Living in HDB

Recently the flats in my neighbourhood are painted in refreshing pastel colour which is great. That is one benefit of living in public housing. Town council also took feedback and put up signboard to remind people to be mindful of noise.

It is great that the flats are painted. I noticed that the top of the power grid structure located between flats looks mouldy and there are some leaves and bird body (will it cause virus?) which have been there for weeks. It would be great that the top of the structure are cleared and painted as well. 

Just wondering if it only happens in my neighbourhood. I do notice that it is getting noisier with young children shrieking at high pitch and screaming at the playground recently from late afternoon to night. Children should be reminded to be considerate of others. Don’t wait too long to teach as habits are hard to change. Despite the signboard being put up, situation hasn’t improved. Maybe next time HDB needs to build soundproof playground.

Spring Blossoms Gallop Into Prosperity

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Dancing Crabs at Vivocity

Had a great lunch at Dancing Crabs at Vivocity recently. Thanks to my cousin who gave me early birthday treat. We had the $60.00 #2 Combo promotion set which comes with choices of 3 sauces, 2 sides and 2 desserts. We opted for beurre blanc (white wine and butter), zesty garlic butter and signature cajau. For the sides, we enjoyed  both hot and crispy truffle fries and cocktail shrimp salad with zesty lemongrass dressing. I also like the chocolate cake dessert. 

In addition to the promotion set, we also had crab cake and century egg carbonara. We felt so full and I had takeaway.

This #2 combo promotion ends on 28 February 2026. 

Dancing Crabs website: https://www.dancingcrab.com.sg/en/home#menu 

Dancing Crabs at Vivocity 03-10

I like this Beurre Blanc (White wine butter)

Cocktail shrimp salad with zesty lemongrass dressing 

I like Zesty garlic butter. 

World famous signature cajun is quite spicy. 

Two pieces of crispy Crab cake at $26.80 is highly recommended. 

 Century egg carbonara ($22.80) This is really big portion for 3 person.  

 Truffle fries is really yummy.

Gateau au Chocolat Cake

Gallop to Prosperity at Gardens by the Bay

Stunning floral display at flower dome from now till 1 March 2026. 

Blog: https://bloomingflowersnarts.blogspot.com/2026/01/spring-blossoms-gallop-in-prosperity.html 

Heather Flowers 石南花

Heathers flowers are clusters of tiny, bell-shaped blossoms and come in stunning range of colours like purple, pink, white and magenta. They generally symbolise good luck, protection and admiration.

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Beyond 長城

After so many years, this song  Great Wall 長城 by Beyond is  still a great classic. Do you like this song too? This song reminds me of my travel to Beijing in 2012 when I visited the Forbidden city and the Great Wall of China. I was so excited as the forbidden city was restricted to the royal family in China hundred years ago. Now it is available to everyone! 

I hope to visit Chaozhou 潮州揭阳, my grandparents' hometown soon. Who wants to visit to Chaozhou too? 

Funny But True- Jon Stewart

Where is international law and order? Jon Stewart hit the nails!  Just because your adversary has access to Venezuela resources, you just kidnap a sovereign nation leader to gain access to their minerals and oil resources? Lawlessness in the world now.

Fuchsia Flowers

To see more flowers, visit Blooming Flowers and Arts blog here.

https://bloomingflowersnarts.blogspot.com/ 

Happy New Year 2026!

Happy New Year to all my readers! May 2026 be as bright like the flowering maples! Wishing you a Joyous, Healthy and Prosperous 2026!

Into the Modern: Impressionism at Singapore National Gallery

I visited National Gallery early this month for the Into teh Modern:Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the largest French Impressionist exhibition in Southeast Asia. To see more images, visit Blooming Flowers and Arts blog here. 

https://bloomingflowersnarts.blogspot.com/2025/12/impressionism-into-modern-exhibition-at.html

Sweet Durians!

I like the sweet tasty durian. Taste is subjective. Some people find the smell from durians pungent but I find it fragrant. Yesterday we had lots of sweet creamy durians. There was great durian promotion yesterday near my home.

World 's Highest Food Forest Garden 世界最高食林空中花园

Explore the World's Highest Food Forest garden with over 150 varieties of herbs, fruits, vegetables and flowers at 1-Arden Sky Garden located Singapore CapitaSpring level 51 with stunning panoramic city view. 

Great news for visitors, this is free attraction but you do need to make reservation first before visiting. Visit 1-Arden Sky Garden for more information and to book a slot for garden admission here .

