我下厨的日记 Diary of my homecooked food (braised pork recipe)

This is definitely the easiest recipe you can ever find!

Firstly, get a good piece of pork - can be pork belly (with loads of fats or lean, depending on what you prefer)

Recipe:
[A]

2 star anise
2 sticks cinnamon
4 cardamom

4 cloves

2 whole garlic

[B]

1 tablespoon soya sauce

4 tablespoons dark soya sauce

pork belly (blanched)

2-4 eggs (boiled)

tow kua

tow pok

Method:

1) Using a slow cooker, place about 1 litre of water and throw in [A]. Set to "high" and cook for about 30mins - during this time, you can blanch the pork belly and boil the eggs

2) Add in [B], pork belly and eggs. Switch to "low" and cook for about 5hrs

3) Taste and add more soya sauce or dark soya sauce, depending on preference

4) Add in the tow kua and continue to simmer for another 2hrs

5) If taste is alright, add in tow pok about 10mins before serving

*for darker and tastier version, you may cook this overnight

Life of a Tourist Guide ~ passing the assessment

After 9 months of intensive course, we were given about one month to prepare all 14 itineraries and then send us the shortlisted two itineraries one week before assessment date - my group got Unique Heritage of Singapore and Southern Exposure.

The assessment date was set on 23 March afternoon and I decided to take two days of AL that week to prepare for the big day!

It was really hard work over the weekend before the fateful day - which consisted of loads of walking tours and time spent with classmates; together with research and penning down the commentary to work out the smooth flow.

On the day itself, I woke up early and went through what I had written / memorising the stuff etc. Showered, put on a new blouse and pants, wore some lipstick and off I went to STB. Upon reaching, I found that my fellow groupmates were already there and mugging hard. It was really stressful and I opt to just chill there.

As soon as the assessors approached us, my heart nearly dropped. After switching off our hp, they introduced themselves and then told us our itinerary that day. It was Unique Heritage of Singapore - Chinatown, Peranakan Museum and Kampong Glam.

We were asked to sign some forms and etc; and then off we went to board the coach. Being the only female among the group of 4, I was assigned the first speaker on the coach (Carol Joy Dragon said, "ladies first."). It was a thrilling experience and I was really glad that both assessors smiled at me when I mentioned about Thai Embassy as well as Peranakan culture (when sharing about the itinerary rundown) along the way.

After doing Chinatown and Peranakan Museum, I was half disappointed that I did not get chosen to do commentary for either. Deep down inside, I was hoping to get either coz I felt better prepared for them. Nonetheless, I pushed myself to "recite" whatever I could remember of gelam trees, yellow mansion, Malay Heritage Centre, the spice garden and etc - leaving the Sultan Mosque and Bussorah Street to KP (who was the final speaker).

Though I know I have only 50% chance of passing, all four of us went back to STB feeling very relieved that the assessment is finally over! We sat there on the couch, googling the answers we promised to get back and waited for our turn to go into the meeting room for our "sentence".

Story cut short - the moment I went in, it was super intense. Both assessors shared with me about my shortcomings and positive points. And then, Carol told me I passed! At that moment, I was really stunned and could not believe my ears. Happy tears just rolled down my cheeks. She walked over to hug me and it really made me realise I was not dreaming!

Mixed Feelings After Course Completion

Honestly, I have no idea what to make out of the course completion.

The last session was supposed to be on 14 Feb but our trainer decided to let us complete on 12 Feb so we get to enjoy Valentine's Day, which was also the eve of CNY eve!

Now is the time I start wondering if I am good enough for recommendation to be assessed by the STB officials. Last Saturday was the final class field trip and the trainer was nice enough to stay back and had a quick chat with each of us - sharing on what she thought of us. 

She only spent less than a minute with me though, and all she said was, "Sharon, you have nothing to worry about. Just make sure you wear a bright colour for the assessment and don't wear black." 

It brought me some relief to a certain extent. But then again, I know myself well. Be it product knowledge or memory, I am definitely not as good as many classmates. For presentation skills, I may not be the best few in class but I think I am somewhere in the mid level. The assessor will also look at attitude and passion, so I hope I will be able to portray those during the assessment!

Please let the assessment date happen soon! I just want to get it over and done with!

Life is an Adventure, be an Explorer!

I've always thought that life is an adventure and I enjoy exploring, always venturing into the unknown when I travel and talk to strangers to learn more about themselves, while discovering about myself...

A risk taker, I take chances alot and always grab opportunities when they knock on my door. Of coz, as I have a fear of heights (and recently got diagnosed with vertigo imbalance), the stuff I don't do include roller coasters, bungee jumps and most stuff involving heights!

Since two years ago, I chanced upon the Tourist Guide course by Singapore Tourism Board and was checking on the two schools which provided the certification in English medium. Thought it will be interesting, especially when I get to introduce and share about Singapore (the place I call home, and as a patriot - my favourite place on earth) and its sights. Here, one is required to complete the 7-8months course and attain the Tourist Guide badge before you can start guiding (which includes bringing locals/tourists around Singapore, be it in a small or big group).

And yeah, when I reached 40yo, I decided that this has to be my milestone and I will be a proud Tourist Guide, doing something I enjoy and getting paid for it!

24 July 2017 was the first day of the course and it was here where I met 13 other like-minded people, from all walks of life. Shall be blogging again after I complete the course...

