Issue No.1

It has started to become an assignment which is of course, NOT good. Gab was right… both of us are more focused on the quality of the pictures rather than capturing daily random shots. So, is it a good or bad thing afterall?

Issue No.2

The restricted connection and travel! Some of you already noticed that I have been skipping some days and then post all the ‘missing days’ at one shot.

Issue No.3

I guess it’s because I’m still a novice. Alot of times, I wanted to capture my thoughts  and portray them in pictures but with my limited skills and well, limited source in Perlis, I failed to do so or maybe I didn’t try hard enough. It’s a lil’ frustrating, hehe. But I’m very eager to continue learning and improving *smiles*

Afterall, I still think this picture a day thing is beneficial in many ways… like some kind of theraphy at times.

This is totally inspired by Gab (http://dailypics.gabrielsai.com) or rather I was encouraged by him to do the same ;p So, here I am starting my very own ‘A Picture A Day’ project. My own life journey illustrated by daily snapshots capturing all moments from my simple everyday life. It could be of  how I’m feeling on that day or people that I’ve encountered or even little things that fascinate me. Above all, it’s a reminder that each day is indeed a gift from God even if it’s your worst day ever.

I think this is a pretty good idea especially when you could not express your feelings with words, haha. Really hope that this will help each one of us to learn how to count our blessings.

Do check it out everyday as I will be updating it daily or so I hope, hehe. Here’s the link:

http://everydaywithjinann.wordpress.com/

]]> http://jinann.wordpress.com/2009/02/27/project-365/feed/ 0 jinann http://jinann.wordpress.com/2009/02/07/goodbye-by-janice-wei-lan/ http://jinann.wordpress.com/2009/02/07/goodbye-by-janice-wei-lan/#comments Sat, 07 Feb 2009 15:46:52 +0000 jinann http://jinann.wordpress.com/?p=796 ]]>

Sleep is good.

So is sudoku.

It helps the mind to wander off realities of life. You either dream or focus on numbers.

…………

Have my eyes set on Canon EOS 1000D.  Been discussing and getting advice/tips from Gab.

…………

Back to reading Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Though I’m supposed to be FYP-ing.

Pineapple and Coconut Cake

So, what have I been up to during Christmas? Christmas outreach and party afterwards? Nope… Crazily spraying white foams aka snow in kl? Not anymore… This time around was just a family gathering and dinner then back to my cupcakes! 50 big fat chewy chocolate cookies and 80 chocolate cupcakes to raise funds for an event which will be held in UKM somewhere in February ^_^ had sleepless nights thinking and preparing the designs and packaging. A big thanks to Yian and Jason for helping out with the boxes, I couldn’t have done it all by myself. Big hugs to you guys!

The fund raising went really well on Christmas day itself in church and we raised much more than we have expected. Thank You, Lord for Your blessings all these while, I’m truly grateful.

I totally forgot about photo taking but thanks to Jen, she managed to capture a few quick shots before the service ended.

the table setting

“God Is Love”

all packed in transparent boxes

the “LOVE” cupcake… didn’t get to capture the “JOY” and “PEACE” though.

the sweet rose

…finally able to sit quietly in front of my lappie to update. The past few weeks have been rather crazy with all the family trip and cake baking!… Not that I’m complaining, hehe… busy, yes… tired, no doubt… but it has also been super fun and great time of bonding with family and friends ^_^

Well, I have decided to post only the food pics (for other non food related pics, can check out my facebook) ;p reason one being too many photos to upload and reason two is that most of the time spent in macau and hong kong is just makan and makan and makan, hehe… Indeed a food paradise!

Macau

If you think our local portugese tarts are good enough, wait till you try these famous original portugese tarts from Cafe de Nata. The filling is so soft and custardy… I’m definitely going back for more. Each tart costs HK$ 7.

We then went for the double layer milk, my direct translation from mandarin, hehe… It’s called ’shuang pi nai’. This one is highly recommended for milk lovers… costs HK$ 15 for one.

The best souvenir from Macau has to come from Pastelaria Koi Kei that offers a variety of biscuits and dried meat to bring home for family and friends. They have four branches in just one street and each one is equally crowded with people. What I like most about this shop is that you can get unlimited amount of free tasting, hehe

We’ve also tried pork chop bun (chu pa pau) and portugese cuisine. A friend of mine has previously warned me about the portugese food but my family and I thought we should still give it a try anyway and well, I wished I would have listened to the sound advice.