At CapitaSpring

Nearest MRT station: Raffles Place MRT station

Visit Blooming Flowers and Arts Blog for more flowers updates here. https://bloomingflowersnarts.blogspot.com/

 

Happy Winter Solstice 2025 冬至快乐

Happy Winter Solstice 2025. I like tangyuan or glutinous rice balls with black sesame seed filling. What about you? 2025年冬至快乐。我喜欢黑芝麻汤圆，你呢？

First Botanic Garden in Singapore 新加坡首个植物园

Do you know the location of first botanic garden in Singapore? You can visit the blog here or watch the video to find out. 

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Delicious Food at Tampines West

There are many coffee shops in Tampines West, about 10 great coffee shops. I'll share 8 coffee shops in Tampines West.  I enjoy their food for many years and normally buy take-away as I prefer to eat at home. Let's see the various coffee shops from different blocks in Tampines West.

1) Blk 823A: Zichar stall (this is the best zichar stall as I like their fried bee Hoon), Western food stall, popiah, chicken rice stall.

2) Blk 824: Popular dry prawn noodles from the Soon Soon prawn noodles stall as noodles are springy and chilli sauce is great. 

3) Blk 826: Ah Hua's Kitchen Econ Bee Hoon and Nasi Lemak and Face Ban Mian  

4) Blk 827: Affordable and tasty Dim sum stall that opened in 2023. There is a popular Teochew porriage stall.

5) Blk 828: Great curry puffs from Have A Puff, AMCM Ah Ma Fishball noodle, Fried Hokkien mee and 828 Bee Hoon and Nasi Lemak

6) Blk 829: Wanton Noodles and Chicken rice stall.

7) Blk 844: Popular fried Hokkien Noodles and prawn crackers.

8) Tampines Central Community Club Chang Cheng coffee shop: Fishball noodles

I like Ah Ma fishball noodles at Tampines Blk 828. I added more black vinegar sauce and tomato sauce at home. 

The curry puffs are good too. At Tampines Blk 828.

Face Ban Mian at Tampines Blk 826, try their signature dry ban Mian.

 Blk 823A has the best Zi char stall. 

At Tampines Blk 826. This is a popular fried bee Hoon and nasi lemak stall for years.

Vegetarian Nature Cafe at SMU

My friend and I enjoyed the vegetarian dishes at vegetarian cafe, Nature Cafe at Singapore Management University. I like to eat vegetarian food as I don't feel so guilty eating meat. I do think if everyone of us just reduce meat intake and have more vegetarian food, there be less suffering for animals. 

I don't eat beef and lamb. I mostly eat seafood and am trying to cut down on meat. It would be good if vegetarian food are at affordable prices to attract more people to eat vegetarian food. I think the promotion set is quite affordable.

Baked mushroom pasta

 

Majestic King Protea Flowers

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Early Tweets From Trump

Love him or hate him, you can't ignore him. While looking through the magazines amidst clearing my bookshelf, I saw this interesting page from 2017 Forbes Asia 100th anniversary issue. 

Books Sold Finally! Thank You!

I just want to say a Big Thank You to my friend who brought my books. To be honest I didn't expect my friend to buy all four books that I published. I thought it would be great if she just buy one book. I was wondering if I should continue as there was no sales for the past two weeks. I also want to say big thank you to someone who brought the weekly planner. 

Anyway, I plan to launch another sketch book but this time, it will be on premium colour as photographs are clearer and paper thicker. Ink pen can be used on the paper without impacting the other side of the page. For the current sketch book which is printed with standard colour, only pencils and colour pencils are suitable. 

The following are books I published with Amazon KDP. 

1) Where Flowers Bloom, Wonder Grows. (More than 138 stunning flower photographs) Click here to buy. 

2) Let's Sketch Flowers! Discover The Joy of Sketching! (108 Breathtaking Floral Photographs) Click here to buy. 

3) Weekly Planner and Journal With Floral Photography. Click here to buy. 

4) Blooming Flowers (Flower photographs) Click here to buy

For current sketch book, Let's Sketch Flowers! There are flower photographs at the top and empty space for you to sketch. You can use pencils and colour pencils to draw on it. Ink pen will affect the other side of the page. Just have fun sketching and be creative. I just sketched and played with various design elements like lines and shapes as shown above. I will release another sketch book that will use premium colour but this time there be no blank pages and all pages will be filled with photographs for reference and inspiration.

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Latest Song by Jay Chou : Forever Forever

Finally Jay Chou has composed and  released new song, titled Forever Forever. This song is a collaboration with Mayday Ashin and three members from the popular F4. Jay Chou is truly King of Mandopop who has composed and sang many memorable songs. My favourite songs include 七里香 Qi Li Xiang. 

Forever Forever