This Chinese New Year, I opted to skip the horrendous queue at Lim Chee Guan (a friend queued 6 hours) and try a different house of bak kwa (barbequed pork), one who doesn’t believe in making their customers queue for their candied meat (yes I am that extreme lol).
Mr Ong Geok Hoo, 64 has been running his bak kwa business with this wife for more than 40 years. They prepare their bak kwa from scratch in their shop. In a media interview, he said “My bak kwa packaging has never changed, my recipe has never changed. My white singlet and white shorts have also not changed.“
The shop is famous for its Original Barbecued Pork Slices and Bacon Bak Kwa (not available during Chinese New Year; I am so coming back to try this). Mr Ong encourages his customers to call and place an advance order at least three days before so they can just come to the shop to collect-and-go. His order chits stuck on the shop’s wall are so plenty they can masquerade as wallpaper. Traditional red boxes are piled high around the shop while trays of cooled bak kwa are ready to be packed for the next day’s orders. It’s definitely hard work, but Mr Ong is adamant about carrying on his craft for at least 10 more years. Expectedly, his 3 children have no intention to carry on the business.
Kim Hock Seng’s bak kwa are less vibrant in colour and much thicker than those I have tried before, but they are tender to the bite with little fat. In fact, I meant to take the box of bak kwa out just to take one photo, but by the time I put it back, it was 500 grams lighter. In just 10 minutes. Oops.
Kim Hock Seng (Seng Kee) 金福成
Address: 34 Keong Saik Road, Singapore 089141
Tel: (65) 6221 4882
Opening Hours: 11:00AM to 10:00PM (Mondays to Saturdays); 3:00PM to 10:00PM (Sundays)
Hong Kong stars Julian Cheung 張智霖 and Charmaine Sheh 佘詩曼 were recently in Singapore to promote Triumph in the Skies 衝上雲霄, a film adaptation of the highly popular Hong Kong TVB series of the same name which tells an inspirational story of the lives of a group of cabin crew and pilots.. The movie takes place a few years after the end of the second TV season.
Directed by Wilson Yip 叶伟信 and Matt Chow 邹凯光, the film stars some original cast from the series such as Julian Cheung 张智霖, Francis Ng 吴镇宇, Kenneth Ma 马国明 and Elena Kong 江美儀, with the additional cast of Louis Koo, Charmaine Sheh, Amber Kuo 郭采潔 and Sammi Cheng 郑秀文. The movie mainly revolves the love stories of its main cast – a very romantic kind of love with Louis Koo with Charmaine Sheh, a crazy and heart-wrenching one with Julian Cheung and Amber Kuo, and a humorous and mature love with Francis Ng and Sammi Cheng. The film starts with young pilot Branson (Louis Koo) taking over Skylette, his father’s aviation empire, only to realize his old flames Cassie (Charmaine Sheh) is a flight attendant there. Several years ago, he was forced to break up with her and move to New York to take care of his father’s business. Other than the super cool-looking actors and pretty actresses, the vintage planes and cinematography (mainly shot in England) are of worthy mention.
Charmaine looking cool in her stewardess uniform. Did you know being a stewardess was one of her dreams?
Charmaine was all smiles sharing humorous behind-the-scene snippets at the press conference.
Francis Ng brought much joy and sweet moments with his portrayal of Sam, the very righteous pilot who finally meets a woman who melted his heart.
Sammi Cheng plays Francis Ng’s love interest as rocker TM who is hired by Louis Koo to promote his new airline. When asked what TM stands for, the very cool rocker offers several interesting versions. Watch it to find out what they are ;) I really love Sammi’s style in the movie, to the point I am considering shaving my eyebrow…but not the tattoos though :p
This unlikely pair truly reinforces the famous saying that opposites attract – TM being so carefree and Sam super by-the-book. As time goes by and they get to know each other better, love blossoms in the most adventurous ways. I like their kind of romance best in the movie.
Julian Cheung’s Captain Cool character gets paired up with a looney cos-play girl Kika played by Amber Kuo. It was later revealed that Kika was suffereing from a terminal illness that the irritation of her crazy antics turned into an understanding that she is trying to live her life to the fullest while she can. Look out for the hilarious scene where Julian and her reenact characters from Harry Potter.
My gawd. Julian is just SO SEXY. I almost screamed when the scene of him showing his six-pack came on :p
Julian and Amber had several steamy scenes in the movie, including one where both of them clinked champagne while canoodling in a bathtub.
Julian shared that bathtub scene was shot at a low 2 degree Celsius for eight hours. Amber kept slipping down the bathtub and he had to use his legs to prop her up. “We weren’t familiar with each other at first, but after that scene, we got closer!” And when asked if he could choose onecharacter he wanted to play in the movie, he picked Sammi Cheng’s “cos’ I think it can be fun to date Francis Ng’s character.” He’s hilarious!
