Blueberry Crumb Muffins
Well, lets just say tt i had never had a penchant for baking muffins. as compared to cupcakes, these were duller, less sweet and more wholesome in a way tt didn't quite reach out to me since i had a nagging sweet tooth 24/7. however, with the purchased pint of fresh blueberries calling out to me from the fridge. i knew that i just had to find the perfect blueberry muffin recipe to do these lovely little exhorbitantly prized violet beauties justice... meanwhile, figured tt a muffin recipe would do wonders in accentuating the flavors of the star player blueberries better than some flowery sacharrine cake recipe.Finally settled on a recipe after much contemplation and several modifications. Inspired by Jaycynth's recipe for Blueberry Crumb Muffins taken from the allrecipes.com. the recipe produced moist muffins with a sweet brown sugar crumb, perfect for a late night snack coupled with a towering glass of cold milk before settling in for the night. tear the muffin apart with your fingers and enjoy the explosion of purple juices within the moist cake as the blueberries burst spreading its exburant shades of purple all around.
Blueberry Crumb Muffins
makes 12 servings
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup blueberries
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 tsp ground cinammon
1/3 cup brown sugar
- Preheat oven to 190 degrees celcius. grease of line muffin pans
- In a large bowl, mix flour, white and brown sugars, salt and baking powder. Stir in oil, eggs, milk and vanilla essence until well blended and very few lumps remain. Batter will look very watery but don't worry!
- Gently fold in Blueberries being careful not to mash them. Fill muffin tins 2/3 full or slightly more for a larger muffin top.
- For the crumb topping, mix together flour, softened butter, cinammon and brown sugar. place a small amount on top of each muffin.
- Bake muffins in oven for 20-30 mins (i used 25mins), or until skewer comes out clean and dry.
- Tuck in!!!
Also, I have just returned from watching the movie' The Leap Years'... i must admit tt i'm very impressed. one of the better local productions i've seen in a long time. Catherine Lim has outdone herself with a simple yet heartfelt storyline with a convincing cast to boot. All in all, the movie is a wonderful film to indulge in with loved ones and close frens. beware.. bring some tissue paper alone for the teary eyed!
Movie rating: 4/5
doing fine
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Rainbow falls
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travelling
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and whats on the other side...
those are the lyrics to one of my all time favourite song.. sang by Kermit the Frog.. SERIOUS.. its the rainbow song. well.. legend has it tt if u can find the end of the rainbow, you will suceed in finding the pot of gold tt lies at the end of it as well. hehe. knowing tt, i HAD to had to sign up for the rainbow falls trip organised by odac. and who else who i pull along besides babe? *sniggers*so lets see, the trip came off to a good start with a late night bus ride from Larkin Johor to the Kuantan bus terminal. a 4 hours drive up, pretty fast if u ask me for a 500+ km distance. the uncle was probably travelling at a whopping 120km per hour.. gosh.. i fear for my life sometimes. But still, sleep was ample on the bus.
By the time we reached Kuantan and travelled by another bus to the town of Lembing.. it was still 5 o clock in the morning. I was greeted to the sights of a ghosttown with deserted streets and randomly lit street lamps. Scary if u ask me but thankfully the air was fresh due to completely wildnerness in the surroundings. the rest of the group were more or less hyped up and prepared for the climb to start.
Next we loaded up onto the lorries and 4WD to carry the group of us to the foot of the climb. Little did i expect this drive to roughly over an hour long. gosh.. by the end of it, my butt was aching from the frequent bumps on the paths and my face itched from having passing branches whip your face as u travelled across the uneven roads. it was a thrilling experience through as the chilly winds and the night skies heightened the experience and created a sense of misguided adventure.
us on the 4WD
By the time we had arrived at the start of the climbing trail, dawn had broken. everyone was rather weary from the long rides tt required a substantial amount of energy to sit still and resist the defying motions of the swaying vehicles as they made its way thru the undergrowth.
all in all, the climb was rather easy with the group being spilt up several times along the way probably due to differences in skill level. not so seasoned climbers struggled to keep up with the pack, whereas the stronger ones lead the way at a comfortable pace.
