Just You & Me...

Tea for Two, sung by Doris Day.

Yesterday I had a class at home. It was a class on Baking of American Carrot Cupcakes and Ice Cream Cupcakes. I had intended to start early and end early so that I could share a 10 minute cooking session with one of the students. She lives near my home and a delight to know her as she would often help me when I had classes. Its my way of saying "Thank you" and to appreciate the time she took to come early and help me with my classes.

She is newly married, a young and dutiful wife. Living in her first matrimony home with her hubby. On a separate email she briefly told me she was struggling to cook a curry chicken dish to please her hubby. But failed terribly. The chicken had more taste of curry powder and something doesn't seem right. She said she followed the recipe to the dot and couldn't figure out what went wrong.

So I decided to teach her how to do a quick 5 minute curry chicken with the curry paste I made recently. Claire was pleasantly surprised and didn't expected that I had plan this for her. I also taught her a trick or two how choosing the best cut of chicken for this.

Then she tells me that ever since she started cooking at home, her hubby has gained weight. Ever since she started her first baking class with me last year, it started a sudden interest and love in cooking too. Because I tend to side track sometimes if I see a student who wants to learn to cook. I get all too eager to share the knowledge.

When her hubby came by to pick her up, we talk a fair bit. They shared with me that they are intending to get a dog for their home. And I shared with them on basic dog training too. Claire was impressed with the way I trained and raised my dog, Jing Jing to be well behaved and obedient.

When they left my place, it reminded me of the early days with just Benny and me. Just him and me. When I first got married, when we had our first home. Just the two of us. And soon after, Benny bought me a puppy, a male shetland sheepdog named Fable. Mainly it was to keep me company when I come home each night to an empty house. As he often worked late. I have Fable to keep my company. To play with and to watch sad movies with.

Just like my student, Claire and her hubby. Just starting out..a home build on love. A puppy to fill up the void of days when one is away on work or duties outside.

I remembered so much on the days I struggled to cook. I had no one to tell me how and what. My mom was a phone call away. I learnt mostly by trial and error. So to hear what Claire had to share with me of her cooking adventures at home, it reminded me of my early days as Mrs Lim.

And I assured Claire that the power of Love does wonders to a person. How Love changes me. My mom couldn't change me. Its so obvious that Claire is so much in love. Seeing her and her hubby reminded me everytime how much I have grown from a person who can't boil water to cook instant noodles to one now who cooks and bakes to feed others.

She took this class was because her hubby loves American Carrot Cake with cream cheese frosting.

The American Carrot Cupcake..though not the one that Claire did. This was baked/decorated by another student when I first taught this at Robinsons, last December.

And I realised too, in all my years of teaching others to cook or bake, how many young women I have taught, both newly married or single but spoken for. Because I don't just teach them to cook or bake, I also impart my love for my family and how love is spread through the things we do so willingly for the people we love.

In that 30 minutes or so, I taught Claire to cook the dish I made last week for my girls ...this is what I did last week :



Butter Garlic Rice, Grilled Djorn Mustard Chicken, Char-grilled shitake mushrooms..some veggies on the side. Top with Mascaprone Cheese whipped with Mandarin Oranges..

One Day I will Fly Away...

One Day I will Fly Away sung by Nicole Kidman from the musical "Moulin Rouge"

From as far as I can remember, my mom would tell me 1001 things to relate things I did with life's real examples. So that I can understand and I can learn. She did all that in the ability she knew to make me behave. As a child, I listened to her all the time. Occasionally, I misbehaved and she never fails to spare the rod.

For years I wonder if you could spare the rod and yet not spoil the child? Because it was taught from the earliest of time that if you spare the rod, you spoil the child.

When I became a mother, suddenly all these came back to me. But God has been very good to me and blessed me with an easy kid to care for. Natasha was my first born. And she was a good little kid. And never gave us any trouble. She was easy to train and educate and the easiest kid to feed too. She would eat anything we put in her mouth. At a young tender age, she was found to be lactose intolerant so she went on a soy-based milk formula till she turned 2 years old. By then, she was gamed to try anything.

