The Dukan Diet - Phase 2 (Cruise Phase)

Hello there. How's the Phase 1 of this diet going on? Have you been coping well with the diet? Now, if you have been, I will be sharing on Phase 2, i.e. the cruise phase. If you have not, don't despair. Persevere, Persevere and Persevere. Patience, patience and patience.

At this phase, you can start to introduce vegetables into your diet. This creates more variety on your diet (IMPORTANT: No fruits for the moment). But again, multivitamins and vitamin C are important. For this diet, you have to eat until you achieve your desired weight. A few rhythms you could follow:-

1/1 Alternating Rhythm (PP; PV)

1 day Pure Protein (PP) followed by 1 day Protein + Vegetables (PV)

Eating vegetables will retain water in your body but PP days can flush the water away!

Refer to Phase 1 for PP days.

MUST HAVE

2 tablespoon of oatbran per day

Exercise 30 minutes a day or 60 minutes to break the plateau weight.
Multivitamins and vitamin C

WHAT GREENS TO EAT

For the greens, you can eat them in unlimited servings (boiled, fresh, soup, etc). If you cannot live without rice, what you can do is substitute white rice with black rice. Similar to vegetables, black rice contains complex carbohydrates plus it does not contain sugar or sodium. Still limit the black rice intake to 1 serving per day.

Carrots and beats - eat them moderately (limited to 1 serving/day)

Forbidden (those contains high carbohydrates or sugar content):

Potatoes, corn, fresh/dried peas, beans and lentil rice, quinoa, barley, wheat, berries, millet and other grains are not allowed!

2/7 Alternating Rhythm (PP; PV)

2 days Pure Protein (PP) followed by 5 days Protein + Vegetables (PV)

e.g. PP (Monday & Thursday); PV (The rest of the days will be PV) 

This  is recommended for little weight loss or those who has heavy bottom but slim top.

2/0 Alternating Rhythm (PP; PV)

2 days Pure Protein (PP) followed by 5 days no particular diet but not to the extremes (no second helpings!!)

This  is recommended for those who has heavy bottom but slim top.

The easiest way to prepare PV meal is to cook one-pot meal. Put your fish/meat and vegetables into a pot and stew them. I ate two middle-sized bowls but it didn't increase my weight. The trick is less meat/fish, more vegetables! All you need is just season the fish/meat with salt and black pepper. To make the soup sweeter, add onions/garlic.

The Dukan Diet - Phase 1 (Attack Phase)

In previous post, I have shared my weight profile by taking up Dukan Diet. You can actually find quite a lot of information on this diet in the web. What I will be doing here is to summarize and share my humble thoughts with you guys. This diet, it is divided into four phases:-

Phase 1 - Attack Phase (Pure Protein Diet - termed as PP)

Phase 2 - Cruise Phase  (Protein + Vegetables Diet - termed as PV)

Phase 3 - Consolidation Phase (Rhythmic PP + PV)

Phase 4 - Stabilization Phase (A day with PP) 

So I will start off with the first phase, which is also the hardest phase. Quite a number of people cannot stand for the first day. Even I too find it hard to do that. But to slim down you will still need a lot of perseverance and patience. 

What to Eat During PP Day (eat as much as you like - unlimited except milk and soya milk)

• Lean meat

1. Restricted to beef, chicken, turkey, veal, buffalo and pork (NO LAMB!)
2. Grilled, baked, roasted, boiled
3. No oil, no butter, no cream or no low-fat version

• Fish/Seafood

1.  All types
2. Grilled, baked, roasted, boiled
3. No oil, no butter, no cream or no low-fat version

• Eggs (half- or hard boiled, poached, scrambled, steamed with minced lean meat/fish with dash of salt and black pepper powder)
• Low fat ham, smoked turkey and chicken, dried beef
• Tofu/Seitan

1. Tempeh, soy milk, vegetable burgers (only for vegetarian dieters)
2. Due to its carbohydrate content in soy milk, it is limited to only 2 glasses a day.

• Natural non-fat, non-fruit yogurt (Unlimited Serving)
• Milk (2 glasses a day)

 Rules

1. Strictly no vegetables, fruits, sugar, ketchup, chilli sauce and oil intake.
2. Reduce salt and mustard intake.
3. Drink plenty of water at least 8 glasses a day - to flush out the excess water, toxins and fats that retains in your body. 
4. 1.5 tablespoon of oatbran per day is a MUST (Increase fullness by absorbing water and contains high soluble fiber that aid weight loss).
5. Exercise 20 minutes daily (at least brisk walking) is a MUST too (This is something that is hard to follow - as we tend to not to move)
6. Load yourself with multivitamins and Vitamin C. Vit. C is an essential component in building the skin's collagen and some other tissues in the body. Without Vit C, no matter how much protein you load in, it will be pointless.

For the exercising, what I did was, I went to Youtube and find those 10 minutes workouts by ClassFitSugar or Denise Austin workouts. You save the hassle going out the house. Do the exercises together while the video is running and you definitely wont feel bored or alone in getting the workouts done. Happy trying!

