We Need Maids??!!

982 days ago

Well, of course we do. Unlike in the “olden” times when the wife can usually stay at home and take care of the family, nowadays, it is very different. The cost...

Well, of course we do. Unlike in the “olden” times when the wife can usually stay at home and take care of the family, nowadays, it is very different. The cost of living in Singapore has gotten so high that most of the couples cannot afford to have only one breadwinner, so both have to work. And they do work very long hours. So when they get back home, they are most probably too tired to do any housework or anything else for that matter. Thus, they are left with the only option – hire a maid to take care of the housework. Can we blame them? No, the society nowadays is so hectic that they are left with not much options at all. And even worse, some of them have to bring back work to do. I doubt that most of them don’t even have time to get a proper rest at night, let alone doing household cores.

How about parents with little children?  For them, they are even worse off. Taking care of children requires a lot of effort, time and energy, something which their work had siphoned off. Most parents would leave their kids at child care and only in the evenings, take them back home. Or at most have their parents to do the taking care. However, some parents do not the luxury of having their parents to take care of their little ones, and yet again, the only option is having a maid to help out. And no matter what the government says, Singapore employers are properly the worst when it comes to flexibility in working hours. So, it is either come and leave on a fixed time or you are fired. And Singapore employers lack understanding. I have seen a lot of such cases to tell you that Singapore’s population increase will never come at the expense of businesses. I had thought that it is a small sacrifice for the country to pay for increasing the national birthrate, however apparently, the government thinks otherwise. They seem to favour importing foreign talent instead. Who am I to question the experts in our government?

Anyway, if you are interested in hiring a maid, please take a look at my listing of Singapore Maid Agencies.  From what I heard from my friends and relatives, hiring maids is easy, hiring a good maid is tough. You will have to face with all sorts of unscrupulous maid agents, unethical maid agencies  and lazy maids. I wish you good luck and it is important for you to ask your friends and relatives with have experience with hiring maids.

Caspian Sea Yogurt (Matsoni) Photos

983 days ago

Man, I just love this Caspian Sea Yogurt (Matsoni). It not only taste great, the yogurt is easy to make as well. Even easier than making Kefir. You don’t need to...

Man, I just love this Caspian Sea Yogurt (Matsoni). It not only taste great, the yogurt is easy to make as well. Even easier than making Kefir. You don’t need to do any straining at all. You just add some of the previous batch of Caspian Sea Yogurt into milk, cover the container with a piece of cloth and let it ferment for like 8 hours or so. In Singapore’s weather, I guess about 8 hours should be more than enough. In countries with a colder climate, longer fermentation is required. After the fermentation is complete (you can observe that the yogurt is stable when tilted), you can start eating this delicious yogurt. Of course, you will need to keep some yogurt in a very clean container to innoculate the next batch. It is just so simple that I am surprised that not many people are making their own yogurt using this strains of bacteria.

For those who are interested in the taste, well, I have to say that it definitely taste better than regular yogurt. Regular yogurt have this tart taste, which a lot of people find off-putting. They add tons of sugar, flavouring and other additives to make it palatable. For this Caspian Sea Yogurt, it taste bland not sour. And in fact, there is a slight sweetness to it. Adding fruits or honey would make it very agreeable with most consumers. You don’t need sugar. The Japanese love it, and you know that the Japanese are very fussy when it comes to the taste of their food. Health-wise, I am not very sure. Well, we know that there are probiotics in the Caspian Sea Yogurt since it is made from the Caspian Sea Yogurt cultures but other than that, I cannot find much information about it. Anyway, most of the information on the CSY is in Japanese, as the Japanese did a lot of research on it. Hopefully, someone can translate those information into English for us. I am very keen to see what kinds of vitamins, minerals and nutrients the CSY has. I also wonder what the CSY bacteria is doing in my gut when I consume it.

And if you are worried about any risk, I have to inform you that this CSY has been consumed by generations of Georgians and they supposedly live very long lives.  Yes,of course, I am not saying that CSY is the only reason why their health is so good, but I am sure that it is part of it. So don’t worry, if your equipment and handling is clean and proper, the CSY will turn out fine. I heard that this strain is very hardy and should not have any problems. Make sure you use pasteurised milk for making CSY. It seems that UHT milk will turn your CSY lumpy.

