Basil Harvest

These are all the jars of pesto that I made over 2 days, using the abundant harvest of basil that I had this summer (1 jar is missing in the photo) and a big bunch of basil from my MIL. 4 jars will go to my MIL and 2 to my 2 SILs. 3 went into my freezer and 2 are in my fridge.

Hubby and I are very thankful for our great basil harvest. I made some basil pesto last summer but this year's harvest is a lot better. Of our 8 plants, 1 died, 1 given away and the rest average about 1 metre in height. After making the above basil pesto, I am left with 6 half-metre tall plants. I am hoping to freeze some fresh leaves closer to the end of summer, so that I have fresh leaves to use all throughout the year. The basil plants has to also be pruned back so that they can 'hibernate' and then bloom again next summer.

I felt fulfilling and happy that I can make something in abundance and store them away and the main ingredient comes from my very own garden. I did not grow up in such an environment but in a city where things/food are easily available within 5 mins.

I am a bit bored of making basil pesto now :p Probably will also try to freeze chopped basil into ice cubes for future use. Again, I will probably only do this at the end of summer :)

Original basil pesto with garlic, pine nuts and parmesan cheese

Basil pesto with sundried tomatoes, cashew nuts (instead of pine nuts) and garlic

Look of My Dream Kitchen

Saw the above picture on one of last year's Better Homes and Gardens magazine that I recently borrowed from the library. I thought I really like the colour schemes and the general look of the kitchen. Took this photo as a reference, so that if ever in future we can afford the resources to renovate our kitchen, this is the look that I would like to have.


Appliances - fridge/freezer, stove, oven, dishwasher, etc with the stainless steel look.
Rangehood - canopy stainless steel
Splashback - mosaic tiles (my favourite!)
Clock - big, stylish and practical
Cabinets - the light oak colour and the long door handles
Benchtop - ivory colour, makes it easy to see if the benchtop is dirty and I can clean it.

In this other photo from a kitchen and bathroom magazine, this is a renovated kitchen where they added the small dining area and more windows to the background so that you can wash your dishes with a view.

What I like:
Dining area - combination of bench seats by the window (with storage at the bottom). This dining area doubles as a kitchen island.
Sink - big double sink with extendable tap/hose.
Floor - big tiled floor (as supposed to laminate flooring in the first picture)

What's missing in both pictures that I'd like in my kitchen is a big pantry for storage, a stainless steel fridge/freezer with the freezer at the bottom and a waist-height big oven.

After all that dreaming... I am quite thankful with my current kitchen, except for the green colour, a colour that I dislike. Give thanks for everything... even though I have my dreams and preferences ;)

Chilli Harvest

Praise God for a good chilli harvest this summer. I have given away quite a number of red ripened chillies and also gave a bag of green chillies to a friend who made them into preserved green chillies. Being a non-chilli eater, I store chillies that were not given away in the freezer for future use, should my visitors likes chillies (or for my mum when she visits from Singapore).

I get quite excited when I see the green chillies turn red. It brings a smile :) to my face. The red colour is so bright and nice... At this current moment, there are at least 5 which have just turned red or will be completely red in a day or 2. Green chillies don't suddenly completely turn red. They reddened in parts and so you may see a half red and green chilli. I was quite pleased that a friend liked my chilli so much that she took it and planted it in a pot and it is growing really well.

Am really thankful that my younger/newer chilli plant is bearing longer and hotter chillies than my original/'parent' plant. Both are actively producing chillies now and I am just happy enough to have them grow :)

Managing A Grouchy 2-Year-Old

My 25-month-old niece Belle just got promoted to 姐姐 (big sister) with the birth of her 妹妹(younger sister) Chris. As with most 2-year-olds, this is the time where they are able to say some words but at times, unable to fully express and communicate their emotions and thoughts well. This results in them getting extra clingy to their parents or caregivers and are generally more grouchy and moody. If their mummies are pregnant with no 2 at this time, they will naturally feel jealous and not used to having someone else share their parents' attention. Yet this is also the best time as they learn new things and it is such a joy to see them grow :)

On her day 5 of being 姐姐, my SIL G and I decided to take Belle out for a bit since we both don't work on Fridays and also to allow my MIL to bring my BIL for a doctor consult. The moment Belle got into the car and realised that my MIL wasn't gonna come along, she started to cry her eyes out. I sat beside her in the car and tried to pacify her. I placed my hand on her tummy and told her to calm down, stop crying and listen to me. It was really difficult... but when I started singing "Jesus loves me this I know", she stopped crying. But when I stopped singing, she went on crying again. Soon after, she stopped and I could tell her that we are gonna be seeing some animals and then we will go hospital to visit mummy, daddy and 妹妹.

