Marina’s Bloggariffic

In the 1930’s there were two very flamboyant and very rich brothers, famous from their tiger balm products, decided to build a park where everyone could enjoy and at the same time learn about Asian values.

As a child, my family would bring me out there and we’d spend time together picnicking and just having a lovely time together. At the time, entry to the Haw Par Villa was free. It was bustling with people strolling about. I’d always have a blast in my imaginary world, believing that I was interacting with the statues there.

Then came the 90’s when the government took over and did a number of changes to the park. The attractions were developed, and they started to charge money for entry. Though the place seemed well taken cared of, the entire feeling was different and commercialised. The number of visitors dwindled.

This is possibly inspired by Antonio Ligabue

It was only several years later when Haw Par Villa became a public park again. Some of the segments being adopted by various organizations for its continued upkeep. Unfortunately, the number of visitors did not go back to its heydays. Reasons cited ranging from being unaware that Haw Par Villa was opened to lack of interest.

Regardless, I’m missing Haw Par Villa a lot. Even more so when realised how close it was by the company headquarters. A sense of yearning keeps coming back to me. The following months could possibly be the last time that I could visit it freely.

Hence, I asked a couple of blogger friends who might be interested in visiting and last Saturday, and eventually, we visited the amazing Haw Par Villa.

It was a rainy saturday morning. Fortunately, it did not last for too long and I was able to ride out and reached the Haw Par Villa Carpark safely.

After parking my scooter in the designated motorcycling parking area, just as I stepped on the entry steps, I saw Nicole, Chillycraps, Xizor and Endoh coming out of a taxi cab. Together, we walked up the hilly entrance where Mintea was already waiting.

Xizor is pointing to the disappearance of a large dragon

While passing through, it did not take too long for me to feel a deep sense of nostalgia. There were heaps of figures that I can remember from my childhood - it was as if I stepped back in time.

We stopped by the signature pool and Nicole decided to get some fish food to feed the fishes there while waiting for DK to arrive. I was amazed at how the group were intently looking at the pond animals - In the hustle and bustle of life, its been a while since I’ve seen anyone stop to admire nature’s work.

Normally seeing turtles swimming around brings me a sense of calm. But that day, it was really funny to see the turtles pushing each other to get to the food, while the fishes shyly swam underneath. And thats when we noticed something very mysterious swimming by. It was rather large and it had whiskers!

It was a catfish! I’ve never seen such a large catfish in real life before. And I was entralled when I spotted some. It was strangely captivating.

Feeding the fishes at Haw Par Villa from rinaz on Vimeo

After emptying the 2nd pack of fish food, finally DK arrived and together, we went to search for a sheltered area for picnicking. We stumbled upon a large and colourful sheltered area, and shortly after we played a couple of classic games such as Snap and this odd game called Indian Poker.

It was quite amusing for me to see the losers having to eat the lovely food from our potluck as punishment. When can it be punishment when you get to eat yummy food? Such as Mintea’s Curry Puff, Dk’s nuggets, Malique’s Cupcakes, Nicole’s Chips and my Chiffon Cake. I loved it all!

But at one point of time, poor CC had to stuff himself with the food as he lost as much as 5 times in a row! I hope he does not have a phobia of currypuffs now!

After stuffing ourselves silly, what better way than to ease the feeling with a little dancing :D

Malique and CC being silly from rinaz on Vimeo

We then explored the area, where I re-explored monuments that I can still remember from time back.

I remember posing by this very display when I was a little girl! In the background there is a flower vase with a human hand. Mintea thought that it was creepy. But I guess I’m used to it.

DK tells me that the guy in the middle is a priest and he was caught in the middle with some spider spirits disguising themselves as women. They believed that by eating his flesh, they will become immortal.

Personally, I thought that this diorama was strange as it was entitled ‘Gambling causes you to lose a life’ since the boy died from being careless at not looking at where he was going on the road rather than his father’s gambling habits.

And before we know it, it was already nearing the closing hours at Haw Par Villa already. Time really does pass by quickly when one is having fun. We took a group picture to remember and cherish our moments in the future :)

Taking a picture for memories from rinaz on Vimeo

I really enjoyed myself at the Haw Par Villa a lot. And I do hope that it’ll still be around for more years to come.

Have you been to Haw Par Villa? When was the last time that you went there? What did you think of it?