 

Highly Recommended

Cook your protein with:-

1. Vinegar
2. Spices & herbs
3. Garlic
4. Onions
5. Thyme
6. Shallots
7. Parsley
8. Salt
9. Black/White Pepper
10. Tumeric powder
11. Curry powder
12. Chilli powder
13. Cayenne powder

How long does this diet last?

5 days: Target to lose more than 20 pounds (9 kgs)

3 days: Target to lose more than 10 pounds (4.5 kgs) but less than 20 pounds (9 kgs

2 days: Target to lose less than 10 pounds (4.5 kgs) - I lose 1.5 kgs within 2 days. I think there   

              are quite a lot of water retained in my body. No wonder I always feel so bloated.

Living in Singapore, it's hard to avoid something that is not cook with oil. So, I improvised the diet a little. When I am eating out, I tried to find something that is cooked using less oil such as soup-based or steamed food. Or another way (that's how my sis do it) is to prepare a bowl of water and wash your stir-fried meat/fish/vegetables. It works that way too! For me I didn't do that because the idea is to reduce our fat and sodium intake. As long as it's not deep-fried food, stir-fried food is fine with me. If I cook my own meal, I will use a teaspoon or less of extra virgin olive oil to stir-fry, at least for the garlic and onions. But most of the time, I will cook a one-pot meal (stew or soup-based). To make yourself feel full, drink a glass of 99% fat-free milk before meal. 

In this PP diet, 30 percent of the calories will be used to breakdown the protein. It means that only 70 percent is being stored in our body. If say in a day you consumed around 1500 calories of protein, the actual energy that is being stored is 1050 calories. At this phase, you will feel thirsty most of the time. The reason: To breakdown protein, water is needed. Therefore, drinking 8 glasses of water is not a problem. But do note that you will go to the loo quite often. And you might face constipation for the first few days and the feaces can be dry too. To solve that, eat non-fat yogurt after your meal. It does get your bowel moving!

The Dukan Diet - I have tried and it works!

Hi, folks from the web! I am back in action again. Sorry for not being active for the past one year. Got a lot of stuffs going on, mainly wrapping up the PhD works and my wedding! Yes, I am married! Yay! For myself to look great on the wedding, I adapted a diet called Dukan Diet. A little background before I started this diet:-

April 2012

I weighted 60 kgs. As the emergency alarm sounded, I reduced my carbohydrate intake, approximately a quarter, with no exercise.

August 2012

I weighed again and this time it dropped to 58 kgs in 2 months. This time, I added exercise, once a week (jogging and body toning exercises). 

December 2012

My weight has gone down to 56 kgs but it took me 8 months to get rid of 4 kgs. As my wedding date was drawing nearer, I needed to reduce the weight to 53 or 54 kgs at most. Somehow, be it by luck or by fate, my sister happened to hear from some one about Dukan Diet. Since this diet does not require any starvation, why not try it out - this was what have been playing in my mind.

And surprisingly, before my wedding date, I managed to reach 53 kgs! Below is my weight profile that I have plotted in graph. It took me 44 days to lose 3 kgs and my complexion looks better than before. I can see my face glowing. The first and the last data point dated 15th December 2012 and 31st January 2013, respectively. Within this period, my waistline and thighs measurements dropped 1.5 - 2 inches! Isn't it incredible?! As you can see in the graph, tThere is a hike on day 20 but fear not! It was due to water retention as I was having my menstrual cycle. 3-4 days after the menstrual cycle, the weight will go back to normal again.

 You must be wondering how did I manage to follow through the diet. For this, please wait for the next post. I will explain how this diet works and how you should go about it. See you next round ^_^

P/S: My before and after picture:

                                 August 2012                                                       January 2013

The face and arms in January 2013 was clearly smaller than in August 2012. For the August 2012 photoshoot I had to adjust to make sure that the photographer will only take my thinnest angle. While January 2013 was just a random-normal pose.

Lucky Surabaya, Far East Plaza (Singapore)

Helloooo folks!!! After one year and 3 months, I am back in action. Do you guys miss me? (~cheh~who will miss you thick-skinned) ... -_-" *sweat* .... But when I logged in after such a loong period, I become really "sua gu" (outdated in hokkien) the settings of the blog. Everything is soo new. But phew I got my way out of it though ...

There are so so much to blog and I find it difficult to start!! Traveling and food. It was really hard to choose from those two. Still it seems that food has won my affection .. hahaha ... Alright, since I do have a lot of food to share about, I will start with a short, simple and recent one.

OK, Shalom had this craving for "Ayam penyet" (literal translation ayam = chicken + penyet = crushed/smashed becomes crushed/smashed chicken). Well, dont worry chicken is not crushed but the fried flour is crushed. So you have crumbled fried flour ... We tried another one called "Ayam Penyet Ria" and quite like it. Decided on this because this shop has quite a few newspaper reviews. 

Let's start with the ambiance of the shop. Nice, quite and not crowded. Erm ... I think most shops in Far East Plaza (FEP) are like this cos not really many people here if you compared to other shopping centers along Orchard Road. Fully packed with people on weekends so lunch is a no no there. Therefore, FEP is a good place to get out of the crowd unless you are those crowdie type of person. Yes, definitely those packed shopping malls are for you!!!

