Monthly Archive for October, 2009

Making our own pasta

Published on October 27, 2009 in Usual Ramblings. 8 Comments Tags: linguine, pasta.

Inspired by one of Jamie Oliver’s cooking show (can’t remember which one), Lyn (my boo) and I decided on an attempt to making our own pasta for dinner sometime early this month. Although those dried and hard pastas bought off the rack are pretty good enough (for me) and a common and hassle-free choice for every pasta chef at home, we thought that making our pasta would give us (or rather Lyn) more satisfaction when we dig into the Italian goodness. And adding to that, Jamie makes the preparation so easy.

With that, we purchased an affordable packet of Tipo 00 flour at the Japanese supermarket, Meidi-Ya in Liang Court and headed home looking forward to making our own pasta. I really adore Lyn passion, ingenuity and creativity in almost every dish, she seemed to know what she’s doing and it gives me great confidence that whatever I’m eating after that will be lovely. It wasn’t long after we prepared a nice linguine dish, I think its an hour. The irregularity of every slice is proof that they are handmade (and I helped ). I would love to explain how its done but I’m a hopeless chef and the photos will in no way help you in making your own pasta. Still it will not stop me from showing you what we did…

Left: We mixed a good portion of 200 grams of flour with 2 eggs, separate them into balls and flatten them | Right: Rolling each portion into tubes and cutting them into linguine sizes (throw in loads of flour required during the process)

Left: Our linguine ready for boiling with the other ingredients behind | Right: Boiling the linguine, keep stiring

Left: Drain the linguine | Right: Lyn cooked some prawns and ham and added some basil and Parmesan cheese

Shell’s $1 per litre adventure

Published on October 26, 2009 in Things that suck and This I like. 5 Comments Tags: fuel, shell.

As the title suggests, I was one of the few thousand dumb ass motorists who queued up for Shell’s $1 per litre offer on Saturday to the displeasure of others, especially public transport drivers. Seriously, I am not one of the many who find joy queuing for a good half hour while leaving our engine idling and wasting more fuel (and killing the environment) just to take advantage of such gimmicks. But when you fuel tank is about to be empty after procrastinating for days (my bad my bad), and your tight night activity requires long drives, I guess I don’t have much of a choice.

Of course another option is to pump elsewhere but I’d rather pump at Shell. Yes, they got me and I’m stubborn like that. Thankfully, there was a Shell station about a good 2km away from my home that does not cause much trouble to the other motorists. Hence, I decided to take that route. 20 minutes later, I departed happily with a full tank and looking forward to my night outing.

Left: Told you I was running out | Right: View of the queue at the back (see, clear road lanes, we don’t bug other motorists)

Left: View of the queue at the front | Right: Poor girl advertising for Shell under the scorching sun

Left: Nearing the station, and yes, its $1 per litre | Right: Waiting for my turn

Left: Shell engaged a number of Cisco Security folks to manage the queue | Right: My profit, it would have caused me a good $69

Slingers gun down Patriots

Published on October 25, 2009 in Usual Ramblings. 3 Comments Tags: abl, asean basketball league, basketball, philippine patriots, singapore slingers.

The Singapore Slingers extended their winning streak to three (of three games) in their Asean Basketball League campaign with a 80-82 away victory over the Brunei Barracudas yesterday afternoon. With a game scheduled for the Slingers every week and the completion of round three yesterday, it means that my entry on last week’s (round two) game against the Philippine Patriots is way overdue. My bad on that.

Of course this would not have been possible without the hook up from Nic and Daphne for arranging, so much love to you guys. Last week, the Singapore Slingers managed to take down the formidable Philippine Patriots in an extremely intense and hard fought game. Bad refereeing aside (can’t blame Singaporean referees now) resulting in costly possession losses for both teams, the game was held extremely close until a late Slinger explosion that sent the visiting team packing with promises for revenge in their next meeting.

Patriots’ imports #42 Jason Lamar Dixon and #1 Brandon Charles Powell were their only double digit contributors for the game with 12 and 15 points respectively. Brandon had a double double that night pulling down 11 rebounds while Jason had nine. The rest of the Patriots players may not have put up as many points as their two American imports but their defence was impeccable leading to a Slingers’ inbound collapse in the fourth quarter and taking back a number of possessions. If the Slingers want another ‘W’ in their next in their next match up away, this is one key issue they must address.

