眼睛成

Every 2 years I come to this spectacles wholesale building to replenish my "stock". After I became a mom to an extremely active/destructive boy my specs don't last me more than a few months. So luckily I only pay equiv to S$30 a pair. Check out the fantastic four I got! Looks quite similar but I couldn't resist getting all 4.

眼睛成is north of panjiayuan on east 3rd ring.

Maple syrup carrot cupcakes

Another score from carrottopmom. The recipe is easy as it boasts, and the carrot cake is moist which is the way i like my carrot cake. I would however revert to her cream cheese frosting from the red velvet cupcake recipe. That one seems to have a tang, this one is a little too sweet for me.

Cupcake Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil (or 1/2 cup half applesauce, 1/2 cup oil)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 3 cups grated carrots

1. In a small bowl, combine the first six ingredients. In a large bowl, beat eggs, oil and syrup. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in carrots. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full.
2. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Frosting Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon maple extract or flavoring
• 2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 (16 ounce) box confectioners’ sugar

1. Beat cream cheese, and softened butter until light and fluffy. Add syrup and extracts.
2. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar until smooth.
3. Spread frosting on completely cooled cupcakes.

Lily Inspired: Friend or Foe?

Feels like it's time for another Lily Inspired entry.

I read a while back on 2 separate occasions articles related to females and their friends. The first was called "Breaking up with your girlfriend" and the other was "Toxic Friendships". I have my 2 cents worth on the topic of gals and their pals.

In life you will meet a lot of people. Some of these people will grow into a stronger attachment and you call them friends. Friends are extremely important. Like a tree, friendship needs time to cultivate. You need to give it water, sunlight, oxygen and ample space to survive (for girls the last point is literal). The friends you make early on in life will grow the deepest roots. These are friends that i consider "childhood friends". And these are the friends you will most likely keep for a long time, if the foundation was set right.

As you get older, the social circle changes. You go into different tertiary education, different workspace, different stages of your life, meet all kinds of other friends... Only the ones who withstand the test of time will keep in touch and be friends for life. It also helps if these friends evolve with you and remain socially relevant. e.g., when u become a mother they become a mother too. I'm not saying you have to be friends with people who are absolutely the same as you are but having common topics to discuss always helps.

To cut the long story short, you'll make all kinds of friends with different levels of depths and relevance. Getting to my point now....

Of all these people that you meet, a few will disappoint you. And you will disappoint a few... Some will make you cry, you will make some cry. These unhappy incidents will get you down, there will be feelings of regret, second guessing, maybe a little anger... But that's okay, it happens. Just don't dwell on to it for too long, just move on with life.


I'm not asking you to be cavalier about friendship. Put your heart and soul in it. But recognize when the friendship is no longer productive, or even worse it's destructive. Put an end to it. Don't be afraid to break up. It's easy to fall into the "pleasing everybody" trap, but "pleasing everybody" is a sign of character weakness, it means that you lack the self-confidence so you need to "please everybody" in order for them to like you. Instead, be nice to your friends because you are sincere. Be reliable because you are accountable to yourself. Be giving because you are generous. Believe that you are a decent human being because i'm going to groom you to be one, i'll make sure of it. You know, the friends who do the "please everybody" act actually end up being the worse friends because once they get you to like them their personality perks disappear. That's when you'll need to banish them.

I once read somewhere that at any one point, you only need 6 friends in your immediate circle to function. So u see, it's not that hard.

Unfortunate incident

The frosting was a bit soft so I put it in the fridge n it became too hard to pipe so I pressed the piping bag too hard n kaploosh! I have a lot of botched cupcake to finish.

Parents gone wild

Me: should I get the Tomy Carpark or the Thomas Take n Play... (i then proceed to make a case for each one and go back and forth a few times)

Mountain Man: Get all. We are in china we can afford these toys!

A few days later....
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A very happy Mountain Boy.

Kiddos Laughter

The biggest joy of motherhood is seeing your children happy, together. You'll never get sick of hearing their laughters out loud. I've been playing this video on repeat so that i can have it imprinted on my mind as a happy place.

Survival guide to life without Father and Son

Mountain Man and Boy went to Singapore for 4 days to settle some "business" on the new apartment we bought. Hooray it's officially ours!

I thought MM was so brave to offer to bring MB on his own, he has never spent alone alone time with MB so intensely before. And I have never left MB for so long before, the longest was when i was in the hospital giving birth to Lilybuff and even then i saw him during the day.

He was a bit sick on the night before he took off. He decided to torture me by not eating his dinner prior to the long midnight flight, i was so worried that he may have caught a nasty bug from me. I even contemplated not letting him go, but i did. I cried a teeny weeny bit.

Thank goodness he went because after he left i felt so sick i was/am bedridden for 3 days now. And the Singapore air is clear so it's probably good for his recovery. He had so much fun, and he ate so much, i really feel so relieved. I on the other hand am sick like a dog, i haven't gone out or met anyone or did grooming of any sort, and i still freakin wake up at 745am every morning, that's if i even sleep at all! 

Anyway, my survival guide to living without them both is simple, the iPhone! We've been doing "Face-Time" whenever we can, i think MB finds it fun. And MM's brother sends me videos of MB and Cousin Tim eating and playing and eating some more so that's been keeping me going! THANKS! 

And also, thanks MM for the respite. You are doing a marvelous job at this. Maybe you can take him to Spain next!