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I love Nina Ottosson!

(Drafted this post during her LS period last year. But no treats = no toys = no photos. Hence the delay.)

Nina Ottosson (which, by the way, is her real name) is a range of interactive toys. She believes that dogs require both mental and physical activity and has therefore developed these dog activity toys to stimulate the dog mentally. To be honest, I think I'm also having loads of fun and mental stimulation just by watching silly girl play!

01 / Dog Brick Plastic (Can't remember how much.)

My first Nina toy! It's very common and popular, and probably the easiest to get here in Singapore.

It's a level 2/3 on the website but personally I think it's a level 1. Silly girl got it so fast! =P The first few times I did it without the white blocks, then with the blocks but had food under them so silly girl would take them off. Within 10 times I was using the center blocks without any food underneath. She knew she had to get rid of the center ones before the sides would slide open. I had thought this could occupy her for a longer period. =\

I think it's a good beginner toy to start the dog on IQ toys.  

02 / Dog Tornado Plastic (~SGD 36.70)

Rated a level 2. It has a similar concept with the dog brick, but also slightly different. Same same but different. Hehe. Instead of sliding the covers open, silly girl now has to rotate the levels to reveal the treat. You can start without any white blocks but I used all 3 of them the very first time. I thought it would occupy her longer this way. Unfortunately, she was only stumped for a while, before she figured it out and began removing the blocks directly. *sigh* Oh and it was a little smaller than what I had expected, so bigger dogs may have a bit of problem. =X

03 / Dog Casino Plastic (~SGD 60.60)

I was anticipating this the most! It's a level 3 and I feel it's much harder than the rest because instead of simply pushing the white blocks away, silly girl has to pluck out the pins before the drawers would slide open. I had hoped it would provide her a higher level of mental stimulation, and it does!

It's probably a level 10 for her lmao. She's still can't remove the pins by herself but she can handle the drawers! Guess she needs to use more brain. Lol.

04 / Dog Treat Maze (free)

I won this one from a UK-based competition so I was pretty surprised and pleased they actually mailed it over! It works in a similar way as her Kong wobbler, just that there's a maze inside instead (that is, if you know how the Kong wobbler works), so it's slightly harder.

That's all! Silly girl goes mad when I take out any of these toys. Though I think she relates it to food instead of fun. One more thing I love about these toys are that they're easily washable. I think they have the wooden version but I wonder if it can tahan repeated washes. Hmmmm.

I really wish Nina Ottosson toys are more affordable and accessible. I bought mine from Amazon and it broke my wallet pretty badly, even though it's still about 10-20 bucks cheaper each than if I got it locally.

P/s. She also has the Kong wobbler and Kyjen kibble drop. Her toys are more expensive than mine. *sigh*

P/p/s. She's actually pretty scaredy cat and easily spooked. But when it comes to food, she drops all her defences. No matter how weird the thing feeding her is. Quite scary if some asshole decides to poison her. Tsk.

I'm KIM Korean BBQ

This month, we had my meat-eating session at I'm KIM Korean BBQ, at SOTA. SSD found this place and wanted to come last month already. It was apparently very popular. Quite fully booked but luckily we managed to squeeze in a 6.30pm slot. Given only 1.5 hours which was just nice for me. If you like to eat slowly you might want to book the later slots. There was still a queue when we left at 8pm.

We only took the beef ribeye, bacon, pork collar, pork belly, chicken bulgogi, prawns and hotdogs. Lol. They do have a few other marinates but we didn't try them. We didn't take any of the cooked foods as well. =X

Marinates were not too bad. I like the chicken bulgogi! And overdosed on bacon lol. The spicy ones are really spicy. Service was pretty good; they helped us change the tray and clear empty plates quite frequently. ^^

Actually I think we damn lugi eating korean bbq. Cos both of us don't really eat much. XD

Ah Boys to Men 3!

Finally had time for a normal paktor session today. We went to catch Ah Boys to Men 3! I don't usually watch local movies but I actually went to see all 3 parts of this. Cos......I have a thing for men in uniforms hehehe. This part is also my favorite cos......got a lot of six packs to drool at. LOL! A surprisingly long 150 minute movie about the NDU (Naval Diving Unit). Lots of funny parts as usual. And I never knew the NDU had such xiong training! >.< *respect*

Before the movie we brought my EP2 to the nearby Olympus service center for a checkup since I hadn't been using it for quite some time and it was feeling weird. She merely did a reset. It was a little bit better. =X Super tempted to get the EP5 or EM10, but...budget budget. =(

Then after the movie we went to eat at Spize, recommended by SSD's colleague.

