I run, I pant, I walk and I run... 3 km

Yesterday i had my first run after Donkeys years and so, did i sweat!! You bet I did...I sweated and I panted and I ran and I walked. But it was not as bad as I thought it would be. Special thanks to that special Dear that slowed down and ran along with me. We took nearly an HOUR!! Yes!! One hour to run approximately 3km. *blushes* Ya... Lar!! I know I am so koyak. But this is my first running session... to train up for the Sheares bridge marathon 6km Leisure run. Actually I sure think it's quite unbelievable for anyone to call a 6 km run "leisure". I means it's like 15 laps around a stadium!! RIGHT??!! But I will build my stamina slowly... 5 more months to go, Babe. *wink*

Shoes ready..


All gear up

The reason for "torturing" myself is because ......



Yup!! So join me, Folks!! Cos this is a really a very meaningful run for a worthy cause to raise awareness of the need to broaden employment opportunities for persons with hearing loss. We hope that through this run, we can show determination of the Deaf and their families and friends to prove their determination and drive to be able to accomplish this run to make a statement on their abilities and to seek society's acceptance and accommodation to look at their abilities rather than disabilities when hiring a Deaf. The best assistance you can give to someone is to teach him to fish and also to give him an opportunity to fish.

To make a statement, we need lots of people...Hearing or Deaf, we welcome you. More details, please click on above poster or go to deafboleh.com. Alternatively, you can sms to 9688 5073, fax to 6345 7706 or telephone to 6344 8274 ext 12. JOIN ME.

Miss Panda

A friend texted me this afternoon....

Him : I saw your photo on the newsletter...u got panda eyes.

Me : AH!?? So ugly and put inside newsletter. GRRRRRRRRR!!!!

Him : Yup...your photo already published in it...wear a little make up next time lah.

Me : I dun wear make up hor. Next time, I attend your wedding then I wear lah.

Moi looks like Miss Panda, Miss Hippo or even Miss Lizard, Moi also dun care. I am WHO I am and as BEAUTIFUL as I am. *wink*

Claypot Crab Bee Hoon

Yes! I can't wait and so I am back at Don Your Personal Pie Club for lunch today to try their Claypot Crab Bee Hoon. Heehee! Simply too tempting for me... So I grabbed the opportunity when a supplier offered to treat me lunchie...

Well, the price is quite worth it since for $14.80, one can get ONE full crab swimming with the bee hoon, vegetable and yam slices in a soup. The soup is sweet herbal tasting with a little fragrance. The crab is rather fresh and together with the soup, one dun feel any "fishy" taste or smell. I wont say it's super super fantastic but it's still rather fingers licking for a shop specialises in Pie to sell quite a good tasting crab bee hoon lor. When it's bit kind of mis-match to step into a Pie shop and order Claypot crab bee hoon BUT fun also lah.

The 228th

We were the 228th Pair to participate in the Singapore Twin Project and we felt so great to be part of this project. *grin* The Singapore Twin Project (STP) is a project is managed by the Centre for Molecular Epidemiology at the National University of Singapore to create a database aim to facilitate medical research into how genes and the environment interact to cause disease. It will help researchers find new ways to prevent, treat and cure disease.

So WHY twins? Because identical twins have 100% of the same genes. Non-identical twins share on average 50% of the same genes. It follows that if a disease is genetically influenced, more pairs of identical twins will get the disease than non-identical twins. Conversely if a disease is heavily influenced by shared environmental factors then the disease should be present in equal numbers of identical and non-identical twin pairs.

And WHAT are the perks to join this project? ER.... actually you don't really get anything but the fact is that me and twinny will be able to find out the truth very soon... the truth about our identification. *wink* AND that really excites us....

And WHAT is required of the twins? YUP!! You are supposed to do an interview answering some questions pertaining to your lifestyle and medical history for about a good 1 hour and then let the research drew some blood out of you... YUP!! I really mean drawing blood samples for research.

Just an Ant bite...Missy Research Nursey was so gentle


Ooooooo...Ribena


1st tube... one more tube to go...