Creamy Caspian Sea Yogurt! Just check out how thick it is! By the way, I am using full cream milk here. If you are using low fat milk or skim milk, you might find that your yogurt is a bit on the watery side. I always encourage my readers to use full cream milk instead of low fat milk to make yogurt. Also note that how white it is. Most regular yogurt will have this slightly yellowish tint to it, but CSY results in very white yogurt! Yes, very appealing!

Yes, feels like honey.

Another photo showing how “sticky” this yogurt is.  I doubt that you will be able to get this kind of creaminess and stickness with the regular yogurt. Most of the end results I have with making regular yogurt is lumpy and slightly runny yogurt. Even with the Easiyo Yogurt Base, I don’t get this kind of texture. That is why I am sticking to CSY for my yogurt fix!

Final picture of the CSY. Yummy!

I hope that these pictures are enough to convince you to try out Caspian Sea Yogurt. Leave the boring old regular yogurt behind and start enjoying extremely delicious yogurt. It is cheaper (hey, economy now no good), delicious and easy to do. I bought my yogurt culture from eBay. Not very expensive – about US$10. And because it is a very hardy strain, you can continue to use a small amount of the previous batch to make your next batch of yogurt. Lasts forever if properly handled.

Pokka Shake Jelly Grape Juice Drink

984 days ago

Don’t you just love the Japanese? They seemed to come up with all sorts of weird kind of drinks. I remembered along time ago when my parents brought back a funny...

Don’t you just love the Japanese? They seemed to come up with all sorts of weird kind of drinks. I remembered along time ago when my parents brought back a funny shaped bottle of drink which had some funny jelly like substance mixed with some funky coloured sugar water, I couldn’t help myself but to finish it all up. Well, all it matters was it was something new and interesting and had tons of sugar it in. Ya, my taste wasn’t that complex at that time. I am sure that a lot of young kids have the same “taste” as me, just look at my nephews. However, nowadays I don’t drink these kind of sweet drinks much anymore. One thing is for my health and the other is that I no longer crave for sugar. But with that said, I am still quite eager to try out new stuff, so when I was out doing some errands, I came across this Pokka Shake Jelly Grape Juice Drink which came in a very unique metallic bottle. Who here says eye candy don’t work? So, I went ahead and bought it, just for fun. And it is quite pricey too. Come to think of it, nearly everything is expensive in Singapore nowadays, even with the recession hitting us at full force.

The Pokka Shake Jelly Grape Juice Drink. Yes, this bottle is actually made from some sort of metallic material. Very very unique. And like most Japanese consumer products, very eye catching. I am sure that a lot of local companies have started to learn from the Japanese in this regards, I hope that they will also start to produce better quality stuff instead of the poor quality crap they have been manufacturing for decades.  Sometimes I wonder why Singaporean companies never collapse years ago.

Yes, looks good eh? I think the Japanese wordings at the bottom is saying that the drink contains about 10% grape juice. Look at the crytal jelly! Ahhh…..very very tempting.

Here you have the diagram telling you to shake the bottle. Other than that, I have no idea what they are saying. Oh, this Pokka drink cost S$1.30. I bought it from some small minmart at Hougang which I cannot remember the name. They call themselves Super Minimart. Interesting….

There, the Shake Shake Jelly Grape Juice Drink’s ingredients list – Fructose, Glucose syrup, grape juice, edible gum, acidulant, calcium lactate, flavour, vitamin c and emulsifier. Surprisingly very little in terms of ingredients for this drink. Normally, we would find a long long list of ingredients which we never heard before, so thank god for that. Generally, short ingredients lists are better. This bottle contains about 275ml of delicious “shake shake” jelly. Lol!

Product of Japan. Don’t play play. The Japanese are indeed very innovative. Considering that this is a pretty common product (it’s just jelly!), they have managed to reinvent it and marketed it to be some sort of “cutesy” drink. Kudos to the Japanese. And oh, this is a jelly drink. Recommended to shake the can more than 5 times before drinking, and you can enjoy a variety of texture according to how vigorous you shake it. There is also caution – contains soft jelly, may cause choking. Consume with care and jelly must be chewed carefully especially for children and the elderly. Okay.

The top of the Pokka bottle. The way they design the bottle, I have to say well done.

For those who are interested in the taste of the Jelly drink, well…..it is not bad. What is surprising is that the jelly drink is not too sweet. And the grape flavour is still quite strong.