i dread walking on the stony rock paths though as i didn't have a very strong ankle to vouch for, neither did i have a very good sense of balance. my only pillar of strength, babe, whom i refused to accept any help from at first but relented towards the end as dehydration and fatigued kicked in on the way down.
finally after a rather short climb, we reached our destination where we were treated to a rather grand sighting. a sharp drop of the granite cliffs with a strange floating platform of green growth and a pool of water below a cascafing waterfall tt dropped off the 100m cliffs. I was awed initially by the grand spectacle of nature. Of course i've seen better but not for a long time since. Hence, a moment to connect with nature was indeed a precious time for me. A gush of cold air tt was generated due to the cascading waters off the high cliffs were a welcome treat for us, the tired climbers as we finished the ascent. 
Swimming thru the waters was no joke though as the waters were a frigid cold unwelcoming temperature which i shunned as i waded thru the pool. my gosh.. it was so cold tt i had goosebumps all throughout the time tt i stayed ard the waterfalls...
Still, Babe and i managed to capture a few pictures together. it was memorable for us as it was the first time we were overseas together. Wats more, spending time doing something adventourous together made it seem much more meaningful as compared to spending a normal weekend shopping, eating and other mundane stuff together. glad he was here with me...
here are the trip i.c s in the shot above. thank you yilin and weillong for bringing us this marvellous trip!
looking up...
i love you babe!
pity the waters were rather sacare tt day leading to a very very faint rainbow to be formed. hearsay tt its possible to see even 2 waterfalls at times...*sigh*
after climbing down and taking a bus back to Kuantan where we went on to check into our backpackers inn at Luxury hotel (wat irony), the rest of the evening was free and easy. So instead of joining the others for games and movies, i decided to bring babe to my usual haunt here at Kuantan. the area near Hyatt Hotel, home to the lovely stretch of beach which is reallie reallie popular among couples. too bad, i forgot to bring my camera along hence there are no photos for this segment of the trip. but for keep sakes, i shall narrate it! hehe. so babe and i spent the moments before sunset clambering up the stone boulders along the beach and lying there in eachs arms as we enjoyedthe sea breeze and the crashing of the waves on the shores. after tt we walked along the sandy beaches to hyatt hotel where we enjoyed a sumptious dinner and were treated to some 'eye candy' (or rather not.. spoilt our appetites in fact.. haha). nonetheless, we enjoyed each others company in the presence of a perfect ambience coupled by a strong sea breeze.the next day, we embarked on the journey home.. hmph.. with our private stash of secret recipe cakes of course! now.. we cldn't resist tt! hehe.
Cakes from Secret Recipe...
now.. its back to reality.. back to work.. *sulks*
lazy me
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lazy? tts me! guess i've reallie been neglected my blog the past few weeks. worse still my dear cammie has crashed on me a few weeks back and i'm still procrastinating on proceeding with its repair. guess everything around here is lyke me, old and wearing out. *bah*
on the contrary, life may not be as dull as it appears on my blog. to claire: yesh! i've been baking. in fact loads!!! mostly for orders of course... often baking the nights away, landing up with only a few meagre hours of slp under my belt a day before i head for work. haha. and of course the food reviews never cease! have been writing up reviews for Hungry Go Where. com (HGW). pity tt i haven't had the time to complete the experience with photos or much less update those reviews onto my blog. bah. lazy me!!! just an update in a flash... had delicious yogurt at Holland V's latest addition Frolick! adore the tangyness and creamy texture of the yogurt. feasted on a healthy tartine at frensh at vivocity. oh how i dig zucchini and grilled eggplants! completed the meal with a delish tiramisu laden with amaretto and a humble piece of warm apple crumble (not tt it wasn't good, coz it WAS!). Enjoyed a lovely Sunday breakfast with the family at a lovely little bakery at holland village (once again), Provence, a japanese inspired bakery, u shld try out the blueberry cream cheese bun! a warm custard cheese layer emerges from under the crackling layer of cream cheese on the top with every bite, the fullness of the blueberries compliments the soft bread and cheese..oww..orgasm!! hiyah!! last but not least, divine desserts at canele patesserie as well as deluxe cafe... gosh.. life can be sooo sweet sometimes! okie.. do pls go check out the complete reviews at HGW, its a wonderful site by the way for those clueless as to where to dine with the lover or chill out with the buddies. *cheers*
an ordered cake, chocolate sponge laden with sugar syrup doused in rum, filled with vanilla cream studded with oodles of valrhona chocolate pearls and almond meal for tt nutty texture and topped with dark chocolate ganache.so here as promised are some photos of the Singapore Airshow. not a lot though but at least there's something! haha.
