02.08.2014 Tiring Packed Saturday

Since it has been a while since I went out shopping (sadly), I decided to wear something different and tada! Chance to wear my Taiwan shoes again^^ Featuring my new paperbag shorts newly bought from Johor last week:) Budget wear with camisole bought from Carousell, shorts from JB, shoes and bag from Taiwan. Think my entire outfit costs less than SGD$50:P

Went to Bugis and got to try the much raved about Taiyaki! It is just Japanese pancake with fillings such as ice cream and red bean. The pancake was crispy and has a distinct eggy taste, that is quite yummy. However other than that I don't see the hype and worth in queueing:/ Perhaps the cute deco and pretty pancake attracted the crowd?

Dinner was at Mcpherson kway chap, which was highly recommended by my dad and bro. Though I am not a fan of kway chap, omg it is damn goooood. Their specialty was fried intestine and ngoh hiang which costs $8 per plate. It is super crispy but some people might find it abit too hard. Personally I loved it and it tasted like roasted duck skin (like the Pipa duck). Price is a tad steep, given that the bill amounted to around $30 for 3 of us. However I have to admit the portion size is big:D

Fried ngoh hiang and intestines

On a side note, I passed my FTT this morning! Can't wait to finish learning and get my license! Hopefully I can persevere and not give up learning halfway like last time:P Special thanks to all my friends who encouraged me and gave me tips!:) I will try not to disappoint y'all <3

Day trip to Malaysia

What is a holiday without stepping out of Singapore? Since we don't have the luxury of time to travel to faraway places such as Korea and Europe, we decided to cross the causeway and enjoy 1 day of pigging at Malaysia:)

First stop for lunch: This place in city square basement selling shabu shabu, I think it's called Arashi Japanese. The steamboat pot may look small, but it is super filling and worth for money! Mine's V.Special Tofu Shabu Shabu. It then dawned on me the "V" stands for "vegan", not "very" :P Feeling adventurous, I went for the spicy milk soup base which turned out to be the best I feel:D It may sound weird, but it actually tastes like laksa or curry. Other food items on the table included beef teppanyaki, herbal soup shabu shabu, tom yum shabu shabu and vegan tom yum shabu shabu. All these amounted to approximately SGD$80, with 5 super full adults. Bet if this is in Singapore it would cost at least a hundred bucks.

V. Special Tofu Set 

Saw this super kawaii corn at one of the shops! It's sooooo cuteeeeee! I had to resist myself from buying it:/

Mr Corn says hi!

A wide array of polaroid cameras with pretty colours^^

Polaroid cameras with pretty colours

For dinner we ate at this soup restaurant called Tang Shi Fu. Apparently it is quite famous in Malaysia with quite a number of franchise branches. Sorry for the bad photography skills but don't be deceived by the photo. The food is really good. Dishes include ginseng chicken soup (which was too bitter for my liking because of the addition of authentic ginseng), some luxurious soup with all the treasures including scallops and fish maw inside, herbal braised duck, pu-er stir fried french beans and drunken chicken. The concept of the shop revolves around rejuvenating the body, thus all their food items are herbal based targetted at benefiting the body. All the food are yummy and we're all happy:P Pu-er stir fried french beans was the most creative dish, for in Singapore we only heard of sambal or garlic stir fried french beans. Integrating tea leaves with veggies added sweetness to the dish, quite a good combination! The herbal braised duck was also worth the try as it was really soft, making me reminisce the good old CNY days when we have braised duck at my ahma's house:) Bill totalled to about SGD$80, which was once again a good deal considering they were all high end tonic food:)

5 tired souls returned back to Singapore, with bags of clothes and cookies. I am really glad to have this one day trip, at least it takes my mind off some stuffs and I just eat all that I want:) Therapeutic day today, be it in terms of spending quality family time or retail therapy or food therapy.

Back in Singapore, back to harsh reality.

A happy sister:)

Brother returned with this cute bucket of cookies for me^^ A sweet (or rather, salty) treat that totally cheered up my day and pushed me on for the long night of work:)

Really grateful to have such sweet and random funny brother who makes my day:)

On a side note,  I'm finally done with the designing of IBG poster! After much complaints and frustration, it's finally done even though it's super cui and 100 x away from what we wanted. Time for a short rest before moving on to marking of my students' papers in the morning!

