I've been craving for Lao Ban Beancurd (老伴豆花) for the past few weeks, finally indulging myself with these goodies in the past tw...
August seems to be a celebratory month, we have National Day, National Dog Day and on August 30 we have International Whale Shark Day - a day to celebrate, educate and promote whale sharks' conservation.
Some interesting facts about whale sharks:
- Whale sharks are the largest fish on the planet. An adult can grow up to 14m - the size of a double decker bus.
- While the name confuses many, whale sharks are actually sharks and not whales.
- They are filter feeders and feed mainly on plankton, krill and small fish.
- They have tiny 6mm long teeths.
- Each whale shark has a unique skin pattern, which make it easy for researchers to track them.
- It is still unknown how whale sharks reproduce which pose serious extinction concerns.
Back in 2013, we had our own personal encounters with these gentle giants in the beautiful Philippines island, Cebu. This is something I have in my bucket list ever since I saw it on a travel documentary. The experience is just so amazing, I would never imagine having a chance to get so close up with these beautiful creatures. Whale shark tourism has always been controversial, please do it responsibly and make sure you do not harm them in any way.
On the other hand, the whale shark tourism has also contributed tremendously to Oslob's income (around 1000 peso/pax for a 20 mins swim). In the past, fishermen detest these polka dots creatures as they eat up their bait or scare away the fishes they have been trying to catch. Now, they are compassionate to them and learn to live and 'work' with them. We even heard stories about how local fishermen protect them from illegal hunters.
If you do want to swim with these gentle giants, do remember the dos and donts. And if possible, avoid going on a weekend.
August seems to be a celebratory month, we have National Day, National Dog Day and on August 30 we have International Whale Shark Day - a...
- Scientific Name: Lantana Camara
- Also Known As: Big Sage, Wild Sage, Red Sage, Tickberry
- Despite its beautiful colors, these flowers are well known as notorious weed - often out-compete other more desirable species, leading to a reduction in biodiversity.
- Uses: It's stalks have been used in the construction of furniture, such as chairs and tables; however, the main uses have historically been medicinal and ornamental.The lantana plant is used in essences for healing issues surrounding sexual dysfunction and obsessive-compulsive disorders. The essence is meant to calm extremes of sexual repression or perversion.
- Symbolic Meaning: As it is a hardy perennial plant, it is generally associated with rigor.
Photo taken in Punggol Waterway Park #sgflowers Scientific Name: Lantana Camara Also Known As: Big Sage, Wild Sage, Red Sage, Tickbe...
5 Things About National Dog Day:
- National Dog Day was founded in 2005 by Colleen Paige to help galvanize the public to recognize the number of dogs that need to be rescued each year.
- National Dog Day was celebrated on the 26 August for the past 11 years, however it will be officially changed to 31 August from 2016 - out of respect for the Women Equality Day that falls on the same day.
- National Dog Day can be marked as many a dog’s birthday for those rescued on the day.
- Adopt a dog, donate food and toys to welfare organisations.... there are many ways to celebrate National Dog Day - read here for more.
- Upload a photo of how you are celebrating with your fur kid and hashtag #NationalDogDay and #DogDayIG
..And I love you baby even though you barely keep your eyes open for more than 10mins whenever I try to take awesome photos of you....-___-
5 Things About National Dog Day: National Dog Day was founded in 2005 by Colleen Paige to help galvanize the public to recognize the nu...
What is Tau Suan?
Tau Suan is a popular and cheap dessert (< S$2) in Singapore made of mung beans / green beans. For those health conscious out there, it is around 270-300 calories (including you tiao) for a bowl of this goodie. If you ask me, totally worth it!
Why do we love it?
- It is an easy to make dessert that makes you feel good when you consume in a hot and humid climate like Singapore. Check out this easy recipe from Noob Cook here.
- The best part I love about Tau Suan is the you tiao (fried dough fritters) topping - crunchy and yummilicious!
- Chinese physicians believe mung beans are able to clear heat and prevent heat-stroke. It is important to release heat from the hot weather to avoid getting constipation, headache, fatigue etc...
- Mung beans are powerful cleansers that help to detox your liver, kidney and other organs. These powerful beans actually help us to clear toxins from the body and blood!
- Mung beans has a 'cooling' effect even though it is a hot dessert. For those with acne and skin problems, mung beans cool down the heat that cause acne and excessive sebum. Ever heard of mung beans face mask? ;)
City Hawker Food Hunt is currently running a contest to find the hawker stall with the best Tau Suan.You can vote for your favourite Tau Suan hawker stall (now till 6 September) for the "Best of the Best Hawker Stall Award" to win some cool prizes. ;)
What is Tau Suan? Tau Suan is a popular and cheap dessert (< S$2) in Singapore made of mung beans / green beans. For those health co...
