Cherish Life’s Precious Moments

Before i show u the video, there is nothing to do with KFC’s meal, especially since i don’t take chicken.

However, the very first time i saw this commercial, it set me pondering.

And i must say that KFC is very very successful in their promotional campaign, since it got me intrigued and waiting for their next ‘Cherish Life’s Precious Moment’ video on 4th Nov 2011. Well done KFC!

There’s 3 commercials so far but this is by far the best and the most to-think about.

Enjoy.

And this is the expanded version as compared to what we have seen on TV, which is a pleasant surprise.

***Maybe it’s time to go try out their KFC Brekkies soon! =)

Amazing Performance, and more amazing kindness

Well, once again, i’ve appeared on blogsphere, after about 1 month.

To update my life for the past 4 weeks:
1) Ran Singapore Half Marathon with a PB, but get this; i walked 11km back to the finishing line, as my right knee decided to kaput on me.

2) Ran We Run Singapore 10K last Sunday, and once again, the same knee kaput on the 5th km, and i came back with the worst ever timing for a 10k. Am taking TCM to strength the knees, and is awaiting for next week to start running once again.

3) I’m gonna move. Not house. But i’m moving into another industry to work. And i must say the job progression and the benefits are really much better compared to a Local-owned family business. There was some drama behind the letter submission. But all was good. =)

Now, to the main subject of this post.

Yesterday, PK shared on loving people fervently. About the little Egyptian man that David could have (and understandably) abandoned, but he did not and chose to rescue…. To the core Vision of the church.

Showing of UNEXPECTED KINDNESS.

If you read today’s New Paper, you would have come across a write-up on this guy. Amazing voice, but i want u to focus on the UNEXPECTED LOVE showed to him and his brother, by his mother.

Enjoy. And please, have a tissue on standby.

This amazing woman, changed the lives of 2 boys who were born during a war. She gave them not just a way of survival, but she gave them love, and to a greater life ahead for them.

We Run SG 10K Run – 09-10-2011

Last year i was in a mad frenzy waiting and waiting and waiting for the Nike Run to open. And was really happy to have made it.

I look forward to running Nike once again. And i’ve been doing quite a fair bit of neck stretching for a bit….. Until my Birthday. It has finally open!!! :)



Contrary to what a regular marathon predicted as per like other years that it will happen in late October, the date was confirmed to be on the 2nd week of October.

Which is fine by me….. even though i have a Half Marathon 7 days before…



Doing 2 runs within 2 weekends…. does it make me… Hardcore???? LOL.

Anyway, last month was horrendously busy, but i still managed to do a 16.8km KOTR run. And i got a present from the race….

***GROSS ALERT***



Well, my foot looked ugly, but that’s beyond the point. My 3rd toenail is in the renewal process for the 2nd time this year. Not too bad an idea.

Well, for my next run, with proper running socks, i can only hope for the best that i won’t lose anymore toe nails. Just got some stability socks for $12.90 (like they are just socks….why so expensive. But to justify, it’s Made In Bulgaria)

As at Blog posting time, i’m already 31 years old and 4 days old. I’ll post up thank-yous in my next post…. which i hope to do so tomorrow.

September is another crazy month, with 3 sessions of tuition for the next 4 weeks till PSLE’s over. And yes, more running in preparation for the next 31 km to conquer for this year. =)

AYAM PENYET RIA (Indonesian Food)

I am no foodie, but i do enjoy good food, especially after a day of hard work. Now in this season, the stress is boiling up when it’s only about 3 months to go before my kiddo’s PSLE takes place. And yes, the syllabus is getting harder by the week. It’s not just kiddo that’s racking her brains trying to solve the mathematics problems. I’m literally squeezing every ounce of brain juice trying to make it understandable for her.

Ah, the perils of over-using your brain. You get drained very easily. And it’s a day like this that i need some good food, and to reward myself. And for some reason, my all time favorite 莆田 is not what i crave. Instead, my mind drifted to this obscure shop hidden besides NTUC in Jurong Point Basement.



This is what i ate. It’s called Smashed Soft-shell Crab. (I dunno what it’s called in Malay, except it’s Penyet something-something)

This is what i have to say, on the overall:

Presentation:
As above. It’s pretty original, with the wooden bowl. Adds authenticity to its Indonesian roots. Nothing too fanciful. Just something simple and complete.

