Thursday 18 September 2014

Lean Pork with Preserved Vegetables

I got the idea of cooking this dish from the MediaCorp TV drama serial,  "Spice Up" 《幸福料理》. I thought it was quite easy to prepare so I tried it out two days ago.

I did not follow every step exactly as it was shown by Gao Mingjun  (starring Patrick Lee) in the show. This was what I used.


250g lean pork (frozen pork)



80g preserved Vegetables

Steps:

1. I cut the lean pork into smaller strips. I used the preserved vegetables that were bought from NTUC. No further cutting was needed for this.

2. Then I added some salt, pepper, 1/3 egg white, sesame oil and tapioca flour to the lean pork.

3. I heated up some oil in the wok, added some garlic and stir fried them. 

4. I put in the marinated lean pork, stir fried until they were about 60% to 70% cooked.

5. Then I added the preserved vegetables to the pork and cooked until the pork was tender. 

6. I added some chilli powder to the dish. (original recipe used fresh red chilli). 



This dish turned out quite nicely. The pork was tender and the colour was white instead of the usual light brown. I believed it was the egg white that made the pork tender and white. Lynn almost thought it was chicken meat. The preserved vegetables wasn't as crunchy as Gao Mingjun's dish since I did not soak them and squeeze out the water like what he did. We didn't mind though. So overall, I would think it was an appetising dish. This turned out tender and tasty.



Thursday 21 August 2014

Episode 14 to Episode 20 (Last Episode) of 《祖先保佑》("Blessings")

Meiren had suspected Wenrou of getting a man ( Wensheng, who happened to be Wenrou's cousin) to stage the robbery that caused Wenrou to temporarily lose the use of her legs. However, Wending refused to believe that a nice girl like Wenrou would do such a thing.

Wending initiated a breakup with Meiren so that he could take care of Wenrou who was handicapped. Ouyang Xuan and Meiren's father came up with a plan and made Wending realise that he should be with the one he loved, i.e. Meiren. Wenrou was, of course devastated and decided to up the ante. She got Wensheng to splash acid on Meiren. Luckily he did not succeed. In the end, Wenrou wanted him to set fire to "Xiji". Meiren saw Wensheng walking past her nail shop and followed him to "Xiji". She saw Wenrou and Wensheng inside "Xiji". Wensheng was pouring kerosene inside "Xiji". Meiren told him that she had already called the police. Wensheng scurried off in fear.

After some arguments, Wenrou set "Xiji" on fire accidentally. Meiren tried to help Wenrou even when the fire had already spread but Wenrou pushed her away. Wending managed to get there on time and carried Wenrou out of the fire scene. So both Meiren and Wenrou were saved from the fire.

Wending kept having the nightmare of Daxi, Shuangxi and Alicia disappearing. This dream arose from the conversation he previously had with Alicia (his great-granddaughter). Alicia (the only one who believed that Wending travelled forward in time when he first told her) reminded him that if he were to stay in this era and marry Meiren, then Daxi, Shuangxi and Alicia would not have existed because he did not marry their grandmother/great-grandmother. He then brought up the topic of breaking up with Meiren again. He told her he was actually from the 1940s. Of course Meiren thought he was either bluffing or he was delusional.

Meiren then got Daxi to find out the truth behind Wending's reason for breaking up with her. Daxi and Shuangxi searched Wending's belongings and found an old box with a picture of their father, Mengyong (who had passed away a few episodes earlier) and their grandfather but the face of their grandfather was already torn off the picture. Based on the scar on the hand of their grandfather, they deduced that Wending could indeed be their grandfather. They also recalled that Mengyong had called Wending "Dad", Wending had mentioned a few times that he was their grandfather plus the DNA testing. They found it incredible.

They could not contact Wending. Alicia then mentioned that he could have gone back to the 1940s. She said he came to the present on the night of the Mid-Autumn festival last year, so he had to go back on the Mid-Autumn festival this year and all other conditions must be satisfied. After Meiren went out to look for Wending, Shini went into labour.

