The thing I really love about Hong Kong is "Service Service Service!" Apart from loaning umbrella and leaving my letters to be posted with the information counter at Times Square shopping mall, I found another new added service elsewhere. Living on HK island, Life is truly a breeze and the system is here to make life easier for consumers.
I dont know if Singapore Supermarkets offer this value add service since I have been living away for so long, however I found a nugget of surprise here in Hong Kong Supermarket.
I was purchasing my groceries at Jasons Supermart@Hysan Place. While the Filippino cashier was helping me sort out the groceries into my 2 recyclable bag, I remembered to ask for some ice for my meats since I was still going to head for lunch before heading home. As she was slotting the ice inbetween my meat packs, I causally started chatting with her and explained that I still have to head for lunch which explains the need for my ice request. I didnt have to tell her anything but well, it's just me having a chat occasionally with retail staff when I aint in a rush.
The cashier looked up and asked if I was heading out to Causeway bay to have lunch. I told her no, just going upstairs to grab a meal at the food court. Immediately, the cashier told me "Why dont you leave your grocery bags with us, I can even put the meat bag into the fridge. It will save you having to carry 2 heavy bag all over"
I was over the moon. Honestly, I never knew such service existed. The ice service yes but leaving my bag behind and to collect later. I wasnt that surprised since this is Hong Kong but still, it brightens my day. So all I have to do was to fill a form with name and contact number and that's it! I went back 40mins later to collect my purchase with my very satisfied belly.
Thank you Jasons for such fantastic added service.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Recipe: Honeyed Soya sauce with Apple Cider Vinegar Chicken Thighs
Took me 3 separate attempts to perfect this dish to the balanced flavor I like. This is a modified version from the Filippino's version of chicken adobo since I like my meat to be more balanced with a tinge of sweetness. For recipe, read here. It's my all time quick fix dinner that is cooked under 30mins!
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
In Mandarin, Fitted bedsheet is known as ....?
In Singapore, we commonly refer our bedsheets as 床单, well at least it was in my case.
Today, thanks to a Chinese lady muttering the product label to herself, I just found out that I have been missing out another "bed terminology" my whole life up to this point.
Fitted bedsheet is also known as 床笠 (li4) here in HK?! At least that's what the sign in Ikea says. 床单 refers to bedspread. OMG!
Living in Hong Kong has not only taught me a new dialect -Cantonese, it has taught me many Original Mandarin terms and words which has been overly simplified or used inaccurately in Singapore.
Truly, as long as you are on the lookout, there is something new to be learnt everyday:)
Today, thanks to a Chinese lady muttering the product label to herself, I just found out that I have been missing out another "bed terminology" my whole life up to this point.
Fitted bedsheet is also known as 床笠 (li4) here in HK?! At least that's what the sign in Ikea says. 床单 refers to bedspread. OMG!
Living in Hong Kong has not only taught me a new dialect -Cantonese, it has taught me many Original Mandarin terms and words which has been overly simplified or used inaccurately in Singapore.
Truly, as long as you are on the lookout, there is something new to be learnt everyday:)
Monday, April 22, 2013
Japanese Style Teriyaki Salmon Recipe
Finally found time to update my all time favorite!
Teriyaki Salmon Recipe -> Read Here in my new blog.
Teriyaki Salmon Recipe -> Read Here in my new blog.
Recipe: Sanma Shioyaki or Japanese Style grilled Pacific Saury
I have finally got round to creating a separate blog for my food recipes... So if you are interested, please bookmark the new website instead... http://atarashicook.blogspot.hk/
Basically recopied some of my old recipes over as well and going to add the new ones there from now on...Just figured to keep my ranting blog separate from my cooking recipes....
Just added a new recipe - Sanma Shioyaki or known as Japanese style Grilled Pacific Saury.
Recipe, read here
Basically recopied some of my old recipes over as well and going to add the new ones there from now on...Just figured to keep my ranting blog separate from my cooking recipes....
Just added a new recipe - Sanma Shioyaki or known as Japanese style Grilled Pacific Saury.
Recipe, read here
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Oblivion movie
Just watched Oblivion. It's not bad way to be entertained. It isnt a groundbreaking plot since both my man and I guessed the plot from start till end at the first 10mins. That's how predictable it is...but still, I would say it is an enjoyable movie nonetheless.
Basically it's about this drone repair tech guy Jack Harper who goes around servicing damaged drone killer machine that had undergone battles with the scavengers. Scavengers are the invaders of earth who refused to back off even when the world is nuked and half the place is destroyed with radiation.
However, Jack Harper kept having dreams about this woman but he didnt know who. His partner as well as colleague told him not to think about it and just focus on doing a good job so that they can return to mother ship Titan.
Through chanced encounter, Jack Harper saw something falling through the sky and he went to investigate. To his shock, he found human survivors only to be killed by the drone who went to investigate. Jack only managed to save one, the female crew who appeared in his dreams.
The rescued lady wanted to check the flight recordings and Jack against all rules, took her out and just when they found the recording, they were captured by scavengers.
The scavengers wanted and needed Jack's tech expertise in their master attack plan. They were ready to kill him and the rescued lady but one of the scavenger let him loose to "decide" for himself.
When Jack Harper learned the truth, he was shocked but that;s when things heat up.
I wont tell you the ending but it's a good predictable ending.
The only part we didnt quite linked up was firstly, how did the scavengers know the code to the spaceship to beckon it back to earth, and secondly, how did they on earth, knows that there are any spaceshuttle survivors out there? Why should they not assume they are dead and why did they take 60years to even attempt it?
Anycase, I am still trying to second guess if the the 1st leading lady knew, or didnt know the rescued leading lady 2's connection with Jack Harper all along? Mainly because of the line "It's always about her isnt it" or something along that...made me wonder if she harboured some secret liking for Jack even before all the world changes happened....
Plus, why did the 2nd tech repair guy venture into the radiation zone to try to repair the drone?
Isnt the radiation zone strictly off limits?
I havent watched Iron man 3 yet. Gonna wait till my man gets home from his biz trip.
Basically it's about this drone repair tech guy Jack Harper who goes around servicing damaged drone killer machine that had undergone battles with the scavengers. Scavengers are the invaders of earth who refused to back off even when the world is nuked and half the place is destroyed with radiation.
However, Jack Harper kept having dreams about this woman but he didnt know who. His partner as well as colleague told him not to think about it and just focus on doing a good job so that they can return to mother ship Titan.
Through chanced encounter, Jack Harper saw something falling through the sky and he went to investigate. To his shock, he found human survivors only to be killed by the drone who went to investigate. Jack only managed to save one, the female crew who appeared in his dreams.
The rescued lady wanted to check the flight recordings and Jack against all rules, took her out and just when they found the recording, they were captured by scavengers.
The scavengers wanted and needed Jack's tech expertise in their master attack plan. They were ready to kill him and the rescued lady but one of the scavenger let him loose to "decide" for himself.
When Jack Harper learned the truth, he was shocked but that;s when things heat up.
I wont tell you the ending but it's a good predictable ending.
The only part we didnt quite linked up was firstly, how did the scavengers know the code to the spaceship to beckon it back to earth, and secondly, how did they on earth, knows that there are any spaceshuttle survivors out there? Why should they not assume they are dead and why did they take 60years to even attempt it?
Anycase, I am still trying to second guess if the the 1st leading lady knew, or didnt know the rescued leading lady 2's connection with Jack Harper all along? Mainly because of the line "It's always about her isnt it" or something along that...made me wonder if she harboured some secret liking for Jack even before all the world changes happened....
Plus, why did the 2nd tech repair guy venture into the radiation zone to try to repair the drone?
Isnt the radiation zone strictly off limits?
I havent watched Iron man 3 yet. Gonna wait till my man gets home from his biz trip.
