Koh Samui 13-17Mar 09: Itinerary and Day 1

Hubby and I have been talking about Koh Samui for the longest time but never got down to planning a trip until recently, where we finally decided that this is THE destination for my birthday getaway!

Once again, I was the master planner =D I love pouring through websites, getting myself prep about the destination, and searching for lodging that fits our needs as well as budget. The thing about Samui is, there are simply too many choices, from lush resorts to intimate villas, the affordable to the lavish, to suit the whims and fancies of different holiday makers.

Well, since it was supposed to be a treat, I sort of coerced hubby for something more extravagant =p. Planned to stay 3 nights at a resort either at Chaweng or Bophut where we would spend time exploring the island and the streets/shopping. Then shift to Six Senses Hideaway Samui for 1 night, basically just laze around and do nothing.

The easy part was Six Senses, as I was eyeing this world renowned brand for a while already. And since we were going to stay there, a pool villa it had to be!

The hard part was selecting the resort for the 3 nights-stay. Finally settled on Sareeraya Villas & Suites, which is quite a new establishment in Samui. It's located towards the northern part of Chaweng Beach, so while it is away from the crowd, it's still within walking distance to the main commercial district. Apparently, the property just opened and had a soft launch only in Dec 08. And quite superficially, I selected this resort because of its beautifully done website! Already I love the furnishings based on the photos showcased. (The importance of a well-maintained website!). Moreover, the resort was running a one-night-for-one-night promo. So I made my booking via their online reservation system for a Holiday Suite and to my pleasant surprise, apart from the instant auto-confirmation, received a courtesy email within an hour from the 'Chief Reservation', informing us of a complimentary pick-up from the airport with even photo of the driver! It was indeed service with a wow.

On the contrary, after I made a reservation online for Six Senses and sent them an email with requests like pool villa with a more exclusive location/better view and late check-out, I did not hear from them until a day later; worse they got my reservation wrong (hideaway villa, instead of pool villa) and did not answer to my requests. Had to send clarifications and reiterate my requests but still not reply on the requests. Hmm... was a tad disappointed, especially after getting the impressive service from Sareeraya.

Anyways, here's my itinerary:

Fri 13 Mar - Evening flight from SG to Samui > Check in at Sareeraya Resort, Chaweng

Sat 14 Mar - Breakfast > Explore Chaweng streets & beach on foot > Massage at Bann Leelawadee Allure Massage & Spa > Lunch at Will Wait Restaurant > Rented motorbike and explore the whole of Samui island > Dinner at Coyote Mexican Restaurant > Concussed

Sun 15 Mar - Light Breakfast > Transfer to Bophut (Fishermen's Village) > Dive Boat to Sail Rock (rock formation between Koh Tao & Koh Phangna) > 2 dives > Transfer back > Back to hotel to rest > Travel to Sabieng Lae Restaurant for Thai seafood (South Lamai) > Back to Chaweng, massage at Bann Leelawadee Allure Massage & Spa > Concussed

Mon 16 Mar - Brunch > last shopping at Chaweng > Check out & transfer to Six Senses Hideaway > Explore, swim, laze, in-villa dining > Concussed

Tue 17 Mar - Sleep late > Massage at Six Senses Spa > Lunch at Dining On The Hill > Swim, laze > Check out > Afternoon flight from Samui back to SG

Day 1

There is only 1 inbound and outbound flight to Koh Samui daily - 8pm in the evening for outbound and 4.30pm (Samui time) for inbound. In a way, good for short getaways as travellers don't have to take leave from work, just depart on Fri evening and come back on Sun afternoon. But it's kind of 1 night 'wasted'.

Anyways, we noticed at the departure lounge, that most travellers were foreigners from European countries and couples. That pretty summed up the crowd we would expect at Samui.

Flight by Bangkok Airways took only 1.5hrs. Nothing eventful, inflight hot meal was ok. Pleasant surprise was a cheery pipe-in music which sort of created a holiday atmosphere :)

After the plane touch downed at Samui airport, it was another pleasant surprise when we were ushered to sit in these open-air trams (think Singapore Zoological Gardens) which brought us to the customs clearance. So cute! The customs clearance is structured like the Singapore Zoological Gardens as well, open-air, ceiling fans, wooden beams, thatched roofs. The first impression of Samui, welcome to tropical paradise! Apparently, the Samui Airport is renowned as one of the most unique and likeable airport in the world.

After clearing customs and claiming our luggage, we made our way to the vehicle pick-up point, where the driver was already expecting us. We also met the Markus, the General Manager of Sareeraya who was there to pick-up 2 special guests from France. While waiting, we chatted with him and found out he is Swiss and has settled in S.E.A region for almost 30 years. In fact, during the few days stay, we discovered quite a number of foreigners on the island with same status.

