Eating healthy always seems to be tough. ‘Nonsensical’ food? Well, that you can find almost everywhere. Eating healthy on the other hand requires some sort of special attention and effort, and is always a very troublesome alternative.

My mom always tells me she gets a headache deciding what to cook for us. You see, she’s almost like a health freak (organic foods and all), so if she had a choice, she would torture my whole family with steamed fish, steamed vegetables and brown rice. NO SALT ALLOWED. So when she runs out of ideas and I suggest something, she’d say ‘You so smart, you go and cook lah!’

So I cooked lah.

I’m no Gordan Ramsay, but as a rule of thumb, if you have to wreck your brains to think of what to do next in the kitchen, you’re not eating the healthy way. Makes sense? Think of fish and chips – it leaves an oily mess, there’s a need for good batter, and you risk getting splattered by oil. So, it’s too complicated and unhealthy.

So my boyfriend and I decided to cook two weekends ago, the healthy (and lazy) way. The dish of the day? Baked chicken.

Not one to believe in recipes, I can tell you roughly what went in, because when it comes to something as simple as a pinch of salt, my boyfriend loves adding it in in the most dramatic way possible. Think: large action of throwing salt in the dish, with a little finger rubbing motion.

Ingredient list:

-          Chicken thigh (according to the number of people you’re cooking for)

-          White wine (I look for any wine that’s on sale at Cold Storage that week)

-          Carrots

-          Leeks

-          Tomatoes (large and cherry variations)

-          Peppers (yellow and red variants)

-          Fresh rosemary (chopped)

-          Sea salt

-          Garlic cloves (smashed)

I’m not even kidding when I say this:

1. Chop vegetables up, throw into large backing tray
2. Spread out and lay chicken thighs on top of the veggies
3. Place garlic cloves in empty spaces on tray
4. Pour generous serving of white wine over chicken (about 1.1.5 cups)
5. Sprinkle herbs and garnish with sea salt to taste

Then the best part is to throw it into a pre-heated oven. 30 minutes later, and you’re done.

Serve it with the remaining white wine that’s used for cooking. A carb-free, healthy dinner that’s ready in less than an hour.

                                                                                    Voila!

I hate crowds. I hate having to stay in a queue for a long time, or have to wait for a table just so that I can have a proper meal…because when I eventually do get to sit down, I’d usually be too tired and annoyed to enjoy what’s in front of me. And then it’s followed by bad service and the mad rush to finish your food because you have to be considerate: More people are waiting.

Recently, I managed to go to probably one of my least frequented places in the whole of Singapore, Buona Vista. And unless you were formerly from ACJC, that place doesn’t really evoke memories, nor is there anything really exciting. But I finally made a trip down…for food. I was told that a small café called Pies & Coffees had opened up at the new Rochester Mall. And other than Starbucks, I hadn’t heard of anyone opening up a branch there.

Pies & Coffees couldn’t have been in a better location, really. It’s set near a small road and surrounding it is greenery and a nice and rather large water feature, making it a perfect place to just relax and hang out with friends. Even on a hot day, the alfresco area is sheltered just nicely and has an air well that brings you the breeze but not the heat.

As the name suggests, this place is the place to go for if you’re looking for pies. There are over 14 to choose from (eight savoury and six sweet). Some of the specials here are the Wagyu Beef Cheek, Lamb Shank and Duck Confit ($9.95 each). The pies are made with a buttery and flaky crust that’s reminiscent of a cross between a pineapple tart and a croissant. Airy in every bite, they’re truly good even on their own.

 

But it was the Laksa Shepard Pie that stole my heart. It’s almost as good as eating a solid bowl of Laksa. As a substitute for Laksa gravy, potato is pureed to give it a similar texture. It also has a good kick of spiciness that gives the pie character.

If you’re looking for a dessert to complete your meal, the Chocolate Almond Pie ($8.95) is something I’d go for. Though it looks rich, it’s actually made with Valrhona chocolate so it isn’t quite too sweet.

