Icon of Reflection

26-27 week update

2011-07-21T15:52:00.003-04:00

OK, I'm back for an update! I'm 27 weeks along today! Yes yes, big and fat now... my baby feels so heavy sometimes.

Speaking of baby, I promised my husband that from now onwards, I will try my very best not to post any more pictures of my baby, for privacy purposes. Perhaps she wouldn't like people seeing her pictures, and until I know for sure, I shall just protect her and let her choose what she wants to do with her pictures when she's more grown up.

Till then, here's a side profile of me that I took last week.

People on the train stand up to give me their seat nowadays! :"> lol

Can you believe it, I have less than 3 months to go!

OK, before I talk about more serious stuff, lets enjoy some random light hearted stuff that makes me smile. :-)

Back during my first trimester when I had trouble eating meat due to the smell, I bought some marmite which is high in all sorts of B vitamins, iron and stuff.

Here's marmite with butter on whole wheat bread.

I even tried drinking it diluted in water. It tastes like beef broth even though it was an yeast extract. :-p

Luckily after my first trimester I was back to eating meat! Yay! I threw away the marmite when it expired in April, and didn't buy it again. It really wasn't appetizing.

Ok next, an interesting food produce...

Elephant Garlic!

Whole elephant garlic on the left, and normal garlic on the right.

Big size difference!

Let's open it up to see what it's like inside.

Just ONE CLOVE of the elephant garlic looks as big as the WHOLE NORMAL GARLIC!

Comparing the size of one clove of elephant garlic to one clove of normal sized garlic

It looks nice and fresh inside!

Size difference again. Elephant garlic on the left, normal garlic on the right.

Elephant garlic above, normal garlic below.

How does it taste? Very nice actually! Slightly milder, but very nice when roasted in the oven on it's own, and it melts in your mouth when boiled in soup!

How much does it cost?

It was $5.99 from Keyfood supermarket. Normal Garlic can be $1-$3 for a pack of five.

It's not a regular item though... it was the first and last time I saw it.

Ok, next amusing thing...

A heart-shaped sweet plum!

lol I think the heart shape is so cute. I just happened to see it among all the round ones. ^_^

Ok, other then blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, plums and peaches, there is another fruit that comes in season during the summer.....

Fresh Figs!

Nice fresh basket of Figs, about $2 from a fruit-stand.

I've never eaten fresh figs before.

It tastes nice... sweet. But not as sweet as dried figs of course.

I can't really explain how it tastes like...

A close up of the seeds. Looks scary eh? Like ALIEN TEETH

ROWRRRR! It's gonna bite!!!

Here's a healthy breakfast of a hot bowl of whole grain oats, with a splash of cold milk, blueberries, blackberries and cut-up figs. All for me! ^_^

Ok, last but not least, here's a real treat.

Guess what this is?

No idea?

It's bird's nest! 燕窝！！！！

With much thanks to my mother's generosity, I double-boiled a big bowl of "Yan Wo". For the next few days, I'll scoop a small portion (see the red bowl) and eat it on an empty stomach as my first meal for "maximum absorption". lol Thanks Ma!

I don't add sugar/rock sugar while cooking it though...

Instead I add a spoonful of honey to the small portion of chilled bird's nest I scoop into my little bowl.

And after stirring it in, it turns into a nice golden color. SO YUMMYYYYYY!!!!

OK NOW, ABOUT SERIOUS STUFF

Why why WHY must we preggie ladies have so much blood taken from us... SIGH~ -_-"

Remember at 8wks, I had 5 viles of blood taken from me?

At 16 weeks I had another 6 viles taken from me again, for more testing of genetic diseases. The results came back, and all was well.

And last week at 26 weeks, it was time for MORE blood tests. My appointment was in the afternoon, and I quickly ate my lunch which was leftover soup from dinner ("Ang Moh Tng", a soup with pork, carrots, tomatos, onions and potatos.). I had lots of yummy potatos in the soup :-)

Then off I went to the clinic and they handed me this.

It was a glucose drink. Orange-flavoured, YUM!

One hour after finishing the drink, they drew 2 viles of my blood.

Ouch, so painful :-(

And I've got sad news (albeit temporary) to tell you guys...

... ...

The clinical manager called me 2 days ago and told me that I had to come back in for extra blood tests.

... ...

Because something was wrong

... ...

:-(

... ...

My blood glucose level was above the normal treshold...

... ...

Not too high, but high enough to warrant a fasting 3 hour glucose test. GAH!

OH NOOOOOOOO

Might I have gestational diabetes?!?!?!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

... ...

The lady assured me it wasn't very high. It just slightly crossed the borderline.

Whatever it was, "fasting" meant that I am supposed to not eat anymore food after 12am, and come into the clinic at 9am for another bottle of glucose drink.

I took milk at 10.30pm and went to bed, and next morning, arrived at the clinic slightly early.

The nurse took 1 vile of blood from my arm. This is to be my baseline blood glucose level.

Then she gave me a bottle of glucose to drink.

This time it was "fruit punch" flavoured. YUCK! It tasted bad, not like the orange one which tasted nice.

I had trouble drinking it, but decided to finish it and ask for water.

But the nurse said "No, no water."

"No water, no food whatsoever until the test is over."

-_-"!!!! ...ok....

======================================

I stayed in a comfortable room with a magazine and my books (about gardening) that I borrowed from the library... and got sleepy while waiting in between the next three blood draws to take place 1 hour, 2 hours, and lastly 3 hours after drinking the glucose.

...zzzzzZZZZ..zzzzzZZZZZ.... *morning nap*

The clinical manager popped by into the room at about 10-11am and asked "Good morning... do you feel tired often?"

"Err...no, not really. My husband comes home late from work, so I stay up to be able to see him and spend time with him... that's why I nap in the morning"... I was coming up with reasons for her, and I wondered if I was not supposed to be sleeping during this 3 hour blood test.

"Oh don't worry, it's ok to say that you're tired", she said. "You're anaemic".

WHAT?!?!

"Your blood tests came back, and remember we took 2 viles of blood? One tested that your sugar was slightly high, and the other tested that you were below the lowest range of what's normal for blood iron. You're going to have to take iron pills from now on ok?"

She handed me the prescription. Now I feel giddy.

Even if all this was common for pregnant women, it feels dramatic for a first time mother.

Ok, so I asked for numbers.

My blood sugar was 144 mg/dL and it was above the treshold of 140 mg/dL which warranted a fasting-3-hour test. You need to be more than 180-200 mg/dL to be diagnosed diabetic, and they needed to be sure, so hence I was there.

I think for blood iron, my total blood count and other levels were ok, but my Hemoglobin was 10.9 (normal range 11.5-16.0) and my Hematocrit was about 31 (normal range 34.5-47.0). She said I just need to take iron pills and all should be ok. In a few weeks time, they'll draw blood to check again.

Food wise she said eat red meat, chopped liver, dark green leafy salads...but as long as I take the iron pills, I should have no problems whatsoever with my daily intake of iron. Oh, and she said to not drink milk when I take the iron pills.

Finally, it's past 12pm, and the test is over. My left arm has been poked 4 times to retrieve 4 viles of blood.

So that was how my morning went yesterday.

And GOOD NEWS TODAY! THE RESULTS ARE BACK!

The clinical manager called me JUST NOW to say EVERYTHING IS FINE, I'M NOT DIABETIC!

The baseline was 72mg/dL , 1st hour 132mg/dL , 2nd hour 133mg/dL , 3rd hour 120mg/dL.

I asked her how did my previous high result happen, and she said "I don't know, but it just happened!" lol

So everything ended well. Just remember to take iron.

Check.

OK, BACK TO LIGHT-HEARTED STUFF!

So, since I'll be having a baby soon, I decided to involve myself in quieter hobbies.

I love recording music and all...but I think a quiet hobby would be a good idea for now.

Recently I bought approximately $130 worth of sprouting equipment and seeds (brand new and UNUSED) from a nice lady for $20.

What a bargain right!

She somehow bought all these online from http://sproutpeople.org/ on a whim and by the time it was delivered, she lost interest in sprouting. Oh dear! She never even opened the box since it arrived at her house.

In the picture are the sprouting equipment and 8 types of grain/seeds that she never used such as wild rice, wheat, peas.

But I wasn't really interested in sprouting her grains/seeds yet.

I'm keen to impress my hubby with sprouts that we Asians are used to eating. 豆芽！:-)

Prior to my pregnancy, I used to cook green bean soup (a.k.a. mung beans) for hubby and I to "cool" our bodies, especially if he had been working late. Some beans/grains/oats can have "cooling" properties according to Traditional Chinese Medicine, while others can be "heaty". By growing them into sprouts, these properties are neutralized! And they are 10 to 100 times more nutricious than the seeds or the grown plant! Isn't that amazing?

So within 5 days of using the Easy Sprouter, and following the valuable instructions on http://sproutpeople.org/mung.html, I grew a quarter cup (60ml) of beans...

