The revenge of the red buggers

Look! Some of the stubborn ants who refused to give up.
Voldermot and Dumbledore are interesting to these ants. Hate them!

Ants, the bane of my life at the moment. I usually read before I sleep. A week ago, I wanted to read Harry Potter and Deadly Hallows (just watched the movie). Something entertaining and brainless before bed for sweet dreams. Dump the book on the bed, took my shower.

Climbed onto the bed and flipped opened the book. Tiny red ants rained onto my hands and body!!!!!! Ok, they didn't rain but a lot of them fell out of the book onto me. How fast can a person leap out from the bed? Very, very fast.

The resourceful little ants were building a new nest in my sis's Harry Potter! OMG! I picked the book from the bed and ran at top speed to the balcony and started knocking the book frantically attempting to shake out the colony and brushing the red ants off me. Gross, tiny red ants and eggs. Arrrgghhhhhhhhh!!!! Adrenaline rushing. Snuffed out every single ant including the queen ant. I assumed she is the queen since she was the biggest.........not a peaceful night.

The battle has begun

The horrid little red ants are on the move again.

My long standing battle with those spiteful ants have begun again. This time, my weapon of choice is tea tree oil. Aha, they are running, running, scrambling, scrambling, running for their life. I can feel their panic. Wahahhahahahahah! Die! Die! Die!

My home and balcony garden is home to an unwelcome colony of spiteful red ants. I have tried baygon, ant bait, pepper, plant pesticides (both systemic and contact), neem oil and now the miraculous tea tree oil. Boy, do they dislike the oil, bet it hurts. Ouch. I don't think I can live with ants that keep biting me all the time. Their bites packed a punch.

The ants are avoiding all the spots with the oil smears. I have dotted the known ant nests and ant trails with the oil. I have also drenched the soil with diluted tea tree oil and water and rimmed the flowering pots with the oil. The ants are running, they have lost their organisation.

Insert really really evil laughter...

What to do when it is public holiday and you are at a supermarket?

Day 1
We ended up in the supermarket after the rain dashed our afternoon at the botanic gardens. Since it was so cold and gloomy,  we had sukiyaki hotpot at home. I love hotpots on cool nights. The sukiyaki sauce was from a bottle. Added more water even though the instruction said otherwise. It was extremely salty without added water. Vegetables? Tung-o, golden mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms, pumpkin, beansprouts, leeks and bamboo shoots. Meat? Pork and scallops. R insisted on buying the scallops. A hearty meal.

We had sukiyaki at home in front of the TV.

The food

Gorgeous vegetables. More in the fridge.

Day 2
Leftover steamboat for dinner. Stewed the rest of the bamboo shoots, added white radish, leeks, pumpkin and carrots.

 

The leftovers steamboat and more side dishes.

My fav stir-fried bean sprouts. This is with tomatoes, king
oyster mushrooms and bamboo shoots.

Closed up of the stew.

The doesn't look great seaweed, carrot and soya bean dish.
Seaweed is very good for detoxifying the body
and a good source of iodine.

To eat or not to eat?

Steamed I think it's coral grouper
cantonese style. Very yummy.

An omnivore's dilemma. To eat meat or not to eat. I ate. R doesn't have any problems eating meat. I do. I prefer to eat vegetables but eat meat once or twice a week. I find eating meat more of a social habit than a dietery necessity. If it is served, I will eat it. It is about being grateful for the food especially if an animal has unwillingly died to be on my dining plate. Being wasteful is really a big no-no for me. I usually do not go all the way out to eat meat unless it's my once a month Ayam Penyet at the hawker centre. It's that beautiful combination of moist fried chicken and that sinful sambal. Shilin fried chicken and Arnold's fried chicken too! My, my blood thirsty cravings.

Why do I choose to eat less meat? Firstly, it's healthier diet. Nuff said. And of course, less guilt. Do I feel weaker from eating less of meat? No, in fact, I believe I am stronger with this diet preference. Whole vegetables, nuts, fruits and once-a-week meat works for me, I am more alert and have less allergies.

What about fish? I don't about you, have you dived before? Fish like groupers do not come in big schools. They come in two or threes, or are loners. First, you have to understand how fishes are caught. Either they are trawled from the seabed or are caught from a long drift net. Of course, you will not get only edible fish per catch. You get a lot of bycatch. I mean a lot, a lot of inedible bycatch. If I didn't remember wrongly, it's almost 70% of the total catch as written in a National Geographic magazine a few years back. Consumers will never see the wasted bycatch as they are thrown away by the fisherman. You must see the pictures to believe the amount that is wasted. Then, I didn't give a thought about what I was eating, never questioned what was served, it was just food to me. We humans are very good at emptying our once bountiful oceans...

