Little Joy Factory

我自认为是个爱好旅游的女子。那么哪些地方会令我流连忘返，每次回首依然有背起背包踏上旅途的渴望呢？ 最吸引我的当数壮观的风景。比如美国大峡谷，黄石公园，中国黄山。置身其中，深深体会到人的渺小。面对大自然的鬼斧神工，一切烦恼随风而散。虽然归来时风尘仆仆，心灵却如沐春风。

Yesterday, my daughter and I were shopping at a supermarket. Before checked out, as usual, I went to the magazine corner to see anything new. My girl passed me a magazine,  "Mom, can I buy it?"

前天去Jack's Place 吃晚餐，惊讶地 (注：不是惊喜地) 发现柜台上已经摆上了月饼。 要知道现在还只是农历六月初，离八月十五整整两个月呢。看来月饼一定是利润丰厚啊，要不商家怎么这样积极呢？ 作为月饼的忠实粉丝，我心里总有点疑惑。月饼这么好吃，做起来又不难，为什么平时不卖啊？

It feels so good to take a break from the routine life, especially when you don't travel to tourist spots but your own hometown. During the two-week holiday in China, there have been no phone calls, no surfing of the Internet (don't get me wrong, my hometown is not a village. I purposly kept my hands off the gadgets during the 2 weeks.  You will be surprised to know that some people still think most China people live in the villages without electricity ^o^). I waked up naturally every morning, enjoying my favorite hometown food，catching up with relatives and old friends. Never realized that the local accent is so pleasant to the ear. It's a total relax to my body and soul!

难得周五遇到公共假期，可以好好享受一个长长的周末。 昨晚就把闹钟关掉，早上睡到自然醒。准备了两个清爽的小菜作早餐，简单可口。自从有了NESCAFE PICCOLO， 每逢周末，早餐后泡杯摩卡或卡普奇诺，悠闲地坐在家里享受早上的时光。好惬意啊！ 要知道这份恬静在平日可是可望而不可及的。每天六点闹钟一响，就开始和时间赛跑，早餐都是在车里吃的。送了孩子们去学校，就直接驾车去公司，晚上到家已经7点了。。。“日出而作，日落而息”? 现在连小学生都做不到，更何况你我这样的上班族？ 不过，工作着，还是幸福的。在职场上摸爬滚打了十多年，经历过升职加薪的喜悦，也经历过公司倒闭裁员的无奈。任何时候，都要和自己说，这就是生活，有苦有乐，有得有失。正所谓“塞翁失马，焉知祸福？”　 想想最开心的还是第一份工作。同事们都是刚出校门的学生，单纯，热情，心无芥蒂。也有竞争，也有压力，可是那时的笑容是最真诚的。 即使现在大家各奔东西，友谊依然深厚。因为我们一起度过了人生最宝贵的年华，记忆里珍藏着彼此青春的模样 。碰巧看到下面的句子，觉得有点触景生情，贴出来和大家共勉： Friendship means understanding, not agreement. It means forgiveness, not forgetting. It means the memories last, even if contact is lost. 好了，言归正传，既然是周末，当然要好好犒劳一下自己和家人了。做了这个琥珀核桃零食，又香又甜，吃下去，真的停不了口。我喜欢这个食谱，因为核桃没有经过油炸，相对健康一点。当然外面也有卖的，罐装的，可是哪有自己做得新鲜又经济实惠？ 至于孩子们，她们又要求 Famous Amos 曲奇 ，已经在烤箱里啦！每次她们都会带一些去学校，和好朋友分享。一来这是她们最喜欢的饼干；二来，她们也想向朋友们“炫耀“她们妈妈的手艺。还好，每次都好评不断。我开玩笑说，改次学校嘉年华会或者慈善义卖，我就做这款饼干，比起棉花糖，爆玉米花之类的，多少健康一点，又好吃，保证大卖！ HOW TO MAKE CARAMELIZED WALNUTS (3 MINUTES VIDEO) CARAMELIZED WALNUTS （琥珀核桃...

  Last year,  I received "World's Best Mom" award from my younger daughter as Mother's Day gift. I post the "certificate" on the wall in my office. I joked that it took almost 10 years for me to receive this award. It's indeed a tough yet rewarding journey bringing up babies. Looking ahead, parenting a teen would be more challenging. Hope I receive another "certificate" in 5-10 years' time... This year, Mother's Day is just one-week away.  While anticipating "priceless" gifts from my children,  as a daughter,  I have been shopping around for a perfect gift for my mother.  She has brought up 3 of us, and now still helping me take care of my children... No matter what gift I buy for her, I know I am not able to repay her unconditional love to me and my family. I was at Marks & Spencer in Orchard last week. Did not find the perfect gift there, instead, bou...

Today is Labour Day, a public holiday in Singapore.  May all the workers here, the blue or white collar, young or old, local or foreigners, happy at work and receive fair treatment. To celebrate, I baked this rich moist Lemon Cake for my family. My daughters like it so much that they would like to reserve two pieces as their breakfast tomorrow. It's an easy-to-make cake, just like the Walnut Cake , simple and yummy. With lemon zest and lemony glaze, this cake is sweet and buttery with fresh citrus taste. I got the recipe from a blog. However, I did not save the link. If you happen to see this recipe from the web, please let me know so that I can link back to the original recipe. I followed exactly the original recipe except for the glaze, which I made slight modification. LEMON CAKE For the cake - 2 cups all-purpose flour - 2 teaspoons baking powder - 1 teaspoon salt - 250g unsalted butter (softened) - 3/...