Living Foods and yoga in Singapore!

Last weekend we did an amazing course with Lina Loo at the Singapore Branch of Light Love Laughter Academy. It was called Ultimate Living Chef and it covered recipes and lifestyle tips for aspiring raw food practitioners. Although we are not vegan, at least not yet, we greatly enjoyed this course and benefited already by seeing an amazing impact living foods have on your body!


Throughout the 3-day intensive program Lina taught us many delicious recipes; she showed us how to make delicious green smoothies, make your own milk and cheese from nuts, raw food breads and how to sprout! We also had a session where we made our own raw cocoa chocolate nuggets, brownies and vegan desserts! Yum!!!

As a part of the program we also had few transformational yoga sessions with Jolyn and Linda, it had an enormous impact on the quality of our brething, flexibility and focus.

Linda holds many interesting workshops and teaches about vegan lifestyle including great tips of where to shop for the best quality organic products and fresh fruit and vegetables. Check out her blog and read articles on food and courses offerings: http://rawfoodlifestyles.com/

If you would like to learn more about this, please contact me! I am more than happy to share more details about Linda’s teachings! You should come and try her delicious recipes yourselves!!!

Pulau Ubin Trip

Few weeks back we made a trip to one of the Singapore get-away islands in the north east of Singapore called Pulau Ubin. This small island is nothing like Singapore, there are no traces of modernization, no skyscrapers, no shopping malls, no restaurants… In fact, it is like Singapore good few decades back when it was a ‘kampung’ – a village! It is a great spot for Singaporeans when they want to a break from modern lifestyle…

Our trip started in Changi Harbor Terminal, where we bought tickets for the bumboat. We had to wait until the boat was full and the cigarette smoking ‘captain’ decided, we could take off! The emergency vests on the boat were all covered in mould so we really doubted the safety of the boat, aiyoh…

Pulau Ubin welcomes its visitors in a small harbor, so called jetty, with few shops where you can rent bikes, small ‘restaurants’ looking more like hawker centers serving famous seafood. We decided to try it out and had a steamed fish and a coconut drink! I must say they were both delicious, and from what we saw on other tables, food looked fresh and quite tasty! We rented a bike, got a map of the island and off we disappeared in the jungle!

The roads around Pulau Ubin are rather rustic but it was quite nice break from the stylish and concrete Singapore! The island is small, but we wanted to explore every corner of it! We pedaled through the whole island, under the coconut trees, near old rubber tree plantations and old kampong houses, there was even a Buddist temple there! Pulau Ubin has a great biking trail system, with different difficulty levels from blue to black, so every biker can enjoy a day out cycling here. There are many break-out stations with locals selling fresh coconuts, cold drinks and other refreshments.

One of the surprises we had was weather changing in seconds! We visited an observation tower, had a break walking around the jungle and on the coastal boardwalk in the east part of the island and we took a turn to the central Pulau Ubin. It started raining, but as the rain did not bother us initially we decided to continue along the road. Little did we know about rain in Pulau Ubin… Within few seconds it was lashing rain, really lashing! It took us about a minute to get to the next shelter, and… we were completely soaked!

One of the highlights of the trip was amazing nature experience! We saw few interesting birds’ species, fish types, monkeys, even the komodo dragon! We took a wrong turn that turned out to be a dead end with a Buddhist temple, and on the way back to the main road a komodo dragon crossed out way! I wanted to stop and take a picture, but Herve was the sensible one and reminded me that after all these lizards can be dangerous and very fast… Few years back there were stories of komodos attacking people in Indonesia… we took off as quickly as our leg muscles allowed us…

After returning the bikes we went to the Secret Garden where they grow various types of fruit, flowers, herbs and vegetables. It was the first time I saw fields of aloe vera, lady fingers, or curry trees! It is well hidden in the other side of Jetty, Herve discovered this place when he was in the island some time ago, a magical and secluded place…

When we finished visiting the Secret Garden the dark clouds were back, so we rushed to the bumboat. Luckily there was one just leaving, so when we just got on board, a huge thunderstorm began! Pulau Ubin was an interesting and relaxing island, perfect for a day break from Singapore, especially for nature and cycling enthusiasts, but with that thunderstorm, we were happy we were on our way home…

Singapore Exotic Fruit Tasting!

One of the great benefits of travelling to new places is discovering new foods and cuisine. Singapore is a never-ending-story when it comes to food, as on almost every corner of this mysterious country you can find foods you would not know of or have never tried before! I mean all types of food, meats, seafood, various types of rice and noodles, dumplings, sweat and sour, boiled, fried, steamed, you name it… Last week I went to discover the exotic fruit Singapore has to offer with a group of girlfriends, what an excursion it was!

