Poochi’s 13th Birthday & homemade cake

The dog is 13th years old today!

Decide to make a mini cake using some ready made ingredients.

Bought these at a supermarket recently and decide to use them as the sponge part of the cake. Simply microwave them for about 1 min.

These are the ingredients for the Poochi cake. Was so happy to finally find whipped cream at cold storage yesterday and immediately grabbed 2 of them.

Tada~! I used a piece of the pancake as the bottom and put whipped cream with cut strawberries on it and then placed another piece of pancake on top and finished off with some whipped cream and cut fruits such as apples, blueberries and strawberries.

The dog keep screaming for it and have to be hold back while singing the birthday song. 

Happy 13th Birthday! 😘

The dog gobbled down the cake in less than 1 min....😅

Throwback to the 22 Mar 2020-Ocean Restaurant

Although it had only been about a month ago, it seemed like another era to me. About a month ago, before this covid-19 thing gets serious and before this circuit breaker even exist, I was at Ocean Restaurant located at Sentosa’s underwater aquarium to celebrate my birthday. Hubby made the reservation ahead and I remember during that time, all the guests in the restaurant were Singaporeans or locals since tourists were already banned from Singapore. The only difference from now is that its now impossible to dine outside anymore 😞

Here, u can dine while watching the fishes swim around. It’s v therapeutic watching them swim in this blue environment and I almost felt guilty eating their own kind.

Think it cost about $72+++ which rounds up to about $100SGD per person for lunch. We picked the 3 course meal which includes a hot/cold appetizer, one main and 1 dessert. The only difference from the 4 course meal is an additional hot/cold appetizer.

The food is just normal to me, the main thing is the environment and dining experience. The servers were all v polite and friendly. 

I noticed from online that their menu changed regularly which is great.

I picked the hot starter which is the little neck clam risotto with onsen egg and tom yum emulsion. It also had some ikura and caviar on top. Yummy 😋 

Hubby choose the salmon tartare which I dun think taste v fresh. 

We also added an extra entree of seared scallops. The portion is so tiny...

For the mains, I chose the Pacific Tarahiki, a certain type of fish I have not tried before. It comes with back fungus, bamboo shoots and oriental broth. Not bad, the meat was on the firmer side. Only cons is that it’s such a small piece of fish.....

Hubby ordered the slow braised pork belly for his mains. 

Dessert was Tropicana consisting of pineapple salsa, coconut sobet ice cream and sago. For me, I ordered the lemon scented pound cake.

Coffee and tea were served after that and it’s complimentary. 

Surprise, surprise! I got a free chocolate cake from them as it’s my birthday😊 yeah!

It was a nice dinning experience and I’m glad I get the chance to go before this Circuit breaker thing kicks in. Coz who knows when it’s ever possible to go out and dine ever again.....I longed for the day when I can go out and sit in a hawker center and enjoy my food there instead of tabaoing back. 😭😭

Day 22 and 23

Day 22 saw an increase of 528 new cases and today saw an increase of 690 new cases. Majority remained foreign workers in dormitories. Singaporeans and foreign workers not living in dormitories still remained in 2 digits and have not gone down to single digits yet. Total case in Singapore is now 15641 to date. Yup, we exceeded the 15000 benchmark liao.

There are news that bubble tea shops, barbers, hair salons and cake shops will be back on 5May. Hopefully so......if situation does not worsen.

Due to closure of cake shops, there won’t be a birthday cake for Poochi’s birthday. Tmr will be his 13th birthday. Yup, the old dog is 13 years old in human years liao....time flies.

Flashback to his last year birthday celebration. We got his fave strawberry cake from Chateraise. Sadly, no more Chateraise this year due to covid-19. Instead we decide to make one for him tmr. Btw, the silly old dog juz swallow a durian seed while I was feeding him some durian. 😱😱 

Hopefully he will survive....

Day21

Today saw an increase of 799 new cases, with Singaporeans and PR making up 14 of the new patients. The total number now is 14423, passing the 14000 benchmark. 

Latest news is that 12 residents and 2 staff members at Acacia home were tested positive after a 62 years old resident tested positive on sat night. Another nursing home again.....

Day20

An increase of 931 new cases bring the number to 13624, which makes us ahead of Japan now. Among the new cases, all were foreign workers in dormitories except for 15 who were Singaporeans or PR. 

There were also 2 imported cases from Singaporeans who were on SHN since April 10 which means it has been more than 14 days but the virus is still alive inside them?! So does that means that ppl in quarantine after 14 days are still positive for the virus? Then, in this case this circuit breaker might be extended again if the govt wants to make v sure it’s safe again? There are still many questions and mysteries surrounding this virus and WHO recently just announced that ppl who caught this virus may get it again so it does not mean that if one get this, u are immune to it. Oh dear...

