Tosai for my dinner

Had this tosai or dosa, a Southern Indian pancake for dinner. Nothing spectacular about this dish except it is low in calories ($1.40)

Assam Laksa at Hougang Mall

This is one of the best Penang laksa in SG. It is being sold at Hougang Mall along Hougang Avenue 10, a stone's throw from the Hougang MRT Station. This is a take away joint and if you want to eat then bring the laksa up to the 4 level of the mall where there is a foodcourt.
The laksa cost $3.50c and the taste is delightfully spicy. Service may be a bit slow and the queue wasn't long but it's worthwhile waiting.
After the laksa, I had a piece of durain kueh and a kueh salat from the famous Bengawan Solo. These kueh made a sensible dessert after that spicy laksa.
Incidentally, I had a $10 haircut from a Malay barber. Nearby is a hairdresser shop where one could get a haircut for $3.80c. I do not like the $3.80 cheap haircut as the women hairdressers are not proficient in cutting men's hair.
                

SCOOT to fly to Hawaii by year-end

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Malay home cooked food

Today my wife decided to cook ikan assam pedas and sambal goreng which are the Malay dishes for lunch. She is really a superb cook that her 2 dishes are the best I've ever tasted in my entire life. Mind you I used to live a Malay kampong and know exactly how those Malay dishes are.
Sadly, these days we can't find a good stall or restaurant selling authentic and yummy Malay food. Perhaps, in Malaysia you may be able to eat good Malay food.

Top 10 Richest Politicians of Singapore

No drinking and eating in the train

Got this Whatsapp message regarding the restriction of drinking and eating in the train (MRT). Watch the video and you will be surprise how strict is the rule and a commuter was taken to task for eating a sweet.

Mee rebus set at Food Junction

For exactly set, Food Junction charges $5 whereas Toast Box $7.30. They are equally good but the price difference is wide. From now I will resist visiting Toast Box since it is seen as openly profiteering.

Sinar Pagi Nasi Padang

We read  so much about Sinar Pagi Nasi Padang that we decided to pay it a visit. It is a Malay stall selling Malay/Indonesian food at the Geylang Serai hawker center.
When we arrived at about 11:30 am there was already a long queue. There were also many other stalls selling the same type of food but had shorter or no queue at all.
We agreed that the food was of a high standard. The black-ink cuttle fish, sambal goreng, assam fish cutlet, young Jack fruit in lemak gravy were delicious and spicy. However, we were disappointed the beef rendang was salty just like the one we had at Warong along Kandahar Street last Saturday.
It is difficult to find a place selling really good beef rendang. When I was a kid, the rendang even at the road side stall was of better quality. Well, we do not expect the cooks of present era are as good as their parents and grandparents.
The teh halia or ginger tea sold a few doors away was also a let-down.
The 2 plates of  meal cost $24 and teh halia was $1.20 a glass.

Indonesian Food and Cakes at Kandahar Street

There is so much talk about Warong Nasi Pariaman, a Sumatran cuisine that we decided to pay it a visit this afternoon. The place was not as packed as some others selling the same Indonesian/Malay food.
It's situated at the junction of North Bridge Road and Kandahar Street. We were a bit disappointed because the beef rendang was salty and the sambal goreng was not as tasty as some sold at the hawker center. The cuttle fish and fish in lemak or coconut sauce was quite good.
Overall, I'll give it a rating of 6 out of 10. Btw, the meal was reasonably priced at $10 each without drinks.

Rich and Good Cake Shop

We bought 2 Swiss rolls, one with kaya (green) and the other durian from the famous " Rich and Good Cake" shop along Kandahar Street. These rolls are spongy and soft. I particularly love the one stuffed with durian fillings. It was delicious, soft and spongy.
Our dinner was made up of the above Swiss rolls. We ate up the durian roll and kept half of the kaya roll for tomorrow.
We are thankful to God for giving us a great appetite and the affordability.

Instant Laksa by Prima

 We tried the Prima instant laksa for lunch. It wasn't as well flavoured as the one by Koka. Prima is more expensive than Koka. Prima is about $2.40 per pack whereas Koka is $1 (not sure).
Prima's noodles are bigger and larger in quantity. Koka's are more like Maggi's instant noodles.

