Of goats and vegetables

It's been a while since we last visited Hay Dairies. Since Velouria has been on powdered goat milk for quite some time now, we thought it'd be good for her to have some freshly squeezed goat milk.

We made plans to meet Nick and Pat there too (along with Gracie of course). After some breakfast, we made our way there just in time to see the milking process. This was followed of course by the feeding of the goats with the $2 a packet dried grass (or hay or whatever they feed the goats). Nick and I were joking that this was a very smart marketing ploy; getting visitors to pay to do their work. Who knows, maybe they'll come up with a farm stay package soon that allows you the total goat farm experience, i.e. milking the goats, cleaning the pens, etc.

After downing a couple of bottles, we decided to make our way (with vague directions from Pat's father) to a vegetable market that was allegedly on the other side of Lim Chu Kang. Apparently, my mum-in-law had been there before too, but she's directionally impaired so her instructions were as good as naught.

We found ourselves at Kok Fah after a 10 min drive. I was dumbfounded, I never knew that a market actually existed here, right smack in the middle of nowhere! All freshly grown, no less! After a few minutes of walking around, looking at gigantic fish and what nots, I got bored. So Nick and I bought some drinks (honey with fresh aloe vera bits, yum!) and sat down with the kids while the aunties went havoc buying up all assortments of fresh produce.

Finally, about half an hour later, the aunties decided that they too were parched and decided to get themselves a drink. That was our signal that the shopping was over and it was time for us to head home.

Farny Engrish

Saw this box of Wang Wang biscuits while browsing around at CK Department store. Typical Taiwanese English (or Taiwanglish?). Of course 'don't crash', the poor dude is dressed only in a singlet and what appears to be a pair of briefs. And with such a huge head, I'm sure that's a magnet for disaster!

I think they meant to say DON'T CRUSH.

Chewren, do not be copy, okay. Or you teacher will kok you head.

Rocking for the Rock of Salvation

The last concert I attended was when Coldplay and Travis performed at the Indoor Stadium in 2001 (I think; it was soooo long ago I can't even remember the exact year).

So when I heard the Planetshakers were coming again and that some of the youth from our church were attending the concert, I jumped at the invitation to join them. It's been a long time since I did some pogo-ing and punched my fists into the air.

My meeting ended early so I arrived at Sing Expo at 5.30pm. So I milled about for a bit, visiting the 7Elevens around the area. At 6pm I headed for the MRT station and saw Jedidiah there. The rest decided to honour us with their presence at about 6.30pm. After some delay, we finally joined the queue at about 6.45pm. And it was reeaally long. It barely moved and people were getting impatient. Apparently, you could get priority seating by registering on their website so those who had tickets could get in first. Dang.

We finally got in about an hour later and the concert started as promised at 8pm (they delayed it slightly due to the crowd). I never felt so old in my life, being surrounded by so many youths.

After a short prayer by the emcee, the concert got off to a rocking start as the Planetshakers came out singing 'Oh praise Him, Jesus, Jesus' (sung to the tune of the 'Ole, ole, ole!' soccer chant, what a way to get the crowd going). They sang many other great songs, mostly from their new album (but of course; they were selling it at the podium), for about an hour.

Next up was Tim Hughes, who surprisingly also rocked despite having a smaller band than the Planetshakers. He sang many crowd favourites such as 'Beautiful One' and 'One Way', which got many in the crowd (me inclusive) screaming at the top of our lungs.

The concert ended at about 10.30pm with an encore performance by both groups (it was deja vu, Coldplay and Travis did the same thing at that concert I attended) and it was a very loud encore indeed. In the end, we all came out with legs like jelly and Rod Stewart-esque voices from all the jumping and screaming respectively.

The kids were queueing up to get autographs on the CDs they had purchased (idolatry!). Me, I had to begin my long journey home as it was way past my bedtime. An enjoyable evening nonetheless despite the long wait.

Going retro

We love Tiong Bahru. There's something about the architecture and ambience that seems to suggest a slower, more laidback pace than the breakneck speed of society we are so accustomed to these days. We wished we were staying in that vicinity, but given the atrocious property prices nowadays, we knew owning a home there was way out of our league. For now.

The night before, we were chilling out at a small little cafe at Eng Hoon Street with Michael and Cindy after our steamboat dinner. Being the pig that I am, I still managed to chow down a little 'snack' of fish n chips (supposedly Vel's dinner), a sinfully delicous chocolate cake and washed that all down with an iced lemon tea.