  

Then, we flipped open the menu. It offers quite a wide range of Indonesian food and even I am a Malaysian, I have a little problems with the food on the menu. Gosh ... has my Malay standard drop T_T or because it's Indonesian language?! I still prefer that it's because of the language is Indonesian (*tsk...tsk ... tsk... cant believe this girl***faint***). Since Shalom was craving for his beloved penyet and sup bakso (beef balls soup... but mind you, not that kind of "balls" ya!!! hahahaha ....). Not forgetting his all time favourite "teh botol" (bottle tea - well just Indonesian tea) in an Indonesian restaurant.

 

The serving was quite fast and efficient cos we are the second customer in the shop ... so you can imagine how empty the shop is. I guess you must be waiting anxiously what is the verdict for the food. Maybe I have a different taste buds, sup bakso and the sambal (stir-fried grounded red chilli) were just so so compared to its competitor next door (Ayam Penyet Ria). Sambal was more of spicy rather than spicy and sweet which makes you wanting for more. But if you are looking mainly for the chicken, theirs was definitely on the upper hand.

For sup bakso, the sup was too salty with no vegetables. At least the other shop has tauge (bean sprouts) and not so salty. One ball cost one dollar ... very ex hor .... fairprice is like only 20-30 cents for fish/pork balls ... not good not good.

 

.

Alright, people! That's all  for now. Enjoy reading and good night ya ^_^ *hug*hug*

Korean Bibimbap - Mixed Rice

Recently I have been cooking my own lunch to school almost everyday. Because I really do not know what to have anymore in school canteen. Everyday the food are the same. Same type of vegetables, same type of meat. Therefore, I will wake up earlier in the morning to prepare my lunchbox. It's quick and easy. What I did was, I prepared the ingredients the night before and cook them in the morning.


Ingredients

• Brocolli (the florets)
• Beef (mold them into small balls) - Can substitute with pork/prawn/fish/mock meat etc - marinate with salt, pepper and sesame oil
• Crabstick - diced
  
• Mushrooms (diced/sliced)
  
• Bell pepper (diced/sliced) - I chose red for better colour
• Go chu jang - Korean chilli paste - Scoop one spoon of go chu jang and mixed with two spoon on water
  
• Homemade Kimchee
• White rice
• Olive oil
• Salt

Steps

• Heat oil
• Stir fry brocolli, beef, mushrooms, bell pepper and crabstick until cooked.

• Place rice on a bowl and topped with the ingredients stir-fried earlier.
  
• Fry an egg with yolk half cooked and place it on top of the rice.

• Add in go chu jang and mixed the rice.

The rice is ready! Quick and easy isnt it? ^_^

Penang Village @ Sri Hartamas Shopping Mall

I was browsing through pics for the past few months. It seems like I have not been blogging about the food that I had eaten. So I decided to have it a go again. This restaurant is located at the basement of Sri Hartamas shopping mall called Penang Village.

At the first glance, the restaurant looks empty and we (my family and I) hesitated. It's empty because it's 4++ pm and who would have lunch or dinner during this time .... *fainted* .... There were a table or two having their snacks though ... by judging the looks of the customers, we decided to brave ourselves and try it out!

The design of the restaurant is quite unique and it has that kind of "Peranakan" feel .....

Since it is called Penang Village, the first thing that we ordered is the "Char Kway Teow" (fried wide rice noodles). But to our disappointment they dont serve char kway teow during that day. Char kway teow is the signature of Penang and not char kway teow!!!!! Aiks ...... so we ordered others stuff.

This is ota-ota. It looks and taste a lot like the Thai Ota-ota. Very nice! But sadly not Penang signature .....

Then, my sis ordered Tom Yum fried rice, which is again not Penang signature. More towards Thai again ... Taste ok ... not very tom yum-ish though.

Another version of fried rice. You must be wondering why fried rice. All of us like fried rice. So we ordered different kinds of fried rice to test out how well they can go with fried rice. Instead of tasting Penang signatures, we had a fried rice feast instead which is quite ... *speechless* ...

Alas and finally, here comes the Penang signature - Assam Laksa. The waiter was kind enough to arrange the cutlery for me to take pictures. Hehehe ... seems like he knows I am going to blog about this. Well, well ... tasting the not so great fried rice, I didnt expect too much from this assam laksa. And my expectation was wrong. This assam laksa taste superb!! Although using mackerel as soup base, there is no fishy smell at all. It just taste real good. Sweet enough, sour enough and spicy enough! Plus it's a very big bowl too.

Cant remember how much we spent though but if think each dish cost around RM10-20. Slightly more expensive for the assam laksa. If I am going down to Sri Hartamas again, I will definitely visit this restaurant again. It's worth the money except the fried rice.

Anyeong! Kimchi Sarang-hae!! (How do you do? I love kimchi!)