Into slightly over 1 quart (more than 950ml) of bean sprouts! With just water and the plastic sprouter. :-D

Harvest time! I spent about 3 hrs 45min to pinch off the roots to make it look aesthetically pleasing to cook.

It's quite a lot of beans to pinch, but it was important to me that the food looks as good as it tastes. The roots looked messy to me.

I think the longest bean sprout I had was nearly 3 inches long. The rest weren't so long of course.

I stir-fried them with olive oil, garlic and light sauce. I didn't want to add anything else like salted fish, because I wanted to know what hubby and my bible-study group mates think about the taste of the bean sprouts without being distracted by other ingredients.

Apparently, it was very good! One of my bible-study group mates who came over for a shared chinese meal said it was sooooo good, and he ate a lot of it. He says he misses eating them! LOL

I saved some raw sprouts in the fridge as I planned to cook Laksa 2 days later.

This time I did not pluck off the roots. I wanted to see if it made a big taste difference.

Apparently, it doesn't taste very different, and hubby thinks it looks fine. In fact he says "Don't waste your time pinching bean sprouts in future, spend the (almost) 4 hours doing something else instead!"

Since he doesn't mind how it looks, I guess I'd be glad to follow his advise. LOL

Ok, that's it for this month's journal.

Perhaps in future, I will be updating you on other stuff I have been growing at home.

For example, I have been growing a batch of lettuce hydroponically/aeroponically for the past 20 days.

Here's a picture of the lettuce I took of it a few hours ago:

Looks pretty good... Ready to harvest? Perhaps I'll snip off some leaves for me, hubby and my bible study group to try tonight! ^_^

Cheers to interesting quiet hobbies!

Till the next update, lots of love to you. <3

20-22 weeks

2011-06-16T16:20:00.001-04:00

Sorry I'm late for my 20 week update! I'm exactly 22 weeks now. I've been busy making decisions on new stuff for the house, as well as stocking up for baby, doing research and making checklists. I have been making my rounds and craigslist and ebay for quality bargains too.

So this update would mostly be pictorial. Enjoy!

I moved in to our new place late last month, and the management gave us a trial membership to the gym downstairs. I didn't feel like I wanted to work out with the gym machines at ~5 months pregnant. Luckily they had a pool!

Me in my cute preggy tankini ^_^v

I know how to swim, but I bought a float just in case I got tired.

On my Obstetrician schedule, it was time for my anatomical ultrasound at 20 weeks at the hospital. The technician did a detailed check on all parts of her body. Yes, it's gonna be a baby girl!

My baby girl's face

3D picture of her, with two hands and her mouth. :)

Ok, size-check! Here I am now. I took this picture a few minutes ago.

I'm pretty big now, huh. LOL

There are so many things to prepare for a new home and a new baby. I've been pacing them out slowly. So many decisions to make. It's been a wonderful journey, and it's gonna get more exciting as time comes. :)

With lots of Love.

16 weeks along!

2011-05-06T17:54:00.001-04:00

Wow, another month as passed. I'm 4 months along already! I must say I enjoy the second trimester much more. In the first trimester, I did almost nothing but sleep. Now, it feels like I'm back to normal, back to how it was pre-pregnancy. Which is good, I have been so busy with planning the move to a new place.

Here are some pictures I took a few minutes ago.

Hello! From the front, you don't see any bump right? Hahaha that's the wonder of black. From the front at least. ;-D

My tummy is still pointy eh? Perhaps it'll round out soon.

The foetus is about the size of an avocado now. Over the next 2 months I am supposed to grow "rapidly". LOL I feel very bloated already, I wonder how I'd balloon towards the end!

About 2 weeks from now I'm going to find out the sex of the baby. What's your guess, would it be a boy or girl?

I'm happy with either of course. I just wanna find out ASAP.

With lots of love.

1st Trimester Pics of my baby and me

2011-04-18T13:32:00.000-04:00

Hello! Long time no blog! lol

I would like to dedicate this entry to my 3 caring parents (love you daddy and mummies!), and to my best friend Hannah. This update is specially for you all! Sorry I didn't update much...I'm 13 weeks plus now, officially in my Second Trimester! :-D

I've been really busy, looking for a new apartment and all. I'll have to move next month, as my lease is up at the end of May. I'm also looking to plan the house in the Montessori way as much as it is realistic( it is very appropriate for 0-3 years). All I need to do is make sure that the child is able to explore the environment by allowing things like the bed, shelves, a table and chair to be baby-proofed and appropriate to the child's size height. It supposedly promotes a safer environment, and a calmer independent child. So yeah, moving, planning and building a nursery is going to take up quite a bit of my time for the next few months.

My first trimester has been relatively ok I guess. I will always try to make sure I take organic whole milk and my pre-natal vitamins. I don't get cravings... I think...but I seem to like potatoes a lot more than I used to. More remarkably, I get "turn-offs". For example, there's this Vietnamese beef stew that is my favourite pre-pregnancy. Currently, I don't mind the sauce, but biting into the beef makes me wanna puke. But it changes. There was a time I was consistently turned off by chicken meat. I had to eat the meat along with lots of ginger (to mask the taste) in my mouth to be table to swallow it. I seem to be fine with pork though. And Cornish hen. I never get turned off by fruits, and that's a wonderful thing. But strangely, chocolate turns me off sometimes :O *gasp*!

===================================
When I found out I was pregnant, I made an appointment with my Obstetrician as soon as I could. So at 6 weeks, I went for my first appointment, and saw my baby via an cervical sonogram.

Unfortunately, I had a horrible time at the clinic. I did not know that they had to draw my blood on my first visit. I have Trypanophobia.
They must have thought that I was troublesome. :(

This is six vials of blood.

I asked my doctor if she could stay around during the blood draw and she said "no". I said "why" and she said "because I have to see other patients". I gave her the benefit of the doubt. After that traumatic tearful experience, I was happy it was over and waited to speak to my doctor. She was a doctor that I saw as a gynae for the past 2 years. She was always nice and patient. but this time...I don't know what happened... I was asking questions as a newly pregnant mother and her answers seemed to ridicule me. Maybe it was because nobody ever asked her to stay while drawing blood. I was hoping for compassion, after all she would be the lady delivering my child. For example, when I told her that I feel nausea and sour foods seemed to help she said "My, that's counter-intuitive. Most mothers would stuff themselves with carbohydrates instead." I'm like WHAT?! o_O" Wouldn't that make them puke more instead? (And I've seen preggie pops sold in Motherhood and Pea in a Pod maternity shops, and these are sour candy to help with morning sickness. Well calling me counter-intuitive is one thing (but not a nice thing). But telling me that "look, I don't have time for you like this" and telling me to do some "soul-searching" when I asked her about the differences between an Obstetrician and a mid-wife was just alarming. I felt like I was treated like a troublesome person and was subtly insulted during the entire consultation. I felt like I could not have a trusting relationship with her, and I feel frightened to ask her any more questions in the future.

Something like that never happened to me before. I spoke to my sis-in-law Jess, and some details of my encounter stunned her as well. She gave me great advise - advise mainly to switch a doctor. Find a good, kind and highly recommended one. "You have to be confident that you can ask your doctor questions because there will surely be a lot along the way. You have to choose one you have a comfortable relationship with to deliver your baby." And she was right. If anybody ever had an experience like me, please don't feel helpless (my husband and I did for a while). It is actually really easy to switch doctors, and you only need to sign 1 form to get your medical records transferred. :-)

At 8 weeks I found Village Obstetricians, and there every patient is under the care of 2 doctors, one male Dr. Mussali and one female Dr. Worth. They are both very warm, very kind, and were recommended by a highly experienced doula. Their expertise seems top notch and Dr. Mussali is even on the board of medical advisers for Johnson&Johnson's babycenter.com!!!

I was very happy to be there...but trouble (most anxiousness from my husband) loomed. It turned out that Village Obstetricians are not in my Health Insurance's Network. Still, I have out-of-network benefits, and the total I have to pay for such high quality care from my first visit all the way till my baby's birth is $1250 max, and the health insurance will pay the rest of the customary billing. Very worth it if you ask me! This totally freaked my husband out, and in order to appease him, I spend numerous days over the next few weeks calling and talking to the health insurance company, Village Obstetrics, the other imaging centers that I will be referred to, and the hospital I would be delivering in. I was very sad that my first trimester was filled with such stress.

A finger-prick test at 9 weeks. This is for trisomy 13, 18 and 21 testing.

At 11 weeks, all the insurance drama with hubby has ended. Once my husband was satisfied with all the terms and conditions possible, I had a happy peaceful time, no longer worried I have to switch away from the excellent care of Village Obstetrics. Can't blame him, he wants to make sure of our financial situation, and I just want the best care for my child.

I had my genetic sonogram and Carnegie Imaging Center (referred from Village Obstetrics). And this is one of the best times I've had.

Can you see my baby? The foetus was so active throughout the screening! So cute.

