香菇肉丸子粥

Adam came home rather late last nite, at about 9plus after his CCA.
Before he had his bath, i ask him does he wan any porridge for dinner? He replied with a very good ans:"Huh? dun tell mi its plain porridge hor!"
Oh well, wat can i say? haiz...this brother of mine dun fancy plain porridge. Since i had some well marinated minced meat mixture in the fridge, i decided to cook some congee for him.

Ingredients;
1 cup rice
¾ pot water
2 dried mushroom, soaked & slice
1 cube knors chicken cube
1 tbsp oil
1 stalk spring onions, chopped
Fried shallots

肉丸子ingredients;
1 fillet chicken breast, minced
50g minced pork
1 baby carrot
1 water chestnut
1 tsp light soy sauce
Dash of salt
½ tsp sesame oil
1 tsp cornflour

Method;
-Mix all the ingredients for 肉丸子, set aside in fridge.
-Bring water to boil, cook rice till soft & grains broken into smaller pieces. -Add oil, chicken cube & mushrooms.
-Using 2 teaspoons, drop teaspoonful of meat mixture into porridge.
-Bring to full boil, make sure that meatballs are cooked.
-Serve with spring onions & fried shallots.
-Enjoy!

Baked Roti John

I made a healthier version of roti john for breakfast this morning.
Normally those roti john where malay hawkers sell,uses baguette & are being pan fried till cooked. But by doing so, its calories & fats level are much higher.
To reduce calories & make them healthier choice,I used bread roll instead of baguette,have them baked insted of pan fried.The end product comes out great!

Ingredients;
4 bread roll
1 egg, beaten
1 small onion, chopped
½ green chili, slice thinly
1 fillet chicken breast, minced
Oil or melted butter
Shredded lettuce & cucumber slices
Tomato ketchup & mayonnaise

Meat marinade;
½ tsp light soy sauce
Pinch of salt & baking soda
¼ tsp coriander powder
½ tsp curry powder

Method,
-Marinate minced chicken with marinade, set aside in fridge for at least 30mins.
-Add in beaten egg, onions & green chili. Mixed well.
-Preheat oven to 220˚, greased a tray with melted butter.
-Cut open bread rolls, spread generously with egg fillings.
-Lay bread rolls onto tray with fillings side facing down.
-Brush top of bread with butter & place on lower rack of the oven.
-Bake for 10-15mins or until chicken is cooked.
-Sandwich roti john with cucumber, lettuce & sauce.
-Enjoy!

Swan Shrimp Tofu

This is supposed to be a light & healthy dish whereby i intend to steam & drizzle with a light soy gravy.However, dad requested for something 重口味, tt's y i change the sauce last min.
And the finished product comes out great.The sauce goes well with the bland tofu.

Ingredients;
1 roll silken tofu
1 fillet chicken breast, minced
2 water chestnuts, chopped
1 baby carrot, chopped
½ tsp light soy sauce
½ tsp sesame oil
Dash of msg
Pinch of salt
½ tsp cornflour, additional for sprinkling on tofu
8 medium prawns
1 stalk spring onions, chopped
Thickening agent

Sauce;
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 chili padi, chopped
1 tsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
½ tsp chili paste
½ tsp sugar
50ml water

Method,
-Remove shells & veins from prawns, leaving the tail intact.
-Cut slits along the back of prawns, make a hole in the center, push the tail inwards & pull out from the bottom, making it into a swan shape.
-Marinate chicken with light soy sauce, sesame oil, salt & msg.
-Stir in chopped water chestnuts, carrots & cornflour.
-Cut tofu into 8 round patties, sprinkle some cornflour on tofu rings.
-Spread meat mixture onto tofu, top with a swan shrimp.
-Lay tofu onto a well greased plate & steam for 5 mins.
-Preparing sauce by mixing all the ingredients together, bring to boil & stir in thickening agent.
-Drizzle over cooked tofu, garnish with spring onions.
-Serve while hot.
-Enjoy!

A close-up on the lovely dish.

Pulau Ubin Trip

Pulau ubin, an island offshore singapore, in between singapore & JB. I've heard so much about pulau ubin & been wanting to go there. Heard that its a kampong lifestyle like how singapore is like in the 1960s.
Well, for city kids like us who were born in 80s/90s, we had not been through kampong life.Plus its a nature reserve with a wetlands where we can get to noe more about nature, i decided to go on a exploring trip with Jesper.