Kimchi or kimchee is known to be a must have side dish for Koreans. Since there is a surge of craziness in watching Korean dramas, those who are fans must have been well introduced to kimchi by now. You can have mixed-kimchi rice or kimchi added into the Korean typical mixed-rice bibimbap. Bibimbap is one of my favourite Korean main dishes! Others include the bbq meat, kimchi chigae, beef stewed soup etc ... Drooling ... Slurp ... yum yum .... Set those aside, today's topic is on kimchi. You must be wondering why kimchi is a must have for Koreans? I wonder too ... There was a time when my sis visited Korea and she was surprise by how well-shaped and great complexion the Koreans have.

So I did a little research on the nutrition value of kimchi and I found they really have whole lots of it. The most important great stuff in kimchi is Lactobacillus (a kind of bacteria that exist in your stomach that aid digestion and also yeast infection). This kind of bacteria can also be found in yogurt. Therefore, if you dont like yogurt, you can try kimchi. So you can imagine why Koreans are quite well-shaped .... Second, it consists of high content of vit C and beta-carotene that helps in slowing aging ... so dont be surprise that they have good skin complexion even for their Ahjumma!! Dr. Ben Kim website mentioned that kimchi also contains indole-3-carbinol (I3C), a compound that protect us from cancerous disease. I learned my first kimchi making from this website but I did not strictly follow the instructions. That ended the first attempt to taste like chicken rice chillies. Hahahha .... More is to come, it contains great amount of vit Bs (B2, B12) and vit A as well as phosphorus. You will know why it contains so many great stuffs by following through the ingredients.

This is my 6th or 7th attempt in making kimchi. So dont worry that this will be a failure. It's a success and the feedback was quite good from picky eaters (Those-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named).

The main ingredient: Nappa Cabbage and Salt (Lots of it!!-1 packet)
I would recommend you to buy a good nappa cabbage with not "pepper-spots" disease. Cos psychologically you wont like it. But if you dont mind, you can just get it anyway. So what to do with them?

For easier washing, I will cut them into (1 inch x 2 inches) sizes or to the sizes that you like. Why and not tear them by leaves? Cutting them into bite sizes will make it easier and faster to remove the water content inside the cabbage so that you can preserve the vege. Cut the from the bottom till it reaches the edge of the leaves. This cut should be easy enough to tear the cabbage into two.

After tearing them into two, cut the "heart" out.


Then, cut from bottom up again till the edge of the leaves and tear them apart. This should make the cabbage a quarter from its original size.

Then, as I said earlier, cut them into bite sizes or the size which you prefer. Rinse them twice in water and drain.

Get a clean bowl followed by a handful of nappa cabbage. Then, add about 1/2 tablespoon of salt into it. Toss and mix well. If 1/2 table spoon is not enough to well cover the cabbage, add more. This preservation process is very important. You surely does not want to have too much moisture in the kimchi.

Put them in a big bowl or container. If it doesnt fill the container (a little bit higher then the cover), find something heavy (I use my pestle) to weight it down. Then, cover the container. It makes the water comes out faster. This process is called osmotic process where water will go towards the more concentrated solution till a balance is met. Leave it for approximately two to three hours. Or put it in fridge and leave it overnight (8-24 hours) is fine (I always use 24 hours cos my tight schedule doesnt allow me to finish it in a day).

After leaving to for quite some time, you should be able to feel that the cabbage is soft. When you squeeze it, you wont feel any crunchiness in it at all. Now, it's time to wash the kimchi. This step is important. I read from a journal article, it says that the salt content of kimchi should be around 2-5%? I wash it twice cos I tried washing it once and the kimchi turned out to be too salty. Three times is too plain. So twice is just nice ^_^. Squeeze out the salt water ... do not squeeze too hard though. You definitely do not want to destroy the cabbage. Put it in a basin of water, rinse --> drain --> squeeze. The hands will be quite tired doing this. So better get more helper to do it, if you are not alone at home ... hahahhahaa....

The Ingredients for Fermentation .....
If you prefer more sauce and have two napa cabbages like me, then you can add the whole fruit. Else just 1/2 of each will do.

• Vinegar - 250 mL (Optional) - if you like it sour
  
• Lemon - 1 (Optional) - skin off
  
• Orange - 1 (Optional) - skin off
  
• Apple - 1 (Optional)
  
• China/Korean Pear - 1 (Optional)
  
• Onion -1
  
• Garlic - 8 small cloves and 6 medium cloves and 4 big cloves
  
• Fresh/Young Ginger - (2 x 2 inches)
• Chili powder
• Scallions - cut into bite sizes or in any size and shape that you prefer.
• A pair of gloves
• Air-tight container - rinse with boiling water and air dry for a few minutes (water will evaporate and the container should be dry. Cover the container to prevent the intrusion of other bacteria.).
  

The fruits can be replaced with sugar. Because I prefer natural sweetener, I dont like using sugar. Sugar is very important as it serves as the food for the bacteria to ferment nicely.

Blend all together except for scallions and chili powder. And it will turn out like this. The smell is really great and refreshing!!

