Tea Party...

The food spread.....

Yesterday afternoon, my family and I together with friends were back at The Cake Fairy Malacca cafe for another round of great treat. This time it is Errol & Jessica Tea Party. Nothing was spared to make this tea party a great time of good afternoon tea treats and a massive dose of fellowship. About twenty of us made our way to the cosy cafe and spent an afternoon of typical Malaysian tea party and great laughter.

As usual, SLing, SYuen and myself were the earliest to arrive and we were warmly greeted by ever smiling family of Jessica, Errol, Josephine and Jocelyn.  As we climbed the familiar RC staircase up, I knew we have a great treat in store for all of us. I also had the opportunity to meet up again with the creative, diligent and ever-smiling Tracie Yeo, the proprietor, artist and the genuine brains behind The Cake Fairy Malacca. 

Josephine,SLing,Jessica, Jocelyn, SYuen....

It is such an honour to meet her again and see her creating some wonderful treats for us. She was such a busy bee then as she was putting the finishing touches for a cake burger and that surely blew my mind though I only managed to take a picture of the top portion of the cake burger.Yup! She is definitely a cake artist. Congrats again, Tracie Yeo!

As for the event, the crowd began to trickle in and soon, the quorum was complete. For the next few hours, we fellowshipped, ate, laughed and had some fun with the props for our photography session. As I looked at the treats that was put out for us, I could see delightful cherry pie, heavenly shepherd's pie, wonderful smoked salmon vol-au-vents, swell berry cheesecake cups, great mini chicken burgers, cookies, insanely moist chocolate cake , beautifully decorated cup cakes and thirst quenching lemonade to drown the sugary treats into a swirling joy. It may not looked much but they can be quite filling. Afterall, it is a tea party and the finesse of the treats outstrips the filling up of the stomachs. 

The cake artist, Tracie Yeo

I believe it is the quality that is far more important than the quantity of the spread as at the end of the day, there were smiles everywhere as the food certainly made the fellowship such a great occasion. As always, the cherry pie wins hands down together with the shepherd pie while the smoked salmon vol-au-vents was just delightful indeed. Crunchy due to the puff pastry together with the smoked salmon made it a great combo down the throat. The mini burgers were also moist and tasty indeed. The sweet (at least mine was! ) and sour tinge of a whole cherry tomato at the top of the burger made it such a delight. The sweet treats were always a real treat for the young and the old. 

Our hosts, Jessica & Errol

I tried the cookie in the cookie from the cookie jar near the hot drinks and they tasted absolutely satisfying indeed. The berry cheesecake in cup was smooth and cheesy - the way I like it. The combination of sweet, sourly creaminess of cheese and the biscuit crumbs at the bottom of the squarish cup made it such a tier of delightfulness. As for the cupcakes - what can I say except that they are creamy, sweet and a real treat for the young and old ....anytime! Who doesn't like cupcakes, right? Well, cupcakes will be cupcakes. You make the cupcake horrendously good and spiced it up with smooth creamy topping and wonderful piping techniques, the cupcakes will not just not look good but good to the dollar for eating too. 

SLing & me....

As coffee, tea and lemonade flow freely as the conversations filled the evening, I am glad to have the opportunity to just enjoy the afternoon. With good treats and good friends engaged in good conversations and sharing laughs, I couldn't have asked for more, actually. As I enjoyed my coffee that afternoon, I must say that I really enjoyed the feeling of having a tea party. It has been quite a long time since I felt that way. Perhaps, tea party would do a whole world of a good for others out there.

It is a great way to unwind, relax and to just soak in the fun of getting together. There is no better connectivity or rather connecting agent between people than with the spread of good food. I am not going to argue with that fact.

JooLi, Caitlyn,Abby , Dave, Sean, Aidan & John......

Just want to thank Errol & Jessica again for inviting us for the tea party. As for Tracie Yeo, keep up the good work and may your cake business endeavor enjoy success indefinitely. 

P/s My brother-in-law, sister-in-law, my nephew, Ryan and niece, Ashley enjoyed the two pieces of cherry pie and cupcakes which we brought for them from the tea party! That speak volumes indeed! Cheers!    

 

Charity Golf duty.....

For two days, my two colleagues, Tan DM & Chris L and I were "fried, sweated and tanned " under the blistering sun in Segamat, Johor covering a charity golf tournament. To be honest, though it was tiring, hot, sweaty and sometimes befriended a lot of mosquitoes and sand flies, we were accustomed to the yearly affair golf tournament held here in Segamat. 

