Warmth in the Rainy Weather

Tis been raining these days.
Alternating with days of hot sun.
It started with rain today.
But on we went with our activities.
Intense preparation,and then finally,
everyone's here.
A cosy gathering, though large in numbers.
Friends meeting each other.
Warmth and good cheer.

truffle celebration

A young man, glad to be back at his desk, he said.

So happy he made truffles.

The truffles, looking flaky and chocolate-ty,

sitting elegantly in the plastic box.

The truffles, good they tasted,

much joy they gave.

The capable New Age young men nowadays!

Warmth in brownies and ice-cream

In a Tudor-style house. A big house.

A cosy restaurant, with low ceilings

and interesting adornments on the walls.

Lunches and dinners, and

friendly conversations.

Fish and chips, steak, coffee or tea,

and of course,

brownies and ice-cream! :D

Memories ... of Telok Blangah

A return to Telok Blangah,

the food centre where chicken rice we had.

The stall no longer there,

but others there were.

Chicken rice, fish soup, char kway teow ...

and many types of dessert,

including durian ice kachang!

Kiddie's seat

Seen in a ladies' toilet in Orchard Central - a kiddie's seat. For Mummy to place her toddler while in the toilet.

Getting ready ... for X'mas

The snowmen are out, or rather, up. The Christmas trees are too - in iconic cut-outs hanging above Orchard Road, in blue glittering ones along Orchard Road.

The last farewell

The last 7th day, the 49th day.

More offerings and prayers.

The last farewell.

Avoiding Lightning Strikes

Some public education tips from NEA:

Tips on avoiding lightning strikes

1. Seek shelter in a building or car.
   
2. If you are in an open area, take cover in a low-lying area such as a ravine or under a thick growth of small trees in a forest.
   
3. Head for shore if you are in open water.
   
4. Do not ride on a bicycle, motorcycle or golf cart.
   
5. If you are on a golf course and there are no shelters nearby, put down your clubs, take off your spiked shoes and crouch into a ball on the ground.
   
6. Do not use the telephone, electric and electronic equipment.
   
7. Do not stand under tall trees.
   
8. Keep away from wire fences or metal objects.

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

Cottages springing up ... X'mas 09

Orchard Road's getting ready for Christmas. The cottages are up, outside Tanglin Mall!

Cheesed Mussels, Shishamo and Prawns

Tis Saturday dinner and the Big Chef's inspired.

Crispy bread rolls, an all-time favourite.

Mussels with cheese, oh so yummy yum.

Prawns, seasoned and grilled.

Squids, also seasoned and grilled.

And those shishamo - enough to eat to heart's content.

Washed down with soup and red wine.

And salad of lettuce and apple slices, a cool complement.

By the time the sausages appear on the grill,

the stomach almost full!

A Sunny Saturday

Tis Saturday, and the Sun's up, bright and well, sunny!

A trip to the Kwan Yin Temple,

a prayer for good health and good wishes.

A trip down a previously 0ft-travelled road,

to the Margaret Drive hawkers' centre.

For "wanton" noodle and sugar cane juice.

A trip back in memory,

to People's Park, a textile hub still standing.

A trip back,

a stretch of road lined with tall trees,

leafy and green.

A row of trees that glisten with autumn red leaves

when touched by the Sun,

bringing back memories of Fall in temperate countries.

Over (Green) Tea

Sashimi and grilled saba piece.

Tempura and miso soup.

Chawanmushi and watermelons.

And the ubiquitous green tea.

A simple Japanese set.

Yet warm and cosy.

For heartwarming the wish.

A simple wish,

to wish one well.

Kindness and support

even when one's not up

in the charts.

Knight in Shining Armour

The Knight in shining armour,

so big and strong, so fit and alert,

ready to defend and protect.

How time flies.

From a singlet-clad chubby young one

drawing his first story of a people army

throwing oranges at intruding enemy,

to thought-provoking and intellectual essays in the classroom,

and pole-wielding wushu moves outside.

From earlier follow-the-crowd aims at UK colleges,

to present-day maturity.

And a recognition of the value of a local college education

that those in the region aim for.

How time flies.

Now like a Knight defending his lot.

Duty*Honour*Leadership.

ION visit and Orchard Road getting ready

We visited ION Orchard today. Long after it opened.

Went to INI CLO. Finally.

And found a dessert outlet selling steamed egg dessert (with ginger juice) - just like it was when sold at People's Park years ago (till the stall closed). Finally.

Lots of people around this Sunday afternoon. Mostly in the basement shops.

Orchard Road itself is getting ready, getting ready for Christmas! Tanglin Mall even has its little cottages up already!

Chef's Creation

A special Chef's Creation, it was billed as.

Specially created, meticulously prepared.

In an elegant yet cosy atmosphere.

In a grande olde dame of a building.

A quail for appetiser

- different from the quail in jungle survival!

Warm bread rolls.

Delicious mushroom soup.

Beef well done, soft and still succulent.

Coffee with brown sugar on a stick,

the sugar glistening under the light,

like a magic wand with crystals.

And the highlight ...

tiny cylindrical chocolate cakes,

soft and chocolate-ty,

with warm chocolate syrup oozing out.

