Link it baby!

This is where I'm gonna do some advertising. My new blog, Used to be a fat boy, details my fat loss journey from past to present, and from how I will go on to reach a new low bodyfat level!

It will include the basics of nutrition, exercise and other discussion including my daily food intake and exercise plan, making me accountable for everything I do and help me get even more motivated.

Give me your support! It doesn't matter if you leave a comment or just take a look. Come on in!

Click here or go to

www.usedtobeafatboy.blogspot.com

Woohoo!

Woo!

Shiokadoodoo babey!

Cows & the melons they are

Didn't find this melons at a melon farm. Rather, it's scattered all over the place! You can find them beside the road, on empty state land etc.



These cows though, are found on a small farm 5 minutes walk from my house.

Oops..

Sorry.. couldn't help it.

My Dad

I always mention about my mum being an awesome cook, but I've never revealed my dad being an awesome guy have I?



Yeah, my dad is more than awesome. He built a business from scratch with his own hands, looked after us the whole time, and now, he has brought us to wonderful Perth.



And all the gardens, bricks seating, stone pavements, alfresco and nursery, are all made by his own two hands.

Unbelievable?

Believe it.

Our little heaven

We've got a little nursery just to give the kitchen a little supplement. Strawberries will be great after winter, and we've got all kinds of salad vegetables, spring onions, broccoli, french beans and some grape vines going.


It's winter and the plants don't feel like growing much.

But we still managed to grab some fresh salad from the nursery.

Clarity.. Peace.. Serenity...

The cool air washes over my face, as the sun shines through the clear blue Australian sky, finally engulfing me in it's comforting rays.

Then I open my eyes and look out to the fields of grass and trees, swaying with every gust of cool breeze and harboring the occasional nonchalant flock of ducks.

And I compare the past, and then the present, and finally think to myself, "This is life.. and it must be what content and happiness feels like"

8 Random facts about Myself

Jas from Coffee, Tea or Baaboo has tagged me, Thank you!
so here goes ...

The Rules of this tag:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. List eight (8) random facts about yourself.
3. Tag eight people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving them a comment on their blogs.

8 Random facts about Myself

1. Let's start with the basics. I'm 21, just finished 2 years of slavery, one of which I lived with my girlfriend at her home as my family moved on to Perth.

2. I'm a leftie, so is my sister, although my parents are both righties. They say left handed people are more artistically brilliant. Hmmm, I wouldn't disagree.

3. I love food! Well, that's no big surprise, but I love moving also. That's keeping fit for you. It's really, really important okay! Have a good balance of each. I used to be 86kg when I was 16. Now I'm 68kg.

4. I'm gonna study Physiotherapy in Curtin University next February. I guess it's because I care more for other's healthcare (more ever since I got into healthy living and losing all that weight), that's why I chose to venture on this path. It's no wonder I nag on my parents all the time for eating junk food. I bet they find me a nuisance Grrrr!

5. I used to really, really like basketball although I was never really good at it. Speaking of which, I joined a basketball team called Saints, or Shenze, (not SAJC), if you ever heard of it.

6. Durian is like my lifeline. I can eat durian everyday straight for two weeks without getting a sore throat (Proven and done). Oh yeah, I usually eat up to three whole Styrofoam boxes (or 1 - 2 whole fruit) full of durian each time. No kidding, I don't know how I'm going to survive without durian here in Perth.

7. I also totally dig mahjong. I used to play it like all the time when I was 16. In fact, I had this "mahjong camp" at my friends place which went on for 5 days and 4 nights straight. That was when I "zi mo" my "Thirteen devils". Brilliant.

8. My girlfriend and I landed in Perth on 25th July (last Wednesday) and are happily staying with my family right now. I totally love the environment here and everything else, and I'm extremely delighted to be able to eat mum's cooking everyday again (she whips up a feast everyday). Erm, I gained 2kg in one week.

Well, I wouldn't be tagging anyone for this although I'm supposed to tag 8 other people. Since this blog is closing, I'm doing this as a favour to Jas, a way to thank her for sticking with this blog during the period when it was alive. Cheers Jas!

