German Market Place (in SG)

Today I finally decided to drop by the German Market Place which I have found over the internet.
When I was over in Stuttgart, we found an Asian supermarket - BETA Supermarket (exact location I'm not sure... keke) so I thought here in Singapore, there must be at least ONE shop that sells German products.
Wanted to drop by yesterday but thankfully I didn't as they close for the day at 7.00pm.
The staff was nice, actually as mentioned, they close rather early. I stepped into the shop at 6.58pm and they let me finish my shopping anyway... LOL...
They really have a wide range of products in the shop. From beer to wurst to pickles to schokolade... *GRINZ*

I have been wanting to get spätzle to try out more dishes but they don't have this in the regular supermarkets. Mikka volunteered to send them to me if I really wanted it.. Sweet ja? keke... So, spätzle was actually no. 1 on my 'list of things to find' from the German Market Place. I was actually only half convinced that I could get my spätzle but surprise... They really have it!! Too bad I didn't have time to slowly browse through the racks. Next time I will drop by again when I need my re-stock of Hanutas.. Yes.. they have Hanutas too.. So Mikka.. next time you have one less thing to lug along.. keke...
For those who wants to drop by the mart, address and opening hours as follows :
German Market Place (Along the shophouse further up Coronation Plaza)
609 Bukit Timah Road
Mon - Sat : 10am - 7pm
(Closed on Sundays & Public Holidays)

Käsespätzle?? More like Ham n Cheese pasta

Mom and dad left me to feed myself today.. So I thought I would do something that Mikka taught me.. only that.. its more my version.. Had to more or less change the recipe a little cos I don't have Swabian noodles anymore so I replaced that with pasta.. Its still some kind of noodles.. keke.. Sauteed the onions with butter & olive oil & set aside for 30mins (normally its to be set aside for an hour but I was hungry... LOL) I cook the pasta until it is really soft this time as I remembered Swabian noodles as being more moist. After that, I tossed the ham and onions together to let it mix well, added the pasta then into the baking plate. I used red & white cheddar slices. Oven was preheated to 170°C and the pasta was baked for about 20mins.

*~Mikka's Visit~*

After such a looooooong wait, my Mikka was finally in town... To attend my brother's wedding, to go on a family vacation to Bangkok & of course... our own getaway to Batam.. keke... Just a summary of some of the things we did... *SMILEZ*

30th September 2009 @ the Singapore Hilton - Adrian & Josephine's wedding.. Also, it was Mikka's 'official' introduction to the family. I guess it must have been a real shock to him cos the family is HUGE.. keke.. Overall, the event was beautiful .. Wishing my bro n Jo - Loving each other always!!
02nd October 2009 - Lift off to Bangkok... Tiger Airways is always a favourite (cos its cheap lah.. LOL) Its only a 2 hours flight, so don't complain.. keke.. We stayed at the Grand Diamond Suites. Situated right beside Platimun Mall, I would say the location is great. It was more of a shopping shopping & more shopping trip.. Not forgetting the eat eat & eat also.. It was dad and uncle's first time to Bangkok so they opted to take the day tours instead. Not a bad idea to learn more about the culture of Thailand.
09th October 2009 - Taking the 'lovely' ferry to Batam.. We checked-in @ the Holiday Inn Batam.. Surprise, surprise... The place was 'empty' more or less.. I would say less than 20% occupancy rate.. That's BAD for a hotel, especially since it was so obvious that 2 full blocks were empty.. But anyway, one of the main 'motives' of Mikka to go to Batam is to go play golf. We headed down to the Indah Puri Golf Resort on the 2nd day to check out the place. Mikka had a 2hr golf 'training' session with a personal instructor for SGD80 bucks & I got myself a 2 1/2 hr spa package at SGD 120 at the 'Tempat Senang Spa' next to the golf club. Very nice ambiance, perfect to pamper yourself *winks* But in general, Batam is a terrible place to go to if you have no plans in mind. Absolutely nothing to do... Shopping malls suck, food is bad.. *sigh* Next time, I think I would just book a package direct with the golf club.
12th October 2009 - My birthday!! Am so glad that this year Mikka is here to celebrate my birthday with me.. Didn't do much but its the presence that's important..

~Swabian Food~

Last week Mikka told me that his mom made some Linsen Mit Spätzle - Authentic Swabian food. I was kinda curious so I went to search for this recipe. Looks typically like a meat gravy dish but boy was I surprised. The 'meat' is actually lentils - a kind of bean. Interesting... Mikka promised that we would try to make this dish when he is here with the Swabian noodles that he will be bringing me. We have to go get the other ingredients from the mart but it should be no problem.

Just for those who are curious, I have the recipe here.. *winks*

Ingredients

Fresh Spätzle or 1 package dried Spätzle (available at most German Delicatessens)

2 cups dried Lentils

1 Onion, cut in half

4 Soup-Bones

2 Cloves

1 teaspoon Salt

2 teaspoons Tomato Paste

Salt, Pepper, Marjoram, Thyme (to taste)

8 Frankfurter Würstchen

Instructions

In a large cooking pot, soak the lentils in water for 12 hours to soften them.

Press cloves into onion halves.

Leaving the lentils in the water, add the soup bones, onions halves, and 1 teaspoon salt.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow mixture to simmer for 1 hour.

In the meantime, prepare Fresh Spätzle or cook dried Spätzle according to package instructions.

Remove onion halves and soup bones from the soup.

Mix tomato paste and seasonings into the soup. Add Frankfurter Würstchen.

Allow soup to cook for another 5 minutes to cook the sausages.

Serve immediately and serve with the Spätzle.

~~6 more days.... Mikka come~~ *Blink Blink*

Countdown to Mikka's arrival - 6 days!! Waiting is agony....
Mikka's latest craze is golfing and he's trying to perfect it every chance he has... keke...
Amidst the busy 'golfing' schedules (=P) Mikka had to make a trip down to the Ritter Sport Chocolate Factory last weekend to fulfill the many requests for Schklolade over here... *chuckle*  Not forgetting the Hanutas as well..
His Missy, that's me is also asking for Swabian noodles and Bifi's...
I just love Bifi's.. Perfect junk-food to stop your rumbling stomach for a good while.. keke..
** Don't worry Mikka, for these, I will bring you to the golf shop down in Kreta Ayer, I more or less already know where it is... =D **

German language course - A1

I'm down and out today.. A visit to the doc told me that I'm down with gastric flu.. Wonder where I got that from. Anyway, might not be a bad thing cos I have time to update my dear blog.. *giggle*

As I mentioned in my earlier post that I have been waiting for the registration at the Goethe Institute to open for term 5 of this year, I finally managed to get down to the school last Saturday and *viola* - registration is complete. I will officially start lessons on the 16th October 2009 *yay* and after that every Saturday lessons. ~Back to school~
While I was at the school, I paid for the 1st term (there are total 3 terms for level A1), my 'membership' with the school for a year and also for my textbooks for the course.. Took a little peek into the textbooks and thought to myself.. Ok, by the end of my 3 terms, I should be able to understand all these.. LOL
Sorry to say that my limited vocab of the language is still resticted to simple words like - Danke schön / Entschuldigung & 'Da bin Ich'.. *chuckles*  (sorry Mikka, but I try my best...)
Just to be more precise about the course structure in case anyone out there is thinking of taking the course too, level A1 consists of 3 parts - 1.1 / 1.2 / 1.3 (therefore 3 terms) and each term will have 10 lessons (once a week). If you have time to do the full-time course, the duration will of course be shorter cos the lessons run through the week (Mon-Fri) during the day. Just hope that everything goes fine and that I will be able to complete the entry level by May next year.