A Day at Sentosa

We finally tried The Luge at Sentosa. Was so much fun! At first we were rather worried that Caelyn wouldn't get on it and it did take a little convincing to get her to put the helmet on. At the same time I guess she was a little tired so she was resisting a little but in the end I think she had fun too.

I can't wait till Universal Studios opens, supposedly soft opens early 2010.

For more photos go to: http://reeney.multiply.com/photos/album/84

Henderson Wave

No it's not the new Mexican wave, but a new pedestrian bridge in Singapore. At 36 metres above Henderson Road it is the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore to be exact. It was built to connect Mount Faber Park to Telok Blangah Hill Park.

We actually found the bridge by accident whilst driving up to Mt Faber via the back way. From the carpark it takes about 10 minutes to walk to the beginning of the 'walk'. The length of the bridge is 0.3km and takes a leisurely stroll of around 5-10 minutes to get across.
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The bridge has a unique wave-form made up of seven undulating curved steel 'ribs" that alternately rise over and under its deck. The curved "ribs" form alcoves that function as shelters with seats within.

Slats of yellow balau wood, an all-weather timber found in South-East Asia, are used in the decking. Look out for carvings on the slats marking the height you are at on various points along the bridge.

The wave-forms will be lit with attractive LED light from 7pm to 2am daily, giving the bridge an illuminative glow.

For more pictures visit: http://reeney.multiply.com/photos/album/83/Henderson_Wave#

My Hot and Sour Soup

It seems that Caelyn has the same taste buds as me, right down to liking sour food like hot and sour soup except that for her one I omit the chilli sauce. She really liked this soup, I think wat she liked the most was the crunchiness of the black fungus.

Traditionally I think hot and sour soup uses shredded chicken meat, but since I didn't have any that day I used minced pork and it was pretty good. I also used pre-boiled bamboo shoots cut into match sticks which come vacuum packed in the supermarket. I find this one tastes better than the canned one that my Mum used to use in Australia - it doesn't have that 'smell'. In fact the pre-boiled ones is pretty much tasteless. I also used some concentrated chicken stock (makes life easier) and dried wood ear fungus cut into strips. If I had some tofu I'd used that too. Season the soup with sugar, soy sauce, chinese black vinegar, pepper and thicken with corn starch. Yum!

I hope this picture doesn't like gross....

Wen Dao Shi @ 16 Sims Lane (Geylang)

I've passed by this place many times before and it's always packed - on the outside street seating that is, little did I know that they had an air-conditioned seating area inside too! This place is basically somewhere you can go to get a quick bite of dim sum. I wouldn't say it's 'excellent', but it's alright and it's a cheap. Just don't go expecting your typical yum cha restaurant with the trolley ladies.

Anyway, their chicken feet is pretty good, better than the one at Hokee Bao. And if you're there, try their seafood fried rice, it's rather good surprisingly. The fried oysters are also good, as are the prawn Chi Cheong Fan (is that how you spell it?). Their sauce was really different, but went very well with it. The weirdest one was the Guo Tie (fried dumplings), I was expecting it to be like the Japanese Gyoza (just like the ones I make at home) but it turns out they deep fried the whole thing and was even slightly charred - avoid ordering this one if you can cos it also has a weird filling. I love how the drinks are served in plastic take away containers rather than cups, somehow made it more refreshing....hehehe.

Iced Honey Lemon Tea

Iced Lime Juice

Chicken Feet

Seafod Fried Rice

Tofu Skins filled with minced prawns (fried)

These are supposed to be Xiao Long Baos - but were not since they didn't have any liquid or juice in them....so basically they were steamed meat dumplings. Disappointment.

Prawn Chi Cheong Fan

weird Guo Tie

Fried Oysters

My Tastiest Pasta Bake Ever!

I've made this several times before, but for some reason today's tasted sooo good. I think it must've been the addition of shredded mozzarella and red cheddar cheese (I bought a mixed packet at Cold Storage) which was mixed through the pasta and meat sauce.

This is my own recipe and I basically just used up what was in the fridge.

Ingredients:
Pasta
Can of Stewed Tomatoes
Tomato Paste
(and I even added some ready made pizza sauce I had in the fridge for extra flavour)
Dried herbs like Thyme and Oregano
Pepper
Salt
Red and yellow capsicums/bell peppers, diced
Onions, diced
Garlic, chopped
Minced Beef
Mix of shredded Mozzarella and Red Cheddar Cheese

For the White Sauce:
Butter
Plain Flour
Milk
Chicken Stock

1. Cook the pasta until it is half cooked, drain and reserve.
2. Heat some olive oil in a pot and stir fry the diced onions until soft, add the garlic and brown the beef mince.
   
3. Add the tomato paste, the can of tomatoes and the capsicums.
   
4. Sprinkle with the herbs and season to taste.
   
   
   
5. Return the drained pasta to the saucepan and combine evenly while adding the mixed cheeses to it.
   
   
   
6. To make the white sauce, melt some butter in a saucepan and sprinkle the flour into the butter and cook it out a little bit. Rachel Ray says don't overcook flour paste mix because it will affect it's thickening power. Whisk the liquids slowly making sure you whisk out all the lumps until smooth and seaon with pepper. The reason I used chicken broth was because I ran out of milk and again I saw on Rachel Ray show that she used chicken broth instead of milk for a more figure friendly option and she's right it tastes great.
   
7. Tip the pasta into a casserole or baking pan. I prefer not to pat the pasta down because I like to have some sticking out the top so that it crispens up and browns a bit. Drizzle the white sauce over the top and place in a preheated oven until the pasta is fully cooked and the top browns.