Freshly Laundered

I love hanging out the laundry now. It's strange. I used to hate hanging out the laundry for my mom. The bamboo poles were so heavy laden with wet clothes, I could hardly lift them up. And when she asked me to put them outside, I trembled with fear of dropping the whole pole down nine floors or worse, falling off myself. Even up till now, I still shudder at that thought and kept advising my parents, especially now that they're older, to just hang the laundry inside.

When I got married and had my own HDB place, I NEVER hang my laundry outside.I find it dries just as well indoors and there's no hassle of watching out for the rain. It's cleaner too as you never know what your neighbours upstairs will throw out of the window onto your clothes! When I moved into a condominium later, the situation was different. There was no provision for hanging up laundry in the little utility area and I can't even install bamboo pole hooks up on the false ceiling. I cannot believe it, surely not all people living in condominiums use dryers! So for 4 years, we lived with hanging out laundry on foldable racks, one of which even had to be in the dining room due to the limited space behind.

Then when we moved to our first home in Melbourne, we found a laundry line set up in the garage. It was cool. No need to worry about the weather and due to the dry atmosphere, it dried well. However because it was so convenient and so discreet, we often forget and can hang our clothes out there for days!

In this current place, we don't have a closed up garage anymore. I now have to watch the timing and weather when I do my laundry and am 'forced' to use the outdoor laundry rack. Strangely, the additional constraints of the chore were overwritten by the joy I felt hanging up our fresh laundry under the sun and see them flapping like flags in the wind. The laundry rack actually spins so if the wind is blowing, the rows of colourful linens will rotate slowly like a carousel. It's quite a beautiful sight. I actually enjoyed the process so much that I looked forward to the 'beep' at the end of the wash cycle and hoped Hubby doesn't beat me to get the laundry! On a good day, the laundry dries up within 1 hour. Yesterday was one of those fine days. I got out a picnic mat and had a lovely time with XX hanging around the garden watching the laundry and weeding. After lunch however, the dark clouds gathered and as the first drops of rain came, I hurried to collect the last pieces of linen to safety.

Xiao Long Baos

That day we ate the Xiao Long Baos (Shanghainese Dumplings) in Sydney's Ding Tai Fung is the day I made up my mind to make my own. These dainty XLBs cost about $1.50 each and my elder son can eat as many as 10-15 by himself. I figured out it makes a lot of "cents" to DIY.


Previously I'd made XLBs before but I always used store bought dumpling skins instead. Yes, I was lazy. Making and rolling out each individual dough skin seemed so daunting. Regardless, my XLB fan of a son enjoyed it thoroughly but I know they're no good. The skin is too thick and it hardens quickly after taking out from the steamer. This time, I'm persuaded to attempt making the skin from scratch. I know it'll be a lot of work.

Uncooked Xiao Long Baos

Being my first attempt, my skills were really lousy. I had problems getting them to roll out into a perfect circular shape. I also tried to make the side thinner to make it easier to wrap. Later, I realised that I need to roll the sides little by little, turning the little disc of dough as I go. Traditionally, there's supposed to be 18 folds but initially I could only do about 13. Subsequently, after about 30 XLBs, I finally managed 17 folds.

Steamed Xiao Long Baos

Well, it didn't turn out so bad afterall but it sure was time consuming. The dough is nice to knead and it can be made to stretch very thin, with skill. When steamed, it looked a little translucent, which is very authentic! I made about 37 XLBs from that batch, of which KK ate about 30%. He was really delighted and enjoyed it so much. Even XX loved them. The thinner skin sure makes a difference, it doesn't feel as starchy and heavy as previously. It's definitely worth the effort.

One of my 'masterpiece'

Here's the blog where I adapted the recipe from: http://bakingmum.blogspot.com/2008/10/xiao-long-bao.html

Canberra and Sydney

Encouraged by our 3-hr drive to Echuca, Hubby got more adventurous and suggested we venture further for road trips holiday. I nominated Sydney since the family has never been there before and Hubby immediately made some bookings for the Anzac Day public holiday long weekend. Sydney is about 900km away so we have a planned nightstop in Canberra, which is about 677km.



The weather was cool and gloomy when we set off, with light drizzles along the way. It was a nice day to snuggle inside the car and just watch the trees go by. We stopped a few times along the way, for lunch, snacks, toilets and the last time, by the NSW Police, for a speeding ticket. $197 and 6 demerit points. Ouch.



