I woke up feeling really sore and achy in my back and chest but I still decided to head down for service as I gave my word that I would be there.
When I entered the main hall at 0955 and found a seat at the Echo Arena, praise and worship was about to begin. However, I totally had no idea that Dr. A R Bernard was going to be preaching this service and I’m glad he did because the sermon is very relevant for my life right now.
For this service, Dr. A R Bernard taught about Spiritual Growth, what Ages in the Bible really meant and how God lines up specific people around us so that we are able to be positioned in a way that God can bless us in due season. I will only share a little bit about what Dr. A R Bernard has shared on today’s blog entry. If you would like to find out more, you can purchase the entire Sermon from Sermon Vault <– here
Definition of Spiritual Growth
Spiritual Growth is increasing your capacity to know and to experience God by the consistency of studying His Word.
We experience God through worship and prayer and we also experience Him by discerning what He is doing in our world.
The Bible encourages us to grow up because God can only entrusts us with His plans and purposes only if we mature and grow up. God will only give to us what we have the capacity for.
Ages ( or aion in greek) means Periods
When the Bible says it’s the end of the world, the Bible meant the end of a specific time, not the destruction of the planet or world. In fact, the return of Jesus Christ is not the end of the world but the beginning of another period/time. An age is a period of time in history marked by notable events and particular characteristics.
Seasons ( or kairos in greek)
Season is not just a time but a favourable period of time. A season is a favourable time appropriate for a particular person, purpose, or situation. The Bible tells us not to be weary in well doing because in due season, we will reap if we faint not.
These were just some of the key points that I noted down during Dr. A R Bernard’s preaching. After service, most of us headed down to Jurong West Church so that we could witness Chao Han and Kenny’s water baptism. Witnessing their baptism reminded me of my own baptism way back in 2006. I was really happy that both Chao Han and Kenny took the step of faith and decided to go for water baptism as it truly signifies the beginning of a wonderful journey with Christ. I pray that God will continue to open up the windows of heavens and pour down such great blessings into both Chao Hao and Kenny’s lives that there would not be room enough to contain it!
Kenny Getting Water Baptised By Pastor Yock Kiang
“We Are Called To Be The Salt of the Earth, The Light of The World”
Preparing Kenny and Chao Han for their trials! =P
Kenny awaiting for the salty moment!
A reminder for us to be the light of the world
We are the apple of God’s eyes
Kenny with his Certificate of Baptism!
Hello Everyone,
today I am going to share about the Night Lights Festival 2011 @ the Singapore Arts Museum and the Voyage Night Festival 2011 @ the National Museum of Singapore. Initially, Baby and I just wanted to visit the Flea Market at the Singapore Arts Museum but we ended up visiting both the Nigh Lights Festival and the Voyage Night Festival instead.
Night Lights Festival 2011 @ Singapore Arts Museum
Happening On: 26 August to 3 September from 7:30pm to 2:00am in the morning
Admission is FREE
Event Information:
Be dazzled by this nine-evening outdoor showcase of spectacular light installations from France. Encounter these intriguing works as you enter the Bras Basah cultural precinct at SAM, School of the Arts (SOTA), Singapore Management University (SMU) and National Museum of Singapore (NMS). Revel into the night with an array of weekend activities including a flea market, film screenings, a chic thumping Parisian club party, a fun new media installation and, of course, exhibitions at the museums.
For more information about the event, you can visit the Singapore Arts Museum website <–< or download the Official Brochure <–< here. I recommend you to visit this event if you’re an avid photographer as there will be tons of opportunities for shooting night photographs.
Voyage Night Festival 2011 @ National Museum of Singapore
Happening On: 26-27 August (which is over already but fret not) & 2-3 September (YOUR LAST CHANCE SO DO NOT MISS THIS!)
Admission is FREE
Event Information:
Voyage Night Festival 2011 is an evocation of the spirit behind journeys of departures,arrivals,landings; of passages, pilgrimages, inter-marriages encountered in sound,movement and images.
Voyage! remembers the spirit of our forefathers from Asia and Europe who have landed in Singapore giving us legacies that have enriched Singapore. The NHB museums, located at the heart of the Bras Basah Bugis Cultural District is home to many ethnic minorities – Eurasians, Jews, Armenians and many more -, welcome all Singapore to embark on a musical voyage under the stars.
For more information about the event, you can download the Voyage Night Festival 2011 Schedule <–< or download the Voyage Night Festival 2011 Programme Guide here <–<. Seriously, even if you’re not quite an artsy sort of person, you should still visit this event with probably your other half as the atmosphere is really romantic; psst: bringing your other half to an event like this makes you look very culturally intelligent! =P
Flea Market at the Singapore Arts Museum
Inside the Singapore Arts Museum
My Most Favourite Exhibition of ALL!
