0 Q_Q

Once you start, you can't stop. Slurp slurp. Ccrrrunch! Chewwww.... Repeat. Sluuuurp!....

What the heck am I referring to? It's the original black/white (or more formally known as soy bean/grass jelly) mix with multiple funful toppings (peanuts, red beans, pinto beans and QQ yam balls from BeansTalk (did they infringe the copy right law of BreadTalk?). And all for $2 only! Quite proud yet shocked at myself dor finishing the tub. I had portioned out only about 1/3 of it, topped upon Earnest Eats Mayan blend (15g) and a Rude Health Spelt Oaty biscuit smothered in Maranatha's sunbutter. But it's too slurpilicous to stop! I'm not sure but it could be by far the heaviest breakfast in a while. The switch up (and venturing into the unknown territory) feels so good. Shoulda have taken a pic of the dessert tub.

0 Crunchy buckwheat

In the cold-as-winter confocal room now scanning pics

This morning's breakfast was a nice pleasant surprise - the kind that makes you go 'wow, I'd never did expect that awesomeness!' Introducing crunchy buckwheat groats! It's so simple; just roast raw groats in the oven for 20 min at 300F (150C). The original recipe recommended coating with nut butter & honey mixture immediately after roasting but I decided to store the roasted groats as it is so I can get more variations, using it in both sweet (breakfast) and savoury (lunch) recipes. Normally buckwheat groats release a slime not unlike okra, but toasting it first, either in the skillet or oven helps it retain its texture. I enjoyed the groats with some oats/coconut muesli (possibly Dorset) in a 50:50 ratio, with protein powder, chopped Larabar chocolate cherry torte, rice milk, chopped nectarine and Maranatha's creamy drippy sunbutter (with tahini mixed in). It was a party of tastes and textures in the mouth. Considering having a savoury breakfast tmr - avocado & sunny side (sans yolk) sandwich (on rye bread) Or should I do a 6-minute boiled egg?

0 Dysregulation

I think am self-destructive, or at least immune to stress, or maybe, have a damaged amygdala. Knowing very well that I have an assignment which deadline is imminent, exam in two freakin' weeks time, and untouched revision, yet I still am surfing the web like it's the holidays. Why can't I regulate my behaviour properly???

But I haven't been that relaxed and happy in such a long while. After church (7.30 AM service - a convert to early bird :)) I headed to Cold Storage at Takashimaya for grocery shopping. Unfortunately at just past 9 the shops were still closed. What [bad] luck. As such, it called for a detour to United Square's branch instead. But it proved a blessing in disguise because I scored a few discounted items and exotic buys. Like:

• Kashi cinnamon harvest (blame it on Amanda's influence! In fact I still have an unopened box of Dr. Oz's buckwheat flakes)
• 71% Ecuador dark chocolate block (Montezuma)
• Swiss farmer rolls (Swiss Bake) - 1/2 price!
• Pacific Almond milk (unsweetened) [couldn't bring myself to splurge on Silk's almond milk]
• Flavour Fall pluots - 1/2 price and in rather good condition still!
• Wild sockeye salmon [omegas yum!]

I think what put in a such a good mood was really today's breakfast: (last of) rolled oats (Binda Valley) cooked in unsweetened soy milk (Natura), sweetened with 1/2 mashed nana and raisins, upped with protein powder (Lifetime Life's Basic protein - the most neutral flavour thus far, compared to Sunwarrior and Vega Health Optimizer) and protein blend (real good food), spiced with cinnamon and chocolate chili and dressed with chocolate hazelnut butter (Justin's). A double whammy of chocolate would be bound to deliver a double whammy of endorphins and it sure did!

And then it was home sweet home. Managed to be a good girl and squeeze in a bit of work before spending ~2 hours (!) cooking and eating lunch, which was a ooey gooey curry & cumin bean stew (BRM whole grains and beans soup mix) with torned tortilla pieces, avocado, sardines (Boiromar), curly lettuce, cucumber, tomato, honey goat's cheese (Delamere) and beetroot relish.

A Jaffa sweetie (pomelo x grapefuruit) to end the meal. Guess what was found on Pubmed:

All applied methods showed that sweeties had higher antioxidative activity than grapefruit. Experiments on laboratory animals show that diets supplemented with sweeties, and to a lesser extent with grapefruit, increased the plasma antioxidative potential and improved the lipid metabolism, especially in the rats fed with added cholesterol.

