In Search of USB Cable for Camera

I have been pushing ET to source for me a USB cable so that I can upload my pics taken from the digital camera (Panasonic Lumix DMC-F7) which I rob it from him. The camera does not come with a cable. So, it’s his job to look for one !!!!! Kekeke….

It’s a beautiful Sunday morning and we decided to give it a try to search from Sim Lim Square for the cable. Princess, Jo and Supercute tag along. Black Ninja choose to stay at home for his favorite PC game. Princess was so happy and dressed up like an angel.

We searched the whole building but in vain. They do not sell cable. What a disappointment. There’s no choice but to go for alternative….Card Reader. Managed to get a All-In-1 Card Reader/Writer for less then S$20.00.

It’s almost 3pm and we headed to the food court for lunch. The Indian food stall is surprisingly good. They serve good Garlic Nan with Mutton and Samosa. Jojo tried Shanghai Cha Jiang Mian. It’s delicious too. Supercute had his favorite chicken rice, dumplings and Dao Suan (cos his nick name in school is Dao Suan).

Guess what I was busy with the whole afternoon after returning from Sim Lim ? Downloading and organizing all my pictures !!!! Yeah !!!!!

Bak Kut Teh, Moon Cake, Tea & Prawn Salad

It was another lovely weekend I enjoyed with my family and friends. I was rather sick with unbearable headaches yesterday (Saturday) and I prayed hard to god to let me recover so that I can enjoy the evening. As usual, god granted my wish. Thanks god, thanks Baba (Sri Sathya Sai Baba)….my spiritual teacher.

ET has displayed his culinary skill and prepared delicious Bak Kut Teh with winter melon, vegetables and golden mushrooms. Verytiki Prawn Salad and UR crackers were the kid's favorite. The recipe of Prawn Salad is rather simple. I’ll post it in a separate blog post under “RECIPE Salad”.

After dinner, Pebbles and I were so busy taking pictures of the moon cakes she bought from Holiday Inn Atrium. I was busy exploring different lightings and angles (what to do, when camera is no good, I’ve to practice my skill to compromise. Haha…), while Pebbles was busy arranging the slices of moon cake on the plate. Nobody was allowed to taste the cake till we were done. Supercute was complaining but, sorry son, the moon cake did taste better when you wait. Don’t you think so ? Indeed, it taste marvelous. Soft, smooth and not too sweet. It blended so well with a hot cup of Japanese Green Tea (玄米茶)

No EPL for the night !!!!! Have to wait till next Saturday. Glory Glory Man United !!!!! See you next week (13.09.08). Can’t wait to see how you are going to trash Liverpool. No soccer…….it’s ok…..Pebbles manage to superseded with volleyball. I guess she enjoy playing with princess : P

Marina Square & Tan Kim Seng (陈金声) Fountain

It’s end of the week and it’s time to pamper myself and my family. ET proposed a night out in search of good food. We had chosen Marina Square.

We parked our vehicle near Padang so that we can enjoy a slow walk and introduce my kids to Tan Kim Seng(陈金声) Fountain near Esplanade Park. The fountain was built to commemorate Mr. Tan Kim Seng’s contribution toward Singapore’s first public waterworks. I had been there almost every Saturday with my family when I was a kid, as small as my princess daughter now. We would visit Satay Club near by for the fantastic satay and chandol/ice kachang dessert, play catching around the fountain and hide and seek in the World War Two monument near by.

After a short history briefing, we headed to Marina Square. On the way there, we passed by an underpass which link to MRT station. There are so many young people dancing and playing skating. They dance so well that we almost wanted to join them. We drop the idea as we are very hungry.

