So this morning after my Insanity workout, I decided to bake post-workout muffins. Sometimes these things happen…

I’ve been baking and cooking quite a lot more these days!

Oh, by the way I’ve never worn this apron — until today! My Amica mia gave it to me 2.5  years ago when she came over to Singapore to attend my wedding.

Flashback to 2008: Me and her on the morning of my wedding

Anyway …

My Post Workout Muffins

Ingredients (makes 6)

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup wholemeal flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3 scoops protein powder of your choice  (or 1 serving)
• 1/3 cup toasted silvered almonds
• 2 – 3 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• splash of vanilla essence
• 1 egg + 1 egg white
• 1/3 cup raisins or mixed fruits

Method: Mix the dry ingredients except the raisins. Mix the wet ingredients. Slowly pour over the wet mixture to the dry mixture. Add the raisins. Bake at 225 C until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

***
Well, I’ve also been baking crasin cookies

Big Cookies

As well as peanut butter cups! They are hardening in the fridge as I type :P

Recipe to come soon … I am going to bed now! It’s 2205.

I’m sad to say that the whole watermelon perished. I kept it somewhere on the kitchen counter and thought of cutting it during the weekend but alas … it didn’t last till weekend. I didn’t  even taste one bite. It was too yucky to cut.

Mikey woke us up around 7am. I slept in a bit more till 8.30am. Then went out for a morning run (4km). I wanted to bring along my small camera but for some unknown reasons, it wasn’t working (!!).  After the run I did some upper body and abs exercises at home.

Last week’s workout:

• Monday: 8km Run
• Tuesday: Strength
• Wednesday: Rest
• Thursday: Strength Endurance
• Friday: Intervals (600m x 8 sets)
• Saturday: Rest
• Sunday: 4km run + 20 min abs & upper body

Sadly, I will not be able to workout regularly  in the coming weeks.

Side note: Speaking of last week …  I just realised that I ate homemade food six out of seven days. Yes I managed to pack lunch to work and prepare dinner everyday. Wow. I am impressed with myself.

***

After the morning workout my appetite was big. Petit dej was French toast (my version) using the multi-grain bread.

French Toast t0pped with some blueberries and kiwiberries

Closer look

And this one is topped with some strawberry jam, blueberries and kiwiberries

I also dipped some plain bread in hummus :) Yum!

Yesterday the husband bought this jackfruit. I think it was $5.

The skin of the jackfruit is sticky and gloves are very useful!

I actually struggled to open it.

Finally I managed to rip this big baby apart!! And voila, the end result haha. I am pretty sure there is a faster way to do that!

I kind of damaged the inner fruits while tearing open the skin.

Have a great Sunday everyone!! I am home alone again. In case you are wondering, the husband is busy with the weekend’s SPH Schools Relay. Two of his schools got medals. Maybe more today!

Next weekend is our day — our 2nd wedding anniversary :)

I want to share with you all this Mauritian love song which you (especially my Mauritian friends) may have  already heard. Well, I loved it from the moment I heard it! We played it during our grand march at our wedding last year. It was a song recommended by Angele when I was looking for Mauritian love songs.

Beni nou l’amour by Negro Pou La Vi

Love is being stupid together.  ~Paul Valery

One of the happiest moments was walking down the aisle with my dad, last year in March.

Happy Father’s Day to all fathers out there!!!

Guess what I’m currently reading?

I borrowed 3 recipe books from the library yesterday – “Bars & Squares“, “Miracle Soups” and “Fresh Bakes“. The photos inside are so tempting!! Well…  browsing through recipe books is one thing. Baking is another. If I’m in the mood I will try one or two recipes …

That was one of the many things that I ate yesterday.  Broccoli & Cauliflower in Bechamel Sauce topped with cheddar cheese. Simple yet delicious and full of great nutrients that are good for the body.

I think I can pretty much simply live on vegetables, fruits and breads! Oh! snacks too.

Look who’s stepping on my books!

Happy Mother’s Day to all mums out there who are celebrating today (last Sunday of May)!! My mum included :) Wish you a good health and pleasant Happy Mother’s Day!!!

Off to Fitness First gym now! With Aki.

Breakfast at McDonald with the husband first … Ciao!

Mr & Mrs Tan

Mum and dad are finally in Singapore! After Friday night’s karaoke session with my colleagues,  I managed to wake up at 9 am to fetch my parents at the airport. Was feeling a bit of hangover though. I asked mum to bring some Made-In-Mauritius goodies such as “biscuit manioc” and pates de fruits from “Les Vergers de Labourdonnais“.

Dinner that night was held at my brother’s place.

Vegetable bee hoon and Tuna “Kalia

Wedding gifts from relatives and friends in Mauritius. Many thanks to: Angele & Lash, Priscilla Ng, my God mother & God father and all my uncles & aunties :)

Enyu, from Pisa (Italy), landed Singapore on Monday morning and she’s staying with me until this Saturday. I knew her in Beijing during my 6 months at Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) learning chinese and it’s been 8 years since we last saw each other. She brought me a lot of made-in-Italy goodies (chocolates, wine, olive oil, pasta sauce etc).

Didn’t have much sleep lately — maybe just about 4 hrs everyday. I am having difficulties falling asleep (having insomnia maybe) — perhaps because there are too many things running through my mind or could be because my friend snores? LoL.  I even thought of getting sleeping pills from the doctor!

Wedding preparation is all settled. We are more busy with the ongoing house renovation. Spent lots of time at Balestier looking for lightings and toilet accessories. We had to get them delivered by the end of this week, hence this rush!

