Corner Delights Prawn Mee (at The Arcade)

There are quite a number of yummy food places in the CBD area that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. One of them is the delicious prawn mee nested in the middle of The Arcade in a eating place call Corner Delights.

Run by two sisters, this place serves quite a range of food from porridge to laksa to chee cheong fun and yam cake to desserts like barley ginkgo. But the main fare is prawn mee.

My usual order is prawn kway teow dry. I do not really like soupy noodles but the soup here is thick and full of flavour. The prawns are de-shelled and sliced halved, and the chilli is excellent. Mix it with the other ingredients and seasoning and this is one great tasting prawn mee. Of course if they served it with big, fat, juicy whole prawn, it would be even better. But for normal office lunch, de-shelled halved prawn will do.

The chee cheong fun is also a must eat. You can buy them for breakfast or for tea break.

11 Collyer Quay
#01-31, The Arcade
Singapore 049317

Tomato Photo Shoot - Part 4: The Photos

It took us quite a while to select the photos, too long in fact. We never seem to be able to find time to choose the photos together. Plus the fact that Tomato Photo had all the shots in both colour and black & white to choose from, as you can see from Part 3.

In the end, I shortlisted the photos I like and Lilian does likewise on different days. We then choose those photos where both of us shortlisted. Here are the ones we chosen.

My favourite is the black & white shot of Xavier kissing Lucas. I have updated that as my blog header. What's your favourite?

Xavier's First Visit to the Dentist

Xavier had his first visit to the dentist today. There wasn't anything wrong with his teeth. We just wanted him to get a feel of going to the dentist and having his teeth checked.

I brought him to my usual dentist at ToofDoctor. He was apprehensive at first but the mention of watching Barney videos were too good to pass. So they gave him a pair of sunglasses, set him down on the dental chair and checked his teeth.

He is still short of two teeth but they should come soon. They did polishing for him. No scaling needed as they do not have tartar (so lucky). And the dentist even gave him a medal for being so brave and cooperative. He was so proud of his medal that he insist on wearing it to school the next day.

And he can't wait to go for his next dental checkup, as he kept asking when we gonna go again. I on the other hand, dread going to the dentist...

Second Kid Is Ever More Life Changing

I asked an old friend, who has 5 kids, how difficult is it to raise 5 kids. His reply was, "From one kid to two kids, it was tough, really tough. But the effort is quite similar for one to three, four or five kids."

His bottomline was the transition from managing one kid to managing two kids is two totally different ballgame. After 3 months with Xavier and Lucas, I totally agree. Here are some thoughts:

- No two kids are the same (even if they are twins). I had the expectation that all babies are similar in their first few months. That expectation grew into frustration for me, as I kept asking why Lucas is not doing this and that like Xavier. So the earlier you recognise this point, the less frustrated you would be.

- Communication is key. As the saying goes, "Assumption is the mother of all f*** ups." or "You think, I thought, who confirm?". Communicate with your spouse what you expect of each other, how you want to split your tasks on hand. Do not assume your partner knows what you have in mind.

- Pay more attention to the older kid. Or at least try. The older kid had all your attention before the newborn comes along so the suddenly need to share your attention will affect him/her. Xavier is fairly good so far as he doesn't show "ill-jealousy" (the kind that involves hitting and bullying) but that doesn't mean he do not try to seek as much attention from us as possible. Like shoving a toy in your face asking you to look at it when you are carrying the newborn, or asking if you can put the newborn down and play with him.

- You would really have close to zero time to yourself. If you thought you are managing your time well with one kid and having some of your own "me" time, be prepared for no more of that and ever lesser sleep. In fact I do not even have much time to blog nowadays, preferring sleep.

Right now I'm just grinding my teeth and hoping time pass faster and they grow up faster so we can pass this phrase, though I would probably miss this stage later on. But its really really tough now. So if you are planning for a second kid, be prepared. Be Very Prepared!

Lao Ban Soya Beancurd 老伴豆花

We frequent Old Airport Road Hawker Centre quite often as there are many wonderful food stalls under one roof.

We been seeing crazy queues at this particular stall selling Soya Beancurd and Lilian heard of raving reviews on how smooth and different the beancurds are here. But the long queues usually put us off. It was only recently when a colleague bought them to give away in office did I get a chance to try it.

The beancurds served here are extreme smooth, and different. The usual fresh beancurds you buy are scoped layer by layer into a bowl or container before serving to you. Here stacks and stacks of beancurd are pre-packed and chilled in the fridge. The flawless beancurd greets you when you open the lid, inviting you to make the first scope and send it into your mouth.

And oh how the beancurd melts into your mouth. And if you use your tongue to "play" with it, you would notice just how smooth as silk the beancurd is. So smooth its almost unreal. In fact I have friends who relate it to eating custards. And not everyone is a fan, with some preferring the usual beancurd texture.

For me, I'm a fan. I didn't ask if I there is a "less sweet" version but the original sweetness is just right for me. And business seems to be booming. They now have two stalls in Old Airport Road Hawker Centre and one at Maxwell Food Centre. If you are wondering why there are long queues for it since it's pre-packed and served pretty quickly. The reason is because people tend to buy in 8s and 10s to give away and share with their friends and family. And when I have to queue for sometime to buy something good, I tend to overbuy just so I can giveaway too. It's a vicious circle.

You can "Like" them at their facebook page if you wish.

Blk 51 Old Airport Road
#01-127, Old Airport Road Hawker Centre
Singapore 390051


Blk 51 Old Airport Road
#01-107, Old Airport Road Hawker Centre
Singapore 390051


1 Kadayanallur Street
#01-91, Maxwell Food Centre

Singapore 069184

Thank you and Goodbye Steve Jobs...

I had a shock this morning when the radio announced the death of Steve Jobs. The visionary legend that gave us beautiful typography on computers, the one who's company pioneered computer animation with Toy Story, the botak that got almost everyone going gaga over "i" this and "i" that, the magician that revive Apple from a USD13 per share company to now above USD380 per share and the best salesman in the world. I salute you.

One of the best speeches that made an impression in me was his speech at Stanford University in 2005.


There may never be another person like Steven Jobs again. Like other geniuses, they will always be unique, like the unreleased Apple Think Different commercial.


Here's to you Mr. Steve Jobs. Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish. Thank you and Goodbye.

McDonald’s Monopoly Singapore 2011

If you been to McDonald's recently, you might have observed the crew donning red tee with a black bowtie printed on it. Yes  the McDonald’s Monopoly Singapore 2011 is back for the third year and it's on now till 2nd November 2011, or when all game labels are gone.

This time round there are three ways to win the prizes. Instant Win are those tabs which gives instant prizes. Collect To Win are tabs where you have to collect all same colour tabs to win the prize. The most interesting would be the Chance Card where you get $100 cash and a chance to win all unclaimed prizes (from Collect to Win) in a lucky draw.

You can visit the official visit for more information and have a read on the FAQ.

Some tips that might not be obvious:
1) A meal give you 1 label. Upsize the meal and you get 2 labels. Do that on a weekend and you get 4 labels.

2) McValue Lunch meals also entitle you to labels. So a McChicken or a Chicken McNuggets meal upsized on a weekend between 12-3pm would give you the most value per label.

3) Each Collect to Win colour area has a "rare" tab. I have identify them in the collarge below.

 If you get these rare tabs, you would probably be winning that prize of the colour bar, since the other tabs for the colour bar are usually very common.

Happy hunting...