363: Shopping Haul at Fairprice Finest Bukit Timah
After baking the scones, I decided I wanted to ‘get out’ of the house. Although the weather out there was terribly hot, I decided to brave the hot scorching sun to do some ‘marketing’ at Fairprice Finest Bukit Timah.
Here’s what I got!
(From left, clockwise): Carman’s Dark Chocolate Cranberry and Almond Muesli bars, Carman’s Yoghurt Apricot and Almond muesli bars, Taiwanese Kyoho grapes, fresh Arugula (wild rocket) from Australia, fresh chicken thigh meat
I’ve decided that lunch tomorrow will be grilled teriyaki chicken thigh on a bed of fresh Arugula! I’m trying to attempt the Mcdonald’s Chicken McGrill salad! I haven’t tried that before but the pictures on the adverts look super good. And yes, Kyoho grapes! They’re in season so I had to get one of these boxes. Love the sweet wine taste of the grapes (plus they taste like japanese gummies). And I had NO IDEA Carman’s have two new versions of their muesli bars. I used to have a Carman’s muesli bar in my bag when I go for classes in uni. So when I’m hungry, I can just unwrap the bar and pop them into my tummy. The Yoghurt and Dark Chocolate versions look so good only because yoghurt and dark chocolates are just two of my favourites! So I got them!
Hehe! Washed Kyoho grapes for tea! 🙂 Yummy yummy!
317: Delighted (The King’s Speech)
Had a lot of fun with a friend of mine yesterday. It was a really impromptu meet-up which started from a mere sms the evening before. The original plan was to catch “The King’s Speech” and I’m so glad that we did. The hall was packed full but the audience was a pretty good bunch. Most importantly, there were no giggling or whispering schoolkids and no disturbances from the munching of popcorn and chips because I don’t think “kids” younger than I am would be interested. I saw mostly adults in their twenties and even in their fifties. But the film was good!
It was a really very inspiring film, with really great acting from Colin Firth (ooh good ol’ Darcy from BBC’s Pride and Prejudice) and Geoffrey Rush (whose name sounds so terribly familiar but I cannot recall why). And there was also Helena Bonham Carter (Olivia from BBC’s Twelfth Night (my good ol’ literature text back in secondary school) and also many Tim Burton films). The storyline was fairly simple and it was just about how the Duke of York (and then King George VI) overcame his stammer. It may be simple but there was a lot going on and I was quite moved by it. And delightfully amusing at times. Lionel and Bertie 🙂
The soundtrack was simple (I love that there was just simple piano and strings), not exceptionally memorable but it really suits the film very well. I’ve chosen TWO of my favourite tracks here.
02 – The King’s Speech
12- Speaking Unto Nations (Beethoven Symphony No 7 II)
After the film, we combed the mall to do some shopping. It’s been a terribly long time since I’ve shopped physically at the malls. During busy times, I’ve mainly been shopping behind the computer screen (which can be terribly addictive too). But well, shopping physically is just so therapeutic. We were both faced with times when we had to choose (decisions decisions!). We were pretty terrible in resisting because in the end, we gave in to both. I love all my loots from F21 ♥ (:
But after paying for our items, the feeling was really good. Triumphant? Haha (: When girls shop, we practically go crazy. And it was a really amusing scene to see all the husbands and boyfriends and kids sitting in a row just at the entrance of the F21 storefront. The thought that’s probably resounding in their heads was probably “the women….”, complete with some shaking of the head with disapproval. Haha but I was a happy girl at the end of yesterday.
252: Brazilian Nut and Linseed Spread!
It was really random. I was out shopping at NTUC yesterday afternoon when I was browsing the racks of health and organic food. This jar caught my eye! I was looking at Adam’s natural peanut butter earlier on and was pondering whether to get it but decided against it because I still had a bottle of Skippy “Unnatural” peanut butter. But this was different!
It’s brazil nut and linseed spread! It’s all natural also, you have to mix the top oil layer with the bottom chunky nut layer until it resembles a spread! Brazil nuts are rich in selenium and a selenium-rich diet is good for acne prone skin too! The label read that one shouldn’t exceed 2x10g servings per day!
I was planning to spread it on toast for breakfasts! But I decided to put it into good use first by making a new batch of granola. I haven’t made granola for ages and since school was starting soon, I wanted to make some for breakfast on some days too.
And I just heard a piece of exciting news from Mummy! She was telling me that she saw that Rail Mall has Cedele! I’m so happy! That is terrific news! But I tried goggling it online but couldn’t find any news about the Cedele Rail Mall outlet. Well, I hope it’s true.