Day 18-19

Yesterday, we have crossed the 12000 benchmark by another 897 new cases, bringing the total to 12075. Today, another 618 cases was reported which brings the total to date to 12693, think we are just behind Japan now....the reason due to the low numbers being reported could be due to number of testings done as workers who show respiratory symptoms at the severely affected dormitories will be isolated immediately instead of testing them for covid-19 since they are most likely to have it.....so no point wasting the test kits on them anymore? Anyway, the low number of 618 cases reported is not a sign for celebration yet as it’s not indicative of some workers who were not tested. I have a feeling that the worst is yet to come....

Anyway, finally did a video on some of my Japan hauls. 

Check out my YouTube video here

Dinner tonight was homemade kaisendon. Bought salmon sashimi, ikura and scallops from Don Don Donki today and cooked Japanese rice with sushi vinegar. 

Tada~! It was super delicious and yummy. The warm vinegar sushi rice taste so much better with the fresh seafood as compared to store bought kaisendon as their rice was cold. It was the nicest sashimi don I ever had for a long time....😭

Day17

Another 1037 cases bringing the total to 11178.....which means we have overtaken Korea in the number of positive covid-19 cases! Total death stands at 12. Comparing between us and Korea, our death rates are vastly different. To date, South Korea has 10702 cases and 240 deaths.

Day 16

Today marked the crossing of the 10 000 benchmark for positive cases of covid-19 in Singapore, with an increase 1016, bringing the total number to 10 141 and 11 deaths.

Day 15 and extension of CB

Another 1111 cases were reported today around noon, bringing the total to 9125 cases.

At 5pm today, PM Lee will be making a speech online and on TV. Oh dear....something major is coming and indeed, he announced that the circuit breaker will extend by 1 more month to 1 June. Omg....another month!? I thought he will at most extend it by 2 weeks so I was quite shocked to hear it will extend by another month. Stricter measures were also introduced, such as going to the supermarket by one person of the household, and closing of more essential business esp the F&B and introducing restricted entry into markets based on last digit of NRIC...etc

U know what that means? No more Macdonald till 1 June...

Probably goes the same for other fast food or Bubble tea but news of which essential business must closed are not out yet....

Sob.....my bubble tea.....

Day 13-14

Yesterday reported a slightly low number of 596 new cases and today around 3pm, another new daily record high of 1426. As usual, majority of them are foreign workers in dormitories. This brings our total cases to 8014 and 11 deaths in total, to date. We have already exceeded Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines, and is currently the highest in SEA. 

Day 12

Another new daily record high of 942! News broke out early around 4pm today. To date, Singapore has 5992 cases and 11 deaths. We have also surpassed our neighbor, Malaysia. Think our numbers may soon be the highest in the whole of South East Asian soon....

Day 11 of circuit breaker

Yesterday night there was a new record high of 728 cases reported and Singapore crossed the 4000 mark. Today around evening time, we crossed the 5000 mark by an increase of 623. So far, the death remains at 10.

Most of the cases were linked to foreign workers dormitories again. 

Stay home activity

Bought this Rilakkuma toy during my trip to Japan in Jan this year.

Finally got the time to play with it during this covid-19 stay home thing. It’s quite similar to the Gundam toy where u need to assemble it urself.

The heads, arms and legs are all movable joints. Quite easy to assemble as the instruction was v clear and full of pictures.

Forgot to take a pic at the beginning. This is what it looks like after making it.

Don’t remember it being sold in Singapore, even in Japan, it’s quite rare also. The company making this is called Fujimi. Missed going to Japan....think I am v lucky to be able to go Japan this year just before this covid-19 apocalyptic thing started. God knows when will anyone be able to travel again ever....

My trip to Taiwan in Mar/April which I had planned months and months beforehand has been cancelled due to this covid. Now, I can’t plan for any trips at least not for this year and probably next year....everything is so unpredictable now with new rules and regulations popping up every few days, breaking news every 2-3 days....

For me, i can only live one day at a time. Coz nobody knows what will happens tmr...juz have to take it one step at a time.

Day 9-10 of circuit breaker

Yesterday night, there was another high record daily increase of 447 cases of which the majority 404 were linked to foreign workers in dormitories. 

The remaining 38 cases were local community and unlinked. To date, there are now 3699 cases and 10 deaths.

Besides the mandatory law to wear a mask the moment u step out of the house, it’s also required to wear a mask at the workplace!? 

What!? Imagine wearing a mask for 12 hrs in the workplace! I’m not sure how many ppl are gg to abide by this new rule at my workplace.....let’s wait and see.

Day 8 of circuit breaker

Yesterday saw a record high increase of 386 cases and 1 death. I was shocked at the 300 over increase! Most of them were linked to foreign workers dormitories. And today, the number came v early around 8pm and it’s another 344 new cases, bringing the total to 3252.

I was not expecting Singapore to hit the 3000 mark so fast....

More stricter measures are being introduce almost on a daily basis. It’s now compulsory to wear a mask the moment u stepped out of the house. 

To date, there are now 3252 cases of covid-19 and 10 deaths.

