Dana working out on treadmill

Getting ready..hopping on..with coach!

Getting the hang of it. Can I go faster, she says?

Walk at East Coast Park

East Coast Park must be the most popular recreational spot for many Singaporeans but regretably, the last time I was there was more than a year ago. I visited it again this evening because mum had to attend a social barbeque session with her friends so I tagged along with S and Dana. I was pleasantly surprised to see a new tower with blooming bougeanvilla.
Trying to take a photo together with camera shy Dana.

Can't see us? A closer shot.

Dana after a brisk jog on the lush greens.

I was commenting to S that it was a joy to see so many flowers and that Singapore is indeed becoming a City in a Garden, progressing from its earlier incarnation of a Garden City. This is really something I am proud of as a Singaporean.

Juicing resources

Some of the internet resources I found useful:

http://www.juicing-for-health.com/

http://www.juicingbook.com/

Juicing for Health e-Book preview
http://books.google.com.sg/books?id=GHhEQI6IPPEC&dq=juicing&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=U5lhJg2my2&sig=3QjR1xt1hdluCCpdwN0jYphkF4M&hl=en&ei=gpuqSf7bBZCo6gOUm4y0Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result#PPA9,M1

100th day and new bone for Dana

Went Bi Shan Ting today to pay respects to Grandpa on the occasion of 100th day from the day of passing. Apart from the usual rituals of offerings and burning of 'money', the tablet for his niche was completed with a photo of him in his 40s and chinese characters in golden lettering.


Family gathered around Grandpa's niche.

After a hawker centre porridge lunch at Bishan, S and I decided to pop down to Pet Movers to stock up on Azmira dry food for Dana. We bought a slow roasted lamb bone for Dana to reward her for her new found friendship with Alec.

We normally ration such bones for Dana, that is, to take the bone away from her after around 10-15 mins of gnawing. This time, she hid below a table to prevent her prize from being looted from her.

Dana's new best friend

Ben kindly passed his treadmill over to us and a big thanks to Uncle Keong and Alec for helping to transport it over.

Dana has always been very fierce towards Alec for some weird reason which we canot fathom. Today, when Alec visited, Dana displayed her usual guard-dog demeanour and barked the whole flat down. But surprsingly, after Alec entered (and with some assistance from Snowy who helped to distract Dana), Dana soon forgot about her previous feud with Alec and instead looked for Alec repeatedly for a scratch.

Hope this lasts! haha
New best friend...
Dana still looking at Alec for a scratch.

Chang Quan by World Champion Di Guang Wen

Photos of juicing

One of my daily hobbies is to juice fruits and vegetables. I juice twice a day: once in the morning after I wake up and once before dinner in the evening. And yes, juices should be drank before meal times so the body can best take in the nutrients.
Some of the fruits and vegetables I commonly juice.

Preparing the fruits and vegetables.

My trusty masticating MANUAL juicer. The typical electrical centrifugal juice extractor is actually not so good because the high speed rotating actually oxidises away much of the nutrients and enzymes of the juice.

Fruits of the 5 min labour.

Dana monitoring the operation all this while to see if she might get lucky with some extra food.

Here's a video of the masticating juicer at work.

Marina Barrage with parents and Dana

We thought it was a good opportunity to visit Marina Barrage yesterday as the weather was not so hot in the evening. The bad news was many thought the same way too. The good news for PUB is that the Barrage has turned into an attraction for Singapore. The carpark was packed to the brim and the barrage itself was crowded, so was the 7th Storey restaurant which is now operating from the Barrage.

A good view of the Flyer from the barrage.

Walking up the very thoughtfully designed ramp with Dana.

Sun was setting in the background.

It was really enjoyable sitting on the grass patch, watching the sun set and enjoying the breeze. Too bad about the second hand smoke that drifted over from somewhere.

Dusk.

Night.

Visit to Marina Barrage with Bro and Sis-in-law

Marina Barrage is Singapore's latest attraction. Situated at the mouth of Marina Bay (near the former Marina South steamboat dinner stalls), it serves the purposes of flood alleviation, reservoir and creates a stable water body for recreational activities.

There are no fences so visitors can visit any time of the day. And surprisingly, I enjoyed the visit!

Mad over fruit juices

It was just an innocuous visit to the wheatgrass farm at Kranji countryside. But the offer was too good to refuse, especially for an impulsive buyer as I am. A manual masticating juicer at $39 down from its original price of $49, and comes with two packets of wheatgrass free.

But the tactic is successful not unlike printers being sold cheap but the regular change of the ink cartridges can kill you; same for razors - I have seen the Gillette Mach 5 turbo razor which I am using having promotions month in and month out but the razor blades never discounted.

I digress. Back to the juicing.

One packet of wheatgrass retails for $2.50 at NTUC, and my wife and I go through one pack every 1.5 days. We do not drink the wheatgrass straight, too much of a grassy taste for us.

Instead, I use the juicer for all kinds of vegetables and fruits including celery, green apple, red apple, star fruit, carrot, grapefruit, lemon and lime.

My mum's favourite combination is currently red apples with celery and carrot. BTW, celery is good for people with higher blood pressure.