Little Red Dot Diaries

Presidential Election 2011 - Poll Card has arrived

2011-08-18T16:12:00.001+08:00

The Poll Card for Singapore's Presidential Election 2011 has arrived (see the picture below). The news stated that Singaporeans should receive their poll cards this few days, so look out for it in the letterbox. If you didn't get your card, you can actually print one yourself via the Elections Dept online service. I think Election Dept has an easier time for this Presidential Election since they can mostly re-use the earlier procedures / details from the General Election in May 2011. My polling station was the same as the earlier GE polling station.

The Poll Card looks the same, except it says "PE 2011" instead of "GE 2011", and the location of the "PE 2011" box is different, that is all.

So who will most Singaporeans vote for as the next President? I don't know but can only offer an educated guess (heh, my previous guess about the Writ of Election date and polling date is accurate!) after I hear what the candidates have to say, and people's responses to their views. Tonight is the broadcast of the speeches by the four Presidential hopeful - Dr Tan Cheng Bock, Mr Tan Jee Say, Dr Tony Tan, and Mr Tan Kin Lian, so for those who care, turn on your TV tonight at 8pm.

Related Posts:

- Writ of Election from 3 Aug - Presidential Election Date?

- GE 2011 - Poll Card has arrived!

Sunset Grill & Pub (Seletar Airbase) - Hot Wings

2011-08-16T00:41:00.001+08:00

Sunset Grill & Pub is located at an obscure part of the Seletar Airbase. Honestly speaking the cafe is very hard to find, but nonetheless it is quite famous for food-seekers of a particular type - hot wings.

Sunset Grill & Pub is not the most beautiful restaurant or that the ambiance is fantastic (unless you happen to like the army camp feel, with heavy smell of mosquito coils lingering in the air. So most folks do go there for the simple reason that they served very special spicy buffalo wings. The spicy buffalo wings have ratings from 1 - 10, to indicate their spiciness. Of course, they do offer wings with ratings beyond 10, all the way to 35. Folks who attempted wings beyond rating 30 will get certificates and a place on their wall of fame.

Actually, most people who tried wings rating 30 and beyond will end up in bed or worse the hospital, so please don't try. I'm perfectly fine with wings of ratings 3 or even 5. Their sauce for the wings had a certain pungent acidic taste, which led me to believe that they added other spicy ingredients other than chilli. Order for wings is at a minimum of 6 wings. Not my type of chicken wings, but everyone has their own version of 'taste' I suppose.

For those who want to get a bit of 'hotness' on their tongues and in their stomachs, here's the address of Sunset Grill & Pub - Republic of Singapore Flying Club, 140-B Piccadily, Seletar Airbase East Camp. Tel: 6482 0244. They are closed on Tuesday, and even on normal days Sunset Grill & Pub can be quite crowded, so go early if you want to.

New Soon Huat Bak Kut Teh @ Jalan Kayu

2011-08-10T23:05:00.003+08:00

It has been a while since I had great tasting bak kut teh in Singapore. So when we heard about the New Soon Huat bak kut teh along Jalan Kayu, we decided to give it a try.

We ordered bak kut teh, braised pig trotter, and pig liver soup, and they tasted great. Unlike the peppery clear broth that is pretty commonly in food court, New Soon Huat's bak kut teh soup has a slight herbal and rich smooth texture to the soup. Moreover, instead of just pieces of pork ribs, they served the bak kut teh with a mixture of different pork parts plus some tofu skin. The parts were innards, and both lean and the fatty meat in the bubbling claypot. As for the ribs, the meat pieces came off the bones easily and didn't get stuck between the teeth.

We liked the braised pig trotter as well. The portion that was served had the good combination of the tendons, meat and the fatty parts. The meat came off the bones easily, and was wholly infused with the spices used. The serving was not too oily, and the black soy sauce added much aromatic flavour when we put it onto the rice.

New Soon Huat served liver soup in claypot as well. They didn't have the kidney, which was somewhat disappointing. The liver pieces were cooked just right with slight reddish tint, i.e. not overcooked till somewhat rubbery.

