Launching of Choya

Was at the launching of Choya @ Republic, Sunway Pyramid. What's Choya?? Not sure if you have heard of it but it’s actually a japanese plum wine. ET said that if I were to put up these photos anywhere I must mention that he brought me in.... so yeah.... ET brought me in for the launching..... and what’s the best part about launching / opening?? *hehe* free flow of drinks and food!! =D Of course the drink that is free flow is Choya Plum Wine la..... Choya actually comes in two flavours (or shall I say colour cause its both plum but different plum la) and one is red and another yellow!! All of us even get a small mini size choya as a door gift!! =D

Not sure if Republic is decorated with these pretty lanterns because of the launch (since Choya is from Japan and Japan goes hand in hand with lantern ma) or these lanterns are there in the first place.... - don't know cause its my first time there!! Sooooo many new restaurants, cafes and bars opened in Pyramid and I only been and tried a hand full!! Sighhhh..... Anyway went to this Hakka place in Pyramid for the first time today for lunch and the food there is quite good!! More bout that later.... btw, my sis is back and hence most of my future post WILL be regarding FOOD!! Sigh..... how to lose weight la like this!!

OK back to Choya.... Anyway the waitresses or shall I call them 'Wine Pourers' *haha* were all dressed in cute kimonos!! Their kimonos are not the normal ones but its a really short one... (hhhmm.... don't have a full view of their kimono but its really nice and sexy!! - its like the modern, chic and stylish kimono!!)

The kimono 'wine pourers' - most of them are quite pretty but not this one!! *haha* Oh and the wine actually comes in cute bottles with plums in it!!

Shots of me & PL

Me & ET, Me & King

Me trying to be one of the 'wine pourer' *kaka* No lar!! I just wanted a photo with one of them cause I really liked their kimono outfit but the photographer did not take a full body shot!! *ish*

The launch also ended with a japanese dance performance... Anyway I wasn't really concentrating on the performance and what's happening in the front cause we were at one cozy corner right at the back of the room!

Oh and I went to Berry Yoghurt again the other day...... Their yoghurt ice cream is really delicious delicious - that is if you like yoghurt la...... *hehe* We were playing around with the shooting game... They usually have the shooting game only on weekends for those who purchase above RM10 but we just borrowed the gun to play with it cause we were there on weekdays....

being bullied by the evil aunty....

the yummy yummy yoghurt ice cream - I like it plain.... as it’s not too sweet..... YUMZZZZZZZZ

p/s: was having a catch up yum cha session with my friends the other day and one of them actually thought that aunty and uncle (that I always mention on my blog) are married!!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA She said they look older too, that's why she assumed they are married and hence I called them aunty and uncle!! MUAHAHAHAHAHA Aunty will be damn angry if she ever reads this!!!! KAKA

Ok actually for those who don't know, uncle and aunty are not married.... At first me and aunty call each other beetch (i used to refer to her as beetch in my earlier post) but then after she started going out with uncle, I started calling her aunty even to her dismay!! haha and as of uncle, elisa calls him uncle all these while and hence we followed and call him uncle as well.... so when beetch goes out with uncle, she became aunty lor.... kekekeke (and also according to ain....*haha* she does have some aunty characteristics in her sometimes) haha so aunty suits her la........ kakakakaka

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Was in the mood for baking since I haven't bake for quite some time! The last time was when Honeydrew was back and since I am gonna make homecoming cupcakes for my sis too so I better practice a bit first!! So I have decided to try a new recipe, something I've not baked before and its - Black Bottom Cupcakes!! Basically its chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese filling / topping.... Oh and do you know cream cheese is bloody expensive now!!! Last time bought in carrefour for like RM8 and now it’s like RM12!!! *crazy!!*

Anyway, I planned to bake the black bottom cupcakes and decorate it with ganache frosting that's why you can see the chocolates and thick cream.... however..... I think because I left the thick cream out for too long (while making the cupcakes) when I want to make the frosting, the cream had actually turned sour and smelled like yoghurt!!! Its only been out for like 2 hours and it has gone bad =(((((( so yeah... my cupcakes are not frosted =(((((( so it doesn't look as pretty!! Anyway good thing the cupcakes turned out alright!! My mimi quite liked it but I think its not moist or springy enough!! Anyway.... room for improvements......