One thing about the coffee here is that it’s brewed through a method known as air infusion -  the first in Singapore. Air infusion coffee goes through three steps of wetting the beans, injecting air into a pressurised chamber to create a uniform flavour extraction and a hydrolysis feature where air pushes the coffee out while filtering the beans. The result is a cup that’s deep-bodied and extremely aromatic.

Barista @ Work with the air infusion machine

Perfect cuppa!

The office is not the best place to make friends. Personal opinion, perhaps, but I have been working full time for almost two years now and each time I think that making friends does make the workplace a happier place, a turn of events is sure to happen, provoking me to think twice, or even thrice.

My first job didn’t work out too well. I worked as a journalist and the working hours were tedious and erratic, and it didn’t help that I was a (rather) innocent, fresh graduate who was optimistic about working life and believed that life was going to be all rosy. I did my job to the best of my ability – something which I am proud of till this day. But the long working hours also inevitably meant that I spent most of my time in the office or with colleagues chasing leads.

I’m not the kind to normally wear my heart on my sleeve. But when things in my social life got quite bad, it started showing in my demeanour and my level of enthusiasm. Not surprisingly, my boss pressed me on what was wrong and so I let her into my personal life. At the place I used to work, our supervisors weren’t really regarded as bosses because they’re only slightly older than us and the environment was pretty friendly and casual.

It felt quite good getting the matter off my chest, but of course, turns out it was short-lived. She soon started using it against me whenever she spotted mistakes in my work. It didn’t really affect me at first, but when I decided to take up my current job offer, she used it against me during my exit interview.

So one of the questions was: Do you think the company should re-hire you in the future?

Me: “I guess so, I don’t see why not.”

Supervisor: “Really? I don’t think so.”

Me: “Why not?”

Supervisor: “That’s because you have too many personal issues.”

Naturally, I was taken aback, because she didn’t evaluate me based on my work performance, but on what I had told her outside the office - which brings me back to why I feel that workplace friendships are simply wishful thinking.

But friends I’ve spoken to says that it’s usually among colleagues of the same rank who have issues with each other. Distrust, hatred, jealousy of being entrusted with something when everyone isn’t entitled to all add to tension in the office. While reports generally point to this direction and I’ve experienced it personally as well, I’m more inclined to think that it ultimately boils down to the person’s personality.

Your colleague may be competing for the same things and vying for the same promotion as you, but if she’s a genuine person who watches out for you and plays fair while in competition, it’s possible to be friends. And if she ultimately gets the promotion, I’d be happy knowing that she got there because she truly deserved it. On the flipside, if she plays dirty, then she deserves no respect whatsoever.

Let alone your friendship.

Man are like shoes. Pardon me for coming up with such a materialistic comparison, but if you think about it, there’s really some truth in it. The CLEO bachelors season is in now, and it’s made me think that, even as you flip through these pages and you’re a single girl, there’s not necessarily going to be a man who’s going to appeal to you. Which brings me back to my argument, that men are indeed like shoes -  there’s no one size fit all solution.

Some belong to the Valentino world, others at flea markets. Some make you feel like you’re the queen of his world, and there are those who may not shower you with the fanciest gifts on the planet, but you know he’s always the person you can count on, or call up in the middle of the work day to cry to and tell him how lousy your day has been. He must be the right fit for you, and make you feel comfortable at all times.

Or maybe I belong to what some would call the ‘old school’ camp. I’ve had friends who are constantly in search for the perfect guy, whether they’re attached or not. “He must be tall, smart, and handsome” or “He must at least have a good job”. They believe that the perfect guy exists, and that there’s always a perfect relationship just waiting for them to step into. Most of these friends, by the way, end up either single, or very unhappy in their relationships.

Research has shown (oh yes, that boring study!) that people who believe in finding the perfect soul mate are 50 percent more likely to get a divorce than people who don’t. The reason? They find themselves increasingly disillusioned into thinking that they’re not with the ‘right’ person. I’m not saying that they’re crazy or what, but, is there really a use of waiting for that perfect guy to come along…and not be fully contented in life until you find him?

I believe that a girl’s intuition is always right. The guy may not be the ideal person when you first meet him, but what if you guys can talk hours into the night and have topics which you can discuss at length? Would you give this up for an extremely handsome dude with whom you’ve no connection to?