We proceeded to Marina Food Loft on 4th flour. It is a well designed food court that holds a perfect mix of international food stalls. It has stalls selling local dishes, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Hong Kong, Western cuisine at reasonable prices. You may choose to enjoy your food in air-condition or waterfront seats. We had chosen the open-air tables where we can enjoy a panoramic view of Esplanade waterfront with soft pipe music. We ordered our favorite food. There’s Korean Hot Plate Chicken for me, Dim Sum for ET, Korean Grill Fish for Jojo, Japanese Bento for Black Ninja, Japaness Tempura Bento for Supercute, Satay, Sotong with nice Juices and Tea to go along with. The chicken satay and sotong are thumbs up. The food were so marvelous that we ended up digging into each other’s plate. For a moment, we thought we were on vacation in Spain as it is playing Spanish Instrumental music while we were enjoying our food. It’s our best food court experience we ever have.

After the sumptuous food, we started gallivanting around the square. ET enjoyed updated himself with latest sound systems where my kids, Jo and I were stuck in the children’s corner. We ended up playing swing and slide together with our princess. We had great fun.

The night was ending and we are tired else we can continue with karaoke in KBox, bowling in SuperBowl or night movies in Golden Village. Next time perhaps.

Roselle Flower洛神花 (Luo Shen Hua)

My family and I like to try unique things especially food. Two weeks ago, while doing my routine shopping for grocery in NTUC Fair Price super mart, a packet of red beautiful looking flowers (fruits) caught my eyes. It is displaying on the fridge racks. They are Fresh Roselle Fruits. I’ve bought dried Roselle flowers but not fresh Roselle fruits. I grab it immediately.

Not knowing what to do with fresh fruits. Not knowing if I should cut it out to eat, smash it to make a paste for my bread, extract the juice or boil it with water like what I've did for the dried flowers. I seek help from Wikipedia and flipping some books from library. Here’s what I’ve found :

The Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa)
It is a species of hibiscus. It is an annual subshrub growing to 2-2.5m tall and takes about six months to mature. China and Thailand are the largest producers. It is a relatively new crop and industry in Malaysia (Terengganu state). Surprisingly, Singapore is also growing in Organic Farm. The one I bought is actually grown in Singapore. Best of all, it is Organic too.

The LEAVES are deeply 3-5 lobed, 8-15cm long arranged alternately on the stems.
The FRUITS are harvested fresh, and their calyces are made into a drink rich in vitamin C and anthocyanins.

The FLOWERS are 8-10cm in diameter, white to pale yellow with dark red sport at the base of each petal. It has a Calyx at the base about 1.5-2cm wide and turns bright red as fruit matures. Calycus are normally dried and use to make ice and cool roselle drink.

USES :
Roselle, has been used in folk medicine as a mild laxative, and treatment for cardiac and nerve diseases and cancer. In Europe and America, calyx is use as food colouring. . In Africa the flower tea is use as a tea to relief cough. In Thailand it is use as a tea to reduce cholestrol. This drink is particularly good for people who have a tendency, temporary or otherwise, toward water retention.

In France the green leaves are used like a spicy version of spinach to give flavour to fish and rice dish. In Myanmar the leaves are main ingredient in making Chin Baung Kyaw Curry. The heated leaves can be applied to cracks in the feet and on boils and ulcers to speed maturation.

What I’ve done with my kids :

RECIPE :

1) TEA :

200g roselle fruits (The packet I bought from NTUC Fairprice is 200g per pack at S$2.80/pack)
2 – 3 liters water
Some rock sugar to taste (Cane sugar is equally good)
Cooking time : Abt 8 – 10 minutes

In Africa it is commonly sold in the street where people use to make it into sugary herbal tea. Put the roselle and water in a pot and bring it to a boil for 8 to 10 minutes or till water turns red (don’t have to cut the fruit). Then, add sugar. Drink as floral tea. You can also combine with Chinese tea leaves in the ratio of 1 : 5 (Roselle Tea : Chinese Tea).

2) BEER :

Combine the Roselle tea with beer. It gives a fruity berry/current taste beer.

3) COLD BEVERAGE :

Boil dried flowers for 8 to 10 minutes (or until the water turns red), then adding sugar. Served chilled. You can mix with mint leaves, dissolved menthol candy, and/or various fruit flavors or juice. Alternatively, you can add Soda into the tea to make it a fantastic carbonated beverage.

