I had some friends come over for lunch today. It was a fun gathering with catching up and some inane exchange of opinions.
There were 8 adults and 5 children. The conversation did not revolve any specific topic. We talked about children, colleagues, friends and television programmes. We also had a review of Xavier's Lego sets. Gabriel and Adeline have 2 children and know exactly what I go through even though their children are very well behaved. Jean and Kee Hoe are relatively newly-weds and do not have any children yet. I hope they look forward to having their own children after some of the stories we shared about the children. Edmund and Grace are single and I hope they don't get scared off by the horror stories. Of course, being considerate adults, we did not dominate the conversation with endless children stories. It was nice to have a bit of catch up about some people we mutually know and share funny stories about others.
We had some sushi from Ichiban Sushi. It was fresh and nicely packed. The highlight of the meal was the durians. Yumm....although Gabriel and his son James are not durian friendly. Fortunate hubby said to get other finger food like chicken nuggets, calamari rings and french fries. The kids had most of the finger food and very little of the sushi. In fact James and Sarah did not have sushi. I wonder if my kids were just fussy or too spoiled.
Gabriel enjoys Lego as well and was bugging me to buy a set for him when I get the next one for Xavier. He should have been nicer to me......no more twin peaks stories!!!!
We realize that the X-wing fighter which Xavier fixed had some error. I'll fix that tomorrow.
I'm going to stop for now and join the family for some pre-bedtime fun.
Happy New Year!
Listen to the voice of a mother of three who would like to share her thoughts and experiences of being a mother of 3 boisterous boys in the small city of Singapore.... Disclaimer: read at your own risk and learn from my mistakes.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Missing shoes and claws
I cannot resist this......sorry SMRT.
Conversation between train child and mummy.
Child: Mummy, Mummy, my carriages are vibrating very hard.
Mum: Nemmind, just sit back and enjoy.
Child: What if we disturb our neighbours, especially when it is very crowded?
Mum: Nemmind, we have this slab to absorb the vibrations.
Child: Mummy, Mummy, my shoes are coming loose.
Mum: Nemmind, they have been on you for so many years, they won't come off one!
Child: Mummy, my shoes are really coming off!
Mum: Don't bluff lah. So many years no problem already, how can suddenly come off?? Complain some more I cane you ah......
Child keeps quiet. Shoes come off. Child still silent.
Child: Mummy, Mummy, still vibrating very hard. I think my claws coming off!
Mum: Nemmind lah! So many complains....just keep moving!
Child keeps moving.
Child: Mummy....my claws are coming off one by one....
Mum: Aiyah, how many times I must tell you?? Stop complaining!
Child: M...u....m....m....y.......(dead silence due to lack of power).
Mum: Aiyoh!!!! Ah boy what happened???
Mum checks child for several hours. She realizes the shoes of the child are missing and replaces shoes. She realizes some claws are missing and ties them with cable ties. Child wakes up.
Child: Mummy.....I'm so tired. How come I feel like I have not enough energy? I'm running slower than before.
Mum: Aiyah, stop complaining. Already use cable ties to hold your claws. Run faster, sure drop. Just tahan and go slow......I still don't know what's wrong, I have to appoint a committee to check before you can be back to normal.....stop complaining.
Child: But Mummy....so dangerous.
Mum: Aiyoh, what you know. If you don't go, cannot earn money. You go slow, still can earn a bit....I gotta eat you know. If you don't work, I cannot eat my sharks' fin leh....just tahan lah. AND STOP COMPLAINING.
Conversation between train child and mummy.
Child: Mummy, Mummy, my carriages are vibrating very hard.
Mum: Nemmind, just sit back and enjoy.
Child: What if we disturb our neighbours, especially when it is very crowded?
Mum: Nemmind, we have this slab to absorb the vibrations.
Child: Mummy, Mummy, my shoes are coming loose.
Mum: Nemmind, they have been on you for so many years, they won't come off one!
Child: Mummy, my shoes are really coming off!
Mum: Don't bluff lah. So many years no problem already, how can suddenly come off?? Complain some more I cane you ah......
Child keeps quiet. Shoes come off. Child still silent.
Child: Mummy, Mummy, still vibrating very hard. I think my claws coming off!
Mum: Nemmind lah! So many complains....just keep moving!
Child keeps moving.
Child: Mummy....my claws are coming off one by one....
Mum: Aiyah, how many times I must tell you?? Stop complaining!
Child: M...u....m....m....y.......(dead silence due to lack of power).
