Curry Devil

Devilish is my dinner tonight!
This Portuguese Eurasian dish of Curry Devil or Debel Curry is it's most famous. Usually prepared for Christmas or in days of celebration.

In these cold rainy nights, what can be better comfort food than a bowl of steaming white rice with hot dipping curry devil chicken?

Smooth wedges of potato, chunky chicken thighs and vegetables in this highly spiced curry. Left my stomach burning fiery hot after.

This is another of my mom's successful attempt at replicating dishes from "The New Mrs Lee's Cookbook Vol.2: Straits Heritage Cuisine".

Worth mentioning that in the preparation of this dish, no coconut milk was added, thus making it a healthier choice over common curries. And, this is one of the best versions of curry i've tasted.

Christmas celebrated in advance.

Car Lifts

Year end shopping crowds downtown on weekends were really crushing. Every roads were plying with endless traffic, carparks all full.

This droves us to the only resolution of trying out the car lifts at Peninsula Plaza Shopping Centre. My first experience with the car lifts is an exciting one!

Heheheeee... You know you have to press for the lift just like any passenger lifts you board. Well, we didn't know. We waited till some kind hearted soul pressed for the lift while we look on foolishly from our car. Hahahha... And the lift took us up to level 6, the only parking level.

But in fact, parking charges here is one of the cheapest downtown, on weekends.

SAT $2.50 per entry, after 2pm.
SUN $2.50 per entry, full day.

But do have to put up with all things done manually. From the parking operation i mentioned, also the payment mode. Forget your cash card and prepare your change.

Nasi Ayam Penyek

A perfectly fried chicken was savoured at this little Muslim food stall in the ABC Brickworks Market.

This juicy, tender fried chicken comes with sinfully crispy skin was simply lip-smacking. The spicy and flavorful chili sauce further compliments the dish.

Nasi Ayam Penyek Set ($4)

Mouth-watering as i recall my lunch today. Give me this anytime rather than KFC which had much compromised on the freshness of their chicken pieces used.

786 Y.R.A Aspirasa with bright yellow signboard, is all you need to remember to locate this stall. I have to visit them again soon, craving... ...

Remembering Nanking...

70 years ago, Japanese Imperial Army troops pushed up the Yangtze River from Shanghai, which had fallen that November. On December 13, 1937, they marched into what was then called Nanking, the capital of China.

Today, reading reports on the ceremonies held in China to mark the 70th anniversary of the Nanjing massacre, i could feel the graving of my heart... Air raid sirens blared followed by observing a moment of silence.


It was well-said, "to better preserve history... to never forget the past... to treasure peace and open the way to the future".

And indeed, harbouring no intention to cultivate animosity against Japanese; there was much disappointment that Japan's atrocities during World War II had not been fully recognised.

GardenTech 2007

GardenTech is an annual trade show that brings together the horticulture and landscaping industry.

This year event is set in a park setting in HortPark, a one-stop gardening hub that brings together gardening-related, recreational, educational, research and retail activities under one big canopy in a park setting.

This 23-hectare regional park in South-Western Singapore is also a park connector, connecting Telok Blangah Hill Park to Kent Ridge Park.

The rain had just stopped when i reach there at 1820hrs. I love the welcoming feel of this place, the area are spacious and airy.

I shall be here again!

I only get to visit the HortMart as it starts drizzling again; the darkening sky was also most discouraging. But the plants and flowers sold at the mart were alluring, chiefly the orchids.

Didn't made any purchase of the orchids as i lack any real experience on taking care of them. Being able to admire these beautiful creations are already satisfying to me.

http://www.gardentech.com.sg/

Buffet at Cafe Brio's

Took advantage of the 1-for-1 promotion by UOB to enjoy the buffet lunch at Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel.


Total bill came up to $42.12 for 2 persons. And this is my 2nd visit since Oct.


The food were exquisite and nicely presented but i was too shy to take more pictures.

Just to name some which i particularly enjoyed today would be the steam prawns, fresh oysters, salmon sashimi, wanton noodle, fried spring rolls, braised pig trotters, craypot rice, bacon with chicken roll, black sesame fish fillet, yong tou fu and the ayam soto soup.

