Tai Hwa or Lai Heng?

Finally got to savour the famous Tai Hwa bak chor mee at Crawford Lane. I was with Mummy near that area to see a Chinese physician on Monday so decided to have lunch at that coffeeshop. There was already a queue. I kinda hate to queue to buy food, would rather eat something else. But Mummy said that since we were there, we should try. Okie, so there I was, queueing for bak chor mee. It wasn't that bad a wait, I think I queued for about twenty minutes. Verdict...Mummy prefers bak chor mee at Tai Hwa to Lai Heng (Toa Payoh). Hmm, I kinda like the freshness of the pork as well as the liver (not too overcooked, made me crave for more) at Tai Hwa but I prefer the noodles at Lai Heng. The vinegar added to the bak chor mee at Tai Hwa was a little too much for me too :P But nevertheless, good to at least give it a try. I really did not know Tai Hwa has had such a long history until Cons shared with me about how she has been eating Tai Hwa bak chor mee since she was a little girl. Took a walk with Mummy in the nearby neighbourhood, it was a pretty old estate but somehow reminded me much about my childhood...the smell of herbs from the traditional medical hall, the smell of dried shrimps from the provision shop, those elderly playing chess at the void deck and another group smoking cigar at a nearby coffeeshop, those children playing in the playground after school...Still remember how our gong gong used to bring us to the coffeeshop to drink hot milo and we liked to pour our milo into the saucer and drink with a little plastic spoon, still remember how we looked forward to going to the playground every evening when we were still kids...Still remember....Hmm, that was really such a long time ago...

The next moment

Indeed, I have developed a philosophical view of life and often tell myself: "Since my next moment is uncertain, what good can I do now, what innocent fun I may enjoy, I will do it now for there may be no next moment.

By Lee Wei Ling, in "Top marks for lessons to build character" (The Sunday Times, 25 Sep 2011)

Snow peas

Blanch the snow peas in boiling water before stir-frying them with lotsa garlic, shitake, carrots. Seasoning was "Vegetarian oyster flavoured sauce with mushroom" from Lee Kum Kee and a little light soya sauce.

Good idea to add spring onions to our onion omelette...they add colour and nice taste when eaten with the onions. I used red onion...smell was stronger, good if you are an onion lover

Once in a while, I think I gotta poke my nose into what's cooking in the kitchen. Went grocery shopping with Mummy and suggested that we should get some snow peas. I think it had been quite some time since we had that at home. Still feel strongly that we should try cooking all kinds of vegetables. Well, it was my first time stir-frying snow peas and I loved the fact that I was able to retain the crunchiness and crisp of the snow peas. Thank goodness, they did not shrivel coz I was worried that I might overcook them :P For those who are culinary experts, I know all these may seem elementary to you all but do bear with this novice who is just exploring and experimenting the basics :)

Ice Cream Chefs II

Miss Tan's...Vietnamese coffee (claimed authentic and good by Miss Tan) and milk tea (so-so)

Mine...almond jelly (yummy-licious!! Could not get enough of it!) and peanut butter (I love peanut butter but this kinda disappointed me a little)

I realised that Ice Cream Chefs has opened another ice cream parlour at Jalan Kuras (Upper Thomson). This outlet is definitely bigger than the one at East Coast Road. It was rather crowded on a Friday night but still managed to find a seat. Well, not sure if I have tried enough ice cream from different places to give this comment but I still feel that ice cream from Ice Cream Chefs is still pretty much my favourite. However, not all flavours are palatable though but good enough variety for me to crave for it once in a while :)

A walk to remember

Going out with Sunny Baby is always something to look forward to and I bet getting out of the house is always something that Baby looks forward to too :) He seems to vie for attention more nowadays but he's still the same old silly Baby, well, that's probably what's so adorable about him. Ha, he's just got this silly look that one would instantly fall in love with. We took a walk at Bedok Reservoir Park in the late afternoon. I thought it's a nice quiet place. As I was walking Baby, met a golden retriever, Shower, who was walked by another lady. Oh my, Baby should learn how to say hello to his friends in a more friendly manner. He was barking at Shower and sniffing her all over. Well, that's probably Baby's way of saying hello. I know, I know, I am always defending Baby :P I enjoyed the second part of the walk the most, haha, coz maybe Baby was tired after much walking, I felt that I was really walking him and not the other way round :) I must say it was a good walk but maybe the next time I should be in my track shoes instead of flip flops and maybe I should make Baby walk a longer distance :P

It's been quite some time

What a piece of art!