I had the nasi lemak ($5.50) with ice teh tarik ($2.60). Normal lor; not too bad but not exceptionally good either. SSD had the tomyum soup ($13.90) and hot teh tarik ($1.40). Soup had quite a lot of ingredients, but I'm not exactly a fan (like SSD) of tomyum soup. Shared a baby kailan ($7.00), which was, the best out of the three. =X Overall, I probably wouldn't go all the way there for this.

One more month to our Bangkok trip! Seems like yesterday we just went and now we're going again! Planned a couple more places this time. Can't wait! ^_^

River Safari......finally!

Warning! Picture-heavy post.

So we've been to the Zoo, Bird Park, Night Safari, Underwater World, and SEA Aquarium. To add on to the list, we're finally here at River Safari! I remember being pretty excited when it was being built. but we never got round to it until now. And since we didn't have special plans for V-Day, here we are! Spreading the love to the fishes. And other stuff. =X

Headed off to the Amazon River Quest boat ride first. Had to pay additional $5 each for this, which honestly, wasn't exactly worth it. Of the 10+ different species of animals there, we saw less than half of that. The ride was barely 10 minutes and under the scorching sun, not exactly fun.

The River Safari Cruise was up next. Also $5 each extra. Would recommend taking this first before the Amazon ride so you don't have to walk one big round again. (Hard to explain, but trust me.) I didn't want this initially but surprisingly it was more worth it.

Panda exhibit next! Came across the golden pheasant first. The one in front is male, the one at the back is female.

Next are the red pandas! My absolute favorite! They're like the cutest thing on earth, apart from Popo. Lol. Spammed the shutter button here. I wanna be the zookeeper! >.<

SSD's absolute favorite next. Kai Kai and Jia Jia! They were eating the first time we went, and sleeping the second. It's not hard to guess which is Kai Kai and Jia Jia, judging by the way they eat. Lol.

Couldn't resist getting this cute set of salt/pepper shakers for our new house next year! XD

Tried the 'famous' panda paos. Yellow eyes for chocolate, white eyes for red bean. The latter tastes nicer though.

Here are the 6 rivers. We went against the usual flow though. And we went through it twice. Lol. 

I can't remember which is which so I'll just post a random compilation. You figure out yourself okay?

We took flowers too! Actually just for practice purposes.

Then went for dinner at Ichiban.

And that sums up our V-Day. To be honest, River Safari was a little disappointing. We went for the sake of going and......I really wouldn't recommend you to go. =X

MELT - The World Cafe

At $88++ per pax, I thought it deserved a blog post by itself. 

We just had our reunion dinner at MELT, at Mandarin Oriental. It was touted as the best buffet in Singapore and I had read many positive reviews about it.

Hits - salmon sashimi, cha soba, fish maw soup, bbq sausage, and ice cream waffles. Wasn't impressed with the other dishes I tried and there were a lot more which I didn't even bother taking. There were no lobster spring rolls nor Hainanese chicken rice which were on the "Menu Highlights". Overall, all 10 of us felt it wasn't worth the hefty price tag at all and there were others much better than this.

Best buffet in Singapore? Nahhhh I don't think so.

Back to KBB Korean BBQ

Barely 3 weeks after our last Korean BBQ session, we returned to KBB for yet another round. I was craving it so badly lmao. 

Pork belly slices were a little disappointing. But the chicken and beef bulgogi were still yummy. And the marinated pork slices too! Actually now that I look at it, the meat variety isn't very impressive to be honest. Lol. But it came with the steamboat so that makes it a little different from other Korean BBQs. Maybe we'll try some other place next month. =)

It was a quiet evening with only 4 tables occupied. Paid $24.90+ per pax. Any other recommendations?

[sponsored review] Bicycles.sg

Some time ago, Bicycles.sg sent me a set of butterfly necklace and earrings. To be honest, I thought that was kinda weird since the two (jewellery and bicycles) don't match. How nice if it was some voucher that the hub could use to purchase stuff for his bike instead. Lol.

Anyway. Bicycles.sg is an online bicycle shop that was officially started in 2010 by a few bicycle enthusiasts. Their mission is to help Singaporeans find their dream bicycle without spending a fortune. And indeed, I browsed through the website and the prices seem much more affordable than what I saw outside. I wish the hub saw this before buying his. =X

They have sale items......

Bicycle accessories......

Free gifts!!

Free delivery as well!!

I know nuts when it comes to bicycles but I suppose fellow bicycle enthusiasts would go enjoy shopping here. Go check it out --> Bicycles.sg!

Pasta de Waraku

We were at Novena's Square 2 yesterday to get some venison for my silly girl. Decided on Pasta de Waraku for dinner. Been such a long time since we had this!

