GARDENS BY THE BAY - SINGAPORE 2013

 On a dark and rainy afternoon, we took the MRT to the newly opened Gardens By The Bay. It's situated not far from Marina Bay Sands and the Singapore Flyer.
http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/home.html

 This is Supertree Grove. They are massive artificial trees with real plants entwined amongst the structure. They are fitted with lights for the night show. Apparently, they look impressive at night, but we didn't have enough time to see them. There is the OCBC Skyway, which is an elevated boardwalk that connects two of the trees. We were unable to take this walk due to the heavy rain.

I adore the gardens in Singapore, but this garden is in a league of it's own. There is no way to adequately describe how beautiful this massive garden is. You really have to experience for yourself. I really want one of these heliconias in my garden!

                                              Dragonfly Lake is at the entrance to the gardens.

 You can get a good view of the Singapore Flyer.

 Super tree Grove

 We stopped under this hut whilst we waited for the tropical downpour to subside. It was styled on a traditional Malaysian house. I think it would look good in my backyard by my swimming pool.

 

 The major attractions are two massive dome shaped greenhouses, and I do mean massive. The first one we explored was "Flower Dome".

A variety of different enviroments from around the world are replicated in this dome. This is the Mediteranean section, which features a large selection of cacti and plants from arid regions.



 

 This was a massive kaleidoscope in the floor - not sure why.

 

More on Gardens By the Bay next post. 

 

LOW CARB BANANA BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

I have concocted a recipe for low carb, wheat free banana blueberry muffins. Obviously, nothing is as delicious as a muffin made from wheat and sugar, but I think this is an acceptable alternative for when I am craving something cakey to eat with a cup of tea. We eat low carb/wheat free in our family due to my son's diabetes and weight maintainance.

INGREDIENTS

125g unsalted butter at room temperature
5 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla bean extract
1 tablespoon artificial sweetener (I used Stevia)
100g almond meal
30g coconut flour - from healthfood store
200g ripe mashed bananas
100g blueberries
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum powder - from healthfood store

METHOD

Whip butter with sweetener until pale and fluffy
Whip in eggs one at a time
Add vanilla extract, almond meal, xanthum gum and coconut flour and mix well
Add mashed bananas
Lastly, mix in blueberries - add last to prevent the blue juice from discolouring the mixture.
Divide mixture between 8 large muffin paper cases
Bake in preheated oven fro about 30 mins, or until golden.

CARBOHYDRATE PER MUFFIN = 11.27g
CARBOHYDRATE PER REGULAR LARGE MUFFIN = 69.2g

These muffins are denser than regular muffins due to the large quantites of eggs and lack of wheat flour. Xanthan gum powder is optional, but I use it to compensate for the absence of gluten. The gum seems to make the mixture more elastic and gives it a lighter texture than without it.

I use this basic recipe to make other variations of muffins and cakes. Try apple and raspberry, chocolate, orange and lemon.

Singapore 2013 - Orchard Road and Singapore Flyer

I love waking up in Singapore, and smelling all the food cooking and hearing the hustle of everyone on their way out to start the day. This was the view from our balcony; the Goodwood Park hotel.

 



This was the garden on the rooftop of the apartment. There was also a swimming pool.

 

 

Breakfast was at Ya Kun, a kaya toast cafe in the basement of the Far East Plaza mall below our apartment. I looove kaya toast and coffee for breakfast

 

Orchard Road still had some of the Christmas decorations up.

First stop was the enormous ION shopping mall. This place has all the major brands and a nice big open feel to it, even though it is underground. There are also some fab food outlets. Everything you could possibly need is here.

These shops are for window shopping only.

Lucky Plaza is an old original shopping centre. I remember going there as a child and thinking it was so exciting compared to shops back in Australia. Unfortunately, it isn;t in the ranks of the glitzy malls currently in operation, but it has a nice retro nostaligic feel to it.

next stop was Ngee Ann City, which is another massive mall on Orchard Road, home to my favourite store, Kinokuniya.