Myths About Kefir/Kefir-Making

985 days ago

I have been getting a number of good questions from my readers regarding Kefir and the Kefir-making process. There are many opinions and ideas about this wonderful drink and the process...

I have been getting a number of good questions from my readers regarding Kefir and the Kefir-making process. There are many opinions and ideas about this wonderful drink and the process to make it. I know that it is near impossible to “prove” or to “disprove” most of these theories and opinions, but I hope that my own opinions can help to clear some doubts. For the record, I am not an expert in Kefir. I have been making Kefir for only about 6 to 7 months and mainly for my own consumption. All these opinions are just from my experience.

Myth: Kefir or the Kefir grains cannot come in contact with metal.

If you use stainless steel (like what most kitchen utensils are now), it should be fine. Stainless Steel doesn’t react with acids like aluminum or copper does, so you should not have any problems with stainless steel. For long term storage however, perhaps it still would be better to avoid even stainless steel.

Myth: Can only use Raw Milk to make Kefir.

Raw milk is the best, since the Kefir grains are adapted to the Raw Milk environment. And of course Raw Milk is the most nutritious milk of them all (as compared to pasteurised and ultra-pasteurised(UHT) milk). However, this does not mean that you can only use Raw Milk to make your Kefir. In fact, any type of milk will do. However, I do not recommend UHT milk as it is ultra-heated and a lot of the vitamins and nutrients in the milk have been destroyed. We are consuming Kefir for our health, so might as well make full use of the nutritional value of the milk. The most practical for most of us is still pastuerised milk.

Myth: Do not use Plastic as your container to ferment your Kefir.

If you use food grain plastics (like PET), you should be fine. There are people who worry about chemicals leeching from these plastics and contaminating your Kefir. But seriously, unless you are fermenting your kefir for months on end, the tiny weeny amount of plastic chemicals being leeched out is less than the amount you consume from that chicken rice packed in styrofoam boxes. Food grade plastic is cheap, convenient and not easily breakable. However, if you thinking of storing Kefir in a plastic bottle (for a longer period of time), then perhaps you have something to worry about. A glass jar would be a more appropriate medium.

Myth: Rinsing the Kefir grains with unchlorinated water after each ferment is healthy for the grains.

I find that very doubtful. Rinsing the grains may make it more visually appealing to some but I really doubt it is healthy for the grains. In fact, I think that the water might damage the grains as they are not meant for staying in a water medium. I myself have never rinsed my grains and they are growing very well. From what I read, rinsing them with water will affect the grains’ own microflora. But if you find that the grains have small pieces of curd and crusts stuck to them which cannot be easily removed, then try rinsing them with milk instead of water. Anyway, healthy grains should not have any such crusts stuck to them. If such difficult to remove “curd and crusts” are observed on the grains, it could be a sign that your grains are unhealthy.

Myth:  Kefir is a cure-all miracle foodstuff.

Although Kefir is a very healthy and nutritious dairy product and has a number of health giving properties, it is not a cure-all. And don’t expect Kefir to perform miracles for you either. In fact, I am pretty sure there is no such thing as a cure-all miracle thingy. The probiotics in the Kefir have been known to enhance your immune system, improve your digestive system and so on but everything else still depends on your diet, whether you exercise or not, environmental conditions, mental wellbeing and if you are sick, please go see a doctor!

Myth: Kefir has everything you need to survive.

As I mentioned above, Kefir is a very nutritious dairy product and the fermentation process makes the milk more digestible, but you will still need a balanced diet. I think that moderate amounts of all kinds of food is healthy and that includes Kefir. The important thing is to understand that Kefir helps to supplement your daily diet and not the other way round. Drinking one or two cups of Kefir every day is good, drinking like 10 cups of Kefir and not consuming other foodstuff might be dangerous to your health.

The Oppressive Heat Of Singapore

986 days ago

Don’t you guys agree? Yesterday when I returned home, I went to bath and just after I came out of the bathroom, I started to perspire again. Yes, it was that...

