People, people everywhere!

I've forgotten how packed lunch time can get at Raffles Place.
Maybe it's because I went out at the wrong time today... 1230hrs being the peak time for lunch!
Queues of people were forming everywhere!
Even outside money changers.
I think I'll try to request for a later lunch.
I remember when I last worked in that area, my lunch time was either from 1130hrs or 1330hrs.
Yeah... that's why it was such a shock to me.
People, people everywhere!

Expressions

Do you remember the expression on your face the first time you left your house and made your way to your first job? I don't. I don't remember if I was happy or just chugging along that day. I wasn't keeping a diary then... maybe I was and just didn't think to record what my facial expression was.

I'm off to work tomorrow, a permanent position again, after taking a hiatus for the past 2.5 years. I have to admit that I was starting to get a little bored sitting at home, with little people interaction and watching the telly for most of the day, so I started to send my CV out when an interesting want ad came up (which I can count with one hand? In 2.5 years, that's not a lot, is it?). But the thought of dragging myself to work made me a little hesitant in sending out a hundred copies of my CV to various company hoping that one of them will bite. I don't really know what I want to do, work wise. I would like to think that the environment which I'm working in would have a heavier impact on whether I enjoy the work or not, right? Oh well, we'll find out tomorrow then *grin*

Mother's Day

Mother's day is tomorrow. A day where most mothers won't have to do the cooking, especially for dinner and that the whole family goes out to have dinner. We did that today instead, hoping to skip the crowd tomorrow and whatever surcharges or set meals the restaurants might impose. Don't you think everyone will think the same way? Of course! But this hasn't stopped the restaurants from milking this occasion for all it's worth. Instead of adding the surcharge or set meal on Sunday only, let's do it for a week!

Yesterday, the hubs and I wanted to have some shabu-shabu for dinner at a restaurant and all they had on their menu was a 'Mother's day' set for S$78 per person. Expensive, no? We thought it was and walked away. I wonder if they'll make any money this weekend.

Anyways, for all you mother's out there, make sure you're not the one cooking, washing up or cleaning tomorrow, it's your day! Go out and eat, join the crowd. Happy Mother's Day!

Synopsis

I don't even know how to start this post. Again, I have to be thankful that the internet exists in my lifetime. Being able to watch television shows which are currently being aired in other countries has been keeping me company and sane for the past 2.5 years.

By and by, I've progressed from watching drama serials from the US to Hong Kong to South Korea. I can understand spoken English perfectly. I can understand spoken Cantonese a little less than spoken English, enough to get the gist of what is being said, not a problem. Korean... I am slowly starting to pay attention to certain words and match them to the English subtitles. It's not all that hard, most of the shows use almost the same words as their plot doesn't vary all that much. Boy meets girl, boy and girl fight, boy and girl realise that they like each other, boy and girl live happily ever after.

Anyways, after all the catching up that I've done, I'm finally watching shows which are currently being aired. There hasn't been enough time for these shows to be viewed with English subtitles, so what little Korean that I understand is not really enough to get the gist of what everyone is really saying, especially implying.

While digging for ones with English subtitles, I came across an interesting blog by Javabeans. I've always wondered when someone who speaks great English and Korean would come up with a blog centered on insightful synopsis' of the various dramas. This blog does and I can now just read the synopsis before watching the episode without subtitles and still understand what's going on. Ain't the internet just the BEST?!

Squid Crackers ~ Part 3

At least this batch is thoroughly dried... but a little too thick still. Maybe there isn't enough baking powder for it to puff up. No... I think it's just too thick. The hubs suggested that it's time to buy a new slicer... one that's been made just to slice extremely thinly. I saw one while out shopping today. Was a little on the expensive side. The hubs mentioned that I would buy an expensive rice cooker to cook fluffy rice, why not a slicer whose sole purpose is to slice thinly? Sometimes he speaks heaps of sense!

Perspective on life

I have been fortunate enough to only remember being born in this era, an era where I haven't been through any major hardships (having to cram one year's worth of lessons into a week to sit for a final exam is probably the hardest thing I've ever done...) or disappointments.

