Bollywood Veggies

January 30, 2007

On Thursday, the 3 musketeers went out on a little excursion, again. This time, we ventured to the far west of Singapore (Kranji, Choa Chu Kang, Yio Chu Kang).

We went in search for the agricultural strip of Singapore. First stop, Bollywood Veggies.

We walked through rows and rows of vegetables, fruits, herbs and aromatics. Listing a few of my favourite sights are in the pictures below:
Tapioca, Snake Gourd, Banana Seribu, Jeruk Sunkist, Dill, Ladies finger, mini pineapple, fig, papaya and ribena.

We bumped into owner/farmer Lim Ho Seng, who kindly gave us some dill and laksa leaves to plant at home. Ivy Singh-Lim and Mr Lim knew my dad through the Singapore Transport Council, when they appealed for public buses to go through that area, daddy was in the council that approved it. So don’t worry, its still accessible by public bus and shuttle services.

Address:
100 Neo Tiew Road
Singapore 719026 (Kranji)

Opening Hours:
9am-6pm (Wed-Sun and Public Holidays)
Entry to the farm is $2 per person.

I wish we could grow more interesting fruits and vegetables here in Singapore. I want to grow strawberries, cherry tomatoes, zuchinnis and apples!

posted in Family, Food | 8 Comments

How to eat a Xiao Long Bao

January 30, 2007

Did you know there’s a proper way to eat a Xiao Long Bao?? On Wednesday, Auntie Wendy, my mum and i had lunch at Din Tai Fung, Paragon. And on your chopstick wrappers, there were instructions on how you should be eating your little dumplings.

How to eat a Xiao Long Bao
1. First you dip the Xiao Long Bao into the Vinegar (which you’d have already poured for yourself in a saucer)

2. Place it on your chinese spoon, bite of the top bit of the Xiao Long Bao, and suck on the juices.

3. Place some ginger slices on top, and eat the rest of the Xiao Long Bao whole.

And i promise you, you’ll appreciate it a whole lot more.

Next time you eat it like that, let me know if there’s a difference.

posted in Food | 9 Comments

Daddy’s Flight lesson

January 28, 2007

It’s been 40 years since his solo flight, and for his birthday in December, we gave him a flight voucher at the Elite Flying Club at Senai (The flying school in Singapore didn’t have a plane ready at the time of booking).

My mum hates small planes, so me and my sister were suppose to be passengers. Unfortunately….(watch the video to find out)

posted in Family | 16 Comments

Incredible Machine

January 28, 2007

Javad posted it on multiply, and i spent a good 10mins watching every clip.

posted in Clips | 1 Comment

Auntie Wendy

January 25, 2007

I love having Auntie Wendy around. Everyday, i’m learning new recipes and kitchen tips from her. And this is from a lady who managed to cook 500 people a 4th of July dinner with only 2 days notice, in a spanish speaking country. I’m going to miss her when she leaves She’s such a wonderful person to be around with.

Time for bed, early start tomorrow morning.

posted in Family | 4 Comments

Wordpress upgrade

January 23, 2007

Please excuse the mess on the right sidebar. Just upgraded my wordpress, and i can’t figure out what the syntax error is at the moment. Blog posts not interrupted.
hmph!

posted in Geek | 0 Comments

TURNER 5 SPOT (Frame Review)

January 23, 2007

The demo bike in question that I have been graciously lent to try is a Turner 5 Spot (Thanks Gilbert!). This was an older version of the newer - and yet to arrive - 5.5 Spot, but I was told that it would be a good platform to gauge how much travel I really needed and what the TNT rear linkage would feel like. This is my review which will focus more on the frame.

The Equipment
The 5 Spot frame comes in at about 6.2lbs and delivers about 5” of rear travel as the name states. At the rear end we have a DHX 5.0 Air to soak up all that’s left behind without penalizing on the weight. Finishing was acceptable though it could have been better with welding at the joints pretty neat. Upfront is the Fox’s 07 Float R which gives us a generous 140mm of travel. The drive train was the very bling Crank Brothers Colbalt SL Crank Set with XTR shifter, front and rear derailleur. Stopping is a mix of XTR and XT disc brakes with XTR hubs wrapped in WTB Mutano 26 / 1.95 tires complete the whole bike. Not too bad a setup and weight came in at about 27.0lbs

The Ride
The ride overall was pretty good. With more travel upfront and in the rear, one would think that climbing with this would have been a killer. Quite the contrary, as I did not suffer (much) on most of the climbs – even though I was on flats – as the DHX Air rear shock sucked up all that was thrown at it and it really provided really good traction with minimal bob. Despite rear travel being pretty close to my current bike, the 5” of travel on the 5 Spot felt like a whole lot more on the trails and it did give me the confidence to just run over anything without worrying about bottoming out on drops. The bike also had a longer wheel base and the stability that came with it gave you a lot more confidence to go faster downhills. However, this made the bike seem a bit sluggish on slightly tighter handling.