Don’t you guys agree? Yesterday when I returned home, I went to bath and just after I came out of the bathroom, I started to perspire again. Yes, it was that warm. I can hardly believe it. However, it has been warm for the past few weeks already. Feels like I am perpetually living in an overheated oven. In fact, my office with it’s air conditioning actually looked more tempting than my own room (no air conditioning there). Even in the mornings, I do feel the heat. Normally I would wake up with my hands and feet cold, now I wake up on a pool of sweat on my bed. You can imagine what it is like in the afternoons when we go out for our lunch. The sun is so blazing hot that you can’t even look upwards! It is no wonder that everyone ducks to the nearest shopping mall for some air-condition comfort from the sun.

I really hope that it will get less warm in the coming months. But from experience, June and July are usually the warmest months of the year, especially in Singapore. So if May is already that warm, I would expect much worse in the coming months. Imagine the heat! I really pity those people who have to work in the sun. They spend hours and hours working under the cruel sun and earning very little, yet they have to tahan the heat. Construction work is properly the toughest job of them all. I mean most of us complain about the weather, yet we spend most of our time in our air-conditioned offices. These people have to face the oppressing heat day in and day out. Sometimes we think that our own job is tough, but looking back, there are always some jobs which are much tougher than ours.

Perhaps what they say about global warming is true? If the world is indeed getting warmer due to our actions, I think it is now time for us to act. If not, I think we will all be burnt alive in this man-made oven we call Earth. Well, of course I am saying this because of the heat that is killing me these few weeks. I am sure that if the weather is cool again, I (and many people like me) would have forgotten about trying to protect the environment and continue to do whatever we have been doing without any care to the environment. Sad.

Meiji Fran Patisserie Mix Berry

987 days ago

Very cool french name! But the truth is that this is just a glorified cream covered Pocky stick. You remember in the past there was only like a few types of...

Very cool french name! But the truth is that this is just a glorified cream covered Pocky stick. You remember in the past there was only like a few types of such snacks? Pocky comes in only 3 flavours – plain, strawberry or chocolate. Now they come in different shapes and sizes and they have tons of exotic flavours. Ahhh….how times have changed. Anyway this is just a stick biscuit covered with some mixed berry cream and every one thinks that it is super special. But I like it. Yes, I know that I am suppose to eat healthy but hey, who says you can enjoy yourself once in a while. It is not like I am eating such things every day. And even if I want to, I can’t afford it. With such a name like “Fran Patisserie”, do you expect it to be cheap?

After I did a little research on the Pocky Snacks, which are actually stick biscuits, I realize that such snacks do have a lot of fans. There is even a site which is called “Pocky Shrine”! Just google for “Pocky Shrine” and you will be directed to the site. I am just surprised to see that there are such fateful fans of such an simple snack. Not simple you say? As I mentioned before, basically it is just a stick biscuit covered with flavoured cream. Why such a big hoohaa over this? I really hope that I will not be bombarded with hate email after Pocky fans found out that I made such a remark.

Don’t you just love the Japanese? The design of the Fran Patisserie is simple, yet elegant. I don’t understand why other brands don’t follow suit? Perhaps a lot of snack manufacturers (especially local ones) don’t really want to spend a large sum of money on marketing and designing of their snacks.  Perhaps they are more interested in making the “perfect” product for their customers to enjoy? Not likely but one can always hope right?

Ya, Fran Patisserie! Open there.

The back of the Meiji Fran Patisserie pack. All in Japanese. Actually, this can be considered good marketing. All you have to do is write Japanese words on your wrapping or packaging and it will automatically be assumed to be from Japan and highly sought after.

Just check out the ingredients list! It contains wheat flour, sugar, cocoa butter, lactose, vegetable fat, whole milk powder, shortening (cream powder), raspberry powder, cocoa powder, condensed(cndensed??) milk powder, trehalose, cultured milk powder, black raspberry powder, malt extract, cheese powder, skim milk powder, dehydrated strawberry, salt, almond paste, emulsifier (containing soy bean), leavening, acidulant, colouring (Flavonoid), monascus, colour, flavouring, antioxidant (Vitamin E) and Vitamin C. What is the thing with all these powders? Seems to me that they made this product entirely from powders! And remember, too much processed food is bad for you. Looking at the long list of ingredients, I can only say that this is definitely bad for you. But you should indulge yourself once in a while!

This is a product of Japan! Don’t you love Japanese stuff? From the ever increasing number of stores selling Japanese goods, I have to say that most Singaporeans do. And Korean stuff too.

That’s what you get inside. Only 3 small packs of Fran Patisserie.

The Meiji Patisserie pack.

