Heavenly Paradise@AdelineAng.com

Ingredients:
1+1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cup white sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth, with an electric hand mixer on medium speed. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. Next, stir in the flour mixture from (2) into (1). Mix ingredients with hand mixer at medium speed for about 2 minutes. Cover and chill dough for at least one hour, or overnight.
4. Roll out dough on a floured surface, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into various shapes with cookie cutters.
5. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
6. Bake cookies for 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven at 400 F (200 degrees C). Remove cookies from the oven when cookie edges turn light brown. Cool completely.

* Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ever get bored of doing the same thing over and over again? That’s one the dilemmas I often face; when I lose interest in a particular event or simply because it doesn’t seem meaningful to me anymore.

During my first year of the university, I was eager to explore new adventures, which includes becoming a radio DJ! The online radio streaming broad casted the radio show live and allowed my family and friends in Malaysia to listen to my voice. Unbelievable!

It wasn’t until several years later after I graduated, I was back to the campus radio station (College Hill Radio Station) again. With the recent renovations at the studio, I’m enjoying my brand new experience hosting radio shows on the weekends.

Together with other radio DJs from the Chinese Student Association of the university, we’ve a blast presenting the only Chinese radio program to the local community!

How to make fondant? How to lay fondant over top of a cake? Here is my experience working with fondant; fun but challenging!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup white corn syrup
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 vanilla extract
~ 450g icing sugar

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, mix together white corn syrup and shortening. Subsequently, mix in salt and vanilla extract, and then sufficient icing sugar to form a firm dough. If the dough is sticky, add in more icing sugar for a smooth texture.
2. Lightly dust a clean working surface with icing sugar. Roll out fondant with a rolling pin to achieve the thickness of 1/4 or 1/8 inch (as thin as possible).
3. Roll the fondant on the rolling pin and drape over a frosted and chilled cake. Be sure that the fondant is smooth. Trim off the excessive fondant on the sides of the cake.
4. Fondant can also be used for making other cake decorations by cutting it into shapes.

*Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Two marble cakes. Each of them is cut into half to make a four-layer cake, with frosting in between them. Lastly, put frosting on the top and sides of the cake.

On a working surface dusted with icing sugar, roll out fondant with a rolling pin. Thanks Miles for his great effort :)

After several attempts (at least 5 times), the fondant has finally landed on the cake without breaking.

Remove the excessive fondant around the edge of the cake. The cake is now ready for further decorations.

I’m fascinated by beautifully decorated cakes with delicate edible ornaments. For the past few months, I’ve been watching the cake show on TLC channel, the “Cake Boss.”

“Cake Boss” is a show that films some absolutely stunning cake preparation processes, prepared by the Carlo’s Bakery in New Jersey, U.S.A. Needless to say, one of the most popular items on their cakes is fondant. I thought to myself, “I’m going to give it a try making it some day!”

Knowing that it’s going to be a time consuming process to decorate the cake, I opted for a quick and easy way to cake the cake by using cake mix. My favourite marble cake! Thanks to the Duncan Hines Marble Fudge cake mix. The cake turned out fabulous!

The baking process took me about 35 minutes and about 20 minutes for icing the cake. However, the decorating process took Miles and I nearly 2 hours (equivalent to 4 man hours)!

The cake turned out great, simple yet colourful. It wasn’t bad at all, considering that was our first fondant attempt.

Are these cupcakes? Or muffins?

The definition of these terms based on the online dictionary as follows:

Cupcake – a little cake for one person, baked in a small, cup-shapred mold and often iced

Muffin – a quick bread made with eggs, baked in a small cup-shaped mold and usually eaten hot

These are banana muffin (recipe can be found here) topped with fondant (or known as gum paste). In my opinion, they shall be called banana muffin cakes!

I was in a “decorative mood” when preparing these. I wanted something unique; not the plain old muffin nor the typical cupcake with icing. How about some colours and patterns on the muffins to make muffin cupcakes?

What can you do with a whole chicken? How about using it for chicken rice? Chicken rice, also known as Hainanese Chicken Rice, is a popular dish in Malaysian/Singaporean cuisine. Typically, the whole chicken is prepared by boiling it in pork and chicken bone stock. The broth is then reused over and over again, and water is topped up only when necessary, to create the “master stocks.”