Good nite world:)

Cactus Juice

Decided to be adventurous today and added cactus to my smoothie adventure:) The result was more of juice. The cactus is a bit sticky and has a very greenie taste but since I added orange, the citrus twist made it acceptable:)

For those who are new to this plant, below is the benefits of cactus: 

(from http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/the-nutrition-of-cactus-juice.html#b) 

Cactus juice has shown to help to prevent inflammation in the muscles, arteries, gastrointestinal tract and cardiovascular region.

Cactus juice has a laxative effect and has shown to effectively treat constipation. In addition to easing constipation, cactus juice can reduce inflammation in the urethra and bladder. This has shown to help reduce pain experienced by individuals with bladder infections and gallstones.

Cactus juice is a good source of photochemicals, which can help strengthen the body's immune system. Lab animals have shown to have a reduce tumor growth after ingesting cactus juice because of an increased immune system response.

Additionally, the nopal cactus has high levels of betalins, which are antioxidants. This antioxidant has shown to prevent premature aging, promote optimal cellular health, reduce inflammation and detoxify the human body.

The American Heart Association has conducted research examining the benefits of cactus juice in reducing cholesterol levels. Nopal cactus nectar is high in soluble fiber, which the American Heart Association has shown to help control or reduce cholesterol levels.

Cactus juice has shown to be an effective remedy for non-insulin diabetes. Research shows that cactus juice can help decrease and stabilize blood glucose and insulin levels. 

Cheers to more smoothie and juice recipes:) Looking foward to more exotic and fun tasty smoothies^^

Yogurt parfait

Made a yogurt parfait and allowed it to sit from last night for my brother who's gonna do ndp again today. But too bad he didn't receive my whatsapp so I ended up eating that as breakfast :P Dunno if he purposely siam my food or he genuinely didn't receive xP

Anyway wishing my Bro a good day at work today! May everything go smoothly and he gets his 3 meals and he gets to pangkang early with no problem:)

Matcha latte

Tried making my own matcha latte:) Now, there's no need to spend $7 on Starbucks or some matcha shop to get a decent matcha latte:D

Best thing: I only used magnolia milk, matcha powder and condensed milk! All the ingredients are readily available at home, so from the convenience of my home I can have my cuppa^^

Efforts not appreciated. So much for putting in so much time and effort into designing and writing notes, planning the lesson and trying to find interesting videos to engage the class. Kids who are not even interested in helping themselves. I really cannot understand why these kids still come to tuition despite being indifferent about learning and come here just to waste time and money. Not only that, they are disturbing others' learning experiences. Every passing moment further compound the doubt that I cast on myself. Halfway through my disastrous lesson I felt super guilty for not being able to achieve what I wanted the class to achieve. Lesson today sucked, but I shall persevere for the remaining one month of relief tutoring. In the meantime, an exotic flavored Chocolate Coconut Pocky to make my day slightly better.

Blueberry Avocado Smoothie

Couldnt resist myself from posting this photo because I love the colour of this Blueberry Avocado smoothie:) Special request from my mother which made me try making this smoothie:)

On a side note, I just changed my Apple to Samsung phone! Still trying to get used to the interface:/ Hopefully I can get used to it asap^^

Green Citrus Smoothie

Woke up in the morning and while I was preparing the ingredients, my bro requested me to make an extra serving. Glad that he liked it:)

Green Citrus Smoothie
Makes 2

Ingredients:
1 avocado, fully ripe
2 oranges
2 cups of frozen spinach, chopped (I froze the spinach to prevent it from turning soggy in the fridge, to extend their fridge life)
2 carrots, chopped
2 handfuls of ice

Blend avocado and oranges with a bit of water until smooth. Then add in frozen spinach, ice and carrots to blend.

Post-internship nua day: Treated myself to banana+Choco chips+ milk smoothie:) Life's good without having to wake up early in the morning and squeezing with people on the mrt.

 

Appreciate the little things in life. For it's these little jigsaw puzzles that makeyour life complete.

