Hokkaido Fair Is At Tampines Mall (2nd - 11th July 2010)

Isetan Tampines is having the Summer Hokkaido Fair again! 

Details:  2nd - 11th July 2010

Venue :  Tampinese Mall (Singapore) Atrium and 2nd Level

  My family and I really like Japanese food, so when Isetan (Singapore) has their Japanese fair, I will always try to make my way down to take a look.  Looking at the food alone makes me a very happy person, so my husband is always willing to oblige.  I don't actually buy a lot at the fair, only the things I will cook or eat, though I am always tempted to buy, if I don't I will definitely end up spending a lot.

  These are some of the stuff I bought at the fair today:



Japanese Dango Rice Cakes:

I love Japanese Rice cakes, either as sweets (dessert) or the ones lightly grilled and cooked in savory soups.  The ones in the fair are mainly for snacking.  I got the flavours which I like which are, the black sesame one (left), the green tea one with red bean paste (middle) and the tri-coloured ones with the read bean wrapped inside (right).  The first and the second cost SGD$2.50 each and the tri-coloured ones are SGD$3.50.



Butter Manju

These are sweet Japanese "pancakes" wrapped in sweet paste.  They are my children's favourite.  They come in red bean paste and custard fillings.  There is also a white red bean paste which I have not seen before.  But the white red bean paste is only available on weekdays.  I got 8 custard and 2 red bean paste ones as my children favoured the custard ones, though my husband wished there were also chestnut fillings ones which were not seen at the fair.  (Price: One for $1.30 and 10 for $12)

Crunchy and Sweet Kombu Crackers with Seasame Seed:

I am not a person who much on snacks the whole day, but I always like seaweed and sesame, so found this interesting.  I like the taste of this snack as it is crunchy and sweet and has a strong tinge of sesame, and anyway kombu is supposed to be good for health.  There are variety of snacks at this stall, mostly cuttlefish and squid which comes in a variety of flavour.  The snacks cost $10 each, getting 5 will entitle you to one more pack that is free.

I only got 2 - this and the dried wakame below.

Dried Wakame:

I always have wakame in my kitchen as I use it alot.  I add it to miso soup, instant noodles (it is instant fibre for my children!) and also I love to pickle wakame and cucumber which goes very well with white rice or even as an appetizer for a meal. 

I tend to favour the Japanese ones over the Korean ones as I find the taste more refined and less fishy.  I usually get a small pack at the supermarket for about $7.80, so when there is a Japanese fair at Isetan, I will make it a point to stock up as it costs significantly less.  This pack is 100g for $10.






You get the promotional brochure at : http://www.tampinesmall.com.sg/promo/2010/JUL/Hokkaido.pdf

Life is So much Better with My Saeco Coffee Machine

  I was not a coffee drinker till I hit about 16 years of age.  However, I did not quite like coffee as I found that I would have an extremely bloated feeling and would be nauseous after drinking coffee.  So I still stuck on to the good old tea.

  However, starting work, getting married and after having children, I found myself keeping more and more late nights and tea was no longer strong enough and I switched to coffee though I only took it (like taking medication) only when I was absolutely necessary.

  The real turning point was when I visited my brother-in-law in Australia.  My husband was brewing coffee on the expresso machine everyday - that really hooked me on to coffee.  In fact, for that trip, we went back to Singapore with an expresso machine from Sunbeam.  After we came back, I enjoyed the experience of drinking coffee from the expresso machine, though we didn't do it daily as there was too much washing up to do and the normal electric coffee machine (drip models) was still more convenient. (And I found out what was wrong, I just simply could not take instant coffee or 3-in-1.  Taking brewed coffee did not give me any nausea feeling.)

  Last year (in June) while shopping, we saw that the whole range of Saeco fully automated expresso machine was on sale at SGD$700+.  After much discussion, we decided to buy it. I definitely did not regret the decision.  It is now so convenient to make coffee in the morning and at a fraction of the price at even the coffee from the coffee shop.  All I do now every morning, after waking up, is to just go to the coffee machine, warm it up and then press twice on the cup button (once, we found the setting both my husband and I like, we never changed it.), then hop into the bathroom brush my teeth and wash my face.  The coffee would then be ready and for me to add in milk for drinking.  The crema of the coffee is always great - I guess also because of the coffee

  There is a milk frother that comes with the machine, but I hardly use that on weekdays as I am always in a rush in the morning and do want to spend time cleaning it.  My son loves it though, he will get daddy to froth the milk on weekends to make his favourite hot "dinosaur milo" (a local hot chocolate with heaps of powdered malt chocolate).

  Maintenance is relatively easily and the machine will insist that you maintain it.  (The delivery man was also very professional, teaching us step-by-step, how to maintain the machine, brew coffee, make cappucino etc.)

  The size is just right for the two of us, though you need to empty the "waste bin" and top up the water quite frequently, which we don't really mind.   I really cannot imagine my life without my Saeco Machine now.