Apparently a sweetie has more antioxidants than a grapefruit!

Lately people's been asking what I plan to do after I graduate. My PI is persuading me to consider PhD at TLL. For once, I really don't know what should my next step in life; so far it's been pretty straightforward: pri > sec > jc > uni, with the choice of school's quite [re-determined too. Pray for God's guidance in this.

0 Night fest 2012

I found this year's Night Festival slightly underwhelming. On the good side, I think there was a wider selection of more accessible (i.e. not so 'artsy') programmes such in the music genre (beat-boxing, rapping, samba, acapella). I remember lots of folksy tunes from last year's night fest, mainly by foreign artistes, which may not be highly appealing to the common man.

On the other hand, the experience of the highlight performances by Argentinian group Fuerzabruta fell short of my expectations. La Argentina was merely a dancer swinging in the air supported by a crane, looking/acting to be superbly happy while dishing out confetti and glitter as she cruised along Armenian St. The floating pool performance was marred by horrid lighting and poor sound systems. I caught only the last bit of the silver curtain one and that may be slightly better. But overall, spending a night out was still better than staying home.

I had a nice [tropical] start to Sunday with durian-coconut protein peppy kernels (mix of oats, wheat, barley, rye, millet, sesame). Featuring mao shan wang durian (flesh of 2 seeds), Artisana cacao bliss, Bob's peppy kernels and Vega Complete Health Optimizer, topped with coconut flakes. The texture was lovely - creamy from the durian and protein powder, yet slightly crunchy from the mixed grains. But it barely tide me over. I felt hungry again 1.5 hours later, a (happy) problem of late. Despite excessive consumption of durians (11 seeds so far) and what-not over the past few days, my stomach is becoming a bottomless pit. But I don't know where all those calories go; clearly not onto my body.

I read that puffed grains is quite toxic due to the protein extrusion caused by the high heat and pressure of puffing. And I just bought a box of Kashi's 7-whole grain puffs.

0 Chocolate mole banana tofu soft serve

After months (years) from procrastination, I finally took out the food processor from the depths of the kitchen cupboards. Dusting off the layer of fine dust that had settled from under-usage, I set to create the much anticipated banana tofu soft serve.

This morning was a good lesson why you should never procrastinate - you'd end up missing up lots of good things in life!

I can't believe how such a simple no fuss recipe (if you can even call it a recipe) can yield such amazing wondrous results in less than a minute (or five if you consider washing up.) Thick, utterly smooth and completely flexible, tofu soft serves are definitely going to make more appearances (and so put my food processor to good use too!)

Chocolate mole banana tofu soft serve (serves one)

Ingredients

• 1/2 frozen banana, sliced
• 1/4 package firm tofu (I used Moringaga; silken would work too but probably would yield a slightly less thick texture)
• 1 tbsp chocolate mole powder (or 1 tbsp cocoa powder)
• 1 scoop protein powder (optional; I used Sunwarrior natural)

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor, blend.
2. Serve immediately or chill/freeze if you want a more ice-cream-style dessert

Recently, I'e been enjoying lots of fancy nut butter products too, including PB&Co cinnamon raisin swirl (so-so; good for a bit of indulgence); Woodstock farm creamy almond butter; Artisana cacao bliss (will please coconut fans, 2nd order from iHerb!); and Arrowhead Mills crunchy peanut butter (PB will always be my first love). From iHerb I also got Vega complete optimizer (natural) which was 60% off! So happy with the great deal! Shipment was faster this time round, taking about 2.5 weeks. I also got Chocolove chocolate with cherries and chilis. Chocolate mole is my new favorite flavour. The Mexicans have nailed it right!

Finally, last weekend I bought Nancy's kefir (beverage made from fermenting kefir grains in milk) and Kashi's seven whole grain puffs. Kefir's not cheap but the tangyness and benefits of it is far superior than any yogurt drink; can't be beat. Off to complete my to-be-due-soon essay!

2 A weekend to remember

Tourist in my Country

Gallivanting around the city, discovering the new and old side of Singapore. This weekend brought me to places from Marina to Tanjong Pajar, Duxton Hill and Ann Siang, Botanical Gardens and even Geylang [see below]. While each area boasted their own charm, I cannot help but feel that there is too much consumerism and 'urban spectacle' at the Marina area. An aura of development also hangs palpably in the Duxton area; construction was going on in every other shophouse, perhaps to make way for yet another indie cafe, quirky book store or off-the-track fashion store. Give another one or two years, I will not be surprised if Duxton morphs into the next Clarke Quay. In contrast, the vibe in Geylang, with pot-bellied Singaporean uncles, Bangla and China workers and families out in full-force over the weekend, feels so much more authentic, so much less pretentious.

