Street Art : The Millionaire Life In A Flash - PhotoHunt

PhotoHunt theme : Street Art/Flash

We were sending some guests off at Singapore Changi Airport and chanced upon this stunning piece of optical illusion, "The Millioniare Life" which is created by U.S. 3D art maestro Kurt Wenner specially for Changi Airport.

Measuring 9m by 9m and 3m high, this giant 3D street art is currently spread on a digitally scanned canvas across the marble floor of the Terminal 3 Departure Hall.

Visitors can actually walk on it, sit on it and take pictures with it. A photo booth allows visitors to pose with the image and have pictures e-mailed to them.

We were like two big kids, taking turns to pose and have fun having our ‘Millionaire’ photos taken at this art installation. :D

We participated in the ‘Be a Changi Millionaire’ retail promotion which will run for a period of six months from 12 May to 11 November 2012. Organised by Changi Airport Group (CAG), one lucky winner could be a millionaire in a flash with its grand prize of S$1 million. I am keeping my fingers crossed.:P

A Chinese Funeral (Buddhist) @Singapore Casket

Our family was at a loss when my father-in-law passed away. It was 1.23 am on a Sunday morning and we needed to have the body collected by 4.30 am before the hospital placed it in a freezer in the mortuary. It would then take at least 10 hours of paper work to retrieve Papa's body.

Luckily we contacted Singapore Casket and they did their best to help us by collecting Papa's body around 5am. It was sent to the funeral parlour for cleaning and embalming.

In discussation with a Funeral Advisor

The family members gathered at Singapore Casket where a Funeral Advisor was assigned to us. He guided us through key decisions and make arrangements for the funeral to help ease our grief.

Surprisingly, there are more of the traditions and superstitions about my culture that I was not aware of. Not being superstitious plus I am a Christian, I followed many of them out of respect for my beloved Papa.

Selecting a coffin

Depending on how much one is willing to fork out for a funeral, there are several packages available from Singapore Casket. Although we did not opt for an extravagant package, the estimated cost for our 3-day package is around S$30,000. *gulp*

Expect that EVERY THING costs money. And prepare lots of red packets (cash tokens of appreciation) :P

Choosing a pearl

Chris had to choose a shiny pearl from the tray of tiny ones as Papa would have one placed on his lips. Why? According to the staff , "so his descendents will prosper". Really!?

I thought to the Chinese, the pearl is a symbol of immortality, wisdom. purity?

When the coffin was moved into the room, everybody present had to look away as it is believed that looking at it is disrespectful. A monk led the family members to chant Buddhist sutras.

Different mourning patches are worn on the left sleeve of each immediate family members, indicating their relationship to the deceased.

Incinerator for the paper money

Candies, peanuts and melon seeds for visitors to snack on. Each visitor takes home a red string as a good blessing.

Dinner and supper provided for all visitors

An offering of vegetarian dishes for Papa

Food has to be offered to Papa every morning, noon and evening. This is to make sure that Papa is full and not hungry before he embarks on the journey.

Every morning, we have to prepare a basin of water "for Papa to wash his face and squeeze toothpaste on his toothbrush so he could clean his teeth." 

Seeing the disbelief on my face, the funeral assistant reminded me that "this will be the last two days of your life to do this for him." Hearing that, I immediately felt ashamed for even resisting doing this. 

Burning loads of "yin paper money" so Papa could have money to spend in the other world.

We bought a paper house with paper servants and paper furniture to be burned as offerings.  The paper effigies represent material goods that Papa could take with him to the afterlife.

Wads of “yin paper money” would be placed around the paper house before it is burnt. The “yin paper money” is expected to be used to bribe guards and officials in the other world. :P

The Chinese believe that it is extremely important to make the deceased comfortable in the afterlife. Once the dead ancestors are well-taken care of, their descendents will enjoy harmony and prosperity.

Final send off for Papa

As Singapore Casket took care of most of the funeral arrangements, we were able to attend to guests and other more pressing matters.

Singapore Casket Company (Pte) Ltd
131 Lavender Street Singapore 338737

Tel : 6293 4388 (24-hour service)
Fax : 6296 5993

Nearest MRT Station : Lavender

Available Carparks : Tyrwhitt Road, Home Road, Foch Road and Eminent Plaza

RIP, dear Father-In-Law!

August 1914 - 17th June 2012

My beloved father-in-law, aged 97, passed away in the early hours of June 17th 2012. It happened on Father's Day while we were preparing for a celebration. Instead we had to prepare for his funeral.

My father-in-law was warded for more than 3 weeks in hospital. He initially had flu, then suffered a stroke and subsequently died from pneumonia.