Edit: YES! I saw the huge orange Cedele sign over at Rail Mall just now! HURRAYS to yummy and healthy breads, cakes and sandwiches/burgers from Cedele! I want to try the cakes, especially the famous carrot cake!
251: New Tart Mould!
I got a new tart mould! A medium sized 18cm tart mould! I can forsee what I’m going to make with that lovely tart mould. I see lots of fresh fruits like strawberries, blueberries, kiwifruits and peaches! A mixed fruit tart. As for the filling, I’m thinking chocolate, mascarpone cheese or custard. We’ll see.
The best part of my tart mould is that it’s only $2! Yes, it’s from Daiso and it’s made in Japan (and not China)! Lovely! 🙂
I had quite a great time shopping at the nearby Daiso yesterday afternoon all alone! It’s great because I’ve a new Daiso outlet so near my place! And it’s great shopping alone! I like being alone and having my me-time sometimes too.
194: One Day Visit to Melaka
Took a 3 hour bus journey yesterday to Melaka for a one-day school industrial fieldtrip. It was quite fun, a short get-away and I managed to catch up with some friends, whom I usually have no chance/time to interact with during busy schooldays.
The best part of the one day Melaka trip is the FOOD!
We had lunch at this rather famous Nonya food restaurant, Restoran Ole Sayang. I googled it on the net and discovered that it’s a pretty famous restaurant in Melaka. Quite a few bloggers also reviewed this restaurant before. The restaurant is pretty cozy, with Perenakan elements in the simple interior decor. It gave me a very homely feel. The food was really good! I didn’t managed to capture all the dishes but took a macroview of the dishes.
The dish I had the most impression was this prawns dish with assam(?) gravy. The gravy wasn’t viscous, it was watery and had the texture of curry. But it just wasn’t curry, it was like lontong gravy. I could tell that there was dried shrimps (hae bee) in the gravy and I really liked it a lot. It was a little sour too. The friends were saying that it’s assam. I’m not exactly sure what I was eating but it did taste really good!
The tahu telur was good too. The chilli on the fish was yummy too. The food was just really good!
And I love the chendol too. The terrible weather outside was just killing me. The chendol was like a lifesaver in this mad weather! Somehow, it tastes really good, different from what we have in Singapore. Much yummier!
I’ll be back in Melaka next Sunday for a 3D2N getaway with the family. I’m hoping that we’ll be able to try this restaurant again. And that is if we can find our way there and the family is willing to explore.
Bought some Portuguese egg tarts home for the family. But they were not as nice as those I’ve had years ago cause I bought these at a convenient bakery in the shopping mall we went to. Will need to hunt down for the nice ones I had years ago when I return next week.
Dropped by San Shu Gong (三叔公) and picked up some Melaka/Malacca delicacies. Bought a box of tau sar piah (green bean pastries), beh teh soh (马蹄酥) and 2 packets of peanut and taro/yam cookies with coriander leaves. This is the yam cookies with coriander leaves! I love these (:
Doesn’t Pumpkin look like a shark here? SUPER ADORABLE.
Edit: I realised that the dish I was raving about is called “Udang Masak Lemak Nenas” or Pineapple Prawn in Spicy Coconut Milk Gravy, it’s apparently one of the signature Melaka Nyonya dishes. Found a recipe by Nyonya Pendek Melaka featured in this website -> here.
192: Beautiful Saturday Morning
0730h – Woke up and took a peek at Pumpkin’s cage.
0731h – The little rascal was awake and in his usual self again. I heaved a sigh of relief. (:
For the whole of yesterday and the day before, this little guy was a little different from normal. He was looking really listless the whole of yesterday. It must be the horrible weather. It’s terribly terribly hot! So I brought him into my room for the whole of yesterday (he’s usually in the sheltered balcony) and turned on the air-conditioner last night while sleeping so he could enjoy it too. I was really worried because he looked really tired when I came home last night. He did not seem to have any energy to play with me last night and was just lying (preparing to fall asleep) on his exercise wheel again. No matter how I tried to persuade/coerce him to play with him, he lay on the wheel staring at me, not moving an inch. Usually when I open the cage door, the curious Pumpkin would try to sneak out. But last night, he was just staring up at me, looking really tired.
