Butter cake version 2.

I had always loved the fluffy butter cake I made with Mrs NgSK's recipe shared by Wendy here.

Just recently I wanted to make 2 loaves of it. The baking time was reduced. This time I took out a quarter of the sugar used.

Easy and fast low sugar orange olive oil cake.

I made these darlings today, after more than an hour of search high and low all over the Internet.

Because I was bored out of my wits. And the 34 degrees Celsius out there wasn't helping. I dreaded to pass the few hours in the afternoon.

Recipe was adapted from Food Network's Orange Olive Oil Cake. Mine didn't turn out looking anything like the olive oil cake in their picture, which looks deliciously heavenly judging by the fluffy and smooth texture.

The cake bakes fast so if you don't have much time to spare, an hour is sufficient to make this large cake.

Like my previous recipes of the past few months, I used molasses sugar in place of table sugar. I didn't have enough so I compensated with some granulated sugar. The molasses sugar gave the batter an irresistible caramel-like appearance, and the cake came out in a dark orange tone.

I followed some advice in the reviews and used more juice than it was called for. I used self-raising flour to prevent the cake from turning out too flat. Baked the cake for 20 minutes tops!

4D3N Bangkok & Pattaya

2 weeks before Christmas, we hopped on to a trip planned back in October, with a package we signed up for at Matta Fair back then. The riot in Bangkok had just started not so long before the trip, but the situation was still safe enough for us. (Although there were objections to the trip, but hey -)

It was a bit difficult to have complete strangers leading the tour, from a Thailand tour company which our local agency assigned for us.

Language difficulty aside, this was what we did on our first day.

We bunked in at Eastin Makkasan Hotel (highly recommended for its wonderful service, it's like a 5-star experience at a 4-star cost) which was just a few kilometres away from all the major hot spots in Bangkok city. So we decided to make our way to Siam Paragon, but not after the hotel employees told us that the riot will be taking place around the area, and seeing the parade going on for ourselves.

(To be accurate, there was no riot. Just a peaceful protest parade then.)

So we decided to go to the nearer mall (just behind Siam Paragon, actually), Central World Plaza. Its security had tightened. We had to go through metal detectors and get our bags checked prior to entering. They did not stop political protesters from going in, as long as they were harmless.

There were already a few Christmas trees set up.

There was a smaller version of this Ferrero Rocher chocolate model in the mall.

And this super cute tree! The bear will climb up the tree when powered on at night.

After deciding against many restaurants, we finally settled down to eat at McDonald's ... Hilarious decision! But then we got to save ourselves a few bucks from expensive lunches, tried out their pork burger and Thai chilli sauce.

Then we headed back to the hotel just to get information for the next destination.

We took the tuk tuk because we were so worn out from all the walking!

Not long after we're back, we followed the address to Mr Jones' Orphanage in the outskirts of the city. There's a branch right next to Siam Paragon too actually, at Siam Center.

Part of the reason why we're here.

Another tree - made of soft toys and desserts!

All of them were so appealing ... we girls had a hard time choosing!

We went for passion fruit cake, red velvet, Oreo meringue pie, macarons and crème brûlée. You may not be able to find the same desserts now, I see they are changing their dessert selection very often!

They summed up to more than 600 Baht without any other order from the menu. There's a self serviced, free flow of mineral water. If you're with friends who are no sweet tooth, do not order as many as we did! It was a big challenge trying to finish three-quarter of it.

The place is at Seen Space, Thonglor 13. There's another in Siam Center. It's best for you to take a screenshot of the Thai address though, as most cab drivers can't read English.

There goes our first day of free and easy tour. We had to take a rest right after consuming all these sugar-loaded food.

The next day we got up really early. Took a brief boat trip to Wat Arun, also called the Temple of Dawn, next to Chao Phraya River. It's a photogenic place with a lot of sightseeing to do. Though we got there early in the morning, the weather was scorching hot!

Tracing the route back to the other side of the river, we went to Wat Intharawihan, where a golden Buddha statue stood.

And in the afternoon, we took an hour's trip to Sriracha Tiger Zoo, nearby Pattaya. I am not a fan of how the animals were treated so there were no animal picture taken, except for a paid photo we took while feeding a baby tiger.

And like many other outdoor attractions in Thailand, the zoo was filled with groomed plants.

Once in Pattaya, we came back into the embrace of cool air at Art in Paradise. I am unsure of how many similar art museums there are in Thailand, last I seen there was one in Chiang Mai too. Here are some posed pictures of my boyfriend then with some of the 3 dimensional wall art.

Shaky photos were usually taken by him. :P

At night, we went to see some really bizarre show ... It wasn't in our schedule so we had to pay extra. It's not any of the famous cabaret show. The bizarre show had us dumbfounded.

While in Pattaya, we stayed at Mike Hotel, a stone's throw from the beach.

Moving on to the third day.

We had to get up early again for a trip off the shore. We were first sent to one of the gigantic wooden boats where people gather for parasailing. Somehow we had to come here before proceeding to Koh Larn, or Coral Island. There were many other similar parasailing stops nearby so it's crazy how many parasailers there were.

