亮亮, Liang Liang Fried Carrot Cake

Black Carrot Cake ($2.50)

Always love a plate of good fried carrot cake, soft, steamy from the frying wok, you couldn't wait to sink your teeth in them. As with many in Singapore, my family adore carrot cakes. 

Here's a good stall in Commonwealth Crescent Market, #02-69, but operating hours are limited, till 1pm only. Have it when you are in the vicinity ")

Ang Mo Kio Nonya Kueh

Ang Mo Kio Nonya Kueh is a gem in Hougang - the 'slum of Singapore', a political party calls it by because the aged place is a little dilapidated. But come here for the best and cheapest traditional kueh! ")

Grandma was all praise for their Ang Ku Kueh, with skin so soft and stays soft over the night. "It must be good Glutinous Rice flour used." She said. While Salty Green Bean Ang Ku Kueh with Black Sesame skin remains our favourite, they also have the Green bean, Peanut, Durian and Coffee flavoring ones, all priced at $2 in boxes of five.

If you like pinky Teochew Png Kueh (Glutinous Rice Kueh), have a try of their mini Png Kueh, $4 in a box of 10. You should like them. Soon Kueh nice too... and the list goes...

Rempah Udang ($2 for 4)

This is today's new try, a typical Nonya snack of Glutinous rice with mildly spicy minced Sambal Prawn.

Nonya Dumpling and Pork Dumplings ($1.20 each)

And with the Duanwu Festival just round the corner, Ric got us also the freshly steamed rice dumplings that was hungry to look at, and satisfying to taste.

Have a good trip to Hougang ")

Playing Ramen

Late and hasty lunch in Bishan today with a quick order at RamenPlay after we were ushered to the scholarly decorated 2nd storey of the restaurant - snugly charming, but we wouldn't say that about their Japanese cooking.

Spicy Shoyu Ramen ($10.80++)

Quite a disappointment when the Ramen was served as we noticed the hard-boiled tamago, not being the kind with soft oozy yolk that Ramen fans easily recognize. Then i gave away the bamboo shoots to Ric as they were too pungent, for me.

Oyakodon ($10.80++)

A typical serving of Oyakodon with cuts of chicken, onions in sweet sauce all folded together in marshmallow-tender eggs - the eggs were beautifully done. Howbeit, Ramenplay does Ramen better.

Pick Your Poison: Chilli Paste, Stir-fried Chilli Chives, Garlic Chips

We have all been told not to play with our food; RamenPlay lets you pick and add these complimentary "poison" to your bowl - i had lots of the Chives.

But going down the line, eating good Ramen is serious business, not for play.

Breakfast at Wendy's

Always loved a good breakfast - especially refreshing would be an American breakfast that consist of eggs, ham, bacon, lettuce, tomatoes - i'll be wholly contented ;)  A hearty breakfast does revivify!

This rainy morning, we were at Wendy's Orchard trying out their breakfast menu of Mornin’ Melt Panini with Chicken Sausage and the Smoked Turkey. So how's the experience?

The grill marks on the Panini look definitely tantalizing but its toughness is contrary. We shall say it's pretty below average when you compared with the breakfast of Burger King's Croissan'wich and McDonald's McMuffin, both of which are their winning recipe.

For something positive, i like the soft melted cheese slices, the tender sausage, bacon and of course, their nicely browned hash browns. What really kept us away would be Wendy's weak coffee.

Wendy's Breakfast Combos ($6.05 x2)

Frozen Yogurt @ NTU Canteen 2

Between Ice-Cream, Galato and Yogurt which is your favourite? I wouldn't reject a Yogurt at anytime, especially when i've no appetite for food, just the thought of sour yogurt helps. Even after a heavy meal, the light dessert tames the exhausted taste buds.

This new stall in NTU Canteen 2 serves an average fare of yoghurt, less dense and a little icy coarse when compared to our usual Yami, but it will do for a yogurt craving.