In the next scene we saw Wending jumping into the swimming pool where he first arrived in this era (2014). He came out of the pool wondering what had gone wrong. He wore the same clothes at the same place and the same time. Then Meiren came to look for him. At the same time, Daxi was praying to their ancestors at home to bless Shini with a smooth delivery of his nephew. At this point, a mysterious force pulled Wending away and, in the next scene, he was at the river and Xiaomei pulled him out of the water. After some confusion, he realised that he was back in his time (1948). He realized that he was only inside the river for a few minutes but it seemed like a year had passed. He told Xiaomei that he had a "strange dream". He learnt that if he wanted happiness, he should have the courage to pursue his love. Hence, he wanted to marry Xiaomei.

Fast forward to 2014 again.  Wenrou turned up with her boyfriend to congratulate Shuangxi and Shini on the opening of a new branch of "Xiji". Shuangxi and Shini had a son and a daughter (Alicia). Shini was pregnant with a third child. Daxi and Ouyang Xuan were a married couple, and surprise, surprise, Mengyong was still alive (unlike the strange dream that Wending had). There were reporters interviewing Mengyong. Daxi was an award-winning writer who had written many popular novels. Shuangxi was the able assistant of Mengyong who had created many highly popular new flavours. 

Mengyong told the reporters that his father always did things that baffled people. There was one year, whenever it rained, he would stay in the house and not go out. He was afraid that he would be killed by a falling tree. The reporter wondered if Wending could foretell the future. Ouyang Xuan then told the reporters it seemed that he could foretell the future. She mentioned that there was also once when he suddenly wanted to move house. Two days later, the old house caught fire. Wending did these because he learnt from his "strange dream" that he was struck dead by a falling tree on a rainy day at the age of 40. Hence, he would not go out whenever it rained in that particular year so that he would not die young. He moved house so that his wife would not get caught in the fire and hence, would not die too. In preventing his and his wife's early deaths, he was able to pass on his superb pastry making skills to his son and grandchildren. In doing so, "Xiji" was still enjoying a good business and reputation to this day.

Another surprise? Wending and Xiaomei were still alive in their 90s.

Old Wending was at the park and saw Meiren. Meiren was pregnant and her hubby was Yuanbing (her ex-boyfriend in Wending's "strange dream") Then, Xiaomei came to him. Both of them held each other's hands and walked off...

So did Wending just have a dream or did he actually travel forward in time from 1948 to 2014? Did he change history? I supposed it's up to us to decide or figure it out.

I really enjoyed this drama serial. My only dissatisfaction was that there was no mention of what happened to Xiulan, the girl whom Wending was supposed to marry. How did Wending get away with cancelling his marriage plans with Xiulan when his parents were so adamant in wanting him to marry a girl of equal status?

Related post:

Sunday 10 August 2014

Episode 1 to 13 of 《祖先保佑》("Blessings")

《祖先保佑》("Blessings") is a MediaCorp drama that had started airing on Channel 8, on 23 July 2014, every Monday to Friday at 9 pm.



Lian Wending (played by Shaun Chen) was the only son of Lian Xuegeng (played by Li Wenhai), the boss of "Xiji". "Xiji" was a famous traditional Teochew pastry shop in Singapore in the 1940s. Lian Wending was in love with a songstress Lin Xiaomei (played by Jesseca Liu) but his father arranged for him to marry a rich merchant's daughter, Sun Xiulan (played by Sora Ma).

Xiaomei was upset over Wending's decision to marry Xiulan. At about the same time, Xiaomei's mother (her only kin on earth) passed away. Xiaomei lost hope and attempted suicide at a river. Wending, upon receiving her suicide note, ran to the river and tried to save her. The next moment, he was saved by someone at a swimming pool. He was delighted to see a woman whom he thought was Xiaomei. It turned out that the woman just happened to look like Xiaomei. 