I ordered a simple aglio olio ($11.80) while SSD got tomyum seafood ($19.80). Both came with yummy salad sides. SSD said they must be laughing inside how someone stupid like me ordered plain spaghetti with chilli and garlic for 12 bucks. >.< But it was nice what! And also cos I wanted to order something else to share. We got the dory combo ($14.80). I was attracted to the criss fries. The fish was pretty normal, and SSD found a bone in his. Oops. Macha float ($7.80) was a little disappointing. Should have gotten just coke instead. Total bill = $63.79. 

Fml. =)

How to make bone broth

I've long heard about bone broth but as it involves cooking for at least 20-24 hours, it never appealed to me. Until recently, I came across the article again and found out it was actually very nutritious and beneficial, especially for dogs like mine.

Here are some of the benefits.

01/ It's good for joints.

Bone broth contains super amazing amounts of glucosamine. It’s also packed with other joint protecting compounds like chondroitin and hyaluronic acid. These glycosaminoglycans are resistant to digestion and are absorbed in their intact form. They act like hormones, stimulating cells called fibroblasts, which lay down collagen in the joints, tendons, ligaments, and even the arteries.

02/ It helps the liver detox.

The liver is the master organ of detoxification. The dog’s liver is under a lot of stress daily as the poor dog consumes commercial foods with toxic and synthetic ingredients, and/or suffers through toxic dewormers, flea and tick preventives, drugs, antibiotics, vaccines and more.

The liver's capacity to detoxify is limited by the availability of the amino acid glycine. Bone broth has tons of that!

03/ It promotes a healthy gut.

The lining of the intestines contains millions of tiny holes that allow the passage of digested nutrients to enter the body. Stress, poor diet and bacterial overgrowth can cause more holes to open or to become bigger, allowing things to pass through that aren't meant to. Such as undigested food and toxins. The body sees these as foreign invaders and start to attack them. This is how allergies and food sensitivities develop.

Bone broth is loaded with a gooey substance that can plug up those leaky holes: gelatin!

Plug it up! This is exactly what I was hoping to achieve. *prays hard*

04/ It's great nutrition for sick dogs.

When there is plenty of gelatin in the diet, the body’s need for protein from meat sources can be reduced by as much as fifty percent! It is an excellent source of important minerals and can bolster the immune system.

It is also loaded with glycine (as mentioned above), which aids digestion by helping to regulate the synthesis of bile salts and secretion of gastric acid.

(Credit: Dogs Naturally)

So how do you make bone broth? Same as any other Chinese soup - dump all the ingredients in and boil. Lol.

Step 1. I used my mum's slow cooker so I could have it cook for at least 20 hours. She's done that before so I suppose it's safer than using the stove. Underestimated the size of the pot so I bought too many bones. Made a full pot instead of a trial run. =X

Step 2. I used lots of chicken feet, a couple of chicken bones, plus an extra black chicken neck and a pork rib which I had bought to let Popo try but freaked out in the end. Ahem. Best to use raw bones with lots of cartilage!

Step 3. I added some carrots and wolfberries. Er. Just because.

Step 4. Add vinegar. It helps to draw out the minerals from the bones. I used Braggs apple cider vinegar. No idea what's the correct amount but I added 4 tablespoons cos it looked like quite a lot of bone.

Step 5. Add water. You're supposed to add just enough to cover everything but obviously here it's barely enough. Oops.

Step 6. I turned it on High for an hour, before switching to Low for the rest of it.

You can see how the broth progresses.

Mashed up all the bones after taking the last pic and let it simmer for a few more hours. Here's the final result! (A few trays are already in the freezer, hence the quantity.)

Make sure to skim the oil off and remove all the bones! If they're soft enough I think you can blend them into a bone smoothie, but mine went in the trash. Lol. The broth all went into the freezer in batches. This pot, surprisingly, can probably last my silly girl only 1 to 1.5 months. If you add less bones and more water obviously you can make more to last longer. =)

I tasted it myself by the way. It was surprisingly bland and tasteless, despite the carrots and wolfberries. (DO NOT ADD SALT OR MSG!) Probably because chicken feet isn't really that sweet? Maybe if you use pork ribs it'll become a doggy version of bak kut teh lmao. 

KBB - Korean BBQ Buffet

Yesterday we went for Korean bbq again! At the Toa Payoh outlet. I've decided to dedicate one day every month to have my fill of meat. (I'm normally a pescetarian if you don't know.)

Bought the vouchers from Deals at $24.90 per pax (weekday dinner). Quite surprised that it's actually for bbq plus steamboat! No pictures sorry; too excited to start.

Food variety was okay. Let's see what I can remember - chicken bulgogi, beef bulgogi, beef belly slices, pork belly slices, marinated pork chops, beef ribeye slices, fish slices, prawns, sotong, hotdog, fishball. And the usual veggies, cooked food, drinks, and ice cream etc.

