Steeping Time of Tea

Steeping Time1 min for Japanese Green Tea  and 7 min for white tea Yin Zhen, how much time would actually depends various factors.


Steeping time depends on the type of leaf and its leaf grade. Many teas yield a pale liquor, so steep by time not color. If milk is to be added, the steeping time must be long enough for sufficient flavor elements and tannins to be extracted. Too short a steeping time will result in a thin, insipid tea. Conversely, over-steeping will yield a bitter tea with an overpowering imbalance of tannin
Asians have a way of doing a 30 seconds of steeping, I believe this can help to remove the Theobromine (kudos to the Chinese this amazing discovery at such anicent era)

Personally, I would stir the jug with a chopstick remove the leaves once they start stinking,too lazy to do resteeping.:p

Olio Bites (Alliance Française)

Olio Bites (Alliance Française)
Address: 1 Sarkies Road 2F
Alliance Francaise De Singapour Singapore



My french lessons have been ending at 1130 for 3years, sometimes I would head there for a meal with my french classmates or in between my extra french lessons (like now).By 12 noon,the place has more crowded with office staff and some french teachers.The lunch crowd tones down by 130pm and it is all peaceful again.

I just finished with my caesar salmon salad, currently sipping a vanilla chai latte.As I frequent India, I am fussy with my chai ,having chai latte in Singapore, is something special and not found in my cafés.:) Their food is pleasant and not impressive.Many people like to order club sandwich according to some of my classmates it is very filling so I love to pinch their chips as it's extremely crispy!Their pies and some main courses comes with salad, even for the take-away,legumes people galore!!

Café at 1130am

The setting is relaxing and calm.It is poetic to watch the clientale ,the morning begins with students grabbing a quick bite and a huge variety of French and other nationalites as lunch crowd ,followed by internationl horde of tai tais who are waiting for their children to finish their afternoon french lessons and then to the evening French students crowd.What a life! The cafe is accompanied by a mini art gallery beside it.However, it gets rather crowded during the first and second week of June and December due to the French exams and during French Film Festivals evening held in Alliance Francaise.In fact,I am at the café right now and its the December exams time:)

OOOps....I see my french classmates taking a break from their C1 exams..got to say Hi ..


Bye....

Pics from some time ago.....during a half an hour break,

chicken and mushroom pie :)

Mariage Frères: Thé Des Impressionnistes

THÉ DES IMPRESSIONNISTES


In the wild, rocky, maritime region of Provence in southern France, nature’s shimmering colours create rare and intense harmonies that delighted Impressionist artists.

This green tea, scented with mild spices and white flowers, is also dotted with mauve flowers as a visual echo of the dazzling and powerful fragrance that fills the mouth.
A colourful tea.

Above are from : Mariage Frères


Cheryl and I found this tea smells lightly vanilla in this packaging but carries a stronger vanilla scent after brewing, it has a heavier and creamier note unlike the typical Asian green tea which is lighter and makes you more disgested. If you are Asian of Chinese diaspora, you could understand me better.



Creperie des Arts,Singapore

Right in Paris in St Micheal there is this road, Rue des Arts ( between Metro Odéon and St Micheal ) and there lies this restuarant Creperies des Arts of Rue des Arts, one day I will ask the chef  for the relationship.

So far, the food there gets me returning, here's my review after my second trip.:)
When we were there on Friday evening, we saw this lovely lady who spoke little French and had a chat with her and discovered that she was the daughter in law of the chef.





Address:
44 Prinsep Street
Singapore 188673

Opening hours:
weekdays: 5-11pm
weekends: 4.30-11.30pm
/Closed Mondays

Dress code: casual

Nearest MRT: Dhoby Ghaut/Bras Basah

Crabtree and Evelyn:Organic Peppermint Tea

Crabtree and Evelyn:Organic Peppermint Tea/The A La Menthe Poivree Biologique.

Crabtree and Evelyn:Organic Peppermint Tea is one of the items that I got it from the Crabtree and Evelyn members' sale last week.The regular price of 10 satchets is SGD$8, due to the sale I got it at a 30% discount.It is light, refreshing and organic but there is nothing special about it, except that the packaging and branding makes it a good gift.I would buy it as a gift for others but not for myself,not advisable for hardcore peppermint tea drinkers like me though.