Adios!

A new beginning and sad goodbyes

6.02PM. Western Australia. Canning Vale.

Yes, that's the time and place where I'm finally getting my butt down to type this post. Not that I didn't want to type it, it's just that I had to get everything more or less settled down before I get to blogging again.

So I'm finally here back home in Perth after endless countdowns month after month, day after day. After waiting so long, think of my family back home, I AM finally back home. Together with my family and my other half, my life is pretty complete.

I'm sad though, to leave behind another family I've come to have. That is, the people whom I've been living with for the past 5 months have already come to be another family and another home where I can go to. Hey mao, take care of your brothers and your parents alright!

There are, however, a list of people whom I would like to mention in this post.

To my brothers Jonathan, Joel and Jason: You are the only brothers I have known in this life. I'll cherish the times when we played together when we were younger and I'm sad we wouldn't be able to hang out and go fishing anymore. Hey Joe, thanks for looking out for me, don't worry I'll watch out for myself here. Hey Jonny boy, time to get serious alright! I hope you get your SIA job and when you really get to fly here, we'll go fishing! ;P Hey Jason, well, take care of mama and your lil' sister okay.

To my little couzie Jess: Hey jess you skinny pok! Have fun in Singapore kay. Don't party so much! Yeah I know it's so ironic when I'm leaving when you are finally coming! But don't worry I'll be back ;P

To my buddies Kevin, Keong, Jer,Kit, Wyne, Jimmy, Des, Harvin, Zhou, Brian, Tong, Nic, Beng: Hey guys, sec sch was a heck load of fun aye. Basketball, mahjong, jamming or just hanging out and chillin, you name it. 15 and 16 were the best years of my life, even in the face of the O levels. I'll miss you people..

To my other buddies Sherwin, Sok, Ken, Fi: Hey guys! It was fun hanging out together in poly man and I hope we'll have the chance to do it again (which is abit hard since Fi is like in Brisbane) I really miss us hanging out together. Hey Sherwin, thanks for being a great friend, role model and project partner man. Study hard in Uni alright.

To Cheng and Yenny: Hey, time really flies like it's been 14 years since we've met and I'm really glad to have you two as long time friends.

To my army buddies Desmond, Qungen and the other nice people I've met within my time in PMB. Hey Des! Well, 2 years flew past pretty quickly aye? But I wonder why it seemed like forever when we were waiting to ORD. Talking about it, I still can't believe I'm typing this post and I've already ORDed. Anyways, I'm glad we ended up in the same office. Training was fun thinking back and it was nice hanging out together and learning stuff like photoshop and MS Office from you. Study and work hard in NUS okay, and good luck in whatever you do!

Heya Qungen, thanks for being a great friend man and a huge load of help during my time in PMB. It was good having you around and having someone trustworthy to talk to. Plus, I miss the makaning times after neuro. Too bad everythings kinda screwed up in PMB now huh... don't worry gonna ORD soon! And when I come back we'll go to Tamako kay. I'm sure Cindy will give me a complimentary plate of unagi tawara...

And I'm glad to have known people like Richie and Jia hao and I want to thank all the officers like Dr Tim, Dr G, Dr Tm and Dr Alan for their patience and guidance during my time in PMB.

Dr Tim, thanks for looking out for us alright. It was nice working together and yeah... chill.. don't stress so much. Dr G, you're a great guy and it's nice to have known you. (Hey, look out for ZM okay *winkz*) Hey Dr Tm, it's been really great and enjoyable working under you for that short period of time and I'm sad to have to go so soon. Don't worry though, you have a good guy under you but please take care of him okay!

Well, it's only 2 years and we all will have to move on. Endure!


So that's about it. What about this blog, then? Well, Yummie dummieS will be saying it's goodbyes. University will be a hectic and I wouldn't have the time to blog anymore. This past year have been great though. I've come to know so many nice places to eat and so many floggers and food blogs like D, Evan, ieat, the baker, etc and the people who frequently post comments on my blog. Thanks guys! :) Have a good life!