Day 6-7 of circuit breaker

The news came way later than normal yesterday. We waited till abt 11.30pm and still no news. Finally, at around 12.15am, the news reported 233 new infections including 7 new clusters, bringing the total case to 2532.

There were no imported case this time but with 167 unlinked cases. So many! I notice most of the unlinked cases were Indians, probably spread from the foreign workers dormitories. 

As I’m working in the essential service, I have to go to work today but thanks to hubby’s personal chauffeur service, I dun need to stand in the packed first train of the day. One more day of work before resting for 2 days.

5th day of Circuit breaker

At the end of the 5th day, there was an increase of 191 new cases of covid-19 and 1 more death, bringing the total to 2299 cases and 8 deaths.

What was alarming was the number of unlinked cases-119! The number of unlinked cases had jumped so much in such a short time....omg....it just means that are widespread covid transmission in the community now. It is so scary...

And also, the govt has rolled out more and more measures to enhance safe distancing such as making it compulsory to wear masks in public transport and markets, closing of all beaches, and making all foreign domestic workers to stay at home on their rest days. There will also be no more warnings given to first time offenders and a fine of $300 will be given immediately as there are too many ppl who simply dun take this circuit breaker seriously.

I’m just thinking, it just a matter of time before all

eateries are closed and only 1 member of the household can go out for groceries.

Easter Day-Day 4 of circuit breaker.

Managed to complete this 300 pieces jigsaw puzzle that I bought from Japan a long time ago and gave up doing. 

Took me a few days to complete this. To be able to complete something which I had thought was impossible and gave up long ago, felt truly satisfying. Seriously, I would never have completed it if not for the circuit breaker currently in place. 

Yesterday night saw an increase of 198 cases and 1 more death from a 86 years old woman. 

5 workers dorms are being declared as isolation areas meaning, the workers living there are not allowed to leave the dorms for 14 days. 

More and more ppl are wearing masks in public. It’s now compulsory to wear a mask at some places such as markets or NTUC. My colleague was scolded on the train by SMRT staff for not wearing a mask.

Parents are not allowed to drop children off daily at grandparents’ places, open air stadium to closed and many more measures are being rolled up as people continue to ignore and flout safe distancing measures.

Nowadays, I only went out to buy lunch or dinner or to get groceries and to walk the dog.

Day 3 of circuit breaker

Today is the 3rd day of CB and my second 12 hrs shift. Won’t be going to work until next Monday. Yes, I actually prefer this working schedule of work 2 days and rest 2 or 3 days as it makes the workweek seems shorter compared to the usual 5 days workweek.

Last night before I slept, the news came and reported an increase of 142 new covid cases, a new daily high record. Today around 9pm, the news reported another new daily high record of 287 new cases, mostly from the foreign workers dormitories. 

To date, Singapore now has a 1910 case and 6 deaths. Omg, the numbers are increasing at such alarming rate!

Day 2 of circuit breaker

Today is the second day of the circuit breaker which is like a soft lockdown. Starting today, all schools will be switch to home based online learning. This applies to primary, secondary, JC and all higher education institutions. 

As my work schedule has been changed to 12 hrs shift now due to the new BCP plan, meaning I work 12 hrs each for 2 days then rest 2 or 3 days. It’s ok with me just that I need to wake up earlier at 5.10am and catch the first train at Buangkok station at 5.46am and reached my workplace before 6.30am. 

If you thought the first train will be quite empty, you are wrong! 
It’s considered crowded....not possible to have social distancing as the auntie sitting next to me kept dozing off and leaning her head towards me.....

More ppl are wearing masks on the train now. Yesterday, the numbers of new infection came out pretty late around 11.30pm...the new daily increase of positive covid-19 cases is now around 100 on average.

To date,  there are now 1481 covid-19 cases in Singapore, up by 106 from yesterday.

First day of “circuit breaker” in Singapore

Today marks the start of the 1 month closure for all non-essential business. Eateries can only be opened for delivery or takeaway. However, the govt gave us 3 days notice ahead of this closure so I’m still able to get some last minute stuffs such as undergarments from Uniqlo, shampoo from Innisfree and some misc items from Diaso and Japan Home. For the past 2 days, I have been gg out to eat some food which was impossible to tabao or not nice if tabao, such as baked rice from Swenson, pepper lunch and fish charcoal steamboat etc...it felt like I’m eating my last meal...so sad. It’s only when things are gone that one start to realize how much we took for granted all these little things.

View from my house’s kopitiam. All the seats were removed as food can only be takeaway. There are also social distancing measures when ordering food such as keeping 1 meter apart. The pawnshop, Nippon Home, Baleno and a bakery shop was closed. 

Essential business such as supermarkets, Guardian, convenience store, optical stores were opened. Hair salons can be opened if they only offered basic haircut.

So, no hair dye or treatment allowed.

To date now, Singapore has 1375 cases and 6 deaths from covid-19.