Almost Instant Noodles

Ting blogged about her version of fast food.. and it's actually a 3-dish meal, complete with vegetables, seafood and poultry. W-o-w.

When I work late.. too late to cook at home and too tired to have a meal outside, The Husband will cook his version of instant noodles for the both of us.

It's basically fresh noodles from the market that I buy in bulk to store in individual servings in my freezer. The noodles are cooked with lots of green leafy vegetables and a variety of "instant foods" - fishballs, mushroom balls and other things you can buy (and freeze) from the store in any local market that sells fishballs.

A nice and quick dinner for 2.

10 things to do before I die - Part 2

A follow-on from my previous post.

6. Take 6 months off to travel around
 No real itinerary here.. but just travel around for 6 months.. to experience life in other parts of the world.. to visit old friends I've not seen for a long time.. to revisit some places I've been to in the past.. try new things I've never done. 6 months of minimal planning and doing things I like. An ex-colleague of mine is doing that right now.. and it looks like so much fun.

7. Fly
Well, not fly as in take a plane.. but more like fly the way birds do.. with wings.. But I'm also a real scaredy cat so perhaps... I'd just take a hot air balloon?

8. See a glacier
Geography was my favourite subject when I was in secondary school.. and I really liked learning about glaciers. I've always been attracted to glaciers because they are very ancient, somewhat mysterious and very breathtaking (in the photos I've seen, at least). I want to see one for myself!

9. Stay in a castle
Just for the fun of it

10. Travel to the city of Jerusalem
To understand the place where Christianity began..

I have to get started on my list soon....

Some pictures from my previous travels..

Purple flowers

Pretty purple flowers. 
See the little bud on the bottom right? There are plenty more lurking around.. :)

The plant I bought recently has bloomed! And the man at the nursery was right - the flowers are a very nice shade of purple indeed.

I still have no clue what plant this is, actually.

The plant when I first brought it home..

A Cute Kitchen

 A sneak peak into my kitchen...

I have a lovely kitchen that I really enjoy working in.. even though it is pretty messy most of the time.

But my kitchen is very me. It is very simple and practical - all the cabinets are white, with a splash of bluish glass here and there. Most of the electronics (fridge, microwave and oven) are silver or else grey. The floor is made up of large pieces of dark grey tiles and the walls are painted white. It is also small enough such that only 1 cook can work in the kitchen at one time.. which suits our household fine because in our home, we believe that too many cooks will spoil the broth. So either The Husband is working in the kitchen or else I am.. but never the two of us.

Having said that, I do think it'd be lovely to have a much bigger kitchen that leads into a garden.. or at least have a kitchen with huge windows so light can dance in.. And sometimes I wish my kitchen doesn't have an "open concept".. because the living room and rooms can kind of smell when we cook things like curry and fried fish.

Overall though, I'm still very pleased with my kitchen.

But when you chance upon a kitchen as cute as this.. it's easy to think that your kitchen has a long way more to go to be as pretty. I like this kitchen because it is cute.. yet simple, practical.. and messy! (Designs by Catherine Hammerton, from DesignSponge)

I love the lightness of the kitchen and the bold use 

of black, white and fire engine red!

All that mess.. and yet everything looks good!

Pretty Desserts

Sometimes in life, looks really do matter.

I've been to Aerin's a couple of times before - once for drinks before the F1 race and once for lunch. I've never really been impressed by the place. The drinks were just normal.. nothing fantastic. The lunch I had there (was it pasta?) was unmemorable.

But Coffee Club at Raffles City was full on Sunday and I only had a couple of hours to spend for tea with my friend O from Hong Kong. So I decided to go to Aerin's for tea instead.

We ordered a couple of teas and a dessert each - I opted for churros with chocolate dipping and she ordered a pavlova that came with Mango sherbet (it is called Anna Pavlova in the menu - after the famous ballerina, where the name of the dessert pavlova came from).

The desserts came and they look so beautiful (and huge) that I began to rethink my opinion of Aerin's.

