Just in!

Day 301

Latest additions to the wardrobe! :))

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

300th Day!

Day 300

Woohoo~~~~~~~~
Today marks the 300th day that we are away from home and another 430 days to go!

445am - Crown Casino
UEFA Champions League Final 2011 @ Wembley Stadium
Manchester United vs FC Barcelona
Was there with Mr Tan, Shenton and Shenton's neighbour
It has been a long time since we watched football and I certainly miss it! It was very much a one-sided game, with Barca dominating much of the match and Messi's really amazing. Watching Barca is like watching the Spanish World Cup team playing, skilful and incredible. Man U was outclassed, totally. Barca - 3, Man U - 1.

645am - Home Sweet Home
Time to get some beauty sleep. Super tired. zZZzzzZzz 

2pm - Time to rise and shine
Decided to spend the rest of the day nuaing. Researching on restaurants for Mr Tan's birthday dinner next week.  

545pm - Crown Casino for some exercise!
I consider it as a form of exercise because I'll be walking and standing around alot inside the casino. I'll usually be at the pokie machines, watching others play and you get to see all sorts of behaviour at the pokie machines. They touch the screens, they tap the screens, they hit the buttons twice, thrice, they hit all the buttons, they alternate their bets, they do all sorts of things, hoping that it'll influence the machines and win them some money. Usually we see lots of elderly and some of them place huge bets on these pokie machines. I've seen people placing $10 per bet for each spin and well, some do win big. They can end up winning thousands of dollars but not everyone is so lucky. Most of the time, people end up losing. But it's a form of entertainment, just like how shopping is a form of entertainment for me! :) 

7pm - Dinner @ Tokyo Maki
Didn't want to go to the city for dinner and decided on Tokyo Maki. Saw many positive reviews of Tokyo Maki on Urbanspoon but sad to say, it's another disappointment for me. But for some unknown reason, I'm still feeling very happy. Perhaps because there's only 430 more days to go! Yippie! I can't wait to get back to work and get rid of all the fats I've accumulated over the last 300 days!

 

 

 

Gin's Kitchen - Green Curry Chicken and Prawn

Day 299

We love Thai food - spicy and flavourful! Tom Yum Goong is one of our absolute fave and a must-have when we dine at Thai restaurants. Other than Tom Yum Goong, the other dish that I absolutely adore is Green Curry. Green curry chicken, green curry seafood, green curry vegetables, anything with green curry rocks!

There are many premixes sold at the Asian Grocer and I had a hard time trying to figure out which one to buy. Luckily, I had Shyan and Sabrina who had tried and tested them before. They strongly recommend Mae Ploy as THE brand. I have tried Mae Ploy's Tom Yum paste and it didn't quite make the cut. But Mae Ploy's green curry paste passed with flying colours!

Ingredients
- 50g Mae Ploy Green Curry Paste
- 270ml Ayam brand Coconut Milk (1 can = 270ml)
- 120ml of water
- 1 tablespoon of oil
- 1/2 teaspoon of sugar
- 2 chicken thigh fillets (cut into strips)
- 6 green prawn cutlets (optional)

Directions
1. Stir-fry 50g of Mae Ploy Green Curry Paste with 1 tablespoon of oil in a pot for about 1 minute
2. Add 200ml of coconut milk and stir well
3. Add chicken into the pot and continue cooking
4. Add another 70ml of coconut milk and 120ml of water and heat until boiling
5. Add prawn into pot and cook until prawns turn pink or are cooked
6. Add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Taste and season as desired

The recipe calls for 360ml of coconut milk but I added lesser coconut milk as coconut milk is very fattening! I'm counting my faily calorie intake, I'm exercising at home, I'm eating more meals but in smaller portions, I'm trying hard to lose the extra kilos. I hate the double chin, I hate the big fat face, I hate the big tummy, I hate the flabby arms! I miss the kickboxing classes back home...I want to kick and box the fats away!

Thank YOU for the fun, laughter and love!

Day 297

After 4 days of fun, life goes back to normal. I met up with Meiping everyday after the conference and it was so much fun hanging out together again. Lots of stuff to talk about, lots of jokes to share and the best part was, she knitted a scarf for me!! I think this is the first time someone has knitted something for me. Super touched! Love you deep deep! Haha.

Some interesting things that happened over the last few days...