Recipe: Ginger Oyster Sauce Chicken with Mushrooms and Carrots
There are variations to this but I decided to post the one with the updated version with the condensed rich sauce which my man loves. When he polishes off the chicken, he would keep the sauce and dip it with bread: ) I added carrots coz I like them, and also wolfberries to sweeten the sauce more so that I can use less sugar.
I didnt follow the traditional recipe below and modify it to be "oyster ginger sauce chicken with chinese mushroom" instead, with less dark soy sauce (hence the lighter shade of brown). Also, I dont like to add too much sodium or refined sugar if I can help it.
So u can adjust the oyster to 2TBsp if you want more flavour and rich sauce.
 |
| Oyster Drumsticks with Chinese Mushrooms and carrots |
I didnt follow the traditional recipe below and modify it to be "oyster ginger sauce chicken with chinese mushroom" instead, with less dark soy sauce (hence the lighter shade of brown). Also, I dont like to add too much sodium or refined sugar if I can help it.
So u can adjust the oyster to 2TBsp if you want more flavour and rich sauce.
Ingredients
- pack of chilled dozen wings/or drumlettes / or 4 drumsticks
- 2 inch ginger sliced into thin slices (for frying)
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- 1 large smashed garlic clove with skin on (for flavoring oil)
- 1 carrot (optional), cut into 1 inch chucks
- 1 inch of grated ginger
- 6 presoaked Chinese Mushrooms or Shitake Mushrooms or Button mushrooms
- half brown or red onion, cut into chucks (you dont want them too small).
- Rinsed Wolfberries (optional, amount up to you but a small handful. Soak rinsed berries with 2 TBSP of water.)
- 1 normal size mug of water
- 2 stalks of rinsed spring onion
Sauces
- 1.5Tb Light soy sauce
- 1Tb Oyster sauce
- 1 tsp of sugar
- Dash of white or grated black pepper
- 1.5Tbsp Chinese wine or Shaoxing Wine
- 1tsp of sesame oil
- 2Tbsp of cooking oil.
Cooking Steps
- pack of chilled dozen wings/or drumlettes / or 4 drumsticks
- 2 inch ginger sliced into thin slices (for frying)
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- 1 large smashed garlic clove with skin on (for flavoring oil)
- 1 carrot (optional), cut into 1 inch chucks
- 1 inch of grated ginger
- 6 presoaked Chinese Mushrooms or Shitake Mushrooms or Button mushrooms
- half brown or red onion, cut into chucks (you dont want them too small).
- Rinsed Wolfberries (optional, amount up to you but a small handful. Soak rinsed berries with 2 TBSP of water.)
- 1 normal size mug of water
- 2 stalks of rinsed spring onion
Sauces
- 1.5Tb Light soy sauce
- 1Tb Oyster sauce
- 1 tsp of sugar
- Dash of white or grated black pepper
- 1.5Tbsp Chinese wine or Shaoxing Wine
- 1tsp of sesame oil
- 2Tbsp of cooking oil.
Cooking Steps
1. Marinate chicken wings/ drumlets/ drumsticks with all the sauces above, except the sesame oil.
2. Add the grated ginger and minced garlic and mix well.
3. Leave the marinate to work for at least 20mins.
4. Heat pan with 1 TBSP of cooking oil. Add onion chucks, sliced ginger. Stir fry till onion is starts to soften.
5. Add Chinese Mushrooms and wolfberries & the water.
6. Add 1tsp if Sesame Oil after about 5mins. Stiry fry for another 2mins.
7. Remove from pan all cooked ingredients into a bowl. (Dont prolong or sesame taste will b diluted to nothing. We want to retain a hint)
8. In a clean frying pan, add the remaining 1TBsp cooking oil.
9. When oil is hot, add the clove of smashed garlic to the oil and when it browns, remove.
10. Add sliced ginger and cook till starting to turn light brown. Add 2 half stalks of spring onion (the white part) add the drumsticks, but NOT the marinate sauce. If the chicken starts to stick, u may add a little more olive cooking oil.
11. After about 3mins of turning the chicken drumstick around and nicely brown the skin, add the marinate sauce and add 1 mug of water to dilute. If the sauce is still too salty, you may add more water till it reaches the saltiness level you like.
12. Add the chopped carrots, this will help sweeten the sauce so dont add any sugar before this.
13. Close the lid of the pot/ wok and at medium flame, give it 10mins. This steam cooking will cook more evenly and soften your carrots nicely.
14. Usually large drumsticks are easy to tell if they are cook when you stop seeing the pink juices seeping out at the top. However, to test if drumstick is cook, poke a fork through. If you still see a lot of red blood juice running out, that means its not ready, stick it with lid close for another 2mins. Retest. Once u see clear juice, its cooked. If u still see a slight pink after alot of clear juices, its fine. the meat will continue to cook within for another few mins on its own.
15. The sauce should be nice and rich now. If u like it more watery you can add water here and salt/sugar to adjust taste. Usually I dont have to.
16. Throw back the cooked mushroom and onions in.
17. Give it a good toss to combined the mixture.
18. Garnish with chopped spring onion (the green part) if you like.
2. Add the grated ginger and minced garlic and mix well.
3. Leave the marinate to work for at least 20mins.
4. Heat pan with 1 TBSP of cooking oil. Add onion chucks, sliced ginger. Stir fry till onion is starts to soften.
5. Add Chinese Mushrooms and wolfberries & the water.
6. Add 1tsp if Sesame Oil after about 5mins. Stiry fry for another 2mins.
7. Remove from pan all cooked ingredients into a bowl. (Dont prolong or sesame taste will b diluted to nothing. We want to retain a hint)
8. In a clean frying pan, add the remaining 1TBsp cooking oil.
9. When oil is hot, add the clove of smashed garlic to the oil and when it browns, remove.
10. Add sliced ginger and cook till starting to turn light brown. Add 2 half stalks of spring onion (the white part) add the drumsticks, but NOT the marinate sauce. If the chicken starts to stick, u may add a little more olive cooking oil.
11. After about 3mins of turning the chicken drumstick around and nicely brown the skin, add the marinate sauce and add 1 mug of water to dilute. If the sauce is still too salty, you may add more water till it reaches the saltiness level you like.
12. Add the chopped carrots, this will help sweeten the sauce so dont add any sugar before this.
13. Close the lid of the pot/ wok and at medium flame, give it 10mins. This steam cooking will cook more evenly and soften your carrots nicely.
14. Usually large drumsticks are easy to tell if they are cook when you stop seeing the pink juices seeping out at the top. However, to test if drumstick is cook, poke a fork through. If you still see a lot of red blood juice running out, that means its not ready, stick it with lid close for another 2mins. Retest. Once u see clear juice, its cooked. If u still see a slight pink after alot of clear juices, its fine. the meat will continue to cook within for another few mins on its own.
15. The sauce should be nice and rich now. If u like it more watery you can add water here and salt/sugar to adjust taste. Usually I dont have to.
16. Throw back the cooked mushroom and onions in.
17. Give it a good toss to combined the mixture.
18. Garnish with chopped spring onion (the green part) if you like.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Recipe: Pan fried Pork Chop, served with lightly boiled Asparagus.
I love asparagus. I would always order them when i dine out because I had never cook them at home (till today). I havent tried to cook them again after my first not so tasty experience back in Singapore, when I was in college like over a decade ago. I had the small narrow ones and I had prob not bought the freshest of the lot and so it turned out chewy...
So today, after reading through this French cookbook that taught me how to prepare asparagus and cook them, I decided to give it a go and ....they turned out beautifully!!!! Apparently there are several ways to cook them but I reckon this simple French way is the best. Even without seasonings, the asparagus was naturally sweet and retains the crunch when bought fresh. I kid u not.
Time to Cook both vege and meat concurrently: 15mins
Time to Prep: 10mins
Time to marinate pork: Minimal 2hours before hand.
Served 2 pax
Ingredients
- a pack of fresh asparagus that should be firm at the stalk, and no holes through the stalk.
