Summer Holidays

Hello . . I have been away for so long that I hardly feel like blogging regularly. I am happy to find new readers from China and it has really taken a long time for them to stumble onto my blog. Just a month ago, we were in Hong Kong for a short family holiday. It was rainy on the first day we arrived and we headed for Disneyland the next day. It was a fun way to spend time together even though they had outgrown their kiddie stage. It is time to rekindle the child in us again with me included. There are some thrilling, heart pumping and hair raising rides to try, need I say more . . . let's go. I still don't know if I can still go on those roller coaster ride. It has been thirty five years since I went on one, lol.

Gizzly Gulch

Err . . I being the photographer. I wouldn't know what pose I'll strike if I am in it. They were so spontaneous. I should have asked them to do a jump for the camera. 

Walking down Main Street

 After I got pass my initial disappointment over the Railroad Main Street Station because of the fake backdrop of the building, the rest of the buildings and interiors were gorgeous, built in Victorian architecture.

Here's the start of our adventure. Exploring the seven themed zone starting with . .

 

Adventure Land

Toy Story Land

Fantasy Land

We break for lunch at Fantasy Land's Royal Banquet Hall. We enjoyed the ride at Mystic Point. The Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars in Grizzly Gulch took us by surprise. We didn't know it was a roller coaster. The best part was that it sped backwards to its start off point. At the first half of the ride, my son asked me whether I was okay because I was still cool. However, when it dropped suddenly, I started screaming all the way back. It was so exciting they went back for seconds. As for me I need to recover from the adrenaline pumping ride. Ha-ha I survived. Moving on to yet another one which was in Tomorrow Land's Star Wars Takeover. Totally Wild, I tell you that I kept my eyes closed. I didn't want to scare the hell of my son with my screaming. It was so fast. 

After lunch, it was time for a cup of tea of another kind.

We went for the tamer rides like the 'Winnie The Pooh' adventure ride and 'It's The Small World' ride. And how about this one, Cinderella Carousel. Never too old for this.

Sleeping Beauty Castle was undergoing transformation and we didn't see any Disney princess, sob. It was rainy the later part of the day. There will not be any parade or fireworks. The wet ground reflected the lights from the buildings. It looks magical. By the time we left the park, it was close to seven. It would be nice to go on the rides again. We were tired but enjoyed ourselves in spite of the rain and the humidity.

The End

Resolve no more, Just do it !

  Hello . . . a new year and it's already end of January. I was putting off posting because I’ve been busy with some art challenge. It’s was a last minute decision to jump in and take part. I had to break down that resistance even to pick up that pencil to sketch, always feeling it is not good enough. Now it’s whose going to care about your drawing, it is the action that matters. Guess what ?! I have not quit. I have posted my sketches on Instagram, for accountability on dot_y_dot. I am not up to latest posting but I can say everyday I pick up a piece of paper and pencil to start. Sometimes I get surprised that It turn out more than okay.

It has been a very cool month here on our sunny island. It was a rainy day on New Year's Eve and the second week’s temperatures went down to 22 deg Celcius. It hasn't been this cold since 2013. Started on Wednesday, feeling this chilly that whole week was wonderful. We always lament how nice to have such weather throughout the year. However, it was not sunny but dreary and I find myself missing the sun. Here’s how I feel when the sun finally take a peek.

Last day of the month is the rare sighting of the blood moon. A clear night sky is what we got after an afternoon of heavy rain with lightning and thunder around my place. Two days ago we had small hailstones pelting down in the north. I had to get out of my house to the open space to find the moon cause my windows wasn’t facing the east. It was small compared to other days and looked pale orange from where I was. With the bright lights from the lamp posts and buildings, made it impossible to get a sharp image. This is the best I got from my friend's friend who took this with the proper lens. My iPhone fail to capture the clarity of the sky. I was there for about 45 minutes before I was called away for something else. I was glad to witness this rare phenomenon.

So that’s all for now. I just updated with photos I had promised. Cheerios . . if you have an Instagram account, you don't forget to check out my post :- Dorothy Yong, dot_y_dot

So This Is Christmas

And what have you done?

Another day over

And another day began

And so this is Christmas ?

I hope you had fun

 Mine was dull and boring

The old and the young

A merry day Christmas

And a Happy New Year

Let's hope for a good one

Without any fear

And so this is Christmas

A log cake will do

today and tomorrow

Will bring me some cheer

That's 2017 For Me

----- o O o ----

Coffee, Tea . . or STEAK ?

Hello, once again. Been busy learning how to create patterns on the computer. I manage to do this poster with the help from Skillshare but struggling to get a pattern out. It seem like a long process for me from idea to design and the technicalities with the design program. My previous job experience teaching pre-school kids to draw on the computer has egged me to give Illustrator a try. It's about time to learn more and come out with something after seeing other artists' lovely works has inspired me. Who knows, maybe in the near future I can roll out some prints and patterns to sell.

Shop Facade

So I have shifted my focus to more important priorties like learning this Illustrator. I still have to break my resistance to draw. I should be drawing more but I lack the push to do it. I am here for an update, we had been going to this place for lunch after our first visit on Father's Day. The steak has us returning for more. Each time I was there I'll sneak a photo of the place. The shopfront looks spiffy and has menu for passerbys to decide over what to order.

Menu

Order At Counter

We usually have to wait a while for an empty table while the Dad will be in the queue to place our order. It's a no frills restaurant and we have to help ourselves to the cutlery, serviettes and sauces.

Barn Roof Ceiling

 I like the nondescript interior. Though stark, the trussed roof evoked a feeling of being in a barn at this restaurant in Holland Village. We still have not gone to other outlet.

