Cupcakes ... Inspired ...

Inspired my Memoir's post, my mum set about reproducing the "best ever made in my baking history ....chhiiiaaannnngggg" muffin. If you've known Mrs Memoir for a while, you would know that she has cooked & baked many great dishes in her time. For her to claim that this is the best she has ever cooked is like saying David Beckham kicked his best banana curling goal winning kick ever. All this means is ... must try.

The whole process was surprisingly quick. All up, it took about 1 hour from start to the muffins coming out of the oven.

All in all, it was a good recipe. Moist and tasty. A couple of things that prevented this from being "chiang", not a fault of the recipe but our implementation. Instead of blueberries, we had used mixed berries ... finding out that we didn't really like the sour taste of these berries didn't help. I don't think all the ingredients were evenly mixed, mine didn't have any white chocolate in it which meant it wasn't sweet enough for my liking. Further proof that all ovens are different, ours were cooked in 20 minutes on 170 degrees C (fan forced).

While the recipe was good ... I reckon Mr. Memoir wasn't talking about the muffins when he said "chiang" to Mrs. Memoir.

[What is the difference between a muffin and a cupcake?]

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Kinkaku-ji

Kinkaku-ji, originally uploaded by ~g~.

I miss this place ... where is this you ask? This is Kinkaku-ji, a temple in Japan covered with gold leaf. While this looks rather serene and peaceful there were 101 tourists all running around and taking photos too.

[Oh yeah ... I'm still alive ... =)]

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New every morning ...

The look says it all ..., originally uploaded by ~g~.

Happy New Year everyone! Hope last year was a good one for you and wishing you a fantastic 2009. Haven't got round to evaluating how 2008 was for me just yet, just seemed to go by rather quickly.

Well, I thought I'd just post the pictures taken during our Christmas service, I like this shot the best ... enjoy!

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Search For a Star 2008 Preview

SFAS--000, originally uploaded by ~g~.

Here is a small preview of the shots taken at Search For a Star 2008. It was a great event and I'm sure everyone enjoyed the show. A big thank you to the organisers, performers and all the crew. Click here for the photo set.

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Worship ...

I wonder if people got confused as to who they should be praying to ... : )

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Why ...

Why is it that when I look at other people's photos I go 'Wow' but when I look at my own I go 'Huh?' ...

[Which reminds me, I need to start taking pictures again ... finger a little itchy ...]

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Picture flood ...

Just a quickie ... I managed to process some photos on Sunday evening and they're now up on my flickr. Sorry about the long wait, these are way overdue.

Zion Freshies

Zion Easter

[Time for bed. I become a caffeine zombie tomorrow...]

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Wedding bells ...

My dear friends just had their wedding this weekend, a beautiful ceremony followed by some great food and friends. Their professional photographer Louis Pang has posted some of their photos ...

[Is it just me or does it feel warm (hawt) here ???]

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Man's Best Friend

Man's Best Friend, originally uploaded by ~g~.

Whoever coined the phrase 'A dog is a man's best friend' must have been married. =)

Now the trick is to figure out if the 'dog' he's referring to is his wife or a real dog ... Either way, doesn't bode well for the wife =)

[Haha ... sorry ... currently in a mischievous mood]

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Life is a beach ...

I was at Swanbourne beach on Sunday [yes, that is a nudist beach ... no, I wasn't nude. Well, unofficially it is a nudist beach. You have to walk northwards about 300m or so to the 'clothes optional' area]. Initially I had wanted to stop at Cottesloe beach instead but the car parks were full, alcohol starved men & women were enjoying their 'Sunday session' at their favourite watering holes.

With an hour or two to kill before dinner, I trudged along the sandy shores with camera in hand. I've always wanted to take shots of the beach. It was a warm day but the sea breeze made it quite pleasant. It wasn't crowded at this end of the beach; there were couples having a leisurely walk; families playing in the water; 3 guys with their body boards wrestling with the waves.

I walked to the shoreline, far enough where the water would flow below my knees and stood there while peering into the Indian ocean. With the expanse of water and sky before me, I never fail to ask this question "What's the meaning of life?" [I always ask myself this question at the beach...]

I didn't get a chance to dwell on my question. A little pug [for those who don't know, that's a particular dog breed] came running by with a young boy who was probably 4 or 5 years old with [I gather] his sister who is probably 2 years older. It was fun watching the dog dance with the waves at it came crashing down. The dog would chase the waves as it retreated then run when the waves returned. The kids were yelling 'Help! Help Molly!' in a bid to get the dog to jump into the water. The dog never went it really deep, always making sure the water reached only chest height. Even though the beach had signs that dogs weren't allowed, I enjoyed seeing the little pug run around.

Then the answer to my question came. All to often we psycho analyse everything. The 'what ifs', 'I should haves', 'why did I do that' cloud our minds with the past or burdens us with the future. Our heads filled with 'things to-do', 'people to meet', 'places to be'. Preoccupied with the past which we cannot change or the future that hasn't happened yet, we let the present just drift by. 'Now' only comes once.

So there I stood, for an hour or so soaking up the glorious sunshine. For an hour, nothing else mattered except the air in my lungs, the sand under my feet, the water swirling around me and the God above me.

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Magnificent ...

Wild flowers at Kings Park..., originally uploaded by ~g~.

On a beautiful day like today, it was a perfect time to pay a visit to King's Park.

The cool day was greeted with warm sunshine and the refreshing breeze gave a hint of a slight chill in the air. Absolutely magnificent. Being the spring season, there was an array of wild flowers exhibiting their glorious colours. If you've got a couple of hours to spare, the park is a worthy location to whittle your time away. There's a decent crowd as the park during the weekends, so a little patience will go a long way to helping you enjoy the day.

Have a great week everyone!

Bees are having fun too..., originally uploaded by ~g~.

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So coool ...

One of the violinist..., originally uploaded by ~g~.

Man ... I wish I knew how to play the violin. Some pictures are just begging for the black and white treatment.

Oh boy, look at the time ... midnight already!

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Grace pictures ...

Grace..., originally uploaded by ~g~.

Woohooo!!! The pictures from the Grace ball are processed and are available here. Enjoy!

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Spring is here ...

Nine Blooms, originally uploaded by ~g~.

And to celebrate, I spent an hour or two in my backward [with camera in hand of course!]. The warm rays of the sun on the skin was great. The cherry blossom tree is in full swing and the daisies are out. I actually took the picture of the gerbera at a friend's place a week ago.

Enjoy spring everyone! A wonderful time of the year!!!

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