T for Teppanyaki

Finally found the chance to dine at Sakae Teppanyki @ Century Mall on Monday, been a long time! Everything looked strangely familiar - the chefs, the waitresses. In the past, I've talked about the food and I've talked about the service. I want to write about something different this time - the Teppanyaki cooking! :) Keep reading to also find out something new at Sakae Teppanyaki.

I think teppanyaki is awesome! It's really fun to observe how they prepare and cook, then slowly enjoy the food. Wx and I would even discuss different chef styles. You know, like gourmets :D

For instance, how many eggs and how much soy sauce to use for 3 servings of the garlic fried rice...




To get...




This!!

Even the shrimpy topping can make a difference in the overall taste. Some chefs will heat it up a bit after the rice is done (this I think is optimal); some set it on the metal plate longer (but I feel it makes the shrimps too dry); and some just sprinkle directly onto the rice without extra heating.

Remember, what is the one best ingredient in teppanyaki? Garlic!! There is the garlic fried rice and seafood stir-fried with garlic. Seriously I think there needs to be more more garlic :p




Besides stir frying, there are other styles of cooking in teppanyaki. Try the lobster stew! Prepared and served in nicely folded aluminium foil trays. These trays are also used in making beef sukiyaki.




Then there is the steamed kind like chawanmushi. Just spray some water and cover it up with a big round lid!

Here's something cute from Sakae:




Green tea icecream served in Sakae froggie trays!! Hehe I took home the trays :p

YUYU~!!

YAY! My sister and niece are arriving in Singapore very soon! Missed them :)

Christmasly presence @ Cellcity

Had a little fun today putting up some deco around the office with Patty!

From the big Cellcity logo at the entrance...


To a ding dong bell at our desks...


Lots have changed over the past year, we worked on tight budgets and we watched our products developed into something better.

Sometimes I wonder why we continue to stay on during the down turns. I had trouble but I had fun too. :) Just hoping for a better outcome I guess?

May we all have a great Christmas.

Eating @ Hand in Hand

Lunched at Hand in Hand Beijing Restaurant (手拉手京华小馆) - dad saw it on the newspapers I think, so he wanted to try it out.

A variety of Chinese dishes - Hunan, Beijing, and Sichuan flavors in dim sum, noodles, soup and traditional style. But was quite disappointing, judging by the few dishes we tried.

In reverse taste rating:

5. Tianjin Goubuli (Go Believe) steamed buns
My dad always boasts about how yummy Goubuli buns are. But I've never tasted any up to standards. Sad to say, it's the same for this. Not enough filling and doesn't taste "hot and fresh" (still newly steamed though).

4. Suan xiang niu rou
There wasn't much "sauce" and the beef I felt was a little bit less than tender.

3. Fried dumplings
Not "fried" enough. It's halfway between boiled dumplings and fried ones.

2. Fried spring onion pancake
Not much of the spring onion flavor. But still quite acceptable IMHO.

1. Pork and cabbage dumplings
Taste quite good. It's just dumplings. I recommend adding mushrooms to the filling, will taste better.

Perhaps I should have tried their noodles. I believe they are known for that? Anyways, highly unlikely that I would go again. If you do go there, tell me if you like it there :)

Rating: ★

Teppanyaki chef exercises favoritism

I actually planned to talk about this in my long pending post along with few other recent happenings until I realized that I actually have a lot more to say for this.

This actually happened at Sakae Teppanyaki, Bugis Junction. Before I plunge into the story, just want to make it clear that this is by far the first time I had experienced such unfair treatment at Sakae. (Favorite branch still in Tampines!!) It's not a total big deal, but it's very unprofessional, especially coming from a teppanyaki chef, where everything is transparent - customers see everything you are doing.

So wx and I were seated at this booth with another family of three. They were there before us, already served with some food, and were chatting with the chef quite frequently. After the chef confirmed our orders with us, he started making our garlic fried rice. For the next 10 mins, the chef only prepped food for that family. In fact, we literally finished our rice before we were served with ours. I really wondered how much food that family had ordered, because even when the chef was finally cooking for us, he was still cooking for them! Then here's where it got worse...