- 1.5tbsp of salt.
- a pot big enough to lay the asparagus horizontally flat while cooking
Cooking Steps
- After purchase, fill a cup or container with cold water and stick asparagus upright until u are ready to cook them.
- Peel the asparagus from the stalk, use a small vege knife cut 1/16 into the layer to remove the woody chewy layer. As you move progressively up to the tip, the cut gets shallower. You should see the tender lighter green under surfacing as you slice away the top layer. Stick them back in the container.
Tip: Dont use peeler, it's not effective enough.
- Once peeled and ready, Fill the uncovered pot with enough water to be able to cover the asparagus. that's prob abt 1/3 pot guide.
- Add the salt and bring to a boil.
Ingredients for the pan fried pork
- 2 pork chop with bone in (about 1 inch thick)
- half red onion
- a quarter cinnamon stick (optional)
Marinate sauce
- 1tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp of chinese rice wine
- 1 tsp of pepper
- dash of salt
- slightly under 1tbsp of light soy sauce (i used the kikoman less salt version)
- 1tbsp of sugar.
- 1 egg white
Cooking Steps
1. Mix all the sauces together. Taste for salty level and adjust to taste. Cut back the salt if too salty
2. Add the egg white and beat lightly together with the sauces.
3. Pour the mixed sauce into the zip lock plastic bag and add pork in. Fully cover the meat with sauces to marinate.
4. Leave the marinated meat in fridge for at least 2 hours. Best 4 hours.
5. When ready to cook, add butter or olive oil or coconut oil to frying pan at medium heat
6. Add the pork. For me, I would cover the lid to ensure my pork is being cooked inside.
Note: Semi-cooked pork contains parasites that may host inside your brain...
7. Turn the flame down to low with lid covered so that you dont burnt your meat.
8. Flip over after about 5 mins, your skin would be nicely brown. Repeat for other side for another 5 mins.
9. Depending on your meat thickness, if yours is a thin slab, after 3-4mins on the other side, you could take it out and slice a little near the bone to check if its thoroughly cooked. if not, then give it the full 5 mins.
10. Remove from pan and rest the meat on the side.
11. Add the onion in the pan and quicky stir fry with a quarter of cinnamon stick till it is soft..
12. Add a little water to the marinate sauce left over and bring to boil with onion. Adjust taste as needed with salt or sugar. Because of the eggwhite, it will not be clear sauce, so filter and sieve off as preferred.
Dinner is served with rice.
So today, after reading through this French cookbook that taught me how to prepare asparagus and cook them, I decided to give it a go and ....they turned out beautifully!!!! Apparently there are several ways to cook them but I reckon this simple French way is the best. Even without seasonings, the asparagus was naturally sweet and retains the crunch when bought fresh. I kid u not.
 |
| Unseasoned Boiled Asparagus & cherry tomatoes |
Time to Prep: 10mins
Time to marinate pork: Minimal 2hours before hand.
Served 2 pax
Ingredients
- a pack of fresh asparagus that should be firm at the stalk, and no holes through the stalk.
- 1.5tbsp of salt.
- a pot big enough to lay the asparagus horizontally flat while cooking
Cooking Steps
- After purchase, fill a cup or container with cold water and stick asparagus upright until u are ready to cook them.
 |
| shaved asparagus upright in container |
- Peel the asparagus from the stalk, use a small vege knife cut 1/16 into the layer to remove the woody chewy layer. As you move progressively up to the tip, the cut gets shallower. You should see the tender lighter green under surfacing as you slice away the top layer. Stick them back in the container.
Tip: Dont use peeler, it's not effective enough.
- Once peeled and ready, Fill the uncovered pot with enough water to be able to cover the asparagus. that's prob abt 1/3 pot guide.
- Add the salt and bring to a boil.
- Add the rinsed peeled asparagus into the salted water pot. When the water starts to boil again, turn the heat down to low and simmer for about 10-12 mins, pot uncovered. (time depending on the thickness)
- To check if its ready, take one out. If your butter knife cuts into the bottom stalk, its cooked.
Remove from water and ready to serve.
Tip: If you like, u may pop the cherries into the hot water for a quick soak before serving. Read somewhere that cooked tomato skin delivers more antioxidants than uncooked ones.
Tip: If you like, u may pop the cherries into the hot water for a quick soak before serving. Read somewhere that cooked tomato skin delivers more antioxidants than uncooked ones.
Tip: Asparagus can keep for another 20mins after cooking. If u are cooking ahead, you can dip the cooked asparagus in ice cold water to stop the ongoing cooking within the veg, and then quickly dip into hot water when ready to serve warm.
- 2 pork chop with bone in (about 1 inch thick)
- half red onion
- a quarter cinnamon stick (optional)
Marinate sauce
- 1tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp of chinese rice wine
- 1 tsp of pepper
- dash of salt
- slightly under 1tbsp of light soy sauce (i used the kikoman less salt version)
- 1tbsp of sugar.
- 1 egg white
Cooking Steps
1. Mix all the sauces together. Taste for salty level and adjust to taste. Cut back the salt if too salty
2. Add the egg white and beat lightly together with the sauces.
3. Pour the mixed sauce into the zip lock plastic bag and add pork in. Fully cover the meat with sauces to marinate.
4. Leave the marinated meat in fridge for at least 2 hours. Best 4 hours.
5. When ready to cook, add butter or olive oil or coconut oil to frying pan at medium heat
6. Add the pork. For me, I would cover the lid to ensure my pork is being cooked inside.
Note: Semi-cooked pork contains parasites that may host inside your brain...
7. Turn the flame down to low with lid covered so that you dont burnt your meat.
8. Flip over after about 5 mins, your skin would be nicely brown. Repeat for other side for another 5 mins.
9. Depending on your meat thickness, if yours is a thin slab, after 3-4mins on the other side, you could take it out and slice a little near the bone to check if its thoroughly cooked. if not, then give it the full 5 mins.
10. Remove from pan and rest the meat on the side.
11. Add the onion in the pan and quicky stir fry with a quarter of cinnamon stick till it is soft..
12. Add a little water to the marinate sauce left over and bring to boil with onion. Adjust taste as needed with salt or sugar. Because of the eggwhite, it will not be clear sauce, so filter and sieve off as preferred.
Dinner is served with rice.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Recipe: Chicken Drumsticks Carrot soup, with Chinese Mushrooms & wolfberries.
I normally make chicken soup with a whole Australian free range chicken but today, I finetuned the recipe to make soup only with chicken drumstick and it turned out surprisingly delicious.
Over the years, I have only been cooking for 2 pax and found it so easy, so I honestly fail to understand the "excuses" that "its so hard to cook for 2 pax so I dont cook." theory. Think of all the benefits of cooking your own meals. No salt. No sugar. Only wholesome goodness...Not to mention all the minor tweaks to customise it to your taste. To me, its hands down win :)
So here's my easy to make chicken soup.
Portion: 2 pax.
Time to prep & cook: 1.5hrs
Ingredients
- 4 medium size drumsticks.
- 5 medium size presoaked Chinese Mushrooms
- 2 tbsp of rinsed wolf berries.
- 8 deseeded red dates.
- 5 slices of rinsed Chinese Yam. (optional)
- A small handful of lily bulbs in a tea pouch (optional)
- 1 large Australian fresh carrot, or 2 mid size.
- 2 dried presoaked small scallops. (normally I would presoak for 5-10mins prior so that its not that strong)
- 2 inch of smashed ginger without skin.
Cooking steps
1. Fill soup pot with 2 L of water. Bring to Boil.
2. Throw in sliced mushrooms, chinese yam, dried scallops, red dates, ginger into pot and bring to boil with medium heat for 20mins with lid close.
3. In a separate pot, boil water and cook drumstick for about 5 mins. Throw away the water.
4. Add the drumsticks into the soup pot to cook with other ingredients. Turn flame down to small.
5. Close lid and leave to simmer for an hour.
6. Add wolfberries, close lid, cook for another 15mins.
Done. Served with rice.
