New Look !!!

Photosophize has a new look! (it will probably stay that way until very long...)

I wasn't very happy with the look of the blog and is about to have identity crisis, until I found this template from Geoko and Fly! I fall in love with it immediately. I feel that it matches part of Photosophize image - Natural Loving.

I am still doing some amendments here and there, thus do not be surprise if you come in and see a weird layout. In fact, it took me a week to figure out how to post the template online and 4 hours more to customerise the look now.

Worse, after spending so much time, the template was not XML competible. I actually have to code a lot of things manually if I wanted to add in new components. Well, at least I got a unique looking blog now.

爱美就不能够怕麻烦。。。
:)

Geylang Bahru - Hong Mei Western Delights (Delicious)

Shhhh, do me a favour, don't tell anyone about this. As a foodie (cannot claimed I am a food connoisseur), I have my personal favourite hunts to look for good food. The following stall served one of the best western food in Singapore, but strangely it has not been attracted any press' attention yet. Not that they need any more attention, they had more than enough attention judging from the queue and the piles of plates at the tables near the stall. In fact, all the better that the others not know about it, cause I don't wish to wait any more longer for their food.

Hong Mei Western Delights is at Geylang Bahru Hawker centre. Actually, there are two western food stalls at the same row facing the carpark, but don't get mixed up. Hong Mei is the older stall and the other one had only opened in recent years. It is also easy to recognise the stall judging from the queue and the number of people eating their food.

So, what is good with Hong Mei's western food? Their grilled Chicken Chop (lost the picture) was their signature. I suppose the same with the rest of their grilled meat, but I haven't tried them yet. They are grilled to perfection that meat retained the meat juice, making them moist and tender. Another reason why their food was so nice was their special formulated BBQ sauce. The sauce was sweet and flavourful. I had guessed that the flavour of their sauce was from the mushy bits of mysterious ingredient which I assume was onion and garlic.

Usually, they only put sauce on their grilled meats, but you can request Aunty to give you some sauce for the fried food, such as Chicken Cutlet. However, do ask nicely... You know, they are very busy, she might not answer you in a nice tone. Be careful. Hee Hee.



I also want to highlight that their fish and chip is also different from normal western food stall. I think theirs have more fish meat and the crust tasted nicer. Go try and let me know if you like them, but don't tell too many people about it. We don't want to wait too long for good food isn't it? So sshhh... ;P

王菲唱过这些歌？！

I never know Faye sang these songs before... 80

Kiss Me - Six Pence None The Richer

邓丽君 - 泪的小雨

邓丽君 - 不了情 和 小城故事

What's Up

Tuk Tuk Thai Kitchen - Happy Mothers' Day

Yesterday, I went shopping at Suntec (mainly Carrefour) with Mum. Later on, my brothers joined us for dinner. Despite having a lot of food restaurants in Suntec, it was difficult to make a choice to decide where to eat. You see, my brothers are even fussier than me when comes to food. Food should be cheap (worthwhile), good and filling to them.

Nothing attracted them at the fountain area and they decided to go up at level 3 to see what other restaurants Suntec has... They have been ranting on to eat buffet, but luckily it was a bit late and it was not worth it to eat buffet.

Then while walking past a restaurant, we were approached by an overly friendly and boastful manager that his restuarant provide good food and we will come back again after eating it. My mental alarm rang off loudly, thus I was a bit cautious and skeptical about the restaurant. My brothers on the other hand thought Thai food is not bad and there are good promotions and discount, thus decided to settle down there. The Thai Food restuarant is Tuk Tuk Thai Kitchen.

They have a lot of dishes and we ordered a few that we like. Fried Fish with Thai Chili Sauce ( promotional price $10++), Green Curry, Fried Kai Lan, Pad Thai, Pineapple Rice etc. Think hunger took over us that I forget to take pictures before we dug in. I must say the Fried Fish is quite good. Depsite being promotional item at 10 dollars ++, the fish was in a good size. It was crispy fried to golden brown and the tangy hot sauce (not enough spicy in our view) was good accompaniment. In fact, it was our favourite dish.