Besides being someone I can talk to, I like my guy to be someone who has a sense of humour. I believe that in laughing heartily together, barriers are broken, and you’ll come to see what kind of guy he really is. Laughing makes me happy, and it helps me realise that life in one big joke and shouldn’t be taken so seriously.

Every guy is a bachelor in his own right.

He may not have been spotted by us based on his good looks or charming personality, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a special quality. And if you spot this special quality, do take note. Perhaps some day he will make it into your personal magazine of 50 Eligible Bachelors.

What about food?

I generally steer clear of foods like spinach, seaweed (no sushi), and even some of my ‘ugliest’ dishes like pig intestines, duck feet or even pork ribs. Because honestly, the last thing we want is to look un-glam on the first date. But what happens if you’re meeting your future man of your dreams, and don’t even know it? What if you weren’t interested in the guy when you both first met, and didn’t care what he thought about what you ate, and so you…

My boyfriend and I were ‘pals’ when we first met. So of course, I naturally didn’t think much about having to impress him. What I didn’t know at that time was that he actually had a crush on me, so I treated him like how I would with my girl friends. Once, we attended a corporate meeting together. During the break, I greedily helped myself to some durian puffs and chomped them down without offering any to him. After the much needed sugar fix, I felt ‘alive’ once again and heartily chatted with him until break time was over.

When the meeting resumed, I was surprised when the CEO of the company came and sat next to me. To make matters worse, I was asked by him to share my experience in handling a project…with my durian breath.

It was only after my boyfriend and I got together that he confessed to me that my breath stunk like crazy that day. And he never failed to remind me that he couldn’t have imagined what the CEO must have gone through after my impressive sharing session which lasted a good 10 minutes.

Till today, it never fails to be a running joke between us. In this month’s Guys Tell All (page 24), we ask guys what they really felt about falling in love. Of course, I took the chance to interrogate my boyfriend on this while I was at it. His answer? He said it’s in the hilarious moments that felt that he truly got to know me, and it helped him see who I really am without having to keep my guard up.

Whether we agree with it or not, bullying happens all the time. In the office, at school, at home, or even with people we have no connection with.

I used to think that only children did it, because they didn’t know any better. But then I started work and I see it all the time. Co-workers, bosses, or even people I don’t work directly with. Perhaps the reason I didn’t notice this earlier is because the signs of bullying aren’t what they’re typically shown on TV as: the pushing, the shouting, the shoving. But as I did my research for this month’s Know & Tell (page 158), I started to realise that subtle things like hurtful and degrading comments, or even something like refusing to delegate work, are some signs of bullying.

I think that the problem with subtle bullying tactics is that they don’t hurt as much, so it’s way too easy for us to push it aside and ignore it. They don’t affect our lives as much as physical hurt, but in truth, it affects us so much more because it’s harboured within us for a longer period of time.

That being said, many of us are bullies too, though we may choose to see ourselves as the victim and never the villain.

My group of friends and I used to poke fun at this harmless girl. Truth be told, she was one of the nicest girl I’ve ever know, never one to throw a tantrum or be angry at anything for long.  But if there was any teasing to be done, she would be the one because she never retaliated. It was always meant in jest, but one day, she broke down and cried. We were all pretty much stunned at first, but it was also a sign that we had gone overboard, and we never dared so much as to cheekily disturb her any more again. 

I realised that if someone doesn’t retaliate or stop us from doing things we did, it’s not a license to continue bullying him or her. Watching this week’s episode of Big Bang Theory, I realised that not everyone can be a Leonard, and so not every one dares confront their bully.

Though this may sound like a far-fetched idea, but perhaps it’s time to stop the bullying from taking place by stopping the bully within ourselves first.

What I love about watching cooking shows like Jamie’s Kitchen and Poh’s Kitchen is that it allows me to observe  (and get inspired) by how easy it is to make dishes right in the comfort of your own kitchen—without having to follow any sort of stringent rules. Jamie epitomises it best with his ‘dash’ of salt (cue action of pouring a heap-full of salt on to palms and strewing it into the mixing bowl). He makes cooking look flexible and shows that well, anything can go.