Tip: You can replace carrots with daikon (white radish).
1. However, I recently learnt that you should not mix daikon with red carrot as the Vit C in radish is destroyed by carrots. You should cook them separately.
2. Radish is considered cooling property vege, so not suitable for all people.. More importantly, one should NOT consume radish while taking medication esp antibiotics as it is said to neutralise the effects of the medication.
 |
| Chicken Drumstick Soup with carrots, chinese mushrooms & wolfberries. |
Over the years, I have only been cooking for 2 pax and found it so easy, so I honestly fail to understand the "excuses" that "its so hard to cook for 2 pax so I dont cook." theory. Think of all the benefits of cooking your own meals. No salt. No sugar. Only wholesome goodness...Not to mention all the minor tweaks to customise it to your taste. To me, its hands down win :)
So here's my easy to make chicken soup.
Portion: 2 pax.
Time to prep & cook: 1.5hrs
Ingredients
- 4 medium size drumsticks.
- 5 medium size presoaked Chinese Mushrooms
- 2 tbsp of rinsed wolf berries.
- 8 deseeded red dates.
- 5 slices of rinsed Chinese Yam. (optional)
- A small handful of lily bulbs in a tea pouch (optional)
- 1 large Australian fresh carrot, or 2 mid size.
- 2 dried presoaked small scallops. (normally I would presoak for 5-10mins prior so that its not that strong)
- 2 inch of smashed ginger without skin.
Cooking steps
1. Fill soup pot with 2 L of water. Bring to Boil.
2. Throw in sliced mushrooms, chinese yam, dried scallops, red dates, ginger into pot and bring to boil with medium heat for 20mins with lid close.
3. In a separate pot, boil water and cook drumstick for about 5 mins. Throw away the water.
4. Add the drumsticks into the soup pot to cook with other ingredients. Turn flame down to small.
5. Close lid and leave to simmer for an hour.
6. Add wolfberries, close lid, cook for another 15mins.
Done. Served with rice.
Tip: You can replace carrots with daikon (white radish).
1. However, I recently learnt that you should not mix daikon with red carrot as the Vit C in radish is destroyed by carrots. You should cook them separately.
2. Radish is considered cooling property vege, so not suitable for all people.. More importantly, one should NOT consume radish while taking medication esp antibiotics as it is said to neutralise the effects of the medication.
Recipe: Black Bean Soup with Pork Ribs, with Wolfberries
Wanting to break out of my comfort zone, I decided to google the net and see what sort of "new" healthy chinese soup I could make for myself and my man, yet still easy enough without the complicated hassle.
So....I tried making Black bean Pork rib soup for the first time and it actually turned out splendid, not to mention how easy it was...
Featuring - Black Bean or Turtle bean.
Not the prettiest of the lot but it sure is cheap and choke full of goodness with benefits such as
- Digestive Tract Benefits
- Benefits for Blood Sugar Regulation (esp for diabetic Type 2 people I suppose)
- Cardiovascular Benefits
- impressive array of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory phytonutrients
Dont take my word for it, check out the details from link below.
(source: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=2)
Ingredients
- 150grams of whole black beans
- 300-400gram of soup pork ribs and pork shank combined
(I personally like pork shank so that its so soft and edible after the soup is done)
- Rinsed 8 deseeded red dates (Not suitable for diabetic people: Benefits : Read Link)
- Rinsed 2 tbsp (or more) of wolf berries
- Rinsed 5 slices of Chinese yam (optional. Benefits : Read Link )
- 2 inch smashed ginger without skin (Smashed allows the flavor to leak out faster)
- 2 presoaked small scallops. (presoaked for 10 mins to reduce the overwhelmingly strong taste)
Cooking Steps
1. Rinse the black beans. Remove the cracked ones, or those that looked just looked spoiled.
2. Boil a pot of water (depending on your pot size, guide is to use enough water to cover all beans. I figured 600ml or more will suffice. You wont need the water later so the actual amount doesnt matter. I would measure the amount in advance first after you have rinsed the beans. )
3. Once the water is boiling, add in black beans and boil for about 2 mins.
This step is to shorten the cooking time required later.
4. Soak the beans for at least another 1-2 hours.
Soaking step is VERY important. Please do not skip this. You can always presoak the beans overnight if you are in rush for time.
5. After the soaked beans are ready, rinsed pork. Use hot boiling water and pour over bones and meat and leave it to soak for couple of mins. For me, its more for hygiene purpose to kill any surface germs. If you use lean meat then you wont get much scum.
6. In a separate pot, fill with 2L water and boil. Add in all the pork bones and meat and soaked black beans, ginger, red dates. Cover lid.
7.Stay on high heat for another 30mins. Remove any scum. Turn down heat to medium-low. Cook for another 50mins or until the rich flavor of the soup is attained.
(Tip: Do not stay on high heat or the bean will absorb the soup and u will be left with nothing)
8. Towards the last 50mins, add in wolfberries into soup.
Wolfberries cook quickly esp with closed lid, so give it 10-15mins will suffice.
Done. Served with rice.
Personally, I dont normally add salt to soup unless I really have to. So leave salt for final tasting up to the individual. It is important NOT to ADD salt during the cooking process as it will affect the bean.
So....I tried making Black bean Pork rib soup for the first time and it actually turned out splendid, not to mention how easy it was...
 |
| Black Bean Pork Rib Soup, with wolfberries. |
Featuring - Black Bean or Turtle bean.
Not the prettiest of the lot but it sure is cheap and choke full of goodness with benefits such as
- Digestive Tract Benefits
- Benefits for Blood Sugar Regulation (esp for diabetic Type 2 people I suppose)
- Cardiovascular Benefits
- impressive array of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory phytonutrients
Dont take my word for it, check out the details from link below.
(source: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=2)
Ingredients
- 150grams of whole black beans
- 300-400gram of soup pork ribs and pork shank combined
(I personally like pork shank so that its so soft and edible after the soup is done)
- Rinsed 8 deseeded red dates (Not suitable for diabetic people: Benefits : Read Link)
- Rinsed 2 tbsp (or more) of wolf berries
- Rinsed 5 slices of Chinese yam (optional. Benefits : Read Link )
- 2 inch smashed ginger without skin (Smashed allows the flavor to leak out faster)
- 2 presoaked small scallops. (presoaked for 10 mins to reduce the overwhelmingly strong taste)
Cooking Steps
1. Rinse the black beans. Remove the cracked ones, or those that looked just looked spoiled.
2. Boil a pot of water (depending on your pot size, guide is to use enough water to cover all beans. I figured 600ml or more will suffice. You wont need the water later so the actual amount doesnt matter. I would measure the amount in advance first after you have rinsed the beans. )
3. Once the water is boiling, add in black beans and boil for about 2 mins.
This step is to shorten the cooking time required later.
4. Soak the beans for at least another 1-2 hours.
Soaking step is VERY important. Please do not skip this. You can always presoak the beans overnight if you are in rush for time.
5. After the soaked beans are ready, rinsed pork. Use hot boiling water and pour over bones and meat and leave it to soak for couple of mins. For me, its more for hygiene purpose to kill any surface germs. If you use lean meat then you wont get much scum.
6. In a separate pot, fill with 2L water and boil. Add in all the pork bones and meat and soaked black beans, ginger, red dates. Cover lid.
7.Stay on high heat for another 30mins. Remove any scum. Turn down heat to medium-low. Cook for another 50mins or until the rich flavor of the soup is attained.
(Tip: Do not stay on high heat or the bean will absorb the soup and u will be left with nothing)
8. Towards the last 50mins, add in wolfberries into soup.
Wolfberries cook quickly esp with closed lid, so give it 10-15mins will suffice.
Done. Served with rice.