7...6...

At spot number 7 is a tie (yeah right, I can't squeeze in all the good food into just 7 spots) between Soon Kee's duck rice and Fatty Cheong's Char siew.

At modern age Singapore, it's hard to find a good plate of duck rice. Yet, at the modern foodcourt-like Long house located at Upper Thomson road, a good plate of duck rice can still be found.

Soon Kee's was previously located at Bras Besar and still cooks good duck rice after moving to Long house. It's rice is nicely made fragrant with a dash of duck fat and darkened with a touch of braised sauce. Yet, the winner is the dark sauce which is splashed on the tender duck meat and it's really hard to beat with a sourish chilli sauce/sambal mix.



ABC Market's Fatty Cheong Char siew is another hot favourite. It's thick, it's tender and for $3.50 a plate you get a HELL LOT of char siew. Plus, you can ask for lean meat which they will gladly comply.

Did I mention that their chilli is kick ass too?



No. Six's Yet Con is my girlfriend's favourite and is authentic as you can get. In fact, it's so deep in tradition and so Hainanese in culture that the restaurant still uses abacus to count it's bills.

My favourite here is the pork chop. Drenched with a dark brown sweet sour sauce, the deep fried but so damn tender pork pieces wins me over each time I'm there. Picking the caremelized potatoes and tomato pieces in the dishes is also fun... and yummy at the same time.

5, four, 3, two...

At number five, it has got to be 717's durian puff. It's fantastically good and beat Four Season's flat down. It is THAT awesome. Being a durian fan, I've got to place this creamy and sensational snack at 5th place.



Oh yeah! Did I mention about trying their crepes, cakes, tarts.. pies......

FOUR. Stands Ser Seng's turtle soup. Call me cruel, call me gross but hey, I just can't get enough of this stuff. I TOTALLY fell in love with in ever since my dad brought me there when I was in Primary school. The superbly flavourful and rich soup is at least five bars higher than normal herbal turtle soup. I have no idea how they do it because you just can't detect a hint of herbs. Yet, it's extremely nourishing (I bet you will have a good night's sleep after drinking it)



The meat dipped into the sourish chilli sauce offsets the richness and provides a tarty twist while ladies can dig the many pieces of collagen. And who can forget their yam rice? This would be the most tasty bowl of yam rice I have ever eaten. Delectably flavoured with yam, shrimps and shallots, it's bound to send you yearning for more. A tip: Pour some soup over the rice and slurp it up, it's bound to work wonders.



Down to THREE.

I belong to the Teochew origin and Teochew people like their porridge. This, however, isn't normal Teochew porridge. Instead, it's Taiwan porridge. This soon-to-be-demolished restaurant is also one of my family's frequent dining places. The porridge cooked with sweet potatoes is a watery mix and nothing special really. But I really, really like the dishes.



Especially this Kong Bak. Oh my GAWD, it is DELICIOUS. I love the sauce too by the way, it's just darn good.



And this Hong Siew Tofu is equally flavourful as well. I just like the mix the sauces into the porridge and slurp it all up.



Plus, who can ever forget ordering Sichuan vegetables w/ Pork slices. I can't explain the taste but it's just darn good.

Number TWO is pretty predictable.




Kovan's Kou Wei Chicken Rice. It's tenderness and juiciness is unbeatable. Add a dash of reddish sauce makes it an awesome dish. The rice is also a plus point which propels this to spot number two. It's just-right oiliness and strong fragrance makes it that delectable.



Finally to spot NUMBER ONE.

Those who know me well would have guessed it right from the start.



Kovan Peanut Pancakes. Just thinking about it has gotten me drooling. The soft batter rolled into a spring roll-like form is really nice to bite into and the custard-like kaya and super duper creamy peanut butter is to die for.



Hey, it's so good, it just made it's way on television recently!

So that's my top 5 list of foods which I have come to love in Singapore. What about Perth? Well, I'm not sure about that yet but I hope to give an update soon :)

Ten days

12th July. Time flies, it really does. It feels like I had just started this blog only yesterday and yet, it is already coming to almost a year old now.

