Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Singapore Science Centre


I went to Singapore with my wife in December last year. We stayed there for 3 days 2 nights.

We went to Singapore by express bus. It was raining heavily when we arrived at the express bus terminal at Queen Street. We had to shelter at Rochor Centre. After taking our lunch at Rochor Centre, we went to a budget hotel by taxi. That afternoon, we couldn't go any where because of the heavy rain.

We planed to go to Clarke Quay the next morning. The friendly taxi driver told us not to go for river boat tour early in the morning. According to him, it's better to go in the evening. So, we changed our schedule and went to Singapore Science Centre first.

Singapore Science Centre is located in Jurong. Its address is 15 Scinece Centre Road, Singapore 609081 and web site is http://www.science.edu.sg/. The Jurong East MRT Station and Jurong East Bus Interchange are nearby Singapore Science Centre. Since both of these transports are available, it's easily to get to Singapore Science Centre.

Singapore Science Centre opens six days a week and closes on Monday except school holidays and public holidays. Its operating hours is from 10 am to 6 pm. The admission fees are $6 (Singapore Currency) for adult, $3 for child and $3.60 for senior visitor.

There are various varieties of exhibits available in Singapore Science Centre. You have to spend 2 to 3 hours there for full satisfaction. Chemistry, energy, amazing electron, i-space and discovery zone are some of the exhibition galleries in Singapore Science Centre. Feel free to check out Singapore Science Centre web site for detail information.

Remember to visit Singapore Science Centre to explore yourself the wonders of science when you are travelling in Singapore.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Chinese New Year At Jonker Walk



Jonker Walk is the glittering jewel of the historical town of Malacca. You should go to Jonker Walk when you are visiting Malacca. Otherwise, it's just like leaving a jewelry shop with empty hands.

Jonker Walk will be decorated with numerous of lanterns during Chinese New Year. Visitors start flocking to Jonker Walk when the sun begins to set. The night of Jonker Walk bustles until the excited crowd leaves at midnight.

Before becoming a popular tourist attraction, Jonker Walk is a narrow street with a few antique shops. The situation is totally different currently.

Now, Jonker Walk is a busy street during daytime. Tourists stroll along the pedestrian walkway in front of the shops. It turns into a bustling street at night from Friday to Sunday. Hopefully it would be seven nights a week in future.

The stuffs that available at Jonker Walk range from local delicacy, antiques to souvenirs. If you are in Malacca, remember to witness yourself the night fever of Jonker Walk.

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Thursday, February 7, 2008

Gong Xi Gong Xi


Gong Xi Gong XiWe greet each other "Gong xi fa cai" when we meet during Chinese New Year. "Gong xi" is wish and "fa cai" means to be rich. You can greet "Gong xi fa cai" to adults but not to children. You should say "Xin nian kuai le" (Happy New Year), or "Xin nian jin bu" (To have better achievement in new year) to Children. These are some examples of Chinese New Year greeting that commonly used.

I would like to wish my adult readers "Gong xi fa cai", "Xin nian kuai le" and "Shen ti jian kang" (To be healthy). I also wish my young readers "Xin nian kuai le" and "Xin nian jin bu".

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Shopping Rush



A large number of shoppers flock to most of the shopping malls in town these few days. Shopping rush is just as hot as a hot cake.

You can see how the shopping rush was from the above video clip. It was recorded last Saturday. This hyper mart opens from 8 am to 11 pm on Monday to Thursday and from 8 am to 12 midnight on Friday to Sunday during this festive fever.

I went to this hyper mart twice to shop for Chinese New Year stuffs. I bought a full trolley of food, cookies and snacks for each trip and spent few hundred ringgits.

Wang Xiao Er guo nian, yi nian bu ru yi nian. Nian nian nan guo, nian nian guo. These two sentences are in Chinese. Wang Xiao Er was a poor man. He became poorer year by year. However, he had to celebrate Chinese New Year no matter how poor he was. This means that Chinese New Year is a special festival to Chinese.