Fruit markets are very popular in Singapore, not only among tourists, but actually you can spot a lot of locals going there and enjoying the great variety of fruit on a regular basis. The fruit markets have tables and fresh water, they serve fruit and drinks so they are like small outdoor ‘fruit bars’! We saw many of them in the Gaylang area and they were all quite busy. The must-have in every fruit stand is DURIAN, a very special fruit I came across with already, and let me say: yak!, a fruit of special importance to South East Asian, they call it a ‘king of fruits’ here. Its distinctive odor is unforgettable, locals consider it fragrant, but I think it’s very overpowering and somehow offensive as it is very difficult to get rid off once you are around it for too long! Let me also remind you durians are forbidden in all kinds of transport, you can pay a fine is you are caught with it in the train or other public places! Well, those who are durian-lovers please forgive my resistance to ever falling in love with this part of Asian culture, I found other exotic fruit I came to enjoy and unfortunately, they are not durians…

So we chose one of the biggest food markets in Geylang; we ordered coconut drinks and a few types of fruit to sample, we sat down and started the exotic fruit tasting feast! We tried dragon fruit, mangos, rambutans, longans and mangosteens! These were amazing, juicy, sweet, fresh, rich in antioxidants and most importantly, so delicious!

Dragon fruit, also known as Pitaya fruit, is one of the cactus species with creamy sweet pulp inside. It is very nutritious and has very intensive color, beware as it might stain your clothes! You can find dragon fruit with red/purple or white pulp. Yummy!

Rambutans are vivid red fruit covered with hairy spikes that taste a little bit like lychees. To me they looked like ‘hairy fruit! They have white juicy flesh inside which is very sweet yet refreshing. Very original flavor I must admit!

Longans, also known as ‘dragon eyes’ because their shape and size, are small, hard, round, their shells are brown and thin. They are quite fun to open, as they are very juicy and the shells are firm, so it is not easy to get to get to the fruit especially to the first-timers. The fruit flesh inside is also white and sweet…

Mangosteens we tried are purple and have thick shells (there are also yellow ones, but we didn’t try them at the time). When you peel them you find white juicy flesh inside. It’s sweet and very refreshing! It’s called the "Queen of Tropical Fruits", it is one of the most popular tropical fruits in South East Asia and, contrary to what the name might suggest, they are not related to mangoes at all. They do not taste like mangoes… Mangosteens were my favorite fruit of the evening! Definitely, you need to try when you visit Singapore or any other neighboring country!

After all those delicious fruit we were all full and high on sugar. I cannot wait for another discovery trip like that! So girls, what are we discovering next, lah? We did Singapore Sling, Japanese chocolates, vegan food, exotic fruit, what about the famous Singapore chili crab and seafood, can?

One year older and richer!

Where there are new beginnings, there are also endings. New Year and new plans for the 2011 made us think and talk about the last year. We were in the swimming pool on a sunny Sunday afternoon, on the 2nd January and realizing, wow, we would never think we would be doing this in the middle of the winter time! As January is a month we know as snowy, cold, white and with minus temperatures! So here we are, in the pool and talking about the last year. I didn’t realize this until Herve asked me, but the last year was really full of changes and abundant in new wonderful experiences!

It was the first time I had to quit a job I really liked at EMC Cork; I moved to Singapore; I came to Asia, first time ever; in my new EMC job in Singapore I work on projects that include all Asia Pacific HR Teams so I get to know how things work in all Asia Pacific!; I started to co-lead our regional volunteer projects at work; I started dancing West Cost Swing, Hip Hop and Contemporary Dance; I learned how to play netball; I attended a Kali Majapahit outdoor Marital Arts outdoor workshop; I went to a Tahitan dance class; I became semi-vegetarian; I learned how to use the shotgun and short guns; I went to Muslim mosques and Hindu shrines; I tried totally new cuisine and variety of Asian foods; I got to know some great, creative and generous people here (and still miss those I left behind…); I can swim in the pool more less every day of the year as the weather here does not change much (apart from occasional monsoon showers); and finally, I set up a blog and started writing!

This last year brought some changes for the rest of my family too, as my mum moved to a new place, my brother relocated to Nanjing in China and got married there with his fiancée… Only my sis stayed put, still in Ireland and happy out...