And this was my genetic screening result! Counting in my age, my finger-prick hormones and my sonogram measurements, the risk after screening for Trisomy 13, 18, or 21 has decreased to 1 in 10,000. That's the best possible result. Doctor says that my result is equivilent to a 20 year old. lol so glad.

Finally I have arrived at the end of my first trimester. Here's a picture of me and my funny looking bump at 12 weeks.

I was hoping that it would look nice and round...but don't you feel it looks like a little mountain? Hehe

I'll try to take pictures of myself every 4 weeks from now on and update you all.

With lots of love.

Bought a puj tub

2011-04-16T10:22:00.004-04:00

I bought something interesting yesterday for the baby, click to play the videos below to see what it is. :) The lady in the first video is actually one of the product developers. The next 2 are independent reviews who talk about what they think after using the product.

The usual price is US$40. I bought it from another pregnant mom yesterday because she had 2. She's a first-time mommy due in 2-3 months time. She bought one for herself, and during a baby shower her friend bought her one too. So she sold her extra one to me for $20.

It's a great product because most tubs are too big and the baby can slide around inside even when buckled. New-borns barely have neck control and are not to be able to sit up, and can drown in just 2 inches of water.

Sour stuff seem to help

2011-02-24T10:13:00.002-05:00

Hmm... sour tasting stuff really seem to help keep the food in my tummy down.

Yesterday hubby and I were talking about getting giam sng tee （咸酸甜）, like preserved sour plums. But I don't want them. They are so highly preserved, and are made in China, I do not know what chemicals they may contain.

This morning, I feel giddy, and I had a few strong coughs... maybe the coughs are my body's way to mimic vomiting. LOL

So I tried something sour like orange juice. Hmm...that seemed to work.

Oh no. There's so little orange juice left that I finished it in 2 gulps. Grrr...hubby... -_-"

Hmm wait...there's cranberry juice. *sip sip* :) This seems to work for now.

I feel like puking.

2011-02-23T13:09:00.002-05:00

My appetite was good this morning. I ate half a cantelope and an oriental sweet potato (very nutricious for baby, has all sorts of vitamins, minerals, fibre and folate!).

For lunch, I made Bak kut teh(garlic-pepper-pork soup). Drinking the soup felt good. Pepper keeps the mother's body "warm". But some how I feel queasy. I couldn't eat anything, not even the lean pork in the soup. :-(

I feel like puking. I wonder if it's because baby is having some kind of motion sickness. Maybe he's upside down.

But I'm not really puking (like those pregnant women I see on TV), just feel like puking. Heh heh. Well at least I think I had good nutrition this morning, having a hearty cantelope and sweet potato breakfast coupled with Organic Whole Milk. Perhaps I shall have another bowl of peppery-pork broth, and head to bed for a nap. Just sleep away the queasiness. :) I'll wake up later for a fruit-and-yogurt snack, and stir-fry some veges and eat meat from the soup tonight.

Flying Home

2011-02-22T09:46:00.000-05:00

Since my family and friends are probably the only people subscribed to this blog, perhaps this is a suitable avenue for me to update my new adventures. :)

After a happy Chinese New Year holiday at my hometown Singapore, it’s time to fly home… to where my hubby and gynae wait for me.

By the way I have this little web application that shows little notes about how far the foetus comes along has the days pass.

It’s like an automatic count down. Cute ya! Right now it says “Our baby is ¼ inch, heart begins to beat. Eyes, ears, mouth and limb buds visible. Our baby is 5 weeks & 6 days along. 239 days to go!” So cute!

Flying is tiring
Ok, back to the topic of flying home. Wow, I didn’t know actually how physically taxing flying is on the body. It seems as if you are resting on the plane for 24 hrs (Yes, it was a 24 hr flight including transit), but it actually drains your energy. I had plenty of rest, plenty of water and juices, plenty of leg exercise this time. Didn’t watch as much inflight entertainment as I used to.

Observations of Children
Seated beside me was a blonde German mother with her two children, a beautiful 2 year old blonde girl, and a 5 year old blonde boy. They boarded during my flight transit at Frankfurt, and spent 12.5 hours with me to New York. I didn’t interact much with them, just smiled and asked their names. I was more interested in observing them. Well the two year old had to be buckled in with her mother, and after half an hour she started protesting. The air stewardess arrived just in time with “Bubbles” the powerpuff girl soft toy which distracted her. The boy was amazingly well behaved. Just seated, and buckled in his seat waiting for take off. The two year old cries and screams occasionally throughout the flight, but most of the time she remains in her area, playing with the seat buckle (figuring out how to snap open and shut the seat buckle took up most of her time) or sleeping. The five year old boy was pretty much quiet and well behaved throughout the flight. What a good big brother! Eats, sleeps (kicks me when he sleeps because there’s not enough room for him to lie stretched out…lol), watches ‘Beauty and the Beast’ on the LCD, talks in a calm and moderate voice, is able to respond to the air stewardess when she asks if he wants orange juice. So from my observations, 5 year olds can travel on long distance flights pretty well.

Many seats away from me, there’s an Asian toddler somewhere that gets restless more than the 2 year old German toddler seated near me. His/her wails woke me up from my sleep a number of times. Lol

For the sake of my little one

If you’ve travelled to America since 9/11, you would know that airport security has become stricter. And in recent months, they have further tightened security with these X-ray machines. I am supposed to walk through the scanners twice. But for the sake of my little one, I asked the officer “May I not be scanned? I’m pregnant”.

Both times in Singapore and at Frankfurt, the airport staff gave me no problems, and was very polite to me. It was “Step this way, Ma’am” and a physical pat down. They took more precaution and much more time checking me, making sure I didn’t carry anything threatening, but I didn’t mind as they were polite and kind.

There isn’t any solid evidence that these airport scanners would harm fetuses. But for the sake of my little ball of cells with a tiny heartbeat, I shall just protect him. It relaxes my heart and mind to do so too.

At JFK Airport, a female staff I approached was very warm and helpful when I told her that I was pregnant and needed help to lift my luggage off the conveyer belt. She lifted two 25kg bags from the belt, and wheeled them past customs, all the way out to my husband. I was pleasantly surprised as I only expected her to lift them off the belt for me, but she went an extra mile. Thanks JFK-lady. <3>

Our car got smashed!

2010-09-22T18:07:00.004-04:00

Here's what happened last thursday. There was a tornado that blew through my neighbourhood for a few minutes.

And so here's what happened to my car. I took this yesterday, so the huge branches were already removed by then.

I was indoors during the freak weather, and my husband was at work. Praise God, we were both safe. :-)

Take care everyone. Love.

How are brussel sprouts grown?

2009-11-29T11:35:00.017-05:00

Ever since I had to prepare meals regularly for hubby, I learnt so much more about food. Shopping for groceries is sometimes an adventure because I would come across stuff I never expected to learn.

Here's an example: This is a picture of a brussel sprout I took with my camera.

And here is a picture of a cabbage I found off the internet from healthandayurveda.com
They both look so similar, don't they? Size would be an obvious difference - the cabbage is relatively bigger. But are brussel sprouts "babies" that can eventually grown into cabbages?

I wondered because the word "sprout" reminds me of "bean sprouts", meaning a baby plant. So it could be possible that the brussel sprouts are actually "cabbage sprouts"? lol

Even the di-section (cut into half from the middle) of the cabbage looks exactly like the di-section of a brussel sprout, as you can see from the picture below. And that is because according to wikipedia, they both come from the same cruciferous family of vegetables:

Image from howstuffworks.com

But do brussel sprouts take root directly from the ground like the cabbage?

... ...

...

Nope!

Here's what I bought from the supermarket recently, look at what it says:

Yes, Brussel Sprouts grow from a Stalk! Not individually from the ground like the cabbage! Can you believe it? lol I love being surprised!

Here's a picture of a brussel sprout plant from biologie.uni-hamburg.de

Haha, now that you know the answer, it is time to enjoy some photographs from us!

The brussel sprout stalk is a little longer than the length of our torsos.

Here's the size of it, placed beside the Wall Street Journal papers.

Without flash:

As you can see, the leaves are cut away from the leaf-stem, making it easier to transport.

But it would be the simplest to transport it without the brussel sprouts still attached to the bulky stalk right? That is why we often seen brussel sprouts in supermarkets already detached and packed into a container or a bag.

The reason why they sold an entire stalk (for US$4.99, which is cheap considering that it has so many sprouts on one stalk) is probably because brussel sprouts are fairly popular in the fall, for the Thanksgiving holiday. The brussel sprouts also taste best after experiencing the first frost of Fall. Those that are grown in temperatures that are too warm or in prolonged cold are said to taste quite bitter in comparison.

All I need to do before cooking it (boil it in soup or roast it in the oven) is to pluck the sprouts off the stem with my fingers. :-)

The round buds of the brussel sprouts grown from the corner in between the stalk and the leaf-stem. I thought of this imagery: If the Stalk is likened to a Torso, and the stem is the arm, then the brussel sprouts would be growing out of the "armpits" of the plant. Hee hee!

