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Business Times, 11 May 2013

Hope-Bricklet

Habitat for Humanity Singapore is currently running the hope-bricklet project where you can buy a small brick-making kit for $10, make the bricklet at home, send it back to Habitat for them to embed it in an actual house built by Habitat volunteers. Now and then, I will tell Nathan that we are blessed in so many ways and there are so many people in the world who do not have the basic necessities for life, much less the luxuries that we enjoy. I thought this little hands-on activity was a good way to remind him and a small way that we can help the less fortunate.

I bought the brick-making kits online and they were delivered to my house promptly. The enclosed instructions are easy to follow, and simple enough for a toddler (with some help from mommy).

Instructions

Cement powder

Cardboard for making the mould

Folding the box

Staple the ends together to make boxes that are used as moulds

Add water & stir

Completed bricklets

Stamped & addressed envelope is enclosed for you to send the completed bricklet to Habitat

You can find out more about the hope-bricklet and purchase your kits here. Everything that is required to make the bricklets (except water) is included in the kit.

Tulip Mania at Gardens by the Bay

We went to check out Tulip Mania last weekend and were treated to a beautiful sight! See for yourself...

Remember to collect your tulipmania activity sheet when you exit and have fun crafting with your young ones.

Tulipmania runs from 29 April to 20 May 2013.

Time: 9am to 9pm

Location: Flower Dome

Regular ticket prices apply. Buy your tickets online from 10 to 12 May and get 15% off.

While you are there, perhaps you can pop by Satay by the Bay for dinner. 

Hokkaido Chiffon Cakes

A slew of activities have been planned to celebrate Singapore Mom Bloggers' 1st birthday. One of these is a Hokkaido Chiffon Cake class by Munch Ministry. The last time I attended a cooking class was some 20 years ago, when Home Economics was part of the school curriculum. Walking into the newly renovated Civil Service Club, vague memories of my not too distant past came back to mind. Then, I was baking with a bunch of 13 or 14 year old school girls. Now, I am baking with a different bunch of girls, all of whom are now mothers. Then, we didn't have the luxury of using high tech gadgets like the Kitchen Aid. Now, we have such nifty kitchen gadgets.

But somethings hadn't changed... we still have to wash the utensils before/after use, we still squeal at delight when the cakes are taken out of the oven, we are still secretly proud of ourselves when we sink our teeth into our yummilcious goodies, and we guard our lunch box filled with the day's hard work with our life, just so our loved ones can savour cakes baked by mommy dearest.

The recipe for the Hokkaido Chiffon Cakes can be found at the Munch Ministry website.

The recipe is really easy to follow... Here, I provide some pointers which will benefit you if you're not a seasoned baker like me.

1) All ingredients for chiffon cakes need to be at ROOM TEMPERATURE before you proceed with combining them. Yes - this includes the eggs & the milk. If your chiffon cakes aren't rising as they should, try taking the ingredients out of the fridge and leaving them at room temperature before you begin.

2) Separating the egg yolk and the egg white: I don't have any tips for this except to try and be careful when cracking the egg. With the yolk intact, it is much easier to separate yolk from white. In any case, if you do get some yolk mixed with the white, just try to scoop out as much as you can with a spoon. There was still some yolk left in my white, and the cakes still turned out fine. :)

3) When folding in the flour, it is easier to get a good mix if you separate the flour into two or three batches. Fold in one batch before adding the next.

As with everything else, practice makes perfect. :)

I had good time meeting up with fellow mom bloggers. It is my first time meeting and baking with Tzer Jing who blogs at www.thekamfamily.com although we've been virtual friends for more than 3 years. Her daughter is born in the same year as Nathan and we 'met' thru an online motherhood forum more than 3 years ago. I thought this baking party was a pretty good team building activity. Do contact Munch Ministry if you're interested to organise a 'BAKE OUT' or a 'COOK OUT'.

Pauline Wong, founder of Munch Minstry

Pauline demostrates while I pay close attention

Whipping yolks manually

Tzer Jing filling the paper cups with our cake mix

In the oven

Ta-dah!

Have a go at baking these mini chiffon cakes. I'm sure you'll have as much fun as I did. 

Photo credits: Pauline Wong, Munch Ministry

Mommy & Me Outfits

Thinking of what to get as Mother's Day presents? Check out our mommy & me outfits from Mama Shoppe!

Debbie G from Picapie road tested some of our clothes and did a blog review of our very first collection. Check out their adorable models J and Little E!

We are looking for business partners who share the same vision to market and distribute our handmade clothing collection through your distribution channels or retail shops. Do drop us an email at bizdev@mamashoppe.com if you are interested to partner with us.

Road Safety Park

Those born in the 1980s will remember the Road Safety Park located within East Coast Park. It was a popular attraction for school excursions, and the last time I was there was when I was in Primary 5 some 20 years back.

Several months back, I brought Nathan cycling at East Coast Park. We cycled past Road Safety Park and I was pleasantly surprised to find the gate open. But since I wasn't sure if we were actually allowed to enter, we didn't go in.

Subsequently, I found out that the park is open to the public and we're free to use it as long as there are no school / community group bookings. So we made our way down yesterday...

Our first stop was the petrol kiosk...

Then we stopped by 7 eleven to grab a snack...

We got to see the different road signs, and I explained to Nathan what they meant...

Nathan learnt to stop at red lights...

And to stop for pedestrians. It was a weekday so we were the only people on the 'road' together with a group of old folks, who were getting briefed on how to use the roads safely. They were really sweet, thanking Nathan for stopping for them to cross...

He brought his bike for regular servicing...

And sent it to VICOM for its annual inspection...

We cycled past bus stops, went under overhead bridges... cycled on straight roads and roads with a slight bend...

On our journey, he saw a man cutting down a tree illegally, so he went to the Police Station to make a report...

All in all, it was a nice change from the usual cycling spots we frequent. I'm sure Nathan will be asking me to bring him back here again. There's practically no one using the park except us on weekdays, might be a bit more crowded on weekends, but that'll probably be more fun too!