Don Your Personal Pie Club

A friend has been promoting this Pie shop selling claypot crab beehoon near to my office and I have been itching to go... so FINALLY today I went. Heehee! The Pie was soooooooooo delicious. To begin with, I am a PIE person. I love chicken pie and i was reminiscing with Twinny about our younger days when Mummy dearest would buy one chicken pie for me nearly every tea break. Yup yup...i am such a piggy-eater since childhood days. =P I had and still have been following a doctrinal method of eating my PIEs. Top crust and then the ingredients inside and then the cup-like crust portion holding the ingredients last. kekekeke! Ya.. this is also how i eat my egg tart too... the cream inside then the crust outside later. Unorthodox? *wink*

Well... I was so excited to sink my fangs into this tender little thing....

Opening the box....


Don's Chicken Pie @ $4.80 per pc


Uuummm...look at the Egg...

The taste?? Ooooooooooooo.....so NICEY!!! DELICIOUS!!! LOVE IT!! Ya..i so love it!!! The crust is so crispy and flaky and there is no lard at all. Well... I must admit that the chicken pie is more peppery than the usual chicken pie so it might not goes well with those who does not like pepper so you might want to go for the Kid's Pie instead which is without Pepper. I personally adore pepper and lots of pepper in anything and everything I eat so it's super duper yummy finger licking for moi. Love it!! I am definitely going back for more soon.....real soon!!! Hahahaha! Can't wait.

And next, i must go try their claypot crab beehoon yo!!!...... Any takers? ^_-)

Don Your Personal Pie Club
20 Cross street #01-34/35/36 China Square Central
Tel : 6536 0925 / 6327 4344
25 China Street #01-01 Far East Square
Website : www.donpieclub.com.sg/

Opening hours
Mon - Fri : 8am - 9pm
Sat, Sun & Public Holiday : 8am - 7pm

Claypot Rice

Twinny decided to try cooking Claypot rice rather out of the BLUE. We actually brought Little Ted to the zoo in the morning...heehee...can u spot the little him in the picture below?

Can u spot the little Ted?

After spending nearly the whole day running around the zoo after Little Ted under the hot scorching sun and be so much roosted and running around for a few errands, I was totally exhausted but twinny still decided to try cook claypot rice and so we only managed to have dinner at 10pm.... THAT'S TWINNY!! When she puts her heart in, nothing stops her... ^_-)

Yummy Claypot rice

Pretty amazing that Twinny could make claypot rice... she meticulously cooked the rice, cooled it, fried it and then cooked inside the rice cooker until it was just nice and not wet. Yummy!! Thanks always to my sweetie sweetie twinny. Well health conscious twinny must always make sure all of us have a balance diet... so here is a Miso soup and vegetable on top of the claypot rice stuffed with pork and duck.

Miso Soup


Vegetable

Close my eyes...

Close my eyes so that I can hold on to those memories...

Close my eyes so that I can see and feel again...

Close my eyes so that I wont lose it...

Close my eyes so that I can always remember...

Close my eyes because the memories are too precious...

Still I feel I am lucky and happy in that sense, that I can feel such pain because i had loved.. and been loved.

Remembrance

Tonight is a night of remembrance and nostalgia for me... Memories are such lovely and yet at times, painful things and yet it is so precious and personal that no one can ever duplicate it and it is unique and special to only the ones holding that memory.

Memories even when painful are sometimes too precious to be forgotten so we hide them in the deepest part of our hearts ... but every chapter needs a closure... so we too need to give that painful memory a closure and move on with life ... No matter what I still thank for every memories i had and those who made those memories with me...

I will always remember ........

Remembering the Bad

Had a conversation with a taxi driver, quite a young chap, only a few years older than Moi ...

Taxi driver : I got a nasty passenger and I remember him / her for a year. But when I met a nice good passenger, I forgot about him / her, the moment he / she stepped out of my cab.

Me : So true...

Isn't that so typical of us, human beings to always remembering the BAD things in lives and forgetting the GOOD times? How often do we count our blessings instead of our mishaps.

I do believe in one's life, we do usually have more GOOD than BAD but we tend to count and remember the BAD and forget the GOOD.

