Sunday, August 26, 2012

昨天的情形 到底是怎樣

Justin Lee (李宗瑞), who is wanted by the Taiwan police for the suspected drug-rape of numerous women, including some female celebrities, surrendered himself to the Taiwanese police on 23rd Aug 2102. One of Taiwan's news channel, CTTV did an extensive coverage of the story, including showing an "exclusive" footage of him being escorted out of court. They were so proud of this so called "exclusive" footage that they had to repeat it about 100 zillion times (inclusive of zooming in and out of the video) for about 4 hours! Watch a snippet of the news to understand what I mean.



全民最大黨 naturally, did a hilarious spoof of it.


Just like what they did to Edison Chen a couple of years ago for this


With this



I simply love Taiwan news.....

Sunday, August 19, 2012

The Adventures of Happy Call!

The latest cooking utensil craze to hit Singapore should be that of the Happy Call Double Sided Plan . Basically it is two flat pans that is pivotable at the top and allows you to cook stuffs that requires frying on both sides by simply turning over the pan. The two pans are closed (locked) together using a with a strong magnet at its handles and is sealed with a rubber tubing that goes around the circumference of the pan.

My wife and I managed to get one during a promotion sale at Isetan and had been enjoying cooking some tasty dishes on it. Below are some of the dishes we tried, as well as the recipe and short description on how to cook it.

1. Swiss Rösti

The traditional way to cook Swiss rösti is to flip it over once one side is cooked, like how they do it at Marché. I have tried it using a conventional pan but without much success. My flipping leaves half a mangled mess on the pan, and the other half on the stove. The Happy Call Pan is thus great for cooking Swiss rösti as you simply just have to turn over the pan once one side is done

You can make your own fresh Swiss rösti from raw potatoes (Google for the recipe) or you can buy one of those pre-made packed which are available at the supermarkets (I have seen them available at Cold Storage, Marketplace, Fairprice Finest and Fairprice). Just simply need to follow the cooking instructions on the back of the packaging. Each side takes about 7-8 mins to cook, and once one side is done, just flip the pan around and cook the other side.

Swiss Rösti


2. Steaks

You can get good quality steaks quite easily now with the growing number of quality butcheries being set up in neighborhood shops or shopping centers. One of these gourmet food suppliers, Culina have even partnered with Fairprice Finest to offer its quality meats at all Fairprice Finest branches across Singapore.

Cooking steaks using the Happy Call Pan not only allows you to cook both sides of the meat by simply turn over the pan, it also seals in the meat's flavor due to the magnetic locking mechanism and rubber tubing.

There are two ways to cook the meat.

1. Place meat on heated Happy Call Pan, sprinkle salt (sea salt tastes better, or you can get one of those gourmet salts like red wine salt or truffle salts) and black pepper, close the pan and let it cook for 2-3 mins (for medium rare). Flip the pan and repeat.

2. Place meat on heated Happy Call Pan, but do not sprinkle and salt or pepper, close the pan and let it cook for 2-3 mins (for medium rare steak). Flip the pan and cook the other side. Once both sides are cooked, sprinkle salt and pepper to taste.

I personally prefer the first method as the taste of the salt and pepper will be more embedded into the beef. However, if you prefer a more beefy taste, then method two would be more suited for you.

In terms of the selection of beef cuts, it is really up to the individual. I personally prefer the Ribeye due to it being more flavorful, and the cuts tends to be thicker, thus it is easier get the right texture if you prefer your steak medium rare.

Method 1 Cooking: Marbling 8+ Wagyu Beef

Method 2 Cooking

Method 2 Cooking


3. Claypot Rice

This is a surprise dish to be cooked using a Happy Call Pan. I found this recipe while searching around the internet for Happy Call recipes. Basically, the wide base pan allows for the rice to be charred at the bottom -  at the same time, the locking mechanism and rubber tubing traps the water and retains inside the rice in the middle, as well as the top ingredients. Resulting in a combination that is akin to rice being cooked on a traditional claypot.

The recipe can be found here. (Thanks to Cuisine Paradise)

Claypot Rice

Claypot Rice Close Up


4. Pan Fried Dumplings (饺子) aka Gyoza

Similarly to claypot rice, the Happy Call Pan is good to cook pan fried dumplings as it is able to char the bottom of the dumplings, yet lock in the water inside the fillings to make the dumpling juicy.






5. Pork Chops

Similarly to steaks, pork chops can be pan fried using the Happy Call Pot on one side and subsequently turning over the pot to cook the other side.


Pork chops seasoned with herbs 
Pork chops with sauteed cauliflower and buttered herb rice

The Happy Call Pot is available at major departmental stores (Isetan, Robinsons), online at Qoo10.sg, or via the home shopping network (look out for the advert during Channel U's home shopping broadcast).