With all changes came new experiences and I must admit that my whole life shifted to this totally new dimension last year! I started getting a different perspective on life, food, religion, spirituality, relationships, tolerance and how one chooses to live their lives! They often say that travelling broadens your mind; I would even say that getting to know other cultures and traditions influence and change your life in most unexpected ways. My last year’s experienced taught me that, at any stage of your life, you shouldn’t take things for granted and think you are the person you have always wanted to be, as your perceptions change constantly as we learn new skills, meet new people and grow from personal experiences. I hope you find some time to stop, that’s not easy in modern and fast-paced society, and reflect on all you learned last year, as we tend to think of problems and failures more than successes and happy moments… I think it’s quite rewarding to realize that there are so many of things that made our lives so interesting and colorful! Have another colorful year and thanks for reading…

Singapore Food Festival

Last month Singapore hosted one of the most popular festivals that brought crowds to one of the city’s busiest spots, the Clarke Quay. It has become one of the key cultural events on the island as it profiles Singapore’s culinary offerings of the local and international food, and as some of you may know by now, food is one of the first and most common subjects in Asia! Every year the festival highlights different gastronomic flavor, this year’s Singapore Food Festival celebrated versatile Chinese cuisine!

The Clarke Quay food stalls offered so many different types of dishes that I wasn’t sure what to try first… We went around first to get a better idea what a ‘Chinese cuisine’ is. I am here for about 2 months now and I still cannot tell difference between many Asian dishes… Chinese, Malay, Indian, Indonesian, Philippine...there's too many of them here... We bought a festival card that allowed us to purchase smaller portions from many food stalls; after all we were there to sample different things!

While going around I realized how diverse Chinese cuisine really is! After all China is an enormous country with many provinces, climate types, various regional products, seasoning, culinary traditions and cooking techniques. The most traditional Chinese dishes you might know are chicken-rice, Kung Pao chicken, various stir fry’s, steamed/fried/boiled dumplings, hot soup pots, fish ball noodles, steamed egg (this is very interesting! You add egg to broth/soup in a small pot and steam it until it gets solid; very particular in taste, but yummy), roast goose, shark fin soup (this is really different too, but tasty), popiah (like a spring roll, thin paper-like crepe with filling – different combinations of vegetables, meat, seafood, but not fried like the spring roll, it is served fresh). Most popularized Chinese cuisine types in Europe are Cantonese and Sichuan, that’s the only two I heard of before moving to Asia anyway, so it was real feast for us to try new dishes during the Food Festival!

We tried popiah, chicken pau (steamed Chinese buns, like Polish ‘papmuchy’), vegetable and meat filled dumplings, Chinese rolls with meat and seafood filling, and for dessert Durian pancake (Indonesian/Malay origin fruit with a very particular odor; you probably saw FB pictures when I eat the Durian pancake and make funny faces… It is really very special taste, apparently it is a local favorite… I’m not a big fan, Herve, on the other hand, ate the whole thing without making faces, that’s progress! Becoming Singaporean already...) and a variety of rice cakes, very popular here. I noticed that rice is a base ingredient for many foods and drinks in Asia, even pastries or alcohol!

Apart from the Chinese cuisine you could get any local Singaporean food, such as Indian, Malay, Indonesian, Western, including the signature Singaporean Chili Crab! I tried the sauce served with the crab, it’s hoooooot!!!! Another thing I learned about food here, hot dishes are really really hot! So if you think you know 'hot' you should try original Asian food... I still cannot eat hot dishes here, whenever I have lunch that is a little hot, I end up lobster red... But I'm getting used to spicy Asian buds.

Overall, the event was really great, it gave the Island of Singapore another occasion to showcase their gastronomic diversity and share it with all hungry tourists and locals. I cannot wait for the next year’s one… Hmmm, feeling a little hungry writing about all the food… What do I have in the fridge? Talk to you later!

Durian fruit



The durian is the fruit widely known in Southeast Asia as the "king of fruits", the durian is distinctive for its large size, unique odor, and formidable thorn-covered husk. The fruit can grow as large as 30 centimeters (12 in) long and 15 centimeters (6 in) in diameter, and it typically weighs one to three kilograms (2 to 7 lb). The edible portion of the fruit, known as the aril and usually referred to as the "flesh" or "pulp", only accounts for about 15-30% of the mass of the entire fruit.

The edible flesh emits a distinctive odor, strong and penetrating even when the husk is intact. Some people regard the durian as fragrant; others find the aroma overpowering and offensive. The smell evokes reactions from deep appreciation to intense disgust and has been described variously as almonds, rotten onions, turpentine and gym socks. The odor has led to the fruit's banishment from certain hotels and public transportation in Southeast Asia.

