Art that I do not understand

Barn in Hangar

House in Dinosaur

Old gates. I like taking photos of old things.

Love the temporary Toast Box joint. Here, my new blue box (courtesy of D and F) takes a rest.

Up the stairs. Love the old stairs too!

Ditto old spiral staircases.

 

Quirky

My first time up the control tower. The scale-like design is just like the old (and new) St. Andrew's School.

Ye Olde Kallang Airport.

In the garden.

Ok, there are lots of things I don't understand about modern art. So I looked for my own kind of art at the Singapore Biennale. Buildings. Photos. Food.

I leave you with an artwork of my own :)

Kallang Airport in Miniature by Manda (1/1).

Where in the world is Manda?

Just another sunny day.

Workers putting the finishing touches to the large moat-like water feature.

This is why wardrobe de-cluttering is essential.

Our skyline has never looked better.

(p.s. still figuring out the new blogger editor but enjoying it so far!)

Monday

I had a packed weekend and I'm a little unusually tired this Monday
morning. Looking at this goofy photo I took at Universal studios
cheers me up a little :)

And the most corny award goes to...
At the end of the ride, the staff member went, ok eveybody, it's time
to move-it-move-it out of here...

Manukan Island

Here are photos from my recent getaway to Kota Kinabalu with the family.
I had such a good time.

We made a day trip to Manukan Island (on a high-speed boat, what a thrilling ride) , which is my kind of perfect island. A quiet place to set up your hammock, have a picnic, dip in the waters, relax.

Check out the size of the fish in the waters! I'm missing the place already.

For details on how to get to the island or others like it, read here.

Giraffes

I told my mum that this reminded me of her & me :)

Photo via jo... who kapo-ed it from someone else...

Battlestar Galactica

Did it! :)

Where In The World Is Manda?

At universal studios Singapore, of course...

Bye Changi

At the best airport in the world.

Things I'm thinking about

1. Saving for a rainy day...and re-examining my goals and wish-list.
   
2. The needs of an aging population (1): Health - so, so important. I just made an appointment at the podiatrist for my dad. I wish the Clarke Quay branch hadn't closed down but meanwhile, I shall be glad that the sgfootcare centre is still operating at Ang Mo Kio. Dad was cheesed off with the receptionist at a local hospital that shall remain unnamed... that's what happens when he makes his own phone calls...
   
3. The needs of an aging population (2):Still on health. Did you know that touch community services has a programme to support caregivers?? I suppose you only start bothering about things like this when you're in need, or your friends/colleagues are in need. The fact that lots of my colleagues are a decade older than I means that I've been getting glimpses of what might be in store a little further down the road. Colleagues' parents are going for operations, not to mention my colleague's mum just had a stroke and the said colleague has consequently been going through various trials in finding a suitable maid. Anyway, there is a wonderful thing called the Caregivers Training Grant that allows you to get some free training for yourself or your maid in the area of how to care for the elderly (up to $200 a year for each elderly person/person in need being cared for). The Grant is only available through approved institutions that offer the approved programmes, which cover the needs of the elderly as well as for special needs like children with autism. Amazing. I wish more people knew about it. Pass on the info, folks.
   
4. The needs of an aging population (3): Employment, or something to pass the time. So much more can be done in this area. Today's Straits Times' recruitment section for retirees is...empty. I think the day will come when an online portal like S'pore Jobs Online will have a section for retirees with more options, not just 'Cleaner / Security / Retirees'.

Thoughtfully yours,
Manda

Bak Chor Mee

Lunch time!
Comfort food on a Saturday.

Random Photo Day!

Spotted while on a Saturday morning walk.

I was walking; the cat had other plans.

Bang-Kwang Photo

As promised, a photo of the bang-kwang. Eat with lettuce, popiah style. Accompany with home-made chili. Potent stuff.

Saturday Breakfast

My love for the everyday enjoyment of moments & things is pretty obvious, I think.

After the morning marketing, we stopped for some makan. Chwee-kueh. Kopi. DEEP FRIED carrot cake. F&N Cherryade.

I love how a saturday morning at the kopi-tiam feels. It's a chaotic, messy, come-as-you-are affair. Slightly dirty but in a D-rating-means-good-food kind of way. I enjoy seeing the hustle and bustle of aunties and uncles ekking out a decent living. The sight of families eating their morning wanton mee and prata kosong. Aunties having their morning kopi-o-siu-tai, with cookies brought from home (none of that no-outside-food business here).

So the marketing is on the table. We eat, relax, chat. This is communal eating (eat your heart out).