He had a hard time trying to get back to "Xiji". He was fortunate to meet a kind hearted girl, Ouyang Xuan (played by Youyi) who brought him back to "Xiji" and offered him some doughnuts to fill his stomach. 

Upon arriving at "Xiji", Wending realised that it looked quite different and the bosses were Lian Daxi (played by Chen Hanwei) and Lian Shuangxi (played by Yao Wenlong). Business at "Xiji" wasn't good either. It took him some time to realise that he had actually travelled forward through time, from 1948 to present day (2014) Singapore. Lian Daxi and Lian Shuangxi were his (future) grandsons. Lian Shuangxi had a wife named Du Shini (played by Yvonne Lim) and a daughter. Lian Daxi and Lian Shuangxi thought Wending was their relative from China and took him in. Wending was a very competent pastry chef and proved to be of great help to "Xiji" .


Lian Mengyong (played by Chen Shucheng), father of Daxi and Shuangxi, recognized Wending as his father when he first saw him. Mengyong was senile so nobody believed Mengyong when Mengyong said Wending was his father.

Subsequently, Daxi tested the DNA of Wending and Lian Mengyong and showed that they were father and son respectively. As Wending looked so young, naturally people thought of him as the son. Who would have thought that he had travelled from the past to the present?

Wending also got to know the woman who looked like Xiaomei as She Meiren (played by Jesseca Liu), the boss of a chain of bakery shops called "Le Kalla" in Singapore and also the boss of a nail shop. She Meiren was also the godsister of Ouyang Xuan. 

Wenrou (played by Sora Ma), Du Shini's cousin from Malaysia came to Singapore later. Wending was shocked to find that Wenrou looked so much like Xiulan, his fiancee from the 1940s. Initially, Wenrou set her eyes on Daxi and treated him and his family very well hoping that Daxi would get her to be his girlfriend and, eventually, his wife. She appeared to be very virtuous. However, after some time, she realized that the girl whom Daxi loved was Ouyang Xuan. By then, she herself also had a change of heart. She was pretty much impressed with Wending. So she initiated a breakup with Daxi and tried to get on Wending's good books. 

Initially, Wending had a few misunderstandings about She Meiren and thought that she was a shrew. Eventually he got to know that she was actually a very kind soul beneath the strong and seemingly "heartless" exterior. He fell in love with her and they began going steady .

There were a few scenes which showed Wenrou eavesdropping on the conversation between Wending and Daxi, peeking at the contents of Daxi's laptop and checking on Meiren's background. That got me thinking. Was Wenrou as good as she seemed to be? Now, I am wondering how the story would go on. Could it be that Wenrou was actually not that virtuous? Maybe even devious? There were also a few occasions when Mengyong saw Meiren and called her "mum". Could it be that Wending travelled to the present so that he could make the right decision on his life partner in the 1940s (apart from the task of reviving the business of "Xiji")? I shall continue to watch to find out.

On a side note, there was this song "明月千里寄相思" sung by Xiaomei in the drama. I thought it sounded very much like it was sung by Jesseca Liu herself and I checked the credits shown at the end of one of the drama episodes. Indeed, it was sung by Jesseca Liu. Perhaps MediaCorp should consider giving her a role in a musical drama if they ever do film one.


Related post:



Saturday 2 August 2014

Episodes 2 to 24 of 《步步惊情》("Scarlet Heart 2")

After watching so many episodes of 《步步惊情》("Scarlet Heart 2"), it's time for me to provide an update on the story so far.

The lady who looked like Zhang Xiao was a model named Lan Lan. Yin Zheng was the stepson of Kang Zhentian.

Zhang Xiao had an accident in one of the earlier episodes and lost a part of her memory; in particular, her memories of her past life and her recent encounter with Yin Zheng. She got to know another guy, named Kang Sihan, who turned out to be the eldest biological son of Kang Zhentian. They subsequently fell in love.