Here is a quick and simple way of preparing chicken rice.

Ingredients:
(A) Chicken
3 lb whole chicken
6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 piece of 2-inch ginger root, sliced
1 tsp salt

(B) Rice
2 cup long grain rice, washed and rinsed
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup chicken stock from (A)

(C) BBQ Pork
See recipe here

(D) Gravy
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
Dash of white pepper

(E) Others
1 medium cucumber, halved and sliced
Spring onion for garnishing

Directions:
1. To prepare the chicken, bring a large pot of water (enough to cover the chicken) to boil.
2. Rub chicken inside out with salt. Stuff garlic and ginger into chicken cavity.
3. Next, insert the chicken into the pot. Cook on medium high heat for 45 minutes, or until chicken is cooked.
4. Turn off the heat. Allow chicken to cool off gradually in the pot, for about 30 minutes.
5. Remove chicken from the pot. Cut it into pieces.
6. On a wok, heat up ~ 1/2 tbsp cooking oil. Fry the garlic until light brown. Pour in rice and chicken stock. Continue frying for about 5 minutes, or until fragrant.
7. Transfer rice from wok into a rice cooker. Add sufficient chicken stock from (A) to cook.
8. To prepare the gravy, mix ingredients (D) together.

Enjoy!

I wanted to prepare some tom yam fried rice for supper one night and decided to come out with a dish with seasonal theme. The colours of the season: green (broccoli), orange (carrots), yellow (eggs), and red (tomatoes).

Bon appetit!

What do you think about whitewater rafting? Exhilarating? Exciting? Adrenaline-pumping? Or all of the above?

My first whitewater rafting trip was five years ago. It was a family adventure trip to the Padas River (a.k.a. Sungai Padas) in Beaufort, Sabah. Two months ago, I had the opportunity to go for my second whitewater rafting adventure with Miles at the Penobscot River in Maine, U.S.A.

The Penobscot River is known as the most technical whitewater rafting river in the Eastern United States. Residing under the Mt. Katahdin and flowing along the banks of Baxter State Park, it offers rafters a breathtaking view of the scenic surroundings. It’s overall a Class 4 river (on a scale of 1-6) with rapids range from Class 3-5 (on a 1-6 scale).

It was a two day/one night trip with a group of 20. The package was offered by the North Country River. It was about a three-hour drive from Fredericton to the camping ground at Big Moose Inn, on a Friday evening.

We started our adventure the next morning. Brr…it was only 6 degree Celsius! To my surprise, the air was colder than the water. We were lucky to have wet suit provided for us. Even with the wet suit, we had to try our best to stay under the sun as soon as we got out of the water. It was a chilly day! I won’t mind a warmer day for whitewater rafting. Nonetheless, with nine of us in the raft (including our guide), we had a blast!

Armoured with a PDF (personal floating device), helmet, and paddle, we were all set to face the challenge!

The Falls. Water was flowing ferociously.

Here we were, on the raft.

We survived the first challenge. Hooray! We rafted along the river (Class 3 & 4) for about two hours before break time.

Oops… a raft that came behind us wasn’t so lucky… All the rafters were plunged into the river!

The Ripogenus Gorge. We were here after our lunch break, for another two hours of rafting.

A nice and steady rafting at the gorge.

This must have been a Class 5! We made it without losing anyone :)

It was simply thrilling! The worst case scenario during whitewater rafting, as you might have already expected, is raft capsize. Staying calm is the key. Knowing that you’re equipped with helmet and PFD, try to stay close to the raft to the best of your ability. The guide will then re-position the raft, hop back into the raft, and extend help to his crew.

Will I do it again? Yes, I will. For those who haven’t yet experienced it, it’s certainly worth a try!

The average tides at Hopewell Rocks is the highest in the world. How high does the tide get at Hopewell Rocks? It’s an amazing 14 metres (about 46 ft.)!! Whether to watch the high tide or low tide, it’s really up to personal preference. However, it’s best to stay for the complete tidal cycle to get a full appreciation of the tides.

