Thunder Tea Rice

Just exactly what is so nice about thunder tea rice?

I first took this when it came to the Singapore market a few years ago. At that time, I didn’t really have a good impression of it. All I can remember was the yucky looking green soup. The next time I took it was like sometime last year when a colleague ‘tahpau’ for me. But it must have been so forgettable that I totally cannot remember how it taste like.

Recently, while on a eat healthy crave one day, decided to eat it when out for lunch with a colleague. And my on my, surprisingly it tasted good. Not the soup (or tea) as they called it. That one still looks yucky and taste horrible but the rice. It was delicious with bits of ikan bilis, nuts, some weird looking vegetables, toufu. It was full of fragrance. Even the brown rice version was good. Since then, I have resolved to eat it at least once a week.

Picture from the bakerwhocooks.blogspot.com/

Here are some information about Thunder Tea Rice.

sbestfood

ieatishootipost
Now back to the question? Is it really that good? One colleague who initially condemned it and later somehow was persuaded to try it recently on 14 May this year has went on a thunder tea rice eating spree and been eating it for lunch for the past 7 days! Go figure if it is really that good!

How to avoid getting H1N!

H1N1 To avoid it... Eat right!

Make sure you get your daily dose of fruit and veggies.
Take your vitamins and bump up your vitamin C.
Get plenty of exercise because it builds your immune system.
Walk for at least an hour a day, go for a swim,
Take the stairs instead of the lift, etc.
Wash your hands often. If you can't, keep a bottle of antibacterial stuff around.
Get lots of fresh air. Open doors & windows whenever possible.
Try to eliminate as much stress from your life as you can.
Get plenty of rest.

OR
Take the doctor's approach.
Think about it...
When you go for a flu jab, what do they do first?
They clean your arm with alcohol...
Why?
Because Alcohol KILLS GERMS.

So...

I walk to the pub(exercise)
I put lime in my vodka...(fruit)
Celery in my Bloody Mary (veggies)
Drink outdoors on the patio..(fresh air)
Tell rude jokes and laugh....(eliminate stress)
Then I pass out. (rest)

The way I see it...
If you keep your alcohol levels up,flu germs can't get you!
As my grandmother always said,
'A shot in the glass is better than one in the ass!'

PS: This came from an email I receive don't flame me:)

My Chow Chow

There was this article in the Sunday Times about "chow chow". Basically, it is an item which a person grow up with and love dearly and most of all, do not wash hence it Hokkien name Chow Chow meaning smelly smelly. In the article, most of the people interviewed had soft toys, bolster or pillow which are the 3 most commonly kept chow chow. There is even a locally set up blog mychowchows where people post the pics and history of their chow chows.

Well, allow me to join the club. Ha ha at 47 I still have my chow chow. Like Linus in Peanuts, I have a blanket. Or rather this is the 3rd incarnation. What is so special about my blanket which I had for the past 10+ years is that it is a patchwork blanket sewn from old clothes by Mom. As far as I can remember, she has been sewing one whenever the current one becomes torn and tattered and this current one is the 3rd she has produced, if I am not wrong.

Actually this 3rd piece was not meant for me but for one of the kids but they didn't "see it up" so I confiscated it and have been using it since. It is slightly too small for me but with our weather being what it is, it is just nice as a light cover. And it get washed every so often so it doesn't smell.
And no, I don't carry it around like Linus and I don't bring it overseas.

Cyclist and Motorist

There has been some letters to the newspaper recently about motorist failing to respect the rights of cyclist on the road. Well while in general I agree with the sentiments expressed in the letters, I think the cyclist have a part to play too. After all it is their life at stake.

Just the other day, while driving home along Xilin Ave, there was this cyclist (and I am referring to sport cyclist and not the Ah pek cyclist) riding on the outermost lane of the road forcing motorist to change lane to avoid him! And this is not the first time I witness scene like this. Being in the East and living near the Changi Coastal Road, it is common to see cyclists on the road and they think they do, I sometime think these people think they are made of metal and invincible. The other thing is I can never understand why cyclists must go up the flyover outside MR instead of using the road? The flyover is for fast moving vehicle to bypass the junction, it is narrow and yet the cyclists goes up like they own the flyover! Surely there are better place for them to do hill training? My pet peeve is why must they cycle 2 or 3 abreast and talk at the same time! I sometime think that these people think traffic rules apply only to people on motorbikes and vehicles with 4 wheels or more and not to them. Or do they have a death wish?

