Deepavali 2014 Dinner @Mountbatten

My husband and I were invited to a Deepavali dinner organised by Mountbatten Indian Activity Executive Committee on Sunday.

We enjoyed the Indian dance and music by the talented young performers.

Indian vegetarian food was served but there was a special Butter Chicken dish for the meat-lovers.

There was a Best Dressed Male and Best Dressed Female competition. My husband was the second runner-up. He won a S$20 supermarket gift voucher. hahaha......

屠妖节晚宴2014
印度社群屠妖节晚宴我丈夫和我受邀出席。 我们品尝印度美食, 观赏精彩的印度歌舞表演, 年轻的舞者跳得真棒!

1-Day Johor Bahru Durian Buffet Trip - WW

I went on a 1-day trip to Yong Peng together with 160 residents from Mountbatten Constituency one Sunday. We assembled at Katong Community Centre before leaving at 6.45 am.

The organizers chartered 4 buses. Both the Immigration and Customs checkpoints of Singapore and Malaysian were crowded on a weekend. There were long queues at each counter. It took us quite a while to clear immigration.

Once we cleared immigration, we went to a coffee shop in Gelang Patah for our breakfast. I ordered a bowl of Pontian Bak Kut Teh (RM10). Food prices are comparable to Singapore's.

The Malaysian tour guide said this town was built to cater to Singaporeans. It was a sleepy village and houses cost RM 30000 each, now each house sells for RM 300000 and above. The many landed houses look new and nice.

Business is good for the shop owners during weekends when Singaporeans drive in for seafood, massage and grocery shopping. It's my first time to Gelang Patah.

After breakfast, we proceed to Yong Peng which is about an hour's drive away.

Places we visited :
1.     Traditional Foochow noodle factory
2.     Local products supermarket for shopping
3.     Durian plantation for durian buffet
4.     Organic vegetable farm
5.     Swiftlet House and edible bird's nest production
6.     1 hour shopping in a mall
7.     8-course dinner at a halal restaurant

We returned to Singapore after dinner and reached Singapore around 11pm. A long and tiring day for us.

Fruit Fiesta@ Katong Community Centre - WW

500kg of durians, 50kg of mangosteens and 50kg of longans!! Residents of Mountbatten constituency were ecstatic to see these fruits when they came for the Fruit Fiesta@ Katong Community Centre.

200 residents bought tickets for this event. Heavily subsidised by Katong Community Centre, each ticket cost S$5 only.

A variety of durians were served at this party. Durians free for all includes D13 and Red Prawn. Due to limited stocks, Black Pearl, Golden Phoenix and Mao Shan Wang durians were offered as prizes for table games.

MP Lim Biow Chuan and grassroots leaders pried open durians and cleared trash while residents enjoyed the sumptuous fruits.

Each table sent a representative to participate in the table games. Participants challenged one another to see who could eat the most longans within 10 minutes and to produce the names of members at their table. It was hilarious. Our table won a Black Pearl durian.

I was seated with 4 new immigrants and another 4 local aunties. Goodness, how they "attacked" the durians!! I was particularly embarrassed by the disgusting manners of the 4 aunties. They seemed as if they have just been released for the Lunar 7th month. I made sure the new immigrants had enough to eat and went round taking pictures. I have been eating lots of durians for the past month and was getting tired of them :P

While taking photos, I discovered a few people had secretly packed durians to takeaway. Whoa! This is too much. Takeaway is not allowed. Should I send the photos to STOMP?

Mothers' Day Lunch@ Katong Community Centre

Happy Mothers' Day to all Moms!

I was invited to a Mothers' Day Lunch at Katong Community Centre. Mountbatten Member of Parliament Lim Biow Chuan was the guest of honour. Organised by the of Mountbatten Women Executive Committee, grassroots volunteers and residents enjoyed a sumptuous lunch and watched stage performances.

MP Lim Biow Chuan paying tribute to his Mom

Mountbatten MP Lim Biow Chuan paid tribute to his mother who was a special guest at the Mother's Day lunch.

Multi-ethnic and mixed-race mothers gathered to celebrate Mother's Day at Katong Community Centre. Participants could choose from 3 different cuisines:  halal, Chinese and vegetarian.

I like the delectable 8-course Chinese cuisine which was prepared by Ping Si Kitchen. The chefs took care to serve the dishes piping hot. Many elderly residents enjoyed this sumptuous feast too.

This 86 year-old great grandmother (seated right) won a prize for being the oldest Mom at this event. She was sitting at my table, a very sweet and adorable lady :)

The MC conducted several games, one of the table games was getting the participants to blow balloons. It was a hilarious sight seeing many grannies struggling to blow balloons. My table won the balloon-blowing contest. :D

Besides the professional performers, some volunteers performed 4 songs with their ukuleles. It was an enjoyable performance despite the group having little time to practise.

Everyone had a wonderful and fun time. To all mothers, wishing you a Happy Mother's Day!

