Share Tea

I've always liked drinking bubble tea.

And I have certainly been drinking lots of it over the last 2 weeks.

For one, I've been on leave and hence have got time to roam around as I like. Plus, I found a great bubble tea store not too far away from my home.

The most popular bubble tea shops in Singapore seem to be Koi and Gong Cha, judging from the queues for the outlets of these 2 shops around town. However, I've come to realised that I very much prefer Share Tea.

The teas at Share tea are pretty good, though in general not as fragrant as that of some of the bubble tea stores in Taiwan. The star however, are the mini-pearls. Unlike the big pearls that most bubble tea stores in Singapore serve up, Share Tea offers mini-pearls as an option and you can drink these using a standard straw.

The service at Share Tea is usually also nice and friendly, and like many of the other bubble tea stores, they are happy to "custom-make" your drink for you - you specify the sugar level you like, how much ice you want and if you want less or more pearls. The pearls and mini pearls are offered as add-ons to any drink free of charge, which is a nice touch as well.

The outlet I've been frequenting is the one at Nex mall. They have a number of outlets around the island as well.

My favourites are Oolong Milk Tea (with or without glass jelly) and Pudding Milk Tea. The Kiwi with Ice Jelly Fruit Tea is also nice. If you don't like your drinks sweet like me, remember to ask for no sugar or 30% sugar.

Papaya Smoothie

Sometimes, when I end up with a papaya I do not like - either because it's not sweet enough or I've cut it up too soon and it taste too "raw", I'd use the papaya to make a papaya smoothie.

Papaya smoothie is probably the easiest smoothie to make.

It's basically just papaya with ice, milk and a bit of honey, if you like. You can jazz it up by adding some lime juice or pineapple juice.

Papayas are rich sources of antioxidant nutrients such as carotenes, vitamin C and flavonoids. They are also rich in the B vitamins, folate and pantothenic acid. Papayas are also rich in potassium and magnesium and fiber.

Most people would, when they think of papayas, think of them as a fruit that helps promote digestive health. Indeed, that's my reason for buying and eating papayas. They are supposed with help lactating women as well, so I supposed I'd be eating papayas and drinking papaya smoothies regularly over the next few months as well.

Ice-blended Kiwi

The kiwi fruit is a rich source of Vitamin C, which is something I'm trying to have more of.

I don't usually like the green type of kiwifruit - the golden ones are great and always sweet but with the green ones, sometimes you end up with very tart ones that are just too puckering sour for me.

So using them in juices are great - I sometimes blend them plain with some simple syrup and ice.. and sometimes with a bottle of Yakult.

Kiwis are full of Vitamin C, low in calories, high in anti-oxidants and is a very good source of folic acid. They are also good for digestion because they contain an enzyme called actinidin, which helps to digest proteins. This makes kiwis a form of natural laxative, very helpful for the sluggish preganancy digestive system that causes constipation.

For some reason (and I think it's because of actinidin), some people advise against pregnant ladies having kiwis.

Food and Drinks in Switzerland - Part 2

We came across a few really cool drinks in Switzerland.

But first let me say that I think drinks in Swiss restaurants and cafes are amongst the most expensive in the world. In a normal restaurant or cafe, a bottle of coke would go for about 4 to 4.50CHF. I tend to opt for Coke Zero (very cutely called Co-ka Zero by the locals) and that would cost about 5 to 5.50 CHF. Even sparkling water would cost about 4CHF per person.

Ouch for stingy me.

Since The Husband and I were both not drinking alcohol or coffee, we ended up trying a variety of drinks - milk shakes, different soft drinks, different brands of sparkling water (which I must say - most of the water we had were great, thanks to the bountiful supply of spring water in that region).

These are the few special drinks from Switzerland that I like:

1) Rivella.
Apparently, this is a very Swiss drink. When my Swiss colleagues heard I've tried Rivella, most of them ask which colour I prefer. There is red Rivella, blue Rivella and green Rivella. The red one is the original flavour. Blue is a diet version (I think) and it seemed to taste lightly as well. Green seems to be a new flavour, with some green tea in it. My favourite is the blue one.

2) Schorle.
Schorle is a German beverage made from diluting juice or wine with carbonated water. The most common variety is Apfelschorle, i.e. apple juice with sparkling water.

Ramseier seemed to be the most popular brand and have 2 kinds of sparkling apple juice - one that comes in a green bottle (RAMSEIER Süessmost) and one in a clear/ red bottle (RAMSEIER Schorle). The one in a green bottle is the classic version and the other is a lighter version. I liked the RAMSEIER Schorle - I thought it was extremely thirst quenching and refreshing. Good after a long walk on a warm afternoon.

