Tuesday, December 29, 2020

12 Singapore Foods You Should Not Miss

1. Balestier Road Hoover Rojak Balestier Road Hoover Rojak In the heart of the sense-assaulting Whampoa Drive Makan Place Food Centre, rojak is deftly whipped up at a minute stall. Rojak is a Malay word used to describe something made from a mixture of different things. The ingredients of what the owner of Balestier Road Hoover Rojak describes as a Chinese salad are certainly electic. Hong Kong film star Chow Yun Fat gives a thumbs up to the turnip, peanuts, pineapple, ginger flower, lime, dough fritters, jellyfish, beansprouts and cucumber that are combined within a rich, dark sauce. The end product is a taste-bud busting combination of sweet, sour and spicy flavours – it is eaten using wooden sticks while sitting at yellow plastic tables. Where to find it: #01-06, Whampoa Drive Makan Place, Block 90, Singapore, 320090 Phone: +65 62530137 Working Hours: Tue: Closed Wed: 11:00-18:00; 11:00-21:00 Offline reading and travel directions: You can carry this article in your mobile device to read offline and create a self-guided walk to visit the venues featured herein with the GPSmyCity App (available on iTunes App Store or Google Play Store).

 

2. Chin Mee Chin Confectionery Chin Mee Chin Confectionery For a truly authentic local breakfast and a taste of the 1950s, make a beeline for Chin Mee Chin Confectionery, a modest but hugely popular café on the East Coast Road. The tantalising smell of warm cakes and pastries will lure you inside and you must not leave before tucking into the perennial Singapore favourite, kaya toast. Kaya is a sweet coconut custard jam made from coconut milk, eggs and sugar, which should be spread liberally onto hot buttered toast. Accompany with two soft-boiled eggs seasoned with pepper and soy sauce and a cup of their delicious steaming black coffee. Where to find it: 204 East Coast Road, Singapore, 428903 Phone: +65 63450419 Working Hours: Mon: Closed Tue-Sun: 08:00-16:00 Offline reading and travel directions: You can carry this article in your mobile device to read offline and create a self-guided walk to visit the venues featured herein with the GPSmyCity App (available on iTunes App Store or Google Play Store).

3. Hill Street Fried Kway Teow

Hill Street Fried Kway Teow
You can be guaranteed a taste of the truly original version of Char Kway Teow at both Hill Street hawker stalls in the heart of Chinatown and further east in Bedok. Traditionally Char Kway Teow was made by wok-frying flat rice noodles with lard over a high heat and combining with soy sauce, chilli, cockles, bean sprouts, Chinese sausage and chives and occasionally egg and prawns. While many establishments now choose to replace the lard with oil and additional greenery, the Hill Street hawkers have remained true to their history, producing a dish with a clever balance between flavour and texture – it is not too oily, savoury or sweet, just mouth-wateringly delicious. Hill Street Fried Kway Teow can also be found at #01-187, Bedok South Road, Block 16, Singapore, 460016.
Where to find it:
#02-32 Chinatown Complex, Block 335, Smith Street, Singapore, 050335

Working Hours:
11:00-19:00
Offline reading and travel directions:
You can carry this article in your mobile device to read offline and create a self-guided walk to visit the venues featured herein with the GPSmyCity App (available on iTunes App Store or Google Play Store).

Friday, August 21, 2020

How To Way to At Home: The Expert Guide

We get it, your home is your comfort zone. It’s where you relax, unwind and binge on boxsets. The last thing we’d want you to do is to turn it into a house of “No Pain, No Gain”.
But doing your exercise at home is much easier than you might think and saves on extortionate gym memberships, too. No need to trade in your sofa for a weights bench.
“All you need is a plan,” says Alex Marks, owner of PT studio On Your Marks in south London. “You can burn excess body fat, get physically fit, and look and feel better all from the comfort of your sitting room.”
Home Workout

How To Build A Home Gym

In this article, we’ll break down the six best bang-for-your-buck exercises you can do at home. Don’t start sawing away at your doorframe to try and squeeze the latest running machine into your living room just yet though.
Most of these are bodyweight exercises and can be done without equipment, and to see progress in your strength and stamina you merely need to add weights.
To give your home gym the edge, Marks suggests investing in a simple pair of dumbbells. “Check your ego and don’t go too heavy or they’ll be redundant for most exercises,” he says. “With light weights, you can always make a move more taxing by slowing down the tempo or increasing the number of reps.”
Make sure you have space to move freely as well, you don’t want to be knocking over your mum’s prize china.
We’ll also show you how to get going with a four-move home workout. No kit required. No excuses accepted. Do try this at home.

We get it, your home is your comfort zone. It’s where you relax, unwind and binge on boxsets. The last thing we’d want you to do is to turn it into a house of “No Pain, No Gain”. But doing your exercise at home is much easier than you might think and saves on extortionate gym memberships, too. No need to trade in your sofa for a weights bench. “All you need is a plan,” says Alex Marks, owner of PT studio On Your Marks in south London. “You can burn excess body fat, get physically fit, and look and feel better all from the comfort of your sitting room.” Home Workout How To Build A Home Gym In this article, we’ll break down the six best bang-for-your-buck exercises you can do at home. Don’t start sawing away at your doorframe to try and squeeze the latest running machine into your living room just yet though. Most of these are bodyweight exercises and can be done without equipment, and to see progress in your strength and stamina you merely need to add weights. To give your home gym the edge, Marks suggests investing in a simple pair of dumbbells. “Check your ego and don’t go too heavy or they’ll be redundant for most exercises,” he says. “With light weights, you can always make a move more taxing by slowing down the tempo or increasing the number of reps.” Make sure you have space to move freely as well, you don’t want to be knocking over your mum’s prize china. We’ll also show you how to get going with a four-move home workout. No kit required. No excuses accepted. Do try this at home. Home Workout Six Of The Best Exercises To Do At Home