Soul Food

While at Marina on Friday, I had lunch at Alli*Oli, a tiny nondescript cafe in Marina Link mall, seating no more than ten. It was the dreadful lunch hour, which meant the white-collar yuppies and expats were out in full force. This cafe was the only decent one that had space for dine-in. Although they had sandwiches and hot pasta, I opted for the salads which went at 3 for $8. Unfortunately, it was a case of over-ordering and over-eating. The black pepper linguine, tuna carrot & asparagus salad, and vinegary mushrooms were superbly tasty, but I still can't believe I finished that whole mound of food. Not to mention, the pasta was dripping in [olive] oil and the tuna was probably canned in brine for it was a tad salty. I felt quite disgusted after, and my bloated stomach (which remained bloated for another 10 hours or so) was a cruel mockery of my overeating episode. I must say it did provide fuel for my walk from Marina to Chinatown [or maybe it was the cause of it?]

The Big Bird wholemeal wrap from Salad Stop! is an in-house combination consisting of mixed greens, roast turkey, avocado, green apple, grapes, celery and ranch japanese wafu dressing. I had this for lunch today with the parents 'cause I was sick of Novena FC. I was slightly disappointed that the turkey was in the form of turkey ham rather than meat, and as such, quite on the salty side. That aside, I was pleasantly surprised how well fruits go in a salad, albeit "wrap" style, for I usually prefer salads to be of greens only. The tart sweet green apple and grapes helped toned down the saltiness of the turkey, while the avocado provided creaminess and healthy fats. Overall it was rather refreshing. I wonder why salads are so expensive though. Surely some green veggies shouldn't amount to more than $10? But a dear $10.80 this yummy wrap was.

At Cold Storage, I bought a tub of So Delicious Chocolate Almond ice-cream. The company specializes in dairy-free ice cream, and this one is soy-milk based and fruit-sweetened. (They also have coconut milk-based and almond milk-based ice creams but these were not available at CS.) I don't know whether to rejoice or be guilty. I mean it's the first time buying ice cream in years (although not 'real' ice cream). Anyway I opened the tub and peeked inside and it looked and smelled deep and rich with chocolate. Wonder what I should pair it with. Perhaps I should make spelt pancakes or even spelt ice cream bread.

And the highlight of the weekend no doubt goes to..... unctuous, creamy, bitter, sweet, potent, deep yellow mao shan wang durian. I specifically trooped down to Geylang after church to buy durians! At $20 for 2 boxes, this was reasonable. This was from the stall at Lorong 19, and as I walked from Aljunied side, I didn't know there were still so many stalls further down towards Kallang. Luckily the durians at those stalls didn't look that good, and although some were slightly cheaper, they were of other varieties (D24 etc). If not, the pain of regret! As mentioned in the first paragraphs, the atmosphere was fantastic. Families gathering by the road side to have durians on the spot, cars queueing for the $1 kampong durians... so very Singaporean. The two boxes of durians were so potent I could smell it even as I was in the MRT. Luckily no one else seemed to be able to smell it. Or do I have an extra sensitive nose for durians?

Quiet mornings and more chocolate bakes
this time with Royal Gala apples, Ezekiel cereal and spelt flour streussel

Play time with the Cat

At this point he was not fully awakened yet, but in less than a minute later he was all ready to bite!

2 Post 100: post-exams!

I declare I'm officially done with Year 3 at 00:12 am this morning, after submitting my paper. And so the typical question pops up again - What's next?

Well, I haven't had much time to think about holiday plans during the exam rush, but now that it has started, I don't know if I should take up a job or internship. I probably should solve the paramount issue first, which is securing a FYP prof.

Today I hung around the orchard area to do some errands.

First stop: return/borrow books at NLB. Finally I have the time to read Houellebecq's Map and the Territory!