Yin Zheng, on the other hand, got to know Lan Lan. Thinking that she was the woman he had been looking for all his life, he fell deeply in love with her without knowing much about her past. He also thought Lan Lan was the lady whom he had met at the museum.

It turned out that Lan Lan used to be an assistant of Yin Zheng's uncle, Yin Chenggui. Yin Chengui was involved in illegal activities in Thailand. Lan Lan failed to run away from Yin Chenggui's control and subsequently suffered injuries from a car explosion. This might be due to her disobeying Yin Chenggui's instructions. She was badly disfigured. She subsequently ran away from the hospital.

At around this time, Zhang Xiao's father came into the picture and revealed to Zhang Xiao that she had a twin sister. So, instantly, Zhang Xiao knew that Lan Lan was her twin sister who was separated from her since young. What was unexpected was that Zhang Xiao's father was not her biological father. He just happened to save Zhang Xiao's mum and brought her to the hospital. Zhang Xiao's mum passed away after giving birth to Zhang Xiao and Lan Lan. Zhang Xiao's adopted father did not have much income then and could only afford to raise one child. Thus, he gave Lan Lan to another family for adoption.

It also turned out that the lady in the picture which Kang Zhentian had was the biological mother of Zhang Xiao and Lan Lan. Their biological father was a good friend of Kang Zhentian. Zhang Xiao's adopted father was the expedition guide who led Kang Zhentian and his friends on the expedition in the 1980s.

Yin Zheng was demoted to be the manager of the logistics department after he got Zhang Xiao to pose as Lan Lan to act in their company's mini-movie. Kang Sihan was naturally promoted to be the acting Vice President of the company. Yin Chenggui somehow managed to fake the death of Lan Lan to make Yin Zheng get over her and work on taking over Zhen Tian Corporation.

At this time, Zhang Xiao's best friend, Xinyi came back from overseas. As it turned out, Kang Sihan was the ex-boyfriend of Xinyi. However, Xinyi would not give up on him and was bent on reconciling with him. Zhang Xiao, being a very kind hearted girl, did not want to hurt Xinyi. Hence, she kept her relationship with Sihan a secret and decided to give up Sihan. In episode 23, we realized that Xinyi was pregnant with Sihan's baby. Upon knowing this, Zhang Xiao was even more determined to break off with Sihan. Sihan finally proposed to Xinyi after much internal conflict. 

In episode 24, Yin Chenggui somehow managed to insert snapshots and videos of Sihan and Zhang Xiao's moments spent together (which he got someone to take secretly during the couple's trip to Hong Kong) on the slideshow that was shown to their (Sihan and Xinyi) wedding guests. 




Sunday 6 July 2014

《红蜻蜓》("Red Dragonfly")

On youth day last year, I shared this song《我的朋友我的同学我最爱的一切》(“My Friends, My classmates, My Most Beloved”) which I liked in my younger days.

This year, I would like to share this song 《红蜻蜓》("Red Dragonfly"). This song was sung by 小虎队 (Little Tigers)。They have always been my favourite boy band. The lyrics were written by 李子恒 and the music was composed by 长濑刚.

This song is very lively and brimming with youth. It makes people (especially me) feel young.


    

歌词:

飞呀飞呀

看那红色蜻蜓飞在蓝色天空
游戏在风中​​不断追逐它的梦
天空是永恒的家 大地就是它的王国
飞翔是生活

我们的童年也像追逐成长吹来的风
轻轻地吹着梦想慢慢地升空
红色的蜻蜓是我小时候的小小英雄
多希望有一天能和它一起飞

当烦恼越来越多 玻璃弹珠越来越少
我知道我已慢慢的长大了
红色的蜻蜓曾几何时
也在我岁月慢慢不见了


我们都已经长大 好多梦正在飞
就像童年看到的红色的蜻蜓
我们都已经长大 好多梦还要飞
就像现在心目中红色的蜻蜓


Which can be translated as:

O Fly O Fly 
Look at that red dragonfly flying in the blue sky 
Playing in the wind, pursuing its dream 
The sky is its eternal home, the earth is its kingdom 
Flying is its life 

Our childhood was like pursuing the wind that growing up brings 
Gently blowing our dreams, slowly rising up the sky
The red dragonfly was then my little childhood hero 
How I wish I could fly with it one day.