Tuesday, January 14, 2020

15 Best Singaporean Foods & Dishes

  1. Singaporean cuisine is as ethnically diverse as its people, blending Malay, Chinese, Indonesian, Indian and western influences. A visit to one of the hawker centres or shopping mall food courts will be as eye-opening as gastronomically gratifying.
This list covers what we believe are the finest examples of Singaporean food available across the city-state, from humble street food carts to swanky rooftop restaurants and everything in between. 
1

Hainanese chicken rice

Steamed chicken served with rice cooked in chicken stock. This all-time favourite dish makes for a quick, fulfilling lunch. The quality of chicken stock is crucial to this dish, and you can tell by the steamed rice oozing with flavour and a fragrant aroma. Pour some dipping sauce over the chicken and give it a go.
2

Chilli crab

Hard-shell crabs cooked in semi-thick gravy with a tomato chilli base. The steamed crabs are partially cracked, then lightly stir-fried in a paste comprising of chilli sauce, ketchup and eggs. Despite its name, chilli crab is not all that spicy. Bread is normally ordered to soak up the gravy, so dig in with both hands!

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3

Laksa

Rice noodles in spicy coconut curry soup with shrimp, fish cakes, egg and chicken meat – a cross between Chinese and Malay cuisine. Laksa also has many variants, but the one in Singapore is katong laksa, with cut-up noodles. Cockles and tofu puffs are sometimes added.

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4

Char kuay teow

Broad white noodles fried with black Soya sauce, bean sprouts, fish cake, clams and Chinese sausage. You will find this dish in hawker centres and restaurants. Skilled chefs will add a smoky taste to the dish by cooking the noodles at a high temperature. 

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5

Hokkien prawn mee

Stir-fried Hokkien noodles with prawns, slices of chicken or pork, squid and fish cake, seasoned with soy sauce, vinegar and chili. Each serving comes with sambal sauce and a lime wedge, to tone down the oily taste. The Singapore version uses thick, flat egg noodles.

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6

Barbecued stingray

Originating in the streets, barbecued stingray has become a popular seafood dish served at hawker stalls. The classic version features stingray meat slated in thick sambal sauce – a spicy condiment with diced tomatoes, chilies and shrimp paste as base ingredients – then wrapped in banana leaf to be cooked slowly on a grill.

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photo by Mokkie (CC BY-SA 4.0modified
7

Fish head curry

A huge fish head and vegetables cooked in a curry and served with rice or bread. Usually accompanied by a glass of 'calamansi' or local lime juice. Its origins are in South Indian, with Chinese and Malay influences. In some versions, tamarind juice is added to give a sweet-sour taste.

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photo by JB Macatulad (CC BY-SA 4.0modified
8

Satay

Skewered grilled meat served with rice cake (ketupat), peanut sauce and cucumber-chili relish. This popular side dish makes an excellent starter or party platter. It has a strong turmeric scent and flavour, as this spice is the key marinade ingredient. Choose from pork, chicken, beef or mutton.

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9

Char siew meats on rice or noodles

Char siew meats make a popular Singaporean dish of Chinese origin, made up of barbequed red pork and roasted pork belly in a thick sauce. The meat is chopped in front of you and laid out on either rice or noodles.

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10

Oyster omelette

An egg omelette mixed with flour and fried with a generous helping of small oysters garnished with coriander leaves, crispy bean sprouts, and a sweet, spicy sauce. Depending on how you like it cooked, your oyster omelette can be soft or crispy. 

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photo by momovieman (CC BY 2.0modified
11

Bak kut teh and rice

Pork rib soup infused with Chinese herbs and spices, seasoned with light and dark soy sauce then simmered for hours. Usually accompanied by steamed rice and eaten as breakfast, bak kut teh comes in all kinds of variety, including the less-fatty version made with chicken and halal version for Muslims.

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photo by Daniel Zemans (CC BY 2.0modified
12

Kaya toast

Kaya is a sweet coconut egg jam spread generously over toasted bread. Eat the toast with half-boiled eggs and add a dash of black soya sauce for extra taste!
13

Nasi lemak

Nasi lemak is a hearty meal comprising coconut rice, a slice of omelette, anchovies, a slice of cucumber and some chilli paste, uniquely packed in brown paper or banana leaf.

14

Roti prata and teh tarik

Roti Prata is a flaky Indian bread made with or without eggs and served with a thick vegetable based lentil curry. Teh tarik is a tea that is mixed with carnation milk and 'pulled' from one mug to another to create a froth when served.
15

Desserts for the sweet tooth

Down your food with a mug of fresh fruit juice or fresh coconut water. On a hot day, end your meal with a local cold dessert like ice kacang or chendol. Ice kacang is a mound of grated ice, smothered with different sweet syrups with a base made of jelly, red beans, corn and atap seeds.

Chendol is a coconut milk drink mixed with brown sugar (gula melaka), green starch strips and red beans. If you are more adventurous, a rather 'rich dessert' - the "king of all fruits" - is the durian. Creamy and fleshy with a big seed contained in several segments of one big, thorny fruit, you'll either love it or hate it. An apt description goes something like this "it smells like hell but tastes like heaven

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Golden Globes 2020: Fashion—Live From the Red Carpet