Left: Jason going to the rim | Right: Trying to get in the paint

Left: Brandon fires from long range | Right: Flushes a contested two

Left: #Khasim Mirza firing from the paint as Leblanc takes to the floor | Right: #4 Christian Coronel laying up contested

Patriot point guard #3 Warren Ibanez who scored eight points was unfortunately taken out of the game halfway due to a broken nose (I think). I’m not too sure how it happened even when watching from under the rim but it sent him sliding to the photographers giving me an excellent vantage point. Although I felt bad for firing my camera away as he laid there waiting for the medical staff to arrive, but to be honest, I don’t think I can contribute much, recovery position maybe? Feel better dude, we’ll meet again.

Left: A medical staff tending to Warren | Right: Blood flowing from his nose as he stood

Although there weren’t any local Slingers player who had double digits that night, all our imports did with #19 Al Vergara putting up 11, #21 Marcus Ng scoring 13, #35 Michael LeBlanc making 15 and the #31 Kyle Jeffers leading the charge with 17 points. It was another double double night again for the ‘newly made-over’ Jeffers (more of that later) with him crashing the boards taking down 12 rebounds. Despite the fourth quarter defensive lock down by the Patriots, the Slingers managed to pull through with Marcus Ng (yeah I know) putting the game to bed with a superb dunk and a making couple of free throws in the last couple of minutes.

Left: Vegara with a floater | Right: Going for a lay up despite the heavy contest

Left: Marcus heading to the rim | Right: Hammers it in

Left: Leblanc hooks it from the right | Right: Getting fouled while firing

Left: Jeffers makes a two | Right: Going from under

There were two note worthy moments of that night. Local Slinger boy #5 Wong Wei Long who scored eight points made seven of them during the final minutes of the first half. His first successful three-point caused him to head to the ground with a foul in his favour. I’m sure he must have been practicing free throws the whole of that week after missing all his attempts during the last game against the Brunei Barracudas. Thankfully, he converted a rare four-point play after making his one and only free throw of the night. Seconds after gaining possession again, he sank in another trey to the amazement of the crowd.

Left: Wei Long’s first trey before he heads to the ground | Right: Wondering if the ghost of his previous game will haunt him

Spotting a clean shaven look and hairdo, Kyle Jeffers turned up last week in a very much boy’ish look. I was initially dumbfounded, thinking we had purchased another import. But it was until fellow photographer, Francis who set me straight did I realise that he is actually Jeffers. That was same time when he turned around and I saw #31, Jeffers at the back of his jersey. Nice look dude.

Left: Pretty good looking if you would to ask me | Right: Another look but in action

The Singapore Slingers returned home with a 3-0 record and their next match next Sunday will be against the visiting Satria Muda BritAma from Indonesia. Can they extend their winning streak to four? There is only one way to find out. Tickets are available at Sistic.

Goooo Slingers!!

You can read more about the game in Len’s blog here, and more photos in my Flickr album here.

Basketball leg warmers – not for performance

Published on October 24, 2009 in Usual Ramblings. 7 Comments Tags: basketball, leg sleeves, leg warmers.

Thanks to Keith for lending me his basketball leg warmers for a short trial (how short I don’t know ). I have decided to source for either leg warmers or sleeves and wear them for all my indoor games. According to Jump USA, these compression pant allows a snug fit that helps prevent chafing and muscle pulls as well as act as a second skin to support large muscle groups. It also controls heat thus improving comfort and performance. I guess the basketball researchers out there managed to find more ways to enhance ballers’ game and profit lots from it.

To be honest, having played basketball for more than a decade (but still suck at it) and going without those leg warmers or sleeves all this while, there is absolutely no need for me to purchase any of these just to improve my performance. Heck, I have no chafing problems and seldom get muscle pulls all thanks to good stretching. And in sunny Singapore, going cool means going completely bear.

But after taking part in the inaugural Jammers League some time this year and going through a series of really horrible looking game photos of me and my big, fat, hairy legs, I decided to avoid the embarrassment and cover up. Thanks for making me conscious PK!! Nevermind that my new nicknames as of late include stocking boy and ballet dancer, that kind of embarrassment I can take. I know I will look a lot less hideous in photos and will still kick your ass at the same time .