Belle had a good time at Pet City, where we saw heaps of fishes, birds, tortoises, dogs, cats, etc. Belle was a bit better then, even though she did not smile much... but she began to speak and is willing to take photos with the fishes so that she could show mummy the photos and tell her what she saw with us. I think all kids like to see animals and pets...

姨姨 G with Belle and the fishes

Belle and her new friends - tortoises!

After the one hour we spent at Pet City, we went to Sunnybank Plaza for some morning tea. Ask Belle and she would say she is going to "Sunnybank!". At the carpark whilst waiting for a lot, she saw the pillar nearby on her left and said "G!", which was actually "G1" written on the pillar. She looked to her right and she said "F". She impressed G and myself that she knew, recognised and made known to us that she knows her alphabets.

Belle enjoyed the egg tart and taro cake and she was happy that she managed to have her favourite bubble tea (because it is sweet!). I hope she realised that it really wasn't that bad but really fun to go out with her favourite aunties. She was a lot more readily happy and okay for people to bring her out in the past. But I think she is growing up now and ever changing in her character/personality. She is such a dear... Even though she now has a 妹妹 and a cousin 妹妹coming soon (by winter), she is still our dear first born, eldest and a dear to the Wong family.

"cheese!" This is how she takes photos now, except that she can't smile here because she has food in her mouth

Pearl / Bubble Tea

Some friends asked how I made the pearls at home to make bubble tea (aka pearl tea). Some of them had failed attempts in making the tapioca pearls. They are really easy to make, but I reckon the brand and quality of the pearls may make a difference. This is the one that I bought from Yuen's Grocery for A$2.99 (it was A$2.49 some time in Oct last year)

The water has to be really boiling bubbling hot when you put the pearls in, otherwise they may just dissolve into the water. For this brand of pearls, after you throw them in and you see that the pearls fattened up a bit, then turn down to medium heat, allow it to cook for 5 minutes (I let it cooked a couple of minutes longer) and there you go - yummy and chewy pearls!

For best results, after you drain the water away, put some sugared water/syrup with the pearls. This will give the pearls a little sweet taste before you add them into your milk tea later. They taste nicer with a bit of sweetness too. The pearls alone are tasteless and if you add them to the milk tea, it still remains tasteless. To make the sugared water/syrup, just boil some water and put a lavish amount of sugar. Allow it to boil a little. I put in enough sugar when my tastebuds say "yeah this is sweet enough". You can also use this syrup to add into the milk tea. These pearls really have a good chewy texture. Try, where possible, not to leave the pearls in the fridge. They then to stick together more and is a bit harder. If you want to store in the fridge, take them out about 1 hour before so that they won't be that hard. I've not figured out a way to handle it so that they won't stick to each other...

Enjoy, and I hope my friends reading this, will succeed! :)

Being "Kia Su" Pays?

The "kia su" syndrome is prevalent in Singapore where I spent most of my life in. Being kia su means being afraid (kia) to lose (su) out. It is common for people to be KS (kia su for short). People would queue outside MacDonald's in the wee hours of the morning for them to open the next morning to buy their Hello Kitty soft toys, parents would queue outside their preferred prestigious school the day before the Primary One registration begins...

When I moved to Brissy, the KS-ness in me has been challenged. I have to stop being KS and not be KS because the pace of life is slower and people don't need to be KS. Hence you don't rush to get up the bus first. People here queue in a straight line and go up the bus slowly. Except for Boxing Day sales where you see many people at Myer stores going after the good sales.