I am as poor as Wang Xiao Er and have to shop to celebrate Chinese New Year too.

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Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Nian Gao 02


Nian GaoMy blog reader Kang Yong posted a comment after reading my previous post : nian gao 01. He enquired whether I really knew how to make nain gao. I am glad to say "Yes". I still remember the ingredients, procedure and tools of making nian gao.

With the urbanized of living environment and time factor, now people seldom make nian gao for themselves. They mostly buy ready made nian gao. Unless they are from kampung or new village and free to do so. Although steaming of nian gao can be done at the back lanes of terrace houses but it's inconvenient and not suitable. Besides that, grinding of the glutinous rice is a problem. It's not only takes time but also has to possess a grinder and to keep it.

Nian gao is nice to eat when it's still warm. It's sweet and sticky. Nian gao will become hard when it's cool. Cut the harden nian gao into pieces and keep it in the fridge. When you are thinking of eating nian gao just take it out from the fridge and steam it until it turns soft. You can take the soften nian gao with gula Melaka or coconut shred. Wow ! It's yummy......

I didn't like to eat nian gao when I was small. As I grown up and getting older then I started to realize the meaning of eating nian gao and began to love it.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Nian Gao 01


Nian GaoAfter buying chicken dried meat yesterday, I passed by a pastry store. I bought a few pieces of pastries. There are quite a lot of nian gao displayed for selling. I took a few shots of nian gao for sharing with you.

It's not easy to make nian gao. The ingredients of nian gao are glutinous rice and sugar. The glutinous rice must be soak in water for few hours before being ground into powdery paste. Put the powdery paste inside a flour sack. A heavey object has to be placed on the flour sack to press out the water.

Mix the dried powdery paste with sugar. Pour the mixture into various sizes of cans. Each can is lined with a layer of banana leaf or plastic. Finally, steam the mixture in a big wok until it turns brown in colour.

Chinese believe that by taking nian gao, children will be healthy, adults will be promoted in their profession and become wealthy. Nian gao also for serving kitchen god before the god returning to heaven. With sweet and sticky nian gao in mouth, the kitchen god wouldn't make any bad report about the family.

This is the story of nian gao. It hands down from generation to generation until now. Do you think it's interesting ?

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Minced Chicken Dried Meat


I post another video clip for my blog.

I went to Muar this afternoon. So coincident that I passed by a minced chicken dried meat shop. I just dropped in to buy half kilogram of minced chicken dried meat. I asked for permission to record a short video clip. The shop assistant gladly allowed me to do so. This is the video that I captured this afternoon.

I like to eat minced chicken dried meat but I only buy once a year. The most is twice a year. Normally, I buy minced chicken dried meat during Chinese New Year. You can take minced chicken dried meat with beer or Chinese tea as a snack. You can also make sandwiches with minced chicken dried meat.

This minced chicken dried meat outlet is new in Muar. It is located at Jalan Meriam. Any Muarian interested can have a try.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Crispy Seaweed Snack


Seaweed Snack

Chinese New Year is just around the corner. My wife started making cookies and snacks for Chinese New Year.

She makes cookies and snacks at night after taking her dinner. Although she is busy with her daily work but she enjoys making cookies and snacks because my son is celebrating Chinese New Year with us this year. He was in South Korea last year and didn't come back during last Chinese New Year. However, my other son can't celebrate Chinese New Year with us this year. He is in oversea.

The snack that she already made is seaweed snack. The ingredients of seaweed snack are seaweed, popiah skin and egg white. Making of seaweed snack is very simple. First, use a clean pastry brush to paste the seaweed and popiah skin together with egg white. Then, cut it into small pieces (2cm x 5cm). Finally, fry the stuff until the popiah skin turns light brown. After cooling, the crunchy seaweed snack is ready to put into your mouth.

The seaweed snack is so crispy and tasty. I can't stop taking it with a glass of beer when enjoy watching television after blogging.