Lunch was in the food basement in Takashimaya. Roti prata is another of my Singaporean favourites. I highly recommend Takashimaya for its food stalls. There are all the Singapoean varieties as well as lots of Japanese goodies, Harrods, as supermarket and a lovely tea shop.

 

a quick swim back at the apartment.

Then it was off to the Singapore Flyer.

It's located not far from the Marina Bay Sands complex.

It's slightly terrifying riding in the flyer, especially when you reach the top, but worth the fear for the fantastic views.

 

 

 

 

 

This retro poster brings back memories. Do you know that when I was a little girl my dad would take me to Bruce Lee movies, which were extremely violent by anyone's standard. During the fight scenes I would close my eyes and cover my ears and pretend the punching sounds were  a tennis ball hitting a racket in a tennis match instead! I can't imagine taking my children to a violent kung fu movie, but I am proud/disturbed to say I have seen all of Bruce Lee's movies.

 

The day ended with pizza and pasta near our accommodation - a nice end to a busy, happy day.

 

 

SINGAPORE TRIP 2013

We have just returned from a wondeful holiday to one of my favourite countries, Singapore. It was my 8th trip there. This time was a little different, as we travelled with a diabetic child, which was challenging at times. I had already booked the holiday before my son's diagnosis and could not get a refund, so we chose to still go ahead with the holiday. Also, it was a big morale booster for him, and something to look forward to after all the horrible diabetic stuff he had been through.

We decided to try out the new Scoot airline, which is a budget airline and flies direct from the Gold Coast to Singapore. You choose how much legroom and luggage you wish to pay for. I chose the longest legroom option, which I think is worth the extra cost. The food was, well, how can I say this tactfully...horrible. I suggest you eat before you fly, and just have a cup of tea on board. You know you can always top up on yummy food when you get to Singapore airport. But other than that, it's just your stock standard budget flight - perfectly acceptable to get you from A to B with more money left over for shopping and eating out.

Flying with an insulin pump is a little challenging. Firstly, the pump must be removed from the body for the first 1/2 hour of the start and end of the flight, as air bubbles form in the line. When we arrived at Singapore airport, we had to sit in a public area and refill our son's insulin cartridge whilst attempting to keep the whole thing in a sterile environement. After a while, you just don;t feel self conscious about doing such things in public. Also, we had 3 different pieces of cabin luggage filled with all his medical supplies, just in case one bag became lost. It takes alot of planning and organising to travel with diabetes.

As we were hungry from not eating the airplane food, we ducked into Toast Box for a snack. Toast Box serves yummy kaya toast and drinks.  Then, we took a taxi to our accommodation; the Far East Plaza Apartments. We normally stay in hotels in Singapore, but I discovered we could rent an apartment for the same cost as one hotel room. The apartment consisted of two bedrooms, two bathrooms, loungeroom, dining room and large kitchen with a washing machine. There was also LCD TV, Foxtel and free WIFI.  I would definitely stay here again rather than a hotel room to have the extra facilities and room. It's located on Scotts Rd, near Orchard Rd, so it's in a perfect position for tourists who like to shop and eat.

The first thing one should do when arriving in Singapore is to eat! So we tried out the Food Opera food court in the ION shopping mall, which is all completely underground I think.

I chose char siew pork, noodles and wanton soup. Only $5.00! Singapore has a really refreshing lime juice drink which I always have with my meals when in town. The food courts in Singapore are absolutely fantastic. So much more appealing than Australian ones.  The variety is huge and most meals are cooked up fresh for you. My kids think it's hilarious that I take photos of my food. After dinner, we did a quick circuit of the mall before collapsing in bed and falling happily asleep.

After the stress of our son's diagnosis, we were really looking forward to our week in Singapore to spend some lovely time together as a family.