Perhaps without the leaf-stem, you can see where the brussel sprouts grown from better:

Tada! We have taken all the brussel sprouts to cook! The stalk is now empty. ^_^

Have a good fall season. <3

Trick or Treat? A one million dollar note

2009-10-29T13:53:00.005-04:00

Guess what I saw last night?

...

One

Million

Dollars

...

On a single US note!

Would it a note like this be a trick? Or a treat?

Well, with all the fiscal policies the government is taking, maybe we are gonna be facing a runaway inflation. The greenbacks are going to turn into banana notes.

Like if US$1 = 1 Rupiah

*shrudder*

That's neither a trick nor a treat to me. Considering that we are saving in USD, it'll be a nightmare for us to lose everything to inflation just like that.

Autuum sights around my neighbourhood... no more lilies but lots of berries.

2009-10-13T09:44:00.025-04:00

Summer is over, and the air is turning cold. How strange it is, that during the summer we wish for cooler nights, and when it's gone, we miss it as we huddle under the blankets wondering when the central heating would be turned on. Hubby and I are decked in long pants and doubling the comfy T-shirt with another long sleeved one on top.

Looking though some of the photographs taken during the summer makes me feel warmer though. Here's the last time Hubby and I went to the beach this summer. This was taken Aug 1st '09. But alas, the earth continues to spin, the weather continues to change. No more flip flops, bare legs or arms, and no need for sun hats... Although I think it is significantly cold now...about 14 oC, not all the foliage has withered away. Most in fact are still green, though the first signs of autumn has started showing itself. The sugar maple tree is the first to start turning red. The other maples have not turned yet. Here's a tree, half-red-half-green.

A clearer shot of the red leaves below. It is standing beside another species of Maple, but as you can see it is completely green.

The oaks are still completely green too, can't wait for them to turn red. In spring time, we get lovely cherry blossoms, tulips which soon disappear into the summer, with lots of lilies and roses blooming away. Now the lilies have withered, and the roses that were blooming have now turned into "fruits", little rose hips.

And A LOT of shrubs around the neighbourhood bore lots of berries on their branches! Berries berries everywhere! Here, I'll show you:

Red berries close up:

From this red berry bush:

Another red berry bush...you can see from the needle-like leaves, that this is a different bush:

A close up of the berries... they look like little bells.

Here's another shrub with lots of orange colored berries.

But most unique of all are these tiny purple berries, in an amazing striking shade of violet:

Every twig joint seems to be sprouting a little cluster of these purple berries.

And here's what this bush looks like. Quite interesting isn't it!Every season has its popular flowers. And as I was telling my mother the other day over the phone, that although chrysanthemums are really popular back in Singapore during Spring (Chinese New Year) time, they seem to be all the rage here in the fall! It's the main potted flowers on sale at the Farmer's Market now. Some red chrysanthemums: This is a really common sight now. I think it may be part of Thanksgiving. Red, white, yellow chrysanthemums lining the stairway to the house:Do you notice two little orange things displayed alongside the chrysanthemums outside people's houses too? They're pumpkins! Hahaha if they were mandarin oranges, it'll really look like Chinese new year together with the chrysanthemums isn't it! Here's another picture of Chrysanthemums with much larger pumpkins on the stairway of another house:

Hubby tells me that Thanksgiving was a holiday that started when the early settlers in America wanted to thank God for all the harvest and blessings for the year. Which is a nice thing to do, being in a strange land far away from their European home, growing crops like corn which they have never grown before.

Anyway, the pumpkins have varying sizes, and here's an example of some small pumpkins sitting on the window sill: And here are some really HUGE ones, taking up the entire space on a garden bench. Other than pumpkins, there are also decorative maizes and squashes, and "scare crows" on sale. Here at the supermarket they also sell MINI pumpkins! I've seen some offices use these mini pumpkins as decorations on the front desk. Did you see the painted on faces on the larger pumpkins? Haha, what does that remind you of?
Halloween! Haha some houses of the neighbourhood are decorated for Halloween too. And supermarkets are having big sales on candy and mini-bars of snickers, Reese's, etc. I wonder what is it they put to make it look like they have cob webs around the fence. Can cotton wool stretch that long? And wouldn't it be soaked from the autumn rains?

Anyway to end, here's a picture of a house decorated for both Halloween and Thanksgiving. With plastic "ghost dolls", scare-crows, and a pumpkin at the doorstep. Can you spot the pumpkin in the picture? It's a big pumpkin, but it turned out really small in the picture. ;-)

Goodbye Summer.

Special Mushrooms and their Relative Cooking Times

2009-09-23T11:14:00.020-04:00

My mother-in-law forwarded me an email yesterday regarding the health benefits of enokitake.The enokitake in the picture above has other names, such as golden needle mushroom (金针菇) and velvet shank mushroom. While it is easy to find this mushroom in Singapore in vacuum sealed packets, it is difficult to find in regular supermarkets here. I would probably have to go to an "Asian Supermarket" to buy it.

The email also boasted astounding health benefits of this product of nature: being able to kill 95% of cancer cells by consumption (it can be eaten raw) or extracted to a drip (how incredible is that!) into your bloodstream. I guess the enokitake deserves a place amongst the 'Super-Foods', a term coined in recent years for natural foods with super properties.

What about the health properties of other mushrooms? Most mushrooms can be eaten raw like the enokitake, and surely they have health properties too albeit less documented and circulated. There are also certain dangers I have heard of - other than the obvious fact not to consume toadstools. For example, after washing/ soaking some 冬菇 dried shiitake mushrooms as seen in the picture above, you may think that the water is now "mushroom flavoured" and you may be tempted to use it for cooking. You may even smell the fragrance of the mushrooms in the water. WARNING! THROW THE WATER AWAY. I've heard that there may be poisonous chemicals due to the preservation process. I may not have scientific evidence for it, but surely there are better ways to flavour your food. Better to err on the side of caution. If you know of other health properties of other mushrooms, comment on this article please. :-)

Anyway, time to get onto the first part of my topic:

Special Mushrooms: Introducing 4 types not-so-common cultured mushrooms

Guess what these four mushrooms are? (Hahaha since I my previous post on fruits was already tough for some, here's some useful information to help you guess. I will provide my answers towards the end of this post.) By the way, here's where I bought them from: The Saturday Farmer's Market! This mushroom stall is one amongst many freshly farmed food stalls in the market. All produce (vegetables, fruits, fungi, meat, dairy, honey, wine, etc) are products of New York State, so the farmers probably had to drive down a few hours from the suburbs into NYC every Saturday morning to set up their stalls. This is probably one of those movements to encourage Americans to "Eat Fresh, Eat Local". Although touted to be fresher, healthier, and smaller in carbon foot prints compared to air freight groceries, food at the Farmer's Market is NOT cheaper. lol... Nevertheless, I was excited to try more uncommon species of fungi and talk to the mushroom farmers about it, especially about cooking them.

In summary, I noticed three things:

1. The four unique mushrooms are double or triple the price/lb compared common mushrooms such as white-button, fresh shiitake or portabello.

2. They are more perishable after harvesting compared to common mushrooms (which is possibly they are seldom stocked in supermarkets as they are expensive and they decay too fast).

3. Their cooking time is much shorter than common mushrooms, some maybe just dipping it into boiling water in a short flash, or thrown in as the last item in a stir fry, or just a quick sear on a hot pan on the sides, not totally cooking the whole thing. Of course, they can also be eaten raw.

Cooking it - I feel - is the most interesting part.

I remember my mother would 焖冬菇 braise the re-hydrated dried shiitake mushrooms with 发菜 black moss fungi and other goodies. For hours, and the mushroom would still have a nice bite to it. It tastes even better the next day. It can even be packed into the freezer, and two months later re-heated, and the mushroom would still have a good bite to it. Not all mushrooms can do that.

Other common fresh mushrooms such as the white button mushroom and the portabello can also take quite a bit of heat. They can be lightly seasoned and baked for 45min in the 350F oven and turn out juicy and succulent on the inside. Here's a picture of 2 large portabellos with small chunks of butter hubby and I placed on the grill during our mini-barbecue outings at the park.

Let the portabellos sit on the grill until the butter melts, mingling with the juices that are naturally released by the portabellos due to the heat. It can take a while, but it's yummy!
But the four special mushrooms I bought cannot be cooked for such a long duration in such high heat. So what did I do? I went to an All-Organic Supermart and bought this:

I decided that the mushrooms were delicate, and did not want them to be wasted by charring and sticking to the frying pan. So rather than boiling them in plain water, why not get some ready-made soup and add mushrooms to it?

And finally, here are the answers to:

What are the names of the special mushrooms and their relative cooking time?