Overall the dining experience at New Soon Huat bak kut teh was good. For a price of $20+ (the dishes above cost $5.80 each and can drinks are retailing at $1.50 each), we get these three dishes that were just nice for two persons. The New Soon Huat bak kut teh is located at 257 Jalan Kayu, opened daily 11am to 10pm. They accept reservation, and those who are interested can call 6484 3224.

Transformers @ Changi Airport T3 (6 & 7 August)

2011-08-05T23:05:00.003+08:00

Optimus Prime & Bumblebee will be at the Changi Airport Terminal 3 on 6 & 7 August (i.e. tomorrow and Sunday)! Heh, for those Transformers fans who want to have a photo grab with these autobots, make your way down to the Changi Airport T3 these two days at 1 pm and 4pm. I am not sure how the photos will turn out since it is quite hard to make 'Transformers' mascots, but I am sure the fans will still be thrilled nonetheless. The event will be at Basement 2, just opposite the kopitiam area.

Changi Airport has these Meet & Greet events (I saw the Kung Fu panda event sometime back), which are also publised on their website. However, the details on the website are a bit different from the terms and conditions posted at the event itself. The website stated that interested parties can just spend "any amount on a single receipt" but the T&Cs at T3 stated a minimum amount of $10 ($5 for Changi Reward members) before a person can qualify for the photo passes.

Thus to be safe, interested folks should ask the Changi Airport staff before they start to hand out the Transformers photo passes. Here's the picture of the T&Cs.

Writ of Election from 3 August - Presidential Election Date?

2011-08-03T01:16:00.002+08:00

Channel News Asia has suggested that the Writ of Election will be issued from today, i.e. from 3 August 2011. The national broadcaster suggested this date because of developments from the Election Department. With such date made public by the national broadcaster, it is simply almost certain that 3 August will be the day that the Writ is issued.

What next? Well, straight after the Writ is issued, the 5 candidates who indicated their aspiration to be the next President of Singapore, will have up to 3 days to submit their applications for the Certificate of Eligibility to run for the President. Since it is stated as 'days' and not 'working days', that means should the Writ be issued on 3rd August, the candidates will have up to this Saturday (i.e. 6th August) to submit their applications.

If we keep this T+3 day rule in mind (i.e. 3 days from the issuance of Writ of Election for application submission), there isn't any other ideal date for issuing Writ of Election except on the 3rd August, or from 10th August onwards.

Why? 4th August is no good, since that means the T+3 date land up on a Sunday, which is a bad day for dealing with administrative stuff. Civil servants wouldn't typically choose a Sunday to handle such an important procedure dealing with Presidential Election.

5th August means 8th August is the T+3 date. While possible, this means the media's attention on the 8th August will be focus on election matters, and not National Day celebrations, which is again a no-no.

6th August means application deadline is 9th August, the National Day, which is definitely a no-no.

7th August is a Sunday, and the 8th - 9th August will be devoted to matters of National Day. So I guess the best bet is still 3rd August.

We know that Dr Tony Tan and Mr Tan Kin Lian had submitted their applications, and that leaves us with the other three candidates - Mr Tan Jee Say, Dr Tan Cheng Bock, and Mr Andrew Kuan. Understandably, there may be confusion for some heartlanders (or those not familiar at all with local politics) which 'Tan' they will like to vote for when our citizens are at the polling station. So the Elections Department has decided that the ballot paper will have the photographs of the candidates.

With the list of candidates settled, there remains the other unknown for this Presidential election, i.e. the date. There is much speculation that the date will be 27th August, i.e. the last Saturday of this month. I personally think 27th August 2011 will be a good date for election, for a simple reason. There is a public holiday, Hari Raya Puasa, on the 30th August 2011, i.e. following Tuesday. Thus should 27th August, the Saturday, be a polling day, many companies and organisations will provide the following Monday as a day off.

Thus folks can wake up early in the morning of 27th August, vote for their ideal candidate, and enjoy the extremely long weekend from 27th August till 30th August, i.e. 4 days off! Knowing the well-oiled machinery of Singapore's bureaucracy, 27th August will indeed be a best bet for the coming Singapore Presidential Election date. We will know soon if my guesses are correct.