My mom often talked to Auntie Katherine who lives in CA, USA and ask for tips on what baby food to cook for Natasha. Auntie Katherine raised 2 fussy eaters on her own and shares her tips eagerly.

Natasha had a mix of western and chinese meals in her diet. By noon she had double boil plain porridge served with diced carrots and fish fillets. By dinner, she had pot roast and potaotes all mashed up into baby food. By the time she was old enough to sit at the dinning table with us, she started to have a taste of all kinds of food and a mix of flavours and taste.

She was in many ways my role model...who would have thought that a young child be a role model? I would. She was my role model because I would use her as an example on how you should train your kid and how to feed your child. As I was also serving in our church's Children's Ministry, I shared this with the young parents too.

By the time she was 4 years old, she had her first taste of Spicy Laksa and loved it. Minus the fresh cockles as we do not know how it would react in her. When she was 5 years old, we took her to USA and fed her all kinds of food and drinks. By then she was gamed for anything and everything.

When Melody was born, I use the same method of education on her. It worked..! Although Melody was more of a handful to care for, it did show that the role model's way was still intact.

That you should start them young..before they start tasting how the world is like and be 'pressured' to think that kids are with junk food, adults eat boring stuff.

Food is never boring at home. With Melody, I got her into the kitchen and getting her hands into whipping up dishes the way she likes it. That way she appreciates it and looks forward to meals at home.

But its a different thing when we dine out. Although they will eat anything, they are often looking for new things to try. Its a rule in the family that when our girls are old enough (that's when they are like 4 years old and above) we do not dictate what they should or can eat while we dine out.

However, at home, Benny decides the menu for the week and we just gladly eat what he wants. The whole idea was more for us to dine together as a family. From young, I do not allow my girls to have 'buffet' like meals. Means they pick up their plates, picks and choose the food and dash off to the living room for a TV movie. Meals at home are often a sit-down affair. Its here that we talk about the days' events, share our love across the table and in between that, the family dog gets a nibble of table scraps.


This is an old photo of Melody savouring every last bite from the chicken. This was taken in 2003.

When my shop was opened, I spent less time at home cooking. So if there are days I could be home to cook for the family, its like having Reunion Dinner every time. The family misses these special moments. And now we all treasured these dinner meals at home more often than ever.

May you have a blessed Valentine's Day ahead..!

Happy Talk

Happy Talk sung by Junita Hall from the movie "South Pacific"

When I was a kid, I didn't have many dreams of things I wanna be or to do. I have no ambition. One day in my secondary school, our English teacher ask us to think about our ambitions and what we want to be when we grow up. She wants us to write an essay on it. I went home, disillusioned and I didn't know what I want to do. Because I saw myself as a failure. I couldn't do many things. Due to my medical history, I couldn't run or play like everyone does. I became an introvert and stayed at home all the time. I don't mingle with my peers, nor read the books they read or watch the movies they did.

So I went home, and told my dad about that difficult essay I had to write. I told him I didn't know where to start writing because I have no dream, no point of interest to start it off.

My dad told me :

Start talking about happy things, things you like to do. Forget about the essay for now. Its when you talk about happy things, you know what you want to do. Remember that song they use to play over the Radio ? Happy Talk ?..this is how it goes :


Happy talk, keep talkin' happy talk,
Talk about things you'd like to do.
You got to have a dream,
If you don't have a dream
How you gonna have a dream come true?

This is the many reasons why I loved my dad. He belongs to the generations of fathers who are often the sole breadwinners in any family household. Who spent all their time working and feeding the family. Who is the figure head at home and delegates duties. But my dad was different. Besides all these, he played an important role in shaping me. In helping me to see what I am and what I can be if I try a little harder.

My dad told me once that I had to try all the jobs I could land myself in. So that I have an idea of what I can be, what I can't be. Because life itself is a journey. A journey of wonders. And it will only end when you stop breathing...or when your life has come to an end.