Mum: Aiyoh!!!! Ah boy what happened???
Mum checks child for several hours. She realizes the shoes of the child are missing and replaces shoes. She realizes some claws are missing and ties them with cable ties. Child wakes up.
Child: Mummy.....I'm so tired. How come I feel like I have not enough energy? I'm running slower than before.
Mum: Aiyah, stop complaining. Already use cable ties to hold your claws. Run faster, sure drop. Just tahan and go slow......I still don't know what's wrong, I have to appoint a committee to check before you can be back to normal.....stop complaining.
Child: But Mummy....so dangerous.
Mum: Aiyoh, what you know. If you don't go, cannot earn money. You go slow, still can earn a bit....I gotta eat you know. If you don't work, I cannot eat my sharks' fin leh....just tahan lah. AND STOP COMPLAINING.
Monday, December 19, 2011
SMRT - still Sotong Monitoring Rail Tracks
I'm now at Hong Kong airport, awaiting a connecting flight to China. I couldn't resist logging in to comment on what I read in the papers on the plane.
This morning's papers reported some development on the investigation of the train service disruptions. The best that could be given was that the claws on the third rail gave way, causing a disruption of power supply to the trains. SMRT had to start train service at affected areas much later than usual yesterday to facilitate a full inspection of affected train tracks. Instead of 5.30am, train service resumed intermittently from 10am and fully at 11.30am. It caused much grief to a lot of people. People were late for work despite making effort to get up hours earlier than usual.
I'm very puzzled. Maintenance is supposed to be an on-going thing. For the claws to be worn off and drop off would have taken time. Why was it not discovered prior to the disruptions? Was someone sleeping on the job? A humorous guess would be that the lighting in the tunnel was not sufficient enough for a proper inspection. Passengers who had to evacuate the trains reportedly walked through dark tunnels which had very little lighting. So imagine trying to inspect the rail tracks in the same condition. A more serious guess would be a lack of clear standards laid out for the people carrying out routine checks to follow. If there were people carrying out checks in the first place.
This episode brings to mind two words - Corporate Governance. How does a corporation govern itself in terms of operations and accountability? There has to be Standard Operating Procedures in place. However, execution is a totally different issue altogether. You can have all the best laid plans but fail with a poor execution. All the smart people in the world can make an ingenious plan but if you have an irresponsible person execute without a check and balance in place, you can still fail.
I feel that this might be what went wrong with SMRT. Delegation to the lower ranks without report back or checks and balance. At work, a classic joke was when a VP delegated a Director to attend a meeting on his behalf. The Director delegated to a Manager who in turn delegated a Supervisor. So a Supervisor attended a meeting on behalf of the VP. Obviously the meeting was postponed due to lack of authority level present. Luckily the Supervisor did not delegate to a clerk.
We obviously cannot expect Ms Saw to inspect the train tracks but it is fair that we expect someone from higher management to routinely check reports and occasionally conduct spot checks personally. All the investigation findings up to this point in time (as of yesterday's press time) is inconclusive. The lack of concrete information is adding a lot more fuel to the fire.
I don't support the resignation of the top brass at this moment because they should stay behind to clean up the mess. Resigning now is not much better than just sweeping their hands clean and having someone else pick up after them. Clean up the mess for crying out loud. Pacify the people. Give us the answers.
This morning's papers reported some development on the investigation of the train service disruptions. The best that could be given was that the claws on the third rail gave way, causing a disruption of power supply to the trains. SMRT had to start train service at affected areas much later than usual yesterday to facilitate a full inspection of affected train tracks. Instead of 5.30am, train service resumed intermittently from 10am and fully at 11.30am. It caused much grief to a lot of people. People were late for work despite making effort to get up hours earlier than usual.
I'm very puzzled. Maintenance is supposed to be an on-going thing. For the claws to be worn off and drop off would have taken time. Why was it not discovered prior to the disruptions? Was someone sleeping on the job? A humorous guess would be that the lighting in the tunnel was not sufficient enough for a proper inspection. Passengers who had to evacuate the trains reportedly walked through dark tunnels which had very little lighting. So imagine trying to inspect the rail tracks in the same condition. A more serious guess would be a lack of clear standards laid out for the people carrying out routine checks to follow. If there were people carrying out checks in the first place.
This episode brings to mind two words - Corporate Governance. How does a corporation govern itself in terms of operations and accountability? There has to be Standard Operating Procedures in place. However, execution is a totally different issue altogether. You can have all the best laid plans but fail with a poor execution. All the smart people in the world can make an ingenious plan but if you have an irresponsible person execute without a check and balance in place, you can still fail.