My latest commissioned project involved a well-known Japanese robot cat - Doraemon aka 哆啦A梦/小叮当 aka ドラえもん. For those who grew up in the same era as me will know this cartoon really well. The owner, who is a big fan, has bought this DIY box set for a while to collect dust so here I am helping him to finish up. ;)
Doraemon is a robotic cat who travels back in time from the 22nd century to assist his owner's great grandfather who is currently a high school kid (Nobita Nobi) in present time. In order to go back to the 22nd century, Doraemon needs to ensure Nobita will grow up to be a hardworking, successful man so that his descendants may enjoy a better future. Doraemon travelled back in time through his time machine that is kept inside Nobita's desk drawer, it is frequently used by different characters in the cartoon to travel in times. As seen in the photos below, we have our Playmo kids joining in the fun and travelled back in times to visit Doraemon and Nobi. :)
This box set has better printed paper quality than the cafe box set. I was able to used most of the materials and rely lesser on my re-ment accessories. I really like the details on the book covers and calendar! I've replaced the dorayaki (Doraemon's favorite snack) with radish. The dorayaki materials were made of felt and looked really crappy so I've used these pair of radish earrings instead (thank you Brick Galz for the polymer clay octopus & radish).
My latest commissioned project involved a well-known Japanese robot cat - Doraemon aka 哆啦A梦/小叮当 aka ドラえもん. For those who grew up in the s...
This is a fairly easy to make artificial terrarium. You can also try using real moss, personally all my real terrariums died after a few months so I prefer to use artificial ones - low cost and low maintenance!
So for the materials:
1. Artificial flowers - plucked them from an old pot of flowers table display
2. Glass bowl - recycled this from my dead terrarium
3. Artificial Wreath - $2 from Daiso (it's a Japanese thrift shop)
4. Glass marbles - recycled them from my fish tank decor. It's probably only a few bucks from your local craft shop.
5. Animals and mushroom mini toys - mostly from my dead terrarium, i think the deer was from last year Christmas log cake :)
To build your mini Wonderland:
1. Simply fill up the bowl with blue marbles or blue sand
2. Place the wreath above the marbles
3. Pluck in your mini toys decor
4. And it's done!
This is a fairly easy to make artificial terrarium. You can also try using real moss, personally all my real terrariums died after a few...
Recently there's been a huge book coloring craze in Asia - made popular by a Korean drama. I have to say coloring these complicated artworks can be quite therapeutic and destressing. Just like how taking photos and making diy crafts for our Playmo friends are therapeutic too!
So anyway... i decided to try making some mini color pencils so our Playmo friend here can enjoy some chill out time. :) It is super simple to make these color pencils - probably take only 30 minutes of your time.
1. Take a toothpick
2. Color different colors on both sides using paint, gel pens, magic pens... I've only have my gel pens with me.
3. Once they are dry, cut them with a pair of scissors
4. Repeat for other colors and ta-duh you have your color pencils
Recently there's been a huge book coloring craze in Asia - made popular by a Korean drama. I have to say coloring these complicated a...
We've been eyeing Casio G-Shock (ga110gb1a) and Baby-G (ba1101a) black & gold couple watches for the longest time. Probably since early 2015. We love both the digital and analog functions and who can resist the gold and black color combination! After analysing the costs from different shops and online sellers, we realised it was way cheaper to just purchase the watches separately. The highest quotation we had for both watches as a couple set was S$420. The total price for two individual ones are just S$350.
And the final price we paid for these two preloved but good condition watches (purchased separately from two buyers) was merely S$225!
One disappointing thing about these beautiful but not so practical watches is that the digital time is really hard to read. Gold digits on black background - not so smart. And the LED lights totally do not help at all. We thought the Japanese watch maker, Casio, would have provide better usability by building back lit illumination to compensate the unreadable digits.
Oh well, we will still use it because there is just something so cool about it!
We've been eyeing Casio G-Shock (ga110gb1a) and Baby-G (ba1101a) black & gold couple watches for the longest time. Probably since...
And Singapore turns 50 today! Hope everyone is having a blast with their long Jubilee weekend (7-10 August). Here's a photo I took of the town I called home - Bedok Reservoir :) My playmo girl is having a picnic with our retired "Kindness movement" mascot, Singa the Lion.
There will be a fringe of activities (concerts, art installation, pop up playground etc) at the Aljunied Cluster Arts & 100+50 Music Festival (support local bands!) in Bedok Reservoir this and next weekend, do check it out.
And Singapore turns 50 today! Hope everyone is having a blast with their long Jubilee weekend (7-10 August). Here's a photo I took of...