pick me up

this is the 'lushcious' tiramisu recipe:

Ingredients:
2 eggs separated into whites and yolks
3-4 tbsp sugar
250g mascarpone cheese
300ml WHIPPING cream (not whipped cream)
Saviodi biscuits (lady fingers biscuits)
Cocoa powder
2 cups of strong coffee

Methods:
With an electric mixer, mix the sugar and egg yolks together.
Start in a fairly large bowl as everything is going to end up in it.

Once the mix is nice and creamy, add the mascarpone cheese and with a spatula,
mix it in until there are no more lumps.

Clean the mixer and then whip the cream in a different bowl until it
becomes stiff. But don't overwhip it or the cream will separate.

Once that is done, add the cream mixture to the yolks-sugar-cheese mixture.

Clean the mixer again and beat the whites untul peaks form and then add
it to the yolks-sugar-cheese-cream mixture.

That is the cream part done.

Next, soak the lady fingers biscuits in the coffee for about 2 seconds and
then line your pan with it. Cover the entire bottom of the pan, and then place
the cream layer on top. Layer another lot of the biscuits and end with a
layer of cream. Dust with cocoa powder.

Refrigerate it for a few hours before serving



...................................................................................


today i made time to try it. today also i got out of the house uncharacteristically early for a saturday morning to do breakfast with a friend in town (coz that seems to be the only time that fits for us). afterwhich i accompanied her to the 20th floor for her 'medical' appointment and then i did the shopping at the basement marketplace for the ingredients.

the cheese was easy enough to find but those lady finger biscuits. i was never a biscuit person and never take note of what's on the shelves. those biscuits, needed some searching. these are what you need to look for.



the spongey finger biscuits. lady's fingers or savoiardi.got mine at paragon marketplace but i think you can most probably find them at carefour and giant as well.

and then there's the cheese. all smooth and creamy. it's 80% milk fat content tho. you know these things only when you start trying the recipes and reading the labels :)



it is relatively simple dessert, me thinks. separate the yolk and whites. cream the sugar and yolk then gently mix in the cheese.



this recipe has a lot of whipping and mixing. in a separate bowl whip up the whipping cream (note; buy whipping not whipped cream). mix it until...err..the cream's whipped and stiff ;)

then add to the cheese mix.

in another separate bowl, you whip the egg whites till, the recipe said, it forms peak..so here's how i thought it should be. add to the creamed-cheese mixture.



then it was turn to work on the lady's fingers. you have to first prepare some good coffee. the stronger the better. then dip the fingers in the coffee to soak it in. the recipe said 2 secs ..and wisely so since these things arent called sponge biscuits for nothing. after they've been dipped, arrange them at the base of the pan.



then it's the layering. the cream mixture on top of the coffeed biscuits.



2 layers of it. then it's the cocoa powder on top. this is a negative demonstration here coz i didnt use the sieve initially..see the lumps?



refrigerate for a few hours.

then take the pan out, scoop your portion. put more cocoa on top and then take the fork for that first bite.



doesnt look as pretty as the commercial ones. but this is michaelangelo's and theirs look as unpretty so i guess it's ok :)

anyway the taste, made it worth the try.

will definitely do again.

thanks for the recipes :)


*tiramisu means a 'pick me up' in italian

*some pictures with instructions and recipe here: http://www.annamariavolpi.com/page30.html
http://lazyjuice.com/!/tiramisu/

another ratio: 80/20

after a meeting some days back, a friend asked me "havent you heard of the 80/20 rule?"

yes i have.

the 80/20:

"In 1906, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto created a mathematical formula to describe the unequal distribution of wealth in his country, observing that twenty percent of the people owned eighty percent of the wealth. In the late 1940s, Dr. Joseph M. Juran inaccurately attributed the 80/20 Rule to Pareto, calling it Pareto's Principle.

After Pareto made his observation and created his formula, many others observed similar phenomena in their own areas of expertise. Quality Management pioneer, Dr. Joseph Juran, working in the US in the 1930s and 40s recognized a universal principle he called the "vital few and trivial many"

What It Means

The 80/20 Rule means that in anything a few (20 percent) are vital and many(80 percent) are trivial. Project Managers know that 20 percent of the work (the first 10 percent and the last 10 percent) consume 80 percent of your time and resources.

