Saizeriya @ Toa Payoh

Saizeriya is a Japanese-Italian Restaurant that serves decent pocket-friendly food at very affordable price. It is a good dining place for family and friends. This chain restaurant have several outlets in Singapore. One of their outlet is at Toa Payoh.

Our family chanced upon this restaurant when we were at Toa Payoh one Sunday evening. Out of all the outlets, we only tried the Saizeriya at the Toa Payoh outlet before mainly because of the location. This is the outlet that is the most convenient for us, in terms of location, because the location of the other outlets are not one that we frequent.

We had been patronizing the Toa Payoh Saizeriya every time we went shopping at Toa Payoh since our first visit to this restaurant. This was actually the third time our family dine at the Saizeriya, Toa Payoh. Each visit, we tried different dishes so as to make each visit unique.

Today, we each ordered a main dish and two additional sides to share. We also top-up $2.80 each to enjoy the drink bar. We will always top-up so that we can enjoy free flow drinks! I must say that it is such a clever idea to have a drink bar where customers serve themselves to the drinks - this can in turn minimize manpower and lessen the queue; if not, the staffs will be overwhelmed with lots of serving to do, especially during peak hours.

Well, the main dishes that we ordered today were Bacon Baked Rice, Seafood Gratin, Tuna Penne, Cheese Chicken Steak and Grilled Fish. In addition, Seaweed and 4 pieces of Chicken Wings were the sides that we tried.

The Menu

Bacon Baked Rice

Seafood Gratin

Tuna Penne

Cheese Chicken Steak

Grilled Fish

Seaweed

4 pieces of Chicken Wings

Their dishes taste quite decent and the price is pocket-friendly. Given the affordable price, there is nothing to complain about. Oh, and the best thing about this restaurant is that there are no service charge added to your total bill and the price stated in the menu are GST inclusive, meaning, the price stated is of nett price. Isn't this great?

The Food and Beverage Fair

B and I had our dinner at the Singapore Expo, Food and Beverage Fair. There were many types of food available at the Food and Beverage Fair. The food ranges from Puffs and Cakes to snacks like BBQ Squid, Crab and more, to main dishes like Laksa, Mee Sua, etc, to desserts like Ice-cream. There were also 'english style food' like Pizza, German Shepherd, etc. Other than all these ready to eat foods, there were also Honey, Coffee, Bak Gua and those dried food that you can buy home to cook. Besides, there were also some other non-food exhibitors which we were not that interested in at this fair.

We had a variety of different food that we shared at the fair. The food we ate were Durian Ice-cream, German Shepherd, BBQ Squid, 3 in 1 (chee cheong fan + yam cake + fu bei) and Corndog. In addition, B packed a pack of Okonomiyaki home too.

Among all the food we had, I like the German Shepherd and the Durian Ice-cream the most. The main reason is because durian and potato are one of my favourites. The Durian Ice-cream had a strong durian fragrance and it taste really good, like 'chilled durian'. And being a potato lover, having lots of tasty potato in the German Shepherd simply makes me fall in love with it.

Durian Ice-cream

German Shepherd

3 in 1 (Chee Cheong Fan + Yam Cake + Fu Bei)

BBQ-ing the Squid

BBQ Squid

Corndog

Qing Ming Festival - Paying Respect

The Qing Ming Festival (清明节) is a festival where families go tomb sweeping (扫墓) - the need to clear weeds and clean the tomb of their ancestors. This festival is a deeply-rooted Chinese traditional event recognized in most of the Asia countries like China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, etc. It is a time for all, young and old, to remember and pay respect to their ancestors and dearly departed.

This year, the Qing Ming Festival falls on 4th April 2013. According to the ancient custom, the grave site veneration is only feasible ten days before and after the Qing Ming Festival. If the visit is not on the actual date, it is normally encouraged to venerate before the Qing Ming Festival. It is also said that the Chinese normally visit the graves of their recently deceased relatives on the nearest weekend to the actual date.

