New Year, New Toy

The kind folks at Sony Ericsson have loaned me a Cyber-shot C905 to play with. This 8 megapixel phone was launched in Singapore late October last year. Here are some trial photos (the ones below). What do you think of them?


We took it to Xin Wang Cafe at Siglap. Our first visit there, and it turned out to be fairly pleasant. Cosy, warm-lit and family-friendly.


We adore Hong Kong style iced milk tea. This one came in a rather small mug though, compared to other places which give you a huge glass.


Hubby enjoyed this tomato-based soup which has diced carrot and celery.


The other winner was the fried four season beans with sambal belachan. Richly umami with lots of dried prawns. Beans a little soggy but hubby didn't seem to mind that.


Pork chops with a truckload of fries, baked beans and a fried egg. Huge greasy platter, and hubby was in heaven.


Dry ramen with "fermented pork". The name may put some people off but I think they use this fermented red beancurd or soybean paste to marinate the meat, which is then deep-fried. Not too bad.


Pan-fried dumplings filled with chives. The cameraphone allows several white balance modes which is somewhat helpful. I thought I could tweak some of the experimental shots with post-processing, but hmmm, can't seem to get it right.


Sometimes, when you can't get the colours right, just toss 'em out. I quite like this photo of Nadine this way.


Steamed radish cakes that were too smooth and soft for my liking.


Some har gau (shrimp dumplings) to round up the meal.


Still life is easy but fast-moving objects like rambunctious children are a challenge. The cameraphone seems a tad slow when capturing photos at the full 8-megapixel format. Maybe I should try it at a lower resolution and see.

These preliminary photos may not be an ideal representation. I'm still learning how to use the camera, which has a gabazillion features I have yet to fully grasp. Obviously no cameraphone will ever replace a DSLR, but I have to say, the quality of cameraphone photos sure has come a long way.

Here's to a fantastic 2009!

In just a couple of hours, 2008 will be history. And we'll have a brand new year. While it's generally been one of the toughest years ever, I am grateful for many many things. Not least of all, the wonderful comments I've gotten from you guys. I wish everyone a fabulous 2009 filled with good fortune, good health and happiness. May you also achieve all the new resolutions you can dream of!

And for all-"round" good luck, here are some crispy coconut and mozzarella cheese bites. Recipe from Lidl Treats.

My New Pet

Woohoo! This is my new pet devilsaur (Level 71 Tyrantus named mob) stomping around with my hunter in WOW (World of Warcraft). It's TEH AWESUM! Its DPS (damage per second) is MAD!

Yeah I guess if you're wondering where I have disappeared to in the past few days, it's there. I finally succumbed to the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. I really tried not to, given that WOW is such a time-sink and spare time is something I can ill afford these days. Oh well, my little Christmas time indulgence. Now, what shall I name this creature?

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everybody! Hope everyone who celebrates this is feasting well, and I'm sure beloved friends and family make everything taste much better!

(Jolie eating her first chocolate cookie! She sure is putting those two front teeth to good use already!)

Cookie Penyet

OK, after the not-so-nice Skinny Pizza, here are some skinny cookies. I had not intended for them to be so penyet (flattened) but it's a happy accident. These are my first cookies and being the noob that I am, I shaped them (prior to baking) like, well, cookies instead of balls. They simply spread out. But that also meant they were all thinly crispy, and I love that!

I got the recipe off Nigella's website but it's not her creation. It's a reader-submitted recipe called My Mom's Oat Cookies (my notes below added in green). Irresistibly tasty and so easy to make! You basically mix all the ingredients together and bake for just 15 mins.

INGREDIENTS

4 oz/100g self raising flour
4oz/100g porridge oats (I used a high protein muesli mix)
½ level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
4oz/100g butter or margarine (I think it can be less, cookies are slightly oily)
4oz/100g granulated sugar (this is very sweet, you can halve this and it's still OK)
1 rounded tablespoon golden syrup (honey works fine too)

METHOD

1. Heat the oven to gas mark 4 or 180 c
2. Grease on large baking tray with butter or margarine. (I used two trays for 8 large cookies)
3. Mix flour, oats, and bicarbonate of soda together in a bowl put to one side.
4. Put margarine or butter, sugar and golden syrup in a saucepan and heat on a low heat until butter and sugar are melted, stir occasionally, take off heat and stir in the oat mix, beat well with a wooden spoon.
5. Scoop dessertspoons of mixture up and make into ball shapes (d'oh!) and place on a greased baking tray when the tray is full slightly flatten the balls out with the back of the dessert spoon.
6. Cook in the oven for 15 minutes, when ready remove from the oven and leave to cool on the baking sheet for 5 mins before moving onto a wire rack.
7. Repeat and do the same until all the mixture has been used up.
8. Serve with a cup of tea any remaining biscuits can be kept in an airtight tin for about a week (if they last that long)