Falling for Autumn and Primrose Hill

I can't tell you how much I have missed autumn weather. Freshly arrived in London with a beautiful sunny day in hand, I decided to shake off the post-13-hour-flight lethargy with a run around Primrose Hill.

My tropical blood isn't used to running in sub 28 °C temperatures so on went the long tights and long sleeves, and the novelties just didn’t stop.

Novelty Non-Singapore Running Sights:

• Dogs off leads
• Runners trails marked by hundreds of feet forging their own path off-concrete
• Big green trees starting to turn
• Gates from private gardens opening onto the park (lucky people)
• Wolf whistles (in earnest or jest - who cares?!)
• Tractors

I'm so glad I had my phone to take a few snaps, although I probably stopped every 200m to take a photo.

The last novelty is that I'm sitting on the balcony outside and I've already stopped sweating only 10 minutes later (tropical runners will appreciate this). It's the little things right?

Tomorrow Hampstead Heath is on the cards... maybe if I'm lucky I'll be able to see my breath fog in the cold morning air!

Is there anywhere else I should go while I'm here?

Lady Marmalade Makes a Good First Impression

First impressions count, and never more so for me than with a café in a mall.  

Weapon of choice when fighting for the attention of thousands of shoppers has to be an impactful shop front.   How to make it stand out from your clothes store neighbours, but not look out of place with the likes of Marc Jacobs across the hall?  And how to make it obvious you’re a café?

I think The Marmalade Pantry has the answers – well they certainly captured my attention.

Mmmm... so many goodies in one window

The menu looked good (lemon ricotta pancakes anyone?) with reasonable prices, so all that remains is a coffee tasting. 

I’ll be checking The Marmalade Pantry out for sure when I get back from London in two weeks. 

Mama Mia Chia!

Chia seeds are my latest super food obsession.  I use them on and in everything from breakfast to dinner and on to dessert.

I'm probably a late-comer to the chia bandwagon, but I'm firmly on it now.  If you're scratching your head thinking "what's chia?" then (without wanting to pontificate too much) you're in for a treat.

It ticks all the super food boxes:

• Ancient civilisation dietary staple (Aztecs and Mayans) - tick
• Loaded with fibre, omega-3 and protein - tick
• Antioxidants and minerals - tick
• Mild-tasting - tick

Chia (salvia hispanica) is part of the mint family and it's tiny seeds are supremely versatile.  Aztecs and Mayans ground it into flour for bread and mixed it with water as a drink.  When you add it to water it balloons in size (all that fibre I was telling you about) and takes on a gel-like consistency.  When you sprinkle it on top of your yoghurt-topped cereal you have a double dose of protein.  I've also added added it to smoothies (as a gel), sprinkled it on salads (it looks a little bit like black sesame seeds) and added it to muffin mixtures.

I'd love to hear any other chia-inspired ideas that you might have!

Seeds can be pale or dark black

Run for Fun, for Charity, and for a Bacon Butty

Only a good cause would drag me from my Sunday bed at 6am - a cause like a Singaporean orphanage perhaps. 

When a friend forwarded me an invitation to attend a fun run (surely the most blatant oxymoron?) to raise money for an activity day for the children at Jamiyah Children’s Home I thought, "why not", especially when I heard there would be bacon butties afterwards.

A beautiful morning out at East Coast and the thought of an icy cold 100 Plus got me through a sweltering 8km run, and a bacon butty for breakfast never tasted so good!

The ship-lined horizon of East Coast Park

The contenders

Vending Machine Disappointment Accidentally Boosts Yakult Sales

I just have to share this email that Sander sent through... the very definition of vending machine disappointment and the reason for elevated green Yakult sales in the office.

“Feeling a sudden mid-afternoon craving, I rummaged through my pockets and desk drawer and managed to gather $1.25 in loose change... probably not enough but I’ll give it a go anyway.  Standing in front of the vending machine, the muesli bar that caught my eye was eliminated immediately ($1.40) but I thought a small tub of yoghurt might do it ($1).  I put in my $1, typed in the number (10) and gasped in horror as the arm flew straight passed the yoghurt and selected a green Yakult bottle.  How did this happen?  I found a perfect snack but ended up with a green apple flavoured Yakult and $0.45 which was completely useless!  Disappointed!”