First dish up is the squid. Squid is a common dish in both seafood and beef set. Apparently, that x amount of squid was to be split amongst the five of us at the table - ie. 20% for the each of us. To get an exact even split is tough, but I've always seen the past teppanyaki chefs try their best at it. Do a rough split first then spread the remaining bits among those who got a smaller portion. Seriously, I think I got 10-12 pieces, plus what wx got, we got only approximately 15%. The chef, in his dear judgement, served the remaining bits (1%) to the man of that family. Okay..he is a lot bigger in size but that does not make him deserve more food than I do. We pay the same price, and the chef has no rights to deprive me of what I should be getting for him to suck up to his other customers!!

And... Should teppanyaki chefs talk while they cook? Some hygiene concerns here eh.

In direct contrast, I have seen very nice teppanyaki chefs. Not those chatty slash "friendly" type, but real service. Chinese chef at Plaza Singapura branch, very polite and the only person who bothered with us when the Malay (?) waitress was busy trying to appear occupied - slowly laying out plates at an empty table instead of serving customers first.

Maybe a training program would help? :p Would strongly suggest studying the customer service at Din Tai Feng. Even an appetizer is weighed for every customer, and waitresses are usually friendly.

Ah can't wait to have my grand teppanyaki feast in December! How grand? I should have $90 to spend on my Sakae Card soon :) That's roughly 2 meals for two at Sakae Teppanyaki.

野猫

它们的生活是怎样的呢？

Sakae Sushi not ideal for Family Dining..

So I finally took my family to Sakae Sushi @ Wheelock Place earlier this month to use my $50 voucher. Picked this location particularly because I saw on the website that it has tatami rooms!

But we didn't get the tatami room :( It was all dark as if that part of the shop is not yet open for business. What's worse was that one of the waitresses actually told us to not put our stroller beside our booths (my niece was still in there at that time). A little disappointing but understandable, as I really thought that the waitresses should offer us a tatami room if they didn't want us to have the stroller in the walkway - could be dangerous with them serving hot food. (We should have requested then too :\) Reason is simple. We were a big party with 4 adults 1 child 1 baby plus a baby stroller. It's very inconvenient to eat while carrying a baby, you know. Instead of asking your customers to adjust to your store plan, you should be trying to accustom to all your customers' needs at all times. That's what customer service is about, right?

So then we ordered 2 unagi-don, 1 gyuu-don, some side dishes, and some colored plates off the sushi train. I must say that the Enoki Niku Maki is quite disappointing - overflowing with teriyaki sauce, too sweet! It's a lot darker (black sauce) than in this picture. But the Saba Shioyaki is not bad for my dad - I think he enjoyed it.

The meal totals out to be $95 - $50 (voucher) = $45. This is my first time ordering ala carte at Sakae Sushi, and I believe it would be my last LOL. To be honest, Sakae Sushi's food is not top grade, though still lot better than those really cheap ones. Ala carte..sure, but cost-wise, is a little too pricey for me. So their buffets are the best - value deals especially if you eat a lot or eat a wide variety! & you have my honest opinion here :)

Just one thing to note when eating buffets:
If you want to use Sakae Sushi vouchers or if you want to benefit from 10% discount and/or 12% rebate from your Sakae Card, then you have to go ala carte. Sad, but the buffets are in fact a "promotion", so not valid with any other promotions.

Oh, and why Sakae Sushi is not ideal for families?

Sakae Sushi's primary seating areas are the booths, because of the sushi train. But not great for a big family with kids. That's why a tatami room is perfect! Best to come in twos, so both can get their hands on the sushi train running by them :D

If you're interested in trying out at Sakae Sushi, check out Sakae Sushi's on-going promotions!

Oh, I noticed that there's a Sakae Pasta Shop @ Wheelock Place! Worth a try next time :)

Same Name - Same Logo - Different Company

I signed up for Social Mention alerts to inform me of any "Cellcity" presence out there in the online social community.

BTW, every company should be doing this - keep track of brand name mentions and keywords - stay connected with your potential customers the quick and easy way. Social Mention is a handy tool for brands to monitor and analyze their influence/presence in the social media - blogs, Facebook, Twitter etc.

