Korean Food III: Snacks
2009 Holiday Special Food Part 7
After looking at tibbits and groceries which may be boring to some, we move onto something that looks more appealing: snacks! We have various small side dishes above that Koreans usually serve in their meals~ In fact, Koreans are a generous bunch of people and this can be seen from the fact that in most korean restaurant, these side dishes are given on a free flow basis~ So it's really a blessing for those who love these small dishes such as kimchi etc~
Korean pancake are among another favourite among Singaporeans~ And the pancake at this shop (Full House) is very nice. They serve seafood pancake and the ingredients simply compliment with the pancake itself in terms of tase and texture~ Go buy it~
Korean Sushi are very popular as well~! One interesting fact abt them is that they are not served cold~ Unlike normal japanese sushi which must be refrigerated, Korean counterparts are being made warm and eaten warm! So when you get to eat Korean sushi next time, dun think it is unfresh because it is warm!
Also, rice and grains are often use by Koreans to make snacks. And they actually have a long history of making food from rice and other grains. Many grains are being in use (as you can see above) as well as beans.
The taste of these rice-made snacks are rather unique especially this one above.It consist of red bean and pumpkim mixed with rice to give an unique taste and texture.However, ou do get full quite easily as these things are really filling~ And they are healthy too!
Lastly, we can see these lovely rice cake being arranged in such a nice fashion. The history of making rice cake is so long in Korea that they are being used in ceremonies such as weddings! Korean culture is amazing...
19 Aug 2009
18 Aug 2009
Korean Food II: Groceries
2009 Holiday Special Food Part 6
As I mentioned in yesterday, we are looking at quite a few aspects of korean food, including the raw ingredients themselves! Today, we look at some groceries unique to Korea such as the Korean instant noodles above. I believe more and more people are learning how to cook korean food such as bibimbap and Korean groceries are indeed popular among Singaporeans.
Similar to tibbits, Korean icecreams have very cute and colourful packaging to attract the youths as well. And I have to say that they are yummy too!
Korean cosmetics are also getting more and more popular. Perhaps people think that if they use Korean products, they will get as pretty as the Korean actresses they see in their favourite Korean drama?
Lastly, you may want to guess what is this? ;)
17 Aug 2009
Korean Food I: Tibbits of Korea
2009 Holiday Special Food Part 5
Hey folks! Sorry to keep you people waiting if you expected a daily update yesterday! Was too tired to blog after an orientation camp. Haha. From today till thursday, there will be a 4 part series on Korean Food which I shot during May. It covers quite a lot of things from snacks, tibbits to restaurant food!
Today, we look at tibbits. They are things that you munch on when you study, when you watch TV blah blah. Most people love them (except for the calories). And Korea produces a lot of them (together with Japan). One characteristic of Korean tibbits is that they realli look colourful if not poshy and classy~!
The cute fonts on the wrappers of korean tibbits are also one big drawing factor for girls to just buy a pack and forget about the calories~! Some of them taste quite unique as well such as the topoki(辣炒年糕） flavour tibbits~ So buy them when you have a craving:P
15 Aug 2009
Canto Food II
2009 Holiday Special Food Part 4
Today, we continue on the cantonese food series~! Now, we have gone to another restaurant and tried some fusion cantonese food just like the one above. The green bits are spinach bits being contained in a spongy yellow base. Topped with cheese at the top and dipped with chocolate sauce at the bottom gives a rather unique taste. And I really like this photo quite a bit due to the reflection cast by the glossy chocolate sauce. Reflections are not common in food photography;)
Next, we have coffee and orange flavoured stir-fried meat. Yes, coffee! People who always start their day with coffee is bound to love the coffee-infused meat. One common problem with coffee-flavoured meat is that the meat usually gets a burnt taste if not the coffee taste just don't get into the meat. But with the chef's careful flame control (火候), the dish avoids both common problems and gives you a rich coffee-infused taste with a cripsy texture!
Lastly, we also had this forg leg soup. The frog leg is being cooked in the soup for several hours to give a ruch taste in the soup. The meat is also very well-textured from hours of cooking in the soup.
14 Aug 2009
Canto Food I
2009 Holiday Special Food Part 3 
Hey folks! Sorry to keep you guys waiting! Yesterday was quite a busy day so it slipped my mind to update the blog daily! Anyway, today we will look at a 2-part series on cantonese food. Personally, I can't really distinguish between cantonese food and food from other regions but nonetheless, they are all tasty!
All these photos are shot at the Dragon Phoenix restaurant which have a long history of cooking cantonese food. The shop owner who is the son of the founder mentioned that the yam ring sold in their restaurant is the first in singapore. It used to be of a vegetarian nature but has now been adapted to have meat for more variety:)
Have you eaten black pepper crab before? I guess quite a lot of people has but what about white pepper ones? This dish combines both pepper crabs in just one dish. White pepper gives a more 鲜甜 taste while the black pepper gives a spicy punch to your taste buds. A must try if you love crabs!
Lastly, we also had "seafood shabu shabu" at the food tasting session. The seafood are very fresh and we love it too~!