Tastewise - the churros were actually rather disappointing. Perhaps it was an overdose of cinnamon, if such a thing is possible.. but I thought they tasted a little bitter. My memory of the churros I had at Disneyland were a lot lighter.. and yummier.

The pavlova was alright, in spite of my prejudices against meringue. The meringue was light and rather sweet.. but the mango sherbet was sour enough such that when you eat them together - the dessert tasted quite good

And even if it didn't taste good.. it looked so pretty in the pictures I brought home with me.. that I'd probably remember it as being good a couple of months down the road.

Handsome churros with a sexy chocolate dipping

Pretty Anna Pavlova with bits and pieces of good looking fruits

I wouldn't mind going back to this restaurant to try the other desserts!

Aerin's

252 North Bridge Road
#B1-11/12 Raffles City Shopping Centre
Tel: +65 6337 2231

A regular Sunday morning

Bendemeer Market and Food Centre. Picture from NEA website

On a regular Sunday morning, The Husband and I would get up "late" (for us, it means after 7:30am) and go to church. After church, we'd go for breakfast. Breakfast would be usually at this place called Bendemeer Market & Food Centre. This food centre is a short drive away from our church and it has some of the best breakfast fare in town.

There are 3 particular stores I really like.

The first store is a coffee stall called Seng Hin Coffee Stall. The owner of the store is quite an interesting character.. and he has an excellent memory. He knows how The Husband and I like our local coffee - "Kopi C kosong", which is local coffee with carnation milk, without sugar. And he also knows that sometimes we like to have tea or a slightly different order, so he'd always confirm what we want. For some of his other regular customers, he'd just deliver the drink to them when he sees them.

The second store is this store called Singapore Bao.. and it sells "bao", or handmade steamed buns - they literally make it by hand on the spot. The problem with this stall is that there is only 1 person making the baos.. so the supply is limited in that sense. There is usually a long queue in front of the store every half hour or so. When there isn't a queue, you would know that the baos are still not ready. "Still steaming - come back later" would be the response from the owner.

The third store is a store that sells fried carrot cake. I don't know the name of this store and I do not even really like their fried carrot cake.. But they also sell assorted teochew kuehs - which they will panfry with an egg, chilli and black sauce upon your request. This dish ends up look really messy.. but absolutely delicious and satisfying.

The next time you happen to drop by Bendemeer food centre on a Sunday morning, look out for me at one of these stalls!

One of the best local coffee in town - from Seng Hin Coffee Stall.. 

The coffee is very strong and fragrant

 One of the best handmade bao in Singapore - the meat is juicy 

and the skin of the bun is fluffy

Pan-fried Teochew kueh with egg - better than any fried carrot cake!

Teochew kuehs are usually eaten like this - plain, with a little sweet black sauce. 

Even on their own, they taste very good.. Picture from aromacookery.com

Bendemeer Market and Food Centre

Bendemeer Road Blk 29
Link to NEA website

Blueberry Muffins

I think blueberries are the best kind of berries. The name itself is beautiful - "blueberry" - it brings to mind a host of confectionery like blueberry cheesecake, blueberry pancakes and blueberry muffins. Oddly, the name also makes me think of blue bead necklaces and bubble gum.

I also like blueberries because they tend to taste sweet. I have never had a really sour blueberry before..

Blueberries tend to be quite expensive in the supermarkets.. so when I saw them going for about SGD2.50 for 100g recently, I immediately bought some.

This recipe is from Baking with Julia. The original recipe called for sour cream, which I didn't have at home - so I replaced it with buttermilk instead. I ended up having to bake a little longer as buttermilk is not as dense as sour cream.

Blueberry muffins with fresh blueberries

Ingredients
Dry ingredients
1 3/4 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp salt
Wet ingredients
1/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup milk
Others
113g unsalted butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk

What I did
1. Preheat oven to 200 deg C
2. Sift all dry ingredients twice and set aside
3. Mix the wet ingredients together
4. Cream butter until light, using a mixer with the paddle
5. Add in sugar and cream until no longer grainy
6. Add in eggs and beat until fluffy
7. Remove from mixer and add in half the dry ingredients and half the wet ingredients
8. Fold until just combined, then add the rest of the dry ingredients and wet ingredients and then fold until just combined
9. Fold in the fresh blueberries (the recipe suggested 1 pint of blueberries - I would think 100g is more than enough)
10.  Fill the muffin cups to about 2/3 full each
11. Bake for 18 - 20 minutes (depending on your muffin size)

Enjoy!

