Famous Heritage Hawkers all gather at the Big Eat Out

You know how the best Hokkien Mee is probably at the coffeeshop in your neighbourhood but you have never been there precisely because it is so close by? Well, there are probably also a lot of things around Singapore which tourists come to see that you have never been to before. So perhaps it would be a great idea to take advantage of the School Holidays to do a bit of exploration in our own backyard.

Explore Singapore is happening between 20 Nov to 7 December and the National Heritage Board has organized a series of events for everyone to learn more about our rich cultural heritage.

The one event that I want to highlight which is close to our stomachs is the Heritage food event which I have been helping the guys at hungrygowhere to organize. It's happening on Saturday, 22 Nov at the Peranakan Museum. We have brought together some of the most well known hawkers to showcase their dishes. So you will get to eat Hillstreet Char Kway Teow, Hock Lam Beef Kway Teow, Kwong's Satay, Kway Guan Huat Poh Piah, Sabar Menanti II, Sajis Indian Food, Peramakan and others all in the one place. And the great thing is that the hawkers will be donating the proceeds to charity.

Aside from the great food, if you get there early, might also get to go on a tour of the Peranakan Museum with Comedian Mark Lee. You can also have a look around the 30 Flea Market stalls there and let the kids be entertained with some face painting and balloon sculpture. It would be a great day out for the family, so keep the date free and I look forward to seeing you there!

More details at the official site. Click here

Hock Lam Beef Kway Teow: Let's Raise the Bar on Beef Kway Teow!

Minipot Shabu Shabu sets starting from $15 (All proceeds donated to Operation Smile)

I recently complained to a TV producer that she should not continue to make TV shows that glamourise $2 hawker meals. I mean, do we really want to encourage more hawkers to compete just price rather than to focus on quality?


With food prices going up, our hawkers are all suffering from lower profit margins but at the same time still under pressure to provide meals at cheap cheap prices. Our friend Liverpool of
Good Morning Nanyang Cafe is still forced to sell his cup of Kopi for $1.10 just because he is selling "Kopi" (Ya Kun already increased to $1.50 btw) while the same people won't even blink an eye to pay $5 for a cup of cappuccino at a cafe.

What we need is to change our mentality and reward hawkers who are willing to give us quality stuff rather than cheap cheap stuff. Either we do that or we risk all the good hawkers not being able to pass down their skills to the next generation. In the end we will all lose out.

I have made it my personal mission to support hawkers who are opened to new ideas and to providing better quality hawker food for us all. The fact is that even if they increase their prices, it is still cheaper than eating at a restaurant, but you derive more shiokness out of it.

So I am very happy to announce that Tina from Hock Lam Beef Kway Teow and taken on my suggestion of introducing a Shabu Shabu style Beef Kway Teow which I hope will do for Beef Kway Teow what Big Prawns had done for Prawn Noodles.

The premise is very simple. We like Beef Kway Teow, we like good beef and we also like our beef not too well cooked. So the solution to this is to provide nice Sukiyaki Grade Beef with a Mini Hotpot of stewed beef tendon, balls, tripe and you can cook your sliced beef yourself!


How often have you eaten Beef Kway Teow and wished the beef could be better?

Needless to say, the longer you cook the soup, the more "Tok Kong" (addictive) it is going to get and the slices of beef that you cook yourself just melts in your mouth and is even more shiok with Hock Lam's famous chilli sauce! 4.5/5

I prefer the soup version to the original dry version here. But you should try Tina's new "Gorn Lor" Hor Fun which is fragrant and the kway teow just leaps into your mouth. 4/5

Hock Lam will be introducing their Minipot Beef set on their 97th anniversary which is on 1 Oct (Hari Raya). And to commemorate their anniversary, they will be donating all the proceeds of the day to Operation Smile which is a worldwide movement to fix cleft palates in kids. So that is an added incentive to go down and try this very special way of enjoying one of Singapore's truly heritage foods. And, if it is well received, they might even put it on their menu!

Conclusion

I have tried very hard to convince Tina that there will be a market for better quality beef, but she is worried that consumers might not want to pay for it. How do you all feel about it? Would you like to see Wagyu beef or Karubi on the menu? Or do you want to just stick to the traditional $4 Bowl of Beef Kway Teow?

