Volcanic Ash ~ Part 3

After taking much precautions, which everyone has mixed feelings about, the ban on the UK and European airspace has been lifted. Test flights proved that the volcanic ash, which is dissipating, has no effect on the airplane's engines and the authorities have decided to lift the ban, to a mild sigh of relieve for everyone all over the world.

You don't realise how much travel is involved to Europe until something like this happens. Heathrow, being a major airport is unable to handle the overwhelming number of people arriving on a daily basis and alternative airports have to be opened to handle the stranded people. I'm sure it's an operation nightmare, but people will be able to make their way on land after.

The hubs and I were supposed to depart tomorrow night, but we decided to give our seats up after hearing that some stranded people will only get on the plane sometime next week! I guess it was not meant to be that we visit Scotland this round, although I do feel a little sad that I'll be missing it. Maybe next year...

Corelle Ware

A friend of mine mentioned that no one should buy Corelle ware as they are expensive but more so because they last and last and last.

I accidentally tested out their durability today. A cereal bowl was wedged with an ordinary plate which was misplaced on the dish dryer. As I was replacing that plate, the bowl slipped from the dish dryer, hit the tiled floor a little more than 1 metre from where it was, bounced and rolled a few times, making some interesting tinkling sounds, and finally stopping.

Corelle ware is light in weight, ceramic-like and they boast to be break resistant and chip free. I picked up the cereal bowl, whole, ran a finger around the edges to see if it was chipped, turned it around in the light to look for fine cracks... nothing. A normal ceramic or glass bowl would have shattered! Especially since it fell straight from that height without anything buffering the fall before it touched the floor.

My Corelle ware has passed it guarantee year of 10. I can't believe it didn't break or chip *grin*

Volcanic Ash ~ Part 2

The travel ban on the UK and European airspace has been partially lifted, to the sigh of relieve for some stranded passengers. I cannot begin to understand the amount of stress they're going through, having to cough up an exorbitant amount of money just to get home, among the other expenses they have spent making their stranded stay as comfortable as they can.

I'm sure the phones have been ringing off the hook for most of the airlines and they have stopped answering. This is understandable as people do become a little unreasonable when they are desperate. But what about their customers who have confirmed non-essential travel on their flights? Is there an outlet for them to willingly give up their seats? Maybe the airlines should have thought about that too, to alleviate the aggravation the airport staff are facing.

Brilliant Legacy

I finally finished watching the Korean drama Brilliant Legacy and thought it's worth a mention. Sometimes it's difficult to give credit where it's due, but this is a show I could watch over and over again.

The storyline wasn't all that complicated and unbelievable (the writer didn't make every bad thing that could happen, happen) If you haven't watched it and are thinking of, go watch it. It's 28 episodes long, a little more than usual and Korean drama serials are usually slightly over 60 minutes long, without advertisements. Check out Wikipedia's synopsis.

I love the fact that in almost every episode, something gets revealed and the entire 28 episodes didn't feel draggy.

Ultimately, the songs that are played within the drama poses a big part of its attraction. There was a recurring theme song (Love is punishment, *grin* Even the title sounds painful) which was played over and over again, which had the following lines and even if it wasn't translated properly, it does fit the series so well : A love that cannot be spoken is a punishment from heaven.

I guess you'll be able to sense the amount of struggle the characters had to portray with that song. Good acting. Great choice of actors, especially the evil, evil stepmother.

Volcanic Ash

The volcanic eruption of Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland last Wednesday has caused one of the worst disruptions worldwide. Flowing lava is not the immediate concern as it's being cooled by the glacier, but the ash rising from that has floated to the skies. And with not much wind in sight to dissipate it, it has caused havoc to UK and European airspace. An airspace ban has been erected as the authorities think that this cloud of ash will harm an airplane's engine if the engine comes into contact with the cloud.

On the extremely bad side of this, people are stuck at airports all over the world, en-route to Europe or the UK. Grant that it's not the summer holidays at the moment, but people who do not have kids would take this opportunity to travel overseas and even within the European countries. Goods, fresh produce, can't be sent anywhere and might just have to rot in cargo. A number of businesses that do not have the luxury of relying on the internet to solely do business have been grounded to a halt.

On the flip side, the hotels near airports where people have been left stranded have been milking this for all it's worth; Car hire companies in Europe have all their fleet rented out; Trains are packed; Touring coaches have been turned into transportation coaches. All for a premium, I'm sure. People are ruthless, aren't they?

What's your legal name?

I've recently been asked what my legal name is. Maybe it's because I haven't been dealing with the authorities all that much (immigration forms only ask for my name as per passport) and find this strange.

Looking it up on the web came up with a few interesting answers. Answers dot com tells me that it's a name used for official purposes and not a nickname. What if my nickname was my legal name? And what if I'd like to use another name for official purposes? I guess Wiki's explanation is pretty clear. It's the name that appears on your birth certificate and/or marriage certificate. Women have the luxury of taking on their spouse's family name when they get married, most western women do. I haven't met a guy who took on his spouse's family name yet!

It's not that difficult to change your name in some countries, as long as you're not changing your name to avoid responsibility or to deceive anyone. These days, I can choose to call myself 'The Retired Girl'.

The only thing you can almost never change is the name that appears on your birth certificate. Parents have to put in a lot of thought when they name their kids. Someone with the 'wrong' name could end up having the worst life.

Adelaide rocks!

Well, it's a different kind of rocking. There was a mild earthquake in Adelaide about 20 minutes ago, near where my parents place is. Scary as that sounds, I'm wondering if I should have been there feeling it.

16 spokes

I brought a brolly back from Tokyo, actually, I brought back 2 brollies. It's not usual for someone like me to bring back a brolly because it's just cumbersome and not like we can't get brollies here, but it's Japan, and they have pretty interesting brollies.

For Spring and light rain, they're big on the transparent canopy brollies. These are usually between Y250 - Y300 for a one person sized one as they're made of plastic and will not last forever. For Summer and blocking of the heat, they have very pretty patterned ones in all shapes and sizes. Those will cost a bit more.

One of the brollies I brought back was a pink 16 spoke one. I thought more spokes would make the brolly more sturdy, as we sometimes experience torrential rain here. The pink canopy is plain when it's dry, but if there's water on the canopy, little cherry blossom petals start to appear. Amazing, isn't it? And it only cost me Y1050, bargain!

16 Spokes

Photo Blog : Sushi Display

They say a picture tells a thousand words, what about window displays? If not for it, I don't think a lot of tourists would be able to eat as only a handful of their restaurants carry an English menu, especially in the rural cities. I've noticed that they're starting to bring these display food into Singapore. If the pictures are appetising enough, it does make for people to want to walk in to eat, doesn't it? This elaborate display of sushi was seen while walking towards the Naritasan Shinshoji Temple.

Day 7 Sushi Display

Photo Blog : Hardy Sakura

The Sakura has been in bloom for more than a week. It was spitting drizzle the whole of yesterday, not to mention the wind and yet, this is a survivor. Maybe it's protected by the Jodo shu at the Zojo-ji.

Day 6 Hardy Sakura

Photo Blog : High Jump Dolphin

It was spitting drizzle the whole of today, so not a lot of outside photos. Lucky I did all the parks and shrines before today. Here's something that kept me warm and entertained for a couple of hours at the Epson Aqua Stadium.

Day 5 High Jump Dolphin

Photo Blog : Sakura on the side

Outside the Imperial Palace, another nice place for families to gather and be out and about.

Day 4 Sakura on the side

Photo Blog : Sakura Snow

The Sakura flower only lasts one week after blooming. Then they will either get blown off the tree or wilt away. Every time the wind blows, petals start to fall, the trick is to try to catch them before they fall to the ground. Everyone gets excited with every gust of wind that comes.

Lovely weather for a picnic at Shinjuku Gyoen.