I feel that this might be what went wrong with SMRT. Delegation to the lower ranks without report back or checks and balance. At work, a classic joke was when a VP delegated a Director to attend a meeting on his behalf. The Director delegated to a Manager who in turn delegated a Supervisor. So a Supervisor attended a meeting on behalf of the VP. Obviously the meeting was postponed due to lack of authority level present. Luckily the Supervisor did not delegate to a clerk.
We obviously cannot expect Ms Saw to inspect the train tracks but it is fair that we expect someone from higher management to routinely check reports and occasionally conduct spot checks personally. All the investigation findings up to this point in time (as of yesterday's press time) is inconclusive. The lack of concrete information is adding a lot more fuel to the fire.
I don't support the resignation of the top brass at this moment because they should stay behind to clean up the mess. Resigning now is not much better than just sweeping their hands clean and having someone else pick up after them. Clean up the mess for crying out loud. Pacify the people. Give us the answers.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
SMRT FiascoS......Trilogy of Disruptions
Thanks to SMRT, the number of hits on my page has increased. It is hilarious
that I am an unwitting beneficiary of SMRT fiascos. Note that I put the S in
the header in capital on purpose.
Apparently I missed one important cock up on Wednesday 14 Dec. So the breakdown on Thursday 15 Dec was the second incident. The major disruption on Saturday 17 Dec completed the trilogy.
This time, it is so huge that even PM Lee had to step in and make a comment. I have to break my policy and say "WA LAU EH" on my blog. (I try not to use Singlish when I write lah...) It's unbelievable.
It may be bad maintenance, sabotage or pure bad luck.
We are still waiting for an explanation.
Apparently I missed one important cock up on Wednesday 14 Dec. So the breakdown on Thursday 15 Dec was the second incident. The major disruption on Saturday 17 Dec completed the trilogy.
This time, it is so huge that even PM Lee had to step in and make a comment. I have to break my policy and say "WA LAU EH" on my blog. (I try not to use Singlish when I write lah...) It's unbelievable.
It may be bad maintenance, sabotage or pure bad luck.
We are still waiting for an explanation.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
SMRT Fiasco
Recently SMRT went under fire for frequent disruptions of its train operations. The worst incident so far happened on Thursday night where there was a 5 hour breakdown along the busiest stretch of its North South line during peak hour. News reports reveal that many passengers were trapped in train carriages without light or air conditioning. Someone even used a fire extinguisher to smash a window for some ventilation. Passengers had to be evacuated along the tracks.
The CEO of SMRT had to make a public apology. There were promises to look into the entire system and review, etc. Until now, it's only possible causes which had been found. Nothing concrete yet.
After that, someone saw an inappropriate message broadcast to SMRT taxi drivers, alerting them of an income opportunity due to the train breakdown. Talk about adding fuel to the fire. This is amid unhappiness with taxi fare hikes.
I saw an article on Yahoo with the headline "Singapore Stocks-Down at midday; SMRT Corp outperforms". SMRT was seen to be a beneficiary of the taxi fare hike. It's a logical win-win situation for SMRT. Taxi fare hike may result in direct revenue for SMRT. They win. The taxi fare hike may drive more commuters to trains. They also win. In August, a 1% increase in bus and train fares was approved by the Public Transport Council. SMRT still win.
And here the government is warning about possible economic storms, etc.
It is not surprising that many Singaporeans are unhappy about the situation. It is a definite let down that such a corporation gave the impression that they did not have a Business Continuity Plan or a Disaster Recovery Plan. Actually, this may not be relevant because no disaster seemed to have actually happened. What seemed to have happened was something broke down somewhere on the tracks, in the stations, or related place. There was no obvious Act Of God, no natural disaster, etc. How such an embarrassing situation can happen under the management of such an establishment is not something laymen, like myself, can comprehend.
At work, I stress to my team that a detailed Standard Operating Procedure is very critical. However, we are humans and cannot predict every single possibility. We may miss something because humans are totally unpredictable. I've learnt that the hard way. A classic example happened a couple of weeks ago. I asked someone to help me courier some documents. For some unfathomable reason, this person did not send the documents out until a week later.
What I've learned is that we are allowed to make mistakes. But we are not allowed to not learn from them. We usually acknowledge our mistake, come up with a corrective action plan, fix the issue, come up with a control point to prevent future occurrences and move on.