Heck, I might even look as good as Singapore Slingers’ Michael Leblanc and maybe, just maybe, play better. Until then, where are my leg warmers?

Left: Michael Leblanc going all the way to the hoop in his..oh..leg warmers | Right: My leg warmers, or until I get mine, then I’ll return to Keith

Slingers victorious in first ABL game

Published on October 14, 2009 in Usual Ramblings. 8 Comments Tags: abl, asean basketball league, basketball, brunei barracudas, singapore slingers.

The Asean Basketball League (ABL) tipped off last weekend with the visiting Brunei Barracudas facing off with the Singapore Slingers on Sunday for their first game. Thanks to Nic and Daphne for arranging this, Len and I plus the usual Spartans members had the honour of popping over to the Indoor Stadium to catch the Slingers’ inaugural ABL game.

I think that the four Singapore Challenge Series games prior to the ABL was a really good pre-season practice for the Slingers given that this is the first time our local players make up the majority of the team. To be honest, I wasn’t too sure if the local Slingers could actually survive the league in the first place. Basketball is not exactly our number one sport and we all know Singapore isn’t too fantastic with soccer (wait, whatever happened to 2010 goal?). But after seeing how our local boys are doing so far with new confidence and better team dynamics, I think they will do fine ~cross fingers~ .

Thankfully, we had a confidence booster in the first game as the Slingers triumphed over the Barracudas 87-69. However, the 18-point win was not just merely handed to the home team in a silver platter, they had to fight for it. The first two quarters saw a neck-in-neck battle against the two teams as they traded baskets with the Slingers leading by one at the start of the second half. With huge in your face defense and a sudden 31-15 third quarter spurt, the Slingers finally put the game to bed and sent all five local players onto the court in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

Tip off

Having had only two weeks of training, I must say that the Barracudas’ efforts were commendable as they gave the Slingers a really hard time during the first half. American import #13 Michael Pilgrim (I can’t help but think he looks similar to Baron “Too Easy” Davis from the LA Clippers) contributed 16 points of his six of nine attempts and four rebounds while his fellow countryman and teammate #45 Lonnie Jones scored 13 points, pulled down all nine defensive rebounds and blocked five shots. Yes, Lonnie Jones is a scary guy. Filipino import #18 Leonidez Avenido pumped in 15 points, eight rebounds and dished out five assists. Unfortunately, the Barracudas’ local players did not make as much impact as their imports but I reckon with more practice sessions and more games to come, they will have something to show for.

Left: Jones lays it up in the paint | Right: Reaches to block Pathman’s fade away jumper

Left: Baron..I mean Pilgrim fearlessly takes it to the rim | Right: His only dunk of the night

Left: Going under the rim | Right: Avenido loses Al who screams for support

The Slingers did well with five of our players putting up double digits. Our local boys #5 Wei Long and #15 Pathman did us proud with them scoring 14 and 10 respectively. Wei Long proved deadly against the Barracudas with him making 50% from the three point line and five boards. However, I am pretty sure he will be practicing free throws the very next day after missing all five of his attempts ~shrugs shoulders~. Pathman too scored 50%, mostly from mid-range (I believed that will be his bread and butter position) and took down four rebounds.

Left and right: Wei Long firing at all cylinders

Left: Pathman goes basket as Francis partially blocks my camera (still much love to you bro) | Right: Fade away jumper

Our American imports were impressive and I’m ready to put my foot in my mouth anytime (just not right now ) after early skepticism that they aren’t able to contribute. #31 Kyle Jeffers crashed the boards more times than making shots with (get this..) eight offensive and 12 defensive rebounds, totaling 20 (yes 20 rebounds…crazy!!) while scoring 15 points, another double-double night for him. #35 Michael LeBlanc on the other hand made 20 points, powered for 10 rebounds with five assists. Philippine sensation #19 Al Vegara was in his phenomenal form again with amazing ball handling skills serving up eight assists and 10 points.

Left: Jeffers watches his ball go in | Right: Makes a hook from the right

Left: Leblanc draws a foul on the way to the rim | Right: Stays focused from mid range

Left: Al leading the charge | Right: Makes a pass to Wei Jian

Most noteworthy moment of the night goes to #10 Wei Jian who although made two dunk attempts, managed to pull of an emphatic two hander to the awe of the 1,000 spectators leading to an all out eruption (or at least just me).