Shagness overload

2nd last day of internship. All I've been busy with for today were printing notes, figuring out how to use the printing machine and drafting email. 

Tuition for a class mixed with students of different levels and syllables. Expended lots of mental energy and patience. Shagness overload. Thankfully no more tuition for this week and tmr is the last day of work. After which will be the time to crash.

But before that, a cup of avocado yogurt shake with chocolate chips to energize me for tonight's World Cup. So what if I've work tmr? #yolo

Angel Food Smoothie

Smoothie King sells this for $6 but I can make it too, with a bit more effort and a bit less sugar without having to travel out of my house:)

Ingredients: Strawberries, banana, yogurt, topped with chocolate chips for added happiness^^

Love this mix and how fuss-free it is. Sweet pink treat to end off Monday blues

Just another Sunday

Just another Sunday. Just another disaster which I whipped up that is thankfully edible and accepted by my family:P

Pulled pork sandwiched between focacia bread, sauteed mushrooms and yogurt potato salad

Think if I wasn't too lazy to get a BBQ sauce the sandwich could have been better:P

Happy Father's Day: Matchamisu success!

Happy Father's Day to my beloved personal chauffeur, insect-catcher and kopi kaki:)

Since I dont know what my father wants, I decided to make something special for the special dad-- Matchamisu. It's totally self-improvised and I didnt follow any recipe hahaha. I'm glad it turned out fine and my family enjoyed it:) Here's some snapshots of my proud creation and recipe:

Decorated with marshmallows and chocolate chips

Layers of mascarpone cheese, matcha-soaked ladyfingers and azuki beans

Recipe for Matchamisu (serves 5)
500g Mascarpone cheese
12 ladyfingers (the biscuits, not the plant:P)
2 heaped tablespoons of sugar (to taste)
1 teaspoonful of vanilla essence (to taste)
Boiling water 
3 heaped teaspoon of matcha powder
1 can of azuki beans
Marshmallows and chocolate chips

1. Mix mascarpone cheese, vanilla essence and sugar together until well combined 
2. Prepare matcha liquid by adding matcha powder into around 200ml of boiling water in a wide bowl
3. Dip ladyfingers into the matcha liquid by coating it in the liquid on both sides, then lay as the base in the baking tin (don't soak it too long as it'll disintegrate)
4. Spread a layer of mascarpone mixture over it
5. Spread a layer of azuki bean over it
6. Alternate with layers of ladyfingers, mascarpone and azuki bean.
7. End off with a layer of mascarpone cheese (make sure it is not too thick) and dust with green tea powder/cocoa powder. 
8. Decorate as desired
9. Chill for at least 12 hours before serving.

*The proportions above are what I used. Depending on your tastebuds, you may want to add in more sugar/matcha or experiment with different ingredients:)
**As it is a chilled non-bake recipe, it is quite tricky getting the tiramisu out of the tin. One good way will be to scoop it out using a spatula:)

Preparation for Father's Day Present:)

Green Tea Azuki Bean Tiramisu

Made green tea azuki bean tiramisu as Father's Day present:) I totally didn't follow any recipe and all the ingredients and proportions were self-improvised. Hopefully it turns out fine and that he'll like it:) Can't wait for the tasting session tomorrow! ^^

Finding the Silver Lining amidst the Black Clouds

To be honest, I was quite unhappy and frustrated over my internship boss. Don't be mistaken, I love the job scope, working environment and I LOVE my fellow comrades. It's just some things which made me have a bad impression of my boss, which I shall not comment further.

Today was the best day of internship so far, TGIF. All 6 of us are finally reunited after days of separation due to undertaking of different projects. The whole day was filled with nonsense. Playing CS during our breaks, and psycho-ing the manly boys to try the Bear Bites burger were just small bites of happiness.