Day 3 Sakura Snow

Photo Blog : Sakura with Cats

It's such a wonder. Found this while walking through Ueno Park. How cute are they?!

Day 2 Sakura with Cats

Photo Blog : Sakura

Love the cold weather.

Day 1 Sakura

Short post

Short post today as I have to pack for an impromptu trip, sleep in 15 minutes time as the alarm will sound in 6 hours, and catch a flight!

The retired girl who doesn't travel enough is finally travelling again *wide grin*

Rave Reviews

The internet is an amazing tool. If you haven't fully discovered it, I suggest you do. You'll be amazed at what you can find! Information that you didn't even know would be up, is up. Can you imagine, if everyone puts in a unique truthful information, there are more than 6.5 billion people in the world, that's 6.5 billion different bits of information. It might be too much for one human brain to retain.

But, yes, you sometimes wonder if what you're reading on the internet is true, some people will abuse it.

Anyways, I believe in the goodness of people, so I've been scouring it for feedback on hotels which I haven't stayed in, in the planning of my vacations. I can't imagine where I'd go to find the information had the internet not exist. The only choice I would have would be to ask the hotel to snail mail me some information about the hotel. I vaguely remember fact sheets...

So put in your two cents, everyone, it might turn back to help you in the future.

Cat and Mouse

The cat's away and the pseudo mouse... is sitting in front of the computer trying to see if she can go away too.

Recently a couple of my friends made a comment that their hubands are 'dog' people. What exactly does that mean? That they are men's (and now women's) best friend? Or that they need to be walked once a day? Or that they need some form of human contact? Or looking on the brighter side of things, that they love unconditionally and blindly?

I think I'm a cat person. Not only do I not fancy dogs, growing up surrounded by mad, untrained barking dogs will do that to you, but I don't mind spending time by myself. I think the hubs is a cat person too *grin* We don't have the need to spend every minute together when we're both at home. He's got his computer and I've got mine (I wonder what olden day couples did when they're not working or in the kitchen). Not that we don't spend time together, at all, just not every free minute that we have.

Meanwhile, this pseudo mouse is still looking for a place to park herself for the next week.

ps. I already miss the cat

Golden Oldies

I used to be pretty up-to-date with my music. Driving and catching the train the work gave me the time to listen to the radio. These days, I don't really turn on the radio. Partly because I don't really like the songs of the 00s and the radios don't play much of the songs from the 80s. It was during a car ride today that the hubs made an observation.

The 80s is now an oldie! Eek! Are we really that old? Considering that the 80s was thirty years ago, I guess you could say that we're old-er.

*sigh* wasn't it just last year that I graduated?

Suffice to say, there's a new radio channel for us to listen to, Gold 90 FM, which will be playing music from the 70s and the 80s.

Photo Blog : Government Housing

It's been a while since I put up a photo. Took this today in the suburb of Ang Mo Kio. It's one of the oldest suburbs here in Singapore.

As Singapore is a small country with heaps of people, there came a time where not everyone could be housed on landed properties. Not only was space a limitation, but there was just no where else to build houses. The government came up with some housing flats. And looking at the picture, you can tell that they've spent some money and effort to keep it looking like brand new. No signs of weathered moss on the walls or rusty window fittings.

These days, one can still tell the age of a particular housing block by the length of the block. This one is one of the older ones, I count about 25 units on one level.

Government Housing Block

Good Friday

Go. For. Mass?

April Fool's Day

Back when we were kids, April Fool's day was pretty much dreaded in anticipation. We didn't know what kind of prank was going to be pulled in school and whether we would be the main star of the prank, so to speak. I can't remember if there was any that was played on me. Sometimes being inconspicuous helps.

These days it's just another day, the start of the second quarter of the year. While I was working, I don't remember anyone playing any pranks within the circle of work mates. Maybe it's because the day is not so widely 'celebrated' here in Singapore.

I hope everyone's having fun today, especially those getting married, celebrating anniversaries and birthdays.

90th Day

A quarter of the year has gone by so quickly
What have you done?
What have you achieved?

While almost everyone has been scurrying to finish projects
I haven't had any projects to complete
Except for the daily updating of this blog

What's in store for me in the coming months?
I'm sure it'll be exciting
I can't wait to find out

A Room For Two

We're off for a vacation sometime soon. It's surprising to realise but the hubs and I take vacations twice a year. We didn't take any vacations together last year as the hubs was country bound so he's been itching to take a break, dust off the camera and visit a place we haven't been to.

Suffice to say, between the both of us, there are very little places we haven't been to, either together or with someone else; me after having worked in the travel industry for so many years, getting heaps of opportunity to visit various destinations for educational purposes and him being sent to various destinations for business purposes.

This time we picked a destination out of a 'hat', so to speak, not owning a spinning globe. By the way, I chanced upon a spinning globe while shopping last weekend, about waist high with the stand and everything for a mere $4.5K. Who would spend that amount of money on a spinning globe? I could go on an indulgence vacation for that amount of money.

Anyways, speaking of money, we are on a budget for this vacation, as it's only going to be a week long vacation. But our choices of destinations didn't factor in the budget. After our destination was fished out of the 'hat', we realised that it was going to take a lot of research to fit our budget into the vacation because the air portion itself will more than likely take up 3/4 of the budget!

But all is not lost, scouring the internet for the cheapest air ticket was interesting. If there was a budget carrier who flew somewhere near, we would've taken it and found another way to our destination. We didn't even question the safety issue of carriers from the middle east as they had the most competitive rates. At the end, with the carrier that we booked with, I found that the airport taxes which included a huge chunk of insurance tax was more than the cost of the ticket itself. I never realised how much the taxes have ballooned up from the last time we travelled to that part of the world.

Now the quest for accommodation is up. We only need a place to rest at night, seeing that we'll be walking around aimlessly the rest of the day. A place that has clean sheets and no pet moss in their bathroom. It doesn't have to be a hotel, sometimes hotels are overrated. Where we're headed to, bed and breakfast establishments will do just fine.

Food Blog : Fried potato cubes

Homemade fried potatoes are always the yummiest. I was making one of my favourite dishes today and I guess it's a blessing that I only know how to cook in bulk. This dish will last me for the next three days.

Anyways, I've always liked the way fresh potatoes come out in the medium heat of a shallow fry. The taste is definitely different from the frozen processed potatoes that you can find from the frozen section of a supermarket.

Fried potato cubes

Formula 1 Grand Prix

Today was race day at Albert Park, Melbourne. A surprising win for Mr Button as he started in 6th position. This time I only watched the first 5 laps. It was going to be an interesting race as cars swung out of control at the first bend of the first lap. The safety car was out for two laps after that.

I can still remember when the F1 was held in Adelaide, a city street course. We lived 15 minutes from the city, but because of the way the suburbs surrounding the city was built, no tall buildings, race car sounds could be heard from our garden. I attended a session once with walkabout tickets. It was during Aryton Senna's time. I vaguely remember that there weren't all that many people walking around, could be because it wasn't race day and summer in Adelaide is extremely hot.

Last year, I was given some three day walkabout tickets for the night race in Singapore and the experience was so different. Grant that the weather was still hot and humid as I also watched the Porsche and Aston Martin races which were held in the late afternoon, but the actual race itself was amazing! I think being right next to the racecourse beats any grandstand tickets hands down. Depending on which area you chose to watch from, especially at the bends, cars were literally heading directly towards you. The heart beats a little faster each time you think the driver might just lose control of the car and crash into the safety barrier three feet from where you're standing. Hopefully we'll get free tickets again this year.

Qing Ming Festival

Also known as grave tending day. This year, for the first time in 2500 years, the 5th of April will be a national holiday in China.

Once a year, the Chinese visit columbariums and cemeteries to burn hell money and goods, check that the graves and area around it is neat and clean, plant joss sticks, offer food and wine and send a prayer or thought to their deceased relative. If you'd like to read more about it, Google is your best friend.