Straits Times App - iPhone & iPad

2011-08-02T12:53:00.003+08:00

News about the new Straits Times app on iPad, and its full version cousin for iPhone were spreading for the past few days. MyPaper had also ran a full page advertisement for these 2 apps today. Honestly speaking, news apps on iPhone and iPad are not new at all. I've tried the other apps from other news agencies from abroad. What is more important for the success of these apps is its usability. This is especially so for subscription based news apps.

The Editorial content from the Print Edition of the Straits Times' apps on iPhone (full version) and iPad (you can get these apps on the iTune apps store) will be free from now till 7th Sep, but they have not announced the charges that are applicable from 7th Sep. I believe they are watching for consumer responses before deciding the price tags.

Out of curiosity, I decided to try out the full version iPhone apps from Straits Times. Well, the news coverage is more complete now, with articles from the Print Edition added into the picture. The users could also retrieve older articles from the past 7 days. I like their keywords alert function, where news articles containing these keywords could be 'push' via notification. I am puzzled about their 'Expiry Date' under the Subscription tag of the Settings though. It stated 31 August 2011. Isn't the app suppose to be free until 7th Sep?

An area for improvement for the Straits Times apps on iPhone would be its refresh rates. It took a while to refresh the articles (see pic below), especially when the reception is not in the most ideal location. It is inevitable that network quality may suffer at places of low coverage - e.g. SMRT trains, tunnels and such. However, these are also the locations where users are more inclined to use the apps to get news updates - traveling on trains for example. Straits Times could format its update in a way to enable better refresh I suppose.

Overall the feel of the Straits Times iPhone apps is good, and I am sure it will appeal to the news junkies, especially for folks who travel frequently. Singaporeans who are residing overseas may also be attracted to these apps for an instant update of the Singapore landscape. It remains to be seen if the subscription rate is attractive enough to encourage mass take up of the Straits Times app. Just a food for thought - if the adoption rate for the Straits Times iPhone app is high, will the paper version suffer from such 'internal cannibalisation' then?

Popiah @ Albert Centre Hawker aka Queen Street Market

2011-07-27T12:36:00.002+08:00

Popiah is one of the standard hawker centre dish, and there are times when folks organised popiah / Kueh Pie Ti party as gatherings during the festive seasons. There are only a limited number of places where one could get the entire 'popiah set' with popiah skin, turnip / carrot, sauces etc packed nicely to go. It used to be that I need to drive to the Marine Parade hawker centre to get such sets.

So I am quite happy to see the appearance of not just 1 but 2 popiah stalls at the Albert Centre Hawker Centre (aka Queen Street Hawker Centre). Actually both stalls are licensees of the Fortune Food franchise (I believe), and there are a total of about 7 such stalls spread across the island. Those who are interested to get their popiah or kueh pie tie sets can visit the Fortune Food website.

The popiah from these stalls cost $1.30 each and there are also Kueh Pie Ti (5 for $3). The popiah is quite nice, and the chilli is just spicy enough. There is even some form of 'government endorsement' since there is a photo of President Nathan with Fortune Food's employees, pasted at the stall.

There were reports that popiah is one of the healthier hawker food, at least it is healthier than cha kway teow or hokkien mee. Thus for those who are interested to eat more healthily, try out the popiah at these hawker stalls (Albert Centre Hawker)!

Strawberry Beancurd @ Old Airport Road Market

2011-07-25T22:47:00.000+08:00

Many of us have tried soy beancurds and we know of the more popular ones e.g. Rochor Beancurd. But have you tried other alternative flavours of beancurd before? Well if you are interested, there is the strawberry beancurd that could be found at 51 Soya Bean @ Old Airport Road Market.

The taste of the strawberry beancurd is quite refreshing. Unlike the texture of other traditional soya beancurd, this strawberry beancurd is more like a custard dessert. The chilled beancurd is not too sweet, and there is no additional sugar syrup added. The aroma of strawberry is not too strong either, which makes it a a good complement to the other hawker fare.

