week-long silence...

Gosh! I didn't realise that it's been over a week since I last updated my blog. I'm usually as regular as rain. But lately, there's been nothing especially interesting to report.

Nothing much over the past week. Main thing to highlight was our connect group outing on Friday night. We had dinner at this Italian restaurant which was reputed to have the best pizza. I must say it was really good. We'll take you there next time if you ever visit us. It's not too far away from our place. One interesting pizza we had was an 'eggplant and egg pizza' which had roasted eggplant and sliced hard-boiled eggs on it... really unique!

I'll be flying off to Perth tomorrow for a business meeting and stay over the weekend to catch up with some friends. They're already planning a dinner (in my honour apparently) for Saturday night. Will be returning to Sydney on Sunday night.

To market... to market...

NOT to buy a fat pig...

But fresh fruit and vegies!

Every Saturday, I will always stop by here:
I find it very therapeutic to walk up and down the aisle, bordered by neatly arranged fresh produce. It's a feast for the eyes... I almost feel sure that they have colour-coordinated the produce to make it all look so perfect.

I like the happy bustle of excited people all around me... and sometimes when a worker is in an especially good mood, he will let me sample a taste of some of the produce. During my last visit, I sampled a cool and juicy merlot grape. The worker assured me that they were the best (they were his FAVOURITE type of grapes). So I bought a couple of bunches to roast with my chicken for dinner... yummy and SWEET!!! But that's another story...

I also buy eggs here... the always have the best prices for eggs around... but lately the prices of eggs have been quite high. My own theory is because of the Easter season, egg-sellers are anticipating an over-demand for all the upcoming Easter-egg-hunts? If my theory is right, the prices should drop again after the season wanes. We shall see.

Four and twenty blackbirds?

Yesterday evening, I was struck with a sudden inspiration to bake a pie. I already knew how to make a basic pastry. So I just needed something nice for the filling. I didn't have the classic "four and twenty blackbirds". But I had a jar of the preserved peaches I made a few weeks ago... and I also had a slightly overripe pineapple (which I was tempted to buy for $1.50 last week). Pineapple and peach pie? Will it work? There's only one way to find out...
Voila!!! A dainty dish to set before the "king" of the household.
(As you can see, it was so yummy that we couldn't resist taking generous slice each before I had a chance to snap a photo)

Forged in fire

I've heard sayings like these many times:
"I'm so lonely"
"I have no one to talk to"
"nobody understands me"

Sound familiar? I admit I have caught myself singing that same tune at times.

So I thought I'd share this encouraging thought I received in my email:

God says, 'It's not good that man be alone.
Friends are to laugh with, cry with and do life together with.
Friends are forged in fire.
Shared experience is the bases of relationship.
Be there in their ups and their downs and friendship forms.
Our destiny is locked into our friendships.

How's your friends?

Unpleasant Tasks: Taxes

Filed my taxes online for my Singapore income this afternoon. I took great pains to make sure I keyed in everything correctly. I am in mortal fear that I may have missed this or that little detail which will result in very painful consequences for me. I took a little more time over this to read all the FAQs and guidelines to check that I covered everything. It's all done to the BEST of my ability and understanding of the numerous policies and exemptions and clauses.

Perhaps this endless mountain of rules is their ploy to discourage us from doing anything clever with our tax filing. This is to maximise the total amount of tax due out of our meagre little earnings (poor us!). I'm convinced there's a evil looking line of bureaucrats with beady eyes rubbing their hands together and saying in chorus: "just overwhelm and flood 'em with data!!! That's the way to get 'em!".

Even after I clicked the SUBMIT button. I still had that prickly feeling at the back of my neck that I might have overlooked some minor detail. It didn't help that the process ended with an accusing little pop-up with the disclaimer: "I am aware that there are penalties for furnishing an incorrect tax return. Click OK if you have understood the above declaration". Sigh, doesn't help to ease matters at all.

But now that I've gotten that unpleasant task out of the way. I am free to think about other much nicer things: e.g. what's for lunch?

A very interesting plant...

This is rhubarb. I bought a bunch at the Burwood Fruit Market for $3.50. It's a very interesting plant because it is both poisonous and edible. The ruby red stalks taste quite nice when cooked with sugar. However the green leaves are poisonous and can cause toxic poisoning when ingested.Some organic garderners use the leaves to make a natural pesticide for their gardens. Since I don't have a garden, the leaves are of no use to me at all. So into the bin they go.

For the stalks, this is what I did with them...

Take a few stalks of rhubarb (remember to discard the leaves which are poisonous). Dice the stalks and place in a baking dish with generous amounts of sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice, then bake for 20-30 minutes in a medium hot oven. Serve with fresh strawberries, whipped cream, and pastry triangles. Perfect for afternoon tea. What does it taste like? Well, I personally find rhubarb just a 'leetle' too sour. Even with the indecent amounts of sugar I added to the recipe, there was still a distinct soury edge to it. The whipped cream helps to tone down the soury edge a bit.