That being said, the situation with SMRT is admittedly different because it is about public transportation. To be honest, I seldom take train and bus. I cannot claim to understand how the commuters affected by the recent SMRT fiascos feel. However, I can say that with service providers of public services shoulder a heavy responsibility and they should live up to the expectation of the public to the best of their ability.
With prior small occurrences, someone should have said, "Let's review the whole system before something major happens." Of course it's easier to say that with hindsight. I hope that there won't be news about the top executives of SMRT being paid fantastic bonuses despite such incidents just because the bonuses have been declared. That would really endorse the saying that bad things come in threes - train breakdown, income opportunity and skyrocket bonuses.....good luck to Saw Phaik Hwa.
The CEO of SMRT had to make a public apology. There were promises to look into the entire system and review, etc. Until now, it's only possible causes which had been found. Nothing concrete yet.
After that, someone saw an inappropriate message broadcast to SMRT taxi drivers, alerting them of an income opportunity due to the train breakdown. Talk about adding fuel to the fire. This is amid unhappiness with taxi fare hikes.
I saw an article on Yahoo with the headline "Singapore Stocks-Down at midday; SMRT Corp outperforms". SMRT was seen to be a beneficiary of the taxi fare hike. It's a logical win-win situation for SMRT. Taxi fare hike may result in direct revenue for SMRT. They win. The taxi fare hike may drive more commuters to trains. They also win. In August, a 1% increase in bus and train fares was approved by the Public Transport Council. SMRT still win.
And here the government is warning about possible economic storms, etc.
It is not surprising that many Singaporeans are unhappy about the situation. It is a definite let down that such a corporation gave the impression that they did not have a Business Continuity Plan or a Disaster Recovery Plan. Actually, this may not be relevant because no disaster seemed to have actually happened. What seemed to have happened was something broke down somewhere on the tracks, in the stations, or related place. There was no obvious Act Of God, no natural disaster, etc. How such an embarrassing situation can happen under the management of such an establishment is not something laymen, like myself, can comprehend.
At work, I stress to my team that a detailed Standard Operating Procedure is very critical. However, we are humans and cannot predict every single possibility. We may miss something because humans are totally unpredictable. I've learnt that the hard way. A classic example happened a couple of weeks ago. I asked someone to help me courier some documents. For some unfathomable reason, this person did not send the documents out until a week later.
What I've learned is that we are allowed to make mistakes. But we are not allowed to not learn from them. We usually acknowledge our mistake, come up with a corrective action plan, fix the issue, come up with a control point to prevent future occurrences and move on.
That being said, the situation with SMRT is admittedly different because it is about public transportation. To be honest, I seldom take train and bus. I cannot claim to understand how the commuters affected by the recent SMRT fiascos feel. However, I can say that with service providers of public services shoulder a heavy responsibility and they should live up to the expectation of the public to the best of their ability.
With prior small occurrences, someone should have said, "Let's review the whole system before something major happens." Of course it's easier to say that with hindsight. I hope that there won't be news about the top executives of SMRT being paid fantastic bonuses despite such incidents just because the bonuses have been declared. That would really endorse the saying that bad things come in threes - train breakdown, income opportunity and skyrocket bonuses.....good luck to Saw Phaik Hwa.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Back from holiday
We had another stay-cation at Resorts World Sentosa this week. The kids had a lot of fun and we decided that it was probably more worth it to just check in at a local hotel for future holidays. This time, my parents came with us. My mom used her Resorts World membership points to redeem 2 nights' stay at Festive Hotel for us.
The kids loved the hotel pool, almost endless supply of ice-cream and candy and the cosy hotel room. Ryan keeps wanting to go back to the "hauntel" room....creepy but funny. Keane calls it "The Bed".
The day trip to Universal Studios was not exciting, as expected. We bought the tickets on Monday for entry on Tuesday. We had a bonus discount of 15% for 6 of the tickets because hubby was NTUC member. There's a promotion going on.
We went to the park at about 10am and hit the carousel ride first. That may not have been a wise move. Read on to find out why.
We learnt from last year's mistake and gave the 4D show at Far Far Away Land (aka Shrek land) a miss. But we went onto the mini ferris wheel. The kids enjoyed that ride and it was the first time I heard shrieks and yells coming out of a ferris wheel cabin! Imagine if we were on a roller coaster ride....
We went for the Donkey Live show. Still at Far Far Away. I was expecting a real donkey or at least a fella in a donkey costume. Turned out to be an interactive animation show. The most fun part was when Keane took part in the show. Conversation with emcee Ross and Donkey.