The value of the Pareto Principle for a manager is that it reminds you to focus on the 20 percent that matters. Of the things you do during your day, only 20 percent really matter. Those 20 percent produce 80 percent of your results."

what my colig was trying to say was..learn to work smart lah...why fuss so much?
just focus on the 20% that produces the result.

so that the remaining 80% of your time, can be devoted to the more enjoyable activites of daily living...

remember: less effort for more results = Good.

the trick is of coz, to figure out that 20% that matters.

notables

i dont do links. for some reasons.

doesnt mean tho, that i dont read blogs or have my favourites. i do but i dont have to link them..

but once in awhile a few sites, new or the same old ones, deserves a bit more attention. here are the notables for the week :

phy's favourite:
http://rockson.blogspot.com/

got an anlytical mind? likes to cook?:
http://www.cookingforengineers.com

got this from another 'chef on the blog'. i am partial. i already love the name of the blog.

the lazy way to success:
http://lazyway.blogs.com/lazy_way/
this one especially for a friend.

happenings on the property front:
http://dreamhomeonline.blogspot.com/
from dol- agent with the soul.

naively blogging since.....2001

i was talking to a colig at the end of the day and he mentioned something that he did or rather went for ...and suddenly an alarm rang inside my head..i found it funny. not that i had mean thoughts. it was just something weird that he did.

i am not going to bitch about him. he is a nice guy and a pal. i have to thank him. due to his advice, phy finally found the facial cleansing range for men which is so 'serasih' and sesuai for him..

i could blog about him.

but you see..now i have this fear that i will be discovered. by whom exactly i dunno.
but now when i blog, i try not to be specific. i would try not to use real names. and of coz if possible not have our faces showing here. i know there are the times when vanity takes over and i succumb to it..but if there is ever a whiff that i have been found..i would take that post away..


aaahh..and i was just reading my old blog the other day. the archived pages.i dont have to do a link here. if you knew me back then, you know where i resided.

my blog used to be more personal. with real names. and it was more a "today i went to.. today i did..this and that" type of entries. i could do that then as it was less public. and i found the entries very amusing and even so terribly cringed-worthy. especially the first few posts. it was 2001. i was 24! four years has passed.

i cringed at the subject of my posts, the manner and my sily thoughts then. still i couldnt deny it that that was me blogging it down then..that was me! no matter how selenge..i found it rather amusing..tho self-indulgent to read about myself. again.
i guess that is blogging afterall. narcisstic me and my lil life, needed and needs the space.


someone had downloaded and burned all the archives of her blog. maybe i should do that soon.


****i 've actually done a few bits of self-censoring on tis post since i last clicked on that Publish button..

search for the next..

m quite happy that now we got our tv fixed to receive malaysian channels such as tv3..so tonight we will be tuning in to the finals of malaysian top host.

talking about reality tv, also read in BH that a/r/i w/i/b/o/w/o has got his own reality tv show to search for a new maid! ha! we actually first heard of that in lombok when we were discussing abt the indonesian stars with nuhsin our guide..kwakwa..

and talking about PAs..i was caught wondering and asked him the other day if posh spice mrs bechkams has her own facialist. what i mean by facialist here is not someone who does the regular facials once a week or so (m sure she has that) but someone who helps to wash her face everyday. i am always just so lazy to do the wiping and cleaning of makeup at the end of the day. it's such a chore, i've more often now resort to the minimal concealer, moisturiser and sunblock.

..maybe the very popular indon female stars can consider that..do a reality show on a search for the next 'personal make up remover' especially since they always seem to have a tonne of heavy duty stuffs on their faces.

Tiramisu

dropped by at someone's place the other day and he had made tiramisu for the whole lot of us!...urgghhh...too bad it had liquor...did i tell you my fren once had hers at TCC and it was soaked with liquor i dint have to put my face near it to smell it. one can get positvely drunk by it. it was too much she had to return it.

but anyway, i so have a craving for it now. so kepunan. i have not yet have my breakfast, but am already thinking of desert.

i know it's easy. but i still want to find that foolproof idiotproof one.

on a search for a halal tiramisu recipe.

adding the spice

i didnt have time to cook like i did last year. was down with the flu bug and was tied down with work.

that doesnt mean we werent going to have a time out. the night was reserved for an intimate date. we went to halia for dinner, where the menu was also just as intimately small.



hope you liked it. the present, as you know, comes in about two weeks time.

and talk about spicing it up in the spice garden. it took a french man to coax us to do a pda. and have it captured for that moment. but we are legal so what the hell! so thanks to the french photograher, who also chided us for being 'lazy' at photography, there is one nice picture to remember that moment.