Very pleased with this dinner! Can't comment on the texture cos I think I overcooked mine all the time. But the marination was not too bad. Especially the chicken bulgogi. Spicy versions were really spicy though.

Tell you something funny. I have always tried to eat it the korean way - veggie wrap, kimchi, garlic, and meat. But the garlic was way too pungent for my liking. So a few days ago I googled "how to eat korean bbq", and realized that you actually have to grill the garlic as well! Lmao. I did it this time, and omg they taste so much better! Lesson learnt.

I am SO looking forward to my next meat-gorging session here again. XD

Silly girl's day out!

First stop - off to the vets!

It's been 1.5 months since I started her on the digestive enzymes for her loose stool problem. It has more or less solved the issue, except for a few times when she ate something that didn't agree with her tummy. It's been a huge roller coaster ride and I'm still doing trial and error to see what she can and cannot take. So far I know she can't take dehydrated treats and too much egg. A few days ago I accidentally overfed too much lamb and she's had a couple of loose stools too. Sigh.

Anyway, vet checkup. I went back to Dr Ling this time and she was pretty concerned how my girl was doing. (After all, I was there 3 times for this issue previously.) Felt quite bad to switch from Dr. Christine to Dr. Ling, but she's still my favorite vet so far lol. Told her about the enzymes and unfortunately, there's no test for EPI locally. But she'll check it out for me. She also said it MAY not be EPI; could be simply a lack of enzymes. *shrugs*

Physical check was okay, except for her teeth. Guess I need to start brushing everyday now. Blood test results were normal. Weight was okay. Basically I just had to continue whatever I'm doing now. Nothing to worry about as of now. Phew!

Side note, while waiting for the blood test results, a muzzled Samoyed came in and the whole area was filled with the stench of doggy odour. Not sure if it's normal for it or there's something terribly wrong with the poor thing, but it was horrendous. I immediately stuck my face into Popo. Even without a bath for 2 weeks, she still smelt good! >.<

Then we headed to Marina Barrage! Exceptionally lots of people having picnics and flying kites. Quite a lot seemed interested in silly girl cos she's just too pretty! *haolian* XD

 

And the Samsung NX Mini now belongs to silly girl! Much better at taking photos of her than my phone or Olympus EP2. ^^

Can't wait for our next outing!

Testing out the Samsung NX Mini =)

So SSD had a free brand new camera that his colleague didn't want. The Samsung NX Mini in white. We tested it out against my old Olympus EP2 over dinner tonight. 

Samsung NX Mini (2014)

Olympus EP2 (2010)

Both sets were taken by me. What do you think?

To be honest, I was quite surprised at the quality of the NX Mini photos. Image was pretty sharp, colors turned out pretty good, and I liked that it has a faster shutter speed. Definitely more useful for taking my silly girl. Shall test that out tomorrow. Anyway, with it being small, light and touchscreen, and coming with wifi and NFC (which connects to my phone), I was really tempted to make SSD give it to me. I think it'll be better than my Note 3 camera.

Then I came home and drafted this post. With both sets of photos side by side, I'm kinda having second thoughts. Not gonna lie; I am slightly disappointed with Oly's colors and sharpness today. It wasn't like this last time. But then, somehow, I still think Oly's photos are nicer. To be fair, I haven't used Oly for ages. Pretty sure with more practice, I can revive Oly's past glory lmao.

Maybe I could use Oly for food photography and the NX Mini for everything else? Lol. But one thing the NX Mini wins hands down - weight. So it's going overseas with us instead of Oly. =X

A-Roy Thai @ Funan

First post of 2015! SSD brought me for dinner today lol. He recommended A-Roy Thai. At Funan Mall. Here's what he ordered.

Crackers ($1) were simple and nice. But the dip was pretty spicy. I should have guessed what was coming. Iced Tea ($3.90) was nice too; even nicer than the one we had in Bangkok. I liked the kangkong ($10.90) most. Simple, slightly spicy, and the gravy was flavorful.

Then then then. The tomyum ($15.90). Initially I really liked it. Because it was pretty sour. A few seconds later, I didn't quite like it anymore. Cos it was super spicy! But the ingredients were generous; prawns, sotong, fish, and lots of mushrooms. The seafood otah ($18.90!)......I don't know how to describe it. SSD said it was probably one of their 招牌菜. For me, I don't think I ever wanna eat that again. LMAO. There were prawns and sotong inside too. As well as some bits of I-don't-know-what. But WAY TOO SPICY!

Total bill was $61.90. Sibei expensive I tell you. I'd certainly rather have Coffee Club instead. =(