Hiro’s 2nd Birthday

Posted March 4th, 2013 in Ume and Baby | 2 Comments »

Today is my son’s 2nd birthday ~~!!!!

Yesterday he had so much fun with his friends 🙂  I can’t believe it’s been 2 years since I held him for the first time at the hospital.  He grow up too fast :_(

Last year on his first birthday, I made him only pancake so he could eat it.  But this year, I made a huge birthday cake with lots of fruits + his favourite Japanese character “Anpanman”!!

He loved it!!  All other kids were gathering around the cake too.

He could blow the candle pretty good!  Well done, Hiro.

Happy 2nd birthday xxx

Today we had birthday lunch with family.  We went to Wagamama Subiaco ; I will write about it on next post 🙂

Thanks for reading!


Very Hot & Humid New Year

Posted January 14th, 2013 in Perth WA | No Comments »

Time passes so fast….  I was talking about Christmas and New Year’s Eve, and now it’s already January 14!
How did everyone spend New Year’s Day and the holiday season?  We did pretty much nothing – just relaxing in the pool in the yard and visiting friend’s house.

Hiro made New Year’s mochi (kagami-mochi) using Play-Doh.  A little mandarine on top 🙂

And he ate mochi we made.  It was first time he had mochi – I was little worried that he might get choked on mochi (that’s a major reason for people being admitted to the hospital in Japan during New Year’s holiday season :p)

And we were treated with Spanish chicken dish by our friends 🙂  It was delish!

I brought some sushi and dessert.

I wasn’t in Perth this time last year so I’m not sure if it’s only this year or it’s been like this since last year, but Perth’s summer is getting humid….!!!  Since I came to Perth in 2003 Perth’s summer has been always HOT and DRY.  Now I don’t know if I’m in Japan or Bali or Australia :p  I hate hot and humid climate….  it makes me go crazy (*_*)

Australia Day has been always sunny and hot (and dry), so hopefully it’ll be like that next week…


Cooking for New Year’s Day

Posted December 31st, 2012 in Food | No Comments »

It’s been sooo hot (+ humid) here and I don’t feel that tomorrow is next year already!!  I really miss white Christmas and snowy New Year’s Day.

I decided to make some sushi and zenzai (mochi in red bean porridge) just to make myself feel like it’s a special day.  We eat zenzai on New Year’s Day in Japan 🙂

In Japan, New Year’s Days (usually 1st ~ 3rd of January) is supposed to be doing nothing but relaxing with families, so people make lots of food before New Year’s Eve that can be kept for at least few days – idea is that no cooking in the first few days of January.  But here in Perth it goes up to 40℃ and I can’t cook food and keep them for a long time.
I just made inari-sushi, zenzai, kinako-mochi (mochi dusted with sweet soy powder), and soup for Hiro.

I couldn’t find Japanese kinako (soy powder) so I used Korean one instead.  No sugar, just plain kinako.  For dusting mochi, I added sugar to the powder to make it sweet.

I haven’t used this mochi-pounding machine for a long time! I got it from Japan – it’s actually a kid’s toy, but it works in a small amount of mochi rice.

We are gonna eat zenzai in the morning on New Year’s Day. Hopefully we can eat noodle  (toshikoshi-soba) at midnight of  New Year’s Eve!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!


Hinata Cafe 2012

Posted September 8th, 2012 in Perth WA | No Comments »

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…  First, this is not a photo of Hinata Cafe market which was held in Bibra Lake. Today a new Apple store opened in Garden City so I went there to have a look in the morning. It wasn’t my plain, it was D’s.  I was actually gonna go to Hinata Cafe from 10AM, but D insisted that he wanted to get free T-shirt. :-p

There were many people queuing and the staff in blue Tshirts were cheering to all customers.

  

After receiving freebie, we headed to Hinata Cafe market.

It was a beautiful sunny day!  Perfect day for outdoor market like this.  It was my first time going there, and the place was cosy and filled with people.  Parking area was very limited.

There’re chairs and tables where people can eat and drink the food/beverage they buy from Hinata cafe.  Above photo – nature craft was my favourite.

There are handmade arts and craft sold inside the small building.  They’re so cute and well-made.  Very lovely.

From 10:30 and 12:30 there was “under the tree kindergarden” which some people did reading and singing to kids.

Demonstration of Japanese tea ceremony was available.

I met many friends over there.  It was a great catch-up.  My friend had this “miso soup & 2 onigiri” lunch served on a bed of a bamboo leaf.  There was a big queue to the cafe.  I wanted to eat green tea tiramisu, but I couldn’t 🙁  Hopefully I can try lots of food next year.

 


Birthday Party – Japan Themed!-

Posted August 31st, 2012 in Food, Perth WA | 2 Comments »

We visited my friend’s house for her elder son’s 3rd birthday party!

I’m surprised that not many people (even Indonesian people!) don’t know this Japanese cartoon character “Anpan-man”.  Anpan-man is super popular in Japan now.  Everywhere you go, you’ll see this face.  All my friends here who have children have at least one Anpan-man good at home.  So do I.  On my last homecoming trip I felt like I had to buy Anpan-man goods as they’re everywhere.

Above foods are chirashi-zushi (scattered sushi) with Anpan-man face, omu-rice with Anpan-man face, potato salads, and gyoza.

Here is another Anpan-man.  They are actual anpan (buns filled with sweet red bean paste).  The faces are so cute!  Everything was handmade.