Other attractions apart from the ruins of St. Paul that always appear in movies/dramas, are the musical fountain and the Fortune Tree (Kat Cheung Shu) in the Wynn Hotel. The presentation of the Fortune Tree is way much better and entertaining than the Symphony of Light in Hong Kong, which was a total disappointment! I didn’t record the show but here’s a video I found on youtube… enjoy…

Moving on to the last day in Macau, it was a luxurious one. We stayed a night in the well known Venetian Hotel – the Asian Las Vegas.

*photo taken from flickr*

The suite did cost us a bomb but I would say it’s a very well worth stay and experience Check out their website for more information at http://www.venetianmacao.com/en

Hong Kong – Tsim Tsa Tsui/Kowloon

When you’re in Hong Kong, there are a few things you must not miss. Food would be the milk tea from any ‘cha chan teng’, hong kong dim sum and the mango desserts from Xu Liu Shan… places, I would recommed The Peak and Avenue of Stars or the Wan Chai Promenade.

Our own fair share of dim sum…

Glutinous Rice

Cheung Fun … it can be served with peanut butter, soy sauce and some other spicy sauce.

Water Chestnut Dessert … I love this one.

Polo Bun with Chicken Meat Floss

and introducing the Siu Long Pau …

I have read many good reviews about the mango desserts in Xu Liu Shan, a healthy dessert shop that specialized on mango desserts. And indeed, it was so superbly delicious that I had a few servings during my first visit. Nevertheless to say, I went back again the next day. Way too hard to resist, hehehe…

Mango Platter

the must-try mouth watering Mango Pudding!

Steamed Egg and Milk with Hasmar

some coconut and papaya dessert

I went for the one in Tsim Tsa Tsui… Xu Liu Shan has many branches all around Hong Kong so it wouldn’t be a problem looking for the shop

Hong Kong – Lamma Island

The next day, we went to Lamma Island purely for its scrumptious seafood. The recommended restaurant is called Rainbow. We ordered the seafood set (HK$ 1800) that comprises of steamed prawns (the best really, very sweet), crabs, scallops, lobsters, sweet and sour pork, fried squid, vegetables, fish and a few more other dishes. I was nicely savouring the seafood that I forgot about photo taking until the last few dishes, hehe. Can’t blame me really, the seafood was superb

Crabs in Black Pepper Sauce

My favourite Scallop with Garlic … each of us get to have the whole piece! Just like the lobster, hehe…

Cheese Baked Lobster

Hong Kong – Lantau Island

We visited the Big Buddha in Lantau Island and enjoyed a decent vegeterian meal there. Yeah, for those who know me well, yes, you guys read it right… I actually enjoyed and had a pure vegetarian lunch, haha. Probably I had too much meat the first few days of the trip that I suddenly actually wanted to have greens in my meal ;p

Before I end, let’s have some pics with human in it, hehe…

me in Senado Square, Macau

clockwise: with sis in senado square, with sis and grandma up in The Peak (Hong Kong), with cousin sis halfway climbing the 200+ steps at Big Buddha, Lantau Island (Hong Kong), in Venetian (Macau) and in Senado Square.

cousin bro having fun with the wax figurines in the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, very creative!

The End… Finally

The past few days have been busy with final year project and filled with worries over the health of my grandma and mom. Much has happened in just a few days and I really thank God for His protection. My grandma even said that all bad things have passed, everything will be well from now onwards. Yeah, I believe so.

Now, we can all start packing and planning! The much anticipated family trip to Hong Kong this coming Sunday ^_^ Really looking forward as this is the first ever overseas holiday with my entire family. And grandma is with us this time too.

So, I decided to express all my excitement through cooking, hehe… only to find out that the ingredients left in the kitchen are limited =/ Here goes the…

French toast

and Spaghetti with bacon and prawns

Going down kl in the evening. Updates when I’m back from my trip

]]> http://jinann.wordpress.com/2008/12/12/no-title-for-this-one/feed/ 1 jinann french-toast lunch http://jinann.wordpress.com/2008/12/06/672/ http://jinann.wordpress.com/2008/12/06/672/#comments Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:28:24 +0000 jinann http://jinann.wordpress.com/?p=672 ]]>

It was another busy yet fun filled day! Hehe… Thanks to Steven Chang, I got an order for a graduation/farewell night event in Casuarina. I was overwhelmed with excitement when he told me yesterday night that there will be like 600 plus people present there. But nono, I wasn’t supposed to bake for all of them, haha, just needed to prepare a small cake.