Their green curry was not bad too. Very aromatic like it is packed to the brim with thai spices and most importantly it is not that oily.

We have also ordered another promotional item - Claypot Crab Tanghoon ($15++). Like the fish, it was good value. The crab came in a good size. The tanghoon absorbed all the rich flavour of the crab, tasted full of seafood flavour which rich and peppery. I think they added Chinese herb in the stock, thus there was a hint of the herbal flavour in it as well.

However, there was a slight disappointment. When the dish was first served, the crab shell was still brown colour. The young waitress did not notice that something was wrong with it and was all ready to leave it on our table. I had to stop her and said: " The crab was not cooked. The shell was not even red..." She appeared clueless, but still took back the dish. It took a few more moments later that the dish was served again. It was cooked and the crab shell was in the right colour, lited brightly in red.

Besides the above, their thai otak (4 for $10.90)was not good. It was served cold and texture wasn't as smooth and fluffy as thai otak should be. The thai spices flavour did not come out as strongly as it should be.

Verdict - Prices of their ala carte dishes are quite reasonable. Food is generally not bad and very value for money. Their white rice was 80 cents per serving and serving size is huge despite the recent price hike. I was surprised that promotional items food came in a good portion and size. Our favourite dishes were the Fried Fish and Crab Tanghoon (when cooked). The restuarant might want to improve on the temperature of the dishes served. It is very important to serve food warm to customers. Service is acceptable.

Will we go back? Overall, we did enjoy the food. My mum and fussy brothers were satisfied. For me, erm, just don't sound like you are hardselling things to me, I will probably enjoy the food better. :)

To all Mothers out there - Happy Mothers' Day!

名与利 - 得与失

我花了一个星期的时间，终于把整部《于丹-论语心得》看完了。于丹教授把论语生活化了，把古文和其中的道理解释得非常简单易懂。似乎还担心语文解释不够清楚，她还运用了许多寓言小故事来加以承托和解释论语中的大道理。卡通化的人物也为论语增添了不少的趣味性。

其实要上百家讲堂不容易，制作单位非常严格的在挑选讲师。不但要求他们必须对题材有非常深厚的了解，而且还必须有能力把深澳的道理简单得表达出来，至少要让上中学十五六岁的少年听得懂。当然，新加坡的华语程度有限，很多十五六岁的少年都英文好过华语，可能不会听得很懂。可惜，要不然这是非常好的一个教育题材因为它教导人们要有开阔宏观的思想而且要有正面的价值观。

从论语角度看现今的社会

整部论语中，我对以下这一段感慨良多。于丹教授说到古时的教育和现代的教育观念非常不一样。古时候的社会比较单纯简单，教育着重于教导学生做人道理和灌输他们正确价值观，认为有了这些观念就可以担当起社会责任， 为国家出一份力。所以有那么一句话 - “修身， 齐家， 治国， 平天下”意思是人只要认真的把自己的修养提高， 把家里的事都安顿得有条有理， 才能有本事管理国家，因而平复天下。

我觉得现代的社会比较虚荣和现实， 教育着重于技能的训练（maths，science, accountancy, engineering etc are skills) 而比较不在意道德和价值观的灌输。我觉得这点很有道理。 新加坡的教育和社会就是这样， 不是说不好，有些时候觉得会太过现实，会过分得把很多东西和名与利挂钩，不经意提倡和提高他们的重要性。小孩子读书就是为了将来有能力赚大钱，将来在社会上做个有头有脸的人等等， 似乎把名与利与幸福人生花上了等号。。。