Related links :

• More pictures in the gallery
• More information about Haw Par Villa
• How to get there via gothere.sg

Links to other blog posts :

• Mintea
• Endoh
• DK
• Chillycraps
• Xizor

Sidenote : Shaun thinks that I am down to earth and thinks I’m a winner! *flattered!*

I was at Suntec City 2 Saturdays ago to visit the first ever Toy and Comic exhibition to be held in Singapore. I loved toys!

Unfortunately, I only knew about it last minute when I saw several of my friends plurking about it. By then, it was too late for me to be an early bird registrant and I missed my chance in getting a Happy Tree Friends goodie bag! Yes, Happy Tree Friends is a violent cartoon series, but the characters are undeniably cute :)

I met fellow blogger, ChillyCraps who was my fantastic date plus one for the day. He patiently waited for me at the foyer and together we bravely swam through over the sea of humans who were already there. It was already crowded just 30 minutes after the event started.

It was really scary!

Nevertheless, it was all worth it because as soon as we entered through the doors, it was like being in another dimension altogether. Wonderful displays of toys were all over the place. CC and I instantly hyperventilated over the sheer awesomeness of it all!

The first thing that caught my eye was the Wii fit. Having already watched the viral video of the Wii fit girl, I was very curious to experience it for myself.

rinaz on the Wii Fit from chillycraps on Vimeo

Above is a short video CC took of me while I was trying out the Wii Fit. It was a very interesting experience and actually curiously fun! I was so tempted to get a set for myself, but a Wii unit with the tablet would cost about $900 altogether, is a tad bit steep, I think. Regardless, I do like seeing myself shake my bootie ;)

Someone buy me one! :D

Pretty soon, guess who I saw? It was Darth Vader roaming around the convention. And the interesting thing was that there were loads of people clamoring over him trying to get a picture session with him and his soldiers.

The picture is a little bit blur because CC and I had to be really quick before someone else pushes us away for their photo-op! I looked pretty happy looking even with Darth Vader looking like he’s about to chop my head off with his lightsabre :P

CC then stumbled upon one of his favourite characters - Ultraman! The both of us, along many others grew up on ultraman! :)

We then explored around the different toy displays.

The wierd

Like the popular but creepy Blythe dolls. With those type of eyes, its easy to imagine that they’ll come to life when you are sleeping and do bodily harm to you.

We were fortunate enough to see some of the artists at work. One of them was Mori Chack, famous for his Gloomy Bears as seen as in the pictures below.

Actually, I thought that those bears are kind of creepy with the blood stains on the mouth and claws. Its probably an acquired taste to get one of these, perhaps.

For some reason I was quite fascinated by these toys. Partly because they are gold perhaps, but also because they were sort of like transformers, but instead hide themselves as golden lighters instead of cars.

Its hard for me to imagine the cartoon series for this one.

The cute

Here are a couple of Kubrick and especially Tofu dolls that CC and I were rather crazy about. It looked simple, just a rectangular head over a plastic body, but owners are able to do their own customizations by drawing over the head - which I thought was pretty cool :)

And these are rather cute too. Tofu dolls with them holding up their noses! They are smelly Tofu! Hahaha!

And before going to the Toy Convention, I’ve never heard of Monsterism before but I love these figurines very much! They are so kitsch! I love the retro design as well. The website looked pretty spiffy :)

Woot! And I love this giant plushie by dooodolls! The plushies are easily recognized by their boogly eyes. But I like this one specifically because it is big and smooshie! It feels just like cuddling Cartcart :)

The wonderful

I quite liked this Homer Simpson action figure, spoofing Thor! The clerks must have had a sense of humor as they put Homer and Thor side by side!

There was also the very popular Tokidoki! Over here in Singapore, it has been extremely famous that it has been inspired and even copied in many designs, especially bags and purses.

Unfortunately for me, the entire counter was extremely crowded! I could not even see what was on display. The only thing that I could see were the heads of the clerks running around busily attending to their customers.

Regardless, I managed to capture these pictures. Aren’t they adorable?

There was also a booth which showcased some displays from many famous movie scenes. Can you recognize which movie these came from?

The old school

I was amazed to see Lau Fu Zhi being exhibited. Its so old school! I used to read these comic books dedicatedly during my primary school days. Most of the cartoons were wordless which made it simple to understand :)

And who doesn’t know Astroboy? The famous robot boy who has graced our television and magazines since childhood :)

The interesting

While roaming around, we stumbled upon a kiosk and I noticed loads of bread. I called out to CC. “Look! There is even a refreshment stall here. Lets take a bite!”