As usual, we had arrived an evening earlier so that we could attend the tournament early the following morning. This is not because we are "kiasu" but it is much better than travelling early morning on a Saturday wading across unlighted stretch of road which can be both dangerous, nervy winding road and intimidating at the wee hours of the morning. After settling down in our nice cosy little rooms, we decided to grab something to eat at a nearby restaurant before we hit the sack. As all of us had been working three quarters of the day prior to our earlier departure, we were really tired and retired early.

Bright and early morning the next day, we were up early to go the golf course and carried out our duties of observers in event of a Hole in One strike. I was assigned to Hole No.14 that morning. I was stuck with this for my whole duration there at the gold course. Basically, the greens at Hole No.14 was surrounded by waters; making it difficult for golfers to do mistakes which could be quite costly. Yeah, I am not golfer but I've learn more about golfing, personalities, characters and conduct in the last two days indeed. What's with the eagle, birdie, pars and bogey for all I care! But it was interesting to see the antics of the golfers.

I must say that the early morning tee off was what I enjoyed the most as the breeze and cool air were indeed a welcomed sight to my crazily cramped life. Though I had  to wait for the golfers for about an hour before they play Hole No.14, I was more interested at how the golfers conduct themselves when things get awry for them especially hitting OB or hitting the sand bunkers or even balls landing in the waters. It was really interesting.

The golfers were generally nice and courteous people. They dressed up sharply and nicely for their games and the ladies also were quite fashionable. Playing their rounds of golf/games are a totally new ball game though.  They curse, they swear , lost their tempers while some were just a bunch of sore losers and a lousy sport. It was really amusing to hear some of these golfers complained about the thick grass when they couldn't get their short while some let go a string of obscenities which involved a lot of poor grandma and grandpa, yessire! I think, these old folks would have rolled over in their graves when their names are mentioned each time. I guess, golfers are truly passionate people who wants to have a great game at hand. It is a game of skills plus a huge dosage of pure luck. Some may argue that it is not the element of luck but rather practise makes perfect like this middle aged pompous old golfer who told me this when I shook his hand for a great birdie putt at Hole No.14. He was telling me that he had been playing golf  for the past 15 years to 20 years. To me, I was thinking of all the buggy fees, caddy fees and green fees he could have saved a whole lot for the past 15-20 years!!! So much for perfect shot! Still gotta pay green fees, caddy and buggy fees, right?  Anyway, I was there not to comment any of the play but to be an observer and occasionally congratulate a number of golfers who did well that day. It was quite good meeting up with new people and making new friends.

I have always enjoyed watching people and their antics. Even the ladies were not spared of golfing banters from the guys. Of course, the ladies were "gaya habis" with their apparels and what not. I guess, the craziest ever episode must be the one where a couple of guys and ladies ( fellow golfers from the early morning flight) were on their buggies serving their friends with beers during the game in the afternoon. Afterall, it was a hot afternoon indeed and a chilled beer could help, it seemed! Probably it was just a charity golf tournament, they could go crazy a bit with their friends. I am sure rules are indeed flouted when in a real games situation. I had a good laugh when one of the golfers who confided that he was not able to see where he had whacked the ball from the tee box and I had to tell him where his ball had landed. He actually made a birdie and told everyone that he played better when he is having his drinks and that cracked up his team players and the guest on buggies! What a joker indeed!

I have come to realise that the older golfers are the ones who are more sporting and easy going while the middle aged are quite pompous and reserved. The younger ones ( age & experience) are always short of patience and with tumultuous tempers. I had seen one young golfer who just whacked his ball away in frustration into the woods without having a thought for his team members when his putting went awry or did not go his way. Some just blamed the thick grass, or choosing the wrong club or even blame it on uneven green and worst still, some even blames the weather for being too hot. Well, to me, a bad carpenter always blame his tools! 

I also took the time to enjoy some of the nice flora around the golf course. Somehow, I did enjoy the nice , cooling scenery in the morning and the nice sound of birds and animals around the golf course. Truly was a great experience and the hospitality shown by the SGCC Captain, Mr. Sim was really greatly appreciated. 

All in all, I was tanned, hot and tired but I truly enjoyed my responsibilities that day.

The Team......

The people behind the scenes who made CCC Children Church Slumber Night 2014 such a great success......

