Ice cream men on Orchard Road

I read on CNNGo a couple of months back that some mystery shoppers surveyed over 30 shopping streets in the world and Orchard Road in Singapore came in at the first place as the prettiest, most welcoming and most customer-friendly shopping street.


Not bad ... I like Orchard Road. The pavements are wide and clean (like most other parts of Singapore) and most malls are connected through a maze of underground 'streets'. The creative window displays of the iconic branded stores scream 'I'm new! Come, buy me!!' whenever I walk by them. The stores stock the most up-to-date merchandises.


One of my must-haves when I go to Orchard Road is the street-side ice cream. I wonder if the mystery shoppers were swayed by the ice cream men. 


I grew up eating these ice cream. There is an ice cream man with his cart in our neighborhood and my sister and I would call him 'Bugs Bunny' because of his 2 front teeth. =)


Along Orchard Road in Singapore, there are several ice cream men selling this 'local delicacy'. The little carts of theirs offer local flavors ranging from red bean, sweet corn, peanut butter and attap seed to traditional flavors like chocolate and ripple. They serve your desired flavor in a cup, piece of bread, in a wafer cone or in between 2 wafer biscuits. If you are a beginner and are not sure of the local flavors, just get a combination of all the flavors in a cone or cup. For any combination that you choose, it is a flat price at S$1 per serving! Very affordable! It is not the the best-tasting ice cream but I like the local flavors and the experience. =)

The Wall's ice cream man at work. There is also a King's man.

My favorite combination - red bean ice cream on colored bread

If you visit Orchard Road, other than the shopping, savor the street-side ice cream too! =)


Till my next blog post, enjoy your ice cream! =)

Marina Bay Sands

I finally explored Marina Bay Sands! This place has been around for the last couple of years but I have always equated 'Marina Bay Sands' to 'Casino' and that is why I have never had the urge to go there.

Marina Bay Sands area

The last time I visited Marina Bay Sands, I went there for the Lion King Musical. I barely made it there in time for the show and left once the show ended. So, limited exploration done.

This time, I visited the area leisurely. I went to the ArtScience Museum. They had 2 traveling exhibits on - Andy Warhol: 15 minutes External and Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition.

Entrance of the ArtScience Museum

Another attraction in the area is the concept store for Louis Vuitton, the Louis Vuitton Island Maison. There is an art collection and retail store inside. 

Louis Vuitton Island Maison at the Marina Bay Sands

I love the bayfront area, there are lots of sitting area and the skyline of the business district is fantastic. There is also a water and light show every evening at about 8pm.

Till my next blog post, explore somewhere! =)

Unbelievable!

I read from the Yomiuri Shimbun today that 1 in 3 married women are victims of domestic abuse in Japan. This is unbelievable! How can women sit back and tolerate any form of abuse!

Andy Warhol at the ArtScience Museum

When I think of Andy Warhol, I think of 2 things - Campbell Soup and Marilyn Monroe. I am not a fan of Andy Warhol but have always been fascinated with the silkscreen print technique used for mass producing images with different colors. Andy Warhol popularized this print technique with images of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Mao ZeDong. Different colors brought out different emotions and there are no right or wrong answers on how you feel about the emotions / colors.


He also did this with Campbell Soup but his realistic images of the soup can left a more lasting impression on me.




Andy Warhol Exhibits at the ArtScience Museum in Singapore



I visited Andy Warhol's exhibits at the Art Science Museum in Singapore over the Songkran holidays and got to know him better. Other than the Campbell Soup and Marilyn Monroe, he also dabbled with music (the Velvet Underground) and thought-provoking art installations like the Silver Clouds.


His work also inspired other pieces from South East Asian artists. These 2 pieces of realistic images are very popular canned food in the region. Everyone my age would remember these ... lychees in syrup with your homemade almond jelly and luncheon meat with your fried rice or fried meehoon.

Till my next blog post, explore pop art! =)

Asian BBQ Pork Ribs

My family and I are always in a lazy and relaxing mode on Sunday afternoons. We laze around, go to the gym, catch up with the news, play games, watch TV, etc and feel too at home to go out for dinner. So, it is up to me to whip up dinner.

I always go for easy cooking with one meat dish, broccoli and rice. My criteria for easy cooking are: nothing fried with oil to mess up my kitchen, no need to watch over the stove all the time, no need to use exotic ingredients and, if possible, no need for marination. =) I am flexible on the 'no marination' bit if it can produce good results.


I am sharing with you one of my easy Sunday dinner recipe.

Asian BBQ Pork Ribs

Ingredients:
500gm of meaty, less-fat (or trim away the fatty parts) long pork ribs
5 tablespoons of light soya sauce
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of honey
3 tablespoons of Chinese cooking wine
2 tablespoons of apple cider
2 tablespoons of tomato sauce
400ml of water


Method:

1. Blanch ribs in a pot.
2. Combine all the ingredients together into the pot.
3. Bring the ingredients to a boil and reduce heat to simmer.
4. Simmer for about an hour or until ribs are tender to your liking.
5. Preheat oven to 150oC.
6. Place the ribs in a foiled baking tray or ceramic dish and spread some sauce onto the ribs.
7. Bake ribs for 10 minutes.
8. Flip ribs over and spread more sauce.
9. Bake for another 10 minutes.
10. Flip ribs over and spread more sauce.
11. Bake for final 10 minutes.
12. Remove ribs. Serve on a dish with some broccoli and rice.