As more troubles piled up,  marbles got lesser
I know I have slowly grown up 
The red dragonfly has since
slowly disappeared from my life. 

We have grown up
A lot of dreams still flying around
Just like the red dragonfly we had seen during childhood years. 
We have grown up
A lot of dreams still left to pursue 

Just like the red dragonfly in our memories.

Happy Youth Day!


Related post:

《我的朋友我的同学我最爱的一切》(“My Friends, My classmates, My Most Beloved”)
《叫你一声 My Love》 (Call You My Love)


Friday 4 July 2014

《梦不完的你》("My endless Dream of You")

《梦不完的你〉("My Endless Dream of You") was a song sung by Nicky Wu (吴奇隆) in the 1990s. The MV below was also filmed in the 1990s. So, Nicky Wu was likely to be in his 20s. This is one of my favourite songs of his. Both music and lyrics were written by 李子恒. 

I think this song was about a guy who had to go somewhere due to some circumstances and had to leave the girl whom he loved. Hence, he was having endless dream of her as he could not forget her. He was hoping for a miracle that one day, he might meet her again.





歌词:

扮过痴狂的风
挣脱蜕变的痛
青春是一场接一场的梦
守着寂寞的夜空
回想往事如虹
这份感伤有谁来陪我

流浪天涯的我

不能同行的你
等待彼此盼望相遇的心
岁月把你的从前
还给我的蓝天
一朵白云是我的所有

梦不完的你

陪着梦不完的明天
梦不完的我
陪着无尽的风雨
每个明天的你
牵引我的未来
未来才是我做梦的勇气

梦不完的你

陪着梦不完的青春
梦不完的我
陪着无尽的晨昏
也许不再相遇
也许还有奇迹
只要有梦
就会有黎明

Which can be translated as:

Played the role of the crazy wind 
Got rid of the pain of transformation 
Youth is an endless dream 
Guarding the lonely night sky 
The past was like the rainbow 
Who can empathize with me 

I wandered to the ends of the world 
While you could not travel with me
Waiting for the time when both of us look forward to meet each other 
Your past 
Was returned to my blue sky 
The cloud is all I have

My endless dream of you
Accompanied my endless dream of tomorrow 
I, the one having endless dream 
Accompanied endless storm 
Each future you 
guiding me to my future 
It's the future that gives me the courage to dream on. 

My endless dream of you
Accompanied my endless dream of youth  
I, the one having endless dream
Accompanied the endless dawns and dusks
Perhaps we will not meet 
Perhaps there will be a miracle 
As long as I have a dream 
There will be dawn


I particularly liked this "等待彼此盼望相遇的心"(Waiting for the time when both of us look forward to meet each other ). I also liked the last part "也许不再相遇, 也许还有奇迹。 只要有梦就会有黎明" (Perhaps we will not meet, perhaps there will be a miracle. As long as I have a dream, there will be  dawn). As long as one still persists or still have hope, there will be miracle.

On a side note, MediaCorp is currently airing 《步步惊情》("Scarlet Heart 2") on channel U at 10 pm, from Mondays to Fridays, starring Nicky Wu who is now in his forties. He still looked so cool and handsome!

Wednesday 2 July 2014

Episode 1 of 《步步惊情》("Scarlet Heart 2")

Yay! MediaCorp had started broadcasting the TV drama Serial《步步惊情》("Scarlet Heart 2")  last night at 10 pm on channel U. from Mondays to Fridays. I was pretty much looking forward to this. 《步步惊情》("Scarlet Heart 2") was the sequel to步步惊心》 ("Scarlet Heart").