err... not this one! but he took the lousy shot as well.

happy b'day!

interesting or what?!

i am becoming like the typical singaporean.
checked the news on this soon after i got home today.

property policy changes

have always regarded buying your own place and signing that mortgage as one of the most defining "wow..i am so adult now" moments.

tho i forsee the status quo to remain for us now, it's still interesting development. i know some people will be excited bout this.

my pho-trial 2

there are beef noodles and there are beef noodles...

same goes with beef soup. there are many variations. but the most delectable looking beef soup for me besides oxtail soup has to be the vietnamese pho bo.

pho means noodle soup in vietnamese. bo i suppose is beef.

and i mentioned the most delectable looking, because i have never personally tried it myself at any commercial eateries. but everytime when we used to drop by at vietcafe for the sumatra choc fix or as i suck the grilled tiger prawns at mdm saigon, i would always eye the clear beef soup sprinkled with fresh greens and nuoc cham, that my friends always tuck into.


my MIL recently had a taste of it in malaysia, tho she called it thai beef noodles (i would like to think it was pho she tried based on her description of what she had) and even tried it at home recently..her attempt was pretty good and secretly i was also itching to try the recipe again.

the last time i tried it i used beef cube stock. this time i decided to do it the traditional way of making beef stock from scratch. i did the stock on saturday night becoz the husband was out with his friends. i started preparing it at night around 10..after coming back from another dinner. brought the stock to boil, then i left it after turning to low heat and felt asleep around midnight. next morning however i found someone had turned off the gas..and my broth was looking quite fine.



however this time again i did it with modifications. like i din have a cloth to hold the spices. and i missed one of the spices. and i didnt grill the onions and ginger before putting them in stock. but that only means i should try this again another time.

and tis is one of my favourite sauces which goes with the other two viet food which i have mastered. this is the nuoc cham sauce.



i often tend to make my dishes with a little less salt. and so it was for this pho..but the sauce (main ingredient of it being fish sauce) can be added to the soup for a lil more flavour and the lime to give it a tart taste.



you have to eat it with lots of raw greens added as how many who love vietnamese food would say, it is a cuisine of contrasts. would have been more wonderful if i had gone to the thai supermarket to get the sweet basil and mint.

this is the pho..


......and this is my version


my verdict of my trial: still has room for improvement

i would like to think that i love vietnamese food eventhough my taste of it has been limited to 3 dishes (the pho, gui con and bhun thit) and their coffee. but these are enough to make me a convert.

.......................................................................................

there is something wonderful about pho as evident from the online sites and write ups on it.

the pho blog: Pho king

the seminar on pho: vietworldkitchen

terrible thing shame

i have been thinking if i should get a new digital cam.


we share a d70 but that camera is too obvious and big to be brought around daily....


my oly, was my first love and it has been a wonderful performer that never dissapoints. but i have to say it is looking rather bulky and not so stylo as the new breeds we have in the market ...terrible huh..to judge cammy like that after its years of service. but it is looking ancient now..and it is a tad slow....

i am now browsing around for new PS digital cam. if you can reccomend a PS that besides being slim and sexy, needs to produce quality images.


in the meantime, snaps of last week taken with oly:

kena quaked! and why you should remember your secondary school chemistry

yesterday, i had an afternoon off from work..so being boliao and bored of shopping, i brought a friend along to try out a treatment i read about recently in one of those supplements that comes with the daily read.

it was a detox program that claims to draw toxins out from the user's body through his feet with the help of an ionizing charge created by electrodes submerged in the footbath. at the end of the session, the bath water is compared against a colour chart to determine the distribution of toxin accumulation in the user's body.

so why did i want to try it? out of curiosity? becoz like some people, i was just interested in the next new alternative treatment. the price comes with a back massage so it seemed reasonable.

anyway, i tried the footdetox while my friend sat back and watched. the whole setup was actually quite simple electolysis setup consisting of water in a tub with electodes connected to a small device, (they called it the ion generator) but its most probably a pulse generator. the water i dipped my feet into was lukewarm and i learnt had a bit of salt added into it. the generator/device was let to run for about 40 min and in the meantime i was given a back rub (which i have to say was so wonderful i nearly felt asleep) during that entire session, i was supposed to be akin to a human electrode with charged ions carrying toxins coming out slowly from the feet. (to think back now it sounds ridiculous huh)

after the whole session...what i saw was ......scary.

it had turned to this (warning: very scummy ugly pic)





no, i didnt shit while i was being masaged. tho it does look like shit huh..