The price is a bit steep for chilled beancurd found at a hawker centre - $2.50 per serving. While there are two prices stated ($1.50 & $2.50), the lady offered only 1, i.e. $2.50 version. So if you are at the Old Airport Road market and want to try out a different version of beancurd, there is the strawberry beancurd at the 51 Soya Bean stall.

NLB Book Sale 2011 @ Singapore Expo

2011-07-22T16:07:00.002+08:00

The library book sale by NLB is here again! This is always a hot event, attended by a huge crowd where many people jostle for space to grab books. Well the reason for the huge crowd is simply because there are many good books (used library books) for sale at an extremely cheap price. The free admission also encouraged people to drop by for a look.

The prices for the books are as follow (extracted from NLB site), and payment is by cash, NETS or cashcard only. No credit cards for payment I believe.

English and Chinese books will cost $2 per copy;
Malay and Tamil books will cost $1 per copy;
English and Chinese magazines will cost $5 for a pack of 10 issues; and
Malay and Tamil magazines will cost $5 for a pack of 20 issues.

The many times I attended the event, I managed to grab books and magazines. Often, folks who attended this Library Book Sale will first grab a huge armload of books, before sorting out the books they want at the side of the event. No worries if you are not able to reach the Library Book Sale early, since the librarians will push out new carts of books every now and then. NLB has also tied up with a delivery company to help those with too many books; convenient transportation from the Expo to the doorstep at a price of course.

P.S.: Saw the news that the previous limit of maximum 60 books per person has been lifted for this Book Sale.

For those who are interested to attend the event, here are the details:
Date: Saturday, 23 July 2011 - Sunday, 24 July 2011
Time: 9.30am - 8.00pm
Venue: Singapore Expo Hall 4A

Related post:
- NLB Book Exchange 2011

Google+ Are You Invited Yet?

2011-07-19T22:15:00.003+08:00

Goggle Plus has exceeded 10+ million members in less than a month from launch on 28 June. Quite a spectacular growth, but of course it is no where near the scale of Facebook yet.

Honestly speaking the 'free for all to see' nature of Facebook has created many awkward moments for many. If Google+ can create a more acceptable form of social networking, I think there is a lot of untapped potential for this social networking yet. I am curious to find out how the Google+ Circle concept can create the nuances that are necessary for more enhanced / 'real life' sharing of information with friends and family. Of course, I am also hoping to see new social networking games that may possibly be better and more engaging than those I see on Facebook.

As of now I couldn't get the invite for Google+. 10+ million members and none of my contacts is part of it, what a pity. Nonetheless I've signed up for the alert, and hopefully I can get an invite soon.

阿宗面线 A Chung Mian Xian @ Taipei

2011-07-08T17:31:00.001+08:00

阿宗面线 (A Chung mian xian) is such a famous name in Taiwan such that most tourists will try to drop by for a bowl of their famous thick broth noodles. I like that fact that the innards served in their noodles are cooked just nice - chewy and without any 'odour' found in innards. Each mouthful of the tasty noodle is filled with ingredients. The noodle is cooked just right, and not too soggy, while the thick broth is flavourful and not overly rich.

The servings come in two sizes - NT60 and NT45. The two sizes are just nice to fit the appetite of a guy and girl respectively. We tried the outlet at 西門町 but I understand they have many other outlets, including another stall at the touristy Shilin night market (士林夜市).

At A Chung Mian Xian, there are no tables. Everyone has to hold their own bowl of noodles and slurp up the meal using spoons. This adds to the unique experience of a street side food journey. Other than tourists, there are Taiwanese who drop by for a quick lunch. For those who are dropping by Taipei, do try the A Chung Mian Xian (阿宗面线)!

Vacheron Constantin's Treasures @ National Museum of Singapore

2011-07-04T22:34:00.002+08:00

"Do better if possible, and that is always possible" was a quote from Francois Constantin, which became the motto of the famous watch maker Vacheron Constantin. I was impressed when I saw this motto at the 'Treasures of Vacheron Constantin' exhibition at the National Museum of Singapore.