Quite complicated and needs a lot of ingredients

For the filling

8 ounces cream cheese, regular or reduced fat, at room temperature

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 ounces semisweet mini chocolate chips *I actually used dark chocolate as I find the semisweet chocolate chips still a bit too sweet*

For the cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

1/3 cup unflavored vegetable oil *I actually used melted butter as I think its weird to put vegetable oil and also I didn't know what vegetable oil to buy!! Is corn oil or sunflower oil vegetable oil??*

1 tablespoon white or cider vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the filling, beat together the cream cheese, granulated sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Set aside.

For the cupcake, in a medium bowl sift together the flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a separate bowl, mix together the water, oil *melted butter in my case*, vinegar, and vanilla.3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients, stirring until just smooth.

Stir any longer and you will over mix the batter and end up with less-than-tender cupcakes

Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Spoon a few tablespoons of the filling into the center of each cupcake, dividing the filling evenly. This will fill the cups almost completely, which is fine. I also added in some chocolate chips on the top and then decided to poke it all in that's why you can see the chocolate chips are not on top of the cake in the next photo.

Bake at 170deg for 25 minutes *Mine were done at about 17 minutes*, or until cupcakes feel springy when gently pressed.

Some of the cupcakes I decided not to poke the chocolate chips in and hence it looks nice on top of the cupcakes.... since I've got no frosting to decorate it.

Besides baking, I also cooked!! One of the weekend, I cooked spaghetti carbonara since my bro loooooves it sooooo much..... However, I used ham + bacon since bacon has got more fat!! Also added in oyster mushroom *which I lovey*

Verdict?? hehe my bro says its nicer than the ones my mimi made!!! MUAHAHAHAHA but he said the best spaghetti carbonara is in San Francisco Steakhouse and they put a raw egg on top when served!! According to him even spaghetti carbonara in Alexis, Delicious, El Cerdo fails when compared to the San Francisco one!!

First, fried the bacon + ham until its brown and crispy then put aside. Using back the same oil, add in chopped garlic and when it turned brown add in the oyster mushroom and fried until soft. Then add milk and the carbonara packet powder or fresh thick cream and bring to boil. When it’s at the consistency that you want, add in the cooked bacon + ham. Sprinkle in the herbs and pepper as desired. After you cooked the spaghetti, put a lot of cheddar cheese on top of the spaghetti before you pour the hot carbonara sauce on top! Stir and eat while its still hot!! YUMZZZZZ........


Yummyyyyy.....

p/s: but don't eat so much pasta cause its fattening!!!!!!! *keke*

June & July Babies

SOOOOOO many birthdays in June and July lar!!!

First we had the SMART gathering for June babies and that is Regie, Victor and forgot who’s birthday!! HAHA Sorry lar those junior batches one I can't remember all their names lar!! =P Anyway this gathering was quite a successful one as the turn out was actually quite good!! The gathering was at Borneo Rainforest, a restaurant and bar right opposite the Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa.

Me, Elisa and Aunty

*Sighhhhhhhhhh out of topic a bit but I'm so sad lar talking bout SMART...... all my kakis in Sunway is leaving me one by one.... Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh............................. =(((((((((((( I will soon have no more friends in Sunway!! Then I have to hang out with real aunties lar!! ish!!*

You see out of the 6 people here more than half has left or going to leave..... *sigh* (and I look so red from the beer!!)