1. I gave her my handphone number and asked her to send me a msg when she's here on Friday. No message on Friday night. I started to wonder if there's something wrong with me phone. Continued checking my phone on Saturday and still no message or phone call. Beginning to wonder if she knows how to call. Checked Facebook constantly to see if she sent me any message and finally, saw Kellyn's message to say that Meiping is unable to get through to me and asked me to call her instead. Immediately I sent her a message and got her reply! Yippie! We're meeting in the city on Saturday after her conference. When I finally met her and Eunice, she INSISTED that I gave her the wrong number and she tried all sorts of number combinations but none worked. She was adamant that she keyed in the number that I wrote in the FB message. I was certain that I gave her the right one so I started to search the messages to find it. And.....I was RIGHT. Then she said, "It was an honest mistake. My adminstrator was the one who did it." HAHAHAHA.

2. Because Eunice was around, we couldn't talk freely and thus had to fight for time to catch up while Eunice is shopping for souvenirs. The minute Eunice goes into a souvenir shop, the 2 of us will huddle behind shelves and yak yak yak away. Then when Eunice appears, it's back to polite talk. Haha. On the second night, Eunice actually said to Meiping, "You are quite good friends with Gin, hor?" When Meiping told me that, I burst out laughing.

3. Eunice didn't join us on Monday as she hurt her feet and the 2 of us were so happy! Finally no need to hide behind the shelves. I brought her back to my apartment and we skyped with zhi! We were chatting and joking around when suddenly, Meiping said, "Oh no, if I don't go back, Eunice can't go to bed because she needs to open the door for me!" She literally flew back to the apartment. She was feeling so guilty that she tried to make it up to Eunice.

4. She has been complaining everyday that the area that the conference is held is a "鸟不生蛋" area and there's nothing in the whole area except for a tabaret. I met her at the conference place on the last day of her conference and decided to surprise her. I walked her over to the other side of the train station where there's Coles, Gloria Jeans cafe, 7-eleven store and other cafes and restaurants. She walked all around the conference area and saw nothing but trees, apartments and cars. Oh well, all she had to do was to walk another 15 steps towards the underpass exit and she would have discovered them. Of course, she blames it on me for not telling her earlier. Haha. 2 words for her, 猪头。

I'm missing everyone back home, missing Rosiah, missing Meiping, missing Kellyn, missing Zhi...I miss all the fun, all the laughter, all the "suaning" and all the love! 等我, 等我！

有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎！

Day 292

Miss Cheow is here! She's here on a 4-days conference and I'm planning to meet her everyday!

Gave her my handphone number to call but she didn't manage to get through. Rezia and Kellyn sent me messages thru Facebook to get me to contact her and yes, I'm meeting her NOW! Leaving the house now to meet her and Eunice.

有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎乎乎乎乎乎乎乎乎乎乎乎乎乎乎乎乎乎乎！

Eat Out - Ajisen Ramen & Gogo Sushi (Japanese)

Day 292

We've been having jap food for the last 2 Fridays and I think this is going to last for a few more Fridays. Still waiting to get The Entertainment Book from Jiaqi and can't wait to put it to good use! 

The weather is getting colder and I had a carving for Ajisen's volcano sauce last Friday. It's a must-have whenever I dine at Ajisen in Singapore, regardless of what ramen I'm having. I just love the flavourful and spicy sauce. Yum! Thankfully there was a table available when we reached Ajisen, it was pretty packed even though it was only 6pm. The menu is a little different from SG's and they didn't have the combo sets that we always order. The ramen being offered were also slightly different, they didn't have Hotate Ramen so I went with Tori Karaage Ramen with a serving of volcano sauce. Mr Tan decided to go with Char-grilled Beef Ramen while Jasmine had the Tonkatsu Ramen. I also ordered takoyaki to share. The tempura looks very tempting butI know I won't be able to finish it so that would have to wait till next time.

Having a bowl of hot ramen in cold weather is a perfect combi. The soup immediately warmed me up. Though the sauce wasn't as flavourful as the SG's rendition, it did give me the spicy kick that I craved. The Tori Karaage was delicious. The egg was hard boiled and the yolk wasn't the soft and runny type. Sad. But luckily the noodles were firm and suited me well as I don't like soggy noodles. It might not be touted as the best ramen in Melbourne, but it is my preferred choice for now. I have not tried Ramen Ya and Kenzan but both Jasmine and Mr Tan who had tried Ramen Ya found it to be rather average. It's really up to individual's preferences I guess. The takoyaki was ordinary, nothing to wow about. I miss SG's takoyaki so much! With lots of katsuoboshi and mayonnaise!