10 followers for this blog

I'm always happy that anyone reads my blog at all.

I mean.. there are fantastic food blogs with beautiful pictures and amazing (albeit difficult recipes) like Cannelle et Vanille..

And then there are really fun travel blogs like PassportChop.com - a local travel blog of 2 couples and their travels overseas.

And there are wonderful blogs written about gardening - with useful tips from experienced gardeners and blogs with heartwarming stories on pets.. (See the list of blogs I follow)

In short, there is a whole sea of blogs out there.

So I find it quite amazing there are people who would actually choose to follow my blog. After all, OKC merely writes about her day-to-day stuff.. nothing really very special.

But...... I have 10 followers now! Hey... Thanks! I am encouraged to continue blogging by you and also people who leave me comments.

Comfortably deep fried

On days when I feel crappy or in need of a little something to perk me up, I'd think of eating something I like.

Often, something deep fried will make it to the list.

I don't know about you.. but I like deep fried food.. I know all that talk about healthy living and stuff.. but I just don't see how anyone can not like good deep fried food.

Not the greasy, limp, non-crispy kind but the piping hot, crispy-with-a-crunch, oily-but-not-greasy deep fried kind of stuff.

It can be something fancy like deep fried oysters.. or something really simple like curry puff from Old Chang Kee.

Some of my favourite deep fried food are:

Deep fried chicken

Tonkatsu

Deep fried oysters

And then there is onion rings.. fries.. fried chicken wings.. and many others... (Hm... now I feel hungry.)

What's your idea of comfort food?

Sticky Balsamic Chicken

I tried making this chicken today after reading Ting's post the other day.

I find cooking after work quite therapeutic. There is a mad rush to leave the office, run to the supermarket and then some fast and furious actions in the kitchen - but somehow I feel really good after all that craziness.

And so I have been on the look out for quick and simple recipes. This one sounded really simple - balsamic vinegar, honey, dark soy sauce, sugar, garlic and salt. I added some sesame seeds to make the dish look prettier.

The chicken turned out looking quite good but unfortunately, I overdid it on the salt part... so it was a little too salty for me.

But it'd be a dish I'd try again.

Healthy Lychee Freeze

Today is too wet and cold (for Singapore) for a really iced drink.. but I wanted to try this drink out with the box of lychees we bought over the weekend.

Lychees are The Husband's favourite fruit. I like them too.. if not for their very rough skins.. It is a fruit native to China and I think that it is a fruit that does not travel well.. because the ones we have here seem inferior to the ones they have in Hong Kong and China when lychees are in season.

For this drink, I blended about 6 lychees (peeled and de-seeded) with ice and a bit of water.. and this lychee freeze came out nice and sweet! Without a single drop of syrup. No wonder the ones outside often taste too sweet!

I don't really like how my photos turn out with my 

dining table lighting.. The photo looks a bit forlorn.. don't you think?

10 things to do before I die - Part 1

This came about from some movie.. I can't remember which one.. but I'm someone who likes to make a list of things.. There is a to-do list every week for work.. a to-bake list that I go through and update from time to time.. a to-buy list when I go to the supermarket.. and so on.

And so it kind of makes sense for me to make such a list.

Hm.. so here goes my list..

1. Visit Victoria Falls - the Smoke that Thunders
Someone I know who travelled around the world on her own visited this place and was the one who told me about this. Since then, I've always wanted to visit it to see this falls. I've also seen some really fantastic photos of the Niagara Falls.. which I would also love to visit if I can't see Victoria Falls.