3) Caotina and Ovomaltine
For warm drinks, I like Caotina (a brand for hot chocolate) and Ovomaltine (yes, you guessed it right, Ovaltine!).

These come usually with steamed milk and they weren't overly sweet. In one of the cafe we went to, The Husband ordered Ovomaltine and they gave him a cup of steamed milk and a packet of Ovamltine. He complained jokingly that for 5CHF, they should at least make the Ovaltine for him. I thought it was hilarious and took a picture of the drink.

I brought home a box of Caotina Noir from the supermarket. It's a dark chocolate drink powder made with real Swiss chocolate. It is made with 45% cocoa and can be drank with hot or cold milk. I really like this a lot because most hot chocolate drink powder is too sweet for me. This is just nice, I think - not too bitter and definitely not too sweet.

Coughing

I have been down with a cough for the last few days.

I hate it when I get a bad cough.

For me, it usually starts with a sore throat. And then as the sorethroat gets better, the coughing starts. And I'd be coughing so hard, that the sorethroat comes back and I get a bad headache. The coughing gets especially bad at night. Sometimes, I get a congested nose as well.

Then after a few days, the cough gets better.. and the sorethroat gets better as well.

I think I'm at the stage where the cough and sorethroat is getting better but with Monday coming up quickly, I do wish I'm feeling a lot better than I feel now.

It sucks to be sick. I've been pretty much sleeping my weekend away and food doesn't taste much to me.

I do need to remember to always drink loads of water, have lots of fresh Vitamin C and exercise more. Especially water. Somehow, it always takes a cold or cough to remind me not to be a camel..

I'm steering clear of cold drinks for now, but this kiwi drink - blended 

using 2 kiwis, a bottle of yakult and some ice cubes is a great source of Vitamin C! 

I also added in a few leaves of my mint plant to make the drink more refreshing

Ice blended Juices

I've been trying to eat more fruits in all forms - fresh, dried, juiced and cooked.

One of my favourite ways is to blend the fruits with ice in my Vitamix. This afternoon, I blended oranges with ice and treated myself to a very cold and pulpy orange juice.

It's nice to have a glass of fresh juice whilst reading, watching the rain from the comfort of my living room on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Korean Strawberries

Korean strawberries seem to be in season now. You can find them in almost all the supermarkets in Singapore. These are really reasonably priced strawberries. I even saw 4 punnets for $10 in a neighbourhood fruits store at Aljunied.

They do not look that sweet - a bit on the pale side and not as red and huge as the strawberries from the US.

But they are pretty sweet and I find the size just nice for popping into your mouth.

I have been having them with everything.

From yogurt and muesli for breakfast..

To fruit salads for lunch..

The Husband used these to make desserts..

And I've made many a delicious smoothie out of these pretty little things..

Mixed Berry Smoothie with Mint

Ice-blended strawberries

Korean strawberries are really quite good! The only strawberries I like much better are the ones I had in Japan - very small and very red, these are so sweet you'd stop to wonder if they are artificially sweetened.

Mixed Berry Smoothie with Mint

On very hot weekend afternoons, when I don't have much of an appetite for any lunch, I find salads and smoothies most comforting.

Today is another one of those extra hot Sundays, so I decided to make a smoothie out of all the berries I have in the fridge. All I did was throw some ice, blueberries, strawberries, mint leaves and milk into my Vitamix and blend everything together. I supposed you could add some honey if you like your smoothie sweet but I found this good enough for me.

The mint leaves makes this smoothie really refreshing.

And I suppose it is indeed a very healthy lunch, especially since I had it with a couple of fresh strawberries and plums.

Such a refreshing smoothie! I love my Vitamix for this

Before and after

Chamomile Tea from Teapigs

I am rather particular when it comes to tea.

Hence, we have a huge collection of tea leaves and bags at home.

We have pu-er tea that we bought from this very old shop in Kowloon City in Hong Kong. A very treasured box of white tea leaves from an ex-colleague of mine from China. Matcha and a whole lot of various green teas we picked up during our trips to Japan. A good but often neglected tin of oolong tea leaves from Taiwan.

For the more "western" type of teas, I like the No. 14 Tea from Harrods, French Earl Grey from Singapore's TWG and Tetley tea.

Apart from tea leaves and bags, we also have quite a bit of those stuff that you can't strictly call tea - yuzu jam for Yuzu tea, dried lemongrass for lemongrass tea and various types of dried flowers for floral tea.

Even with all those teas in my tea cupboard, I still often find myself replenishing the supplies for my top favourites.