Taste:
Surprise, surprise, Surprise! It has actually exceed my expectations! Usually, when i eat Softshell Crab, it’s either too oily, and overcooked and comes with this oily feeling in my mouth. But, this softshell crab is very good, fried to its goodness. =D i like it! Their chilli could be spicier, i think! *slurp.

The vegetables are cold though, and i don’t mean the lettuce. If they are a bit warmer (and not feel like it just came out of the fridge), it will be fantabulous.

My rating: 4.25 / 5

Customer Service:
Before i go on, i have to say that i was the last customer of the day. So it’s not a totally fair review of their service level.

Considering that they are about to close shop for the day, i must say that they serve the food within 5 minutes of ordering. However, i feel that their ‘after-sales service’ is kind of lacking. 5 mins into my dinner, i asked one of the waitresses for more chilli. So she pointed to a counter and spoke incoherently.

What she wanted to say, i do not understand. So i assumed that she didn’t understand what i wanted. So i asked another waitress, who asked this same waitress to pass me what i wanted…. Anyway, i got my chilli, but i wasn’t very satisfied with the service provided. I nearly had to walk to the counter to get my chilli (for a moment, i wondered if i’m at a fast-food joint where i have to self-service?)

My rating: 2 / 5

I know this is not exactly a fair review, since this shop specializes in AYAM (Chicken) Penyet. But hey, my intention is to introduce this shop. And i’m pretty sure their Ayam Penyet is good. I wanted to eat the Bawal (Promfet) Penyet, but it was sold out. =( Next time, i’ll definitely try that out.

I definitely will eat this again, with lots and lots and lots of chilli! Ayam/Bawal/soft-shell crab Penyet rawks!

叫爸爸... (nope this is not the Weiken commercial)

Just last week, i came across the funniest clip ever seen this year. And i finally managed to see it online.

It’s most enjoyable in Mandarin. Enjoy! =))

What can i say about this clip?

Communications is the key to life! And kids really can think of the darnest stuff. This kid must have watched way too much drama!!

Hahaha!!!

This is one clip that i will always laugh at! =D

Have you heard of the GOLDEN OREO?

It arrived onto our Singapore shores about 1 month ago.  And apparently, it hasn’t hit onto our Dark color-and-cream/blueberry icecream/Double peanut and chocolate filling fans as yet.

I present to you…. The GOLDEN OREO!!



I started noticing it in the stores a few weeks ago,. Usually, new things attracts my attention. And strangely, i hasn’t even seen any commercials about it on TV as yet. The last OREO commercial i remembered was the one with the blueberry ice-cream filling. And nope, i hasn’t tried that.

I was walking inside a shop yesterday, trying to fill my hunger and not wanting to snack on the delicious-and-u-better-run-5km-in-repentance potato chips. Then then i saw the Golden Oreo in a pack, together with the rest of its kind, oreos.

And there it was, a perfect Golden Oreo.

Now, u know the original OREO comes with a dark-colored base (i think it’s chocolate), with a cream filling. I grew up eating that. As time goes by (and people age and taste changes), i realized that i am not into chocolate, and/or Oreo. 

So when i saw a GOLDEN oreo, i just gotta buy one and taste it for myself.

Now, it’s supposingly VANILLA, and the cream filling seem to be the same as the original one. WAIT! Do i taste….. Maple???? =)

It’s so different from the original one.  I like it!

I took it to office today, and surprisingly, NOT A SINGLE ONE KNEW ABOUT THE GOLDEN OREO! But a colleague who sampled it find it really nice and not as ‘harsh’ as the original one.

And seriously, why did GOLDEN OREO take so long to come here??? It was already in Thailand, France and many other places. Well, never late than never. =)

Found a Golden OREO commercial, which is kinda interesting. Watch below.

Food from 莆田 - YUMMILICIOUS!

I dunno about you, but i realise that as i slowly grow in terms of age, i don’t desire things like MacDonald’s. Ok, have never been a fan of that actually. Now i don’t even try to step into my all time favourite Fast food joint (Mos Burger). 

Maybe it’s because of age, and maybe it’s due to my stomach isn’t as fantastic as before, where i can down like lots and lots of chilli. I realized i’ve grown to like home-style cooked food, which is not too oily and great tasting.

Just a month ago, my colleague tapau-ed 莆田’s food for us, when she was at JP. I’ve never eaten their food before, and it was a new gastronomic experience for me. I’ve heard about 莆田, where a cg member said that it’s very good. That, coming from someone who’s in the food industry, it’s definitely something that can be believable.

