The Donut Factory - Friend's review
So one of my friends finally got in line at the express queue at Suntec City (while waiting for her window-shopping Mom) here's her review (posted with her permission) that she smsed me :
10 minutes of waiting netted me and Mom 2 donuts out of 8 sitting in a tray. Kaya and Strawberry heart. Too sweet too sweet. And if I had waited an hour, I would have said too sweet and thoroughly not worth it. It's all time, place and perception. Either I wait for my mom watching her window shop or I read my book in a queue for same amount of time for these mythic donuts. It's okay, above bad! Will not comment on texture or consistency though.
This is because I had told her that I liked it but at this point I made her tell me about her thoughts. Her reply follows...
Because it was average. I think it's the long queues and the anticipation that flavours the tastebuds.
Previous related posts here and here.
I know...
I will bake soon - been busy at work. It's true.
I'm taking a week off next week so there will be plenty of time to catch up with new experiments!
It's been 1 whole year since I've quit smoking!!
I've also noticed a sudden rise in people reading about the donut factory post I made some months back. The queue is still quite long even though school holidays are over. They've recently just opened another outlet at Suntec City. Location addresses for their outlets and a visual sample of their delicious range of donuts can be found on their website donutfactory.com.sg.
Invisible City
There are few who lyrically romanticise
about Singapore and there are even fewer who associate and relate
to such notions. Most of the time we just don't get it - us
spoon-fed Gen-Xes.
Unlike our parents, we grew up in a sanitised and über efficient
society that doesn't accept anything less, only looking to better
and the best, leaving the failed and less popular behind and
forgotten. New was always better than the old. We were always told
how great our progress was, how we're Number One in this and that.
Our failures were almost never spoken of.
We are a generation who so busy downloading our upgrades, have very
quickly and easily forgotten what is supposed to be our history.
We're a bunch who posses the audacity to whine about our history
failing us because we don't know who we are. I used to romanticise
and gush about the old world European cities that I've visited and
lived in. I've never gushed about Singapore in any way close (there
is the exception of our delicious local cuisine), because I thought
there wasn't much of our culture to gush about - there was only so
much I can say about our air-conditioned shopping centers that sell
almost the same things as the next or how Singapore Airlines really
is a great way to fly. What's new?
Tan Pin Pin has
made an incredibly important film with Invisible City. She's
retold a forgotten collective memory in a way each generation will
appreciate, one that is so essential to us as a young culture. She
has helped us to remember and bring to light several important
moments that existed in Singapore and has helped us to appreciate
what a lot of us didn't. Our history.
As a Singaporean I'm grateful to Pin Pin and the gracious
participants of her documentary for recording and sharing a history
that rarely spoken of, for making this very significant film,
because they have filled a void that's been in me that I've never
realised was there.
Truly perfect timing to have this released before National Day.
Please support this film and get all your family and friends to
watch it!!
Invisible City opens at the Arts House on 22 July 2007.
For more information, visit Invisiblecity.sg
e-xperiments.com
Please update your bookmarks to http://e-xperiments.com
Big thanks to my friend Grace for suggesting the name! I was trying to incorporate the "Elena" & "Experiments" together and was thinking quite literally, really long addresses like elena-experiments.com or elenaexperiments.com. What will I do without friends like her?! A few other friends thought it is a much better (and shorter) address to remember too.
I still have sqpixels.net as a forwarder to this new domain so it'll still work.
Huge Thanks to everyone for visiting my food blog!
How to order coffee at your local Kopitiam
"Tiao Hir!" "Kopi-O!" "Tak
Kiu!"
If you've ever stepped into a local Kopitiam (coffee shop) in
Singapore, you'll definitely hear the waiter from the coffee shop
belting out in Hokkien a new order to the barrister - a bit like
Starbucks but without the fancy air-conditioned outlet with plush
armchairs, much fewer fashionable looking people, at a fraction of
the price.
I can only drink 1 cup of coffee a day - that is in the morning and
that has to be super strong to wake the sleepy day
dreaming me up. Any more, I'll be a freak show. This is unfortunate
because I really enjoy the taste of local coffee - the thicker the
better. My friend once described it as drinking mud - coffee that
looks like mud but tastes like heaven!
My favorite brew is from Tong-Ah on Keong Saik Street in Chinatown.
I used to work close by and it was the reason I would wake up to go
to work. I would buy Kopi-O takeaway (in a styrofoam cup), bring it
to work, settle down and have the first sip with along with my
first drag of cigarette (when I used to smoke) and the moment was
gold. All the stress and problems disappear from my world and life
was sweet and I am ready to take on the day. Where I work now, the
only place for a decent cup of local coffee is Coffee and Toast in
Citylink. It's not Tong-Ah, doesn't make the stress disappear but
it's good enough to wake me up.