Hiro got one too.

Birthday cake was tiramisu.  With Anpan-man face on it.

After blowing the candles, the birthday boy did this “traditional Japanese ceremony” thingy – breaking the lid of sake container.  I thought there’d be toys or lollies inside as this was a child’s birthday party, but the inside was filled with real sake.  It was for adults.

Food was amazing.  Mum did a great job!


That’s Steak!

Posted March 13th, 2012 in Eat out in Perth | No Comments »

It was the first steak I had since I came back from snowy Japan, and it tasted GOOD!  As people may know, Japanese beef is purposely oily – fat is marbled in red meat (called “shimofuri”) and more it’s evenly marbled more it gets expensive.

Although it’s nice to have shabu-shabu and sukiyaki with thinly sliced shimofuri beef, I prefer red meat when grilling.  I love Australian beef because it’s healthy and fresh.  In Japan amount of fat makes the meat soft and juicy, but here they control the tenderness by how long you cook the meat. More you cook the red meat tougher it goes, so if you like it tender then you ask for medium or medium rare.

While I was in Japan I didn’t eat much beef because the price is quite expensive compared to chicken and pork. And I prefer chicken anyway. Here in Perth chicken is more expensive to some parts of beef.  I feel that quality of beef is better in Australia – Aussie Beef is popular in Japan too, bit pricy though.

D had burger, and our friend had banana milkshake.  He said they didn’t use ice-cream for the milkshake – just cream?  Really?  Or his taste is bit weird…?

I receive a free voucher for steak from Hog’s Breath every year for my birthday month, and I love it. Although you can only chose from selected menu, it’s free! We went there for lunch and I thought I couldn’t eat that big steak in a midday, but I did, hehe.


Happy 1st Birthday, HIRO!

Posted March 4th, 2012 in Ume and Baby | 4 Comments »

Happy 1st Birthday HIRO!!!

You are now 1 year old – not “0” anymore.

Time flies…. this time of last year you were sleeping in a little basinet in a hospital room.

It amazes me when realizing ow much you’ve grown.  Be good, families and friends love you so much 😉

Now let’s see what you are going to be in this coming year….


An Early Christmas Date

Posted December 24th, 2011 in Japan | No Comments »

Yesterday, D, Hiro and I went to Hikone city area.  Hikone is one of famous old city in Shiga, and it’s just 10 minutes from my house by car.  There is famous Hikone castle near Biwako lake, and many restaurants and shops around the castle.

It was suposed to be snowing yesterday, but it was actually a sunny day (still cold though).  There’re many tourists around the castle.

First,we came to this cafe with D which I went with my friend the other day.  This cafe is a bakery/cake shop with nice dining area.  Because the shop opens at 11am and we arrived there 15 minutes early, we went driving inside the castle first.  You can drive around the castle and moat.  We could easily kill 15 minutes by enjoying the view 🙂

I love the interior of the cafe.  No, I love the building itself.  Looks like someone’s house with lots of tabels and chairs.

They serve lunch menu and nice drinks too.

We ordered sandwich lunch plate to share.  It’s Campagne bread with prosciutto, cream cheese and salad. The plate came with soup (it was carrot soup yesterday), cold chicken salad, salad & hot chips, and a choice of drink.  (¥1050)  I LOVE the Campagne bread.  Inside is moist, soft and chewy, but the crust was very hard and crusty.  All the food on the plate was delicious.

Then we ordered strawberry tart, and Monburan (Mont Blanc).  It took me 10 minute to chose the cake because all the cakes and bread looks so cute and delicious.  I had cheese cake last time, so I chose different one to try.  They’re both DELICIOUS. (>v<)

cheese cake I had last time

(cheese cake I had last time)

Hiro was happy too.

Then, we walked around “castle road”.  It started snowing and so freezing cold…

All the buildings around “Castle Road” were refurbished to look old few years ago in order to attract tourists.  Even a bank looks like this.

We strolled around the street, and bought few souvenirs.  It was windy and the air was spiking our faces, so we decided to head home.  It was a lovely day – we had early Christmas cake together, and had wonderful time 🙂


Sunny Morning

Posted November 24th, 2011 in Japan, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

It was a sunny morning so Hiro and I went outside for a short stroll.

It’s nice to go out!  It wasn’t too cold.  If it’s raining or snowing, we can’t probably go walking like this in the morning.  In Perth, going for a walk around 8AM had been our routine because while walking he always fell asleep and take nap for 1hour or so.  If he doesn’t take this morning nap around 8am (before his 10AM solid feed) he gets cranky.  So, walking using a baby carrier was a great help.  He loves the bouncy feeling, I think.

We walked pass the neighbourhood temple.  People were already working.

I can’t believe I used to swim in this river when I was a kid!  It’s all covered with grass now.

After this walk, he fell asleep as usual.  Already looks sleepy in this photo…


Birthday Cake for 2nd Birthday Boy

Posted November 17th, 2011 in Food | 2 Comments »

When I was asked to make a birthday cake for my friend’s toddler, I wasn’t sure if I could do it at first.  It’s just less than 1 week away till I head to Japan, and I still had lots of things to do.  Packing, cleaning the room, laundry…  But I said “sure” because it’s his 2nd birthday party and I’d already bought a birthday present for him.