Anyway, that first time, led to a second time. And it was today. And it so happened that it’s a ‘bad stomach day’, because i drank a cuppa. Hmmmm i enjoyed the cuppa, and ‘enjoyed’ the other stuff that comes together with a bad tummy. My desire to ease the discomfort is just for simple and nice tasting soupy stuff…… and 莆田 came on the top of my list. 

The best part, i was the last customer of the day. Haha. So, i had the restaurant to myself… Lol.



This is called 农家擦粉, a specialty of  莆田.

It consists of a mix of bee hoon and maybe some kuey teow, and then it was cut to small strips to be easily picked up using your spoon. The ingredients consists of good stuff, such as prawns, scallops (mamamia!!!), diced silken tofu and wonderful tasting soup base.

The best part is that it’s not salty, and coupled with their 莆田 chilli, it’s so nice!!! The best comfort food for me!

And this bowl cost $6.90, and it’s a super duper big portion. I struggled to finish 80% in 30 mins, despite it be so delicious. 

Can i have size XS bowl the next time?? =)

My ratings: 4.5 out of 5

*** Ok, maybe i’m biased, because 莆田 is something like Hokkien-styled food???  i love the food…. it’s even better than some of the 煮炒. Not too oily, not too salty, and i get to dine in comfort. =)

I will definitely eat there again. =)

Go to www.putien.com for menu, as well as branch locations.

Long Sheng Million Fish ball Noodles

I hasn’t really been recommending a lot of stuff for quite a while, especially when the laziness blogger blocks sets in. And i hope that u see that i’m really repentant by blogging a lot more.

Anyway, i was supposed to be running, and yet there were a lot of things on my mind on what i needed to do today. I needed to get the Top Schools papers for tuition tomorrow, as well as to run, as well as…… x 100 things.

The run didn’t happen. And i ended up eating fishball noodles at this place near to Jurong Gateway Road, next to the CPF building, where it’s just a road past the POSB Bank.

Seriously, there were 2 fishball noodles stalls at the same coffee shop. One of them is the Koo Kee YTF, which is one of my favs. And the other one is this stall called Long Sheng Million Fishball Noodles.

 
It looks promising, really.

Now, before my verdict of this fishball noodles, i need to clarify that:

a) This is purely my own view, it does not represent anyone else

b) My benchmarking of fishball noodles consist of a few very good imo fishball noodles, namely the West Coast Market (facing bus stop) Fishball noodles, the fishball noodles at West Coast S-11 (near to West Coast Post Office), and Sin Hing Hock Kee Coffeeshop fishball noodles.

c) Everyone will have differing views of what they have on food. As they say: One man’s meat is another man’s poison

This is my verdict of Long Sheng Million Fishball noodles:

Soup: 4.5 of 5
This is the very first thing i tried. And it was surprising good, albeit a little bit salty. I like it that the 冬菜 aroma is in the soup.

Fishball: 4 of 5
The fishball is QQ on the outside, and yet warm on the inside. And it doesn’t have much of the fishy after taste.

Noodles and chilli sauce : 3.75 of 5
The chilli condiment is good, shiok. But the noodles was kinda disappointing. The moment i put it in my mouth, i nearly thought i was eating kuey teow (actually i ordered mee pok). It’s way too soft, and doesn’t have the Q-ness at all.

But i may be wrong, cos, who knows, the mee kia will do really well?

Ultimately, i will say that i will go eat that again, if i bypass that place again. I think their fishball soup will sell really well, as compared to fishball meepok. :)

Before i forget, this is the address of Long Sheng Million Fishball Noodles:

130 Jurong East Street 13 #01-211 S600130

Food Review : Togi Korean Restaurant

Today was a lazy day for me, and i got to laze in bed, until i got a wake up sms for Lunch.

I was initially told to meet at Tanjong Pagar for our Kimchi Lunch date (are the restaurants open on Sundays there???)…. and the location was changed to Chinatown (cause restaurants aren’t open in CBD on weekends).

Seriously, i’ve never eaten at an authentic Korean restaurant – the only Korean food i ate was only at Foodcourts (and usually they fall very short of my expectations, with crappy kimchi). So actually, i wasn’t THAT excited to eat at a Korean restaurant.

My kakis took me to this authentic Korean restaurant in Chinatown, which is among Mosque street, and i must say, it’s quite a cosy place, and the place was quite crowded. And we took our orders of food.
 
This is the appetizers.

