Calvin set off for his 9-day HK trip this morning. This is his first time away from Gabby for so long. When I went KL for 3 days, I came back to a daughter who sticks to her Daddy all the time. Calvin was worried that Gabby may not want him after these 9 days... Well I really don't think that's gonna happen. Gabby loves her Daddy too much!

Gabby and I are counting down to the day that her Daddy comes home. We miss you!!!

We were kept busy with a lot of things lately and I didn't plan anything special for Calvin for his birthday this year. He was on duty last night and I decided to give him a little surprise when he gets home this morning - breakfast with love!!

He was back early this morning and the surprise wasn't ready!! Thank God it didn't take much time and it wasn't too difficult to prepare this. He was pleasantly surprised when he saw what was served on the table. And he said it was yummy!! (^__^) I love you, baby...

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Cheesy Egg in Ham Basket (that's what I call it)
I bought a recipe magazine in Melbourne when we were there. And I was attracted to this. Creative and yet simple to prepare. I made some modification to the ingredients but here's the original recipe:

Ingredients
Makes 6
Preparation: 10min
Cooking: 12min

60g reduced-fat fetta, crumbled
1/3 cup grated reduced-fat tasty cheese
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
100g packet (12 slices) fat-free shaved leg ham
6 eggs

I used:
shredded cheddar, shaved honey glazed chicken ham, bacon bits and eggs

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 deg C. Grease a 6 x 1/3 cup muffin tray. Combine cheeses and herbs in a bowl.
2. Line each cup hole in tray with 2 overlapping slices of ham to shape nests. Fill with half the cheese mixture. Carefully crack and egg in each hole (avoid broken yolks) and top with remaining cheese mixture.
3. Bake for 10-12 minutes for a medium-set egg or until cooked as you prefer. Sprinkle with black pepper. Serve with toast.

By my standards, this is very easy to make... :p
I'll add the herbs the next time I make this.

Part 2 of Calvin's birthday celebration... this time celebrating with Eunice. We decided to bring her and Dennis off the city for a brunch amidst nature and horses. Riders Cafe ~ a nice little restaurant next to the stable. We first came to this part of the island when Calvin brought me to Mimolette for my birthday. We had wanted to try the brunch at Mimolette but it's been booked for a private function today. So we tried Riders Cafe instead. Not bad a choice at all.

We had a very nice lazy Sunday morning at Riders Cafe. It didn't feel like we were in Singapore at all. I wanna do this more often, shall we?

Calvin has never really been a fan of soups. Me, on the other hand, being a Cantonese, grew up on having soup for dinner every single night! I have been asking Calvin to go shop for a slow cooker for a long time, so I can make soups before I go out for work and then come home to a boiling pot of hot soup for dinner. But we procrastinated...

On Thursday, Calvin decided to buy a slow cooker from NTUC Xtra. And he also bought ingredients to make a yummy pot of beef stew for me!

The beef stew is really yummy and it's sooooo easy to make! We invited Calvin's eldest sis, Selina over for dinner to share the good stuff.. she too loved it.

Well done baby! I don't mind having it again soon!! hehe...

I've been blessed with yummy homecooked dinner every single night this week. Calvin painstakingly thought about what nutritious meals to prepare to whet my appetite every day.

Monday: Sliced Beef with Kailan soup
Tuesday: Steamed Salmon + Blanched Xiao Bai Cai
Today: ABC Soup (YUMZ)

He even had the menu for the rest of the week planned out... How thoughtful!! Everyday he'd ask me if there's anything in particular I feel like eating and if it's different from what he has planned, he will make changes accordingly! How sweet!!!

I have been feeling hungry every other hour for the past week. But the frustrating thing is, I absolutely have no appetite. I still have to eat because if I don't, I'll feel even worse - nauseated and giddy until food gets past my not-in-perfect-working-order tastebuds into the stomach. But I'm one blessed happy woman!

Calvin had timed his cooking such that hot steamy food will be waiting for me at the dining table when I come home from work. Realised I've been so famished the last 2 days that I didn't take any photos of what he cooked.

Here's where he brewed the pot of soup with love... (^__^)

And here's what's waiting for me at the dining table... (^___^)

Calvin's on leave this whole week.. He had taken leave to rest before going back to work after his course. As he was mopping the floor yesterday, it struck him again how perfect God's timing is. We only got pregnant at the end of his stressful, time-consuming and energy-sapping course. If it had been any earlier, handling the pregnancy will be more challenging for both of us.

Now, instead of having a restful week of leave, he has to focus his energy on taking care of his pregnant wife.

He took care of ALL the household chores so that I don't have to lift a finger.

He went to the supermarket to stock up a variety of food at home so that I won't have to be hungry at any time.

He bought lots of fruits and vegetables so that I can have lots of fibre intake.

He bought a variety of fish and meat so that he can cook whatever I feel like eating whenever.

He cooked simple meals because I barely have any appetite and he ate the same simple meals with me.

He made milk and brought it to my bed when I woke up so that it can curb the nausea after one whole night of sleep without food.

He brought folic acid to my bed too so that I won't forget to have my daily dose for the development of our baby.

He packed a goodie bag with snacks and milk powder for me to bring to work so that I won't be hungry in office.