The transfer from airport to hotel took around 10 minutes. At the hotel lobby, a few front desk staff awaited our arrival; they were warm and friendly and made us feel at home. We were really pleased with a free upgrade from the Holiday Suite booked to a Sareeraya Suite which is located on Level 3 and offers much better view of the ocean!

And after finding out we were going to shift to Six Senses on our fourth day, Markus and Mr 'A' the Front Office Manager thoughtfully offered complimentary transfer! Six Senses didn't even have complimentary transfers :(

Tada! View from our balcony! I was so bowed over by the almost full moon and lovely sight that greeted us. Our holiday has just begun =D Stay tuned!

Resources

• Tourism info: http://www.amazingsamui.com/
• Tourism info: http://www.samui.org/
• Bangkok Airways: http://www.bangkokair.com/
• Sareeraya Villas & Suites: http://www.sareeraya.com/index.html
• Six Senses Hideaway Samui: http://www.sixsenses.com/Six-Senses-Hideaway-Samui/index.php

Ikan Asam Pekat, Sambal Udang and Sambal Timun

Today is a rare Sunday that we didn't have any plans, appointments or admin stuff to settle. Decided to cook 3 dishes from the Nonya Nasi Lemak class I attended last week, for dinner - the Ikan Asam Pekat (Braised fish in gravy made from tamarind and turmeric), Sambal Udang (Stir-fried prawns in thick and spicy sambal sauce) and Sambal Timun (cucumbers in sambal). Shall KIV the nasi lemak, ikan bilis and onion omelet first.

Which means, hubby and I had to wake up bright and early enough for some marketing at the wet market, because it would be easier to get all the ingredients I need from a wet market.

I love wet markets, which is always bustling with activity and vibrancy. You can get almost everything. Besides, produce are fresher and prices cheaper than supermarkets. Whenever I feel like cooking fish, I would always go to a wet market. Fish sold at supermarkets just don't seem that 'fresh'.

Well, it's just that I usually like to sleep late during weekends so it would take some effort to wake up specially.
Prepping the ingredients. Most of the ingredients like chillies, lemon grass (serai), tamarind (asam), shallots (bawang merah), tumeric (kunyit), prawn paste (belacan), kalamansi lime (limau kesturi), candlenuts (buah keras), can be purchased from Malay stalls. The Mak cik at this particular Malay stall I went was really friendly and helped select the fresher ingredients and even went to her neighbour's stall to take the particular brand of asam I want. LOL. The prices came up to $6.20 and she just accepted $6. Such is the hospitality and warmth at wet markets.

Rempah (raw, ground spices and herbs) for the Sambal Udang. Thank goodness I have my trusty Moulinex electric food chopper which can blend all the ingredients finely in seconds. Don't need to be a little nonya having to pound rempah using mortar and pestle :p

Frying the rempah for Sambal Udang. The spiced aroma filled the entire house!

The Sambal Udang looked spicy but in actual fact, not at all? Would have prefered the sambal to be more spicy but nonetheless I still like this dish for the piquant taste. Probably could add even more chillies but I didn't even deseed the chillies. Well, shall try adding more chillies next time. And I think I might have overestimated the amount of oil needed to fry the rempah, turned out a bit too oily.

The Ikan Asam Pekat tasted good, with very flavourful gravy of tamarind and turmeric! It was well balanced flavour of spiciness and tartness. Hubby gave thumbs-up for this dish, and wiped out the ikan tenggiri =D

The Sambal Timun was nicely done as well. Glad that hubby liked this dish too. The rempah made from chillies, belacan and udang kering (dried shrimps) gave it a very unique taste which was quite refreshing.

All in all, it was quite a successful attempt and the process is simpler and faster than I expected, probably due to the food chopper which substituted the manual pounding of mortar and pestle.

We had the dishes with plain rice. I think would be better with nasi lemak. Next time, I will definitely try the nasi lemak!

Ultimate Chocolate Treats 1

Goodness, I seems to be attending many baking and cooking workshops lately! Adding more to-bake recipes to my already long list, but I couldn't help it coz the featured recipes are simply irresistable.

Today's class by Chef Joycelyn on Ultimate Chocolate Treats 1 showcases very classic chocolate-based desserts and baked treats that every homebaker can whip-up pretty easily and quickly, some of which are even no-bake ^^. Bonus recipes with permutations of the master recipes are also included in the recipe pack so that we could move on to variations. It's indeed very thoughtful of Chef Joycelyn!

A whooping 7 recipes were demonstrated within 3hrs!

