Bliss Yogurt Drink Cucumber Lime

720 days ago

I have to admit, I am not a fan of yogurt drinks. They tend to be too sticky and most are just too sweet. I mean, when you are thirsty, you...

I have to admit, I am not a fan of yogurt drinks. They tend to be too sticky and most are just too sweet. I mean, when you are thirsty, you can’t really drink a yogurt drink. And it can’t eat it like normal yogurt since they are so watery and not filling. Yes, there are some “probiotic” milk based drinks like Yakult and Vitagen which is kind of like yogurt drinks but they feel somehow different. But Nestle Bliss Yogurt Drinks kind of surprises me, especially the newer flavours. Previously, they had the normal Strawberry and whatever berry flavour. And of course, these are just too sticky and sweet. I usually cannot drink finish one bottle because of that. But this cucumber and lime flavour, it is very refreshing. Yes, it is still a bit too sticky but overall, it gives a great mouth-feel, especially when you are thirsty. I am rather impressed with Nestle – they have made use of the tropical flavours well. Interesting combination as well. Too bad, the yogurt drinks are not exactly cheap, considering that they are mostly water. Regular yogurt would probably be of better nutritional value than such drinks.But if you are into yogurt drinks, why not? Tastes great and rather convenient as well.

Sorry took the photo of the wrong side – this has Malay wordings on it. This is the Nestle Bliss 0% fat yogurt drink. Yes, this is 0% fat version.

Another view. Look – lime and cucumber! You know that it is going to be very refreshing!

Hmmm….with real fruit juice? Nice. I believe that it states inulin + live (yogurt) cultures = good digestion. Insulin is prebiotics, which acts as food for the probiotic bacteria. And live cultures do help maintain a healthy digestive system in your body. I would highly recommend everyone to consume some probiotics once in a while, if not everyday.

Here we have the nutritional table. Nothing too impressive here but this is yogurt drinks – basically diluted yogurt.

Some fun facts for you – Inulin is prebiotic. It helps increase intestinal Bifidobacteria. Well, to a certain extent prebiotics are great but do not over-do it. What is good for the probiotics can also be good for the bad bacteria in your body. I guess if you are feeling fine, there should not be any problem with consuming prebiotics.

Okay, the ingredients are sugar, fruit juices (lime & cucumber), milk solids, fructose, Inulin, Citric Acid, Mixed Live Cultures (l.acidophilus, Bifidobacterium and s.thermophilus), stabilizer and flavourings. So, since they claim that there is no artificial flavourings, where does these “flavourings” come from? I guess it could mean that the flavourings are from plants or naturally occurring. Oh, please keep this refrigerated at 4°C or it will go bad on you. Or the yogurt cultures in the drink will go bonkers and start eating all the sugars in the drink? Whatever. Enjoy the drink.

Suiss Mixed Berries Muesli Bars

721 days ago

After the Chinese New Year snacking, how not indulge ourselves in healthier snacks like Muesli bars eh? I mean what better way to try to make up for the over-consumption of...

After the Chinese New Year snacking, how not indulge ourselves in healthier snacks like Muesli bars eh? I mean what better way to try to make up for the over-consumption of sugar, carbohydrates, fat and processed foods by eating a ton of fibre? Yes, of course it is not perfect, but then nothing is. Life is full of trade offs so why not make full use of it. If you have been consuming too much Bak Kwa recently, it is a good idea to try to get rid of all those fat by eating fibre. And we all know that Muesli bars do have a lot of them. They usually come in the form of oats in the bars. And of course, most Muesli bars come with some form of dried fruits, which also contains fibre.

And this Suiss brand is from Switzerland! Ain’t it cool? Even in Singapore, we are able to enjoy foodstuff made all the way from Switzerland.

The Suiss Mixed Berry Passion Muesli bars. There are 6 bars in this box and it weights about 135g. Hey, it is low in fat and contains vitamins. Wow! Healthy right? We are all so afraid of “fat” that everything nowadays are labeled “low fat”. Anyway, what do you think of the packaging? Looks attractive right? I think purple works very well, especially if you have some sort of “berry” in your product. Makes consumers look twice at the product is good marketing.

The back of the Suiss Mixed Berry Passion thingy box.

Okay, Suiss Muesli Bars are filled with natural goodness and great taste. These delicious treats can only come from Switzerland, where the original muesli was invented. Suiss represents the finer taste of life. Only the freshest and finest ingredients are carefully selected for your enjoyment. Created by HACO Swiss, producer of premium foods worldwide since 1922. I didn’t know that the Swiss invented the Muesli bar. I thought it would be the Americans who did that, they being all king of “convenient” foodstuff.

The ingredients are cereals 47% (wheat, corn, oat and rice), pear juice concentrate, sugar, dehydrated berries 5.5% (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries & raspberries), barley malt, skim milk powder, acid, vegetable fat, salt, flavours, barley malt extract and vitamins (A, D, C, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, B6, folic acid and B12). Wow, good stuff I hope. Of course, I am not really that keen on fortification but it is all the rage around here. Everybody thinks that fortification is so wonderful.

Store in a cool dry place. That is smart advise. Best of all, it contains no artificial colours or sweeteners. Oh, no preservatives as well. That is definitely great news. I have seen many brands of Muesli bars that comes with tons of preservatives. Preservatives are indeed not really good for health, so avoid that whenever possible.

The Importer as above.

Ahhh…the actual bar itself. Tearing open that very attractive packaging and you will be greeted with some great tasting Muesli bars. And yes, it does taste delicious. It has this kind of tart flavour which is very refreshing compared to other Muesli bar flavours. The berry flavours really brings the taste to another level. Yes, it is a bit sweet but not too overwhelming. Great job there, Suiss guys!