Fast forward to today...what I have become? What have I done? Many many many things...My dad will be 79 years old this August 2011. Yet he has not stop trying new things or learning new things. I know he has picked Banjo playing, and could read Hebrew and he is learning Greek now. My dad is an inspiration to me..that life goes on, dreams can be fulfilled if you start on it.

Many people envied me of my work, my shop and my classes. Some wrote to me and chatted with me online asking me to mentor them. While many thinks I am a super woman who seem to have time for everything. Others wondered where I found the energy to do so many things in a day.

My answer is always the same..."Happy Talk..talk about the things you like to do.." Its the thing that keeps me going, each day. I enjoy doing the things I did every day. That enough gives me boundless energy.

So start dreaming for a while...

Chances are...

Chances Are sung by Vonda Shepherd and Robert Downing Jr from the drama serial "Ally McBeal"

I thought I would never be able to talk about this ever again. A blast from the past came back to me recently while talking to a friend about failed marriages and the break down in such.

Many many years ago, when I just started coming out to work after leaving school. I just finished my 'A' Levels exams and started work in a large multi-national company in Singapore. I was in IT or back then it was called EDP which stands for Electronic Data Processing. In today's terms, its just Computing..! I worked late shifts and because the company I was with was in retailing. We had to visit the stores by night after the store has closed for the day. I had to deal with the security and make friends with them so I don't have to surrender my IC name to them and fill up so many forms just to stay in the store after store hours.

In the midst of my work, I met him. I shall leave his name out here on my blog. And I shall just call him here as MrX or Mr X. He was an ex-cop with the Singpaore Police Force. He wasn't that old a man to retire but he decided to leave the Force while he was in his early 40s so he could still find work outside.

He runs and heads the Security Dept in our company. I had to get his approval in writing to be at different stores by night every week. Its thru this I met him and befriended him. MrX, by and large was a good man. Work-wise, he goes by the book and followed all the proper protocols in work. Off duties, he was fun to be around with. Jovial and funny, all around nice guy. All the ladies in the company liked him.

When the company opened a new store, he and I are like partners in crime..we were seen working side by side. He checks on store's security, I check on all the computers and security to prevent theft, staff pilferage, etc. Its inevitable that our friendship grew from just office colleagues to a new level.

He started dating me. At that time, I wasn't with anyone or have not met Sidney either. So I was young, single and AVAILABLE!! We went out on a group with the office crew..for lunch or dinner. And went on single dates with each other after work. He would see me safely home after each store's visit which is often after midnight.

But somehow, something wasn't right. I just couldn't put a finger to it..so I ask my mom. She said that even boyfriends came from God. That I should seek God and ask if this is the one for me. And so I did...prayed about it for days and weeks over it. At the same time, I enjoyed the time we spent together.

Then it had to happened...my supervisor (a guy) told me he saw MrX with a woman and a young child. They seemed to be quite close and he carried the kid for a while. And joked and laughed with the woman. They were seen in one of our retail stores. So one night I ask MrX about this.. he was taken aback and a bit shocked. And then he said :

"Oh...that's my sister with my nephew. They came to the store to buy things and needed my staff card for Staff Discount. My nephew is very close to me. Whenever I see him, I would carry him. "

And so I believed him. And I apologised to him for mistaking it as something else. After that incident, I stopped listening to such 'rumours' about him from my supervisor. Because at the same time, my supervisor had a crush on me too. So I would like to think that he is saying things to hurt us.

But because we didn't want the whole company to tease us, we kept our relationship private. Outside the office, after office hours. We would be seen leaving the office at different times and end up meeting each other at a central location. This went on for a few months.

Until one day I happened to be in the office early in the morning and got to hear 'things'. The office girls were in the store and they were all gossipping about MrX. So I went to eavesdrop on their conversation. In the midst of it all, I heard that he is applying for a 2 weeks leave from work, bringing his wife and son for a cruise to the Maldives. I was shocked with disbelief and I still wanted to think that people are saying things to hurt me.

