Are you affected by the recession?

Recent conversation with colleagues and friends have set me thinking - i'm really lucky to be able to hold a job and keep the home going.



I have always grumble about not being treated fairly in the company which i think have set some of my colleagues to have the following conversation:



"Are any of your friends or relatives affected by the recent mass retrenchment?"



"Not that i know of"



"Mmmmm...... you know it's a good thing that our company have always been stingy in spending, otherwise, we might not be able to survive this economic crisis"



"Ya, and we are so lucky to be still employed and being paid promptly"



At that very moments, i was so pissed off that i feel all these are targeted at me. However, now i really feel that they could be right. Never mind the fact that the company is not affected by the crisis at all at the moment, but who knows when we may be hit, and i could be the next umemployed roaming the street.



I'm officially in the 21 years of service with my company, no awards, no appreciation gift, nothing, but i'm not complaining anymore. Because i feel i'm so lucky to be still employed.........

Taiwanese Porridge Buffet

Yesterday as both myself and my partner did not have a proper lunch, so we decided to go for Taiwanese Porridge Buffet dinner.

This place that we visit is actually near my old house area. It's actually a cafe of a hotel which changes it's name several times due to change in management. However, i just loves the food that they serve and also the ambience. The cafe may not be posh but the food is quite good considering that it is reasonably priced as compare to some very posh restaurant.

The taiwanese porridge buffet comes with so much variety that i could hardly count how many items are there actually.

I have actually taken a picture out from their web featuring the Taiwanese Porridge varieties of item - it serves from clear soup, braised duck and pork, braised taupok, braised hard boil egg, braised beancurd stick, assam fish, mixed vegetables, porridge side dishes, mussels, curry chicken with french loaf, mutton, beef, steam egg, etc. etc.......the list can go on and on, complete with plain porridge, sweet potato porridge, plain rice, tanghoon. It also serves surprises tim sum dish, fruits, desserts like ice kachang and bread pudding (something which i don't normally eat, but yesterday one was pretty good), a wild variety of ice-cream in an ice cream bar. It's definitely a must try for people who loves variety but didn't want to pay too much like my childhood friend - STgt. (STgt, this shall be our next meeting place if you don't mind the journey) But i guess buddy STsn wouldn't like it (i guessed) because i knew she goes more for fine dinning and not much of a buffet goer.

This is the ambience that i have taken a picture of. (not very well taken thou)

My favourite soup..............err, i meant the soup bowl.

Heehee...... i loves this bowl because it's slightly tilted to the front so that u can actually see the content inside the bowl even when you take a picture from the front instead of from the top. Very good for presentation of your soup for photo shooting. Haha...... have actually been looking for this type of bowl but didn't want to pay too much thou.

This is my favourite dish among the buffet varieties - mussels with shell on cooked in spicy tomato sauce complete with onion and garlic (not sure whether if this sauce is call Neapolitan sauce). Never fail to take this every time i visit.

Some of the side dishes that we ate.

Clockwise from 6 o'clock - fried peanuts and anchovies, pork floss, preserve block bean curd, seasoned chye sim and sliver fish with black bean paste.

Yesterday surprise tim sum - pan fried gyoza serve with vinegar and shredded ginger.
Curry Chicken drumlets served with french loaf. Another dish we will never miss.
Lastly we complete our buffets with some fruits and ice kachang without the kachang. Heehee... which is my habit - ice kachang without the kachang (red bean).

As we both are not a great eater, i did not take picture of all the dishes that is being served yesterday. For eg, we have given the assam fish a miss, didn't take the picture of all the braise item like braise duck, braised hard boil egg as i knew that those food which is cook with dark sauces will not turn out well in my camera.

Oh, just in case if you want to visit, here's the address:

Quality Hotel Singapore

201 Balestier Road Singapore 329926

Tel: 6355 9988

The cost of the buffet is only $10.80 ++ per person for dinner from 6.30 pm to 10.00 pm

Isn't it value for money? For $10.80 ++, you gets variety + ambience, where to find?

I think after 10.00 pm, they called it porridge supper and it's only $8.00 ++. It's served all the way up till 1.00 am. I have not tried this thou.

Here's a map to show where it is located. Just at the corner of the junction between Balestier Road and Moulmein Road.

And if you do go there, don't forget to mention about my blog's recommendation. Maybe i could just earn a free porridge buffet dinner next time round when i visit. Haha..........lolz, just kidding!

New Random

Hey, i've added new Ang Pow Collection to my Ang Pow collection slide show. Have you noticed the additional collection?



Joining contest:

Probably the only type of contest that i would join. Because it's cash prices. Wish me good luck and hopefully i could win the top price of $8,888 in cash. :)

I have been wanting to test out this recipe given in Luxuryhaven's blog - Tea Smoke Chicken.

Luxuryhaven's blog always got surprises for you. If you have the time, do visit. Very interesting. Btw, it's luxuryhaven's blackswan that thought me how to do the link to lead you to another post or blog directly. As i'm a complete "idiot" when it comes to IT gadgets. Lolz........ Tks BLACKSWAN!

Back to the tea-smoke chicken, today i managed to find time to test it out. However, instead of using the whole chicken, i used chicken wing instead. I have also rewrite the recipe for easy reference and safe keeping in my bon appetite blog.

Tea Smoke Chicken Wing

Get Fit in 5 minutes

Bought a magazine yesterday and this comes in the form of like a leaflet. It's definitely too tiny to read from the picture. Therefore i'm re-typing it out for sharing and also added my comments in brackets.