4) JELLY / AGAR AGAR :

Just add Roselle juice to your jelly/jam/agar agar recipe. It will have a taste very similar to Black Current candy like Ribena.

5) ROSELLE JAM :

Ingredients :
1 kg apples, washed and chopped
200g roselle flowers (don’t have to cut)
1.50 liter water
75g sugar per 100ml liquid

Put the roselle, chopped apple and water in a pot and bring it to a boil for 20 – 30 minutes until the apples are very soft. Drain the liquid into a bowl (use clean filter bag or cloth). Do not squeeze the filter/bag as this will make the jelly cloudy). Just set aside and let it drip by itself. It will take a while, just be patient. You may leave it overnight and let it drip by itself till the next morning.

Discard the fruit and flowers. (You can use the apple for apple pie or apple fruit bar if you wish). Measure the liquid to determine amount of sugar use (75g of sugar per 100ml of fluid. Place juice in saucepan, heat up and add sugar. Stir well till sugar dissolved. Cook rapidly and bring to boil for another 15 minutes.

Test if the jelly is done by scoping a little of jelly out from the saucepan, place on a clean plate or saucer and place it in the fridge (while the rest of the jelly is still cooking in the saucepan). If a skin like texture is form, the jelly is ready. If not continue boiling and testing. Place the jelly in sterilized jar. Allow to cool and store.

This Blog Post is specially dedicated to my lovely Water Retention Friend......Pebbles !!!!

Roselle helps water retention.

NON BAKE PEACH CHEESE CAKE

The Cheese Cake Picture looks familiar ?? Yes, I posted it in my earlier blog post when we had it as a Singapore National Day Birthday Cake on our national day celebration. I've been receiving some requests for sharing the recipe of my Non Bake Peach Cheese Cake. It's easy to prepare and save you some trouble of baking. Kids can do it so why don't you give it a try.


INGREDIENTS :

The Cake :
400g Digestive Biscuits
120g Butter (melted)
1-1/2 tsp Gelatin
100ml Hot Water
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
250g Philadelphia Cream Cheese
4 tbsp Condensed Milk
1 tin Evaporated Milk – Chilled overnight

The Top Decoration :
1/2 Peaches (sliced)
2 tbsp Gelatin Dissolved with little Hot Water

METHOD :

1. Crush biscuits into fine crumbs. Mix the crumbs with melted butter in a mixing bowl. Mix well and press crumb mixture into a 9” baking tin to form a firm and even crust. Chill for 2 hours while making the filling

2. Dissolve 1-1/2 tsp gelatin with hot water. Stir in the lemon juice and put aside.

3. Mix cream cheese and condensed milk well.

4. Whip the chilled evaporated milk until thick and combine with the gelatin mixture and (3). Beat till the mixture is smooth. Pour filling into crust and decorate with sliced peach. Pour the dissolved 2tbsp gelatin over the cheese. Chill overnight to set.

TIPS :

1) I prefer to line the tin with aluminum foil before pressing the crumb into the tin for easy removal. It’s not necessary but I prefer as it’s really very easy when removing the cake from the tin.
2) I add extra peach cubes into the cake to give it an extra peach flavor and it looks prettier and colorful when you present slice cake to your guess.

3) You may wish to use Oleo biscuits if you like to add some chocolate flavor into your every bite. Digestive biscuits are preferred as it will compliment the light and fruity cheese cake.



4) I actually freeze it at times and serve it as ice-creme. My kids really love their cheesy ice-creme. Best of all, it's calcium rich.

4) Be creative by changing the fruits to Kiwi, Strawberries, Blue Berries or any seasonal fruits of your choice.

Saturday…The Feasting Day

Saturday is a day I look forward to as I’ll be meeting Gong gong, Uncle R and Auntie Pebble :P to enjoy lots of laughter, chatting and Makan makan. All of us love desserts with good coffee. We had steam boat last Saturday for dinner and Roselle drink to aid our digestion. Recipe and in formations on Roselle Flowers/Fruit will be published soon in my blog.