So anyways, I received an alert this morning, which brought me to this page. It's a Facebook Fan Page for a US wireless retailer called Cell City. Despite the name being identical to my current company in Singapore, trust me that we have no relations to this US company at all. Having the same name is actually still quite acceptable - 1. the name has not been patented and 2. as we are both in the wireless industry, it's not hard to think of our businesses as "a cellular city" or "building a city in the cellular world" - thus "cellcity". You can't really tell if anyone did copy the other. But to have the same logo (or very very similar) is a little freaky.

Cellcity @ Singapore:

We have been using our logo (plus a couple very minor variations) for at least a year now. I particularly liked the little city landscape captured in that "cellphone" on the right of the text. And what's also so neat about it is the iconic properties of that "cellphone" shape.

Cell City @ US:

This logo is taken from the Facebook page I found. Almost identical to ours, except for the font type and color (tbh, we had this shade of golden yellow/orange in our earlier variations), plus they used a real cellphone image for the icon with the signal sign instead of a city landscape. Other than that, the style of the text (bubbled letters and how "cell" is white and "city" is colored) and the idea/position of the cellphone icon are identical. This logo was uploaded onto the profile May this year. Another logo was used previously if you check out their Profile Pictures album.

Not really pointing fingers here as I don't have any actual evidence of plagiarism here (who came first??) But just a "sigh" at the professionalism of either designers or companies. It's one thing being inspired by another company's logo, but it's another thing when you actually copy 80% of it, tweak the remaining 20% and take it as yours. Hard for me to believe that these 2 examples are actually genuine and original concepts from two different designers for two different companies. Can you?

walk for cause.

Well well.. I've never done any thing of this kind before, as I claim to be an 'apathetic' person. But I did it! And I did two Sundays of 6.6km walking in preparation for today.

The idea:
The social media is quite a charm in this aspect of 'influence', I must say. I've heard so many events being talked about online, from pinkdot to tweetups and twestival, but I never once participated in any. Except for the Singapore Youth Olympic Games countdown celebration, which I only showed up for 5 mins to get my collection pin. So this is really my first. I got interested, plus drawn in by the PINK tees, plus I figured that this would be a good opportunity (motivation!) for me to start building my health, plus my mom was complaining that she was always busy with the babies and hadn't had the time to exercise at all, so I thought I would pull her along on this event - for personal reasons, you know, at the very least.

What actually happened:
And so she finally agreed to join me in the walk. I went to collect our goodie bags with the pink tees last Friday. Realized afterwards that the tees were made real tight! I barely managed to fit in a size M, and the largest size L (for my mom) is literally just 1cm longer and 0.3cm wider zzz And non-exchangeable too :( Turns out this morning that my mom couldn't come along because she wasn't able to get any sleep the whole night. Boo.

So I went with my dad. He was supposed to "substitute" my mom, but he was too, should I say, shy to join in officially (you will see why). The walk was a lot more tiring than usual! Lots and lots of participants - mostly women. First, we had to overtake at least 50 peeps to get a comfortable distance and pace. Second, my old man is really fast :o barely keeping up with his speed. At the end of the walk, my calves felt as if they'd been carrying ten tonnes of weight on the road. Good thing was, we were welcomed with Swensen's ice-cream (+ 25% off Reebok & free disposable razors) ! And this was where my dad failed. He thought it embarrassing to get himself an ice-cream because he didn't register for the walk, in theory. DOH! I even asked him if he wanted one (assuming that I would be getting it for him if he had said "yes") but he shook his head. Then when we were talking about it at home, he admitted that he wanted that ice-cream. Wasted lah! -_-

Still had quite a few vouchers from the goodie bags we got. Complimentary foot massage, spa, body treatment etc. Time to plan a relaxing weekend!

我叫MT!? LOLOL

wx and I recently fell in love with this World of Warcraft animation done by 核桃 in China, titled I'M MT (ch: 我叫MT). The animation is awesome - the characters and scenes are very well portrayed, plus the opening and ending themes are nicely written too!