I’m pretty used to these types of cooking shows by now (and the travel types done by the ever charming Bourdain), so I initially wasn’t too excited when I heard that there was yet another cooking show hitting our screens. There’s only so much visual cooking I can do, right?

But…but… I was told that the new cooking show done by Li TV isn’t just your regular cooking show. It’s a cooking show for lovers of molecular gastronomy. Though I’m honestly no big fan of molecular cuisine, I was very intrigued by how must research and science goes into producing it, and decided to give it a go yesterday.

I’m not sure if you remember chef Alvin Leung? He’s the guy behind this controversial Sex On The Beach dish. Well, this self-taught Michelin-Starred chef who’s perhaps more well-known for his X-treme Chinese cuisine in Hong Kong stars in it as the co-host and chef. Each week, he travels to a particular Asian destination to sample the country’s well-known dishes handpicked by a female celebrity co-host.

But this show isn’t all about travelling and eating. What chef Alvin does then is to deconstruct these dishes and reconstruct them using molecular techniques. While retaining the flavours of the original dish, he successfully manages to manipulate your tongue into thinking that you’re eating something else. So for example, you would expect our local nasi lemak to have the rough texture of rice, but chef Alvin presents it in the form of ice-cream that not only retains the distinct coconut flavour, it also has the taste of chilli! 

Nasi Lemak ice cream, anyone?

Another deconstructed dish: Sup tulang

While this 30-minute show ain’t going to teach you how to recreate this dish (sadly), what it can offer is a sneak peak into how molecular foods are created with all sorts of scientific equipment and knick knacks that you never knew could be used in the laboratory as well as in your kitchen!

 And if you find that molecular gastronomy is your thang, do check out this month’s Social Butterfly (page 241!) I was lucky enough to witness how a molecular Cointreau cocktail was created right in front of my very eyes and can’t wait for a local bar to offer it so I can have seconds (and thirds).

TGIF! Friday’s finally here, so shove any leftover work under your desk (they say work never ends) and out with the booze – it’s time to party! Paint the town red!

Source: Getty

The thing about Friday (and Saturdays) is that we can’t wait to celebrate our week’s worth of hard work through alcohol. And we’re not afraid to show it. A typical Friday night out with the girls would start with dinner and a glass of wine, followed by a casual ‘let’s go some place to chill’. Usually, we end up at some place with live music, and there’s always booze. Or if we’re energetic enough (and if no one wore ridiculously high heels), we’d hit the club to dance the night away and share jugs of drinks.

Perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise, but I’m a sleepy drunk. So when I’ve had too much to drink, I’d usually just get grumpy or fall asleep if I’m sitting at bar stool. But I’ve seen friends who aren’t that lucky. A good friend of mine, who’s usually pretty reserved and shy, would start getting aggressive – which isn’t exactly a good idea if you’re in a club and there’s bound to be people bumping into you on the dance floor. In her drunken stupor, she would get irritated and once even accused people of starting fights with her just because they ‘hit her arm’ or something as unreasonable as that.

How do I know that she’s drunk? Well, for one, she won’t remember what happens the morning after, which is pretty scary. It’s like talking to someone with amnesia, except you know that it can be so easily avoided.

But here’s the thing: no one really takes binge drinking that seriously. Speaking to my girlfriends (and people that I meet at events), the only thing that deters them from guzzling down alcohol, is the fear of ‘calories’. People don’t want to drink because it makes them fat, not because it makes them feel nauseous, and certainly not because they’re afraid to die.

While doing research and interviews for CLEO Investigates: Is your happy hour getting out of control, I came across an extremely disturbing fact: 80 percent of alcoholics suffer a deficiency in thiamine, a vitamin that’s vital to blood circulation and formation. Some go on to develop a condition that causes paralysis of the nerves. If this isn’t scary enough, I don’t know what else is. Plus, binge drinking huge amounts of alcohol usually leaves an icky feeling that puts you on the verge of puking.

I guess that when people drink in groups, it’s harder to reject alcohol that’s coming to your table in rounds. For me, I like to fake it by taking sips and walking around…so people can’t monitor how much I’ve drank or jeer at me for spending an hour on a single bottle of beer.