The "towkay"

The Super lady coolies...
( SYuen, Pastor Joanne, SLing, Loreen, Abby, Alythea, Jessica, & "Towkay" BLing )

Hardworking  Supervisor coolie, Kelly

Young coolies under the patronage of a Senior Coolie
( Ramona, Alythea, John & SLing )

The honorary Guest Coolies
( Jessica & Errol Gan )

Guitarist coolie
( Zephaniah )

Games Coolie
( Dinesh J.Louis )

Special Supporter - Dorin Ng

Old Coolie & Senior Coolie
( Ivan & SLing )

Best Boy Camper - Bertrand

Best Girl Camper - Xi Qing

Special Award - Earliest Camper to Camp ( David Wong )

CCC Children Church Slumber Night 2014....

The smiling children and the lovable adults !

Hannah carrying out P&W session

I have never felt so alive and happy in my life this last two days. I must clarify that it is not that others days I am not alive but I am particularly happy and elated each time I can do something for the children. Though I know that age is catching up while the creaks, tweaks and rasp backache are sounds of constant reminders to take things easy, I still consider it an honour to be able to do what I can or for that matter, be of any use for His Kingdom. Helping my friend and fellow leader, BLing in running the very first Children Church Slumber Night 2014 was an offer I could not resist. SLing and I are always amazed by the golden hearted and wonderful passion of BLing in helping the children to lay a good foundation in the Lord. This time, BLing took charge and called the shots for the slumber night. Though it was planned for about 3 weeks, I guess, God's hands of favour and mercy is always there to protect His plans. BLing took charge of the event very well and together with her team of leaders namely Dinesh, Loreen, Ramona and even Dr.Chong, everything went on as smooth as silk.

We started out by having the registration on Monday evening at about 7.00pm. It was truly exciting as I did not know the number of children coming this time. In a twisted way, as usually, I would want to know the number of participants, but this time, I just wanted to trust God to provide the children for this event. I am thankful and felt very blessed seeing BLing doing all she could with the team and for the children.

Waffles team led by SLing.....

She went an extra mile for the children by their name preparations and also getting the registration counter set up as most of us, working adults, were still weaving through the traffic to get home and come for the event. As usual, SLing and I just supported BLing as much as we could. When the children started to trickle in , we started out with a word of prayer from Pastor Joanne, who had been a wonderful supporter, encourager and friend to us. Indeed we are all thankful that she is passionate and has a great heart for the children too.

Our very first event of the day was the Praise & Worship session with Zephaniah and Hannah. These two young people really gave their best to the children and started out right with some catchy action movement songs. That set the tempo right and warmed up the children. Felt very blessed towards Hannah and Zephaniah for helping out and setting the tone right for a praise & worship session. Then it is off to a movie show. It was a cartoon movie ( Sherman & Mr Peabody ) and soon after, the children were treated with waffles prepared by SLing, Ramona, John and SYuen. It was nice to see the children enjoying themselves with the waffles, goodies treat, Vitagen and watching a good movie.

Getting ready for bed....

The adults /helpers who came also had their stomach filled with goodies , kuih muih and even waffles to enjoy with. Hey, the adults gotta at too, right? So, it was so fun for all of us. As I sat at the sofa looking at all the buzzing and moving around,I saw not the busyness of adults  but I saw the family spirit in each and everyone who was there that night. From Pastor Joanne to BLing, John, Kelly , Ramona, Loreen, SLing, SYuen, Alythea, Hannah, Zephaniah, Abby, Dinesh, Errol, Jessica, Josephine and Jocelyn, I saw the tremendous family spirit which I had missed so much. It is so wonderful when you get everyone who are passionate and dedicated to be part of a great program for children.

Errol, Jessica, Josephine & Jocelyn....

The night became much sweeter when earlier, Errol & Jessica together with their children, Josephine and Jocelyn came into the hall with two big bundle of satays!!!! Wah! Midnight snacks at best, man! The team and the helpers then helped out in filling up the goodies into the goody packs meant for the children. BLing, SLing and I brought out the stuff we bought to bless the children. It was a joy for us to be able to bless these children. Looking at the goodies, I am sure, they ( the children ) will have a big smile on their faces when they see the goodies in store for them!

Breakfast time.....