The story is funny and cute (& of course based on the game wow). It started out as 5 lowbies (ie. low level toons) who met each other and decided to group up to explore their first instance (ie. dungeon). Each of them are of a different class (warrior, shaman, hunter, rogue & mage). But being the lowbies and the noobs (ie. new and unskilled - stupid) they are, they are met with great dangers (& great laughters) both inside and outside of instances - eg. being ganked by a higher level enemy player. The main character is called MT (warrior) who aspires to become the best MT - MT stands for "main tank", who is to hold the overall aggression of a boss in a fight. Pay attention to the opening theme lyrics, the role of MT is well portrayed there. What's also interesting for us is learning how to use the chinese equivalent game terms. Really hilarious!

Jokes are primarily for wow players, you need a basic understanding of the game to appreciate things. But watch it anyhow, they are cutee!!

Here's the 1st episode (total 4 as of 10/2):


Check out I'M MT's official website for more goodies.

Sashimi Buffet @ Atrium

note: check out all the Sakae bloggers here! and err sorry no photos this time round lah. :\

Remember that I won a $50 Sakae Sushi voucher sometime early August? Well, I am now also officially part of the Sakae e-Journalist programme where I get to eat and blog at the same time.

So here is my first post of my eat-n-blog venture! (2nd if you count my entry blog post on Sakae Teppanyaki)

A few weeks back wx and I decided to use our $50 Sakae Sushi voucher. The idea was to eat well and still save money. So wx suggested that we try the Sashimi Buffet at The Atrium @ Orchard. Ehh we sort of did our calculations beforehand: if we just had the normal sushi buffet, it would cost us $18.90 per person ($37.80++ total) - ie. we lose out on $12.20 voucher value and we are only entitled to only 2 'red plates' (sashimi) total; sashimi buffet costs $24.90 per person ($49.80++ total) and we get unlimited 'red plates'!

3 Reasons Why Sakae's Sashimi Buffet Is Better Than The Sushi Buffet
1) 'Red plates' are more than just sashimi! Though I don't fancy them all, it's always good to bring along someone who loves them. *points at wx*
2) Sushi buffet has more limitations. For example, 1 'red plate' per person and 1 'mini udon' per person. Most of items (except a few) are unlimited in sashimi buffet.
3) To be charged at the sushi buffet value, you need to finish your food within an hour! Anything beyond that time period is charged additionally. Whereas for the sashimi buffet, no need to rush - you can just eat at your own slow pace and eat MORE! muahahaha

In the end, we realized we couldn't use the $50 voucher because buffets are considered as promotions (T&C states that voucher is not valid with other discounts or promotions). Okay, that's what I didn't quite expected. The buffets have been on-going for so long that I thought it was a part of the usual menu. >< Quite a wasted trip in that sense, but I've decided to bring my family to Sakae Sushi instead! Planning for sometime next month (Oct), in time just before the voucher expires. And that would be the highlight of my Oct's Sakae blog post. Good idea eh?

Lastly - a shoutout to Sakae Sushi - wx and I suggest to have the Sashimi buffet across more Sakae Sushi outlets in Singapore. Currently only available at The Atrium, which is kind of out of the way for us. :p

The Sushi & Teppanyaki buffet ($24.90 per person) sounds cool. Eager to try it someday - Funan DigitaLife Mall only.

Sashimi Buffet
Rating: ★★★★

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More Sakae Sushi's promotions at sakaesushi.com.sg.

1 year to YOG

update:

Woot! My winning photo shot on Twitter :) Wasn't expecting this so I look kind of shaggy :s

So this was what I was at The Padang for. A limited edition pin for the 1 year countdown celebration of the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore 2010! Hurray for being the first to win the Singapore 2010 collection pin on Twitter :D

Singapore Toy, Games & Comic Convention

Seeing @claudia's photos @ STGCC just made me want to go there so badly!

I finally persuaded wx to bring me there last night. :)

We were at The Padang (for a some reason), then walked over to Suntec to have dinner. By the time we reached the exhibition hall it was already close to 9pm. Rather late, but not bad at all considering that most crowds were already dismissed.

