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
Potato Rosemary Breadrolls
This was meant to be my contribution to
Zorra's
new event Baking Bread Day a follow up to World Bread Day
- where bread bakers bake a themed bread for the first weekend on
each month. This month's theme was Baking with Herbs. I am a week
late for the deadline, but this was what I had planned for the
event if I got around to it.
Potato Rosemary Breadrolls. These are wonderfully flavourful and
aromatic! The aroma of rosemary infused with the flavours of tiny
roasted garlic bits all folded together into mashed potato softened
dough finished with a nice crust! I'm really pleased with it's
success - finally I've baked something that is good again! (I
became quite uninspired after my beloved dog died and it showed in
my various failed baking attempts. But I think I'm getting
better... ) These bread rolls are great to have on its own or with
your favourite bowl of soup! This recipe is from The Bread Baker's Apprentice : Mastering the Art of
Extraordinary Bread by Peter Reinhart.
I also wanted to improve on my bread scoring skills and the only
thing that came to mind when I thought last minute alternative
lamé was to use an eyebrow razor. I recently
bought a new pack so I grabbed a new (un-used) one and scored away.
The results were better than my previous attempts - the razor isn't
perfect but I guess it's a better start.
Also here's a quick and easy way to peel potato skins off boiled
potatoes - it is a breeze! The clip is in Japanese but it's pretty
self-explanatory.
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.