Left: Couldn’t dunk so he lay’ed it in | Right: Flushes it (can you say poster boy?)

The next Slinger game will still be at home this Sunday at 4pm against the newly formed Philippine Patriots, who defeated Indonesia’s Satria Muda BritAma last Saturday. Touted as the team to take the trophy this season, the Patriots is definitely a force to be reckon with. I’m sure the Slingers too are keeping their eyes on the prize and hence, a Patriot upset is a must.

I’m sad to say that the turn out from Singaporean supporters (if any) is rather disappointing after so much criticism about the Singapore Slingers making up mostly of foreigners during the previous seasons. Now that the Singapore Slingers form a majority of local players and are doing pretty well, I wonder where all the critics are. Still it could be a lack of awareness and I hope with more games to come, we could perhaps start a different kind of Kallang wave at the Indoor Stadium soon. Tickets are available at Sistic at just a mere $8 – $18 (student discounts are also available).

You can read more about Len’s take of the game here and the importance of defense here.

More photos in my Flickr album here and here.

TimeLapse Typhoon “Nangka” over Hong Kong

Published on October 13, 2009 in This I like. 2 Comments Tags: hong kong, timelapse, typhoon.

Got this from Random Good Stuff and all I can say is…”WOAH!!”

Going green…

Published on October 9, 2009 in Usual Ramblings. 8 Comments Tags: basil, cherry tomatoes, gardening, herbs, mint, rosemary, thyme.

It all started with Lyn (my boo) who oh if you don’t already know, loves to cook. From the ‘ol traditional Chinese style cooking to Western gastronomy such as Italian, American and whatever region she conjures up, I’m glad to have been one of the few who have benefited from her close to perfect dishes over a number of years. However apart from satisfaction of cooking our meal, what challenges Lyn even more is going even more basic in terms of ingredients, which in this case is growing our own herbs.

If you would to do your calculations, you will find that the herbs sold in supermarkets may be cheap, but growing, pruning and ‘harvesting’ them at our very own public front yard much more economical. And by doing everything herself, Lyn finds it more fulfilling whenever she serves up those wonderful dishes. Yes, the joy of knowing that some ingredients are from an environment she can control. Heck, given a choice, if she is able to rear animals and farm vegetables in our front lawn (which we don’t have), she would have done so. I guess she can thank Jamie Oliver for inspiring her…

Last week, Lyn and I popped over to Far East Flora to pick up more herbs given that we have only started with mint, rosemary and basil a few weeks back. With that, we picked up more rosemary, basil, thyme, cherry tomatoes, two pots (for re-potting), loads of soil and some gardening equipment. I won’t go into the dirty details of what we did since I know close to nothing about gardening, but I’ll show you some photos and explain with captions…

Left: Our cart laden with the herbs and other gardening goodies | Right: We re-potted the newly purchased cherry tomatoes (left) and made our existing basil and rosemary share a pot (right)

Left: Our newly purchased rosemary (a little different from the existing one)… | Right: …and thyme

Left: The newly purchased, re-potted basil in a cool looking vase and watered through some WaterMe technology | Right: Our existing mint plant re-potted..more mojitos?

Langkawi Day 2 (Part 2) – The other half of our sunny’ish adventure

Published on October 8, 2009 in This I like. 2 Comments

Figured its best I continue writing about my Langkawi trip before I procrastinate further and God knows, perhaps forget completely about it. Lyn (my boo) and I upon a really fulfilling lunch during the first half of our second day returned to our favourite haunt, the Beach Garden Resort for some beer before heading to some rice museum called the Laman Padi Langkawi which is just across the road.

Left: My beer | Right: The view

With just $6 per jug during happy hour, Lyn and I felt completely compelled to pick one up since we don’t really have many opportunities to do so back home. As the sun continue beaming down onto beach and the cool breeze in our face, we sat completely stoned for a few moments taking in the wonders of an afternoon of doing absolutely nothing – a retiree’s dream. The sky remained blue giving us a few ‘Kodak moments’ and it wasn’t long before we made our way across the road to Laman Padi Langkawi.

