October 2007 Archives

Did a commercial shoot for Cooper Vision and had a really good time! They made me up like Lara Croft/Resident Evil kinda action babe and had to slowly get into the role! Luckily the Art Director and photographer were all very nice and helped me gain that tough chick confidence! Also feels great to play a role that you aren't in your everyday life... What made the shoot a whole lot more interesting was that I wasn't the STAR! It was the SCORPION! Yes, a live scorpion with it's sting still intact. It was the lead! *haha*

I really wanted to have the scorpion resting on my hand to take a photo with it! But its handler wasn't too keen with my idea! I wonder why...He did say that he didn't want to be in the headlines when Ms S'pore gets stung by a scorpion! Just thought that it'll be really cool to hold a scorpion at least once in your life! Oh well... another time I guess.

I just continued to enjoy my time playing this ass-kicking hot chick Bond girl/Lara Croft kinda uber babe! How many girlfriends of mine can say that they had a gun holster strapped to their thigh??? I just hope I managed to carry off that image well! We'll wait and see! The ad campaign should start in late November! So excited to see the final product. Can't wait!

Love,
Jess

Finale Group Photo with Crew

I've been getting numerous requests for this recipe by friends and family. So I decided to share this with the rest of the world! Happy cooking!

Recipe for Tiramisu

 

500g of Mascarpone Cheese

4 eggs (yolks & whites separated)

4 tablespoons of sugar

4 tablespoons of Rum/Cognac

4 tablespoons of milk

1 cup black coffee

Cocoa powder (to sprinkle when finished)

 

§        Mix milk, coffee, 2 tablespoons of sugar & 2 tablespoons of rum/cognac in a large bowl

§        Soak 24 lady fingers or sponge cake in the above mixture

§        Layer a rectangular glass/aluminum foil pan with 12 of the soaked lady fingers

§        Whip egg yolks & 4 tablespoons of sugar. Add mascarpone cheese & 2 tablespoons of rum/cognac. Mix together well.

§        Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form, and then fold into the mascarpone cheese mixture.

§        Spread half the mixture on the soaked lady fingers. Layer the other 12 lady fingers and cover with the remaining mascarpone cheese mixture. Be sure the mixture is spread evenly in each layer.

§        Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (But I recommend chilling it overnight). Just before serving, sprinkle generously with cocoa powder.

 

I do my own little improvisations from this recipe, so see how creative you can do it yourself! :)

Had a photo shoot yesterday for Singapura Finance and the art director decided to give me poodle hair! I think it's my face... lately, people have decided that I look good in really volumous hair just like the HIV Fashion Shares campaign! Even the shoot I did for Mosche Salon gave me big hair! *haha*

The make up artist said "Luckily, you don't have a face to look like a poodle!" funny...  Anyway, Had lotsa fun shooting cos I did it with this other girl whom we are supposedly "shopping kakis" and just had to look very happy walking around!

Keep a look out for their ad real soon! Hope it turns out good! ;P

Joey & I was invited down to the Citispa D&D yesterday to be a guest judge for their Beauty Perfection finals. It was my very 1st time being a judge! So I was excited and also didn't really know what to do! Haha... But of course I'd to act competent n looked like I knew what I was doing! :P

I was also asked on stage for a brief interview with Brian Wong N Michelle Chia! When I was on stage, I simply can't stop looking (tried not to stare) at Michelle Chia cos she's SooOOoOooOo pretty in person! Which made me a little nervous... I diverted my attention to Brian Wong instead so that I won't start drooling at her and loose my cool on stage! Doesn't help that there was a camera pointing at me and lotsa peeps at the dinner table! Must "bao chi xing xiang!"

It was a quick judging, and the rest of the night we were entertained by extremely skillful ballroom dancers! Probably all friends of Citispa's "yuan zhang" cos she's an avid ballroom dancer herself!

What made me happiest last night was actually the time spent with Joey catching up cos I've not seen her for at least 1.5 months! Honestly, I really missed the MSU days during rehearsals n all of us spent loads of time together building our "rara sisterhood!" And they were all so sweet to surprise me a birthday cake to celebrate my birthday on the Finals itself! Good thing is that we still try to put in some effort to organise gatherings n meet ups! :)

I miss you girls!

Today's a friend's birthday, so we decided to be fun and celebrate it at Singapore Zoo! It's been many years since all of us went there. Not surprisingly, the Zoo changed! Almost everything looked different to me.... The last I went there was about 4 years ago and now it's a totally new, face-lifted ZOO! I must say, Singapore does invest a lot to keep not only the tourists but locals going back!

These were at the entrance of the Zoo - Macaws & Cotton Tailed Tamarind (the latter is really cute and is unafraid of humans cos we were extremely close to take photos of it) I managed to capture a picture perfect moment of the tamarind yawning and showing it's cute lil fangs! *hee*

Isn't it simply adorable!










Enjoy my very first attempt at animal photography!