Excutive (medium), original ($2.80)

SSO @ UCC Hall

I had thought we might have a hard time staying awake throughout the concert after a rush dinner and anxiety of the peak hours traffic to reach the National University Cultural Centre Hall for the performance by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO).

Interesting and lively pieces from Georges Bizet (1838-1875) Symphony No. 1 in C major and Charles Gounod (1818-1893) Faust: Ballet Music well rejuvenate us - it was a choice selection for the evening concert goers. Observing the immaculate coordination between each of the violinists and the accompanying group musicians, it was enchantingly captivating.

I particularly adorns the violin family.

Am in full attune to the notion, "Shopping does not buy you happiness, but a concert may." Many thanks to SPH Gift of Music program that aims at promoting Arts & Culture to the general public; had a wonderful evening with Ric, sharing love for the classical.

It was a free concert, but never a slipshod job by the SSO. Well done!

Symphony No.1 in C major, movement 1/4 by Bilkent Symphony Orchestra.

Wing Wah Wife Cake (荣华老婆饼)

Wing Wah Wife Cake, 6 nos. (HK$30)

Brother just returned from a Hong Kong transit and bought us this box of Wife Cake from Wing Wah, who is one of the two most popular Wife Cakes bakers in Hong Kong.

It's good, of course, with thin light crust and soft chewy candied winter melon innards in mellowed sweetness. Each individually packed.

The traditional Chinese pastry now comes in assortment filling paste of Green tea, Red bean, Mung bean, Red dates, Pineapple, Lotus Seed, Black Sesame, Orange, Blueberry, Raspberry, Japanese Pumpkin, Chestnut, Butter Bean, Coffee and Vanilla...! What big business.

KFC Roasta Burger

A war of premium chicken burger broke out in March this year following the launch of McDonald's Teppanyaki Chicken McGrill and Burger King's Tendergrill Chicken Burger. But KFC is in fact the first to introduce premium Chicken Burger last October - now fairly marketable packed in a box with 1 chicken drumstick, regular Coleslaw/whipped potato and a Nestle Sjora Mango Peach drink.

The Roasta has a "KFC taste" of marinated chicken fillet sandwiched in an Oat bran dusted bun but decks no surprises with the usual lettuce and tomatoes. The promising signature spicy sauce that should have been the essence of the chicken burger, too fails to rack up expectation.

I had better recount with their Zinger.

KFC Ultimate Roaster Box ($7.40)

UCC, The Blend 117!

UCC Blend 117, 90g ($11.50)

Our first coffee from Japan can definitely be that of Ueshima Coffee Co. Ltd.  (UCC) that was readily available in all our local supermart. Their extensive range of dried freeze instant coffee makes it difficult to decide on the purchase though; we picked 2 of their coffee concoction and "Blend 117" is one of them.

Blend 117 fault our perception that Japanese coffee may be weak in taste, it was in fact "full bodied coffee with perfect levels of acidity, aroma, and smooth flavor intensity", a refined yet robust brew; we had 2 cups straight in a go ;)

It is definitely in one of the fitter league.

Bacardi Breezer

Bacardi Breezer, 275ml ($5.50)

We have finally come to taste Rum, a distilled alcoholic drink made from Sugarcane by-products, and Bacardi Rum Breezer at that. I think we like Rum.

The aerated Breezer was pleasantly bitter sweet and comes in a variety of fruity flavors: lemon, pineapple, apple, ruby grapefruit, lime, orange, watermelon, cranberry, coconut, raspberry, blueberry, pomegranate, mango. We had the conventional lemon and lime.

A let down though, the low 4% alcohol is a dampen.

Assam Fish Head Cze Char

I wanted to dine in Potong Pasir but wondered what good food is there? We had no clue, and decide to just roam around the area, trying our luck.

Assam Fish Head, half ($17)

Maybe sourish tasting Tamarind, or better known as Assam does indeed whet the appetite, the very thought of the savory dish at Blk 136 锦标Coffeeshop help us decide our dinner menu with a bitter gourd omelet that neutralizes the meal.