Perhaps it is with such a spirit that the makers of these watches are able to improve their designs and the maker won numerous awards, again and again. The exhibition showcased the many watches of Vacheron Constantin, accompanied by explanations of the uniqueness of each watch. Vacheron Constantin is a (very expensive) Geneva watch maker that is very well known amongst the watch enthusiasts.

The exhibition is highly educational, and visitors can gain a better understanding of how watches have evolved from the big gigantic clocks of the early days, and subsequently devices that could endure seafaring journeys. There are summary of the developments of "horology", i.e. the measuring of time that stretched back since 1755. Of course, there are also short video clips that highlighted the painstaking efforts of the watch makers as they crafted the miniature enamel watches or those jeweled watches with blinding brilliance.

I am glad the National Museum of Singapore brought in this exhibition. For those who are interested, the exhibition 'Treasures of Vacheron Constantin' is held from 24 June to 14 August 2011. There are also free guided tours (in both English and Mandarin) at fixed timings. Admission is free, and the exhibition is located at basement 1 of the museum.

Ping Pong Ball in Kilkenny Beer Can

2011-06-29T00:03:00.000+08:00

If you find a ping pong ball in Kilkenny can, don't worry. It is inserted into the cans by the beer makers. When I first heard the sound of an object in my can of Kilkenny, I got worried. I wondered if it was some machine parts that dropped by accident into the can during manufacturing.

Then I did a search and voila - the object (a 3cm plastic ball) was inserted in for Kilkenny and Guinness beer cans so as to manage the characteristics of the beer's head, i.e. the foam that adds to the creaminess of the beer. See the small white ball thru the can hole in the picture below? The ball is nitrogenated and releases nitrogen into the beer when the can is opened. The nitrogen helps to form smaller bubbles and triggered likewise reaction for the rest of the beer.

So next time if you find a small plastic ball in Kilkenny cans of beer, don't worry - it is meant to enhance your drinking experience!

Prata Wala @ Serangoon Nex

2011-06-24T12:53:00.001+08:00

Craving for prata in Singapore? There are a number of good prata places spread all over the island. At the somewhat new Serangoon Nex, we found yet another good prata eatery - Prata Wala! They are sited as an islet on the 2nd floor of Serangoon Nex (near a set of elevators).

Prata Wala serves both prata and naan. I'm most impressed by their curry. There is a good thick consistency to their curry (unlike some establishments that serve very watery) with a right mixture of spices that make the curry yummy. The chicken is also well seasoned and the bite into the chicken drumstick is enjoyable.

The naan is good while the prata itself is pretty standard. Next time I shall try the egg prata or even the paper prata, which look very attractive. Prata Wala also serves thosai and briyani for those interested. The naan set comes with flavourful rice and other assortments while the prata set includes the chicken curry.

Overall, the cost of both prata and naan set plus the drinks (separately charged) comes up to about $18, which is slightly pricier compared to the standard coffeeshop prata. But then again, this is the Prata Wala at the new hip place along the North East Corridor - Serangoon Nex, so prices are expected to be higher. Prata Wala has two more outlets at Jurong Point and Tiong Bahru Plaza but I guess the prices should be similar.

Longest Total Lunar Eclipse - 15th June 2011

2011-06-15T23:59:00.003+08:00

The longest total lunar eclipse in nearly 11 years will occur within the next 24 hours! The exact timing of the lunar eclipse will start at 1724 GMT to 2300 GMT. The last time when such total lunar eclipse occurred was on 16th July 2000. I took a picture of the nearly full moon, by the East Coast beach about 4.5 hours ago (shown below) and I must say that the moon looked extra bright tonight somehow, as if shining its fullest before its eclipse in a few hours time.

Some people feel that during eclipse or full moon, strange things will happen. However, I checked the date of the last eclipse (16th July 2000) on Google and found nothing. Since the longest total lunar eclipse will occur later during my sleeping hours, I wouldn't be staying awake to catch it. Tomorrow surely there will be plenty of videos about this event on YouTube.