Some people tell me that life is what you make of it. Sure I'd love to naturally have a photographic memory or be able to speak tens of languages or have enough money to carelessly spend for three generations. I'm sure that's what everyone wants too, or close enough.

I am happy with my the way my life is going at the moment. I don't go to bed every weeknight wondering what hazards are installed for me at work, wake up every weekday wondering what excuse I should give in order to not turn up for work, worry that I might be the one a near full lift rejects or that I'll have to finally hop over to a shelter for meals. I have clothes on my back, a shelter to sleep in, a loving husband and family. Life has been great to me.

Squid Crackers ~ Part 2

Uneven thickness, gotta try the slider the next time.
I got ahead of myself and decided to fry the first batch tonight.
They probably needed another day's worth of drying in the sun as they didn't puff up properly.
Maybe the oil was too hot.
Eating them was a challenge, but I'm sure the second batch will be even better!
They have to be.

Squid Crackers

I just realised that in all my wandering around supermarket and wet market aisles, no one has made squid crackers. There are prawn, lobster, crab and fish crackers, but no squid crackers. Why is that so? They're yummy, in case you haven't tried them.

Not that it's difficult to get squid, I think the price of prawns, lobsters and crabs are way more expensive as compared to squid. Is it all that difficult to make? Wouldn't it be the same process as the others? With less bones to pick out, shell to discard, it should be easier to make than the rest, right?

The process of making them will take at least 3 days, depending on the weather as you're supposed to sun dry them. We'll see how I go then!

Life waits for no one

We're back and it seems that the country didn't miss us.

While we were gone, Marina Bay Sands opened, flights to Europe and the UK are back to normal, rallies are still being held in Thailand, New York is still a highly hazardous place to live in, the newspaper people remembered not to deliver, nothing in the fridge rotted as there wasn't any blackouts or power trips and a fine layer of dust settled on our floors.

It's true when people say that life is short and to seize the day, you never know what's going to happen tomorrow.

Photo Blog : Sunset from an airplane

It's difficult to capture good photos when you're holding an automatic camera. Sometimes, even if you have the perfect composition, a blur picture just won't do. It's even more difficult to capture great photos from inside an airplane, especially when you spy a really gorgeous sunset. The camera refuses to focus further than the double glass window which so happens to be very scratched, streaky or blotchy.

But once in a while...

Sunset from an airplane

Photo Blog : Castle Ruins

It was our last touring day today and because of the vastness of this place and the lack of proper transport, we decided to visit the Nakagusuku Castle ruins which is about 30kms away from Naha city. BUT after scouring the internet for a way to get there without any success, we decided that the bus company at the bus terminal might have a better idea. They did. We managed to communicate somehow as their English wasn't good and our Japanese was near non-existent. We hopped onto bus #30 which took us in a roundabout way (1.5 hours ride) to a point 2.2kms away from the site. I think the lady even called a taxi for us because a couple of minutes after we arrived at the bus stop, which was in the middle of nowhere, a taxi came from the opposite side of the road, made an illegal u-turn over the double lines and stopped in front of us without us having to hail it. Did we look that lost?

Nakagusuku Castle Ruins ~ West Gate

Nakagusuku Castle Ruins ~ The Curved Wall

After spending an hour and half at the ruins, we wandered off to find the Nakamura house. It was a short walk away, about 10 minutes, but we didn't go in because the entrance fee of Y500 turned us off. Besides, there are plenty of photos online. So we browsed the souvenir store instead and found a fridge magnet that we think totally encompasses Okinawa, a couple of Shisha's on a Hibiscus.

Okinawa fridge magnet

Railway System

I was a little disappointed with the lack of a rail system on the main island of Okinawa. It's a pretty huge island, contrary to what it looks like on the map. It took us a little more than three hours to get to the Aquarium from Naha city by public transport. This involved a two hour journey to the city of Naga and a change of bus from the bus terminal for the hour long ride. And that's just one way. Six hours in total to travel. It would be alright if the frequency of the bus was more, but no, the last bus back from Naga to Naha city was at 1800hrs. That just cut our day shorter than it already was and we only ended up doing one thing after the three hour ride.