Please Note:

This special dish is only available on 1 Oct 2008 to commemorate their anniversary. However, if the feedback is good, they might decide to put it on the menu.The ieat kakis will be going there for lunch at around 1.30pm, do come and join us and at the same time support Operation Smile!

They will be opening from 10am to 3pm on that day itself.

Hock Lam Street Beef Kway Teow
22 China St, #01-01
Far East Square
62209290
90180508 (Tina Tan)



What to do next:
Read what others have to say about Hock Lam Beef Kway Teow! Very heated indeed!
See which other kakis are coming in our Forum.

The Charity Makan Session on My Paper today

Our Charity event was covered in Today's My Paper. Thanks again to everyone who contributed to the event! It really is a team effort!

If you or your organization would also like to be involved in our future endeavours please do write in and let me know.

You can view the photos of the event here

"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the
least of these brothers of mine,
you did for me." - Jesus

Ieat 2nd Anniversary Charity Makan Session: Beta Testing the ieat SuperBurger MKII

Time flies! The blog is now coming to 2 years old and to celebrate, we are of course having a makan session. Last year, we celebrated our 1st Anniversary at Astons Prime and we managed to raise some money for the Andrew and Grace Home. This year I am trying to do something a little different with a direct impact on the people we are trying bless. I also wanted to do something that can be replicated with other restaurants who might also have a social marketing aspect to their business.

So we are working with Faith Community Baptist Church (FCBC) this year with a group of kids from the Oakley Children Prison Ministry. FCBC run a prison ministry to help people in prison. In their communications with them, they realized that these people are all quite concerned about the well being of their own kids whom they are unable to care for while in prison. Some of these children actually live with their grandparents or aunties/uncles. So "Oakley" was set up in order to provide tuition for these kids as well as to organize activities for them and in a sense, to be an extended family to them.

What we are planning to do is to arrange for the kids to have a 3 course lunch at Aston's new restaurant at The Cathay (Handy Road) and teach them a little bit about dining etiquette, followed by a movie at Cathay. Since the restaurant can only hold 50 people and I know that there are a lot of ieat readers who are keen to contribute to this worthy cause, I have decided to split the session to two. So there will be an earlier session for the kids followed by the main makan session (where you all come in) that will start at 1pm where we will be "Beta testing" the ieat SuperBurger Mk II. Your feedback on the burger will eventually determine what the burger will look like! Aside from that I hope to be able to do an auction to raise money for the kids to buy assessment books, stationeries, etc.

Here are the details:

Venue: Astons Specialities (The Cathay 4th level)
Time: 1pm
Date: 17 August (Sunday)
Tickets: $80 (Suggested donation) Early birds will get a Movie Ticket!

Every ticket will be entitled to either an ieat SuperBurger Mk II or an alternative main course of beef, fish or chicken from the menu.

What you need to do.

1. Book your seats by emailing me at leslie.tay@gmail.com. Please indicate your name, HP number and the amount that you wish to donate.
   
2. If you cannot come but wish to make a donation, write a cheque to "FCBC" and mail to: Dr Leslie Tay, Karri Family Clinic, 866A Tampines St 83, #03-05, Singapore 521866. On the back of the cheque write "Oakley - Children Prison Ministry", plus your address if you need a receipt.
3. If you would like to sponsor door gifts for the kids, or if you can sponsor something for the auction, please write to me at leslie.tay@gmail.com. Sponsors will be acknowledged on the blog.

Thanks for your generous support and look forward to seeing you all there!

Click here to link to the forum to see the latest updates!

Update: 5 Aug 2008

All seats have already been taken up. But you can still be put on the wait list. Our apologies.



Remember to vote today! Click here

Power of Love Concert: In support of AG Homes

The Andrew and Grace Home provides a safe haven for troubled teen-aged girls. I wrote about one particular girl last year who was hooked on glue sniffing but who eventually found her calling in life through running. You can read her story here.

The girls are putting on a concert telling the story of how one of their ex-girls whose life had been transformed by the power of love and given a second chance to fulfill her lifelong dream.

This concert is organized in conjunction with Temasek JC and they are doing this to raise $100,000 for their performing arts and music programme.

So do purchase a few tickets and help support their work with the girls.