Pared Down Interior

The AU wagyu D-rump is what we always order for our family five. It most worth it because it is WAGYU. It cost $99 and comes with four sides. We add on other favourites and it comes with two gravy. Don't forget the mustard and ketchup. Nothing taste better with a pat of Djion mustard and tomato ketchup on the steak for an added oommph.

 

Sides

On our first visit, we were amazed at the size of the steak and the way it was served. I guess you will too, if you see this. Wait till you taste the morsel of beef on your palate. It's so full of flavor and I am salivating just thinking about it. So, bye for now. Enjoy the weekend & the steak.

Wala !!!  Bon Appetit

Hey, What's Cookin'

Hi all, after the Great Singapore Sale in June, we will be celebrating diversity and gastronomic taste at Singapore's Annual Food Festival 2017 happening from 14 - 30 July. Presently Heritage Town Festival, a prelude to this Food Festival is held in the precinct of Katong and Joo Chiat. SgEatsWithUs and other community partners like Singapore Kindness Movement, People's Association & NTUC-U heart are collaborating with Kim Choo Kueh Chang to organise this cooking demonstration at 106 Artiste Residency, in Joo Chiat Road. This was the address of the old kampong house of the late Ng Eng Teng, (a well known sculptor) where it once stood. It was torn down and rebuilt.

I was unaware about this event until my friend, Maya Tekwani told me about her forthcoming cooking demonstration. The event opened to the public, is fully booked so I asked Maya whether they would allow me to join the activity on Saturday morning. 

Together with her cousin, Seema Melwani, each will be dishing out their specialty Shepherd's Pie and Biscuit Pudding. Both are SgHomeChefs and another commercial chef, Eric Low from Lush Epicurean are invited to share their recipes with the participants. Here is Maya busy mashing Russet potatoes for her pie and Seema Melwani, her pudding almost done and ready to be chilled.

You may asked what is this SgEatWithUs. Well, it started in 2015 when we were celebrating our country's 50th birthday. It is a ground up movement set up with the help from SG50 Celebration fund by three friends to bring communities together through home cooked food done by home chefs. It had organised a few Pop-Up Food Carnivals that year and Maya participated at the ones held at Singapore Arts Museum.

That Jubilee weekend, SgEatWithUs food carnival was held at Waterfront Promenade. The event introduced a whole new lot of foods which we don't usually find at hawker stalls and restaurants. Local caterers were called in to help home chefs mass produce food for the public. This food movement is great for those who loves to cook and eat. I was there to participate in the biggest popiah party with Maya by rolling out spring rolls with her ingredients. There were many tables with different popiah fillings by different chefs. Since it was grand event, there were photographers and camera crew. Locals from different parts of society were there to take part in this popiah eating party. Quite an awesome and fulfilling experience it was.

Oh, it must be a dream come true for Maya and we are happy for her, to see . . .

Maya's pop-up stall. Selling dhokla. It is a soft and spongy Gujerati vegetarian
appetizer served with green chutney. If you google Maya Tekwani's dhokla,
you'll be able see her recipe.

Yums  : P

Wow  : D

My dear friend is very passionate about food. She cooks, bakes and dishes out delicious food. She makes curries, cakes, mitha lola . . She is so capable, seems like she can cook anything and enjoys every minute of it. I am glad to have a friend like her because of her enthusiasm, I am encourage to cook.

Bye for now. Hope to be back soon. If you want to try Maya's food,

you can check out her Facebook page, Maya's Kitchen Escapade.
We'll be back !

National Orchid Garden

Singapore Botanic Gardens is our first UNESCO World Heritage Site was awarded this coveted status in 2015. Welcome to The Orchid Garden, opened on 20th October 
1995 by the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, then a senior minister.

This garden is the jewel of the park spans over 3 hectares of land on the highest hill

of Botanic Garden.  It has over 1,000 species of orchids and 2,000 hybrids. The lovely

blooms on display are arranged into four different seasons base on their colours.

Hi, I pop into the Orchid Garden on Thursday late afternoon because entrance

fee is waived because of the one-week school holidays. This is my first time here.

Believe it or not ?!  I had always thought it was pretty expensive to come here.

Well, this is far cheaper then Gardens by the Bay, $5 ! I am fascinated to see so

many blooms under the open sky though I was hoping it would not rain. It turned

out that overcast sky was good for my picture taking. A new discovery for me.

Arnada Super Yellow

Burkill Hall, an anglo-malay plantation style house built in 1868 is hoarded up and undergoing maintenance until the end of the year. Here is the garden in front of it.

Beside the bungalow is the VIP Orchid Garden, hybrid orchids are named after

visiting dignitaries.

Papilionanda William Catherine

England

Do you know why this willow is weeping ? Well, I think it is

because visitors carved their names on the bark of the tree.

Permanently scarred. I see the top layer of bark is also peeling

off, so no worries but stop this vandalism.

Dendrobim Michael Jeffreyali

Australia

Dendrbium Michiko

Japan

Dendrobium Islam A Karimov

Uzbekistan

Very Interesting hard leaves.

The garden is so lovely and we had to head back to the exit soon as it

was close to closing time at 7.00pm. We skipped the Celebrity Garden

 Didn't bother to look at the map so didn't expect there is a Mist House,

Bromeliad Enclosure & Cool House. If you have been to Cloud Forest at

Marina Bay, you'll experience all three in one.

Just as are about to leave, we noticed this walkway of leafy arbors so

we decided to walked through them to see what was at the other end.

This looks magical at the other end. I was spellbound by the ethereal

glow coming from the leaves on the top of each arch. Surely it must

be twilight bringing about this utterly compelling view.

 This is so beautiful. This completes my day

and made this visit so worthwhile.

Bye for now . . this got me so excited that I had to share it with you.

Have a great weekend.