17/09/2024

Zhong Qiu Jie 中秋节 Mooncake Festival 2024

Mid-Autumn Festival 2024

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a popular observance in Singapore amongst those of ethnic Chinese heritage. It is not a public holiday, but malls nevertheless decorate and sell special food items at this time of year. Here and in other countries, this day is also known as Mid-Autumn Festival.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, on a full moon day. This is always in mid-fall, sometime in later September or early October. Moon cakes are the food of choice on this holiday. These cakes are filled with sweet-tasting bean paste or with lotus seeds or another filling. Originally, the Festival was closely connected with making offerings to the moon god to get a bountiful harvest. Today, most are not moon worshipers, but the cake is still shaped as a moon for that reason.

In Singapore, many families go out to see the various Chinese lantern and other lights displays at night during the festival. Kids love Mid-Autumn Festival because they not only get to eat tasty moon cakes, but also they get to hold the strings of floating, fully lit lanterns as they walk about town with their parents. Traditionally, lanterns were lit with wax candles and constructed of colourful Chinese paper. But today you will also see make-shift lanterns made of cellophane bags and hangar wires and store-bought versions lit by battery power and shaped like popular cartoon characters.

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Mooncake is a symbol of family reunion for its round shape.

Pomelo is not only round in shape, its Chinese name, you zi, is also a homophone for words that mean "bless the son."
Image result for nuts eaten during mid-autumn festival
The tradition of eating taro on Mid-Autumn Festival dates back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) but the meaning of eating taro differs from different Chinese regions. One of them believes that eating taro during Mid-Autumn Festival can ward off the evil spirits.
Water Caltrop - A Kind of Nut Boiled and Eaten with Mooncakes

16/09/2024

5 reasons why you get bitten by mosquitoes


 In the best case, mosquitoes are incredibly irritating. In the worst case, they carry deadly diseases. But what attracts them to humans? And why do some people get bitten more than others? Here are 5 clinically-proven reasons:
  1. Our breath smells GREAT - For mosquitoes, “any type of carbon dioxide is attractive, even over a long distance
  2. The more active, the more attractive - Exercise produces more sweat, body heat and increases our CO2 emission, so we're more obvious to mozzies and our blood is tastier.
  3. They like beer - Evidence suggests that those who enjoy a boozy drink or two are more likely to be bitten by insects – this is because it affects your sweat production and skin temperature.
  4. You're lovely and warm - Pregnant women attract double the amount of mosquitoes as they are about a degree warmer than other people, and they exhale roughly 20% more carbon dioxide. Tasty.
  5. You have great taste in clothes - Wearing dark clothing can make you stand out to a mosquito; reds and purples are particularly vibrant for mosquitoes. To reduce your chance of being bitten, simply wear light coloured clothing.
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15/09/2024

Best Hawker Food in Singapore

Which Is Your Favourite?

