Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Ambar and Sea

My friend Ambar loves to travel so much.
It will be a very rare occasion seeing her like this anymore.
Fixed looking to the blue of the sea, sitting on white sandy beach with her beloved and battered Nikon D70.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Warteg @ Pulau Ubin

This shop sells beverages and hot meals like mee siam, instant noodle, and sometimes lontong with thick coconut gravy.
You can find this shop easily at Pulau Ubin.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Lorry


It's called lorry in Singapore.
Ferrying people this way unlike in Indonesia is not illegal with some restrictions.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Hot Hot Hot


The hotter the better.
Cabe kriting, red curly chilli and cabe rawit, the green bird's eye chilli.
Both can be found at blueroof Geylang market not far from Paya Lebar MRT station.
Both I believe, imported from Indonesia.

From Wiki:

History

Chili peppers have been a part of the human diet in the Americas since about 7500 BC. They were domesticated there between 5200 and 3400 BC, one of the first cultivated crops in the Americas. Chili peppers are thought to have been domesticated at least five times by prehistoric peoples in different parts of South, Central and North America, from Peru in the south to Mexico in the north and parts of Colorado and New Mexico (Ancient Pueblo Peoples).

Christopher Columbus was one of the first Europeans to encounter them (in the Caribbean), and called them "peppers" because of their similarity in taste (though not in appearance) with the Old World peppers of the Piper genus. Columbus was keen to prove (incorrectly) that he had in fact opened a new direct nautical route to Asia, contrary to reality and the expert consensus of the time, and it has been speculated that he was therefore inclined to denote these new substances "pepper" in order to associate them with the known Asian spice[citation needed].

Diego Álvarez Chanca, a physician on Columbus' second voyage to the West Indies in 1493, brought the first chili peppers to Spain, and first wrote about their medicinal effects in 1494.

From Mexico, at the time the Spanish colony that controlled commerce with Asia, chili peppers spread rapidly into the Philippines and then to India, China, Korea and Japan with the aid of European sailors. The new spice was quickly incorporated into the local cuisines.

An alternate sequence for chili pepper's spread has the Portuguese picking up the pepper from Spain, and thence to India, as described by Lizzie Collingham in her book Curry.[1] The evidence provided is that the chili pepper figures heavily in the cuisine of the Goan region of India, which was the site of a Portuguese colony (e.g. Vindaloo, an Indian interpretation of a Portuguese dish). Collingham also describes the journey of chili peppers from India, through Central Asia and Turkey, to Hungary, where it became the national spice in the form of paprika.


Culinary use

The fruit is eaten cooked or raw for its fiery hot flavour which is concentrated along the top of the pod. The stem end of the pod has glands which produce the capsaicin, which then flows down through the pod. Removing the seeds and inner membranes is thus effective at reducing the heat of a pod.

Well-known dishes with a strong chile flavor are Mexican salsas, Tex-Mex chile con carne, and Indian vindaloos and other curries. Chile powder is a spice made of the dried ground chilies, usually of the Mexican chile ancho variety, but with small amounts of cayenne added for heat, while chili powder is composed of dried ground chile peppers, cumin, garlic and oregano. Bottled hot sauces such as Tabasco sauce are made from Tabasco chilies, similar to cayenne, which may also be fermented.

Chipotles are dry, smoked red (ripe) jalapeños.

Korean, Indian, Indonesian, Szechuan and Thai cuisines are particularly associated with the chile pepper, although the plant was unknown in Asia until Europeans introduced it there.

In Turkish or Ottoman cuisine, chilies are widely used. It is known as "Kırmızı Biber" (Red Pepper) or "Acı Biber" (Hot Pepper).

Sambal is dipping sauce made from chile peppers with any other ingredients such as garlic, onion, shallots, salt, vinegar and sugar. It is very popular in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

The leaves of the chili pepper plant, which are mildly bitter, are cooked as greens in Filipino cuisine, where they are called dahon ng sili (literally "chili leaves"). They are often used in the chicken soup dish known as tinola.[1] In Korean cuisine, the leaves are also used to produce chili pepper leaf kimchi.


Thursday, December 14, 2006

Carpet Store @ Arab Street



From Wiki:
Arab Street is the name of a road and neighbourhood in Singapore. There are two explanations to exist of the road name. The first being that the area was owned by an Arab merchant, Syed Ali bin Mohamed Al Junied and the site of an Arab kampong, hence the name being known as Arab Street. The Chinese referred the street as jiau a koi (Javanese street), in the view of the Javanese who used to be the majority inhabitants of the area. In Tamil, Arab Street is known as pukadai sadkku (flower shops street), because of shops selling homegrown flowers, lime and other goods sold by Javanese women. In 1889, a huge fire occurred.

The other explanation is tied to the situation already preexisted at the time of the nation's founding father Sir Stamford Raffles. When Raffles was planing the outline of areas to be allocated for government, as opposed to commercial and residential use, a community of Bugis seamen and merchants already existed near the Sultan's palace. He therefore allocated the area to them, near where their boats were sheltered in the river, bringing their annual cargo to a barter basis, that is how the name Bugis Street came about. The Arabs and other Mohamedan traders (Chulias) were also allocated to areas near Kampong Glam.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Monday, December 11, 2006

Celebration of Independence Day

First Sunday after 17 August 2006.
Ulfa Dwiyanti was the host of the event.
More than 15.000 visitors showed up.
Indonesian food hunter definitely had a satisfaction.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Lets Fly

This lady was going to fly somewhere. I saw her in a very early morning at MRT Tanah Merah.

Emergency Button


Saturday, November 25, 2006

Pink Cake

Mother and daughter have their birthdays on the same month. November girls. Complete photo set can be seen here.

Blue Cake

Blue cake for a blue birthday girl.

Friday, November 24, 2006

The Source of Rubber

Yes! Singapore has its own source of natural rubber. Although I believe the quantity is relatively small.
Small bucket collects white sap that runs through the incision made deep enough without harming the tree's growth.

An Angel?

I walked alone and bumped into this photo session. Really, modelling is a hard work. Her heavy 'wings' were digging into her shoulder. She had to adjust the strap once in a while.

Sultan Mosque

Almost all of my photographer friends have captured this beautiful mosque from any possible angle.

Bus No 153

One fresh Sunday morning, I took this bus from Toa Payoh Lorong 4 to Queensway. One of my favourite routes.

Safety Measure

A reference on how to conduct a safe step.
Where to find?

Water Works

Water Works at Science Centre, Jurong East.
Exhibiting what water can do in a fun and interactive way.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Coconut Leaves

Scene of every single Idul Fitri late shopping at Geylang: strenuously engaged with collecting the good coconut leaves for making ketupat skin.

Chicken Rice @ Fork and Spoon

Chicken rice. Something pleasing and appealing you could easily find all over this tiny island.

Crayon

Julia Gabriel, centre for learning. The teachers are very patient and passionate.

Red Hot

Life without the Reds would be not HOT.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Pot as Old as Me?


How on earth could you find this good old pot?
By bike paddling on a very hot sunny day, in a tiny island called Pulau Ubin.

Sate Padang



Origin?
West Sumatra.
Where to buy in Singapore?
Indeed I don't know, unless you're patience enough to approach the prospective vendors a.k.a. my friends who master the art of making this extremely delicious dish:

When and where will they make and sell...
or
when will they be so kind letting you have it gratis.

Istana Kampong Glam



Located not far from Sultan Mosque. One fine hot day we took Mige there. It was the first visit for all of us.

Pecel Lele


Where to buy?
Ayam Penyet Prima Ria.
Was it good?
The sambel was way below my hot standard.