As my family is primarily Catholic, I didn't get exposed to this part of the Chinese culture until I got married. It is an interesting festival observed by my in-laws. For me, every year proves to be a little different from the last. I'm always intrigued with the paper goods that people purchase and burn. Other than hell money, there are some pretty interesting paper goods that people send over. Among them a mansion, luxury car with driver, mobile phone, massage chair, branded handbag and laptop. I guess anything you can have on earth, can be created with paper and burned.

I'm always looking out for something new, and couldn't find any new paper goods this year but was surprised when some firecrackers were used at both the columbarium and cemetery. It's a new occurrence this year and I'm sure it won't happen next year as there's a ban on firecrackers... the ban is currently enforced only during the Lunar New Year. As to why anyone would pop some firecrackers at a columbarium or cemetery, my guess is that the deceased relative really loved the sound of firecrackers while they were alive. You can't pop some firecrackers at a columbarium or cemetery hoping to scare evil spirits away, it's their resting place, they might decide to follow you home.

Just an observation, the Chinese believe that when you die, you go to hell. Otherwise you won't be burning hell money, right?

Eyeshadow

Another interesting Facebook advert. Why would anyone need so many eyeshadows? Especially if they're not a professional make-up artist. How long will it take that person to finish using it? I'm amused!

Battlestar Galactica's glitch

It looks like there's going to be a repeat of the technical problems which new tourist attractions go through here in Singapore with Universal Studios Singapore's (USS) highlight, the Battlestar Galactica roller coaster ride. It might be closed for an undetermined amount of time. At least this time the problem was detected before the park opened and not while there were people on the ride, unlike the Singapore Flyer. Roller coasters are frightful machines when the ride's in operation, what more when things go wrong.

I'm sure everyone's wondering how this was not detected prior to the theme park's opening, when they were running all their tests on the various rides. If it's a wear and tear problem, then it's going to cost the theme park a lot of money in order to keep replacing that particular part once a month. I don't think it would be a weather problem... at least not the extreme heat element as we've been experiencing heavy downpours the past couple of weeks. Hmm... maybe it is a water thing.

Oh, well... it's always best to give a new tourist attraction some time to 'settle'. I haven't been on the Singapore Flyer yet and it's been opened for more than a year... or is it two already?! Plus I guess I've been waiting for the construction around the immediate area to complete; a barrage, a city garden and an integrated resort.

Decisions, decisions, decisions

Money... it's the root of all evil. Whether you have it or not, it still manages to mess with your plans. Decision making would be a whole lot easier if you just don't have the money. Money to take vacations or purchase things. Especially vacations.

We're due for a vacation sometime soon. The hubs didn't get to travel much the whole of last year due to work commitments. The last vacation we took together was to Hong Kong and Macau, but with my parents tagging along. I don't think I can thoroughly enjoy a vacation if I'm tagging along with people, other than the hubs. I don't mind taking a vacation on my own, because I love to aimlessly wander around a new place. Actually, I don't mind being alone. I've always been alright hanging out by myself. But I need the hubs to tag along as I can't read maps very well. He on the other hand knows things.

Anyways, now that we have a pocket in the calendar where the hubs doesn't have to attend any important meetings, we're stuck on where to go. We've been spinning Google Maps like a globe on a stick, but haven't figured out where we want the globe to stop spinning and point to. We're trying our hardest not to visit places we've been before, which actually limits our selection. We need a new world to take our vacations on!

Food Blog : Dried Mandarin Peels

Healthy snacking. As opposed to snacking on potato chips or any of the amazingly MSG-lined junk food that's out in the market, snacking on dried fruit is considered healthier.

This is one of the local favourites. If you did not grow up in an Asian country or are female, you probably wouldn't like this. The smell of it brings out the saliva in your mouth. The first taste is extreme sour and salty at the same time. Then the sweetness creeps in, after you've relaxed your short-lived-screwed-up-face-to-the-sourness and it's yummy to eat.

They've been known to help soothe your throat when you have a cough or sore throat, it's usually soaked and crushed in warm water, although I haven't tried it. Just the thought of the salt getting to the raw parts of my throat has put me off. But if you're Chinese, you might have tried that or seen someone drink this concoction at some point in time.

Pregnant women might suck on this as a way to get rid of the stale taste in their mouth.

It's also a great accompaniment to fresh cut fruits like the guava or water apple. Cut them into strips, instead of adding the prune powder, to the fruits.

Dried Mandarin Peels

Vacations

I used to be a travel consultant for a travel agency. What exactly does a travel consultant do? They provide you advice on your travels.

Armed with heaps of information, some through repeated ramblings and personal experiences, others through brochures and browsing information through the internet, it was fairly easy for me to sell a destination. Even a destination I hadn't been to. But I think what made the job a little easier was that the customers almost always knew where they wanted to go for their vacation and where they didn't.

Now that I'm on the opposite side of the table... I've been wishing for a GDS (which is an airline reservation system) system to be available to me to search for the cheapest and shortest routes to destinations which I can't get to with just one non-stop flight. Google Maps help a little, but it just takes me longer to do it. Maybe sometimes, the service fees that travel consultants charge is actually justifiable.

Mustafa Shopping Centre

There is a shopping centre here in Singapore that is opened 24 hours a day, close to 365 days a year. And they sell almost everything under the sun! Groceries, toiletries, clothes, jewellery, accessories, cars, electronic goods, money exchange and the list goes on!

It's been a few years since I last stepped into it. Only because it's out of the way, in a suburb called Little India. I remember the first time I visited it, I was extremely impressed with all the goods available for purchase and the pricing was a little cheaper or at par with what the going rate was elsewhere. The walking path among all the goods is narrow, enough for two people to pass by at an angle while someone stops to peer at the goods on either side. I can't believe they're able to stock so many things under one roof. Due to its overwhelming tourist and locals alike luring abilities, the whole building was recently reported as a fire-safety violation. I can just imagine the possibility of being stuck in there in an emergency, it's that packed! But they've managed to control the number of people entering the building, so it remains open and it's still as crowded as ever.

Anyways, I brought a friend there today and she shopped her heart out! I think if she didn't have to worry about the time or her aching joints, she would have spent more time sifting through all the thousands of styles available for little boys too. We managed to find heaps of lovely dresses for little one year old baby girls. Cute designs at extremely reasonable prices (about half what you would pay in the city) and after three hours, we only managed to walk around one area of the building. We didn't even venture to the jewellery section!

It's a must visit for everyone and I think I'll keep taking my guests there. Probably not on a Sunday though... that's when most of the foreign workers are given the day off and flock to Mustafa to shop and enjoy the air-condition.

Food Blog : Popeye's

A few years ago if you needed to have fried chicken in Singapore you would've only thought of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), because they were the only fast food joint serving fried chicken. We used to do that, but less frequently than we had cravings for as they don't cook their chicken very well. Most of the drumsticks and thigh parts still sport bright red bits or dark red bits near the bone.

MacDonald's tried to introduce fried chicken to their menu, but that didn't last very long. Currently they only serve the drumlet and mid-wing portion on their menu. So KFC has been the one fast food joint we could get fried chicken from. That is until Popeye's opened a branch here.

Their first branch was opened at the airport. It was a bit of a drive to get to, from where we live, but sometimes we'll make the trip just to satisfy our fried chicken fix. They currently have 3 branches here in Singapore, two at the airport and one at the Singapore Flyer (which is Singapore's answer to the London Eye)

The chicken is evenly marinated, crispy on the outside, evenly cooked on the inside, juicy and mildly spicy. They serve yummy cajun fries and are not afraid to add more than cabbage to their coleslaw. A little on the pricey side, but you do get delicious fried chicken for what you pay for.