Then, mixed the blended ingredients, chili powder and scallions in a big bowl. Since I dont have a big bowl, I do it little by little. Then, get another medium-sized bowl. Wear your gloves else your hands will feel like burning later due to chili powder. Take a handful of kimchi, and top it will the sauce mixture. Toss the cabbage around and make sure each leaves are well-covered by the sauce. Then, put it into the air-tight container. Make sure no air gap is found in between the covered kimchi cos air gap will slow down the fermentation process and also some bacteria that survive with oxygen might spoil the taste of kimchi. After filling the air-tight container, before covering the container, lay the leftover sauce on top of the cabbage that is exposed to air. This is because some people found that fungus growth occurs (white spots). But not to worry too much, you just need to scoop away if that happens. The rest of the kimchi is still edible.

Leave about 1-2 inch gap so that there are spaces for the CO2 release. Cover the kimchi with the container cover and store in cupboard for about 1-2 days. After one day, check if there is air bubbles in your container (remember there is no air gap when you first load your kimchi in). Air bubbles means your kimchi is fermenting well. If you want it to be more sour leave it at room temperature (26C) for another one day. If not, just put it into the fridge and let it ferment for another two-three weeks (it tastes better). And the kimchi is all ready for your disposition!

The steps may be lengthy but it definitely taste better and cheaper than those packaging kimchi. The total cost for this (I can make about 4 lunch-boxes sizes - 1 box is about 4 packets of SGD6 each that is sold in Cold storage) is around 30 dollars. So kimchi lovers out there!! What are you waiting for!

Creamy Mushroom Pasta - Squisito!!

Hi, folks! One month has passed ... I have quite a lot to write and quite a lot to uploads. Again, my busy schedule with a lot I was thinking which one should I put in first. This is what I have decided. My sharing of quick and easy recipe (not as quick and not as easy too =P) .... This pasta was done the first time and I think it just taste GREAT!! Not much of a hassle but waiting time will take quite some time since I am cooking using slow cooker or crockpot. People who have tried this gave me thumbs up on this *Grins* .....

What is needed ...

• San Remo Spinach Fettuccine
• Garlic (a few cloves - Good source to prevent quite a few diseases)
  
• Broccoli (Good source of anti-oxidants)
• Milk (go for hi-cal and low fat)
• Pure cream (45% fat)
• Grated Parmesan cheese
• Olive oil (to substitute butter. This oil possesses good fats - mono-saturated fats)
• Low salt streaky bacon (other bacon based on your preference can be used)
• Turkey breast ham (optional)
  
• Fresh button mushrooms
• Salt
• Pepper
  

How to ....

• Heat the olive oil in the slow cooker for 15 mins at high mode.
• Put in the diced garlic and bacon. Add in some salt and pepper according to your taste and stir-fry a little. With slow cooker at high mode, leave it for about 15-20 mins or till the bacon is half cooked. (You can wash the vegetables and start boiling hot water at the same time)
• Then add in button mushrooms and simmer for about 15 mins. For this time, you can start cooking the pasta (it requires around 15-20 mins to get cooked)
• After button mushrooms, add in cream cheese and milk (you can warm the milk before adding it in so that the Parmesan (according to your preference - more if you love it and less for a leaner body) wont stick at the bottom of the slow cooker). Lastly, add in Parmesan.
• Leave it for 1 hour and stir every 20-30 mins to avoid bottom from sticking.

Ok let's jump back to the hot boiling water step while waiting for the button mushrooms to simmer.

• Boil the broccoli (cut into bite size) in boiling water for 2 minutes (to avoid the broccoli from over cooking - turning yellow). Set it aside.
• Then, load in the pasta and let it boil for 15-20 minutes (You can add in black pepper and mixed herbs for better taste). Stir every 5-10 mins to avoid pasta from sticking together. Or another way contributed by Shalom is add oil into the boiling water.
• Drain the pasta. If you are not going to eat it immediately, add some olive oil and black pepper. Mixed homogeneously with the pasta.
• When the creamy sauce is ready, serve the creamy sauce on the pasta and decorate the pasta with broccoli in anyway you like. For better color you can use tomatoes or bell pepper for decor.
  
• Else just cool the sauce separately with the homogeneously mixed pasta and keep in fridge for the next day lunch.

It may seem a hassle to do but it is worth trying. Taste really great!! Just love it!!

Ximending, Taiwanese Cuisine

Hey, folks! I have not been blogging for three months now. Thanks to my hectic experimental works leaving me so tired every night. But I have not been stopping from eating around. I got whole lots of food reviews to share with you guys!! That explains why I got fatter too :( so sad ....... This was a restaurant where I had dinner with my ex-student when I was teaching in INTI College. Well he is a working professional now. And it really means that I am really catching up with age ...... The location of this restaurant is in Vivocity. Either in second or third floor ... cant really remember though ...

#1 Crispy Spring Chicken

The chicken is crispy from the outside and tender from the inside. Recommended dish for everyone. It comes together with five-spice powder. You can choose to sprinkle it on top or dip on it when you are about to eat it. However, beware! Too much of the powder is definitely too salty and spoils the taste of the chicken.

#2 Braised Pig's trotter with Peanuts
This dish is just so so. Nothing special about this.



#3 Yuxiang Brinjal
It is just brinjal fried with minced meat and chilli. Too oily and taste is just so so as well. Didnt really like it though.