Ever since the day we decided on this trip, i been so excited & looking forward to it. Even went online to find out the low tide timing for chek jawa wetlands.Hmm...in fact the lowest tide for this month is on 31 may, however as Jesper is scheduled to work on sundays, we had no choice but to pick 24th may.

I'm still very "enthu" about it, though the lowest tide is at 4 pm, we set off at about 9am as we intend to explore the whole ubin. We went to the nearby coffeeshop, had our breakfast.

Hmm...i'm a lor mee lover. Well, this lasted me for the whole day.

Jesper had economic noodles with lots of ingredients.Hmm...with so much additional meat ingredients, its not economic for a plate of $3.10 noodles. haha...

Wow...i didn't noe that there's such a love fir tree at changi!

This is the jetty where we will be taking bumboat from.

Saw some fishermen transfering their "catch of the day" to lorries where it will be brought to market for sale.

Off we go onto a bumboat! Along our way,i saw this huge british ship, heard that its meant for supplies to singapore.

In less than 10mins of time, "Here I Come,Pulau Ubin!"

Wow....1st beautiful sight i saw, believe there are more to come!

I dunno wat shop is tis, its not open but the nice painting on the door caught my attention.

There's even a 大伯公 temple near the jetty. Can always see pple worshipping in the temple. The 香火muz be very 鼎盛.

After passing by many bicycle rental shops, we decided to go on our feets to explore the island.

This is where our journey starts, east route of pulau ubin.

Along the journey, we could see various plants;

Gosh...tis is beautiful, but too bad i dunno its name.

Ah ha....i noe this wan, its banana flower.

We reached a quarry, stayed there for about 10-15mins, enjoying the beautiful scenery of the quarry. Isn't it great to be away from the bz city, getting near to the nature?! I'm loving it, reali makes 1 become peaceful. Hmm...wouldn't it be great to meditate here?

With the powerful zoom in function on my camera, i managed to zoom all the way & capture these pelicans resting on the branches far away.

Hmm... u guys muz be wondering wat i'm trying to capture rite? Can't be as simple as a few grasses? Well, can u c the brownish butterly resting on the grass? I waited quite a few mins b4 it rest on the grass!

This is 1 of the shops that sells cold drinks to visitors.

We started from the jetty, walk from east towards south, intend to go all the way to west where chek jawa is, however, when we reach south, its a dead end.

Jesper said "if u dun wanna walk all the way back, there 1 alternative,bash across the tress & bushes!"

I was like "Funny ya, under such hot sun, still come up with tis kinda lame & lousy idea!"

In the end we walked all the way back, i was dying of thirst, crave for a super cold H2O drink. We passed by this drink stall for the 2nd time & decided to take a short rest. Erm...tt was like after 2 hrs of walk.

While resting, we heard sounds coming from the trees, being shaken vigourously. We saw this monkey climbing towards our resting hut,eating its food.

Wat's that? Well, its toilet during those days.

As we carried on our journey, we saw beautiful flowers which was about to bloom.

This tree is kinda cute, with many grapes like seeds on its trunk.

I suggested to Jesper that we can snap pictures of this tree, bluff Adam that pulau ubin manufactures its own white wine using these fruits.

Haha...true enough, Adam fell for it. :-P hmm...there's oso a red wine version later on. haha....

This is another temple on the island.

There's also some funny looking cactus by the sides.

This is interesting! Oh yeh oh yeh.........

Better get Jesper to check out the map b4 we reach any dead ends AGAIN. Haha...Ubin is so big & its very tiring to walk 冤枉路.

Wow... more beautiful flowers to brighten up my day.

Its a nice feeling to capture some of the beautiful sights which u might not be able to come across in ur everyday life.

Wow...so may durians! Been craving for durians these few days, they r so tempting.

Well, this is the red wine part, we bluff Adam that ubin's red wine r being made with these fruits.

Cool sight of nature.

I like the structure of this tree.

Tiny papaya trees growing out of nowhere, next to the tall giant tree.

I saw a guy almost lying on the ground in front of us, being kpo i walked over to c wat he's trying to do. In the end, he was actually trying to snap a pic of tis spider.