My friend wanted something simple – sponge, cream, and fresh fruits.  Just like Japanese cake.  I was little worried though, because the location of the party was at the park (BBQ party) and the forecast said it’d be raining!  If outside, there might be many flies too.  Because I use fresh cream, I thought it might be ruined if it’s windy and raining.

I finished making the cake anyway,

Now it’s the most scary part – delivering the cake!  It was a quite big one, so I had to put it in a big box.

When we arrived there, the sky was all white and grey.  I quickly showed the cake to my friend, and covered it to protect from the wind and flies.

There’re so many yummy foods – hotdog, grilled veggies, and some food made by Thai chef (our old friend)!  I especially loved a spicy prawn salad she made.  I must get the recipe!

She even brought a deep-frier for spring rolls.  She said that if she cooked it at home and brought there it won’t be crispy.  It’s true…

They all seemed to love my cake too.  I was relieved.  Although it started to be drizzly while enjoying BBQ, it was a lovely day. 🙂

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Happy Halloween~!

Posted October 31st, 2011 in Perth WA | No Comments »

It’s so hot today again….  Not over 40 degrees yet, but I’m sweating with just a T-shirt.

I thought today is the chance to put jinbei on Hiro.  My friend gave it to us for him to wear this summer, but we will be in Japan soon anyway and he won’t be able to wear it.  Hmmmm, does he look like Japanese?

Jinbei is a kind of traditional Japanese clothing worn by men, women, boys, and even babies during the summer.  Women’s jinbei have started to become popular in recent years.  I used to see only men’s and boy’s at the shops before.  Just like yukata, jinbei is often worn on summer festival day, but also as a form of nightwear or house wear.  It’s very light and comfortable to wear.  I thought it’ll be fun to wear it here on Halloween too. 🙂

Happy Halloween to everyone!


Baby and Kids Market

Posted October 11th, 2011 in Perth WA | No Comments »

I knew about this Baby and Kids Market for a long time but it was my first time going there. It was held at South Fremantle Senior High School recreation centre on last Sunday.  There was nothing I was looking for to buy particularly, except for one thing – a baby bath chair. I was thinking to buy either here or in Japan, and they’re around $30 ~ $50. I was hoping that someone would be selling one at the market, but I didn’t think that I could actually find it.

….. I found it!

It’s the one I saw at Big W. Japanese bath chairs are much cuter and seems more comfortable, but this one will do for 3 months in Japanese bath room. It has suction cups at the bottle so it doesn’t get slippery. I got it for $10.

The market was from 9am till 12pm, and I arrived there around 11:30, so I didn’t really have time look around. But, I got further discount on baby clothes and toys! I got some winter jackets and pajamas for him to wear in Japan. And, I got a nappy disposable bin for free!  The seller didn’t want to take it home so she gave it to me. (´∀`=)♥

On the way back home we stopped at McDonald’s to grab some lunch.  And we won 1 French fry!  I was so full after eating BigMac value meal… but couldn’t help myself to steal some of caramel McFlurry.

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Chicken Katsu and Apple Store

Posted October 9th, 2011 in Perth WA | No Comments »

Today it’s raining, but it had been wonderful weather here in Perth.  Warm, sunny spring.  Not now though… Heavy rain outside. News of Steve Jobs has been everywhere since Thursday. I knew him just as little as other people did, but D has been one of the people who admire Steve since long time ago.

I didn’t really think about how we started to use computers and Internet in everyday lives many years ago, until I saw the news. GUI, mouse… To think about it, we wouldn’t be leading our lives like today if Steve didn’t invent these gadgets… I can just say “sugoi” about him. He changed the way we live.

D wanted to visit Apple store yesterday, so we headed to city. We had quick lunch at Matsuri in Enex beforehand. This Matauri does special bent box for $6.00. The menu changes day to day, but yesterday was chicken katsu again. They keep 1 ~ 2 in the counter showcase so that busy people can just grab and run, but you can also ask for fresh-made.

The Apple shop was busy just like normal Saturdays. There’re flowers and fruits for Steve in front of the store, and people had written few words for him in Post-It and sticked to the shop windows. Few people were gathering around the flowers and taking photos.

Inside the store has been changed.  There are iPads placed next to each products, and customers can brows the info of the products on iPad.  You can call staff via iPad if you need assistance or purchase the item as well, by tapping the “call staff” button.

We bought a iPod Nano because D wanted to use it as a watch. New Nano has new watch faces, which you can also download online.

They look so cute! Colorful Nano would go with Carmit and Micky watch faces, but D bought dark silver and wants to get metal watch band, so he will probably use something less casual for the watch face, I guess.

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McDONALDS PLAY I SPY

Posted September 26th, 2011 in Eat out in Perth | No Comments »

My quick lunch at McDonald’s last week.

McDonald’s is doing this Play I Spy campaign, which could win you some prizes.  When you buy selected items from McDonald’s, the items come with Play I Spy stickers and 1 in 5 wins instantly!

I got McNuggets value meal and D got BigMac value meal, so we had 4 stickers in total to peel off….

Did I win something??   YES!!!!!!!  …. just a cup of coffee 😀  But it’s better than nothing!  D didn’t win anything..

There’s also 2nd chance where you can enter to win unclaimed prizes.