#4 Mapo Tofu
Tofu fried with spicy bean paste and chilli. Didn't turn out to taste very good as well. Just on the average.

But there are others in the menu which the two of us didnt order. The food will be too much for us to finish. However, there is quite a long queue for this restaurant. Must be something that attracts people to patron this restaurant. Worth a try.

Miraculous Kose Mask White

I always have the blackheads and whiteheads problem since teenage years. It has been giving me great headaches. No matter what I did it never seems to be able to get rid of them in one go. I have tried egg white, egg yolk, peel off mask (Garnier and Pola) and Biore Pore Pack. But none gave me satisfactory results!

One fine Friday evening, well, it sounds better if it always start with this *giggles*, I was window shopping in Guardian at IMM Building (one of our (me and Shalom) hangout place - cos it's not too far from Shalom's home and not too far from my home. It just sit right in the middle), I "stumbled" upon the Kose counter. They have a series of display at their shelves. Since I was early and Shalom was late, I browse through the product one by one. This is where this Seikisho Mask White came in. I didnt dare to try it at first cos my skin is considered at the sensitive range. I dug a little bit here and there on its reviews and finally I decided to try myself. I told myself that there is nothing much to lose except SGD35.

After double cleansing my face (wash your face twice - remove makeup then remove oil and debris), I applied the black white mask generously onto my face. Becareful! It's not creamy rather, it looks a lot like diesel to me. But it smells much much better than diesel. Hahahaha .... The colour of the liquid or rather mask reminds me of a horror movie which I watched when I was very young. It was something black and liquid that feeds on human ... hahhaaha ... Ok back to topic ...

After application, you have to wait till it is completely dry. You will feel your face is being tighten by the mask but fear not it will not create wrinkles. Just that the movement is very awkward. Upon drying, then peel the mask from chin to forehead (meaning "bottom-up") ^_^". Quite a few bloggers wrote that it's quite painful. Hmmm ... at first I thought it may be quite painful but to my surprise it was not as painful as I had thought it would be. Just a sensation that you may feel when you are using Biore Pore Pack ... well it's better than that by a little. So not too bad. The bloggers also mentioned that the pain is caused by the removal of the facial hair. Well, this again is not true. It may remove four or five strands of facial hair but not all. I am a person who is very particular not to remove any facial hair as facial hair protects the outer skin from bacteria, dust and stuffs. So removing it means exposing your delicate skin to the outer hazards. It's a BIG NO NO for me. My hair still intact and they are still working fine. Hehehe ...

Below two pics are the outcome after using the mask. For the first time, I see all the white heads and some blackheads that had matured sticked on the mask. I could say 90% of the mask consists of my whiteheads and blackheads! This is the first time I experienced this kind of results after using peel off masks (other brands and natural products) for quite some time. You can also see that your dead skin was being peeled off too. Leaving only a smooth skin. Plus all the toner or facial skinfood that you put onto your face after this mask can be easily absorbed.

When I am on the verge of giving up, this mask gives me hope! I guess I will be continuing using it. So how about you? Do you have the same problem too?

Thing to take note:
If you have wound or sun burn do not use till the skin is healed. Or else, it will peel off the dead skin that is yet to mature and may cause some irritation later! So do take note!!

Slow Ageing and Slimming Dessert (2)

Hi folks! As a sequel from my first slow ageing and slimming dessert, I am introducing the second slow ageing, slimming and super duper tasty dessert (at least to me ,.... ^_^)! Previously, it was snow fungus. This time, it is winter melon *Grins*. Let's see what's the benefits of winter melon before I moved on to my recipe.

• Promotes cell growth and rejuvenation, therefore, you will have a smooth skin
• Get rid of toxin from kidney and liver. Toxin in the body makes you aged faster than you expect it to be.
• Helps body maintaining its temperature especially from now till October which is a very hot period in Singapore/Malaysia.
• Improves blood circulation, this carries oxygen more efficiently throughout the body
• Enhances our body immune system, a very good source for cold prevention.
• Since it contains high content of Vitamin C, it induces the collagen production that makes the skin supple and smooth. In addition, Vit C helps in removing the cholesterol levels in your blood stream.
• A great anti-oxidant (beta-carotene and Vit C) that repairs cells to prevent wrinkles as well as protection from sun.
• Stress and fatigue reliever (Vit B1, B2 and B12).
• Reduces water retention, which is a good way in slimming down if you have water retention problem.

It's a great choice and a very cheap way in getting pretty and healthy. Talking about it, I have not been eating this for a long time. Recently, my focus is on my beany meany and the snow fungus. Hmm ... I think I need to buy this melon and make them into soup so that I can have it for lunch. Else I will be A-G-E-I-N-G due to the stress, fatigue and my late night sleep!! Gosh!!!! I do not want to become and O-L-D H-A-G after I finish my PhD. Nooooooooo!!!