Personally, I dont normally add salt to soup unless I really have to. So leave salt for final tasting up to the individual. It is important NOT to ADD salt during the cooking process as it will affect the bean.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Recipe: Pan fried fish fillet (Chinese style)
I normally like my fish steamed but once in a while when I crave to have porridge
(Not congee. Congee is the Cantonse style where rice is completely disintegrated but porridge is the type you still see the rice grain in full and you get the benefit of rice soup/water - which is good to stop tummy runs.)
Tried frying fish for the first time.
I think I overcooked mine, forgetting that mackeral is less fatty than salmon and thus 5 mins was excessive.... However, all in all, it was good and definitely something I would want to perfect to make it taste like mum's. Not quite there yet for mine. I will come back here after i refined the recipe.
Ingredients:
- Mackerel or any white fish fillet you like.
- Sliced 2 inch of ginger into thin slices for frying
- 1 stalk of spring onion for garnish
- Shaoxing wine - 1 capful
- 2 tbsp of dark soya sauce
- 2 tbsp of light soya sauce
- dash of sugar into the soya sauce combined
- dash of white pepper
- 1 tbsp of sesame oil
Cooking Steps:
1. Marinate fish fillet with shaoxing wine, salt (dash) for about 20mins.
(throw in thin slices of ginger if you have extra on the fish to marinate as well)
2. Heat oil in frying pan. When oil is ready, add in sliced ginger slices. Remove from pan once it starts to brown.
3. Add fish fillet to pan fry until it turns brown. Remove from pan.
4. The remaining combined soya sauces, throw to the pan and heat. Drizzle over the fish. Add garnish.
PS: From my experience, it prob takes about 2 mins on one side or less depending on your thickness.
(Not congee. Congee is the Cantonse style where rice is completely disintegrated but porridge is the type you still see the rice grain in full and you get the benefit of rice soup/water - which is good to stop tummy runs.)
Tried frying fish for the first time.
I think I overcooked mine, forgetting that mackeral is less fatty than salmon and thus 5 mins was excessive.... However, all in all, it was good and definitely something I would want to perfect to make it taste like mum's. Not quite there yet for mine. I will come back here after i refined the recipe.
 |
| Pan fry fish |
Ingredients:
- Mackerel or any white fish fillet you like.
- Sliced 2 inch of ginger into thin slices for frying
- 1 stalk of spring onion for garnish
- Shaoxing wine - 1 capful
- 2 tbsp of dark soya sauce
- 2 tbsp of light soya sauce
- dash of sugar into the soya sauce combined
- dash of white pepper
- 1 tbsp of sesame oil
Cooking Steps:
1. Marinate fish fillet with shaoxing wine, salt (dash) for about 20mins.
(throw in thin slices of ginger if you have extra on the fish to marinate as well)
2. Heat oil in frying pan. When oil is ready, add in sliced ginger slices. Remove from pan once it starts to brown.
3. Add fish fillet to pan fry until it turns brown. Remove from pan.
4. The remaining combined soya sauces, throw to the pan and heat. Drizzle over the fish. Add garnish.
PS: From my experience, it prob takes about 2 mins on one side or less depending on your thickness.
Recipe: Apple Pork Ribs soup
Tried a new pork soup recipe today. It's a super light refreshing soup that is a nice change from all the heavy flavour soup.
Ingredients
- 300-400grams Soup pork bones (西施骨）and pork shank (the more you have, the sweeter the soup is and lesser time to boil)
- 2-3 red large ripe apples
- 6-8 deseeded red dates
- 1 white onion cut in slices
- 2 Honey dates
- 1-2 Carrots (optional)
- 2 inch ginger smashed (optional)
Cooking Steps
1. Rinse and deseed the apples. I left the skin on.
2. Rinse pork. You can choose to boil the raw bones until the scum is out and scope out, before starting your soup pork or you can rinse the pork with boiling water.
(If u bought the fresh pork from wet market or butcher, you can do the former but if you bought the meat from supermarket, I would just rinse with boiling water else I noticed my final soup is always very bland and less sweet if I cook the bones first time round)
3. Heat the water, 3/4 full and add the smashed ginger, pork bones and shank and honey dates.
4. High heat for half hour and turn to medium heat.
5. Cook for an hour and when the scum and "filth" appears, scoop and remove.
6. Add in the red apples and red dates. Cook for another 50mins on medium - medium low heat depending on the type of pot you use. I use the stainless WMF steel mid-size, so I stuck to just under medium heat.
Ingredients
- 300-400grams Soup pork bones (西施骨）and pork shank (the more you have, the sweeter the soup is and lesser time to boil)
- 2-3 red large ripe apples
- 6-8 deseeded red dates
- 1 white onion cut in slices
- 2 Honey dates
- 1-2 Carrots (optional)
- 2 inch ginger smashed (optional)
Cooking Steps
1. Rinse and deseed the apples. I left the skin on.
2. Rinse pork. You can choose to boil the raw bones until the scum is out and scope out, before starting your soup pork or you can rinse the pork with boiling water.
(If u bought the fresh pork from wet market or butcher, you can do the former but if you bought the meat from supermarket, I would just rinse with boiling water else I noticed my final soup is always very bland and less sweet if I cook the bones first time round)
3. Heat the water, 3/4 full and add the smashed ginger, pork bones and shank and honey dates.
4. High heat for half hour and turn to medium heat.
5. Cook for an hour and when the scum and "filth" appears, scoop and remove.
6. Add in the red apples and red dates. Cook for another 50mins on medium - medium low heat depending on the type of pot you use. I use the stainless WMF steel mid-size, so I stuck to just under medium heat.
Recipe: Beef Bulgogi
This is a classic Korean dish and it's so easy to make that a lazy person like me has file it under "Quick meal". Prep and cook time takes under 30mins.
Ingredients
-300-400gram of marbled shabu shabu beef. (I used the Australian sliced version)
- 1/2 stalk leek, sliced thinly at an angle
- 1/2 green pepper/ capsicum, sliced in long strips
- 1/2 onion, sliced lengthways
- 1 bunch of enoki
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1tsp grated ginger
- 1/4 cup soya sauce (adjust as u like according to the beef amount)
- 2tbsp sesame oil
- 2tbsp mirin
- 1tbsp fine sugar (the original recipe ask for 2tbsp but i cut it down)
+ seasame seeds, toasted for garnish at the end (optional)
Cooking steps
1. Marinate beef with sugar, soya sauce, sesame oil and mirin for about 15mins or so. Leave in fridge unless you have winter chill temp in your kitchen.
2. Add chopped garlic and grated ginger.
3. Heat frying pan with 1tbsp olive oil.
4. Stir fry capsicum, onions, enoki mushrooms with some minced garlic
5. When capsicum starts to soften (prob about after 5mins on high heat), add beef and leeks together into the vege mix. Important not to overcook your beef esp slice which only takes few mins to cook. Once it turn from red to brown, it's done.
6. Once the beef is cooked, turn off flame and served with jasmine steamed rice.
Alternatively, you can make your own beef bulgogi sandwich by adding this to white bread.
Tip: if you are not using sliced beef, add some pureed fruit (apple/ pear), this will tenderise and add more sweetness to your meat.
 |
| Beef Bulgogi |
Ingredients
-300-400gram of marbled shabu shabu beef. (I used the Australian sliced version)
- 1/2 stalk leek, sliced thinly at an angle
- 1/2 green pepper/ capsicum, sliced in long strips
- 1/2 onion, sliced lengthways
- 1 bunch of enoki
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1tsp grated ginger
- 1/4 cup soya sauce (adjust as u like according to the beef amount)
- 2tbsp sesame oil
- 2tbsp mirin
- 1tbsp fine sugar (the original recipe ask for 2tbsp but i cut it down)
+ seasame seeds, toasted for garnish at the end (optional)
Cooking steps
1. Marinate beef with sugar, soya sauce, sesame oil and mirin for about 15mins or so. Leave in fridge unless you have winter chill temp in your kitchen.
