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Tofu with Mince Pork

Ingredients

1 tube Silken Tofu

½ cup Carrot cubes

10 g Needle mushroom

50 g Mince pork (Marinate with 1 tsp soy sauce, 2 dashes pepper and 1 tsp sesame oil)

1 Chilly (Finely chopped)

3 cloves Garlic (Finely chopped)

½ tbsp Light soy sauce

½ tbsp Oyster sauce

½ tbsp Dark soy sauce

½ tsp Sugar

1 tsp TikkoSS’s Secret Ingredient

½ cup Warm water

½ tsp Corn flour (Mix with 1 tbsp water)

Method

1. Heat wok with 2 tbsp of oil. Fry garlic and chilly until fragrant and golden brown.

2. Add mince pork and fry for 5 mins. Add carrot and needle mushroom. Continue frying for 5 mins.

3. Add and mash tofu in the wok for 5 mins.

4. Add warm water, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce and TikkoSS’s Secret Ingredient. Simmer over small fire for 5 mins.

5. Add sugar and mixture of corn flour. Ready to be served.

Yuyuan Garden is a famous classical garden in Shanghai. Although the existence of this garden is about 400 years now and undergoes multiple reconstructions, this place still remains as a famous tourist spot in Shanghai.

Sometime I felt amaze on the architecture of ancient times. It seems like they really spend a lot of time building, reconstructing, refurbishing and try to preserve the crisp of the culture. Technically, we should embrace our history but the remains turn out to be so good for photography.

Maybe I sound a bit melodramatic but as a newbie in the world of camera, ancient buildings turn me on. This is just one of the many buildings in this garden. If you have good stamina, you can walk the 20 000 square meters park, within a day. I am fit (or I wanted to believe that), so, no problem for me.

There are 6 main scenic areas that you must visit: Sansui Hall, Wanhua Chamber, Dianchun Hall, Huijing Hall, Yuhua Hall and Inner Garden. I went there twice and I don’t think I ever visited those places or maybe I did but forget the names.

To me, the main attraction is not those scenic spots. I have discovered Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant, the most famous and authentic siu long pau. Now, I also discovered the best dumplings in Shanghai called Ning Bo Dumplings (don’t know where they get the name from).

This restaurant is usually congested and probably you need to spend some time queuing to get seated and queuing to order and pay the bills. Maybe this place is the most affordable as compare to others? To me, crowded means good.. hehe..

As you might notice, they do serve big pau and some other dim sum too but the highlight is definitely the rice ball dumplings. Instead of ordering one, the long queue makes me order additional bowl. The sesame and crab roe dumplings.

In Singapore Chinatown, you can get this with almond or just plain sugar water soup. Over here, they only serve with plain water as the soup. In that case, the soup is like drinking hot water. On the other hand, the dumplings taste very nice and the texture is just perfect.

Two bowls are definitely not enough for me especially on good food. As soon as you walk out from the restaurant, you will notice that they also sell take away dumplings. I did not get it but I think it is a good deal. According to the lady, it can last about 3 weeks without fridge.

I am not leaving that place empty handed. I bought myself herbal bean curds with pigeon eggs. No, it is not stinky bean curd. This also taste good except a little spicy. Gosh, you should try to drink the soup too. Now, my floor is wet coz I can’t stop drooling when I write about this.

Ning Bo Dumplings

Yuyuan Garden, Shanghai

GPS:

Maybe it is too early to ask this to some of you but have you think of places where you want to go with your soul mate for honeymoon?

A very special person to me once suggested Maldives. Coming from tropical country, I directly object it, which led to the reason why I travel ALONE nowadays.

Come on, when the weather is at average of 28 deg C, beaches and expensive, how romantic can it be? I can no longer take off my clothes when you are cold and you need a lot of tissues to wipe my sweat.

Why not I suggest an alternative colder place, Honeymoon Dessert instead? It is cooler, sweeter (not sweater) and affordable? If you minus the crowd, we can spend some quality times together.

You might think I am cheapskate but I am not. I am a realistic person. What happen when all of the sudden you are hungry while we both enjoy the scenic sun rise moment.

Aha.. that why over here is better because you get to order at least tofu fah or durian pastry. Forget about the “big egg yolk” sun as these are much tastier for sure.

I might not bring you to love warm heaven but I bring you to sweet desserts heaven. You might say I don’t know you but I can tell you, I know you “inside” out. When I say inside, I meant your stomach and not something else.

Mango and pamelo slush might be ordinary to many but I know you are craving for it. Sweet potatoes and glutinous rice ball is on the list although I remember you said you will have gas when you have it.