After dinner, ET and UR decided to go for a stroll in search of desserts. They bought Dao Suan, Ice Jelly with cocktail fruits and Cheng Tng. My son said he must eat Dao Suan as his classmates give him a nick name Dao Suan. So, I took a pic of him “Dao Suan” eating “Dao Suan”.

I bake Apple Pie in the afternoon eagerly waiting to share with UR, AP and GG. That’s my first try of a new recipe given to me by a friend. I did some research on Internet trying to improve and make it my version of Verytiki Apple Pie. I’ll put up the recipe soon in my blog under “Recipe Cake”. Check it out then.

Coincidentally TS bought a box of apple pies too. Too bad, if TS and I didn’t fall asleep, we will have our apple pie as supper. I had them in the next morning as breakfast instead. Guess who’s apple pie taste better ??????......Verytiki Apple Pie lah !!!!!! Still need to ask de meh ?????

Don't complain that I'm boastful. I'm just very me....VeryTIKI ;p

Tiong Bahru Park

Ring Ring……my phone rang on a relaxing Friday night. It’s my dear nephew Xian Wen requesting for my permission to stay over at my place with his sister Xian Hui. Of course they are always welcome to enjoy their weekend with Supercute, Black Ninja and Princess as they had just completed their CA term examinations.

All the boys are having fun with computer games and the girls were playing imagination slide by stacking up pillows and resting a mattress on it to form a tilting slide. They are all having a wonderful fun time and seem to me that they were not going to sleep for the entire night. To encourage them to have an early rest, I proposed to have morning exercise on the following day in Tiong Bahru Park. They agreed to wake up at 6.30am and went to bed immediately.

Tiong Bahru Park had been around for as long as I can remember. I used to have morning walk on Saturday morning with my parents and brothers as early as 6.30am. After the walk, we would proceed to a small stall selling half boiled eggs, toasts and coffee on a little hill in the park. Those were the days…..the happy days. The small stall was no longer there and replaced by a pyramid like stage in activity area. The pyramid is for instructors to play music and show visitors how to do their exercises.

Today, it is face-lifted by introducing Gan Eng Seng Secondary with a nice soccer field, good route for jogging, fitness corner, large open fields, central playground, sandpit and activity area where you can find many early birds gathering early in the morning (6.30am) doing aerobic dance, line dance, Qi Gong, Sword Art, etc. You can find people of different age range doing exercise and jogging. Girls, if you want to see muscular men, go to the fitness corners hahahaa…….Old Aunties, if you want to see handsome uncles, go to the activity area.. haaaaa…..Oops…sorry. It’s just a joke.

TB Park is very near to Tionh Bahru Plaza. It’s at the corner of Lower Delta Road, Henderson road near Tiong Bahru Road. There’s a small car park in the park. However, you can rarely find cars parking there cos most of the people walk there. Here’s the full detail location of TB Park : Tiong Bahru Park

As for the Scenery and Surroundings, you can find many Palm trees providing shades for the visitors. Shelters are distributed evenly and ample sitting benches can be found. I love seeing senior uncles and aunties sitting around on the benches chatting happily. That’s how life should be isn’t it ?

Why go to a gym when you have TB Park ? Their fitness corner is simple but good. You can do your warm up and stretching before your jogs. You can find foot massage stone walkers too. I have a friend who is wheelchair born. He told me that TP Park’s toilet is wheelchair accessible. How wonderful.

I personally love the serenity of the pond with wooden bridge and exotic plants along the pond. I found some berry trees in the park near the pond. I do not know if they are edible but the flowers and berries are beautiful.
Not to worry about your post exercise meal. There are many easy accessible eating places like Tiong Bahru Plaza, Tiong Bahru Market, Red Hill Market, Bukit Ho Swee Market etc. All within walking distance.
My niece, nephew and kids had a great time playing swing, spinning wheels, sliding, swinging, climbing in the wooden fun train in sandpit central playground. There after, we proceed to Mcdonald for breakfast in Tiong Bahru Plaza to conclude the morning fun.