I think the sweet and soury taste is clearly a personal preference (e.g. my friend Janice would absolutely love it because she's always had a weakness for sour things). All in all, it's not bad at all really.

Cup of Tea

One of my favourite pet pleasures is sipping chinese tea from this charming little set...

Isn't it pretty? I bought it at the Bugis Street market during our stopover in Singapore over Chinese New Year.

REVIEW: Hotel 1929

I want to tell you about this hotel we stayed at during our last stopover at Singapore on route to KK for CNY.

This charming little place is the boutique Hotel 1929 located at Keong Saik Road close to the heart of Singapore's Chinatown.

As you can see, they have maintain the original facade of the old-style shophouses as part of the building design and architecture. I really love the classic look of these old buildings.

I first came across the name in a magazine article which featured a celebrity interview who mentioned that his must-stay hotel whenever he was in Singapore was this particular hotel.

What caught my attention at first was the hotel name itself which I found very interesting (why name a hotel after a particular year?). Upon further investigation, I discovered that the main feature of the hotel was the unique retro theme style and vintage furnishings inspired by design and architecture of the 1920s (the original shophouses were in fact first constructed in the year 1929). This of course intrigued me further because I've always admired old-style vintage designs. Apparently no two rooms have the same deco, and each room has its own unique design along the same retro/vintage theme. This could prove to be a unique experience indeed.

The hotel is actually a budget hotel... but it's the best budget hotel I've ever seen. The rates are somewhat similar even to YMCA... maybe a tad higher perhaps. But the quality of the rooms and service is definitely better... it should be since they won a Best Budget Hotel of the Year award.


For around SG$90, you will get a tiny (but cosy) double room fitted with a tiny (but cute) toilet+shower, plus breakfast for two.

Breakfast comprises of a small selection of cereals, yohgurt, bread/toast, jams+condiments, coffee/tea and a choice of scrambled-egg set or eggs-sunny-side-up set. Not bad at all I say.

I was also happy with the fact that despite being a 'budget' hotel, it's equipped with modern travel basics like a TV (flat screen Phillips LCD TV, leh!), CD player, broadband internet (at no extra charge, unlike some budget establishments), hairdryer, electric kettle, mini bar fridge (very small, but will do for short stays), safe deposit box (we couldn't find it at first until the reception guy told us it was under the bed - quite a nifty way to manage the space constraint, plus burglars will never be the wiser!). They also throw in complimentary soft drinks and coffee/tea sachets... really not bad at all for a budget hotel!

The superior single/double rooms are a rather tight fit, but you get used to it after a while. And the rooms are equipped with clever space-saving features like under-the-bed storage space and hooks and hangers all around the walls and door. After all, in the end all you really need is a place to bathe, sleep and eat.

Unfortunately due to our tight schedule, we didn't have time to explore the hotel. Perhaps the next time we stay there, we might opt for the suite which I heard have exclusive attached rooftop alfresco jacuzzi baths.

I would recommend this place for any budget-traveller, holiday-shopper, or even a budget-business-traveller stopping over in Singapore. It's conveniently located close to the Outram Park MRT station, and being close to the heart of Chinatown you can just hop down to see the sites, scenes and shopping around the area.

For a reasonable price, it offers comfortable sleeping quarters, private shower/bathroom (no shared common bathrooms like some backpacker lodgings), decent hot breakfast. And it's really a nice cosy place to go back to after a long day of shopping or sight-seeing.

You can check out this article in 8 DAYS which describes some of the features and perks of the hotel.

My Warrior Friend

I came across this link to an article published in Singapore's Seventeen magazine. It featured one of my friends whom I met during my university days in Perth.

Article link: Women Warriors *

What is special about this friend was that she was hearing impaired... we would commonly refer to it as being deaf. We attended the same church and she eventually became one of my housemates at the "famous" Nottingham Street household.

Her friendship opened my eyes and broadened my horizons immensely about people around me. I learnt to communicate in sign language. And I banished my pre-conceived ideas and ignorance of the deaf community. I grew to appreciate the uniqueness and intricacies of Sign as a distinct language in itself.

More importantly, I gained a friend. A friend who allowed me to be able see things from a totally different perspective of the world. A friend who showed me the inner strength we all possess to overcome any obstacle in life to pursue one's dreams. A friend who was simply a friend... to talk, and laugh, and have fun with.

So I am proud of her being featured in this article as one of the women warriors overcoming personal life obstacles. I'm certain many readers will be inspired by her story.

* You can enlarge** the image on the page or "Save As" the image as a jpg file into your computer to view

** To enlarge image in internet browser page: hover mouse over image for 2 seconds, you should see a square icon appear at the bottom right-hand corder of the image, click on that icon to enlarge image

Recipe Report: Black Sauce Pork

I forgot to report how the black sauce pork recipe turned out. I cooked it on Saturday night... hubby was tremendously happy with it. I think it was compounded by the hard-boiled eggs in it (hubby loves eggs). There was still enough for lunch on Monday which hubby thoroughly enjoyed at work. "You should cook more of this kind of stuff", he says.

