GCS Gathering

It's party time!

Nearly a hundred of us, members of Green Culture came together for a fun-filled evening at Green Baron's place on the 23rd of May. He has so graciously booked his condo function room to host this memorable event for all of us. Another person whom we have to thank is Ah Kee. She has offered herself voluntarily to co-ordinate & organize this grand event. Mind you, not an easy task! Ah Kee has really done us a big favour.

It was my first time meeting so many member gardeners from the Green Culture since becoming a member last year. I have learned from many experienced gardeners the know-how of growing both ornamental plants & also the edibles. Meeting & getting to know the members in person has indeed reinforced our friendship & trust when chatting with them via the online forum.

Members brought their plants, seeds & cuttings to do their exchanges with fellow members. Many of them were just very generous & gave away what they have brought along with them to the function. I was very fortunate to have received many interesting plants. I have now added mint, thai basil, cat whiskers, periwinkles, dill, cactus, coleus (painted nettle), cockscomb, fancy leaf caladium, syngonium (pink green) balsam & even a dragon's tongue (if I am correct with the name) to my collection.

Green Baron has also let us toured his condo compound & introduced to us many different plants & fruit trees along the way before we went up to visit his balcony garden in his house. All his plants & collections are enough to prove to his visitors what a seasoned gardener he is. I am utterly impressed!

Plants was of course the star of the evening. However, Green Culture members are also fine food lovers; so needless to say, there was that spread of yummy food to pamper everyone's taste palate. In fact, many of them contributed their home-cooked specialities.

So can you imagine; with all the fine food, interesting topics of plants & exchanges topping up with great companies, can anyone tell me who will not be looking forward to our next gathering?

By the way, our next gathering will be the 5th anniversary celebration of Green Culture in four months' time.

HDB Ice Cream Peddler

This is a common scene in my country local housing estate (HDB).

On alternate Saturday afternoons, at about 2pm, the ice-cream vendor will park his mobile ice-cream cart at a shady corner of the park and starts ringing his bell. He is very wise to choose a corner where there is always a constant human traffic. People walking to and fro the estate and the bus stop will surely not miss him, especially on a hot and humid afternoon. Anyway, he already has a regular pool of customers faithfully waiting for him on those Saturdays. One of them is my mum. My boy and her are supporters of his ice-cream. Cheap and good. One of the indulgences both grandma and her grandson will enjoy together every alternate weekend.

My mum will delightfully announce to my boy that the ice-cream "uncle" has arrived. She will stop at anything she is doing and go downstair quickly to queue for her turn to buy the smooth creamy ice-cream. Prior to that, she will usually discuss with my boy which two flavours they want to get for that particular Saturday. They have many nice flavours to choose from. Chocolate, strawberries, raspberries, vanilla, corn, durian and coffee. The ice-cream vendor will take out a big slab of ice-cream from his mobile cart freezer, cut them into smaller thick rectangular slices and stick each individual slice between two pieces of crispy waffle biscuits. Wala! there, he passes his ice-cream sandwiches to his queueing customers. Each sandwich costs 70 cents. Or you can also buy from him the whole ice-cream slab for $5 which is usually sold for $7 at other upmarket outlets. Each slab can be cut into eight smaller rectangular slices. So it is always more economical to get the whole slab home but do request ice-cream uncle to slice it up for you individually with the wrapper still attached. He will generously pack for you many pieces of waffles biscuits to be used later when you make the ice-cream sandwiches at home.

Home Flavoured Korean BBQ Dinner

It has been quite a little while, our family has not been to Da Zhang Jin Korean BBQ Restaurant for our favourite grill.

This evening, since knowing that my daughter was able to be home early to join us for dinner together, I quickly picked up some usual grill stuff, such as sukiyaki beef, pork belly, butterhead lettuce, tofu, Japanese fish cakes & fresh mushrooms from the supermarket to prepare a grill dinner at home. My fridge is always stocked up with all the condiments & sauces necessary to use for a grill, whether in Korean or Japanese style.

Whenever, we have our grill at home, my boy will always enjoy grilling the food for everyone. My girl will not mind not having to do the grill at all. She will happily layer her ingredients, dab it with the chilli sauce & miso paste; and wrap them in the lettuce then pop it into her mouth. As usual, she will cheerfully let her brother knows that she likes to have more mushrooms or pork belly or fish cake & etc. Her brother will just happily serve her. We will all slowly enjoy ourselves together over our dinner conversation.

I asked my boy did he prefer to have the grill at a restaurant or at home. His response is always warm & heartening. To him,in a restaurant, although we can choose to order many more other grilling ingredients & side dishes, it is never the same as having the grill dinner prepared by me because the flavour of the grill outside is never the same as when we eat together at home. He calls it "Home Flavour".