Who knew Baumkuchen can look so pretty?! If you haven't heard of Baumkuchen, it's basically a kind of cake that's famous in Japan!
What you probably didn't know is that Baumkuchen is actually a traditional German cake and was brought to Japan by a German couple, Karl and Elise Juchheim back in the 1900s!
Fast forward to today, Juchheim is now an established confectionery brand that sells quality & delectable Baumkuchen, biscuits and more & they've recently launched some really unique cakes!
I paid a visit to their store at Takashimaya during their launch to check out some of the products they were selling and I couldn't help but notice how pretty some of the Baumkuchen are! To be honest, I even questioned if the Baumkuchen on display was actually edible (they are)!
The pretty confectionery that you see above is called Jewellery Baum, a kind of Baumkuchen created by Juchheim that fuses Baumkuchen and vegetable gelatin (or agar agar as we know it) topped with dried fruits and matcha/coffee jelly cubes to get this pretty delicacy you see here!
Their Jewellery Baum comes in five different flavours, Berries, Mango, Orange, Matcha and Coffee and it’s only $3 for one!
It looks a lot like egg tarts but the taste is completely unique. The softness of the cake paired with the jelly makes a refreshing combination!
My personal favourite is the berries one cause it goes really well with the sweet cake! Kind of like strawberry jam and cake!
Aside from the Jewellery Baum, another that caught my attention was their adorable Manekineko or Lucky Cat Baum!
In German Tradition, the Baumkuchen is a symbol of happiness, prosperity and longevity because of the resemblance it has to tree rings.
The Lucky Cat (Manekineko) Baum has 8 layers of which, the number "8" is said to be a lucky number to both the Japanese and Chinese. The lucky cat with its paws raised is also said to attract wealth and customer which makes it a perfect congratulatory gift for someone who's just launched a business! It’s also quite affordably priced at $23.80 for one Lucky
Cat Baum!
Cat Baum!
It even comes with an adorable packaging with printings on the inside wishing the recipient happiness and longevity! Shane loved the Lucky Cat Baum cause of it's extremely soft and moist texture. And to be honest, even I quite like it - coming from someone who doesn't fancy cakes!
It's not like your typical sponge cake, it has a denser texture and it's made layer by layer much like Kueh Lapis but better cause they don't use oil at all!
If you're intending to try their Baumkuchen yourself, you can head on down to the Takashimaya Food Hall! I must say, their chocolate coated Baumkuchen and biscuits all look so damn good too!
Juchheim
Takashimaya Singapore
391 Orchard Road Singapore 238873
Singapore Takashimaya B2 205 3-1
Tel: +65 6733-1556
Last Saturday while at her grandma’s place, the kids were playing with flour and eggs.
Me: “OMGGG, it’s soooo messy!!”
Shane: “That’s why you’ll never get to do this at home!”
Kylie: *nonchalantly* “But we still do it anyway. It’s fun! And it’s worth the punishment.”
Me: “WORTH THE PUNISHMENT?!?!?!?!”
Shane: *in stitches laughing at her smart mouth*
Guess I don’t really need to teach her about taking calculated risks, she’s got it all figured out! Worth the punishment eh!
I’m really excited to announce that the salon I’ve been frequenting for the past two years, has a spanking new outlet at Boat Quay! It’s located right in the heart of the Central Business District so those of you who are working in the CBD can drop by during lunch or after work for a quick fix or two!
#conversationswithkylie - Our hearts break for them
By Esther Rachel Lai. - 4/24/2018
While sending Kylie to school today, I decided to talk about the recent number of fatal traffic accidents in hopes that she’ll be more careful too when crossing the roads with my helper when I’m not around. Our conversation went a little like this:*As we were out of the house I noticed she heeded my advice last night to not use her scooter to scoot to school*
Me: “Oh! You listened! Thank you for not riding your scooter to school today. There’s been a lot of traffic accident recently you know...a lorry ploughed through three people while they were crossing the road.”
Kylie: “Then what happened?”
Me: “They all died. All 3 of them.”