Popeye's Fried Chicken

Deep Blue Sea

I don't really know why, but this is one of my favourite movies.
Could it be because of Thomas Jane's muscular torso? Maybe...
Or the Orca-like killer sharks? Scarily fascinating creatures...

Anyways, the movie, if you haven't watched it, is about a group of scientists who might have found the cure for Alzheimer's by breeding their own sharks and harvesting their brain juice. Of course, the bigger the shark, the more brain juice. Ah... but the bigger the brain, the more intelligent the shark gets.

Favourite scenes:
Thomas Jane swimming with a harmless shark trying to get the license plate unstuck
Stellan Skarsgard's hand getting ripped off
Samuel L Jackson gets eaten alive... without any warning

Blood and gore... that's what I like. I wonder if there's an uncensored version.

Opening Days

Universal Studios Singapore (USS) opens today... and it's raining at the moment.

I've always been to theme parks where the weather is not humid. When it was announced that Universal Studios will open a branch here, no one really knew what the sustainability of USS would be. Like when the Singapore Flyer was opened (that's a replica of the London Eye, if you're wondering). It was met with some anticipation, not a lot as there were heaps of construction going on surrounding the area and a month or two into the opening, they had to shut the whole thing down due to some nut or bolt notwithstanding the heat.

So USS is a smaller theme park, it's only opened from 9am to 6pm. There is one roller-coaster track with two types of rides, one sitting, one hanging. You could probably finish the whole park in half a day, barring any queues and I don't know if I want to try it out. It's hot and humid here in Singapore. Ice cream melts the moment it leaves the dispenser.

Maybe I'll give it a year...

Overcapacity

This is the first time this message has popped up. Such a cute whale!
Does this mean that Twitter is now the 'in' thing?

Overcapacity

Snapshot was taken from Twitter.

Nobody by Wonder Girls

I grew up listening to songs from the late eighties early nineties. Lyrics then had some meaning... then came the naughties and all the lyrics started to not have much meaning. Something must have happened to the song writers.

Now that we're in the tenties, I've started to look for alternative songs to listen to and to me, Korean pop has made it bigger than Canto pop. Maybe I'm just a little slow on the uptake. Grant that I have to look up the english translation for most of the songs as I don't speak much Korean, but you can half guess that most of them are about love. There's almost always a 'sarang' in the song somewhere. Anyways, catchy tunes and really, really, 'chongmallo', interesting dance steps! Most of the singers are in groups of 5 at least, boy bands, girl bands. Not to mention the cute factor in both the guys and girls as they're all YOUNG, oh, so young.

The song of the month is Nobody by Wonder Girls. I'm sure there are others but I keep hearing this being played at the shopping malls. So far, this is the most interesting video of the song. Tells you something at the end... remember to check the toilet roll!

http://www.ilike.com/artist/Wonder+Girls/track/Nobody

Shabu-Shabu dinners

Ever since coming back from Japan about 18 months ago, the hubs and I have been reminiscing about the food, especially a Shabu-Shabu (S-S) dinner which we had in Osaka. For those of you who are not sure as to what a S-S dinner entails, it's one where you gently swish pieces of thinly sliced meats into a boiling pot of water. It's similar to the concept of the Chinese steamboat or hot pot.

What was special about this particular meal is the soup stock. We're very certain that what was presented to us was just plain water. Feeling a little cheated as a chicken or pork soup base is always served, we went on with the dinner, placing pieces of vegetables, mushroom, tofu and slices of meats into the pot. At the end, after cooking and eating all the raw ingredients, the soup left in the pot was surprisingly tasty! Was it the kind of meat? Vegetables? We didn't add any salt, pepper or soy sauce into the soup.

So we've been trying to recreate that whole experience and I think we've nearly done it. After a long hiatus, it's the second week of our S-S dinners and we're quite impressed with the end result The soup is surprisingly thick and a myriad of tastes hits you as you slurp it.

The pot is also a major factor in the yummy-ness of the soup. There are only the two of us to feed, so we decided to buy a smaller pot. I think on the bigger pot, there is too much water to the ratio of meats and vegetables the both of us can consume leaving us with tasteless soup.

We've got another two rounds this week. Hopefully it will only get better and I'll remember what was added to the soup in the right amounts.

B grade movies

Lazy weekend again. Spent nearly every minute at home, sleeping *grin* Ah... it's great to be able to do that. But as a consequence, I'm still wide awake at this time of night.

Tired of surfing the net, no real topic to search for at the moment, I turned on the telly and decided to pick the channel with the least amount of advertisement breaks, Star Movies. There's truly nothing entertaining to watch in the middle of the night. I wonder why they don't put on good movies after midnight. Maybe we should really switch to digital telly, having the choice of watching what we want, when we want, would be great.

Wyvern : The story was about a lizard-like flying animal, something akin to a dragon, without the smoke puffing thing. It has decided to kill the residents of a remote village, and keep their bodies as nourishment for its three eggs when they hatch. A stranger comes back to town after a long hiatus and saves the day. Very unbelievable. The whole story was rushed through. I think the producers over-cut the film. I was expecting another creature to appear after the first one was killed, but none came. How did the eggs get fertilised? How come it was so easy for the wyvern to get killed? Yeah, it stuck its head inside the semi-trailer just before the road ended, plunging to its death.

Lava Storm : An earlier version of one of my favourite movie, Volcano. No volcanic eruption, but lava starts to come through from under a water basin and ruin everything in its path. I didn't stay up to watch the end, because the storyline was rushed through and very unbelievable. I already knew what's going to happen in the end. Everyone lives. Maybe it's the fault of the actors, or the casting. Ian Zerring was one of the lead actors. I remember him from 90210, the original series. He was playing a teenager then, I guess it's been enough years between then and now that he can be cast to play the father of two teenage kids.

There's a reason they are called B grade movies and the actors, B grade actors.

Parental Guidance 101

I was looking through some plates and bowls in an emporium of sorts today and I overheard the following conversation

Mom : Why did you go off like that?
[Kid starts to bawl]
Mom : Do you know how hard it is to look for you?
Kid : I want daddy!
Mom : Go, go to your father
[Father walks into the picture]
Dad : Why did you disappear like that?
[Kid is still bawling]
Dad : You're short, how am I going to find you?
[Kid doesn't stop bawling]
Dad : What would you do if mom and dad went home? How would you go home?

That made me look up. I usually don't pay attention to parents when they discipline their children, but this one takes the cake! The parents would actually not remember that they brought their child with them. I guess being a parent is not inbuilt. You'd have to learn as you go along. How frightening for us kids!

Anthems

The local government has recently mentioned that all new applicants for citizenship would have to go through a basic course which I think covers a little bit of history, some language skills and to learn the national pledge and anthem. That's actually not much to ask, but I'm sure there will be some groaning. Although, there are some nationals, who've lived here all their lives, who don't know the meaning behind the anthem, only because it's in its national language which happens to be Malay.

For those who grew up attending school here, it wouldn't be all that difficult to remember the pledge or the national anthem. You almost sing it everyday during assembly, if not once a week. Yes, you sometimes mumble through it, but you roughly remember the words... even if it's all at the back of your mind.

I remember growing up in Malaysia, on top of the national anthem and pledge, we had to memorise the state anthem plus the school pledge. The national anthem was sung more often than the national pledge was said. As such, I don't even remember the national pledge.

Anyways, at one point in time, we had to relearn the state anthem as we were making up words or mispronouncing them. It was hilarious.

For all you Selangor folks, here is the state anthem:
Duli Yang Maha Mulia
Selamat di atas takhta
Allah lanjutkan usia Tuanku
Rakyat mohon restu bawah Duli Tuanku
Bahagia selama-lamanya
Aman dan sentosa
Duli Yang Maha Mulia

vBlogging

There are various ways to blog. Ever since the concept was invented, people found all sorts of sites to post their thoughts and views. Some even earn money from it, providing their readership increased, which means you'd have to think and write interesting things. Others, like me, just want to pen down thoughts. You never realise how many thoughts go through your head until you wonder, in the middle of the day, what you should write in your next blog.