Evaluation
The ride of the bike was really good and though I would have loved to fiddle with the setup to get the settings more matched to me. Climbing was not as bad as I had envisioned and the rear shock made sure that there was adequate traction throughout the climb. With a wider wheel base and more travel, the downhills were truly something else. I was able to bomb down a lot faster and take a slightly more aggressive line. A special mention has to go to the DHX Air which I enjoyed thoroughly. It took in everything that the trail could throw at it and on the slightly more aggressive stuff - like jumps over rutty sections and drops - the shock did exceptionally well. I tuned it with a little bit of propedal and there was little or close to no bob under heavy pedaling and yet it was plush over the nasty bits. Overall a little bit more travel on the rear would have been perfect and the 5.5 Spot could provide me with this. In fact if it comes with the DHX Air, I’ll place an order for one immediately!

- Wayne P -

posted in Gadgets | 10 Comments

Cook with Jamie

January 22, 2007

One of my favourite Christmas Presents for 2006 was a Jamie Oliver cookbook titled ” Cook with Jamie, My guide to Making You a Better Cook “.

A beautifully bound book printed in my favourite combination of colors, Black and Gold. A fantastic “Kitchen Bible” of tips, tricks and easy to do recipes. Last Sunday’s dinner AND Auntie Pat’s Birthday Carrot Cake recipes came from this book.

Another clever idea was on the inside cover. Before Christmas came round, Penny had asked me for a photo of myself. And here i was, thinking she gave me a photo frame for Christmas. But in actual fact, the picture was glued onto the blank space on the inside cover.

Isn’t that such a clever idea? Coincidently i was dressed in the right colour too!

posted in Books, Food | 2 Comments

Kitchen Paraphernalia

January 22, 2007

I love calling my kitchen appliances and tools, paraphernalia, it sounds like a medical condition. It definately feels like it is, cause i get into this frenzy and start hyperventilating when i have a new toy to play with in the kitchen.

Latest cause for delirium?
THE ARTISAN® SERIES KITCHENAID STAND MIXER

Look at all these puurrrtttyyy colouurrsss….

Mummy & Auntie Wendy went out to get one yesterday after they decided it was time for the 20yr old one to retire. RIP my friend. HELLO KITCHENAID!

Oh i love the stainless steel on white, the smooth curved surfaces, the flexibility of using different attachments on the same machine.

Here’s a list of different accessories available for that one machine:

Can Opener

Citrus Juicer

Food Grinder

Fruit & Vegetable strainer

Grain Mill

Ice Cream Maker

Pasta Maker

Pasta Roller

Ravioli Maker

And my favourite

Sausage Stuffer Kit

*All accessories sold seperately

Now for some serious baking!

posted in Food, Geek | 14 Comments

Mary had a little lamb

January 22, 2007

Sunday dinner was at Jie Jie’s apartment. Although we started preparing food at 5pm, we still managed to produce dinner late! Tsk Tsk!

Menu

• Grilled asparagus wrapped in bacon
• Roast field & button mushrooms
• Roast Lamb marinated with rosemary
• Potato & Cauliflower dauphinois
• Grilled butternut squash & Fennel
• New York Cheese Cake
• Red & White wine

Dinner turned out alright, a bit late, but still alright. The highlight was Auntie Wendy’s New York Cheese Cake. Made with the simplest ingredients, the result was a thick, creamy, rich cheesecake you won’t find anywhere else in Singapore. It’s not like those light fluffy ones you find here. The shape looks a bit funky, only because we didn’t have a spring form tin.

One spoon of THIS melts in your mouth, flirts with every tastebud before gliding really slowly down the throat. Hmmm talk about sexy food visuals man!