Hmmmm, anyway, I did enjoy McNuggets. 🙂  I used to eat McNugget a lot back in Japan, and this is one of the foods I craved for while I was pregnant!  I normally get mustard and ketchup to accompany, but this time I only got mustard.  Yummm…

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Sweet Fix

Posted September 25th, 2011 in Food, Perth WA | No Comments »

Our window shopping at Carousel shopping centre ended up as a hunting trip for sweets this week. We found a stall in the centre of hallway selling unique candies and soda drinks.

They all looked colorful, and reminded me of a candy shop I used to spend my whole afternoon while I was little. The products they sell at this stall are different from what I used to eat in Japan though. They are more like  American-style sweets which are in different colors and flavors.

D wanted to buy something, but I thought they’re bit expensive compared to other chains such as Darrell Lea. But, they all looked cute and we bought few packs of sugary candies. One of them, “fruit sticks” tasted like the one I used to get from a game centre machine in Japan, and recalled my memory of feeding the sugary candy to my brother when he was sick. He was around 5 years old and that candy was the only food he could manage to eat. I remember I thought he was dying (he was actually having measles) and worried about him a lot. So I got lots of the same candy and kept feeding it to him until he said “enough…”.

While remembering these childhood memories, we walked pass Darrell Lea and went inside the store to have a look around. Then we bought 2 packs of peanut brittle and 1 pack of caramel snows (which is finger-sized candy with layers of chocolate, caramel and white icing). Caramel is usually not my favorite thing, but I felt like eating it then. I even wanted to buy caramel McFlurry (which I ended up not buying). Our bodies needed some sweets!


That night we went nuts over these sugary treats…..   I had stomachache afterwards, but no regret! :p

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A Rainy Day

Posted September 21st, 2011 in Food | No Comments »

It’s been cloudy for the last couple of days, but today it’s been raining since early morning.  The sky is white, and the air is cold.

I actually like the rainy day. Some people may get depressed feeling because it’s dark and cold, but it kinda make me feel relaxed.  I had pumpkin soup and toasted ham & cheese sandwich for brunch, and enjoyed it while listening to the sound of rain. 🙂

Oishii–!

I started tidying up my room yesterday, and found that I have so many things I actually don’t use. Clothes, zakka stuff, toys, kitchen tools…  I know I should through some of them away, or at least give them away to someone.  I’m still working on sorting these things out.  I can only do this while Hiro is sleeping (which is only 30 minutes every 4 hours), so I think it will take a while…  I’m Year of the Pig, so I can’t stop doing things once I started.  No wonder I dreamed about tidying up room last night. :p

I thought I should also remove all my kitchenware (plates, cups, etc) from kitchen and put them in a cardboard box, because I’m not using them and won’t need them until I move out this house. (I don’t know when though…)  Now the kitchen storage looks great.  I think in-laws will be happy when they come back here from Jakarta sometime next month.

It’s so funny that I have so many things for house even though I don’t need them.  Like, a frying pan, a panini press, cutlery, plates, etc.  I’m so ready to move out, I guess.

Wow, now it’s stormy outside.  I was going to go to a swimming pool to have a look at baby swimming class, but I’m not sure now.  It looks cold…  Probably afternoon.


A Beautiful Spring Day

Posted September 14th, 2011 in Food, Perth WA | 2 Comments »

It was bit cloudy yesterday morning.  I thought it was going to rain. I checked the weather on my iPhone and it had a illustration of half rain/half sunny.   The whole week seemed to be like that.

I felt like eating Japanese food in the morning, so I quickly prepared my breakfast.  Steamed rice, umeboshi (sour plum pickles), natto, seasoned nori, and osuimono (clear soup).  That’s it??? You ask.  Hmmm, it doesn’t seem to be a meal, does it?  But yes, it is to me.  I love soshoku (plain/simple diet). 🙂  Placed on a box of toy….  This is my dining table now.

During the day I took Hiro to a neighboring Duck Park for a walk.  The sun was blight then and it was a perfect weather for strolling in the park.  It was just after 1PM and there was no one around, except one mum and one baby girl sitting near the pond enjoying their quality afternoon.

This is what I love about Perth.  There are so many parks… almost everywhere.  The beautiful ones.  Lots of greens, lots of birds, lots of nature….  Walking through a quiet park in such a beautiful weather, I just wanted to scream! “I LOVE THIS”

For lunch, we headed to Northbridge because D wanted to buy some Indonesian noodles.  We went to the usual Vietnamese place on William street, again.

D ordered Pork Chop Rice and I ordered Mai Fun with Braised Chicken.  D loves this place because there’s always not many people inside.  Yesterday when we arrived, there’s no other customers- only us.  It was lucky because Hiro was screaming while we were eating our lunch.

We had a look inside Kong’s and VHT, but D couldn’t find what he was looking for.  D wanted this particular Indonesian instant noodles which we haven’t seen anywhere for a while.  Maybe it’s not permitted to import to Australia anymore.  We could go to other grocery shops to have a look, but we didn’t want to bother.  There are many Chinese grocery shops, but I wonder if there is any shop selling many Indonesian items.  Maybe the one in Market City in Canning Vale?  We’ll give it a try another day.

I actually wanted to go to Emma’s Seafood to buy some Japanese stuff too.  But it was bit too far to walk….  I felt like making kappamaki (roll sushi with cucumber).  I have lots of wasabi left at home.  Well, I will come back another time. 🙂

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Morning Walk and Bacci Cake

Posted September 11th, 2011 in Food, Ume and Baby | No Comments »

I love the smell of cold morning….  Cold air with bright sunlight and birds singing are somehow different from what I remember of Japan’s winter morning, but they still reminds me of how I liked waking up early in winter while I was in Japan.

