Bonnae is Almost There...

As you all know, when Ivone and I first started Sugar Penguin Cakery, we were both working full-time, meeting up after work to make cakes up until 1:00 a.m. , and somehow deliver them to our faithful customers. We've both experienced a change of pace now as both of us are on maternity leave; Ivone gave birth to James back in September 2010 and I also began my maternity leave recently as I "nest". I am 38.5 weeks pregnant as of today so we are almost there!

My husband and I are very excited as we prepare to welcome our first child into the world. We have no idea what we're having so it'll be very exciting when our midwife yells, "It's a...!!!"

It's very unfortunate that we've had to turn down some orders recently. We received an inquiry for a wedding cake for 500 people! I can go into labour any minute now and with Ivone on her own, it's challenging and as always, if we can't offer our best, it's better not to take the project on.

Cakes will continue to be in our thoughts as both of our families continue to grow!

Thank you to all for your patience and inquiries while we continue our hiatus! We will continue to update you about our progress because Sugar Penguin Cakery was never just about cakes...but also you including us in our celebrations and we, in turn, building a relationship with you, getting to know you better and learning your story.

Tempus Fugit

Just few days ago, we celebrated our older son's 3rd birthday. I can't believe that he is three now! Seems like it was just yesterday that I gave birth to him. Not only he is three years old, but also a big brother to a 3.5 months old James. We decided to have a simple celebration with some of our friends. It was a perfect timing since my Mom from Indonesia was here for the celebration of her grandchild.


RK is so fond of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so it was no surprise that he requested that theme for his birthday cake. These days, I found it hard to just do anything at all with two demanding boys at home. Time was just not there when you're THAT busy. I simplified everything in the design. I even bought the plastic Mickey figurine for the topper. Yes, I cheated. I worked on the cake as soon as the boys were all asleep. I stayed up almost all night to get the cake ready for him. I was exhausted, BUT, when I saw how happy he was as he saw the cake in the morning, it was so well worth it. The best thing was that he came up to me and said, "Mommy, thank you for making me my birthday cake." Those words brought tears to my eyes.


Last year, he can't really express himself through sentences, today, he is completely grown up, and said all of those thing that would make you shed some tears of joy.


Happy Birthday, Baby... I love you...

A Thank You

My little one, JP, was born prematurely, at about 35.5 weeks. Although he was almost full term, he still need to be monitored closely. In the special care nursery, he learned how to feed and a gavage tube had to be inserted in his nose to his tummy. JP was in the hospital for about two weeks. During that time, he was looked after by these amazing and wonderful special care nurses. They had made the supposedly tough time for me to be very easy. Though they might not be able to see this blog entry, but I want to thank each one of them... and I hope I did not miss (or misspelled) anyone, and if I do, I apologize... (in random orders) To nurses : Sheena, Patti T., Patti, Tatyana, Barb, Annie, Ruby, Cindy, Leanne, Adelle, Lynn, ... my BIG thank you!


Here are the cupcakes that I made for them:

Sweet Little Baby

My sister-in-law, TH, asked me if I would be able to create some cupcakes for her colleagues as announcement of her newborn. Baby AK was born earlier than her due date, at about 31 weeks, in August. She was in the Special Care Nursery, just like my little JP, for about a month. I am happy to report though, that both baby AK and my little JP are happy and healthy.

My sister-in-law is the girliest girl I've ever known, quite the opposite of me. Therefore, I just knew what to make for her! What could be better than pink and white polka dots cupcakes liners with some sweetly designs little cupcakes to announce the birth of her sweet little AK!

Expansion (and Signing Off)

Our homes just expanded by "two feet" on Saturday! It took us by surprise as we didn't expect the little one would come to this world so soon!

So, in a nutshell here's what happened....

Backpain was just driving me crazy for the past week and massage didn't really help since they can't do too much on the last stage of pregnancy. My due date is about 5 weeks away on Thursday night. My husband and I were just finished catching up on a busy day of TV premieres.. I know, we're TV freaks. RJ, our little one was up around 1-ish and refused to go back to sleep. Oh joy. He finally fell asleep at about 2:30 am and my husband moved him to his own bed. As I was watching him being moved, something felt gushing and I knew it was the water broke/leaked. Sure enough, it was a ruptured membrane.