58 Best Hawker Food in Singapore:
  • Ayam Penyet - Ayam Penyet a fried chicken dish flattened with a wooden pestle, the action helps to make the chicken more tender and easier to consume.
  • Bak Chor Mee - Singapore’s Bak Chor Mee 肉脞面 is a hawker dish we can be proud of, with a Michelin star in the bag, and once listed as the top world street food by World Street Food Congress.
  • Bak Kut Teh - Bak Kut Teh must be one of Singapore’s most iconic food, in which many celebrities from overseas are huge fans of.
  • Ban Mian - Ban Mian is the kind of food that would send you loads of comfort and warmth in the belly, especially when taken during the rainy days.
  • BBQ Seafood - Talk about BBQ Seafood, then perhaps hawker centres such as Changi Village, Chomp Chomp, Newton Food Centre, and Pasir Panjang Food Centre will come to mind.
  • Beef Noodles - While the original name with “Odeon Beef Kway Teow” cannot be used anymore, you can still find that nostalgic taste at Hwa Heng Beef Noodles at Bendemeer Market & Food Centre.
  • Bee Hoon (Economic) - There is almost always at least one Economic Bee Hoon stall at a food centre.
  • Char Kway Teow - Char Kway Teow 炒粿条 which is essentially stir-fried noodles with rice noodles, is one of those local hawker dishes that I appreciate more as I get older.
  • Char Siew (Roast Meats) Rice - Traditionally sold by displaying them hanged in glass cases by the entrance, char siew and other roasted meats are visually appetising.
  • Chendol - After CNN named “Cendol from Singapore” as one of the 50 world’s best desserts, there was an uproar on social media about the dessert’s origin.
  • Cheng Tng - One of Singapore’s most popular local desserts is Cheng Tng 清汤 (sometimes spelt “Ching Teng”), a bowl of sweet and refreshing treat to beat the summer heat.
  • Chwee Kueh - Chwee Kueh 水粿 while being a relatively known breakfast dish in Singapore, is also fast-diminishing.
  • Chicken Rice - Talk about one of Singapore’s most iconic hawker dish and it would be Hainanese Chicken Rice, something that would still taste good after dabao (takeaway).
  • Claypot Rice - In our modern Singapore society where everything is about being fast, fast, fast… having a meal of Claypot Rice can certainly test the patience of many.
  • Congee - Congee, called ”chog” in Cantonese , is a Chinese rice porridge dish added with ingredients such as meat, fish, eggs, peanuts and even seafood.
  • Curry Chicken Noodles - Just how did poached chicken and curry come together again? While Singapore is the land of Hainanese Chicken Rice, the other much over-looked dish is Curry Chicken Noodles.
  • Curry Puff - These deep-fried (some baked) Curry Puffs of pastries with curried fillings, potatoes and chicken make such as comforting, semi-filling treat. I start with both ends of the crimping, then go towards the centre.
  • Duck Rice & Noodles - Duck Rice can be the ultimate comfort food to many Singaporeans.
  • Double Boiled Soups - Soups of the typical Double Boiled Soups offered include Buddha Jumps Over The Wall, Ten Tonic Ginseng Chicken Soup, Herbal Ginseng Black Chicken Soup, Lotus Root Peanut Pork Ribs Soup, Old Cucumber Pork Rib Soup, Watercress Pork Ribs Soup, and ABC Chicken Soup.
  • Fish Soup - Sliced Fish Soup 鱼片汤 has become a popular hawker dish to have especially during days when we want to eat healthier.
  • Fishball Noodles - There are many Fishball Noodles stalls in Singapore, but not many serve hand-made fishballs and fishcakes anymore. So, I really treasure one if I come across any.
  • Fried Carrot Cake - Carrot Cake is well-loved local hawker dish, also known as Chai Tow Kway. For foreigners reading, this is not to be confused with the slices of sweet “Carrot Cake” with cream cheese.
  • Fried Oyster Omelette - Oyster Omelette 蠔煎, commonly called “Orh Jian” or ”Orh Luak” consist of starch (typically potato starch), egg batter and small oysters fried together, usually enhanced with a spicy chilli sauce with lime.
  • Hokkien Mee - Hokkien Mee 福建炒蝦麵 is admittedly one of my favourite local hawker food, and I know of people who enjoy dapaoing (takeaway) this dish.
  • Hor Fun - Fried Hor Fun is typically found in zi char stalls in Singapore, offering variants from Seafood, San Lou, to Beef with black bean sauce.
  • Ipoh Hor Fun - While the dish of Shredded Chicken Flat Rice Noodles is more commonly known as Kai See Hor Fun” (Cantonese) in Ipoh, we usually simply call it “Ipoh Hor Fun” in Singapore.
  • Indian Rojak - Siraj Famous Waterloo St Indian Rojak at Albert Food Centre is known is known to be the “Original Waterloo Street Rojak Since The 1980s”.
  • Kopi & Kaya Toast - The tradition of kaya toast and kopi in Singapore can be attributed to the Hainanese, and one of the first was Kheng Hoe Heng founded in 1919 which was later renamed to “Killiney Kopitiam” in the 90s.
  • Kway Chap - Kway Chap comes in two parts – the rice noodles accompanied with braised sides.
  • Laksa - Laksa must be one of Singapore’s most iconic hawker food, and “Katong Laksa” has become synonymous with this bowl of spicy and coconuty rice noodle dish.