Afternote: Google did up a doodle about this lunar eclipse. Not as fun as their Les Paul guitar doodle but for hose interested, you can have fun here (Google Doodle).

Canned Cocktails - Marks & Spencer

2011-06-13T00:45:00.001+08:00

Ever fancy a ready made cocktails to be enjoyed n the comfort of your home? Voila here comes Marks & Spencer's canned cocktails. I saw these nicely designed little cans at the Vicocity and I was wondering what products were these. I was pretty surprise when I saw words like 'Gin & Tonic', 'Cosmo' & 'Bloody Mary' on these cans. There were 5 or more different variety of cocktails.

These little cans cost $9.90 each (cheaper than what one gets at hotel lobbies or bars) and apparently they were packed in Belgium I believe. The Sunday Times (12th June 2011) also has a short para showing these cans of Marks & Spencer cocktails in the Lifestyle section. So one can now enjoy a cocktail party at home, lazing in comfortable couches without any hassle to worry about driving after drinking.

Slew of Property Launches - Down trend soon?

2011-06-10T15:08:00.000+08:00

I am amazed by the number of property brochures I received in my letterbox these days. Every couple of days there will be a flood of hard copy brochures advertising about the different property launches. No, these are not the property agents telling unit owners how great they are at selling flats; the brochures are from property developers advertising their latest launches. Of course I am no property speculator; just a heartlander dwelling in a petite HDB flat. So why do I still receive so many brochures? I think it is turning quiet for these new property launches.

Guess the answer is that these developers are desperate now. The new Minister for National Development, Khaw Boon Wan had commented on his blog that he is worried about property prices and asked buyers to be aware of sudden changes in the property market. I think both the government (with a better overview of the whole market developments) and the property developers (with a sharp understanding of the local property trends) know that this phenomenal increase in property prices cannot last; what goes up must come down someday. Perhaps the day is near, and the higher the rise in price, the lower the fallen price target will be.

Photos - Cotton Bleu (Upper Thomson Road)

2011-06-07T16:50:00.002+08:00

We were at Cotton Bleu for a quiet relaxing lunch some weeks ago. Cotton Bleu is a great place for value-for-money french / european cuisine, located at 205 Upper Thomson Road. Let me share these photos.

We liked their appetizers. Scallops salad and duck have always been favourites of ours.

The mains were great too. Nope we didn't try their wines since I was driving.

And of course, their desserts round up the lunch nicely. Honey poached pear in red wine added to the whole experience of dining at Cotton Bleu. The place is really a gem (not so hidden, given all the different reviews online) and thus for those who want a good dining experience, try Cotton Bleu.

Chef Han Cuisine - Chicken Rice (Sunset Way)

2011-05-26T13:05:00.000+08:00

Sometimes we chanced upon food that we didn't expect to find. One such occasion was when we 'found' Chef Han Cuisine that opened recently at the Sunset Way Blk 105. We were wondering what to have for dinner, and driving around somewhat adventurously before ending up at Sunset Way. Voila, in front of us was the famous ex-Chatterbox executive sous chef's shop.

Of course we tried their chicken rice, with a plate of vegetables and the chicken gizzard. The chicken rice is fragrant and not oily, which is a plus point for the health conscious folks. The chicken pieces are tender and juicy. Their chilli and the accompanying soup meet the expectation for a typical hainanese chicken meal. The gizzards are fresh and just lightly seasoned, i.e. not too oily or salty.

According to this Soshiok site, it seems that Chef Han wanted his three sons to inherit his culinary skills, and that is why he left Meritus Mandarin to set up his own shop. Chef Han also has his own blog! So I think the chap I saw at the Chef Han Cuisine must be one of his sons.

Personally I liked the fact that their chicken, and the rice, are not too oily. While the fragrance of the rice is appealing, it is slightly too grainy. I would say that for the price charged ($12+ for a meal for two, including drinks) this is a value for money location, especially for those chicken rice lovers.