Second stop: Saveur@Purvis Street. This French-style cafe has caused quite a stir recently for good reason - french food at low prices. We're talking about duck confits priced at 9 bucks. My Angel hair pasta with Tiger Prawns and Lumpfish Caviar had cost me $6.90 ($7.35 after GST). Given that I was in the North Bridge area, I couldn't pass up the chance not to try out this place. Apparently many others had the same idea; by the time I got there at 12.20 pm, it was fully packed and a queue outside the restaurant. Keep in mind that they only open at 12 noon. Most of the patrons were middle-aged Singaporeans and tend to come in husband-wive pairs. So when I said "table for one," it was kind of awkward because of the odd number and given their business, I would be making things hard for them. Luckily they have a special table that seats one right in the corner of the shop.

Hmmm... I noticed that the caviar is red compared to the black in other food blogger's pictures. I wonder if there's a difference between the two? Google says the red or black color is the result from the dye coloring, so the original source may not be different.

Can cheap food deliver good food? While aesthetically pleasing, I highly suspect that the pasta was made in advanced. It was served lukewarm, or more like room temperature, which is a big bad point cause I like my food served piping hot. The pasta was nicely al dente (thankfully, given how easy it is to overcook angel hair), but unfortunately, unevenly coated with the dressing oil such as some parts were a tad hard, dry and bland. But amid the ocean of pasta, the tiger prawns and lumpfish were like bursts of umami. In other words, the experience was ambivalent: sometimes you get a good tasty mouthful with prawns & lumpfish, other times you get just bland pasta. The portion was small too (starter size), but since it's only 7 bucks I can't be complaining. So it seems that if you want to have good pasta served hot and well-coated/seasoned and in a reasonable size for main meal, you still have to pay the premiums. (Like head to Garibaldi just opposite the street).

After lunch I redeemed my free movie ticket for The Lucky One, which is based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks. The storyline is the typical Hollywood love story. Man goes war, picks up a photo of a woman and sets out to find her. There is a love triangle involving the woman's ex-husband. But eventually, it still ends on a happy note. Enjoyable but not memorable.

After the movie I paid my overdue visit to BRP, where I bought a new breakfast cereal - Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted cereal (original). This wasn't what I had in mind (I wanted steel cutters but BRM's one wasn't there) but since I've tried Ezekiel's sprouted wheat bread before, which has a very "healthy" grassy taste, I thought I might just try out something different. I like that it has 0g sugar in it, and also high-protein. It consists of a mix of sprouted grains including wheat, barley, millet, lentils, soybeans, spelt. Tomorrow's breakfast will tell if I made a lucky choice :)

0 Hello Khmer

Seven days in a "developing" country. I think it'll be an eye-opener, learning about the politics of a place as you traverse it. I realized that despite my travels, I had never really visited such "backward" places, and it makes me all the more be grateful of having been born into Singapore.

Yesterday started with a bang at Wild Honey, Scotts Square. We "traveled" to Persia with the Persian French Toast, California with a veggie tofu scramble and (??) with a fontina and feta cheese scramble.

Come to think of it, I don't know why my french toast is considered Persian; I mean I've come to associated Persia (modern day Iran) with Persian cats and french toasts to American style breakfasts. But Persia and french toasts? Anyhow, the signature brioche bread was coated in a sweet orange marmalade, topped with stewed rhubarbs instead of the black plums as stated in the menu; the waitress had informed us the black plums were not available. I loved the brioche most - soft and imbued with hints of milky fragrance, it was delightful. The french toast was not the eggy kind (more like marmalade spread on top?) but the syrup was overly sweet [such that I totally forgot that syrup was offered]. I could manage one toast on my own, but luckily I had mum's veggie scramble and sam's cheese scramble to share to tone down the sweetness. I really liked the Californian and would order it again if I were to make a return visit. The french toast was more one-dimensional (sweet sweet sweet), but the veggie scramble and more interesting textures and flavours - crunchy peppers & earthy shrooms wrapped in a silk-robe of fluffy eggs and tofu pieces, plus the smokey grilled ciabatta!

I was probably too excited over the glorious spread and threw my mantra of "slow, savour, stop" mindful eating to the wind. Have to constantly remind myself not to get so overwhelmed :D

Moneyball somewhat redeemed the tragic experience with TTSS. Simple, straightforward and enjoyable, with a good bit of Stats thrown in to tease the mind.

Haul from BRP:
- Justin's classic AB
- Allos amaranth basic muesli (popped amaranth makes a return!)
- Sharpham Park spelt porridge
- Clif Crunch PB & Chocolate ($3.95 for 5x2 bars! - sold for clearance)

But. Last-min packing! (PS: I'm dismayed to have read that Heart Bistro at Palais Rrenaissance is now defunct (recalls fond memories of the shrimp pasta). Hope they find a new space soon!)

