Monday, September 30, 2013

Irresponsible pet owner

Sighs... We have really inconsiderate neighbours. Yesterday morning, as hubby and I were to leave the house, he spotted a pile of poo at our corridor. This was like the 6th time we cleaned up after them. We had to clean the corridor before leaving and hubby was almost late for his appointment. 


Later in the day, hubby fired another email (yep we emailed before but no action was done) to the town council for help. 

Today they replied and carried out some action. I really hope the dog can read and be more considerate. 




Thursday, September 26, 2013

Foong Kee Coffee Shop - Roasted Pork

We went for delicious roasted pork for lunch. It was a coffeeshop located at


The place was crowded with many people. And pigeons. The pigeons are very irritating. They keep flying in and out over our table. We were so worried they poop or flutter their feathers into our food. It's so unhygenic. 

Back to the food. It was quite a wait due to the lunch crowd. We had wanton soup, chicken, char siew and roasted pork for 6 ppl. The bill totalling to $49.50. 

The charsiew was delicious, especially the charred parts but it was too fat. Lots of fatty parts.

The chicken and the wonton soup were pretty normal though. 

The best is the roasted pork. The crispy part is soooo crispy, the meat isn't fatty and you won't feel sick of eating it. 



Foong Kee Coffee Shop

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

A photo a day : Matcha McFlurry



It was dessert time after a sushi dinner. We decided to share a cup of Matcha McFlurry with Oreo chips [$2.80] from McDonalds. Available only for a limited period. I like it. 

Saw 2 new flavours for Mcflurry (I think it was available for a while, only that I didn't notice as Hot Fudge Sundae was my usual choice). Mudpie McFlurry and Strawberry McFlurry [$2.50]. Original McFlurry [$2.30]

Monday, September 23, 2013

Saturday, September 21, 2013

A photo a day : Oppsie



While doing laundry, I dropped two clothes pegs. It's my first time dropping a clothes peg and I had to drop two in a day. Haha clumsy me. 

Breakfast : McDonald's Chicken McMuffin with Egg



I had been seeing the McDonald's commercial of the "chicken or egg?" (Pardon my bad memory) for a while. And had been meaning to try Chicken McMuffin with Egg.  



This morning we went for it. I'm a little disappointed that the chicken is not as thick and crispy as it looks on the poster/ ad. But the melted cheese and mayo kinda made up for it. Of course, not to belittle the power of egg. Overall I like the McMuffin. But the hubby feels like he's eating Ramly burger. That, I agree a little too. Haha...


Thursday, September 19, 2013

Hifumi Japanese Restaurant

Lunch was at Hifumi Japanese Restaurant in Plaza Singapura. It's my first time seeing the restaurant without a queue. Haha. So next time, go during lunch. And there are alot of available tables too.


Here, we are entitled to the appetiser bar for free with every main course ordered. And it's free flow. Eat all you can. Nice. Top-up $1.99++ to get free flow of drinks (coffee, tea, soft drinks).
There are quite a number of appetisers. Feel spoilt for choices. And it is free flow. But considering my main course, I had better choose carefully and not have any food wastage. 


Chawanmushi. Lots of them. And to be honest. It taste really nice. Not the kind that "since it's free, we dilute the egg. Dilute the quality". Nope. It's solid quality.


My meagre choice from the appetiser bar. I wish to take more. But I better leave my tummy for my main.


My main: Katsu (Pork) Curry Set. $13.99++ - The curry is unexpectedly spicy (I have low tolerance for spicy food). I thought it would be the sweet kind of curry. The pork is a little too hard though. The accompanying miso soup is thick and has seaweed and dried beancurd in it.


I can't wait to go there again. Going to bring the hubby there to try out. Will have photos then.

Hifumi Japanese Restaurant
https://www.facebook.com/hifumi.sg
Plaza Singapura #04-68
Marina Square #02-106A

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Mid Autumn Festival - Mooncake feast

Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 is a festival which most Chinese celebrate with mooncakes and lanterns. The festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the lunar calendar, during a full moon.
Offerings are also made to a more well-known lunar deity, Chang'e, known as the Moon Goddess of Immortality. The myths associated with Chang'e explain the origin of moon worship during this day. One version of the story is as follows, as described in Lihui Yang's Handbook of Chinese Mythology: In the ancient past, there was a hero named [Hou] Yi who was excellent at shooting. His wife was Chang'e. One year, the ten suns rose in the sky together, causing great disaster to people. Yi shot down nine of the suns and left only one to provide light. An immortal admired Yi and sent him the elixir of immortality. Yi did not want to leave Chang'e and be immortal without her, so he let Chang'e keep the elixir. But Feng Meng, one of his apprentices, knew this secret. So, on the fifteenth of August in the lunar calendar, when Yi went hunting, Feng Meng broke into Yi's house and forced Chang'e to give the elixir to him. Chang'e refused to do so. Instead, she swallowed it and flew into the sky. Since she loved her husband very much and hoped to live nearby, she chose the moon for her residence. When Yi came back and learned what had happened, he felt so sad that he displayed the fruits and cakes Chang'e liked in the yard and gave sacrifices to his wife. People soon learned about these activities, and since they also were sympathetic to Chang'e they participated in these sacrifices with Yi. (wiki)
In the past, I used to gift mooncakes to our parents and grandparents. But as years go by, my parents decided that they prefer the confectionary mooncakes, and not the "branded" mooncakes.