This fish was given by in-laws. Looks like a coral grouper to me. It was very delicious and fresh. I steamed it with ginger and after the fish was cooked, I drizzled it with hot oil and the soya sauce/ mushroom sauce/sugar gravy. Super yummy.

Steamed fish, fish soup, chicken rice, fried chicken, satay, why do you make it so hard to eat less of you? I am so thankful I like vegetables. Can't imagine if I don't, mealtimes would have been a chore.

Yoga in the morn followed by a yummy green smoothie

Hello, sun. Love yoga in the morning. Invigorating and enriching : )

Then, I had a very creamy green smoothie for my morning fix. Bliss, while R and I wait for the nephew to arrive for two days of babysitting while his grandma is away for holiday.

Passionfruit, fuji apple, pear and
a big handful of basil and mint.

Cut into pieces, softer fruits at the
bottom and a glass of water.

Makes 2 glasses and my retro blender in the background.

Basil & Mint Harvest from the
balcony garden. Botak plant now.

Food and more food

Dinner: Spinach with Dried Scallops and Wolfberries,
Braised Beancurd with mushrooms and Herbal Chicken Soup

Spinach with Scallops and Wolfberries

Braised Beancurd with Mushrooms

Herbal Chicken Soup

I do eat instant noodles. This is my fav. The noodles comes prepacked
with wolfberries. I added spinach and more wolfberries.

Chinese herbal flavor vegetarian noodles. This is very gd.
I always ask my in-laws to buy this from an organic shop.

All the vegetables in the fridge in a salad for lunch.

Claypot rice with chinese sausages,
stewed mushrooms with shallots and spinach.

Some of the food I ate this month at home.

Report card on my plants

Murrayas
They bloomed together again. More sweeping for me. I think they bloom every 1 month.

Lipstick plants
I think, I am maybe 2 months away to be called a plant murderer. I must remember to take a before and after pix to show my point. The sunbirds still turn up every morning but they just stare at the plants. 

Aloe Vera
Really growing sideways. Repotting soon.

Lantanas
They bloomed. Nice orange.

Thinking and reading too much into things

Humans like to complicate simple matters. One of the points I observed during a yoga workshop I attended this past weekend at the Sun Festival.

When one of the teachers asked the class how to unblock our chakras (something like energy channel within one's body) and have a ache-free body and led a worry-free lifestyle. Answers given from the students ranged from pranayana (breathing exercises), meditation to practising the asanas. Boy, people do like to complicate matters and sound so sage-like. My answer was totally unrelated to yoga. It was just being happy and laughter. To me, there is something more to yoga than the external motion of perfecting the asanas. There is this inner detox of the mind. The stillness of the mind, and not being too caught up by the daily stresses of life.

Next, standing backbends! They absolutely terrify me. There is something unnerving about bending backwards while standing upright to landing on my palms on the floor behind me.

Fear grips me. My heart races, muscles tense and I always hope that I will miraculously land safely without hurting myself. It is really a long, long drop back and I don't like going to see my chiropracter for a sprained back. Don't tell me about the theories of backbends and the ease of executing the pose. At that tensed moment, my mind is blank and all I can think of is, 'I am so afraid of falling.' Teachers have said that I should be able to do it as my lumbar area is flexible but I have to overcome this hurdle myself. I used to end up grabbing the poor teacher half way through the pose risking injury to myself and the teacher (Sorry, Kym and Asokan). Trust me, I am not exactly that light.

Fear is irrational. Even with controlled bending, bending backwards into the unknown without seeing where I am heading to cripples me. I can go on and on about this fear but during the workshop, I did it. I have not done standing backbends for a very long time. Something in me changed in this one year since I stopped work. There were several milestones reached in my yoga practice. I had a bad fall a few years back while doing the handstand which built this irrational fear of all inversions and backbends. I avoided practising difficult inversions and backbends since that fall especially if it is a combination of both. I always believe the practice of yoga somehow relates and affects how one lives her life. While resting at home, I did a mind detox and figured out what I am afraid of? For both yoga and life, three points came to mind. Falling, failure, the unknown. By changing my mindset, I have progressed and changed, my priorities definitely have shifted. The only hurdle is my mind.

Walking with Dinosaurs, the Arena Spectacular

Dinosaurs in my brain. Reread Michael Crichton's Jurassic park and The Lost World in the last 3 days. Moving on to my National Geographic dinosaurs articles next or maybe I will watch the dinosaur dvds.