This is an Asian vending machine quirk.  Instead of only having digits from 0 – 9, all the numbers are present (1 – 21).  So when you habitually punch in 1-0 for 10 (or any selection from 10 - 19) you'll end up with a green Yakult in position #1.  I bet the vending machine company doesn’t understand why the green Yakult is so popular, and I bet there are stacks of green Yakult in the rubbish bins left by lots of hungry and disappointed people.

Book Club: Nourishment by Gerard Woodward

Our book club is certainly not exclusively serious book talk.  Distinctly Jamie Oliver-style, each month we have a handful of wine, a good glug of food, several shakes of gossip and a few pinches of literature to taste.  And quantities vary month by month.

It's a great excuse to get together (and provides the boys their schedule for poker the same evening - although they claim poker sets the book club schedule... uh huh, sure).

I decided to share our book club evenings with you because I know many of you are book lovers in constant search for recommendations as well as foodies.  I don't claim to be a literary expert, so please don't expect pithy, intellectual and in-depth book reviews - I'll keep it simple, light and to the point.

Ironically, my first book club post (and our most recently reviewed book) seems very food-related.  Nourishment, by Gerard Woodward.

Quick Plot Summary (without giving anything away)
The quiet London-during-the-war life of Tory Pace is shattered when her POW husband demands a dirty letter by return of post.  Initially disgusted, Tory's sense of marital duty leads her on a journey to discover her inner language and 'loosen' her pen hand which takes her to unexpected and dangerous territory.

Nominated for the Booker Prize.

The Verdict
3 out of 5
Easy to read, hilarious early attempts at erotica, a little slow towards the end.


We choose our books in three-month slots so up-coming books are:

1. A Child Named It (Dave Pelzer)
2. Sarah's Key (Tatiana de Rosnay)
3. April Fool's Day (Bryce Courtenay)

Also recommended but not selected:

1. Reading Lolita in Tehran (Azar Nafisi)
2. The Secret Life of Marc Rich (Daniel Ammann)
3. Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea (Barbara Demick)

P.S. If you're not already buying your books from The Book Depository, you should consider it - free shipping world wide no matter how much you spend and often much cheaper than local prices.

Dine Out, Timeout, Great Time, Great Taste

The elements for a perfect Singapore evening came together for the Dine Out by the Bay tasting event: great food, great company, glass of wine in hand (not necessarily in that order).

Timeout Singapore brought together the restaurants of Customs House to showcase their wares and I was most certainly not going to disappoint them.

I employed my 'buffet strategy' for the evening, an initial tour of each restaurant's table to see what was on offer before making my choice.  This strategy also helps to make sure you taste all the delicious savories before moving on to sweet treats.  Although usually successful, I was thwarted by a few new dishes emerging from Kinko (Japanese) as I was biting into my salted caramel chocolate cup (where has rock salt + chocolate been all my life?) which looked so good I was forced to briefly revert to savories again.

There was such a wide variety of delicious morsels ranging from mini laksa to chorizo-stuffed mushrooms to tiramisu... but for me the highlights were clear.

Taste Highlights:

1. Scallop carpaccio from Clifford
2. Wasabi prawn with mango salsa from Jade
3. Unagi sushi tempura-style from Kinki (the dish that made me go back)
4. Salted caramel chocolate cups from Town 
5. Mixed berry homemade popsicle from Frostbite

Visual Highlights

1. Cupcake tower from Whips Cupcakes (all gone before I could sample, although I have it on good authority the Red Velvet was delicious)
2. Salmon sashimi cones from Kinki



So many to choose from... how did I miss out?



Salted caramel chocolate cup perfection

Salmon sashimi cones

Mini laksa

Mojitos from Neuva Cuba

For $45 (wine included), the evening was a steal and the view across the water to Marina Bay Sands and the light show topped the evening.  I'll definitely be back.

