Remembrance Day

On the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, Remembrance Day ceremonies are held in some countries in memory of the ones who have served in the military. About a year ago, all I remembered about all this was getting a sweet little red poppy pin in support for all who were serving in the military. I remembered Grandpa putting a cross with another poppy at Grandma's grave later on in the week. This year, I was reminded by my sister who wore Grandpa's medals proudly today at work in memory of his service in the navy. 

Crack Chocolate

Was craving for a little chocolate and I found the bars of Cicada chocolates I bought at the Epicurean Market. Bought them after tasting a few little chunks, liking that they were not too sweet and it reminded me of the Bahen & Co. chocolate I left in my sister's fridge. The two companies have similar packaging as well, and both are Australian companies. Both have really addictive chocolate. The only difference is that I can at least get some of Bahen & Co. chocolate in Singapore.

On Nom Nom...

Getting Better At This

The prawns have been quite sweet this week and I got mom to save the shells and heads to make stock. After perfecting the recipe for the stock in Australia, the only thing left to perfect was the chilli paste used to flavour the noodles. I had thought about trying to get my own mix of dried chilli paste but I opted to try using a pre-made dried chilli paste instead. So this mix of chilli paste, a little stock and some onion oil seems to be right on track to getting the right dry prawn noodle flavour. Now just to make my own dried chilli paste and I would have my own special prawn noodles. 

Om Nom Nom...

My First Children's Day Gift

Dad was digging through his bag of old fishing gear and he took out something and exclaimed that it was old yet was still good, before passing it to me. I just wondered why he would pass me any fishing gear when I am not the daughter that enjoys fishing. I took a look and realised that he passed me a collapsible cup, the one I received more than twenty-six years ago in school. I thought it was long gone and did not know that he had actually taken it on his fishing trips. He then put it back in his bag, silently implying that it is going with him on more fishing trips. 

Convenient Sugar-free Coffee

I was enjoying cans of sugar-free coffee while in Japan and was waiting for Daiso to bring in a few and stock them in their drinks fridge. I really needed a drink the other day and was about to take a bottle of tea when something made me look at the little cans instead. The tomato juice caught my eye first, and since it was two cans for $2, I was hunting for another can when I found one labelled "Roasted Coffee Zero". Just to make sure the "Zero" meant no sugar, I read the label and was happy to not find any. So I grabbed a can for myself, but had to grab two more when my parents wanted one each as well. 

Colourful Desserts

Out with my aunt again and after a bit of shopping, we all wanted to sit down and have something sweet. Ice Kachang is not my favourite dessert and neither is Bo Bo Cha Cha, but my parents and aunt all chose a cold dessert, while I got a hot bowl of Pulot Hitam. It has been a while since my family has ordered the two cold desserts and the look of the desserts today were rather disappointing. They both look like a big bowl of icy slop compared to the memory of the ones served at the corner stall in Margaret Drive Food Centre. Seems that the flavours were also disappointing. Not really surprised when the people manning the stall have not grown up with these desserts in their life. 

Freedom To Eat

Went out for dinner with my aunt today as my uncle is in hospital and there was no one to restrict the menu. She wanted to have Bak Kut Teh this evening and my thoughts immediately went to Rong Cheng Bak Kut Teh at Midview City as it has not disappointed my family and I ever since we started eating here. Other than the lovely peppery pork and garlic soup, they offer a whole menu of items that most bak kut teh stalls do not have. My aunt was a little shocked at the amount of food we ordered, but having come here a few times, we know how much we can usually eat. Best thing is the free refills of soup which I can drink bowls of. 

Om Nom Nom...

Natural Blue Dye

Got a message from my aunt this morning that she found some Butterfly Pea flowers in her neighbourhood and asked if I wanted some. She also asked if I wanted the plant and I knew that my dad has been wanting to get a plant for himself. Since I had something to pass to her as well, mom and I went out meet her and she showed us the area she found all the flowers. 

Seems it might just be the right season as the patch of land had a lot of plants and they were all flowering. My aunt actually brought a spade to dig up a few plants, while mom and I went around picking a few flowers. I did not have any idea what I wanted to make with them yet, but I did think that I could at least extract the colour and use it later if I wanted to. 

Freebies of the day!

Fierce Chilli Paste

Mom dug out a bottle of chilli and told me that it was a gift from my cousin Criszean. He went to Taiwan recently and this chilli paste mix is quite popular for being really spicy. So after digging a little more, I found that it is sold by 溫州大餛飩 probably because it goes well with their dumplings. 

I had it with our local Soon Kueh instead as I do not like the chilli sauce the store offers. I wondered why they used the tiger as a symbol and I soon found out. The spiciness creeps up on you like the tiger, silently stalking you and once you think you can deal, it strikes and blows your mind away. I have tasted a chilli sauce that is claimed to be the world's spiciest, and this is not spicy when compared. However, I rather eat this and enjoy the lovely flavours from the chilli, garlic and fermented soy beans than just a sauce that just burns your tongue and give you no satisfaction. Now I have to save the rest of the bottle for when my soon kueh cravings hit. To me, it was the perfect chilli to blend with the sweetness of the black sauce and the stewed vegetable filling. 

Now if anyone is heading to Taiwan, or maybe Vietnam (where it is produced), PLEASE get me a bottle (or 10) of this yummy TIGER chilli. 

Lucky Dog

Adi was at the official opening of Superpets and won herself the second prize of the night. It is possibly the first 24-hour pet store in Singapore, and they have more cat products as the neighbourhood has more cat owners. Since Adi just adopted a stray, she was there getting something for Bujang. This resulted in her getting some lucky draw coupons, one of which got her a huge amount of prizes. Within the whole prize were some items for dogs and since Barkley is closest dog, he got to enjoy some of the win. 