Chef Han Cuisine has many other chices, including macaroni, roasted chicken and some nonya options. Guess we can drop by Chef Han someday and savour these options in addition to their famous chicken rice.

Upgrading - Fengshan Hawker Centre (aka Bedok Blk 85 market)

2011-05-18T10:40:00.002+08:00

Fengshan hawker centre, or more colloquially known as the Bedok Blk 85 hawker, will be closed for upgrading from Feb 2012. The upgrading will take about 11 months, which means the hawkers (and good food seekers) will be affected for a long period.

Fengshan hawker centre is the place with a great selection of hawker fare. The famous ones include their bak chor mee. The bak chor mee is sold by two stalls located side by side with each other. Unlike other bak chor mee, the version here has no vegetables or mushrooms, but only the bak chor and pork meat balls. The soup is excellent, and the meat balls are very flavourably seasoned.

Other than the bak chor mee, I personally think that the chicken wings, western food (Pete's Grill) as well as the pork porridge are also great selections at this 'Bedok Blk 85' hawker. The chicken wings are comparable to those at the East Coast Lagoon or the Old Airport Road market. The porridge is done cantonese style, with almost dissolved rice grains. The pork liver is often cooked just nice, i.e. not too hard. Their mixed porridge version (mix of pork, cutlefish and others) is a good choice for those who can't decide what porridge version they want.

For those who don't fancy the chicken wings, porridge or bak chor mee, Fengshan hawker also has nice alternatives that are different from other hawker centres. One example will be the peranakan curry. One can find both peranakan chicken curry as well as the peranakan pork rib curry at this hawker. The portions served as well as the price are very reasonable.

After a heavy meal, food goers can choose from the desserts. I personally like the ah baling in sweet peanut soup, that is delicious and yet cheap. Bowl of 4 ah balings (ah baling is glutinous rice balls with fillings) with a mix of flavours (black sesame, peanuts, red beans) is a good way to end the meal.

Hopefully the same hawkers will stay on after the upgrading of the Fengshan hawker centre, and the good food selection (and prices) remains the same. During the upgrading of the Fengshan hawker centre, the news report mentioned that the hawkers will be re-located to a temporarily market nearby. Of course the temporary market will not accommodate all the hawkers. In the mean time, I think I will patronise the hawker stalls more often.

台湾龙卷风 has become reality!

2011-05-14T02:21:00.001+08:00

台湾龙卷风 is actually the name of a long running Taiwan drama. But today there was a real tornado that traumatised the residents of Xindian, New Taipei City (新店台北)!

Maybe it is the effect of Friday the 13th being played out, and turned 台湾龙卷风 into a reality in 新店台北. Perhaps there should be a new drama show - Singapore Snowing, since we are all in need of a cooler weather in this blistering hot May.

民众兴化 Restaurant - Ming Zhong Heng Hwa cuisine

2011-05-12T01:35:00.002+08:00

Despite the general high cost of living in Singapore, one can still find many places that offer great food at affordable prices. One such place is the Ming Zhong / 民众 restaurant located along Maude Road (Jalan Besar area). 民众 has 兴化 / heng hwa dishes, of which many are greatly popular.

One of the heng hwa dishes is the heng hwa bee hoon, with lotsa ingredients including lala clams, sotong, mushrooms and vegetables.

Of course, for the heng hwa dishes, one must not forget the signature heng hwa lor mee - 兴化 version that uses clear milky soup that is different from the traditional hokkien lor mee. Again, the many lala clams and ingredients (sotong, vegetables etc) give a richness to the soup. Oh, a side note - 民众's lor mee does not have peanuts (I had 兴化 lor mee elsewhere with peanuts) though.

民众 restaurant also offers the deep fried fish slices that is a must-try. The fish slices are accompanied by the chilli sauce that enhances the flavour of the fish slices. I think the fish bone sort of enhances the flavour of this lightly salted dish when the fish slices are deep fried in very hot oil. The slices are not too dried, but give a certain crisp texture when you bite into the meat.