Specially taken for my sister, who bought me two Uglydolls back in the States :) Look! So many Uglydolls! Big and small. Didn't seem like they have any Uglydoll freebies for me though :p

I read in Claudia's post that there is a Play Imaginative (pi.) membership for $20 + free Baby To-fu & a Strawberry To-Fu notebook. For sure I started looking around for the PI booth, where I found this cho kawaii Strawberry To-fu figurine! Too bad, was trying to cut down on expenses these days so I didn't get the membership. Still got chance in the future right? :x

Not a fan of Gundam, but I thought these super big toy figures are meant for photo taking. So I took one anyhow. And it's a robot! And Transformers are robots too! OK. They look very different, but that was how this photo ended up here. I thought Wah Transformers!

We wondered off to the toy capsule machines! Hey another *mini* Gundam! There were lots of selections - Hello Kitty, To-fu (again) just to name a couple. And my favorite is...

Ta-da! Doraemon!! Aww so cute~ $3 per capsule. I didn't get :(

Playmobil! My favorite toy as a kid :) I had a schooling set - with lots of little tables and chairs, and a writable blackboard - and a kitchen set - mini ladles, pots and pans and cabinets that can open too! (Life-size Playmobil model!)

But nothing like that at the exhibition. (Meh) The focus is on an exclusive collection of Egyptian Playmobils!

And look, a mummification ceremony! :p

Nevertheless, I did not go home empty-handed!

#1. A keychain/cellphone accessory from Dooodolls booth! Just lost my SanDisk one earlier that evening (at The Padang) :( This one not cheap but it's rather big for a cellphone and cute! wx buy me de :) $9

#2. 2 boggling pens from mymailmoment.com! Do surveys and reviews to earn points for gift vouchers and freebies. Service by Sing-Post, so.. don't think is spam lah.

#3. Hello Kitty Online game poster and DVD client installer! Hello Kitty Online (HKO) is a free MMO game, much like Maple Story and Angels Online. Just sign up there to get these freebies. Will write up a detailed post on the game later.

That's all for now :)

Read more at TOYSREVIL, official blogger for STGCC.
STGCC is at Suntec Convention Centre Hall 401 and 402, 14-16 August.

More than just a box

Came across some animations by Japanese visual designer Makoto Yabuki on R27 CreativeLab.

I liked this piece in particular, titled White Box. Very creative compositions, with several references to Origami arts which is popular in Japan.

Enjoy.

White Box from makoto yabuki on Vimeo.

This has spiked some creative juices in me! I look forward to having the time to work on something as imaginative. :)

Cute toothbrush holders

Kawaii cartoon toothbrush holders selling at $1 in Toa Payoh Central!!

wx bought me 5 today XD

These two are for me (left) and wx (right).

& Three for my three kawaii niece - qiqi, xiaomin and xiaoyu :D

Look! I've already put up mine and wx's in my bathroom. But too bad wx doesn't have a toothbrush at my house. :(

Then I realized something was wrong with the packaging. Can you see it in the image above? Not surprisingly, these toothbrush holders are "made in China".

(Cartoon was spelt with an "h" :p)

P.S: Wanted to get the Garfield one for qiqi, but no more stock! Later, I saw someone bought the display set. Sobs, perhaps I should have done so. :(

Widget development @ Cellcity

Can't remember when I last blogged about work. Since the very beginning, I have moved from gathering data for website content, to managing part-timers for that same purpose, to creating and managing a presence on Twitter for website content promotion. Plus some other duties on and off, like sending out eDMs and updating the coupons on our website. Now, I'm on widgets testing!

Our current main product line is a series of GO widgets (mobile applications), breaking our original DC2Go content into GO EAT, GO PARTY, GO SHOP, and GO EXPLORE. Primary features include browsing and searching for merchants, check out driving directions using GPS, click-to-call for reservations, and share the info with friends via SMS or email.

The Marketing team has been assigned to QA the end products before they finally get published online across various app stores. Recently, we've just approved our first batch of GO EAT widgets for Nokia's S60 5th Edition family. Hopefully they will be up on the Ovi Store shortly. (Nokia still has to test and approve..)

We already have two free apps on the Ovi Store. :)
1) Buses@ Sg A Singapore bus guide lets you know which bus to take and when it will arrive.
2) Check Flights Suitable for any traveler, live updates on flight schedules.

