Angry Birds Cupcakes Decoration Class @ Cookyn Inc

Thanks to Mrs Diane Lai, i was given a rare opportunity to participate in this cupcake decoration class organised by Cookyn with Mervyn!

Rare simply because i don't know how to bake, i don't have the necessary equipment and i don't have the bright, uncluttered kitchen space at home. The above factors mean i would not likely attend such a cooking course.

Unless it's free. :)

I enjoy playing the game Angry Birds on my iPhone; pretty obvious judging from the numerous blog postings on this super popular mobile game!

This obsession fully explains the reason why i am still keen to accept Diane's offer since this session concentrates on the "how" to create cupcakeS with the angry birds theme!

Images of Angry Birds characters were printed on a piece of paper for our reference in the cupcakes decoration. I thought i know the characters well; i am wrong. Dead wrong. This paper was therefore, very helpful to the trainees!

First thing; make the edible glue! Mix freshly squeezed lemon juice with icing powder. Stir vigourously until the consistency turns very thick.

Put it into the frosting bag and you have your glue ready. I find this amazing as i never knew there's such stuff available for food.

The fondant (main ingredient in decoration aka the dough) was fortunately prepared in advance by the trainer. According to her, her virgin try can only be described as frustrating! Definitely not recommended for impatient humans.

Parchment paper with corn flour and icing powder on it to be used with the fondant. Too sticky? Dap a bit of corn flour. Too soft? Use icing powder! Too hard? There's a bowl of water at the side (please don't use too much)!

Bright colours are the elements for most of the characters in angry bird and the trainer started with the main star of the game; the red angry bird!

I had to add in streaks after streaks of red colouring (toothpicks are so handy) and constant kneading before it was finally the "right" colour and "correct" look (it should look matt, not shiny).

Be careful - the colourings stain your palms and fingers! And i had to wash my hands everytime i needed a new colour (this is to prevent smudging).

It is seriously no easy job!

The different coloured balls on my table - looked like plasticine! Eventually, the participants shared what they made since it's really a lot of time and effort to make the various colours.

Using a rolling pin to first flatten the fondant, followed by cutting using the round metal cutter and you will finally get a red, round base to paste on the already-cooked cupcakes. Before putting it on, remember to squeeze the glue to fasten them together.

It's not difficult to make an angry bird! It may not look 100% like the ones in the game but there is usually some similarities.

This is my work! Cute?? The white body ratio is a bit too high although i thought the "fat" look is quite adorable. Change the parchment frequently unless you do not mind seeing speckles of other colours in the fondant you are working on.

My green, evil king pig beside the red bird! After the first try, the second attempt was comparatively much easier. It was still challenging as dexterity has never been one of my strong factors.

Our originally clean, tidy workstation was looking like a disaster zone! Flour was at times flying all around and the annoyance of not getting the details right can get on our nerves!

My ultimate creation. It took me a total of over three hours to decorate four cupcakes! Weirdly, i do feel a sense of achievement that makes these really worth the time and effort.

Six cupcakes were prepared for each participant (i could not manage another two) and i was sharing this aluminum plate with my cousin. Her angry birds' characters were so lovable!

Despite the cuteness, cupcakes are eventually meant to be eaten.

The pig sister chose her nemesis (the red bird) and cruelly bit off the head to pay back what the birds have done to her compatriots.

Alex, on the other hand, was less sympathetic and hungrily devoured the green swine!

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Location

Cookyn Inc, Garden Hub,

60,Jalan Penjara, Magaret Drive

Additional Information

Joking aside, i am now considering if i should take up more cooking courses. Maybe not on baking but something more familiar - like bbq!

The website for Cookyn Inc is http://www.cookyn-inc.com/.

Once again, thanks Diane!!!

Set Lunch (Full Board Package) @ Wangi Melati Cafe (Batam View Beach Resort)

Earlier this morning, i posted an entry on my latest overseas trip to Batam; an island that is merely an hour away from mainland Singapore.

A complimentary lunch was thrown in for our full board package! Meals can be expensive in resorts that cater mostly to Singaporeans and i would not want to face a bill amounting to a few hundred dollars for a single meal.

There are quite a few restaurants in Batam View beach resort and the complimentary meal vouchers can vary from buffets to set meals according to the availability (and i guess to a certain extent, the mood of the receptionist. haha).

Our lunch vouchers were accorded to Wangi Melati Cafe and without further ado, let's start on food now!

Tuna Salad

Pretty presentation that wowed both Alex and I as we were expecting a mish-mash of vegetables and maybe a few teaspoons of tuna.

The goodness stopped at the display. The taste was not impressive and to tell you the truth, i could do a better rendition using cold, crunchy cucumbers.

Onion Soup

This was way too watery and lacked the essential pungent onion flavouring. The taste was slightly more savoury with a bit of stirring but it didn't make my cut of a good bowl of onion soup.

Mee Goreng

Due to the anxiety in meeting our shuttle bus schedule, this was a special order as the western main courses will take too long to prepare! The mee goreng was chosen as Indonesian's version is so different from Singapore and Malaysia.

Good news and bad news. Good news - it was yummy and dripping of fresh ingredients! Bad news - Indonesian mee goreng is sweeter yet this plate here tasted more like a very good mee goreng from the lion city.

Chocolate Brownie

Alex's verdict - Damn delicious!