• Heirloom Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Ultra Fudgy Brownies
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares
• Malted Milk Chocolate Ice Cream
• Crème Chocolat
• Kirsch Whipped Cream
• Black Forest Trifle - Layers of Crème Chocolat, Kirsch Whipped Cream, Amarena (preserved wild sour cherries) & Ladyfingers biscuits Soaked in Kirsch Syrup

This particular recipe produces brownies that are rich, dense and ultra fudgy in texture (as opposed to some recipes more cakey in texture)

The chocolate used here is Valrhona Equatoriale Noire 55% dark chocolate, a well-balanced Universal chocolate suitable for general baking. It says on the package, 'when in doubt, use this!' LOL. For a less sweet version, can also use the Valrhona Araguani 72% dark chocolate which are slightly more bitter with lower sugar content.

I love the texture of the brownies, a wafer-thin crispy crust with a fudgy interior, making it a decadent treat without being too intense. This is so unlike the cakey brownies I've eaten which are heavy in texture. Usually I would just eat one piece and that is like ok, enough. But this, I think I don't mind a few at one go!

This is the first time I come across a trifle. The components are

• Ladyfinger biscuits dipped in Kirsch Syrup - a syrup made with Kirsch, a cherry eau-de-vie; can also be replaced by Absolut Raspberry or Currant Vodka
• Preserved cherries. She uses Amarena Fabbri Wild Cherries in Heavy Syrup. I've mentioned in my previous entry that I like the Fragola Fabbri Strawberries in Heavy Syrup, but not so much of the Wild Cherries version.
• Creme Chocolate - chocolate cream that is similar to mousse but thicker and more creamy. It can be eaten on its own or use as components in trifle-style desserts or as filling in layer cakes or tarts.
• Kirsch Whipped Cream - whipped cream with Kirsch undertone.

Stunning composition for the ultimate chocolate lover or those with sweet-tooth, certainly not for the faint-hearted, as the flavours are intense and really sweet.

The chocolate chip cookies we are familiar with in Singapore are the ones from Famous Amos and Subway. This recipe is akin to the latter, which is the more soft and chewy type. Nonetheless, baking time can be adjusted to be make it slightly more crisp.

A generous amount of Valrhona Dark Chocolate Perles 55% is used here. Chef Joycelyn mentioned in her blog that this is the 'Rolls Royce' of baking pearls. LOL. There is no doubt in the quality of Valrhona products, what is amazing here the perles retain its spherical shape even after baking.

This is a no-bake recipe which is really simple. The combination of peanut butter and chocolate topped with salted roasted butter reminds me of those Mars or Snickers bars. Used to consume them but rarely now. Hey I can make my own now!

The Malted Milk Chocolate Ice Cream is divine! Not too sweet, nice blend of Valrhona Jivara milk chocolate and Ovaltine Malted milk powder (can also use Horlicks).

This homemade ice-cream is churned using the Cuisinart Ice Cream Machine; the machine has a built-in refrigeration unit which is able to churn ice cream with perfect creamy consistency within an hour. Although I am really tempted with the idea of homemade ice-cream, alas my kitchen simply does not have the space for another piece of equipment :(

We also tasted the Black Forest Trifle during class as it is best served cold. It is a neat idea to serve this dessert as individual portions in disposable plastic containers, I think perfect for no-frills home parties.

Like I mentioned, the flavours are rich and intense, I love the faint tinge of Kirsch.

A luxe idea of presenting the Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares - in gold foil! I'm already thinking about making this as Christmas treats for my friends, similar to the Mocha Walnut Fudge which I made in Dec 08.

Take-home treats for each participant - one chocolate chip cookie and one piece of the ultra fudgy brownies. The brownies would make yet another nice Christmas treat.

Looking forward to the Ultimate Chocolate Treats 2 class with recipes like Nutella cupcakes and Truffles Au Chocolat (think Royce Nama chocolates, ooohhh, I'm a fan!).

Japanese-French Pastries 09-III Class

Yesterday was Chef Keiko's last class at Shermay's Cooking School before she shifts back to Japan. Good news is, she may be coming back to teach if opportunity arises :) Certainly hopes so because her baked goodies are visual treats, always presented stylishly and prettily in typical Japanese cafe/patisserie fashion, just like my favourite Afternoon-Tea. And of course tasted heavenly as well.

5 recipes were demonstrated during the class.

• Raspberry Chiffon Cake - Raspberry-flavoured chiffon cake with Rasberry cream frosting
• Gateau Chocolat - A Keiko-style chocolate cake
• Super Vanilla Cheese Cake - Cheese cake with digestive biscuit base
• Healthy Florentine - Almond and walnuts caramel cookies
• Lavender Cookies - Lavender-flavoured butter cookies.