(R1 L-R) : Ikan Bilis, Bean sprouts, braised potatoes
(R2 L-R) : Achar, Kimchi, Spring Onions

And, it’s so yummy! We even get to have refills of it! Even the Kimchi is so delicious (totally unlike those eaten at the foodcourt). I heard that the Koreans eat just these appetizers with their main meals. Wow!



This is the Spicy Rice cakes. It’s not too spicy, but the chilli is really good. This is the first time i ate rice cakes. And it’s very appetizing, and filling (at blogging time, i’m still feeling quite full from the rice cakes, despite it being at least 10 hours that i ate this). Love it that there’s the seaweed.



A closer look at the rice cake. It simply just oozes the spicy sauce, and with the seaweed…. it’s totally Sedap! :)



This is the Tofu and Seafood soup. Not too bad, but it comes in a small bowl. 



This is the grilled Saba Fish. Underneath the layer of fish meat, is a crispy skin, which i devoured in enjoyment. My kakis were kinda amused that the base can be eaten. And by the time we finished, the only remnant was the bones. (No ‘after’ pictures shown here)

All in all, i was very happy with the food, and yes, in my kaki’s words – You won’t wanna eat Korean food in a food court, ever again. And, i am actually looking forward to eat Korean food again.

I won’t give a rating for this, until i eat at another Korean restaurant. But i am sure this won’t be my only time at this restaurant. :)

U can eat these yummilicious authentic Korean food (and more) at:

Togi Korean Restaurant
Address: 11 Mosque Street
Number: 6221 0830
Nearest Mrt : Chinatown

So my kakis, let’s eat Korean food again, soon!! :)

 
 

My Favorite iPod game: Angry Birds

Ever since i’ve upgraded myself from the PSP to iPod Touch in March this year, i’ve been exposed to the very magnificent world of Apple Apps store, as well as the many free games that we will download into our machines.

As u know, i initially wanted to get an ipod nano, so that i can sync it with the Nike Application. After some careful and very practical thoughts, i’ve settled on the iPod Touch. This also exposed me to many many wonderful games that i’m still playing today.

One of the first apps that i’ve installed is Angry Birds. I started with the Lite version, and oh boy it was fun fun fun!!! And i wasn’t even thinking about spending any money on apps. But u know, when u repeat something so frequently, u know that it gets boring over time.

Until one fine day, i decided that i need more than just playing the same few levels, and i paid USD0.99 for the full version of Angry Birds. I didn’t look back from there. Cos up till today, i’m still trying to finish all these levels.

After all, it’s one of the top game apps on iTunes store, even until today. And the fight between these birds and those silly green pigs will not cease (and the levels will continue to grow), apparently, their peace treaty didn’t work out. Don’t you love continuation of this game, and the quarrels between these 2 silly groups?

Disclaimer: My blog is still very family friendly. There’s a few words used that are offline from my non-vulgarity policy. Despite that, have a great laugh!!

And oh yes, ANGRY BIRDS is my all time fav game on my iPod!

Movie Review: The Chronicles of Narnia : Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Considering that this is the first of the Chronicles that i’ve watched, i must say that it’s really quite good. :)

Initially when a fren asked me along for the movie, i got kinda worried. Cos the movie was adapted from a series of books by C.S Lewis. And knowing me, i will not potong jalan and skip the first 2 books.

Like Harry Potter’s movies, i’ll go read the book, digest it and then go watch the movie. To me, that will be really relating to the book.

For The Chronicles of Narnia, i didn’t read a single book, hasn’t watched a single movie. All i did to prep for the show, was to watch the trailers from the very first movie, and also read Wikipedia about the Chronicles of Narnia.

What about the movie (spoilers alert):
- Snobbish cousin of Edward and Lucy, who showed forth Greed, and became something else, and in the process became instrumental in saving Narnia.
- The adventures depicts a lot, besides greed for money (a few times), desire for power, coveting your neighbor’s house, desire for vanity.
- Aslan made a brief appearance. And i liked the part where he said that he will appear to the children’s life as another PERSON. haha.

My rating: 4.45/5

(my fren mentioned that some parts are kinda boring. i like it that it’s not sinister as HP7, and only some intense parts. Great graphics).

I recommend watching it. :)


Ps: Yeah i know, i’ve disappeared yet again on blogsphere for yet another season. I Will Be Back. With better and quality entries. :)

我问天... 为何台湾龙卷风来袭？

If you are living in Singapore, this is one song u will definitely be able to hum to the tune, whether if you are a Hokkien or not.

