Potato Pancake

This is my version of Gamjajeon (Korean potato pancake). My kids love it and it's really easy to prepare. I've gotten the recipe from my new helper who worked for a Korean employer for 4 years (Happy bellies yay!). 

Ingredients

3 large potatoes (I used  the russet variety)

Half a yellow onion

Salt

Oil 

Steps

Wash, peel and grate the potatoes

Peel and cut onion 

Mix the cut onions and potatoes in a bowl and marinate with a pinch of salt or more if desired

Heat up the oil in a pan over medium heat and add the potatoes

Using the back of a spatula, spread and press the mixture

Fry both sides until brown

Tip

If you flip the pancake too early, it'll break easily. 

Tada. Usually I have the pancake with porridge or on it's own but decided to have them with a sunny-side up and gluten-free bread (with cream cheese spread) my nephew made.

I like mine soft and chewy so I didn't fry it for too long and I used less oil too. Add more oil if you like yours crunchy :)

Mornings with Murakami.

Sputnik Sweetheart. Grapefruit Juice with Chia. Chocolate bun from Donq Bakery.
How was your morning?

Scrapbook Layouts

Two layouts I did when Eli was about 2 years old :)

Barnyard theme.

Campfire theme.
Oops, I guessed I lost a letter 'R'.

Fun with Soft Pastels

Just got back from checking out Art Friend at Clementi. Super New, Super Huge and Super Organised! Eli has requested for some soft pastels (he mentioned chalk actually..I do know they are different but I much prefer the intense colour of soft pastels) ever since he experimented with them in his art class.  

Got some expensive acrylic paper which on hindsight I shouldn't have. Recycled paper should suffice when it comes to children. I'll just save them for painting.  

Pretty amateurish I know...haha...

Fooling around after drawing. Sigh, boys...

Mathieu's First Class Excursion

Hi there, our naughty boy just had his first excursion to the Animal Resort http://www.rictedkennels.com/ at Seletar last Wednesday. He is still too young to tell me about the excursion beforehand which means he only realised that he is going 'gai gai' with mummy and his class on the itself! Boy was he over the moon - to go take the big bus and having mummy all to himself :)

On board the big bus. This boy loved it!

First animal he saw. Most of the animals just roam about. Only a handful are caged.

Fish feeding.

Posing with the food we bought for the horse.

There is also a quiet play area.

Overall, the excursion was a fruitful one as the children got to feed quite a lot of animals (geese, fish, horses, peacocks, rabbits). The rural setting was also an eye opener for most of them. Kudos to Mathieu who walked throughout the excursion despite the heat and mosquitoes.

Mathieu's 1st Birthday (in 2012)

Another backdated post. Point is for me to organise my pictures and thoughts about them less they get lost and forgotten. This one is on Mathieu's first birthday celebration in December 2012.

 Gingerbread decorating since it is near Christmas.

 Birthday cake from Cheryl Shuen. I love it so much but poor Mathieu couldn't have his cake and eat it as he is allergic to wheat :(

 Pinata time!

Melbourne Family Vacation

Hi there, have decided to pick up writing again as I think this is the best way to document my boys' childhood. I have taken so many pictures of them since birth but have never got around to organizing them. Some pics on the desktop, some pics on my phone, some pics LOST! My phone crashed twice and took away those precious pictures. I'm never religious about syncing my data :P I swear I cried. And so here I am, uploading these pictures on cyberspace and penning my thoughts about them.

This backdated post is on my family vacation to Melbourne in March. Unlike our previous trip to Hong Kong last year, this felt more rewarding because my boys are a little older and hence more aware of things around them. They really did enjoy themselves and will talk about Australia fondly up till now!

Mornington Peninsula: Mornington Park-Sorrento-Flinders lookout-Sunny Ridge Strawberry Farm-Arthur's Seat

Since we did not drive, we've signed up with local day tours. The first was to Mornington Peninsula with Grayline Tours http://www.grayline.com.au/australia-sightseeing/melbourne-day-tours

 Ling Ling Jie Jie, as my kids fondly call my niece, joined us on this one :)

 First stop Mornington Park and the boys were ecstatic. 

