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Thursday, July 30, 2009

Smelly NS Man

Okay I know this is a bit late and everybody in cyberspace have talked to death about it but for those who really blur until don't know what is going on - seems a lady wrote to the forum to complain about smelly NS men on public buses. She relates that her daughters were traumatised by the smell and she is now calling for NS men to be banned on public transport and suggested that they should take taxi instead. Read the full article here.

First of all, to be fair to her, I do agree that some NS men do smells. So does some foreign workers. So does some local people. In fact, so does me (especially after run) - so how - ban everybody from taking public transport?

Other than this single point of agreement, I think she should be the one taking the taxi since she obviously is more atas than the rest of us common people. And I hope to goodness she does not develope BO. And very obviously, she got to ban her daughters from ever marrying local man since they all go to go army. As to what the rest of Singapore think of her.. just do a google and you can read them yourself

Monday, July 27, 2009

Another Nobody Video

I love the Nobody song. The first one a parody by Mr Brown was hilarious. So is this:


Kids nowadays are so talented.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Battle of the Baos

Not that type of bao.... but the real edible type.

Was at Red Star Restaurant at Chin Swee Road last week and of course we had to have their Big Bao. Those in the know will know that it is no ordinary big. By big, I mean big big as in humogous.

Here it is next to the pretty little lady. Machiam like an advertisement for some facial products. Noticed how it is almost as big as her face.

Then there is the Gozilla bao. No pretty lady in this photo though. Just a coffee cup and 2 regular size buns.
So which is bigger? Or more importantly, which is better? Curious to know?

Go and try it yourself lah.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Road Rage

Was on the way home this morning driving along Xilin Ave and saw this man hitting another man. Apparently the guy had hit his van from behind at the traffic light judging from the position of the car although I didn't see any visible damages. To his credit, the victim who was much bigger size did not hit back and merely warded off the blow from the aggressor who looks to be in his fifties or sixties. Being a kiasu Singaporean, I did not stop but merely sounded the car horn loudly. The guy behind me also did so or is it because he was angry I slowed down? Last I could see from the rearview mirror, the aggressor had crossed the road to the Expo side, presumably to get out of the rain?

Anyway, I was wondering. What is it about driving that turn normal man into red hot blooded monster? Somebody hogged the road; cut you off; sound the horn for no apparent reason and our blood pressure goes up, all sort of languages come out of the mouth and we start chasing after the car, glare at the other drivers and in extreme case get out and challenge the other driver. And I am ashamed to say I am like that too. I get very irritated especially when somebody horn or flash their light at me nevermind if I am in the wrong. I get all pissed up and start driving aggressively whilst spewing words that sometime I don't even know I know. From conversations with friends, I know it is normal. The study of road rage has been well documented but still what is it exactly about being behind the wheel that caused this?

Just a thought though - does lady drivers react the same way?

Saturday, July 18, 2009

I Spy ~ Bean Flower Water

Saw this at a popular local food centre.


Guess what the stall is selling?

Looks like Chinglish is not the exclusive language of China.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

1, 2, 3

Another 1, 2, 3 posting but of a different nature from this.

1. 5.30 am. Woke up, stared at the clock and turned to the Mrs who was still sleeping. "Hey wake up! Why are you still sleeping?""Rush out, woke the Princess up and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Then the Mrs came and said "Hey you siow? Wake up so early for what?" Hmmm??? Didn't we all overslept? Isn't it time for school already? Isn't it 6.30am already? What a dork. I woke up 45mins too early! Went back to sleep. What a waste of precious sleeping time! [Sigh]

2. 6.15 am. Yah now the real time. Back in the kitchen preparing breakfast. The egg refuses to listen and don't want to form the perfect omelette! And then suddenly there was a fire. Shit, the wrapper for the ham had caught fire! Tried to blow it out but the stupid thing keep spreading. Hell no choice dumped the whole thing, ham and paper and plastic into the basin and let the tap run. [Double sigh]

3. 6.45 am. In the lift. Hmm how come the logo on my t-shirt is on the right? Doesn't most t-shirt have the logo on the left? And why does it look so ugly? Oh shit, I worn the darn thing inside out. [Triple sigh]

It's going to be a long long day!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Weekend Delights

The Princess has gotten into a mini sort of baking craze and we are her guinea pig but I happy to say that so far nobody has upset stomach and she's getting better by the weeks as she innovate with whatever ingredients available at home.
It didn't look so good although it tasted decent enough. It is supposed to be a brownie cake.

This is mashmallow cookies. Tasted err interesting.

M&M Peanut Cookies. Also come with Hershey chocolate. Didn't look too good but taste great

One of my favourites. Orea cupcakes.

Muffins but where are the muffin top. Somehow they didn't rise enough but it taste okay still.

And last but not least- today's creation. Looks too cute to eat but they really taste great.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Bottled Water

This morning at the petrol station opposite our temporary office, saw a colleague buying a bottle of mineral water. I know she must be cursing and swearing at me inside. Last week when we first came to this temporary office (safety precaution in view of the H1N1 thingy), I told everybody that we will not be replenishing the stock of bottled water once the stock finishes. So since then some of them have been buying their own bottled notwithstanding that the temp office is a fully furnished office with a pantry, kettle and fridge. Call me kiamsiap or what but why waste money to buy water when it is available freely from the tap?

Bottled water comes in 2 forms - either mineral or purified. First purified water - they are either known as drinking water, purified water or distilled water but whatever it is, the true fact is - it is just plain tap water that has been filtered to remove the chlorine, flouride and other chemicals (purified or distilled water) or worse, just normal tap water (drinking water) repackaged and bottled. So why pay money to drink something that is free?