I have many friends who are cyclist. I myself am not so I may not understand why they do it but to all my friends please do not endanger yourselves. Think of your family and ride responsibly. Of course there are may idiotic inconsiderate drivers but as they being protected inside their car will always come out winner in a crash so ride safely and don't give these idiots a chance to do harm.

Beautifully Imperfect

Just read that there is this contest by MCYS to find the most "beautifully imperfect couple" This "aims to inspire marriage-minded singles to find that person person based on character and personality, instead of applying society's checklist of beauty, wealth, education and family background" More about this here & here and of course in Facebook.

Going by the articles in the St, methink me and M could have qualified for this if we were still single. For us, not only is our height disparity much greater, we were as different as snowflakes or some say day and night. When I knew her, she was sporty, played games and I was a bookworm. We came from different religious background, different type of home environment. We shared totally zilch and different interests and the only common ground we have was our skin colour and dialect.

Anyway, I think opposites attract so usually it is relationship where both parties do not share a lot of similar traits that endures. For eg, if both party are of equally strong mind, there is bound to be problem. In any case, be it beautifully imperfect or perfectly matched, it takes a lot of hard work to maintain a relationship. So when you meet someone, don't just dismiss the person if he or she is not your idea of a perfect match. Who knows, there may be a unpolish diamond behind that plain simple look. Read this and watch the video for a very touching love story

PS: MCYS: Got any rewards for plugging this?

The Money Circle

Got this email from a friend. Since I don't do chain/mass mail, thought I put it up here:

"It is August. In a small town on the South Coast of France, holiday season is in full swing,
but it is raining so there is not too much business happening.
Everyone is heavily in debt.
Luckily, a rich Russian tourist arrives in the foyer of the small local hotel.
He asks for a room and puts a Euro 100 note on the reception counter, takes a key and goes
to inspect the room located up the stairs on the third floor.
The hotel owner takes the bank note in a hurry and rushes to his meat supplier to whom he
owes E100.
The butcher takes the money and races to his supplier to pay his debt.
The wholesaler rushes to the farmer to pay E100 for pigs he purchased some time ago.
The farmer triumphantly gives the E100 note to a local prostitute who gave him her services
on credit.
The prostitute goes quickly to the hotel, as she owed the hotel for her hourly room use to
entertain clients.
At that moment, the rich Russian is coming down to the reception and informs the hotel owner
that the proposed room is unsatisfactory and takes his E100 back and departs.
There was no profit or income.
But everyone no longer has any debt and the small townspeople look optimistically towards their future.

COULD THIS BE THE SOLUTION TO THE Global Financial Crisis ?

The principle behind is correct but how nice if was so simple

Landbank - Can or Scam?

Went for this 'survey' or so this telemarketer claimed it was a survey last weekend. The pitch was if I go, I will get $XX worth of shopping vouchers, and the $$$ goes up with each additional family members that I bring along. Of course I knew there was no such thing as a free lunch.

It was not a time share presentation, a MLM talk or a money making talk but a landbank sale pitch. The talk didn't attract me. I seen enough to know it was going to be one of those where they will hardsell and won't let you go back until you sign something but the vouchers were too tempting and I figured what the heck it was going to be easy money to make.

First, did some research on the web and well there was no bad feedback on this particular company doing the pitch although there was lot of bad press about landbank scam in UK.

 M came along so we got $80 Carrefour voucher. Well unfortunately for us, the kids refused to follow otherwise we will have got $100 and if we go in during the 'early bird' timing or 'closing' time period, we would have got another $20.00. 

The whole experience didn't turned out too bad either. Of course, there was no survey just a introduction to landbanking in UK and the potential returns. A young lady did the presentation. Not the slicky smooth type but a very down to earth lady. And there was no mention of how much it will cost us to invest! To satisfy my own curiosity, I had to asked and even then she got an angmoh to come and tell us and it was really like they were not interested in doing any sale. The guy simply said $XXX if we invest today and $XXXX otherwise and said he doesn't need a decision there and then and walked off, all within 5 minutes. 

M is quite interested in it considering the current returns on FD and the state of the stock market. I am not too sure about this especially reading all the bad press about this type of investment. So it is still status quo while I do more resarch and get more opinions. Anybody out there can contribute any feedbacks?