 

Last night was sushi night. We were deciding between Yoyogi and Gogo sushi. In the end, we went with Gogo because it was nearly empty. Haha. Mr Tan would always choose the place with lesser people so he won't have to wait for his food and he can eat in peace. For me, I would avoid those places as there must be a reason why no one is eating there! We didn't know if the sushi will be fresh as we decided to try out a plate of sashimi first. That would decide if we stay or leave. Passed! It was fresh and the 2 japanese waitress were really polite and efficient. Thumbs up! They don't have the exotic sushi that we have at Kaiten, the presentation weren't as pretty and the whole deco was really simple but the quality of the food was acceptable. My only complaint is that the variety is too little. I wasn't really full but there really isn't any other food to order and it isn't cheap either. Eating at sushi trains are expensive, the cheapest plate costs $2.50 and Tamago's the only one on that coloured plate. Most of what we had cost at least $4 per plate and the total bill came up to $70. Perhaps that's why sushi trains aren't popular here. They are an expensive affair and if you are going to indulge yourself in it, why not go for the better ones?

 

 

 

 

 

Gin's Kitchen - Black Pepper Seafood Spaghetti

Day 288

This is my all-time fave and I never fail to have it when I visit Swensen's. That is by far the best Black Pepper Seafood Spaghetti I've ever had. Oh well, it isn't a common dish that can be found in most pasta places so not many for me to compare with. But still, I think Swensen's rendition is really good. Just thinking about it makes me drool......

Black pepper sauce, teriyaki sauce, sweet and sour sauce, thai sweet chilli sauce are some of my fave sauces. Mr Tan always says that I'm eating the sauce more than the food itself. I like to think that the sauce makes the food even more delish!

This is very similar to Black Pepper Seafood Udon, just that I'm using spaghetti and didn't add in any eggs to it. Also cut down on the sauces to make it a little less fattening (trying to deceive myself). I love both dishes so they'll be taking turns to show up at my dinner table. :)

Ingredients
- 100 strands of spaghetti
- 4 button mushrooms
- 6 green prawn cutlets

- 2 crabsticks

- 1 tablespoon of olive oil  
- 3 stalks of corriander (because I love them!)

Sauce

- 2 tablespoons of Lee Kum Kee Black Pepper Sauce

- 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce

- 1 teaspoon of soy sauce

- 1/2 tablespoon of sesame oil

- 1/2 tablespoon of Shaoxing Wine (optional)

- 1 tablespoon of black pepper

- 1 teaspoon of sugar

- 1 teaspoon of Knorr chicken powder

- 100ml of water
*Combine all together in a bowl

 Directions

1. Fill a pan with water, add in some salt and bring it to boil
2. Cook spaghetti for about 7 - 11 minutes or until al dente (follow the instructions on the package)
3. Remove cooked spaghetti from pan and set aside
4. Heat olive oil in pan
5. Add mushrooms, prawns and crabsticks and stir-fry till cooked
6. Stir in combined sauce into pan
7. Add spaghetti back into pan and mix well with the ingredients and sauce
8. Serve and garnish with my fave corriander!

Gin's Kitchen - Super Big Brekkie

Day 286

It's the weekend again! Time to have Super Big Brekkie @ Gin's Kitchen!

Ingredients
- 200g of spinach leaves
- 100g of sliced brown mushrooms
- 2 eggs
- 2 hashbrowns
- 2 slices of thin and crispy bacon
- 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter
- 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of oil
- 2 tablespoons of water
- dash of salt and pepper

Directions
Scrambled Eggs (I omitted milk as Mr Tan is lactose intolerant) 
1. Crack 2 eggs in a bowl
2. Add dash of salt and pepper
3. Add 2 tablespoons of water
4. Use a fork to beat the eggs well
5. Heat up a saucepan over medium heat
6. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter into the pan
7. Pour the beaten eggs into the saucepan
8. Let it sit in the pan for a few seconds until it starts to set
9. Once it starts to set, use a spatula to stir it off the bottom of the pan into the middle of the pan
10. Keep doing this until the eggs reach the consistency that you like (took less than 10 seconds for ours)

Simple Sautéed Mushrooms

1. Heat up the pan over medium heat
2. Melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter into the pan
3. Add in the sliced brown mushrooms into the pan