We also worked with DBS Bank in Singapore to put together a free DBS Indulge mobile app! (If you are familiar with DBS promos, DBS Indulge has been ongoing providing DBS debit/credit card holders exclusive dining discounts..) This app is also on the Ovi Store and linked from the popular Hungrygowhere.com DBS Indulge Foodster page.

Couple weeks ago, I also attended, as from a mobile developer perspective, MDA's FutureMobile initiative launch event, where partnering networks (Nokia, Singtel, Microsoft etc.) put together a presentation & demo session to call for talented mobile content and application proposals in mobi lifestyle, games, and healthcare. The objective is to build Singapore into a mobile publishing hub.

Zingmobile caught my attention in particular - they have signed rights to the Jay Chou IP!!! :D So want to see what Jay Chou apps or mobi content people would come up with. I can't decide what I would do either, perhaps I should start my own list. hehe

That's all for now. Hope to bring more status updates on our mobile apps development soon. :p

Magic of garlic - Sakae Teppanyaki

update:
Sakae is awesome~ Not only did I win the $50 Sakae Sushi Cash Vouchers, they are also offering me free Sakae card, topped up with $30 monthly!! :D All I got to do is blog about my Sakae experience every month. Haha so nice, I can save up on my food expenses :)


You would be surprised that my favorite foodie places would most seldom appear on my blog. Well, 1) because I eat there very often, sometimes 2-3 times a week and 2) because each time I'm there, I just want to EAT. But ultimately, being my favorites will have to make their way to my blog some time. Here, you get to hear about the first. :)

Sakae. The Sakae chain has a very cute froggie mascot. In their sushi bars, they even have froggie mouses hooked up to a monitors that display promotions and a navigable menu (possibly click-to-order as well?). I wondered, do they actually sell those froggie products? The fact is, they do! I think you would have to ask them at their counter if you're interested in purchasing any of the Sakae mascot merchandise. I've seen a number of them displayed in glass windows of some branches, though haven't seen the mouse in display before. I hope they sell that too. I should ask that next time. :p (Am a keen collector of cute computer mouse..)

Less presence of the froggie mascot at Sakae Teppanyaki, but the better of the two imo! It is where wx and I would always complain about my garlic breath the day after. But as always, rather inevitable as garlic is what makes the best of Sakae Teppanyaki. :)

(I used to ask for an extra dishful of really-spicy-garlic, but wx has forbidden me so because of the aftereffects :\)




A Teppanyaki Night

wx and I have our standard menu :)
1 Beef and 1 seafood set. Change both rice to garlic rice. Change assorted vegetables (for seafood set) to assorted mushrooms (add $2). 1 hot and 1 cold green tea. Each set comes with a salad, miso soup, and a dessert (ice-cream). - Total $52++

For starters, I would eat 2 servings of salad! Why 2? Because wx never liked veggies and tomatoes, so I get to eat his share too.

If you know me, I hate salads. All that Caesar's dressing, Ranch and Thousand Island just makes me puke. The only kind I would eat is the Japanese style salad dressing, with a unique sweet and sour taste. The first time I had it was in a Jap restaurant in Atlanta.

& While finishing up my salad, we would watch our teppanyaki chef cook..

Garlic rice!! Sprinkled with Japanese dried shrimps. (I like to top mine with extra scoop of fresh garlic!)

Next up, squuiiidd! (Dip dip, more garlic!)
Hmmm, I eat the seafood set because of this..

Bamboo clams!! (Tastes even better with extra garlic!) :D

Oooh, jumbo prawns.. (Moree gaarrrrlicc!!)

Original seafood set comes with assorted vegetables. But mushrooms is just much better, don't you think!!? (& I need more garlic!)
By this time, my tongue's usually scalded by the spiciness of the garlic. I could almost taste nothing else! Now, a hot miso soup really helps to soothe my taste buds.

Oooh ahhh~

Finally gulping down a cup of warm green tea or two to neutralize the overwhelming taste left in my mouth.
But that is not all!

A scoop of cookies & cream ice-cream served in an iced bowl. Usually good to have another cup of green tea at this point.

:)

Rating: ★★★★


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Dedicating this blog post to Sakae's Monthly Bloggers Affair :p chance to win $50 Sakae voucher!!