Are you ready for the answers? ...*drum roll*

1. Lion's Mane a.k.a. pom pom mushroom, a.k.a. beard mushroom

This one must be cooked very lightly, the lightest of all 4 mushrooms. Just drop it into the boiling soup and turn off the fire at once. It's ready to serve. The flavour is 'likened to that of the lobster or crab'. In fact, it looked like shark's fins when I was peeling it apart with my fingers:

2. King Oyster Mushrooms a.k.a. eryngii or eringii mushroom
The ones that I got this time were smaller younger ones, and the flavour was sweet and the texture was nice to chew on but not rubbery. To get that texture, I could only boil it for 3 minutes - like maggi mee instant noodles. Longer than that and it could be too rubbery/ chewy. They can actually grow much bigger, and I think it might actually be found in supermarkets in Singapore. You can cut it vertically like fries or horizontally like scallops.
3. Hen-of-The-Woods Mushroom, a.k.a. Maitake,

This one appears to have healing properties too... It is said to be effective against leukemia, stomach and bone cancers as well as type 2 diabetes. Which one do you think tastes better raw, the enokitake (golden needles) or the maitake (hen-of-the-woods)? I think the hen-of-the-woods tastes better. The mushroom farmer peeled some and gave it to be confidently to try it raw when I was at the Farmer's Market. The taste is mild and "mushroomy" - for lack of a better word. There's no sour-ness like the golden needle mushroom might have (some people taste some hint of sourness in the enokitake mushroom). Cooking time is very short, shorter than the king oyster mushroom, but can withstand heat better than the lion's mane mushroom. I put it in to boil for only 1 minute before turning the heat off. Here you can see the maitake on the left beside the lion's mane mushroom. Both were the last to go into the pot, and both were prepared similarly: washed and pry-ed into smaller pieces with my fingers. 4. Last but not least, I am disappointed to say that I can't be sure what mushroom it is. It could possibly be the Nameko mushroom that has been outgrown its smaller size into a bigger longer size. I will go to the farmer's market again to find out, and will leave the answer in the comments.This particular mushroom can be left boiling for 5 minutes in the soup before serving. I've never had so much fresh chunks of mushrooms in my soup before. :-DSo yup, that's all, I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed my rich-tasting mushroom soup. Have a great week!

Peach, Nectarine, Plum, Apricot

2009-08-13T09:56:00.009-04:00

Apparently, there has been some problem with my comments system. And I am still not able to solve it. I tried removing the codes, this and that, and it didn't work out. So anyway, here comes another post. Let's see how the comments system is this time.

But yes! Thank you for your email, and your answer: Peach, Nectarine, Plum, Apricot is absolutely correct. :-D

Peaches look similar to nectarines, but their seed looks very different. This peach seed is dry to touch, like a peach stone should be. It also has pits/little holes in it. If you crack it open, you might actually find something that looks like a raw almond inside. The skin is furry, and is therefore a closer relative to the apricot, who is also furry.
The nectarine on the other hand has a wet and furry seed, and it's skin is smooth and almost shiny. Not furry like the peach at all. The smooth skin brings a sour tang to the taste buds when you bite into its sweet and fragrant flesh.
The plum also has a smooth non-furry skin that gives a sour tang, just like the nectarine. Amongst the four, this black plum is the sweetest. We get this in Singapore quite often, don't we? We also get another smaller variety called the sugar plum...that one has a slightly red-ish purplish color.
Last but not least, we have the apricot, which is has a fuzzy exterior like the peach! I wonder whether the furry-ness of the apricot and the peach dulls down any sour taste of the skin? Because I don't get a hint of sourness when i bit into these fuzzy fruits. The size of the apricot is of course quite small, and it bears the resemblance of dried apricots, even in size!

How come a grape can shrink into such a small raisin whereas the apricot has almost the same size when it is dried? Perhaps the apricot has more solid mass and the grape has more water content.

It has a mild sweet taste, definately not as sweet as the plum. But it is not sour, unlike the dried-apricot of which some acid was involved in the process of preservation. And what really hits you in each bite is the distinct fragrance of the apricot. Mmmm...
======================================

So, did you guess 'em right? ;-) Have a great week!

Guess the Fruits in season

2009-08-07T17:55:00.008-04:00

Living in a country with four seasons, I'd think that Blueberries are currently in season, because they are are selling abundantly in supermarkets, and are getting cheaper.

Here are four very similar fruits that are also in season.

EVERYBODY! From Left to right, are you able to tell which fruits are what?

In the comments box, give your answers as 1.___ , 2.___, 3.____, and 4.____, and must have all four correct, then I will announce who is right. I have a feeling that this might be too easy, but everyone, just try for fun ok! And if there's more than one comment, try not to see other people's answers (I trust you ;-) hahaha).

Ok, just in case there are people in the audience who don't eat fruits (Aiyoh why you don't eat fruits, so unhealthy!) and can't tell what the fruits look like on the inside, perhaps you might be able to tell which fruits are what if I let you see what they look like on the outside.

SUBMIT your answers in the comment box NOW!

Free Pastry with Any Beverage at Starbucks!

2009-07-21T10:29:00.012-04:00

What a bargain! Take a look at this:
I decided to check it out this morning, and yes it is true! The offer ended at 10.30am, and I was there at 9.30am++, and it was not crowded, and still had plenty of pastries left, beautifully displayed. :-)

I ordered the signature hot chocolate, but they ran out of it, so I got myself the regular hot chocolate (which is less rich than the signature one), Tall, for $2.85. All the pastries such as the raspberry scones, muffins, bagels etc look so pretty, and I got the prettiest one, the "Cheery Cherry Pie" which was billed as 'Tart Cherry' $2.25 as you can see in the green box, followed promptly by the next line that it was 100% discounted because it was Free Pastry Day.

But frankly, it was not a free pastry day? It was just a few short morning hours which ended at 10.30am, not a full day event. ;-) Nevertheless, I enjoyed it.

I tried to check online what the price of a Tall Hot Chocolate in Singapore would cost, but "check here check there" cannot find leh. Tricky Starbucks... Can someone check the price, and post it in the comments please? I wanna compare! Hehehe.
One thing I know though, Starbucks here is trying to promote it's pastries by touting it to be real good food made from real fresh ingredients. I wonder if it is this year's new idea because it says (C) 2009. Here's what the front and the back of the paperbag says (someone check if Sg is having the same promo?):

Front: "REAL FOOD. SIMPLY DELICIOUS. We've got good news. We removed the artifical transfats, artificial flavors, artifical dyes and high-frutose corn syrup. Now your food not only tatstes better, it is better. We hope you enjoy the difference."
Back: "Hi, We're making a change. Using simpler recipes and taking out artificial ingredients. So your food not only tastes better, it is better. It's a start. But we think it's a good one. Hope you do too. Enjoy. Your Friends at Starbucks P.S. More to come."

Maybe that's why they're giving away free pastries this morning. And it's true, it's pretty good. The shortcrust melted and crumbled well, and was not too buttery. The cherry fillings inside had whole cherries. Definately not maraschino cherries from a can, possibly fresh cherries made into a cherry jam preserve/filling. Good healthy morning. :-)

Problem: Miss Home. Solution: Prima Taste Chicken Curry.

2009-07-15T11:47:00.005-04:00

What to do when you miss home? Turn to Prima Taste for an instant fix! As my brother once told me, "even if you're a bad cook, your cooking would taste good with Prima Taste".
The ingredients are:
- Yukon Gold Potatos (they sell many types of potatoes),
- Carrots (because they're cheap),
- Chunks of chicken breast meat (I used the skinless meat from 2 chickens),
- Long loaf of french bread, and
- A pack of Prima Taste Singaporean Chicken Curry.

We did think about asking people to ship over some Prima Taste Packs and sauces for us...but after discovering from another Singaporean friend in NYC that Prima Taste is sold in some supermarket in Manhatten, we're not so desperate. ;-) Hahaha

I wonder how Prima Taste is doing in the current economic landscape. There is a famous (well, at least it is famous online, with many raves) Prima Taste Restaurant in Vancover Canada (lots of Asians there right?), and *gasp* it is closed! Is it 关门大吉closed? Or Relocated? That I do not know. According to Prima Taste Restaurants etc, they continue to have branches in Ho Chi Mihn, Sri Lanka, Shanghai, Beijing, and Indonesia.

Is there a Prima Taste restaurant in America? Yes! Check this out! It's in San Jose, CA. Too bad it's on the West Coast, and not on the East. I'm especially craving for the deserts like Chendol, Ice Kachang and Bo bo cha cha. How much does it cost? US$3?! Singapore Chicken Curry is US$8.75 for one serving?! Yikes! I wonder what gold and precious stones are placed in there. (More likely it's shipment and labour costs...)

Luckily I lugged over some Prima Taste Packs from Singapore which only costs SG$5.60 a pack, and I can have about 4-6 servings of curry from one pack (ate it over 2 days). Not only is it super delicious, and a quick remedy when you miss home, it also provides items that are not convenient to find here like Coconut Milk.