This year, we went ahead and bought mooncakes, but only the durian mooncakes. Both mothers like eating durian. The hubby and I went to our usual (many years ago) place, Takashimaya Atrium, to purchase a token of our filial piety.



These mooncakes look so special. But sad to say, they taste very normal.


And here I thought that this set of mahjong is actually a tray of mahjong mooncakes. It's parlines.


And we got our durian mooncakes from the Four Season Durians. Look at the price list. Aren't you amazed by the 100% Mao Shan Wang durian mooncake (box of 4 pieces) at $128? Haha.. We only bought the $56 Pure D24 durian mooncake (box of 4 pieces).


The freezer full of the durian mooncakes.


Haagen Dazs icecream mooncakes. Pretty mooncakes.


Our buys. All as gifts. I wonder if we will get to eat any mooncakes ourselves? haha...


Tuesday, September 17, 2013

A photo a day : Wedding Invitation



Received a girlfriend's wedding invitation today. I like the design. If you fold the invitation card, you will see either「娶」or「嫁」, depends on whether you are the groom's or bride's friends or relatives. 「娶」is to wed a wife. 「嫁」is to marry a husband. 

Monday, September 16, 2013

Worried

It has been a long day. The morning had been laced with worries and more worries. They went away only in the late afternoon. A word from her and we were assured. But the peace did not last long. Newfound worries surfaced.

At least we know she is safe. For now. 


Saturday, September 14, 2013

Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20

With a $50 birthday sponsorship from girlfriend, Chyi, (ya I finally used the vouchers) I got myself a tinted moisturizer from Sephora, by topping up another $19. Happy with my buy. It's a moisturizer and a sunscreen and a "foundation (not sure what term i should use)". Multi usage product. Good for lazy people like me. I got the Nude colour as my skin is pretty oily and it will oxidize the product, which in turn will make my face a darker shade.


The Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20 is oil free and suitable for all skin types especially for oily and sensitive skin. It provides ideal oil free protection from harmful and damaging rays of the sun. This unique formula helps to control oil breakthrough while providing hydration to prevent dryness. Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20 gives skin a healthy ‘no-makeup’ look with a soft hint of colour that evens and enhances without hiding the skin.


Laura Mercier
http://www.lauramercier.com

Mobile App : Rhonna Designs

Came across this photo enhancement app, Rhonna Designs, a week ago, and it has currently became my favourite fine-tuning app. By enhancement I meant adding customised text, present quotes, patterns and graphics.

Hmm I had only realised that the app costs S$2.58. But I had downloaded it for free. Lucky me, to be able to chance upon it. And I think this app is only available in iTunes store and not in Google Play Store. Double lucky.


I love this app. There is a range of type faces for the customised text, not a lot, but enough for now. I like the preset quotes and graphics, though my photos seldom fits the quotes. And I like the mask feature, though not very flexible and a little complicated. Took me awhile to understand. 


Personally, the only two negative points to nitpick about the app, are:

1. the lack of filters and ability to adjust the brightness, contrast, etc to what I need. So before bringing in my photos for enhancing, I would first colour edit the photo in Snapseed. Hopefully in future we can see more functions. 

2. the size of the editing canvas is set to square. I can't save it to the original dimension. Of course, this is good and easy for Instagram -ers to edit and then post without having to worry about cropping wrongly. Maybe in future they can enhance to be like the Line Camera, adding on options for different crop camvas. 

Still, it's my favourite now. Visit Rhonna Designs's official website for more information. They do provide video tutorials.


Download and try out Rhonna Designs. Beautify your photos by strengthening the message with shoutouts and graphics. 

Some of my recent #rhonnadesigns photos. 

A photo a day : You can't run or hide....



Meows.. You can't run or hide. I see you....

Friday, September 13, 2013

A photo a day : Take a break, have a candy



V went round and gave us a Asahi Mitsuya Cider candy. Taste really nice. Fizzes in the mouth. 

Did a google search on mitzuya cider. It's a japanese carbonated drink that started in 1884. Wow. I guess it's like our cola candy. Haha...

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsuya_Cider

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Unlucky day and a cat-full evening

Today was a pretty unlucky day. We had intended to go Chinatown for hot pot, but as we neared our location, we realised a jam, and then realised that today is the day of the light up ceremony of the Mid Autumn Festival's lightings in Chinatown.

Then we decided to go East Coast Park for dinner and a stroll. The food centre was closed for renovation from August till November. Oh man.. A wasted trip.

Then... We continued and headed East to Bedok, 85 Bedok North Street 4. Luckily, there's alot of food, but at the same time, alot of people. haha.. It was a pretty long wait for our orders. Nevertheless, a happy and satisfied dinner after so many obstacles. We did not get to try the Bah Chor Mee, since the theme today is seafood. We had fried hokkien prawn mee, oyster egg (omg, the egg is THICK <3) and otah & chicken wings.


