Silit & Buffalo Wok

Did one of my favourite activity today. Researching and comparing the Silit silargan wok and the buffalo 5 ply stainless wok. The Buffalo's promoter promised that his buffalo 5 ply wok will not stick and fish can slide in the wok while being fried. Burnt food can be easily wash off using a little vinegar mix with water. I am impressed. I like to have this stainless wok but having second thought because all the stainless steel pans I have are not friendly for frying. Food stick and pans turn brown when heat is too high.

I have Silit silargan pressure cookers and a small Silit pot and I am absolutely satisfied with them. When I fry the meat using the pot before stewing, the meat doesn't glue to the pot. Stew cooks a lot faster even using the silit pot and a regular cover. I find stew and soup cooked with silit pressure cooker taste more like those cooked using clay pots and definitely more flavorful than food cooked in the WMF stainless steel pressure cooker. Based on the outcome of my research Silit Silargan would be the better choice. Drawbacks are the wok and the glass cover are heavier than the Buffalo wok. The glass cover also require more care to prevent breakage. This wok is also too beautiful to be used for frying crabs. Nevertheless, before I purchase it, I need to check if I have a space for the new Silit wok plus wait for the sale at Takashimaya.

ION Foodcourt

We saw the $4.50 deal at ION foodcourt and decided to try it. It's our first time at the foodcourt. When I saw the plate of "Go Hiang " I got for $4.50, I was impressed. Certainly a good deal. However, the more bites we took the more disappointed we are. Food is salty and artificial taste.

Natural Hair Mask

I'v make some changes to my hair mask formula. Results seem to be better. I left it on my hair for half an hour under wrap. Rinse using Klorane soothing shampoo and Asience Conditioner. (I'v been using the same shampoo and conditioner before I started trying the natural hair mask. )This time I did not apply any leave in conditioner after washing my hair. When my hair dried, it didn't look frizzy.

2010 National Day Rally

First time I sat through the whole rally speech. The speech was made by PM Lee HL. I like the good news he announced.

* Measures to cool the property market.

Since last year I'v been anticipating and expecting the property market to peak in 2010 and then prices and demand will drop after that. Shall see if the prices indeed drop and by how much. I expect the bottom to be around 2015 and then up cycle after that and 2018 2019 to be buoyant market again.

* Normal Academic students can proceed straight to Polytechnic instead of spending an extra year to do O level. Good motivation and morale booster to the NA students.

* Increase MOP of HDB flats and imposing requirement for Pte property owner to dispose of Pte property when they purchase resale flats. Hopefully the cash over valuation will drop with these measures.

* NS men to receive an additional $9k. B1 is going for NS next year. He thinks the amount is a bit low. Well, it's better than none. Of course, I would very much like the amount to be much higher to match the tertiary school fees. It would be a more reasonable compensation for delaying their studies and commencement of their career plus the risky and tough training NS men have to go through.

Facebook finds friends

Facebook is amazing in helping to locate relatives that we have lost touch for years. Found 3 long lost nieces in law through facebook. Without it we would not have known how they look like now. Last saw them 22 yrs ago and then very briefly (less than an hour contact time) 18 years ago. The tracking and linking from friends to friends in facebook allows this to happen. Amazing! Met the 3 of them tonight and had a home cook meal with them. Everything went well and we chatted till 10.30 pm before sending them home.

Big Kitchen

I love to have a big kitchen. Like the gourmet kitchens featured in magazines and cooking shows. Big enough to accommodate all the appliances - oven, microwave, stove, big size refrigerator, dish washer, professional cake mixer, blender, food processor, rice cooker, pro coffee maker, slow speed juicer and slow cooker. Enough closets space for the pantry, my wide range of pots ,pans, pressure cookers, steamers and woks. Counter top cleared of clutters and an island for food preparation. I need a table with 5 or 6 chairs too. Something like our Colchester kitchen but slightly bigger. Colchester kitchen was 10 ft wide around 15 ft length. Therefore Ideally my big kitchen should be at least 15 ft by 20 ft. I also need it to be at the right sector of the house and stove conforming to feng shui. Wet kitchen is also needed. This shall be a small area link but separate from the main kitchen mainly for the frying and oily cooking.

My current kitchen is reasonable size by local standard but can't fit in my island , table, dishwasher. Fortunately, I'v a wet kitchen at the backyard. Architects allocate small space for kitchen in our local houses. They seem to think that woman of the house doesn't cook due to the readily available hawker food, reasonable restaurant prices and that cooking is the housemaids' responsibility.

6 years in this house, I am still thinking how to reconfigure my current kitchen into my ideal kitchen. Maybe I should check out the Korean and Japanese Kitchens to get inspiration on a small, efficient and inviting kitchen.

GEP Test

B3 had his GEP test today. It's the first round. For those who pass they'll move on to a second selection test. B3 said the test is tough. He remembered 2 words in the cloze passage that he doesn't know- "vital" & "assurance".

Terrible Neighbour

This evening I witnessed how a terrible neighbour abused my husband who is the chairman of the estate's council . The couple who moved into the estate a year ago came over to our house and requested to see him just before our dinner. They had a structure in their house that did not conform to building requirement. Managing agent had made repeated requests to them to remove the structure but they chose to ignore it. Upon advise from the lawyer, managing agent sent out a legal letter to them for the structure to be removed. Without the legal letter the council members will have to take the rap and penalty for their illegal structure. To make a point that he wants to keep his structure, he demanded and yelled and pointed fingers at my husband. His wife works for a developer and is well aware of all the building requirement. But she did nothing to stop the husband belligerent behaviour towards my husband. I rate this pair of neighbour 5 out of 5 for being the Nasty Terrible Neighbour.