Photo sourced from travlang.com

2. See the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany
I've managed to visit a good deal of castles - castles in Japan and France. But I really want to go see this castle, which was the inspiration for Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle. As with all castles, there is an interesting story behind this castle and the king behind it - King Ludwig II, The Swan King.

Photo from deskpicture.com

3. Visit Prince Edward Island
Just simply because I'm such a fan of Anne of Green Gables.. Even though I know the story is fictitious, it'd be nice to visit the place where the story was set in.

4. Climb a mountain
I've never done this before.. I'm sure it'd be really tough.. but I would really like to do it.

5. Run a marathon
Again, I'm sure this will be another really tough thing to do.. but this is something I'd like to do... so I'm planning to slowly be able to run a marathon one day..

There are only 5 items in my list now.. I'm still thinking about my other 5 items..

What are the 10 things in your list?

A Song with a Reminder

A very meaningful song shared in church today for Father's Day - Cats in the Cradle.

Many of us grew up with absent parents.. Some of us are the absent parent.. or maybe an absent spouse.

Whatever the case, this song is a reminder for us to spend time with our loved ones..

Listen to this song on YouTube as you read the lyrics..

Cats in the Cradle - by Harry and Sandy Chapin
My child arrived just the other day,
He came to the world in the usual way.
But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay.
He learned to walk while I was away.
And he was talking 'fore I knew it, and as he grew,
He'd say, "I'm gonna be like you, dad.
You know I'm gonna be like you."

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, dad?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then.
You know we'll have a good time then."

My son turned ten just the other day.
He said, "Thanks for the ball, dad, come on let's play.
Can you teach me to throw?" I said, "Not today,
I got a lot to do." He said, "That's ok."
And he walked away, but his smile never dimmed,
Said, "I'm gonna be like him, yeah.
You know I'm gonna be like him."

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, dad?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then.
You know we'll have a good time then."

Well, he came from college just the other day,
So much like a man I just had to say,
"Son, I'm proud of you. Can you sit for a while?"
He shook his head, and he said with a smile,
"What I'd really like, dad, is to borrow the car keys.
See you later. Can I have them please?"

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, son?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then, dad.
You know we'll have a good time then."

I've long since retired and my son's moved away.
I called him up just the other day.
I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind."
He said, "I'd love to, dad, if I could find the time.
You see, my new job's a hassle, and the kid's got the flu,
But it's sure nice talking to you, dad.
It's been sure nice talking to you."
And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me,
He'd grown up just like me.
My boy was just like me.

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, son?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then, dad.
You know we'll have a good time then."

Moving on

Whenever bad things happened to me.. whether it was in the past as a teenager, when something really bad happened to my parents.. or the recent episode of the stolen things.. I find that the hardest part to be that of moving on.

Accepting reality and facing it.. that's the hardest thing for me to do.

It is a lonely journey.. one where no friend, no parent, no husband can go through together. To go through the facts in my head, tell myself that what has happened has happened.. and to just move on.

And so this post is for myself, more than anything.

Here is the difficult truth I have to accept - The things will never come back to me again.

No matter how many times I regret and blame myself for not buying a safe earlier. 

No matter how many times I wished things had turned out differently.

It is in times like this that I find my faith being tested. I'm so used to being in control.. so used to resolving problems for myself.. that in times like this.. when I feel so helpless because I cannot go back to change the past.. that I have to let God be and believe that this will be resolved by God, in a way I cannot see and will not know.

 The view of the sky from my balcony

Ju Shin Jung at Joo Chiat

Joo Chiat is one of my favourite haunts for food.

There are so many nice little restaurants around the area.. I sometimes wonder if it makes sense for us to move to somewhere nearer to Joo Chiat.

Ju Shin Jung is a very nice and authentic Korean restaurant along Joo Chiat road. The Husband and I were craving for some Korean food, after watching a Korean drama last night about chefs. I always find such dramas extremely interesting to watch - even if the plot is blah.. as long as the food looks good.

So anyway, we think that Ju Shin Jung is a very authentic Korean restaurant.  One of our distant relatives, who is Korean, first recommended the restaurant to us.. and we have been going back pretty consistently.