The blue thingy you see are actually the “Tomy” train tracks that kids play with. Some of the photos have been shot from different angle; hence making it seem like what it is supposed to be when its not. You will get what I mean when you visit the exhibition for yourself!
That’s Me Trying to Imitate As A Guard In A Night at the Museum
Voyage Night Festival 2011
The One and Only Picture I Have
Pardon me for the blurry image as it was taken with the Iphone Camera. Lesson learnt: Must start investing in better cameras. Directors of Canon/Nikon , if you happen to be visiting my blog, would you like to sponsor me? =P
Hello Everyone,
today I’m going to do a review about Wanchai Hong Kitchen @ Serangoon NeX.
How We Ended Up At Wanchai Hong Kong Kitchen
Baby and I wanted to try some desserts at Serangoon NeX and there are tons of stores that sells desserts. After walking a few rounds, we decided to give Wanchai Hong Kong Kitchen a try.
What We Ordered
Gingko Nut & Barley
The Gingko Nut and Barley is not very sweet and tastes like the Quaker Oats my mum makes at home. I can’t even feel the beancurd skin on my tongue because it has been blended to a liquid state. In my opinion, its very average and nothing really special. For $3.30, its so not worth it!
Milk Pudding & Fresh Mango Sauce
According to Baby, the Milk Pudding and Fresh Mango Sauce isn’t very fantastic because the taste is very bland. In her opinion, the $3.50 is not worth paying for!
Peanut Butter Toast
This costs us $3.20 and to be brutally honest, its way below my expectations. The toast wasn’t as thick as it claims to be and in fact, even the average coffeeshop can make better tasting toasts than this. I have had better tasting toasts at other Hong Kong Cafes. This dish is simply just CRAP!
Overall Experience
The Whole Unpleasant Experience That Costs Us $10.70
I don’t exactly know how their other dishes like appetisers and main courses taste like as we didn’t order them. But if the simple desserts we had are not even up to our expectations, I highly doubt their other dishes will be any different. All in all, we don’t recommend dining here for desserts as the price and quality are not correlated; You will be better off going for desserts elsewhere.
YUCKS!
Hello Everyone,
today I am going to introduce to you this restaurant called, “Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant” or “?????” in Chinese.
How We Ended Up At Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant?
As Baby and I decided that we would be heading to the Flea Market at the Singapore Arts Museum after our dinner, we decided to walk around Plaza Singapura in search of a good dining place for dinner. Initially, we wanted to go to Lao Beijing to eat but due to the overwhelming queue, we decided to head one level down and ended up at the shop front of Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant. Though we still had to queue, we didn’t mind as we were second in line and the food looked pretty tempting. In fact, we waited for about less than 10 minutes when we were brought to our seats.
That’s Me
That’s Baby
Some Interesting Information About Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant
To preserve the culinary standards of Nanxiang in Shanghai. their kitchens here are helmed by veteran Chefs from the original restaurant in Cheng Huang Temple! The restaurant offers a unique interior decor theme that features the iconic Chinese bamboo baskets used for steaming buns.
Restaurant Service
The level of service rendered by the service staffs were average. Upon showing us to our seats, the waitress asked if it was our first time dining there. We said, “Yes!” and the waitress then proceeded to explain to us how we could go about ordering our food and even recommended us some of their well known dishes.
The Dishes that We Ordered
Our Appetiser
Peanuts that cost $1. You can choose not to have it if you don’t want it.
Homemade Beancurd
This dish is a recommended dish by the Chef and we decided to place an order for it. The beancurd was nicely fried and the fillings inside the beancurd were very fragrant. To me, it seemed and tasted like another kind of Dim Sum but really, we found this dish to be quite unique.
Pan-Fried Dumpling
I have tried many pan-fried dumpling from many Chinese restaurants and I must say, the pan-fried dumpling that Nanxiang serves is pretty good. Usually, when I dine at other Chinese restaurants to try their pan-fried dumpling, their dumpling either ends up over-fried or under-fried, but for Nanxiang, their pan-fried dumpling is fried just nice. Over-fried dumplings are very hard to chew and the skin is hard while under-fried dumplings tend to be overly-glazed with oil.
Crabmeat Steamed Bun
This dish is also recommended by the Chef and YES, YOU HAVE TO ORDER IT! When the steamed buns arrived on our table, we could smell the lovely aroma of the buns and we started to salivate. As we all would know, “xiao long bao” is a very delicate food and it must be handed with care so as to savour the natural juices of the filling in the bun. For this particular dish, the juices that ooze out of the fillings were very tasty and flavourful.