Sorry, I left this in my study room for a bit too long and the weather was very warm, so the cream melted slightly. You can see that a small amount of the cream is stuck to the wrapping. If I have not left it in my study, this picture would definitely look better.  I apologize. But if you are looking for a quick snack which is not too sweet but still flavourful, I think that this Meiji Fran Patisserie should be a good choice. My nephew loves to eat off the cream and hand the stick to me to finish up. Lol!

6 Months After Kefir

989 days ago

What do you know!? Yes, it has been 6 months since I start taking Kefir. And yes, I take Kefir every day, except the week I went outfield during my reservist....

What do you know!? Yes, it has been 6 months since I start taking Kefir. And yes, I take Kefir every day, except the week I went outfield during my reservist. If you are wondering what Kefir is, well, it is a probiotic powerhouse of a drink, made from milk. What you do is ferment the milk with Kefir grains and in about 12-24 hours, you will have Kefir. It is full of mineral and vitamins as well as tons of good bacteria. Those bacteria are good for you and for your intestinal health. They help to maintain a good well-balanced digestive system and hence regulates your immune system. And like all fermented foodstuff, it taste tart and tangy. However, Kefir does have this slightly yeasty smell which can be a little off-putting. A lot of my friends won’t go near plain yogurt and guess what happens when I place a cup of Kefir in front of them? Most of them just freak out and run away. Who can blame them? We are spolit with all those sugar rich foodstuff that we don’t know that fermented foods can be very good and nutritious for us and worst of all, we cannot appreciate the taste of fermented foods.

Anyway, I have been taking Kefir every day for the past 6 months. And seriously, it has been very very beneficial to my health. Here are the some benefits I have felt since taking the Kefir. Please note that I am not a doctor nor am I some health researcher, the following are just my observations. These are the observations I have seen since I started taking Kefir 6 months ago.

  1. I don’t feel as tired as before. Normally I would get very tired by the early afternoon. But now, I feel more active, energized and alive even in the evenings. My work life has certainly improved as I am able to complete my work much faster than before. My concentration have improved by leaps and bounds as well. Sometimes I feel that I can take on the entire world. Actually, not being so tired all the time has really improved my overall social life as I can spend more time with my family and friends.
  2. I am able to clear my bowels more regularly. No, I don’t have constipation but I can feel that I am clearing my bowels more regularly, which is a good thing. This means that my digestive system is healthy and that means the food I have eaten is being digested efficiently. Remember, eating all the healthy foods in the world is useless unless you are able to absorb all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals in those foodstuff. That is why a healthy digestive system is the utmost importance.
  3. For the past 6 months, I have not fallen ill even once. Hey for me, it is wonderful. Prior to that, I have been falling ill at the rate of once per 4 months. Usually it is flu, fever, cough, most of which I believe is spread to me via our public transport system. All around me people are coughing, sneezing in my face, but I seemed to be rather immune to the germs. I believe that the Kefir has really help improve my immune system. I cross my fingers that it will continue to do so. I hate getting sick. And looking at the general health conditions of Singaporeans, I think that we should start eating more healthy stuff.
  4. My skin seems livelier and more radiant. Not that really care that much, me being a guy and all. But my skin which has not been good since I can remember, suddenly I see a mark improvement. Although I still get the occasional pimple here and there, my face and the rest of my skin seems to be doing very well. It actually looks a little like a baby’s skin. No kidding! I am sure my female readers would be very interested in this. LOL!
  5. No more knee pain. Surprisingly, it seems that my knee problems have gone away. Well, it might be the calcium in the milk that is helping since Kefir is made from milk anyway, but I am still glad. Those knee problems have been haunting me since I started working, going off and on without any warning. But for the past 4 months or so, I did not face any more knee problems. Thank the gods!
  6. You guys know that I suffer from insomnia right? But after taking Kefir a few hours before I sleep at night, I don’t have this problem anymore. Well, unless I am super stressed of course. Able to sleep comfortably is good. It helps prevent irritability in the morning and makes everything solvable again. I mean, what cannot be solved after a good night’s sleep? I would highly recommend you to have a cup of Kefir every night before you sleep if you suffer from insomnia. If I am not wrong, I think that it has some chemicals which makes you feel calm and relax and that really helps you sleep.
  7. Better appetite. I normally don’t have much of an appetite, especially when I am very stressed. I sometimes would miss my meals altogether. But after consuming Kefir, I felt that my appetite has improved and I have started eating more regularly. For those who worry that drinking Kefir will make them eat more, don’t worry. I used to eat very little. In my opinion, it is merely telling me that I should consume more food. And my weight have NOT been affected at all. I am still as skinny as those supermodels (not that I am comparing them of course).
  8. Feel healthier overall. Seriously. I feel much better. Less sickness, less tiredness, less irritability, less bad stuff….I am actually quite happy with my life! Isn’t that what we all ultimately aim for?