Singapore Sling

Last week I had my first Singapore Sling! Or shall I say my first Singapore Slings… although I am not a cocktail type of person. I read about it on a website describing traditional Singaporean food and drinks, and I must say it’s really extraordinary and different from what I have tried before! The Singapore Sling was developed by Ngiam Tong Boon in the early 1900's for the Raffles Hotel in Singapore and it has become a signature drink served in every bar in Singapore since then. Its today’s version differs from the original one; apparently bartenders use more simplified variations of the original recipe. The Singapore Sling, no matter which version I had, is very smooth, sweet and delicious!

Original Singapore Sling Recipe

1 1/2 ounce gin

1/2 ounce Cherry Herring

1/4 ounce Cointreau

1/4 ounce Benedictine

4 ounce pineapple juice

1/2 ounce lime juice

1/3 ounce grenadine

1 dash Angostura Bitters

Garnish: Cherry and slice of pineapple.

Shake with ice. Strain into an ice filled glass.

Singapore food adventures…

Every lunch or dinner in town is a new experience, as most of the time we order dishes we are not familiar with… It’s a part of our Singaporean Experience to discover local flavors…

Our knowledge of Asian cuisine was limited to ramen soups, noodles, and rice dishes before moving to Singapore, so now we are open to sampling all new, unknown and most unusual foods.

In our trip to Chinatown I had my first Satay, barbecued beef and chicken pieces served on the shish kebab style wooden sticks with chopped onion, cucumber and ketupat (Malay rice cakes often wrapped in coconut leaves) and accompanied by a dip of spicy and sweet peanut sauce. Satay is quite original, as it is a combination of heavy and oily meat and sweet but spicy and aromatic peanut sauce, a very strong fresh onion taste and a very plain rice cake… It is a dish unique to Singapore and it has its roots in Malay and Indonesian archipelago.

Satay

Another typically Singaporean dish I tried in our local food court is Laksa, a dish consisting of noodles, fishcake, prawns and chopped bean sprouts served in a spicy coconut-based soup. Its creamy coconut gravy makes it quite rich and chili seasoning adds a very spicy savor. There are many variations of Laksa such as a lighter version of the dish known as assam laksa, more appealing to a Western palate… Laksa comes from the Peranakan culture, which is a merger of Chinese and Malay elements found in Malaysia and Singapore, and to some extent from Indonesia.

Laksa (also known as Curry Laksa/Laksa Lemak)

Singapore’s food diversity is amazing, because if you are not in a mood to experiment with Southeast Asian cuisine, you can always find more familiar foods almost everywhere in town:

Cuisine of Singapore

The cuisine of Singapore indicates the ethnic diversity of its culture. The food is influenced by the native Chinese, Malay, Indonesian, Indian and Western traditions. Food is viewed as central to Singapore's national identity and a unifying cultural thread; Singaporean travel literature declares eating as a national pastime and food, a national obsession. Food is a frequent topic of conversation among Singaporeans and tourists. Food in itself has been promoted as an attraction alongside its shopping. The government organizes the Singapore Food Festival every July to celebrate Singapore's cuisine, which is coming up soon so expect more information and pictures in regards to the abundant Singapore cuisine!

The multiculturalism of local food, the ready availability of international cuisine and styles, and their wide range in prices fitting all budgets at all times of the day and year helps create a "food paradise". Singapore's geographical position connects it to major air and sea transport routes and thus allows it to import a variety of food ingredients from around the world!

In Singaporean restaurants and food centers chefs of various backgrounds and origins experiment with different styles and ingredients and create new fascinating dishes. This phenomenon makes the cuisine of Singapore a cultural attraction! Most prepared food bought outside is eaten at hawker centers or food courts rather than at actual restaurants. These hawker centers are abundant and cheap, encouraging a large consumer base.

The quality of food does not differ significantly between restaurants and hawker centers, only the serving conditions really. The food courts are outside-based, you can get food instantly and you consume your meal at the simple plastic table/chairs layout; they can be found in any location in Singapore. Restaurants, on the other hand, are located in more expensive areas of town; offer more attractive looking menus and more appealing air-conditioned interiors. And just to give you an idea of the difference in the cost of dining in those, the average meal in a restaurant is about $12-20 Singapore Dollars (SGD) whereas in the hawker centre it is usually $2-4 SGD…

(Footnote: today’s conversion rate is 1 SGD = 0.58 Euros)

I have tried some of the local dishes in restaurants and casual hawker centers and I must admit that the variety of styles is countless! From sweet to spicy, cold to warm, raw to cooked or fried, seasoned to plain… Even noodles or rice dishes have different taste; depending on which food court or restaurants they were served in. I like trying and sampling foods in here; I just hope the discovery and research part of it will not affect my weigh scale!

More info on: http://www.yoursingapore.com/content/traveller/en/browse/dining/cuisines-of-singapore.html