The morning after, we found ourselves at Eng Guan Street. Michael swears by the fishball mee here (apparently he has breakfast here every morning before heading to work) and being the connoiseur that I am, I sure had to give this a try! This tiny little gem of a coffeeshop is tucked away in a little discreet corner that we somehow never noticed despite passing through that area umpteen times. A small, cosy place where seats are a premium, we were blessed to get a table within minutes of stepping in there. We ordered some coffee and kaya toast to tickle our palates while waiting for our noodles.

True enough, it didn't disappoint. The noodles had that taste of 'retro-ness' (with wooden chopsticks!) you won't get at swanky food courts. The fragrance of the vinegar hits you first as you take a whiff of the noodles. And the texture of the noodles was just nice; not too soggy (I totally detest soggy noodles that get stuck together!) and not too springy. The fishballs, though a tad tiny, were springy enough without that DoDo fishball kinda taste. And my favourite part - the ingredients are placed in the soup and not together with the noodles, just the way it's supposed to be!

Needless to say, I'll definitely be back for more! Though Penny still prefers the one at Lengkok Bahru.

A rare Saturday outing

It was the end of a mundane, brainless, stress free three weeks of reservist training. Since I was going to get sucked back into reality (i.e. stress, endless emails and sleepless nights) next Monday, I decided to alter my original plan of going back to the office to clear some work.

Our first stop of the day was Botanical Gardens. We have never been there since they revamped and Penny had read about some 'children's park' of some sort that we thought Velouria would love. My last memories of Botanical Gardens were the huge pond where we, as children, used to go to feed the fish and swans (or geese?) would roam around the park (or was I dreaming?). Regardless, it had been reeaally long since I last went there.

After some boo-boos, we finally found our way to the 'children's park', the Jacob Ballas' Children's Garden. Apparently, Velouria had been there before during a school excursion and she was all excited and Energizer bunny-esque as we turned into the car park.

Truth be told, the place was quite fun. Velouria had fun especially at the treehouse playground and drinking from water coolers was still a novelty for her. I tried my hand at sliding down the tubes at the playground too, hurting my butt in the process of getting stuck on the way down (the tubes were obviously NOT designed for adults in mind).

We wandered around aimlessly for a while, crossing little streams and coming across arty-farty looking trees. Before we knew it we were back at the entrance, so I guess that was a sign for us to leave. Of course, Penny had to spend a bomb at the kiosk to buy some artificial flavour laden, ang moh packet drink for Velouria before leaving.

What a morning! But that was just the beginning. Somehow, despite being drenched in perspiration, we still managed to muster enough strength to go home, pack our things and head to SAFRA Mount Faber to go swimming. I amaze even myself sometimes.

Velouria's pizza

As was always the usual practice, Grace House had planned another field trip for the end of the first semester. Velouria was so excited about the trip to Pastamania's kitchen (they had learned about pizzas a few weeks prior) and she could not stop yapping about making her own.

When the day finally arrived, she couldn't keep still and hopped onto her school bus gleefully when it came to pick her up, eager to sink her hands into pizza dough.

At the end of the day, she came back with a bag of goodies (a cute little T-shirt, a balloon and other similar nonsense) and a pizza box with a label that read 'NOT SUITABLE FOR CONSUMPTION' stuck on the lid. Which got me thinking; was it inedible because it wasn't cooked yet or because the pizza preparation wasn't prepared according to the normal hygiene standards being adhered to? Knowing kids, the latter reason was the more probable explanation.

Nevertheless, I'm sure Velouria had fun. She threw a fit when I told her we had to throw it away due to the imminent arrival of flies after a few days. I had to soothe her by showing the picture that I had taken, just so we will have memories of her deformed pizza.

Serving the country

It's that time of the year again. I had to rummage the store room and cupboard to dig out my shoes, No. 3 uniform and coveralls. Yes sir! It's time for my reservist again. I even had to dig out an old mangkali handphone (that is, one without a camera).

According to friends who had gone before me, they had already warned me that gone were the days of lazing around and going for canteen breaks. This reservist was a back-breaking, nerve-wrecking one as we had to follow the regulars out as the prepared the different forms of munitions for use. After so many years, this was the first reservist that I actually perspired and had to even go home on one of my lunch breaks to change my T-shirt as I was soaked.

But it was a good break from work. For 3 weeks, I didn't have to worry about things in the office (although my mobile did ring occassionally with suppliers asking me this and that). Just brainless, simple, mundane tasks. And more canteen breaks with curry puffs, samosas and sring rolls.

It suddenly dawned onto me why there were cases of people collapsing halfway into their 2.4km run. Their diet is so damn sinful! Fried noodles with chicken wings for breakfast (it's that or nasi lemak), chicken chop or fish and chips for lunch (cookhouse food still sucks even after it has been commercialised) then curry puffs for tea break.

With all that junking, I'm surpised I passed my IPPT!