I took Hiro for a walk this morning, because I felt like going outside and also wanted him to wear a hat I found in the closet.  Looks like Mongolian baby 🙂 … or a girl.

Ohhh my right wrist is so sore… It was ok until I visited Play Group on Friday though. I was holding Hiro for 2 hours there and after I got home it started to be really sore.  Now I need to wear tape around it so that I can do things like holding him, cutting vegetables, and even opening a lid of a jar.  Did I strain it?

This photo reminded me… In-laws came over to eat a cake together – a Bacci Cake from Cookie Barrel.  It was very rich chocolate and nut cake…

I mean, very rich.  I couldn’t finish one piece…  but I know this is how people in Australia like chocolate cake to be!  A very rich and sweet.  Hmmmmm, if there was less cream in the ganache and less liquor in the Bacci filling, I might be able to finish it.  Having it once in a while may be a good treat for myself?

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Winter to Spring

Posted September 10th, 2011 in Food, Perth WA | No Comments »

D and I get a craving for juicy chicken karaage (recipe is here) once in a while…. I made quite a lot, but we finished them all in one night.  I can’t believe the size of my stomach :p

The best accompaniments to karaage, for us, are Japanese mayonnaise and Srirachang chili sauce.  And, of course, steamed rice.  I need lots of salad too.  Oily food needs to be eaten with some vegetables.

Karaage is one of the easy dishes to make.  You just need to toss all ingredients in a plastic bag and let chicken get marinated in the bag.  I added 1 tablespoon of roasted sesame seeds this time.

I made white  soup (recipe is here) with hakusai (Chinese cabbage) to serve with karaage.  This time I didn’t use chicken thigh but used bacon.  Other ingredients are similar : onion, carrot, broccoli, mushroom, etc.

I love soup, especially in winter.  Soup with lots of vegetables fuels me up and warms my body.

The winter is almost over though.  My garden is very colourful now.  Lots of green, lots of yellow, and lots of sunlight.  Bees and butterflies are everywhere.  Yet, early morning is still bit chilly….

I realized I had frozen scone dough in the freezer, so I baked them off just now.  Smells good.  Oh, I don’t have cream…..  That’s ok, I will eat them with whipped butter and sweet strawberry jam ;_)

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Fairy Birthday Cake

Posted September 7th, 2011 in Food | No Comments »

A birthday cake I made last week – a white chocolate cake with a image of fairy.

When I was asked to make this birthday cake for a 4-year-old girl, I wasn’t 100% sure if I could do this. Things a mother required me to do are:

• white chocolate-based

• image or doll of fairy on top of the cake

• 100&1000 on the side

• square. not round

• 5~6 strawberries on top

• a message plate on top “happy 4th birthday”

• pink or light purple themed

• decorated with whipped cream

…… I’d never made a decoration cake with white chocolate. I could just make white chocolate mud cake, but I knew she wanted it to be somehow Japanese-style. Probably sponge cake with white chocolate ganache? Will it do?

When she said “a cake with fairy image on top” “100&1000” “pink or purple themed”, I had an image of the cake in my head already. I used to be a little girl and I knew what the birthday girl is after.

I decided to layer vanilla sponge cake, cocoa sponge cake, white chocolate ganache and whipped cream, then decorate the top and side with white chocolate and whipped cream.

The most important thing I had to do first, however, was to look for an image of fairy. I found fairy-shaped cake toppers at some online shops, but I didn’t like them. I didn’t think they’re cute. So I ordered a sheet of Tinker Bell edible image.

It was actually my first time to handle edible image!  I’d never even seen or touched one before. (You can tell from the non-smooth surface of the image on the photo ^^;)  So I was quite nurvous until I opened it from its packaging sheet in the morning of her birthday party.

Edible image is made of icing, and it can’t be placed on wet surface. Butter cream or fondant will be the best cake to top with edible image, but my cake was made of whipped cream and chocolate ganache. Whipped cream is too wet and it’ll ruin the image. So, I only used white chocolate ganache on the bottom and around the edible image. Whipped cream is used around the cake only.

The morning was kind of disaster… Not only that I had to make this special cake for a little girl, but I also had a little baby to look after at home. Hiro doesn’t take long nap during the day, so I knew i’d need D’s help while finishing up the cake.

1 hour before the delivery, I opened the Tinker Bell edible image from it’s packaging and tried to place on top of the cake I prepared.
It doesn’t peel off!!!!! ((((;゚Д゚))))))). I tried putting it in the freezer for few seconds, but it didn’t work. The time passed, and I was in panic. Hiro was crying next to me. I repeated putting it in the freezer and tried to peel off many times, and after several tries I could finally get a sheet of Tinker Bell removed from the backing sheet.   Thank you, thank you!!!

I quickly placed it on top of the cake and finished decorating the cake. It took longer than I expected and I had to leave home already in order to deliver it before little girl’s birthday party. Hiro was still crying, and continued crying in the car. Very hard. It was more like screaming. His face was red and he didn’t even listen to my voice. I was holding a big box of cake, navigating D to the little girl’s house, and trying to sooth Hiro at the same.

We were few minutes late, but I was reliefed I could deliver the cake safe.  They seemed to like the cake, and I was happy.  Now I’m 100% back to Hiro.