I have neither a model’s body, nor the height of one.

Growing up, I was always skinny and hunched, and my nickname in the family was sam poh (skinny in dialect). Some of my school mates would make fun of me, and my family would tell me that I’d get blown away by the wind some day if I didn’t eat more.

And so I ate, and ate, but nothing changed. It didn’t help that I was bug-toothed and wore gigantic, plastic glasses that made me feel even more uncool. I remember at age 12 tell my cousin: “I hate being skinny” and she told me that I would regret saying that some day.

For a long time, I never did.

It was difficult to buy clothes because I’d look like a clothes hanger. When I bought shorts, my friends would ask me why I couldn’t buy a longer pair of shorts to cover more of my legs. Boots were out of the question: I felt that I looked like a bamboo stick with gigantic feet. It was awkward.

The worst part was having no one to talk to about it. No one understood how I felt, and they’d say I was crazy for feeling insecure about my body. I felt frustrated that my friends could openly say they felt fat and how everyone would say ‘me too’, but I could never do the same.

I can’t seem to pinpoint a changing moment in my life when I started to embrace my body for what it is. I just did. I started buying clothes because I felt like it rather than how it would look on me. Sure I had my fair share of fashion disasters, but it felt great not having to go by the rules.

Going to the gym helps me gain more confidence in the way my body looks. Each time I attend a yoga or Pilates class, I am forced to look at myself in the mirror for the entire session. I used to gaze around, looking at more attractive women ad admiring their great bodies, but the more I look at myself, the more I started to appreciate my own body. Being skinny has its perks too: I’m more flexible and can hold difficult poses for longer.

Body confidence, in essence, is all in your attitude. When you’re happy and positive, you learn how to take things in your stride and make the best of what you have. These days, I’ve learnt to take things in my stride. So when people comment how lucky I am to be skinny, I find joy in irking them even further by saying “yes, but I can eat whenever I feel like it and I don’t diet, and I can’t get fat!”

I don’t know whether it’s the feeling of jealousy or irritation, but it some how always manages to keep them quiet for a while.

For the Golden Pastry:

300gm Hong Kong flour

30gm custard powder

1tsp. baking powder

2 sachets Gold Kili Instant double shot white milk coffee

150gm butter  

50gm sugar power

1 large egg and 1 additional yolk 

1tsp. coffee oil

Filling

Mix lotus paste and baked salted yolks and divide into 40 equal portions

1kg  white Lotus paste 

3 baked mashed salted egg yolks

 PASTRY preparation:

1) Cream all shortening, chilled butter, sugar, eggs, coffee oil, baking powder together until semi fluffy texture.

2) Add in all sifted flour, custard powder, double shot coffee powder mix bind thoroughly, and lightly knead to form soft dough. Refridge dough for about 15 minutes before use.

3) Divide pastry dough into 40 equal weight and portion size. Roll each dough piece out and wrap a portion of filling paste. seal and enclose opening.

4) Eggwash mooncakes and pin about 3 halve walnut on to each surface side. 

5)Bake in pre-heated OVEN at 200 degree  C  for 1st 10 minutes then remove to eggwash second time and return mooncake into hot moderate oven for another 10 to 15 min until golden brown.

Credits: Chef Lisa Leong

Starters: Jamie Oliver’s bruschetta

Source: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3324/3182238046_239ce5b3cd.jpg

If there are only a couple of friends coming over for dinner, I’d buy my ready cuts of beef from Cold Storage.  Marinate the beef slices well by ‘massaging’ a generous amount of black crushed pepper, sea (coarse) salt, and basil. Drizzle a grilling pan with olive oil, and leave to cook on one side for about eight minutes (for medium rare) before cooking on the other side.

Meanwhile, you can prepare your own sauce by boiling chicken stock and thickening it with some corn flour. Add some red wine to taste, and throw in some button mushrooms until the entire mixture thickens into a gravy.

Dessert: Red Nose Day Raspberry cookies

Source: www.bbcgoodfood.com

Just for the fun of it, I’d be making red and white-themed cookies to commemorate national day! These cheeky cookies will be sure to put a smile to your friends' faces.