Going, going, going. : P Let the countdown begin. I must behave like an adult in front of my nephew. No to sudden roaring or slashing in mid air.

Mmm, I think it's only when you are a young child you learn to spell and pronounce those difficult dinosaur names. Repeat after me! Velociraptor! Stegasauras...etc

Going to see these or check out the website here. BTW, the navigation buttons on the website roar when you click on them. Cool.

10 large dinosaurs
Plateosaurus - 10 ft tall x 31 ft long
Stegosaurus - 18.5 ft tall x 36 ft long
Allosaurus - 14.5 ft tall x 43 ft long
Brachiosaurus - adult 36 ft tall x 56 ft long and young 29.5 ft tall x 48 ft long
Ornithocheirus - Wing Span 38 ft
Ankylosaurus - 12 ft tall x 34 ft long
Torosaurus (2) - 13 ft tall x 30 ft long
Tyrannosaurus Rex (2) (one spare) 23 feet tall x 42 feet long

5 suit dinosaurs
3 Utahraptors - 8 ft tall x 14 ft long
1 Baby T-Rex (one spare) 7 ft tall x 14 long
1 Liliensternus - 7.5 ft tall x 16 ft long

So exciting. Pardon me, while I get to know my dinosaurs. Oh yes, I have already checked out the merchandise online. Good for kids only.

For Dino fans, children and those who wanted to be a paleontologist when you were a child:

Walking with Dinosaurs, the Arena Spectacular is showing at Indoor Stadium from 1 December  2010. Book your tickets from Sistic. http://www.dinosaurlive.com.sg/

Lipstick plant report card: Not doing too well : (

Been 3 months since I bought the two lipstick plants from the nurseries.

What is a lipstick plant? Copied right from Wikipedia, Aeschynanthus is a genus of ca. 185 species of tropical herbs. They are found in southern and southeastern Asia, the islands of Indonesia, New Guinea, and the Philippines. They are usually trailing epiphytes with brightly colored flowers that are pollinated by sunbirds.

I didn't know what and where it is from before I bought them. I just like their fat dark green glossy leaves, the red tubular flowers and the way the leaves cascaded. They were on my 'I Want list' for sometime.

It's been a fair share of happiness whenever they bloomed, or when the sunbirds came to visit and frustrations when the green glossy leaves kept falling off.

Was it the location of the plants in my balcony? Or too much water or too little of it? Or maybe too much sun?

A gardener's constant dilemma. How much is too much water or how much is too much light? Or too much fertilizer?

According to the goggle searches and instructions from the nursery's owner, it is a low maintenance plant that needs bright light and moist but well draining soil. Yep, sounds easy... I really hope they don't die before I get the hang of looking after them.

Marching on.

An email you need to read

Have I?

Excerpt from The 4-hour Work Week, Timothy Ferriss. A portion of an email the author received from a terminally ill girl in a New York Hospital which he reread repeatedly. 

Slow Dance
Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?

When you ask: How are you?
Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done,
do you lie on your bed

With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?

You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?

And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die

Cause you never had time
To call and say, "Hi"?

You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,
It's like an unopened gift thrown away.

Life is not a race.
Do take it slower.

Hear the music
Before the song is over.

Raising a Stink

Stock Photo AP.
You can't be serious, that's a big heap of s...compost!

What is wrong with these people! First, they stockpiled sand, now compost or ****. Finally, a picture of the 200 tonne of 'compost' that had it's stench perfuming the neighbourhood for the past 2 weeks.

Had my first whiff sometime back. I was like in the bathroom, I went, "Is there something dead in my home drainage system? Time to buy the drain de-clogging chemical?" I lowered my head and sniffed at the drain traps. Eewwwkk... grossed out behavior. Then I stepped out of the air-conditioned bedroom into the living room. You could have knocked me over with a feather. Did a sewage pipe burst or what! It was really a major stink. That puzzling stench came back again and again over the past two weeks. Then, I found out from a forum that there is a mountain of compost fermenting in the heat and rain less than a km from my home.

3 Laws of Gardening

Moved this big pot of plant into this corner of the balcony today.
Took me 15 mins. My back is killing me.

Came across these 3 points in Elle Decoration. Rings true.

• Gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding out until your back gets used to it.
  
• God made rainy days so gardeners could get housework done.
  
• One of the best ways to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out easily, it is a valuable plant.

Durians for lunch?

I wonder what got into me? For lunch, I ate a box of durians all by myself. I counted, six rather big seeds. I think that's not a lot or am I deceiving myself? I am feeling super duper heaty now. To counteract the heatiness, I ate a 水梨 and a kiwi and it's really not working. So, I made a pear, tomatoes, almonds and rocket salad dressed in balsamic vinegar and the rosemary oil I made. I hope it helps.