well, there are definitely perks working in a large company lyke Embraer. free trade passes worth $50 dollars each. you should check out their chalet/stand. its HUGE!!! lyke mini houses built up from scratch on the airfield. Best still, we get to access those and enjoy a scrumptious buffet lunch tt was catered. oh gosh.. i can't stop raving about the grilled eggplant tt day! divine.. need i say, the dessert spread was exquisite as well. okie okie.. back to the point, the airshow this year was pretty much the same from the first year apart from the change of venue (changi exhibition centre = much more spacious and less cluttered) and the change in status (woots.. we enter as employees of Embraer. now tts cool!). the static display by the black knights was impressive, involving heart0stopping action (trust me, my heart skipped a beat whenever the planes flew pass each other in head to head collision style. it was madness!). the sound was excutiating to the ears though... nonetheless, the airshow provided us an opportunity to grasp hold of the aerospace industry and its supporting industries all under one roof.
rolls royce publicity poster featuring NTU aerospace students! (below)
the humongous A380 upclose and personal!
did i mention tt we got the chance to board and tour the legacy 600, a proud feature of the Embraer's line of exectuive jets?.. its' a beauty both inside and out. boosting comfortable leather chairs in sandy shade and retractable table tops of smooth marble. gorgeous
Embraer's Legacy 600
Me in the cockpit.. be very afraid...
yep.. and i'm afraid tts all folks.. hehe. silly me didnt bother with taking too many photographs. now i'm kind of regretting it. haha. Alright. to end off the post, here are lost and found photo from the back part of the Msia trip during the cny holidays. tts all for now!
IA guys.. stick it in!
next updates: Rainbow Falls Trip with ODAC
off to the airshow
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Shower me with your love
All of everyday
You make the red rose sun
Shine on me
Lift me up so high
Watch me fly away
Would you live your life
Like a butterfly
sick
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an immense feeling of tiredness washes over me. the crazy schedule tt i had adhered to my life had finally played its toll on me. i fell sick, took the day off and went to the doctors to get my antibiotics. gawd.. i hate being in this situation!
if only i had students tt weren't so unmotivated. i cld possibly deal with the fact tt i had 7 students. one tuition kid for every day of the week. and tt probably explains why i have no social life. if not for the existance of Babe who always goes the extra mile just to squeeze in time to fit into my impossible schedule. thank you dear... lets just hope things will turn for the better coz i reallie dislike picking squabbles with you.
p.s. happy 5th month. *hugz*
If you just realize what I just realized,
Then we'd be perfect for each other
and will never find another
Just realized what I just realized
we'd never have to wonder if we missed out on each other now.
Spain and Portugal part 5
Labels:
travelling
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25th -26th Dec => Lisbon -> Seville -> Gibraltar -> Costa Del Sol
okie so i knoe its a bit late but oh well.. wats a story without an end? so here i am setting my mind to get the whole trip review at least by the next week. lets pray this gets done yar. hehe.
So in this part of the long forgotten journey.. we left the fair banks of lisbon across a long long bridge to the other end beyond the blocks of clouds tt have gathered on the surface of the frigid waters. then we travelled back to Spain to continue on the journey of the capital of Andulusia region - Seville. the ride was long and time stretched on forever. 
Lunch was a problem too as hardly any restaurants nor cafes were open due to the onset of xmas day. In europe, most pple would take xmas breaks tt lasted from xmas eve to new years day itself. we braced ourself to face a ghost town of a city anyway, with a slight dwelling of hope that possibly there would be mini celebrations held in the city.