Our evening wallpaper

P.S. In adding the links to each restaurant I've realised how many are in the Fullerton Hotel... clearly I must find an excuse to go there

Beetroot-Red Finger Tips

One of the most obvious changes between the old NZ-living me and the new Singapore-living me is in vibrant colour injection into my life.  Living in Singapore sometimes feels like I’ve tripped up into a giant paint swatch wheel and emerged dripping in colour.  Maybe it’s living in perma-summer climate – no one really feels like wearing black when it’s 32 deg C outside.  Maybe it’s all the fantastically coloured clothes adorning the shop windows all the way down Orchard Road.  Or maybe it’s a combination of both.  Either way colour is creeping back into my life and I love it.  A bright striped skirt, electric blue dangly earrings… bring it on (and sometimes all together!).

I also find colour is very much creeping into my food.  Asia has a vast array of the most wonderful ingredients, but my most recent colour excursion is with red – beetroot red to be more specific.  Beetroot red with pristine white feta and green onions.

The recipe came from a new cook book purchase (Ancient Grains for Modern Meals).  It’s the first time I’ve come across a recipe including sumac, and try as I might I couldn’t find it in my usual supermarkets in Singapore.  A quick Google suggested lemon juice/zest or tamarind, both of which I had, so off I went!  I all three (tamarind, lemon juice and zest) to the yoghurt sauce, and marinated the chicken (my addition) in spicy tamarind.

As for grating the beetroot, if you don’t want red-tipped fingers, wear gloves.  The red tint was gone by morning for me, but it doesn’t always look the best.

Beetroot and Quinoa Salad

Quinoa

1T extra virgin olive oil
1t whole cumin seeds
1C quinoa
1 3/4C water
3/4t fine sea salt
1/2 t sumac (optional)

Sumac Yoghurt Topping and To Finish

1C yoghurt
1clove garlic, minced
1/2 t sumac, for sprinkling, or 1t freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 3/4 C shredded raw beetroot (about 1 medium size)
1-2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
1-2 pinches of cayenne pepper (optional)

Heat olive oil in med saucepan over med heat until shimmering. Add cumin seeds (they will sizzle) and cook, stirring, until seeds darken and become fragrant (~30 sec). Stir in quinoa and cook, stirring frequently, until hot to touch (~1 min). Add water, salt and sumac, and bring to boil. Decrease temp to maintain simmer, cover and cook until liquid absorbed (~15-20 min)

Meanwhile, make sumac yoghurt topping. Beat yoghurt and garlic in small bowl with fork until smooth. Sprinkle with sumac and set aside.

To finish, remove saucepan from heat. Stir in shredded beet, cover, steam for 3-5 min. Pan fry chicken while beetroot is steaming.  Stir 1T lemon juice and cayenne into quinoa then add chicken. Taste, adjust for salt and lemon juice. Add feta and pumpkin sees here if you want to.

Before yoghurt sauce

Serve with yoghurt topping and sprinkle with green onion.

With yoghurt sauce

Singapore Stay-cation

What's better than a four-day long weekend?  Taking an extra day's leave and making it a five-day long weekend!  Add my visiting parents to the mix and you have a mini break filled with food, wine, laughing and exploring Singapore.  Sounds pretty ideal to me.

For a small city, Singapore has a lot to do if you're not afraid to get out and about.  Most people come to shop, but I'd venture that the malls are my least favourite aspect of living here.  Yes there are something like five Chanels and ten Louis Vuittons, but I would rather wrestle the heat and humidity than the crowded hallways of Ion.

If you're like me, here are some ideas from our Singapore Stay-cation:

Eat

Food is most certainly one of the best things about Singapore, from the simplest of hawker markets to the lofty heights of haute cuisine.

For breakfast try The Plain in Chinatown or Wild Honey in the Mandarin Gallery.  The Plain is a small noisy cafe run by a guy who lived in Melbourne for 15 years, so his coffee is some of the best Singapore has to offer.  The menu is small and simple, and they have dip dip eggs with vegemite soldiers!  Wild Honey is at the opposite end of the spectrum.  It's a decadent breakfast with a menu inspired by countries around the world.  Get there early (around 9am) or don't bother.  They don't take reservations and the wait can literally be hours.