On Qing Ming, some countries are entitled to a holiday while some countries aren't. Despite having no holiday on the Qing Ming Festival in Singapore, the Chinese communities also make an effort to take this festival seriously and observe its traditions faithfully. For the Chinese communities in Singapore, the Qing Ming Festival is very much a family reunion and, at the same time, a family obligation. This festival is seen as a time to honour, pay respect and give thanks to their forefathers.

Traditionally, the family will burn paper money and paper replicas of material goods such as clothes, shoes, daily necessities, cars, homes, phones, paper servants, etc. This is because in the Chinese culture, it is believed that the ancestors still need all of these things in their afterlife.

To summarize, the main part of Qing Ming Festival involves families paying their respect to their deceased ancestors/forefathers. The need to clear and pull all the weeds that grows on the tomb as well as sweep and clean the tomb on their visit. The families will also bring the person’s favourite food and drinks as sacrifices. Other sacrifices includes paper money and other paper replicas that would be burned since the Chinese believed that the ancestors needed all of these in their afterlife.

Having said that it is encouraged to venerate before the Qing Ming Festival if the visit is not on the actual date, our family went today - before the Qing Ming Festival. We went to the Choa Chu Kang Cemetery and the Choa Chu Kang Columbarium to pay our respect. We brought many sacrifices like food and drinks as well as bags of paper money, other paper replicas, etc that was nicely packed in the bags by ourselves so that it is easier to burn.

Choa Chu Kang Cemetery

Choa Chu Kang Columbarium

I must say that today, being a holiday, is a day that people chose to visit as there were a lot of cars and jams everywhere especially during the later part of the morning. We were lucky that we went earlier because even though there were a lot of people and cars, it was not as bad as when we were heading back. When we were heading back, we saw long queues of cars jam outside the road, not moving a single bit. Luckily, we went early in the morning to avoid the crowds and when the crowds arrived, we were heading back already.

The day I'm back in School

It has been at least half a year since the last day I visited NUS. I must admit that I miss school so much! I miss the schooling days, the environment, the lectures, the tutorials, the labs, the projects, the assignments, the foods, the drinks, the lecturers and all my friends. But what I miss most, was the days when I am just a student.

I feel that the schooling days was so much carefree without having to think of careers, financial stability and financial independent issues. In my opinion, even though, the schooling days were hectic and stress especially when projects/assignments deadlines and examinations were drawing near, being a student was still quite enjoyable. All I need was to commit fully in my studies/education - go to lectures/tutorials/labs, put in the best effort in all the projects/assignments and do the best in all the examinations.

Now that I am back in school, I feel like staying awhile more to enjoy the school atmosphere once again! During my stay in school, I walked along the path I used to walk, went to the canteen I used to go and sat on the bench I used to do my work.

Out of all the foods and drinks in the canteen, I chose to have the Yong Tau Fu I used to eat and the ABC Fruit Juice I used to drink! The Yong Tau Fu still taste as good and the drink still quench my thirst.

Yong Tau Fu

ABC Fruit Juice

This was the best time - enjoyed my food and drink, sat at the bench while I enjoyed the school atmosphere once again before everything goes back to reality!

Pontian Bak Kut Teh @ Tampines

As the title says, B and I had Bak Kut Teh (BKT) at Tampines for our dinner. We found this place by chance last year and had been visiting it quite a few times since then. The reason for patronizing this place so many times and not sick of it mainly lays with the yummy food there. Haha. Yes indeed, the food taste good so it attracts us to travel all the way there just to have our dinner! There were a few times when we brought a few friends there to have dinner and they like the food there as well.

I would say this place is a gem even though, it's located in a "ulu ulu" place! It's not a very convenient place to visit if you don't drive and it's exterior/interior don't look glamorous at all; you may not have noticed it even if you passed by. This place looks like a "construction area" and the exterior/interior looks rather ordinary. However, the food is actually quite nice.

The BKT there is different; it is not those mainstream pepper kind of BKT commonly found in Singapore, it's those herb kind of BKT similar to that of those in Malaysia and as written in the title, this BKT origins from Pontian. Besides BKT, they also have Zhe Cha. So if you don't want to eat BKT, you can choose to have Zhe Cha there too!