Recipe and instructions from BBC GoodFood website:

• 250g butter , softened
• 140g caster sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
  
• 300g plain flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 6 tbsp raspberry jam
• 6 tbsp icing sugar , sifted
• icing , to decorate

1. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.

2. Mix the butter and sugar in a large bowl with a wooden spoon, then add the egg yolk and vanilla and briefly beat to combine. Sift over the flour and cinnamon, stirring until the mixture is well combined.

3. Separate the dough into two balls, and chill for 25 minutes.

4. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, then stamp out the biscuits with a cutter size of your choice. Stamp the centres with a smaller cutter to create a hole in the middle.

5. Bake for 10-12 mins until pale golden, then lift onto a cooling rack.

6. Mix the raspberry jam with the sifted icing sugar. When the biscuits are cool, spoon a little of the jam onto each whole biscuit, then carefully sandwich the other biscuits on top. Pipe icing mixed with a little water to create a funny face!

Happy holidays everyone!

• Six ramen stalls will each have a stall at Iluma, where they will exhibit their signature ramens for a year.
  
• There are four quarter finals and the ULTIMATE RAMEN CHAMPION 2011 SINGAPORE will be announced at the end of the competition.
  
• The crowned champion will be invited to set up a restaurant here in 2012.

Price: $11
Taishoken is reportedly one of the most famous ramen shops in Tokyo. Founder Kazuo is the inventor and trailblazer if tsukemen (dry ramen with dip).
My take: I like how the noodles were seved in a similar fashion as mee pok tah, so the noodles wouldn't go soggy. The pork, though tender and melts in your mouth, is too salty for my liking.

Price: 15
Gentetsu, the restaurant, has been the winner of the ramen champion in Sapporo for three years now.
My take: This bowl of noodles took me by surprise with its freshly-ground ginger paste, which gives off a mild ginger aftertaste when stirred into the browth. According to the chef, ginger is a common ingredient in most Sapporo dishes. But I'm not sure if it'll be well received here because the weather here is not like Sapporo's cold weather where some ginger will definitely warm you up!

Price: $13
Creator of this dishm, Ikkousha, is said to be one of the most celebrated restaurants of Fukuoka.
My take: The dried fungus was a pleasant surprise, but for those who aren't fans, there's always the boiled egg and pork belly to fall back on. But the salty pork broth wouldn't make me come back for seconds.

‘Tis the month to drop all diets, don fishermen’s pants (adjustable ones) and pig your way down at the SINGAPORE FOOD FESTIVAL. For the 18^th years now (yes, it’s been THAT long), foodies all over the island have been gathering at various iconic landmarks to showcase what Singapore is truly good at: Eating. This year’s theme? “Curry and Spices”, which showcases Singapore’s best-loved curries and distinctly-flavoured dishes.

The event is expected to host around 400,000 visitors (throughout the entire festival, of course), and though I’ve always hated crowded events like this, it’s a good opportunity to taste Singapore’s myriad of cuisines and make mental notes of what’s good (or not). I’d suggest taking snapshots of the stalls that have the funkiest dishes so that at next year’s Father’s/Mother’s/Grandparent’s day, you’ll have no problem naming a restaurant rather than heading to the usual places. 

I was fortunate enough to be at the media preview of the Singapore Food Festival yesterday, and saw little boxes lining the stall at Jumbo. When I looked closer, they turned out to be boxes of the restuaurant’s famous Black Pepper Crab Spice and Chilli Crab Paste (sans the man tou). The joy! Imagine what great presents they’d make for your dear friends who are studying overseas and can’t enjoy our local cuisines. Plus, there are easy to understand instructions (trust me, I can’t cook to save my life and they looked simple enough), so you can cook it to impress your new date.

Another event that you’d have to look out for it the Tiffin Cruise, where you’d get to enjoy the sights down the Singapore River while enjoying piping hot and delicious nan served on board. Yes, you’ll get a taste of what life really was like before the invention of the microwave oven.

!

Date: 15-24 July

Time: 4pm-11pm (weekdays), 12pm-11pm (weekends)

Venue: Clarke Quay Read Bridge & along Central River Promenade

Admission: Free