When I returned to the car, he was sleeping….  Crying must have tired him out.  Maybe he felt the pressure and stress I was feeling and that’s why he was crying?  Anyway we all went home in a quiet car. 🙂


Taka’s Kitchen and San Churro

Posted September 5th, 2011 in Eat out in Perth, Perth WA | No Comments »

Sigh… I regret that we went to crowded Fremantle market area on busy Sunday. We didn’t do much – just had quick snack at Taka’s Kitchen then had churro and iced chocolate at San Churro. We walked around the busy cappuccino street and it just tired us out. We really shouldn’t go out to a busy place on weekend. We should go to a quiet park or beach instead and relax. It was Father’s Day but I don’t think D enjoyed the day. We were both tired from pushing a big stroller around and watching for cars, people, and trying not to get blight sun light on Hiro’s face. It’s not like we really wanted to eat Taka’s food and churro and chocolate. We simply just wanted to do something together. No more going out to busy places on weekends!

Miso-katsu-don and kaki-age-don.

I don’t know why D chose to go to Taka’s kitchen… It’s the worst place to go with a big stroller and a grizzly baby.

San Churro was also crowded as usual. It was much nicer when I came here with friends in early morning the other day. It was quiet, much less people, food and drink were perfect (because they weren’t busy and had time to prepare with care), and we could totally enjoy the moment. Yesterday was opposite. …Well, at least D enjoyed the churro and white chocolate..


Father’s Day and 6 Months and 2 Year

Posted September 4th, 2011 in Food, Ume and Baby | 2 Comments »

Today is not only D’s first Father’s Day, but also Hiro’s 6 months birthday…!  Plus, tomorrow is our 2nd wedding anniversary as well.  Hmmmm, 3 things came at once.

We didn’t really plan what to do though….  Both of us have been pretty busy and everyday passes very quickly.  I can’t believe it’s September already!

I baked cupcakes for D.  He loves sweets, and I haven’t made this for him for a long time, so I thought it’s about time to treat him with this sweet cake 🙂

He loves green colour, so I made icing green (with pink on top).  He likes eating cupcake slightly warm (warm up in microwave) then spread icing by himself, so I put icing on only 2 cakes.  They are almost gone…!  I should have made more?

Hiro has been eating carrot (2nd solid after rice cereal), and he loves it!  He opens his mouth very wide when I move a spoon to his mouth.  Very messy though….  rice cereal is white so it’s ok, but carrot….  lots and lots of washing!

Hmmm he is growing very fast.  He wears size zero now.  I bought some winter cloths for Japan and hope it will fit him when we are there!


Library Cafe in Cottesloe WA

Posted August 31st, 2011 in Eat out in Perth | No Comments »

The other day Hiro and I drove to Cottelsoe to meet my friend.  Gosh, I hadn’t seen her for such a long time…  We used to work at a cafe in Applecross 3 years ago.  She is a barista and makes great coffee.

The place she chose for a meet-up was a newly opened cafe inside Cottesloe library, just off Stirling Hwy. There is a underground parking underneath the library, and I went up with a lift.  The door between the carpark and lift/stairs area is automatic and it was very easy access with a big stroller.

The library looked so beautiful and stylish – Apple Mac desktops are available for use, free wifi, furnished with unique chairs and desks… even beanbag covers are made of denim.

I loved the cafe too.  Lovely flooring, modern and contemporary tables and chairs/sofas, and, of course, great coffee.

I ordered decaf latte.  Beautiful crema.

I couldn’t take photos, but they also had range of home-made cakes at the counter.  They all looked so fresh and delicious.  I will definitely try them out on next visit.

My friend is so good at kids/babies.  Hiro was smiling and enjoying her cuddle for 1 hour.  We talked about many things – about families, other friends, etc.  The weather was beautiful, the area is quiet and peaceful, and it was a lovely morning 🙂

a


Snow Ice, Crepe…. and Oden

Posted August 30th, 2011 in Eat out in Perth | 2 Comments »

I remembered I had a $10.00 worth voucher for use at Icey Ice Perth City that I bought from Scoopon long time ago, and it was nearly expired, so I took D and Hiro to the shop to get some sweets.

I’d never been to the city one (I’ve been to Northbridge shop before), and I found that it’s a pretty small shop.  There’re only 3 tables inside, and all of them were full.  We had a big stroller, so thought we’d better get take-away instead of eating there…. then, one group of customer left the table, so we decided to sit down.

I didn’t really feel like snow ice and was browsing the menu board…. then, noticed that they sell oden in the shop.  Not “oden-snow ice” or “oden crepe”, just oden.  … Oden?

I found it’s very funny as I’d never thought a shop selling snow ice and crepe would have oden on the menu.  It says “Japanese Hot Pot ~ Kansai-style Oden”, and the oden was being cooked next to the snow-ice machine.

I was very curious, but didn’t want to buy it.  Then, one lady started ordering oden next to me…  So, someone does buy oden at a sweet shop! :p

She asked for chilli sauce over oden…  Obviously she is not Japanese.  And I’m surprised that the shop had chilli sauce.

We ordered normall items – crepe and drink.  He ordered crispy crepe with condensed milk and oreo (sweet tooth…), and I ordered green tea chiller with sago.  Sago was extra charge, but I believe there was no sago in the drink – they forgot!  I realized it after we left the shop :p

I thought Icey Ice in Northbridge is much better… bigger space, many tables to sit down, and more variety of products.  I liked crepe in Northbridge shop better because they put more fillings (well, at least the last one we ate had lots of fillings).  At city shop, D had to eat almost half the crepe to reach condensed milk and oreo.