我不是说没有名与利人也会快乐，而是要强调人活在世上还有其他的意义的，不是吗？

名与利所带来的影响

过分地把很多东西和名与利挂钩， 会让人用名利的得失来衡量自己的本事和能力。现在很多跨国企业和本地公司都已金钱回报员工，希望他们为了金钱而努力。今天你可能是一个很努力的员工，不仅把自己分内的工作做完， 还每天想方设法求进步，希望这样就是一位好员工，就能够得到满意的回报。可惜，老板却没有给你应有的回报。人就开始觉得自己或许不是一个好员工， 甚至于开始怀疑自己的能力和本事，沮丧伤心等等。其实，那员工不一定不好，可是因为利与工作表现挂钩了，很现实的衡量人的能力和本事(注：不一定正确），没有得到满意的回报时候， 觉得自己差强人意而失望。

试问这样现象健康吗？它伤了不知多少“痴男怨女们”的心，但是无可否认的，以目前现实的社会制度来讲， 这或许是其中较“公平”的方法。

理想与现实

我虽然很崇尚孔夫子的这一种大智慧和大道理理想体系，但也明白它不一定可以完全运用在现今的社会。理想体系是人们向往的生活境界，但是有很多人为的因素是会直接影响到它的延伸和执行的。简单的说，做不一定像它说得一样完美。。。

所以，我还是矛盾，打不开心理的枷锁。 我现在好像在过渡思想的叛逆期，不太能够接受社会的游戏规则和道理，想要豁达，却越来越小气。我并非没有度量，而是觉得人在伤害别人之前，并没有想过和考虑别人即将承受的痛，所以我们在他们悔改之前，为什么不可以让他们感受我们所受过的伤害呢？怎么说算了就算了呢？

我还是一个未开窍的普通人，请对我耐心一点吧。

于丹 - 论语心得

This is a smiley picture of 于丹 which I found online.

I chanced upon her show on Channel U one day while "Channel Surfing". I was attracted by her body language. I noticed while she was speaking, she gestured with both of her hands simutaneously and it was rare to see someone like that. As if she had talked and used both sides of her brain. Her eyes emitted high intelligence. I was thinking to myself that she was a good speaker while she stared confidently at audience. Five minutes later, I was hooked. She was explaining how Analects of Confusius (论语)are relevant to our modern world. She is 于丹, Associate Professor of Beijing Normal University (北京师范大学).

By chance, she was invited to speak about Analects of Confusius on China's National TV Station. The show was telecasted during the Lunar New Year holidays. For 7 days, she had explained in layman terms what the Confusius' Analects (written in ancient text) was about and how the idealogy could be relevant to the modern world and that it could be the answers on how we can achieve to be a gracious society (if I have not translated correctly, pardon me). The show was widely received and she became famous overnight.

A pity that I didn't manage to catch all of her shows on channel U. Then I was at Popular one day and surprisingly saw her DVD. I regretted that I didn't buy it then and weeks later when I decided to do so, it was sold out ! I panicked. How can it sold out so soon and I hate myself for not buying then. So, she was also famous in Singapore... After searching for it in a few shops, I found it in TS and bought the last copy of 于丹- 论语心得 (:P) and the latest arrival of 于丹-庄子心得.

I know you are yawning now and just couldn't understand what is the hype about her and 论语. How many of us, especially city dwellers are tired of the complicated interpersonal relationships be it with friends, colleagues, parents or even couples etc and how to be a good person? She said, and I find quite true, that a lot of us are physically rich, but spiritually poor. I think because we worked and work took up a lot of our time, we no longer know matters to us and what we really want in life anymore. Worse for me as I am "poor" in both areas.

Just managed to finish some of the DVDs. I find her take on the Analects inspiring, enriching and comforting. The content is simple enough to understand and the analect was break down into smaller parts and further illustrated with many more short stories on how it was relevant and applicable to the modern world. It very much reminds me of my secondary school Chinese lessons which I like a lot. Unlike majority of you, I prefer my Chinese lessons more.

For example, I remembered this story which she read online about porcupines and she believed can explained on how Confusius viewed human relationships.

It was winter and a group of porcupines gathered together for warmth. They faced a dilema. You see they have spikes all over their bodies. When they got too close to each other, they poked each other in all directions which is painful. However, if they got too far away, they felt cold. After a few tries, they learnt that no matter how close they want to be with each other, there should still be some distance between them. This is so that they will not hurt each other.