I must rave about the Rasberry Chiffon Cake with Rasberry Cream!!! So sweet and pretty looking. When she completed decorating the cake, everyone went 'Awwwwww, so princess like'. It looked exactly like those cakes/pastries I was drooling over in the patisseries at Tokyo.

She was so amazing! A simple chiffon cake got transformed into an angelic looking cake, and she made it look effortless.

And the chiffon cake was super-light and not too sweet. Everyone received one slice to take home. But since it was so light, one was not enough at all! I ended up craving for more. Alas, I have to depend on myself now to satisfy the craving. Ok, this shall be my to-bake cake next.

Keiko-style Chocolate Cake.

It was actually quite simple to bake. And though it was very humble looking, the chocolate was rich and intense! Certainly not for the faint hearted. Haha. Chocolate lovers would adore it.

To balance the richness of the chocolate, it's best paired with some whipped cream. Eaten together, it could very well trigger an orgasmic taste experience.

Super Vanilla Cheese Cake.

This cheese cake would have been too rich if not for the blueberries added. The blueberries provided some tartness and brought about a balance to the otherwise heavy cake. Cheesecake lovers would enjoy it.

I love the multi-level of tastes - biscuit crust base, blueberries, cheesecake and finally sour cream filling top layer.

These lavender Cookies are quite easily done as well. I thought the fragrance of lavender would be weird for cookies since lavender products are inclined towards soap and aroma oils. Can't imagine myself eating my soap :p

But nope, this is very much a butter cookie, with subtle hint of lavender and not anything like those lavender scents at all.

Healthy Florentine - Almond and Walnuts Caramel Cookies. Thought it tasted a little like muesli bars. While I liked the nut mixture with caramel, the base cookie was a little bland and hard for my liking. I think I would just eat the nut mixture on its own without making the cookie dough. LOL.Presenting all the yummy and pretty cakes and pastries! The feature here was the teddy bear donning chef uniform, bought by Shermay as a farewell gift for Chef Keiko! So cute!

Baked treats for everyone to bring home. Gonna miss her!

Nonya Nasi Lemak Class

Attended 'My Grandma's Nonya Nasi Lemak' class at Shermay's Cooking School this afternoon, taught by Shermay herself! The Nasi Lemak recipe and accompanying dishes can also be found in Shermay's updated version of The New Mrs Lee's Cookbook - a precious collection of Peranakan recipes first published in 1974 by Mrs Lee Chin Koon.

Was rather hesitant about signing up for the class initially, because Peranakan food is perceived to involve lots of meticulous preparation, cutting, pounding and cooking with lots of herbs and spices. Especially after watching the drama serial 'Little Nonya' which brought about a Peranakan craze round island recently.

Decided to go ahead nonetheless as I'm really attracted to the recipes.

• Nasi Lemak (coconut rice) - I love nasi lemak, especially the fragrance of coconut and pandan leaves.
• Sambal Udang (Stir-fried prawns in thick and spicy sambal sauce) - Hubby would love this dish, combination of prawns and sambal.
• Ikan Asam Pekat (Braised fish in a gravy made from tamarind and tumeric) - Likewise, hubby would love this dish, which has tinge of sourness from the tamarind juice.
• Sambal Timun (Cucumbers in sambal) - I love cucumbers! Always a must-order when I come across achar achar or sambal cucumbers at mixed rice stalls or muslim stalls.
• Bonus recipes: Onion omelet - a simple egg dish, always nice to go along with nasi lemak; and Ikan Bilis (Whitebait and peanuts with caramelised sugar and chilli powder) - to me, a must have side dish for nasi lemak!

Preparation of ingredients is important, whether baking or cooking - a very useful tip that I learnt at Shermay's Cooking School. All the chefs here adopt this practice to ensure a smooth cooking/baking procedure.

Nasi Lemak

Rice in process of steaming. Didn't know that cooking nasi lemak involve meticulous steps as well. Thought it is as simple as using a rice cooker. Probably this is the nonya style, but seriously I can never look at nasi lemak the same way again.

Oh and look at this steamer pot, it is 30 years old! Really amazing that it is in such a good condition despite constant use. Apparently can't be found in shops now. Luckily Shermay found alternative steamer pot at Ikea.

Nasi Lemak all cooked and ready to be served. Just look at the grains, they seem to be glistering. For good nasi lemak, each grain of rice is supposed to be glazed with coconut milk.
I love the traditional Peranakan serveware, the designs and colours are so lively and vivid. Makes the dish even more palatable and appetising.

Ikan Asam Pekat

Spanish mackerel known as Ikan Tenggiri is the type of fish for this dish. Of all fish, my favourite is Ikan Tenggiri as I love the texture and sweetness of the meat. Usually I would just rub slices with sea salt and pan-fry the fish. This is another way of cooking the fish, I must certainly try it!