  • Lor Mee - Lor Mee 卤面 is a popular Singapore hawker noodle dish with Hokkien origins.
  • Mala Xiang Guo - This dish might not have been included a couple of years ago, but now you would spot a Mala Xiang Guo stall in almost every hawker centre, even food courts and coffee shop.
  • Mee Rebus - Mee Rebus is one of the iconic hawker noodles dishes in Singapore, of yellow noodles served with thick and spicy potato-based gravy.
  • Mee Siam = Mee Siam which means “Siamese noodle” in Malay, is a local hawker dish which makes for an ideal breakfast type of food.
  • Mee Soto - Mee soto is a spicy Indonesian-style noodle soup dish – “soto” refer to Indonesian soup.
  • Mutton Soup - Do the young even drink Mutton Soup nowadays? But we don’t even see many of such stalls around nowadays.
  • Nasi Biryani - Briyani (also called “Biryani” depending on region) is a type of mixed long-grain Indian rice dish flavoured with spices such that it is rich and flavourful; with the word derived from a Persian word “birian” which means fried before cooking.
  • Nasi Lemak - Nasi Lemak is one of Singapore’s most popular hawker dish, known for fragrant rice cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf.
  • Nasi Padang - For those who are unfamiliar, Nasi Padang consists of steamed rice served with various choices of pre-cooked dishes, typically with a window display with rows of stacked food.
  •  Ngor Hiang - “Ngoh Hiang” is the Singaporean version of five-spice pork rolls wrapped with beancurd skin, though this can represent a type of stall selling similar deep-fried items such as prawn fritters, fish cake, sausages, beancurd and more.
  • Pig’s Organ Soup - Koh Brother Pig’s Organ Soup at Tiong Bahru Food Centre began in 1955 by a pioneer hawker named Koh Kee with a secret recipe and a push cart.
  • Popiah - Popiah 薄餅 which is one of Singapore’s most popular hawker dishes, was actually traditionally eaten during the Qingming Festival Period.
  • Prawn Noodles - When people go for Prawn Noodles aka Hae Mee, it has to be flavourful, brimming with seafood-goodness, with tinge of sweetness, and most importantly taste gao-gao (intensely rich).
  • Putu Piring - These Malay desserts look like the Chinese kueh tutu, but the origins are said to be from India.
  • Rojak - Funny how we often use the word ”Rojak” in our colloquial language, yet the dish has somehow gone under-the-radar in the recent few years.
  • Roti Prata - For those who do not know what Roti Prata is, Roti means ‘bread’, and Prata or paratha means ‘flat’ in Hindi language.
  • Satay - Satay, spelled as sate in Indonesia and Malaysia is a Southeast Asian dish of seasoned, skewered and grilled meat, served with a sauce.
  • Satay Bee Hoon - Ugly, messy, gooey, and warms the cockles of your heart. Satay Bee Hoon is one of those fast disappearing hawker food in Singapore, that only a handful of stalls still serve them as it is labour-intensive to prepare the sauce.
  • Soya Sauce Chicken - One of the 2 hawker stalls in Singapore with a Michelin star. Liao Fan Hawker Chan Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle at Chinatown Food Complex sells Soya Sauce Chicken Rice, Soya Sauce Chicken Noodle, Roasted Pork Rice, Char Siew Rice, and Char Siew Noodles are unbelievable prices of $2 – $3.
  • Tau Hway - Tau Hway, also known as Tau Huay or Douhua, is a popular dessert in Singapore. It’s a Chinese dessert made of soft tofu that has been coagulated.
  • Teochew Porridge - Teochew porridge 潮州糜 or ‘Teochew Mui’ is a type of rice soup similar to the Chinese congee but in a non-gooey and non-mushy way. Compared to the Cantonese-style congee, it has a waterier texture.
  • Thunder Tea Rice - Thunder Tea Rice is a Hakka style dish which comparises of two parts – the rice part which comes topped with generous servings of vegetables and sometimes preserved radish; and the bowl of tea.
  • Vadai - The Prawn Vadai offered from The Original Vadai is quite different from those found in India, said to be a fusion or Singapore originated dish.
  • Vegetarian Bee Hoon - Vegetarian Bee Hoon is a Singaporean-style hawker noodle dish which comprises of cooked topped with vegetarian items such as cabbage, spring rolls, fried tofu skin, and mock meats made from gluten.
  • Wanton Mee - A good plate of Wanton Mee in Singapore would certainly be the most debatable, because there are just so many styles.
  • Western Food - When we talk about “Western Food” served in hawker centres in Singapore, it is not the American steaks or European fancy dishes that some would imagine.
  • Yong Tau Foo - Yong Tau Foo is a Hakka Chinese delight that is available in most of the hawker centres and food courts in Singapore, due to its variety and perceived healthiness (you don’t go pick all the deep-fried food and pour all the sauce within lah).
  • Zi Char - There is just something about “Zi Char” (or Tze Char 煮炒) that is very comforting, especially when the dishes come served piping hot with that strong wok-hei (wok-heat).

