Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

Just like most other kids, Brie had been counting the days (even months) … waiting OH SO EAGERLY for the day to come!

The day she’d turn FOUR! =D

It’s not the presents or anything that she’s after, I think.

She’s simply so excited about becoming BIGGER, TALLER and … well, older =)

And oh, of course, THE cake.

She had always imagined that she had a PINK HOUSE birthday cake for some reason.

Simply put, anything pink would make her very very happy, hehe.

 
Now the thing is, I really didn’t have much time to prepare for the birthday get-together.

I also believe birthdays need not be extravagant. Simple and sweet would be nice to have.

Plus, I told myself that I MUST bake Brie’s birthday cake this year (as the last time I baked a proper cake for her birthday was 3 years ago when she was ONE!)

…

And so this was what I arranged for her special day.

Keyword of the day : Pink. Lots of pink things =)

Clothes.
Brie celebrated her birthday when she had her weekly get-together with her friends.

These kiddos (and even most of their moms) actually wore pink that day. And, if they didn’t have pink, they wore something red. So nice of them  =)

Goodies.
I got simple pink goodies to share with her friends : Strawberry Pokky sticks, strawberry milk,  strawberry Oreo biscuits and pink pencils.

Decor.
I didn’t decorate the room.

What I did : Got a few colourful balloons (which of course included pink ones! =) and let the balloons be the ‘backdrop’, letting them become ‘bright and happy additions’ to the occasion (plus, kids loved balloons!).

Oh, the balloons made the photos look cheerful and happy too! =)

Cake.

Ah, the cake.

I am SO happy that I managed to bake a cake for Brie this year!

Frankly, I only had a few hours (started baking only at midnight!), and so I went with my fool-proof cake recipe – Butter Cake!

I used a round baking pan for the base, and a rectangular baking pan for the ‘house’.

I used unsalted Anchor butter for the round cake, and I used Blue Band margarine when baking the ‘house’ part.

(To make the house, I halved the rectangular cake, and stacked it on top of each other to make a ‘taller building’).

(Hey, turned out that I COULD use Blue Band Margarine for my cakes too! =)

I then covered it with ready-made fondant.

To keep things simple, I only used 2 food colourings : a little bit of red to create pink coloured fondant, and a tiny drop of yellow food colouring, to create that yellow door! =)

PS: I forgot to slice off the sides of the top cake to create the ‘roof’ of the house. I only realised this AFTER I placed the rolled out fondant over the cake. Great!

Ah well, so I just went with it and created what looked like an ‘egyptian house with a flat roof’, haha.

…

Anyway, it was a nice get-together.

A very ‘pinkish’ gathering, haha.

When asked about how she felt that day, one of the things Brie shared was, she’s very happy with her ‘pink house’!

*YAY*

Mission : accomplished!

(And the absence of sleep was totally worth it =)

And you know what?

I’m glad that we managed to keep this birthday occasion simple, yet sweet and memorable.

I mean, it was done with a hope that our children’s focus was more on the presence of family and friends, loved ones, and on feeling thankful to God for everything that they have and have been given.

Anyway.

We feel blessed.

Very blessed.

(Big thanks to everyone who left warm birthday wishes for Brie on Facebook. Thank you thank you! =)

Have you lived in Jakarta for some time?

If your answer is YES, then my next question is:

Did you know that Jakarta has THIS building called ‘Teater Kecil’ ? (It literally means ‘Small Theatre’)

Gee.

It was our first time seeing this building.

And it is surprisingly NICE!

I personally like the spacious area outdoors, the glass windows (reminds of the Esplanade in Singapore!) and the overall design and shape of the building.

BUT.

A real pity that this building and its surrounding have not received the kind of maintenance and care they desperately need.

Building walls are dusty and dirty.

Graffiti can be seen here and there.

The changing rooms inside are in poor condition.

And even the back entrance into the building was … not in good shape.

Sigh.

On a positive note, photos taken outside the building turned out nice though.

Especially when the sky was clear and blue like how it was today.

(Note: I sincerely hope the government officers in charge of the development of arts centres start to really pay attention to such buildings and the people. Hope someone reads this post and let the officials know)

Well anyway.

We also spotted this unique bookshop just a minute away from Teater Kecil.

The shop is very old, many of the books are dusty, but seriously, there are A LOT OF BOOKS there, crammed in a relatively small space!

What an interesting sight. And you should really check it out when you’re there!

(Didn’t manage to browse around much though. Saw some stuff I’d love to get. Would love to check the shop again the next time we’re there!)

And. Here’s one last shot taken just outside of Teater Kecil, with my bestie! =)

Another milestone for Anya.

She had her 3rd piano concert today, held at Teater Kecil, Taman Ismail Marzuki.

As always, it’s nice to see her grow, and to see how she learned to overcome her anxiety and fears.

Good on you, Anya! =)

Hey hey hey … it’s WORLD BAKING DAY today!

Did you get to bake anything?

Did you? Did you? Did you?