Professor Yu Dan said the moral of the story applies to all human relationships. No matter how close you are with the others, one should still kept a distance ( she say even husband and wife). When you got too close without any reservation, the more likely you will get hurt by close ones...

There are still many more from idealogy from the video including how to be a better person etc. I will pick out the more interesting ones to share it here. In the meantime, if you feel empty about your life, go look for the DVD, you might be able to fill up your empty soul with it.

*Checking my moral bank account...

The World Biggest Sotong - 495kg...

Read this off Channel News Asia website yesterday. The World Biggest Sotong (as we affectionaly call it in Singapore the Malay word for Squid) was caught off Antartic waters and is now in New Zealand with a team of scientists waiting to unveal the mysteries of the big creature.

Photo copied from their official blog named Te Papa

Look at the size of that Sotong... Imagine how many plates of sotong balachan or calamari we can make from it. Hahah... Anyway, just to let you know, sea creature this size cannot be eaten because in order to stay afloat, their body will accumulate a lot of ammonia. Even without ammonia, big sea creatures also accumulate a lot more mecury than smaller fish, so they are not fit for human consumption.

The scientific term of that Sotong is Colossal Squid. They lived in deep waters and usually feed on toothfish (which is another big big fish). The one which was caught was about 495kg and the exact lenght has to be measured later when it was fully thawed. Guess what eats them? Bigger creatures of course like Sperm Whales ! As written in their blog, the captured Colossal Squid is a female as they just found eggs in her ovaries. Her eye ball was supposely to be the size of a beach ball. Scarier thing is that they have hooks on their tenticles. Imagine you got caught by this creature... You are never going to get away.

Little is known about this creature as few were caught so far. This batch of scientists decided to find out as much as they can about the creature, before preserving it in a large tank for public viewing later. The process of thawing can be viewed on their website now through the web cam. Discovery Channel has also documented the whole process and will be showing it later in 2008.

Visit their websites at:

Official Website - Museum of New Zealand
Te Papa's Blog

Live Nation Wants Faye !

This is exciting news for all Faye's fans! Live Nation, a concert promoter company which have signed a record breaking deal with Madonna reportedly going to set up an Asia branch too.

Of course, the Asian branch must also have a Diva that command the most fame and popularity. For that , they are looking for none other than Faye Wong !!! Reported in ST, they are willing to fork up $100 million Hong Kong dollars ($17 million Singapore dollars) to sign her up.

I doubt she will be interested. My impression of her was that she valued love and a happy family more than anything else. She has mentioned a lot of times that she wanted to retire and hope that people will just forget her when she does.

Faye is widely known for wanted to be a commoner and lead a simple life after she retires. I heard Faye was invited by Madame Tussauds' museum in Hong Kong to be the first female artise to have a wax sculpture there, but she rejected because she do not want people idolised her like that.

As fans, we will be happy if she decided sing again. Life is bored without her music. However, if Faye decided not to sing again, we can understand and respect her decision, most importantly for her is that she is happy.

Anyway, her agent has told the papers that Live Nation has not approached them yet and whether the deal would be come through will depend on the type of collaboration. Katie, her agent said that talks will be easier if they do not need Faye to do any publicity work. In Asia, I think she is the only one who can demand all kinds of conditions e.g. don't do publicity and still get a deal.

Like Madonna, I feel that they are successful because they are assertive. They are not afraid to tell others what they want. Madonna once said that, and I thought it was quite true, a lot of us bottled up our thoughts and are afraid to said out what we wanted. Perhaps, we did not want people to judge us by what we demanded. However, if one is unable to tell others what they wanted, they do not get it.

Especially, Asian people are very prone of not telling/not communicating properly to others what they wanted because of our teachings from young that we might be seen as impolite if we demand too much. I am not saying that everyone of us should demand a lot of things and start being arrogant, but to at least let people know where is your limit and what is your minimum requirements. It will make things a lot easier.

Let's learnt from them and hope that we can also be successful one day or at least be a smarter woman!