In addition to winter melon, I will add in lotus seed. My favourite!! You can easily get the dried lotus seed from TCM but you will need to soak overnight and remove the lotus heart which is a pain in the ass. Lotus heart taste very bitter. I dont think you will like it. Or alternatively, you can get a packet of fresh lotus seed if you have one around your area ^_^. Benefits of lotus seed include:

• Strengthen bones and teeth as they contains high content of calcium, potassium and phosphorus.
• It also promotes blood clotting (Vit K? cant remember) if you have an open wound.
• Contains high amount of phosphorus that helps in the metabolism of protein, carbohydrates and fats effectively. Helps in slimming.
• Maintain the acidity balance of our body at the right pH.
• As you grow older, definitely you do not wish to get senile dementia. Regular consumption helps to improves memory and work efficiency as you gets older.
• It also helps to stop diarrhea and improves sleep (for those who are behaving like a nocturnal animal, you can try this rather than eating sleeping pills. but of course, the effects may be slow since it needs time to regulate your body)

OK enough with the benefits and all. Let's go to the preparation stage of this dessert. Preparation work is as simple as ABC.

What you need

• Winter melon (1 inch slice)
• Lotus seed (20-30)
• Red dates (based on your preference)
• Wolfberry (based on your preference)
• Honey sugar

How to do (Simplest task ever)

• Wash those that need to be washed and placed them into the slow cooker except honey sugar.
• Fill the water to your liking. (I love a lot of water!! It taste superb especially when it's chilled)
• Cook at low for 8 hours (cos I normally do this at night) or 4 hours at high. Or if you are using stove 1-2 hours is more than enough (medium fire). But slow cooker or crockpot (some who called it) is the best as it retains the water and it's hassle free.
• Lastly, add in the honey sugar (the amount is according to your preference).

It can be your breakfast, it can be your dessert and it can even be your supper. It's a great, simple and cheap dessert! Happy trying *wink* and I am off to bed.

Good night folks *kisses* and *hugz*

Slow Ageing and Slimming Dessert (1)

Every girls (maybe some guys too) is hoping for a young and youthful skin. Well, you might not feel it when you are at your early twenties but in your late twenties, especially when you are approaching thirty, the desire of sustaining your youthful look is getting stronger each day. Since ancient times, those empress and concubines had been feeding on bird's nest to slow down the ageing. Well, that's for the high-end kind of people to have. For a low-end people like me, we will opt for a low end product but with equivalent effect. That is snow fungus. Some info which I found on the benefits of snow fungus: -

• It contains Iron, Vit C, Calcium, Phosphorus
• Cure constipation as it lubricates colon and stimulate peristalsis (the way your intestines pushes the food down the colon and eventually out from your body)
• Nourish lungs, strengthen respiratory system and therefore, prevent cold
• Improves blood production and circulation that eventually bring a moisture-complexion to the skin.
• Prolong consumption will aid in removing wrinkles, freckles and stress marks
• It also reduces the harmful cholesterol in our body which reduces the risk of getting stroke and high blood pressure
• Prevents cancer

To select a good quality snow fungus, go to the TCM shop, do not choose the extremely snow fungus. Because normally they are bleached. To get a top quality find those with pale yellowish snow fungus. It can be stewed in soup with spare ribs or pork bones. But I prefer to make it into dessert and treat it as my breakfast. Making it is really an easy task. It will only take you 15 mins for the preparation.

What you need

• Snow fungus
• Red dates (good for the production of blood)
• Honey dates
• Wolfberry (good for eyes)
• Longan
• Honey rock sugar

How to cook

• Soak half a palm of the snow fungus for about one to two minutes or till it has soften. Soaking it with water will make the fungus grow bigger. If you dont like the dessert to be too viscous dont use too much. Tear into small pieces or big pieces according to your preference.
• Wash all the ingredients except the honey sugar (add the ingredients amount according to your preference) and put into your slow cooker.
• Put it in low mode and cook for 8 hours (best to do when you are about to go to bed) or put in high mode for about 2-3 hours
• Lastly, add your honey rock sugar and ready to serve.

If you cant finish it during the day after cooking, you can keep in the fridge for about a week. This dessert serves as my breakfast. It really works wonders but of course it has to be a long term eating. Eating for like six months once wont give you much effects.

Happy trying ^_^.

It's a bit too late, but I guess it's ok (I hope...)

I was browsing through the pictures of this year. And how can I not blog about Chinese New Year in my family. I really feel "tak patut" (means shouldn't be that way in Malay). Although a bit late but never mind la ... it's sometimes better late than never =P (excuses ..... $#@!&%) CNY was an occasion where all the family members get together. Talking and of course the most important is EATING!!!! This year reunion dinner was sort of rush as mom and dad plus bro were busy picking me up from JB and then Sis from KL. It was really a hectic reunion dinner day. So I will start my journey on the first day of CNY ^_^

First Day of CNY
These few years of CNY in the paternal side of the family was not as complete as the past few years. Yes, our grandfather was not here with us anymore to celebrate CNY. He has parted with this world and join another paradise. We mourned for about 3 years and it was about three years ago that we have CNY. Meaning we resume the ang pow (red packet) giving and receiving time hehehehhehe ... since I am not married, I am still consider a kid and therefore, ang pow is something that I wont be missing hehehehehe ....