We arrived safely at the F1 motel in Canberra around 6pm, totally law-abiding, and went looking for dinner in the city center. Back in our motel room, the children were enthused by the double decked bed and quickly made themselves comfortable watching television from there. KK was impressed with the motel, calling it the "coolest" ever. He was especially excited about the shower/toilet, which was a tiny compartment about 1m x 1m. However we didn't like the shower too much. It made the whole compartment wet and if you didn't close the door, your room as well. No wonder they had a sign on the door that says "Keep the door closed when using the shower".




There was another reason for the sign apparently. The next morning, we heard the fire alarm go off and soon an announcement came to remind the culprit to please shut the door when he's in the shower. Next the fire engines arrived. It turned out that the fire alarms can also be activated by steam. The man who triggered the alarm wasn't too happy at having invited the firemen and perhaps some charges for resetting the alarm. He claimed he did close the door but he would have to open it to get out, wouldn't he?




Anyway, it was a lesson for us as well. We had thought that only smoke will activate the fire alarms but apparently some of the newer ones can be trigged by steam as well. So take note to close the bathroom door and don't take such long steamy showers in hotels or you'll find the firemen waiting outside when you come out of your bath.









Before we left Canberra, we spent about half a day visiting the Parliament House and the Royal Australian Mint. It was a wet and cloudy day but despite that, the daylight enabled us to see the beautiful maple trees lining the roads and streets which we couldn't see the night before. The green leaves had begun to turn yellow and red and they looked absolutely enchanting from a distance. Some trees had started to shed its leaves as well, so there are piles of leaves under the tree and everywhere on the wet streets. This is so Autumn. I wish I can have one of these trees in my garden next time.









We arrived in Sydney after dark. Despite being a Saturday night, the road was full of cars and traffic junctions. By the time we checked in, the fatigue of driving has started to set in and we ended up having dinner at the hotel restaurant. One thing about western fine dining which we haven't got used to is the speed at which they serve you food. They take their own sweet time. Most of the western diners don't seem to mind waiting 30 - 45 mins for their food. They usually have a bottle of wine opened and seem to enjoy just drinking and chatting. For me, I don't like to drink alcoholic drinks on an empty stomach. When I come to the restaurant, I just want food. And how much more can we talk, we have spent every minute of our last 48 hours together. The children spoke to each other via their Nintendo DS and Hubby tried to read newspapers under the dim lighting. I sit there regretting not bringing along my diary to write. Morale of the story - don't do fine dining when you're very hungry.




Sunday was our only full day in Sydney and we spent the whole day in the city. Walking out from our World Square carpark, we saw "Ding Tai Fung", the famous "xiao long bao" and Shanghainese noodles restaurant. It was one of KK's favourite restaurants in Singapore but they don't have a branch in Melbourne. We knew we had to have that for lunch to satisfy KK's cravings.






It was also the Anzac Day celebrations that day and all over Australia, there were Anzac day marches taking place. We happened to see the one in Sydney when we walked down George Street and stopped to salute the service of the war veterans and admire the pipe bands. It was pretty emotional for me, seeing the old men, with their badges of honour pinned on their chest, walking in the respective contingents they had served during various war missions some 40-50 years ago. There was some respect and empathy, thinking what they had gone through during the war and to have survived. Of course, there were many of their comrades that didn't, lest we forget.




The rest of the day consisted of walking down George St. towards the Sydney Harbour Bridge. With 2 active children on a rainy day, it was a long march before we finally reached Circular Quay and sighted the magnificent bridge and the elegant Sydney Opera House. The weather had cleared up too and the view was beautiful. My last sighting of these 2 landmarks had been about 10 years ago, when I had night stopped in Sydney as a cabin crew. On my first ever trip to Sydney, I endured fatigue and endured sleepyness to admire the Sydney Opera House up close. Then on another trip, I had the privilege of a hotel room overlooking the Sydney Harbour Bridge. And as it was New Year's Day, I was woken up by the magnificent fireworks outside my window! It was magical and I'd long wanted to revisit this place together with my family.



KK and Papa got hooked to take a jet boat thrill ride of the harbour almost immediately. They offered a good price as they were leaving soon. As XX was too short to get on, I stayed on shore with him. He cried miserably that he couldn't go. Luckily there was a street entertainer nearby and we passed time watching her contort her body to fit inside a 1x1x1m box. KK came back almost 30 mins later, hair and face all wet. It was an exciting ride and they got a decent tour of the coastline and the harbour at the same time.