His wake would be held at Singapore Casket (Regency Room) for 3 days, after that we would proceed to Kong Meng San temple for the cremation on 19th June.

Our heartfelt gratitude for all your support, thoughts and prayers during our family's moment of bereavement. Thank you one and all.

Shaping Hainanese Chicken Rice Balls - RT

Before we had our traditional Hainanese lunch hosted by the Malacca Hainan Association, ladies from its Women's Wing demonstrated how to shape chicken rice balls. Besides the ladies who laboured in the kitchen to cook for us, there were also two grannies who sacrificed their Sunday morning bonding time with their families to teach us how to shape Hainanese chicken rice balls. So touched by their hospitality.

k

What are these used for!?

These are the moulds to shape the chicken rice balls - designed by the ladies to handle the hot temperature of the rice. 

So smart!

Grandma showing us how to shape the chicken rice balls. First scoop the piping hot chicken rice with the moulds.

The air-conditioned hall was filled with the aroma of the piping hot chicken rice. The bloggers were drooling as they took photos. We couldn't wait to taste the aromatic chicken rice.  :P

Ooooh ooh ...... it was hot!!

We have to quickly shaped it into a round ball. The grains of rice must not be too loosely packed or else it would fall apart, also we should not compressed the grains of rice too tight.

We had fun shaping our own chicken rice balls. The ladies also prepared steam Hainanese chicken and a special chilli  sauce to go with the Hainanese chicken rice. What a feast we had!

Malacca Hainan Association - Traditional Hainanese Food

,

Malacca Hainan Association

After breakfast and a guided tour at Cheng Ho Cultural Museum on Sunday, the bloggers arrived at the Malacca Hainan Association. In the air-conditioned conference room, there was a hive of activity. The ladies from the Women's Wing were busy cooking lunch for us. Authentic Hainanese dishes. Wheeee!!

Hainanese Chicken Rice Balls and Hainanese Chicken

As they brought out the dishes one by one, the aroma of food filled the room. Since we couldn't eat yet, we started taking photos of the food.

These freshly made Sesame Glutinous Rice Balls with peanut filling (煎堆) were delicious. The skin is chewy and the peanut filling is fragrant.

 

Traditional Hainanese snack : Yi Bua 象征吉祥幸福的薏粑

Hainan island is a tropical island where visitors can see abundant coconut trees growing on the island - in the village, by the seashore and on the roadside.
 

"Yi-Bua" is one of the few vanishing Hainanese snack which has a fragrant cocnut filling. In the old days, this snack was usually eaten on special occasions like weddings and birthdays. Parents will give relatives this snack to announce the first month (as well as first year) of their new born baby.

ou bua kia 鸡屎藤粑籽汤

A Hainanese medicinal dessert made from a creeper called Chicken Sh*t Creeper. I know, it sounds morbid. It doesn't taste like the waste product but it does not appeal to me. :P

Bua Ta Art 蒸压粑

Youngsters in Singapore these days prefer fast food, western cakes and pastries, we hardly get the chance to taste these delicious traditional snacks which our grandmothers and mothers used to lovingly make. I am guilty of not learning how to cook these vanishing dishes. :P

Photography Time : bloggers crowded round the table laden with Hainanese dishes to take photos of the food.

Hainanese grannies teaching us to make chicken rice balls.

Bloggers having a hands-on session of shaping chicken rice  balls.

Happy bloggers enjoying this cultural exchange.

Some of the ladies from the Women's Wing of Malacca Hainan Association, they prepared these delicious Hainanese dishes. Hugs and kisses to them!! 

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam came for lunch with the bloggers. He enjoyed the food as much as we did.

I would like to thank the Malacca Hainan Association for their hospitality. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the ladies, many are grannies, who laboured on a Sunday morning to cook the traditional Hainanese meal for us. I love your dishes and hope to go back for another round. :D

Clean Graveyard - PH

PhotoHunt theme : Clean/Graveyards

dilapidated house costing more than 1 million ringgit 

On my Malacca trip, there is a dilapidated house opposite the youth hostel where I was staying. Peter, my Malaccan friend, pointed it out to us on the way as we haeded for our afternoon tea.

Sensing this could be material for a blog post, the Filipino and Singaporean bloggers seized the opportunity to explore and take photos of this dilapidated house. My hubby and Peter waited a distance away.

It was chilly within the interior of the house despite the scorching 36 degree Celcius temperature outside. There was not a sound saved for our footsteps and chatter. No chirpings of birds or crickets, no stray dogs or cats making their homes here. Dead silence.. 

The structures of this huge house were still intact. I could image how grand and beautiful it looked in its heyday.

This house was sold to a Singaporean for more than a million ringgit (US$314,000). I wonder why the owner didn't restore it. 