For me, it was sinfully sweet like any good piece of chocolate cake. And i prefer to rate it against a cake because i don't find much similarity to the brownies i am accustomed to.

Batam View Beach Resort (Batam Island, Indonesia) - Relaxing Getaway!

I was supposed to break my recent batam trip into a few entries and blog them in chronological order.

But i am stuck for the portion on the ferry from Singapore to Batam! Alex, our navy specialist, would be an expert to share with us boring details on ships, structures and landmarks encountered during the water ride.

It's okay. The beach resort is, no matter what, a key attraction for my badly needed overseas relaxation.

To start from the very beginning, i booked a two-days-one-night package with New Century Tours. This is a full board package (meals covered) inclusive of a one night accommodation at Batam View Beach Resort, ferry tickets, land transfer etc.

Hassle-free is the word.

Picking us up from the ferry terminal at Nongsapura was a bright yellow van from the resort. So bright you will never ever miss it! Unless you are colour blind of course.

I should have picked an earlier time for the ferry since i wanted to go for some batam shopping and the only shuttle to Mega Mall - Batam Centre (S$5 per person, two-way) was leaving at 2pm sharp! The time was 1.20pm when we were checking in and we had not utilised the lunch voucher!

There was absolutely no time to take in the condition of the room as both of us rapidly changed and dashed to Wangi Melati cafe to claim our set meal - which i shall touch on at a later date.

Lunch was quickly settled and we boarded another yellow mini-bus for our shuttle to Mega Mall. The ride took almost 30 minutes and i was all sweaty due to the powerless air-conditioning at the back where i am seated.

Mega mall, contrary to its name, is not as big as Suntec City. However, it is huge within the Batam context and does offer a lot of food choices. Fashion wise, you will be better off in Singapore.

Seriously, Alex and I did nothing but partake in leisure eating in Mega Mall. Yes, despite the heavy set lunch we had back at the resort, we could not resist having A&W Root Beer Float, KFC and J.Co Donuts!

Okay, maybe we did spend a bit of time shopping in the hypermarket located at the basement. Grocery management style differs from country to country; i have never seen frozen products like nuggets being sold by the gram except in Batam.

We got back to our hotel room at around 6pm. The above picture is the view from my room. Not many people were at the pool as i deliberately booked for a Monday. I badly needed peace and quiet instead of constant screaming!

The facade was not at its best but it's never the exterior that bothers me. What's most important in a hotel/resort room is comfortability, coziness, cleanliness and with no funny smell.

Our room satisfies all the above conditions! I especially love the balcony and chaise longue. Should have brought along a novel for increased relaxation.

It was too early for dinner. Hm... wrong. We were too full for an early dinner and decided to take a stroll along the private beach (it looks more like a lagoon for me). It will do some good in aiding our digestion for the feast later on!

This private beach owned by the resort is also home to the standalone villas. Frankly, unless i have a big group of friends, i will not want to book it on a weekday. It can get very eerie at night! Haha.

Water sports and aqua activities are organised in this area too (extra charges apply). I have not always been very adventurous when it comes to sea water. Blame it on the movie - JAWS!!!

Less risky activties like looking for crabs, seashells and tiny hermit crabs hidden in the sand are much more preferable. However, do be careful of stonefish buried in the sand - you would not wish to have any slight contact with the most venomous fish in the world!

Time for dinner! To be discussed in detail at a later date. =P

The night was still early after the heavy meal and i competed with Alex on the pool table (S$2 per game). Surprise, surprise, i won the first round! Sadly, i was thrashed terrible (i managed only one ball in the pocket) for the second.

Rise and shine for breakfast buffet. It was a fitful night for me as Alex insisted on keeping the lights on! Apparently this has something to do with ghost encounters. Breakfast was better than the ones i had in Bangkok - seriously, how can breakfast be so bad in those Bangkok hotels i stayed in?

A few hours to spare so it's time for further exploration!

Small animal enclosures dotted the resort; caught sights of iguanas, cockatiels, parakeets, lories, hedgehogs, guinea pigs, chicken, squirrels etc. There's even a small scale crop and scent garden that serves the purpose of education in a family resort!

Thinking the night before was low tide, we trotted back to the private beach again for relaxing feet submersion.

Damn we were wrong.

Super low tide! I could walk out a hundred over meters away from land and the water did not even reach my knee!

The water was super clear and i could make out numerous fish, crabs and a gazillion hermit crabs! Those shit like shadows in the water were in fact the cone shells shielding all the hermit crabs.

Pictures above shall attest to the level of truth of my supposedly exaggeration (gazillion hermit crabs, in case you are wondering)!

A final look before climbing back to our hotel. In the daytime, the villas did look very inviting. Okay, maybe i should consider staying in one of them on a busy weekend.

Incredibly hot weather made this pool appeared very tempting! It was a few years since i last swam (thanks to my obese torso) but i could not resist tearing off my top and torpedoed into the water.

Shiok! How could i forget how much i enjoy the water! Time for some hardcore exercise when i am back to Singapore.

While waiting for checkout, i redeemed my almost forgotten welcome drink - a thirst quenching lychee concoction. Next time, i shall eliminate the shopping trip or book for a 3 days, 2 nights package!

This overseas getaway was definitely too short for me to rejuvenate my mental mana!

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For additional information on the resort, please visit http://www.batamview.com/.

To book your package, please click
http://www.nctoursonline.com/