Yummie dummies was created out of our passion towards food, both my girlfriend and mine. Well, of course, it ended up with she being the one eating and giving reviews while I did all the writing (not to mention I ate a hell lot too). Not that I'm complaining though, because writing to me is as close to my heart as tasting and these two items fell into place naturally.

Hosting a food blog has its benefits. 1. You have an excuse to start going around tasting all the nice food around the island. 2. You meet alot of food blogging friends, which I did and enjoyed. 3. I love interacting with my readers and reading the comments on my blog.

Of course, there are always downsides like 1. OMG I didn't get to taste all the good food in Singapore!!! 2. OH CRAP I can't lose weight! 3. HOLY MAMA I can't get food outta my mind!!!

Yeah well, live with it, food blogging did kinda got me obsessed with food for a lil while there ya know, not very healthy aye? And I didn't get to try alot of good food in Singapore either but this blog was primarily opened to SHARE to good food I know so yeah, I guess my point hit home.

So since I'm ten days from leaving sunny Singapore, I'd figure I'll do a top 7 list of food I'd come to love in Singapore.

Stick around for that aye?

611 Tau sau piah

Little Red Shop. Yes, that's what they call themselves now, having relocated from Balestier Road to the current B2 at Vivocity. The former 611 Tau Sau Piah no longer basks in it's former glory but I still reckon that it's pastries rock my socks off.



Take the Salty Tau Sar Piah (70c) for example. A bite reveals a crispy, flaky pastry which opens up into a nice mesh of salty bean paste. Real, solid, bean paste, not those commercially tasty ones. The sweet saltiness blend really work together in this instance.



The sweet one is thinner, larger and not is sweet but not overly done it makes your teeth hurts. Plus, they come in a cute little box which makes you keep opening for that "one last tau sar piah".



I've yet to try the other flavours namely; penang salty piah, lotus paste, lotus durian paste, coffee paste and green tea flavour.

For those who need comparisons between Long Fatt and 611, I'll give you my take. Long Fatt has a nice, buttery, flaky pastry which is thinner and softer with a nice soft inside while 611 has thicker, harder flaky pastry which needs some improvement on.

But I still reckon both would be nice with a cuppa Kopi-O.

Hot little buns

I dumped an entire packet of kaya buns into my girlfriend's hands and swore not to take another bite again.

Why such a drastic measure?

Well, that's because Maecy's mini buns are so damn good, I bet you'll polish them off faster than you can say "delicious" and for someone who wants to watch his waistline, that's not a very good thing.



The buns come attached in half a dozen like those red bean buns which you can find in normal bread stores. The difference though, is that they are tiny enough for you to pop into your mouth as a light snack without feeling overly full.



What also sets them apart is the soft, fluffy insides which graduates into a chewy bread with substance as you bite along. Not to mention the nicely browned top and the slightly crispy, buttered bottom which gives a nice twist to the taste.



I missed the green bean flavour though, which they claim is the salty kind. However, the kaya which doesn't contain any eggs at all didn't get me thinking that far. The thick custardy-like paste is that rich in flavours and texture.

The cheese flavour also boosts a subtle cheesey taste with a mild saltiness which is bound to whet your palate. Everything goes well with the soft bread, I'd say.

Be sure to sure the green bean if you plan to head on there while there are other flavours which include strawberry, chocolate and red bean.

About swearing not to take another bite, I admit I failed. But I turned to Qin only to find an empty plastic bag, because apparently, she couldn't resist them as well.

Address:

Block 32 New Market Road #01-1042
People's Park Cooked Food Centre
Tel: 9670-4398
Opens: 10am to 7pm, closed on Sundays and public holidays

Yet Con

What if I told you the Hainanese chicken rice you've been eating all along, isn't really Hainanese at all?

What if I told you that real "Hainanese chicken rice" isn't that nice at all but rather, lacks the robust flavour you have grown accustomed to?