Minced Pork Noodles
The minced pork noodles is cooked with black bean sauce and the taste of it reminds me of home. Why so? After eating a big mouthful of noodles, it really reminded me of the black bean fish that I always eat for dinner at home. If you are looking for something that taste rather homely and light, you might just want to try this.
Golden Fried Rice
This is really a sweet and spicy tasting dish. In fact, I have to admit that this have to be one of the best-tasting fried rice I ever had. The servings of pork floss were very generous and the fried rice was extremely fragrant. Although the fried rice might have a “sambal” taste, there really isn’t any sambal added to it. The sweet taste comes from the pork floss while the spicy taste comes from the powdered chilli. This dish is perfect for those who wants something filling and good-tasting.
In Summary
In total, we spent $47.79 and because there is a 10% discount for DBS Cardholders, our final bill was $43.47. Its definitely a pretty reasonable price to dine here.
For more information about Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant, you can visit their website <– here or follow their facebook group <– here.
Bon Appetit!
Hello Everyone,
I have been wanting to do a review about 2 stores selling traditional beancurd also known as “Tau Huay” in Hokkien or “Dou Hua” in Chinese and now is the time!
The two stores that I am going to do a review about is Min Eryimin and Rochor Tau Huay. Ironically, both stores are situated beside one another at 4 Short Street. The nearest MRT available there is Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station and they are open daily from 0800 to Midnight.
Some Background About Traditional Beancurd
The traditional beancurd has been highly regarded as an appetising dessert not just for the Chinese but also for the Malays, the Indians and many others. Churning out quality beancurd is tough and hardwork. In fact, making beancurd is an art. Despite being a simple process, it too can be a complicated one as well.
My Experience with Rochor Tau Huay
Frankly speaking, my friends brought me there to have a taste of their traditional beancurd and since then, I avoid going there unless my friends really want to go there. Otherwise, I would not recommend them to patronise the store. The traditional beancurd that is served there are silky smooth and tasted really good with the fried “you tiaos”. Although the beancurd they serve are of quality, their service are extremely horrendous. What really happened was as such; I was queuing up in line like any other person waiting to have my order taken and when my turn came, I told the stall auntie what I wanted to have. The stall auntie then began to prepare my orders. What happened next was very much unexpected. While waiting for my order to be ready, I was scolded by another stall auntie whom shouted loudly in Chinese asking what I wanted to order (although I have already placed my order). I politely told her that I had already placed my order and that the stall auntie who took my order was already preparing it. Then, the stall auntie who took and prepared my order served my order to the guest who was in front of me instead. I then proceeded to tell her that the order was mine but she scolded me and said that I didn’t place any order with her. I argued and was “shoo-ed” off by the stall auntie whom told me I needed to re-queue if I wanted to order. Pissed off with such lousy service, I decided to go to Min Eryimin instead. (I’m not the only one who feels this way, there are others who feel the same way too)
My Experience with Min Eryimin
Although Min Eryimin is not as crowded as Rochor Tau Huay, the beancurd they serve can be comparable as the beancurd that Rochor Tau Huay serves. However, what I really liked about this store was the friendliness of the stall uncle and auntie. Although one might argue that Min Eryimin is able to provide a higher level of service because there isn’t much guests, but trust me, I have been there countless times and sometimes, the stall do get overwhelmed by huge groups of diners and yet, the stall uncle and auntie are still very friendly and calm. Since the incident at Rochor Tau Huay, I have been dining at Min Eryimin instead and have seen its customer base growing steadily. Besides its seemingly better guest service, the beancurd that Min Eryimin serves is soft, smooth, and gleaming. It too tastes better with fried “you tiaos”. The stall auntie also shared that their beancurd is handmade every morning and the process of making it is a delicate art.
So Who’s Better In My Opinion?
Although the queue at Rochor Tau Huay is always long and its place always fully packed with diners, the service they rendered are definitely below expectations. Hence, Min Eryimin wins over Rochor Tau Huay in terms of the level of service provided. In terms of the quality of beancurd, both stores are almost comparable but the one served at Rochor Tau Huay is a tinge better than Min Eryimin. Nonetheless, I would definitely prefer Min Eryimin over Rochor Tau Huay because I am more particular about service than the quality of the food served. Hence, I would recommend Min Eryimin to tourists vising in Singapore and to the friends around me. How about you readers? Which do you prefer and why? Come share your thoughts with me!
Rochor Tau Huay
Min Eryimin
The Beancurd Served at Min Eryimin
Enjoying My Bowl of Beancurd
Bon Appetit!