It was only after we emerged from the house that Peter told us it was HAUNTED! -_-

So, the house wasn't 'clean'! No wonder he stayed far away.

Peter showed us more old houses along the way, I was surprised to learn that many of them were bought over by Singaporeans. In fact there is one whole street of houses which are owned by Singaporeans. So smart of them! Why didn't I think of buying a house in this world heritage city!?

The Dutch Cemetery in Malacca 

Visiting graveyards is rarely on my travel itinerary.  But I thought the spirits occupying the dilapidated house would prefer to rest in this tranquil and clean Dutch Cemetery.

The Dutch Cemetery in Malacca was first used in the last quarter of the 17th century. 5 Dutch graves and 33 British graves lie within its compound. The cemetery was gazetted as a National Monument under the Antiquities Act 1976.

PhotoHunt
photohunt

EastCoastLife's Visit to Julie's Biscuit Factory@Malacca - WW

My favourite Julie's biscuits - Peanut Butter sandwich, Golden Crackers and the new Oat 25

The first stopover on day one of A Date with Bloggers 2012 in Malacca was a visit to our event's main sponsor, Perfect Food Manufacturing (M) Sdn. Bhd. where the famous Julie's Biscuit is manufactured.

The reason for my participation in this blogger event was a visit to Julie's biscuit factory. Its peanut butter sandwich has been my favourite since I was a kid. I truly looked forward to seeing how my favourite biscuit is made.

It was a humid Saturday morning, yet the factory was humming with activity when our busload of bloggers entered the colossal gates.

As we ascended the stairs to the conference room, I couldn't help admiring the unique walls of Julie's biscuit factory. The tiles were prints of Julie's biscuits. Cool!

After a briefing by the Management, each blogger was issued a white coat, a hairnet, shoenets and a mask. We started fooling around and taking photos after putting on the prescribed attire. :D

We looked like surgeons!

For hygiene and safety reasons, visitors are required to be properly attired. Bad news for bloggers : Photo taking/video taping is STRICTLY PROHIBITED inside their factory. -_-

Julie's biscuits

Next came the actual tour! The first thing that welcomed us was the aroma! That feel-good, sweet-smelling, warm fragrance of oven-fresh biscuits! I took deep breaths and let the aroma filled me up. Such Heavenly smells!

The manufacturing area was extremely hot - about 40 degree Celsius. I respect the workers who have to work long hours in such hot temperature. I was drenched in perspiration 10 minutes into the tour. Free sauna and slimming! haha.....

I used to buy these tins of biscuits for my students' teatime snack

I watched dough being moulded into biscuits; peered into gigantic ovens that hissed; salivated at the biscuits sailing on endless waves of conveyor belts.

We were not allowed to touch the biscuits, it was pretty hard for me to control myself because the oven-fresh biscuits were too tempting as they sailed past me. :P

Perfect Food Manufacturing practised a philosophy that is, “what we don’t eat, we do not let other people eat”. I am pleased to learn that they do not add preservatives and do not use artificial colouring in their biscuits. They even filtered the water before they use it for baking.

A buffet of Nonya dishes

At the end of the tour, we were ushered to Julie's Cafe where a sumptious feast awaited us. Yes, they have a cosy little cafe in their factory.

ECL and hubby with the Filipino bloggers

Over lunch, I had a chat with Mr Ng Teng Chai, General Manager (Operations) of Perfect Food Manufacturing. I learnt that they have been donating to charities such as old folks homes, orphanages and schools for years. They also donated to victims of natural disasters such as tsunami in Indonesia and floods in China, Myanmar, Thailand and Pakistan.

In early 2011, Perfect Food Manufacturing started a movement called “Share-the-love” in Malaysia. Through this movement, they hope to share the passion and love they have for their company with the public. They hope everybody will express their love and care to people not only who are close to them but to whoever they come across.

After lunch, the Management and bloggers took some group photos. Each blogger was given samples of Julie's products. I was delighted to receive my peanut butter sandwich biscuits and Julie's famous Love Letters!

Crowds at Julie's during Singapore Food Expo 2012

Visiting Julie's biscuit factory was overall a great experience. I learnt about the stringent manufacturing process of their products through this tour and also had the opportunity to taste freshly baked biscuits right from their oven! :D

My colleagues were fortunate to taste Julie's classic and new products because I brought the biscuits straight to my office as soon as I returned to Singapore. I was mobilised for an urgent operation. Two days later, I was dismayed to find all my Julie's biscuits gone!      


PERFECT FOOD MANUFACTURING SDN BHD
AG 6876, Alor Gajah Industrial Estate,
78000 Alor Gajah, Melaka, Malaysia
Telephone No : 606-556 1401
Telefax No : 606-556 5746