Friday, March 16, 2007 ;
10:43 AM
Thanks to Dory, the flowers in my earlier post are crocuses. I went to find out more about crocuses and learnt that they are usually the first flowers to spring up. Indeed!
Just wanted to document the changes in my once white backyard. So now, the flowers below are the next to pop up. Much of the grass still looks dry and withered. But a lot of tiny flowers and seedlings are emerging now! It's fun to open the door and be greeted by surprises each morning!
And the colours are so vibrant too.
Now that spring is approaching, I notice more things going on in neighbours' backyards too. And I realised there should be several families with children my kids' age around too. Because the surrounding houses all have swingsets, Little Tikes vehicles, basketball hoops, playground equipment, even trampolines, and other motorised vehicles for kids in their yards. Their swingsets and climbing playground sets are quite elaborate too, with climbing sections, slide, swings and various add-ons. Their houses look small and run-down (I mentioned I live in a lower income area right?), so I was wondering how they could afford all these... cos in Spore it is expensive...
Then I saw some Toys R Us and Home Depot ads in the papers, oh my! So cheap!!! Trampolines, huge ones, with enclosures... swingsets, rock climbing... etc all these are being advertised now since pple are getting outdoors... oh, if we were staying longer and dh was working, we'd surely buy... really, playground sets for US$199. and it looks like our typical HDB playground lor.
Then they also advertise the RVs, which can be attached to cars and so you can drive anywhere, eg to National Parks, camp there and sleep in the RV, cook and so on... I thought those RVs would be very pricey, but no, surprisingly cheap... hmm, I would enjoy the outdoors and outdoor sports very much here! I suppose where demand is huge, supply is larger and thus cost is driven down, but in Singapore, not many would have the need of the space for such things, so they are costly.
On to another topic. The tom yam paste from Angeling/ Jen's parcel was irresistable so we at once used the silken tofu bought from the Chinese mart and made some tom yam soup (see below). Forgot to take pic until only a little was left. hee...
We didn't realise how much we missed the Singaporean flavor until we tried that and loved it soooo much. Dh was whooping in delight and maybe also from tummy spasms (not used to such spices), the way he was shouting. So I did it again today, but using Dou Ban Jiang (chili bean paste?). Dumped cabbage, dried shitake, ikan bilis, tofu, even broccoli, and pork.
It wasn't as sour as the tom yam paste, but it was hot and spicy enough. So we were likewise contented. (See below)
ds2 didn't eat any, while ds1 gamely tried the pork and tofu. although it was spicy for him, he claimed, in a big-boy manner, that it wasn't hot at all and that he liked it.
though we had to cook other dishes for the kids, so it was more troublesome, dh and I decided once in a while, we will just cook what we like and what we only can it. doesn't matter, must be able to enjoy such things sometimes. can't always eat kid-suitable food all the time. :-)
rainbows every day, do not worry for the morrow
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