Dinner Guests

• Daddy
• Mummy
• Auntie Wendy (Mum’s sister)
• Yvonne (cousin)
• Trip (soon-to-be cousin-in-law)
• Wayne
• Jie Jie
• Me

Click HERE for more pictures

posted in Family, Food | 0 Comments

Perth Girls

January 22, 2007

Saturday evening was spent with great company and delicious food over at emma’s house party. Emma makes the best potato salad and garlic bread. That’s a good enough reason to go over for dinner! Her mum makes a killer lasagne, and paul mixes a pretty potent vodka drink.

I had a great time… and to top it off…Perth girls were reunited!

posted in Friends | 4 Comments

Too many cooks in the kitchen…

January 21, 2007

Auntie Wendy is in town from New York, so we had a bake out yesterday afternoon. Royal transcriber jiejie was present, together with royal taster Yvonne.

The royal jesters were present to just stir things up.

She introduced us to her famous Zuchinni bread and New York cheese cake. Unfortunately, there were 2 problems.

1. My mum’s blender is Very VERY old, that poor machine was straining at speed 3. I’m surprise no smoke was coming out of that thing!

2. Our oven is also very VERY old. The rubber lining has worn out, and the manufacturers don’t make replacements anymore. So to prevent heat from escaping, we have to tape up the sides of the oven… how sad. To account for the heat loss, we usually have to turn the gas mark up by 1 or 2.

Auntie Wendy’s Zuchinni bread didn’t exactly come out the way she wanted. We will try it again on Monday. Mumsy is buying a new blender today….i hope we get a kitchenaid!

posted in Family, Food | 11 Comments

Mountain Biking - 21 January 2007

January 21, 2007

Wayne hasn’t been biking much, so we decided to take it easy today, managed to take some good video shots of a few downhills, which i will compile with the old helmut cam video.

By the time we reached the barrier, weather didn’t look at all promising. So back to the carpark. Had our Bak Kut Teh lunch at Binjai Park, and home to wash the bikes and help Auntie Wendy to bake Zuchinni cake and new york cheesecake!

Ride Time: 35min 36s
Distance: 5.8 km
Calories: 529 kcal
Max HR: 188 bpm
Avg HR: 152 bpm
Avg Speed: 9.9 km/h
Max Speed: 29.2 km/h

And for those who don’t already know, a lizard count is not how many i kill to make into handbags, its lizards sighted!!

posted in Exercise | 2 Comments

Wow wow wee wah!

January 19, 2007

Wayne showed me some of his pictures from the CIC DnD Party in Bali, and was i in for a surprise or what!!!! He did mention to me that part of the day’s activity involved the teams breaking out to produce a movie. Each group was given a video camera, props, costumes and the freedom to do whatever they like. The only condition was: at least one guy has to dress in drag.

Check out this bird in blue….

posted in Love | 14 Comments

Cafe del Mar?

January 19, 2007

What a splendid afternoon, had a nice chat over…umm… mineral water at Pacific Coffee. Things are looking bright.

But that doesn’t apply for the weather. Grey clouds are rolling in fast… so i guess we’re not heading to the opening of Cafe Del Mar??

posted in Love, Work | 1 Comment

Gallery hits

January 19, 2007

You know what i find really funny? When i upload pictures on my gallery, i get hits before i even blog about them being uploaded. And sometimes i wonder how many people are actually reading my blog, because, based on my comments, i probably have a grand total of 10 ! :/

New pictures were up a few days ago, and 129 noseys have been to the gallery. You little sneaks!

Anyway, latest 2007 pictures are HERE

posted in Photos | 12 Comments

So SsssssScary!

January 18, 2007

I’m freakin out a bit, and i feel a lump in my throat just looking at this picture. I had a near VERY near encounter with a snake today in Bukit Timah. I was already pretty out of breath when i reached the top of a hill, so in my tired state, I cranked on a few metres when i was faced with two brown beady eyes looking at me (or maybe at my beautiful pink bike). It was about a metre long, brown in color, with a funny square-ish structural face.

MY HEART STOPPED and i recall mumbling to myself “HO MY GAWD!”

I quickly pivoted the bike to the opposite direction (coz my left leg was still clipped in!) and in the process, bent my perfectly manicured nail backwards. ouch!

I turned back to see that thing slither into the side bush slowly.

Dilemma: shit! I’m so close to the mid-point barrier, do I continue through that single track and hope to all the forces in the universe that this thing doesn’t charge at me. OR turn back, go through the trail backwards. I know the trails ahead is pretty open, and if i go back, its a lot more densely forrested.