我下厨的日记 Diary of my homecooked food (12, 13 and 15 August)

Simple dinner at home with dear and Phyllis - tomyam pork ribs, chawanmushi and stirfry kailan. 

Chawanmushi was simple, with eggs added to chicken stock, and I also put in some crabsticks.

Such a pity that I got duped by the aunty at the market and bought kailan instead of baby kailan. But thankfully, the awesome pork ribs (only marinated it for 20mins with tomyam sauce) saved the day!

Prawn Noodles soup which had an awesome punch of prawn taste coz the soup stock was made with prawn heads, shells and tails. It was supposed to be stirfry but coz the soup looked too yummy that I had to pour in all of it! Only ingredients were prawns and sotong. Hubby loved it totally, and both of us finished all the sinful soup in our bowls!

First time I did an all vegetarian-friendly meal (no garlic too!), coz Shih Wee preferred not to eat meat and since all guests were alright with it, I started doing research and prepared this meal - which won praises from Maggie and all.

The tofu soup was boiled since morning with bak choy, red dates and carrots - about 20mins high heat and then 3-4hrs low heat. Off the fire and let it rest till about 2hrs before dinner, and added in the japanese mushrooms, enoki and tofu.

Mushrooms dumplings were made in the afternoon. Had chopped the shitake and portobello mushrooms into small chunks, then stirfry them with some sesame oil and vegetarian oyster sauce. After they had cooled down, I wrapped them in dumpling skin and kept in the fridge for about 2hrs before airfrying them (180deg for 7mins, then 200deg for 3mins)

Stirfry naibai was norm... added some huatiao wine and vegetarian oyster sauce for flavouring.

Japanese cucumber kimchi was done by mixing them up in the morning then keeping them in the fridge until dinner time.

cafehopping adventures ~ Craft Bistro, Orange Thimble and Fat Cat

It was a Monday, not Sunday, but we went off for our cafehopping adventures - simply because of two reasons: 1) it has been like 6weeks since our last cafehopping day (OMGGGG) 2) it was a PH and we had no plans on hand (like, finally!!!)

Went off for our first stop, for our brunch. It was Craft Bistro, a simple place set up in Holland Village with not too elaborated furnishing and pretty good crowd. Our only grievance is the noisy customers sitting beside us (both left and right)... Else, I would say the drinks and food all tasted good - good toast, fluffy rainbow cake, proper size of smoked salmon with salad and bread. I thought the baileys latte was not bad, with a slight yet obvious tint of baileys in it.

Just before the downpour arrived, we reached Orange Thimble (just next to Tiong Bahru Bakery). Quite full from our brunch, we only ordered a beef rendang stew to share. Dear and I ordered tea to "cleanse and digest". The lemongrass tea was refreshing though it was not to their credit since they used a tea bag. The rendang tasted alright, but too watery to my liking. Phyllis felt it was just curry actually. Luckily, the bread that came with it saved the day!

Final stop of the day was Fat Cat. A painful wait/ queue outside the cafe was enough to let us deduct many many marks from it. It was a humid day, and there were very few seats (no fan or cooler) outside though it was apparent to me that a queue was inevitable. Ok, I know I sound spoiled but you can interview those who queued along with us - some waited more than 45mins!

The smokey magnum was pretty interesting and tasted (like a magnum) while the charcoal gourmet waffle was not bad (but not the best we tried). It was the torturous wait for the waffle that convinced us not to head back again! Queue numbers 14 and 13 got their waffles before us (we were 12) and only after they attempted to serve us (looking frantically for 14 but could not find it as our order had been served to the two gals instead!), then they realised the mistake! Well, to me, it was strange that the two gals did not realise they were being served ice-creams which they did not choose... 

Of coz, being located at Bedok gave us a final closing that we will not travel so far east again for this. 

The SG50 Jubilee Weekend (7 to 10 Aug)

As Singapore hit her 50th birthday, we were given an extra public holiday (7 Aug) called the SG50 Jubilee PH. Oh well, I checked the calendar and realised that in 2013, we also had a 4-day long weekend coz Hari Raya Puasa fell on Thursday and National Day on Friday! haha... no matter what, we have to appreciate holidays - giving us a moment to slack, a chance to recuperate from work and play as well as an opportunity to have gatherings and meet-ups!

Here are some of the pics taken over the four days and short caption on how the day was spent!

Friday 7 Aug

Potluck Lunch - with pals from more than 10years! Simple lunch with overwhelming menu like fried beehoon, curry chicken, homemade nuggets, bacon with enoki mushrooms and portobello stuffed with minced pork.

Karaoke at neighbour's place, followed by vegetarian dinner at Nature Cafe (Tradehub21) with two families staying next door and then desserts at McDonald's!

Saturday 8Aug

Family from e SHG Jurong team met up for potluck picnic at Botanic Gardens, followed by partying at our tiny place ~ first huge gathering where we had more than 20 pax there at the same time! Yes, we fit in!

Sunday 9 Aug

Stayed at home to prepare dinner (while e hubby went to work) ~ awesome gathering with sisters Kelly and Phyllis. Homecooked simple dishes for dinner, followed by Llao Llao bought by Kelly!

Monday 10 Aug

Met up for dinner at Mischief with the birthday kakis for Jiehao's birthday... followed by camwhoring at the floating platform with the Singapore Icons - Marina Bay Sands

Singapore Icons - Fullerton, CBD area and abit of the Esplanade

Singapore Icons - Singapore Flyer and Double Helix Bridge