And I proceeded to hold one up. It looked like bread. It smelled like bread. It even felt like bread to the touch. It was only when I squeezed it repeatedly and the bread did not disintegrate was when I realised that it was not true bread.

What cool stuff! I got one for myself, for the novelty factor. Besides, I could use it as a stress ball :)

These are stickfast. One of the popular Singaporean made toys. CC mentioned that he used to collect them before. And I thought that, it was very well done as well as affordable. I wonder where Stickfasts can be bought normally, does anyone knows?

Then we explored though the other side of the convention where there were heaps of artists displaying their works.

One of them was this lady from C.D.S who is showing off her manga illustration. Looking through the portfolio, the works looked good enough to rival even commercial ones from Japan.

I also saw a digital artist doing a live demonstration of how he works, drawing on his tablet using Photoshop. This guy here was from Imaginary Friends Studios. I admired his skillful and deft touch.

Digital artist at work at the Toy & Comic convention from rinaz on Vimeo

I also saw a couple of wacom products which facinated me. Having worked on a wacom tablet myself for my artwork, they can be quite useful. But drawing in such a small tablet can be quite cumbersome and I’ve always wished that they could integrate it to the monitor instead.

And thats when I saw this :

Sweet … Drawing directly on the monitor itself … I like!

After spending about two hours in the convention, CC and I reluctantly left for our appointment. Regardless, I love the Toy Convention! Even with the amount of people there, even though the both of us hyperventillated in a claustrophobic environment. I enjoyed myself thoroughly :)

So I didn’t get a Happy Tree Friends Tshirt in the end. But I guess posing with a display works too :P

I wonder if there is a Toy Convention in Italy. Have you been to the Toy and Comic Convention? What did you think of it? :)

Links :

• Toy and Comic Convention 2008
• CC’s blog post

If you enjoyed reading this entry, you might also enjoy

• Gundam seed cosplay meetup
• Mint Museum
• Museum of Shanghai Toys

P.S. After we left the convention, we saw Darth Vader queuing up for a bowl of noodles. I guess even a fearsome evil ruler like Darth Vader needs to eat.

Even Darth Vader needs to eat from rinaz on Vimeo

Last Sunday, I joined the Vesporeans for a trip exploring the side of Singapore that is not commonly seen. Its surprising. Beneath the cosmopolitan side commonly known to Singapore, there were still a less traveled, charming, urban side.

It was a beautiful morning. We rode on the secluded, winding roads and after traveling by a long stretch, we reached our first stop. The Qian Hu fish farm. This place was famous for its fish spa treatment, which seemed to be all the rage lately.

It was an interesting place, there were so many fishes here that it seemed more like a museum. There were even some exotic ones which costs thousands of dollars!

I saw one of my favorite fishes - the Blood Parrot cichlid. Its the one in the bottom right - easily recognizable from the shape of their mouths. They seem to always be happy and smiling.

Eventually, we headed to the fish spa area where we paid $10 for a 30 min session. We walked past a number of children who seemed engrossed in catching some tiny fishes and then we finally dipped our feet where the nibble fishes were.

It was a most memorable experience! At first it was scary, and then it was ticklish but after a while, it actually felt kind of nice!

Here is a quick video :

Getting eaten alive by fish! from rinaz on Vimeo

And at the end of the session, I don’t know if it was from the soak or from the fishes nibbling my feet, but my feet felt noticeably softer. It was amazing :D

Check out our sexeh feet!

On the spur, Ah James suggested that we head to visit the goat farm, which was a short ride away and thus our second stop - the Hay Dairies Goat Farm!

Who says that goats are not educational?

It was already noon time when we reached there and we quickly seeked shelter and got for ourselves a bottle of fresh goat milk. It was refreshing to drink in the hot weather. It tasted a little different from cow milk as it was not have a thick aftertaste.

I got myself a packet of hay and we walked to the goats pen where there were a number of people whom were already there. Amazingly, the area did not have a bad smell as generally perceived.

It was interesting seeing the goats. I was surprised to see the shape of their irises. Unlike our round ones, theirs were ellipse - like tadpole eggs.