They say it’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride on the eve. So I’m staying at my brother’s place today and tomorrow. Muahwhahaha.

Today: Dinner followed by Karaoke at PartyWorld with colleagues
Saturday: Parents arrive in Singapore; Classes till 5pm; Dinner at bro’s place
Sunday: Classes from 9.30am to 5pm; Shop for lights and toilet stuffs after class; Dinner with Lai peng afterwards
Monday: Fetch my Italian friend at the airport at 6am; Go to the new house for aircon Installation during lunch; Audio Testing at the hotel in the late afternoon. I’m on leave on Monday.
Tuesday: Go to ROM office for verification & collect documents; Work till 6pm; Classes till 9pm
Wednesday: Work till 6pm; Final gown fitting at LaVie Bridal after work
Thursday: Facial at Clarins; Meet Brother Emmanuel (our solemnizer)
Friday: The Big Day finally
Saturday: Lab classes from 12pm – 3pm (I have to attend class after my wedding! So sad eh! Can’t miss those lab classes …); Go to the new house and wait for the toilet bowls to be delivered
Sunday: I think it’s my rest day

• Arrange for a meet up between our coordinator and the hotel’s coordinator (next week)
• Meet up with our emcees (next week)
• Finalise evening programme (next week)
• Choose wedding favour (next week)
• Pageboy (we are getting my friend’s nephew) – 24-Feb-08
• Ring cushion (I’ve placed an order from hanabrides already) – 25-Feb-08
• Final touch up on our video montage (I’m doing that one)
• Collect wedding album (maybe next week)
• Choose a song for the 2nd March in
• Compile some french / sega songs
• Finalise guest list (still waiting for his relative’s list)
• Finalise seating arrangement
• Apply for annual leave

And I think there are a still a few more things missing.

Why Hua Hin? We were initially thinking of going to Pattaya and stay at The Rabbit Resort — there are so many good reviews about this private resort — but people said that Hua Hin is a better place than Pattaya for honeymoon because the latter is a busy place and is best for those who are still single. I also thought of Koh Samui and Phuket but they aren’t near to Bangkok — need to take plane — I definitely wanted to spend our last few days in Bangkok before flying back to Singapore because I’ve never been to Bangkok. We’ve also been to Phuket before.

We have booked our flights and hotels separately. It wasn’t easy choosing the accomodation in Hua Hin. I spent hours reading Hua Hin hotel reviews from Tripadvisor and Asiarooms. In the end I chose Let’s Sea Al Fresco Resort. I booked it via Agoda. What attracted me was its 120m long swimming pool which we have direct access to from the room’s pier. So we can just dip into the pool anytime. And because of safety reasons, no kids below 12 are advised to stay.

The other few short listed resorts were Wora Bura and Veranda Resort & Spa. Another great place for a honeymoon would have been at Dhevan Dara Resort & Spa but dang! I only discovered this place after having made online reservations at Let’s Sea Al Fresco Resort. Awwww …

Our honeymoon will be pretty short — a week only — because of my studies and his work but a change of scenery is what we are looking for. Our last 3 nights will be spent in Bangkok. We’ve received 3 complimentary nights stay at The Elegance Suites.

Can’t wait! Can’t wait!

Bach’s Piano Version

Mozart’s Version

Oh… D day is in less than a month! We are having a maximum of 280 guests – about 60 friends of mine, 60 friends of his and the rest from his relatives. My parents are arriving a week before my big day. Can’t wait to see them! A few things that we have yet to finalise: Wedding favours, pageboy and evening programme. If I can’t get a pageboy, I will just get a girl hehehe.

I ate a whole rectangular chocolate cake (sauf la creme). I think it’s the stress …

This week is exam week.

Thursday: Social Psychology
Saturday: Acquisition of Skills

And after that it’s 1 month break. Last week we went to choose our photos. We spent 4hr+ selecting only 36 photos out of 300++

Sunday: Weight training at the gym – 20kg bench press, 40 kg squats, hamstring curl, calf raise, abs — i.e the usual main stuffs. We were planning to meet sis for lunch but we felt quite lazy to go out haha. Shall meet this coming weekend.

Saturday: Had a satisfying 2hr run in the morning. Nowadays I don’t know how many kilometers I’m running when I do my long run. I just count the time. The rest of my Saturday was spent at home, either in front of the labtop or TV or was just sleeping.

Friday: The evening at Timbre with the colleagues was fun. I didn’t really drink — just a few sips of Erdinger — and I came back home by 1am as I didn’t want to ruin my Saturday morning run. We ordered 2 flaming towers (waterfall), one for D who just left the company and the other for L who’s tying the knot this Sunday. Took tons of pictures. More in my flickr or in my facebook!

Thursday: Photo shoot was fun but tiring especially towards the end of the day. It drizzled a little while we were shooting outdoors. Damn. But I guess it won’t really affect the pictures. A sunny weather would have been much better of course. I hated dragging that outdoor gown on a wet surface.

Going to Timbre again on Friday with the colleagues! Good that we are going on Friday i.e after my photo shoot, because I dun think I can avoid the drinks.

Wedding day is near and the truth is, I am starting to feel a bit nervous. Brother Emmanuel is going to solemnize our marriage. So this is one thing off my shoulder. Mom’s gonna be my witness and dar’s brother will be his (we only need one witness of each side). Tomorrow (Saturday) I’m going to highlight my hair. Indoor & outdoor photo shoot is next Thursday. I feel that I’ve put on weight — been pigging out on a lot of unhealthy snacks during the festive season awwww.

January seems like a busy month especially with my exams just around the corner. Can’t wait for the exams to be over!