As long as u have a TV set at home, u will know this song, whether if u like it or not.

This song is the theme song for 爱 the Channel 8 show at 7pm, everyday. U read me, EVERYDAY!

And it’s very hard to miss the show. It hounds you everyday.

Though i watch more 台湾龙卷风, but i’m still quite in sync where the plot of 爱 is concerned.

It’s an interesting trend where Taiwan Chinese-translated-from-Hokkien is slowly garnering a big fan base here. Not forgetting the jokes where kids just says the darnest things, such as:

‘7点要做爱了’

(They are just telling someone that 爱 is gonna start showing at 7pm…. bleah)

Let me list down a few reasons for its growing popularity:

1) People need soapy, draggy drama with at least 300 episodes. Who doesn't love megadramas?!
爱 is about 700plus episodes. Singapore’s showing up to about 400+. Another 300+ episodes of dramas. 台湾龙卷风 has 345 episodes. Drama’s still boiling in Singapore.

My favorite: 台湾龙卷风 (more business-like, and more scheming drama)

2) People love and hate the baddies in megadramas
In 爱, the hated characters include:
-郭聪敏 (the guy who's narcissistic, who cheats women of their money, and ended up stricken with cancer. Screen time ended)
-谢明明 (the bitchy woman who married twice, cheated the first husband, and got played out by the 2nd one who schemes to cheat her money. she's still as 贱 as ever. U really love to hate her)

In 台湾龙卷风, hated characters include:
-叶美琪 (man-crazy woman, who's consistently stubborn, and unrepentent)
-黄平秋 (unscrupulous businessman, who betrays his own family, and ended up having a taste of his own medicine. He portrays as a useless bum these days. Very 贱 character)

My favorite baddie: 黄平秋。。。。 贱to the core of his being. It makes me shudder and yet i wonder: how is it possible that someone in real life is as 贱 as him??

3) People feels sad for those very 命苦characters in the show. Ahhh, don’t we love sappy characters!
In 爱: There's this blind gal called 娃娃, very poor thing. All because of 谢明明
In 台湾龙卷风: Yvonne was a very poor thing. Was raped by 黄平秋, went ballastic and went mental momentarily, and then was harmed to death by 叶美琪.

My favorite sappy character: Yvonne. Drama-max in her life. 


U might have realized :I love Hokkien-translated-to-Chinese Hokkien dramas! Though i’m not at the stage where i’m CRAZY about them.  i think they are even better than the 偶像剧. They are just way toooo exciting (albeit draggy)!!

Cheers to Hokkien Drama!!! Am proud to be a Hokkien (though watching more of these shows doesn’t/hasn’t improve my spoken/listening language in anyway,HA!!)… Oops, age is really catching up, i’m getting to be more LKK (lao koko if u know what it means)


Upcoming posts:
1) Celede Brekkie (OMG this is more than 2 weeks overdue)
2) Standchart Marathon!!! Oh yes, it’s 2 days away!!!

For a Bigger Challenge in 2011

Every since running came invading into my life, i’ve been feeling quite happy. It’s the sweating it out after a shitty day, and the eudophins just come rushing in. Not forgetting the adrenaline rush and the joy of torturing oneself completion of how much u wanna run.

As of 20/11/2010, i’ve completed:
1) Singapore Passion Run – 10km
2) Nike City 10K Race – 10km

The upcoming Standchart Marathon is happening in another 15 days.

Being in the FIT CLUB in the cg, allows for fellow runners to support one another, share great running tips, and train together. And we are looking forward to more runs.

In fact, the run that is on my radar is Sundown Marathon 2011. Since early this month, i’ve been periodically checking out the website to see when will next year’s run be open.

Its run is set on 28/05/2011. According to the website, the registration will open only in December 2010.

After the Nike Run, i felt that i can run more. And believing for greater breakthroughs in the area of running is concerned for me. And i was seriously contemplating that ‘maybe’, i should try for Half-Marathon (21km). But of course, the registration wasn’t even open, and i didn’t think very much into it.

Until this faithful afternoon. I received an sms….. And i jumped…. in excitement. SUNDOWN IS OPEN FOR REGISTRATION!

And i know that in my heart, i’ve already decided that 21k is THE race for me.



This was what i posted some time earlier.

When u post something like this PUBLICLY…… it may/can/does look grandiose, but talk is cheap, until ACTION happens.