Anyways, I was searching the web for something, I can't for the life of me think what it is now, it was such a long time ago, and I chanced upon this vBlog. Here's taking blogging to another level. I think the reason why I keep going back is the quality of her videos. How she takes the time to piece it all together, it's a joy to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/user/communitychannel

Food Blog : Coconut Macaroons

One of my favourite biscuits. Only because I like coconut. And I like most desserts with coconut as an ingredient, topping or sauce.

This particular brand of cookies started out in Australia and they have a branch open at the basement of the Takashimaya shopping centre.

Coconut Macaroons from cookieman

Impulse Purchases

There's a little in all of us. Probably more in me than others.

Supermarkets have learnt to place interesting things along the checkout counter. They are items available within the supermarket, but people might not think to buy them from their aisle.

Then there are the big items. Sometimes an impulse purchase might just be the right item to buy. I've been long complaining about how I hate ironing. I guess if I'm living in a cold country, I wouldn't mind. But it's humid over here, coupled with the steam from the iron, it's like standing in a sauna. Sometimes it gets so hot that I have three fans blowing at me, or I'll be dripping sweat all over the clean clothes.

I wasn't even thinking of upgrading or changing. The previous washer is only 3 years old, but after the first wash... I didn't have to iron any of the shirts that came out of it! Talk about miraculous. Now I just have to look out for easy-care cotton clothes and I might never have to iron ever again.

Our impulse purchase

The Washer

I grew up with the top loader washing machine. It has always been the washing machine in my house. Naturally when I got older, I never thought about what front loaders could do and when I got my own place, I went along with whatever washer that came with the place, so far, it's been the top loader.

Top loaders are generally much cheaper as compared to front loaders (by about 3 to 4 times), but top loaders have been known to destroy your clothes. Clothes come out almost dry from a top loader, but a bit wet from a front loader. That's because the spin cycle for top loaders can go up to 1800 rpm. That's insane! It's like an internal wringer. Clothes come out all tangled up and you'd have to pry them apart before hanging them. Oh, I had privy to a dryer once and think that they're overrated in countries near the equator. Besides, they take up too much electricity.

Top loaders need to fill the drum with water, before being able to wash the clothes. Front loaders spin the drum as the water is splashed through the clothes (I had a fun time sitting in front of the front loader watching it work!)

Top loaders somehow feedback dust particles into the drum, even with their magic filter, and your clothes have a fine layer of dust on it. In a front loader, every tiny particle stuck onto your clothes is siphoned out of the drum together with the water.

Some shirts do not require ironing after coming out of a front loader... that's the best bit of a front loader. So if you're thinking of purchasing a new washer and haven't been using a front loader, go for it. It will set you back a bit, but the joys in owning one outweighs the angst of facing another wrinkle-causing-dust-catching top loader.

Food Blog : Banana Chips

As an alternative to the potato chip, various countries have come up with fruit chips. They are great to munch on and comes across as healthy. I've tried some pretty yummy apple chips from western countries, it retains the sourness of the apple and is great for curbing one's "itchy" mouth between meals.

But nothing can beat the way the Malaysians fry their fruit chips. These ones are a variation to the banana chip. Where they are normally cut thickly width-wise, these are cut thinly length-wise and lightly salted.

Banana Chips

Morbid Thoughts : Births & Deaths

I was doing some research online (I love living in this century as I don't have to chug down to a library, scour the encyclopedias or micro-finches, although... I love the smell of old books, for this information.) about deaths, relative to births and the following thoughts crept in

i ~ Governments encourage births with monetary bonuses
ii ~ Dying costs less than birthing
iii ~ The upkeep of a dead person is a whole lot less than a living one
iv ~ Pictures are taken at a birth, memories are sketchy at funerals
v ~ Major plans are happily disrupted for births, begrudgingly cast aside for deaths
vi ~ Birthing rate is on average at least twice the dying rate
vii ~ After birth, your first poo is one of the happiest moments

Similarities
i ~ You get a new home... upon birth and death
ii ~ Tears are shed... one happy, one sad
iii ~ Minimal motor control just after birth, just before death
iv ~ Both incidents bring friends and family together
v ~ Life as you know it, will never be the same again

Here are a couple of interesting sites:
http://www.hammeruncut.com/realtime-death-toll-counter/
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/population/

Watching the counters move in China is fascinating!

Fried Wonton Noodles

I had the weirdest albeit surprisingly yummy lunch today. After running an errand at Jurong Point, I settled on having some noodles for lunch. I usually don't like Char Siew (which is a heavily marinated grilled pork loins dish) because not all places know how to marinate it well enough that there's no pork taste to it and it has to have bits of fat and tendon within the meat, and not just be a dry piece of meat.

Anyways, I didn't think that it would be yummy, after purchasing it, so there was no picture taken, but I will take a picture and post it the next time I have it. The Char Siew wasn't dry and I kept wondering why there wasn't a pork taste to it. Halfway through the meal, it dawns on me. I bought this from a food court where every store is halal. The meat I was tasting was chicken. It was marinated to look like "Char Siew" plus it was chicken thigh. That's why it was so yummy. The fried wonton was made of minced chicken and it had crispy water chestnut in it too. *yum*

A twist to the original Fried Wonton Noodles. Two :thumbs up:!

Morbid Thoughts : Family

When I first started to think about this post, I was sitting through a wake and there were all sorts of thoughts running through my head. I can't believe that my brain still works faster than I can type. I wonder how the legendary writers from before the typewriter days did their writing! Maybe that's why my teachers always told me to write in point form first, it will help with the composition later. I've never been one to listen during class, so if my writing sounds haphazard, that's just the way my brain works.

Anyways, onwards with the blog.

I guess I'll start with Family. Death is part and parcel of life. You can't escape it, even if you're a vampire. The time you spend living is gazillion times longer than dying. Some might even say that the moment you are conceived, you're counting down the days to your death. Morbid.

Death comes painful to some, a relief to some. Sometimes death hurts the family more than the person experiencing the death itself. The bigger the family, the more pain is felt. I won't want to be the last one standing. Maybe that's one of the reasons I'm keeping my family small.

Planning a funeral brings people together. I've been lucky to have been privy to a few different kinds of funerals, both Western and Eastern. For the Easterners, a wake is held for relatives and friends to bid the deceased a final good-bye, safe journey and hopefully onward to a better life. Relatives and friends whom you haven't seen in the longest time turn up for the wake, food and drinks are served and like weddings, a great way for the living to catch up well into the night.

The funeral itself, being a somber event, is something akin to a send off at the airport. Prayers are said, words are said, tears are shed, thoughts are sent and these days, the entire coffin is loaded into the incinerator.

Time moves again for the family, the event is over. Belongings are packed, kept, thrown and in time, forgotten. Someone's left the house... till we meet again.

Killing the Kettle

I should probably change the title, shouldn't I? The hubs will wonder if it was intentional and not accidental.

We usually boil our water, wait for it to cool and then drink it. When I was living in Malaysia, I think I used to drink the water straight from the tap. I vaguely remember that boiled water was only for the thermos flasks. While I was living in Australia, I drank water straight from the tap. Nowadays, my parents have fixed a filter, so we don't drink tap water, per se, anymore. But in Singapore, I boil the water, wait for it to cool then drink that. By the way, the water in each of the countries taste very, very different. Every time I go back to Australia, it takes me a couple of days to get used to the water again.