We quickly went to the hospital and I was admitted right away. Then...., the waiting game started....

The whole Friday was a total waste, no action, we're just waiting and waiting, and waiting for some more. Good thing my dearest hubby bought me the last book of the Millenium Trilogy. That kept me occupied for a while. Late morning Saturday, closer to noon, I started to feel some cramping. I was still laughing and texting my friends at about 1 pm. I would never expect it to be that soon for the contractions to intensify.

By the time I was moved back to the labor room, I have dilated by 8cm. Doctor came on time and man was it was so quick, 5 minutes, he was out! i was in awe. that's it?! i thought.. my hubby was not even there yet! We called this little one, JP.

But the drama did not end there... Since JP was early, the placenta didn't want to pass out. We tried so many things, oxytocin on placenta, on four, and standing up and nothing... They tried and they have no other choice but to send me to the OR to get the uterus cleaned up. They had me on a total anastetic.. and when I woke up, it was all done. YAY!

Without further ado, here's my little JP, still inside the incubator in this picture, about a day old :)

A Heartfelt Letter

A while back, a co-worker (and a dear friend) of mine, S.A., requested us to make a cake with a specific topper for his friend who is going to go to an expedition, to climb Mt. Logan. Everywhere she goes, she would bring her "friend" Pepe along. She sent me this heartfelt email that just touched your heart and brought a big smile on your face.
Here's what she wrote and some pictures of Pepe and the cake:

Thank you very much for the lovely - and delicious! - cake which was a huge surprise to me. And it was a surprise in several ways...

It is awesome to have good friends and share fun, adventures good and difficult times with them. You get to know each other's strengths and weaknesses the more you share together! One of my dear weaknesses is Pepe - my great travelling companion, the little stuffed sheep that has been with me all over the place. Our last big adventure was the expedition to Mt. Logan - Canada's highest mountain. On the eve of our departure we had a little gathering and my (our) friends came with a surprise box.

I was speechless to see the miniature Pepe crowning the cake with the summit of Logan jutting out of the ice-blue icing, just like it does from the glacier in reality. The attention to detail was fantastic - down to the backpack strap, the jacket zipper and the ice axe. It was simply perfect, and this, I learned later, after just showing you a picture of Pepe and telling you about our expedition! Definitely the work of an artist!

Friends and people who later saw the pictures of the cake were quite envious of Pepe; but such is life. If they have good friends like I do, they can always come to you and have their own funny, crazy, tasty and unique cake done! I'm certainly not keeping it a secret, where they can find the awesome cake artist. Keep making people happy through your work and creativity! To turn ideas into sweet reality! That's truly awesome!

MATERNITY LEAVE FOR IVONE

If only all babies were really delivered by storks. Imagine!

It is time for Sugar Penguin Cakery to announce Ivone's maternity leave. Robert's baby brother is due at the end of October so Ivone will be leaving our full-time work place and taking a break from cakes as of September 1st to prepare for her second little one. Ivone and I will keep up with our blog/website to update you on baby news and cake news because it's never been just about cakes. It's about two ladies, total rookies at this cake stuff, and documenting our journey. There has been many ups and many downs since starting our cakery from February until now - all lessons to be learned. We are not exactly sure when we will take orders again but hopefully we won't stay away for too long. When Ivone and I sat down and listed our priorities before starting cakery, family was right up there. As you all know, we both have full-time jobs and do cakes during evenings and weekends so we don't want to spread ourselves too thin. Thank you in advance for your understanding and loyalty!

I will be heading back to BCIT in the fall to further my studies in marketing. I will be aiming to achieve the Marketing Communications Management Certificate while cakery is on hiatus. Talk about both of us keeping busy!

**NO ORDERS AS OF SEPTEMBER 1ST, 2010 UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE**