Category Archives: Hobbies

Go Out And Smell The Roses: Part 1

By Andrea Pavee For the past two weeks, I was away in sunny England. Having never been to England before during the spring/summer changeover, I was swept away at the beauty of nature in all its glorious splendour. Touchdown was at Manchester. Then, we drove through the Yorkshire countryside to reach Scarborough, the first stopContinue reading “Go Out And Smell The Roses: Part 1”

Sourdough diaries continued!

By Anne Lise Tan Hello everyone and Happy Easter*! If you remember my sourdough post from a few months ago, I started growing and maintaining my sourdough starter, Cricket, at the start of my second university year in London and am happy to report that I have made many successful loaves and sourdough derivatives sinceContinue reading “Sourdough diaries continued!”

Sewing Stories: Counted Cross Stitch Kits

By Andrea Pavee Yesterday, after about a 5-month epic adventure of thread and needle, I finished my first counted cross stitch kit. While I have always loved cross stitch, I used to grab onto a pattern, restock my supply of thread, then armed with a good amount of Aida cross stitch cloth, I would manuallyContinue reading “Sewing Stories: Counted Cross Stitch Kits”

GARDENING TIPS: ALL THINGS BLACK, BEAUTIFUL AND MAGICAL

By Andrea Pavee About a year ago, as we were preparing to return to our newly constructed home, we traversed the length and breadth of the Klang Valley looking for feature plants, planters and pots to beautify our garden. At one of our stops, I found the magnificent Black Magic (Black Colocasia) and Black CoralContinue reading “GARDENING TIPS: ALL THINGS BLACK, BEAUTIFUL AND MAGICAL”

Beginner’s Choice: Friends, Food and Fun

Food diplomacy The week has gone by quickly in the world that has been bustling with events from meetings of world leaders to the World Cup. Serious business is usually followed by the sharing of a meal at a banquet or a cocktail reception, where the mood is lighter and the host takes the occasionContinue reading “Beginner’s Choice: Friends, Food and Fun”

Sewing Symphonies: The Knitted Scarf

By Andrea Pavee When I was a child, Malaysian students were taught rudimentary sewing in Primary school. That was where I first learned how to cross stitch. I still remember the day I brought back my fledgling efforts to my Godmother’s home and how she helped me finish my homework to perfection. Encouraged by myContinue reading “Sewing Symphonies: The Knitted Scarf”

Just Loaf-ing Around with Sourdough

By Anne Lise Tan I have a love-hate relationship with making sourdough bread. Last year, I started entirelyfrom scratch back home with my first sourdough starter. (Read: a sourdough starter is an active colony of wild yeast that is cultivated by combining flour and water and letting itferment – this follows a similar concept toContinue reading “Just Loaf-ing Around with Sourdough”

Beginner’s Choice: Miang Kum Appetizer and Mango Desserts

Discovering lesser known Thai dishes When most people think of Thai Cuisine, the dishes which come to mind are usually: tom yum  goong (tom yum soup with prawns); som tam (papaya salad); pad Thai (Thai fried noodles); gaeng khiao waan gai (chicken green curry) and pad kra pao gai (basil leaf chicken). Khao Chae Recently,Continue reading “Beginner’s Choice: Miang Kum Appetizer and Mango Desserts“