Group selfie with our cute bear burgers

Bear Bites is a Taiwan themed fast food located at the ground floor of Scape. The printed paws on the burger buns made it unique. In addition, you get to choose the flavor of the bun that varies from squid ink to yam to strawberry. They also have different sauces to choose from, including tartare sauce and thai chilli. The fries that came along with the set was also hand-cut. They are similar to Mos burger fries as they are chunky and nicely fried:) Food was awesome, not to mention that the company we enjoyed which was even awesome-er. Good food=happy us :P

I thought the kbox session after work with my fellow comrades is a great end to the frustrating week. But rainbow appears after rainy weather. I received an email informing me that I have clinched the tuition assignment (despite screwing up my interview). Really thankful for such a wonderful Friday. The funny clique, the nice food, the golden opportunity. If not for my army of crazy peeps, I would have quit long ago. Looking forward to 15 more days of craziness with you guys:) Guess I'll really miss their randomness and bromance after this internship:(

Special Gift from Father: NEW BLENDER:)

So, on the 8th day of my smoothie breakfast plan, my old blender broke its "leg". Thus it retired from its duty and passed its duty to the new blender. New toy kindly sponsored by my dad:) Thankew dad for the awesome present! Now I have additional motivation to continue my smoothie plan^^

Celery+Carrot+Mango smoothie

My dad asked "So after so many days of smoothies, do you feel any difference?" Well, I have only started on this 1 week ago, so in such a short period of time of course there wont be marked difference. But I feel happier every day, because I know I had a healthy breakfast and knowing that you have a healthy start to a day just makes you happy:) There's always something sweet to look forward to every morning and it is really great fun experimenting with different fruits and veggies^^ 

For those interested in trying out smoothies, can always check out the smoothie recipes listed on the sidebar at the right hand side of my blog:) All the smoothies look good and smoothies are generally cheap and easy and hassle free. Best of all, it is healthy and guilt-free sweet treats:)

#eatclean

After listening to my friend raving about all the benefits of a clean diet, I decided to embark on this special challenge- green smoothie for breakfast. Shall see how long I can sustain on this green smoothie brekkie:)

 Personal favorite for now: Celery + Carrots + Mango.
Some people may eew at the thought of a green smoothie and the addition of veggies may scare away many. But trust me, this is not that green afterall. Especially since mangoes help to enhance the sweetness of the drink, making u happy in the morning ^^

Bringing raw vegan diet to a whole new level, she made a RAW VEGAN fruit pie for my family:D The crust is raw, made from walnuts, dates and dessicated coconut. Instead of the usual fattening custard filling, she used mango puree which added sweetness to the pie. And finally, an array of colourful fruits for aesthetic purposes:) The pie was quite chewy and crunchy because of the coconut. The pie was generally a great attempt which received good review from my picky dad:P

Who says healthy diet and desserts have to be mutually exclusive?

Happy 21st to my high frequency gal Jops:) : The Little Diner

Just 2 months ago we were at PoTeaTo celebrating my 21st and in a flash, it's Jops 21st:) Scary how fast time travels, nonetheless I had a great night catching up with my beloved friend:) We chose this cozy little place called The Little Diner. It is located along Bukit Timah Dunearn Road. Funny how we didnt know of this place back in NJ days.

The place has a very old feel, with little furnishing except for blackboards at the sides showing the menu for the day. However the tables were nicely decorated. If you make a reservation beforehand, they will specially hand-write your reservation card on the table. That's so sweet of them. The service staff were also very approachable and friendly and makes you feel really at home. One of the best service I have ever received I must say.

Special request to write the note on the reservation card

We ordered the Truffle Fries, Old-Fashioned Mac and Cheese (+bacon bits), Risotto balls and Apple Crumble. When the truffle fries came, the smell of truffle oil was overwhelming. It was handcut and every single piece of fries was heavily coated with the taste of truffle oil. Good recommendation BUT it's for sharing:D The Mac and Cheese, seemingly suitable for portion of 1, will get too cheesy after a while, so make sure to share it! But it was really a good choice because I love the top crispy cheese layer:P The risotto balls were deep fried on the outside, but inside there is a layer of mozerella, centre filled with risotto. Interesting combination of ingredients, but not exactly superb. The apple crumble put a nice end to the meal, with its base lined with apple wedges that perfectly complemented the vanilla ice cream. I like the crumbs (as always):P

For the service and nice ambience of the place, it was really a great location for catching up session with friends:)
_______________________________________________________________________________