Don't go throwing chicken rice balls at me now. Well, what do I know? Qin and her family is of Hainanese descendant and her brother tells me that their chicken rice is dry, sauceless, and the chicken is really, really kampung tasting. Not that I'm complaining because I get to eat really good, tasty chicken rice here in sunny Singapore everyday.

If you want to get a taste of true authentic, Hainanese chicken rice though, get off your butt and visit this place called Yet Con, the only authentic Hainanese restaurant left in Singapore located in Purvis street.



In fact, their chicken although sauceless, isn't as scary as it sounds. It's got a nice chicken-y taste and is quite succulent in terms of juiciness and texture.

But why would you want to go through that much trouble just to taste some chicken rice? Well, I'll give you two more reasons; their tze char and steamboat.

Steamboat seems to be really popular over there and having tried it before, I'll say it's fairly good.

I'll be able to recommend a few tze char dishes though.



Stir-fry beef with kailan. Slightly tender pieces of beef with a robust sauce to rely on. Always something I'll order here.



Hainanese chap chye isn't like the sloggy and slimy and mushy chap chye you find in economic rice stalls. Here, it comes with a crunch, a guarantee of it's freshness. Plus, who needs sauces that reek of dried shrimps to make a good dish? Here, it's refreshing but flavourful and comes with seafood and meat, all the more you should get it.



Even if you have a distaste for all of the above, this is what you should be here for. Hainanese pork chops. Even if you don't take pork, comon try a bite, sometimes you need to live a little ya know?



MMMMMMMMMMmmmmm mmm! It's crispy and SO DAMN TENDER. Shockingly true, and not what I expected. It comes doused with a tomato based sweet n' sour sauce which is surprisingly, not tomato-ey at all. It's dark brownish rather, a testament to the other oriental sauces they add in to obtain the slightly sweet savoury taste with a nice tang from a good dash of vinegar.

So you don't wanna take a bite at all. Eat the potatoes that come with the dish, it's super duper nicely pan fried and have that old school taste. Oh, but what a waste.

1 month

I think I've slightly neglected my blog for the past week, and if you're one of those screaming "Why Sam?!?!?!", then please, hear me out my friend.

25th June is exactly one more month before I leave Singapore. For good? I don't know yet but well, most probably yes. One thing is for sure though, I'll be going to Perth to get my degree in Physiotherapy which will set me back four years. But damn I'm glad that I can go home finally and don't have to take that army shit anymore.

So I've been pretty busy, packing my stuff, meeting old friends and settling my student enrolment procedures, not to mention eating anything I've been craving for (most of which is durian). Therefore, I don't reaaally have the time to update this blog but I promise I will try! Well, at least try to post as much as I can during this last four weeks.

I'd like to thank you guys though, for regularly checking back and keeping my hits in the 600s despite my lack of post.

Cya soon!

Boon's Goreng Pisang

So I had my plate of mouth-watering duck rice in front of me and was partly successful trying to savor every bite of it. Why then, did my eyes kept darting to my left and my taste buds simply couldn't focus on the meal? The answer is pretty simple actually, since I was seated beside Boon's Goreng Pisang, a widely popular stall located in Long House Food Centre and situated just beside Soon Kee's duck rice stall.

Densely decorated with an abundance bananas as any acclaimed goreng pisang stall would, Boon's Goreng Pisang churns out the crispiest batter and the softest insides you can ever get.

For starters, get the oh-so-crispy fried banana which comes in three different sizes which makes it a little more convenient for those who place a little more emphasis on calories. The caramelized insides are simply gorgeous.



Other items worth mentioning are the green bean and tapioca fritters; both of which contain mashed-up goodness inside of them. Aptly sweetened at the right level, the way the crispy batter gives way to the slightly powdery insides makes the added calories simply worthwhile.

Or why not grab a cempedak fritter, which my girlfriend insists is a must try no matter the circumstances. I could just imagine the creamy paste enveloped by the awfully good batter.

What about the other items then? It's not that they ain't good, it just that I simply haven't tried them yet.