 Really like how the playground is padded with foliage unlike the foam ones here. 

 After playground, we took a walk along the pier.

 Eli who wanted to play with water and sand initially (I said no haha), was happy just taking in the scenery and talking about the things he saw. He was genuinely amazed. He has always been into nature so I guessed a trip to Australia is just right for him

Groovy Mathieu says Hi.

 Someone from a neighbourhood photography club asked for a picture of the boys.

Here is a pic of my breakfast at Mornington. Pretty good coffee with biscuits! 

 Next stop, Portsea. 

 SK gobbling down his breakfast- downside of joining a tour.

 Daddy, please carry me...

 Lunch and leisure time at Sorrento. A quaint and idyllic seaside resort and according to the guide, an upper class resort.

 This has got to be the highlight for the kids! Strawberry picking!

 Hard at work!

 Teaming up with Ling Ling Jie Jie to pick the biggest and juiciest strawberries. 

We could wash and eat the strawberries immediately but we chose to sink our teeth into freshly made strawberry ice-cream instead. It was heavenly! Sorry no pictures on that! 

 Last stop Arthur's seat lookout for panoramic views of CBD. 

 What's with the pose?

Philip Island: Gurdies Winery - Panny's Chocolate Factory - Woolamai surf beach - Philip Island Wildlife Park - Cowes - Penguin Parade

For this, we signed up with A Tour with a Difference http://www.atwad.com.au/daytoursit's/phillip-island-and-penguins-day-tour/ We really loved our guide Bryan and the fact that it's a small cozy tour. Everyone was nice and my boys had fun chatting with them.

 Chilling out at Gurdies Winery which was closed because apparently, it's not the season to harvest grapes. However, our guide brought along wine and cheese for us to sample. Overall, a beautiful place as it is set high on a hill with views of Port Philip Bay. Ample space for my kids to run around.

 Our guide, Bryan, brought with him some really tasty cheese and crackers.

Enjoying his cracker and cheese.

Hmmm...the kids had fun but the chocolates aren't  really amazing.

 Next up, some wallabies and kangaroos feeding at the wild life park. My boys enjoyed it thoroughly as they got up close with the animals. This is a free ranging park and the animals just roam. Frankly, I would not come here myself. I find the kangaroos kind of aggressive - they come over to you (a few at a time) for that pack of food in your hand and you better relinquish it fast, they scratch! What's scary to me is that they are tall! I'm just a little taller, which means they must tower over Eli and Mathieu. Besides, I'm a little bothered by the poo all over the ground... However, the wallabies are docile and good with kids :)

 Hi there, how about a friend? 

 Mathieu with his please-carry-me antics again.

 A cute, chubby wombat :) Eli's favorite.

The aggressive ones.

Our last stop was the Penguin Parade. Photo taking is not allowed there and the only pic I got was this haha. The kids needless to say, had a great time. However, we were ill-prepared for the drop in temperature and the wait for those cute little fairy penguins seemed like an eternity in that biting cold!

Visit to Queen Victoria Market

Just chilling with his cousins who also visited Melbourne during the same period.

Dandenong Ranges: Puffing Billy and Day Out with Thomas.

 We alighted at Emerald Station for the Day Out with Thomas event, which takes place twice a year. To be honest, this was the one of the reasons we chose Melbourne as our holiday destination. Both my boys are train buffs and Mathieu is such a big fan of Thomas. Can you imagine Mathieu's elation? It was a dream come true for him certainly.

 Train being pulled by Thomas!

 Watching Thomas Pantomine. 

We visited the village of Sasssafras after the event. Beautiful and quaint, albeit a little touristy. A pity we couldn't get a table at Miss Marple Tea room, famous for her scones and tea :( It was a Saturday and the queue was crazy. A little challenging since hungry children cannot wait. 

To sum up, we had a great stay in Melbourne and will definitely plan another trip there in the near future. There are still many places we wanted to bring the boys but did not due to time constraint and logistics haha. 

We had a pleasant and comfortable stay at Citadines on Bourke

http://www2.citadines.com/en/australia/melbourne/bourke.html , a relatively new serviced apartment in a fantastic location.