Kids Stop is an interactive centre designed for children aged 18 months to 8 years old by exposing them to science in their formative years. This was our first time visiting this place which is located next to the science centre. It is well worth going if you are also visiting the science centre. There are two types of admission fees: Singapore/PR or Foreign. I do think their fees are quite ridiculous especially if you are foreigner. The whole place is well designed with hands-on activities and programmes but the whole place is quite small and confined with not much seating areas for adults and there are two different opening times.
Visiting Merlion Park in Singapore
It is not often that I will visit tourist attractions when I go back to Singapore for a holiday. I have “been there and done that” through my teenage years and early adulthood so the precious time I have in Singapore is usually spent catching up with friends and family. However, during this latest trip, I decided to take the children to Merlion Park, to visit the famous Merlion statue.
Apam Balik / Min Chiang Kueh Recipe
Apam Balik, also called Min Chiang Kueh (面煎粿) is one of the local snacks from my childhood that I used to eat for breakfast or dessert. Nowadays, it is a very common kueh/snack you can find at shopping malls or at hawker centres. They can come in many different fillings like ground peanut, red bean paste, cheese, salted green bean paste, chocolate, black sesame seed and many more. It is more common/traditional to have ground peanuts as the filling. If you have a nut allergy, you might want to avoid some of the Asian desserts!
My preferred filling for Min Chiang Kueh is ground peanut. I had already bought a few packets of ready-made ground peanut with sugar while in Singapore last year so now was an opportunity to use it.
Summer Activities A – Z: T
Hundreds and Thousands Mini Cake
Chinese Qing Ming Festival / Tomb Sweeping Day
Qing Ming festival is a day where you pay respects at your departed loved one’s grave. The day varies each year as it goes according to the Chinese lunar calendar. This year it falls on the 5 April 2014. However, it is an acceptable tradition for the families to pray to their ancestors 10 days before and 10 days after the actual day. This is to avoid major congestions at the cemeteries and temples. As many countries like Singapore are densely populated and short of land, most of the deceased are cremated.
If you would like to know how this festival originated, check out Chinese Culture for more details.
Now I like to share with you some photos of how it looks. Besides offering the traditional types of gold ingots and money, there are now offerings that include high tech gadgets to allow the afterlife to “catch up” with trends!
My granddad passed away in 1989 on Chinese New Year day. So on every Chinese New Year day, besides the celebrations, we will also offer joss sticks. These photos were taken a couple years ago before the 25 years lease is up. Now my family has moved and cremated my granddad and placed his remains along with my grandma who passed away on 24 March 2013.
River Ang Bao 2014 in Singapore
Chinese New Year Goodies in Chinatown
Today, I would like to take you on a journey to see Chinese New Year goodies found in Singapore Chinatown. Living there for over 20 years and going to Chinatown in Outram Park is one of my highlights and recommendations to soak in the new year atmosphere.
Since I moved to the UK, I miss the opportunity to shop for the full range of Chinese New Year goodies. Some of these goodies can be found in UK Chinese supermarkets though so take a closer look if you get chance!
Now here are the streets in Chinatown. These goodies can only bought a month prior to Chinese New Year. All the street stalls will close after 1 – 2 am on Chinese New Year. So if you want to join in the festivities, make sure you time your travel before the New Year!
I have no idea why these varieties are only available for this limited time, like waxed salted food such as duck, sausages, ham etc. Maybe during the olden times, the only presents/gifts you can bring to visit your family and friends are preserved food. Hence the reasons of them being popular.
These are the varieties of waxed salted duck, salted ham, salted fish and Chinese sausages: