KFC’s Porridge In the P.M. (not A.M)

On Ramadan’s fasting month, mosques usually will give away rice with dishes but most commonly, porridges to everyone for free but of course a small donation is greatly appreciated.

One problem is that not all food is delicious but yet again, can’t expect so much from such cause right? I remember when I was younger; my mom will have to re-cook the porridge because it was always missing “something” which was usually salt and spices.

But lo and behold! KFC has introduced a porridge meal from 5pm to 9pm, conveniently just in time for our breaking fast. [They did not mention it’s to commemorate the fasting month but I couldn’t disagree it is an awesome marketing strategy]

It even comes with 1 piece of Chicken and Iced Tea. ^_^

My mom, Jhon and I have always been avid fans for KFC’s porridge which was served only for breakfast and now we can enjoy it even at night! Wohoo!

Please read the terms and conditions before you rush to the KFC restaurant near you or digress thinking you can have it anytime you want. =D

Terms and Conditions

Available from 5.00pm to 9.00pm, till 9 September 2010 or while stocks last. Not available at KFC Bedok Reservoir, Blk 7 Jalan Bukit Merah, Causeway Point, Far East Square, Playground @ Big Splash, Serangoon Central, Shaw Lido, Singapore Polytechnic and Singapore Zoo. Price of à la carte KFC Porridge varies between restaurants. Choice of chicken part is subject to availability. Not valid with other promotional offers, discounts and KFC Delivery. Visuals shown are for illustration purposes only

[I am going to buy it tonight!]

Old Movies Under The Stars

[sorry for the low quality photos, it was taken by an iphone]

I have always wanted to experience watching an old movie with my love one under the stars while laying on the grass...

It seems to be very idealistic but thanks to the National Museum Cinémathèque, one of my dreams came true! ^_^

It is held at the Stamford Garden which is actually right infront of the Singapore National Museum. Every month, they will showcase movie classics and the icing to the cake, it is for FREE!
To add the classic feel, the movies are shown through a projector just like the old times.

We went on Friday night and it was showing a 1955 classic, "The Night of Terror". I admit, I have no idea what the movie was about until the I read the synopsis, I got interested.

"Photographed in atmospheric black and white while combining elements of German expressionism, horror, film noir and fantasy, Charles Laughton’s tale of good versus evil, The Night of the Hunter, plays like a modern version of a Grimm’s fairytale. In the film, Robert Mitchum gives a unforgettable performance as the psychotic Reverend Harry Powell, a self-proclaimed preacher who marries a young widow in the hopes of uncovering the hiding place of her deceased husband’s loot from her two young children, John and Pearl. The film also stars the legendary silent film heroine Lillian Gish as the kind and fearless Mrs Cooper who offers refuge to the children.
Haunting, magical and filled with stark symbolism and eerie imagery, The Night of the Hunter achieves the tone of a terrifying waking dream, and is revered today as one of the most chilling and original masterpieces of American cinema."

I tell you, the movie deserves a 2 thumbs up. Plot was pretty much straight forward but it was how the story went and how the characters potray themselves was what made it fantastic.
 

 
A great movie, romantic lighting, with the night breeze, sitting on the grass on a mat, with your own snacks & drinks (saw some people brought red wine) and with great company.....
 
*sighs*
 
It was perfect, just like how I imagined it would be and I am glad my love was enjoying it as much as I did.
 
 

Funniest Joke of Our Day

My co-worker was at the pantry with Jhon when she told him that his shirt is nice and asked if he is a pianist.

This where I started laughing like crazy (when Jhon shared the incident with me)

Do you know why?

Jhon was wearing this today

 (covered his tired-after-work-face)

And do you know what was my co-worker thinking?

This..

Get it..? YAMAHA?

hahahahhahah!

My First Batik Cake

For almost a decade, I am always the pastry/kueh making lady in the house for Hari Raya but last week, my mom asked me to bake a cake.

So I took up the challenge and decided to bake 'Kek Batik' which I vaguely remember encountering it once in my primary school. The funny thing is that no one remembers & knows the cake but me -_-

I realized that this cake is not very popular/commercialized that is why not many people are familiar with it and you have no idea how long it took for me to find a assumingly good recipie because there are no same recipies online!

With egg lah, no egg lah, no sugar lah, need nestum lah.. Which one is the right one!?

So I had to go by instincts and pick one that is best.

The Verdict

It looks like it is supposed to be, so that is always a good thing hahaha and it tastes nice.

Now the problem, my family is not a chocolate lover including myself so we are not bouncing off the walls on this one but Jhon, being a chocolate & sweet lover that he is, he loves it.