Easy and clean cooking. Delicious ribs. Enjoy!


Till my next blog post, eat well! =)

Mango Madness

When April comes to Bangkok, 2 important events happen.


One is the Songkran festival, also known as the Thai New Year, and this is celebrated between the 13 and 16 of April. During this time, most Thais go to the temple to pray and give food to the monks. Water is gently poured onto Buddha statues and images to cleanse them and / or poured over elders' hands as a sign of respect. For the young at heart and also keeping in mind that April is the hottest month in Bangkok, Songkran has evolved to be the biggest splash party in the city. People are out with their hoses, water guns and buckets to target innocent people on tuk-tuks, motorbikes and buses with opened windows and wet them from head to toe. It is good fun! =)


The other important event for me is the start of the mango season. Mangoes are available all year round. But around April, there is a spike in supply and prices drop. I go all crazy and would have mangoes almost everyday. There are also a few other things that I do.


Like going to Swensen's every April to have one of their mango promotions. It's a ritual for me. =) Their mango concoction typically has some fresh mango, mango ice-cream, coconut flakes, pandan-flavored sticky rice and wafer.

Mango Paradise from Swensen's. My once-a-year mango ritual.

Since mangoes are so easily available and cheap, lots of shops and restaurants are also serving fresh ripe mango with sticky rice. Sticky rice is glutinous rice simmered in coconut milk. I love the combination of fresh mango, sticky rice and corn kernels. Some people would eat this with coconut cream but not me. the sticky rice is sinful enough for me. =)

Fresh mango with sticky rice

And for my very own home-made indulgence, I have my own version of mango-pineapple pudding. =)

Here is my recipe. It is a bit of a cheat but I compensate by putting in lots of mango cubes. =)

Ingredients:

- 1 packet of 90grams jelly crystals in pineapple flavor (This is the cheat. I can't get mango flavor and use pineapple instead for the yellow color. In general, pineapple and mango goes well.)
- 1 cup of boiling water
- 1 can of evaporated milk
- 1 big mango, cut into cubes

Method:

1. Pour boiled water into bowl and stir in jelly crystals. Jelly crystals have to dissolve completely. Set aside to cool.
2. Add in the evaporated milk.
3. Stir in the mango cubes.
4. Mix well.
5. Pour into small cups
6. Chill in fridge.

My version of mango pudding

Till my next blog post, Sawadee pee mai ("Happy New Year" in Thai) and enjoy APRIL! =)

Pandan Kaya

One of my favorite snack item in Singapore is kaya toast with tea. It is a sinful choice but also a very tasty one. The kaya and the toast are not that evil but the slab of butter in between is the killer. Nevertheless, the combination of the fragrant pandan kaya, killer butter and toasted brown bread is an awesome snack whenever I need the sugarkick. Sometimes, I also have this for dessert. =)

Kaya toast from Toast Box

In Bangkok, it is not easy to get the type of pandan kaya that you can get in Singapore or Malaysia. The kaya in Bangkok is very green (looks very artificially green) and it is just sweet. The fragrant coconut and pandan taste is not there. So, I have resorted to making my own.


Making kaya is a very time-consuming process, so, please do not attempt to make it if you do not have a whole afternoon free. I use a very simple recipe and spend the rest of the time stirring the mixture at the stove. Since I am an amateur cook and like to multi-task while making the kaya, I always use the 'double boil' method to prevent the kaya from burning.


Here is my simple recipe for a small jar of pandan kaya. If you need more, just double or triple the amount of ingredients.


Ingredients:
1 egg
100ml coconut (I always use the packet ones for convenience)
80gm of sugar
3 to 5 large pandan leaves


Method:

1. Beat the egg and coconut milk together.
2. Sieve and drain into small metal pot. (In the 'double boil' method, pour water into a large pot and set it to boil. Place a smaller metal pot on a stand into the large pot, immersing it in the boiling water. This prevents the kaya from getting direct heat from the fire and reduces the possibility of burning and hence ruining your hard-earned kaya.)
3. Knot the pandan leaves together and add into the egg and coconut mixture.
4. Add in the sugar in batches.
5. Simmer and stir until you achieve your desired spreading consistency for your kaya. I usually have to do this for about 3 to 4 hours. I think this can be faster if I set the heat to a higher flame but I feel safer doing this low  flame (so much for being a risk-taker =)).
6. When it is done, pour into sterilized jar, let it cool down and refrigerate.

Please note that the kaya will last probably about a week. I usually make a small batch and finish it up within a week. I toast my bread, spread the kaya, without the butter, and have it for breakfast with my morning tea. Great way to start my day! =)

Homemade kaya. Yummy! =)

Till my next blog entry, make some kaya! =)

My 'weight-loss' wish

My weight-loss diet and workout are not working out so well for me but I am still hopeful. I need to come out with an alternative strategy. =)

 

Till my next blog entry, eat well! =)