He... is the greatest blessing from God. He... is the man I'm so blissfully married to. He... loves me so. (^__^)

Today's the last day of Calvin's PTI course. YIPPEE!! He has endured through 3 long months of waking up way before the sun did and coming back beaten by the strenuous training designed for NS boys!

But guess what? My handsome hubs emerged as the BEST! He was awarded Best in Physical Training and he was also awarded Best Trainee! These were the only 2 awards for the PTI course and he got them BOTH!! Praise GOD!!! I'm so proud of my man!

All glory be to God! (^__^)

This is a full working weekend for both Calvin and I. He's deployed and I've gotta rush presentations. This morning while I'm still in bed, I decided to cook a simple dinner... Cracked my head on what to cook. As usual, I thought pasta should be easy. And I kind of have a craving for Coffee Club's Garlic Prawn Pasta.

So, I got out of bed and searched for an aglio olio recipe before I went to NTUC. Settled on a "Spicy Shrimp and Spaghetti Aglio Olio" recipe. Made a bit of modification to it: used Angel Hair instead of Spaghetti; added in honey tomatoes; didn't add chopped parsley; didn't have all the sides; & didn't add anchovy fillet (can't find it in NTUC Xtra!).

Calvin sms'd me while I was having breakfast and delivered a piece of good news regarding his work! I was really happy and proud of him. Then, the simple dinner plan became a little celebration. So, here's the 3 course dinner I prepared for the celebration.

As I prepared each of the dishes, I realised there's tomatoes in all of them! haha... and the dinner became a tomato-themed one.

What's a celebration without champagne?! We have 4 bottles of champagne in our chiller and what better time to pop it than today? We had the bottle of Moet & Chandon, which was a gift from Jinu during our wedding.

Calvin has been sent to OBS for a leadership program and it's his first day there today. He's gonna be gone for 5 long days... I wonder how you girls manage when your husbands go for reservist... The emotional monster in me took over me and I know I must have made him feel really bad last night by displaying obvious signs of the can't-bear-to-see-you-go syndrome. This morning when I sent him off at the door, I felt like a piece of me has left with him.

Well, it's not the first time we're apart for days. I've gone on trips without him but it's somehow different this time. I guess the difference lies in whether you're the one going or the one left behind waiting.

Some time ago, my colleague Mingli passed me some Christian family magazines and one of the articles that touched me deeply is the article featuring US military spouses - Inside the Homes of the Braves. The strength, faith, courage and determination of these women amazed me. One of them said, "God used the time when he was gone to force me to depend on Him for my needs, instead of expecting my spouse to meet them. It was a great stretching time for me, and my relationship with Him grew by leaps and bounds. I hated that he was away, but I loved my new closeness with God."

As I wallow in missing Calvin, God reminded me of this article and I thank God that my husband is merely gone for an adventure training course and not gone to fight a war. I thank God that he's coming home in 5 days and not 5 months or 5 years. And I thank God for His perfect love for Calvin.

He celebrated his birthday 3 days in a row!!

Surprise surprise!! It was a surprise celebration for William and Calvin. Diane/ Audrey/ Teri's parents went for their 2nd honeymoon (sweet hor...) so we crashed there for a super sumptuous, yummy steamboat dinner. See that cake? It's a strawberry jelly tofu cheesecake. Yes! Tofu blended with cheese to achieve a light, non-gelat dessert.

After food, dessert and chit-chatting, we gathered around a square table for guess what?? YES! MAHJONG!! Calvin and I haven't played for almost a year now! Itching to get our hands on the tiles... We had great fun that night!! :D

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It was Eunice's birthday on 1 Dec. So we went for dinner on Sunday to celebrate Eunice & Calvin's birthday. The 2 of them are so similar in so many ways... it's scary sometimes... haha

We had dinner at this superb yakitori restaurant. They serve the best yakitori!! Hanwei and Tomoko brought us there once and we loved it.

Calvin got a beautiful beer glass for his almost-nightly indulgence - Heineken or Guinness Draught.

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This day is HIS... it's his birthday and it's just gonna be the 2 of us.. :) We had a slow-paced day... no rush, no fuss... just soaking in each other's love and attention... hehe... Brought him to Favenails for a pampering feet treat.. His first pedicure in 32 years! He enjoyed it and his feet look good!! haha

Baby, HAPPY BIRTHDAY and may God bless you exceedingly abundantly above all that you can ask. May you be happy always. LOVE YOU LOADS!!!

YES!!! We went to the Linkin Park concert today!

Linkin Park is Calvin's favourite! One day as I was walking through Scotts underpass, the scrolling posters screamed out to me that I should get tickets to the concert for Calvin. I've seen the ads on TV but it never occurred to me that I should... so, underpass posters work!! haha...

Then, I secretly bought the tickets online and surprised Calvin with them. I'm really glad that we went. He really enjoyed himself (I believe).. cos he was screaming and jumping even though we were so far away.. (ya, I got the cheapest tickets.. haha).

Linkin Park really has a big pool of very responsive fans!!! And yes, my husband is one of them... (^__*) I've never been much of a fan. But after the concert, I really think they're GOOD!

Beautiful description of love...

like it very much so I wrote it in a card for Calvin