Chinese New Year Meal

My good friend invited me to accompany him to a traditional Chinese New Year meal last Monday. I was really glad that I decided to go because I have never tried any of the dishes before and also because its really cool to see how the locals celebrate.

The dish on the top is a raw fish salad called Yu Sheng. I missed the tossing of the salad (since I was a bit late) but I read online that it is a very symbolic gesture to welcome prosperity for the new year. The guests say "lo hei" which means "mix up" as they toss the ingredients with chopsticks.

The highlight dish is the steamboat. Actually, it is very similar to Shabu Shabu. Yum!fresh scallops, fish maw and prawns! I have always been curious about fish maw since I see it all the time in the grocery. Fish maw is fried fish stomach and looks exactly like chicharon before going into the steamboat!mushrooms and broccoliAnd to end the meal we had almond soup with white fungus for dessert.

floral campmobile

i spotted this really cute car while waiting for the bus the other day. almost all the cars here are new (or maybe just well maintained) and that seeing something vintage looking - and um, floral is very unusual! I think everybody at the bus stop was smiling as we watched the "campmobile" pass by. I felt very fortunate that I had my camera with me at that time :) Yay for flowers :)

Punggol Beach

I live 4 bus stops away from Punggol beach. If you do a google search on Punggol beach, you will be shocked and terrified at some of the results. Apparently, it was the one of the killing sites (along with Changi beach and *gasp* Sentosa) during the Japanese occupation. Here is a description from one of the sites that i visited:

"An unusual discovery at Punggol beach dug up a slice of history that many Singaporeans are not aware of. Punggol beach used to be one of the Japanese killing fields. So were the beaches at Sentosa and Changi.

Reported by WILEEN CHANG

A MAN digging for earthworms to use as fishing bait, at the stretch of beach along Punggol jetty, found parts of a human skeleton instead. There was a skull with two gold teeth, parts of an arm and leg. Although it hardly seems like it, this quiet stretch of beach at the end of Punggol Road, near Punggol jetty was a Japanese killing field during the Second World War.The skeletons are believed to be the remains of about 300 to 400 Chinese civilians who were gunned down there on Feb 28, 1942 by the bojo kempei (Japanese auxiliary military police) firing squads"

text in red taken from: Singapore's Slaughter beach

After reading up on the history of the spot, i decided to visit the beach. I saw some offerings by the shore and a long line of red candles on the grassy area. I also saw a group of people fishing. hmm :)

fishing group

driftwoodhappy crab saying hello!

no jollibee? try jolly-v!

i have been craving for andoks and jollibee for the longest time. unfortunately, since the two food chains do not have branches here the next best thing is JOLLY-V in Lau Pasat! Yay! I actually laughed out loud when i saw the menu because it looks so similar to the jollibee menu! May burger steak and palabok pa! The only thing different aside from the price is that they also serve pizza (ala 3M).

Meals range form 5 to 7 sgd... a bit expensive if you compare to jollibee prices though. I ordered the 7 sgd (P 221) palabok and chicken meal (Palabok bersaya Ayam) and was pleasantly surprised that it actually tasted like the real thing! The Palabok noodles were just thicker but aside from that the taste was spot on. Cool. Jolly V Fried Chicken is located at Lau Pa Sat, Boon Tat Street Singapore. Near Raffles Mrt.

From Russia With Love

My aunt brought home a few souvenirs for me from a recent trip to Russia. The items included a traditional handcrafted watch with amber on the strap, a nice Matryoshka doll and a rosary bracelet (not from Russia but from Lourdes, France).
I have been fascinated with Matryoshka dolls ever since we got one from her when we were kids. I really hope to get the really big one when I visit Russia someday :)