As KK and Papa enjoyed some hot chocolate and coffee at the Guylian Cafe at The Rocks, I managed to take a fast walk through the last 10 mins of The Rocks Market. Although it was only 5 pm, the merry making at the pubs had already began. Loads of people were standing outside the pubs, bounded by metal railings, next to the road, with plastic cups of alcohol in their hands. At first we thought that these people were waiting to get inside the pubs, but they were in fact already AT the pub. Hubby and I couldn't understand, what's so cool about standing out in the cold, next to the road, leaning on metal railings and holding a plastic cup? But there's no denying the exhilarating effects of alcohol plus music. Everyone was in a cheerful mood. Many of the party goers are in military uniforms, probably participants of the earlier Anzac march. Bouncers were all around, watching out for the trouble makers. This explains the plastic cups, I supposed. We left the area as soon as we finished our dinner. It's not a place for kids after dark.





We headed back to Melbourne on Monday and enroute took a short detour to see Fiztroy Falls at the Morton National Park. Similar to on the way north, we broke our journey mid way, this time in a town called Wagga Wagga. Nothing very spectacular there and we left to have lunch at the border town of Albury.

About 335 km later, we finally reached home. What a trip. I think we've driven more than 2000km over the last 5 days. Credit goes to Hubby, the main driver, for delivering us safe and sound all the way. The 2 boys did very well in the car too. We did not have any DVD players in the car and we didn't allow them to read or play their Nintendo DS when the car is moving. They had only a few Transformers toys and a Silly Songs With Larry CD to entertain themselves with during the journey. And of course, each other. During the rides, they ate, sang, slept, played, talked, squabbled and had pillow fights. The duration of the journey can make sitting down in a confined space abit unbearable at times but they made no trouble for us. Well done, boys!

Swimming Lessons Continued

When we left Singapore, there were certain things we quit along with it. One of which is KK's swimming lesson. He was on the verge of mastering the freestyle before we said goodbye to our olympic size condominium pool. I regretted that we hadn't started earlier. 4 years we stayed there and we only started to send KK for lessons 6 months before we left.






Here, we had KK participate in the swimming programs organised by the school. They were intensive 5 to 10 days programs aimed at improving water confidence and were part of the school hours. KK enjoyed them but we don't see any results in terms of his swimming skills. He was still paddling like a puppy in the water. Now, after a gap of two years, we finally got him back to the pool for some formal training.








The indoor swim school, only 10 mins away, is a really small one, just big enough to house a 4-lane x 25m heated pool, a set of bathrooms and a small reception area. We decided to sign XX up as well.








For XX, this was a new experience for him. During his first lesson, he initially didn't want to go as he was afraid once he heard the words "school" and "teacher", shadows of his childcare days. But that day we arrived early and once inside, he had the opportunity to sit there watching the babies have their swim programs with their mummies while we waited. Pretty soon he warmed up to the idea and was getting eager to get into the pool. I had no problems getting him undressed and he slipped into the pool as soon as his 30 minute lesson began. He sat there with 2 other little children and didn't resist when the instructor took him for a swim. I coolly sat by the bench nearby, waved at him whenever he completed his turn and even chit-chatted with another mum. Even when the instructor purposedly dipped his head under water, he didn't cry. And she did it a total of three times. I'm so proud of him. At home, when he washes his hair, he makes a fuss when water trickles down his face and will ask for a hankerchief to cover his eyes. So I can see that while he was shocked and didn't liked being dunked, he was trying hard to be brave. It's funny how they are such good boys when they're with outsiders and then become a baby again once they come home. KK was like this too. See Swimming Lession #1.





As for KK now, he had no problems of course. One thing the training Singapore has taught him to overcome his fear of water on his face and in his eyes. This water loving boy couldn't wait to jump into the pool. But while he has lots of confidence in the water, his techniques were all haywire. I really hope that he will finally learn to swim the freestyle properly here.

My Bed, Your Bed

Since we moved to our new place, I took this opportunity to give the sleeping arrangement of our family a revamp. First, I insisted on acquiring some bedroom furniture, most significantly, a bed frame. I had enough of the kids jumping all over my mattress like a trampoline and am convinced that a proper elevated bed will eliminate the temptation to bounce. I got my wish and am proven right. This tall bed, with 2 mattresses stacked on top of the frame, seemed so foreign and intimidating to XX, they had not dared to attempt any stunts on it.


