The Apartment @ The Curve

A typical day out with my family 

and we decided to have lunch at The Apartment.

This isn't our first time here, btw.

I decided to order their BLT guacamole sandwich

with their lemonade and I was pretty happy with my lunch.

Everything was just right.

Nikki ordered roasted chicken sandwich and she didn't liked it at all.

I didn't try it to find out why, because I was full from finishing my own meal.

I'm sorry for suggesting you this.

Mum had their ayam percik and when it arrived, 

everyone just stared at the rice.

Mum said it was good, maybe because she was hungry.

She liked the coconut milk sauce (the orange one) served with it though.

And the red chilli sauce was spicy and sour, most likely to be TOO spicy for me. 

Debbie had their fish & chips and she claimed that it was a little over-seasoned.

Mum said that "It's like that." 

Btw, that's apple-slaw and it wasn't nice. 

Special, but nope.

Lastly, dad's rendang tok.

He finished it, like usual and he didn't give any comment.

Oh well.

We wanted to go for dessert, 

I wanted to try their eton mess, but I was too full.

Begin; Raffles Fashion Show 2015.

We were invited to Raffles College's 2015 Convocation,

thanks to Estee :)

I was generally thrilled to attend a fashion show, 

with real models and all.

At first, we couldn't see much, 

because the front rows were saved or taken.

The tickets. A design school will be a design school.

The bouquet of sunflowers we picked out for Estee's grad.

But after the buffet for dinner, 

we went back in as soon as the doors were opened

and we manage to sit at the front row.

A little too close to the runway.

It's alright, at least we got to see the details.

The photos below were all the collections for the night.

I was impressed with Raffles' capabilities.

And the snaps below were taken by Jamie's phone,

because mine almost died.

Hot guy alert!

The collection on top was Estee's.

I loved the colour combo!

Apparently we wore her collection's colours.

So while we were waiting/searching for Estee,

me and Jamie decided to try our luck at the backstage.

And oh boy, WEREN'T WE LUCKY?!

Such sweet smile he has, fan-girling we are.

MUST. GET. INTO. THE. PHOTO.

Thanks for the eye candies, 

and for inviting us to your fashion show.

Congratulations Estee!

Semester 3

Now playing: A Sky Full of Stars - Coldplay

Semester 3, Day 3.

I'm on break just for today and tomorrow

because we don't have lab and MPU yet.

Can barely even wake up because I just realised how tired I was.

Mum woke me up cause I have to pick her up

from the car's workshop because dad's car broke down.

Went to photostat notes and sew on the badge on my chef jacket.

Sorting out notes and I have to go send my mum to pick up the car.

And now, I'm longing for a nap.

But I can't. I have lots to get started with.

Assignments and projects had been briefed.

I'm aware that I won't have much time.

But we're not being spoonfed anymore.

Facing the reality wasn't easy.
I have till the end of the week before I have to drive back and forth everyday.

Toms.

First things first, I'm not trying to advertise their shoes.

It's just that I've been longing to get one pair for years.

Just recently, not too recent,

Pavilion opened one and I was thrilled.

We went in to find out that they weren't cheap so we came back out.

But today, mum was insisting of getting me a birthday present in advance.

I said Toms, as the shop was one floor down and I could see it.

But I didn't mean it.

We went in, we spent a long time in there 

as I tried pretty much all the colours they had.

There wasn't much choice.

But in the end, I went back for my first choice,

and I got these.

Thanks mum.

I loved it.

Peanut butter cookies.

So mum found this recipe on Facebook

and we decided to try it out.

(I'll include it at the bottom of the post)

Mum's shaping them while I glaze and dock it.

After baking, tadaaa!

It smells really good!

However, the taste wasn't as good as the one we bought

at the market for Chinese New Year this year.

Whoever that made the recipe for peanut cookie deserved an award.

The recipe we used wasn't too bad, just wasn't as good.

It smelled fragrant, the cookie was smooth,

but it didn't melt as fast the cookie we bought when we 

placed it in our mouths.

The sweetness was alright, not too sweet, which is good.

But if people said it was good, I'll make it again because the recipe's too simple!

Recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies.