Anyways, I decided to give the inside of our kettle a scrub this morning, the water was actually starting to smell funny. We usually use a descaler, which is a chemical solution that's added to your boiled water that makes the limescale magically disappear. I think it didn't work the last time... maybe it's because the weather these days is too hot and the water that gets piped through has taken some melted bits from the various pipes. I try not to think of all the weird things that live in pipes. Yes, boiling the tap water saves my mind from going into overdrive.

So while scrubbing the kettle, I noticed that the plastic was cracked at some places. Hmm... time to get a new kettle. We've probably had this for close to five years. Kettles should be changed every five years. And I was thinking of the kettles that we used to have, as in when I was little. There was no auto-stop mechanism, only a whistle, and you'd have to physically turn it off. Did we keep that kettle for more than 10 years? I remember that it was made out of stainless steel. Maybe stainless steel kettles do not get scaly.

Meanwhile, I must have got the switch a little wet and it short-circuited just as the second round of boiling was starting. This caused the wall sockets around the house to trip and kind of crashed the internet. Luckily I didn't have any assignments to hand in or needed to send an urgent email somewhere.

Bye-bye, kettle, you've served us well for the past 5 years!

Food Blog : Chocolate Rice Roll

Out of all the chocolate cakes I've ever tasted, this is still the best and fortunately the least expensive. At $1.50 a slice, from the Polar Cafe, it's enough for dessert without overfilling your tummy. The cake itself is light, not overly sweet and the chocolate rice is the best bits of the cake!

Chocolate Rice Roll

Lose to Win

Nowadays, people pay you to lose weight. I love this century!
Snapshot taken from FB

FaceBook for kids

I grew up in an era where the walkman was the most prized possession any kid could have, in school. Computers were, more often than not, unheard of (I could only draw symmetrical lines on mine) what more the internet and everyone carried a phone card (do those things still exist?)

These days, kids are walking around with MP3 players, mobile phones that play music and takes pretty pictures, FaceBook-MySpace-Twitter accounts and the list goes on.

What's going to happen to Generation-Z?!

ps. I overheard a pretty interesting conversation over breakkie this morning. Some ladies were discussing the possibility of starting their teenage kids on driving lessons with their driving instructor. Can you believe their instructor is still teaching? Well, neither could they, as they were working out the driving instructor's age when they were being taught (She must be pushing 60 now). Anyways, the whole point of the discussion was whether to allow their kids to learn on the automatic transmission or to learn how to drive a manual one. They spent about 20 minutes discussing this. The topic wouldn't even come up had it been their time. Kids these days have too many choices. Maybe that's the reason some keep making the wrong ones...

Photo Blog : Raw Fish Salad

It's a huge thing for the Chinese to have this dish during the Lunar New Year. Over the years, the meaning has changed a little, but in general, it's for prosperity. Everything about the Lunar New Year is about prosperity. Here's this year's Raw Fish Salad

Raw Fish Salad

Dulux Ad

I took this from FaceBook again. Once in a while, they do put up interesting adverts. I remember a fresco I was mesmerised by in a palace in Germany. The artist managed to make the side wall look 3 storey's high although it was only 5 or 6 meters tall.

Locks away!

Got my locks cut yesterday. Not a spur of the moment thing, although I sounded it out to the hubs, in case he had an adverse reaction to it. But no... he didn't and I'm loving it!

It's short, just above the shoulders, easy to maintain. I probably won't need to blow it dry after a wash, but it's always better to shape it. After all, you never know whom you're going to run into when you leave your house... sometimes it's that crush you had in Kindy and you'll always want to look presentable.

Anyways, did the first wash this morning and I only had to use half the shampoo (excellent money saving here), no conditioner (there's not enough hair to condition!) and blew it dry in record time!

I think I'm going to have to maintain this length for some years. The last time I had this style was six years ago.

Locks Away

Shopping in Heels

I guess when I was younger... like a lot of years ago... nah... like last year (!) I could walk for hours on end in heels shopping. These days, I can't even survive a couple of hours. I had to do about three today and the soles of my feet hurt something chronic. It wasn't even a rushed shopping trip, window shopping as I was waiting for the hubs to have dinner.

Whinged to the hubs... he wondered how it's possible that I didn't buy a new pair of different height. Even I'm shocked! *grin*

$1.93

Things that you can buy for a dollar ninety-three...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ah... forget it!

Petrol... that's how much one litre costs these days. I thought it was a whole lot less than that, when did it go back up so high? Grant that I've been home bound for the past year, plus the fact that the hubs is the one driving the car and filling it up, maybe that's why I never noticed it gradually going up.

Maybe I should just be happy that we have a car to put petrol in and that we can still afford to pay $1.93 for a litre of petrol.

Steak craving

Last night, the hubs was looking to have some steak for dinner. We chugged down to Orchard, and ended up at Ion Orchard, thinking that we'd be spoilt for choice. But we were totally flabbergasted. There are no steak restaurants in the WHOLE of Ion Orchard. Most of the big brands have stand alone shops in there; LV, Harry Winston, Gucci, Channel... how can they not have a steak restaurant? Maybe someone should think of opening one there. Even the concierge was a little taken aback. Steak? Uhm... (and he flips open the directory pamphlet open) No, sorry, but there are only Japanese and fusion dining places here. Right!

Anyways, to satisfy his steak craving, we dined at Jack's Place tonight. Surprisingly, they still do pretty great steaks and their service has never ceased to surprise us. Only because the old aunty remembers us. Not that we dine there that often... I think it's just my cute hub's face she remembers *grin*

French Tips

I took up a pedicure package... about three years ago. There's only supposed to be 10 sessions. To date, I've only used 8. It has been pretty difficult to use these sessions up. Why? Even if I went there every other month, I should have finished it by now, no?

I think it's because of the pedicurist available for this particular chain. Most of them are not all that experienced. My package allows me to have a French pedicure done or a foot and lower leg scrub. Seeing that I can pretty much scrub my own foot and lower leg, most of the time, I try to take up the French tip one. For those of you who are not familiar with what a French pedicure is, it's the one where white tips are painted following the contour of the toenail.

They're not as easy to do as one would think. My latest would be an example. She wasn't very experienced, and even as she has painted the tips neatly, they are grotesquely thick. On a couple of my toes, it looks as if she's drawn the white tip on half the toe. One other thing that irks me about their professionalism, I can almost always see bum cracks when they're attending to their other clients. Oh, well... just another two sessions and I won't have to see them again.

Food Blog : Ikea Chicken Wings

Of all the things that Ikea sells, their restaurant here is doing extremely well. Before the second branch was open in the East, the restaurant was usually full. It was extremely difficult to find a seat, let alone share a table. And it wasn't because they were serving caviar or lobsters. Their menu was simple and affordable. Beef and pork balls with potato and ligonberry sauce, lightly grilled salmon, a few salads and baked chicken.

Anyways, these days, their menu consist of a mixture of local fare like mixed rice with two side dishes and some amazing fried honey chicken wings. Not everyone can evenly fry chicken wings, leaving them crispy on the outside, evenly cooked on the inside and still moist. I hate eating wings which still have uncooked red bits inside.

Okay, enough about the chicken wings, you've just got to try it.

Inglourious Basterds

The hubs and I finally watched this on the DVD. Got to admit that I didn't find it all too entertaining. Sure it had some gore, the scalping thing was pretty gory, but the machine gun scenes were too quick. Couldn't see who got shot where until everyone was down... in 2 seconds.

We watched it during dinner (which is not something you'd want to do with the scalping...) and had time during the movie to read the newspaper while most of the conversation was going on in German (I would've fallen asleep if we watched it in the cinema). I guess it's more of a non-action movie. Something that Mr Tarantino is not used to producing. I still love his Kill Bill series.

Good bits were the accents by Brad Pitt and Diane Kruger; German, French, English, American and Italian.

Wipeout Australia

I think I watch this reality show only for the Aussie commentators. They are just the best. Where do they come up with their lines?! It's a reality show, it can't be scripted, right?