Not forgetting my sweet sweet desserts of cakes and tarts. Chocolate mud cake, classic Tiramisu, blueberry Cheesecake, Bobo cha cha sago and mango ice-cream!

Totally bloated after the meal, i could hardly stand straight. So much good food, i wish i've got three stomachs!

Gouramis

My dwarf gouramis whom i loved to call 'fish fish', always response to my calling by peeping out to me from under the waters. This picture i took of him in September, was the only one i have.

People may laughed at my seemingly silly act of photographing little simple fishes like him but i'm glad i did. At least a picture to remind me of this little gouramis i had, whom gave me much comfort and joy.

Recent shifting of its fish pond and change of water condition had most probably stressed and weaken him. My little joy left me last Wednesday, on 5th Dec. I'm glad that i at least took a look on him on Tuesday despite my busy work schedule. Sad.

ABC Brickworks Market & Food Centre

Headed to Bukit Merah for dinner with my usual fare of the well-known Teochew Cuttlefish with Kang gong greens.


Had craving tonight for some soup based item as my snacking on potato chips this afternoon had left me feeling so dry. So this sliced fish soup noodles. Nice crystal shine, chewy noodles.

A surprise find tonight is this Penang style Char Kway Teow, the flat noodles were fried like Thailand Pad Thai noodles. Yummy.

It's been such a long 2 weeks of busy work week with many changes and unpleasant surprises that really left me stressed and drained physically.

All's well that ends well. A good pigging out and unwinding really gave me my best night sleep of these 2 weeks... Zzzzzz... ...

Onion Sprouting

My first try on planting onions that have sprouted in my kitchen. They looks pretty beautiful to me. Having no experience at all, i hope they'll grow well.

Am looking forward to the flowering from the bulbs and harvesting the sprouting green for cooking.

Little Chilli... Ganbatte!

Remember the little red chillies that burned my tongue last Saturday? Well, what i did not mention is that, i scattered its seeds onto my little pot of idling soil and this is the pleasant surprise i got when i looked in yesterday.

"Grow, grow my little chilli
Rain come and sun shine bright
Fight bravely on
Your brief appearance had lighten my day
and bought leaps of little joy to my heart.
Thank you. Ganbatte!"


Little Brown Seeds

Little brown seeds so small and round,
Are sleeping quietly under ground.

Down come the raindrops
sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle.

Out comes the rainbow,
twinkle, twinkle, twinkle.

Little brown seeds way down below,
Up through the earth they grow, grow, grow.

Little green leaves come one by one.
They hold up their heads and look at the sun.

- Anonymous

Spicy Spaghetti, Sinful Satay

Slept in late, went to the supermarket NTUC (the prices of fruits and veg seems to be lower than Shop&Save) just before noon to get the fresh ingredients i need for my pasta cooking.

My own creation of Portobello Mushroom Pasta after studying many versions of others.

Yummy! Much tastier than all my previous attempts of the common wet tomato pasta sauce. Doing this drier version of pasta dish is my first try and am happy that it tastes good. Mum says it's good, so it must be!

But as i added 4 little red padi chillies into my cooking, this pasta today tastes a little too spicy hot... looks can be deceiving haha ha... Next time it will only be 2 chillies.

Flavoursome and spicy, i love this creation!

As for dinner, my rare treat of porky Satay. Well-marinated meat with warm, thick and spicy peanut sauce. Would you believe you can still get a 30 cents a stick satay in this high inflation year?

A raise in GST from 5% to 7% and the oil prices at a record high of almost US$100 a barrel, simply adds salt to wound. Further to this are the worldwide rocketing prices of wheat, milk and metal driven by shortage and demand.

Prices of foodstuff and all in the local market are really going up crazily now. What a pricey start to year ending 2007.

October 12

My special day.
A fulfilling, happy day worth my noting down in detail.

Took a day off and had lunch with my best friend, Ric at Hog'sBreath Cafe Vivocity. Had always wanted to try out their as claimed 18 hours slow cooked steak. The steak comes with no sauce, smell and taste great, juicy and not too burn.