Really grateful how this birthday girl always makes an attempt to catch up with me despite her busy schedule. She had a long hard day at work, and having to travel all the way to Bukit Timah is super tiring especially after work. Yet she set aside time for me to update me on her life. It's really friends like these whom you know you want to keep for the rest of your life. As I always say, people who want to be part of your life will always make an effort to do so. Even a simple text message is a sign of putting in that extra effort of maintaining a friendship. Is it really that hard to maintain a friendship in spite of heaps of school work, work and CCAs? Time management and geographical boundaries are issues, but should never be barriers hindering a friendship. Thank you friends for constantly making the effort to keep in touch with me even though I may be slow in replies or unable to meetup:)

Happy Birthday once again Jops. I'm really glad to have met you in NJ <3

Vegan Day: Yixin Vegetarian, The Living Cafe

After hearing much ravings about healthy living and vegan diets, I decided to embark on a vegan diet today and here's my journey...

Started off the morning with a fruity smoothie specially prepared by my "dasao". It was really fast and hassle-free. Just pop mangoes, bananas, a squeeze of lime, ice cubes and a handful of Kale veggies into the blender and it's ready to go. The veggies only added the green coloring to the smoothie, with no taste of it luckily:P So I still find it manageable:D Tip to smoothie lovers who aspire to make their own smoothie: a wide variety of fruits can be thrown into the blender, including apples, dragonfruits, oranges, papaya. But rmb to add in a fruit that is thicker to give a thicker milkshake-like consistency, such as mangoes, bananas and avocadoes:)

PS: she also added in organic raw chocolate nibs for added crunch and chocolate taste:) 

Lunch was at Yixin Vegetarian Restaurant at Chinatown. I was quite doubtful of the taste of vegetarian food initially. But this place changed my mind. They had bak kut teh, assam laksa and hor fun BUT ALL VEGETARIAN. Yes, it was all vegetarian mock meat. Although the texture was quite obvious and there is only a hint of "meat" taste, I have to admit it is really a good attempt. The bak kut teh had a strong herbal taste which was well-liked by my brother. But to me, the best dish was the hor fun, maybe because of the fried beancurd sticks:P They have a wide variety of vegetarian dishes, including vegetarian dumplings and vegetarian "meat" bun. Really impressed by the kaleidoscope of choices provided. 

Following which, dessert was at The Living Cafe. Promoting a relatively new concept of raw vegan living, it is one of the rare few restaurants in Singapore selling raw food. Yes, everything is raw and vegan. This means that the food is not cooked and made fully from vegetarian products. Pasta, burgers, desserts are all raw. That's right! I was quite amazed at this and so decided to give this special diet a go.

2nd Floor selling organic raw products

We tried the lemon pie, chocolate cake and blueberry cheesecake (left to right). The lemon pie was a tad too sour for our liking. The chocolate cake was quite deceiving. One could not differentiate this from a normal baked chocolate cake. It can easily pass off as a chocolate fudge cake because of its fudgy and moist texture. It was topped with dessicated coconut for additional crunch. The best, in our opinion, was the blueberry cheesecake. The base is similar to our digestive biscuits base, just that it is abit more chewy. There is a strong blueberry taste in the top layer and the best thing, no artificial colouring is added:) The cheesecake layer is also light in taste, so making it guiltfree. The best dessert to end a meal because it is not too sinful and yet you feel happy^^

How do they make pastas, burgers, and even cakes without cooking?! How is it possible to make the pie crust without baking?! Mystery solved: they used dates, coconut oil and walnuts and process them in a food processor. Walnuts provide the crunch needed for crust (sometimes dessicated coconut is added too) while dates provide the thick consistency needed to bind the ingredients together.

The Living Cafe has a really interesting fun concept of providing food for those on raw vegan diet. This diet, although considerably new and not widely embraced in Singapore, is really a great concept worth expanding. It is difficult to stick to such a diet for long period of time, but a raw food diet once a week may be worth trying:) This is a new area of interest for me, not that I will embark on this diet, but hopefully I can learn more about it:)

Who says dessert and healthy living does not go together?