Tze Char

Tze Char is a Hokkien term for cooking, which when literally translated means ‘cook fry’, or in other words, to cook by stir-frying in a wok.

Tze Char food stalls are commonly found in hawker centers, coffee shops, or eating houses.

They are popular places to go for a meal because they provide a wide selection of common household dishes at affordable prices. Some of these Tze Char stalls come up with their specialties to give them a heads up over their competitors.

Heartland families who decide to dine out usually go to these informal eating places for a meal. They are also a favourite choice for friends, or small gatherings of friends, to bond over a meal.

The selling point of Tze Char food comes from the fire. It is the fire - hot and fury that brings out the flavour in the dish.

I was out with a couple of friends recently and we had a meal at one of the Tze Char stalls in the hawker center. These were what we ordered.

A dish of sweet and sour pork

A dish of beef stir-fried with Kailan vegetables.

A dish of stir-fried fish with salted egg yolk.

And a dish of dice chicken.

Apart from the fish with salted egg, the rest of the dishes are common Tze Char favourites.

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Dendrobium Orchid

This is my beautiful white and purple Dendrobium Orchid. I was over the moon to see it bloom again. There are two reasons for that. Firstly, the plant wasn’t looking very healthy, and I was expecting that I might be seeing the last of it. Secondly, the plant has already bloomed once and I didn’t know that there could be a second bloom.

In the picture below, you see that the flowers from the previous stalk were falling off. And the new shoot just coming out at the step below. Until then, I was under the impression that one orchid plant blooms only once. A friend told me otherwise, and we had an argument about it. I was adamant that it was not possible. I feel like such and idiot now. Of course, I admitted my mistake to the said friend and apologized. Apology was accepted.

Brown spots began to appear on the leaves. I manage to give them a clean up. In the process, I might have hurt the leaves a bit.

Unfortunately, the plants are not looking very healthy at the moment, and there are no new shoots coming up. Will it surprise me with another bloom again, or will this be goodbye. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

I have a couple of ideas in mind I might try as a last measure. In the meantime, I hope the plant's health will turn around, and surprise me with either a new shoot or another bloom. We shall see.

According to Wikipedia, Dendrobium is a genus of mostly epiphytic and lithophytic orchids in the family Orchidaceae It is a very large genus, containing more than 1,800 species that are found in diverse habitats throughout much of south, east and southeast Asia, including China, Japan, India, Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, New Guinea, Vietnam and many of the islands of the Pacific. Orchids in this genus have roots that creep over the surface of trees or rocks, rarely having their roots in soil.

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That's Life

Whatever humour works for you, it is great. The important thing is to have a sense of humour. And not to lose your sense of humour no matter how tough life gets. Actually, it is when times are hard that you need your humour most.

Come what may, Life goes on. So, we might as well just relax, and take it easy – laugh and be happy. When we are happy and at peace, we are able to deal with the situations of the everyday life better.

Enjoy today's selection of humour. Have a great weekend!

The pride of man, of parents as well, makes us believe that anything we create we can control. Whether from clay or from metal, it is in the nature of us to make our own monsters. Our children are alloys, all; built from our own imperfect flesh. We animate them with magic … and never truly know what they will do. - Sarah Connor

It’s a street food vendor! Stop asking for the health score rating. - Regina Griffin

Men are always ready to die for us, but not to make our lives worth having. Cheap sentiment and bad logic. - Louisa May Alcott

Love is a very difficult – occupation. You got to work at it, man. It ain’t a thing every Tom, Dick and Harry has got a true aptitude for. - Tennessee Williams

Men aren’t really complicated ... They are very simple, literal creatures. They usually mean what they say. And we spend hours trying to analyze what they’ve said, when really it’s obvious. - E. L James

One of the strengths of Internet dating is that it’s anonymously impersonal, which helps take the sting out of rejection. If you’re interested in someone who notices your profile or you’re intrigued by a computer-generated match, let the e-mail begin. If you’re not interested, delete the e-mail with about the same level of remorse you’d feel from dumping jellyfish overboard. - Judsen Culbreth

Men have a better time than women; for one thing, they marry later; for another thing, they die earlier. - H. L. Mencken

People shop for a bathing suit with more care than they do a husband or wife. The rules are the same. Look for something you’ll feel comfortable wearing. Allow for room to grow. - Erma Bombeck

The place of the father in the modern suburban family is a very small one – particularly if he plays golf, which he usually does. - Bertrand Russell

Some women choose to follow men, and some women choose to follow their dreams. If you’re wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you that it doesn’t love you anymore. - Lady Gaga

One of the trickiest forms of bad advice is seemingly good advice that contradicts other seemingly good advice. Take for example “Know your limitations”, and “Man's reach should exceed his grasp.” Which is it? It can’t be both, can it? No! But for years I have bounced between the frustration of having my reach exceed my grasp and the boredom of the certain knowledge of my limitations. Don’t make the same mistake. When you encounter seemingly good advice that contradicts other seemingly good advice, ignore them both. “Turn the other cheek”, cancels “An eye for an eye,” leaving us free to render justice in accordance to whatever cockamamie principles we happen to come up with that morning. - Al Franken

To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering, one must not love. But, then one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer, not to love is to suffer, to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love, to be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy, therefore, to be unhappy one must love, or love to suffer, or suffer from too much happiness – I hope you’re getting this down. - Woody Allen

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What A Wonderful World

It is a beautiful day.