Hmmm anyway, I like this shop as being a snow ice/crepe shop selling oden. hehe 🙂

a


Baby Massage

Posted August 27th, 2011 in Ume and Baby | No Comments »

It’s been warm lately and I see black hairy worms in the yard and garage…  Definitely spring is here.

I decided not to touch computer or iPhone in front of Hiro while he is awake as I tend to concentrate on those things too much. Checking emails is kinda important but Hiro is my priority at the moment. He seems to know I’m not watching him when I use computer. So, I guess Umeboss won’t be updated everyday anymore… :p

My friend who is a remedial massage therapist leant the technique of baby massage at King Edward, and she said she would lecture me how to do it so I visited her house with Hiro.  It took 3 ~ 4 days to complete the class, she said.  I was excited because I’ve actually never done massage on Hiro.  I always thought he would catch cold if he stays naked after taking bath, but apparently baby shouldn’t be getting massage right before or after bath time.  Anytime when he is relaxed and calm – and so are you –  is the best time to do.

She told me to bring a towel because boys normally wee during the massage.  There’re other 2 moms and 2 baby girls at my friend’s house who were also keen on learning how to massage babies.  One of the baby girl was bit cranky and didn’t even want to lie down on the floor, so she just observed the session instead of actually getting the massage.

Oh my god….  Hiro was very naughty.  As soon as I put him on the floor, he started moving around and attacking other babies.  Other babies were first smiling, but seemed to be scared of Hiro after awhile…

(the one attaching is Hiro…)

He was also the biggest baby among 4.

Hiro seemed not to care about the massage.  He didn’t stay lying down – keep rolling around and wanted to be on tummy.  So, I didn’t really get to do massage – instead, I was holding him to keep other babies safe.

When he is relaxed and in good mood I will try massaging him at home, I think.  Thanks M, for lecturing us.

a


Winter Warmer

Posted August 24th, 2011 in Food | No Comments »

When I wake up in early morning and can’t go back to sleep, I sometimes spend time in the kitchen – cooking.  It’s just because I can’t do cooking during daytime while Hiro is awake, and also I like the quiet environment.  I do some daydreaming while peeling carrots and stirring the stew.

The other day I made quite a large amount of oden.  The kitchen smelled like Japanese convenience stores in winter. :p  I cooked it for a long time – so all the flavour was in each food and it was very delicious.  I kept eating it day and night for few days.  Some people can’t stand the smell of oden, I heard, but the smell actually tempt me to eat them!

I simmered daikon radish and potatoes first, because they take longer to go tender and absorb the broth than soft food like tofu.  I like all the flavour from the broth to be absorbed in each food.  Next, konnyaku and boiled eggs are added, then nerimono (Japanese fishcakes).  It’s best to have gyu-suji (beef shank/ beef gristle / fibrous beef), but I couldn’t bother going to buy them.

Another night I made warm somen noodle soup with teriyaki squid. (recipe is here)  Warm somen noodle soup is easy to digest, and is one of my favourite midnight snack in winter.  Sweet and salty teriyaki squid matches with this.

Umm I think I eat quite a lot these days.  Especially at night.  It’s not good….  but I look for food when I’m awake, and try to eat something before Hiro wakes up.  I’m sometimes not hungry, but eat full portion of meal.  The weather is getting better, so I think I will do some exercise outside.  Walking with Hiro, probably.

a


Samui?

Posted August 19th, 2011 in Ume and Baby | No Comments »

I’m not sure what’s the reason…..   but my milk doesn’t come out!  (>0<)

Usually I get to express a lot of milk (compared to daytime) during the night, but last night was different.  I felt my breasts were full, but nothing came out. (sorry, boys…)

Is it because my body is too cold?  Or is it because I eat lots of sweets?  I’ve been eating a slice of bread with peanut butter few times a day….  And some chocolate buns.  And biscuits.  I had beef casserole for dinner and I’ve read that beef clogs breast duct – could the beef be the reason?

Hmmm I guess I just need to relax a bit.  Hiro drinks a lot of milk these days and I keep thinking that my milk supply is not enough.  Maybe it has became stress somehow.

Sleeping from 7am until 2 ~ 3am has been his regular sleep pattern at night.  It’s great because I get to have lots of sleep too.  I still go to bed at the same time he does (7am! yes, I’m like a grandma), and after he wakes me up at 2am I’m not sleepy anymore.  I’ve been doing lots of stuff in this early morning; mostly cooking.  I cooked beef casserole 2 nights ago, and made oden just now.  My kitchen smells like convenience stores in winter in Japan, hehe.

I don’t have time to cook during the day (that’s why I’ve been eating a slice of bread with peanut butter!) because Hiro doesn’t take nap much (maximum 30 minutes), and he cries if I’m not there.  He is such a crying baby.

That’s ok.  I want to cuddle you as much as I can while I still can. I won’t be able to do this when you are older. 🙂

a


PBC Expo and Pizza with The Lot

Posted August 13th, 2011 in Food, Perth WA | 2 Comments »

PBC Expo (Perth Pregnancy Babies & Children’s Expo) started yesterday, and D, Hiro and I headed to Claremont Showgrounds Exhibition Centre in the morning.  We assumed there’ll be more people on weekends.