Feng Shui Notes - Renovation & Date Selection

When renovating the house, it's important not to do so when the 5 yellow star is at the sitting of the house. The sitting of the house is determined from the door measurement. 5 Yellow when activated brings unfortunate events.

J's master advised her on the month to start renovation. The sitting has monthly star 2 and yearly 5 giving a 25 combination when she starts her renovation. After her renovation, her daughter fell at home on some broken plates and ended up with a few stitches to her knees. Shortly after they went for holiday and the little girl was again cut and stitched when a scissors with the blades opened fell onto her hand. After their holiday J herself fell in her living room and ended up with bruised knees.

Lunch at Keppel Perankan Restaurant

Jo, Lain and I had lunch at Keppel Perankan Restaurant. It's Jo's farewell. She'll be moving back to Seattle. We had an excellent lunch. This restaurant comes with good food, nice view of the bay and quiet. From the restaurant you would be able to see a big house at the other side of the water on Sentosa island. I do not know whom does it belongs to. The house sits on a hill with the frontage facing the bay and backing higher ground. It has lots of green surrounding it. The house will make a very prosperous feng shui house.

Amway Mooncake

Today is my first trip to Amway at Pacific Tech Bldg. I bought 6 boxes of low sugar double yolk moon cake. 1 box will be for ourselves and the rest as gift. Baked moon cake with white lotus is delicious but sinful due to the high sugar and oil contents. Each year the boys, daddy and I will eat at least 3 boxes during the moon cake festival. I consumed the most among them and usually end up adding at least 2 kg. This year I shall stay with low sugar moon cakes.

SK ll to the rescue

My cheeks are burned due to cleaning the fish pond yesterday noon. Splashed some Kose Sekkesei this morning. 2 hours later it's still reddish but has improved. No choice, I'v to use the SK ll whitening facial mask that I'v been saving up. I find that this mask is moisturizing and give the face a refreshing glow. However, it's costly.

Toad & Tadpoles

Our fish pond was full of clumps of tadpoles eggs this morning and a medium size black goldfish died. I scooped up the dead fish and buried it under the mango tree. When I came home 2 hours later with ma ma, another bigger goldfish had died too. The water also had a foul smell and a big toad was guarding at the side of the pond. I decided to drain off half the water in the pond and scooped up as much tadpoles eggs as I could. The toad jumped towards me to protest. I got a shock and used a stick to chase it away. It refused to leave the pond but hid itself under the heliconia leaf. Luckily the rain water we saved was sufficient to fill the pond up again (using tap water to fill pond is costly).

Ergonomic Office Chairs

On our way to Haroobee for Art class, B3 and I detoured to 72 Bendemeer Road to look for office chairs. First chair we tested lack lumbar support. Second chair has good lumbar support with headrest but no locking mechanism for recline position. Third is the best. It comes with better rollers made of I think, silicone. The headrest is adjustable and can be tilted. Armrest are also adjustable and recline position can be locked. Plus it feels stable. At $395 + GST each, I ordered 2 units, one for B2 and one for B1. Whole purchase was done in less than 15 min.

Date Selection for Wedding

Finally I found a date for the couple's wedding. Groom's bazi shows that he'll have a fierce wife. While wife's bazi shows that family relationship will be a challenge and tolerance is needed. Well, Life is rarely perfect we just have to work on it.

Lei Garden at CHIMES

We have a wonderful dinner at Lei Garden. The ambience is cosy. It's not noisy as the restaurant is not full. The glass window and doors provide a nice view to the garden. We ordered the set dinner and a peking duck. Food is delicious however it seems like there is too much MSG added to the food. Our throat felt dry despite drinking lots of water and B3 also ended up with headache. Next time we have to request for no added MSG.

BAKERZIN Chocolate Cake

The Amer Chocolate Cake with it's rich cocoa taste is absolutely delicious. B1, B2 & B3 loves this cake too. Daddy didn't like it as much as he is not a big chocolate fan but nevertheless he bought the whole cake for us to enjoy. He knows I'll have second thoughts buying it as it's comparatively pricer than other chocolate cake. Bakerzin has a 30% discount in till 31 Aug, I shall buy one more before the promotion is over.

LL Pre-admission Quiz

My B2 had to do a screening quiz at LL this evening. He has to do an essay and answer 3 questions. There is no guarantee that he'll be accepted into the enrichment center. It'll depend on vacancy and how well he did in the test. It'll take about 4 weeks for them to process. However he has already sign the student's agreement on terms and conditions in the event that he gets into the center.

Hong Kong Tourists killed in Manila Hostage

Last evening 8 tourists are killed during the bus hostage in Manila. We watched the whole drama on channelnewsasia. I wish the Philippine police force was more organized in their rescue mission. At least 8 hours passed before the gunman became aggressive. That's long enough to fly in resources from foreign countries if required. The Philippine president's facial expression seems a bit too relax when he delivered his speech at the press conference. I was expecting him to look sad, depress and apologetic.