Mountbatten Grassroot Leaders Chinese New Year Dinner - PhotoHunt

PhotoHunt Theme : Miniscule/Favourite Food

We are still celebrating Chinese New Year in Singapore. We attended  a Chinese New Year dinner that adviser to Mountbatten Grassroots Organisations Mr Lim Biow Chuan hosted, to thank his grassroot leaders and their spouses. All the grassroot leaders are volunteers and they have put in much hard work during the year,

Tossing for good fortune

Before dinner, there was a tossing of yu sheng (a colourful Chinese-style raw fish salad which is popular in Singapore). It is my favourite dish during Chinese New Year. Every ingredient in this dish is auspicious, I just love the taste of them mixed together.

Singapore is a multi-racial society, we have friends of different races joining us in our Chinese New Year celebrations. They had fun tossing yu sheng too.

The organisers lined up several interesting and entertaining performances for the guests. 'God of Fortune' dropped in and performed a Gangnam-style dance. LOL

At the end of the dinner, each of us received a good luck gold packet. I am slightly disappointed that the two miniscule coins were not real gold coins but chocolates. Hope that I would have Good Luck and strike lottery with the 4 lucky digits. :D

Deepavali Celebrations Dinner @Katong CC

My henna tattooed hand pictured above oil lamps with a rangoli drawn on the floor 

Some residents including expatriates, the Indian community and grassroots leaders of Mountbatten constituency come together on Saturday night to celebrate Deepavali, also called Festivals of Lights. The festival symbolizes the victory of good over evil.

Advisor to Mountbatten constituency MP Lim Biow Chuan kicked off the celebrations by lighting up a colourful street decoration at Jalan Batu.

Next, MP Mr Lim Biow Chuan lighted up a Diyas (oil lamps) at Katong Community Centre.

Guests savoured many delicious Indian delicacies.

Gulab Jamun aka the brown waffle balls

I was wondering what these sweet balls were. It is made of a dough consisting mainly of milk solids. Traditionally, khoya (an Indian milk product, buffalo milk) is rolled into a ball together with some flour and then deep fried.

Getting a henna tattoo on my left hand 

After dinner, there were performances by several Indian artistes who got the guests to let their hair down and join in the dancing and singing. :)

Mountbatten Celebrates National Day 2012 - RT

Residents and grassroots members breaking into impromptu dancing

About 1000 residents and grassroots members in Mountbatten Constituency had an early celebration of our 47th National Day.

There were some cool performances from all races which won the hearts of the audience.

The performers put up a great show and there was audience participation. Some of the audience broke into impromptu dancing.

MP Lim Biow Chuan (Advisor to Mounbatten Constituency) gave his National Day speech and won lots of applause for announcing that there will be no increase of conservancy charges in Marine Parade GRC for this year. YEAH!!!

3 toasts to the Nation, the President and the people of Singapore!

Great atmospehere, everyone had a wonderful time.

Happy birthday to Singapore!!

Oooo... Mountbatten Brisk Walking @Gardens By The Bay

PhotoHunt theme : Oooo... /Paths

Woke up very early on a Sunday morning to participate in Mountbatten Brisk Walking @Gardens By The Bay.

Flagging us off was Minister Lim Swee Say (Prime Minister's Office), with him were MP Lim Biow Chuan (Mountbatten), PA Chief Executive Director Yam Ah Mee, and Mountbatten CCC Chairman Lim Nghee Huat.

Warming up exercises before the walk

Oooo.... everywhere that he goes, our popular PA Chief Executive Director Yam Ah Mee is constantly stopped to pose for a photo.

Off we go!! Wholesome family activity where the young and old had fun.

Minister Lim Swee Say couldn't help snapping photos of the fun activities and beautiful scenery as he walked along the paths of the bay.

Groundbreaking Ceremony for PassionWave@Marina Bay

For the very first time in their lives, these gutsy seniors ( youngest early 50s, oldest in her 70s) tried canoeing. Thumbs up!

Relaxing at the banks and watching the kids enjoy themselves ....  

Have a terrific weekend, everyone!

Mountbatten Active Ageing Community Presents Japanese Cultural Month - RT

Mountbatten Active Ageing Community presents Japanese Cultural Month on every Monday afternoon in April for its residents.

I attended the 2nd activity which is making Japanese dessert at Katong Community Centre today.

39 participants, mostly senior citizens, attended the cooking class. These senior residents above the age of 50 pays S$2 each while the rest pay S$10 each.

We learnt to cook two dishes : Daigaku Imo Biscuits and American Ginseng with Gingko Nuts in Yam Puree.

Daigaku Imo is a Japanese dessert of candied sweet potatoes with black sesame seeds. Daigaku Imo means "University Potato" because this dessert was traditionally sold at university festivals. These days, the Japanese eat it at all times, anywhere.

The Daigaku Imo Biscuits we learnt today were very different from what I saw on Japanese food websites. I am going to ask a Japanese friend for her recipe. 

The instructor answering queries from the enthusiastic participants. 

American ginseng

I have signed up for the Japanese Tea Ceremony. I hope

Japanese Flower Arrangement
23rd April 2012

Japanese Tea Ceremony
30th April 2012

Time : 3.30 pm to 5.30 pm
Venue : Katong Community Centre
Fees :  S$ 2 (Mountbatten residents who are Singapore citizens/PRs who are above 50 yrs old)
           S$10 ( Mountbatten residents who are below 50 yrs old, non-Mountbatten residents,
                      non-Singapore citizens/PRs)