2. Add chopped garlic and grated ginger.
3. Heat frying pan with 1tbsp olive oil.
4. Stir fry capsicum, onions, enoki mushrooms with some minced garlic
5. When capsicum starts to soften (prob about after 5mins on high heat), add beef and leeks together into the vege mix. Important not to overcook your beef esp slice which only takes few mins to cook. Once it turn from red to brown, it's done.
 |
| Add marinated beef slice to the vege mix. |
6. Once the beef is cooked, turn off flame and served with jasmine steamed rice.
Alternatively, you can make your own beef bulgogi sandwich by adding this to white bread.
Tip: if you are not using sliced beef, add some pureed fruit (apple/ pear), this will tenderise and add more sweetness to your meat.
Singapore Fuckwit Moment 4: Korean BBQ @ Orchard Central
After all the fuckwit moments at heartland malls, one would assume things will get better as we head on to the "heart" of the city state - Orchard Road...I need a strong heart to withstand all these people who doesnt deserve the job they are holding.
My gf drove us to Orchard Mall for a "quiet dinner" on this hard pissing down rain weekday night. We arrived about 6pm and were seated promptly by this Filippino waitress. I was looking through the menu on the BBQ meats, that had both the Korean and English description.
On the left of the big menu was all options in A, and on the right was all the options in B.
Looking at the price difference and the Korean description difference, I waved for the staff over to explain to my mild confusion.
Me: Could you explain the difference between this item A2 "Marinated Beef Ribs" vs B5 Marinated Beef Ribs? They are both beef ribs in English but in Korean, they read different.
FT Staff: Oh, on this page (pointing to the left page), these are marinated meat, You can have pork or chicken. On this page (pointinf to the right page), you can get other items and beef.
If you know me, I really have no patience for idiots that do not answer the question. However in this case, given that she is a Foreigner whose English may be wanting, I repeated myself.
Me: Yes I can read thank you very much. I am not asking you what items are on Page A. I am asking you what is the difference between this item A (finger pointing) and this item B (Finger from another hand pointing)
FT staff: Oh they are the same.
Me: I dont think they are the same because the Korean text reads differently, and the pricing is different. Can you check?
FT Staff: Oh they are the same. (not bothering to check)
Me: So if they are the same, why are they on different pages?
Ft Staff: Ahhh..they are the same trust me. They are Marinated Beef Ribs.
At this point, I know she was a lost cause. I didnt want to ruin my eve and dinner date with my fren because of a fuckwit. How can the 2 items be the SAME?!!! They might be the same as in Marinated and as in beef rib meat. However what is the difference?!!! God almighty I wanted to slap this woman so hard when she refused to check and still give me replies not relating to my questions.
I told her to give me a min.
Not because I needed to select what I want to eat, but rather I needed that min to calm myself from this stupid moment.
My gf looked at me.
I told her "I dont trust her. I dont trust a place who doesnt know what the fuck they are serving."
She agreed and we left for the Korean BBQ at Dempsey instead since the rain stopped.
Why?
Why is the training so poor?
Why couldnt the staff even be familiar with their menu?
Why are they shamelessly located in the middle of the city.
Why is this useless person being employed from overseas?
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why am I surrounded by FUCKWITS?!
Singapore Fuckwit Moment 3 - Nex Shopping Mall Taxi Stand.
I met my ex colleagues for CNY lunch@ Nex during my trip back. It's another place filled with Singaporeans who are fuckwits. Why does it keep happening to me? Why do these fuckwits constantly seek me out to torment me, and lower my already rock bottom opinions of my birth country?
Incident #1
I went to Cold Storage@Serangoon Nex to made my purchase so that I can get the second WMF pot for my mum after the fuckwit Cold Storage policy rejecting my $60 purchase incident.
While waiting for the cashier to put my purchases into my recyclable shopping bag, I accidentally dropped my soy bean drink and some of the drink spilled onto the floor. I quickly picked up the cup and looked for the spare large Starbuck tissue paper (left over from earlier purchase) to wipe up the small puddle. The cashier saw and called someone to get the cleaner to mop up the mess.
This is when 2 Singaporean fuckwits entered my life.
The first was the CS Chinese cashier.
I grabbed my soiled tissue after soaking up the soybean drink and wanted to throw it into the dustbin next to me (but was placed behind the cashier). The closelid bin was not exactly within stepping distance so I politely requested the cashier (who was an all time spectator all this while) to press open the bin lid with her foot so that I can drop the tissue.
The reaction was "What for?"
Oh you FUCKING FUCKWIT.
What do you think?
That I am going to hand you the dirty tissue in your hand to throw it away you fuckwit?
I replied her "To throw these" and I point to the almost dripping tissue.
The CS cashier reluctantly open her dustbin.
Why she was so begrudging was beyond me.
I just ignored her before I pop my blood vessel.
If you think that was end of story, no not really.
This Singaporean Middle age man who was Q'ing behind me gave me the DIRTY disgusted look while I was wiping up the mess.
What the fuck?
So you Mr High and Mighty Fuckwit thinks that someone else like a cleaner should be the one to clean up our mess and that I am being excessive moronic to do the right thing is wiping up the mess?
It's not like the soybean spilled anywhere near your fucking lowlife cheap nasty unpolished dull black shoes. Neither was I blocking your way or holding the Q up. So what the fuck is your problem?
The cleaner came and mopped the mess up.
All the accusing eyes as if like I have nothing better to do than go around spilling my paid drink.
What is happening to Singapore was the first thing that pop into my head.
Incident #2
After the CS incident, I rushed off to the taxi stand outside Nex.
I dont know how many taxi stand there is around Nex but the one I went was situated near the Espirit store.
This is the place that really made my blood boil with the numerous SELFISH SELF-ABSORBED, SELF- CENTERED SINGAPOREAN FUCKWITS. Oh my god! The amount of arseholes in Singapore is amazing.
You see, the taxi stand is situated right in front of the private car alighting bays. 2 bays to be exact.
The road was only a 2 way lane, and there was already a long line of taxis building up on the left most lane.
Guess what these Singaporean private car owners did that really tick me off?
Instead of being considerate and sensibility to drive their fucking private cars into the alighting bay, these arrogant drivers actually STOPPED their cars in the middle of the 2 way lane and allowed their passengers to unload in their own sweet time?!!
WHAT THE HELL?!
It wasnt just one car.
It wasnt just one Singaporean arsehole-jackarse-moron-mega fuckwit. It was MANY selfish fuckwit drivers.
In the span of 20mins I was standing there.
I counted at least 6 private cars who did that.
Mercs, BMW, Honda, Toyota, KIA, etc. Commoner cars or luxury car drivers alike, all FUCKWITS.
Some hog the middle of the 2 lane. Some literally stopped on the outer lane.
Either way, these fuckwits literally BLOCKED up the traffic behind them, meaning the taxi drivers couldnt move and we were all waiting and jammed there not because there were no cabs but rather because of Singaporean drivers who do not deserve to own a car NOR own a license to begin with.
What made the whole situation even more exasperating?
That there was actually a Malay Uncle who was hired to work at the taxi stand, with a super MEANINGLESS NON-VALUE Added job of waving at the taxis to come forward.
Uncle, Taxi drivers KNOW how to drive their cab forward when the passenger before boards the prior cab. We dont need you to wave to taxi to drive 5 inch forward. You are being useless. What is your job scope? To manage traffic near the mall, that means not turning a blind eye to errant private car owners flouting all the rules behind you. You only need to walk forward 3 steps to tell these drivers to move into the private car bays instead of just staring at them. Why do we need to pay you to stand there to watch the mess. You take a salary, then please, do some meaningful work. Otherwise, inform your boss the problems. Or get traffic police involved. Dont just stand there dear lord.
If that wasnt all, Singaporeans are all so fucking lazy.
You know how the taxi line up in one straight file? These people standing before me are for lack of a better word, idiots.