Bitter Goud with Eggs ($6)

And i just found out that this coffeeshop has a Chinese stall that serves quite popular Mee Siam and Lontong dishes; even been featured on TV.

Now that's a target for revisiting the place again ;)

Potong Pasir, and it's Not a Slum

The iconic pitched roof HDB flat in Potong Pasir

It was after a light afternoon shower when we arrived at Potong Pasir Town; my very first visit here, would you believe it? though Singapore is really small.

What draw my attention to visit the place was firstly, to verify if this place is really a slum, as someone from Singapore's ruling party, the PAP often mocked during the election campaign.

Secondly, to take some memorable photos of this quiet village before the ruling party, who had won the constituency after 27 years of trying, turns it into an exhibit of their efficient governs.

Potong Pasir Town Council Office
 

We dined, walked about the little estate and were clearly overwhelmed by the cleanliness of the place! Either the town cleaners had been super effective or the people of Potong Pasir simply loves their home too much to litter it!

Everywhere we looked was clear of litters - the roads, the canal, the coffeeshops, the void decks, the gardens, the bus stops. Astonishing!

Yes, facilities and amenities were old but we could see the extra efforts that had went into keeping them clean and functional. With funds from the government, some minor upgrading of the place would be appreciated.

But for now, i could rationale with Mr Chiam See Tong proud acclaimed "My Kind of Town." A rustic neighbourhood where you could call home.

Now, which scumbag called this place a slum!?

Rithi Food - The real Indian Taste

After the late night, this morning is such a quiet morning-after in the neighbourhood. I slept little and was up early this morning. Had a late breakfast in NTU before packing away a lunch of Indian food from Canteen 1.

Ummm... our first time trying out their food, and it does seems not bad. The stall serves some real good Roti Prata after 6pm daily, we be sure to catch it soon. Stay tuned.

Curry Mutton, Bottle Gourd and Cucumber Yogurt ($3)

Curry Chicken, Eggplant, Potatoes ($3.30)

And what a night of activities, it's going to take me days to recover from this hangover.. Yawning... ;)

Aljunied People - We Are Proud of You.

George, we LOVE YOU but Singapore must go on. You have been a people loving Minister and had accomplished the arduous task as our Foreign Minister; just the wrong place, wrong time. The GRC system is a force-feed and a double edged sword, cutting both ways.

And in all fairness, the Workers' Party deserves tomorrow's front page for marking a turning point in Singapore's political history! At 2am in the morning, my western neighbourhood cheers for Aljunied at the release of the good news - like a World Cup scoring! I could say the sleepless island was elated!

Mr Low & Ms Sylvia Lim, 加油！You have come a long long way.

Mr Chiam, we salute and thank you.
The national estate upgrading campaign had been most unfair to Potong Pasir and Hougang, now we wished the best, the very best for you all there! Hope you enjoy your long overdue amenities!

Mr Sitoh, that's the spirit now, not that of handing out shark fins soup.
PAP, revamp and move on!

This GE2011, the people of Singapore have spoke bravely.

The Sunday Times dated 8 May 2011, on morning of post election.

Fai Kee - Dinner before the electoral results

This morning was a bustling community gathering where the whole neighbourhood meets at the various polling stations to cast their votes - for the longest time, we get to do this as a nation together.

The simplest task of marking a cross on the piece of voting paper was notably thrilling and empowering - the realization of the significance in this quiet act; my second chance at voting so far.

Every Singaporean was equally excited, i guess, just make eavesdrop in the hawker centres; you could be sure that's the topic on the dinning table. We had a light dinner before the long night ;)

鱼胶汤, Fish Stomach Soup ($12)

After our rather enjoyable affair with fish stomach at Woh Hup Cze Char, we thought every Cantonese food stall should serve a reasonably similar fare and thus boldly went up to Fai Kee and ordered likewise.