It's my third episode today and I never would've found it had I not been channel surfing over the long weekend. First round, 20 participants go through a 4-obstacle course where only 12 with the fastest time will go through to the next round. 6 will be eliminated in the second round and 2 on the third. The grand prize is $20k. Not such a bad thing for the weird obstacle courses they have to go through. Today's episode doesn't have interesting participants, so the commentators have their work cut out for them. Yesterday's episode had a parking officer, a lady with an evil laugh, a nurse and a red headed boy. The commentators had a field day with them.

Meanwhile, the show itself is pretty boring (slippery and spinning courses being their major obstacles) if not for the excellent giggle inducing comments and Benny Hill background music.

Data Enty Clerks

I had the strangest brush with immigration early this morning, while coming back home from our Lunar New Year festivities in Malaysia.

Apparently the passport which I've been using for the past seven years, while living here with residency status, suddenly doesn't match the number that's in the system. Hmm... did I have any problems coming out of the country? No... no one stopped me from leaving the country. So what happened? Because on top of it not being a new passport, I have forty pages of the various country's, which I've visited over the years, immigration stamps in it. I don't know... it totally didn't make any sense, especially at three in the morning.

So we chugged over to the office and a kind officer straightened everything out. I won't have anymore problems leaving and coming into the country again. That's good to know. I was told that the system was updated over the long weekend and I guess someone typed in one wrong number.

Lunar New Year ~ Passing the time

As little kids, it was pretty easy to pass our time during the Lunar New Year till we had to go to school again. Frequent visits to our relative's and family friend's house, collecting 'Ang Pow' and eating an assortment of cookies, crackers and food, made the time pass pretty quickly.

That was then. Now that I'm an adult, and a married one at that, plus I don't have many family on this side of the world to visit, what would I do to fill in the time? Play with the little kids. Right! Out comes the UNO cards, playing cards and maybe boardgames. Once the kids are suitably satisfied... what do the adults get up to?

I don't know what everyone else gets up to, but we do friendly mahjong games. Everyone thinks that it's just to pass the time, and hopefully gain some money out of it, but it requires loads of brain work, if you'd like to play it well. You'd have to figure out what everyone else is trying to do with their given tiles and hope that they won't win with the tile that you throw out or that you'll win before anyone else does.

The reason why the elderly play it, is to prevent the early onset of dementia. It is believed that the more you use your brain, the longer you can keep dementia at bay. And it's amazing watching the professionals play. They've been playing the game for so many years that some can even picture their tiles in the correct order in their head, while it's a mess on the table. Or that they can feel the grooves in the tile and know what they're holding in their hand without having to look at the tile.

I can't do either. I haven't been playing the game for long, but I do enjoy playing it and that's the only game that I ended up playing for the past couple of days in order to pass the time.

Lunar New Year ~ Traditions

The Lunar New Year brings families together. According to the Chinese calendar, it's the first day of the new year. Not only do the Chinese celebrate this day, but it's a public holiday in a lot of the countries located in Asia, so everyone who's not Chinese also gets to enjoy the celebrations.

Fire crackers are set off at the stroke of midnight to scare the evil spirits away. I remember growing up in Malaysia in the 80s, waiting with my brothers and cousins for the stroke of midnight. Popping sounds would echo through the night and almost everyone wouldn't be asleep. Later on in the years, the kind of firecrackers got interesting with coloured bursts and interesting sounds. I remember most vividly my younger brother getting injured by them through no fault of his, most of the time. They are now banned in Malaysia and Singapore.

Other than public holidays and firecrackers, it is an aged old Chinese tradition for families and friends to gather during this time to make merry and stuff their tummy with an array of cookies, meats and the traditional 'Yu Sang'. Literally translated, 'Yu Sang' means 'Fish Raw'. It's a dish where various vegetables are julienne and neatly placed on a circular dish, slices of raw fish is apparent, sauces and spices are added and everyone shouts out auspicious wishes while tossing it. Of course you have to eat some when all the tossing is done. Every part of the dish signifies some fortune or something.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, daughters who have married and moved out will return to their parent's place to pay their respects as their husband so happens to live far, far away, don't have the opportunity to visit that often. A lot of the traditions are brought down from great great grandparents and we still follow them, or at least try to maintain them.

Ever since I've moved to Singapore, I don't go back to visit my parents for the Lunar New Year. We're not all that sticky on Chinese traditions, I guess. Besides, it's not economical for us to fly back during the peak season *grin*

Valentine's Day

Eight years ago, I was proposed to... today. Wow... it's been eight years and I can still remember the event as clearly as it was just yesterday. I've been prone to not remember certain things... more so events that are more than two years old. The hubs can attest to this.

Sometimes he'll bring me to a park (there are numerous national parks in Singapore) and I'll be asking if I've been there before. Yes... but it was quite a while ago. Yeah... that's why I don't remember being here. After all, one lush green park looks like another.

Anyways, I didn't know I was going to be proposed to. We usually don't go out for dinner on Valentine's Day, unable to accept the overpriced meal, so we have steak at home.

I remember it being a workday. I think the hubs came back early, as all I had to do was eat dinner. I didn't notice the decorated ceiling above our dining table until I wondered why the desktop fiber optic chrissy tree that we have was upturned and the light from the base was aimed at the ceiling. The hubs had meticulously stuck confetti stars around the dining light. What a sweetheart! Meanwhile, I still didn't think anything of it, as it was Valentine's Day, a little decoration would be suitable.

After dinner, which was delicious, the hubs went off and left me sitting at the dining table. He came back with a bunch of flowers (where he hid that, I don't know...) in one hand, got down on one knee, produced a ring box in another hand (where he hid THAT, I don't know...) and popped the question!

And they say that the rest is history *grin*

Okay... I was very, very, very shocked, I must have cried too and in the midst of all that, I said yes. Later we went out walking to buy ice-cream from the petrol station across from where we live and the 20 questions came out.

I can't believe the amount of forethought that went into that night. It was all very devious... the hubs chose the ring, made sure it was the correct size by testing out one of my rings on his finger, even bought it from the goldsmith shop which was located in a shopping mall I've never been with him to.

And apparently he wanted to pop the question twelve days before, the 2nd of Feb that year being a pretty interesting date to remember, but I was working that night or had to meet an ex-workmate or something.

And if Valentine's Day didn't work, he would've done it on the 20th. So he's been keeping the ring for a whole month? I need to look into his drawers now for anymore hidden jewellery...

Suffice to say, I'm glad he asked and even more glad that I didn't have to think to say yes. It just felt right.

Traffic Jams

I HATE traffic jams. Living in Australia and Singapore has given me the lucky chance to escape them. But the hub's family lives in Malaysia and we're usually there for the Lunar New Year (LNY) reunion dinner. He's got a huge family, 4 other siblings. Everyone makes it a point to gather at his parent's place with their kids, so it's a pretty great opportunity to catch up and eat till our tummy explodes.

This year, seeing that the eve of the LNY falls on a Saturday, we didn't expect an abundant of cars to head into Malaysia in the late arvo of Saturday. Most people would've tried to head there on Friday night or evening after work. So, we thought why not after breakfast, but sleep got the better of us and we took off after lunch instead. When we got to Singapore's customs and immigration point, it was smooth sailing. No cars crawling on the lead up to the point and no cars waiting to see an immigration officer. We were in high hopes. The hub's family lives 20 minutes away. We'll get there with plenty of time to spare, maybe take a nap. Cars not inching on the bridge either. Yay!

Our gleefulness was short-lived. Cars were inching 1km away from the Malaysian immigration and customs point. It took us an hour and a half to get to an officer. Boy do traffic jams make us tired.

Pistachio Fridge Cookies

Pistachio Fridge Cookies

It's my first time attempting this and I'm kind of happy at the way it has turned out. Heaps easy to make, only wish that I was doing this in a cold country as butter doesn't do well here. I still can't get puff pastry to work, even when I was placing it on the marble table.