Papa Palheta Coffee Boutique Singapore

Papa Palheta Coffee Boutique Singapore

After french class, I had sometime to kill and badly needed a pick me up, I invited Julie for a cup of coffee at a joint that was near to her house and the school,however,it was the blazing 12noon sun,we actually took a cab from Newton MRT station to Hooper Road,it was too cumbersome to go underpass,cross an overhead bridge and then another overhead bridge/under the expressway.Well, I am talking about trying to get across the other side of Newton Cirus roundabout for pedestrians with the Downtown Line under construction.

Once we have reached this place,we were at ease:)
It was a place of many little corners to hide, get cozy, get artistic, get friendly,be in groups of 3 etc,  it's somehow not a couple haven even though it.It is difficult to explain, I kinda find this place has ' Welcome weary Earth Roamers ,get energised and relaxed with real coffee' as its slogan. It serves only coffee and there is no price tag to each cup, pay as you want :)


It is going to be my new afternoon hang out!
Sneaked a lunch before heading for my next appointment!


Stars: 9/10
Address:
140 Bukit Timah Road
Enter by Hooper Road
Landmark: Shell Petrol Station.
Tel: 9799 0420
for more : http://www.papapalheta.com/

Canton Kitchen 广东小厨

Canton Kitchen
Eastpoint has changed a lot over the past few years but not Canton Kitchen, its is always sentimental to go there.The food there is an understatement,nothing too fancy, traditional Cantonese style with a few things from other cusines like Pekin Duck.

It was the first time when we were in couples, should not be the last time. :p

Mee Sua ($10)

Coffee Pork Ribs($8)

Twin Roasted Duck($10)

Beancurd with Pork Floss($9)

Assorted Vegetables in Claypot($8)

Fish with Ginger and Onion($10)

Frog with Hot Wine ($15)

Rice

Chrysanthemum Tea for $6 for 5 persons.

Love the place,good for family outing.

Stars : 8/10 

Singapore Island Country Club: Bukit Cafe

Singapore Island Country Club: Bukit Café.

Operating Hours:
Monday to Friday - 11:00am to 10:00pm
Weekends and Public Holiday - 8:00am to 10:00pm
Indian kitchen closed on Mondays
Dress Code: Casual
Singlets, flip flops, shorts more than 5 inches above knee not allowed at all outlets except swimming pools



Surprisingly, there is something for a rather wide range of cuisines.
Chinese,Singaporean, Japanese like Sushi Platter, Sashimi Platter, some ramen.
Typical Western Food like Fish and Chips,baked salmon with greens.
Indian Dal etc.

International cuisine with an affordable price tag,the lunch crowd that was with us was mainly of gramps and their grandkids.:p Family orientated:)

Singaporean Rojak (7/10)

Palek Paneer (7/10)
I ate it with naan and it was extremely crispy!

BOH Jasmine Green Tea
Its been a long time I had BOH tea,
it was fragrant and sweet.

Happy Ladies

Udders at Novena

Udders Ice-cream!

Nice ice-cream and waffles :)



Waffles

seconds before finishing, check out the free ice water :)

We were enjoying ourselves when we saw some creepy crawlies and zoooms we left!

The Whole Earth

It was Steffi BD celebration and she has made a good choice by choosing this place :)

Inside the space of The Whole Earth you feel that it was so clean that you could lick its table, mainly white ,with some broom and green and hints of grey, the crisp edges of the tables were broken by the nice curves of the chairs, without the chairs it might look like a canteen in a more peaceful and calm fashion, I actually wonder if I could study there :p
The food was pleasant and they actually could bring out the flavour of some meaty dishes ,I am not a meat lover and I did not like these heavy-duty dishes,I feel that the vegetarian dishes here did not aim to replace it but provide an alternative taste to the tradition taste.

Nyonya Curry (6/10)

Penang Redang ( 8/10)

5 Spice Ngor Hiang Roll (9/10)
Love the water chestnut in it.

Kong Bah Braised Mushroom (8/10)

Tom Yam Fried Rice (8/10)

They taped on the texture and porous properties of mushrooms to make really delicious food :)

I could say that it was a guilt-free eating but I did not feel sleepy after dinner,and that was such a nice feeling :)

Stars : 7/10
(down side: last order at 9pm ,closed at 10pm )
Recommendated for :vegetarians


Address:
76 Peck Seah St
Singapore 079331
Tanjong Pager MRT station,
Exit A,turn right

Chocolats de Neuville

Other than tea, chocolates was another wonderful thing that he brought back ,
the mere taste of pure chocolates ,the sight of it starting to melt from the warmth of your fingers (+ humid Singapore) implies the lack of preservatives, all these makes heaven nearer.