Pear, tomatoes, almonds and rocket salad with rosemary oil and balsamic vinegar.

I think pears and rocket are a match made in heaven. They taste divine together with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Forget about the tomatoes and almonds. Shaved parmesan cheese will taste great with the pear and rocket. Ummm, trying to cut down on my dairy intake, so no shaved yummy cheese.

Urgh, too much durian! What other cooling food should I eat? No mangosteens at home and am too darn lazy to brew herbal tea. No more durians for me for some time.

The Herbs on a Rainy Day

It rained while the sun was blazing.
Check out the fat raindrops.

Can you see the raindrops?

The two Rosemarys in a flower box under the Frangipani's shade.

Thai Basil for my smoothies and omelette.

The Mint where the ants are living now. I can't seems to get rid of them.
They moved from one pot of herbs to another.

The Aloe Vera given by a relative when they were moving out of their house.

The other pot of Rosemary.

New shoots from the Murraya.

Euphoric

I felt like I have soared through air.

Finally after 3 long years. The elusive Chakrasana with help from Makiko Sinseh. I never manage to roll over and propel myself from Halasana into Chakrasana. Feeling great, I actually laughed when I managed to lift my body over to an upright position. Today is a very good day. 3 long years of feeling dense while observing others, reading the theory and trying again and again. A small milestone. Next up, learn to engage the core muscles and bandhas properly and manage the Chakrasana on my own. One mini step at a time.

Chakrasana occurs twice in the primary series of Ashtanga Yoga. Click here to see what is Chrakrasana.

H.om Yoga, a boutique Hot Yoga Studio at Circular Rd

$20 hot yoga unlimited for 7 days for newcomers only.

Tried out this new Boutique Yoga studio, H.om Yoga at Circular Road. Did 5 days of yoga with them to take advantage of the deal from Timeout ($15 for 7 days unlimited). My last Hot Yoga session (not saying where it was) was not a pleasant one as the teacher was too chatty and irrelevant that he actually irritated me. But H.om Yoga left me with a good impression. They branded themselves well, nice typography and interiors.

H.om Yoga

Quality of teachers: Good. Instructions were clear. Amanda did simple adjustments/corrections for the students.

Class size: Averaging around 5 but I went during off peak hours hours. The 2 studios can contain 16 – 20 students respectively. A comfortable mirrored studio.
Cost: Ok. Check their website. 10 class card for $280, 280 monthly.

Staff: Very friendly

Mats provided: Yes. No, they don't smell.

Towels: Yes.

Lockers: Yes.

Water provided: Yes.

Shower room cleanliness: Very good

Booking system: Good. Online or phone booking.

Fellow students: No giggly, whiny or talkative students in the class. Serious yoginis. Thank God.

Transport link: Near MRT stations, Raffles Place and Clarke Quay.

I have been practising yoga for sometime, I can't say I have been a diligent student but I have to thank teachers who have taught me (Asokan, Kym and Gwen) for their patience with me. Steadily, I have improved over the years. I have been looking for the perfect studio. What is high on my want list for the perfect studio is, the quality of the teachers, style of yoga, class size, practising with like-minded classmates, aircon/ cool air and a good transport link.

Am I a convert to Hot Yoga? I love the way my muscles are able to stretch further during each practice. I perspired loads but really, I can't stand the heat. I am still undecided about whether Hot Yoga is really beneficial to my health. Different yoga teachers gave different opinions. I am thinking it is too heaty for my body system.

Will I sign up for their classes? Mmm, let me finish my package at my current yoga studio first. The search for the perfect yoga studio goes on.

H.om Yoga is located at 3 Canton Street. Tel: 6438 0103

99% practice – 1% theory
K.Pattabhi Jois

I want to eat Yong Tau Fu

My take on Yong Tau Fu with sauce. Mine's a mushroom sauce.

I have to go Sembawang to eat at my favourite Yong Tau Fu stall.

Yum yum, better than Ampang in the east coast area.

How far do I go to satisfy a food craving? First, I attempt to cook it. Devour it, than I spend the next few days thinking about the real deal. Heck, went down to Upper Thomson Rd (nearer to sembawang) to eat at my favourite Yong Tau Fu stall on Saturday. Yes, right at the far end away from Hans. Where are my favourite Yong Tau Fu stalls? Ngee Fou Restaurant (Hakka) Ampang Yong Tau Foo, Ampang Niang Dou Fu in the east and the Xiu Ji Ikan Billis Yong Tau Fu in Chinatown Complex.