Ross: What's your name?
Keane: Keanetan!
Ross: Keanton?
Keane: Keanetan!
Ross: ???
Mom: Keane.
Ross: Oh! Keane Tan!
Ross: You had a question for Donkey earlier. What was it?
Keane: Erm....because Donkey can sing anything?
This threw Ross off for a couple of seconds...
Ross: Erm...yeah, Donkey can sing anything. (recovery taken place). So how old are you?
Here I'm starting to sweat cos Keane has not been able to differentiate the questions "how old are you" and "how are you"...
Keane: Five! (phew!)
Ross: Where are you from?
Keane: Singapore! (well done Keane!)
Donkey: Are you married Keane?
Keane: Yes!
Donkey: Oooh...where's your wife?
Keane shrugs.
Donkey: You don't know where's your wife?!?! Ah! Did you leave your wife at home?
Keane: (still clueless) Yes!
Donkey: Ah! That's a good plan! Leave the wife at home and come to Universal Studios by yourself!
Ross: Alright Keane, can you dance like Donkey?
Donkey does a tap dance and Keqne follows suit. Donkey shakes his booty and Keane does it back at him.
Ross: Alright Keane, let's help Donkey get started for his next song. Can you say 5, 6, 7, 8?
Keane: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!
Ross: Erh....that will work too. Let's give it up for Keane!
You couldn't find any prouder parents that day.
We went for lunch and Ryan promptly fell asleep after lunch. We left him with Perla and went to check out the rest of the park. Went for a boat ride at Madagascar and shopping at Jurassic Store.
Hubby wanted to check out the Transformers ride but found out there was a 115min wait at the queue! We should have gone to the Transformers ride first!
Hubby headed back to hotel with Xavier and Keane while the rest of is went for coffee.
We took the train ride out to Vivocity for dinner on Tuesday evening. The rest of the time was spent in the hotel room.
Even though it wasn't glamourous, we still had good fun as a family and that's what is important.
The kids loved the hotel pool, almost endless supply of ice-cream and candy and the cosy hotel room. Ryan keeps wanting to go back to the "hauntel" room....creepy but funny. Keane calls it "The Bed".
The day trip to Universal Studios was not exciting, as expected. We bought the tickets on Monday for entry on Tuesday. We had a bonus discount of 15% for 6 of the tickets because hubby was NTUC member. There's a promotion going on.
We went to the park at about 10am and hit the carousel ride first. That may not have been a wise move. Read on to find out why.
We learnt from last year's mistake and gave the 4D show at Far Far Away Land (aka Shrek land) a miss. But we went onto the mini ferris wheel. The kids enjoyed that ride and it was the first time I heard shrieks and yells coming out of a ferris wheel cabin! Imagine if we were on a roller coaster ride....
We went for the Donkey Live show. Still at Far Far Away. I was expecting a real donkey or at least a fella in a donkey costume. Turned out to be an interactive animation show. The most fun part was when Keane took part in the show. Conversation with emcee Ross and Donkey.
Ross: What's your name?
Keane: Keanetan!
Ross: Keanton?
Keane: Keanetan!
Ross: ???
Mom: Keane.
Ross: Oh! Keane Tan!
Ross: You had a question for Donkey earlier. What was it?
Keane: Erm....because Donkey can sing anything?
This threw Ross off for a couple of seconds...
Ross: Erm...yeah, Donkey can sing anything. (recovery taken place). So how old are you?
Here I'm starting to sweat cos Keane has not been able to differentiate the questions "how old are you" and "how are you"...
Keane: Five! (phew!)
Ross: Where are you from?
Keane: Singapore! (well done Keane!)
Donkey: Are you married Keane?
Keane: Yes!
Donkey: Oooh...where's your wife?
Keane shrugs.
Donkey: You don't know where's your wife?!?! Ah! Did you leave your wife at home?
Keane: (still clueless) Yes!
Donkey: Ah! That's a good plan! Leave the wife at home and come to Universal Studios by yourself!
Ross: Alright Keane, can you dance like Donkey?
Donkey does a tap dance and Keqne follows suit. Donkey shakes his booty and Keane does it back at him.
Ross: Alright Keane, let's help Donkey get started for his next song. Can you say 5, 6, 7, 8?
Keane: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!
Ross: Erh....that will work too. Let's give it up for Keane!
You couldn't find any prouder parents that day.
We went for lunch and Ryan promptly fell asleep after lunch. We left him with Perla and went to check out the rest of the park. Went for a boat ride at Madagascar and shopping at Jurassic Store.