《步步惊情》("Scarlet Heart 2") started off with emperor Yong Zheng (played by Nicky Wu 吴奇隆) saying "If you can't return to this world, I'll look for you in your world". He put a jade ring and hairpin in a small treasure chest and gave instructions for the treasure chest to be sent to the northwest - Ruoxi's  homeland. On their journey to the northwest, the troops escorting the treasure chest and other valuables met a sandstorm. 

Fast forward to the 1980s. Five guys went on an expedition to find the legendary treasure chest. They met with a tornado, survived it and miraculously found the treasure.

Now, back to the modern era. Zhang Xiao (played by Cecilia Liu 刘诗诗) woke up from her coma in the hospital. For three months, she kept visiting the museum every day to look at those paintings and other stuff that were once familiar to her. 

One day, she saw a person who looked like emperor Yong Zheng (played by Nicky Wu) and tears just kept flowing down her cheeks. Later she found out that he was the manager of Zhen Tian Corporation and his name is Yin Zheng. She subsequently applied for a job there and her interviewer was someone who looked like the tenth prince. This tenth prince look-a-like did not intend to employ her. The chairman (played by Damian Lau 刘松仁) of the Zhen Tian Corporation happened to pass by, had a short conversation with Zhang Xiao and decided to employ her. Later, he instructed his staff to do a family background check on Zhang Xiao. Then, there was a scene which showed a picture of a lady with long hair who looked like Zhang Xiao. Now, I am wondering. What was the relationship between the chairman, the lady in the picture and Zhang Xiao?

Episode 1 ended with Zhang Xiao walking at the stairway. She saw a lady who was dressed in a Qing dynasty costume fall down. When that lady got up, Zhang Xiao was shocked! She looked like herself (Zhang Xiao). Was that lady Ruoxi? Now, who is who?

I shall continue to watch and find out the answers. 


Related posts:

《步步惊心》 (Scarlet Heart)


Monday 23 June 2014

Universal Studio Singapore


We finally visited Universal Studio Singapore at Resort World Sentosa last Sunday.

Universal Studio Singapore opened in 2010 at Resort World Sentosa. So what took us so long to visit it? Actually, I was waiting for Sera to grow up and, hence, taller so that she could go on most of the rides.

We drove the car into Sentosa. We parked the car at Beachfront Station and took the Sentosa Express to Waterfront Station.


View of Merlion from car

After we purchased the tickets, we saw this before entering Universal Studio Singapore itself.


Yes, now Sera could ride most of the attractions. You can check the riders' guide on the Universal Studio Singapore website or just click here.


We had our lunch at Mel's Drive-In restaurant at the Hollywood zone. Halfway through our lunch, we saw some men singing at a small stage outside the restaurant. They were singing and dancing to rock-n-roll songs. What a great way to enjoy lunch!

I had intended to watch the Monster Rock Performance just opposite the restaurant after lunch but upon seeing the warning at the entrance, Lynn was not interested. The kids were concerned that the band might be too loud and deafening for their "delicate ears" :( .



Moving on to the New York zone, we saw characters from Sesame Street such as Elmo, Big Bird, Ernie and Bert singing and dancing at the steps outside the mock Public Library building.




We went back to the Sesame Street Spaghetti Space Chase for the ride after watching the Sesame Street performance. 


It was a slow moving ride suitable for young children too. 

Accelerator

Lynn initially wanted to ride the Accelerator at the Sci-Fi zone. Upon seeing the spinning in action, she changed her mind. The spinning was so fast that she was worried that she might get dizzy.

Below were some pictures taken at the Ancient Egypt zone







Next we visited The Lost World zone.


Dino Soaring Ride


It was always a pity that we could not take pictures of ourselves when we were in the rides. Fortunately for Ardon and Sera, I managed to snap a shot of them when the ride stopped.