Lunch at Ju Shin Jung is a pretty good deal - the set lunches cost something like SGD9.90++ - SGD12.90++. Or something in that range. And even at that kind of prices, they still serve the same type of side dishes as they do at dinner.

We had beef bulgogi and seafood tofu soup today. Both were really good..

I like Joo Chiat Road.

The kimchis and side dishes - the pan-fried eggplant is extremely good. (Third from the left)

Beef bulgogi

Seafood tofu soup - very spicy, flavourful and temperature hot!

The odd tasting drink served after the meal - 

I can taste ginger, cinnamon and too much sugar. 

I usually leave this drink alone. 

Even the way they serve tea is very much 

like the Korean restaurants in Korea and China

The napkins they serve at Ju Shin Jung is pretty interesting - they come 

like a small tablet and when you add water to them, they grow into a full sized napkin.

Joo Shin Jung (Joo Chiat)

Address: 451 Joo Chiat Road, #01-01 Katong Junction
Tel: +65 6440 7707
There is another branch at East Coast.. although I prefer the Joo Chiat one.

Rebuilding my garden

The hyssop and wild rocket from Petunia yesterday inspired me to kick-start the rebuilding of my garden.

For months now, my balcony has been bare, with the exception of my blue pea and curry plant. My 3 hibiscus (white, pink and yellow) has been moved to my parents' place and my mum seems to like them.. so I have been reluctant to bring them back.

I went easy today and just bought a few plants.. The Husband thinks we should steer away from more herbs for now and just try some flowering plants instead. So, we went to Kwang Kee at Bedok and managed to get a pot of lemon myrtle and some pretty flowering plants. The thing about the flowering plants is.. I have no clue what they are, actually.. there were no labels in the nursery and I couldn't quite understand the very nice man there.

Next stop - World Farm and Oh Chin Huat. Next weekend.. hopefully..

A pretty pot of white and yellow flowers - 

I'm a bit apprehensive about getting anything yellow 

because I feel they attract white flies..

But the flowers are so dainty I couldn't resist...

I also got myself a baby pink periwinkle.. 

I'm going to start a periwinkle corner actually.. I really like them..

The mystery plant - I have no clue what this is.. 

The man in the nursery said they'd give blue to purplish flowers..

Hyssop the biblical plant

Hyssop plant

The Book of Exodus records that the blood of the sacrifices was applied to the doorposts using hyssop on the night of Passover. Psalm 51:7 says "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow."

In the New Testament, in John 19:28-30 says "Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit."

Petunia wrote a post on the hyssop plant - it is a herb that can be used for cooking and can be used for reducing phlegm and calming the nerves. It was the flowers in Petunia's post that really attracted me though - regal deep purple flowers. It was very sweet of her to give me a pot of it when we met up yesterday.

There are no flowers now.. but this little seedling looks really cute, swaying in the wind.. and oh, it taste really strong too - bitter, minty and slightly sharp.

Growing conditions: Full sun, fertile, well-drained soil. I hope I don't kill this plant and will get to see it flower!

 Trying out different angles with the camera

High-tea getaway

I took the afternoon off today to have English high-tea with 3 special friends.

I've gotten to know these 3 friends through the internet... partly through the GCS forum.. and partly through this blog.

All of us come from very different background.

There is a capable entrepreneur who is also an amazing mum and owner of 2 dogs, an intelligent part-time lecturer cum expert gardener and then there is a very cool mum of 2 teenage boys. (I wanted to say cool mum cum housewife but somehow, the word "housewife" seems a little too commonplace for her..)

And then there's me - an ex-housewife and now regular office worker, non-mum and non-pet owner.

We haven't known each other for a very long time.. and we don't meet up very often.. Yet somehow, whenever we meet, we have endless things to talk about. Some of the topics covered this afternoon included pets, children, husbands, zucchinis, plants, houses, dentists, doctors and parents.. The afternoon seemed amazingly short today.

I really enjoyed listening to their stories - about their lives, their families, pets and all. I'm inspired to be a more capable woman after each of our meetings... And somehow after the tea today, the world seemed to be a nicer and warmer place.

