Training for the marathon

The alarm rang at 650am. I was reluctant to climb out of cosy bed.. Thankfully I invited my parents to run last night, my mum woke me up at 705am!

We usually ran together on sunday morning. But since I will be having a late gathering today and I could rest early last night, the ample rest would made training on saturday morning less tiring. I ran my usual route except, two times longer. Started at 7.44am, I ended the run of 9.42km at 8.53am.

Do the maths.. 9.42km - 69 mins; 42km - 322mins equivalent to 5.4 hours! If only I could run 5.4hours at constant speed..

I'm pleased! :)

My second successful macaron attempt..

The shells finally have feet!

Home-made salted caramel fillings..

Pistachio macaron with salted caramel fillings..

 Crispy top, chewy interior.

Macarons: Take XXX (umpteen times and I lost count)

With the variety of colours and flavours, macarons please one's eyes and satisfy one's taste bud. Having heard the positive reviews on Canele's macarons, I tried the salted caramel and pistachio flavoured ones last week.. Selling at $2.50 a piece, the macarons are outragerously expensive, given its simple composition of ingredients. More chewy than crispy, Canele's macarons were indeed decent, but not worth $2.50. I prefer the ones I bought from London's weekend market although it was sold at 1 pound each.

Today, I kept up to my schedule to make my own pistachio macarons with salted caramel fillings..

48 hours aged egg whites: checked

extra minute in beating the egg whites: checked

exact proportion of ingredients: checked

enough rest on the counter: checked

the result was this:

Shells that are thick and grainy. Peak on each shell will not settle down after piping onto the trays and I have to use a wet hand to push them down.

After an hour of resting and 15 mins in the oven, these baby macarons were born into the world with no feet!

Re-read some blogs and re-watched some videos from the net.. Realised I have been concentrating too much on beating the whites, I overbeat the meringue and undermix the dry ingredient into the beaten whites.

Baking macarons can be annoying cos the same recipe is unreliable and mistake made in each step damages the batter! My current record? 1/XX success..

Made up my mind to make another batch again since the chicken dinner was cancelled. This time round, the whites were aged 2 hours? Cant wait to see the results!

My colourful new workplace

I unofficially joined my new workplace in the system training today. Spent a day in the premise of brightly painted yellow, orange, pink, blue and green walls and caught a glimpse of how my new collegues interact with each other.. Being briefed on my main scope of work and the informed of the plans lined up for me since day 1 in March..

It suddenly came knocking in my head: "Work suddenly doesnt seem so boring after all.." I cant wait to be part of them!

Peace wanted

I really hope you can sleep well every night.

Simple and sweet: I heart this Vday.

Ever since I knew about Moviemob, I have been following their website, wishing for an upcoming movie screening. Just few days before this Vday, I received an email from Moviemob of their planned screening on 14 February. Elated, I threw away our plan to celebrate Vday on 13th, forgetting that he has to work late into the night on 14th!

My plan to have brunch at Wild Honey on 13th was a great disappointment. By the time we got there, it was at least an hour of waiting time before we could get a table. He was starving already and we could not afford to wait. In the end, we dined at Oriole Cafe just a few minutes walk away - another cafe for a good dose of caffeine!

The CPA course started on 14th. As I got ready in the morning, I happily prepared for the movie night, assuming that he could end the day at work on time. Fortunately, he did!

I got us sushi platter from The Market Place and caramel chips from Royce to enjoy during the movie.

Although he fell asleep just few minutes after our take away dinner,  I still enjoyed the date every much. Just hope we could have fun things to do each time I see him!

A newfound love

http://pinterest.com/

It's keeping me hooked for hours on everything in the world.. fashion, hairstyles, weddings, accessories, interior designs.. It's freaking taking up most of my free time!

I'm so free anyways.

A new beginning

I just accepted a job offer. It isnt an easily decision as the renumeration and benefits are so-so. It is the flexible working environment described by the interviewers that draws my interest. Also, it's position sounds pleasant and has a new office space smacked in the CBD area! Most importantly, I'll get a desk of my own! Finally, a sense of belonging..

I'll probably start work 7 or 14 March! So more time to rest and relax FURTHER before I kick-start 6 months of probation! A short trip with Darlie is hatching!

Was your deal really a steal?

I love taking trips to Bangkok.. Apart from the sweet and spicy Thai dishes I could savour and the Thai massuers that crack my inner bones during the 2-hrs long twenty dollars massage, cheap shopping at night bazaars and malls was a major draw to me.

Dresses grabbed from the bargain malls may just cost me twenty-odd dollars and tops may just work up to ten bucks. Yet not all deals were really a steal! As I tried on clothes that I bought subsequently, I realised the bad workmanship of some pieces -  lining that was sewn the other way round, collar that doesnt fit comfortably, ill-threaded ends that come off easily... The list goes on. Some of these were not discovered until you pay the extra attention! I usually try to mend it using a needle and thread or end up paying additional dollars for alteration services only to uncover that a piece of clothing from Bangkok isn't that cheap!

I'm slowly inch-ing towards good quality dresses, even if it means paying more! Who would want to waste the extra time and money bringing back and forth cheap ill-fitting clothes for alteration, only to find out altered pieces doesnt look so good any more? It's a trade-off!