Ming Zhong / 民众 restaurant has been around for quite a while, and typical of such traditional outfit, the dishes have much plainer appearance compared to the new restaurant fares in shopping centres. The plus side is that Ming Zhong / 民众 prices are very reasonable (about $10+ for two, dinner time), as alluded by their name, i.e. 民众 means 'people / popular' in Chinese. So do drop by the place for dinner if you have craving for 兴化 cuisine!

GE 2011 - PAP & SDA Rallies

2011-05-04T23:14:00.005+08:00

After attending yesterday's rally, we decided to be fair and attended some other parties' rallies as well. Thus we went to the SDA rally (next to Buangkok MRT) as well as the PAP rally for Punggol East.

Here's the pictures taken for the SDA rally, when Harminder Pal Singh was giving his speech. There was a light drizzle and the audience was taking shelter at the Buangkok MRT or holding umbrellas.

The drizzle stopped when we went over to the PAP rally for Punggol East. Michael Palmer was giving his speech, and Minister Teo Chee Hean was sitting behind him. The picture was sharper as I was able to find a nearer spot.

I think these few rallies would be the only ones for me. Let's see the results come Saturday.

See also:
- GE 2011 - Poll Card has arrived
- GE 2011 - Sentiments from Punggol East Rally by Workers' Party

GE 2011 - Sentiments from Punggol East Rally by Workers' Party

2011-05-03T23:52:00.009+08:00

We had just returned from the Workers' Party rally at the Punggol East site. No we are not from the Punggol East SMC. Attending rallies is but a small way of staying in touch with local politics, and that is what many Singaporeans should do.

Perhaps because we were late, we couldn't squeeze ourselves into the main field. However, enjoying the rally from a distance (i.e. the void deck of nearby HDB flats) gave a different experience; it allowed me to be dis-engaged from the mood of the moment and truly feel what this election meant to the people.

Somehow, the ruling party no longer appeals to the masses as much as they used to. Somehow, there is this existence of a huge dissatisfaction with the many government policies. There are many online posts and comments about these policies (just read the comments on Yahoo!) and I shan't elaborate.

What is striking to me is that I feel the ruling party had not listened to these ground sentiments over the past term. If they had listened, then they must have taken a calculated stance to ignore these sentiments. The budget goodies might not be able to sooth people's dissatisfaction. They must have believed that despite ignoring the many voices of the people, they will continue to be returned to power at this election.

It is precisely this over-confidence attitude that led many Singaporeans to be dissatisfied. Honestly speaking, no particular mistake made by any of the Ministers is sufficient to create such unhappiness; it is the lack of humility and recognition that they served the people that resulted in such an environment today.

This reminded me of PM Lee's speech to his party, that elected MPs are to serve the people - "Never forget we are the servants of the people, not their masters." Perhaps he truly understand the root cause of such huge dissatisfaction. If he is my MP (but he is not) I will vote for him. I just wonder if any of his party members (as well as the elites of the government service) digested and ingested his important message.

Going by the crowd that I saw today, and the reaction from the people at the Workers' Party rally, I think PM Lee's message might have come too late for his party. Guess I will know by 7th May 2011.

Note: The pictures are blurry because I had to use digital zoom - we were really quite far away from the main action tonight.

See also:
- GE 2011 - Poll Card has arrived
- GE 2011 - PAP & SDA Rallies

GE 2011 - Poll Card has arrived

2011-04-28T16:27:00.005+08:00

The news stated that voters should receive their poll cards from this Friday, but voila, our poll card arrived today. When I opened the letterbox, I saw the GE poll card for the first time. It is a pretty plain card, with just the voter(s) and polling station details.

This election is an exciting time, and the amount of news and discussions ballooned on both the mainstream and online media space. The GE 2011 Poll Card looks pretty plain, but nonetheless it is an extremely significant document. For virgin voters like me, I think it is tremendously exciting since this will be the first time I get to exercise my basic right as a citizen. I think on the 7th May 2011, my TV will be tuned to the announcement channels and I will definitely stay up late to wait for the GE 2011 results.

See also:
- GE 2011 - Sentiments from Punggol East Rally by Workers' Party
- GE 2011 - PAP & SDA Rallies