Charmaine looking ever picture-perfect. Candy for the eyes!
Overall, I enjoyed Triumph in the Skies which I would term as a ‘feel-good’ movie. The love stories are tried-and-tested methods, but the delicious-looking cast managed to pull it off convincingly. I am sure fans of the TV series and the stars will be making a beeline to catch the movie during this Chinese New Year, while the rest can also watch it for the gorgeous scenery shot in England, and immerse in the sweet stories of love and hope.
OMGGG I couldn’t believe it when I received an email from Como Hotels and Resorts informing that my photo has been short-listed as the Top 20 finalists for a photography contest they organised in December to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Uma by COMO resorts in Bhutan and Bali. The top two winners win a trip to Bhutan and Bali respectively, plus a cool Canon camera.
I have been dreaming of visiting Bhutan for the past few years, and 2015 is the perfect year to visit as they have declared 2015 as Vist Bhutan Year to commemorate the 60th birth anniversary of their king with year-round celebrations. Just thinking of all the sights, nature and celebrations I can experience makes me ecstatic! I have not been to Ubud either and that is also on my bucket list after seeing so many drool-worthy photos about the destination. The icing on the cake – staying with the luxurious Uma by COMO resorts.
Help send me to The Land of Happiness with just one click!
You can now help realise my dream of visiting Bhutan or Ubud with just one simple Facebook Like – the top 20 entries are now open for voting until Monday, February 16. Facebook Likes constitute a sizable one-third of the scores, so I need every bit of support I can get. Get your friends and family to join in the liking too! :D Simply click on this link and LIKE the photo of Burmese fishermen beating the water: http://bit.ly/winmeatrip
Thank you SO MUCH for your help, and I hope I will have the opportunity to visit these wonderful countries and share my experiences of that country with all of you here…we shall share the happiness! :) xoxo
Spotted at Laneway Singapore 2015: Dude partying with his feathered headdress, he sure looks kinda cool. Kudos for effort. Would you don one to your favourite concert too?
Known for its healthy and organic soft serve ice cream, Milkcow finally opens in Singapore. Being one of the two Korean brands (the other being Softtree) who started the trend where soft serve ice-cream was paired with a piece of honeycomb, I was quite keen to try after having tasted Honey Creme and Sunday Folks.
The store is located on the ground floor of The Cathay. I was SO relieved there wasn’t a crazy queue like at the opening of Honey Creme.
Milkcow’s premium soft serve is made from 100% organic milk sourced from Italy for a deeper and richer taste.
You can choose from various toppings such as natural honeycomb, macaroons, cotton candy and interesting sauces such as red ginseng and cool mint.
Milkcow uses 100% natural honey sourced from honey farms in Sydney and Tasmania.
There are 14 flavours to choose from. What the staff recommended us was M2 Milk Honey, M3 Milky Cube and the very photogenic M5 Snow Drop.
Great to see such happy staff :)
The variety of toppings available. I was drooling at the pool of honeycomb…yumz
Saw these 3 cute kids posing for photos with their soft serve.
The shop space is not big, but loads of props for you to take Insta-worthy photos with.
I opted for M9 Samsam Red Ginseng syrup with Almond Flakes cos’ it was the most interesting and Korean-ish flavour, and added the signature Honey Cube topping for extra oomph.
Tag your Instagram photos with #milkcowsg and you can get your photos printed by the store staff.
Photos put up by customers
Eat-soft serve-also-must-camwhore Lina LOL
M9 Samsam Red Ginseng Syrup with Almond Flakes and M7 Cool Mint Syrup with Almond Flakes, with Honey Comb topping
Overall, I felt that the soft serve was sweeter than the rest I have tried, a good honey-ish type of sweet. I enjoyed the crunchy almond flakes, although I must say that the staff needs a bit more practice with presentation as neither of our soft serve looked very pretty lol. I like that Milkcow uses natural products, and I definitely appreciate the fact that I didn’t need to wait for an hour to get a lick, so I would pop by to try other flavours the next time I am in the area.
Milkcow Singapore
Address: The Cathay #01-03, 2 Handy Road Singapore 229233
Opening Hours: 11:30AM – 9.50PM (Sun – Thu), 11.30am – 10.50pm (Fri, Sat, and eve of PH)
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/MilkCow.Sg
Website: www.milkcow.kr
This Chinese New Year, I opted to skip the horrendous queue at Lim Chee Guan (a friend queued 6 hours) and try a different house of bak kwa (barbequed pork), one who doesn’t believe in making their customers queue for their candied meat (yes I am that extreme lol).
spunktitud3 