So there you have it. My experience after 6 months of regularly consuming Kefir. Again, I would highly recommend you to try drinking Kefir (in place of dairy milk) every day and in about 2 to 3 months time, you will come back here and thank me for it! If you are living in Singapore and would like to have a shot at Kefir making, please email me at admin (AT) efwsg.org and I will see whether I have any spare grains for you.

I however need to warn my readers that this Kefir is NOT some sort of miracle cure for all sort of illness and diseases. Don’t think that drinking Kefir will make you immortal or that no diseases will get you. It might be a powerful weapon you can use to fight off diseases and other ailments but someone still needs to weld it. You will have to maintain a healthy diet and exercise regularly for it to be effective. Ciao and good health to you.

Yoplait Original Harvest Peach Yogurt

991 days ago

I really cannot get enough of yogurt. Every day when I pass by those supermarkets, my mind would be wondering whether the supermarket brought in any new stock of yogurt and...

I really cannot get enough of yogurt. Every day when I pass by those supermarkets, my mind would be wondering whether the supermarket brought in any new stock of yogurt and whether there is any special offers for yogurt.  It is like somehow yogurt is connected to supermarkets and my brain. When I pass any supermarkets, the yogurt will send signals to my brain telling it to go in and purchase them. Luckily, I am not rich. That is why my fridge is not stock full of yogurt. And I love trying out new brands of yogurt. You can find a number of those unknown brands in Cold Storage and of course, as all Cold Storage stuff, they cost dearly. If I am not wrong, Cold Storage caters to the more affluent group of Singaporeans and foreigners. Poor people like me will be stuck with eating the runny Marigold yogurt all our life. Kind of sad if you think about it.

However, at times, there will be offers. This is when I come in. Those reduced prices could go as low as 50%! Just like this Yoplait Yogurt I purchased about 2 weeks back, the price has halved. The original price for this 170g of Yogurt was actually S$5 something but I got it for S$2.85 or so. If I am not wrong, the yogurt was about to expire, so they had to clear stock. Hey, again, beggars cannot be choosers. And I have to tell you, Yoplait yogurt does taste very very delicious. However, one thing I realize about American yogurt is that they are very sweet, the Yoplait brand is no exception. Even the Australian yogurt are not as sweet. Guess Americans do have a sweet tooth. Anyway, it is not like I am able to afford to eat this brand every day, so it should be alright.

The Yoplait Original 99% Fat Free Harvest Peach Yogurt. What is the difference between Harvest Peach and the normal peach? The peaches are fresher? No idea, but the most important is that the yogurt does taste very nice. And don’t you love the Yoplait logo? That cute little 5 petals flower standing all straight? No? Well, it is your loss then. LOL!

A more detailed picture of the Yogurt cup. Do notice that it is inverted. The thinner portion is on the top while the wider portion is on the bottom. This is significant because although the Yogurt cup looks big, it is actually not. On the bottom with its wider portion has a empty space about a few centimeters. Yes, I said empty space. Well, what can I say except that that’s business for you.

Hoot! 20% daily value of calcium and Vitamin D! Very nice indeed.  Hope that these are easily absorbed by the body.

Low-fat Yogurt. 1% milkfat vitamins A & D added. And yes, check out the Live & Active Cultures logo on the bottom. That means that this yogurt is suppose to contain a certain amount of live & active cultures when you consume it within the best before date. You know that live & active cultures in yogurt is good for your intestines and your overall digestive system?

Here we have the ingredients – cultured pasteurized grade a low fat milk, sugar, peaches, modified corn starch, high fructose corn syrup, nonfat milk, kosher gelatin, natural flavour, citric acid, tricalcium phosphate, pectin, coloured with annatto extract, vitamin a actate and vitamin d3. Those live culutres include l.acidophilus – just like those in Vitagen. Remember, these cultures are important for you. Make sure that all the yogurt you consume comes with such live and active cultures.