Surprisely, the tamarind juice and rempah (raw grounded spices and herbs) are not that difficult to prepare. So glad that it is actually achievable (good news, don't have to use mortar and pestle to pound the rempah!)

Sambal Udang

The Sambal Udang is not that difficult as well. Shermay has simplified the recipe into clear and concise steps, so it makes it easier to pick up the gist of Peranakan cooking.

A simple onion omelet. Very nostalgic and humble dish that seems to be a staple side dish of nasi lemak.

Sambal Timun

Have seen different presentations/methods of spicy cucumber salads sold at mixed rice stalls and muslim stalls. I must say that this is actually not difficult to prepare and can be served within an hour (including marinate time).

Ikan Bilis

A must-have side dish for nasi lemak. Although ingredients are simple, to make an outstanding ikan bilis, more work is involved to enhance the flavours. So now I know whether stall owners put in effort for preparing ikan bilis when I eat nasi lemak at hawker stalls.

Food tasting time!

The nasi lemak blew me away, I have never tasted nasi lemak cooked this way before. It is fluffy, yet with a little bite because every grain of rice is glazed with coconut. The smell is definitely addictive due to the fragrance of pandan leaves.

I love the Ikan Sam Pekat! The fish is fresh, with the tamarind juice infused into the meat, enhancing the sweetness. The gravy also whets the appetite and goes well with the rice.

Same goes for the Sambal Udang. The gravy has a unique piquant flavour. But probably not spicy enough, otherwise would be more shiok! Perhaps I could try adding more chillies.

The onion omelet is well, a simple dish, yet would be very missed if not included.
I love the Sambal Timun! The rempah and marinade is surprising quite light, making the cucumbers very refreshing and crunchy, and definitely helps cleanse the palate after the heavy tastes of fish, prawns and ikan bilis.

Second helping with ikan bilis. Opps, gluttony in the works.

The ikan bilis is crispy, spicy with slight sweetness. Totally addictive. Goes very well with rice!

Glad that I attended this class. The food tasting was definitely satisfying and also pleased to receive Canola Oil sponsored by Sunbeam!

So now, I believe I can attempt these dishes too. Can't wait to try them soon!

Petite cupcakes and mini contact cards

Was busy preparing and baking for a cupcake order immediately after I returned from my Koh Samui holiday.

For this order, I highly recommended the Valrhona Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Swiss Meringue Chocolate Buttercream Frosting and the Oreo Cream Cheese Cupcakes, both petite sizes. I thought these 2 flavours complement each other really well, each has its distinct flavour yet not too overwhelming for pairing. There are 2 other flavours that I'd like to recommend as well - Carrot, Walnut & Orange Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting and Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Buttercream Frosting. But these 2 flavours have strong taste and I think may be better-off on their own.


I'm totally into petite size cupcakes these days. This way, it seems less sinful =p Haha, how deceptive, I forgot about second helpings. Ok, nicely put, more flavours can be savoured :D

My usual white box packaging with colour labels.

One gripe though, I can't seem to find affordable broad-base paper bags around. Really hate to settle for those fugly looking plastic bags. Probably have to consider handmade paper bags one of these days.
During the process of preparing ingredients and baking the cupcakes, I suddenly have this idea of making my own mini contact cards as giveaways. The cards could serve as a thank you card and would be useful as a bookmark or decor piece (in office cubicles) and with contact info should anyone be keen to place orders. Had thought of printing namecards before... but semi handmade cards would probably add more personal touch.

Moreover, I have ready materials - scrap paper stock, brads, eyelets etc from my card making hobby. I'm all set to go!

So here they are. Mini contact cards with prints of some of my favourite cakes :) Very easy and fuss free to make.

Hope these cards can cheer people up as well. Although the photos are not professionally taken nor printed, I believe the personal touch and thought that goes into each and every piece counts.

Whatever it is, I'm really enjoying what I'm doing now. This is what matters, right?

Realised I have a number of handmade cards yet to showcase. Got to find time to blog about them soon.

Till then, looking forward to the weekend (I'm attending 2 cooking/baking workshops). So exciting!

Happy Birthday to me!

It's my 30++ birthday! And I just came back from a Koh Samui getaway, birthday treat from my dearest hubby =D We have been talking about going to Koh Samui for the longest time, since we had already covered some of the regional islands like Phuket, Langkawi, Tioman, Dayang, Permanggil, Bali, Redang, Sipadan...

Koh Samui is definitely an island paradise, merely 1hr40mins direct flight from our doorstep! Anyways will blog about the trip once I sort out the photos, must have taken like hundreds. LOL. Watch out for the posts :) So exciting!