REFLECTIONS OF 2012

2012 was a year of highs and lows for me,

The highlight of the year was my daughter graduating from secondary school. Still, it was a slightly sad day to see your first born finishing school, when it seems like only yesterday she was starting pre-school. The school had a beautiful graduation chapel in the morning, follwed by the formal graduation at night. My daughter surprised us by receiving awards in home economics (dux) , visual art and citizenship. Her final year 12 results were so high that she has guaranteed admission into the uni course she has chosen, so we don't have to wait for uni offers to come out. What a relief that was. She has a very particular career goal, and that is to work for Japan Vogue! So she is studying a degree where she can major in Fashion and minor in journalism and Japanese. Who would have thought there was such a uni course? Going to all the open days at uni made me wish for a moment I could be a student again. The variety of courses available now are so interesting. Back in my day, the options were not quite as exciting. I think I would be a textile designer or handbag designer if I had my time over.

The low of the year, in fact my whole life, was my son being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. It's a hugly devastating blow for a little kid to recieve, and painful for a parent to watch their child go through. If I could magically change fate, I would give anything for the victim to be me and not my son. But, that can't happen, so with faith and support from my family, we do the best we can to maintain his health. As a consequense, our whole family now eats a paleo diet. This means very little carbohydrate, no processed or artificial foods, so mainly basing the diet on protein, vegatables (not potatoes) a small amount of fruit, nuts and small amount of dairy products. It also involves a moderate amount of exercise daily, which helps to lower blood glucose. The health benefits are amazing; my son's blood glucose levels are so easy to manage when there is little consumption of carbs.  As for the rest of us, my weight has dropped significantly, by one dress size in 3 weeks and my blood pressure has lowered to a normal level.  My skin is completely clear, but if I eat any wheat products, the next day I have pimples.  My energy levels have increased because my blood sugar levels stay relatively even. I tried on a pair of my old shorts today, and they fell off me because they were way too big! I've had to buy a belt to hold all my pants up!

If you would like to know more about this diet/lifestyle, I get most of my information from:

     http://www.marksdailyapple.com/and  http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/

I'm not sure why all our healthcare team has told my son to keep eating lots of carbs, even the dietician said to keep eating McDonalds! Anyway, I will keep researching the best way to manage diabetes with diet and exercise.

So, here's praying our 2013 will be a bit better than last year.  I know I am so lucky to have as many blessings as I do, and I have to approach all challenges with positivity and faith.

Wishing all my readers a wonderful year, filled with love and happiness.
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Christmas Gift Wrapping

I have found creative gift wrapping to be therapeutic this year - taking my mind off my son's illness for a short spell. I found a wonderful blog with paper flower tutorials for these simple but effective paper roses.

The key to making your gifts look impressive is to layer the ribbons and embelishments. The more, the better. All the gift tags were downloaded from the net. Just google "free printable Christmas gift tags"

 I bought my sister some gorgeous fragrance from Durance, a French company. If it's French, it's got to be lovely, right?  I recycled the ribbon as it was too pretty to throw away. I made the flower from calico and cotton fabric.

I love the black and white theme. It always looks luxurious.  I topped it with black velvet ribbon and a scrapbooking flower.

Another idea Icame across was to use pearl and diamante buttons and brooches as a gift topper. You can find them on etsy.com

 I found some beautiful botanical paper, and topped the box with sisal ribbon, satin ribbon and faux leaves and berries.

 I actually found Marrimeko gift wrap on the Gold Coast. I covered an old shoe box and finished it with a handmade paper rose and black velvet ribbon.  I purchased whole large rolls of velvet ribbon from ebay at very reasonable prices.  Hand made Japanese paper works well for paper flowers.

I created this design from: grossgrain ribbon, mesh ribbon, gold cord, velvet ribbon (twisted and glued) faux glitter branches and handmade acorns.  To make an acorn you can use the cap from a real acorn, or if you live in the tropics like me, make one from paper clay. I used some plastic mesh to create texture on the clay. The stalk is a real twig. Paint the cap and stalk white and sprinkle with glitter. The acorn is made from white velvet fabric - simply cut a circle and thread a gathering stitch around the perimeter - place a small amount of fibre fill in the centre and pull the thread to gather - then glue to the cap.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.



Yet another tote bag

Fabric from Yuzawaya, Shinjuku.