瞳をとじて

Artist : Hirai Ken, 平井堅
Lyrics : Hirai Ken, 平井堅
Music : Hirai Ken, 平井堅

朝目覚める度に　君の抜け殻が横にいる
ぬくもりを感じた　いつもの背中が冷たい

苦笑いをやめて　重いカーテンを開けよう
眩しすぎる朝日　僕と毎日の追いかけっこだ

あの日　見せた泣き顔　涙照らす夕陽　肩のぬくもり
消し去ろうと願う度に　心が　体が　君を覚えている

Your love forever
瞳をとじて　君を描くよ　それだけでいい
たとえ季節が　僕の心を　置き去りにしても

いつかは君のこと　なにも感じなくなるのかな
今の痛み抱いて　眠る方がまだ　いいかな

あの日　見てた星空　願いかけて　二人探した光は
瞬く間に消えてくのに　心は　体は　君で輝いてる

I wish forever
瞳をとじて　君を描くよ　それしか出来ない
たとえ世界が　僕を残して　過ぎ去ろうとしても

Your love forever
瞳をとじて　君を描くよ　それだけでいい
たとえ季節が　僕を残して　色を変えようとも

記憶の中に君を探すよ　それだけでいい
なくしたものを　越える強さを　君がくれたから
君がくれたから

Romaji translation

asa mezameru tabi ni
kimi no nukegara ga yoko ni iru
nukumori wo kanjita
itsumo no senaka ga tsumetai
nigawarai wo yamete
omoi ka-ten wo akeyou
mabushisugiru asahi
boku to mainichi no oikakekko da
ano hi miseta nakigao
namida terasu yuuhi kata no nukumori
keshisarou to negau tabi ni
kokoro ga karada ga kimi wo oboeteiru

Your love forever
hitomi wo tojite kimi wo egaku yo sore dake de ii
tatoe kisetsu ga boku no kokoro wo okizari ni shite mo

itsuka ha kimi no koto
nanimo kanjinakunaru no ka na
ima no itami idaite
nemuru hou ga mada ii ka na
ano hi miteta hoshizora
negai kakete futari sagashita hikari ha
mabataku ma ni kieteku no ni
kokoro ha karada ha kimi de kagayaiteru

I wish forever
hitomi wo tojite kimi wo egaku yo sore shika dekinai
tatoe sekai ga boku wo nokoshite sugisarou to shite mo

Your love forever
hitomi wo tojite kimi wo egaku yo sore dake de ii
tatoe kisetsu ga boku wo nokoshite iro wo kaeyou to mo
kioku no naka ni kimi wo sagasu yo sore dake de ii
nakushita mono wo koeru tsuyosa wo kimi ga kureta kara
kimi ga kureta kara

Romaji By: Brian Stewart

English Translation

Every morning I awake
to your skin, cast off, lying next to me
that back, I once felt warmth from, cold.
stop with the wry smile
open the heavy curtains
the blinding morning light,
everyday I try to keep up with it
you showed me that day, your face in tears
the setting sun that shines on the tears
the warmth on my shoulder
everytime I wish you gone
my heart and body remember you.

Your love forever
I close my eyes and imagine you, that's enough.
even if the season leaves my heart behind.

I wonder if one day I'll no longer feel anything for you
I think I'd rather fall asleep with the pain I have now
eventhough the light we searched for,
wishing upon the starry sky we gazed at that night,
disappears in a the blink of an eye,
my heart and body shine on with you.

I wish forever
I close my eyes and imagine you. That's all I can do.
even if the world were to leave me behind.

Your love forever
I close my eyes and imagine you, that's enough.
even if the season leaves me behind, and tries to change it's color.
I'll search for oyu in my memory. That's enough.
Because you gave me the strength to get over my loss.
you gave it to me.

Translated By: Brian Stewart & Takako Sakuma

Close my eyes...

28th October...

I can't sleep. I am full of fear if tomorrow will ever come, that I can't sleep....
I think I am going to died soon...