I wasn't able to roll the dough... being sticky and everything. Might have to invest in a half circle baking tray or place it in the fridge for 8 minutes before rolling it over the crushed pistachios.

iPod Touch

I finally succumbed to the need to upgrade my OS on the iPod Touch. It took me a whole hour to get to the actual download page as I needed to set up a MAC account too, on top of the iTunes account that I already have. Crazy Apple people... and the only reason why it took me so long is because I couldn't set up the MAC account using iTunes, like it suggested.

Anyways, it's nice to know that FaceBook has updated it's application on this device and placed the 'post' button far away from the keyboard. When it first came out, there were plenty of people mistyping and posting before the post was ready. With a few other face lifts, one just needs to relearn how to use the application again. It's a typical FaceBook thing.

The one thing that I'm happy about is that I can update my Twitter account without having to log on to the MacBook. If only this Twitter application had a logout option. I'm not used to keeping my internet accounts logged on, forever.

14 Blades

I have to hand it to Daniel Lee. His action movies are just awesome! Well, I think he's only done Three Kingdoms : Resurrection of the Dragon and 14 Blades, but if he's going to direct more, be sure to catch them! Maybe like wine, directors get better with age too!

I originally liked the way Zhang Yimou directed his movies. Although he's got more than 10 movies under his belt, I've only watched Hero and House of Flying Daggers. If you haven't watched either, you've GOT to watch them.

Anyways, 14 Blades. What did I like about it?
Fight sequences were awesome. Not a lot of gore, arterial spray and the hero doesn't really get injured... only when he met his match in the Femme Fatale that Tuo Tuo was. Her character was great! The evil eyes... the moving faster than her clothes can. All very good CGI. The ultimate was the 14th Blade. Upon release, it separates into 4 different blades and if your body is in the way of its projectile, you're definitely getting seriously mortally injured.

What didn't I like about it?
Nothing that I can think of at the moment. It wasn't draggy or long, the pace was just right, the fight sequences filled the voids and got the story moving.

I would buy the DVD, just to catch the movie without having to read the subtitles at the same time. I can't for the life of me understand Mandarin.

Food Blog : Ajiman Ramen

We were in the neighbourhood, Orchard Road. With the number of new shopping complexes being opened on this stretch of road, it is a wonder how some of the shops are able to survive in this cutthroat world. Take for instance 313 @ Somerset and Orchard Central. They are located right next to each other, so what's the pull factor? If you're taking the MRT and stop at the Somerset station, you will chance upon 313 first. Just a short walk away... Orchard Central. And according to my observations, Orchard Central would be more of a food complex as compared to the plethora of clothes, shoes and accessories that are in 313.

Anyways, while getting a feel of the food shopping complex, sometime last year, I chanced upon Ajiman Ramen. It's their first branch in Singapore and were trying very hard to paint themselves as not Ajisen Ramen. Anyways, as I like Ramen, the hubs and I ventured in and had a fabulous meal the first time round.

After a disappointing meal the other night, at another Ramen shop, we ventured into Ajiman again for dinner. They are my all time favourite Ramen shop now. Their soup stock has just the right amount of miso and pork base, not making it sickly thick at the end of your meal and the yellow noodles are springy. Having first tried Ramen in Hokkaido, I usually order the Butter Corn one. Generous helping of young sweet corn, head and tailless beans sprouts and strips of wood mushroom. Yummy, yum, yum, YUM!

You have to try their Chawanmushi too. The steamed egg pudding is smooth and flavourful. It comes piping hot, without any hidden ginkgo nut, just a piece of chicken, crab meat and a couple of sliced mushrooms.

Butter Corn Ramen

Photo Blog : Where do old computers go?

We're waiting for the recycling person to come pick these up. I can't believe what a computer geek the hubs is *grin*

Dinosaur Parts

Food Blog : Ajisen

Meal times during the weekends are always the hardest for us, trying to figure out what to eat, depending on the time that we're awake. Yeah, weekends are for sleep ins and arvo naps.

We ended up at the Macca's at IMM for breakfast. IMM is a shopping complex located near our place and they have the best parking rates on the west side of this island. It's free for the first three hours, on your first entry. You're probably wondering how people can spend more than three hours at a shopping complex that has no cinemas. Well, you can... sometimes waiting in line to get a new phone or to pay for groceries. So far, I don't think we've spent more than 3 hours in there... since they've started charging for parking.

Anyways, we went back there for dinner and this time we had to pay for parking. They don't take into account that you didn't spend three hours the first time you entered their parking complex.

Right... it's a food review. When we first came back from Hokkaido, we were so in love with Ramen that we had to try all the restaurants that sold it here. I think Ajisen was the first one we tried. Didn't match up, so we never went back. Of course we were comparing Platinum to Silver.

15 months later, we're back and it's not so bad... I had the Butter Corn Miso. Noodles tasted fresh enough, none were clumped up together. Soup was thick and tasty. Corn was young and sweet. Those are the good bits. Now for the bad bits. The Char Siew was overcooked. Beans sprouts had tails and was slightly blanched. Somehow the half raw beans sprouts found here does not taste the same as the Aussie ones. We also ordered a side dish of fried Silver fish. The dish came not crunchy, drizzled with some sweet and lemony sauce and sprinkled with a dash of chili pepper. Sauces for fried Silver fish should come on the side.

Maybe we'll give them another 15 months.

Photo Blog : Pussy Willow

A Lunar New Year tradition, the first year it's brought into my home, hopefully it will bring me prosperity in the coming Year of the Tiger

Pussy Willow Gone Wild

Photo Blog : Piano Bauble

My ex-boss gave this to me when she was leaving the company. It's pretty and my first Swarovski gem.

Piano Bauble

Photo Blog : C Sharp

It's been a while since I last played the Piano. Can't believe I still remember how to play it, what more some particular scores.

C Sharp

Food Blog : Botak Jones

There's a name you don't associate with food. The first thing that comes to mind? A bald westerner... a bald westerner who's lived or is living in an Asian country, one that uses the first word "botak", which is Malay for bald. Anyways, I'm glad Jones came to live in Singapore and decided that he couldn't find a place which served great steaks at reasonable prices.

The Botak Jones chain is generally located in a non air-conditioned food centre, so you don't have to pay for the atmosphere. Open kitchen concept and lots of wait staff running around the food centre, mirroring the service quality of a restaurant within the food centre.

Anyways, for dinner, I felt like having some steak. In the suburb where we live, there are not a lot of places for us to have good steak so we drove over to the next suburb to have some steak. We usually don't go to this branch, as the first time we tried it, we were sorely disappointed with the done-ness of the steak. But last night's dinner was scrumptious. What more, we had a one-for-one, being loyal eaters of the chain.

I survived a Japanese game show

My apologies, but I was channel surfing again.

So there's this trend which the Japanese started. Their game shows are really, really ruthless, embarrassing and stupid. So much so that some people are actually tickled by it. To me, the hilarious part is the availability of contestants.

Meanwhile, in the above show, created by the Americans, the contestants are Americans who audition and are flown to Tokyo to participate in the game show, which is specially set up for this particular show. Like all reality game shows the process of elimination determines the ultimate winner. Prize money, a quarter of a million dollars. The group is divided into two, they first play against each other, the winning group gets a treat and the losing group has to do a forfeit before sending a couple of their weakest 'links' for a final challenge and the loser gets eliminated. Crazy stunts. I can't see this going into more than 2 seasons.

Slogans that make you go hmm...

Took this from Facebook. Doesn't really make you want to purchase anything, does it? Maybe the ad agency thought that if people looked, they would find something that they liked, so getting them to look would be the first priority.

Maybe it's just me, I didn't have the urge to look.