Anyway, back to the birthday gathering, as usual we will have lotsa beer and finger food. Since the attendance was quite good, we actually played some ice breaking game because not everyone knows everyone!! *But still after the game I still can’t remember everyone’s name!!* We collected name cards from everyone and also even added name cards that we have of random people, then everyone have to pick a card and guess who that person is or if that person is here or not. If you guess wrongly, then you will have to drink!! Then the person whom you guessed correctly will have to give three statements where one of it is true and you have to guessed which one is true!! Since I am so bad at names I obviously get the name wrong because I think I only know the names of the people until SMART 5, the rest of them some are even my first time meeting them that day!! Cause I only goes for all these gatherings when my kakis go la and sighhhhhhhhh again...... next time no one will go with me dy!! =(((((((((((( sighhhhhhhhhh

Some of the finger food.

Before this, all the food just went to the other tables and we have got none!! I have to go curi from other tables!! Then we used elisa as an excuse (because she is pregnant) to ask the waiter to put all the food on our table!! *HAHA* This is the benefit of having a pregnant lady on your table!! Then it’s so funny when one waiter actually got worried when we told him that all the food comes to our table.... he got worried because he actually put some food on another table!! *haha* he was like but I put one there just now.... He looked so worried that I think he thought he did a big mistake or what....... haha see him looked so worried so we told him its ok!!

Some random photos of the night

Group photos

and finally the birthday cake!! YUMZ... cheesecake....

Then June is also HF's birthday..... Me & Val got her a therapeutic pillow where she can put the pillow in the microwave to warm it up or put it in the fridge to cool it.... its for when you are having aches, cramps or even just to relax your muscles.... And we also celebrated at Paddington House of Pancakes.....

For ONCE, I didn't order my usual dish but venture into something more interesting.... blueberry pancakes with cheese, ham and scrambled eggs - with honey!! Sounds weird eh!! Sweet and savory add together!! However, the honey goes really well with the blueberry pancake!! Very yummy!! Tell me something that’s not nice in paddington..... their menu is soooo extensive that I always have a hard time deciding what to order and that’s why I always ordered back the same old thing!!

The dessert is really a killer.... everything is coated in chocolate and nuts!! *SINFUL*

HF, Val & Me

Oh then July is Uncle's and Aunty's birthday!! Me, elisa and TMS celebrated with them, we had a great makan session at Nong & Jimmy!! Ate soooo soooo soooo much!! Plus the food was reallyyyyy good!! We had 2 types of crabs, grilled and the thai style one..... then we had grilled squid where one is not enough and Aunty wants another one!! We also ordered mango kerabu, the yummy fried rice, the steam fish in thai style - spicy and sour!! Everything was super yummy =D

TMS, me, elisa, aunty and uncle

As we know we will be very full from dinner, hence elisa suggested to get slices of cakes and I thought a large cupcake will be cuter..... so I get the cupcake from D'lish =D Do you know I have such a hard time thinking of what to get for these two people as their birthday pressie!! Both of them was so thoughtful and made me so happy for my birthday that I wanted to do the same for them...... But I just didn't know what to buy!! I shopped alone for like 3 hours to buy two pressies!! And being the indecisive me, it just didn't help!! I kept texting elisa for her opinions!! *haha* Anyway in the end we got her a sweet silk like nightie with purple motifs and him a pink shirt!! Haha.... I actually wanted to get a purple shirt since she likes purple but they ran out of his size and so pink it is!! HAHA Anyway I am glad that aunty likes her nightie..... Oh and I made both of them a birthday card each!! Though it’s a really simple one but I haven't made a card for a loooong time!! *haha* so it’s the thought that counts!! =P

The mini birthday cake

Them posing with their pressies.... And look at the last pic!! Uncle trying to use his fingers to make nipples show from the nightie!!

Then there’s also Shirley, Michie, WayLoon and Thomas' birthday in July too!! You see soooooo many people's birthday lar...... Anyway Happy Happy Birthday to all of you!! Hope everyone had or will have a great birthday.... May all your dreams come true and many many happy returns to all you June & July babies!!