The baby goats were so adorable. I couldn’t resist touching them (and even attempting to kiss them) I found out that their fur was actually rough to the touch.

The older goats nibbled greedily at the hay that we gave them and they were smart enough not to bite us (although there were a number of goats which tried to eat my bag and t-shirt) but it was their mouth to watch out for. It was really … wet!

Here is a quick video :

Trip to the Hay Dairies Goat Farm from rinaz on Vimeo

Quick trivia

Did you know that the shape of a goats teeth will tell you their age?

The goat farm trip was amazing. In a way, it felt as if I went back in time and was going on a school excursion for geography - learning about the different rural practices. But I didn’t mind it one bit. It was so much fun! :)

Initially Ah James thought of having lunch at Jurong Point Shopping Center. It was only when he noticed a brochure that we decided to have lunch at an organic farm. So our next stop was Bollywood Veggies!

I know about the place through Shaz and Aidil whom gave raving reviews about the food here, so I know that it was good :)

It was another short ride, we went past a number of interesting sights. One of the memorable landmarks for me was an abandoned building in the middle of nowhere.

As soon as we noticed the sign “Poison Ivy” we knew it was the right place. It seemed such an idyll place. There was so much green as far as the eye can see. By the time we entered the dining area, there were already a number of people whom were having their lunch. Some of them I recognized from the goat farm even.

We ordered a number of items :

This one I liked a lot!

Mmmm …!!

Here is a quick video of our lunch :

Lunch at Bollywood Veggies from rinaz on Vimeo

I felt a tinge of sadness when all the nice food were gone.

Finally Leonids suggested that we head to Petal Leaves for a tea break. By then I was already tired out of the activities. Hence the lack of pictures. I spent the time plonked out on the seat.

However, Leonids mentioned that it was a nice place for wedding ceremonies as there were a plentiful of flowers and greenery. The only problem was that the place was very secluded and difficult to get to, unless the person had their own transportation. Nevertheless, the place seemed a lovely place :)

Eventually, it was time to get back home. As I stayed in Jurong, I said my goodbyes to the rest of the gang who were heading to Kallang, feeling euphoria from the wonderful activities that we had together.

It was such a nice day. I’d love to do it again!

Have you ever been to a farm in Singapore? Would you consider spending time here?

Links :

• Qian Hu Fish Farm
• Hay Dairies Goat Farm
• Bollywood Veggies
• Vespa Club
• Kah Woon’s blog post
• Ah James blog post

Sidenote : I’d like to watch Leap Years. Care to join me? :)

Last Friday, I went to watch the Chingay Parade. The Chingay Parade is an annual parade held in Singapore as part of the new year festivities. I’ve been to one in 2003 with Geri and I quite enjoyed myself, looking at the many display of colours and costumes.

After noticing the vigorous advertisements for the current chingay, my interest in attending was roused. After all, this could possibly be the last chingay that I’d be watching.

I went with my friend Attilio to City Hall on Friday evening for the previews. By the time we reached there, there were a lot of barricades and we had to show our passes numerous times before being allowed to enter the area.

Eventually we approached the audience area where there were already a number of performers who were getting ready - some were practicing their moves, some were joking around, all of them in interesting costumes.

At length we got to our seats and waited for the performance to begin. There were a number of glitches, but it was understandable as it was a preview.

There were a number of memorable highlights from the performance, such as the F1 Car show, dances from various organizations and of course, the floats. It was a much grander scale as compared to the more modest one of 2003. There were a plentiful of flashy displays. But I felt that the heart element was missing.

However there was one display that I truly enjoyed would be the fireworks after the grand finale. It was gorgeous and it went on for a good 5 minutes! I didn’t mind having a neck cramp looking up!

Here is a quick video clip of the event :

Chingay 2008 from rinaz on Vimeo.

Did you go to the chingay 2008? What did you think of it?

Links :

• Chingay Website
• Some pictures from 2003 Chingay
• Chingay Parade 2006 at Taman Jurong

Sidenote : On Saturday, I’ll be attending InteresThink while this Sunday, I’ll be going to a fish therapy! Join me? :)

A friend of my mum asked her to visit during Chinese New Year. Hence mum asked me to join along. With the day free, I decided to join in too. It was an interesting experience for me, as this was actually my first time visiting a Chinese house during the lunar new year.

This year is the year of the rat. Momentarily I remember the tale about the Zodiac origins of how the rat tricked the ox to finish the race first.

