Health benefits of eating pineapples

These days we eat more pineapples than other fruits. The reasons : pineapples are easily available, sweet, healthier and juicier than most fruits here. In Singapore, we import most of the fruits from other countries. The exporters would pluck the fruits long before the fruits are ripened. They, then export the unripened fruits and over time, the fruits would "ripened" in an unnatural way. Take for example the papayas or oranges. These fruits are being exported unripened and after a few weeks of being plucked from the trees, they "ripened". This process of "ripening" is not good for consumption. I am not sure whether eating the fruits would be healthy.
However, for pineapples, the ripening process would take only a few days after exporting and so it is not unhealthy to consume them. Of course, taking them off the plants when they are ripened would be better.
The Malaysian Sarawak pineapples is the best of the lot. They are sweeter and juicier than their counterparts from other countries. The one (above) I bought cost S$5 and only available in Sheng Shiong supermarkets. Most of the other pineapples cost around $1.50 to $2.

This is the 6th anniversary of the Ubin Thai Buddhist Temple in Sengkang, Singapore. It is being celebrated for 2 weeks in October every year with prayers,food and ends with a grand firework. Enjoy!

"Do I Ever Cross Your Mind"

Sometimes I go walkin' through the fields
Where we walked
Long ago in the sweet used-to-be
And the flowers still grow
But they don't smell as sweet
As they did when you picked them for me
And when I think of you
And the love we once knew
How I wish I could go back in time
Do you ever think back on old mem'ries like that
Or do I ever cross your mind

Do you ever wake up lonely
In the middle of the night
Because you miss me, do you darlin'
Oh do your mem'ries ever take you back
Into another place in time
And do you ever miss the feelings and the love
We shared when you were with me, tell me darlin'
Or do I ever cross your mind

(music break)

Oh how often I wish that again I could kiss
Your sweet lips like I did long ago
How often I long for those two lovin' arms
That once held me so tender and close

And when I think of you and the love we once knew
How I wish I could go back in time
Do you ever recall these old mem'ries at all
Or do I ever cross your mind

Do you ever wake up lonely
In the middle of the night
Because you miss me, tell me darlin'
Oh do your mem'ries ever take you back
Into another place in time
And do you ever miss the feelings and the love
We shared when you were with me, do you darlin'
Oh do I ever cross your mind
Oh, do I ever cross your mind

Breakfast & Dinner @ The Ship Restaurant (Nex Mall)

Today's breakfast is a little different. Had the Sarawak pineapple ($5) from Sheng Shiong supermart and the Nonya ba-chang (meat dumpling). The pineapple is sweet and juicy and is hard to come by these days. The cheaper pineapple is about $1.50 but is smaller and not so juicy.
The ba-chang ($1.80) is satisfactory but nowhere compared to the ones from  Joo Chiat.

Steak dinner @ The Ship

We had dinner at The Ship Restaurant in Nex Mall. We ordered the roast prime rib of beef ($39.90) and US ribeye steak set ($40.90). The meat were 240 gram per piece but overall they weren't as good as we expected. The bread rolls were dried and we didn't eat them at all. The beef lacked flavour and weren't worth paying for. In fact, Hot Tomato's beef are much tastier and cheaper. If not for the long dinner queue at Hot Tomato, we would have dined there instead of The Ship. Total bill came to $95.10 for the 2 orders. To conclude, The Ship was a big disappointment!

Once in a while I would crave for a Malay dish called lontong. The stall that sells spicy and yummy lontong is at the Kovan hawker center. There are 2 Malay stalls are next to each other but the best lontong is the stall on your left. $3.50 is all you have to pay like the one above which I had this morning.
In the afternoon, I went to Nex Mall at Serangoon bus Interchange and had my lunch over there. It was 3 pm and so there was a 20% discount on all main courses (from 3 pm till 5 pm on weekdays only). I had the steak with 2 huge prawns and spaghetti plus a plate of Caesar's salad. The damage was $24!

It was our first time visiting Mad Jack. The above were from the lunch menu. The place was packed with students because the Student meals were quite cheap (main course + a drink for $6.90++) whereas ours were at $11.90++ each and without the drinks. Nevertheless, it was a good lunch.

There was a dozen of us at Plaza Singapura Kopitiam yesterday having lunch. We were from RI and this is the usual monthly gathering. This time it's a bit special because we had with us our ex-school teacher KBT (the gentleman on your left) who flew from Toronto for a vacation in Singapore.