=D

Who did you bake for?

How did you feel and how did THEY feel?

Share your experience yeah!

(I plan to bake these cookies tomorrow! I’ve got the ingredients ready and this time I’ll use Blue Band too, … something that we ALWAYS spread on our bread, but never use to make cookies and cakes =)

…

As for me, I look forward to baking for Brie this coming Wednesday, as we’re celebrating her 4th birthday on May 21st with her friends!!

I’ll blog about it later and share with you how everything turns out!

…

Oh btw, a friend messaged me a few days ago and said how after she had her first child, she finds baking very therapeutic. Something that she enjoys doing, and now she gets her preschooler to help out with her baking too. How nice =)

Do YOU find baking therapeutic and relaxing?

As today is World Baking Day, I thought of sharing these 3 food for thought (which includes the benefits of doing something relaxing!=) from Emma Kenny, a psychologist who is also a TV presenter in the UK. 

Here they are:

1. Get outside. Go for a walk or run in the fresh air, aside from being fantastic for your physical health, getting outside is fantastic for psychological wellbeing

I totally agree how being outdoors, away from the 4 walls of buildings and homes can be so refreshing!
 
2.  Learn to relax. It doesn’t matter how – be it taking a long soak in the bath, listening to relaxing music, or by going for an energising run; relaxing is essential in happiness. Try to set aside at least twenty minutes a day simply winding down.

When we are busy with the kids, work AND housework, taking sometime to relax does seem impossible. BUT, I do feel it’s necessary to just do something to ‘relax’, eg. Enjoying a good stretch and 5 mins of lazing around in bed, reading a book or simply sitting on the sofa and drinking a cup of warm sweet tea.
 
3. Try and live in the present. So many of us are second guessing what’s going to happen that we fail to experience what’s happening right now and consequently end up missing out. Take a breath and look at how amazing your life is right now.

Yes, this is something that we all should remember. I mean, while  we of course plan for the future, we often worry too much about what WILL happen next, so much so that we’re missing out on the PRESENT. Let’s cherish what we have today!

…

Anyway.

For more recipe ideas, just click the Blue Band website!  Have fun!

…

Don’t forget to join in the fun and share your bake at #worldbakingday!

Join the WBD Community on Facebook

Follow the WDB on Twitter, Instagram and Google +

Pin the WBD on Pinterest

Check out Blue Band’s Website

PS: This post is sponsored by Blue Band, but all thoughts are my own

For the first time ever, we ran as a family of five!

It was a 3-km run, and we left home at 4.30am!

The kids were excited!

Yes, our soon-to-be 4yo also ran along without complaints … which was frankly beyond our expectations 🙂

It was a wonderful Sunday morning spent with close to 10,000 others and we look forward for more of such activities that we can do together as a family 🙂

…

Here are more captured moments, taken with my phone.

When it comes to arts and crafts, I prefer to use recyclables, whenever it is possible.

This was what Anya did too for her school’s art project recently.

Students were asked to make something, and it could be anything.

And so she decided to make two owls, using a used cardboard box we got from a supermarket.

What she did was:

1. Cut the cardboard into strips of about 2cm wide.

2. Slowly pull out the side of the cardboard box so it reveals the inside’s ‘uneven’ surface (pictured below).

3. Roll the cardboard strip

4. Make one ‘thicker roll’ and two ‘smaller rolls’. The thicker roll is the body, while the two smaller rolls are the owl’s eyes.

5. Paint the body of the owls. Anya made two owls, and so she used 2 different colours (she used acrylic paint)

…

As for the rest of the craft, … please refer to the picture below.

That’s what her craft looked like =)

…

Oh btw, we collected some dry twigs by the street, and incorporated them into the final craft (the owls ‘sit’ on the twigs).

Plus, ‘leaves’ were added too, to add a little more colour to the craft.

(Used the cardboard for the leaves too)

…

There you go!

Love owls.

By Anya.

11 years.

…

Cute, I thought =D

Gee.

It’s May!!

And someone is super excited about the month of May because … she is turning FOUR!

Haha.

Yep, in two weeks time, the littlest in the family will be four.

…

The last time I made a proper birthday cake for her was when she was one!Brie is so excited about her birthday, AND she’s been asking me if she could have a pink cake!

Now.

The thing is, … I haven’t been baking much at all in the past year.

And, … ummm … I sort of am doubting myself if I could still bake.

Quick thoughts ran through my mind:

Should I bake? Could I still bake a decent cake? I’m so rusty!

Voice in head : Yes, you should just bake something … even if you just do it for the 3 kids’ birthdays!

What if it turns out ugly and not nice? Won’t it be better and faster to just go and buy one off the shelf?

Voice in head: To the kids, what’s more important is that Mommy loves them and puts in the effort to bake their birthday cake! They’ll treasure the memories! Just do it!

…

[Brie in February 2015]

Oh well.

So.

Here goes : I’ve decided that I WILL bake Brie’s 4th birthday cake!