150g smooth peanut butter

85g icing sugar

50g peanut oil

250g superfine flour

1 egg yolk

1 tsp water

- combine peanut butter, icing sugar and oil and mix evenly

- add sifted superfine flour and mix well

- shape it and glaze it with the egg yolk and water mixture

- bake at 150ºC for 15 minutes or until golden brown

P/S: I substituted the peanut oil with canola oil because we didn't have peanut oil. I added more oil to the dough because when I beat the dough, it was crumbly. But my mum said excess oil wasn't necessary because the dough will "secrete oil" when you shape it later on.

Home-cooked food.

On Monday, we stayed home and my mum's friend

came over to hang out.

We decided to have a little fun and prepared some home-cooked food.

This was for breakfast and mum technically prepared everything.

Except for the bread, cause I made the thick toast.

A simple eggs in toast with bacon and grilled tomatoes.

And the circular thingi was the cut-out from the toast, dipped in egg and fry it.

Lunch was rice balls with green. 

I'll admit that I only prepared a pot of green tea.

And dinner.

Dry noodles with minced meat, served with a side of fried tau fu pok 

and curry fishballs, the Hong Kong way.

I basically did all the meat mincing for this, so hey,

I did something.

And nothing's better than mummy's cooking.

Classic white bread.

Now playing: Steal My Girl - One Direction

I know, I know. 

Second round.

I asked mum if she wants bread and she was like "Okay" so I made some.

The night before, I jotted down Sorted Food's classic white bread recipe

and I was just waiting for the chance to try it out.

We need the dough with a mixer. Hello little puffball :3

Look at you, smoother than a baby's bum!

Knocked the air out and shaped it into a rectangular loaf.

Left to let it proof.

I don't know if anyone is happy to see this happening,

You know it's gonna be a good loaf when you can see it through the kitchen towel.

Seeeee! I really have the urge to pet it like a dog.

Into the oven, and perfect scoring!

Tadaaaaa!

Look at that babe.

I mean, JUST LOOK AT IT!

I'm not even try to brag, but I'm very proud.

It's actually the first good loaf.

We've attempted so many times, but the bread just doesn't taste right

or the texture will be off.

The crust is really crispy, browned a little too much.

I have to adjust that a little.

The insides, yes, that's the main character.

It's so fluffy, I can die.

I'm a bread lover, 

so I just found the best recipe and I'm in heaven.

P/S: Come on guys! Leave me a comment in the comment box on the right and let me know. Or you can even chat with me! :)

English muffins.

Now playing: Style - Taylor Swift

I know that I only have one more week of break and

I'll be back to campus soon.

So I shall make full use of the time I have,

and today I'm making english muffins.

Before you wonder what's so special about English muffins, 

it's not those cupcake lookalikes. 

It's the bread thingi you find with your McD 

breakfast, or served with Eggs Benedict.

I got the recipe here.

You can watch this HK dude do it the right way.

Everything is stated in chinese, but mum helped me to translate the ingredients.

The English version of the recipe will be 

at the bottom of this post.

Here's my dough, left to bulk ferment.

Divided into six and rolled into round shape. 

I have to work on my shaping skill -.-

It's a rather sticky dough, so it's quite hard. 

 For this recipe, I used semolina instead of cornmeal because I couldn't find it.

After searing it on a pan, till its brown.

I don't know why the muffins are wrinkly.

I cut it into half, buttered the insides, coloured it and placed some cheese.

Just a simple one, cause I just want to make sure it's cooked.

And when the cheese melts. 

The texture actually reminded me of soft rolls.

I was hoping it would taste more like McD's,

but at least my sister kinda liked it.

Recipe for English Muffins.

Makes 6.

1 tbsp water

5g yeast

300g bread flour/ strong flour 

5g sugar 

5g salt

1 egg

160ml milk

10g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes.

Cornmeal/semolina, as needed.

- activate the yeast in 1 tbsp of water

- add flour, sugar, salt, egg, milk and yeast into a large bowl and mix well

- knead the dough until gluten forms

- roll out the dough and add butter

- fold and knead the dough until butter is evenly mixed 

- let the dough rise for 1-2 hours until it doubled in size

- divide the dough into 6

- shape the dough into round balls

- cover and allow the dough to proof

- dust the dough with cornmeal

- pat down the dough and round the sides

- pan sear the dough without oil, until golden brown.

P/S: I jotted down the methods accordingly to understanding. Ask me if you don't understand my translated recipe.