Homemade yogurt

During our Korea trip, 1 of the morning we had breakfast at a hotel that served fresh strawberry yogurt. Not those individual can that we buy from supermarkets. It was served in a big bowl like soup, with toppings like almonds and nuts. I had it with pieces of fresh oranges.

After coming back home, I miss the fresh yogurt. I then searched for the recipe on the net, surprisingly it's so easy! The only thing I needed to buy was a food thermometer.

I reused a spaghetti sauce glass bottle for measuring the amount of milk I need and to store my yogurt. I do not have a heating pad, I wrapped the bottle of warm milk + yogurt starter with towels, then put inside a food warmer bag and left it at a corner in my kitchen.

I didn't want it to be too sour, so I left it for about 9 hours (overnight). I woke up in the morning, sliced some strawberries, mixed it in the yogurt, and placed it in the fridge.



Homemade yogurt is not as thick as the commercial ones. It tastes great with the appropriate sourness yet feels so fresh especially to eat it with (lots of) fresh fruits.

BREATHS, BANDHAS & DRISHTIS workshop with Azmi

The first session of the workshop was mainly theory, and seated breathing practices. It was relaxed yet energizing for a Saturday morning. Ujjayi breathing alone made my body feel warm. Breath is an important part in Yoga - always breath comes first before the pose; inhale to lengthen, exhale to deepen. Long and soft breathing helps in claming and stabalizing the body.

During the short break, we had fruits and vegetables juice for a light refreshment before going into a more physical session of the workshop.

Bandha means inner locks. Locks of energy in different parts of the body to acquire strength for more challenging poses. I still can't differentiate the feeling whether it's 'locking' or squeezing these parts, though squeezing the muscles seems like giving me the results that I wanted.

More than 1 hour of asanas in exploring different Bandhas, then we proceeded to the Drishtis session. It was a short 15 mins or so Sun Salutations and some Vinyasa poses emphasizing on our Drishtis.

It was a very 'Ashtanga'ish workshop, tiring to me. I skipped the last few Vinyasas and came straight to Downward Facing Dog. The most beneficial part is about breathing, learning to breath right with the poses makes pratices more joyful and enjoyable.

Waiting for Part II workshop.

Cupcakes with orange cream cheese frosting

I found the best simplest cupcake recipe (I added vanilla extract but not baking powder). The texture and taste are both great!

There're left-over oranges in the fridge, so I thought of making some orange flavoured frosting.

I used the frosting recipe here, with some modifications. I used the whole block of PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese (which is 250g), fresh juice instead of extract, and added the icing sugar to the sweetness I like(around 3/4 cup).

Chocolate chips cookies

After finishing a packet of Famous Amos, I felt like baking some chocolate chips cookies. I used the recipe from Joy Baking.



Why the recipe uses un-salted butter and salt? So that we can adjust the saltiness? Anyway, I used salted butter (that's what I have at home) and skipped the salt :p

Humble warrior

Practice to build strength and confidence.
Learn to bow and down to earth.

Banana shake

After a week of eat-and-sit/sleep Korea trip, it's time to cut down on heavy meals. I bought a comb of bananas and a big bottle of fresh milk for dinners.



To make 1 cup of banana shake, I used

1 Banana (around 100gm or slightly more)
150ml fresh milk
1 tablespoon oatmeal

mix and blend for 1 minute.

The best thing of making juice/shakes for dinner - washing is so easy :)

Honeymoon in Korea

We love the weather and scenery there. Mild sunlight with cooling wind blowing on the face was refreshing, but not in the night because it was like needles pricking into the skin. Trees were in mixed colors of green, orange and red. Many places in the outskirt were planted with big cabbages, oranges and paddy, which were ready for harvesting in this season.


Many said food over there is bland and got bored with it after a while, but we enjoyed it till the last day of our trip. Most of the time we had steamboat, with lots of cabbage in the soup and refill-able side-dishes. Meals always served with plain rice - Korean rice which are fat and round similar to Japanense Sushi rice. But I noticed that Korean seldom serve fruits with meals.


Besides sight-seeing, shopping was great in Seoul. The Skin Food outlets were crowded with people as though they were shopping for groceries - getting baskets full of skin products. The streets were busy and lighted up till late at night, and we feel safe walking around. Some shops were opened till 11pm, many people were eating at the roadside stalls which seemed like they just got off from work. Happening yet safe city.


It's definitely a nice place to visit, but it would be more romantic if not going with a tour group - everything wouldn't be in a rush, then would have more time for strolling, snapping photos and shopping!