More of the same.

The actual Muesli bar! Looks delicious doesn’t it? Go ahead buy a pack. I highly recommend this flavour to my readers.

Bengawan Solo Green Pea Cookies

721 days ago

Yet another one of those “unhealthy snacks” review! Well, not to worry, if you don’t over-consume them, I am pretty sure that it shouldn’t be a problem to your health. And...

Yet another one of those “unhealthy snacks” review! Well, not to worry, if you don’t over-consume them, I am pretty sure that it shouldn’t be a problem to your health. And it is Lunar New Year, a time for you to relax and not to worry about your health all the time. I am not saying that you should go overboard, but sometimes stress about food, can be unhealthy in a way. So sit back, relax and enjoy your snacks. Just like eating Bak Kwa and other Chinese New Year goodies, you aren’t going to eat them all year round right? If you are, well, I would say that you should really cut back.

Anyway, I will be reviewing this Bengawan Solo Green Pea cookies. It is made from green peas, duh! But seriously, how tasty can green peas be? From what I know, a lot of Chinese love green peas soup (not me) but seriously, green pea soup tastes very different from Green Pea Cookies. For green peas soup, they boil the whole damn thing in the pot and they serve it to you, which is kind of gross. Taste like melted pieces of leather in horrible looking green soup. Yucks! Green peas soup is definitely not something which I like. But Green Pea Cookies is altogether a different thing. First of all, it does not taste gross. Well, because of the huge amount of sugar in them. lol!

The Bengawan Solo Green Pea cookies. Looks nice right? Green flower shape cookies with small pieces of greenish specks. But as with most Bengawan Solo snacks, this is not cheap. High class stuff, dudes. Poor folks like me can only afford to eat this once in blue moon, which in a way is good.

Okay, the ingredients are flour, green pea, vegetable oil, sugar, salt and baking powder. Nothing special but yet so expensive. Sometimes it is the skill and the knowhow which makes all the difference. Of course, the quality of the ingredients will also affect the final product but guys, how much a difference in quality can green pea, sugar, salt and baking powder be? Anyway, what is surprising is that unlike other dried “green pea snacks”, this Bengawan Solo snack is very different. First of all, it does not leave a very sticky texture in your mouth after eating a few pieces. Those feels like peanut butter. Furthermore, unlike other snacks made from green pea, this is a real cookie, not as crumbly as the rest. And yes, not too sweet, which is really a plus.

Oh, there are about 350g of Green Pea Cookies in this box. Inflation is killing me.

There you have it, a closeup photo of the Bengawan Solo Green Pea Cookie. Small but hey, good things sometimes come in small packages. So if you have the money, why not try this Bengawan Solo snack? Definitely better than the other brands available in Singapore.

Chinese New Year – What’s Your Plans?

729 days ago

Hohoho – Chinese New Year is coming very soon. I am betting everyone is looking forward to the long holidays and a break from work. We have been working very hard...

Hohoho – Chinese New Year is coming very soon. I am betting everyone is looking forward to the long holidays and a break from work. We have been working very hard since New Year (which was like 6 weeks ago) and surely this is a good time for a rest. But the problem as usual is that it is the holidays. Everywhere you go, there will bound be the crowds. Want to go Malaysia? Expect a huge crowd there as well. Airports, the Causeway which links Singapore to Johor, the shopping malls, the bus terminals, the train terminals…..they all will be crowded. If you are like me who hates the crowd, then squeezing through thongs of people isn’t your cup of tea. I know a number of people who actually enjoy crowding with others though. Not sure why. But perhaps they like the atmosphere and the smell of sweaty people. Hey, whatever yanks your chain I guess.

Anyway, for me, I will be staying home. Perhaps go for some slow walks around my neighbourhood. And of course visit some of my friends and relatives. For me, Chinese New Year is basically that. I don’t like going for tours or overseas during the holidays. Why join the crowd right? I just rent a few DVDs and enjoy the movies at home. Or check up with some reading. Or simply relax at home doing absolutely nothing at all! Of course, since the majority of Singaporeans are Chinese, a number of places are closed. But I know that some supermarkets are open even during the holidays. This shows that Singapore does have a huge influx of foreign workers, so they would be able to field enough workers to open their supermarkets. Although a lot of Chinese nationals will be going number, a number would be staying as well. Furthermore, there are a lot of other foreigners who do not celebrate Chinese New Year. This would be a good time for them to make some extra money from working during the holidays.

How about you guys? What would you be doing for the holidays? Since this Chinese New Year falls on Sunday, we get a 4 day long weekend! Long enough to go for a short trip to a nearby tourist resort right? Most people will be going to Malaysia. Some to visit their relatives but mostly to enjoy the sights and the sounds of our northern neighbour. But do note that you will be joining crowds of Singaporeans as well. And it is not like Malaysian businessmen do not know that it is also Chinese New Year down here. They will be charging you an arm and a foot – this is what they call “chop carrot head” in Singapore. If I am not wrong, if you go to Genting Highlands resort, it is 3 times the normal rate for this upcoming holiday season. Why pay so much for the same thing when you can enjoy the resort at a much lower price at other times? I mean just take leave on a normal day and travel without the extra expenses and the crowds. Singapore is crowded. The purpose is to get away from the crowd.  But I guess Singaporeans are so stressed that we try to enjoy ourselves whenever we can. Long weekends are the best time for that! Don’t you just wish that you can leave Singapore and the stressful lifestyle and go somewhere quiet and peaceful without your stupid boss telling you what to do?

Anyway, I hope that whatever your plans are, it would turn out enjoyable. Gong Xi Fa Cai and enjoy the holidays!