The next stop was the Far Far Away zone.



We had a 4-D film experience. This was our first 4-D movie. It sure was fun although the kids weren't too happy about being sprayed water :p.  It was also the kids' first visit to a movie theatre. 

After this we went to watch the Hollywood Parade which started at 5.00 pm. 









After that, we went back to the Madagascar zone for the carousel ride at King Julien's Beach Party-Go-Round.



Adults could also ride on these, yay!

We did some souvenir shopping and then left Universal Studio Singapore.




The queue for the Sentosa Express was very long. A sign board showed that the waiting time was 20 minutes for the train to Beach Station. We walked to Imbiah station and had dinner at the KFC restaurant there. 

After we had dinner, it was home sweet home. 



Saturday 21 June 2014

"Now You See Her"

Last Sunday, we were at Giant Hypermart at Tampines and realized that it was having a small book fair beside the main Hypermart itself. All of the books were sold at $5.00. A pity we did not take note of the dates when the sale would end. 


"Now You See Her" was one of the books that we bought. It is a suspense thriller novel written by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge




What first attracted me to this book was its cover. Yes, I do judge a book by its cover first. Hee! hee! Next was the storyline itself. The blurb at the back of the book sure got me and Lynn interested enough to consider getting the book.




Next would be the font size of the words. Lynn and I did not like to get books with small font size. We did not want to strain our eyes while reading. The font size looked okay and words were well spaced. 




At $5.00, it was a bargain. I don't buy or read books just because they were written by famous authors.


Upon reading this book, I noticed that all of the chapters were short, usually less than 6 pages, which made it an easy read. 

This novel was very exciting. I did not want to stop once I started reading it. There were many moments of suspense. I finished reading it a few days ago. Now, it's off to Lynn.





Tuesday 17 June 2014

Peppa Pig Figures

Sera had wanted to get the Peppa Pig figures for quite some time but we were not able to find it in any of the toy stores that we had visited.


Today, she finally found the Peppa Pig figures in the toy department of Metro. It seemed that these were new arrivals. The figures were sold in sets of two and there were many different combination sold: Peppa Pig and George Pig, Mummy Pig and Peppa Pig, Daddy Pig and George Pig, Peppa Pig and Zoe Zebra, Peppa Pig and Danny Dog, Peppa Pig and Candy Cat, Peppa Pig and Pedro Pony. Peppa Pig and Rebecca Rabbit as well as Peppa Pig and Suzy Sheep. She chose the set that contained Peppa Pig and George Pig figures.




She was very happy with her purchase :) .


Tuesday 3 June 2014

Quotes from Episode 14 of 《球在你脚下》("World at Your Feet")

《球在你脚下》("World at Your Feet") is a MediaCorp production and is currently airing on Channel 8, from Monday to Friday at 9 pm.

I like these lines from last night's episode (episode 14).

梅仁信: 其实人生就像喝这杯茶一样,会苦一阵子,可绝对不会苦一辈子。

叶来香: 因为会越冲越淡。

梅仁信: 淡一点好啊!人生就是要简单,太浓的东西对人生不好。

Which can be translated as:

 Mei Ren Xin: Life is like this cup of tea. It may taste bitter for a while but it won't be bitter forever.

Ye Lai Xiang: The more water you add, the more bland it becomes.

Mei Ren Xin: The more bland, the better! Life should be simple. It's no good if it gets too complicated. 




Saturday 17 May 2014

3-in-1 Tea

At times, I like to drink milk tea. By this, I meant the type found in Ya Kun Kaya Toast and coffee shops. I particularly like the one in Ya Kun Kaya Toast as the standard of the milk tea is consistent. 


One day, I had the chance to try Max Tea Tarikk. The flavour and aroma of tea was quite strong. In fact, a bit too bitter for me. With a teaspoon of condensed milk added, it was quite good. I was quite happy to be able to find this. I could finally enjoy a good cup of milk tea at home.