Source : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L8mFhciALk

Tom Ton from Tampopo

I frequented Tampopo and so I decided to give some support to their new shop just opened at the Central named Tom Ton to celebrate a friend's birthday. WHAT i like about this shop is the owner who is also the chef's keen interest and sincerity in preparing each of his dishes with his heart. You can taste his pride and sincerity in every dishes that he made and that's the main reason that keeps me coming back to this place again and again. His style of managing and running a restaurant might not be "business-like" and cost-effective in a sense but it's really just re-emphasize the Japanese's traditional feeling of "Ichigo Ichie"

And it's definitely worthwhile to pay a reasonable and economical price for such good service. For e.g. the furniture for this shop is all made from teak because of the owner's notion to provide true comfort to the guests. The wasabi served is fresh wasabi which is a highly prized culinary ingredient used mainly in elite restaurants and sushi bars in Japan. I must clarified that the fresh wasabi is very different from the "usual" wasabi paste or powder from the supermarket and from most Japanese restaurants. That is actually just an imitation product based on horseradish, Chinese mustard and food colouring. I definitely felt so honoured to be treated this way by the restaurant. Hahahaha! But the BIGGEST Problem is that Moi does not take Wasabi and so my lucky friend, got to enjoy and savour the fresh taste of this prized wasabi. =(

Fresh wasabi is being scrapped off for every consumption

Well, Tom Ton is famous for their kurobuta so I had their kurobuta Tonkatsu while the birthday gal had Seafood tonkatsu set.


Kurobuta Tonkatsu Set

On top of these, we also had...


Sashimi


Niku Jaga (Pork)


Japanese Vegetable Salad

And in celebration, we had Sake too. Kekeke! But the birthday gal actually is a non-drinker... so i could have it all for myself!!! *GRIN* Kekekekekeke!


Sake


Anywhere, the sweetest part is the chef whisking up a special dessert for us... The pink sherbert is actually specially-made with Japanese strawberries... ummmm....so sweet and tasty. And another unique dessert is the Macha ice-cream dumpling.


Strawberry Sherbert and Milk Sherbert


Macha ice-cream dumpling

I got a Tatty Teddy cup for the birthday gal. Happy Birthday!! And she got me a sweet Minnie Mousey. Heehee! Imagine getting a present when it's not your birthday. She is so sweeeeeeeeeeet. Thanks Sweetie.



Tom Ton
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
The Central #03-88/99
Tel: 6327 7887

Smurfy

La la la la la la, sing a happy song,

la la la la la la, Smurf the whole day long.

Next time you're feeling blue, just let a smile begin.

Happy things will come to you

{Smurfette: So smurf yourself a grin!}

{Gargamel: Oooo I hate smurfs! Ill get you, Ill get all of you if its the last thing I everdo! He he he he haaa!}

La la la la la la, now you know the tune, You'll be smurfing soon!

Dun you just miss this song? You can watch a video clip at EVTV1.

Thee I once Loved

I had loved thee deeply once,
giving thee most precious thing,
but Silly Fool, your heart is blind
seeking things that thee can count.

Do thee know,
for things thee count,
thee can buy with penny and pounds,
but things thee can't count,
penny and pounds can never buy.

So Silly Fool, when thee can see
that thee had lost most precious gems,
while seeking for the sparkling stones.

Weep for thee, I shan't be,
cos thee will weep when thee awakes.

Hokkaido Ice Cream

Went to Waraku for dinner tonight again. There were 10 of us so this time we had a BBQ set, where we BBQ our own dinner. There were...

Tsukune (chicken Balls), Prawns & Crabs

We also ordered Cream Croquette, Waraku Salad and I had Okura Natto Hiyashi Yamakake Soba as my main course. It was delicious. I miss Natto (fermented soybeans) very much. I still remember my first experience of tasting Natto. A classmate offered it to me and I found it so horrifying tasting and smelly and so sticky like some expired food. After that, i did try the dry version of Natto and kind of like it and proceeded to try Natto mixed with Maguro (tuna), Natto mixed with Ika (Squid)...well as they said the rest is history and so I love Natto now. Moreover, Natto has high nutritional value. It contains a rich source of protein, Vitamin B2 and Vitamin K2, and an enzyme known as ‘nattokinase’. In turn, the chief attribute of nattokinase that has made it one of the hot, new items in nutritional medicine its ability to dissolve blood clots, otherwise known as ‘fibrinolysis’. You can check the internet to get more information on its value.