With the excellent company, I didn't really need the food to be good.

But the English high-tea at Goodwood Park's L'Espresso is really pretty good. The selection may not be a lot - but the quality of food is good. I liked the dainty sandwiches, the perfect scones (they look almost like popovers) and the delicious cakes (the blackforest cake was very good!).

I would love to go back there again for the high-tea.

The dainty sandwiches were all pretty good. The baked pasta was delicious too!

The scones.. and the cream.... Yum

Not as strong

I'm not as strong as I think I am.

A day later, I find myself shaking suddenly at the incident at 5pm today... in the office, at my desk.

"People first, then money, then things" - The Husband encouraged me with this statement this morning. And I understand.. even though the things lost may cost a lot and be sentimental.. they are just afterall things..

But still..

And what makes me shudder is the thought that someone would do something like that to me..

I can't quite describe my feelings. Part anger.. part frustration.. part regret.. part scared.. part betrayed.. and a very strange sense of heartache and disappointment with the world.

Devastated

I woke up this morning, prepared for work.. and just as I was stepping out, reached out for a pendant.. only to find it missing.

A more detailed search revealed a few other missing pieces of jewellery.

Another 2 hours later, I still can't find them.. and called the police.

The strange thing is.. my house has not been ransacked.. only a trusted helper has my home keys.. so what could have gone wrong?

Some of the things lost were of sentimental value.. others.. pricey..

I feel really devastated.. and violated. Who could have done such a thing! And why to me!?

I feel terrible.

Kyoho Grapes with Yakult

I like eating Kyoho grapes very much.. the "real ones" from Japan are a bit of a luxury though - they cost about 20SGD for a small bunch!

Kyoho grapes, or 巨峰提子 (literally "giant mountain grapes") are slip-skin grapes (meaning the skin is easily separated from the flesh) that are really juicy and sweet.. They pop in your mouth and fills it with a strong wine taste. Yum! The only bad thing is.. they usually come with seeds..

I have come across some particularly good Taiwanese variety of these grapes before.. which taste almost like the real thing.. but at a quarter of the price. But the ones I bought last week were disappointingly normal. It's probably because the grapes weren't in season.

So instead of eating the rest of it, I decided to make some ice-blended Kyoho Grapes with Yakult.

Again, it's really simple - Kyoho Grapes + Ice + Original Flavoured Yakult - no syrup required because the grapes and yakult were sweet enough. The drink would be much better if sieved but I wanted the goodness of the seeds.. so I just drank it like that, skin, seeds and all.

A Pretty Box of Macarons

This is a such a pretty box of macarons that I am tempted to try making some myself...

This box came from a colleague who just returned from London. Even though the macarons were a couple of days old because of her travels.. they still tasted really good.

A simple search on the internet will bring up delightful pictures of these wonderful confectionery. When they are made the way I like them (not too sweet), they are delightful. Part of the attraction for me is that they look so small and dainty.. and they come in so many colours.. that I feel like eating them is like eating a little piece of jewel.

The best macarons are supposed to be from Pierre Herme. I'm not sure how they taste.. I've never tried them. But they come in many exotic flavours and they sure look good!

A smart jeweller has even made a macaron ring! The first time I saw this ring.. I stood for a really long time by the shop's window... They had a display at the windows of about 6 of these rings in different, delicious looking colours!

Banana Ovaltine Smoothie

Banana Ovaltine Smoothie

I didn't know that bananas and Ovaltine would go so well together.. but well, they do.

After gym this afternoon, I felt really warm when I got home and decided that I need a nice frozen drink as an afternoon pick-me-up.

Since I had some frozen bananas, I decided to use those to make a banana smoothie. I added a couple of tablespoons of Ovaltine to the smoothie and oh yum.. the banana and malty taste of Ovaltine really blended well together.

I didn't know Ovaltine go so well with bananas..

And so now I know.. Ovaltine is not just good for a breakfast drink and baking.. it is also good for making smoothies!

Dog-shaped cookies flavoured with Ovaltine