Is anyone from Singapore coming to visit me soon? *grin*

trying again, this time adding on other application logons.

2009-07-11T11:26:00.001-04:00

I hope this works. you should be able to see a twitter sign on, and a whole plethora of other works.

Testing New Post and new Comment System

2009-07-11T11:18:00.001-04:00

Testing new post and New Comment System.

So what did we see during along Hudson River on the 4th of July?

2009-07-06T15:12:00.016-04:00

Yes, the 4th of July weekend is over, and it's back to the blog! Let me tell you about how we spent the holiday. :-)
First, we decided to explore another state, and since our car doesn't sound very well lately, we decided to take public transport to the nearest state outside of NY: New Jersey, and specifically Hoboken because we haven't been there before. I was bugging hubby that I was hungry before we even left Manhattan, so we got ourselves an Italian sausage $8 (it's a slice of the coiled one, served with a long bun, peppers and onions) from one of the weekend street market.

We arrive in Hoboken, and here you can see the Hoboken Clock Tower, and that this little city is beside the river. It was 3pm+, and the restaurants were still selling Brunch! So ok, we went into the 3 Forty Grill and had Truffled Eggs "Benedict" $12 - prosciutto di parma, black truffle hollandaise, toasted english muffin is what the menu writes. It was the truffle oils that made it quite nice! And now we know that "Eggs Benedict" is like Half boiled eggs that we enjoy in Singapore. ;-)Hubby ordered a Grilled Hanger Cheesesteak $14 - aged provolone, caramelized sweet onions, wild mushrooms, horseradish mayonnaise, fresh baguette, which turned out to be a tastier version of the Philly Cheesesteak. The provolone cheese really made a difference. We saved some sandwich to be eaten as dinner later around 8pm before the fireworks, and it still tasted good.

We walked as far as we can along the banks of Hoboken towards Washington Bridge, and midway we stopped around 5.30pm and found a place to sit and wait along one of the piers. You can see the skyline of Manhattan across the river.

At 6pm+, Macy's barges start sailing up river, loaded with tons of gunpowder for the fireworks. There they'll stay, floating in the middle of the river in safe distance from the spectators. I think there are 5 barges in all. I used a green arrow to point out the barge in the photo for you. :-)

Later in the evening, perhaps 7pm+, NYC Fireboats paraded near the shoreline. The spew of water is sometimes colored red or blue.
By 8pm plus, the sky finally turns darker, and you can see the Empire State Building highlighted in patriotic colors of red, white and blue. And soon comes the fireworks!
You get elliptical shapes (and smiley faces which we did not catch on camera).

You get outlines of cubes.You get lots of color, and last but not least...

You will get large blossoms of gold chrysanthemums and the Star Spangled Banner's colors of red, white and blue in the sky.
I hope you enjoyed the photo-experience of 4th of July, here with me in NYC. Have a great week!

Waiting for the 4th of July Macy's Fireworks

2009-07-04T18:44:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone, it's been a busy week, and finally we get a long weekend (fri,sat+sun) this week because Independance day falls on a saturday, making the eve a holiday too.

By chance, my hubby and I wanted to explore Hoboken this weekend, and found out that the fireworks are gonna be along the hudson river this year, rather than the east river (that's where we caught the fireworks last year)

So we found a front row spot along the river, and have parked our butts here 4 hrs in advance.The fireworks will start at 9.20pm and will last for 26minutes non-stop. I'm posting this from a handphone right now. First time doing that! I would love to show you pictures too, but I don't know how to attach pictures with this phone. :-/! Hehehe

Lobsters in America! Featuring 'Legal Seafood', 'New Star Seafood' and 'Triple Z'

2009-06-22T12:36:00.001-04:00

When we think of lobsters (at Jumbo seafood, or in Malaysia/other parts of Asia), what do we think of?
Lobsters from Myanmar Hockee Company Limited

And for Americans, when they think of lobsters, what do they think of?
Lobster from Maine's Robinhood Marine Center

The top lobster with the thorny exoskeleton is known to wikipedia as the spiny lobster, whereas the bottom lobster with the smooth exoskeleton is just known as lobster. I think I have had lobster (the one with the smooth exterior) at some buffet in a Singapore hotel. Although I appreciate their efforts to import these crustaceans to Singapore, I didn't like the taste then. Its flesh was cold and bland, and the tips of the claw meat was extremely salty. Possibly because it was boiled in salt water/ sea water which gathered at the claws, over-marinating it with salt. My mom and aunt used to buy live Spiny Lobsters from the Yishun market (cleaned and toasted/steamed at home with garlic and pepper) and they tasted THE best!

By the way, besides the textural differences in their shells, there is another significant difference between the 2 types of lobsters. These 2 lobsters are actually not closely related.
Can you guess what the big difference between the spiny lobster and the true lobster is?

I combined the spiny lobster's scientific drawing with the true lobster's scientific drawing side by side for you.
Yes you guessed it. The lobster we commonly eat in Asia has no claws! Its geneology is closer to the crayfish than the true lobster! ;-)

Living here, I learned to appreciate the lobster, and it has become one of my American favourites. It tastes better probably because it's caught locally and the lobster did not have to take an airplane to Singapore! lol... And possibly because the lobster was prepared better in America.

This is a good thing because my hubby is an extreme gourmet crustacean lover. Lovingly, I aspire to cook the Singaporean Chilli Crab for his birthday this year, and have bought a Prima Taste pack for the occasion. He loves lobsters, crabs, and prawns, and would eat them everyday if he could. Siren:*Beep! Beep! Cholesterol alert! Wife to moderate husband!*

3 SEAFOOD RESTAURANTS' LOBSTERS WE'VE TRIED AND LIKED

#3 Legal Seafood

Legal seafood has branches in a number of states, and promises quality and freshness. We usually order Lobster, and it is pretty pricey (but that's how restaurants are, right?). I don't remember the exact price, but I am pretty sure that one 2.5lb lobster we ordered is US$60+++.

Another thing we usually go for is the Clam Chowder! I remember reading the Legal Seafood Menu which mentioned that their award winning New England Clam Chowders, made with Cape Cod Clams, were served for every US President Inauguration dinner since the 1980s! And yes, I think they served it this year too, for the Inauguration of US's 44th President, Barack Obama. :-)

Our large 2.5lb lobster, served hot and plain with melted butter on the side as a dip.
Hubby was proud of being able to remove the meat of a whole lobster claw unspoiled. This was a different visit to a Legal Seafood outlet in Washington D.C. This lobster was between 1.5lb-2lb .

#2 New Star Seafood Restaurant
New Star Seafood Restaurant is the largest seafood restaurant along Avenue U of Brooklyn that we know of. They were selling two 1lb lobsters for $27-$30 (They call it the Twin-Lobster Special, and prices may fluctuate) You get to choose how the lobster is prepared. We recommend lobsters stir-fried with spring onions and ginger because it is reaaaally good. The lobsters were pre-friend in a batter, then stir fried with thin slices of ginger, scallions and some slightly thickened soy sauce. Although I ranked it #2, my hubby ranks this restaurant's lobster dish #1 because he likes the added batter. Well too bad hubbs, this is my blog. ;-) Hahaha!

#1 Triple "Z" Chinese Restaurant
Well after eating at New Star Seafood Restaurant, we realised that almost every Chinese restaurant along Avenue U were also selling 'Twin-Lobster Specials'. Could there be some kind of Lobster War going around here?! The cheapest we saw was $19.90 for two lobsters at this restaurant nearest to the Q train station on Avenue U and we decided to have a go.

There are three ways of cooking the two 1lb lobsters. Ginger with Scallions, Fermented Black Beans with Scallions, or Cantonese Style. We went back to this restaurant often and have tried all three styles. So in case you're wondering, Cantonese Style is just minced pork, black beans and scallions stir-fried with 2 Lobsters. Our recommendation is once again Ginger and Scallions, it being the tastiest.

Now, why did I rank Triple "Z"'s Twin-Lobsters as #1 and New Star Seafood's #2? Not because the price of the lobsters are 30% cheaper than New Star's. It is because the lobsters were not covered in batter, and were stir-fried as is! I like it that way. With less flour to your dish, you can taste the freshness, and the sweetness of the lobster meat. I also liked that the ginger slices were thicker, as I love eating the ginger and the scallions although they were usually meant to be accompanying garnishes!

Twin-Lobsters with Ginger and Scallions. Triple "Z" loves to position the 2 lobster heads side by side! This is what Twin-Lobsters Cantonese Style looks like. Lobster heads side by side again.

So yup, that's all for my top 3 recommendations for Lobsters here in America & NYC. I hope you enjoyed knowing more about these crustaceans, and if you are here looking for a value-for-dollar meal for two and have $30+ (just in case the price increases and you need to tip too, remember?), take the Q train down to Avenue U!

For your amusement, I would like to end this post with some interesting Triple "Z" experiences. You will not see this following offer when you get there because this offer was taken down after a few days.