He said only chocolate lovers would appreciate it because he finds it perfect.

I know, I know, it maybe be biased because Jhon is my boyfriend so I wish I had known more chocolate lovers to try my cake. I have one, Fizah, who is living in Yishun which is too far. =/

Oh well, FML for baking a presumably great cake but sharing it to the wrong audience hahaha

Anyways, recipie as follows. ;)

Ingredients

100g (3/4 cup) milo

25g (1/4 cup) cocoa powder

125ml (1/2 cup) boiling water

190g (3/4 cup) butter, cut into large chunks

200g (1/2 tin) sweetened condensed milk

110g (1/2 cup) white granulated sugar

5 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

250g (1 packet) Marie biscuits (I go by instincts for this one)

Method

1. Grease and line a baking pan (I used a 17cm square pan) with baking paper, extending paper 2-3cm above edge of tin. 
2. In a deep saucepan, slowly add boiling water to milo and cocoa, stirring vigorously until it is smooth. Add butter, sweetened condensed milk, sugar, vanilla extract and eggs to the mixture.  
3. Place the saucepan over moderate heat and cook, stirring all the time with a whisk or a spoon, until you feel the bottom starts to thicken, about 5 minutes.  
4. Turn heat down to low, and continue to cook, stirring without stopping, for about another 20-25 minutes until a thick custard forms.  
5. Turn off the heat, and stir in the quartered biscuits. Mix until all the biscuits are coated with the custard.  
6. Transfer mixture to the prepared tin. Press down firmly so there are no air pockets in the mixture. Fold the paper extensions over the top and press down to even the surface. Then let cool to the touch.  
7. Cover with cling film, and refrigerate overnight.  
8. When the cake is firm, use the paper extension as handle to pull the cake out of the tin. Slice and serve chilled.

 

Pink Moth that entered my room

Two days ago, while I was talking to my mom in my room, something fluttered passed me and landed on my bolster. Naturally, I kinda freak out (I'm afraid of insects) but within that second, I realized that it is no ordinairy moth, this moth is pink/peach in color!

I am never a fan of the color pink but this is the first time I ever see it! It is usually brownish beige right?

I called out Jhon to take picture but the moth keep fluttering everywhere in my room so my mom caught it and put it in a container so that it is ours for the taking (of photos) hehe

(We then moved it to a glass mug so that its much clearer)

Don't worry, we released the moth after we were done so that it can mate and have even more colored moths! hehe]

Taking a peek at Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Opening

Yet again, went to our favourite spot in front of the Esplande just like during NDP, just to see the fireworks.

It starts about 7.30pm and ended at 10pm so I broke my fast at home, rushed over and managed to reach by 9.30pm.

We managed to catch the firework tease, dragonboat emerging, the boy who ran to light up the big torch and the fireworks finale.

There were more fireworks design compared to the NDP but it was definitely shorter in duration and crowd was not as much either.

Overall, I think it was pretty cool, you can never go wrong with a lighted boat floating amidst the nightlights of the cityline.

Love these shots, because of the aura it emits.

National Day Parade 2010 - Fireworks Galore

As per normal, I didn't get the tickets to the NDP 2010 but that will never stop me from going  because of my love of fireworks.

This year, it is held at the Padang but Jhon and I still head for our favourite spot, in front of the Esplanade. We came a little late than usual and almost didn't get to enter the location because policemen was already controlling people who were entering. Conveniently, a caucasion guy came by to talk to the policemen and distracted them and we swiftly entered the barricades right underneath their nose. haha

As I was walking away, I heard one of the policemen saying "You cannot enter!" so I took a sneak peek if he was talking to us, but he was talking to an indian lady who was trying to follow us. PHEW!

Since the location was controlled, the place was not as packed as it used to be but something was different about the crowds compared to the previous years.

It was packed with Indians/Banglas. lol

It was not an issue for me although I can see it has an effect with the others as no one dares to stand too close for obvious reasons but come on, they are humans too and true enough, they did not cause any problem at all and there's hardly any smell hahaha

Enough talking now, pictures!!

Happy that I get to get a somewhat good shot of the eagles..

Night time ensues...

I didn't take much pictures of the fireworks and even when I capture them, most of them are not fantastic because I was busy gawking & screaming.

Luckily, we record a video!