Nice Horfun at Jl Kayu

This horfun is quite nice. We had it at a Jalan Kayu coffee shop. Each plate is $4.50. Sorry, if you don't like me posting the food I eat, you may skip this post or leave this blog totally.🍟🌭🍣

More Singaporeans being retrenched

More people are losing their jobs in Singapore. It looks like many companies are not doing well especially those in the oil and gas industries. The growth of 5 to 6% a year is something of the past. According to the prime minister this years growth will be about 2% to 3 % which is not "bad".
If you look around, a lot of eateries,restaurants, shopping malls are not as crowded as they used to be.
Those who are out of jobs do not have the means to spend while others are cautious not to spend too much.
The last recessions were back in 2009 and 2003 and Singapore was not spared. I lost my job during the 2003 SARS period and am not employed ever since.
This 54 year old lady lost her job recently and you may read about her story here.

An abandoned bicycle?

Is this bicycle being discarded or abandon?. Actually this bike wasn't an abandoned bike. It is a rental bike and when the user has finished using it or reached his destination, he may leave the bike anywhere he wants to. It must be locked and the rental company using the GPS technology would trace the bike and retrieve it.
The first time I saw a bike like this, I thought it was being abandoned.
In Singapore there are a few companies doing this kind of bicycle rental. It's quite popular and not expensive to rent. A user would pay $1 for 30 minutes of usage plus a small deposit.
Someday, I would like to rent one and blog about it.

Living in Singapore

Looks like people in Singapore regardless of foreign workers or Singaporeans are living under great stress and pressure till they do all kinds of stupid things.
One example was this ...read here  whereby a lorry driver threw a hammer at motor cyclist.
Another case was that of a man who beat up his...read here

I think a lot of people here are living under tremendous stress. Singapore is a small island of 719 km2 and yet it has 5.768 million people. Compare this to Penang, Malaysia which is 1,048 km2 (1 1/2 X SG) and has a population of only 1.89 million.
Can't imagine what is Singapore going to be like when the population hits 6.9 million in 2030 (SG government projection).

Elderly man was abused and bullied

SINGAPORE — The police have arrested a 46-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman for an offence of public nuisance.

In a statement issued early Wednesday (April 26) morning, the police said they received reports on Sunday regarding a couple who had allegedly used offensive language and force against a 76-year-old man .....read more

BT:  It's a big disgrace that we have people like the ones reported in the newspaper who were bullies, arrogant and selfish. 

Number of grievious assaults on the rise in Singapore

Recently there has been a spate of incidents whereby people got beaten up by groups of young men. There were cases where some victims died and some badly injured as a result of being bashed up. Reasons may be due to women or just ego.
A few days ago, 9 young men were arrested at Clark Quay for bashing up another young man to death. An outsider tried to stop them from beating the victim but he too was beaten up and landed himself in the hospital.
Last year, a gang of teens beat another teenager and the incident was captured on video. There was another case of a teenager who brutally assaulted another until his victim died. The accused was sentenced to 8 1/2 years in jail and given 24 strokes of the cane for not just the murder but robbery too.
Early last year, a young lad of 22 years beat up a 68 year old retired IFS. The IFS sustained a broken nose and swelling on his face. Read more
Above were just a few of the cases. There were many more cases of assault. The law has to be beefed up and put these thugs away for good. A couple of years in prison and when they are released they will be up to no good again.
Google or do a search on the net and you will find a lot more of such cases.

Hokkien mee,chendol and bubor cha cha for dinner

We went to a coffee shop near Hougang Central and tried the fried Hokkien Mee. It was as good as the one we had last week at Ang Mo Kio. The cook is from Malaysia. It is $4 per plate. The desserts (Bu bor cha cha and chendol) was so so.
Surprisingly, the place was not as crowded as it was supposed to be. It's was a Saturday night and I remember the last time I was there a couple of months ago, the place was very crowded. I also noticed that many eateries are not having as many customers as before. I was told that Singapore is going through a recession. Many people are retrenched and their spending power has been curbed. Others are being cautious and therefore not spending as much as before.