Romantic is never about the places but it is always about who you are with at that time. Again, you can call me not romantic but I am not a cheapskate and I can justify it.

With air ticket from Malaysia+ RMB 67, you really think this honeymoon is cheap? Ohh, I did included shopping in the itinerary too and it is on me! Does that change your mind?

Honeymoon Dessert

Road 699, Block B, 3^rd Floor, 200-333,

Pingtang Road,

Shanghai Changning District

TEL: +86 21 6275 5777

GPS:

WEB: www.i-manji.com

牛车水 or better known as Chinatown used to harvest more than 70% of migrant populations (Chinese) in Singapore in the early days. Back then, this is just a humble place but today, it turns out to be one of the main attractions in Singapore.

To me, this is the place where I got my very first traditional Chinese costume which make me look like Chinese, the first place where I tasted the best dumplings ever and of course the first place where I visited when I first visited Singapore.

Personally, I have labeled this place as ‘must visit’ place in Singapore. If my math is right, I never miss visiting this place whenever I am in Singapore.

Over here, you will feel like you are in another world.. a Chinese world .. duh.. you can get cheap souvenirs, reasonably good deal on Chinese traditional stuffs and good food too!

I am not much of a shopper but I love to bring my mom around to see what I see and loiter around in strangers’ places. This time, I told her, “I will show to you what I love about this place.”

The weather is quite warm when I first arrived. Despite I was born in warm country, I still sweat like pig. I nearly get into a situation called “cerebral hypoxia” or better known as not enough oxygen getting to the brain.

As soon as I arrived at the hawker streets, I told my mom, “This is the main reason why we are here!” She just replied with a gentle smile. How sad when I only get to order Kuey Chap and Stew Pork Leg.

My favorite dumpling stalls and dessert shop were closed. On the bright side, this place is not as congested as usual, maybe because it is Chinese New Year when everyone is busy collecting angpow.

Both the dishes I ordered are really delicious. It makes me salivating when I wrote this post but the potion is slightly small. So, I decided to order seafood noodles just to fill up my bottomless stomach.

Generally, the food around this area is quite good and reasonably cheap. If you are ok in paying SGD, this place can be a food haven for you too.

Chinatown, Singapore

39 Smith St.

GPS: 1.282423, 103.8439

Light bulb is created for a reason. If you fail your history lesson before, let me introduce Thomas Alva Edison, an American inventor who claimed that he haven’t fail although he found 10000 ways something won’t work.

He is also a man who claimed “Genius is 1 percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration.” Whatever that means, I must admit he is a true genius as he can forsee the importance of light in the next century.

One of the enigma he resolved is night market. Imagine if you visit a night market without the source of light? How are we going to bargain and hunt for things that appeal to us?

Thanks to him, I get to visit Night Market in Hangzhou“visibly”, a place where I considered very congested with human traffic, a heaven of pirated goods and a perfect shopping place for girls.  

Considering that I am gay virtually and not very much into pirated stuffs, I am here for a sole reason, STREET FOOD! While everyone is busy bargaining for great deals, I am busy hunting for local food.

So, without further ado, I bought homemade tofu with eggs and traditional rice cake at approx RMB 10 (~RM 5) each. The tofu is super delicious, slightly spicy and the traditional rice cake is pretty much tasteless .  

My food hunting does not stop there. I continued to hunt for long queue restaurant. Why long queue? As a rule of thumb when you travel abroad, “long queue” restaurant perceptively means they serve good food.

Without knowing what it is, I bought this stuff. Looks very oily and unhealthy food means it is a right choice. It is actually freshly prepared tako balls with dried minced pork. This is a good one that I actually go back there the next day to get it again.

By setting my budget approximately RMB 50 (~RM 25) for my dinner (thanks to Lou Wai Lou, West Lake for drying my whole week budget), it is definitely not enough for to feed someone as fit as me.

Following my instinct led me to Chicken Hero, another famous franchise inChina. When I reached there, I know I have made a right decision. By paying about RMB 15 (~RM 7),  I get the whole piece of deep fried chicken with seasoning powder.

It is just nice to crave my hunger deliciously. 

I am not sure if I share with you before that I am a fan of bubble milk tea. Without miss, everytime when I come across this, I will definitely grab a cup. Again, long queue attracted me.

If I am not mistaken, I paid approx. RMB 8 (~RM 4) for a cup of bubble milk tea. The drink is definitely easing my thirst after whole lots of deep fried stuffs. It is a great paid off considering I spent 10 minutes for my order.

So, don’t be upset when your fund is running low. All you need is just finding a right place for a right food and bet you won’t need to die of hunger.

Night Market in Hangzhou

Youdian Road, Hangzhou

GPS: 30.251913, 120.168961