It was around 12am when we arrived there, and the parking was full!  So many people with prams, as expected…  We wanted walk around fast, so we carried Hiro.  It was my first time going there, and I didn’t really search what’s there and how big the expo was.  I think I should have done it at least to check what exhibitors would be there.

Many exhibitors were offering free samples and discounts on their products.  At the entrance of the expo you can get a pamphlet of vouchers you can use at the stalls within the expo.  I didn’t even know these things and was wondering why people were handing those piece of paper to the exhibitors.  Soon I found out I had to tear the coupon out of the pamphlet and pass to the exhibitors in order to get the free samples.  I see I see…

I got so many free stuff and pamper bags.  I also bought some Curash bath-time moisturiser ($4.00), Heinz’s disposable bibs (5 for $1.00), and Sistema’s  set of baby feeding utensils and containers ($10.00).

We didn’t stay there for long (I think it was less than 1 hour) but many people seemed to enjoy the free stuff, talk to some experts (breastfeeding, postnatal depression, children’s health insurance etc), and the foods.  It could be fun going with mom friends.

At home, I wanted to clean up the fridge and decided to make pizza for dinner.  D likes eating salad rolls and keeps few containers of vegetables (say; tomato, red onion, lettuce, cucumber, etc) in the fridge, but once he runs out buns he doesn’t touch these containers and all the vegetables go bad 🙁  I hate wasting food, so I cut these left-over up and used as toppings for pizza.  I picked few leaves of basil from the garden and used it too.

Ummmm I think I put too much food on the pizza :p  Yes, I am a piggy…  But I like it with lots and lots of ingredients.  I added chopped bacon for D too (as he loves meaty one).  It was great – tasty, and the fridge is now clean!

a


I Did Not Shave!

Posted August 7th, 2011 in Ume and Baby | No Comments »

Hmmmm….  When I posted some of Hiro’s photos on Mixi (one of several social networking websites in Japan), many people asked me if I’ve shaved his head!!!  No, I didn’t!

To think about it, his hair is very thin and soft.  But, both D and I have black, thick hair…  My friends’ babies have long thick hair and look very different from Hiro’s.  He had dry itchy rash on his head and kept scratching it, and his pillow is always covered with hair when he wakes up…  I was thinking he’s losing hair and going bold, but I’ve read that some babies have thin hair (some are nearly bold!) and will eventually grow lots of hair, so I just hope Hiro will have more hair as he grows!

He is 5month old now and tries to eat everything – it started to be very dangerous to leave him on the floor.  I fed him apple juice with spoon few times to have him get used to a spoon.  He did quite well!  He was already curious about food (watches us when we eat), so when I moved a spoon to his lips he naturally opened his mouth.

Now he can’t wait to eat more food.  I’m giving him rice cereal from next week.  I can’t believe he is “eating” something already…  Soon he will be eating sushi and tempura – who knows!

a


Hiro’s 4th Month

Posted July 30th, 2011 in Ume and Baby | 8 Comments »

Hiro is turning 5 months old soon, and I just want to write down the growth of his 4th month.  It was a big one.

He started to dribble a lot, chew on his fingers and fists, wanting to stand up and making steps forward (while being held), curious about everything and try to put everything into his mouth, show an interest in what we eat, become more mobile, and now he can roll-over both from back to tummy and tummy to back!  All of them happened in this 4th month.

His rash was diagnosed to be “not easy one” by GP and it will take time to disappear.  Now we have 3 kinds of cream for him, mild to strong, and I use them according to his skin condition everyday.  When the rash was very severe, Hiro had to take antibiotics and it was pink-coloured liquid.  I gave it to him with a syringe, and it was his first time to drink (?) something sweet other than milk.  I don’t know if it’s because of it, but since then his interest in what we (D and I) eat became obvious.  He follows our movement with eyes, and stares at the food until we put it into our mouths.  I think he is ready to eat some solid!  I’m planning to start with apple juice, then rice cereal or something.

By the way, I’ve been feeling guilty….  It’s been busy weeks for me, and I think that I’m not playing with him enough.  I sometimes have to let him cry to do my things, and watching and hearing him crying makes me feel bad.  He doesn’t stop crying – even though his voice becomes sound-less and his face turns to super red.  Hmmm…..   Other mums I know seem to concentrate on their babies more.  I also wanted to do things like taking him to play group every week and taking him for swimming (as I mentioned before), but I haven’t done it.  I decided to not go to the play group we visited, because of few reasons.  I was going to call-up other places, but I haven’t.  We also missed joining on this term of swimming class, so we’ll need to wait until next year (because the next term will start in Oct and we will soon have to go to Japan then).

Writing these things is making me think about it clearly, actually.  Ok, I will call-up some play groups next week and have a visit.  And, Hiro and I are taking swimming class when we come back from Japan, next year.  It might be a better thing to do considering his skin problem.

Oh, and, we are (probably) flying to Jakarta before we go to Japan, actually.  D is going to JK to extend his ID thing around Oct, and I was originally going to stay here with Hiro, but I’ve changed my mind (because I’m blood type AB).  It will be a short trip – not longer than 1 week.  We can practice taking him on a plane before we take long flights to Japan.  And also, I’m dying to get some massage!!!!

Hmmmm, play group, flight to JK, flight to Japan, swimming class…..  I think Hiro will be 1 year old before I know it.

a