Julie's Baby Kitchen- Simple Baby Yoghurt

Meal Type: snack, dessert

Ingredients: 2

Preparation Time: 5min or less

Ingredients: 

Fruit of your choice, can be fresh, pre- made or purchased in a pouch. 

Plain Yoghurt- your desired amount 

In this case we are using a fruity prepacked baby product I purchased from the supermarket. This is handy when you are in a rush or ran out of your homemade ones.

Method: 

1. Scoop desired amount of yoghurt into a serving container. 

2. Add desired amount of fruit to the same container.

Bon appetite!

Tip:

You can warm up the pouch in a warm glass of water for a few minutes. This will ensure your little one will enjoy a warmer dessert in cooler months! ☺️

Julie's Baby Kitchen- Wagyu Beef Bread Soup

Dish type: Main

3 ingredients

Prep and Cooking time: 15 min 

Age: From 9 month

This recipe is simple and very delicious! 

My son enjoys this dish very much. 

Ingredients

1. White sliced bread x 1 piece

2. Wagyu thinly sliced beef x 1 piece

(Like the one you Shabu Shabu)

3. Cherry tomatoes x 4 

Method

1. Using a sharp knife, cut a small cross on the cherry tomatoes. This step will help removing the skin later on.

2. Put the tomatoes in a saucepan, add enough water to cover them and bring it to boil. 

3. After the tomatoes become soft, remove excess water, the rest becomes the soup base. 

4. Add the slice of beef into the same saucepan, in step 2 and cook well. 

5. Cut up the piece of sliced bread into small squares, in the serving bowl. 

6. Pour the beef tomato soup over the bread. 

Allow to cool down before serving.

Bon appetite!! 

Yummy mummy!!! <3

Life's Up and Downs

Hi My Dear Friends,

It has been almost 1 year since I last posted anything on my blog and there are various reasons for this.  I kind of found this blogger system hard to use and therefore I was not so motivated to use it;  I was too busy doing other things like hosting my cousins and friends from overseas who came and stayed with me for a period of 2 months last year; and also, simply I was getting a bit slack.

But somehow, I am now here blogging again!!!  Actually, I do have a reason for my motivation this time around and that is I want to share my life's up and down with you all!! I was thinking, why do I always have to blog about happy stuff?  My life is not always going uphill and always happy jolly non-stop. So why should I only blog about happy stuff?  It will not be a realistic view of my life if I only ever focus and talk about the good stuff ad the good stuff will only shine if you know the bad stuff!!!

Once I heard someone said:
"Life is like a bridge, you will walk uphill to the highest point and then you will start to walk downhill until you come back down again." 

I tend to think,
"Life is like a roller-coaster, it is filled will anticipation, excitement, ups and downs and a sense of relieve at some point."

Mind you, this blog isn't going to be my own diary where I compliant about my own life and the possessions that I am lacking. Rather, I want to use this platform to share with you that life has its ups and downs and it is great to post good stuff but we also need to be aware of the not so good stuff happening in a real person's life.  It is easy to look at other people's post and see all the good things happening to them and then feeling all depressed afterwards, thinking why is he/she so lucky? How is it that she can go to a nice vocation and I don't? Blah blah blag x 1000!!!!

Well, I am telling you, my friends, behind all the happy post there may be a real person who is facing real challenges in their lives too!  Whether it is relationship problems, financial and job difficulties, physical health and spiritual health concerns, we don't normally see them posting these on their blogs. But they are there...  because we are all human beans facing everyday lives.

Can you tell if this person is truly happy or not? Is she hiding something behind her smiles?

Take myself as an example, I am actually in the middle of 3 major challenges, with all the problems listed above.  Two weeks ago, I would say I am at the verge of falling into an episode of depression.
I was feeling exhausted of the situation I am in, I am tired of the ineffective communication I have with my family and I seriously think I am in a middle of a trial. I really just want all these problems to go ways and it literally felt like a letch that is sucking my blood out and I tried so hard to shake it off and it just would not leave my system!! 

I am still facing these challenges, they are not resolved yet at this moment in time. But what has changed is the change of my heart and the perspective of how I look at these problems. 

I am telling you I am definitely a happier person today then the person 2 weeks ago! The problems are still there and I am still here and what happened in between? (In case you are wondering.)

The difference is that (even though I am a Christian of 5 years) I have just remembered that God is with me! God is here guiding me and helping me through this and I am not alone!!  It is not through my own strength that I am able to face these challenges, I am simply asking God to take the burden off me!! And as soon as I did that, I was so blessed to have so many angle like friends supporting me and encouraging me!!!

God sends angels to guide us in the right direction when we are lost in life.

I open up and share my stories with some friends and it turned out that one other girl (I just met that day) was facing the similar situation as me!  And so we prayed for one another and miraculously, I was able to release that bondage within my soul. !!! It was just a miracle!!! Whether it is God's healing or just being able to confess and share the burden with a friend, the deal is, I am now healed from that trouble!!  (That is one trouble down!!!)

Whether you are a Christian or not, please surround yourself with people who you trust and can guide you in your life and don't be afraid to share your thoughts and burdens with your friends.

For it is written in the Bible:
God said, "It's not good for Man to be alone..."  Genesis 2:18 (The Message Bible)

So I want to encourage you who are reading my blog, to treasure those friends around you and look out for one another.  You may be the one in need today but remember, you need to get better so that you can support your friends when they are down too!!