14/09/2024

Richard Marx @ Our Tampines Hub on 14 Sep 2024


American singer Richard Marx will perform charity concert in September for Dementia Singapore

This September, Grammy Award-winning singer Richard Marx will be right here waiting for you. Marx will stage a concert at Our Tampines Hub on Sep 14 – two days before his 61st birthday. The concert also serves as a fundraiser for social service agency Dementia Singapore to support those impacted by dementia. Last year, Dementia Singapore organised a similar charity concert with Danish band Michael Learns To Rock to great success, with tickets selling out hours after sales went live.

Tickets for Marx's concert will cost between S$118 and S$238, and can be purchased via Sistic. Shell GO+ members will have first dibs at scoring tickets via a pre-sale session that's happening from May 22 to Jun 4. Thereafter, members of the public can score tickets via the general sale happening from 11am on Jun 5.

Richard Marx has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, in a career spanning decades. He released his debut album in 1987 which went triple platinum. His follow-up release Repeat Offender in 1989 spawned the wildly-successful hit Right Here Waiting which topped music charts all over the world. In 2004, he earned the Grammy Award for Song Of The Year for the song Dance With My Father which he wrote with Luther Vandross. Marx is the only male artiste in history whose first seven singles reached the top five on the Billboard charts.


Richard Marx

2022 marks Richard Marx’s thirty-fifth year as a recording artist, and his thirty-eighth as a professional songwriter. 1984’s “What About Me,” released as a trio by Kenny Rogers, Kim Carnes and James Ingram was co-written by Richard and became not only his first song recorded by an artist, but his first number one as a writer. On September 30th, Marx will release his unique and ambitious new album, simply and appropriately titled Songwriter.

Songwriter contains twenty tracks crossing four different musical genres. Five pop songs, five rock songs, five country songs and five beautiful ballads. “I’ve had such an amazing opportunity in my songwriting career to write all kinds of songs with, and for, all kinds of artists,” says Richard. “It finally occurred to me that there was no reason not to record an album of my own that touches on multiple genres I love.”

While he included a few existing songs that were written in the recent past, the bulk of Songwriter was created over the past year. “For instance,” Richard says, “I wrote a modern rock song a few years back called “Just Go” that I really love but I didn’t feel it fit the vibe of my last two albums. The band and I played it live a few times and people seemed to really love it, so I’m happy to finally get it out there.”


Richard Marx

Richard Noel Marx (born September 16, 1963) is an American adult contemporary and pop rock singer-songwriter. He has sold over 30 million albums worldwide.

Marx's first number one success as a songwriter came in 1984 with "What About Me?", which was recorded by Kenny Rogers, Kim Carnes, and James Ingram, and topped the US and Canadian Adult Contemporary charts. His second chart-topper was 1985's "Crazy", a song he co-wrote with Rogers which reached number one in the Hot Country Songs chart. Marx's self-titled debut album went triple-platinum in 1987, and his first single, "Don't Mean Nothing", reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Between 1987 and 1994, he had 14 top 20 hits, including three number one singles.[9]

Marx is the only male artist in history to have his first seven singles reach the top 5 of the Billboard charts. He has scored a total of 14 number one singles, both as a performer and as a songwriter/producer. As a singer, his No. 1 hits include "Hazard", "Right Here Waiting", "Hold On to the Nights", "Endless Summer Nights", and "Satisfied". According to Billboard, Marx "holds the distinction of having written songs that have hit No. 1 on various Billboard charts in each of the last four decades." Marx has written or collaborated on songs with other artists, including "This I Promise You" by NSYNC and "Dance with My Father" by Luther Vandross. Marx has been nominated for five Grammy Awards. In 2003, he won the Grammy for Song of the Year for "Dance with My Father".


Rod Stewart @ Marina Bay Sands 16 & 17 Mar 2024
British pop-rock star, 78, last performed in Singapore in 2009; general tickets to go on sale on 10 November

Pop-rock star Rod Stewart - who sang classic hits such as "Maggie May", "Sailing" and "Have I Told You Lately" - will return to Singapore to perform at the Sands Grand Ballroom on 16 and 17 March next year. The 78-year-old British singer-songwriter - who last performed in the city-state at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in 2009 - will be embarking on the Asia leg of his “Live in Concert, One Last Time” tour in March, his first concerts in Asia after 15 years.

Besides Singapore, the two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is also set to perform in Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines and Japan. Stewart will be performing hit songs as well as covers across his five-decade career. Fans will also get to witness a dynamic stage production, which includes 12 band members and backup vocalists.

“It has been 15 years since my last Asian tour, which is far too long! I truly cannot wait to return with a setlist of all my biggest hits and one of the most extraordinary productions of my career. It's going to be quite a bash," he said in a media release on Wednesday (25 October). The Singapore stop is part of Marina Bay Sands’ "Sands Live" concert series, which was first unveiled in 2014 and relaunched in March this year. The concert series has brought in performers such as The Rolling Stones, Michael Bublé, and Celine Dion.


13/09/2024

The importance of sleeping well


Both sleep quality and quantity are important if we want to reap the benefits of sleep.

Leading a healthier lifestyle isn’t just about exercising regularly and eating right — sleep quality and quantity play a big part too.

What happens when we don’t get adequate sleep:
  • Effects of Sleep Deprivation
  • How Much Sleep Do We Need?
  • How to Improve Sleep
  • Get Your Body Moving
  • Coffee, Tea, or Me?
  • In the Mood for Sleep