And i’m very happy to announce that



Half-Marathon, i’ll conquer you in
6 months, 1 week and 1 day’s time!   

So from now on, no more 5km mini-runs. I will run a minimum of 7km in 1 seating. And yes, i need to run more and more! I need to be much more disciplined than ever!! And yes, it takes a leap of faith for me. But i believe, that i can conquer this distance! =)

Phil 4:13
I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me!

Before Breadtalk is, Delifrance was, has been, and still will be (to me)

Recently, i’ve stopped eating all the Fried bee Hoon / Mee in the morning, and opted for bread. Which is part of healthy living.
16Days (and counting) to Standchart Marathon 2010.

I was randomly looking around at Jurong Point, when i came across the Delifrance shop, and thought to myself that it might be a good idea to get some breads there.

I’ve always have a good impression of Delifrance, since my Post-secondary days. During those times (which is like about 10 years ago), there wasn’t any Breadtalk or Four Leaves. All we had was our neighborhood confectionary shops. Delifrance during that time was literally atas and very the high class.

I remembered having delicious Sultana Rolls from Delifrance at Tiong Bahru Plaza while walking up from the Mrt, bypass the Shop and then to classes. And the smell of fresh bread was just too overwhelming for me to miss any of the breads or pastries. i could the same bread every other day!

Back to my visit to Delifrance.

I was just browsing through the bread shelves and came across a cute muffin. And i know that i wanna buy and eat it!!!



After looking through the description, i realized that it is actually french bread. 

If i’m not wrong, this bread is only available during the Christmasy season. Cos this bread is called Rudolph. =D

Besides this bread, i’ve not forgotten about my favourite Sultana Roll, and so i got 1. Talk about trying to lose the weight!!! Hahaha.

When i was paying at the cashier for the stuff, i was expecting to have them packed in the all-time familiar Delifrance paper bag. But, they didn’t!

They packed it in a cake box.



WOW!!!!!!

Actually they wanted to pack the sultana roll separately into a paper bag. So, the environmentally-conscious me asked them to just put everything into the very nice box.

And to top off the atas look, the cashier put it into a plastic bag.



WHA…. for a moment, i thought i was at Bakerzin. WAKE UP!! WAKE UP!!!

Not forgetting the very personalized services of the cashier. He held the package for me while i kept my change and thanked me, with a smile. =)

Great service!!!

I tell u, i (nearly) couldn’t wait for the next day to eat my breads! Just the thought of opening up the box made me salivate!! 



SALIVATING YET?? 

The Sultana Roll has never failed me. I love having that all-time familiar crispy and yet lightly sweetened taste in my mouth.

As for Rudolph, the ‘snow’ is made of sugar icing. The cherry is additional taste for me. After a few bites, i realized that this bread contains some dried fruit, which makes it exceptionally tasteful.



Yummy!!!!!! 

This trip to Delifrance has rekindled my passion for its breads once again. I wanna buy my Delifrance brekkie again! Really soon!!! =)

Delifrance has always been the most high-class bread to me. Since 10 years ago, now, and counting. Even though to many people, Breadtalk / (insert confectionary shop name) is their top bread, but to me, Delifrance is THE No 1 bread.

Wanna try some Delifrance Bread? U might see some DELIFRANCE EXPRESS CORNERS at selected petrol stations. Not forgetting the Bistros, Cafes and Bistros-at-Hotels.


  
 

Brekkie food Review: Knorr Instant Porridge

I guess i’ve been watching quite a lot of TV. I know, because i’ve watched enough commercials to single out one that made me wanna try the porridge.

Knorr is known to produce chicken soup cubes.



But this commercial that caught my eye, is about porridge.

OK. There were times where i my maid/mother spice up the soups with chicken cube, and it will taste really great. Usually 1 is enough. But porridge??? Hmmm…

i told myself i gonna try it. Besides, porridge is appropriate food for dieters for me. Hehehe.

And i totally didn’t do anything until 2 Sundays ago. I was just walking at IMM’s GIANT and looking at Brekkie food…. Browsing at all the cereal foods and randomly walking until i came across the section where all the chicken stocks are. And, lo and behold, i saw the shelves filled with the porridge.

Besides, it’s selling at a great price of $2.45 for 2 cups!!!

So i bought 2 cups.



This is the WHITE porridge.

As u can see on the label itself, this is mushroom flavored with some bits of egg on it.



This is the ORANGE porridge. It’s filled with carrots and comes with crabmeat bits.