Ya, no trans fat! This yogurt is not a significant source of dietary fiber, vitamin c & iron. So you will need to consume other food products to get those nutrients. Remember always to eat all foods moderately. When I encourage my readers to eat yogurt, I don’t mean like 1 kg of yogurt per day while ignoring other foodstuff. I would say about 250g or 300g of good quality yogurt per day is good. When I say good quality yogurt, I don’t mean the Yoplait sugar yogurt, but fresh, plain yogurt. Plain yogurt do not contain sugars.

Superbee Pure Australian Honey

993 days ago

Don’t you just love honey? You guys should know that I do. It is not only delicious but a very healthy alternative to sugar. The major problem with our table sugar...

Don’t you just love honey? You guys should know that I do. It is not only delicious but a very healthy alternative to sugar. The major problem with our table sugar (Sucrose) is that it is highly processed and stripped off most (if not all) it’s nutrients. That is why we are getting such nice white looking sugar and why it is the cause of a lot of our health issues. We simply eat too much processed sugar (sucrose) in our diets! In just one candy bar, you could be consuming more sugar (which contributes to weight gain) than let’s say beef! Yes, even the same amount of fatty beef do not do that much harm to your body. However, in our society, unless you are some sort of cook-it-yourself health nut, you will always come across food which sugar had been added. You cannot avoid it. My only suggestion is to consume table sugar or foods containing sugar in moderate amounts. In fact, you should consume all foods in moderate amounts.

Raw Honey, unlike table sugar is not a highly processed foodstuff. Of course, most honey we find in our stores have been filtered, heated, and treated with something somewhere which makes the Honey lose most of it’s important healing properties. That is why I recommend Raw Organic Honey which has not been processed (heated) nor filtered. But they are expensive and sometimes hard to find. The main reason why they are expensive is because it is difficult to remove the honey from the honey combs without heat, so it takes a much longer time for the manufacturer to produce the honey. Time is Money. But the health benefits it confers is tremendous. However, if you cannot find Organic Raw Honey, you should look for those Honey that during the manufacturing process have not been heated over 47°C. Heating over 47°C will kill off the enzymes and some of the nutrients and vitamins and thus lose most of it’s health giving benefits.

Anyway, I purchase this Superbee Pure Australian Honey from NTUC. If I am not wrong, NTUC’s own housebrand Honey is exactly the same, just that they replace the label with their own. I emailed Superbee to ask about the process in making their honey and they told me that the honey has not been heated above 47°C but it has been filtered. They claim that heating the Honey at 47°C  will not harm the honey’s nutritional value in any way. Filtering will remove the Pollen, Bee Wax and other “impurities”, making the honey look more appealing to the customers. Again, this is rather sad as those “impurities” are actually good for us.

The Superbee Pure Australian Honey. I bought the 1kg bucket because it was on offer.

Yes, this is a product of Australia, seeing that it is made from Pure Australian Honey.

Ya, a good energy booster right? It is actually good to take a tablespoon of honey in the morning. You will feel more energized.  The ingredients as you guys might have already guessed is 100% Pure Australian Honey. Oh, the label also states that honey will crystallize naturally. But can be returned to liquid by placing the jar in warm water. Note that it is warm water, not boiling water. You don’t want to kill off any enzymes in the honey. This is of course with the assumption that there are enzymes there in the first place.

Marigold Hi-Calcium Fresh Soya Milk

994 days ago

Well, here we go again – yet another review. This time it is on the Marigold Hi-Calcium Fresh Soya Milk. Ya ya ya, everyone is talking about Soya Bean Milk as...

Well, here we go again – yet another review. This time it is on the Marigold Hi-Calcium Fresh Soya Milk. Ya ya ya, everyone is talking about Soya Bean Milk as a healthy alternative to Cow Juice but seriously, you guys must look beyond the hype. First of all, even if the Soya Milk contains a lot of calcium, the important thing is whether your body is able to absorb the calcium and make use of it. The answer for Soya Milk is no, the calcium contained within is not easily absorbed as compared to cow’s milk. So this Hi-Calcium Soya Bean Milk, although does contain quite a high amount of calcium, it is not used efficiently by the body.  The proteins in the Soya Bean Milk is not complete, unlike the proteins you find in dairy products. You will need to supplement the proteins with other stuff so as to get a complete protein workout for your body. And Soya Bean does contain toxins which can be very harmful to your body. If you would like to read more about the dangers of Soy and Soy products, please read here. There are also a lot of other resources out there with information about how harmful Soy and Soy products are. However, as with all “research”, take everything with a pinch of salt and in the end, you should judge for yourself whether it is true or not.