(Umm, I guess I’ll bake a Butter cake as I’ve made it before and it is pretty much fail-proof! =)

…

I WILL bake a birthday cake this month because : 

– It is Brie’s 4th birthday and the last time I made a proper birthday cake for her was when she was one!

I used to tell myself that I should bake my kids’ birthday cakes as a way to create memories in the family. And I haven’t been doing that since last year.

– It happens to be World Baking Day on May 17th!

I mean, it’s FOUR days before Brie’s fourth birthday!

It’s like, an extra motivation for me! Haha.

Bake. Bake. Bake.

…

[Brie’s 1st Birthday in 2012]

Anyway.

I hope I’m inspiring you to go and bake something for someone special too this month yeah! =D

And.

If you still have NO idea about what to bake, here’s a quick recipe of the ‘World’s Happiest Cake’ that I’d like to share with you!

You may want to give it a try! =D
…

COCONUT, MANGO AND LIME CAKE RECIPE

Preparation time : 30 menit

Cooking time :  70 menit

…

Cake:

225 g Blue Band Cake & Cookies

325 g Sugar

4 Eggs

250 g Self-raising flour

100 g All purpose flour

2 Pieces of lime (peel off the skin)

50 g Dried Mango, minced

50 g Almond pieces

50 g Dried coconut

…

Syrup:

2 Pieces of lemons (extract the juice)

60 g Sugar

…

Filling:

55 g Blue Band Cake & Cookie

175 g Fine sugar

1-2 Teaspoon of milk

100 g Pureed mango

BAKING PROCESS

Cake:

1. Grease a round tin (23cm in diameter) with some Blue Band Cake & Cookie. Don’t forget to cover it with baking paper.

Heat oven to 170 °C

2. Cream Blue Band Cake & Cookie with sugar (using mixer) until fluffy and pale.

Add egs one at a time. Add the other ingredients. Fold the mixture with spatula.
3. Scrape the mixture into your tin. Bake it for 70 mins.

4. Once it’s out of the oven, cool on a wire rack.

…

Syrup:

– Bring lemon juice and sugar to boil. Pour over the cake’s surface.

…

Filling

1. To make icing, mix lemon juice and fine sugar till mixture thickens. Pour over cake.

2. Decorate with mango, coconut, almond and nuts.

…

There you go! =)

And oh, just in case you’re ‘worried’ about the calories, here’s a bit of info for you =D

…

MORE FROM BLUE BAND:

The World’s Happiest Cake was created by Blue Band with a focus on the delicious combination and mood-elevating qualities of the key ingredients.

Because:
Me time +  delicious ingredients + sharing with loved ones =  the Happiest Cake!

…

Don’t forget to join in the fun and share your bake at #worldbakingday!

Join the WBD Community on Facebook

Follow the WDB on Twitter, Instagram and Google +

Pin the WBD on Pinterest

Check out Blue Band’s Website

Let’s bake something!

…

PS: This post is sponsored by Blue Band, but all thoughts are my own

Have you ever checked out Kempi Deli and what it has to offer?

It’s located at Grand Indonesia, Floor 2, East Mall Grand Indonesia.

It belongs to Kempinski Hotel, but it is located at the mall.

To better serve mall visitors too, I guess.

(Btw, there’s a direct walkway that links the hotel lobby and the mall. It’s very convenient!)

Anyway.

My first impression of Kempi Deli when I stood outside of it looking in?

This place is nice and cosy, not as spacious as I imagined, and probably offers the usual ‘grab and go’ kind of food and drinks.

Did I assume wrongly?

Haha. Yeah.

Because, I was wonderfully surprised by the quality food they serve (taste-wise and presentation-wise).

I mean, all that we ordered were so YUMMY!

(Nothing like the kind of ‘plain Deli foods’ I had in mind!)

It was beyond my expectation.

Above photo : Caesar Salad

Below : ‘The Norwegian Sea’

Ah. Both were SO yummy!

Below photo : ‘Cowboy’s Best’.

Very nice, too!

…

Click here to check out their menu!

…

In short, Kempi Deli offers HOMEMADE products like dry pasta, bread, sausages, etc.

So if you want to dine in, grab some and eat them on the go, OR pack some and cook them at home … well, you can do all that!

Worth a try?

Yep definitely! =)

Kempi Deli 

Email : kempideli.jakarta@kempinski.com

Phone : +62 21 2358 3985

…

Okay, here’s another one that I’d like to share with you … ummm, if you’re into sweet stuff like me, that is!

Sweet Boutique.

Located next to the Signatures Restaurant at the hotel lobby, it offers chocolates, sweets, macarons and cakes!

I’ve seen people ordering birthday cakes from Sweet Boutique, as well as travelers ordering them by the boxes to bring back home as ‘travel memento’ for their loved ones.

Well. Looking at the macarons picture below, … umm, it’s kind of hard to not have a bite or two! =)

Sweet Boutique by Kempinski

Email : sweet-boutique.jakarta@kempiski.com

Phone : +62 21 2358 3877