Thrilling.. a Singapore Blogathon 09!

update - blogathon afterwords:
Sometime in between there were negative comments made online about the Blogathon. Well, @twistedian wrote up a wonderful response to that. Kudos to Ian!

update - blogathon finale:
Congratulations to those who have won and big hug to all who survived! :D
@victortan did a good roundup of the blogathon.

update - blogathon online:
Follow #bthon on Twitter OR featured microsite on TANGS.


Hmm okay I've been lazy so stopped blogging for a while, it's bad cause now I have so much content piled up!! But here's something exciting for the bloggers and people who follow blogs. A 24-hrs Blogathon!! Tonight @TANGS!



Quick overview of Blogathon 09 on YouTube. Plus, some behind-the-scenes photos from @patlaw.

These are the ten bloggers featured:

• Claudia


• DK


• Fashion Nation (Dottie/Stephie)


• Greenlaundry


• Hillary Chan


• Jayden


• Nadnut


• Nicholas Aaron Khoo


• Sheryo

Some people say blogs are outdated!? I think not really! I feel it's very different from Twittering or Facebooking, and they should be maintained separately but inter-connectedly. Watch live how these ten top Singapore bloggers do it! Show them your support! Vote for your favorite blogger!

Definitely head down if you're free tonight. ;)

More details on Blankanvas.

MJ forever "alive" on the web..

I came into office last Friday morning, logged onto my TweetDeck and was overflowed with "MJ" or "Michael Jackson" tweets. Some positive and some negative. I read around to find out more about that piece of breaking news.

For a celebrity, who just passed away and who shined with fame and influence to the music industry, I thought it was basic courtesy to not speak ill of the dead (even if you seriously didn't like/appreciate MJ's work). But apparently, some people enjoyed making jokes out of the incident. Kudos to Tremendous News! for standing up to those insensitive peeps. (I figured I shall be more polite than those ppl here.)

On the contrary, there are many great tributes to MJ distributed on the Internet. One very much commendable job is the BillieTweets!

Found on imeem: Better on the Other Side - a tribute to Michael Jackson featuring The Game, Usher, Chris Brown, Boyz II Men, Mario Winans, and Polow Da Don.

Michael Jackson may be gone forever, but traces of his music and dances will continue to be shared amongst everyone who remains, on the World Wide Web...


Find something MJ on the Internet?
Leave a link in comments!

Cupcakes & Zhiyu's 1st birthday

CUPCAKES NIGHT 2!

Over the weekend, my sis, qiqi and I baked cupcakes (again) to celebrate xiaoyu's 1st birthday :) The recipe was taken from Children's First CookBook by Annabel Karmel.

Making cupcakes...
First heat the oven to 180°C or 350°F. Then prepare the following.

• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 125 g sugar
• 125 g butter
• 125 g raising flour
• chocolate chips

This makes about 30 small cupcakes.

From previous experience, the cupcakes were too sweet and greasy. So we tweaked the formula a little - reducing both sugar and butter - to suit our taste preferences. (experiment with the right amounts for yourself!)

Mix all the ingredients together!

Add in some flavor! We threw in some chocolate chips, but raisins or blueberries would work too.

Lay out paper cones onto the tray and fill each cone to 1/2 or 2/3 the capacity. Put in the oven! Bake for 18 to 20 mins. (watch out for the color yourself!)

Meanwhile, prepare icing...

• 25o g icing sugar
• 125 g butter
• 1 tsp water
• coloring

Again play with the proportions to get the right taste.

Baking for kids is simple. Just mix everything up and add any coloring you would like! We had green and pink. Then put the icing in a corner of a small plastic bag. Cut off a tiny corner.

Ohh the cupcakes are almost ready!

Remove the cupcakes from the tray and leave out to cool down. (IMPT or your deco will melt!)

Making our second batch of cupcakes.

Ta-da! We wrote HAPPY 1st BDAY XIAOYU! on the cupcakes!

Next morning on webcam...

Opps, qiqi already started feasting on the cupcakes!

So good to see her again, she has grown so much and very talkative now! (keeps saying "da-da-da") I miss carrying and napping with her :)

Singing a birthday song for xiaoyu... Wah she was all ready to cut her cake!

Ok, no more talking. Just eat ;)