My Best friend/ Sister in Christ sent this to me this to me via WhatsApp on March 5, 2013.

I seriously admire this friend of mine because she just has so much love for her friends and for God's people.  We live in a different countries and she is still able to see my needs.  I want to be like her, to have genuine relationships with my friends, contact them regularly so that I walk with them and share our lives ups and downs. 

 

Bye for now~ I am going to try make cake pops today!!!!!! 

 

Love from Julie  

My after thoughts about Disney World- in points.

1. It is truly the "happiest place on planet Earth".

2. Stay on a Disney World Resort is an awesome idea because they have free buses taking you to all the theme parks from your hotel. The buses come approximately every 20 minutes.

3. The food at the Disney World are fantastic!! The prices are quite reasonable too!!!
I loved the Beef stir fry 'Lo Mein' at the Animal Kingdom's Asia Town. It was~$10 and it surely fixed my cravings for Chinese food!!!

The 'Turkey Leg' was like ~$9 and when we got to the front of the queue and saw those legs, I then understood why they cost that much. IT WAS MASSIVE!!!! They are 3 of the turkey legs in Tokyo Disneyland combined!!!
We suspect that those turkeys were genetically modified to be that huge!!!
Scott and I just shared one turkey and that was a feast in itself!!

4. Fast passes are awesome, they saves you from queue up for too long. We were able to go on Splash Mountain 3 times, thanks to fast passes!! The only thing that sucks was that you can only hold a fast pass one at the time.

5. The Fantasyland in Magic Kingdom is expending!!! They are currently building more rides there, apparently there will be a new Snow White Adventure ride. I could see a castle from afar and it seems to be Rapunzel's Castle~~ woo... I really want to see that attraction!! They said the new Fantasyland will be opening this Summer/ Fall, so if you are planning a trip, you gotta check this out!!!

6. We got the Disney World Package A02- and the card that comes with it allows you to charge anything on to it; from food, merchandises, buy entry tickets to the water parks!! This just means that you don't need to carry your money and change around. They just charge it to your credit card at the end of your stay~~

7. We got the 5 day entry tickets, this means that you can choose to go to ONE park of your choice per day. There are 4 parks- Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studio and Animal Kingdom. If you want to go to Magic Kingdom all 5 days for example, that is fine. If you want to go to go to Animal Kingdom in the morning and go to Magic Kingdom in the evening to watch the laser light show at 9pm, then you have to upgrade your tickets for an addition $55 dollars. This will allow you to do "park hopping"!!
We didn't do this option because we thought it was unnecessary.

8. For another $55 you are entitled to go to the water parks. There are 2- Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach.
We went to the Typhoon Lagoon only and it was a lot of fun!!!!!! The water rides are exciting here!!

I overheard someone who came with a bunch of kids and said that the best way to do Disney World, is to go to the theme parks for a few days and break it up with a water park in between. This totally makes sense. Cause how tired would you get if you walk around theme parks after theme parks for 5 days straight??

9. Epcot Segway Tour- this was recommended by a lady I met when we were waiting for the cable car at San Fran. We did it and it was so much fun!! The tour costs about $110 per person and you basically learn how to ride a Segway with an instructor. It is a 3 hours guided tour and the guide we got was Clarence. He was very nice and helpful. The tour took us around the World Exhibition before it opens to the public at 11am so you get to see the beautiful wonders of the world without walking through a sea of people!!

10. Umbrella or poncho- bring one, you'll need it here~ the weather is unpredictable and it may rain quite a bit in Orlando. Either way, you'll need it when you go on Kali River Rapids in Animal Kingdom and some other water rides because you may get wet!!!!

Disney World- Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom is a park full of adventures!! It is actually the largest park of all. You can fit Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studio and Epcot all in this Animal Kingdom property and still have room for a massive carpark!

Scott and I explored all the attractions on this land. We first went to the DinoLand USA and ride on the Tricera Top Spin. I thought this was a warm up ride for me because it didn't have any big dips on it. But it had a lot of turns and spins!! Not the best idea after breakfast....

Asia is the best area! It has two of the most exciting rides- Expedition Everst: Legend of the Forbidden Mountain. This is an exhilarating ride because of the super fast acceleration and a big slope down the snowy mountain! Definitely a must do!!

Another must do is the Kali River Rapids! It is just a very fun ride! There isn't much steep slopes but there's a lot of water splashing!! We all got soaking wet! So if you are coming, please bring some spare clothes!!

Thanks to fast pass, Scott and I were able to go on these rides twice! With minimum waiting time too!! Make sure you get your fast passes too, there are just next door to each popular attractions!

Another thing you definitely don't want to miss is the Festival of Lion King Show. It is interactive, colourful and musical too!! Very exciting and fun. Just grab a "Times Guide" as you enter the park to get all the time schedules for the shows and other entertainments.

We surely will have to come back to Animal Kingdom again in the near future!!

San Francisco~ windy but nice!!

I loved the Alcatraz Island!! It is not just a place where they locked up the most dangerous criminals. In the old days, it was home to many families who served on the island. This island also symbolizes freedom for American Indians because they used this land to accommodate their people for some years after the jail was closed in 1963.

Now this island is home to many native wildlife and birds. It is definitely a 'must do' if you come to San Francisco . But be sure to book your tour in advance online!! We ordered it 3 weeks in advance!! :D