Because the master bedroom in our new place is smaller, it was a good time to move the children to sleep in another separate room. From day one, this room has been introduced as KK and XX's room and the room with the tall bed as Papa and Mama's. Vice versa for the beds. This propaganda campaign is targeted mainly at XX who, in case you don't know, has been sleeping by my side since the day he was born. Even with the new bed, my days of sleeping on the floor are not over. To get him used to the new house and his room, I continued to sleep with XX until he falls asleep, then I'll return to my tall bed. Then in the middle of the night, if he wakes up and cries, one of us will go over to calm him and very often end up sleeping next to him on the mattress as well. Up until last week.


During the school holidays, I decided to try training XX to sleep on his own and for its success, I must credit KK for his vital involvement. On the first 3 nights, XX was resistant. He started crying as soon as I switched off the lights and walked out of the room. However by the time I returned from brushing my teeth, the crying had stopped and I heard him singing "Transformers, robots in disguise" with his brother in the dark. However KK can only distract him so much when he's awake. If KK fell asleep first or was not with him, XX could not be persuaded to lie down in bed, much less fall asleep. On the 2nd night, I had to sit by the end of the bed so he will sleep.

Things began to improve from the 3rd night onwards. He'll protest and whine a little, but KK will talk to him and even sing to him to distract him. Pretty soon, I hear only snoring sounds from the room. Though the mid-night wakings continued intermittently, I was happy that at least I could do my own things as soon as I sent them to bed.

For the past 2 nights, there has been no problems saying good night to XX. He even waved happily to me as I turned off the lights. And there has been no wakings in the night! I slept blissfully until morning when I heard the pattering of XX's little footsteps walking into my room. I'll allow him to climb into my bed in the morning and we'll cuddle together, making up for all the cuddles I couldn't give him in the night. These are very nice and affectionate moments that I cherish because I really miss the closeness of sleeping with XX. He's growing up so fast and based on this milestone alone, he's already grown up some more.

Holiday At Home

The 2-week long school holiday is coming to an end soon. Tomorrow, KK returns to school again for Term 2. This holiday has been comparatively low key for us. Same time last year, my parents were here for a visit, followed by my brother and all of us flew to Queensland for a week of fun at the theme parks. This year, with two of our good friends and their kids back in Singapore for visits, even the Good Friday/Easter long weekend is quieter than usual. It seemed like a long 2 weeks ahead.

Division of labour: XX cuts the strawberries and KK stirs the jelly mixture.

Perhaps it was also due to our exhaustion from the recent move, our family spent the first week or so hibernating at home. Of course, with the two boys together, staying at home is at times worse than going out. Hubby tried to make KK catch up on his Chinese during this period, which he did. When not doing Chinese homework, the boys dashed in and out between the garden and indoors, drifted from watching cartoons on the TV to games on the computer and made us crazy with their accidents, spills, mischiefs and quarrels. There seemed to be endless rounds of dishes to wash and childish disputes to settle.

One of their favourite activity: Chopping up and eating up fruits

I tried to make time pass a little faster by involving them in my baking activities and getting them to help make little treats like konnyakku jelly and fruit salads. They were enthusiastic helpers, XX especially. He will drop whatever he's doing and run over wanting to help when he sees me making something at the kitchen countertop. Sometimes they offered more trouble than assistance, like when XX spilled half the rice I asked him to fill and when he toppled the whole pot of flour to the floor, but otherwise it was nice to see them have fun kneading dough, chopping up fruits and beating eggs for a change.

My first attempt at ondeh ondeh on Easter Sunday

A considerable amount of time was spent outside the backyard garden also. While Hubby and I weeded, watered and nurtured seedlings, the boys were seen alternating between their bicycle, scooter bikes and simply digging around the backyard. We thought they couldn't do much damage playing outside but one day we paid the price for a brief absence of supervision when XX drew on our car with a stone....arrgh!


Luckily there were a few interesting activities to break the monotony. Our family did a photo shoot at the botanic garden in Williamstown last Thursday to commemorate our 10th wedding anniversary. I'll post more about it when the photos come out. But check out here to see what I wore. We also did a day trip yesterday to Echuca, spending more than 6 hours on the road. The weather wasn't too great in the morning, foggy and rainy. Though it cleared up by the time we arrived, it did its damage as we couldn't do our buggy ride as the track was washed out. Althought we didn't do much except take a steam paddler boat ride on Murray River, I always enjoyed long car rides to the country and it sure felt good taking it easy and getting away from homebound duties for a while.

