Laugh, Kookaburra

Happy Labour Day. My first post after returning to the workforce. The first post of May. A post-travel one of Sydney. Wanted to share a picture of Kookaburra seen at the Wildlife Sydney Zoo :)



Happy to see Kookaburra for the first time!

And the Australian Kingfisher brought back childhood memories of The Kookaburra Song.

 

Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,
Merry merry king of the bush is he.
Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra,
Gay your life must be!

 

Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,
Eating all the gum drops he can see.
Stop Kookaburra, stop Kookaburra
Save some there for me!

 

Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,
Counting all the monkeys he can see.
Laugh Kookaburra, laugh Kookaburra
That's not a monkey, that's me!

Chye Seng Huat Hardware - For coffee?



Learnt about CSHH a while back in a friend's Facebook update and got to visit it recently.

 

The location is quite off the beaten track at 150 Tyrwhitt Road, and that kind of added to its charm :) In a nutshell, C and I took Bus 33 from Tiong Bahru Plaza, changed to Bus 145 at Victoria Street, got off a few stops after Lavender MRT Station when we saw Pek Chuan Building and walked... Was really hot the day we went and in the heat of it all, I forgot to take a picture of the CSHH but I do think it is unlikely you will miss it, thanks to the constant movement of people in and out of it.

 

I went for cold again. Phew. The only ice coffee available is the cold brew which came in a bottle with syrup and milk which you can add to, depending on your preference. C said that it looked like cough syrup or something along that line :P Quite special, not the usual cappuccino or latte :)
By the way, we chose to sit indoors (no surprise right?). It was free seating and full so we sat at the bar counter first. Interesting how the counter is an island, unlike most cafés, so we could see the service staff moving around their chores.



We shared a Ham Omelet which was nice and moist, and went well with the toast :) Despite the hot weather, it was nice to have sunlight streaking into the cafe - so sunshine, and perfect for an omelet. Haha.



Chicken Patties was nice and moist too. Lucky we shared though - 6 would be too much! The story behind this order went this way: we were undecided between sausages and chicken patties and asked the service staff who said he personally preferred the latter and so we ordered it. Thanks!

If I am not wrong, I think this is Raspberry Madeleine. C ordered it for desserts after our main course. OK. Guess my marginal utility was falling after a good lunch :P

The ambiance was quite nice (in spite of the noise). Food was also good at a reasonable price. I say 再成發五金 is quite a cool place to hang out - location so near town, yet feel so far...

Make your own Japanese Curry

Do you have the habit of clipping articles? Well I kept a recipe to make Japanese curry for many years. If I remember right, it originated from the Straits Times contributed by Ms Kuniko Shimada.

 

In early April, I went to Liang Court which I have not visited for a long time, spent some time in the MEIDI-YA Supermarket and was inspired to make Japanese curry which I have not cooked for a while. Here is the recipe - ingredients to serve four and the method.



Bought the curry roux brick from the supermarket. There are many different sauce mix you can choose from.
Ingredients:
60g curry roux brick, mild
60g curry roux brick, hot



Ingredients:
2 medium onions, diced
2 medium potatoes, cubed
2 carrots, cubed
 



Dicing onions is hard work. But I love the layers of colours and patterns! :)

 

Ingredients:
250g chicken, pork, beef, cubed
0.5 Tbs olive oil
700ml water

 

Method:
1) To a heated pot, add olive oil and fry the onions for about 2 minutes until they are fragrant.
2) Add the potatoes, carrots and meat and continue stir-frying for about 5 minutes until the meat is cooked.
 

3) Add water and bring the mixture to a boil before cooking it on medium heat for 20 minutes until the meat is tender.
4) Remove the pot from the flame, add the curry roux bricks and stir until the curry is well mixed.

5) Stew the curry over low heat for another 20 minutes until it thickens.

Yummy Japanese curry rice :)

It's a really simple and delicious recipe. If I can do it, so can you! :P