Angeline sent me a picture of Tammy today and she told me that Tammy's getting fatter. It's been quite some time since I last saw Tammy... Oops, ha, for those of you who are wondering who on earth is Tammy, she is a stray cat who always wanders around or rather, always sleeps at the coffeeshop near my workplace. Was telling Angeline that I missed seeing Tammy sleeping lazily at the coffeeshop :) Hope Tammy is doing great...meow!

Bak chor mee

Lai Heng bak chor mee

Didi was back for a few days on a business trip and we managed to have I think three meals together. The first was right after he touched down early this week, he was craving for some chilli crabs. So we made our way to Jumbo at East Coast Park for an evening of seafood. Goodness, cannot believe it's my second time there in one month. Well, don't misunderstand, the food there is great but I think it's too much seafood for me over these two months. I don't usually take alot of prawns or crabs. But hee hee, cannot do without fish :P We had braised duck rice for lunch the next day. Just before Didi flew back to DG today, we had bak chor mee for brunch, recommended by my father. It's Lai Heng bak chor mee at Toa Payoh Lorong 6. My father ordered the $5 bowl for us. Wow, such a big bowl and I was really really full after that. But not Didi, ha, he still ordered kaya butter toast :P The ingredients were fresh and what's best was that there were slices of liver for the liver lover - ME! Realised that there were also four pieces, I beg your pardon, there were also four strips of abalone in my bowl of bak chor mee :P I have not tasted the famous Tai Hwa bak chor mee so cannot really make a comparison. However, I thought this Lai Heng bak chor mee is one of the best I have eaten so far.

Jar of hearts

A song that cuts deep...into the heart...

Who do you think you are?
Runnin’ ’round leaving scars
Collecting a jar of hearts
Tearing love apart
You’re gonna catch a cold
From the ice inside your soul
Don’t come back for me
Who do you think you are?

The relationship between ideas, failures and creativity

Cooked pieces of 'yong tau foo' in the saucepan with black bean sauce, loved the colour combination!

Steamed! Phew, everything was intact :)

Trying my best to place the paste (minced meat + fish paste. Note: Don't use fish paste + prawn paste!) neatly on the pieces of capsicum before placing them in the steamer for eight minutes. Added light soya sauce, pepper, cornflour and egg white to the paste. Don't ask me quantity of each, I always estimate :P

Sometimes, when doing assignments drives me a little crazy, I would think of a new dish to prepare and then make a trip to the supermarket to get the necessary ingredients, haha, almost immediately I should say :P I was in the mood to cook up a little storm with an idea of mine after completing a draft of one of my assignments. Goodness, enough of assignments, quit talking about it all the time silly gal :P ...Okie, back to cooking. To me, it's not easy perfecting the black bean sauce. But I should say today's black bean sauce was a little better than those previous times :) I added black beans, garlic, dark soya sauce, sugar, pepper and I used cornflour to thicken the gravy. Garnishing was some spring onions and bits of red capsicum leftover from making those...oops, not sure what I should call those, yong tau foo? Hmm, anyway, I was satisfied with my performance today :) No disasters at least, capsicum still retained its crisp and paste was not too salty or bland after steaming. It does feel good to just get myself a little busy in the kitchen experimenting an idea and wondering if which way would work based on past experiences and numerous failures :P You know, as I was cooking in the kitchen, I was also thinking... In our lives, how many times are we allowed to fail? In our society, to what extent can we tolerate failure? In our workplace, do we have the space and room for failures? Well, maybe in failing, we do learn and within that space to fail, creativity is also unleashed and fostered. What do you think?

A trip to Chinatown

Very fresh and huge! Was already eyeing the eye when it was served :P

Enjoying the light from all the lanterns after dinner...

We talked about it so many times but never seemed to act on it. Miss Tan and I finally decided to make a trip to Chinatown over the last weekend, hoping to savour nice steamed fishhead. The hawker centre is at the second level of Chinatown Complex. Oh my, it was really crowded during dinner time and there were so many stalls selling steamed fish head that we were somewhat at a loss which stall to go to. Heh, was already salivating looking at those huge steamed fish heads served at other tables :P We finally decided to choose a stall that's near to our table. A pity we did not get to try that claypot rice whose stall was kinda too far away from our table and they were reluctant to serve. But heh, the huge fish head was real satisfying. But I thought the black bean sauce could be better, not as fragrant as I expected. Maybe we did not choose the right stall, should have done some homework before going :P

What are you reading?