*midway through telling her about another accident*
Kylie; “Oh no, please don’t tell me about what happened to them. I will cry. I feel so sorry for the people. I will be very sad.”
Me: “Okay, but you must be extra careful okay?”
Her emotional sensitivity still astounds me even till today. Really thankful for such a sensible and big-hearted girl. Our hearts really go out to all the familes of the victims of the recent road accidents 💕
Stay safe & drive safe guys!
Since Megan’s been talking a whole lot now, I’ve decided to pen down and remember my conversations with her just like I’ve been doing with Kylie!
Just a few minutes earlier as Shane was saying bye cause he was leaving for work (even though it’s 8pm and he’s on leave today *sulks*), I gave Megan a pouty face and pointed towards Shane, signalling to her that I was sad he was leaving, to which, she looked at Shane, pointed her finger and said,
“YOU ARE VERY NAUGHTY, DADDY!”
Shane: “WHATTT?! Go work also wrong!”
Megan: *goes up to him, holds his hand and in the sweetest voice,* “daddy...you cannot go work...mommy sad” then looks at me and passes his hand to me.
I live for moments like this <3
It's been almost two months since Shane and I moved into our own home and we've more or less settled in though we've still some loose ends to tie up (e.g. curtains for the hall, storage for the kids' room and a bit of decor here and there) but other than that, I'm really proud to say that our home's completely done now and we're loving every bit of it! Before I start elaborating more, I would just like to thank my uncle who's also my ID because he saw through the whole process for us from beginning till what it is now and helped make my home a dream come true! If you're thinking of someone to engage, you can look for B.K from Design Eternity (Office no.: 6457 2341 email: debktan@yahoo.com.sg)! He owns the company and has been doing this for more than a decade already so rest assure that your home will be in good hands!
Now, being a designer myself (albeit my field is in graphics/multimedia and not interior), I have always knew that I was gonna sort of design my home myself because only I knew exactly what I envisioned in my head and I'm really glad that my uncle could help me execute what I had envisioned so perfectly! And because I'm no interior designer, all I did was tell him what I wanted, what style and layout I was looking for and he did the rest! All the measurements of what should go where, how the cabinets should look like, layout, some really good design advices etc.! So without further ado, may I invite you on a little tour in my humble abode!
The Living Space
Prior to doing in-depth research, I always thought I'd go for the Scandinavian look because a year or two ago, that was quite the design trend. But then when I actually visited a Scandinavian-style home, I realised that although the all-white and pine wood looked good in pictures, the home lacked "character", it just looked like...a home but that's about it. It somehow felt a little empty and bare to me. So I began searching for even more references and found another trending design, the Industrial look. I have to admit, I was wowed by cement screed floorings and the use of dark black and bold metal! I was very inclined to design my house that way until I thought deeper and came to realise that although the Industrial style interior design might look nice now because it's trending, it might become dated after maybe 5 or 10 years, and knowing that we have no plans to move, I probably shouldn't design my house based on a current trend. Moreover, I might get sick of coming home everyday to a dull, industrial looking home after work.
That's when I stumbled across another interior style that's lesser known and very much similar to the Airbnb we stayed in during the second half of our honeymoon in London - The Uptown Manhattan look!
I think some of these tips are not just applicable for BTO home owners but are quite relevant for those who are soon-to-be owners of ECs, DBSS and Resale Flats as well, so I really hope this post will help!
Consider where the Sun sets!
What does our solar system have to do with the flat you choose, I hear you say? Well, unless you enjoy living in a microwave, one thing to consider is whether your flat is facing the afternoon/evening sun! Given Singapore’s insane heat (sans the recent abnormally cold weather), choosing a unit where the afternoon/evening sun directly hits your flat might not be a good idea. The morning sun however, is perfectly fine cause it’s generally a lot cooler and less humid in the mornings. That being said, it’s also good to have a bit of afternoon sun facing your service yard so that your laundry can dry better. To check how the sunlight will affect your desired unit of choice, you don't have to sit there the entire day and stare at your half-developed future home. All you need is your estate's floor plan and know that the sun rises in the East and sets in the West! Alternatively, there’s also something called a “Sun calculator” which you can probably Google more about. For us, our aunt simply used the floorplan to gauge -it’s really not rocket science.
