Gomashio

First introduced to black sesame dessert by my brother. He loves his dessert. Black sesame with soyabean curd! Yuks! but after a few spoon of the smooth sweet black paste, I was hooked. Two weeks ago at the japan food fair organised by Isetan Super market I spotted the bottled black sesame paste. Eaten with cheese crackers or bread. Had it with my morning bread and butter. Less calories than eating it as a dessert.

Frying in the Oven

The oven in my kitchen comes alive for the occasional baking and roasting. Other times, it doubles up as a storage space for all the baking trays and sorts. While browsing at the bookshop, I came across this book. After flipping through the pages, checking if the food presented is suitable for homecooking, I was convinced. I just had to own. It'll save me time cleaning off all the oil fumes and splatters in the kitchen. 3 steps, Prepare all the ingredients, marinate, into the oven it goes. Presto, dish is really. And the fact I recently acquired a supersteam convection makes this cookbook a must. Written by a Ms Jo Marion Seow, a Home Econ teacher with MOE, shows, how using the oven, to fry crispy teriyaki chicken chops and thai pandan chicken with just the oven. Braising curry chicken and steaming dum chicken briyani. So for a start, Tonight, stingray with tom yum paste, cooked in the oven.

Numbers reveal

The interpretation of the spoilt vote figures reveals the votes' feeling. In the papers today:-

"Spoilt votes was lowest in five constituencies where opposition parties fared the best. Hougang 1.13% whereas the national share of spoilt votes was 2.17%.
There were fewer spoilt votes in closely contested wards, or where the opposition was more viable, because the voter perceived that his or her vote was more likely to make a difference.


The percentage of spoilt votes was highest where PMLee(3.01%) and DPMTeo(2.85%) led teams against relatively weak opposition.


Where WP was the party challenging the PAP they were willing to vote for the opposition. But if there were no compelling opposition candidate , they would rather spoil their votes in protest"

Hot & Hotter

It's been hot hot and very hot over the last few days. First it was the election feverish excitements, drummed up by the various opposition parties then there's the weather.
Yesterday 9th May must be the hottest. A check on the the inbuilt thermometer in the car showed 37C. Even the cold shower taken in the evening, was warm. My thoughts are with the many foreign workers spending hours under this sweltering heat, going back to the equally stuffy and hot dormitories in the evenings. All for the want of giving their families at home a better life.

Hot Steaming rice

The title "Cooking made us human" by Richard Wrangham sounds intriquing considering the fact that half of the working population these days don't even know how a kitchen looks like let alone cook. An interesting explanation on how we the human evolves physically all thanks to cooked food.

Excerpts:

Cooking makes eating faster and easier, and wrings more caloric benefit from food. Moreover, cooking is vitally important to supporting the outsize human brain, which consumes a quarter of the body’s energy.
By freeing humans from having to spend half the day chewing tough raw food — as most of our primate relatives do — cooking allowed early humans to devote themselves to more productive activities, ultimately allowing the development of tools, agriculture, and social networks. Cooked food is also softer, meaning the body uses less energy digesting what it takes in.
Since physical remnants of fire tend to degrade rapidly, archaeological evidence of fire and cooking dates back only about 800,000 years. Biological evidence, shows that around 1.8 million years ago, Homo erectus arose with larger brains and bodies and smaller guts, jaws, and teeth — changes consistent with the switch to a more tender and energetically rich diet of cooked food.
Cooking is what makes the human diet ‘human,’ and the most logical explanation for the advances in brain and body size over our ape ancestors, It’s hard to imagine the leap to Homo erectus without cooking’s nutritional benefits.”

Lightning and Hammer

Never had there been more interest and enthusiasm on elections in Spore. For the the 1st time in many many years, 2.2m singaporean will get to vote for 82 out of the 87 seats on the 7th May. A walkover for MM Lee and his 4 other group representative constituency.

Huge crowd turns out to listen to the nightly rallies and memorabilia are used to show support and publicity.

I too have been following with interest for it's this constituency that is the fiercely contested. On one team it's the A list team from opposition on the other a foreign minister and 3 other members of parliment at stake.

How will the voters choose? MM Lee has spoken, choose wisely or ......

"The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm.
The boss says ‘I’; the leader says ‘we.’ "

Book Exchange

It's an innovative idea indeed. For the 3rd year running, National Library Board organised book exchange event. Books that have been sitting on the book shelves collecting dust are give a new lease of life. The library issue coupons according to the number of books given. Long Queues were seen as early as 6am for the 8.30 opening, according to a volunteer. With 9 coupons between us, youngest picked 3 while I picked up "The God Of Small Things" and "The ripening sun" amongst the thousands of books that have been given up. Some came armed with huge luggages and trolley bags. Books still have a place in our home.

Mobile Etiquette

She apologised for asking me again for a phone number I had sms her weeks ago. She explained that her husband had accidentally deleted all her sms while going through her mobile. It's a norm, she continued, for her husband to fiddle and spring clean her mobile now and then. The few of us who heard were startled. Does her husband not respect her privacy? Is it right for spouse to go through each other's mobile history and text messages? I don't and I do not expect him to go through mine. What is the etiquette on this issue?