Jaguar
"Who says cats don't like water"

Jaguar Eating
...and they fish too

Butterfly
"You know I used to look like a caterpillar before my makeover"

Crocodile!!!
"*chomp* ...where's that fish...maybe I will settle for the jaguar!"

Majestic White Tigers
"I know..I know..I look a little pale today"

Zebra crossing or White Tiger Crossing?

These are the infamous Meerkats you always see on Animal Planet. The males take turns to have "sentry" duty so that the whole colony is safe from predators! Even if they're inside a Zoo! How cute and diligent.....

Remember I was talking about my dog which unfortunately passed away last year? I met this other darling during the World Animal Day weekend and she's also named Penny! Sucha coincidence! What's more interesting is that both Penny's I know suffered similar fates.....

My dog was an abandoned dog that my friend picked up in Pasir Ris area in 2001. When my friend found her, Penny was dirty, skinny and was very scared of everything around her. Immediately my friend called me up to ask if I would like to adopt her knowing that I love animals to the core. I really wanted to adopt her but I was afraid my parents would disapprove. (My dad is not as fond as animals as I am) But I still went to my friend's place to pick her up because my friend really couldn't house her.

I still remember so so clearly the very first time I saw Penny, she immediately ran up to me and started jumping on me as if she knew I was going to be her new owner! It was really love at first sight. The first few days in my house Penny would religiously wake me up around 8am by running upstairs to my room and scratching on my door. (I think she did that cos I was her only friend and she wanted to tell me she needed to go outside for the toilet and "I'm hungry!")

Anyway, as usual I brought her to the vet to check up and found out that one of her eyes was almost semi-blind from cataract. (Must be her callous former owners) And my dad who initially said I could keep her here for a few days only till we find her a new home, starting liking her more and more each day because she's really a sweet little thing! Yes, we kept her till she passed on 5 years later from a tragic accident just by my doorstep. *sob* :( Thinking about her still brings tears to my eyes as I miss her so dearly....

And this other Penny in the picture is a rescued puppy from a puppy farm. She now belongs to ACRES president Louis. Penny was born with defective hind legs (we suspect it's a genetic defect due to too many in breedings) and was about to be put down by the farm. Louis got news about her and quickly went to the farm to rescue her. Now, 2 years later, though her hind legs are not properly formed, Penny can still run around like a normal dog without any external help! And just like my Penny, she warms up to people very easily and she's extremely "manja"!

SO..... Don't buy puppies from puppy farms or pet shops!! They actually kill all those little puppies once they're too big to sell are just aren't cute enough! Just like any business, once something has little/no value to it, it is disposed of. So the same theory applies to these poor animals! If you're looking for a dog/cat/any pet, be responsible and adopt one from SPCA instead! They get tons of unwanted/abandoned pets everyday that is waiting to find a new home!

Since I've not cooked for the longest time, I've been yearning to find some time to cook & some willing friends aka guinea pigs to dare to try my cooking! (dunno why somehow I give people the impression I'm hopeless in the kitchen)

I remember I saw this recipe on Ready Steady Cook when it was aired in Manchester and really wanted to try it out at home! Finally I can! haha.... BUT, when I went online to search for the recipe they didn't have it! :( So adventurous lil me went to innovate my very own Dijon Mustard Chicken Breast recipe! (Bet if my friends knew they would've backed out immediately)

Luckily, it turned out wonderful! the chicken breasts were nice and juicy with lotsa flavour, not to say extremely unique!

Heehee.... served it with a side of my famous creamed mushrooms, sauteed onions and japanese salad. And of course I ended off the sumptuous dinner with my speciality - Tiramisu!!!! Yummm...





Here's my recipe:

Mustard Stuffing:

• 4 TB of Dijon mustard
• 3 teaspoons whole mustard seeds in cider vinegar
• 2 TB of Mayonnaise
  
• 2 TB of butter (softened)
• 1 teaspoon of chopped garlic

4 whole chicken breasts with skin

How to prepare:

1. Cream all the ingredients of the mustard stuffing together until well mixed
2. Use your finger and make a little pocket under the chicken skin
3. Put a spoonful of stuffing into the pocket until it filled and bulges out like a pillow
4. Coat a large rectangular Pyrex dish with olive oil
   
5. Place chicken breasts onto a large rectangular pyrex dish with skin facing upwards
   
6. Sprinkle salt, ground black pepper and some mixed herbs over the chicken
7. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees celsius for 30min.

I befriended this lovely Siberian Husky last week during a shoot! The doggie's a model too! Her name is Sophie... Such a beautiful name...

She's extremely friendly, kept licking me and playing with anyone who walks by. How I wished I could have a husky at home. *hee* That's really my dream dog to have but not in Singapore cos I still think the weather's way too hot for them and it's not their natural environment to be in. I just love DOGS!

Speaking about dogs... I really miss my Shih Tzu, Penny, that passed away over a year ago. *sigh* She was really the sweetest dog ever! Don't know how anyone could've abandoned her n left her running around with one eye blind! Had her for 5 years and she just loved my family unconditionally. Penny I MISS U!