Apartment Gardening Woes

My grape plants are getting bigger and we needed to give them a little more space. They need their sun and the problem with the layout of this new house is that the morning sun only hits the utilities and the little window in mom's room. The issue now is that the plants are not tall enough to get the morning sun if we do not prop them up on something. Second best option is to place them in the living room, which gets a good amount of morning sun still, and all we have to do is move a bench away and lift up the curtains. 

I would say it is nicer to have the plants block out a bit of lights from passing vehicles below. 

Halloween Horrors

This would be the first Halloween since everyone from the neighbourhood has moved into the new blocks, and since there were a few foreigners in the building, we decided to get into the spirit of things. Dad and I found some cool decorations and ee wanted to get a giant skull but it was too big to stuff into our luggage. We decided to get something much smaller but packed a good punch as well. Once pressed, this doorbell will have a snake attacking your finger, followed by flashing red eyes and a scary voice saying "Welcome to the haunted house!" 

Wonder if there will be any daredevils coming around tonight. Mwuahahahahaaha!!

For The Love Of Nutella

I almost missed this book on the shelf at WHSmith as it was stuffed between two really big books, which was among a shelf full of colourful books. However, with its distinctive shape, colour and bold lettering, it was rather hard for any Nutella fan to miss it. Lucky for me I managed to get the last two books in the store, and I did not see any more books at other stores. Lucky because once the Nutella freak, Adi, walked into the house and spotted the corner of the book, she immediately zoomed in, opened the bag and started looking through it before I can even tell her it was supposed to be her Christmas present. 

So we finally looked through the book and the recipes look so good. Its a wonder how people can create the recipes when it is so much easier to just dip a spoon in and lick off that pure hazelnut-chocolate goodness. Then again, we have tried some really good recipes using Nutella and just ate the leftovers in the jar while waiting. Maybe that is the secret!

Time for some recipe testing!!

Gold Finds

I love looking in charity shops as I can find some really great pre-loved items, and I have been finding some really good things on my past trips. I first did it in the hopes of finding some clothes and I found some salt and pepper shaker sets for my collection instead. In Australia, dad and I found one that had loads of books and we found some really good reading material. This old book was found in Weymouth and it takes you back to the old days when sous vide machines were not heard of, and caviar was clearly the salted roe from a sturgeon. Best things about such old book are the recipes, the closest to an original one can get without resurrecting your great grandmother. 

Back To The Old Drawing Block

Taking inspiration from a few cooking shows and Oprah Winfrey about vision boards, I thought about getting the ideas in my head onto paper. There are times when you try to explain what you plan to do with ingredients but others can not understand or visualise your idea. This would be a problem when you have people who would help or join in on projects. I was trying to find my old sketch book to get an idea out of my head, but it has gone missing since the move. Good thing for me is that Giant had a pack of drawing blocks on sale. So now I just have to find the box of coloured pencils.

More Goodies From Japan

Met up with Angie earlier to do an exchange - I passed her my members card for a bag of goodies she brought back from Japan! It is her second trip to Japan within the year and I will not be surprised if she ends up there at the end of the year again. She went to a whole lot of different places in Japan this time and I think there was something from every area.

There was a pack of potato sticks my dad enjoyed while in Japan, a cute salt and pepper shaker set for my collection, and something that looks like a pair of breasts but I think they should be my favourite Japanese snack, the dango. There is also a cup noodle that looks like it might have come from the Tokyo Skytree gift shop but has lots of cartoons on it. A pack with takoyaki on it and I think it might be part of the masak masak range. She even lugged back a big box of spicy ramen!!

Now when to start trying all the food...hmm... (I know she would say "now now now!")

Canned Pasta - Peppa Pig

Dad loves his Heinz Spaghetti in Tomato Sauce and they disappeared from the shelves in Singapore last year. He got a good dose of it while on our last two overseas trips but I always preferred the hoops. However, after finding the other interesting choices like the Bolognese, Macaroni and Cheese, Spaghetti and Sausages, I started looking out for more interesting canned pasta.

This time I managed to find a range of cartoon-shaped pasta in tomato sauce, and today I decide to try one. I managed to pull out the Peppa Pig one first and decided to try find all the shapes listed on the side of the can. I think I managed to get them all and I ate each one of them before my dad got curious about what I was doing. The rest of the can ended up in his stomach when he found out what I was trying. 

Got to try my next four cans in secret. 

The Game Cheats

I play the solo games on the New Words With Friends and I often look up the dictionary for the meanings to some of the words that are played as they look suspiciously made up. Then today, I get two words that actually have no definition at all and yet it was played. Interesting to know that the just creates words for its own benefit. 

Anchovy Abundance

Went to Mustafa and while browsing the shelves for anything interesting, I found a whole shelf stacked with cans of anchovies that were going for a dollar each. Mom and I were wondering why they were so cheap and found out that it was close to their expiry date, which was a month away. Well it will not a problem when I can use them for a lot of dishes that I love. Time for some additional nutrients to my salads, pastas, pizzas and even stir-fries!

Om Nom Nom...

Inspiring Read

I had seen this book on our first trip to WHSmith and I came back to get it, and at the same time I got few other books as well. I enjoyed watching a few episodes of Heston's Fantastical Food and I loved the madness, creativity and all the failed experiments. More importantly, I liked how he uses a lot of modern techniques to create, and re-invent some really classic dishes. 

The book is a lot less crazy but it has some really cool dishes. It gives a lot of inspiration, and makes me think that perhaps some ideas in my head are not all that crazy. The bonus is also getting to learn a few new techniques with the old equipment I have. Now all I need is to find some interesting wood chips to smoke with.