CNY Visiting (Moderately random pix)

I hardly ever do much visiting at CNY.

This year I was invited to a colleague's for lunch.

Photos from the visit:

Old school sweets!

















And a spot-the-dog contest! I was amused to see the dog blend into the carpet.






















The End!

Stir-fried pork for dinner

On the menu tonight.

I can add one more recipe to my repertoire, but boy did the cooking go by in a whirl.

1) Prep: We used rib-eye, sliced into strips. Add dark soya sauce liberally to season. In a bowl, dissolve some corn starch in water, as seen here.


















2) Cooking begins. Into the pan goes oil, chopped garlic. Then the black bean paste (tau chio), maybe a generously heaped spoonful. And some of my mother's nasi lemak chilli (oil, garlic, onions, chili, blended & fried), but she says sliced red chillies can be used too. It's got a bit of a szechuan taste, she says. Stir vigorously. Ingredients used are shown below (no need for salt for this dish because of the bean paste used):


















3) Add the pork to the aforementioned pan. Expect lots of sizzle!! An exciting dish, this.

4) Pour in the corn starch mixture when the pork has been suitably pushed around and shown who's boss. Ok I just said that to amuse myself.

5) Turn down the heat, leave the mixture to simmer. This simmering (plus the corn starch effect) makes the pork softer & smoother.

6) Wait patiently for dinner time.

Sunday teatime: sweet & savoury

At the Wet Market

Today we take a walk through the wet market!

The aunty in a dried-goods store is busy, busy, busy. Next to her is a fresh coconut grater, you don't see too many of these nowadays. I love the wide array of goods on display.


















Luscious veggies. Er I think this is spinach.














I know what these are. Yummy. Water chestnuts are great boiled and eaten as they are. Or made into a cooling drink. Or chopped into tiny bits, mixed with minced pork, and wrapped into crunchy wantons. And of course lotus root is great for delicious soups.


















My brother doesn't like this spiky-looking vegetable. But I do! Grate the skin off, slice into chunks, and stir-fry with egg...voila.















At the fishmonger's! Love the weighing scales hanging from the ceiling. I like the batang fish - the one that's got the grey skin and costs $5 apiece, seen here. When fried, the fish splits into neat quadrants.



































We bought mangoes. They're sweet, said the vendor. Eat them tomorrow, he said. All the shops I passed by looked suspiciously like their owners had undergone training on how to better display their wares (lifelong learning, indeed).














We queued up to buy Char Siew and Sio-Bah. It felt rather satisfying to be lugging home food to put on the table and food to be cooked tomorrow, to boot!


















I do so look forward to my Saturday mornings... till next week!

POSB Ang Pows

I actually prefer long ang pows so that the cash doesn't get creased.
But these small square ones are quite cute when you put them together.

Dinner with my godmother

So, valentine's day was spent with my Godma. If and when I get my own
kitchen, I'd like to whip up cosy dinners with thoughtful little
touches too.

Yummy.

Random Photo Day!

Cheesy, but it makes for a funny photo. Hee.

Making Bang-Kwang

Bang-Kwang: The filling one finds in popiah.

So today I have a potluck lunch at a colleague's place. I'm bringing home-made bang-kwang.
It took my mum & I about 45 min to make, including the times that I got in the way with my photo-taking and amateur skills. We started at 7am, and mum is now reading the papers, feet propped up on the table, ahh what a life.

We start with the basic ingredients: turnip and carrot. My mum is quite cute as she obligingly moves aside to accommodate my camera getting in the way.














We bring out the Benriner Japanese Blade.
But first, a warning:














Memo to self:
Use the medium blade next time. The fine blade made the turnip too thin, like mee sua.
The knobs to tighten the blade are underneath.
And there's a 3rd knob to adjust the height of the (errr what do you call it) platform on which the veggies are cut.















Ok let's cook!

The large pot gets oil and diced garlic. Once slightly yellow-brown, put in the carrots, followed soon after by the turnip, followed soon after by salt (to taste. I used 2 tiny heaped spoons) and dark soya sauce (aggaration, as always. Basically to get the bang-kwang to a slightly more pleasing brown colour.). Stir, leave to simmer.

The smaller pot is for boiling prawns. Once boiled, the water gets strained into the bang-kwang, and the prawns are peeled and sliced separately. These are the prawns that my mum bought from Chinatown before CNY, and we'd already de-veined and de-whiskered (Do prawns have whiskers? Well those whisker-like tendrils on prawns. Do prawns have tendrils?).



















Stay tuned for the end result!

[8:30am. NTUC is open, says mum, should we get another turnip to re-do it properly...?]