white truffles

a journal of daily inspirations, musings, devotions, cooking, motherhood etc, etc, etc... 

I love amazonkindle!

I'm not the sort who likes the idea of Reading ebooks. But I'm surprised to find myself enjoying Reading from the amazonkindle!
My mister recently purchased this from the states and I'm impressed by this product.
He reads alot and calculated that it'll save him more money in the long term.
Moreover this makes bringing several bks possible when we r traveling!
It's light, slim and chic like apple products.
There is absolutely no light being emitted. Hence no reflection. The reading experience is the same as Reading from a book minus the flipping of pages. U can even read under direct sunlight!
The ability to purchase almost any book in electronic form from amazon.com makes this gadget a good buy.
The real thing looks better from the web!
Thank god!
 
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Truffles in the kitchen:

Grilled fish on roasted tomatoes and apples:

Ingredients:
800g of red grouper fillet or any kind of White fish
Two sprigs of rosemary
3 cloves of garlic crushed
A bit of grated ginger
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
 
Method:
Marinate fish with all the ingredients for at least 30 mins using cling wrap
Then pan fry on non stick pan to seal the meat and charred the skin of fish little without cooking the fish thoroughly over high heat
Lay the fish on top of the roasted tomatoes and apples and grill in preheated oven for 3 to 5mins or till the skin crisp.
Take the fish out of oven once cooked through and cool the oven a little before putting the dish back cover lightly with tin foil to keep warm if not serving immediately.
 
 
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Truffles in the kitchen:

Roasted cherry tomatoes and apples

Ingredients for 4 adult servings: a bag of cherry tomatoes, a handful of roughly torn basil leaves rinsed and lightly crushed, 1 medium sweet onion sliced lengthwise, 2 tbsp of olive oil, salt and black peppercorn, a dash of sugar (optional), 1 green apple, 1 red apple, (depends on what's in your fridge) 3 cloves of garlic crushed with skin on method: toss everything together and roast for abt 30 mins at 160 degrees or till the tomatoes start wrinkling
 
 
 
 
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activities on nikkio

snorkeling, wind surfing, kayaking and any non motorised sea sports are free.

building sand castle is also free.
sunset is beautiful! 
water is clear.
the beach is littered with corals and sea shells.
we saw lots of fishes and hermit crabs and one small jelly fish!!!
you can also go trekking for free.
or pay some money for spa and massage.
or sit by the pool and sea for a good read!

                           

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our room and meals at nikkio island...

all the rooms or villas here have amazing sea and beach view.

we had a two bedroom villa with two huts and common area below the master bedroom, with a swing bed and a pavilion.
single room villas look similar, with no connecting hut and additional toilet.

each meal usually comes with an appetizer, main course and dessert.

                         

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on nikkio island

if you need to do nothing, relax and catch up with sleep, have some quiet, this is the place to go.

cheaper than bintan banyan tree and maldives!!!
at least my husband was able to feel so relax that he could take two naps in the day and still sleep in the night!

there is no internet or phones on this island.
if you bring your own iphone or laptops you can access internet at the hotel bar where there is free wifi.
no phones in the rooms!
so if you need anything, you got to walk to the counter to ask for more water, or change of towels.
this place is supposed to be eco friendly, so they don't change your towels unless you ask them to.
they also don't use any form of plastic bags or plastic bottles.
hence refillable glass bottles were used to fill up drinking water.
even the villas are all built from wood and almost everywhere is sandy!
above all, there is no air-conditioning.
but on top of every bed there is a ceiling fan and mosquito net.
surprisingly, it's very cooling and we all did not have problem sleeping in the night, with the wide ocean right before us!

there are only 13 villas on this private island at the moment. (you can book the entire island if you want to have a big big party!)
there is a hill on the island and most part of the island is untouched or not developed (conserved)
lots of nature so be prepared for mosquito, ants, flies and crickets!

as for food, there is only one menu.
you just gotta eat whatever they serve.
but don't worry it's simple but tasty food.
there is separate menu for kids too.

it was a great holiday for us and we think it's good for our kids who are so used to the city life!
they really enjoyed it.
they didn't feel that the place was dirty, or too rustic or too uncomfortable with sand, trees, woody furniture and insects everywhere.
in fact they were very adventurous and active.
good thing that i got use to it after a while too and was able to sit back and relax.

good place to chill out.
even my kids knew how to do it! ;0

                 

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journey to nikkio island

journey to nikkio island was pretty tiring especially when i slept really late the night before!

we need to take a 45 mins ferry from singapore to bintan,
followed by a 45 mins car ride, which went up and down and round the hills!
i suffered from carsickness while my children slept throughout!
however, it was quite a scenic ride and we got a glimpse of the lives of the locals while we drove through a few villages.
after the car ride we had to take another 30mins boat ride followed by a speed boat to nikkio island!
but the feeling was good generally.
while approaching the island, we felt as if we were approaching a paradise island!
the view of nikkio island's beach from the boat was very beautiful!

         

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I'm back!

Sunset at nikkoi island, indonesia

It was a very relaxing trip generally except that I took one day to get use to the very rustic, kampong, full of nature environment!
It also took us city dwellers quite a while to learn how to do nothing and live without Internet but just books n nature.
Will write more about this beautiful private island near bintan tomorrow as I'm so tired out from travelling by sea and relatively long car ride.
 
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will be going for a beach holiday here!

will be back on friday!
see ya!

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Happy birthday!

It was my birthday and also teachers' day. Baked myself a very berry pizza but the crust turned out to taste more like a tart! Well thankfully it tasted good still!
On top of that I was very touched to receive many well wishes from my friends and family. the best came from a student I taught abt 6 years ago!
When I first met him he was not doing well in his studies and had lots of disciplinary issues due to some family problems. But I was so glad to find out that he hasn't dropped out from school and is now in polytechnics.
May all the teachers out there not give up on bringing out the best in every child!
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