I thought I needed to engage in some brainless and bimbo-ish activities (well, needed a little break from those scholarly stuff and articles) so decided to get a few magazines to read over the next few days. I guess they do come in handy and serve as good bedtime 'stories' before I go sleep. Haha, needed to reconnect with the fashion scene and some trends going on, a form of appreciation of the arts too I guess :P

Dim sum ladies

My very good friend's favourite...wish there's more chives but the meat was real tender and juicy

Okie, call me a glutton...I finished the whole plate of chicken claws, freaky gal!

The beancurd skin was crispy and fresh prawn paste in between

I think this is a must-try...slightly crispy on the outside, wobbly and real soft inside, loved the fact that it's not oily.

Hmm, so-so only...wish there was more filling in each steamed custard bun

The huge pieces of pig's liver were heavenly good and fresh! Both of us are fans of pig's liver :P

Chee cheong fun...real meaty inside and real smooth skin on the outside

Both of us are not working currently but the strange thing is that it could be so difficult to find a time to meet. Either she was busy running errands or I needed to go for some group discussion :P Ha, maybe both of us are really not fussy about food so deciding a place to have a meal together is always a 'tedious' one. Over whatsapp...

Me: What do you feel like eating?

Her: Anything lah

Me: What preference for cuisine?

Her: Anything oso can

Me: Chinese food? Western food?

Her: Anything, you can decide

Me: ...Too lazy to think and decide, we decide nearer the day :P

Her: okie

Ha, the same phenomenon every time we decided to meet up. But this time, my very good friend finally made a decision (coz she needed to go Takashimaya) about our lunch. My very good friend suggested having dim sum at Imperial Treasure Nan Bei Restaurant. Well, I think it's not my first time eating at this restaurant, my memory is failing me a little :P But I think to date, I have not been disappointed with the quality of food served at the various Imperial Treasure restaurants. Anyway, it's great to meet up with my very good friend again! :) Learnt some tips from her about cooking braised pork belly...for example, adding other ingredients like tau kwa, tau pok (Goodness! All my favourites, how could I have forgotten them?!) and beancurd skin. As the gravy starts to lessen after some time of cooking, a little more water can be added so we need not add too much water at the initial stage of cooking. Okie, next time I may wish to give it a go at cooking braised pork belly again, well, if I have the mood :P ...To my very good friend, wish I could stay a little longer to shop with you today. But I thought it's good catching up again and thanks for lunch! :)

An essential part of life

All other subjects, like Mathematics, have boundaries. Exposure to the arts will encourage you to develop a mindset that keeps probing the unknown."

~ Dr Liu Thai Ker, in "Art an 'essential part of life'" (The Straits Times, 15 Sep 2011)

Braised pork belly

Hmm, this dish doesn't really seem that 'photogenic' or is it me?

I am not exactly sure if I would like to type more words on my keyboard...Have been typing so much in front of my laptop and working on my assignments that any more typing could really drive me crazy, felt that my poor little brain which has limited capability and capacity needed some good long rest at times. Okie, my purpose here is not to rant or vent. You will get through these two months silly gal, you need to and you must, so stop whining like a pathetic woman! Sorry, I guess at times I resort to talking to myself :P

Oh yes, I would like to share about my braised pork belly. Mummy cooked that once and I kinda loved the tenderness of it and how fragrant it could be although meat is not really considered a favourite in my diet. I asked Mummy how to prepare that and kinda got the rough idea (Note: we don't really discuss about the specific quantity of ingredients when we discuss about recipes :P). Went to the wet market early Tuesday morning, told the butcher at Mummy's favourite stall that I needed some pork belly. She asked me how much I needed and oops, I really was clueless how to communicate the quantity I needed to her. Silly me showed her the length and breadth of meat I needed using my hands, I mean, that was the only way I know how to tell her how much I needed. Hmm, not really satisfied with the end product...not tender enough :( Mummy said that I did not put in enough corn flour when I marinated the meat. Or I was thinking maybe I should cook it a little longer? Maybe I have also not added in enough water? Well, hopefully the next attempt will be better. Anyway, we had that for lunch, it wasn't that bad with porridge, simple lunch :) ...Okie, enough of typing for the day...need to rest my fingers and brain :P

Adversities in life

I no longer resent that one and only exam I ever failed. It made me look like a normal human being. But more importantly, it taught me to pick myself up after falling, lick my wounds and return to the ring again. No amount of reading on Stoic philosophy, no wise mentor, could have taught me what the real experience of failing did.