4. Sauté mushrooms until cooked (about 10 - 15 minutes)

Spinach

1. Heat up the pan over medium heat and add olive oil into the pan

2. Add spinach into the pan and stir-fry until they are cooked

Hashbrowns

1. Heat up the pan over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of oil

2. Place hashbrowns into the pan

3. Fry each side over medium heat for about 3 minutes until golden and crunchy

Bacon

1. Heat the pan over medium heat (DO NOT ADD ANY OIL)

2. Lower the heat and place bacon into the pan

3. Fry each side over low heat for about 2 minutes

WOA! Seems like a lot of cooking to do but they are really quick and easy to prepare! Super Big Brekkie is usually ready within 25 minutes, the only food that requires more time is the mushrooms so it's a weekend treat! On weekdays, only bacon, eggs and hashbrowns are served. :)

Gin's Kitchen - Teriyaki Chicken

Day 282

It has been a while since I last posted any recipe on my blog. The last recipe I posted was in March and the month of April was a very exciting one for me as Papa and Mama Goh came over to visit and we went to Gold Coast during the Easter Break. I'm still cooking dinner every weekday, I'm not lazing around ok? It's just that I haven't been trying out new dishes, I've been practicing on the ones that I've tried to perfect them! :P

Teriyaki Chicken is one of my fave Japanese dish and it seems like this sauce is really easy to make BUT I didn't make it. Haha. I need mirin and ginger juice to make the sauce and chances are, I will only cook this once in a while. The solution? Buy ready made sauce! I tried Kikkoman and found it too watery and salty. I prefer something thicker and probably sweeter. So I bought a bottle of Teriyaki Marinade from MasterFoods and I'm quite pleased with it. I searched high and low on the net and seems like Kikkoman is the preferred choice for many. There's another brand, Yoshida which seems to be getting positive reviews too. Will keep a lookout for it. If all else fails, I will buy mirin and ginger juice to make my own. I believe I can do it! Haha.

Ingredients
- 2 chicken drumsticks
- 6 tablespoons of MasterFoods Teriyaki Marinade
- 2 teaspoons of sugar
- 2 tablespoons of oil

Directions
1. Debone the drumsticks
2. Place meat into a transparent plastic bag, add sugar and Teriyaki Marinade and mix well
3. Leave it in the fridge for a few hours or even overnight
4. Heat oil in pan
5. Remove meat from plastic bag and pan fry the meat (skin side first) on low heat (caution: the marinade will be flying everywhere! so take cover or cover the pan with its lid)
6. Fry both sides until it is browned. Add in the remaining marinade in the plastic bag into the pan and take cover!
7. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes until the sauce thickens and the meat is cooked

I love my meat with more sauce and added extra tablespoons of marinade and water while simmering it. I prefer the sauce to be sweeter and thus added sugar. Saw a recipe that used brown sugar instead of white sugar, will try adding that the next time! It's not as good as the ones served in Japanese restaurants, will probably buy mirin and ginger juice after I finish this bottle of MasterFoods. :)

母亲节快乐乐乐乐乐!

Day 279

8th May 2011

Happy Mothers' Day!

合作力量大!  The 3 of us (Me, Bro and Mei) each did our part to show our love and appreciation for Mama Goh, Xiaogu and Guma on this day. Actually, I did the least this year. Haha. All I did was to search for the gifts, save the pictures and emailed them to Bro and got him to buy them on my behalf. Mei told me that she's doing cards for the 3 mothers and I simply said, "Remember to add my name hor." Haha. The power of delegation!

Bro's in the midst of his exams but he squeezed some precious time out of his mugging schdule and bought the gifts! Mei spent the whole Saturday night doing up the lovely cards and they look awesome! I'm so proud of the 2 of them! I guess I'm a good teacher. Haha. I've taught them well. Lol. 

Here's to Mama Goh, Xiaogu and Baobei Guma!
谢谢您们这些年来的爱与关怀，
因为有您们无微不至的照顾，
我们才能无忧无虑的成长。
希望您们身体健康，
希望您们一切顺心，
希望您们笑口常开！

 

 

Making Our Vote Count

Day 277

Being away from home didn't make us any less concerned about what is happening to the place we call home - Singapore. For the last 2 weeks, the election fever seems to have gripped the whole nation. Singaporeans, for many years, have not been too concerned about the elections. The ruling party, PAP, has been governing the nation for the last few decades and through the efforts of our founding fathers, the nation is clean, prosperous and the pride of many. I'm thankful that the founding fathers made life better for my grandparents, for my parents and for me. I respect them and salute them for their courage, their efforts and their foresight. I'm always proud to say that I'm a Singaporean, I love my country very much and chose a profession that allows me to do something for the nation. This is my home is and where my roots are.