I in particularly enjoyed the salad that comes with the main, the day soup of clam chowder and vanilla ice-cream dessert. The staffs are busy but friendly, the relax atmosphere at the restaurant is charming. Our view from the restaurant is the busy re-construction works on-going at Sentosa island.


Bought 2 Papayas from my mom's favourite store - Naturally Market Place. I in turn got a lovely Catus as a present from Ric. Catus is a hardy plant which never fails to remind me to being self resilience to life's many setbacks and disappointment. You can practically smell life from a Catus.

African Milk Bush

Packed 'Soon Kueh' of bamboo soots for my grandmom from Alexander and some for home. A short heavy pour when i reached home, i sweep and mopped the house. Much enjoy the feeling of stick clean floor against my feet and an air of a clean house.

Bathed and enjoyed a dinner of my mom's home-cooked vegetarian craypot noodles. Ended the day with a cooling walk at Kent Ridge Hill Park and buying supper of fried carrot cake for my family. They enjoyed it.

Happiness is not only in receiving but also for making the people you love happy. I love my family.

Authentic Mee Rebus

As Mrs Lee's Cookbook describes, this is a dish of egg noodles with thick spicy sauce.

My beloved mom, a never tired cook, just found a cookbook after her own heart. Just as all thrifty housewife who usually only jot down recipes from books, she agrees to us buying her this cookbook after reading it in the national library. This goes to show how much she likes it.

Picture paints a thousand words - Sedap!
The greatest beneficiary is, of course my family.

As I savory this dish that we loved since childhood days, i feel moved and really proud of this cookbook and it's author, the late Lee Chin Koon. A sincere and great job done on preserving traditions through food and cooking.

Although the preparation is complex and time-consuming, follow closely the instructions in the book and you cannot go wrong. It's truly well-deserving of the 2003 Gourmand Best Cookbook Awards.

Highly recommended for adept cook: http://www.shermay.com/cookbooks.htm

热 Ramen

On the mode of 'instant noodles' on the microwave, my Korean ramen was cook for 5 mins, stir over and after another cooking of 5 mins.

This is the soft yet chewy version of noodles i lo o o ve...

Not for vegetarian though as it's powdered soup base consists of beef extract and flavouring.

A simple yet hot and spicy breakfast to start my busy Saturday of laundry washing, room cleaning and, of course computering.

Bright and sunny today!! Great for sunning blankets, cushion cover, laundry... you name it. And after which, i can smell the sunshine in them, Mmmm...

Even the greens in my little aquarium is enjoying the basking in the sun. Beautiful...

Roses...

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet" - William Shakespeare (Romeo & Juliet - Act II Sc 2)

"The sweetest flower that blows, I give you as we part. For you it is a Rose, For me it is my heart" - Frederick Peterson 1859-1938

"A life with love will have some thorns, but a life without love will have no roses" - Anonymous


"The red rose whispers of passion, And the white rose breathes of love; O, the red rose is a falcon, And the white rose is a dove" - John Boyle O’Reilly

House of Cards

First saw this card tower being done on tv in a local army drama, 新兵小传 (by Huang Wen Yong 黄文永), it is said to display discipline and patient of oneself.

So being young and innocent then, we kids tried very hard building it up. Almost to tears, blaming each other when it falls.

Today, seeing my Canon advertising cards laying around, without purpose. I made it useful, and build this. So happy, almost going to dance around it.

It feels surprisingly easy, as compared to my younger days.
Voila!

Your next advertising idea, Canon?

For more info. on cards stacking, view this link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_cards
http://www.cardstacker.com/faq.html

Sun and Rain

Such is the weather in Singapore island, and i love this mixture of Sun and Rain. The absence of either one would be unthink of.

The rain had washed the greens all clean and fresh, with wet droplets still on the metal railings. The air smells cool and heavenly.

It's been freezing cold today, with the wind blowing constantly into my room. The wind chime in the garden singing gently. My feet and fingers just feels icy. But this is the kind of weather i like. The sun will shine again tomorrow.

This, my first posting on Little Joy.
Seeking joy in the little things of life,

Such are the simple Joy and Blessings i count.