Mama Bakery

Move aside Provence and Sun Moulin because the latest Japanese bread shop which products has got me craving for is Mama Bread, a cafe-like bread store nicely situated on 2nd storey of the newly opened Novena Square 2.

As we swooped through the store like a pair of vultures hungry for some authentic Japanese food, familiar breads like An pan (red bean), Milk pan and Melon pan slightly aroused our senses but it was the more intriguing flavours like seafood vege mango or nutty bread which teased our palates.



The An pan was nicely done and exudes a fragrance strong enough to get your stomach juices going. Generously filled with a good douse of red bean combined with the enticing smell of warm bread, it really makes for a good snack.



The seafood vege mango was even better with a huge piece of prawn inside it. Delightfully creamy, the snack was drenched with sufficient sauces unlike pizza breads in bread stores which often comes dry and tough with a rubbery layer of dried cheese. To put it simply, the fillings resembled that of a lobster salad, those usually used in sushis while the slices of mangoes gave it a subtle hint of sweetness.



The cheese scone proved to be a little too cheesy for me though, and I would preferred a more balanced form of sweetness/saltiness. But the texture was good, not rock hard and crumbly enough for a good bite.



If nothing attracts you, at least stop by and try it's Choco Bowl, a large bowl-sized dense chocolate flavoured bread with a generous mix of rich, bitter-sweet chocolate. A chewy texture greets you on the first bite, followed by a delectable taste of bitter chocolate, which undeniably sets it apart from other chocolate breads.



As I trudged into the store which my mouth full of chocolate bread and munching slowly to let the moment last, an old Japanese lady whom I expect is the owner of the store asked with a hint of pride from behind the counter, "Oishii?", to which I vehemently agreed with a thumbs up. I mean, how could I not have?

Slowly munching on the breads we bought, taking in the full serene view of the night sky with a small fountain by the side adding to the ambiance, it really was quite quintessential. The moment only lasted awhile though, as my face uncontrollably expressed a look of dismay after I finished my portion of Choco Bowl and struggled against the strong temptation to grab another chunk of it.

Jolly well, I think I'll save the enjoyment for another day.

Vietnam: Other mentionables

Any bowl of dessert with a generous slosh of coconut cream will get my mouth juices flowing just like how my brain perks up when my nose picks up the scent of durian. Asian countries like Vietnam and Bangkok love to use a great deal of coconut cream in their dessert, and of course God must have thrown down some pandan seeds when he thought something was missing.



This dessert stall in Ben Thahn market was paaaaacked. So many stalls but only this one was crowded most of the time. We had this glutinous rice with large, brown bean and covered with a good scoop of coconut cream. Fragrant glutinous rice with large beans providing a fuller taste and a nice powdery feel felt so good in my mouth. MMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmm! They also have other kinds of dessert like glutinous rice with yam, tau suan and bo bur cha cha. The only difference is that their tau suan, or rather their corn starch, is so sticky that I can throw it at a wall and it'll stick there.



Then we ordered this plate of kueh. The green one tasted like kueh kosui with mung bean paste on top of it and the yellow one is banana slices enveloped in clear jelly. Fantastic.



Just beside it was this stall selling iced desserts like cheng tng and chendol but in glasses. The chendol was quite similar to Singapore's but the cheng tng was different, with an added touch of raisins inside. The fillings were also slightly than those found here.



Oh and I forgot to mention, they give a small glass of refreshing unsweetened green tea with every dessert order. Just so you wouldn't feel so jerlard afterwards.



Walk a few more steps and we found any stall operating like a traffic light. People walk by, sit down, eat and leave with their seats quickly replaced by others. What they were selling were glutinous rice balls, something like abacus seeds, and some other rice balls with fillings in them. They give it a good dash of prawn floss and spring onions with a generous scoop of fish sauce and nicely finished with a handful of pork lard. It's freaking... awesome... Really.





Ben Thahn market is a good place to go if you're around Ho Chi Minh City. It has loads of stuff, including durian and many stalls sell Vietnamese coffee. And if your lady ain't crazy over food as you are, she can go shop for clothes and stuff and leave us alone!