I must say I’m pretty proud of myself, hehe. I mean it’s nothing extravagant and rather simple actually but I think it’s beautiful Here are some pics.

The creamy cupcakes

The cake!

I almost didn’t make it in time to Casuarina due to my own poor time estimation =(  must be careful next time, hehe. By the way, knew that the recipient’s a teacher named steven but didn’t know it’s THE famous addmaths tuition teacher, steven, hehe. But since a general theme is requested, I came up with these.

The setting

Returned home afterwards with a big smile on my face ^_^

I’m so excited today, my very first order! It’s an anniversary gift ^_^

I’m so glad that the couple loves it ^_^

Anyone who has been watching the current TVB hit drama “Gem of Life” especially from episode 21 onwards would know the story of this 幸福指環 (ring of eternal bliss).

In the drama, this ring is designed by Constance (Gigi Lai’s character) with a concept generated based on a fairy tale. Here’s one of her dialogues:

“It has been said that every human being was once in a whole body but was separated into two by a fairy. It’s like a shell being separated into halves. Therefore in our lifetime, each of us keeps on searching for the other half. When we have found our other halves and can be united together, it would be a perfect bliss. Relationship between human in fact is already a blessing/bliss. I’m making this a simple design so that it ’s affordable for everyone to purchase because everyone deserves to be blissful.”

Ma Belle has a 幸福 series, the ring (幸福指環) and the pendant (幸福吊咀). I really adore the design.

I personally think that these are perfect gifts for best friends, sisters or even girlfriends as a symbol of hope and bliss. Everyone deserves to have eternal bliss, sometimes, we all just need to believe and wait.

“There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.” Proverbs 23:18

Manchester United C. Ronaldo ‘Jersey’ + Card in Envelope

I’m really glad you like them ^_^

Fresh strawberries + Chocolate that melts in your mouth.

Decided to experiment with the combo and came up with these rather delicious cupcakes, hehe ^_^  but it’s still a little too sweet for my liking, have to cut down on the strawberries and sugar next time, best served chilled. Well, it’s all about experimenting today ;p first with the cupcakes then with the chocolate ganache. This is my first time frosting with chocolate ganache and I really like the outcome. Still need to improve the skill though

Happy Belated Birthday to both Ricky and Kian Aun!! ^_^

*smiles*

]]> http://jinann.wordpress.com/2008/11/29/playing-with-chocolate-ganache/feed/ 0 jinann chocganache9 chocganache3 chocganache1 chocganache7 http://jinann.wordpress.com/2008/11/27/simple-butterflies/ http://jinann.wordpress.com/2008/11/27/simple-butterflies/#comments Thu, 27 Nov 2008 13:24:43 +0000 jinann http://jinann.wordpress.com/?p=608 ]]>

Specially baked for Cheryl. We are ALWAYS here for you. I know you’ll like the pink and white combo

The Chocolate Mud Cupcake

(Thanks liyen for the recipe ^_^ I added in some evaporated milk though to enrich the muffin)

… with love …

They’re still rather messy, hehe. Hope you like it anyway ^_^

Back in Ipoh ^_^ And being me, I can’t wait to try out my first cake decorating at home.

The results…

Well, it didn’t exactly turn out the way I wanted it to be. Partly because I made mistake in the baking part resulting in a very uneven cake, haha. Like I’ve mentioned before, it’s not a masterpiece but I guess it’s alright for a beginner ^_^ My next try will be with some simple chocolate works and abstract designs… the flowers are too girly sometimes ;p

Buttercream is the basic. We then moved on to royal icing, fondant and gum paste.

This one is my favourite because we get to experience with our own embroidery and style rather than the previous ones where we have to sort of go according to the chef.

The embroidery

The little flowers

The ribbon and rose

It started off with making roses and freezing them for 2 hours…

While waiting, we can bake the cake, ice it using crumbs technique and apply basket weaving on the sides. Putting everything together, this is my humble little basket of roses ^_^

Some close up shots

Well, there are still lots of flaws here and there but cake decorating improves with practice. So don’t be surprised to receive little gifts of cakes from now onwards