So I was really glad that he’s back to his normal self again.Eating, running about the cage and he attempted to sneak out when I opened his cage door this morning. I brought him out of his cage and he’s running everywhere again. He loves my sleepwear, he’s always trying to bury himself in it. Definitely a good sign (:
And I had a lovely breakfast today. I bought my FAVOURITE FAVOURITE MILK PAN (MILK BREAD) from PROVENCE BAKERY at ION Orchard yesterday! It’s been a long time since I’ve ate my milk pan because I haven’t found the time the past many months and weeks to drop by Holland V or Ion Orchard to get my breads. Since I was at Ion doing some shopping yesterday, I decided to drop by Provence to get my milk pan and wassants. The milk pan is ever so popular, the tray was empty but I found some on another shelf, freshly baked. I could see the bakers baking more milk pans through the see-through glass panels. The last few times I had milk pan, I bought them at Provence at Holland Village. I was disappointed then because I felt the standards of the milk pan have dropped. But the milk pan I had this morning (bought from Ion Orchard) was really good and was of the very standard I tried the first time! It was super heavenly! The bread was ever so soft and the milk custard within was really milky and fragrant! The wassants I bought and I ate one right after I bought was surprisingly better than the ones I bought the last time at Holland V. Strange huh? But my friend M was telling me that she felt that the breads at Provence Ion were better than those at Holland V. Why is this so? Hmm, nevertheless, I LOVE PROVENCE MILK PAN! I wish I could have it just everyday. But they are ever so popular, there were countless of times when I dropped by Provence to find the milk pans unavailable at the moment. So I count myself lucky that I got one yesterday! YUMMMM:)
191: Korean Ramyeon and a Tiny Bit of Shopping!
I was watching Episode 11 of Prosecutor Princess yesterday and Ma Hye Ri’s ramyeon looked super delicious! So I started having ramyeon cravings too! So I decided to cook some korean ramyeon for lunch today. Very simple, just korean ramyeon with an egg and some lettuce. Somehow I like my egg done this way. I separated the white and the yolk! Added in the egg white about 2 minutes after I added in the noodles and stir the noodles and the egg white with the chopsticks (the main purpose is to achieve clumps or strands of white in the soup broth). Then, I added in the egg yolk and left it to cook for 1 minute. The interior of the egg yolk will still be partially runny and flowy but achieving the right viscosity I like! And I enjoyed my ramyeon a lot, super delicious. (:
Did some shopping in town after lunch. I bought myself two sets of ear studs! One of which is from Diva, on sale at SGD6. I was looking for the full set of Russian Matryoshka dolls ear studs but they were unavailable. BUT I saw that this set had a pair of Russian doll ear studs too. I had to get it!
And subsequently, i got another set of ear studs from Forever 21. I got them in white. There were a few variations – black, pink, turquoise and white. Mum told me to get the white ones since they looked more classic. If Mum wasn’t here, I think I would get the white, pink and black ones! I’m so glad she was there to stop me from getting more and spending more! I bought a pretty long necklace with lovely fabric beads from Forever 21 for Mum as Mother’s Day gift. I saw the exact/similar necklace over at Accessorize this afternoon retailing at three times the price (around SGD33.90).
The sis will be back from Cambodia tomorrow so we’ll be going to the airport to pick her up tomorrow. And maybe, we’ll drop by IKEA for lunch. I want to eat my swedish meatballs and I want to try the Daim cake! And then, in the afternoon/evening, we’ll be going to Botanic Gardens for a concert!
I’ve been really really excited about the concert. It’s YTL Concert of Celebration 2010. I had no idea this concert existed. Uncle and Aunt are employees of YTL so they got extra tickets for the family. And guess what! Andrea Bocelli is the main perfomer of the night! The main reason why I’m going there is because I’m a fan of Andrea Bocelli! I enjoy music, lately I’ve been hooked to korean pop but my first loves are classical, classical-crossover and instrumental/new age music! Back in secondary school, I would hang out at HMV’s classical/instrumental music section. There was a time I felt so guilty because I splurged on 3 classical/classical-crossover albums/CDs at one go. Some of my favourites are Josh Groban (HUGE HUGE fan of his!), Kevin Kern and Secret Garden. The sis is going because Delta Goodrem will be there! She will be one of the guest stars in the concert as well. I like Delta Goodrem as well, I used to like some of her songs back when I was in secondary school/JC.
And on Sunday, it’s my littlest cousin’s birthday and Mother’s Day. We’ll be having a mini celebration over at my littlest cousin’s place. I can’t wait. The highlight of the day will be yummy chocolate eclairs!
Alright, I can’t wait! Eventful eventful weekend with the family, here I come! Somehow the house feels way too quiet with Sis out of town. I’m so glad she’ll be back tomorrow. (:
Rina's Silly Musings 