To those of of you who may be wondering what this recipe comprises of... I'll go over it briefly: it begins with some garlic, five-spice powder, kayu manis (cinammon), black peppercorns, star anise, cloves, cardamon (which I didn't have) all fried together with some peanut oil; then add pork (I used ribs) and brown with spices; then add dark soy sauce and water; simmer for an 45 minutes to an hour... oh and don't forget to put in eggs to hardboil together.

So easy and so yummy!!! (Thanks mom!)

Idlylic Sunday afternoon

On Sunday, this was where MH and I spent an idylic afternoon, sitting back on a bench, enjoying the sunshine and breeze, and watching families paddle about the water like this:



Nice eh? I was so keen to try it out. But I think it would have been quite expensive. So in the end we just lazed around and munched our little picnic lunch and teased the seagulls.

Flashback: This scene brings back memories of my childhood days when mom and dad used to bring us to Tun Fuad park in the evenings. Sometimes dad will go jogging while we played and fed the ducks. I remember one treat we had when dad took us kids out in one of those paddle-boats (not sure what it's called). We enjoyed ourselves so much and couldn't get enough of paddling about in that thing. It's so amusing to think how much fun it is to just paddle in that thing with no real destination... just going round and round in circles in the water... probably as kids with active imaginations we could pretend that we were sailing in a ship or navigating a battleship... the possibilities are endless to imagination...

Tribal Workers

Insightful (and accurate) article in the Financial Times about young working professionals (i.e. on long hours and work fulfillment among young professionals) -- worth reading

Article Link: Tribal Workers

TAG: Five Simple Pleasures in Life

(Tag from my bro Paul... just for fun and to get to know myself...)

1. Making pancakes and/or eggs-sunny-side-up for breakfast on Saturday morning
2. Curling up in bed with a good book
3. Sipping a good hot bowl of home-style Chinese soup (especially on a cold wintry night... or any kind of night for that matter)
4. A good laugh (the ones that give a good kick in the tummy until you cry are the best!)
5. Coming home (to any place I call home... wherever it may be)

I'll stick to these 5 for now... most likely this list will change as time passes and I myself grow and change as a person.

My turn to tag... so I tag whoever is reading this entry... (because it's nice to take a moment to reflect and be thankful for the good things in life)

Bit and pieces of the week

Been quite a few days since I last updated my blog. Busy all week with this current project. Phonecalls, going out to meetings, typing transcripts, emailing... On top of that there's still the usual cleaning, cooking and laundry to do.

Facing information bottlenecks in the project now. We're facing difficulties in obtaining certain industry data. Hope we find a breakthrough soon, otherwise it will be very difficult to put together a solid analysis for the client.

Okay, here are some bits and pieces of what I've been up to this week. After the past few days of silence, you all must be wondering what happened to me...

lundi ~ monday
Attended French class as usual on Monday. We learnt to say all les jours de la semaine (the days of the week) , le mois (the months), and learnt to count up to soixante-neuf (sixty-nine).

mardi ~ tuesday
Made peach jam and preserved a jar of chopped peaches on Tuesday. They were selling a whole tray of peaches for only $5 the other day. So we split them with Paul... Paul should share them with his roomie. I made 4 tiny jars of the jam... gave one away to a friend. One I'm saving for Paul... hope it will keep, I sealed the jars air-tight, but without preservatives, I'm not sure how long they'll keep.

mercredi ~ wednesday
Connect group night on Wednesday. We celebrated someone's birthday... I made almond jelly to add to the refreshments table. Almond jelly is such a cliche Asian dessert to make. I made it the really typical way mixed with fruit cocktail. But it's so easy to make and such a crowd-pleaser.

jeudi ~ thursday
Microwaved frozen pizza pockets for dinner Thursday night... and went for a walk at the nearby shopping centre to pick-up some computer cables to connect MH's new TV card to PC. 20% off at K-mart... what excellent timing! We couldn't have picked a better time to get those cables.

vendredi ~ friday
I meant to cook the black sauce pork (recipe shared by mom) tonight, but one of MH's old classmates is in town, so we're going out to dinner. I'll cook the pork tomorrow. I bought the eggs already anyway. Have the price of eggs gone up? I was reluctant to get some until the last moment (here I go babbling on like a typical homie-wife): $5 for 3 dozen, instead of $4 for the same amount... and the eggs have shrunk, they used to be 600g eggs now only 500g. Other places it's the same... in fact $5 for 3 doz is the cheapest already. But I bought them anyway since I needed them (better stop babbling here).

Okay, time to get ready to go out... I'll try and write more soon...