If the first person in the Q is heading for the first cab, in HK, the 2nd person in Q will naturally walk towards the 2nd cab in line. However in Singapore, the 2nd person will NOT walk. They rather just stand there and WAIT. Wait until the 2nd taxi slowly inch forward a few inches before they will open the door and board. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH WALKING that extra 3 steps you lazy bitches?????!!
I swear my head was hurting from this "cultural" shock coming back to Singapore during my hols.
It's super unbearable to witness and be part of these fuckwit moments.
When it was my turn, I walked to the 2nd cab, only to discover that Singapore cabs do not have auto door open unlike in HK. In HK, when both my hands are caught up with grocery bags, the driver would always open the door and the guy who help man the taxi Q will walk forward to hold the door open till I settled into the cab. THAT's HK. However, not happening here in Singapore. They want to copy HK but copying NOTHING right.
I asked the driver, do Singapore cabs not have auto swing open door?
The answer he gave me was no.
The answers my friends gave me was some have it but NO ONE ever uses it.
So WTF?!!!!!!!!
Singapore is bragging about top port or shit airport etc, but they cannot even get the basic day to day events right. So what is the fucking point? Where is the focus? Singaporeans travel so much to overseas and experience so much service and yet they cannot fathom the fundamental service they need to provide? How dismal and absolutely horrifying.
I dont need my country to be focus only on GDP or firefighting the backlash or picking on the govt from A-Z. I need the people to wake up and take a good hard look at themselves and things happening around them. Stop blaming the govt for everything. Everything I had experienced, those fuckwit moments are created by Singaporeans themselves, not the govt. We need to grow up else we will just be acting like a bunch of good for nothing teens who just want to rebel and complain.
Incident #1
I went to Cold Storage@Serangoon Nex to made my purchase so that I can get the second WMF pot for my mum after the fuckwit Cold Storage policy rejecting my $60 purchase incident.
While waiting for the cashier to put my purchases into my recyclable shopping bag, I accidentally dropped my soy bean drink and some of the drink spilled onto the floor. I quickly picked up the cup and looked for the spare large Starbuck tissue paper (left over from earlier purchase) to wipe up the small puddle. The cashier saw and called someone to get the cleaner to mop up the mess.
This is when 2 Singaporean fuckwits entered my life.
The first was the CS Chinese cashier.
I grabbed my soiled tissue after soaking up the soybean drink and wanted to throw it into the dustbin next to me (but was placed behind the cashier). The closelid bin was not exactly within stepping distance so I politely requested the cashier (who was an all time spectator all this while) to press open the bin lid with her foot so that I can drop the tissue.
The reaction was "What for?"
Oh you FUCKING FUCKWIT.
What do you think?
That I am going to hand you the dirty tissue in your hand to throw it away you fuckwit?
I replied her "To throw these" and I point to the almost dripping tissue.
The CS cashier reluctantly open her dustbin.
Why she was so begrudging was beyond me.
I just ignored her before I pop my blood vessel.
If you think that was end of story, no not really.
This Singaporean Middle age man who was Q'ing behind me gave me the DIRTY disgusted look while I was wiping up the mess.
What the fuck?
So you Mr High and Mighty Fuckwit thinks that someone else like a cleaner should be the one to clean up our mess and that I am being excessive moronic to do the right thing is wiping up the mess?
It's not like the soybean spilled anywhere near your fucking lowlife cheap nasty unpolished dull black shoes. Neither was I blocking your way or holding the Q up. So what the fuck is your problem?
The cleaner came and mopped the mess up.
All the accusing eyes as if like I have nothing better to do than go around spilling my paid drink.
What is happening to Singapore was the first thing that pop into my head.
Incident #2
After the CS incident, I rushed off to the taxi stand outside Nex.
I dont know how many taxi stand there is around Nex but the one I went was situated near the Espirit store.
This is the place that really made my blood boil with the numerous SELFISH SELF-ABSORBED, SELF- CENTERED SINGAPOREAN FUCKWITS. Oh my god! The amount of arseholes in Singapore is amazing.
You see, the taxi stand is situated right in front of the private car alighting bays. 2 bays to be exact.
The road was only a 2 way lane, and there was already a long line of taxis building up on the left most lane.
Guess what these Singaporean private car owners did that really tick me off?
Instead of being considerate and sensibility to drive their fucking private cars into the alighting bay, these arrogant drivers actually STOPPED their cars in the middle of the 2 way lane and allowed their passengers to unload in their own sweet time?!!
WHAT THE HELL?!
It wasnt just one car.
It wasnt just one Singaporean arsehole-jackarse-moron-mega fuckwit. It was MANY selfish fuckwit drivers.
In the span of 20mins I was standing there.
I counted at least 6 private cars who did that.
Mercs, BMW, Honda, Toyota, KIA, etc. Commoner cars or luxury car drivers alike, all FUCKWITS.
Some hog the middle of the 2 lane. Some literally stopped on the outer lane.
Either way, these fuckwits literally BLOCKED up the traffic behind them, meaning the taxi drivers couldnt move and we were all waiting and jammed there not because there were no cabs but rather because of Singaporean drivers who do not deserve to own a car NOR own a license to begin with.
What made the whole situation even more exasperating?
That there was actually a Malay Uncle who was hired to work at the taxi stand, with a super MEANINGLESS NON-VALUE Added job of waving at the taxis to come forward.
Uncle, Taxi drivers KNOW how to drive their cab forward when the passenger before boards the prior cab. We dont need you to wave to taxi to drive 5 inch forward. You are being useless. What is your job scope? To manage traffic near the mall, that means not turning a blind eye to errant private car owners flouting all the rules behind you. You only need to walk forward 3 steps to tell these drivers to move into the private car bays instead of just staring at them. Why do we need to pay you to stand there to watch the mess. You take a salary, then please, do some meaningful work. Otherwise, inform your boss the problems. Or get traffic police involved. Dont just stand there dear lord.
If that wasnt all, Singaporeans are all so fucking lazy.
You know how the taxi line up in one straight file? These people standing before me are for lack of a better word, idiots.
If the first person in the Q is heading for the first cab, in HK, the 2nd person in Q will naturally walk towards the 2nd cab in line. However in Singapore, the 2nd person will NOT walk. They rather just stand there and WAIT. Wait until the 2nd taxi slowly inch forward a few inches before they will open the door and board. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH WALKING that extra 3 steps you lazy bitches?????!!
I swear my head was hurting from this "cultural" shock coming back to Singapore during my hols.
It's super unbearable to witness and be part of these fuckwit moments.
When it was my turn, I walked to the 2nd cab, only to discover that Singapore cabs do not have auto door open unlike in HK. In HK, when both my hands are caught up with grocery bags, the driver would always open the door and the guy who help man the taxi Q will walk forward to hold the door open till I settled into the cab. THAT's HK. However, not happening here in Singapore. They want to copy HK but copying NOTHING right.
I asked the driver, do Singapore cabs not have auto swing open door?
The answer he gave me was no.
The answers my friends gave me was some have it but NO ONE ever uses it.
So WTF?!!!!!!!!
Singapore is bragging about top port or shit airport etc, but they cannot even get the basic day to day events right. So what is the fucking point? Where is the focus? Singaporeans travel so much to overseas and experience so much service and yet they cannot fathom the fundamental service they need to provide? How dismal and absolutely horrifying.
I dont need my country to be focus only on GDP or firefighting the backlash or picking on the govt from A-Z. I need the people to wake up and take a good hard look at themselves and things happening around them. Stop blaming the govt for everything. Everything I had experienced, those fuckwit moments are created by Singaporeans themselves, not the govt. We need to grow up else we will just be acting like a bunch of good for nothing teens who just want to rebel and complain.