Ok, back to reflections for the past year, now that I've grown one year older =p (not that age matters anymore, after passing the 30-year old mark). Like I mentioned on my New Year post, 2008 wasn't a good year. Not exactly a bad year, probably just chaotic with many happenings, kind of mixed feelings. The most significant being the lost pregnancy. No worries, I'm not mourning about the loss (afterall, it's been 10 months). But I guess some incidents would be etched into the memory forever.

Work stress which made me almost want to give up. Given a challenging task over and above my normal job scope, that I wasn't mentally prepared and sort of groping in the dark at some point as didn't know exactly how to manage and handle. Being quite a perfectionist, I wanted to do my best, but on the other hand, many circumstances and pressures from different parties prevented me from doing so. Really learnt a lot from this project and I guess emerged with more experience as well as better understanding of myself and the many people revolving around it.

Have lost some last year, but gained a lot more...

Gah...don't want to dwell too much on unpleasant things now and spoil my mood, since I'm still on a holiday high! Life is short and time is precious, I should focus on being happy - like more travelling, more baking, more mahjong, more lifestyle desires and indulgences... LOL.

Just like to say that I'm really very fortunate to have my hubby for his unwavering love and pamering all these while, despite my temper and mood swings :p. I love you so much!

Also very blessed to have dear friends (some of whom made during the project, some known for a few years, some over 15 years!) for all the support.

Thank you for all the birthday wishes through email, sms, msn, FB. Thank you to my gang for the celebration last week. Really appreciate each and everyone.

For those of you who know me well, you know my birthday wish for this year. Hope my wish can come true soon!

Banyan Tree Spa, Bangkok

Since we stay at Banyan Tree Bangkok, it seems mandatory for me to visit the highly acclaimed Banyan Tree Spa, isn't it? Or perhaps it's just an excuse for myself to indulge in more luxurious pampering.

The hotel should be commended for its effort in promoting the spa through different gimmicks. First, a 20% discount off ala-carte massage treatment is offered as part of the accommodation deal. In the welcome package, a discount voucher of 500 baht off for massage and 1000 baht for spa treatments is included (comes with some terms and conditions). Upon check-in, we are offered a lucky dip, and 'awarded' with 2 spa offers - additional 1/2 hr treatments for each treatment booked.

Entrance to The Banyan Tree Spa Bangkok on level 21. In fact, the gym and pool are also located on level 21, whereas the spa treatment rooms are on level 20.

A hot cup of herbal tea before the treatment.

Once ready, the therapist will lead you to level 20 waiting area, to change out of shoes and wear the slippers provided.

Lavishly decorated spa treatment room with ambient lighting and soothing music is played in the background.

Each treatment room has attached bathroom.

Cosy lounge corner for guests to relax. Cold water is served while the therapist gives the tired feet a gentle scrub and bath.

Choose the incense you like for the sensory experience.

An array of massage oil to sooth tired and aching muscles.

As always, service is impeccable. 60 mins seem to fly fast quickly under the therapist's skillful hands.

The treatment ended all too soon, after a quick shower and changing, back to the lounge area.

To complete the treatment, chilled fruits and ice-cold lemon grass tea are served.

And did I mention the hotel has good marketing tactics? All spa goers are given 20% discount off any merchandise at the Banyan Tree Gallery. How not to be enticed?

Banyan Tree Spa Bangkok

21st Floor, Thai Wah Tower II

Sathorn Road, Bangkok 10120, Thailand

Tel: +66 2 679 1052/4

Fax: +66 2 679 1053

E-Mail: spa-bangkok@banyantree.com

Opening hours: 9am to 10 pm daily

Website: http://www.banyantreespa.com/

Assorted Bakes: New & Old

I'm working my electric mixer and oven again! It feels good to be baking again, for friends and love ones =D, especially when I see them really enjoying the treats.

Apart from one new recipe, two are repeats because the ingredients are available in my fridge and kitchen and one is a special order from WH for his colleagues.

Choc-chip Cookies

This is a recipe taken from Chocolat by Stephan Lagorce - The chocolate lover's handbook, a special gift from SY, AD, WT and M from my just ended project. Really appreciate their thoughts and attempted this easy-to-bake cookie for a start to give them a treat. I guess more will come later on.

The recipe book looks seductive huh. When they gave it to me, for a moment I thought it was a giant slab of chocolate! LOL. Certainly looks good enough to eat.

Based on the book, this is an American recipe, adding chocolate buttons or small chips of chocolate to the dough without mixing, to make contrasting tastes, colours and textures. I tried two types of chocolate - the Valrhona Araguani 72% dark chocolate discs chopped into fine bits and Valrhona baking pearls. I guess the pearls look more presentable. Texture-wise, the cookies are quite crunchy fresh from oven, but lost the crunch due to humidity pretty quickly.