as it turned out the outcome of the my foortbath was similar to that of the writer of the article, and i was told it was because of the precense of heavy metals in my system. particulary my liver.

perhaps it was the ultra-repulsive scum i had supposedly gathered and expelled, or perhaps it was the idea of the possibility of accumulating them heavy metals..

seeing actually turned to disbelieving...

could i have been that toxic?

so i researched on heavy metals toxicity last night and learnt that nope, it couldnt have possibly be the canned drinks as aluminum (Al) dont even fall under heavy metals. and i am not a fan of canned food. heavy metals are metals like antimony, arsenic, bismuth, cadmium, cerium, chromium, cobalt, copper, gallium, gold, iron, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, platinum, silver, tellurium, thallium, tin, uranium, vanadium, and zinc.

i was fine to leave it at that. but my friend did her own extensive research, admitting of coz that she is very free..and decided to write a mail to the someone ..its almost like a consumer report. and she has done all the science explaining stuffs here as well.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"
...am writing in with great concern about an article recently published
in the weekly "xxxxxxx" section. The article relates the
experience of the writer who underwent the foot bath detox session.
This detox program claims to draw toxins out from the user's body
through his feet with the help of an ionizing charge created by
electrodes submerged in the footbath. At the end of the session, the
bath water is compared against a colour chart to determine the
distribution of toxin accumulation in the user's body.

I had chance to witness the entire process myself recently and must
admit the result was very dramatic. There was brown sludge and dark
flakes suspended in the bath water when the session ended. The helpful
staff also explained that with their other customers, the colour of
the water will frequently turn orange too.

Logically speaking, if this machine is doing what it claims, (i.e.
drawing out toxins from your feet) the result should be very
frightful. Wastes and toxins are leaving your body through the skin of
your feet and appearing as sludge, flakes and discolouration of the
water in the footbath. How does this machine ensure that it remove
only toxins and not other essential components in your body?

So how did the brown sludge and flakes come about? After some research
on the web, it seems that the foot bath detox machine, complete with
timer, voltage indicator and neon backlight is in fact an elaborate
rust forming device. The machine sets up a current and causes the
submerged electrodes to rust rapidly, hence the final appearance of
the water in the footbath. It seems like many customers are paying
good money to have their feet submerged in electrified rust water.

I chose to believe most of these alternative / holistic
establishments, are well meaning and not out to defraud others. But I
think many share an unrealistic and overly simplistic view of the way
the world works. They easily use terms like "toxins," "chemicals," and
"poison" to describe the processes in a person's body and liberally
litter their reports with chemical, physical and biological terms
(very often in the same paragraph!).

From the manuals of a foot bath detox machine,

"Ion-Cleanse Toxin Draining Device works on the theory of electrolysis
by conducting a process called "ionization", the process breaks the
water molecules into thousand of ions. With these ions, the chemical
reaction between Anion and Cation react vigorously with each other.
Through the osmosis, the Anion move in to the body in large quantity,
which strengthen the cells activation in the body. Besides, it
facilitates the rate of metabolism and activates various kinds of
enzymes, therefore, making the excretory organs speeding the function
of waste removal, particularly in the liver. Toxins that are stored in
the body will soon be extracted in the water through the process
called osmosis"

This entire paragraph crammed in most of the chemistry, physic and
biologic terms I'd learnt in secondary school! I hope consumers would
now be more discerning with regards to similar pseudo scientific detox
programs.
............. "


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

made sense. should have recalled my chemistry hor..brown/orange is the colour of iron oxide i.e. rust..

which meant i could have actually been soaking my feet in a tub of rust.

i had left my common sense or rather the scientific knowledge at the door of that very nice reputable dayspa..so moral of story is, boys and girls..always remember what your teachers teach you eh. can save u some $

D vs D

this has to be the best analysis of the whole thing so far..

