became Friends of the Zoo

15 August

This morning was one of the rare mornings when I woke up bursting with energy, feeling like I could concur the world. The sky was a shade of grey with some light clouds - simply perfect for a day at the zoo. It started to drizzle on our way there and so we made a detour to nearby Bottletree Park to surprise Mr M who was having his RC car race there.

We had lunch at the Jap restaurant and the boys entertained themselves watching people fishing in the pond of prawns. They were totally fascinated by an earthworm which had been cut into 3 parts for use as bait. They studied it closely, even prodded it with their fingers - absolutely clinical like they were technicians carrying out some lab tests:

We finally made our way to the zoo. This is Peanut diligently studying the map:

We came face to face with some baby monkeys:

and a parrot:

Saw a mouse deer:

Had a shot with some 'otters' - see that look of disgust/disapproval/protest on S.P's face? He is like telling me, "But mama, these are fakes." :

Saw the orang utans feeding on bananas from a distance:

We doggedly made our way through the crowd who were already spilling onto steps and the concrete pathway, just to watch the Splash Safari show. This kind family lifted their daughter onto the dad's lad and made a space for Peanut. SP sat on my lap one step below :

It was worth the effort. We were entertained by manatees:

one sealion:

and some penguins:

We walked and walked:

and walked some more - no trams, no strollers, no Wati (to piggyback on):

We saw "The Elephants at Work" show:

and the boys fed the elephants whilst I snapped away furiously:

The boys were amazingly well behaved - not a single complaint, no fights, no bickering. They followed instructions to a T, kept a look-out for each other and entertained themselves, even did a Bollywood at the end of our 3.5-hour zoo adventure:

Me? I felt like I had concurred the world - not on a luxury tour but roughed it out and backpacked around the globe on feet, complete with a bag that must have weighed >2 kg (with 2 water bottles, 2 umbrellas in case it rains, 3 towels, 2 wetsuits and change of clothes in case we decide to play water at the playground, a camera, snack food). If you have not noticed, Wati was missing in the photos. It was her day off, which meant I had to bathe the boys and cook dinner after we arrived home.

Imagine the relief on my face when Wati came in the front door at 7:30pm, in time to feed the boys - I must have looked like I saw the Saviour himself. I suspect I wear that same look once a month in the evening when Wati returns from her day off. To all the stay-at-home mums who do everything themselves without domestic help 24/7, you have my utmost respect!

Langkawi

11 - 14 April 2010

It's our first experience with budget airline and our first time at the Budget Terminal at Changi. See the man in the bermudas in the photo below? Others were in flip-flops, sun-hats, halter-necks, sunglasses - all geared for sun, sand and sea, only that they were at the airport waiting to board a plane. We looked so out of place with our long pants! It was only when we had to walk on the tarmac in the hot sun, that I realised the rest were seasoned budget airline travellers.

The boys checking out the walkway outside our chalet upon arrival and engrossed in their zealous mission to exterminate ants:

Peanut is getting really good with the camera. Try not to be distracted by Sweet Potato's pose. Behind us at the bottom of a flight of stairs is our lovely accommodation at Sheraton, looking out to the Andaman sea - view to die for:

The hotel lobby befitting a holiday resort (another photo taken by Peanut):

Sweet Potato's take:

Cie la vie, waking up to a seaview and having breakfast served in the room:


No photo album of our family vacation is complete without this bathtub shot; and notice how the sliding wooden louvered window frames open up to our bedroom. The boys sure had fun with the jacuzzi jets:

Our private corner at the beach:


We swam in the sea (we could see small colourful fishes swimming next to us during low tide):

We saw crabs:

We had lunch at Telaga Harbour wharf:

The Titanic? Of course not, they were pretending to be planes:

After suffering a few meals of western food (he had to make do with Nasi lemak and tomato soup from the local and international sections of the buffet spread), we needed to give didi his much needed fix for his craving for rice and Chinese soup. We had a dinner at the Kung Fu Chinese restaurant along the main street in Pantai Cenang/Tengah. The food was worse than an average Tze char meal in Singapore, but SP wolved his rice down with glee:

It was not much of a restaurant. The menu was printed on colour paper and laminated. Other than some photos of Bruce Lee and other late kungfu stars and some swords hanging on the wall, there was hardly any decor to speak of. SP insisted that I took a photo of this Chinese lion head:

We simply can't get enough of the infinity pool:

The hotel staff couldn't take his eyes off this as he walked into our bathroom to give us fresh towels:

The boys having fun at the lobby whilst we checked out:

Sheraton Resort at Langkawi is truly picturesque, unspoilt tranquility nestled in between the sea and the rainforest - my point-and-shoot camera does not do justice to the postcard perfect scenery. It's a great holiday escape except when you are travelling with 2 young boys, there's really NO escape! But still I managed to squeeze in a high tea at the lobby, complete with open sandwiches, scones, chocolates, creme brulee and my cup of earl grey, whilst the boys roamed free in the spacious area totally unsupervised - the privilege of travelling during low season. Will share with you our high sea adventure at an UNESCO heritage site in another backlog entry.