A beautiful day must have some flowers. This flower looks like a caterpillar. I don't know the name of it - yet.

Where flowers bloom so does hope. - Lady Bird Johnson

On a beautiful day, there must be laughter. Here is something to make you laugh. If it can bring on a chuckle, better still.

Most importantly, we must also learn something. The lesson today is -

There must also be music on a beautiful day. Music always brighten up the day. How about this evergreen classic by Louis Armstrong - What a Wonderful World.

If you hadn’t had a good day, I hope it has now improved somewhat.

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Life's Little Lessons

Aphorisms motivate, and inspire because they encompass years of wisdom of people who had experienced the same hardship, or undergone the same circumstances. They are life lessons compressed into a few words, or a couple of sentences. They are nuggets of gold.

Take an interest in aphorisms. Understand what they are saying and learn the underlying lesson/lessons in them. Apply them to life, and to your life. You will discover not only the wisdom, but also the beauty in words. Give the following a try.

The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are. - Marcus Aurelius

It takes humility to seek feedback. It takes wisdom to understand it, analyse it, and appropriately act on it. - Stephen R. Covey

Let thy chief fort and place of defense be a mind free from passions. A stronger place and better fortified than this, hath no man. - Marcus Aurelius

There is no shortage of opportunity. There is only a shortage of those who will apply themselves to the basics that success requires. - Jim Rohn

Life begets life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich. - Sarah Bernhardt

No one can possibly know what is about to happen: it is happening, each time, for the first time, for the only time. - James Baldwin

Our relationship to reality and to our experience is all based upon the ideas in our mind that we’re always trying to live up to. - Andrew Cohen

It is simplicity that makes the uneducated more effective than the educated when addressing popular audiences. - Aristotle

Love and time – those are the only two things in the entire world and all of life that cannot be bought, but only spent. - Unknown

The best way to become acquainted with a subject is to write a book about it. - Benjamin Disraeli

Make sure to be in with your equals if you’re going to fall out with your superiors. - Unknown

It is the set of the sails, not the direction of the wind that determines which way we will go. - Jim Rohn

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Out and About

Some pictures taken when I was out and about.

I like this picture very much. I find it pleasing to look at.

A view of cruise ships in the distant cruise terminal.

Beautiful, lush bougainvilleas. They are very common in this part of the world.

A healthy looking tree.

Bird nest ferns on and surrounding a tree.

A cluster of bamboos. For reasons even unknown to me, I just like bamboos.

I am not sure what this plant is. But the first name that came to mind was Ginger plants and Ginger flowers. In any case, I am sure they belong to the ginger family.

Some unique leaves that caught my eyes.

From the looks of the picture, there is nothing extraordinary. But this is actually a wall with water flowing downwards. As the water flows down it moves the little (I don’t know what to call it) separators, markers? So imagine - this 'waterfall' wall of little 'separators' flicking up and/down. It is mesmerizing to watch.

This is some structure in the middle of a bench. It adds a bit of colour and style to the bench. It's a cool design and it looked rather nice. Unfortunately, it didn't show up in the picture. Maybe it was the lighting, or it could be the angle, or it could be just poor photography.

A couple of stainless steel sculpture entitled 'Artificial Rock' by Chinese artist Zhan Wang.

After a wander, time to rest me legs and maybe have a drink and a light snack. And these did the job.

My friend and I had a pint of Tiger beer each, and we shared an order of nachos. Just what we needed.

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Catharanthus Roseus

Catharanthus Roseus is an evergreen herbaceous plant. Commonly known as Cape Periwinkle, they are a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae. The flowers are dark pink with a darker red centre, with a basal tube and a corolla with five petal-like lobes.

It is grown here as an ornamental. However, they are also medicinal plant and grown elsewhere as such.

Apparently, they are a source of the drugs vincristine and vinblastine used to treat cancer.

In Ayurveda (Indian traditional medicine), an in traditional Chinese medicine, the extracts of its roots and shoots, have been used against numerous diseases including diabetes, malaria, and Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

They are hardy plants and can survive sunny, dry and nutritionally deficient conditions. They bloom throughout the year. They look lovely, like little umbrellas. And that’s what I called them – umbrella flowers, before I found out that they were called Catharanthus Roseus.

There are also white flowers, but they are not as common as the pink flowers.

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