For the past two weeks, we read every single article about the election, from Channel News Asia to The Temasek Review to The Online Citizen to The Satay Club. We watched every rally video that we can find on Youtube to listen to the candidates and some left a deep impression, though not all are positive impressions. Mr Chiam's video brought tears to my eyes. He suffered a stroke 3 years ago and never managed to recover fully. Looking at how he struggled to stand behind the microphone to speak to the audience pains my heart. It's painful but he never gave up. He's still fighting, fighting to be a voice for Singaporeans.

Facebook is filled with notes written by ordinary Singaporeans about their views, opinions and thoughts about the election. Some are very well-written and thought-provoking. How I wish I was in Singapore for this election to feel the fever! I have friends who commented that they've never felt more Singaporeans before. I've never heard a louder recitation of our National Pledge - everyone stood together, shoulders to shoulders, with their fist to their heart.

We, the citizens of Singapore,

pledge ourselves as one united people,

regardless of race, language or religion, 

to build a democratic society

based on justice and equality

so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and

progress for our nation.

This is the Singapore Spirit that has almost disappeared. This is the SINGAPORE Spirit that unites us together. This is the SINGAPORE Spirit that we want our next generation to feel and be proud of. If we do nothing about it, in a few years time, Singapore would probably have more foreigners than Singaporeans. What spirit is there to speak of then?

Tomorrow, we're going to drive 8 hours to Canberra to vote. It is a long drive, it's going to burn our entire weekend and our votes are probably not going to make any difference to the results but we're still going. We love Singapore, we love her too much to simply walk away. We want to make a difference, we want to be heard. The results might not be what we hope for but at least we've tried. We'll be able to hold our heads high and tell our children and our grandchildren proudly that we did try to make a difference.

Eat Out - Maedaya (Japanese)

Day 274

It's the third of the month again and tonight we're heading to Maedaya for dinner! Finally! I've been wanting to visit Maedaya - voted the #1 Japanese restaurant on Urbanspoon. It's famous for its yakitori and huge selections of sake. I'm going there for its yakitori!

I called Maedaya around 630 to ask if there are seats available to ensure that we'll be able to dine there. The friendly staff said there were lots of seats available! Yippie! We got there around 7 and were seated immediately. The diners were all angmohs and I didn't see a single Japanese. Not a good sign. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed. The complimentary fried renkon were delicious. They were thinly sliced and sprinkled with salt. They went so well with the dipping sauce. I was so tempted to order another serving of it.  Mr Tan commented that we can start buying renkon from Asian Grocery and frying them at home.

I'm on a diet so I tried to cut down on the food order but it's kinda tough because there are so many choices on the menu. Finally we chose Maedaya's popular Sumiyaki Set (5 skewers of yakitori - chicken thigh, chicken meat balls, pork belly, bacon and cheese and chicken breast I think), gyoza, vegetable and cheese korokke, tuna sashimi, soft shell crab and scallops hotplate.

Perhaps I went there with too high expectations, I was disappointed with the quality of the food. The yakitori that they were famous for were at best average. I thought the meat was not marinated long enough and they weren't basted sufficiently. I also prefer my yakitori to be slightly "chao tar" (charred) for a smokey flavour. I actually prefer the yakitori that I had at Menya.

 

The soft shell crab was alright, nothing special about it. Not something I would order again. The tuna sashimi came with sesame oil, soy sauce and mayonnaise. Hot sauce was poured over the tuna sashimi before mayonnaise was drizzled over it. All we could taste was the sauce, not the tuna. Mr Tan obviously didn't like it. He prefer to eat it fresh!

 

 

The scallops hotplate was rather disappointing as well. The scallops were coated with black pepper and garlic sauce. The sauce was overwhelming and the whole dish was too oily. The scallops were overcooked and lacked the chew. The ones at Shou Sumiyaki, though a tad more expensive, were definitely tastier. The vegetable and cheese korokke were very filling. The cheese were melted on top of each korokke but despite the cheese, the crust was still crispy but once again, very oily. This meal is such a huge blow to my diet plan. We were really full by the time the gyoza arrived. The first thing Mr Tan said when he saw them was, "So oily again. My lips are full of oil already." I quite like it though, the skin was thin and it went pretty well with the sauce that was drizzled over it.

Yes, other than the yakitori, everything else was full of oil. A serious case of oil overdose! For the price we are paying, I was expecting better quality food. The service was good though but we won't be returning for sure.