Yummy yum! :D

A lunch, for a special group.

A special set.

One Ceremony, Two Places

A tea ceremony it was, the usual for a Chinese wedding.

Together with a buffet lunch, the usual.

But the wedding ceremony atop a hill,

in a vineyard, looking out to the ocean!

Not the usual.

What a beautiful scene it must be.

Blue sky, gentle breeze, and a heartfelt union.

~~~~~~~

Dinner on a Friday

Big Chef wasn't home for dinner.
2Chef wasn't home for dinner.
LC (Little Chef) wasn't back yet.

Left DC (Dormant Chef) to rule the roost in the kitchen.
Sigh!
DC had to rouse herself from hibernation ...

Grilled saba fish with onion rings.
Toasted fish cake shaped like beancurd.
Soup filled with vegetables (xiao bai cai), meatballs and egg tofu.

Very filling, they said. Good too, they said.
Hmm.

(No pictures. Too busy cooking.)

comfort from chocolates :D

Think comfort food, and one thinks of food that one likes, but is unhealthy.

Too many calories, high cholesterol, expensive, lacking in nutrition.

Or heaty, as the Chinese say about some.

Like chocolate.

"Chocolate - healthy in moderation
Don't eat too much, but if you don't, chocolate is good for you!

Studies done suggest that eating one bonbon of dark chocolate a day is healthy.They didn't test eating more chocolate a day - probably because there is absolutely no reason to think THAT is healthy. Still. Eating that one small piece of chocolate a day does actually help your arteries and make you happier.

Who doesn't love chocolate - I suspect most of the Western world is chocolate addicted. We put it on everything.For your health the thing to remember is: it is only dark chocolate that is good for you and for women it is actually a sign of good health to be eating chocolate. "

http://www.squidoo.com/comfort-food

A Bright Orange Flower

A flower sitting in a slender vase.

An orange flower, its petals opened wide,

beaming brightness against a backdrop of darkness.

Darkness ...

... wait, wait ...

a beam,

a beam of light glimmers yonder.

What may it bring, we wonder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The shrinking buns

Bun, oh lotus paste bun ("lin yong bao").

So sweet and tasty,

sticky though be the paste.

Yet oh so small the bun.

Downsized it has, since a few years ago.

Though downsize the price has not.

See how tiny it is now

- even smaller than the egg tart!

Flower offerings

Another trip, another set of offerings.

Another spray of flowers, carefully selected, tenderly arranged.

Hoping for a safe passage, and peace.

Durian, Durian

It's durian season!

"D24 Super" - the stallholder said. At $8 per box. All good, he said.

Not bad, our conclusion. :P *licking fingers*

Big Chef at work

Tis Saturday and the Big Chef is inspired yet again.

To whip up dishes that please the palate.

Sweet and sour fish, assam pork, and

prawn-egg-brocoli with salad cream. :D

A Slice of Cake

A slice of cake,

oh so pure in its whiteness,

oh so rich in its cream.

Like the apple strudel,

layer by layer, carefully built,

so sweet and rich.

Even richer the care of the givers,

kind wishes and all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a Return

A return to a fave restaurant,

A return to Singapore.

A wealth of experience,

a widened horizon.

Like the dessert,

a bowl of pulot hitam,

enriched and highlighted

with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

Or like the dessert almond cream,

so plain-looking, yet a bowl of serenity,

with treasures of ginko nuts and white fungus.

Separate, yet Together

Porridge so common, yet so unusual.
Not the common white, but purplish in colour.
White grains, purplish grains mingle.
Purplish grains tasting like pulot hitam.
Signature porridge, it is billed as.

Gathering around it,
a threesome, pioneers they were.
Coming together again,
after going separate ways.
United still, in the same team.

Tea Freeze?

Choices, choices, choices,

what a myriad of choices.

Too many, too many,

for our simple minds.

(=_=)

Eg,

Earl Grey tea pls?

Italian or Russian, sir?

Nutello coffee, cafe latte,

Juliet Rose cafe ....

and Tea Freeze (mango)!

Tea Freeze - one wonders.
Freeze the tea leaves?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mid-Autumn Festival this year

It's the Mid-Autumn Festival tonight.

Lotus paste with egg yolks,
Mooncakes, boxes of them.
Usually from Tai Zhong Kok confectionary.
Little "zhu zai" ("piglet" pastry) they would give
the young ones they saw growing up.

Mooncakes with double yolk,
favourites they were,
the focus of afternoon tea,
as they sat around the table
in the afternoons
when we were at work/school.
Traditional ones only,
not the new-fangled ones.
And the pomelos,
a must-buy from the market,
something we almost forgot this time.

Mooncakes with double yolks,
and pomelos
- how much she would have loved them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Hossan Leong Show

The Hossan Leong Show opens 1 October

Posted using ShareThis

Up ... into the Sky

Seagulls

soaring into the sky.

To the strains of "Born Free" ...

A blissful flight,

after tireless efforts,

perseverance against discouraging odds.

"Excuse me, are you a Seagull?" the crow on the pedestrian walk asked,

albeit cynically, albeit unbelievingly.

"Yes, indeed!" responded the Seagulls politely,

flapping their wings strongly,

soaring into the sky,

ad infinitum.

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