Oh! The best thing there is that you don't need to pay a hefty amount in order to enjoy nice food! However the only disadvantage is that it's not a very convenient place to visit if you don't drive. Well, pros and cons applies, including food.

Enough talking, let me show you the dishes we had today. We ordered Bak Kut Teh, Vegetable, TouFu and You Tiao.

Vegetable, Bak Kut Teh, You Tiao, TouFu

The unique little strawberry

MM bought a box of strawberries home and after my dinner, I wanted to have some strawberries but when I opened the box, half of the strawberries was already eaten. Without hesitation, I flipped open the middle wrapper/divider and guess what?! Out of the ten strawberries, I saw this unique little strawberry sitting right in the middle which caught my attention.

It looks like a strawberry with a nose; it kinda looks like a witch! But anyway, it looks very unique as you might not possibly have the chance to see strawberry in this kind of shape with your own eyes in your life! I think maybe this strawberry have some kind of DNA mutation, that's why it have this kind of unique shape. Hahaha. Well,  let me show you a picture of it and you will be surprised that there's actually this kind of unique little strawberry! ^_^

The Unique Little Strawberry

Oz: The Great and Powerful

B and I watched Oz: The Great and Powerful at AMK Hub Cineplex today. I enjoyed watching this film and I like the fantasy in this film. In my opinion, I think the flying monkey was cute, the china girl was brave and Oz did create some kind of magic in the Land of Oz. The film had colourful visuals and I thought the storyline was good. I find that the film was put together beautifully and after watching my mood went up. ^_^

Introduction
Oz: The Great and Powerful is a fantasy film of 2013. It is intended to be a prequel to the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Both Oz: The Great and Powerful and The Wizard of Oz film was adapted from author L. Frank Baum's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz which was published in 1900. The prequel stars James Franco as the protagonist, Oscar Diggs/Oz. The three witches, Mila Kunis as Theodora (The Wicked Witch Of The West), Michelle Williams as Glinda (The Good Witch Of The South), and Rachel Weisz as Evanora (The Wicked Witch Of The East). This film is directed by Sam Raimi, with a script written by Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire.

Story
When Oscar Diggs, a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he’s hit the jackpot — fame and fortune are his for the taking — that is until he meets three witches, Theodora, Evanora and Glinda, who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone’s been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity, and even a bit of wizardry, Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well.

Happy White Day

14 March is White Day! White Day is an annual event held exactly one month after Valentine's Day and I believed that most of you should know what White Day is especially if your country do recognize this traditional event!

For those who are not sure what White Day is, let me talk a bit about it. In Japan, White Day is a day when males who had received chocolates on Valentine's Day, is expected to return the favour by giving gifts back to the females~ So, White Day is a day when the females received their gifts. However, it is said that the tradition differs from country to country. And sad to say, White Day tradition is not popular in Singapore.

Never mind, even though White Day is not popular in Singapore, it is still a good day to exchange gifts yeah? So, did you received your White Day gifts yet? :)

Happy White Day everyone! 白色情人节快乐！ 幸せなホワイトデー!

Happy Women's Day

Today, 8 March, is Women’s Day. Women’s Day is a day like Valentine’s Day, the only difference is that Women’s Day is a celebration for men to show their appreciation, respect and love towards the women in their life, whereas Valentine’s Day is a celebration for both men/women to show their feelings of affection, love and friendship towards each other. Women’s Day can also be another Mother’s Day where sons/daughters show their love and appreciation towards their mother for the hardship of raising them up.

All in all, Women’s Day is a global celebration of women and women rights! So, do not hesitate to express your gratitude towards the important women in your life! ^_^

Happy Women’s Day to all ladies! 三八妇女节快乐! 幸せな女性の日!

New Phase New Start

Hello everyone. Welcome to Happy-Valerie! This is my new blog for a fresh start of a new phase of my life.

Enjoy reading Happy-Valerie because you will never know that you might find something that is of interest to you. So, do enjoy your stay here. ^_^

I will try my best to 'spread the SMILE' to all of you. :)