Century Egg

It's translucent, and has to be eaten with pickled ginger for that exquisite taste of the orient. Century egg served at the Yung Kee rest, at Wellington Road, Hk. Went there for it's roast goose but, was not impressed. Too oily and tough to my liking.

Walking around fragrant bay

A good way to know the place better than to mingle and walk amongst the people.

Opted for a walking tour along the little shops pack with dried seafood and chinese herbs, up and down the cobbled streets into the bustling market. The long long escalator if the legs are not up to it. A rest and it's off on the bus ride. Passing through the many dwellings situated round and round the mountain side. With an international school and a hospital to complete the picture. The bus took a good hour to reach the peak but only 30min by tram.

My trip to HongKong. The visit would not be complete without a ride on the StarFerry and a visit to Poh Lin Temple.

Blood Orange

It's flesh, a deep crimson red, looks and taste like orange. This unique colour is from the chemical anthocyanins, uncommon in citrus fruits, with the blood orange being one of the exceptions. Powerful flavonoid pigments that exist in red and purple fruits and vegetables. Make a nice change from eating orange orange. Found these juicy oranges at Cold Storage.

Physalis

When mum first saw this fruit, her mind went back to the times when she was a youngster exploring her family's rubbler plantation in Pahang. Picking up berries and mushrooms grown in and round the plantation. In mandarin it's "lau shou la tong kwa" (the melon dragged by the mouse) according to her, or locally known as "leletup" by the malays. I too, remember picking these berries normally grown by the wayside These are the local berries that have gone missing in keeping with development. Has it gone extinct?

Winds of change

Before, most eateries would proudly state that their raw ingredients are mostly air flown direct from Japan, Now, they are frantically sourcing from everywhere but Japan. An odourless, invisible and tasteless substance that can lead to painful death has made many wary. Meantime, indulging in a piece of cheese cake made fresh from Japan weeks ago.

Hush

"Dear Ms Jeannie,
On the 10th of this month, my daughter urgently needed a pair of "proper shoes" for the her school band performance.And so we invested on a pair of HushPuppies from Isetan Nex. Indeed at S$119.00 for a pair of shoes which she will only wear for maybe a week in a year for the next 2 years seems a little pricey, but I insisted that it was for the quality that we are paying. Having a 1 1/2 in heels, I was particular about the cushioning of her arch and therefore chose HushPuppies.
My daughter called from school during practise last week to tell me that while climbing up the stairs, the heels suddenly buckle and broke. That was only her 2nd time wearing it.
I would like to know, if this is poor quality control, As I need to have it either replaced or repaired as soon as possible as the school band will be going for their SYF competition early april.
I would appreciate if you could get back to me on this matter.
Attached are some photos for your reference.

regards"

Had pondered quite awhile before penning this email sent out this morning. Will I get a favourable reply?

LunchTakeAway

Saturday lunch menu:
Tsukune rice burger for big chief, ebi rice burger for eldest, fish burger for son and chicken teriyaki burger for youngest. It's Mos burger saturday.

New @ Nex

Did not understand, "Hundreds waited patiently for the doors to open at the new library @ Nex last friday" reported in the news. Not only school students but from all walks of life. I now know why. Visited the library this morning and I'm impressed. Just love the scent of the books. Everyone of them, brand new. With a tasteful interior design, One would think, they are in Borders or Kinokuniya.

A cinema, a library, shimbashi soba, Four leave bakery, Cold storage, Isetan..... looks like I'll be spending more time at Nex.

Picture by rambling Librarian

Destruction Wave

They are safe. My japanese friends, one in Osaka. The other in Yokohama wrote this:

"I was walking toward the bank when the earthquake occurred. I would not walk straight and waited it stopped. Although I kept walking, several quakes occurred. The electricity was cut, the bank was dark and ATM did not work. The traffic light was off. When I got back home, my daughter was home alone so scared, but prepared evacuation with backpack full of warm clothes, drinks and snacks. We did not have to leave home, stayed home with flash lights and candles without electricity even till dark. The only information we could get was from the radio powered by (my) hand. Because all the trains stopped, my son had to come home on foot. When the electricity got back on and watched TV, we were horrified what had been happened in Tohoku Area... "

We may have the most sophisticated equipments but mother nature is still unpredictable.

Going solo

Last month Eldest travelled alone up north to spent a week with Aunt, Son and his secondary school buddies went on a short holiday to a higland resort in Pahang. Tomorrow youngest will be going on a 4 days an immersion programme to HongKong with her school. One by one my brood is going solo.

Liam, Unknown?

Unknown, Liam Neeson is no Matt Damon nor Pierce Brosnan but he sure has character. A movie with a refreshing twist to the ending. Totally kept me mesmerised for 119 minutes. Fast pace action packed with no time for a breather.

Went to the shaw cinema at Nex last evening as hubby wanted to watch this on the big screen for a greater sound and visual impact. And it did. At some point I just had to shut my eyes to avoid the cars and buildings seemingly crashing towards me.

Oil crisis

All the chaos and bloodshed in the middle east is affecting us surely but slowly. At the petrol counter this morning, even my regular cashier lady, prepared me. The petrol bill came up to nearly $S100. As at 3 March, Shell 95 is now at S$2.077. Already the food bill is on the rise. Is there a sliver lining to all this?