Left: The entrance of Laman Padi Langkawi | Right: Moss moss and more moss

Unfortunately, the week-long rain has flooded a significant portion of the area leaving much moss floating around. We tried to get into various places only to find out that some were knee deep. With that, we chose the dry areas and did the ‘ol goofing off again chasing chickens and ducks..~true story~.. The quiet walk around the dryer paths was rather refreshing, especially with so much going on at work and during the trip.

Left: A flooded cafe (or at least I think its a cafe) | Right: Nah, I’d rather walk elsewhere

Left: Leaving my mark | Right: Chasing chickens

Left: Chasing ducks | Right: A better, dryer path

With an hour or so to burn before returning to our resort to freshen up followed by dinner, we popped over to Teratai for a a little foot reflexology. At about $15/hr per person (I hope I got the amount correct), we sank into the comfortable leather chair and dozed off while the experts worked on our feet.

I like reflexology

I will skip dinner at Bon Ton resort given that I have no photos to show. But here are some takeaways:

The restaurant serves mostly the upper class folks (especially with the prices and tiny portions)
We had a bottle of really good Wolfblass wine…I can’t remember which year.
There are many cats around (don’t worry, they are clean)
Even with the map, you might want to either get a cab or drive in. The road in is rather dark.

All in all, our dinner was memorable and we felt quite pampered with the kind service provided.

Still wanting more, we made our way to an Irish pub called Debbie’s place for a little stout and dessert. Even after happy hour, they were still churning out Guinness at just S$6 per mug. With the beer we had in the afternoon and wine for dinner, we felt we should exercise a little control and stuck to just a mug…each. However, we still had some nice brownies and fries.

Left: Pub front | Right: Still trying to figure out what a shamrock is

Left: Brownie and ice cream..mmm… | Right: A basket of fries

My draught…

After a really great day of fun in the sun and night under some drizzle (yes, the rain is back), we staggered back to our rooms wondering how our last day of the Langkawi trip will be. Last post coming soon.

More photos on day 2 in my Flickr album here.

Slingers drown Beermen

Published on October 6, 2009 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 1 Comment Tags: basketball, beermen, san miguel, singapore, singapore slingers.

Much love to both Nic and of course Daphne for organising this, I popped over to the Indoor Stadium on Sunday afternoon with Len and a few other Spartans teammates to catch the clash between the Singapore Slingers and San Miguel Beermen. Having won one and lost two of four matches under the Singapore Challenge Series as a result of unnecessary turnovers and bad plays, we all arrived at the stadium with much anticipation hoping that the Slingers will for the lack of a better phrase, ‘wake up their idea’ and complete the series with a 50% winning average.

Don’t get me wrong, I still think that our local team players are good and have loads of potential. But I can’t begin to tell you how frustrating it is to see them choke under pressure. As professionals (well..kinda), I expect a little more from them especially after the last game against Ginebra.

Thankfully this time round, our team not only prevailed but managed to climb back from a 15-point deficit to take the game 71-65. Nevermind that it was all Michael Leblanc (okay, I have a little more faith in him this time round) who carried the entire team on his back during the last few minutes of the game. Everyone contributed and despite executing rusty plays at some occasions and careless dribbling fumbles (did I a hear Marcus Ng?), the Slingers remained focus and kept their eye for a ‘W’.

Tip off

However, the San Miguel Beermen aren’t exactly pushovers and their performance overall was superb, constantly giving our home team a very tough time. Armed with prominent big men such as #4 Dorian Pena and #34 Mick Pennisi, the sheer size of these two towers are enough to intimidate anyone driving towards them (or at least think twice). To Len and I, big men seemed to be a missing link in the Slingers’ lineup and aren’t exactly happy campers when we discovered that Brown who played for the first two games is not a regular, but that is another story.

Left: Pena giving Marcus the ‘ol “Thank you come again” block shot | Right: Pathman tries to stop Pena

Left and right: Pennisi taking the Slingers down…he was fouled out eventually

I was also surprised to find #29 Arwin Santos playing for the Beermen this season. He is no stranger to the Slingers having played twice against them as an Air 21 player during last year’s Singapore Challenge Series (here and here). Always with a look of intensity in his eyes, he is one heck of an agile player with great flight. However, it was #7 Dondon Hontiveros who led the Beermen with 18 points, three rebounds and three steals as well as #1 Mike Cortez who contributed 11 points, three rebounds and one block shot.