Trivia: Dragon Phoenix Restaurant sells mooncakes during mid autumn festival season! And one of their most popular is cheese mooncake. So if you are thinking of buying mooncakes soon, can go there!
12 Aug 2009
Tofu Cheesecake
2009 Holiday Special Food Part 2
Today's post will be a short one on something not so commonly found on the market. Many people would have eatten cheesecake before but what about it's tofu counterpart? Tofu cheesecake is a new variant of cheesecake (60% tofu and 40% cheese) and is now getting more popular due to its special texture (not so creamy like cheese but more of a silky feeling you get from tofu). Yet it does not have the strong beancurd smell that may turn people off. Also, it's a calories saver!
11 Aug 2009
Muffins!
2009 Holiday Special Food Part 1
After about two weeks of sports photos, I guess every visitor to this blog must be quite sick and bored of them. So we move on to another section on everyone's favourite: Food! I personally believe that everyone will love food to some extent but not everyone eats like a glutton due to the calories~
Anw, this set of photos was taken for a recipe interview at Shatec Institute which provides training for future chefs. Here we have a photo of one of the instructors there who is demostrating the recipe.
Some trivia about muffin:
Do you know the chinese name for muffin? I bet most people dun~ It's called 松饼 in chinese!
Also, do you know that onions actually goes well with muffins? The muffin at the bottom in the first photo is actually an onion flavoured muffin. It is quite unique: Onion is generally sweet in nature but the texture of muffin is special as you chew on onion strips in the muffin~ And you dun see it often as well.. SO buy one when you see it, k?
25 Jan 2009
Reunion Dinner
Fried Mullet Fish Roe wrapped with Cuttlefish Paste
CNY is coming tommorrow and reunion dinner in a few hours~! Recently, it has became increasingly popular that people have their reunion dinner at restaurants rather than at home. Perhaps people are getting more affluent and want to have nicer food outside or simply because they want to take a break from their hectic lifestyle.
The restaurant do have a few unique dishes such as their special almond jelly dessert which has a very "Q" texture. Their pan-fried oyster is also "taiwan-authentic" and different from the ones in Singapore~ So if you want to eat some nice food, don't hesitate to visit Shin Yeh restaurant @ Liang Court~
Sweetened Almond Jelly with Peach in Syrup
More photos here:
http://imouyang.multiply.com/photos/album/95/08_Jan_09_CNY_Food_Review_Shin_Yeh
1 Jan 2009
Looking back, I feel that I got to love to shoot landscape more in the past year. One of my friend once said, every photog trip is like a mini holiday to him. I think this pretty much applies to me as well especially on trips to shoot landscapes because the secenery is so refreshing and you have it all to yourself. Singapore is a place with many nice places to shoot landscapes be it during twilight hours or at night and my wish for 2009 is to explore more of them!
Events
NUS Chinese Dance, Sep 08
At the first half of 2008, I shot a lot of events perhaps due to my more free schedule, being just freed from Army and waiting for uni. It was also the time I changed my camera to my current one and this frenzy period of shooting quite some events made me quite competent with my new camera, altho i have to say that I haven fully master it fully. Later came the later part of 2008 when uni started, shooting also declined as more focus was placed in studies. Yet, NUS also did provide some avenue for shooting like this concert I shot a few mths back.
After one whole year of event shooting, I realised that I really loved shooting stage performance. The beauty of the lights (which is also one less worry for me as flash is not allowed and you just focus more on composition) and the atmosphere is something that I really loved. The thrill of following with the rhythm of the music and following and predicting the performer's movement is smthg like playing a shooting game to me and the adrenaline rush during fast-paced scenes is simply amazing. Wish for 2009! More stage performance! I love the arts:P
Portraits
Qiang Mai Portrait, May 08
I have to say that I love shooting portraits a lot as well, primarily because of the interaction that you make with your subject. Also, it may be partly because I am a very "lifestyle" person so i prefer to shoot lifestyle related stuff like people, concerts and food(next up!). 2008 was a great year of experimentation with lighting when it comes to portriats. A lot of lighting breakthroughs were made. I bought triggers, new flash and made lots of DIY light modifiers. And it's good that you have a friend who knows a lot about lighting and you can learn from. However, as school started, portrait time got less and lesser due to studies... So my wish for 2009! Find more time to make more interesting modifiers and shoot better portriats!
Food
Turkish Delight Cheesecake, Dec 08
As most of my friends know, I love to eat! And I bake as well! So wouldn't it be nice if i can combine cooking and photography? Haha... That was what i set out to do this Dec holiday and here I present to you! Turkish Delight Cheesecake~ I particularly like this photo as it was kind of a breakthrough for me. The lighting used was newly thought out. In the past, I used mainly uniform lighting and decided to work more on arrangement of food but recently, I realised that lighting is equally important as well and thus decided to work on it:) Wish for 2009! Come up with more creative lighting for my food! And also work more on food styling, smthg that i am realli not good at:)
Random
Black Knight Flying Past IR, Aug 08
Lastly, I decided to post this photo to wish that all my friends will pass their exams in 2009 with flying colours! That aside, I hope that my passion for photography will be like the F16s soaring high despite in the midst of other commitments:)