When we arrived, Iris, one of mum’s friends told us that it was a custom to give a pair of mandarin oranges to the oldest member of the house. Oranges symbolises gold as the word orange sounds like gold, in Chinese.

My venusaur protecting my gold

Inside, it was very lively with the chatter of the other visitors already inside. There were a plentiful of food and drinks. I looked around and there were a number of decorations such as calligraphy in bright red parchments. These were pasted on the walls and the doors. These was supposed to bring in wealth and luck.

And that was when the granny handed me the ang pow - little red packets with money inside. Ang pows are given from the married to the unmarried people. I’m not too sure why though. But being given the red packet made me surprisingly happy. I felt like a kid again during hari raya, being given our own green packets :)

After spending a lovely time snacking and talking with mum’s friends, we made our move. Interestingly enough, the host took out a box of oranges and asked us to take a pair. She said, “You’ve given us gold, so we are repaying you back with gold”

Those gold are going to go into my stomach :D

Happy Chinese New Year everyone. Enjoy the wonderful weekends :)

You may be interested in :

• Hungry Ghost Festival
• Chinese Lion Dance
• Chingay Parade in Jurong

Though we were both worn out by the end of the day, we both enjoyed ourselves immensely and had the loveliest time at the zoo.

That tiger is looking at us like we were food

Sun, 30 Dec 2007

Longtime netbuddy, Geri, whom is a staff at the Zoo, has very generously offered Cart and I tickets there. As the Singapore Zoo is famous for its open zoo concept, I was quite excited to bring Cartcart here. The last time that I was here was in 1998 and I was curious to know what new developments was in there.

We reached the place in the early afternoon after taking a long and leisurely bus ride. By the time we reached there, it was already quite crowded with people.

The place has certainly changed since the last time I’ve been there. It looked much modern with its decor and felt more spacious. I made a quick call to Geri and she popped out to say hello and met Cartcart for the first time.

I was happy to see that they were able to get along with each other so nicely :)

Sang Kancil having lunch

As we entered the animal exhibits, I was pleasantly surprised to see much changes being done all around. The zoo was divided into different segments according to the types of animals they were like primates, the continents they were from.

You scratch my back and I scratch yours

One of the first animals that we saw were the otters. I nearly had a headache when I approached this exhibit at they smelled really bad! But this was the way that they mark their territory. I’m glad that I did not live next to an otter!

The beautiful red fox

As we explored, Cart was very impressed at how natural the surrounding was that he even quipped, “This doesnt even feel like a zoo!” Nowhere were any of the animals were in a cage. Instead, the zoo uses hidden barriers like moats and shrubberies.

The majestic Giraffes

And I was amazed at how close we were able to get to some of the free roaming animals. I was so close that I could pet them if I wanted to, but I dont think thats a good idea. I dont want to risk my hand being bitten :P

Although I have to admit that I am so curious to know how the lemur coat will feel like. Is it soft? Is it rough like steel wool?

While we were in the Australian exhibit, this handsome little emu came over to me so close, as if expecting me to take a picture of it, which I happily obliged :)

The dangerous animals on the other hand were kept in a safe distance using moats and bridges :

For some reason this white tiger was very restless and kept pacing around. Maybe it was thinking of us as food :| Luckily for us, we were separated between a deep moat. But the species were able to climb high, they were kept behind glass displays where we could admire them :

Like this stunningly beautiful Jaguar. By the way, did you know that although both look similar, the difference between the Jaguar and the Leopard is that the Jaguar has a black dot in the middle of its spots. I learnt a new fact :)

Cart and I tried to go to one of the live animal show, but unfortunately for us, by the time we reached there, it was full of people! We could not even see the stage. I felt like we missed a great show.

Thus, when we were determined to see the next show and we headed there early and we were rewarded to a very entertaining elephant show :)

It was very entertaining! The trainers and the elephants (as well as the emcee) had such great chemistry with each other. Everything just flowed and it was apparent that everyone enjoyed it :)

Here is a quick video montage :

Watch in Vimeo

In the end, I think that we did not seem to have enough time to explore the entire zoo. There were still a number of exhibits that we did not go to. And we were so reluctant to leave the zoo, even though it was already closing for the day.

But there is just enough time to pose with a Monkeh!