After the movie, it was cleaning up and putting the children to sleep. It was really fun as these children are NOT going to sleep after the overload of waffles, Vitagen and good stuff swimming in their stomachs!!! So, it took many hours before their eyes grow weary and they fall into deep slumber and that's where the fun begins! My God! If you could only see how the legs fly, the disheveled blankets, heads at butts, sleeping like sotong and many more antics, you would laughed your head off and I DID! Anyway, it was basically a quiet evening with no untowards incident. Of course, there were sniffles, bed wetting, crying for mommy and so on but these are part and parcel of a slumber night. As usual, I did not my usual checking to ensure everyone was good and they were good. I finally managed to doze off at about 6.00am that morning and our No.1 supporter, Pastor Joanne was at the door at 6.30am and by 7.00am , the kiddos are up and running about like some sugar filled rugrats! It was really fun to see these children having their fun.

Games time with Dinesh

Devotion was carried out by me after having those vacuum stomachs filled with dim sum and big pau! I taught these wonderful children on the theme which is "Sharing is Caring" from 1John 3:16. I am thankful that I could share a short and simple message to the children plus my drawings , of course. ( It is the gift that God had bestowed me and I am ever so thankful!!!! ) I hope they learned something that day. Then it was games and lots of laughter with Dinesh and the crew. Oh! What fun! What wholesome fun to see those children laughed, run around and compete in a good spirit of fun and happiness. There was a lot of emphasis on sharing and caring for one another even in the games. It was games after games of good cheer and wide smiles. As I sat down at the sofa after snapping up pictures, I could not help but felt so blessed to be a part of this program to nurture children and let children be children! It is so awesome and very fulfilling feeling to see the wide smiles, the cracked laughter or even the cringed on their faces when they play the games or even participated in small competitions. What a sight!

Games time.....

After the dust had settled over the games, BLing carried out her craft session with the children. She is so creative and the children really enjoyed her session as she did her craft with the children. Wonderful blessings indeed. She did three crafts with the children and each session was a delight. Soon, it was time for lunch and KFC was the treat for the children this time.  To health freaks, get out of the house ......Never mind the fat contents or the oil contents or even the nutritional facts at the box -lar.....just let the children be children for one day. Even the adults were able to reminiscent their childhood days and try to remember the last time they ever had KFC in such a joyous occasion! It 's always the children that matter-lar..... I am sure they had a good fun time.

Children having fun at games...

Then it is off to Mamee factory to see how those delicious noodles are made! As we drove the children to the factory, we were met by Ms.Yip Wai Yee and Ms Lim at the factory. We were ushered into a small air-conditioned room where the history of Mamee products were conspicuously  displayed on the white screen. Then it was off to the production line to see the birth of Mamee monster mee and noodles in the cup production. Strictly no photography was allowed and we adhered to this. We were then joined by Kenneth and Jessica plus baby Ethan during our tour of the production line. The children were pretty impressed and so did we, the "little overgrown babies". We were then treated to a small dose of  Mamee noodles and drinks. All in all , it was a good experience indeed. Very very good experience, I would say.

BLing teaching during craft session

Finally, we carried out our usual goody giving ceremony before our children leave for home with their parents that evening as we wind down the day. As the children received their goody bags with their names on it, you could see them light up almost immediately. They knew they had some really good stuff and they go back with more than a bagful of goodies but a loadful of memories that would last them a lifetime.

As the last parent collected their children, it was time for us to say good bye to each other. It was a good day for me though I was very tired. That tiredness is nothing compared to the smiles on the bright faces of these children and the leaders.

At Mamee factory....

BLing was so thoughtful that she gave each and everyone of us a present which was so meaningful to each and everyone of us. The gift may be small and may looked insignificant but it is a priceless gift to us because we had participated in an event to touch the lives of a child and be appreciated by a leader with a heart of gold in Tan Bee Ling!

Yunno, I could never understand why I do all these rather than sit at home, rest my broken and ailing body and lepak on a public holiday! Call it madness. Call it stupidity. Call it a waste of time. Call it whatever you want.

The wonderful ladies!

I have never felt so fulfilled and so happy in my life to be able to spend such times with children and with the leaders/helpers, the real unsung heroes! What makes it all so worthwhile? It is when the children asks his/her parents, " Mom/Dad, I am gong to next year's slumber night!" Then, you know that you have touched lives more than you can ever imagine!

So, THANK YOU , Pastor Joanne, BLing, leaders and  helpers, you've made my day indeed!

The theme of the slumber night!

My perspective on sharing! What do you think?

The Cake Fairy Malacca....

Shepherd pie and savoury treats....