Singapore Fuckwit Moment 2 - Cold Storage
Is Singapore getting filled with dumbwits to do the jobs? My recent experience tells me that the service industry is seriously waiting for a major overhaul in its human resources. People, you need to start hiring people with BRAINS. Stop employing fuckwits and piss your customers off.
This recent incident really had my jaws hanging wide open.
For those who frequent Cold Storage in Singapore, you might rem the promotion of WMF pots at discounted price with minimal $30 purchase in a single receipt back in early this year Feb 2013.
I had wanted 2 pots. One for me, and one for mum. In any developed service oriented country, you would expect this to be a no brainer right? WRONG. I guess in Singapore supermarket, the promotion department likes to make you go through the painful time consuming way.
I did my shopping at the Cold storage located in the mall next to Expo MRT station.
At the cashier, I did my purchase and my bill came up to $60 exact. There was NO instructions as to where to do the purchase, or how to do the discounted pot purchase. That was fine thinking the cashier would know since she WORKS there right? Well, turns out she is even more clueless than me because she didnt know what the fuck I was talking about. I had to tell her that the pots were on display at the main entrance. Then she told me to go to the people in the MEAT section to get help.
I may not of rocketing IQ, but I am not as dumb to believe that the guy selling me butchered meat will know anything about the pots promotion if this cashier knows nothing. So obviously I knew she was clueless.
Not wanting to hold up the couple behind me, I had to carry all my heavy purchases with me and headed back to the main entrance to grab the pots, hoping to find some floor manager. Nope. NO ONE was there. No staff, no manager.
So I grabbed the pot and headed back to the cashier. Unfortunately, it was either that Indian cashier I had earlier or the Chinese trainee at the other checkout.
The Indian cashier asked me if I wanted the 2 pots. I asked her, well I have $60 purchase in a single receipt, so I can get 2 pots right?
To my surprise, the answer was a NO.
I can only buy one pot with one receipt.
WHAT THE FUCK?
I thought you know, with the crappy Singlish and all, I may have misunderstood her and I didnt want to jump to conclusions about how moronic it would be if I heard her correctly the first time. So I clarified and asked again
Me: "Did you just say I cannot buy 2 pots, even though I met the minimal $30 purchase and now I have $60 purchase in a single receipt."
CS cashier: Yes. You can only buy ONE POT with ONE RECEIPT.
Me: Are you positively sure. Can you check with someone because nothing on that promotion sign board mentioned that it is $30 or nothing. It merely states I need to fulfil the $30 criteria.
The CS Indian cashier turned to her chinese colleague and asked if she knew. The CS Chinese cashier just shrugged and replied dunno. Call Ms xxx.
The CS cashier called her manager or whichever fuckwit holed up inside some snug office and sure enough, I could hear the loud woman over the phone telling the cashier "THE COMPANY POLICY says only $30 per receipt for each pot."
So I asked her, then why dont you void the transaction and split the whole receipt into two receipts then since it is your company requirement, which by the way is not advertised or indicated ANYWHERE before I made my purchase.
The Indian CS Cashier gave me a blank look.
Then she replied "Sorry I cannot."
There is no such company policy.
Honestly, at this point, I gave up.
It's too mentally exhausting to fight against stupidity and fuckwits.
It's just a pot.
I can make another purchase another day to meet the $30 requirement.
At this point, my brain hurts from having to deal with this whole lot of fucking SG morons.
I dont know if it's company policy, or there are alot of hired help with BAD ENGLISH and they cannot comprehend the minimal $30 purchase requirement. By the way at this point, I need to emphasize that every staff including Ms xxx Useless Loudspeaker over the phone there was SINGAPOREAN with a LOCAL ACCENT. Not Foreign hires.
In HK, this will never happen.
I have redeemed plenty of quality pots, knives etc and NOT once, I have to deal with such crap.
In HK, the supermarket staff are always on the ball, knowledgeable, and even if they dont know, they will call someone and clarify till they are satisfied and get back to the customer. Not like in SG, where these people have no idea how to serve or any passion about their job. Please, hire someone with brains...what happen to common sense in the service industry?
Fuckwits...loads of fuckwits...
Sg is driving me nuts with all the excess surplus of fuckwits.
This recent incident really had my jaws hanging wide open.
For those who frequent Cold Storage in Singapore, you might rem the promotion of WMF pots at discounted price with minimal $30 purchase in a single receipt back in early this year Feb 2013.
I had wanted 2 pots. One for me, and one for mum. In any developed service oriented country, you would expect this to be a no brainer right? WRONG. I guess in Singapore supermarket, the promotion department likes to make you go through the painful time consuming way.
I did my shopping at the Cold storage located in the mall next to Expo MRT station.
At the cashier, I did my purchase and my bill came up to $60 exact. There was NO instructions as to where to do the purchase, or how to do the discounted pot purchase. That was fine thinking the cashier would know since she WORKS there right? Well, turns out she is even more clueless than me because she didnt know what the fuck I was talking about. I had to tell her that the pots were on display at the main entrance. Then she told me to go to the people in the MEAT section to get help.
I may not of rocketing IQ, but I am not as dumb to believe that the guy selling me butchered meat will know anything about the pots promotion if this cashier knows nothing. So obviously I knew she was clueless.
Not wanting to hold up the couple behind me, I had to carry all my heavy purchases with me and headed back to the main entrance to grab the pots, hoping to find some floor manager. Nope. NO ONE was there. No staff, no manager.
So I grabbed the pot and headed back to the cashier. Unfortunately, it was either that Indian cashier I had earlier or the Chinese trainee at the other checkout.
The Indian cashier asked me if I wanted the 2 pots. I asked her, well I have $60 purchase in a single receipt, so I can get 2 pots right?
To my surprise, the answer was a NO.
I can only buy one pot with one receipt.
WHAT THE FUCK?
I thought you know, with the crappy Singlish and all, I may have misunderstood her and I didnt want to jump to conclusions about how moronic it would be if I heard her correctly the first time. So I clarified and asked again
Me: "Did you just say I cannot buy 2 pots, even though I met the minimal $30 purchase and now I have $60 purchase in a single receipt."
CS cashier: Yes. You can only buy ONE POT with ONE RECEIPT.
Me: Are you positively sure. Can you check with someone because nothing on that promotion sign board mentioned that it is $30 or nothing. It merely states I need to fulfil the $30 criteria.
The CS Indian cashier turned to her chinese colleague and asked if she knew. The CS Chinese cashier just shrugged and replied dunno. Call Ms xxx.
The CS cashier called her manager or whichever fuckwit holed up inside some snug office and sure enough, I could hear the loud woman over the phone telling the cashier "THE COMPANY POLICY says only $30 per receipt for each pot."
So I asked her, then why dont you void the transaction and split the whole receipt into two receipts then since it is your company requirement, which by the way is not advertised or indicated ANYWHERE before I made my purchase.
The Indian CS Cashier gave me a blank look.
Then she replied "Sorry I cannot."
There is no such company policy.
Honestly, at this point, I gave up.
It's too mentally exhausting to fight against stupidity and fuckwits.
It's just a pot.
I can make another purchase another day to meet the $30 requirement.
At this point, my brain hurts from having to deal with this whole lot of fucking SG morons.
I dont know if it's company policy, or there are alot of hired help with BAD ENGLISH and they cannot comprehend the minimal $30 purchase requirement. By the way at this point, I need to emphasize that every staff including Ms xxx Useless Loudspeaker over the phone there was SINGAPOREAN with a LOCAL ACCENT. Not Foreign hires.
In HK, this will never happen.
I have redeemed plenty of quality pots, knives etc and NOT once, I have to deal with such crap.
In HK, the supermarket staff are always on the ball, knowledgeable, and even if they dont know, they will call someone and clarify till they are satisfied and get back to the customer. Not like in SG, where these people have no idea how to serve or any passion about their job. Please, hire someone with brains...what happen to common sense in the service industry?
Fuckwits...loads of fuckwits...
Sg is driving me nuts with all the excess surplus of fuckwits.