So I started to do my own mini investigation. I ask around..and to my horror, I found out that MrX was indeed a married man with a loving wife and a young son aged 4 years old.

So I plucked up all my courage and confronted him. And then he said :

"I love my wife and my son. I would never leave them. My fling with you is just something I call a break from home and from work. I have never intended for us to be together for life. And you wouldn't have gone out with me if you haven't had a certain liking for me. And you are not a kid or under aged in any way. Should we end up in bed, its consensual.. and I didn't force you to do anything"

ok...a step backwards..What do you think I did?

I slapped him hard. And I remembered telling him this:

"You are a coward and a bastard! You cheated on your wife the moment you lust over another woman. You also cheated me of my feelings. How can you say you loved your wife when you are going out with me? I should have listen to my supervisor. I heard things about you and confronted you. Remember? If you are truthful to your wife and to me and you never intended to hurt me, you should have come clean about your marriage and your wife and son. But instead you told me a lie."

And I stopped seeing him soon after and I also apologised to my supervisor for not believing in him.

After this incident, I became extremely wary of men in general. I buried myself in my work and stopped going out or saw anyone that was of the opposite sex. And even if I did, it was just fun and play and I couldn't bring myself to have any feelings for any guy.

If I have not met Sidney, I would have not met Benny either. It was Sidney who brought some hope in me that Love is still a many Splendid thing.

And so now when I look back, I see that all these things happened for a reason. It happened so that I learnt. So that I know. My conscious is clear. Involving with a married man is the greatest taboo as a Christian. I surrendered to God the day I found out MrX was married. And I ask that God forgive me. It took me many years to come into grips with that. Because I was a staunch Christian and to be with a married man was not something I am proud of.

But God kept me safe and He kept me from making more mistakes. So when I met Sidney and later Benny, I had to be sure. But God has blessed me with Benny. Who kept his promise to me to be true and honest. I think I did great in God's eyes. Because He gave me Benny.

ps.. I was only 18 years old when I met MrX.

Been There, Done That!

I Left my Heart at San Francisco sung by Tony Bennett

So many times you have heard someone say : " Yes, I been there and done that!". I have always wanted to be like that..to say to someone that I have been there and done this or that. At least I tried my best to live my life to the fullest and the best I can be and without any regrets. That I have been there and done that. Even if it was unsuccessful, at least I can look back in wonder and be thankful that I was given the chance to do so.

Ever since I started this journey to teach outside my home, my days are filled with only work. I don't have time for family or for my friends. Which is something I treasured dearly. Despite having to run the retail shop, I was able to find time to sit back and relax sometimes and juggle time with my girls and Benny too.

The last straw came on Christmas Eve, a celebration we have at home with our extended family. I was tired and drained and my Uncle Daniel saw it through me. And he gave me sound advice on how I should tackle it. Even when I was having Roast turkey and baked salmon, I was thinking about work. My mind couldn't rest, though my body was weak, I couldn't sleep well at all.

But it is also thru this journey I found a soul mate which I thought was just my better half in many ways. Benny has always supported me in each and every way and every step I take in all my dealings with everyone outside. He knew me inside out and possibly more than I thought he would. He told me not to go ahead with the project to teach outside and I wouldn't listen to him.

I told him : "Let me try. If I succeed, I knew you will be credited for this. If I don't, at least I know I tried and I can leave the City of Regrets behind."

And true enough, I didn't succeed. I spent all my time struggling and making things work. I spent so much time pleasing everyone and in the end I neglected my shop which is the life line that holds us together.

Like a burden lifted off my shoulders, I decided to call it Quits with my project with Robinsons. Suddenly, my asthma just disappeared, my sleepless and unrestful sleep that eludes me for months left me too. I was able to sleep better each night at 12 midnight instead of 3 am or 4am each day.