Does noise bother you?
If you’re a light sleeper like me, noise might be one of your biggest concerns when it comes to selecting your flat so if you can, avoid selecting a unit that’s directly facing or above these places:
- Main roads (noise from motorcycles, buses etc.)
- Multi-storey carparks (think: screeching tyres)
- Multi-purpose halls / Pavillions / Auditoriums (people usually hold funerals/weddings there)
Higher unit = higher price
A lot of people aspire to live in high units because of the view and breeze they get but what I’ve noticed from many conversations I've had with different people is that a lot of people don’t know that with every level or every alternate level increase, it’s an additional cost of a few thousands. I’m not sure what the exact cost is and I think it differs from estate to estate but for my estate (if I remember correctly), it was an additional of about $4000 for every 2 levels (e.g. Level 4 would cost $4000 more than level 2, and level 6 $8000 more than level 2 & so on). That being said, while opting for a lower unit is more wallet-friendly, it might cause some inconvenience if you have inconsiderate neighbours who like to throw litter out of their windows (especially if you have a balcony) or in resale flats, you might have to put up with dripping laundry.
Balcony or not?
(Image credit: @grantlemons)
Speaking of balcony, having a balcony can really enhance the look of your apartment but before you jump right in, it's crucial to find out if your balcony is an internal or external balcony. Internal balconies mean that if you look up from the outside, the building is completely flushed and the balcony is not protruding out. Internal balconies tend to eat into your apartment's internal space, leaving you with a smaller living area.
Your home's privacy
(Image credit:@te3pot)
The thing about new flats these days is that most of the units are built very closely facing each other with some service yards literally just a climb away into the next unit's service yard so do take a closer look at your floor plan to select a flat which is more decently "spaced out". Apart from that, another thing to consider is how far away from the lift your unit will be. If your unit is the first right after the lift landing, then you can expect having many neighbours walk past your unit to get to theirs and even peering into your unit as they do. Corner flats are generally a good option in this case because they're right at the end of the block, which means you'll have minimal strangers / neighbours walking past your unit. A lot of BTOs now have roof gardens on certain levels as well and if you're not a fan of seeing strangers / neighbours from other levels coming in and out of your unit's level, then try to choose a flat that's one or two levels above/below the roof garden.
Where the rubbish chute's located
(Image credit:@gary_at_unsplash)
Shortlist more than one unit
(Image credit:@craftedbygc)
At the end of the day, there’s bound to be some give and take to the flat you choose, especially if your queue number isn’t the most ideal. So it’s important for you to list down a few units of your choice in order of preference before your appointment date. Shane and I shortlisted about 15 units, of which, 80% of our preferred unit was snagged up before our appointment date and we were left with only 2 or 3 of our shortlisted units (eventhough we had a relatively good queue number of 400+/1400++). To be safe, your list should include options that you don’t think would be the “most popular” choice as well. To see if you stand a good chance in getting the unit you like, prior to your appointment, you can also check out the myHDB portal to see which units have already been taken, strike those out from your list, and shortlist more if need be.
The design of your home you envision to have
Adding this last point in which I left out previously but another one of the major things I took into consideration was the layout of the flat itself. If you have certain ideas on what you want your home to look like, this could be a very crucial factor. For me, I initially wanted to hack the walls of our master bedroom toilet to create an open concept toilet. Some of the units that were available for our selection had an undesirable layout for what I wanted to do. While you may or may not proceed with the idea come renovation time, I think it’s good to factor those ideas in first so when the day comes and you choose to go ahead with your initial idea, you won’t be disappointed just because your flat’s layout restricts you.
& that’s pretty much all the tips I have for you when it comes to selecting your unit! I think unless you have the good fortune of getting a really good queue number (like first few), the odds of getting your top choice is quite unlikely so manage your expectations, be realistic and remember that you can’t always have your cake and eat it too! It’s okay not to have the most perfect house, what matters more is the home that you will build in the coming years! :)