The other water is spring or mineral water. Apparently, this water comes from mountain springs or rivers and is supposed to contain traces minerals and good for the health. But really has anybody ever seen a really clean river or spring anywhere in the world that you can drink straight from? In all these case, the water from these sources still has to go through a filtration process which means they still come out as distilled water. So why pay a bomb for it?

Okay if money is not an issue and environment concerns is not on the top of one's priority - here some perfectly good reasons* not to buy bottled water.

1. In a 1999 test, one sample of a third of the 103 brands tested were found to contain bacterial or chemical contaminants including carcinogens in levels exceeding industry standards
2. 2 brands contained phthalates exceeding approved standards. These chemicals used to make plastic softer are found in most products and are endocrine disruptors (meaning they block or mimic hormones) affectng the body's normal function eg deformed reproductive organs in foetuses, low sperm count etc
3. In 2007, China (yes China) had to block import of water from Europe citing unsafe bacterial levels. Evian one of the brands affected claimed it was a matter of conflicting local and international health regulations. Seriously, I can't imagine China to have a higher standard than Europe so for China to say the water is no good, something must be seriously wrong here
4. Between 1990 and 2007, bottled waters were recalled about 100 times with the manufactuers citing contaminations with mould, benzene, coliform, microbes and even insects! And these are manufacturers in America who have a higher standard than countries in Asia. So can you imagine the state of the water manufacturing plant in say Indonesia or China?
5. And of course there always the problem with the bottle itself. The manufacturing process of the bottles involves chemcial such as antimony which can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea; BPA which can cause neurological and behavioural problems in foetuses, babies and kids. Taken over a prolonged period, who can tell what the cumulative effects of these will be?

But of course that is not say I do not drink from bottled water at all. In countries where tap water is unsafe, there is no choice. Likewise when on the move and tap water is not available, then there is not much choice but seriously before reaching for that bottle of water, ask yourself. is there a cheaper, safer alternative nearby and save yourself some money and maybe some hearthache.

*Reader Digest March 2009. Read the full article here (membership required)

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Big Eater

Is it normal for men to forget dates or is it just me?

Last week, while on the way to work, she casually mentioned it was our 19th wedding anniversary and I was "oh shit". Yah I had totally forgotten about it. Luckily for me, she was busy with work and I think (and I hope) she wasn't expecting anything.

Okay managed to get her for lunch and we went to Rama Thai. Rama Thai is well known for their shark fin but being a environmentally friendly conscious eater, we didn't order that. Actually I was just being stingy. We had the usual Thai kway teow, tom yum soup, prawncake (very good) and crayfish with chai poh (very very nice).

Okay that took care of lunch.

For dinner, we went with the kids to a zhi-zhar restuarant, Big-Eater near our place. Had passed by the place many times but never actually went in before so since everybody favourite was seafood; to be precise, crab we decided to check out the place.

The place was very spacious occupying 3 shops unit with an outdoor area as well. Service was pretty basic. Grab a table, sit down and wait for the serving staff to give us a menu. The mainly PRC staff were friendly and courteous and when we tried to order an extra dish, the waiter kindly told us to hang on and finish the food we ordered first since we had already ordered a fair bit.

Top of our list was of course, crab and we had the crab with bee hoon. It came in a claypot over a burner. The crab was of average size but fresh and the fresh didn't stick. The stock tasted of wine and milk but the kids love it.
Next was another crab. Chilli crab. We like to compare the chilli crab from various places and this one fares well. The chilli gravy was fairly hot and not too sweet. The crab was about the same size as the bee hoon soup crab. Naturally we wolfed down both dish.

The waiter recommended 2 dishes - the fried squids but instead of the usual plain sweet fried squid, this one came fried in a lemon taste platter. So it was sweet but not coylingly sweet and a hit with all of us.
The other dish he recommended was the la-la but cooked in Thai sweet sour sauce instead of the usual sambal chili. I didn't really find the combination going well together although M seem to like it. Interestingly, the la-la was of a different species with nice patterned shells and big lump of fresh.
We also had another dish of vege but true enough, we were stuffed by the time we finished this lot of food so we were rather thankful we had heeded the waiter's advice and not ordered more dishes.

So ended our 19th wedding anniversary without any black face. Heng ar but I still haven't got any present for her.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Durian Durian

How time flies! Last year around this time, went for a durian party and now I'm back with a different group of friends.

Wanted to go back to Four Seasons at Joo Chiat but was told it had closed down already. Well no problem, a click on ieatishootipost and voilia, a new outlet to try.

This one is just a teeny weeny little stall along East Coast Road. Not like those mammoth stalls in Geylang or Balestier. Fortunately, our objectives was to savour the good quality durians - not the kampung type as the stall only carries so called 'branded' durians.

We first tried the Red Prawn and all agreed it was so so. Not really a big deal.

Next we had the Mao Shan Wang which was a gigantic size durian with equally huge seed. At $13/kg, this was the most expensive and we had high expectation. Okay this was good but to our surprise and delight, what we took next beat the King of the Durian.

It was a no contest. David vs Goliath and David came out top. The 2 small little JIn Feng (Golden Phoenix) we had was absolutely wonderful. They were so small yet there were so many seeds inside. The fragrance (some prefer to call it odour) was not so strong and overbearing. I can't really describe the taste but it was to use a term my friend used frequenlty "shokalicious'.

So we ordered another 2 Jin Feng but after that the cunning stall holder came out with another tempting offer. A durian that he had hoard - a Black Pearl!
He claimed he had only 2 left and asked us to try. So we took one only cos we were quite jalat by then and yah we had no regrets. It was good - it smell and taste unlike any other durian. I will go as far as to say this is the best of the lot but at $10/kg, I think we will stick with the little JIn Feng which cost only $7/kg.

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