If they had a rail system, I think there would be more tourists and local citizens taking it, no? Because the frequency of the public transport was few and far between, making it near impossible to take in the surrounding area without having to worry if we'll make it back to the Naga to catch the connecting bus back to Naha city.

Photo Blog : Hibiscus Ice-cream

It sounds strange, but this is Okinawa, they can make ice-cream with all sorts of ingredients. I don't think the Hibiscus is this particular prefecture's flower, it's the national flower of South Korea. Been seeing the flower in all sorts of colours and in a lot of places.

Hibiscus and Vanilla Ice-cream

Here's a really nice mix of the Hibiscus. It was spitting drizzle today, made for a lovelier photo.

Mixed Yellow Hibiscus

Food Blog : Okinawa Buta

As the famous saying goes, when in Rome...

The hubs and I decided to try a random restaurant just off the main shopping strip (Kokusai Street) of Naha city after walking up and down and peering at all the menus the other restaurants displayed. I don't know what was so different about this particular restaurant, maybe it was the plastic dishes that was being displayed on the window.

Okinawan cooking is a little different from the rest of Japan, so everyone says. Food listed on the local menu include a square cut of braised pork (Rafute), complete with skin and fat, stir fried bitter gourd with tofu, various ways of cooking belly pork, 'popping' seaweed, ramen and stir fried somen noodles. Anyways, this restaurant had it all so we tried a little of everything.

The below is Rafute. Never mind about the meat, but the fat and skin melts so easily in your mouth. Hours of cooking will do that to the meat. Gravy/seasoning was similar to the nyonya way of cooking this particular dish, herby but there wasn't any taste of vinegar.

Okinawa Rafute

China Airlines

I think I have been travelling on too many budget carriers of late. For our vacation this week to Okinawa, I decided to go with the shortest route possible (which happens to be via Taipei) and the only carrier that does that is China Airlines (Taiwan's national carrier).

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the seats weren't as rigid as Delta Airlines was (when I took that flight to Tokyo a couple of weeks ago) and the on demand entertainment system has 16-tile mahjong as one of their 'intellectual' games. It was easy for me to wile the 4.5 hours away inbetween the meal services. The inflight main meal wasn't all that yummy, pasta really doesn't keep well, but it came piping hot.

Maybe I'll take this carrier to Taipei, if I ever get around to taking a vacation there.

Quick Post

The hubs and I are off for our vacation tomorrow and it feels like we haven't done any homework on our alternative destination after giving up our seats to Edinburgh. It'll probably be a shock to our system as I keep hearing that where we're going, people aren't all that well versed in English. Well, here's hoping that at least the signs and public transport has roman letters.

But the panic hasn't kicked in (I haven't even packed!) as all I'm aiming for is an easy vacation.

MSG-laced Dinner

I think I've been living in Singapore one year too many. My throat has begun to reject MSG. I thought that with the frequency that we eat outside cooked food, my body would accept the instant-phlegm-causing ingredient, but no. I think the more we eat out, the more it has formed a rejection to.

Tonight's dinner proved to be the last straw. We decided to try a new Cantonese restaurant located at Ion Orchard. Munching on the boiled peanuts while waiting for our dinner to arrive started it. I didn't think they would boil peanuts with MSG. By the end of dinner, my throat gave up on me and we had to settle for heaps of tea to clear it. Thank goodness for tea!

Waftingly Delicious

As I was cleaning the house today, my neighbour decided to start her preparations for dinner. Whenever she cooks this early, it's usually an indication of an upcoming big gathering at her house. On the menu today, delicious stir fried sesame chicken. I needed to resist the urge to walk over to her kitchen and steal some pieces of chicken.

My neighbour is a brilliant cook. She's also very Nonya-Cantonese in her cooking so most of the delicious wafting smells that come from her kitchen are recognisable. Sometimes she'll even cook a sambal dish... *yum*

Gotta stop talking about food... dinner is supposed to be in a couple of hours time only!

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*