This is how it looked like when it’s opened.



There’s this aluminium package in side, which looked squashed. But when u open it up…..



U can see how the burbur (porridge) bits are segregated from the ‘soup base’. I estimate the segregation to be 70% burbur bits,30% soup base.

Open up everything and dunk everything into the soup. And fill to the indicator on the cup WARM water…. and the rest, we follow the same instructions as to how we prepare cup noodles.

Just before i wanna throw in everything into the cup, and thinking ‘HUH…. NO spoon????’, there’s a plastic spoon hidden below the aluminium pack. So, i used it to steady the lid while the porridge is being generated.



++++ 1 min ++++




++++++2 min +++++




OPEN SASAME!!!!!

This is how the WHITE porridge looked like.




This is how the ORANGE porridge looked like.




I ate the 2 cups or porridge for brekkie over 2 days. And this is the verdict from me:

1) Amongst the 2 cups, the WHITE one smells more appetizing. However, it proved to be a bit too salty for my liking. I had to down quite a bit of water.

2) The ORANGE one is not as appetizing in terms of first smell. But, i must say, it’s the nicer of the 2. It’s not too salty and it has a slight sweet taste (due to the carrot)

3) Not a bad option for brekkie. If i didn’t remember wrongly, each cup is about 170 – 190 calories. =)

Knorr Porridge comes in 3 flavors:
- WHITE porridge (mushroom)
- ORANGE porridge (carrot)
- YELLOW (Chicken)

My review : 4 out of 5.

Close to 1 year and loving it!

It has been about 1 year since i’ve embarked on my exercising regime.

Seriously, it hasn’t been easy, trying to motivate myself to go to the gym very regularly. Not forgetting the laziness and the food that will lure you away from the gym

Hasn’t it been Diana, who encourages me to start going out to the running track to run, i think i’ll still be stuck inside the gym, aimlessly. Now, i’m enjoying my runs. In fact, without running a minimum of 4km in 1 seating, i will feel Shiok-not!

What started out to exercise this year, has changed me from needing the air-con to exercise, to loving the running track. And to date, i’ve finished 2 x 10km runs, namely the PAssion Run and the Nike City 10k Race. And i am looking forward to Standchart Marathon in about 4 weeks.

Even though i do run a lot on the track, but most of the time, while running, i’ll lost track of how far i’ve run. And on the track, it’s not like in the gym where i can see how far and how fast i’ve ran.

I got an IPOD Touch, where the Nike + Application has been there for the longest time. I’ve been quite an apple-idiot, thinking that with the app, i’ll be able to track my run. I am only half correct.

Without a sensor, this application is rendered useless.

And i know that Nike does sell the shoes where u can put in the sensor. And i didn’t even know that i can get a clip holder for the sensor to use the app, until after the Nike Run. Really Slow sia!!!

Anyway, it’s a good thing that i’ve learnt, and so i’ve gotten my sensor from Nike Shop (it’s retailing at SGD29.90). And the Clip Holder, i’ve bought from Challenger (retailing at SGD16) or RunningLab.

With this sensor and my very clever IPOD Touch, i can catch my run.



It’s quite in me to track my runs. And so far it’s great. I’m just hoping i won’t drop my sensor somewhere…. (i have 998 times to go before i need to change it!) 

Challenge of the Pyramidz

My cg is almost (totally) won over by Apple.

Though i’m not one of the iphone owners, but it’s really kinda fun when we challenge one another at beating scores of games. And for us BB users, we are mostly Apple-Berries. We hold an ipod Touch. We can also join in the fun. :)

Just yesterday, a challenge came in the form of a game that’s found on Iphones and Ipods.


At first look, it may seem like Bejeweled Blitz, but it’s a totally different game altogether. 

It’s more challenging. And it’s addictive. To the max!!!

I downloaded the game this morning. And being so addictive, my ipod battery barely lasted 12 hours. >.<

This is my highest score to date.


At press time, the highest score among us got broken, at upper half of 24k.

If u are bored, especially where u are travelling looooooong distance , this is a great game to play. And yes, prepare your iphone battery pack.



 

 

SG vs KL Nike City 10K Run

It’s Finally OPEN!!!

I’ve been searching and googling repeatedly to search when the race is coming, but to no result.

WHEN IS THE RACE OPENING????? ONE WEEK BEFORE THE RACE?????

And all the insider tips of opening in August did not happen.

And i was still waiting aimlessly……. Until my cg member told me that it’s already open and there’s a registration form online.