Teapigs is a brand I discovered this year during my business trip to London. This company considers themselves "tea evangelists" and claim that they only sell teas of the highest quality. I have tried a number of their teas and I think their teas are pretty good. All there teas contain whole tea leafs.. and their floral teas whole flowers.

My favourite tea from Teapigs is their chamomile flowers. In the triangular tea bags (which they call tea temples), you can actually see whole flowers.

The tea is very fragrant. My colleague sitting next to me often comment on this tea whenever I make it, saying she can smell it distinctly from where she sits. The taste is also surprisingly sweet, with not one bit of bitter aftertaste.

This particular tea puts me in a very calm and relaxed mood after drinking, which is good.

I find myself asking friends or colleagues going to the UK to buy this for me, to replenish my tea cupboard. It's good to know that there is now a shop in Singapore at Takashimaya that stocks this particular brand as well.

I like the pretty looking flowers in the bag and the colour of the tea!

Earl Grey Latte

I have some French Earl Grey tea leaves from TWG at home. TWG Tea Company is a Singapore company selling premium tea leaves. The first time I came across ther shop, I was very surprised to learn that it is a Singapore company and not a British company.

I really love this tea because it's not only very fragrant, the leaves look pretty too! This fragrant variation of the classic Earl Grey tea has been infused with citrus fruits and has French blue cornflowers in it.

Pretty, isn't it?

I decided to make myself a cup of earl grey latte today. It's really easy to make - very similar to how I made Matcha Latte.

This would be a really nice drink to go with Earl Grey Tea bread, or a simple, quick-mix banana cake. Except it was a really hot day today so I made half a glass of this and added lots of ice to it for Iced Earl Grey Latte!

Homemade Matcha Latte

The little cup doesn't really compliment 

the matcha latte's pale green colour too well..

Matcha latte is a nice breakfast drink.

I can't remember where I learnt this from (another blog, I think), but it's really easy to make your own matcha latte at home.

All you need to do is to add 1 - 1.5 teaspoon of matcha powder and some sugar (optional) to a cup of milk in a saucepan. Stir the mixture well and turn off the heat when you see some small bubbles.

Then, transfer to a French Press and push plunger down a few times to foam the latte.

And that's really all there is to make a cup of really yummy matcha latte.

The matcha latte looks better in a glass

Fresh Carrot Juice

This is probably the healthiest sweet drink you can find - fresh carrot juice.

Carrots are an excellent source of vitamin A, a good source of potassium, and contain vitamins C & B6, copper, folic acid,thiamine and magnesium. The high level of beta-carotene gives carrots their distinctive orange colour. Beta-carotene is a strong antioxidant, so carrots are really really good for you and your skin. (As with everything in life though, moderation is key. Consume too much and you'd turn into a carroty shade as well)

When juicing carrots, it's better to use big, older carrots than those soft, young ones. I've found that the bigger, older carrots tend to make sweeter carrot juice.

In fact, the bigger ones are also better for soups and in stir-fry, so I find myself buying young carrots only very occasionally, when I use them raw in salads.

Have a good week ahead.

Red Apple with Yakult

Another nice thing to do with those yummy New Zealand apples - Juice some and mix with a bottle of Yakult.

If you juice apples that have come straight out of the fridge, this drink will be nice and cold even without any ice.

Enjoy the week ahead.

Iced Green Tea with Lemongrass

Iced Green Tea with Lemongrass is great thirst quencher

Lemongrass is pretty amazing.

It is supposed to be able to help with relieving cough and nasal congestion. The Thais use lemongrass as a natural detoxifier. Lemon grass helps to cut down uric acid, cholesterol, excess fats and other toxins in the body while stimulating digestion, blood circulation.

It is known for its calming effect that relieves insomnia or stress.

It contains antibacterial and antifungal properties, and can even to used as a mild, all-natural insect repellant.

I like using fresh lemongrass when cooking Thai or Peranakan dishes (like Tom Yum Soup and Prawns in Pineapple Gravy). I also like using fresh lemongrass to make drinks.

Iced lemongrass green tea is pretty easy to make.

Directions
1. Boil some water with a few stalks of bruised lemongrass
- Cut the lemongrass into 5cm pieces and bruise with the back of a knife
- You can add 3 - 4 stalks for every litre of water, depending on how strong you want the drink to be
- Boil for about 20 mins
2. Let the lemongrass water cool
3. In the meantime, put some green tea leaves on a strainer and pour hot water over it
- This is to clean the tea leaves.
4. Put the tea leaves into the lemongrass water and let it steep for at least 12 hours
- I usually bottle the mixture in an airtight bottle and leave it overnight in the fridge

Strain the tea leaves and you are ready to serve this drink. Add honey before serving if you like sweet drinks. I like it without any syrup or honey - it's healthier this way.