How does the tides happen? This phenomenon is owe to the combination of gravitational pull of the moon and the unique shape of the Bay of Fundy, that leads to formation of tides ranging from 32 to 46 ft. The rate of the water rising is simply astonishing. It can rise between 6 and 8 vertical feet an hour!! Be sure to stay away from the coast during high tides.

During low tide, visitors have the opportunity to explore the natural rock flowerpots. Besides, caverns and tunnels can be observed. These unique sights are sculpted from geological formations millions of years older than the Canadian Rockies. There are about 100 billion tonnes of water flow in and out of the bay twice a day.

At 1:23 p.m.: The shoreline became apparent.

At 1:23 p.m.: It was safe to walk on the shore.

At 2:04 p.m.: Water has subsided significantly.

Water has subsided further, in the next few minutes.

At 2:11 p.m.: The Flower Pot Rocks still partially covered with water.

At 2:13 p.m.: We went a few steps closer to the rocks.

At 2:17 p.m.

At 2:27 p.m.

At 2:58 p.m.

At 3:29 p.m.

The low tide that day was at 3:57 p.m. Miles and I arrived at the Hopewell Rocks before noon to watch the high tide, and waited for a few hours to observe the low tide. I was deeply thrilled by the wonders of nature. The Mother Nature has special ways to present the stunning phenomenon of tidal cycle. It has certainly touched many hearts, including mine.

Hopewell Rocks, one of the most popular attractions in the province of New Brunswick. It boasts to be the home of the highest tides on the globe, a major selling point that attracts more than 100,000 visitors every year. This site opens seasonally from mid-May to mid-October. With a small charge for entrance fee, visitors are granted a tw0-day pass for an opportunity to witness both the high and low tides. Having said that, the high and low tide observation can possibly be done in one day.

Visitors have a “six-hour window” to take a stroll along the ocean floor during low tide. The time span between a high and low tide is 6 hours and 13 minutes. When is it safe to walk on the ocean floor? 3 hours before the low tide, and 3 hours after would be an ideal time to do so. For example, if the low tide is at 4 p.m., visitors can explore the ocean floor between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Since my visit to the Hopewell Rocks during low tide a few years ago, I’ve always wanted to watch the difference between the high and low tide. A few weekends ago, Miles and I’ve decided to organize a day trip there.

It was a 2.5-hour drive from Fredericton. The site was officially closed for the season. We entered through the side entrance. Surprisingly, we weren’t alone. There were a few other people arrived before us. Good thing two of us weren’t the only crazy people stood by the ocean on a chilly, breezy day.

The lovely sunshine was very much appreciated, to keep my body from freezing.

The site is closed during off-season.

At 11:48 a.m.: High tide.

At 12:46 p.m.: The water level has gone down substantially within an hour.

One of the many observation spots at the Hopewell Rocks.

Keep an eye on the time!

While waiting for the low tide, I walked around and took pictures of the surroundings.

Treemoss/Beard Lichen. It’s also better known as Old Man’s Beard.

A closer look at the Old Man’s Beard.

At 12:54 p.m.: Water level at the Flower Pot Rocks was decreasing.

The “secret pathway” that led us to the ocean floor.

Facilities such as cafe and washroom are easily accessible.

Wanting to experience sea kayaking? During the season, you may do so by renting a kayak during high tide. It’s a good way to kill some time between the tides.

Tide in and tide out,
Tidal cycle repeats itself.
You said to fear not,
‘Cause I’m not by myself.

Holding my hand, I said in prayer;
Hoping this moment will last forever.
Holding your hand, you said to separate never;
Hoping we’ll be happily together.

Halloween is celebrated on October 31st each year. It’s a secular celebration that involves trick-or-treating for young kids, costume parties, pumpkin carving, ghost tours, watching horror movies etc.

My halloween experience from last year can be found here. This is my first year giving out treats to the young children at the door. Most kids came between 6 and 8 p.m., with their halloween outfit.

Halloween treats.

Trick-or-treating:

This cute “monkey” was my favourite!

Pumpkins were hard to find this year, especially the good ones, due to the wet weather. Nonetheless, we managed to find some small pumpkins for carving.

The black cat.

The haunted house.

The owl.

This big pumpkin was carved a week before Halloween, but it lasted only for a few days before the pumpkin was rotten so badly that we had to throw it out.