Minority Man: TT Durai Vs TT Durex

i'm with N/K/F

honestly i've always thought of the organisation as a business. as a charitable business. i think we need to have a mindset change that NGO does not always need to be NPO (non-profit organisation). the issue of course is how they make use of the money that is given to them...

if we take the NGO as a business enitity in terms of its efficiency, in terms of its entrepeneurship and breaking new grounds in funding many in need from dialysis to terminally ill children to cancer, none that i know have that many under their umbrella of services as NKF. or none that i know can last long or have anybody to work with them as long as employees of NKF. it is a leader in social entrepeneurship here.

and how long can we realistically hold down a good worker if we pay them peanuts? if we need them to work for the good of society for long? isnt that why ministers, and teachers (well, okay NOT that highly paid but i heard comparatively the pay IS better than other civil servants) are paid well? we are paid higher than the world average. i dont see anything wrong if NKF is run like an NKF inc with large reserves if we can accept Singapore Inc with always healthy GDP and reserves, and well-paid officers.

i have to agree also with what was said in the NP by one of its patrons. if you think of NKF as a multi-million organisation, $600 000 isnt that much. the 12 month bonus may seem shoddy for a charitable organisation but the 25 000 bucks a month for CEOship is peanuts. i know people who earn that close but they are not any close to a CEOship of any big complex organisation. nor making a difference to society.

and to quote mrbrown " I do think that it is rather naive to expect $200 million to be managed by someone being paid $60k a year. I'd be worried if that were so."

the gold tap is perhaps shoddy, i agree. but if the CEO needs a personal bathroom in his office, i dont see anything wrong with it. he works 7 days a week, 12-14 hrs each day. the man needs to bathe.

the issue here is transparency. that has to be worked out by NKF and their board.

in the mean time, i am still with their cause. i will not discontinue my monthly contribution nor will i make a call to cut down my contribution. we dont have to punish the many in need just because of what we think of one man.

90/10: The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your Emails

today's just one of those days..when things dont fall into place. and many things can just get on your nerve.


then you get such an email.

Subject: 90/10 Principle by Steven Covey

What is this principle? 10% of life is made up of
what happens to you. 90% of life is decided by how you react. What does
this mean? We really have no control over 10% of what happens to us.


We cannot stop the car from breaking down. The plane will be late arriving,
which throws our whole schedule off. A driver may cut us off in traffic. We
have no control over this 10%. The other 90% is different. You determine
the other 90%. How? By your reaction. You cannot control a red light.
However, you can control your reaction. Do not let people fool you; YOU can
control how you react.


Let us use an example: You are eating breakfast with your family. Your
daughter knocks over a cup of coffee onto your business shirt. You have no
control over what just happened. What happens next will be determined by
how you react. You curse. You harshly scold your daughter for knocking the
cup over. She breaks down in tears. After scolding her, you turn to your
spouse and criticize her for placing the cup too close to the edge of the
table.


A short verbal battle follows. You storm upstairs and change your shirt.
Back downstairs, you find your daughter has been too busy crying to finish
breakfast and get ready for school. She misses the bus. Your spouse must
leave immediately for work. You rush to the car and drive your daughter to
school.


Because you are late, you drive 40 miles an hour in a 30 mph speed limit
zone. After a 15-minute delay and throwing $60 traffic fine away, you
arrive at school. Your daughter runs into the building without saying
goodbye.


After arriving at the office 20 minutes late, you find you forgot your
briefcase. Your day has started terrible. As it continues, it seems to get
worse and worse. You look forward to coming home, When you arrive home, you
find small wedge in your relationship with your spouse and daughter. Why?
Because of how you reacted in the morning. Why did you have a bad day?


A. Did the coffee cause it?
B. Did your daughter cause it?
C. Did the policeman cause it?
D. Did you cause it?


The answer is "D". You had no control over what happened with the coffee.
How you reacted in those 5 seconds is what caused your bad day. Here is
what could have and should have happened. Coffee splashes over you. Your
daughter is about to cry. You gently say, "Its ok honey, you just need to
be more careful next time". Grabbing a towel, you rush upstairs.


After grabbing a new shirt and your briefcase, you come back down in time
to look through the window and see your child getting on the bus. She turns
and waves. You arrive 5 minutes early and cheerfully greet the staff. Your
boss comments on how good the day you are having.


Notice the difference? Two different scenarios. Both started the same. Both
ended different. Why? Because of how you REACTED.


You really do not have any control over 10% of what happens. The other 90%
was determined by your reaction.


Here are some ways to apply the 90/10 principle. If someone says something
negative about you, do not be a sponge. Let the attack roll off like water
on glass. You do not have to let the negative comment affect you! React
properly and it will not ruin your day. A wrong reaction could result in
losing a friend, being fired, getting stressed out etc. How do you react if
someone cuts you off in traffic? Do you lose your temper? Pound on the
steering wheel? (A friend of mine had the steering wheel fall off) Do you
curse? Does your blood pressure skyrocket? Do you try to bump them? WHO CARES if you
arrive ten seconds later at work? Why let the cars ruin your drive.