Bedok seems like a place full of cats and I met alot of the kitties there. So besides Changi Village, Bedok is the next place to get kitties photos. haha...







Friday, September 6, 2013

A photo a day : A patient cat



A stroll after dinner brought us to this cat. The cat is very interesting. Usually when I approach any cats who is either deep in their sleep, or busy with their spacing out session, it will turn to me in curiosity. This cat, whom we assume is waiting for the person who feeds it, is very concentrated in staring at the top of the stairs and only turned to look at me for less than 3 seconds after I hovered around for a while to find a better angle/lighting.

Comex 2013 - the third IT and electronics exhibition of the year

Comex 2013 is held at the Singapore Expo Hall 5 and 6 from Thursday 6th September to Sunday 8th September 2013, 12pm to 9pm. The third IT and electronics exhibition in Singapore for the year.

The hubby needed a cheap and low specs laptop for his studies. The laptop only need to support software like the Office Suite and PDF reader, since most of his assignments are in document form. Words and writings.

And we found one. Cheapest of all and the booth threw in three freebies, which were not included in the brochure. Hidden find. Yay~ And the sales person was telling us we are the last 4th getting this promo laptop. I believe him as the first booth we went to, did not even mention about the additional stuff.


The specifications of the laptop:
  • Dell Inspiron 14 (Label code: 3421-32125SG-W8-BLK)
  • Intel Core i3-3217U processor
  • 2GB DDR3 SDRAM (Free additional 2GB RAM)
  • 500GB HDD
  • 14" WLED HD LED Display
  • Windows 8
  • 1 year InHome Service
  • Free Dell backpack
  • Free 24 in 1 package (optical mouse, earphones, card reader, USB hub, etc)
  • $599 (limited stock)

The hubby is happy with the buy.


Here are the freebies


Wednesday, September 4, 2013

A photo a day : Chinatown shophouses



Morning greetings from Chinatown. Love how these shophouses look. Pretty ain't they?

Hungry Ghost Festival - the last day

A month has past in the lunar calendar and today marks the end of the hungry ghost festival or the 7th month.


Daddy has got seats at the 7th month event which he helped out every year. Two of my uncles and one auntie, my dad's siblings, also helps out every year. It's an event organised by a distance relative, who is also a fengshui master, medium of gods and fortune teller (i think).


The dinner started quite late at around 8.30pm at the void deck of a block in Ang Mo Kio. But when it started, it was sure happening. The first auction was bidded was by the big boss, whom is a client of the relative. $9898 for a mountain of oranges. Daddy said that mountain is VERY heavy when he carried it up on stage.


Anways, we did not stayed till the end and left around 10plus. We were both very tired. Though we wanted to send Daddy home, he "knocks off" only after 2am. haha..

Monday, September 2, 2013

Standing Sushi Bar

Hubby suggested we go for cheap cheap sashimi for dinner today. I had been wanting to go to the Standing Sushi Bar ever since.. ever.. lol. The promotion items were so cheap, but it was not easy to find people or time to go there.

Hubby attempted to call the outlet at 5pm to make reservations, but no one picked up. And I tried at 6pm. The lady relayed that the reservations for the night were full but walk-ins are still available. I rushed down and reached at 6.20pm, and was fifth in queue. The restaurant looks crowded, but we were seated after a 20 minutes wait. Happy.


And we ordered. Quite a number of food to choose from, but other than the promotion items, the ala carte were considerably expensive. Kind of expected it though.

Salmon Sashimi - Here's 4 sets of 5 slices, total 20 slices. Each set costs $3. The salmon were thick and fresh. Nice. We looked around and found most of the tables ordered the sashimi. Lots of sashimi. Haha.. A MUST have on a Monday night.


Cold Sake - Each glass at $2. Neither hubby and I had sake before. Either cold sake is not nice, or we are not used to it. Tastes.... weird. I'm thinking of the latter haha... Should have ordered Asahi ($5).


Fried Salmon Skin - $4 - From the ala carte menu. Crispy and tasty but too little haha.. Really just a snack for a beer session.


Oyako Don - $10.90 - From the ala carte menu. Pretty normal, nothing special. Comes with a bowl of miso soup.


Garlic Fried Rice - $7.00 - From the ala carte menu. Nice, but a little too salty and oily.


Our total bill came up to be $41.69, with 10% service charge. I would definitely come back again for the salmon sashimi and beer ^^ I love promotions.

When we left, it was only 7.45pm, and take a look at the place. haha.. Crowded with a long queue. I'm glad we had finished eating.


** Psst... I checked in to Foursquare and shared in on Twitter and... I got a reply from Standing Sushi Bar @standingsushi. haha... How sweet of them~


*** Please pardon the lousy quality of my photos. A lethal combination of a noobie in dim lightings with an iPhone5.


Standing Sushi Bar
http://standingsushibar.com/
8 Queen Street Unit 01-03 Singapore Art Museum Singapore 188535 | Tel: +65 6333 1335
8A Marina Boulevard B2-51 Marina Bay Link Mall Singapore 018989 |  Tel: +65 6634 7068