…………… CHEONGGG AHHHHHHHhhhhhhh…………!!!

i looked at my rear derailleur just in case it catched on, and pedalled as fast as my feet could go!!! i don’t know where that burst of energy came from. i quickly called Wayne, frazzled and breathless, i said something along the lines of “i acjaame across jthis *pant pant* and then it shjtared i phreadk *pant pant* i wydas so shscared itck slithered eeryethen peevot *pant pant*”

i don’t think i made sense in the first minute. Sorry babe!

There are only a several species of snakes in Singapore, so it wasn’t too hard to google it. First is was this:

Pythons are large and muscular, and kill their prey by squeezing, or constricting, until it suffocates. Pythons range from 1 to 10 metres in length and weigh up to 140kg.
courtesy of the SGH Department of drug and posion information centre

Then i continued by wikipedia-ing it…..and got this:

Large pythons will usually eat something about the size of a house cat, but larger food items are not unknown (some large Asian species have been known to take down adult Deer. They swallow their prey whole, and take several days or even weeks to fully digest it. While a large adult python could kill a human being (most likely by strangling rather than actual crushing), humans are outside the normal size range for prey. Reports of python attacks on humans are extremely rare.
courtesy of wikipedia

After more localised research, it’s down to this, to the tee:

Reticulated Python Python reticulatus
Interesting Facts: Reticulated pythons capture prey by slow stalking or ambush, hunting them at dusk with the heat-sensitive pits on their upper lips, killing them by constriction.

Size: 1000cm

Diet: Warm-blooded animals

Activity: Nocturnal ,terrestrial but good climber

Habitat: Humid forest, agricultural areas. In Singapore, pythons are often driven out to human habitation due to habitat destruction.
Courtesy of Wildlife Singapore

BINGO!

I’m animal-friendly, but not when it comes to snakes. You damn thing, the next time I see you, I’ll make you into one of these!

“1 lovely little purse of real Reticulated Python skin on front and back. Inside is all leather with 1 zipper divider and 1 side pocket. Has snap to close and strap is braided leather! Measures 8″ across x 5′ high.”
courtesy of EBay

ANIMATED GIF TO BE UPLOADED

Ride Time: 1hr 34min 22s
Distance: 17.4 km
Calories: 996 kcal
Max HR: 197 bpm
Avg HR: 158 bpm
Avg Speed: 13 km/h
Max Speed: 32.8 km/h

I maxed my heart rate at 197bpm! I bet i know when that happened!! Argh dammit, I can’t calm my nerves!

posted in Exercise | 17 Comments

Mountain Biking - 15 January 2007

January 18, 2007

Went out on the trails solo on monday. Cycled from home, through old holland road, across the overhead bridge, rifle range by the tracks and into the BT trail.

I plugged in the ishuffle i got for xmas (instead of the bonus ), and got some pretty decent beats to pump me up. Trail was wet, badly eroded, smelly, and humid, but a good work out nonetheless.

Ride Time: N/A
Distance: 16.2 km
Calories: 1279 kcal
Max HR: 191 bpm
Avg HR: 164 bpm
Avg Speed: 11 km/h
Max Speed: 37.7 km/h

posted in Exercise | 7 Comments

Kimosabei’s + MOS

January 17, 2007

Saturday was a fantastically planned surprise party for Kimmi, Chris managed to throw her off real good, she had nooo idea. Had a great time catching up with some friends i haven’t seen in a long time. Food was great… which reminds me, has anyone heard of a Turducken before???? Well it’s chicken in a duck in a turkey, all cooked together! Definately a first for me.

The birthday cake was the talk of the night, a $400 cake from Canele was to die for. 3 pink chocolate and marzipan cushions sitting on top of each other, with a pink chocolate heel on the top. The texture was just amazing! they really looked like cushions!

MMmm MMmm .. and it tasted like 400 bucks! yummsss

After dinner at Katiana’s, we all headed to Kandi bar to carry on the celebrations. Penny, Belle, Boo, Jean, Vincent and Marc were there to get some booty shakin as well, so we went next door to MOS and dropped it like its hoooot.

All in all, a wonderful evening. I love strawberry margaritas!

posted in Food, Friends | 2 Comments

YouTube, one pic everyday

January 15, 2007

Happen to come across this really cute video on youtube today, and of course, i had to share it with everyone. i know Wayne will like this one.

posted in Clips | 6 Comments