Remember the 90/10 principle, and do not worry about it. You are told you
lost your job. Why lose sleep and get irritated? It will work out. Use your
worrying energy and time into finding another job. The plane is late; it is
going to mangle your schedule for the day. Why take out your frustration on
the flight attendant? She has no control over what is going on. Use your
time to study, get to know the other passenger. Why are you stressed out? It will just make things worse.

Now you know the 90/10 principle.

mari kita

jalan-jalan...

me and an old friend decided we should start a guide to..

well sort of..

a review of places we go to local and regional/international.


so let's go! mari-go-round.blogspot.com

i was going to blog on the olmypic bid...


but....



just got back....



switched on the news..


got online,

and msn from my london fren...



*multiple blasts across london* *on buses and trains*

watching the news, we cant help but think back at the times when we were there. being on budget, we stayed with a friend at chalk farm london. it was pre-911 then so there was never a thought about safety (especially since the estate is like a lil israel with many orthodox jews staying there walking around in the neighbourhood with their jannguts and hat and seeing them in the shadows on a friday) and our main mode of transport was the tube. the times we were going up an down the convoluted stairways from one tube station to another.


things are different now, arent they?
it's terrible.

fear and longing

it was self-admonishing time yesterday in the car as i was a bit upset with myself over something.

"you know i used to be quite KS. i would study and start my preparations very well in advanced"

"when was that?"

"in secondary school"

"that is differentlah..but i thought all up to uni, you were."

"hmm...well maybe i was up till then.i should be more disciplined now. how come i have changed?" *looking at the other person*

"why you look at me that way.?"

"hahahah nothing"

"last time you used to have fear."

"what fear?"

"that you may not get to where you want to go."

"now?errr.. i am already there is it? i dont have fear isit?"

"no lah..now you dont have fear. you have longing.

"what's the difference? what longing?"

"longing......is different"

"so what do i long for now?"

" you ? you long to be a tai-tai."


"hahahahahhah..that's true that's true.."

girl can eat organic-p/o/i/s/o/n-i/v/y

twas a hot saturday afternoon....we decided to go for a drive, a long one and head for a place i have heard about. someplace which would be good to go on such lazy afternoon. since it is quite a drive away

but this being singapore, it wasnt actually that long.

the place was a quaint but not so little place, tucked in a corner of singapore that no one will bother venturing to unless you are in the army,a nature lover or a farm hand. the destination for the day was p/o/i/s/o/n i/v/y bistro which is a lil bistro beside an organic farm known as bollywood/veggies at kranji.

it was a long drive which caught us wondering a few times if we had followed the directions correctly but knew we were at the right spot when we saw this;



the first thing that we would see once we had parked the car, was a small aromatic garden grown with herbs such as basil, dill and aromatic plants such as ylang ylang. the bistro itself is cozily furnished with colourful tablecloth and curtains.



we were served by a couple of eager waiters who presented us with the menu. the guy with the hat there, we think is the owner. he was chatting with other patrons there..and it was actually surprising to us there were quite a few other diners who had driven all the way to what seem like a godforsaken corner of the island, just like us.

i ordered fried rice with kangkung and he had roti prata with banana curry. there were a few interesting items especially in the drink list, which had homemade brew probably with ingredients from the organic farm. but we decided to have the very boring and safe lime juice and sprite. amongst the items which we had, we really liked the stir-fried kangkong and banana curry (though there werent't much gravy to call it a curry) . but the food here isnt really cheap..the bill came up to $21 for the two of us..but then again, this is not a coffe shop and organic vegetables arent grown commercially so they are a lil bit pricey. but if one comes on the weekends, there are actually some 'weekender deals', local set dishes that cost $5 each.



after a meal, there is the option of browsing the cashier counter to purchase any of their farm produces like bananas, aloe and kangkung. or the fish in big jars. there is also the option of going around the farm (have to pay $2/person for this).



the farm and bistro is owned by ivy singh (yes, the netball personality) with her husband (the guy with the hat). they invested in the bistro and farm as part of their retirement plan, and had also built a house/villa next to the farm. (phyz likes the idea of having the villa a lot). i think it's quite an interesting place, worth a visit if you dont mind the drive, if you work/live/study around the area (its near ntu), after a morning trip to sungei buloh, if you feel like getting out of the urban jungle and head west instead of east (ubin) or north (johore), or if you feel like going green and healthy if only for one afternoon.

p/o/i/s/o/n - i/v/y bistro @ www.bollywoodveggies.com