Baking-my first try-Anzac Biscuits...

Having being inspired by many of my friends and reading lot of blogs about baking, I wanted to try to bake something myself at my home. I was a little sceptic to use my owner's oven at our condo in Singapore. I got to see the receipe of "Oaty Anzac Day biscuits" in Donna Hay book. These biscuits are quite simple and felt its good to try for a beginner like me to start baking.. As the name indicates, its made of oats, which is good at fiber. So, I finally managed to convince myself that I am baking something healthy(though it has got lots of sugar/cocunut/butter!! ;))

Some history behind this receipe. Australian & New Zealand Army Corps(ANZAC), which were among the first soldiers ashore in the battle at Gallipoli in 1915 during World War I. Scottish oatmeal biscuits were cooked at home during WW-I and sent to the soldiers fighting overseas. After the war, these oat-based biscuits were named Anzac Biscuits when they were made and sold as fund-raisers for returned soldiers.

My office friends and husband appreciated the outcome of the biscuits! I am happy I finally got started in baking!

Tioman Travel

This is yet another travelogue from my end.. We had a good relaxing time in Tioman Islands,Malaysia.

This island can be reached by Coach and Ferry from Singapore. The other mode of transport available is a "Dash7" aircraft operated by a private plier from Selatar Airport,Singapore. We managed to get last minute aircraft and resort booking with Berjaya Resorts! There are quite a bit activities to do in this island. The activities available here are snorkelling ,island hopping, banana boat ride, kayak, jungle trekking ,mukut waterfall etc.

Apart from that,Berjaya resort offers Golf, Tennis, Indoor games, Pool and Spa.

We enjoyed the pool , and played tennis (hope our coach doesnt see this ;)). We pampered ourselves with a rejunevating body massage from the Spa. The ambience of the Spa and treatment makes its the most relaxing experience.

We were a little disappointed with our snorkelling adventure. Though both myself and my husband knew swimming, we somehow got a little scared(Our coach wud be very disappointed!!) when we were left all alone in a platform in the middle of the sea, which is 4m deep ! The snorkelling gear was also little complicated as i didnt like the breathing kit and felt quite uncomfortable using that! I was drinking seawater while trying to breathe via mouth!! I got to understand from my colleagues that we should have gone with a group and should have hired a guide. We didnt have any of that as we went in a weekday. We kind of holded the platform and got to see the underwater world! I have to accept it was quite amazing and its a world by itself! But, defintely little scaring for me!!!! So, we could not fully enjoy the snorkelling trip. Our boatman said we could have spotted some turtles, nemo and other variety of sea animals had we dared to try! Better luck next time to us!! At the end of the trip, we got completely tanned being in that hot sun!

We really enjoyed the varied shades of water during our boat ride to Renggis Island..! We spent quite a bit of time, being in the sea , which was quite calm and towards our end of our trip, we could see more waves as FullMoon was approaching...

Overall was a quite relaxing trip and I felt it was better to use the Aircraft option as we didnt feel the journey tiredness at all..

The berjaya resorts had good dining options as well. We even got to taste good Vegetarian Indian food and Veg-Mexican and Veg-Italian receipes. So, I would definitely recommend this place,to people who are little choosy about Vegetarian food options. The chalets were not as impressive as we excepted. But, I would give an overall 3.5/5 for Tioman Beach Resort and their services.