Great sign for the antique store neighbouring The Plain

At any time of day, you can't go wrong with Din Tai Fung (reviewed here).  I rave constantly about this place because it's that good.  Mum and Dad loved it so much we went back again, not that I was complaining.  Don't miss the dumplings, the vegetarian delight and the egg fried rice... and the black steamed wontons.... and the hot and sour soup... in fact don't miss any of it!  Just make sure you go there hungry and while you wait for your table peek in at the chefs in their glass-walled kitchen for a display of the meticulous pursuit of dumpling-perfection.

Craving a mid-afternoon sweet treat?  Head to PS Cafe on Dempsey Hill and ask to sit out on the terrace.  Their cakes and slices are generously proportioned and delicious.  Nibble and sip away in a tropical colonial-style setting.

For dinner, wander through Little India to work up an appetite (or post-meal to ease a bulging belly).  We've started a tradition of taking our guests to the Banana Leaf restaurant (reviewed here) and snapping a photo of the first finger-filled bite.  There are quite a few now pinned up in our office.  The Banana Leaf has commercialised (ie almost 100% tourists) of late, so if that doesn't take your fancy you will have plenty of excellent options just a few doors up or down the street.

Mum and Dad will be added to our finger food collection

Don't miss the Lau Pa Sat hawker market near the CBD.  The mixed satay sets from Satay Stall 7 & 8 are the best (they all say "Best Satay" though...), and don't let the Tiger beer ladies refill your glasses - they try to force the remnants of your Tiger jug into your glasses so you buy another one from them, but you end up with mostly foam and a lot of mess due to their 'pour-quickly-and-from-a-height' technique.  If you purchase a pack of tissues early on from the old guys roaming around they'll stop approaching you - it's only $2.

Satay in the making - it's all in the wrist

For something special the teppanyaki restaurant atop the Pan Pacific (Keyaki) is a great interactive experience.  Try to nab a counter position right in front of the grill, although this isn't that ideal with a larger group.

This clever chap wrote upside down and back-to-front

See

Definitely take the time to visit the ArtScience Museum and wander around the Marina Bay area.  The ASM should be on everyone's list - they currently have a Dali and a van Gogh digital extravaganza which are both brilliant in completely different ways.





Around 80% of Singaporeans live in an HDB apartment (Housing Development Board).  So how can a government-subsidised housing block be on the 'must see' list?  When it's the Duxton Pinnacles, that's how.  You'll need an SMRT card to swipe for $5.  You can buy one at the 7-Eleven near the entrance (Blk 1G, Level 1).  Head up to the 50th floor skybridge for one of the best 360 degree views of Singapore.  I've heard people often use the skybridge as a 800m running track!  Don't wait too long to visit though, only 200 people per day are admitted.

Giant flag still up from National Day

Most public holidays the Istana (the President's pad) is open to the public.  Get up early to avoid the queue and wander around the beautiful grounds/golf course right on Orchard Road.  Our place backs on to the Istana which means we're practically bestie's with the pres... we often head around there for a cup of tea and a quick round of golf before work.

Only applies to those who can walk on water (or lily pads)

After so much eating you may want to strap on your walking shoes and head to Bukit Timah Hill, Singapore's highest point... at 163m.  Don't be deceived, you will sweat... a lot!  And don't feed the monkeys.

Other Ideas in Brief

• Check what's on at the Singapore National Museum - we saw an excellent photography exhibition there of 45 years of Abbas' work
• Cruise for electronic bargains at Sim Lim Square and haggle away to your heart's content.  Tip: the prices get cheaper the higher up the tower you go
• Get a foot massage after a hard day's wandering (recommend Healthy Step in Holland Village)
• Cruise Haji Lane for local designers (small sizes though) and funky jewellery
• Wander the quirky streets of Chinatown
• Play the worlds best courses whilst enjoying a beer at CityGolf (level 61, One Raffles Place) then pop up to Altitude for a drink at Singapore's highest bar - just don't wear jandals if you're a guy