Please don't mind my mindless screaming. =)

oh yeah, there was this China gal who was so "friendly" with the indians, trying to move forward to get a closer view and she has no reservations in standing very close to them. Naturally, at least one thought he has a chance with her.... *you know you know* by staying behind and hang around the girl but she didn't gave him any signal so it was a "no go" and he left. heheheh

YOG Torch Bearers Running At Our Neighbourhood

Day 2 of the relay run, (8 August 2010) was the day they ran through the (SE District) and one of their routes is Kaki Bukit Ave 1.

[click here for the map of all 5 districts of their 6-day run]

Being the one who always wants to be a part of something new and different, I wanted to check out the torch bearers running by just outside my doorstep (well, almost). I mean, this probably won't happen again right? might as well get myself soaked into the experience, even for a few seconds.

Luckily, the estimated time the torch bearer would arrive is 11am to 12am so there was ample of time for me and Jhon to wake up and la di da before heading to the overhead bridge for an aerial view.

My funny mom was also interested to see the torch bearers to a point she was "kanciong spider" (over enthusiastic) over it, she was even running to the overhead bridge when she saw the buses of YOG with music blaring and students cheering.

I gotta admit, its kinda cool and the torch design is pretty nice. With all the cheer and music, we can't help but get caught in the excitement for that good few seconds...

and then we head home.. =D

An Addition To My Brother's Family

Jhon and I had an early morning date to watch The Last Airbender at Downtown East and as we were heading home, my mom called.

My sis in law, Kak Yana has finally gave birth a healthy baby boy named Syihab, on 07 August 2010 at 12:31pm via induced labor.

We head home, had lunch and head to KK Hospital. Sis and her husband was not around because they went to Melaka/KL and that has its story on itself for another time.

When I saw the MMS that my bro sent to me for a sneak peek, everyone was making a fuss on how much the Syihab looked like Shibly when we was born.

Well, we finally get to see baby Syihab, Shibly was a little apprehensive and you can see clearly on his face that he was uncomfortable with the new arrival.

Other than that, we are happy that both mommy and baby is safe and well.

While waiting for Kak Yana to breastfeed Syihab, Bro, Jhon, Shibly and I went to the nearby pond to feed catfishes and turtles. =P

After alot of staring and scruntiny, we realized that Syihab does not look like Shibly or my brother at all. As the hours passes by, we noticed that Syihab has bigger eyes with eyelids and longer eyelashes, higher bridged nose and rounder face. hahaha

Well, more pictures to do the talking...

See how cheeky Shibly is? Just like his mom.

Hope that Syihab grows up to be as sweet, cute and obedient as his big brother and hope that Shibly will be an awesome brother even though he has trouble accepting Syihab at the moment.

Singapore Flyer Visting

It was sort of a belated birthday for my mom because I knew that she wanted to experience the Singapore Flyer and since I could get it less than half the price of the tickets from a colleague, I grabbed the chance because seriously, S$30 to go one round for 30mins is not exactly alluring.

We even get a keychain and a Swensons voucher wor...

I wanted to go with the WHOLE family but my sis in law was at the peak of her pregnancy that it was best they take a raincheck. Don't want her to give birth in the Singapore Flyer although it would very interesting. =D

So it was just my Mom, Abg Jamil, Sis, Abg Awil, Jhon, Shibly and me on a Friday night.

You don't realize the size of the Flyer until you are near it as compared to looking it while at the expressway.

Some would prefer a day ride so to "see more" of the view but I prefer the night view of the city. I find it beautiful compared to the day view. Hello? There's a reason why Singapore is choosen for the F1 Night Race!

We headed out at about 8+pm and took the the ride at about 9pm.

We saw the Marina Bay Sands including the casino, Esplanade and other buildings and I even managed to pin point my future construction site office! hehe Oh yeah, managed to sneak a peak of the Singapore's Youth Olympic Games rehearsal at the floating platform.

We headed out to Geylang to eat but it was horrific because there were too many people but you know what? despite of the crowd, one guy got my attention, I didn't dare to look but from the corner of my eye, he exudes a certain aura.

As we passed by him again after giving up on the place, we took a quick glace. Do you who it was? An Indonesian actor! Don't know his name, can't remember his show but I recognised him only because Abg Jamil was watching the show before we left the house. All I know is that he is a guest for when the Hari Raya Lights are turned on Saturday. He is kinda good looking with big eyes. =P

We ate at New Hawa where my Mee Hong Kong SUCKS!,Shibly singing songs in the car, then get extremely cranky because he was controlling his sleepiness and ended the day with him crying.

Despite of the cranky end, I think it was a nice experience, at least we can say we have taken the Singapore Flyer and strike it off our mental checklist.

[Shibly singing Rihanna's song]