WHAAAAAA???? KONG SIMI???

And it turned out, i need to register on Nike Plus first, and then the registration can be done from there.

At first, i viewed the process of registration on Nike to be quite a chore, but realized that it’s actually quite good…. Can map my run. Pity the part that i don’t have the Nike Sensor (i have Nike+ on my iPod) and shoes.

Within the next 10 mins, i’ve registered for the race, and i’m counting down 1 month and 20 days to my run. =)

And in time with the registration, my ipod armband has finally arrived in the mail, after 5 days of neck-stretching, and waiting for it to come. Sweet!

Looking forward to training more for my race!!! =)

Gonna get fitter and stronger, and healthier. Cheers to a great decade!

Rid Out Tea Garden

It was just a thought to meet up with Mich over breakfast on National Day morning….. At MacDonald’s. From a simple thought of having brekkie at Clementi Mac evolve to a 24-hr Mac that i’ve never been before. And boy oh boy, it was great, that i come into contact with Nature once again.



Seriously, when Mich said that there’s such a place called RIDOUT TEA GARDEN, all in my my 29 years and 11 months old, i’ve never heard about such a place!! I mean, i know that there’s a Mac there, but never knew how to get there.

Our adventure started with taking bus 105 from Clementi Interchange where we stopped at Queensway (the road, not the shopping centre), and after some walking and crossing of an overhead bridge, we reached the always-crowded Mac.


Photo Credit: Michelle

I don’t remember what i ate, but it consisted of a Big Breakfast meal plus 2 hotcakes. And the natural surroundings made the breakfast more yummy!

There’s a small pond which have some fauna living in it.



Turtles …. Terrapins???



They certain enjoy life sunbathing in the Sunny morning sun!

There are some structures like this right behind Macs. And it’s so charming, despite being in the hot sun.



I feel like lazing inside the hut with a good book and some wind blowing in my hair. 

Right behind Mac is Far East Flora. And it’s just natural for us to walk in to explore this place further.



One of the first plants that greeted me was the Brinjal plant. Never knew they could grow out of a pot.



This is an Orchid plant that grew on soil. Doesn’t look like one.



Purple Orchids. Just right, for our Nation’s birthday. =)



I like the way this flower is glowing. And its name describes it all :Gloxinia

 

My science teacher will be proud that i can still recognize this as the Venus Flytrap. It doesn’t look as scary as the ones we see in our science Textbook….

Besides all these, there are other floras that we saw.



Gardenias



Violets



Parsley plant. Might be a good investment if u are into Italian pasta cooking.



Nerve Plant. I thought it’s quite nice :)

There are many other plants that we saw and snapped, and i’ve uploaded them here.

There’s one particular one that i like it much more than the others.



Do u see a ‘person’ that’s doing something like ‘YAY’?

I liked it so much, i paid $4 and took it home. Hehehe. 

*****
Rid Out Tea Garden is a good place to find some peace and quiet in the midst of some unhealthy breakfast. I never thought that going for breakfast would lead me to find such a haven where i get to experience nature and coming into contact with floras once again. I was so mersmerized by the many flowers there that i thought that i’m going 花痴. Hehehe.

It has also rekindled my passion to grow plants in my room. I hope my Crassula will survive at least for the next 6 months. =)

If you are interested to bask yourself in nature with Mac Breakfast somewhere Central-West of Singapore, you can consider RID OUT TEA GARDEN.

Address: 580 Queensway, Singapore 149066

     
 

Movie Review: Inception

If there’s only 1 movie that you will watch for the whole year of 2010, this is THE MOVIE.

I won’t give any synopsis of this show, because it’s hard to give one – i dunno where and how to start. Cos there’s so many places to start from! And every part is kinda exciting, and yet it shows the inner emotions of the protagonist

Despite watching it late at night, i can fully appreciate the detailed-ness and the way that the show makes me think – A LOT. There hasn’t been another show that made me think this much. And I LOVE IT!

Sharing whatever that i think will lead to a spoiler, which is not what i wanna do. I want ppl to watch the movie.

If you are someone who is very low in ‘I’ (DISC Personality), and probably very high in ‘C’, you will enjoy this show greatly.

But for a pure ‘I’ person, maybe this show can come across as boring and hard-to-understand.

Whatever it can be, this is a must watch.

My ratings: 5 out of 5
(FYI, i’m someone low on ‘I’ and high on ‘S’ and ‘C’)