Meantime, the lunch stop over was at a "ghost-city" look alike settlement with empty dusty streets and closed windows. Scary i might say. the meal was less than satisfactory with its over the top 'lean' cut of meats. Argh.. terribly dry and chewy. so we had no choice but to snack on little tibits to appese the hunger pangs. 'sin'ful of course. but when you're hungry, anything goes!
it was soon after lunch that we reached seville and started our tour of the place. viewing the alcazar and the jewish quarter of Santa Cruz.
dirty little boi.. haha
dun you just love the tiled floors.. adroably cute motifs...
one thing extremely endearings about the town of Seville are the millions of orange trees lining the streets of Seville. Incredibly bright orange, then u may question why these dun get plucked down by residents? well, these are bitter oranges! lyke inedible-y bitter, well, so wat the government does at the end of the season is to gather the oranges and ship them to Britan where they are made into lovely jars of marmalade! how quaint! just love the idea... hehe
the setting sun over the fountain
Seville by night...the next day, we woke up bright and early to get a head start on the journey down to Gibraltar, and independent colony under British colonial ruling. so everyone! get ur passports ready. hehe. as soon as crossed over the narrow strip of land joining mainland Spain and the little rock fortress. a incredible sense of homeliness washed over me. Perhaps i'm too used to living on a little island. restrictions of space and the lack of vastness of the land seems a little appealing. 
this island, though small, had a very strategic part to play in the first world war, proving to be a major stronghold for the British. from this little landmark, you could seee the Mainland Spain, and over the seas, the most northern end of the african continent, Morocco. Amazing ain't it. there was more to it than tt. this island is said to be one of the most densely populated islands in the world and this i agreed upon viewing the houses built on the sloped hills of land. oh gosh, the houses were so tight, driving was an extremely thrilling task since the narrow streets and cobbled pathways made manuevering the streets almost impossible (given my less than perfect driving capabilities. haha)
another star attraction of the tiny island are its large populations of macque, a monkey of course. 
this island, though small, had a very strategic part to play in the first world war, proving to be a major stronghold for the British. from this little landmark, you could seee the Mainland Spain, and over the seas, the most northern end of the african continent, Morocco. Amazing ain't it. there was more to it than tt. this island is said to be one of the most densely populated islands in the world and this i agreed upon viewing the houses built on the sloped hills of land. oh gosh, the houses were so tight, driving was an extremely thrilling task since the narrow streets and cobbled pathways made manuevering the streets almost impossible (given my less than perfect driving capabilities. haha)another star attraction of the tiny island are its large populations of macque, a monkey of course. 
well, i can say tt they are extremel friendly as well. Got mobbed by this one (the one staring at me in the photo). it stared at me for an impossibly long time before putting its tiny little fist on my shoe. the next moment it had jumped onto me and started its ascent up to my shoulder.. argh.. help me. i wasn't exactly too happie about but having a monkey's fist wrapped around your finger can be quite an enlightening feeling. haha. i reckon its my furry collar tt beckoned to it to make the leap. Probably looked lyke a possible mate in some way. gross..*shudders*After viewing St michael's cave and ape's den? we the moved on towards the resort town of Torremolinos for our overnight stay. and since we reached rather early, we made a stop over to view the scenic over view of our rest location from on top a hill. lovely suggestion aside from the fact that it was freezing cold plus the abnormal winds blowing from the seas weren't helping much either. Only consolation.. the roasted honey almond nuts that we bought along the way. gosh.. now tts heaven. hot caramelised sugar coating with every nutty bite. *yumz*..
the usually loud mummy acting shy in front of the camera..
kiosk selling caramelised almond nuts!
and finally, i shall end off this post with a lovely picture of our buffet dinner served up at the resturant. oh gosh.. the spread was gorgeous with the meatballs in tomato sauce stealing the show. hehe. one of the best dinners we had in Spain.
and if you've lost me somehow.. we'll meet at the desserts table! haha.
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