0 Managing difficult essays

From 3562 to 2111 (-1451). My essay is now a lot more trim and healthy, but still a [not so] long way more to go. Minus 611 more to 1500!

I'm so loving Back to Nature Apple and Blueberry granola! So appley in smell and taste!

Also, so egg-cited for Cam's and the Angkor culture!

And today was a free day in that I did not need to spend 1.5 h travelling to and from school!

0 Up up and up

Today I went to do some reflections at Reflections at Bt Chandu. It was a long but good walk up the winding road to Point 227. Halfway through I doubted whether I was on the right trail. There was not a soul around, no humans, no cars, not a single creature stirring (except for the ever noisy cicada) despite it being midday. I persisted and eventually got to the restored two storey villa.

As expected it was extremely quiet for a designated National Heritage site. Either there's a lack of promotion, a lack of interest in war and history, or it's too out-of-the-way, or a combination of all three.

This audio-visual narration employs a holographic 'pepys ghost effect.'

At the Well of Reflections.

I shall save all the intellectual talk for my essay. After tutorial, I made a stop at BRP for the essentials. (1)BRM's steel cutters; (2)Maranatha's roasted AB (on quick sale!); (3)Back to Nature apple blueberry granola (on quick sale too!); (4)Nakd cocoa mint; (5)Justin's dark choc PB cups. I figured that having saved much on the quick sale items, I could get more snackies like the energy bar and pb cups ;) Oh steel cutters, how art miss thee.

Ate super lots today. First, for mid-morning snack I had UK-style Ensure Plus i.e. in the 220ml bottle instead of the regular tetra pak 200ml. The reason for the switch was that the expiry date was looming for the former (01 2012 in fact). In other words, I was sort of coerced/obligated into drinking that. Nevertheless, that I completed it all in one sitting marks a significant departure from my normal practice.

Lunch was vegetarian in Arts Canteen. I didn't intend on vegetarian as I wanted to bulk up on real protein a.k chicken/fish. But by 1+ pm all the food at the economic rice stall look so yucks, so again I went back to the same stuff. The only redemption was the brown rice - which I completed all and this time I didn't even ask for less rice! I then contemplated if I should eat the Korean Fuji apple I packed, which I did, and mind you, it was a huge one.

I had more than usual for dinner too. Apart from extra dishes and larger portion of fish, I had four pieces of papaya. Now feeling a bit bloated, but surprisingly, not uncomfortably so. I think those digestive pills are seriously effective, or that my metabolism has gone wild. Whatever it is, at least I am having appetite now - on the right track of up up up!

0 201....2

With a well-worn and weary heart, Hello 2012.

Smashing start to the New Year with a classic favorite oatmeal combination:
Banana steel cut oats

3 tbsp steel cut oats, soaked overnight in 1 cup boiling water. Bring to boil this morning, simmered gently for 20 mins over the stove till thick, 3/4 large ripe banana, coarsely chopped, 1/4 cup of soy milk, scoop of Protein Blend Type O, spiced up with cinnamon, nutmeg and Uganda vanilla extract, topped with Earth Balance creamy roasted AB, a scatter of raisins and Mini Magoos ginger granola.

Perfect, just pure perfection.

01/01 is just but another date on the revolving caldendar; nothing special.

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

5 First vlog - popped amaranth

To test out the capabilities of the TZ20 full HD video, I decided to make a vlog with popped amaranth as the subject. It's my first vlog and my first time using iMovies, so pardon me for the amateurish video. I had great fun popping the amaranth and editing the video. Better still if it had music, but alas, I'm too lazy to add that in. Enjoy!



 

If you want to know more about amaranth, I've blogged about it on my previous blog. Ashley over at The Edible Perspective is the queen of popped amaranth. Check out her site for more detailed instructions and beautiful shots of the little poppers. You can use a saucepan with a lid to avoid the mess which is a real headache to clean up, but I find that stirring the amaranth with a wooden spoon distributes the heat more evenly than shaking it while lidded; I'd rather clean up than have a bunch of burnt black and wasted amaranth seeds.

Breakfast this morning was a simpleton: popped amaranth w soy milk & fresh strawberries, with cin, nutmeg & vanilla, and topped w raspberry jam & raw almond butter. Yummers bummers.