What?! Crabs and rice for US$3.95? Two Lobsters for $19.90 is already a crazy price, and now this?! This is not one, but two crabs for $3.95! Stir-fried with fermented black beans with scallions. This is not the Sri-Lankan Crab that we commonly eat in Singapore. It's more like Flower Crab. Look at that roe! Woohoo!Below is another funny experience on a seperate occasion at Triple "Z". One day, I thought I found half a crab claw almongst our Twin-Lobster dish ... ... My husband was so sure that it is Lobster, and that particular Lobster had a different claw. But it looked so much like part of a Sri-Lankan Crab Claw to me leh... What do you think?

My First Measurement of my current fitness level

2009-06-15T16:05:00.009-04:00

Who wants to be healthy? Who wants to be fit? Who wants to stay youthful and look good?

Me me MEEE~! *Crowds applause and roars enthusiastically*

Who wants to work very hard for it?

... ... *silence*

It is so easy to be fat here in NYC. I went to the pharmacy to get some healthy whole grain cereal for breakfast, only to walk out of the pharmacy buying 10 candy bars. I can't help it lah! How much is one Snickers bar in Singapore nowadays? SGD$1.50 or so? It was selling here for USD $0.44 a bar during a sale leh… cannot resist stocking up on some.
And my hubby has a weakness for ice cream, and he has to have ice cream every weekend, and usually a few times on weekdays too (so unhealthy! :-P). How much is a 14 oz (414ml) tub of Haagan Dazz ice cream in Singapore? It costs USD$3 here during a sale, and look at how much ice cream I’ve stocked up in the fridge… … :-( uh oh…

And not just the sugary stuff, there are many other fatty foods we could include in meal times too.

A few weeks ago, Ronald and I went to the park, and we saw a half marathon taking place that morning. A half marathon is about 13 miles I think (20 something kilometers). And I was inspired. I hope to join the New York Road Runners one day!

There was this time when I was 16 years old, and an unremarkable runner. My musical hobbies were the mainstay of my childhood, and I was not the atheletic sort. My brother was an army commando, and I picked up lots of tips about running and especially mental perseverance from him. I slowly trained a few months for our school’s 5km run at Mc Ritchie Reservoir. I ran and guess what? I beat one of my school’s famous long distance runner by gaining 6th place (she got 7th) in the Sec 3 + Sec 4 catagory!

It was amazing to achieve something I did not think was possible for me, and I am thankful for my brother helping me, sometimes physically using one hand to push me from my back as he ran behind me, telling me to persevere and not stop. He was there for me until I could independently train for long distance running on my own.

I desire to be fit and healthy, but I’m aging and getting fat instead. How?

I’ve got to start somewhere, and have some kind of guidelines for myself. But hmmm… what can I use as a standard for myself? Hahaha… I thought of one fitness standard… one that I’ve been following for at least a decade since Primary School days. NAPFA! (a.k.a. National Physical Fitness Award a.k.a. NS’s IPPT)

I’ve all along been a bronze and silver level… and the first thing I want to test is my cardio-vascular-muscular ability: the 2.4km (1.5 miles) run! I used google maps to map out a route in the park, where I’ll time myself running forward for 0.8 miles, and run back the same route for 0.7 miles, thereby I’d even out uphill and down hill times. I need to run all 1.5 miles within 17 minutes 30 seconds to pass my NAPFA test.

So how did I do…?

FAIL!… absolutely over time man! I ran 1.5miles in 24minutes. According to google maps, I should be able to WALK 1.5 miles in 29 minutes! After all that effort and sweat, I’m only 5 minutes faster in running compared to someone walking the same path? Haha LOL! I guess that might be true, there was a few times this lady who was brisk walking who kept over taking me…*Gasp*

Anyway, I’ve taken the first step, and if I continue on, it shouldn’t get harder than this right? So my new aim is to run 1.5 miles within 17.5 minutes! And to motivate me, I will log my runs in this blog with the panel on the right to track my improvements. I aim to run at least once a week, so please encourage me leh! *sob*

For interest, here are the NAPFA standards for both males and females:

Israeli Food Exploration: 5 items for snack time!

2009-06-12T13:45:00.030-04:00

As a followup to my previous entry about how Jews look like around my neighbourhood, I also decided to explore some Isreali foods that can be found at the kosher grocers nearby. Definitely a novel experience for a Singaporean like me!

The word “Kosher” means “fit” or “proper”, and I think it describes a way of slaughtering animals according to their laws, similar halal food. They also do not eat shellfish or pork. Although fish is permitted, I have not seen a kosher shop selling fish around here.

Another commonly seen word on the signboards of kosher shops around here is “Glatt”. When you see this word, this shop is likely to be selling meat. "Glatt Kosher" is a higher level compared to "Kosher" in terms of meat handling. Interesting huh? It’s like “Super Halal” vs “Halal”. As I have mentioned previously, this is quite a pious neighbourhood with numerous Jewish schools and synagogues in walking distance, which creates a sustainable demand for Glatt Kosher meats. I have bought raw seasoned lamb kebabs that is Glatt Kosher, and roasted them in the oven with lots of tumeric – a spice that is said to have numerous health benefits. My hubby loves my tumeric lamb kebabs!

Anyway, to introduce you some foods, I spent some time with the owner of ‘Gilo Market’, a shop near my place. The owner of Gilo Market told me that Gilo (ghee lo) is a place in Israel, and he was so kind to go through with me almost every Product of Israel he has in his store. Ain't I lucky! I will start this entry with Snacks, and the next entry will be on meal-time foods.

5 ITEMS TO SNACK ON!

1. Hashahar H’Aole L’Mehadrin Special Cocoa Spread Parve

This 'Product of Israel' chocolate spread costs $2.49 for a 1lb tub. “Parve” (par-vah) is a Judaism word, meaning ‘having no meat or milk in any form as an ingredient and being permissible for use with both meat and dairy meals as stated in the dietary laws’ (dictionary.com). It is also sometimes spelt as “Pareve” (Par-rah-vah). In my definition, it just means I bought the dark chocolate variety! I saw that they also have the milk chocolate variety on sale though. As you can see below, I snack on chocolate spread crackers!
Taste test: I can smell the smell of margarine upon opening. It tastes… different. Not like Belgium chocolate or even conventional American chocolate. And I suspect it is due to the margarine. Upon inspection, Ah ha! It contains soya bean oil, partially hydrogenated plum oil, which might explain it tastes different. It is sweet like the nutella spread, but it remains smooth even when refrigerated. No butter or milk, I think vegetarians will find this nice!

2. Tnuva Mediterranean Collection Labne (a.k.a. Kefir Cheese):
This 250g or 8.82 oz. tub of Labne (Lah-b-nay) costs me $3.99. Although this product of Israel is labeled as 95% fat free cheese, it is actually yogurt with extremely low water content. Unlike normal yogurt which you eat with a spoon like a thick soup, this one is more viscous. It resembles cream cheese spread just that it is not cheese, it’s yogurt. For the sake of coaxing hubby to eat it, I told him it was cheese… which he immediately replied that it tasted like yogurt…hahaha…
Taste test:
It tasted cold, very refreshing and slightly sour. Exactly what a cold and thick yogurt would taste like.

3. Manischewitz Matzo:
Matzo is the famous unleavened bread, mentioned several times biblically. Manischewitz is an American company established in 1888, it has now become the number one leader in Matzo products sold nationally and internationally. They have many varieties of Matzos flavours, but I specifically bought the one that Jews eat for Passover (in remembrance of their exodus from Egypt). This particular 1lb box of Passover Matzos made in the USA costs $4 or $5 I think. It is made with 2 ingredients only, wheat flour and water.
Taste test: It is like a very plain wheaty biscuit. You have to keep reminding yourself that it is fat free to continue eating it plain. I prefer to have it spread with chocolate or labne like in the picture above. A slice of fresh strawberry gives it a nice touch. As the unleavened bread is a huge piece of square, I have to lay it flat on the chopping board, and try to chop it with a long knife in order to get it bite sized. It is hard to cut it into perfect small squares as it is dry and just cracks and flakes all over. I needed a lot of practice to cut them, and it is very messy.

4. Kif Kaf
This Chocolate with wafers is an imitation of Kit Kat! It is a product of Israel imported to America. It’s 2 for $1.00. Lets see what it looks like inside...
Taste test: Nice and fresh chocolate and wafers! Once again, Israeli chocolate smells like margarine. It tastes like Kit Kat with margarine….hahaha please don’t try mixing Kit Kat and margarine at home just to know what it’s like, kids! Kif Kaf is made by professionals!