The contrasting different was obviously in its broth. Woh Hup has a more appealing soup base and prepares its fish stomach boneless. Other consideration might be location where Woh Hup is in Outram while Fai Kee in the western region.

But the lure here is in its fried pork lard; adding much flavor to the bowl when you adds them to it ;)

Fried Pork Lard

Indofresh Pink Guava

 Indofresh Pink Guava ($2.50 per pack, NTUC)

The most common species of the "Guava" is the Apple Guava comprising of both the common white ("white" guavas) to deep pink ("red" guavas). Regretfully, my first pink Guava, yeah, had the juices but my first taste of the real fruit.

Holding the pack to my nose, i was hypnotized by its pronounced and typical fragrance! "I had to buy this." i thought.

The superfruit is rich in dietary fiber, vitamins A and C, folic acid, potassium, copper and manganese, in fact i read that a single common guava fruit contains about 4 times amount of vitamin C as an orange!?

So, pick a Guava today. Never mind the seeds in the central pulp cos it's really of less variable number, easy ingest.

What i doing on Cooling-Off Day :)

So what have you been doing on our 1st Cooling-Off Day?

Talking politics leh...? Same here, with friends, families and colleagues in every office we visited - no one seems to be cooling off, all heated up, haha...

Worker' Party Singapore Pledge Taking on 5 May 2010, Serangoon Stadium.

This morning, however, i was tears by the emotive pledge taking on YouTube, "... to build a democratic society, based on justice and equality..."

4 May 2011, MrBrownShow: The Stall Next Door

Then laughing off watching the latest video from Mr Brown Show and trying to recap the James Gomez Incident May 2006 - the Bak Chor Mee Man! and Bak Chor Mee Man 2 on Ministerial salaries hikes...

It bring back all the "said but forgotten words"; talks about forgetful voters, i'm one. Hope you are not. Tomorrow's Polling Day. All the Best, Singapore.

19 Apr 2007, MrBrownShow: The Bak Chor Mee Man 2

Workers' Party Rally

Sick of being shown just what the Singapore media had chosen to show us on national TV and papers, i wanted to attend an opposition party's rally to see and hear things for myself ;) Of course, the situation of strict censorship was much worse at the last election, 5 years ago.

Tonight, we joined the Workers' Party crowds at the Moulmein-Kallang GRC (Open Field by Kallang Ave) after 'marching' in with the many others from nearby carparks and estates. The 'marching' in parade to the venue was a sight - you really don't need to know your directions, just follow the ants' line!

Vehicular movements were slowed as traffic policemen controlled the multitude of pedestrians.

The WP volunteers set up tables next to the entrance point selling party flags, their signature blue umbrellas, the Hammer newsletter and manifesto. Most were already sold out by now, except for the English translated Manifesto.

Alas, echoes from the PA system makes speeches inaudible and the wait for appearance of the Workers' Party key speakers grew tiresome as the crowd swell - we had to leave early - while the crowd kept streaming in.

The din from the stage, crowds and road side hawkers transport you back to the olden days - when life were simpler then...

This GE2011 year, nearly the whole of Singapore gets to vote, almost, at long last.

Putian, 莆田亚珠家乡小食

We were perpetually interested in China's cuisine, they always tasted interestingly different yet easily pleasing to our palate - we are after all Chinese.

Putian, or rather Fujian cooking would be close to our Hokkien dishes, with a twist. Below are two popular Putian homely fare served in Kallang Bahru.

兴化卤面, Putian Lor Mee ($3)

Many would complained that the healthy Putain Lor Mee tasted too bland, even for light palates like mine. But do take a time to savor the tinge of sea fresh sweetness in its simple broth; like me, you would learn to appreciate its natural goodness.

兴化米粉, Putian Fried Bee Hoon ($3)

If you must have something that's really savory, then order their fried Bee Hoon. The finely stir-fried Bee Hoon served was almost dry from oiliness, it's an impressive piece of work. You wouldn't live to regret, or repent voting it.

Our dinner was a hasty one as we dashed off to catch the nearby Election Rally.