My version wasn't too bad either but I much prefer eating at the coffeeshop. I can read my papers while looking at the tall trees across the street and watch the parking antics of my fellow Singaporeans.

Basil from the Garden and Breakfast

Basil from my Thai Basil pot

Instead of the usual fried egg with basil and tomatoes. I had
chee chong fun with basil and mushroom floss (Myco Farm).

Rocket, apple and passionfruit smoothie too!

'Mr Hibiscus, where are you?'

Remember? This is how you used to look like?

Hello there, Mr Hibiscus. I know the sky has been overcast for the whole week. But do you mind blooming this weekend? You had your fertilizer feed ok. I'm waiting.

Fresh wasabi root from Alishan in Taiwan

Thanks for the fresh wasabi root, friends V & I

Does fresh wasabi taste different for the usual wasabi served at restaurants? The answer is a resounding yes. I have tasted freshly grated wasabi root in Tokyo and some Japanese restaurants in Singapore. Freshly grated roots are a faint green colour, lightly scented, mild but still with a kick unlike the lurid green ones from tubed wasabi. Tubed wasabi is made from horse radish, mustard powder and colouring BTW.

Couple V and I gave us the fresh wasabi from Alishan, Taiwan. Friend I's mum (Friend I is taiwanese) who came to visit had a friend who grows wasabi in her backyard in Alishan, Taiwan. So here we are, fresh wasabi. I never knew wasabi grew in Taiwan. Apparently, Taiwan imports their better quality wasabi harvest to Japan. All that I learnt from Japan Hour is that these roots need to be grown in very clean, unpolluted water and cool weather. Thanks for the root. : P

What did we do with the wasabi? R bought sashimi from Mediya and volia, dinner.

R's chirasu don with the grated wasabi

Mine, isn't it nicely presented?

Grating the wasabi, but here's one from our meal in Beer Delica, Tokyo.

Oops, I have forgotten to take a pic of the grating process. But here's a pic of our meal at Beer Delica, Tokyo, an izakaya I posted about previously. Hmmm, in Singapore, fresh wasabi is usually eaten in upscale Japanese restaurants. But in Tokyo, these can be found at Izakayas (local drinking joints). Not that out of reach after all.

Read more about Wasabi here

Shall I eat the cakes or shall I not?

Four cakes to be eaten. Which should I eat?

I should be sensible and eat one cake and not all four cakes at one go. There are cakes in the fridge waiting to be eaten! Last night, I was really tempted to eat all the cakes after dinner. It was just one of those days I want to eat everything in sight. It was really, "Should I? Should I not?"

Tea break by the balcony. Mango mousse cake

The cakes were from Bakerzin. For nostalgia sake, those who stayed in Marine Drive years ago, you may remember the battle between the two bakeries, Seng Choong Confectionery vs Tip Top. Yes, Bakerzin started from Owner Daniel Tay's dad's humble neighbourhood bakery. I remembered my mum telling me that the son of my favourite baker had returned from his overseas baking stint. Ah, the new beautiful cake display, square sponge cakes with the artfully arranged round shavings of chocolate. It was a world difference from the usual creamy cartoon- character cakes one sees at a bakery. The cakes were really pleasing to the eye. I stopped and stared everytime I walked past the shop.

Murrayas in Full Bloom

In full bloom on the 2nd night

Cloyingly sweet. Their lovely scent permeated the whole house. The two Murrayas, the stars of my moon garden are in full synchronised blooming, it's the first time they are doing that. 

Like friends, they need to get to know one another, they had bloomed separately since they were paired together. Plants have personalities, surely they talked to one another and decided that they rather bloomed together to please their psycho minder, me. They have watched her grudgingly sweep up their fallen blossoms separately during the last round of blooming and seen her give their friendly green neighbours a not-so-nice botak-fishball haircut when she is frustrated. She ain't no topiary gardener, or so she thinks. They shudder to think if they are next in line.

Pre-bloom on the 1st night

That is what I imagine their conversation to be if they have a voice. Do plants talk to one another? Yes. It's pure chemistry and a rule of nature. They need to bloom in synchrony to ensure that they have the best chance of pollination. Rule of nature. Yes. Airborne chemical signals. Yes. Like how a plant's defence mechanism work to protect their fellow species if they come under attack from caterpillars or other insects, they bloom in synchrony to attract more of their pollinators.

In their full glory

While they talk to one another growing side by side, I silently inhaled their heady scent. To the two missus, thank you, I really enjoyed your company.