I lost my fire and my 'fizz' in the things I do and I didn't realise it till Benny tells me. Above all, the last straw came when I couldn't be there when Melody needed me to go and buy shoes and stuff when school reopens early this week. Last school holidays which stretch from mid November to end December, I didn't spend a day with her just to go to the movies or just hung out with her to do our Mother and Daughter thing.

And she said to me "Mommy, it is okay. I know you are busy. I just go with Jie Jie..."

It tore me inside out. And I felt so upset about it. And when I look back, I realised that even in my most busy periods in 2009 with Christmas and New Year, I found time to spend with Melody at the movies, just to do window shopping or even just to eat junk food with her.

And she felt the pinch too..and a loving child I have, she followed me to one of my classes at Robinsons. The so called make up lost time we have is make up at Robinsons.

That's me...on the left and my dear Melody by my side...



And Natasha helped me by running the shop for me whenever I teach. My 2 daughters are the BEST. And I thank God for them all the time. In more ways than none, my priority in life evolves around them.

I will continue with my classes at home..and possibly at Robinsons too. As and when they needed me. Its not goodbye, but good bye for now and see you later again..

A Start of the New Year

Thank You Lord, (hymn) sung by Don Moen

My cousin, John now lives in Vancouver, Canada with his wife Katherine and their 2 boys. He was someone very close to me, very close to my heart. Someone I loved since young. In every photo of past, there is always a boy next to me. And that will be John. Or Hwee Hwee as I affectionately call him. And he would call me by my Chinese name and that was Ting Ting. And everyone in our big extended family would sometimes tease us and call us a couple. When I move, he moves, when I sit, he sits. When I eat my dinner, he ate his. For years we grew up side by side. His parents doted on me as if I were their own child. We would play together and learn together.

But Hwee was very smart, intelligent and also untidy. I was on the other hand, spoilt silly at home. And also untidy. But the funny thing was that when I am with him, I am extremely different. I was always nit picking on things and I tidy up his room for him. Packed his bags and tidy up his books and neatly arranged everything in order.

Today, he wrote a note in FaceBook to reflect on the past year 2010. On the things he did, both personal and work wise. About himself as a husband to his wife, as a father to his 2 boys and as a son to his parents. He noted that he could have been better as a husband, father and son. And wished he could have done more now.

I replied to his note and said this to him :

"AMEN! I have lived my early childhood filled with happiness and joy because you were a part of my life. I have always wished to have a younger brother but God gave me you instead.

And though we are separated now by the miles between us, I have always looked out for you in more ways that you will know.

And in all my prayers for our family abroad, you have always been on my top 10 list of things to thank God for.

Your parents have blessed me tremenously over the years with their undivided attention and love for me. They never treat me as their niece but more like their very own.

We strived better each day, look back in wonder and continue to be better parents as the days takes us.

No one is born a parent, perfect. But God teaches us each day how we should be, how we can be.

A day at a time..."


The little toddler is me..and the baby sleeping/lying down is my cousin John. I was a year older than him. We were staying in the same household with my late maternal grandparents. Thus we became inseparable play mates for years. Even after our parents moved out, I would stayed with him over the weekends and return home every Sunday.

I wrote this post is to reflect too..of how we always wonder how best we can live our lives better or how we can be a better sibling, or child to our parents or a better spouse to our spouses or a better parent to our children. But over the years, I learn to not to look back and expect myself to be better next year. But instead I look back and count my blessings.

Of all the days that God has blessed me, my family here and abroad. Of keeping them safe and healthy. Despite all the tribulations and trials in life we go through, God never fails to heal us, to wipe each tear from our eyes, to touch our hearts and renew it. He never fails to remind us, how precious we are in His eyes, more precious then the sparrows or the flowers that grew along the side crack of the winding road.

And how blessed our lives have became...one day at a time.

May you start the new year with more blessings.So much more that you seemed to take forever to count. In ways unknown and unseen and the great beyond.

Have a wonderful year ahead..!

God Bless you..each and everyone of you.!