Dawen 王大文 - 練習愛情 ft. Kimberley 陳芳語 "Let's Work It Out" (Official MV)

This song is so spot on.

No one is perfect and regardless of how perfect a couple is, they are bound face problems and/or differences.

It's not about how one have to give in to another, it's about how to overcome the problem together.

Trivial stuffs to major issues, when we overcome each steps, it's another milestone met.

And all in all, it's takes a lifetime to maintain the relationship.



Part of the lyrics which is really the key to everything:
脚步错了　拍子错了　再一遍
没有关系　我们有一辈子的时间

Loosely translated the above lyrics to English:
wrong step, wrong tempo, repeat again
it doesnt matter, we have a lifetime 

Some Thoughts

Never take someone for granted...

Even if the person is around always...

Especially if the person always around...

Because like the firework...
The time you have that person will only shortens
And once it ends, it's the end.

Review of The Buffet @ Level 2 M Hotel

Wasn't open till 12pm exact. A couple was earlier than us. Not sure how long they waited, but they were clearly upset that the restaurant had no staff at the counter minutes before 12pm.

At least the food was all ready when they opened the doors.

Compared to other hotel buffets, the dishes available is lesser than expected but my friend commented that it had more interesting dishes. (He is one who had been to many buffets.. well...compared to me)

The service is good though. The staffs were friendly and prompted in helping to clear the plates.

Complimentary cold/warm water and hot teh tarik were provided. 

Service: 4.5 out of 5. Despite they didn't have any staff waiting outside the counter before 12pm, once it was 12pm, service received was great.

Location: Walkable distance from Tanjong Pagar MRT but a bus ride and alight at the opposite of M Hotel is even close than the distance from MRT station.

Food: 4 out of 5. The buffet has a lot more desserts to choose from. Cake, ice creams, cut fruits and chocolate fondue.

Cost: $29.50++ per pax for weekday lunch (price per pax is after 50% discount using Eatigo App)

Movie Review: Resident Evil 6: The Final Chapter

My review of the final installment: Resident Evil 6 (R.E.6): The Final Chapter

Spoilers Ahead! 

Thumbs up: 

Wrapping up the storyline: R.E.6 The Final Chapter worked hard to wrap up the story line than purely an adventure on the go action/effects movie.

Another side of Alice: Rather than showing Alice being good at fighting, a portion of the screen time was used on showing she is good with strategy.

Lee Joon Gi's short appearance but refreshing character: Lee Joon Gi stood out a lot. The only refreshing character which could be put to bigger use to bring more impact to the movie. His character certainly stood out among the many characters despite having minimal scene time.


Disappointment Factor 1: No action pack battle and replaced with narration

After years of waiting, the final movie is finally released. At the end of Resident Evil 5: Retribution, looked like a big battle between Alice and zombies + dragons? BUT at the start of Resident Evil 6: The Final Chapter only showed the end of the battle. (Sigh) Not surprised they chose to do it with a narration by Alice (which is the typical opening of R.E.) 

Disappointment Factor 2: Alice Identity (What about the previous red queen?)

When I saw the resemblance of Alice and the red queen, I suspected about Alice origin being the same person as the red queen. It would also explain why Alice could bond with the T-virus without becoming a zombie. BUT the kid which the red queen copied was featured in the R.E. Part 2 so I quickly dismissed the possibility. This is one part I am puzzled with. Does it mean that the kid in part 2 is just a clone or the entire part 2 movie was one of the Umbrella Corporation's simulated environment? 

Disappointment Factor 3: Budget for other scenes... perhaps?

I find the scenes where Isaac and Alice were predicting about their attacks on each other... initially nice.. but when it goes on to attempt 2 and 3 etc, it was too repetitive. 

Disappointment Factor 4: Weak in refreshing characters, the new assembled team didn't have much time to make an impression

1. The 48 hours restrictions to save mankind didn't gave Alice enough time to bond with the team except Claire Redfields (Ali Carter) and Abigail (Ruby Rose) .
2. Alice have yet another group of travelling companions BUT was killed off one by one, which saved much time for Alice to solve the mystery on the undercover identity.
3. Reprising her role as Claire Redfields (Ali Carter), it was fortunate Claire wasn't killed off but her character in this last chapter didn't seemed to bring bigger impact as compared the previous movies.
3. 2 of the rescued survivors from Umbrella corporation volunteered to join Alice in a pursue to the Hive. Seemed like they were up to something, BUT... they were just one of the first few to be killed.

Overall:

The focus was upon Alice, Issac, Wesley and the Red Queen which seemed lacking in the WOW factor. Apart from the character showing themselves to be the original version of themselves, the clothes were new? the style was cool black BUT weak on the element to make me go WOW as these characters has been seen repeatedly in the R.E series.