Yes, I too have been hoodwinked by big corporations into thinking that Soy products, especially Soy milk is good for you. It is not really that good. They say that the “Asians” have been taking Soy products for centuries without any ill effects, I tell you it is wrong. My grandparents never took any Soy products except fermented Tofu, Soya Sauce and in small amounts. It is only my parents and my generation that started on Soya Milk and Bean Curd and so on. Note that nearly all the Soy products my parents consumed are fermented and should contain less toxins than the non-fermented kind. It is only recently like a few decades ago that Tofu started to make in-roads into our “Asian” diet. And my parents who took a lot of Soy products are not any healthier than my grandparents. In fact, we tend to get sick more often than not even with the massive consumption of Soy products.

No, I am not telling you to stop eating Soy products. I am saying that you should moderate the amount of Soy products. Do not replace cow’s milk with Soy milk. Do not replace dairy proteins with Soy proteins. If you like to drink Soya Milk, by all means drink it. But in moderate amounts. I like Soya Milk as well. I enjoy Bean Curd once in a while and I really love Tofu. The important thing is to think of them as perhaps a condiment or a dessert and not as a food source.

We have Marigold Hi-Calcium Fresh Soya Milk. Look at the white nice looking milk you have there, just like Cow’s milk. The real colour of Soya Milk is not like that – it should be brownish in colour. In order for them to get that kind of “whiteness”, a lot of processing is needed.

Cool, got BonePlus which includes Vitamins K &D. And the Soya Bean is naturally cholesterol free. Look they even have the Health promotion Board logo! I wonder whether the Health promotion Board really do look into what health benefits the Soya Bean confers before they approve such things?

But at least they tell everyone to eat all foods in moderation. Now that is a very smart advise.

Hooot! The ingredients includes Non-GMO Soya Beans, sucrose, soya protein, tricalcium phosphate, permitted stabiliser and emulsifier, sodium citrate, permitted flavouring, nictotinamide, calcium-D-pantothenate, Vitamin B2, Vitamin K, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B6 and Vitamin D3. Wow, a little too much additives for me to consider them as healthy right? I mean all those Vitamins are nice and all that, but what is this flavouring, nicotinamide, calcium-D-pantothenate, sodium citrate and whatever stabilisers for? Look at the bright side, at least they use Non-GMO beans.

The American Soybean Association recommends Soya Milk as a nutritious food for daily use. And slowly our generation is getting poisoned by these “Associations”. I often wonder how these people can sleep at night knowing that they are poisoning people with such wild claims?

2 glasses of Marigold Hi-Calcium Fresh Soya Milk provide 14g of natural soya protein. If you drink so much Soya Milk per day, you are in danger and you should really cut down. I think you should at most drink about 1 cup of Soya Milk.

Manufactured by Malaysia Dairy Industries Pte Ltd. Aiya, looks like this is also made in Singapore. Singaporeans making products to poison Singaporeans is kind of sad. But seriously, Soya Milk is very delicious but I guess we just consume too much of it in our daily diet. It is perhaps time for us to realize the dangers of over consumption of Soy products.

Lol, Marigold Fresh Soya Milk – it is all in the beans! This milk is supposed to be high in calcium with Vitamins K & D. The Vitamins K & D work synergistically to help calcium absorption and improve bone strength. And they added 5 types of Vitamins B! The Soya Milk is naturally cholesterol free but they are forgetting that there are good cholesterol and bad cholesterol. It is also low in saturated fat and a source of proteins. Well, cool loh. Furthermore, it contains no preservatives & colouring and it is lactose free. Errr….of course it is lactose free – it is not dairy what!

The top of the carton. 1 litre of Soya Milk ready for me to drink. Not too worry, I am cutting down on my consumption of Soya Milk. I will probably drink about 1 glass of this Soya Milk per day at most.

As those long ear people in that Star Trek Movie say “Live long and prosper!”

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