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^^

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.

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

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! ^^