Guess who came to town?



Krispy Kreme! Bravo!!!

Yes, famous US doughnut chain has opened its first outlet in Shanghai. DH and I went to check them out and yes, they are good. Strangely, when we were in US, we didn't find them as good as those we have tried in Melbourne but those in Shanghai tasted exactly like what we have eaten in Melbourne.

Thanks to whoever has brought them in. Let's just hope that the standard will be maintained!

Can't stop mama now

The strange thing about cooking therapy is that once it has started, it is difficult to end. Looks like an addiction, a good one especially for the family

The Sunday Times (6 June 2010) ran an article on roasted pork belly. It was such an easy recipe and something which the kids love very much. What is there to stop me....


It was really yummy and you know which part was the best? YES! the sinful crackling skin


More food...

Cooking time with Ann...


We made fried wontan together


Seafood galore!

With summer coming and the weather finally getting hotter, seafood is plentiful and when there are abundance, they are cheap!

Went to the wet market and bought these....

Fat scallops. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle garlic and basil, bake till cooked! Delicious! 12 of them for SGD 8


Special breed of hairy crabs, eight of them for SGD 6


Fresh live prawns, a whole lot of them for just SGD 10

Ok, for those of you seafood lovers, I have learned that to cut down on the cholesterol level, good to eat them with good grade black vinegar and Shanghai has some of the best vinegar.


Finally, something healthy


Cranberry cake. DH's favourite

Bon Appetit!

Therapy to my rescue


Kai has been having his final year examinations but my dear boy is as cool as a cucumber. Ask him to study, he said he already know. Yours truly here is stressed and he, who is sitting for the exams is so relax. Oh God, please help me.

What else is there to do but to plunge head-on into my cooking therapy....

People in China drink alot of soya bean milk and they drink home-made ones. Like what they say, when in Rome, do as the Romans do and I say, when in China, do as the Chinese do!

I went to buy a soya bean milk making machine. Very popular here.


The wonderful thing about this machine is that you need not soak the beans. Just throw them in with some rock sugar and add in the
right amount of water and see the machine at work.

Then, I attempted one of my most daring cooking therapy...making one of the nyonya kueh, the 9 layers kueh (九层糕）



Ok, there isn't 9 layers. I did a check, 9 layers kueh doesn't mean it has to be 9 layers. Just means, it has many layers.
Not too bad for someone who is never game for such delicacy. A pat on my shoulder!

It's the "software" that matters


Imagine buying a beautiful laptop. Once home, you started using it, realised that it was taking ions to start-up. You brought it back to the shop, the seller opened up the "brain" and to his horror, the software is XT!



I chanced upon this notice in modern Shanghai. It is hard to believe but it is true and it is real. "Please do not pee or poo in the alley. There is a toilet at the clock tower". That's the message. Perhaps, with this, you could further understand why I often mentioned living in Shanghai is sometimes, harsh.

The city is progressing very fast, in my opinion, faster than the people could handle. Outwardly, it is a nice modern city with all the high-rise buildings, mega malls, branded goods... stripped away all these, you will actually see that people are still living in the past.

This little notice made me think deeper into our lives...

Some homes are such. Five stars condominium living, driving the lastest Merz series (sorry, I am no car expert), dinning at upmarket restaurants, peek behind the facade, you find a family on the brink of splitting. No, nothing wrong with all these. If we could afford them, yes, enjoy it but NEVER allow such things to supersede more important things such as relationships with your spouse and kids. Likewise for some churches, superb buildings, jam-packed services, dug deeper, you find souls lost, souls thirsting for more, dying for the basic love of fellow Christians....

I guess, God knew it from the start, 1 Samuel 16:7 "The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

It's all about the software.

An old town in modern Shanghai

Although Shanghai is known as a modern city, there are still pockets of old town existing and visitng them is pretty interesting.

One weekend, we went to one of the ancient towns still existing in Shanghai. This is Qibao ancient town （七宝古镇）


Walking into the past


I am a true blue Singaporean, I didn't know that Singapore has this mahjong cake?


Hand-made woodden barrel. Very rare now


Part of the Qibao ancient town. Very ancient indeed!


As it is near the rice dumplings festival, rice dumplings are sold everywhere