Never argue with a stupid person ...

Monday morning! Back to work after a short weekend. This week, I have to remember .....

Till my next blog post, never argue with a stupid person! =)

What makes me a Singaporean?

I am a true-blue Singaporean because ....

1) I use tissue packs to ‘chope’ seats at hawker centers so that I can go and queue up to buy my food. Don’t you think that is good time management? My 'kiasu' syndrome at work. =)

2) I end my sentences with lah or lor, lah!

3) I love abbreviations! ERP, PIE, CTE, MBS, RWS, GSS, LKY. I just realised that WTB stands for Where To Buy at the motherhood.com.sg forums.

4) I love ‘fooding’ – this means going around and looking for food to enjoy. Singapore is a heaven for foodies! (BTW, Bangkok is a food heaven too!)

5) Childhood? What’s that? I send my son for enrichment and tuition classes during the weekdays after school and over the weekends because passing with Cs and Ds are not good enough for me. He must get straight As. Experts say that ‘preschool should be free in Singapore’. You mean the government will pay for my son’s enrichment and tuition classes? Yippee!! =)

6) IseeIshootIstomp. Don’t you love those busy-buddy people who go around taking pictures of everything and post them on STOMP with their own opinion? But, CAUTION! Don’t believe everything you see and read there, even STOMP content producer can fake amazing story and stomp.

7) I blame the government for everything and expect my MP to solve my problems. Today morning, on my way to work, the escalator at the MRT broke down and I have to use the stairs! Why can’t the government ensure that the escalator is in good working condition all the time? Must write to the MP and complain. Or maybe write to ST forum and let everyone know.

8) I am a middle-age aunty who walks with a limp and I expect people to give me the reserved seat on the MRT. It’s mine and I don’t need to thank them for their very kind and considerate gesture.

9) I hire a maid and I expect her to take care of my elderly parents, my 2 active toddlers, do all the housework and cooking, wash my 2 cars and also clean the windows without a safety harness. I have to work from 9 to 5 in the office and all she does is stay at home. Of course, she has to do some work, lah!

10) I know the 4 races in Singapore are Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian. The young Singaporean kids these days are so confused, they think the 4 races are Chinese, Malay, Ang-mor and Bangali. Or worse, some think there is only 1 race in Singapore ... the F1 race.

11) I don’t chew gum anymore but that’s worth it … look at how clean the grounds are in Singapore. There are no black, unslightly gum marks around and the MRT doors don't get stuck anymore. The MRT just break down every once in a while, that’s all.

12) I am a middle-age aunty and I can still recite the Singapore pledge. Years of going to Singapore schools would do that to you. When I recite it in my heart, I can still feel the lump in my throat when I’m at ‘pledge ourselves as one united people’. So true, regardless of race, language or religion, we are living harmoniously as one united people in Singapore.

Singapore will be celebrating its 47th birthday on 9th August 2012. It has come a long way since its independence. Have a blast, Singapore! =)

Till my next blog post, do something SINGAPOREAN! =)

Is this supposed to help sell the product?

"Imported from Shanghai" ... No, I don't think it is helping ......

Till my next blog post, eat well! =)

Happy Ever Laughter

I am a fan of local comedy and by ‘local’, I mean Singapore. Yes, I am a fan of Singapore comedy. So, when I found out 12 comedians are lining up to amuse me in Happy Ever Laughter, I had to round up some funny friends to enjoy this show with me.

About Singapore comedy - you have to be a Singaporean, born and bred in Singapore to understand and laugh at the jokes. Poor foreigners get poked fun at in these shows and it can be quite offensive, so watch out! If you are not thick-face enough, just stay at home and watch football.

12 comedians entertained in Happy Ever Laughter. Some are more entertaining than others. I realized that age plays a big part. I can better relate and connect with the comedians of my generation. There were some younger comedians in the show and I have no clue who they are and what they were talking about. So you NOT only have to be a Singaporean, born and bred in Singapore, you also have to between 30 to 50 years old to enjoy the show.