Verdict: 

Only for those seeking for a closure to the entire R.E. movies. Glad that they didn't save on the budget for the actions and effect and Alice is still portrayed by the Milla Jovovich.

Almond Sugee Cookie

Ingredients
(yields approx 160 circle, love, star and flower shaped cookies (0.5 - 0.7cm thickness * 2 - 4 cm diameter)

400g Ghee (clarified butter)
700g all-purpose/plain flour
pinch of salt (1/2 tsp salt)
1 tsp baking powder
280g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
100g blanched almond (super fine powder)

Methods
1. In a bowl, sift all-purpose/plain flour
2. Add in salt and baking powder and stir to mix well and left aside till step 5
3. In another mixing bowl, cream Ghee with icing sugar till pale yellow (should look lighter than original butter yellow) and smooth texture (no lumpy sugar
4. Add in vanilla essence and mix well
5. Add in sifted flour portion by portion, till well mixed
6. Add in blanched almond and mixed thoroughly and formed a dough
7. On a plastic/cling wrap, shaped the dough to a long cylinder shape and wrap it.
8. Refrigerate the dough for 30 mins
9. After 30 mins, preheat oven @ 180 Celsius
10. Remove dough from fridge and cut the dough evenly and shape to the desired shape.
11. On a baking tray, place the shaped dough around 0.5~1 cm apart
12. Bake @ 180 Celsius for 15~20 minutes till shaped dough is completely cooked and is slightly brown.

Note:
-> At Step 5, the dough can be left as a whole ball shape and cover with a plastic wrap or cloth and refrigerate.
-> At Step 8, can opt to roll out the dough and use a cookie/shape cutter to cut the required shape. But the thickness is advised to be at least 0.5cm thickness but not more than 1 cm thickness. If it's too thin, the baked piece will be less melty, while a thicker version will required a longer baking time.
-> If to roll out the dough, can use the plastic/cling wrap to cover the dough and roll with the roller. This will prevent the dough from sticking to the roller and also remove the need for flouring the roller/dough.
-> Icing sugar can be reduce slightly by 30g to the recipe above for a less sweet version.
-> If you prefer better melting texture and/of almond fragrance, have an additional 50g blanched almond to the recipe above.

Pineapple Tarts Revisited

After a few years of not making pineapple tarts, this year I tried again. This time round, I added something to my original recipe here to make the pastry softer, Ghee. 

I made almond sugee cookie days ago and felt in love with the soft melting pastry. After browsing through the website on several other pineapple tarts recipe that used ghee, it seemed that just having an additional 2 tablespoons of Ghee with an increased amount of flour will make the pastry softer.

So this is it, my revised recipe with Ghee:

Ingredients 
(yields approx 65~70 pineapple tarts balls - 2cm diameter)

Pineapple Tarts
250g unsalted butter
470g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder (Optional, in my case, I did not have it so I did not add any in)
1/2 tsp salt
50g icing sugar (Can be lesser than 50, around 48g/49g)
2 eggs (separate egg yolk with egg white into two different bowls)
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
500g (1/2 pack of a 1 kg) pineapple preserve filling paste (bought the redman premium grade from phoon huat)

Glazing
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp condensed milk
1/2 ~ 1 tsp vegetable oil

Methods
1. Sift all dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt and icing sugar into a big bowl)

2. Add butter and ghee with the dry ingredient and rub in till breadcrumb-like.
Note: Cut the butter using a platter knife into cubes and stir with the dry ingredients until it becomes easier to rub in the flour with butter with your fingertips.

3. Add in the eggs yolks (with the vanilla essence) and knead to become a dough.

4. Leave in fridge for 20mins (or less than 40 mins else the dough will harden and you will not be able to roll out the dough immediately)

5. Take 1/2 pack of the 1 kg pineapple preserve filling paste (which I believe is still more than enough) and make them into small balls shaped(size depends on your need, the bigger the ball, the more dough will be used to make 1 pineapple tarts. That would also mean a lesser quantity produced.)

6. After removing the dough from fridge, roll out dough on a rolling board and fold the dough for a few times.

7. From the dough, take a small portion and roll into a ball shape around 2 cm diameter. Then press it down for a flatten round shaped dough and place the pineapple ball in the center.

8.Wrap the pineapple with the round shaped dough until it has covered the entire pineapple, remove some of the dough if it looks too thick.

9. Preheat oven at 180 Celsius.

10. Mixed all the ingredients listed under "Glazing" and glaze ONLY the top of ball shaped pineapple tarts.

11. Bake for 20 mins @180 Celsius

Notes:

-> I preheated my oven ONLY when I am done at step 8. For I used microwave oven, the preheat stage required a minimal time. The norm is to preheat the oven at the start (as a step 1) before anything begin. 

-> For those who don't like a softer pastry, do try the recipe from here.