The idea of assembling a glossary for the flowery and imaginative
terms for beverage drinks you hear at the local Kopitiam has been
sitting in my head for a bit now. While I probably don't have all
of it down, would really love it if anyone else has new terms to
email
me!
Kopi : Coffee with Condensed Milk
Teh : Tea with Condensed Milk
Add-on Descriptions (in order of grammar
positioning)
C : with Evaporated Milk and Sugar
O : with Sugar without Milk
Bok : Weak
Gao : Stong
Peng : Iced
Siew Dai : Less Sugar
Bao : Takeaway
e.g. Kopi-C Peng Bao : Iced Coffee with Evaporated Milk
Takeaway
Tak Kiu (Soccer) : Milo (This is because in the 70s/80s
there was a picture of a boy playing soccer on the tin.)
Tiao-Hir (Fishing) : Chinese Tea (in a tea bag)
Yuen Yang (Marriage) : Coffee and Tea mix (I just learnt
this and it's my new favourite!)
I'm not sure just if Horlicks is just Horlicks... it could
be.
For those who don't know, Kopitiam culture is slightly different
from the Sarabat (Milk Tea) Stall one which has an incredible and
more tea-focused culture (Teh-Halia, Teh-Tarik, etc.). Both are
equally wonderful, depending on what you're looking for. One says
Coffee Shop and the other says Tea Shop.
Updates
Also because of technical upgrades, I had to re-css my blog - again.
I've also been busier at work - lots of projects and also helping my friend with her new project that is almost completed. Tan Pin Pin's new documentary will be premiered and screen from 19 July at the Arts House. For more details, visit invisiblecity.sg.
It's always nerve wreaking when you're going to master a project in post production - you suddenly see so many technical glitches and issues that you never noticed that were there before. And in a split second, the rush of panic and dread makes your heart plummet because you know you are already out of time so you frantically try to fix it and you pray that you don't spot another glitch. I almost always never breathe because I'm usually too engrossed in checking every single pixel on every frame to realise I need more oxygen.
I try to lead a balanced life.
Pink Paddlers
All proceeds go to the support of Breast Cancer Foundation, Star Shelter for Women and UNIFEM.
Date: Monday, 26 March 2007
Time: 6:30-7:40pm : Reception / 8:00-9:15pm : Movie
Place: The Grand Cathay, Level 6 @ 2, Handy Road
Directed by: Jasmine Ng Kin Kia
Produced by: Suzette Cody/Green Mango Productions
They come in all shapes and sizes. They could be your mother, your daughter, your sister, your girlfriend, your wife… even you. Ranging from a 65 year-old grandmother to a Singapore Girl air stewardess to a biker chick, half the ladies couldn’t even swim, but still picked up the paddles : They all have fought the same battle against breast cancer and found support and strength from being in the same boat. In September 2006, these ladies came together to compete against other fellow survivors from all over the world, in the first-ever Breast Cancer Survivor Dragon Boat World Championship - right here in Singapore.
This documentary tells their shared stories, sisters in their fight against breast cancer and their upstream battle to win the dragonboat race.
Ticket prices: $50 and $30 (first come, first serve)
For ticket booking, call Dawn at 6238-6761 or email: pink@unifemsingapore.org.sg
Major Sponsor: Cathay Cineplexes
For more information on this documentary film, email pinkpaddlers@gmail.com
Message from the Director, Jasmine Ng Kin Kia...
Read More...
The Great Singapore Donut Queue...
About a month
ago I noticed a really long queue in the basement of Raffles City.
Something like 25 meters? It's long. Very long. All day long.
People were lining up to buy donuts. Donuts?! Seriously? You won't
see me in this queue.
Then I read in the papers a few days later about the latest in food
trends. Donuts is the newest gaga in Singapore. Everyone was raving
about the donuts from the Donut Factory, about how wonderfully
light and ungreasy they were and of course the wonderful variety in
flavours. Then I got really curious. Really? Ungreasy donuts? I
guess I just have
to try one!
But I'm not
lining up in
that 25m long queue.
New related posts here and here.
Meme : Questions about Cooking
Just over a week ago, I received a request my first Meme from Brigitte of Küchendunst aus Singapur asking me some questions about cooking. She has a wonderfully delicious blog that is updated very frequently with detailed step-by-step accounts. I applaud her painstaking efforts in updating her blog and love for creating wonderful food for her family and friends. My proof of my admiration for her blog is in the long moments I spend trying to recall german words from my little brain. It's so worth the effort! Her request was forwarded to her by Chili und Ciabatta and I think it began at _rettet das mittagessen.