Another thing that we have not been missing every single year is the A-ma's (Grandmother) Mee Sua (Longetivity noodles). Every year, no matter how her health is, she will definitely cook this noodles. For the past few years A-ma has been wheel-chaired since she fractured her pelvic bone. Though a metal plate was inserted, she cant really walk. She can walk a few steps and her pelvic bone will start to hurt. So she is wheel-chaired now. However, that didnt stop her from making this noodles. Of course she is instructing the maid to do that ..... she cant even stand for like 5 minutes!! This noodles is totally a vegetarian noodles. The soup was of black fungus, nappa cabbage, shitake mushrooms and dried flower's buds/petals. Noodles are cooked separately and was mixed with oil (or else they will stick together if they were left long enough). And the most important is the seaweed. This seaweed was not deep fried, but pan fried with oil and salt. This taste really and superbly good. I will always have 2-3 bowls of this noodles every year!!! Cos you get only to eat this once a year.... hahahahhahahahaa....

After the visit from A-ma's house, it's dinner time again. So we hop into any restaurants that was opened that night. Well, lucky enough that Ocean was opened out of so many that were closed. They only offered package meals. Well, fair enough .... First up was of course the never miss Yee Sang (Raw fish representing alive again). This dish signifies to bring prosperity, wealth and to wash away bad luck of the past year. So we will mix the ingredients together with chopstick and at the same time we will say something good or something that we wish for loud and clear. The higher your chopstick are when mixing the better .... so normally the kids will just spill everything out from the plate and it ends up only half of it left in the bowl. I wont really blog each dish one by one ... cos it will be too lengthy. But overall the food was really great despite the many people that they have in the house. Satisfactory reached!!

This sharkfin with crab meat (of course not the real sharkfin is used ... normally it is a synthetic ones judging from the price of the menu )

A-BA-LO-NE dont be too happy just yet .... MUSHROOMS!!! with brocolli

Fried prawn balls with some crispy donno what .... top with some mayonnaise

Thai-style steamed red garoupa. Taste really good and the fish was very very very fresh!!!

Lotus rice. We found that we cant finish all .. .so we daboa this rice.

Then of course a family photo that cant be missed!!!

The meal was really great and my gastronomical tract was very satisfied. Hehehehehehee......

Second day of CNY

Second day was maternal A-ma's day. So here mum was the main cook for this year. Cos all these years Da-Yi (Big Aunt) was always the one to cook. So this year she relieve a bit for the second day though she was still cooking for the first day, skipped the second day and the rest of the days of CNY. My this Da-Yi is really a all-rounder. She cooks, she bakes, she tailors, she cuts hair, she paints, .. everything you name it and most of the time she was able to do it. However, due to the age that was catching up with her, she cant do that many things at a time anymore. But I still do salute her for being able to paint the WHOLE semi-detached house all by herself!!! Quite impressive heh?! OK ok back to the story, since mum was the main cook, how can the assistant sit idly doing nothing. So of course have to help also lor .... See the proof? We were making "Sempoa dish - a Hakka dish" But too bad we forgot San-Yi (Third Aunt) is married to a Hakka ... hahahhahahahaha .... the dish didnt turn out very well ... so erk ... ..... of course got commented ......

Da-Yi's acar. She is a good acar maker. The acar she makes taste much better than those native in Malaysia. Oh ya oh ya also her sambal .... I am salivating now ... *Gulp* really can beat those that you can get on the shopping mall saying they are the best seller .... they really cant be compared ... Trust me!! She cooks good nasi lemak too but due to the unhealthiness of this food, she doesnt want to cook nasi lemak anymore.... sad .... Back to the acar, this dish is always selling like hot cakes during CNY but too bad I am not a big fan of acar. Hahahhaa .. I dont really like sour stuff. Even tomatoes I will opt for cherry tomatoes ...

Stew sea cucumber. Also another Da-Yi's specialty. Me not a fan of sea-cucumber too but it has the best nutrition for the skin. So must take at least a bit for the sake of my skin hahahahaha ...

Tua-Kim's (Aunty Hoon - First Uncle's Wife) speacialty. Our home made Yee Sang. Taste better than those selling in restaurants ^_^

another Da-Yi's specialty. Every year a must have!! It's an hot item too. Cannot miss. If she doesnt make this people will go around bugging her to do or flood her with a lot of questions why ...

Mum's specialty ... boiled vegetables. Mum is a very good cook in healthy food. Most of my recipes idea come from her. As every week without failing, she will tell me which kind of food is healthy and to sustain youth, what kind of nutrition that it contains and which kind of food that cannot combine together so as it will suppress the positive effect of the food to our body.

Boiled brocolli topped with this time REAL A-BA-LO-NE!!!

And of course before starting anything, we have to family pictures la. My maternal side of the family with cousins. Quite a big family ya .... hehehehehehehee

Time to Lou Hei (Mixing the Yee Sang) .... HUAT HUAT HUAT AHHHH!!!!!!!!! Oops I accidentally deleted the pics ... sorry folks!! I hope you are not too tired reading it as this is REALLY A LONG ONE!!!