Last Thursday after work, I head to Big W to buy Brita jug filters as the 6-pack filter was going on special ($2 discount) and the sale only started that morning. To my amazement, the shelves were clean and empty! That evening, we drove to another Big W outlet nearby our home and they were clean too. The next day, I went to a third outlet near my place and they were also out of the stock. I have to agree that it was a good price but I didn't think that they will be snapped up in such a short time. I was a bit disappointed and kinda regreted a bit for not being KS enough to buy them in the morning before work. (There were a couple of times hubby and I would get to Aldi on Thursday morning 8.30am to get their really special deals)

But I guess God provided in His own ways :) On Tuesday, I saw the coming Target sales catalogue that starts today and they were having 30% off all Brita products. I decided to be KS this time and I went to Target before work to buy the Brita filters. I am happy to announce that I paid a cheaper price per unit than the sale at Big W last week :) This seemed like a small thing, I know, and it sounds really 'aunty' of me to even have to blog about bargains and discounts. But I am still glad and thankful that God provided more savings for me eventually :) And yes, I shall display my KS-ness at some appropriate times in future :p

Engagements & Weddings

I am at the season of life where there are quite a number of engagements and weddings taking place each year. Even as I thought that I could be over with my friends in Singapore, I now have the 2nd wave with friends in Brisbane (because most of them are younger than me).

Over the last 3 months, I have gotten news of 4 engagements and 2 broken engagements. This year, hubby and I have (so far) know of 3 weddings which we are pretty sure that we will be invited to. Hubby and I chatted once and talked about how easily people assume that 2 persons in a dating relationship will definitely, eventually end up in marriage... or unhelpful comments/actions which assume to indicate that the 2 person will get marry, e.g. X and Y are dating and their friend shoot a seemingly harmless question like "When are wedding bells ringing?" when they are not engaged or comment that "Of course Y wants to marry X!". Most won't realise that such comments or questions are not helpful, especially when X and Y do not end up getting married to each other. Indeed how quick we are to also assume that an engaged couple will definitely end up saying their marriage vows to each other. We rejoice with a newly engaged couple but perhaps we also need to be careful in assuming that they will end up marrying each other, not at least until the wedding day itself. Recently I know of 2 engagements that was broken very close to the wedding day. I realised how easy it is for me to assume and take it for granted that they will definitely get married!

Regarding weddings, many people (especially women) have their "dream wedding" and would have their wish list for the things to have and to happen on that special day, that-once-in-a-lifetime occasion. There is nothing wrong in planning a beautiful dream wedding but at the bottomline, the wedding is mere 1 day, the 1st day of the marriage. Putting all your resources, energies and hopes onto that one day, I am afraid, is not the wisest and it may disappoint you. One can have the most beautiful, expensive and 'perfect' wedding, but their marriage goes downhill from there on. The marital maintenance and growth of the day-to-day marriage is far more important and significant than the special, once-in-a-lifetime wedding day. Most engaged couples look forward to the wedding day... I wonder how many of them really look forward to the marriage if they were to know and see the daily boring routines and when you get into each other nerves.

Now as a married woman, I have not grown weary of marriage (by God's grace!). Yes, marriage life can be boring, routined, normal, unexciting but yet it can be exciting when I see how God grow us to be more selfless and to love each other unconditionally. Marriage is a constant challenge as we come face to face with the worst of ourselves - our sinful wretched beings and how we have to hold onto our vow and committment that come what may, he/she will still be my spouse and I am committed to love him/her and stay faithful. Yet the ultimate beauty of marriages on earth is that it is the shadow of the reality - that is the marriage between Christ and the church when Jesus comes again. It is not totally comprehensible by the finite human but this is what the Bible tells us in Ephesians 5:22-33. The most perfect and beautiful beyond comprehension wedding will take place when Jesus comes again and we are raised up with Him in glory. How I long to see that day!

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Easiest Thing to Knit

Read on Better Homes and Gardens magazine on projects to knit for summer. Most of them were things that you can use around in the house. I wanted to crochet placemats as in the magazine. However I cannot really crochet even though it was supposed to be easy.... Nevertheless this doesn't stop me from knitting placemat and coasters.

Bought this colourful acrylic yarn from Spotlight. One ball of 100g yarn knitted me this 1 placemat and 4 coasters. I did not have the patience to knit more placemats :p Anyway this turned out a little larger than I planned. Oh well, I still love them!