Overall, feels quite plain, could probably add some nuts like pecan to enhance the flavour. Can't wait to find time to attempt the other recipes.

Cupcakes for a bunch of very fun people whom I know for 2-3 years now.

Oreo Cream Cheese Cupcake

Have previously attempted the regular size which I thought a little too overwhelming on the palate. Decided to go for the petite size this time, and I think looks much cuter and just nice on taste, slightly creamy complemented well with grinded oreo and the zesty candied strawberries in syrup.

Actually I prefer petite size cupcakes and cookies, coz they look cute and easy on the tummy for the weight-watchers. Haha. I think this is quite well received by those who tried it.

Ok, I'm going to focus on petite size cupcakes from now. Need to top up on petite cupcake cases!

I'm gonna rave about these candied strawberries in strawberry syrup again! I love these coz they go so well with the cream cheese frosting. Good to eat as it is (a tad sweet though) or with cream and ice-cream.

Although kind of pricey at $33 (available at Culina or Shermay's Cooking School), a jar is like 600g nett weight and can really go a long way.

Thought long and hard before deciding to buy and was contemplating between blueberries and strawberries; decided to get the latter coz pinkish red fruit looks much better decor on cakes (ok, I prefer the taste and texture of the strawberries).

Valrhona Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

Attempted this recipe several times, simply because it is so easy. Doesn't even need a mixer (for the cupcake itself. if using Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream as frosting, still requires a mixer).

I believe this is a good starter for baking newbies. Easy recipe and rather foolproof. And everyone (almost) loves chocolate. It is not too sweet either, even those who do not enjoy very sweet desserts should accept this.

One thing though, for ease of decoration I would trim off the domes, so always left with scraps. Initially I would still eat the scraps readily, now I just wish someone wants them so that the scraps don't go to waste. Probably I should come up with some recipes like cupcake pops (hot in US now) to make full use of the scraps.

Sticky Date & Toffee Bundt

This is a special order from WH for his colleagues. First baked it for our Christmas gathering last year and everyone loved it, even picky hubby. We totally love Sticky Date & Toffee Bundt cake!!! The cake is very tender and moist and not too sweet, love the tinge of chopped and baked medjool dates in the cake.

The top of the cake didn't break, unlike previous attempt. Yeah! The cake looks quite bare, but stunning once dusted with icing sugar, almost like magical.

Since the cake is meant for the next day, packed the icing sugar (icing sugar melts very easily in our humid weather once exposed to air) and extra home-made toffee sauce for WH and his colleagues to DIY.

Box label - paper stock from Prints and alphabet rub-ons from Made With Love (good for those without printer at home).

The packaging part is also an enjoyable process, puting my paper stock and crafts into good use and adding some personal touch :)

On a separate note, it's important to be well-stock in key ingredients like flour, unsalted butter, cream cheese, whipping cream, baking powder/soda/cream of tartar, caster sugar, eggs, Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract and Bean Paste and its range of other extracts like orange & lemon, Valrhona range of chocolate products and etc.

It is really irritating to run out of ingredients and having to drive 10 to 15 minutes for the nearest well-stock Cold Storage because regular supermarkets like Sheng Shiong and NTUC do not carry some of the products I need. Nothing is more frustrating than having to run a few places to gather all the ingredients (yes this happened to me so many times!). Wish I stay near Holland Village, where there is Cold Storage, Phoon Huat, Shermay's Cooking School, Bunalun... are all within walking distance from one another. But then, also don't like to overstock less the products expire and go to waste. What a dilemma.

I also swear by my Silpat mats, Microplanes, Cuisipro silicone spatulas and measuring spoons, candy thermometer now... I think I must have amassed all the essential bakeware and apparatus since taking up baking! But it seems never enough coz I could do with one more baking pan, just that my kitchen is now filled to the brim.

Wish I can have a tool (some smart real time programme) to help me keep track of ingredients; and more cabinet space to allow better segmenting of bakeware and apparatus.

Till then, look forward to more bakes!

My first Chocolate Macarons with Araguani 72% Dark Chocolate Ganache

After some 1.5 years (after attending Chef Joycelyn's Macaron class), I finally decided that I am ready to take on macarons! Was hesitating all these while as I felt I wasn't ready for the tedious and meticulous process and lacked the appropriate baking apparatus.

I have this urge to attempt macarons over the weekend; and decided to try the Chocolate Macarons since I have a packet of Valrhona Cocoa Powder for quite sometime.

As I was preparing all the ingredients, I realised then why macarons are so expensive at patisseries; they really require much effort and patience! And they really are temperamental.