Tis reminds mi of a fren.Haiz, i dun mean to offend but u dun haf to go to tis kinda extend to snap a pic rite? Funny ya! I snap this shot in less than 5 seconds when i saw the spider crawling towards its prey.

These big coconuts on the tree reali looks thirst-quenching especially on a hot & sunny day ya?

Jesper told mi that tis is the house of 村长, i was quite surprise that he noes. He said that his fren told him so as he heard someone addressing 村长 when he was buying a drink from his house few months back.

This is a very traditional malay kampong house.

This is another place that sells drinks. Initially i tot its a cafe as i saw cookie monster figure outside. Hmmm...suddenly feels like enjoying cookies & coffee from a cafe.

Ah ha...this is another trick for Adam, told him its grapes. Keke....well, coz Adam didn't join us for the hike, and i believe he will be easily taken in by us.

Oh, finally we saw tis sign. But but but....it will be another 45mins of walk b4 we reach Chek Jawa.

Finally we reached the visitors's center in front of Chek Jawa, this is a map of how the wetlands looks like.

As we begins.....walked towards the tower to haf an overview of the whole wetlands.

After climbing up 3 & half storey high, i was impressed by the beautiful scenery.

Ah ha....wat's this? Its nipah. Know wat's that? Well, they r the "attap chee" which u find in ice kachang or chendol! Oh, my favourite!

Mangroves which we learnt during science lessons in primary school.

As we carried on.....

Wat r those? Which creature is living here? Its habitat of mud lobsters which i din managed to snap a pic of.

But there's a poster to describe. haha...

Plenty of mud skippers during the low tide, but too bad i didn't manage to come across a blue spots wan.

Wat's that? Funny looking crab with onli 1 claw. Its actually fiddler crabs.

Spotted another 1 of a different colour. Dunno izzit different breed or izzit opposite sex. Well, i dun reali noe how to differentiate.

Barnacles...i think so.....haha.....

So disappointing, i din get to c pistol shrimps & coral rubbles.

Can onli refer to the description here....

As the tide isn't reali low, i din managed to view these underwater creatures.

Wow...another relaxing beautiful sight. That's a fly emirates airplane.

A cluster of funny looking rocks from far.

Coastal forest whereby some endangered species of birds are living in.

Wat's missing from this scence? Rays! Looks like gonna rain soon,better hurry.

Can u identify wat's in the pic? The rocks r formed in a figure of pig isn't it? With the ears, 2 eys, a nose in the center with sea water touching it. Yes? Have rite? i was happily describing to Jesper about this pig rock. haha....

Bashed across some bushes & i found this beautiful sight.

And a pic taken from another hidden corner.

Hmm...wondering wat is tis? Insect or underwater creature? Well i found it in between slits of huge rocks near the sea.

Not long after we left chek jawa, bout 5-10 mins of walk, it started to rain. We seek shelter in a nearby hut. The rain more or less dampened our mood, it reali spoils one's mood when it rains during a hike!

Thank god & tks to my prayers, rain subside after a while & we hurried towards the jetty.

Along the way, Jesper brought mi to a 虾池 which was no longer in use. Its supposed to be dried up.However,due to the rain earlier on, the pond is filled with some rain water.

Wah...the surroundings are full of durians & coconut trees & we reached the jetty in a while's time, saying goodbye to tis lovely island & all the, we ended our pulau ubin's trip.

Though our moods were more or less dampened by the rain & not being able to view all the underwater creature, we were still happy & enjoyed the trip. Getting near to nature was the main thing for this trip!

As our bumboat leaves ubin, turing back, i saw some pple kayaking near shore of ubin.

Back to singapore changi ferry terminal at 1620hrs, we were soooooo hungry. Poor us, onli had breakfast in the moring, walked for more than 6hrs on ubin, all those calories & fats had been burnt.

Hmm....think its ok to eat some ice-cream ba! haha....cuz there's tis mobile ice-cram vendors outside the ferry terminal.

Jesper ordered a mocha chip flavour. Wei, copycat!

I had the same flavour as well, haha...tis is mine. I remembered Adam telling mi that mocha chip flavour is yummy. Other than tis flavour, the yam, red bean, blueberry ripple is oso yummy.

Take the ice-cream as a reward for our tiring & adventurous trip!