And then we had a bumpy speed boat ride to the beautiful Koh Larn. The beach we travelled to was Ta Waen Beach, congested with tourists. The view was spectacular and the place was absurdly clean. We just stayed by the beach, and didn't attempt to travel deeper into the island. There's a temple atop one of its hills, I believe. Many tuk tuks were waiting for tourists along the tarred road just behind the beach.

See these chairs? They weren't free. You have to rent them. They were all along the shore! You must remember where yours was at so that you wouldn't miss it.

The seafood was amazingly fresh, and quite expensive, too.

There were too many stalls selling almost the same stuff in bulk. If you weren't a water sports person like me, then do a walk along the beach. It'll take you about 30 minutes for a slow walk. Some vendors had impeccable BBQ skills. Most seafood came in 1 kg and nothing lesser than that, or on a skewer like the prawns.

After staying on the island for about 4 hours, we were told to take off, back to Pattaya.

After taking a brief rest, we came to Mimosa, the City of Love. It's actually known for its cabaret show but while we're here we were only in time for the sceneries and food.

The place is magnificent, though on a humid weather all I could think of was ice cream and gelato. So I had two servings of cold dessert. You can do some shopping around Mimosa. Things were not expensive, although it was a tourist spot. You have to purchase ticket in order to visit Mimosa, however, but it was paid for in our package.

As we could not think of anything else to do, we paid a visit to Marine Monster. There's a charge too but we were desperate to kill time.

The love birds were friendly ... And they pecked a lot. A few sat on my boyfriend's shoulder and repeatedly pecked on his neck and shoulder, not wanting to take off. You can also feed them.

Other than the birds, there was a vast collection of fishes. We took time roaming around the aquarium partly because it was air-conditioned. 

Before leaving Pattaya, we came to the following two places.

Khao Chi Chan, also known as the Buddha Mountain.

And just beside the mountain is the Silverlake Vineyard. It's a grape farm, and there was a speciality shop selling everything grape - grape jam, grape cookies, grape juice, dried grapes ...

To enter the farm (or actually a huge garden with farm), you need to pay. I think it was 50 Baht person. You can enter by foot or by the bus provided. The bus will stop at some of the spots, including a greenhouse, where you can take pictures of/with the grapes.

There were a lot of photo worthy areas but their pictures are not in my camera gallery. We took most pictures with his phone instead.

That night, we were back in Bangkok city. Took a trip around Pratunam area to do last minute shopping (and got scammed while buying some stuff at a convenience shop) before getting another massage at what seemed to have become our favourite massage centre near our hotel.

I haven't visited Bangkok and Pattaya in years, and the changes set me in awe. Our trip went fairly well thanks to all the efforts injected into Thailand's travel industry. 

Sekeping Serendah: cell group retreat 2013.

It's been a while since our cell group had a retreat. The last one we had was in January, last year, 2013. Around the time when my boyfriend and I had just started our journey together.

What made me blog back about this retreat? I recently checked Sekeping's website (here) and the site has transformed! The prices did too. At that time we rented Warehouse 2 at the price of RM 1100. It was its largest shed.

Yes it's pricey. But it's worth it. Even it's current price (RM 1300) is worth more than staying in a 5 star hotel. If you have a big group of friends, try staying once in Sekeping Serendah.

Why I love Serendah more than any other Sekeping retreats is because you can really go back to enjoying the essentials of pure human company. BBQ pit is provided, and you can play music, games; anything as long as you keep your voices down after 11 PM.

If you are a child of nature, you would love waking up to the chilly morning air, sounds of crickets and birds, and waterfalls splashing from afar, it's a good reminder that you are abundantly blessed.

A place not only great for gatherings but also to the photographers at heart.

And they prepared nets to protect you from bug bites. Mind you, even as we reached the place, some beds already had a few little bugs on them. They even provided each shed with mosquito coils.

Warehouse 2 has a theme. All its decorations were taken from an old factory. See they can even become props in your pictures.

And all these trinkets framed on the walls, they once belonged in the factory too. Behind the wooden shades are actually 3 bathrooms. You might find it a little uneasy at first to use those uncovered bathrooms.

Here you can do anything at all, in any corner you like. Every corner is your little hideaway.

Not only was a gigantic fire pit provided. The lighter, starters, grill and charcoals were too. We grilled chicken breasts, drumsticks, pork cutlets, meatballs, sausages, potatoes, and marshmallows.

Just bring your own food and marinades. We brought garlic, herbs, salt and sauces with us. Simply charged among ourselves around RM 15 per head, and the food was enough to last us for a dinner and a breakfast in the morning after.

You could also ask for the caretakers to cater your breakfast. I do remember having nasi lemak as personal breakfast orders. Of course we brought our own breakfast too.

There's a huge kitchen bar for you to prepare food on. Stove, kettle, and a small oven are provided. Want a budget meal? Get a box of noodle cups and restore your nutritional balance back home.

The game we had to pass the late hours was wolf. Tsk. Our favourite card game. Before going, we couldn't help but to complain about the price. But once I reached there, I was in awe. No regret from that instance.

Happy Twenty.

She baked for me red velvet cuppies for my birthday, but I realized I had no time to prepare anything posh for her as I got back.

And I had to deliver one to Jeremy to make up to his belated birthday present the day before her birthday.

I divided the amounts used in the recipe by 4 and got 4 regular cuppies outta it.

Topped with pineapple jam.