If you can't spare an hour for the gym (not can't spare but not living in condominium nor do i have the spare cash to sign up for any fitness club), we've got news for you. Recent studies have shown that bouts of exercise can add up to the same benefits if you do them consistently (i think "persistently" would be even better as i usually give up after a couple of days). Here are five activities that you can squeeze into your day.



1. Before you hit the shower in the morning, get your heart rate up by jogging in place for five minutes. (My neighbour downstair would be complaining, what the heck am i doing in such early morning)



2. While you are waiting for the kettle to boil, hold a can in each hand and do bicep curls as you walk aound the house. (Haha..... don't have the habit of drinking hot drink in the morning, when am i going to set the kettle to boil, heehee......)



3. To condition your forearms, hold a tennis ball in each hand and squeeze as hard as you can for a count of eight. Release and repeat. (Tennis ball, oh no, can't find in my house)



4. When the mid-afternoon slump hits, take a brisk walk around the office or outside the building. Pump your arms to step up the pace. (Definitely not under this hot weather otherwise i'll probably get heat stroke before i could get fit)



5. Instead of taking the lift, use the stairs. Take the stairs two at a time to boost the cardio effects and give your legs a good workout. (I knew this is definitely a good exercise, but with every level stop kind of lifts around, who takes the stairs nowsaday. I'll definitely be call a weirdo if i do that and my neighbour may thought that the lift broke down??)


Errr................ i seems to heard some one scolding me and telling me to stop giving excuses........

Friends

A friend send me this cartoon by email. Found it very funny, let share it.

HAIR DIY, crochet tissue box cover, bake cheesy prawn

With the current economy downturn, everybody is talking about cutting cost and saving to tie over this economy suitation.



Here come my thoughts:



BEAUTIFYING YOUR HAIR

Before recession - real rich "tai tai" way - have the top celebrative hairstylist chauffeured to her house to get all your hair treatment, hair cut and hair styling done in the comfort of her own home.

When recession set in - real rich "tai tai" will still get hair done by top hairstylist but this time at the stylist saloon in the top shopping mall.

Before recession - HDB "tai tai" will get hair treatment done in HDB style saloon by top hairstylist.

When recession set in - HDB "tai tai" will still get hair done in hair saloon but this time by budget stylist.


MY STYLE OF BEAUTIFYING MY HAIR - recession or no recession still the same.



Armed with all these gadgets,





Shampoo myself, style myself, DIY hair dyeing with over the counter hair dye (the cheapest and reasonably priced, available when i walk into the store), sometimes lucky enough to get help from family members, cut fringe myself which save me quite a bit otherwise may have to visit hair saloon every month and subject myself to being persuaded into doing other treatment due to my poor will power. Probably get a major hair cut only once a year. Oops! Bosses of hair saloon is going to protest if they happened to read this.



Then i might as well give some more tips - can DIY hair treatment with egg yolk, just remember not to wash with hot water otherwise you may get "蛋花”(egg flower) on your hair, just cold water will do (cold water also keeps away the static of your hair) - this would actually keeps your hair soft and shinning


Hair treatment with treatment wax available from personal care stores or from the counter of HDB style saloon. This is considered luxury already.



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Done this during my school days. May consider picking up the needle again.

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Make this using 厨房笔记 recipe. Very easy - just clean prawn and slit back of prawn, sprinkle with black pepper and chilli powder, saute garlic in butter, pour over, cover with cheese strips and bake. Viola! Yummy cheesy prawn.

Happy Valentine's Day

i got this some years back, since i have nothing to share about valentine's day, i might as well share this :

To My Friends Who Are...........SINGLE

Love is like a butterfly. The more you chase it, the more it eludes you. But if you just let it fly, it will come to you when you least expect it. Love can make you happy but often it hurts, but love's only special when you give it to someone who is really worth it. So take your time and choose the best.

To My Friends Who Are............NOT SO SINGLE

Love isn't about becoming somebody else's 'perfect person.' It's about finding someone who helps you become the best person you can be.

To My Friends Who Are............PLAYBOY/GIRL TYPE

Never say 'I love you' if you don't care. Never talk about feelings if they aren't there. Never touch a life if you mean to break a heart. Never look in the eye when all you do is lie. The cruelest thing a guy can do to a girl is to let her fall in love when he doesn't intend to catch her fall and it works both ways...

To My Friends Who Are............MARRIED

Love is not about 'it's your fault', but 'I'm sorry.' Not 'where are you', but 'I'm right here.' Not 'how could you', but 'I understand.' Not 'I wish you were', but 'I'm thankful you are.'

To My Friends Who Are............ENGAGED

The true measure of compatibility is not the years spent together but how good you are for each other.
To My Friends Who Are............HEARTBROKEN

Heart breaks last as long as you want and cut as deep as you allow them to go. The challenge is not how to survive heartbreaks but to learn from them.

To My Friends Who Are............NAIVE

How to be in love: Fall but don't stumble, be consistent but not too persistent, share and never be unfair, understand and try not to demand, and get hurt but never keep the pain.

To My Friends Who Are............POSSESSIVE

It breaks your heart to see the one you love happy with someone else but
it's more painful to know that the one you love is unhappy with you

To My Friends Who Are............AFRAID TO CONFESS

Love hurts when you break up with someone. It hurts even more when someone breaks up with you. But love hurts the most when the person you love has no idea how you feel.

To My Friends Who Are............STILL HOLDING ON

A sad thing about life is when you meet someone and fall in love, only to
find out in the end that it was never meant to be and that you have wasted years on someone who wasn't worth it. If he isn't worth it now he's not 'going to be worth it a year or 10 years from now Let go.....

TO ALL MY FRIENDS.......

My wish for you is a man/women whose love is honest, strong, mature,
never-changing, uplifting, protective, encouraging, rewarding and unselfish.