Lunar New Year Gift

Being so close to Chinese community has its own benefits.
Learning few of their traditions, getting to eat dim-sum, getting public holidays on Chinese New year, enjoying the sales are a few of them.
At the start of this Dragon year, my kind neighbours gave me this gift .

I was so touched by the gesture & so happy :-) During the new year, people exchange oranges and tangerines as they symbolize luck and prosperity.

We have this whole big box of Mandarin oranges . We will be drinking fresh orange juice, sorbets and interesting salads a lot.

If you know any interesting, easy recipes to do with oranges, please do let me know ..

Travel Tips - Pulau Langkawi, Malaysia

Pulau Langkawi is in Kedah, Malaysia. i.e, quite far away from Singapore. So, going there for just a weekend trip from Singapore is overkill. But the turn of events demanded us for a weekend trip.
Being stingy while paying for transport is one of my traits. So, my ideal itinerary is to go to Penang (bus, train, cheaper flights, or if 4+ people rent a car from Johor and hit the roads), Spend a couple of days enjoying the Malay and Chinese cuisine. Take a ferry to Langkawi and roam around for 2-3 days.
With just the weekend in hand, there is no point wasting time. Be wise and book the cheapest flight ASAP and get going!Both Air Asia and Jetstar flies to Langkawi. Our flights were so delayed that its another funny story.
Pentai Cenang & Kuah, both places have loads and loads of budget stays. If you are going with a gang of friends, Pentai Cenang is your place to stay. Malibest, AB Motel, Aseania resorts are right on the beach!
AB Motel is where I finally got the bookings. The staff are quite co-operative and prompt in replying to e-mails. By far, the best budget hotel I have ever stayed!
Right by the beach, Spacious rooms, clean sheets & towels, hot shower, A/C, Un-intrusive staff and good price(120RM for beach side room with 2 Queen beds). What more can I ask ? :-)
Reserve the place at the earliest as it can get fully booked a bit early. Remember to ask for the rooms on the beach side. They have few rooms across the road as well.
Rent a car from the airport or ferry terminal. Bargain as shameless as you can. We got a new, well conditioned 7-seater for ~60SGD/night. Drive around the whole place, you might get lost but since it’s a relatively small island, you will soon find yourself back on familiar roads. We came across many beautiful beaches & ideal sunset view during the drives.

Newzzz ... Go around shopping, for the Duty-Free! The Zon duty free shop is right at the intersection of Pentai Cenang & Pentai Tengah. Enjoy! Also, there are many road side shops selling jewellery, clothes and many cute things. But they are touristy shops and obviously over-priced. My friends who are good at bargaining did buy some nice stuff for good price.
The pubs and restaurants are quite good. Most crowded time at pubs is around 12-1. We went to Debbie's place by 1.30 and the whole place was ours for a few hours!
The beach offers lots of water activities - Parasailing, Jet ski, banana boat rides. If you want to play all of these, try to bargain as a package. It will come in for ~50SGD. At least, do the parasailing. The view is breath taking!! I was super thrilled as it was my first experience on a parasail :-)
I guess anyone could get that!

Do take a ride up the fantastic cable car. You go as high as 2300ft above sea level. The sky bridge and the deck themselves are awesome sights. The view from there need not be explained, right?
View of the Skybridge, from the upper deck.

And, if you turn around you see this!

You are not allowed to take any drinks/food up there. Obviously, they want you to buy it from their stalls!
There is a POS-Malaysia post box also at the top, for travelers who prefer the lightest souvenir possible - post cards.
Try to visit the famous Eagle square before 9.00. It’s quite magnificent and you have a port view from there. By the time we thought about the eagle and had our fun-ride there, it was midnight. With many pro-photographers in tow, we still managed to get a good picture :-)

Copyright Photo Courtesy : Dragonfly

Travel tips - Hope I can remember all of it!

Before the Chinese New Year long weekend, a few of my colleagues came to me asking for info on where to and how to travel and be in budget, if you have 4 days in hand.
I had a tough time recollecting all the money saving interesting tips. The value for money hotels, the cheapest bus tickets & the innumerous numbers stored randomly in my contacts.
Nickie says, it pays to be organized. That is too much pain for me.
I have come up with an easier idea. Document it all in my blog!!
It could help net surfers & would be a place where I also can go back to refer! Y didn't I think of it before?

Next post will be on my recent trip, contacts still fresh in memory
:-)

A hearty low-cal soup

As part of healthy life style, I discovered that I should switch from my fave fried Kway teow to Vietnamese Pho.
Likewise, I should introduce soups and salads into daily meals.
Oh! So expensive they are, to be eaten at Soup Spoon or Salad Stop.
Healthy food is more expensive to eat out, which brings me to my own kitchen.

I decided to boil a soup.
The recipe is here :

2 large carrots
A bunch of asparagus
A handful of almonds (This can be optional, I wanted to add some protiens)
One big white onion, cut as u like, but not too small.
One Tablespoon oil (Butter is better, for people who want enhanced flavor and added calories)
Cream Cheese - Maybe 2-3 Tablesppon ( for creamier and calorified soup)
Salt (Sorry, forgot how much I added)

Cut the carrots into two big pieces & boil them until they soften, in ~600ML of water . (I used 500ML, but my soup came out thicker and had to add some more water)
Boil the Asparagus & almonds (I put them together :) )
Once you boil it, you just need to squeeze the almonds to peel them!

Slightly sauté the onion in the oil to take away the moisture (4-5 minutes in reduced heat). It locks in the flavor too. Once the onion is slightly brown, add the peeled almonds, boiled asparagus and carrots and salt.
Let it mix well for a minute or two. Switch off the stove & let it cool.
Once its cooled, blend all of it to a paste.
I do not know if using a Blender Or a Mixer makes any difference.
My blender gave up on the way. So, I used the mixer grinder.
You might need to add some water to help the mixer.
Once itz thoroughly mixed, pour this mix into the water you used to boil the carrots.
Make your husband stir it in low flame until he gets bored and starts complaining (3-4 minutes). That's when you ask him to taste it.

In desperate need to escape from the kitchen, the definite answer would be "Darling .. Its delicious"!
You may repeat this statement to feed him the soup later.

Garnish with Shallots, a bit of garlic and cilantro leaves Or whatever you like to see :-)
I added cilantro coz it looked nice on the gleaming sun-kissed yellow soup!

Public opinion is that it tastes good.
Serve with slightly toasted bread. Remember to buy wholemeal ;)

Have a good meal!

Singapore - Butterfly park for free

The butterfly park next to Alexandra hort park has free entrance for public on. last Saturday, every month.
Guess it will crowded .. but do plan to visit if u r free.
The whole park and the trails are quite beautiful.

See the hard work !

He was "shooting" them, until I accidentally scared them away!

For better pictures, visit this photo stream later ..
PS : He did get breathtaking pictures !
Njoy !