Today, my family and I was invited to attend a soft launch of " The Cake Fairy Malacca " outlet at Taman Merdeka Permai. To be honest, I do get invitations for soft launch of food outlets but hardly any for cake and pastries shop. So, when my good friends, Errol & Jessica invited us for the launch, we were more than happy to accept the invitation as it was always very tricky when it comes to pastries and cake as it takes quite a skill and palate to get all the ingredients to gel nicely and look good for eating. Sugary treats are always a favourite among the young and old but good sugary treats are quite hard to find these days.

Cupcakes and sweet treats...

So, off we went to the shop in Taman Merdeka Permai with Josephine and Jocelyn, Errol's daughters. As we alighted the flight of RC staircase to the upper floor of a shoplot, we heard voices....merry voices. You know that when you go to such an event and there are merry voices, you know for sure that you are in a good treat. As we were up at the shoplot, I could sense a feel of rustic cafe setting. Yellow lights , hotel furniture i.e. nice sofa set, table sets and writing table where the food spread was placed upon. The very first thing that came to my mind was " Nice! " Then I was introduced to a petite and nicely dressed young lady whom I was told the very proprietor of "The Cake Fairy Malacca", Ms. Tracie Yeo. She looked like a busy bumble bee and who could blame her as it was the launch day - an important day for her close friends, family and extended families. I count it a privilege for being able to attend a launch such as this. 

Delightful cupcakes...impressive & saliva drooling....

Tracie's parents and brother then ushered us to the delicacies  laid out on the table. I must say that it was an impressive spread or savoury and sweet treats. SLing started the ball rolling by choosing some of the impressive canapes and the cherry pie. I took a small piece of the cherry pie and I must say that it was heavenly indeed. The texture and pie crust was good and the centre mixture of cherries were soft, creamy and light. Very very heavenly. Then I tried out the shepherd's pie in large cup cake tin foil servings. The smooth potato mash crust at the top was superbly cooked and the filling was fantastic. The cupcakes looked awesome and very very appetizing indeed. They looked gorgeously delicate, heavenly and prime for eating,man!  

Cherry Pie - heavenly,man....

From then on, I started taking pictures of the canapes/puff pastry like mushroom and tomato delights which looked very appetizing and tasted real good too. Ah! There was just so much goodies in store and I could not have describe each and every one of it. All I knew was that the delicacies look good and tasted good. BTW, the pork puff was superb. I was told it was prepared by Tracie's mom. What a great combo indeed! 

Errol and Jessica then appeared with sister, Emily and dad, Uncle George. I was happy to see them as they greeted Tracie and her family. It was nice to see familiar faces after seeing a lot of unfamiliar ones at the occasion. Familiar or unfamiliar , the launch certainly gave me a good impression of a stylish confectionery fare. Errol and I then had the cool pink guava drink and the very good and rich coffee. I had my coffee black as I wanted to taste the coffee. Yup, the coffee was thick and slightly tinge of bitterness which I like very much. 

The moist chocolate cake....wow.....

All in all , it was a great experience hanging out at "The Cake Fairy Malacca " outlet. I was most impressed when I was told that Tracie Yeo had been running her business on her own and keeping up with all the email order on her own. That is tenacity and that is pure hard work. You see, Tracy does all the baking and decorating herself and occasionally with great help from cousins and family members during the holidays, she would have an extra hand. However, she is detailed and meticulous on her work order and that's a mark of a great chef and baker. I guess, when you are happy in doing what you do best and giving out nothing but the best for your customers, that's a mark of a successful business. I find it interesting that she does all the work herself and her plans to open up a cafe like a place like this on weekends is definitely a great move. A great place for young people to pop up and catch up some nice ambiance. 

Pink guava drink in nice bottles.....

I complimented and thanked Tracie for the wonderful time and treats. I definitely will drop by and get some nice treats when she is fully open for business. If you are interested in Tracie's works of good cakes, go to her facebook page : the cakefairymalacca or even visit her website: http//the cakefairymalacca.wix.com/cupcakes. You could also make your orders of the cake /cupcakes and other treats at tracieyeo@gmail.com.

Hey, what is there to lose when it comes to good sweet treats, right? For me, there is no better treat than the ones that was painstakingly made with great love, passion for good food and great care in giving the best ingredients. That, to me, is the right ingredients for the " Cake Fairy Malacca" success!

Sweet watermelon with feta cheese & olives

So, to Tracie Yeo, I salute you and may success follow your great endeavor as you strive for great food and great place. All the best and I truly enjoyed the soft opening fares.....they do still linger in my mind especially the cherry pie. What a pie! 

The unique hand wash area