5. Nish Nosh (flavor: Mediterranean Herb)
According to the Gilo Market shop owner, this snack Nish Nosh has very popular sales! The word Nosh is a word of Yiddish origin (Ashkenazi Jews as mentioned previously could speak Yiddish) which means to snack or eat something light in between meals. This Kosher Pareve product made by a company originating from Poland costs $2.49 for a 300g (10.5oz) bag. According to the package, the main flavour is Zaatar, a.k.a. hyssop. Then on another side of the package, it says it is oregano. But aren’t hyssop and oregano different plants?
With some investigation, reference.dictionary.com reveals:
… … Za'atar is generally prepared using ground dried thyme, oregano, marjoram, or some combination thereof, mixed with toasted sesame seeds, and salt … … For Israeli Jews, za'atar (זעתר,) used to be an exotic treat associated with visits to Arab bakeries. Commercial production of the plant in Israel has made it "an integral element in Israeli cuisine." Some Israeli companies market it commercially as "hyssop" or "holy hyssop"; however, Hyssopus officinalis is never found in the wild in Israel, whereas Origanum vulgare is extremely common…… Origanum vulgare which in English can refer to European oregano, oregano, pot marjoram, wild marjoram, winter majoram, and wintersweet. Both oregano and marjoram are closely related Mediterranean plants of the Labiatae family which also includes mint and sage, so it is unsurprising that these herbs are commonly used as substitutes for one another … … According to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the country's "wild hyssop" was on the verge of extinction due to over-harvesting and it was declared a protected species in 1977.

Ah..so it is possibly not hyssop, just oregano marketed to be hyssop … ... ;-)
Taste test: This is my favourite among all the snacks! It tastes like Indian muruku! My husband thinks so too. If you like muruku, you’ll love this. It is light and crispy, not hard and crunchy like muruku, so you can keep eating and eating… once you pop, you can’t stop!

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I hope you enjoyed getting to know these 5 snack products. In the coming entry, I will show you some meal-time Israeli products. Don’t miss it!

How to Plan Yourself an Overseas Wedding Photography Session

2009-06-04T13:36:00.005-04:00

Pre-Wedding Photography can be just as important as the Actual Day Photography as part of your beautiful memories. Why? Because after a few years or decades has passed, 2 main things remain. One: your wedding bands (rings), and two: your wedding photos. So get good ones for both. I grew up seeing my parents’ studio-shot wedding photo in their bedroom. Somehow it felt meaningful, gazing upon the youthful and loving picture as my parents aged gracefully. When many years have passed, what was served on the dinner menu or how fantastic your shoes were does not matter anymore.

Pre-Wedding Photography is common in Singapore. Charming studio shots and outdoor photography on bounded albums and projected multi-media/montages are usually a highlighted display at wedding dinners and receptions. Couples are increasingly adventurous and creative, wanting their wedding to be extra special and somehow different than others. As Singapore is a small country, guests could expect to see the same outdoor photography locations commonly used. Therefore overseas wedding photography makes an interesting impact for everyone, and has gained popularity in the recent years. Even those pre-wedding photographs taken in Singapore endeavor to look as though they were not taken in Singapore! To meet the demand, “Overseas Wedding Photography Packages” are pieced together by professionals. These can be expensive. With the advent of the age of information technology, you may have an alternative.

How to plan an Overseas Wedding Photography Session by yourself:

1. Pray and Research at least 6 months in before the shoot.
This is going to be a lot of work, so if you have more than 6 months, that would be good. Praying together as a couple keeps you focused, and guide your instincts to make a decision. Sure, you would need a fair bit of data collection (whereby google will be your best friend). Still, decision making and hoping that everything will fall into place will take a leap of faith. Another important decision to make is the “theme” of the entire shoot. This will guide your choice of makeup, hairstyle, clothes, flowers, and shooting location.
Left: Fay Wray uploaded by star1950, lead actress of King Kong (1933 film)

Far Left: King Kong(1933 film) taken from Cynthia('s blog).

I decided on a “Urban 1930s” feel, and researched on the art and fashion of that era. It was a time where women had fingerwaves and other glamorous curly hairstyles, King Kong was climbing the Empire State Building… you get the picture. But this is of course just a guide, and I did not follow it strictly so that I don’t look too dated.

2. Decide on location and duration of your overseas trip.
Apply for leave, book air tickets and accommodation. At least 2 weeks would be good, so that you can narrow down to the day with the best forecasted weather nearer to the shoot. It’s also good to have time before and after the shoot to relax. Try to find something with little or no cancellation fees, or try to reserve and give payment at the latest date possible.

My hubby and I chose NYC, as it was meaningful to us, and it fulfilled our theme because much of the Manhattan landscape today existed in the 1930s.

3. Decide on what to wear, to rent or buy.
Using your theme, decide on what you and your husband are going to wear. You could rent a gown from Singapore and bring it over but this will surely rack up your bill. I bought two gowns from other Singaporeans and had them altered to my size, and it costs me less than $400 in total. I made sure the style was versatile enough so that I can look different on my wedding day. Decide on your shoes and other thematic accessories (such as a hat, or clip-on suspenders).

4. Decide on your hairstyle and makeup artist
To follow my theme, it was essential to me that my hair and makeup artist was skilled in doing something from the “1930s”. I chose Matt Yeandle because he has experience in doing fingerwaves, as seen in his sample portfolio online. He was a very skilled professional, providing hair and makeup support to film, TV and print, and did a lot of work on my hair for me. Confirm a few available dates and times with your hair and makeup artist, so that you can offer estimated times to the photographer.
Far Left: Top view of my hair

Left: Side view of my hair

5. Decide on your photographer
There are much more photography portfolios online than there are portfolios for hair and makeup artists. So you may find yourself with too many choices! The best way to decide who to choose is to communicate with them via email. Tell them your theme ideas, and budget, and see what their artistic ideas and suggestions of locations are (since they probably know the area/country better than you do). It’s easy to choose the one that matches your needs most by communicating with them. I chose Willi Wong Photography as I found them to be a good match, and I am thankful that I did. I love their work, and my experience with them was enjoyable.

6. Decide on your bouquet
You could get a fresh bouquet few days before the shoot, but that would add to your things to do when you arrive. I surfed online but did not find a picture of a fresh bouquet that I liked. I was also worried that the flowers would wilt/crush/damage before and during the shoot. Silk flowers were my answer, and they were re-usable as bouquets for my bridesmaids on my actual wedding day. Make sure you choose silk flowers that look as real as possible! Afloral.com was good with that, and a number of relatives and my mother mistook my bridesmaids’ bouquets to be real. You can see us in the picture below. Only my bouquet was real, and it wilt terribly towards the night.

Actual Wedding Day Photograph by Adam L.

I wrapped the stem differently with ribbons and other accessories. The one taken in NYC was wrapped with shiny red ribbon, pearls, and I randomly stuffed red petals and red feathers amongst the flowers. (You will later see that this same bouquet was used again in Ithaca, wrapped in blue flowing ribbons.)

7. Adapt to final changes/ improvements.
Check the weather, confirm the appointed date and time with your stylist and photographer, make any last minute purchases if you find something that does not match or fit. Make sure your handphone is fully charged and have mobile reception. Bring along tissue, blotters and lipstick. Flat shoes/sandals is a MUST. You can’t walk around in heels all day and still produce a fresh smile for the camera.
Above: Me changing from my Birkenstocks into my stilettos.

Left: Us taking public transport.

Draft your route plan (map out your destinations) for the day, and consult your photographer. This will of course change again during the shoot, so you’ll just have to go with the artistic flow and be flexible. In NYC it was better for us to travel via public transport, whereas in Ithaca the car was an important transportation mode for us. If your photographer knows the area well, you could leave the destinations to him, but if he doesn’t know the area well, you have to map it out on your own using whatever you can find on the internet, if you have no time to recce the area out yourself prior to the shoot.

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I hope that the above steps would help you achieve beautiful and less costly overseas pre-wedding photography. I later repeated all those steps to have another photo shoot in Cornell University in Ithaca, upstate New York. As you can see in the photos below, it is the same white gown in a new “Garden Fairytale” theme. I did my own hair, re-ribboned the same white bouquet and hired an upstate photographer, Michelle Neumayer. I chose her because I love her artistic style. Very dreamy and beautiful.

Things cost less in the suburbs than in the city, but that’s the same for everything else including real estate and food right? If you’re looking for more high end services (especially for makeup), the city provides better. Not because those in the suburbs are no good, but because there is alot more competition and variety in the city to suit your needs. My makeup artist in Ithaca had never done makeup for Asians before, and she also had no idea how to put on false eyelashes for me. Sometimes she messed up and had to re-do my eye makeup a few times. Almost everyone in the salon had to chip in to help with the false eyelashes.

Buying a second hand gown, wrapping your own re-usable silk bouquet, hiring local hair and makeup artists and photographers rather than flying them over from Singapore cuts down expenses. Staying at a smaller hotel, renting a place, or staying with a relative/friend also helps. Less urban locations and services are cheaper. Do your own hair (or even makeup) if you have the skills. To cut down costs further, you could also opt not to print the photos or create an album. Just keep the softcopies, make montages or online photo albums. A professionally made hard cover album can cost several hundreds, and you can always create them later on after the wedding when you can afford it.

Wishing you Peace & Love.