First, it was the ground almonds to be sifted then weigh in. Although Phoon Huat sells extra fine ground almonds, they are still not fine enough for macarons. Luckily I have a food chopper so could grind the powder further for sifting. I think I sifted the ground almonds at least 2 times to make sure the coarse bits were not in the mixture. Icing sugar also needs to be sifted carefully, before weigh in. And finally combining these with egg whites to form stiff paste which was quite hard to manage.

The crucial part is the meringue. For this recipe, Chef Joycelyn uses the Italian meringue method, that is, addition of very hot sugar syrup into the egg white foam to stabilise it. Apparently, this method produces more consistent results then using powdered egg white or through 'aging' the egg whites.

The method calls for bringing a sugar-water mixture to boil till firm ball stage (using candy thermometer) and simultaneously whisk the egg white till stiff peaks form. Once egg whites are ready, and sugar syrup reaches the correct temperature, pour the hot sugar syrup into the whisked egg whites. Finally beat the meringue till very firm and glossy like marshmallow, and cooled to room temperature, then add the nut mixture.

Alas, my sugar syrup reached the firm ball stage much earlier than the egg whites reached the stiff peaks form! Then while I was trying to speed up the mixer, the sugar syrup temperature shot up to hard ball stage. That was it, I had to discard the sugar syrup and start over. Luckily have yet to add the other ingredients, otherwise would have wasted my tedious process of sifting the ground almonds and icing sugar.

Anyway, the merinue turned out quite well after the second attempt on the sugar syrup. After folding the meringue into the nut mixture, for a moment I was quite worried coz the consistency seemed quite thick. Luckily after folding well enough, seemed to be quite ok. But piping was another challenging task. I think I sucked at piping, some of the macarons turned out too big and some too flat. LOL. Ok, more practise needed. Was pleased to see a skin formed after letting the batter rest in air-con room for a while. Then, ready to bake!

My macarons had feet! My macarons had feet! LOL! Supposedly characteristic of a good macaron. I was really happy to see that the macarons had quite a smooth domed top and a 'frilling skirting' around the bottom, know as the 'foot'. The crust was like delicately thin whereas interior moist and chewy! Just thought that the macarons were a little flat. (I think I banged the tray too many times while trying to get rid of trapped air. LOL). Nevertheless, I was elated that my first attempt turned out ok.

One thing though, I only had 1 large and 1 half size Silpat mats, whereas the batter could fill at least 3 trays of macarons. No choice but to leave the batter (without piping) till I finished baking and cooling the first 2 batches. Somehow, the acidity or air changed the properties of the batter and subsequent 2 trays turned out with cracked surfaces and no feet :( Now I know. Ok, need to get more Silpat mats (hint: my birthday is coming. LOL!)

My chocolate macarons turned out relatively pretty, I think.

The Araguani 72% dark chocolate ganache was so rich and intense!

Didn't have time to let the ganache reach piping consistency, so the ganache was a little runny still. The innards was almost flowing out.

With this experience, I believe I am ready to attempt other flavours as well as to try other meringue methods like Chef Keiko's. And picky hubby thought nothing much about my chocolate macarons and said he only like Ispahan - the LV of macarons (rose buttercream with fresh rasberry, lychee in lovely pink shell) =.=" That, is a big challenge, my dear. But I shall attempt it one day!

Zesty Lemon Pound Cake once more

It's WH's birthday! Decided to bake him the Zesty Lemon Pound Cake again since he so loves it =D Had baked it last Mar for him as well, based on Chef Daniel Tay's 'Just Desserts' recipe book. But somehow the taste and texture didn't turn out ideal.

So this time, after attending Chef Daniel's class where I got to see the live demo and also received some useful tips from the chef himself, I had a go at the recipe again.

The frozen semi-candied lemon peel used in the recipe is specially imported by chef from overseas and not available in retail market. The best alternative would be the candied lemon peel from Shermay's Cooking School.

I think the pound cake turned out much better than the previous attempt. Cake texture was dense but still light (due to meringue folded into the batter); taste with zesty lemony punch yet not overpowering. And the lemon cream cheese glaze is definitely a perfect combination :d~~~

The recipe yielded 3 loaves of pound cake, so I packed 2 for WH and his colleague, who loves it very much too! Hopefully this can pass their 'taste' test :D. If the overall result is good, probably can adapt the recipe for other flavours like orange.

Birthday package with cheery label.

I almost forgot how much I enjoy card and craft design. Still have some paper stock, embellishments, ribbons, stickers and craft stuff somewhere in my cabinets. Hopefully can find more me-time to indulge in my lost hobby once again. So much to do, so little time!