Steeping the tea in cold water overnight makes the tea taste different.

This way of making tea is also sometimes called "cold brewed tea" and yields sweeter cold tea, without the bitter aftertaste of iced tea made by cooling down tea brewed with hot water. This is because iced tea made this way has less tannins, which means less astringency.

I sometimes use just normal room temperature water instead of hot water in Step 3 as using hot water can make the tea a little more bitter.

Another benefit of making iced tea the "cold brewed" way is that the tea remains clear, unlike normal tea, which turns cloudy after you cool it down with ice.

Drink Up

Some of my colleagues jokingly call me a camel because I don't drink a lot of water.

Sometimes things get so busy at work that I forget to get myself a glass of water and don't drink anything for an entire day.

It's a really bad habit of course.

Happily I do like drinking water.. especially when it's freshened up with a slice of lemon and some fresh mint, like I did today.


We all know water is good for us.. but I think this website called "Dumb Little Man" has a really good article on water. The article puts forth very good reasons for drinking water - did you know that  drinking water can help with weight loss, headaches and gives you more energy? Sounds like I really do need to drink up!

Hot Soup, Cold Drinks

The weather has been really hot recently, and then these couple of days, it started raining and then drizzling a lot.

On days when the weather is uncomfortable, I think food can really help brighten up the day!

I love a bowl of hot soup on a rainy day. The Husband made my favourite golden fish soup recently. Even though that was just a couple of weeks ago, I was craving it again today.

But icy cold drinks taste great to me on all kinds of days in Singapore, whether hot or wet. Today, I made an iced pu'er tea with fresh lime juice. It was really yummy too... and it's healthy too unlike most iced drinks out there.

Today is a good start to a long weekend - I'm off work until Tuesday. It's a nice break because I have been feeling tired and frustrated at work recently.

Iced Tea with Ice-cream

If you like iced milk tea, you would like this even better.

At least I do - iced tea with vanilla ice-cream is a dream for tea at home during the weekend.

Pick a tiny bit of mint leaves from your garden, add some homemade scones or buns and a great book, and you'd feel like you are on a holiday.

I also like iced earl grey with vanilla ice-cream. They make this rather well at Coffee Club but I think homemade is always better because you can make the tea the way you like it.

Have a fabulous week ahead - this week is a short week for those of us who get a day off on Good Friday.

Red Dragon Fruit Juice

I seldom eat dragon fruit because I find it a little bland. Sure, you would never get one that is sour.. (unlike some fruits) but you never get one that is sweet too. It just has this in-between kind of taste that I don't find particularly interesting.

But red dragon fruit has such a vibrant colour that it makes a really interesting drink. Blend some with ice and simple syrup and you'd get a really pretty drink.

It's a nice drink to serve when you have guests over.

Ice blended lime juice

Nothing taste better than lime juice on a hot sunny day.

Nothing except ice-blended lime juice.

It's very easy to make too - lots of ice, lime juice, simple syrup (sugar and water) and a bit of lime peel. Mix everything together in a powerful blender to taste and you get the ultimate thirst quencher for a hot afternoon.

Do drink up quickly though - this drink melts easily.

Buah Long Long

This fruit is known to me as "buah long long". I've also heard that the Malay name for it is "buah kedongdong". Quite a cute name, either way.

The "buah long long" fruit has a leathery skin and a thin layer of pulp. The pulp is either eaten fresh, pickled with vinegar and chilli, or made into juice or jelly. It is not a common fruit to find.. even in Singapore. I've had the drink before in Penang as well and have heard that it is also available in Indonesia.

The "buah long long" tree is a useful tree.. and I find it strange that it is not more widely cultivated. The fruit is supposedly "cooling" (ie dispels "heatiness") and diuretic. The roots and bark too, have medicinal value - can be consumed and also used for external application.

In any case, the juice of the "buah long long" tastes great - a bit like lime juice but with a more grassy flavour. With a lot of ice and a sour plum, it is a great drink to have on a scorching hot Sunday afternoon.

Not many stores sell this drink now.. I find this at a Penang restaurant called Gurney Drive at Ang Mo Kio.

P/S: I used I could reccomend this restaurant because I personally love Penang food. Unfortunately, the food used to be a lot better when the restaurant first started. Our assam laksa today was rather disappointing. I'd be writing to them about it.. because there aren't many places where assam laksa is available in Singapore! Watch this space for more!