I learnt that life carries on after a personal disaster, and looking backwards is not the solution. Reassessing one's option in the light of an unanticipated mishap, taking into account all factors, and deciding and carrying out the wisest course of action, is the way to proceed when one fails an exam or falls down a steep hill while hiking and clinging on desperately to the root of a tree to save one's own life (as happened to me once). All adversities in life can be turned to useful lessons to help us cope with future misfortunes.

By Lee Wei Ling, in "Turning adversities into useful lessons" (The Sunday Times, 11 Sep 2011)

The most beautiful thing today...

Baby's toy and cheerful companion...couldn't help but feel like getting a pic of that cheery face.

The most beautiful thing today was... Sunny Baby could not stop licking me when I carried him today. As usual, Silly Baby was jumping with much determination to probably get some undivided attention from me when I first opened the door. Placed him on my lap and ha, not sure if he did totally 'wipe off' all the foundation and powder on my chin and cheeks with all that licking :P But, well, I thought it was really sweet of him :) He sat on my lap for quite some time before heading to the door to take a look at his little world outside after hearing some noise along the corridor. At times, I just like to watch him sit near the door, enjoying his little world beyond that door...and ha, occasionally bringing his little toy to me, I guess wanting to play a little. As usual, hate to say goodbye...but thank you Baby for the most beautiful thing today :)

A kind of beauty that's not seen, but felt

I have been spending the past few late nights reading quotes by Taiwan's famous author-illustrator, Jimmy Liao. Thanks to Ms Tan who shared a few with me about two weeks ago I think and for helping me to understand especially this one, really an unforgettable one...我宁愿与他是平行线，永远不会相交，却可以一直相望保持美好。因为如果—旦相交，过了那个点就会越离越远.

That few quotes that Ms Tan shared with me had kinda got me to find out more and read more. I think I am very much captivated by the beauty of Chinese language and how those strings of Chinese characters have the amazing and magical power to strike a chord with me. I really like the way how emotions, thoughts and feelings are expressed through the thoughtful and tasteful use of words...the poetic expression of feelings...And at times, Jimmy Liao seemed to have the right words to describe some of our deepest thoughts and feelings. Will keep reading more of his quotes and maybe a chance for me to learn and appreciate Chinese Language all over again :)

Not in the mood...

As I looked at my planner (yup, I still cannot do without it this year), deadlines for my various assignments seemed to 'decorate' my planner almost every other week for these two months. Oh boy, wonder how I can go through these two months. It's that feeling again...wondering how I can start the first sentence and wondering what would be the subsequent sentences to form essays of thousands of words. Still find this process kinda torturing and painful or in a more positive light, should I say it's a really unique kind of torture and pain? Anyway, I know I have been procrastinating with much guilt...not in the mood to think about those readings and writing for the past two weeks, not in the mood... to study. Wonder if it's me or the intensity and rigor of the programme at times. Sigh, hmm, you know what, a holiday trip would be something great :) Dream on silly gal...

A coursemate who is doing this programme as a part-time student commented that I will be graduating in about three months' time (Well, I hope I can :P) and that I should be anticipating that. Hmm, I replied by sharing that I am not really sure if I'm anticipating that, in the sense my graduation would mean that it's time to go back to work. Am I ready? (Question not valid silly gal, you need to go back to work, face it!) Can I still manage work at my workplace after an absence of a year? (Question not valid silly gal, you still need to go back to work, accept it and learn to manage it!) Hmm, is the route ahead what I really wanted? (Question...question...well, think about it silly gal, it's your life!). At times, a few voices rang in my mind and at times, I just chose to empty my mind and not to think so far ahead but just concentrate on what I should be doing right now, this moment and the present... Maybe I should open my planner again and set some targets for my study plan and assignment doing.

一辈子...下辈子

生命中有一些人与我们擦肩了，却来不及遇见；遇见了，却来不及相识；相识了，却来不及熟悉；熟悉了，却还是要说再见。对自己好点，因为一辈子不长；对身边的人好点，因为下辈子不一定能遇见。~ 几米