Hubby wanted to check out the Transformers ride but found out there was a 115min wait at the queue! We should have gone to the Transformers ride first!
Hubby headed back to hotel with Xavier and Keane while the rest of is went for coffee.
We took the train ride out to Vivocity for dinner on Tuesday evening. The rest of the time was spent in the hotel room.
Even though it wasn't glamourous, we still had good fun as a family and that's what is important.
Monday, December 12, 2011
The night baker
For some strange reason, I am now quite keen on baking. I watched a lot of Australian Junior Masterchef Season 1 on Starworld when I was on medical leave. Although I couldn't see very clearly, I could manage to follow the show. Thereafter, I started to explore cooking on my terms. What are my terms? Read on.
I tried to do some traditional cooking - soup, fu yong egg and pork balls. That was my only attempt at making a meal for the family. I ended up putting too many prawns into the soup and the egg. The pork balls turned out alright.
After that, I attempted to do some baking using a miserably small oven which my mom gave me before. It's one of those which do not have a good seal so there is a small gap between the oven and its door when the door is closed. The thermostat is not near precision. That's my excuse for my failed attempts at baking scones and a chocolate cake. The cake turned out undercooked and the scones ended up like cookies.
I tried the chocolate cake again and it turned out alright. Not great but alright. The scones turned out ugly, still looked like cookies, but tasted better. So I decided to invest in this new hobby. I bought a proper oven. It came with multiple pre-set modes and a big steamer which can be used in the oven.
The day after I bought the oven, I had to leave for a 2 week work trip overseas. I came back and tried the oven. It was pretty cool. The scones still turned out ugly but tasted better. It is probably not due to my oven. I actually tried to use cake flour instead of all-purpose flour. I think I will try to use top flour next time. Top flour is in between cake flour and all-purpose flour in terms of protein content. I read that in a cook book.
With work, and my unstoppable enthusiasm, I baked at night when I got home from work. Hubby was laughing about it. I tried to make sesame cookies. Had to prepare the dough at night and then leave it to rest in the fridge for at least 3 hours. Then I baked it early in the morning, before I left for work.
I tried to make a vanilla chiffon cake yesterday. Twice. Both were failures. The first attempt was pathetic. The cake tasted funny and I suspect it was because I didn't mix the ingredients well. The second cake tasted better but was flat. Not very chiffon like. I need to try again with another method. The recipe called for folding and I obviously can't fold very well. Cut, fold, turn. Cut, fold, turn.
I am not going to turn this into a cooking blog because there are many of those around. But I'll keep you posted of my attempts. I'm not giving up yet.....
I tried to do some traditional cooking - soup, fu yong egg and pork balls. That was my only attempt at making a meal for the family. I ended up putting too many prawns into the soup and the egg. The pork balls turned out alright.
After that, I attempted to do some baking using a miserably small oven which my mom gave me before. It's one of those which do not have a good seal so there is a small gap between the oven and its door when the door is closed. The thermostat is not near precision. That's my excuse for my failed attempts at baking scones and a chocolate cake. The cake turned out undercooked and the scones ended up like cookies.
I tried the chocolate cake again and it turned out alright. Not great but alright. The scones turned out ugly, still looked like cookies, but tasted better. So I decided to invest in this new hobby. I bought a proper oven. It came with multiple pre-set modes and a big steamer which can be used in the oven.
The day after I bought the oven, I had to leave for a 2 week work trip overseas. I came back and tried the oven. It was pretty cool. The scones still turned out ugly but tasted better. It is probably not due to my oven. I actually tried to use cake flour instead of all-purpose flour. I think I will try to use top flour next time. Top flour is in between cake flour and all-purpose flour in terms of protein content. I read that in a cook book.
With work, and my unstoppable enthusiasm, I baked at night when I got home from work. Hubby was laughing about it. I tried to make sesame cookies. Had to prepare the dough at night and then leave it to rest in the fridge for at least 3 hours. Then I baked it early in the morning, before I left for work.
I tried to make a vanilla chiffon cake yesterday. Twice. Both were failures. The first attempt was pathetic. The cake tasted funny and I suspect it was because I didn't mix the ingredients well. The second cake tasted better but was flat. Not very chiffon like. I need to try again with another method. The recipe called for folding and I obviously can't fold very well. Cut, fold, turn. Cut, fold, turn.
I am not going to turn this into a cooking blog because there are many of those around. But I'll keep you posted of my attempts. I'm not giving up yet.....
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