Some time last year, NTUC had an offer on Old Town White Coffee products and we bought 1 packet of Old Town White Coffee 3-in-1 (White Milk Tea). We were glad we bought it. We just needed to add hot water to it and the taste was just right. The taste of this milk tea was different from Max Tea milk tea. Nevertheless, both were good enough for us.

So for now, these two brands of 3-in-1 tea are my favourite. The only problem was, not all NTUC supermarkets sell them.


Tuesday 13 May 2014

Western Tea

In the previous post, I talked about the brands of 3-in-1 coffee and 3-in-1 white coffee that I liked. In this post, I shall talk about the brands of western tea that my family liked. Our children, especially Lynn, loved to drink tea too. 



For tea bags, we usually drink Dilmah Ceylon Tea. 


At times when Lynn wanted hot beverages at night, she would drink decaffeinated tea. Sera would also drink them occasionally on some nights. The decaffeinated tea we had was Tetley Decaffeinated Tea Cup Bags which we only managed to find in Mustafa Shopping Centre




We have tried another brand of decaffeinated tea bought from a different supermarket but the taste was too bland - it does not taste like tea (in Lynn's own words). Other brands were too expensive. We were quite glad that we found Tetley Decaffeinated Tea Cup Bags at Mustafa Shopping Centre and we can have tea at night too.

For tea leaves, we liked English breakfast tea. When all of us wanted to drink tea in the afternoon, we would make a pot of tea using just 1 to 2 teaspoons of the tea leaves. This makes more economic sense. 

Friday 9 May 2014

3-in-1 Coffee and 3-in-1 White Coffee

Previously, I seldom drank coffee. However, after I gave birth to Lynn, I started to drink either coffee or tea in the morning. With all the late nights taking care of baby and lack of sleep, I was very much in need of some caffeine to perk me up in the morning.


For coffee, I started off with Super 3-in-1 Coffee (Regular). Throughout the years, I have tried different brands for the different taste but still find that Super 3-in-1 Coffee suits me best.

Then some years ago, 3-in-1 white coffee came into the picture. It supposedly had a milkier taste. I tried a few brands and the ones I liked were: Owl 3-in-1 White Coffee (Gula Melaka), Old Town 3-in-1 Cane Sugar White Coffee and Super 3-in-1 White Coffee (Brown Sugar). 


When Ah Huat 3-in-1 white Coffee first came out, what caught my attention was the advertisement jingle sung by “阿牛” 陈庆祥。Subsequently, NTUC had promoters to let the customers try the coffee. However, for some reasons, I did not get to try it. Finally one day, I had the chance to try one of the flavours - the one in dark blue packaging. It was good. I did not buy immediately though as I had stocked up too much 3-in-1 coffee. After a few weeks, we finally bought the Ah Huat 3-in-1 White Coffee. Ardon liked it too. The coffee flavour and aroma was stronger than another brand which we had previously bought. The taste was just right.



The only problem with 3-in-1 white coffee, of course, was the price. It was more expensive than the normal 3-in-1 coffee. 

I will still stick to my Super 3-in-1 Coffee and alternate between Ah Huat 3-in-1 White Coffee, Owl 3-in-1 White Coffee (Gula Melaka),  Old Town 3-in-1 Cane Sugar White Coffee and Super 3-in-1 White Coffee (Brown Sugar).



Saturday 26 April 2014

Sera Singing "Let It Go"

On Saturday, we felt like having a karaoke session at home. Initially, we just sang some of the songs we had from our VCD/DVD collection. Then I had the idea of using the videos from Youtube to sing those songs that we didn't have.

Sera really loved to sing the song "Let It Go". So, Lynn helped her to find the song from Youtube. Then, Sera started to sing the song with the microphone on the sofa. She was probably too lazy to hold the microphone in her hands. LOL!




And yes, that was Andy Lau's music video VCD on the sofa. : )