Never knew this brand existed ,if you can read french click : Chocolates de Neuville

Mariage Frères Tea -Thé Au Sahara

Thé au Sahara by Mariage Frères , heard about it from Cheryl , my St Germain gf :p.
Thanks to Frog for getting them for me,just before his flight, he was the last customer that day,arrived 10 min before the shop closed.
Finally, got a taste of the super famous Parisien Tea that all the tea ravers are crazy about ,some people might call it commerical packaging.Yes, the tea comes with a hefty price for maintaining its exquistiviness.I do feel a little guilty patronising some touristic/commerical products.The world is unfair, everyone has a share of something more or less, some has fresher air like the people whom stays in Darjeeling and Sikkim ,the tea there is divine.(Yes, I heart Darjeeling Tea ) Darjeeling Tea from Mariage Frère is super expensive but I am sure I have something from Akshay's sis which I would blog about it soon.

For holidaymakers who want to try it out, you might want to take a trip to Paris or Tokyo (selling in Tokyo too), if travelling all the way there is not your cup of tea , get your travelling friends to pop by their stores .Or try them right in Singapore, here's Mandarin Oriental Hotel's menu and selection on Mariage Frères tea for  SGD$ 12 a pot.(Dear stranger/friends, if you are going, drop me a note, I might want to tag along!)

Scent: More minty than floral ( but not the most fragrant tea I've tried)
Taste: Floral and minty
Stars : 9/10 ( sheer tea , no residue even at the jug, Mariage Frères sans doubt ! )

Knorr Yellow Cup Porridge

More instanteous than instant mee!

Just contained this aluminium cereal like satchet!

Emptied it onto the bowl and somehow it looked like some baking paste.

Added water and cover.(hmm actually realised that I don't need to cover it)

I was shocked to see the two different layers,yellow and white sinking below.


I went to read the instructions and realised that I needed to stir,not cover

Actually you have to keep on stirring but you can always stir as you eat !

Yummy taste! Light and soupy!
I am going to try out the orange one!
After this 'instant'takes a new meeting.

Stars: 9/10 !! (nutrient value not taken into consideration)
Recommended for busy /lazy people ( like me!)



Instant Bee-Hoon with garnishes and Wolfberry

Lunch at home today!
Sometime alone at home gives me the motivation to cook, everything at my own pace,
my favourite stuff too ;)

Instant Bee-Hoon with beansprouts, chinese parsley,spring onion and Wolfberry

Organic Rosehip from Fremantle Market

I came across this in Fremantle Market with Mel and we asked the lady what it was about she told us that it was good and described the origin of it, I could not understand what she meant by the seed pods of roses (I thought it has some thing to do with pollens), and she convinced me by eating it in front of me, I was sold. I bought it and started my little research.


Carrying dark deep red like the colour of cranberries can be even mistaken for cranberries from afar.Rose hips are the berry-like fruits of the rose bush left behind after the bloom has died.

Rose hip is rich in Vitamin C
During World War II when imports of citrus products to Great Britain were limited, tons of rose hips were harvested there from the wild to make rose hip syrup as a vitamin C supplement for children. Or even for chinchilla and guinea pigs which can not disgest many food rich in vitamin C.It is excellent for me as I have a slight allegry to orange which is a common source of Vitamin C.Some horses eat rose hip too!

Rose hip is good for osteoarthrities
The anti-inflammatory properties of rose hips have recently been shown to be useful in the treatment of patients suffering from knee or hip osteoarthritis.

After 'soaking ' it in hot water for 20 mins



Rosehips are also commonly used to make herbal teas, by boiling the dried or crushed rose hips for10 minutes. They are edible as no filter is needed. Becareful as the taste could be acidic. Rose hips can be used to make great jellies, sauces, soups ,seasoning and salad toppings

Caution: Don’t use rose hips from plants that have been treated with a pesticide that is not labeled for use on edibles.Use organic rosehip