But the part I most anticipated was going for Hokkaido Ice cream for our dessert. Kekeke! I was overjoyed when i saw below. Twinny, dun you miss them!!?? Heehee! The difference with hokkaido ice cream is that it's not sweet and it's very smooth and fresh. It's simply so irresistible. So I had 2 flavours : black sesame and lychee. Yummy!! Simple love eating. It's food therapy. Heehee!

Beggar's Chicken

I have heard about the Beggar's chicken but today is the first time for me to try it out... It sure costs much at a hefty $150 and need to request for it 2 days in advance due to the preparation involved. The chicken is carefully marinated with many different spices, then steamed till soft and stuffed with herbs and spices and then wrapped with lotus leaves and then coated with clay and baked slowly over high and medium heat over prolonged hours to ensure that the taste will sip into the chicken. It was definitely a very interesting dish. Heehee! Well, the taste is good too. Due to the prolong cooking, the meat of the chicken is very tender and soft. Even the bones can be easily broken with one bite. The taste is not too strong, just nice and the chicken tastes really sweet and fresh too.

Well with regards to the origin of this dish, there are quite a few versions but all associated with beggar. The dish originated from Hangzhou during the Ching dynasty - a time of poverty caused in part by high taxes. A old beggar stole a chicken and secretly wrapped it in lotus leaves and coated it with mud and baking it above an open fire; to prevent others from discovering it. When he broke the mud to taste the chicken, he discovered the chicken could give such unqiue and wonderful taste. Another version was because the people in hangzhou were so poor that they couldn't afford any cooking utensils and so they used mud to wrap their food and baked it.

In clockwise starting Top left corner : How the beggar's chicken is being opened up

The chicken was too much for the 5 of us and so I brought back some for family. MInnie Mouse made a "cold" joke of the chicken...

Minnie Mouse : Do you know why this dish is called the Beggar's chicken?

Me : I think it got something to do withh some Beggar cooking the chicken.

Minnie Mouse : No lah. Because it's so expensive so after eating it, you will become a beggar lor. HoHoHo!

Me : *shivering* (The joke sure is cold.)

Well, of course other than the Beggar's chicken, we had other nice yummy food..... I especially like the cold flower crab and the mee sau. Their tastes were rather unique and tasty.

Starters : Fish cake with anchovies


Cold Flower Crab


Vegetable


Steamed fish


Mee Sau with crayfish


Desserts : Or Nee (yam paste with gingko nuts) & Mango Sago with Almond jelly


Asia Grand Restaurant
Asia Hotel Singapore
37 Scotts Road
Tel : 6887-0010

A Day with my the Other Half

In the morning, I made half-boiled eggs and put it into our chicky egg holders. She made milo and also cleaned up the house and the room... of course we chatted lots as usual..

Then at night, she cooked laksa for the whole family. It's wonderful to have sweetie by my side today.. and so what is her secret recipe for her laksa???

1. Put in the laksa gravy and paste, together with the tau pok (aka fried beancurd) into the pot, mix with water and bring to boil.


2. Place the cooked noodles and ingredients into a bowl.


3. Finally pour the cooked laksa soup into the bowl and sprinkle Asian Basil on top. The laksa is ready to serve.


Other than Laksa, we also had Mummy's all time favourite rojak tabao from Bedok Interchange. This little stall is called "Soon Heng Rojak" which is the same as the super popular one at Toa Payoh Central. And the taste? Yup. It taste just as great too!!

I had a happy time together with my Other Half!! Love you, Dearest!!! *wink*

Sticky Cake Recipe

After the chinese new year, we left with a stack of nian gao (aka as sticky cake) and so we discard them?? Of course NOT!! They do make good yummy tea snacks. Kekeke! The steps are :-

1. First chop up the nian gao into thick slices.

2. Prepare egg wash by mixing flour with water and egg and dip the sliced nian gao into it.

3. Now pan-fry the cake. Use a small amount of oil so that the cake will not taste oily. Heat the oil on medium-high to high heat, then turn the heat down to medium and brown the cake slices briefly on both sides.


4. Ready to serve.

Sounds simple? Kekeke! But the one made by twinny is of a different recipe. She had wrapped up the nian gao with spring roll skin instead. Both tastes just as yummy and nice. *wink*