I am sharing with you some of the comedians who left a mark on me .....

Kumar - He/She is hilarious. For those of you who do not know who Kumar is, he is the Indian, gay star of of the Boom Boom Room.He is the one who can proudly claims that he is ‘Singapore government-approved’ and has his ovaries hanging outside his body. I love his jokes. They are usually insightful like the one that he joked about army camps and hospitals. He reckons that all Singaporean sons should become nurses instead of soldiers for 2 years who they turn 18. Given the long waiting queues at the hospitals and the influx of Filipinos who do not speak the local dialects, I must say, that is a pretty solid suggestion. Who the heck wants to invade Singapore anyway, so we might as well put our Singaporean sons to good use. =)

Sebastian Tan - the Hokkien-speaking Broadway Beng. I love this guy, it takes a big guy to be able to put himself out there and joke about himself. He lamented about his recent weight gain that is giving him the man boobs. He swims to lose weight but is very conscious about his body. So while in the pool, he always make sure that the water level is at his ‘knee’ level, oops, not ‘knee’ level but ‘ni’ (Hokkien for boobs) level. I love the way he 'confused' us with a mix of English and Hokkien. =)

Selana Tan - the director of the show did the opening act. Finally at the age of 40, she voted for the first time in the Singapore General Elections last year. She also had some good insights for future politicians - use a household item for your party’s symbol so it is easier for them to show their support. Every household has a hammer and glasses. Who has a palm tree and a bolt of lightning at home?!?

Gurmit Singh’s jokes were okay but he really delivered them well. I feel he is more of a performer than a comedian. The show was rated R18 and it is liberating to hear the four-letter-F-word spoken with so much conviction in public. =)

A real surprise for me is Judee Tan as Teo Chew Muay talking about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM on TCM). She nailed it with her body language and when she joked that western doctors (think Grey’s Anatomy) like to cut you up and subject you to animal (“CAT”) scans to find out what is wrong with you when all Chinese doctors have to do is to look at your tongue and read your pulse. So true. =)

Misses for me: Michelle Chong who entertained as Salmonella, the bimbo vice-president of the SPGs Club was too similar to her Barbarella Noose character. Moses Lim was disappointing with his old jokes. The rest of the comedians were funny but not spectacular.

If Dream Academy Productions do this again, I would go for a good laugh. But, can I pick and choose who I want to see?

Till my next blog post, LAUGH cos LAUGHTER is the best medicine! =)

MK Restaurants

I am not a steamboat person. I never like my food in soup or eat my food boiling hot. Until I 'met' MK. He is now a 'staple' in my life. =)

MK restaurants is a large, kingdom-wide chain of restaurants in Thailand. Some people say that MK is even popular than McDonalds. I believe them. When you come to Thailand, you must have a meal at MK, it is afterall Thai steamboat at its best. Low-calorie and healthy too! =)

I read from somewhere years ago that the owner of MK restaurants is an engineer by training and the designs used in MK are done with consistency and efficiency in consideration. For example, the serving dishes stack up well, the multi-layer serving rack helps save space and the PDA used to take orders and facilitate payment is very efficient.

There are 2 'classes' of MK Restaurants - the normal ones and the GOLD ones. The GOLD ones are slightly higher-end as they provide nice-smeling hand towels, cloth napkins and better ambience. The food is about the same in both classes.  Other than steamboat / suki / hotpot items, MK also serve cooked food like dim sum, roasted pork, roasted duck and a variety of drinks and desserts.

Uncooked suki items. Instead of lying everything out on the table, they serve the items in this space-saving multi-layer stand.

I always add an egg into the soup base before cooking the rest of the items.

My style of cooking - put the meat in first and then the vegetables next, put on the cover and let it cook away. =)

The 'secret recipe' suki sauce and green noodles are fantastic!

Another one of MK's must-have is the roasted pork (char siew) and roasted duck. I say they taste better than pork and duck served at some Chinese restaurants in Thailand.

Till my next blog post, have some yummy food!