Thank you so much Geri, Cart and I really enjoyed our trip to the zoo, very much! :D

Links :

• More animal pics in the gallery
• The Singapore Zoo Website

In this series :

• Part 1 : His arrival
• Part 2 : Of first lessons and I am legend
• Part 3 : Of science center and yummy spagetti too
• Part 4 : Gorgeous sounds of the handbells
• Part 5 : Meeting the aunt
• Part 6 : My classmate 10th year reunion

Thurs, 27 Dec 2007

I took Cartcart to Little India to for the Indian vegetarian food. Ever since the first time he ate here, he has enjoyed eating Indian food alot. I think that it is rather convenient since we have a peace of mind, without having to worry about the food containing any meat.

We headed to a little place called Komala Villas where they served Indian food in a sort of fast food restaurant. Cart ordered the North Indian set while I had the Naan set.

A slightly eaten Naan bread before I remembered to take a picture

Cart’s meal had a piece of deep fried dried chilli in the middle of his meal. He started to pick up the chilli and ate it! I was horrified! I’ve never seen anyone eat an entire chilli before. And I stared at him with my mouth open as he muttered out a satisfied mmmmm.

What? He ate an entire chilli? Unbelievable!

We took the bus to head to the bnb where we caught on tv mobile, news about the assasination of the ex Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto. The first thing that came in my mind was how unreal it was.

Fri, 28 Dec 2007

After Cart’s Islamic studies, mum, Cart and I headed to the Geylang Food Center for a spot of lunch. There were so much things to eat here. There were rows and rows of stalls selling wonderful local fare.

Mum and I ate Ayam Penyet.

A slightly eaten Ayam Penyet before I remembered to take a picture

This was one of my favourite food. Ayam Penyet is deep fried marinated chicken that you eat with raw vegetables and chilli paste. The hotter the better! Granted that it was a much different variation of the Ayam Penyet that I was used to, with the chicken being drizzled with soya sauce, it was still very good :)

Mum asked me to let Cart try the Serabai

This was a traditional Malay dessert made up of glutinous flour and eaten with gula melaka (palm sugar) Yum!

Mum decided to show Cartcart a couple of the everyday things that we had in Singapore so we walked to the wet market that was nearby.

And she showed the local vegetables, and foodstuff like spices, pandan leaves, tempeh (fermented soybean) and others, while she amiably chatted up with the ladies that were manning the stalls. That was when Cartcart spotted out some babas brand curry powder and said, “I want to make curry!” and proceeded to buy all three types that he saw in front of him.

As mum had prior engagement, Cart and I proceeded to go to the furniture shop called Barang-barang. In Malay, Barang-barang is a plural form of stuff. Henceforth, its a shop that sells stuff :P

Actually Cart needed some respite from the hot sun, while I just wanted to have fun and then take a nap after our lunch. I spotted a chair that looked almost like the one I saw in Secondlife.

Cool stuff!

We reached our aunt’s place later in the evening where she was already waiting for us. My aunt has been looking forward to meeting Cartcart that she’s been trying to make me feel guilty for not introducing him to her when he came last year.

My aunt’s colourful house

But I was glad that we came over this time because Cart seemed to enjoy himself. He commented that my aunt had a great personality - very friendly, hospitable and a great cook.

It was funny because just a few moments ago, my aunt told me that she was a little worried as she has never cooked vegetarian food before. She had to crack her head and wondered what to cook. And in the end, she made Omelettes, Chap Chye (stir fried mixed vegetables) with mushroom sauce and some fried Macaroni.

And it was all good! :D

My aunt, having already been to Italy some years back, started to talk about her experiences there to Cartcart. And one of the topic that they talked about as seen in the video below, was about coffee :

Watch in vimeo

It was hillarous!

We then quickly said our goodbyes and went up to say hello to my parents since both my parents were home.

Cart started to ask about my dad, whom was hurt during the accident and was surprised to see the well made prosthetic fingers that the doctors made for him. It looked natural, he said. And my dad seemed happy to hear that and even invited Cart to touch his fingers.

Cart handed some chocolates (which was the first and last time I saw, since my siblings were all chocolate monsters) as well as this very interesting thing :

This was a Panforte. I guess its a sort of hard pie which is made up of spices and dried fruit. Mum couldnt wait to open and try it out.

View in Vimeo

And we all loved it. Yummy!

Next : My 10th year Jurong Institute school reunion!

In this series :

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4