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Hot Date Specialist DabinLow dishes dating tips

Hello, my name is Harrod! Last week, my Baba wrote a post on this dude called Santino, who was giving out some dating tips on a Hong Kong TV show. Me thinks his tips were very good, but they were not elaborate enough. So today, I shall attempt to elaborate more about his tips and give some real-life examples of the tips!

First, I must give myself a stylo-milo name. So here goes!

Hi, I am DabinLow. I am an Hot Date Specialist
I will teach you how to have 45 degrees conversation!
I will teach you how to set status higher and chat in MSN!
I will teach you how to lean in!


--------------------
Tip Number 1: 45 Degrees Elaborated

How do you execute the 45 degrees thingy that Santino teaches? There are many many ways, let me show you some examples.

Example 1: You can stand at an angle and face 45 degrees

Example 2: You can sit down and face each other at 45 degrees
Or....

Example 3: You can ask your Baba to take a photo at 45 degrees!

--------------------

Tip Number 2: MSN-ing (Update: My Baba say not called MSN-ing anymore, its now called Live Chatting)


When you are chatting on the internet, you must note two points!
One, your number of characters must be lesser than the girl you are chatting with, and
Two, you must not be the last person to reply.
I give you example:





Why you must not be the last person to reply? Cause if you are the last person, than you status will be lowered.
If you accidentally ganna lowered status, don't worry..I teach you how to change your status!




--------------------


Tip Number 3: Body Language

This is called "Lean Sideways"


This is called "Lean Back"

This is called "Double Hands Up", also known as "Hip, Hip Hooray!"


This is called "Lean In"


If you are interested in the Egg Tart, then you have to "Lean In"!


--------------------


That is all for today, I would teach you more hot date tips next time!!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Pick Up Artist Santino dishes some dating tips for woman

A couple of months ago, the most watched and talked about TV Show in Hong Kong was not the latest Raymond 'Chok' Lam's new drama series, or Eric Tsang's new game show, but rather a 'Bachelorette' styled reality TV program called Bride Wannabes (盛女愛作戰). It follows the lives of five single women as they go on a conquest to find their "Mr Right". Along the way, they were giving tips by professionals on make-up, dressing, personal bearing and how to attract the opposite sex. Speed dating and matchmaking sessions were also set up for them and one of them were even given an operation to correct her crooked teeth. This ten parter series boasted a viewership of 1.7 million, which is equivalent to about 25% of the Hong Kong population during its run. 

One of the "professionals" who went on the show was this dude by the name of Santino, who claims to be a professional Relationship Adviser / Pick Up Artist. 


The skills he wanted to teach the five ladies, according to his own words, were:

"I will teach you how to recognize a good man" 
"I will teach you how to make him like you"
"How to make him cherish you"
"How to make him sacrifice for you"

So after his first appearance into the show in Episode 4, he goes on to dish some rather 'far-fetched' methods of winning over a guy.

 Tip Number 1: 45 Degrees Conversations

"Whether you are standing, or sitting"
"When talking to the guy, don't face him straight"
"Face him 45 degrees to have the conversation"
Apparently, he is so proud and sure of this '45 degrees conversation' method that he repeated it again during the show.

"When you are having a conversation, you must give others a chance"

"Face him 45 degrees"


Tip Number 2: SMS-ing the Guy

"When SMS-ing (the guy), one point to note"

"that is, your total number of words must be lesser then the guy"


"should be sent by the guy, and not you"
At this juncture, Santino's assistant, Donald, stepped in to explain why.....

"Why must I not be the last person to send the SMS?"

"Because by being the last person, your status will be lowered"

Tip Number 3: Scheduling a Date

"You should not be the person asking him out on a date"

"Wait for him to commit"

"Even when you agreed to go on a date"

"You should not accommodate his preferred timings"

"Arrange for a timing that suits you"
And his assistant steps in again...

"And you must hang up the phone earlier than him"

"When you feel that he is interested in you, then its time to hang up the phone"

Tip Number 4:  Body Language

"Now, let me teach you some simple body language"

"This is called 'Lean Back', which means you are not interested"

"If you do this, it is called 'Double Locking'" 
"This is called 'Lean In', which means you are interested"

"If he does something you don't like, then you do this"

"If he does something you like, then you 'Lean In' a little"
So, how useful were his tips to the ladies during the actual date?

"During the date, the things that Santino taught me"

"I threw them all away!!"
Bride Wannabes is currently showing on TVBJ (Starhub Ch 838) on Sundays, 10.30pm