Left: Santos takes a contested shot | Right: Tough one-handed rebound

Left: Hontiveros finds the rim | Right: Loses Marcus and heads to the hole

Left: Cruz skies for a block against Wei Jian | Right: Losing the already tight ‘D’ from Michael Wong

Despite facing a formidable foe, the Slingers still held their head high with four of our players coming up with double digits. Our imports #9 Michael Leblanc led the Slingers pride putting up 14 points, three rebounds and two assist followed by #30 Kyle Jeffers who made 13 points, two assists and pulling down a whopping 10 rebounds. With encouraging performances by these two major contributors, I am hoping to see a little more consistency between the both of them as we head towards the Asean Basketball League (ABL) beginning this Sunday. We are going to need a lot from them.

Left and right: Leblanc fearlessly scores against an intimidating Pennisi

Left: Jeffers can layup… | Right: …Jeffers can shoot

Most noteworthy was local Slinger #15 Pathman Matialakan who also contributed 13 points (similar to Jeffers) by making five of seven attempts with four rebounds. Having witness him play for a good three seasons or so (I’m sure he played for more than that), Pathman has matured much from a once softy (as compared to other league players) to big tough guy. Heck, even on a number of occasions, I heard coach Frank calling for plays with him as a scorer. Although consistency is an issue, I believe it won’t be long before he becomes a major threat to any team. Of course Philippine sensation #1 Al Vegara is in his usual super point guard mode hitting 10 points, three assists and two steals.

Left: Pathman firing at all cylinders | Right: Trying to follow through after taking a foul

Left: Al takes it hard to the rim | Right: Fires an open shot

Our local boys may not have put up as many numbers, but their defence was air tight giving the Beermen little space to breath. #5 Wei Long has been most noticeable with numerous harassment attempts made against the Beermen ball handlers. His effort was soon rewarded with a super steal followed by a breakaway lay in. Perhaps the only local Slinger dunker, Wei Jian too made many valiant efforts in the face of a tough Beermen defence. His super speed and drives at under the basket if further honed can be a real danger to any opposing team.

Left: Wei Long finishes after the steal | Right: Size does not matter

Left: Under the basket courtesy of Wei Jian | Right: At the charity stripe

As the horn sounded to mark the end of the game and this year’s Singapore Challenge Series, we departed completely ecstatic and breathless with our fist pumped in the air. Len who paid more attention to the surrounding has more about the game here. If the Slingers continue their dominance on the board and game intensity like today, they will be ready to plow through any ABL team that come their way. Their first game will tip off this Sunday at 4pm against the Brunei Barracudas led by veteran coached Bong Ramos who was once Indonesia’s national coach.

Come support your local team (finally) as we aim towards taking this year’s ABL crown. Tickets are super affordable from $8 to $18 and are available at Sistic.

More photos in my Flickr album here and here.

Cocktails anyone?

Published on October 3, 2009 in Usual Ramblings. 2 Comments Tags: bartender, cocktail, mojito.

After a somewhat successful Barcadi mojito session that Lyn (my boo) and I had together with a nice roast pork belly dinner last month, I was pretty motivated to research a little more on cocktail mixing. Like I said earlier, I wanted to expand my usefulness whenever Lyn cooks. This means going beyond being a ‘useless’ sous-chef de cuisine, table setter, bus boy and cleaner.

Tired of not using the right equipment to conjure up those alcohol goodness, we popped over to Lau Choy Seng and Sia Huat at Temple Street this afternoon to pick up some bartender tools. Fully stocked with wide range of kitchenware mostly patronised by restaurant owners/buyers, we skipped happily (or at least just me) into these two stores looking for a muddler, shaker, jigger, stirrer, and collin glasses. Given that the two stores were packed with people purchasing a great quantity of utensils, fryers and meat grinders (new restaurants opening up soon?), etc, we were pleasantly surprised to have quickly found the small ‘bartender’ section.

After a good hour or so of checking the best prices between these two stores, we returned happily with our loot. I can’t really tell you which one is cheaper. The two carry pretty much similar appliances and equipment but prices between the two do vary. For example, the muddler at Lau Hoy Seng is cheaper than a similar one at Sia Huat but the jigger at the latter is much more economical. I guess you have to do your comparison before deciding which ones to purchase. It might take a while though.. . Meanwhile cocktails anyone?

Our loot..