Return & Reduce

Here's our latest effort in doing our bit for the earth: A compost bin.

As the name implies, a compost bin is basically a waste bin where we encourage decomposition to take place. We throw our grass cuttings and kitchen scraps there instead of towards the normal bin. Over time, when the decomposition is done, we can use the compost as an organic fertilise for our garden. I think it's a really natural way to turn bad stuff into good stuff and return them to earth while at the same time reduce the amount of rubbish we contribute to the landfills.

Many things can be thrown into the compost bin, like vegetables, fruits, egg shells, shellfish shells, tissues, paper & cardboard, vaccumn dust fluff & feathers, human hair, tofu and even teabags. However, we should not put in meat, bones and dairy products (they produce a bad smell and attract pests), human waste (although diluted urine is ok), fatty food waste and vegetables cooked in oil or salad dressings.

The bin has to be placed in the garden and somewhere further away from the house, in case of smell and pests. Worms are encouraged to move into the bin to aid in the process so the bin actually has no bottom and sits on the ground. There are small holes at the sides of the bin to encourage air inside but keep out the pests. And we've got to stir it to add lots of air for the composting bugs. Just like cooking, the compost actually produces heat and has to be stirred once in a while to ensure even "cooking".

Our composting process is still young so it may be some months before we can see and use any compost material for our garden. Meanwhile, I've been dilligently separating and saving my kitchen waste in an ice-cream tub to contribute to the compost bin. It's not much actually as my family is small but I have the satisfaction that instead of wasting away inside a plastic bag in a landfill of trash, the food are going back to earth in a few month's time.

Hubby & I have always been pretty concerned about the fate of our planet and wherever possible in our daily lives, we hope to make a small difference to reduce our carbon footprints on this earth. A compost bin might not be practical for everyone but there are still many ways we can do our little bit for earth. Simply by reducing our wastage, we are reducing our carbon output and very often, our electric and water bills as well.

Some ways we hope it helps:

• Turn off lights/fans when not in the room.
• Use energy saving lights and energy/water efficient fridge/washing machine.
• Operate washing machine only when it is a full load. Use cold water and a shorter washing cycle.
• Choose a fuel efficient car to buy.
• Walk KK to school when the weather permits.
• Take short showers. KK is not allowed to play in the shower when the water is running.
• Use heaters and air-conditioners only when neccessary. Put on an extra sweater instead of turning on the heater when it's chilly.
• Reuse water for washing vegetables to water the plants. XX's bath water (without soap) is poured into the watering can and fed to our plants.
• Use environment friendly laundry detergents and recycle the grey water from the washing machine to water the plants. (We only use this water for flowers and plants that we do not consume, just in case.)
• All paper, cardboard cartons, plastic containers and metal cans are separately thrown into the recycle bin.
• Plastic bags are seldom thrown away (unless they are torn) and reused for rubbish.
• We try to bring our own grocery shopping bag and not use any more plastic bags than needed.
• Whenever possible, it is my aim to reuse old bedsheets and clothings in my patchwork crafts. I find it a waste to throw away old clothes, so I either keep them and reuse as rags or give them away to someone or donate them to 2nd hand charity shops like the Salvation Army.
• In my cooking, I try to minimise the use of equipment and plan the sequence so I have less to wash up.
• If I plan to cook using the oven that day, I might time my baking at that time as the oven is already heated up and save on the energy/gas consumption.

As much as possible, we should try to reduce our consumption of processed food. Besides the healthy factor, what I find very "ungreen" are the many containers and product packagings that everything comes in nowadays. Just take a look at the shelves of supermarkets. Rows and rows of cardboard boxes, glass jars and plastic bottles. After the food is consumed, what happens to the containers? They get thrown out. Even if we try to recycle some of them, there're still too many that we have to dump. Right, some things like ice-cream must come in a tub, but much of the food on those shelves are convenience food. Food that we don't need to eat out of a jar and can make from fresh ingredients. Take for example packaged orange juice vs freshly squeezed orange juice. Which has more vitamins, less sugar and cost less? It doesn't take that long to squeeze the orange and the peels can also be used or composted.

Of course, in our modern busy world today, not everyone has the time to make our own jam and tomato puree? I'm guilty myself of many packaged purchases filling my freezer and larder. This is gonna be our way of life for a long time unless forced by some drastic climatic disaster to change but I hope our little efforts to reduce wastage and return to nature what we can would stretch our earth's limited resources and ensure our children continue to enjoy the fruits of this earth a little longer.