With my answers you should be able to tell how lazy I am and quite possibly how unhealthy my eating habits are.
Read More...
A Menu of Hope
Feed
the Poor! Save the World!
(Forget
the Cheerleader!)
As a new
blogger, I'm always interested in participating in food events
whenever I can. A Menu of Hope is really
very because very simply, hope
is what we
live for and it's what gets us through the rough and tough.
This is a fund-raising campaign started by Chez Pim
3
years ago to originally raise funds for Tsunami victims. Last
year US$17,000 was raised in
12 days for Unicef. This year's
event is happening from December 11-22 and proceeds from this
year's donations go to United Nations World Food
Program.
From 11
December, fellow food bloggers around the world will publish posts
(like this) encouraging readers to purchase an online raffle ticket
for individual prizes. These prizes have been donated or sourced by
food bloggers and will be food or wine related. Each raffle is
US$10 (SGD$15.50). All donations will be collected by a third-party
organization First
Giving. You can
start buying your raffle tickets from
Monday, 11 December 2006.
If you would
like to participate, here's a list of this year's hosts:
US West Coast: Sam
of
Becks and
Posh
US East
Coast: Adam
the
Amateur
Gourmet
US (the
rest): Kalyn
of
Kalyn's
Kitchen
Canada:
Jasmine of
Cardamom
Addict
Europe:
David
Lebovitz of
Davidlebovitz.com
Latin
America: Melissa de
Leon of the
Cooking
Diva
Asia
Pacific: Helen
of
Grab Your
Fork
For many of
us this amount is truly affordable amount and it's what we can do
for many living without hope of a tomorrow.
Singapore Gaga
Singapore Gaga is really one
of the best feature documentaries that has been produced in
Singapore. It's one that really defines what Singapore is about in
an authentic manner that is charming and honest. Featuring famous
personalities such as Singapore's self-declared National
Treasure - Mr Ying the
busker you see at MRT train stations, Margaret Leng-Tan - Avant
Garde Pianist and many more truly unforgettable characters.
If you haven't already seen it, you can watch while flying
Singapore Airlines or buy the very newly released DVD from
Objectifs
(2A
Liang Seah Street, Opp Bugis Junction) or at Kinokuniya, Earshot,
and also from Objectifs’ website for overseas orders.
This is a film every Singaporean should see - really!
It will make a great Christmas gift and you won't regret it. Go
tell everyone you know!!
View
the trailer here.
Director Tan Pin Pin
is also
Singapore's one and only Student Academy Award winner which she won
for her documentary Moving House.
Tomato Tart
I
love tomatoes. As a child, I hated them. I thought they tasted
weird and soggy. I always pulled them out from burgers and salads.
The malaysian tomatoes are probably not a good introduction. I
started to only really enjoy them when I was studying in Melbourne.
Cherry vines are my favourite! And really expensive here. So
tomatoes served uncooked, cooked and sundried - I love them all!
I've always wanted to attempt a tomato tart but my fear of handling
pasties usually is the reason why I never did. So what I did was I
cheated and bought the shortcrust pastry - one shouldn't be overly
ambitious with pastry. There is a lot to be considered and probably
best to prepare it the night before and when you are an
impulsive experimenteur
like me, best
to buy.
Masak Masak
My first ever task in the kitchen was when I was 3 and that was refilling the soy sauce bottle. The other pretty significant task I had was also to stand on a bamboo stool over the stove to help stir Kaya. We had a wonderful housekeeper from Malacca, Ah-Chim (Auntie) who made the best Kaya ever - Over the years I've tried to make Kaya that tasted like hers. But it's not the same. Hers was a wonderful deep reddish brown jam - that was smooth and wonderfully aromatic.
"It reaches in and touches your Soul"
Humidity
The reason why Singaporeans LOVE food - apart from the obvious multi-racial/cultural variety, is the humidity. Because of the heavy, moist air - the aromas linger longer and because the smell sense has been thoroughly seduced and buzzed up, flavors become heightened and appealing.
I think that is the trigger for our love affair.
Whole Wheat Tomato Fettucini
Mum was given a pasta machine a few years ago by a friend and it's
been sitting in the cupboard since. So I decided perhaps it was
time to attempt making my own fresh pasta. Whole Wheat Tomato
Fettucini. It actually wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be
actually. I added Tomato pesto to the dough - which wasn't a smart
idea because there were pieces of little chopped sun-dried tomatoes
and that caused tears in the flattened dough. I should've probably
used tomato paste. And because I've used Whole Wheat flour the
texture is heavier and coarser too.
It's now hanging out to dry - on a clothes hanger!