Date: 6 June 2008 (Friday)
Time: 3.30pm and 7.30pm
Venue: DBS Auditorium
Ticket Prices: $20
Contact Eunice or Han Yong for tickets: 96465883/97458144

ieat 1st Anniversary Charity Dinner: Thanks for your support!

Hope you all enjoy the pictures of the ieatishootipost first anniversary Charity Dinner which were taken by Michelle. Thanks Michelle!

The Dinner Report

We had a great night of food, fun, fellowship and best of all we managed to raise a Grand Total of $7617 for the Andrew and Grace Home for troubled teens. Pastor Andrew says that the money will provide food and lodging for some of the girls for the next two to three months!

SCS Butter our MC King planned a few surprises for our guests starting with a Placard design competition. The Placards were supposed to be used for the auction later in the evening but in the heat of the auction, no one really did use their placards! It was great to see how everyone really got enthusiastic about their card designs!

I am sure you all are happy to finally put a face to some of the familiar pen names that regularly appear on the blog. It was great to finally meet some of the people who have been writing in regularly as well as some "lurkers" whom you don't even know exist. But the biggest surprise of the evening was the presence of Star Blogger XiaXue who came with the NuffNang team led by Mr NuffNang himself!

The auctions went really well and it just shows how generous Singaporeans can be when it comes to supporting Charities. The first auction was for a $100 OlioDome dinner voucher which was won by Big MOG for $135. Then as auction fever heated up, Aston outbid the rest for a pair of Lobster Noodles coupons (worth $120) for a princely sum of $228. Aston told me later that he was trying to matchmake two of his staff by promising them a Lobster Dinner if they both went on a date together! The next pair of Lobster Noodles coupons got sold to Fashionfoodie for an even princelier sum of $268!!

Next came the Gemstone auction. The Jasper Necklace was sold to Big MOG again for $188 who bought it for his lovely wife. And finally, I was under a lot of pressure to outbid Amagada for the black Mother-of-Pearl necklace for $228! I couldn't believe that my wife (who was modeling the necklace) would bid for it herself! What to do? Everyone was looking at me for the final bid! OK OK, it was a nice necklace and its been a long time since I bought her the last set of jewelery!

Thanks to our Sponsors!

Aston's new restaurant, located a stone's throw away from the old Aston's Specialties was the perfect cosy little diner to host the event. Whilst Astons Specialties serves Value for Money western food, the idea of Astons Prime is to dish out higher end stuff like the Australian Angus Prime Rib of Beef at "Value for Money" prices. A 300g cut of the Prime Rib costs $46 and is available every evening. I especially enjoyed the Red Wine Gravy which Aston tells me takes 3 days of slow cooking to make.

Astons Prime also serves up Grade 9 Wagyu 200gm steaks for $89.90 and other stuff like Lamb Racks and Crab Cakes in their regular menu, at prices that would make you smile! His idea is to have a casual dining restaurant where you get to eat quality produce that is usually served at high end restaurants at the best price possible.

Being the generous guy he is. Aston sponsored the whole dinner so every cent that was donated could go the Andrew and Grace Home. Big thanks and applause to Aston!

I would also like to thank the Booze Wineshop for sponsoring the wines for the evening. Beadhub for sponsoring the doorgifts and the two necklaces for auction. Thanks also to OlioDome, Ya Kwang Dai Pai Dong, Little Red Shop and Carl's Jr for sponsoring auction prizes and door gifts!

Many people also stepped in with personal support for AG Home. One of our readers, Alan Goei gave a donation of $2000 to the home but unfortunately couldn't make it to the dinner that night. Similarly, people like BlurTing, Lee Oi Ling, Lawrence Hong and Damien also contributed to the home but could not make it to the dinner. Some guys like Liverpool also donated extra $$$ on top of their own tickets! Our winner of the Gourmet Culinary Course, Angeline Sim personally sponsored $1000 towards the Marathon run by Pastor Andrew at the end of the year. We had people like Philip who found out about AG Home's sports program and volunteered to contribute his time to helping the girls in their training. We even had a band from Bethany Presbyterian Church volunteering to play at the AG Home to inspire the girls to get into music! Lastly I also like to thank Mr NuffNang, aka Ming who contributed $200 to buy KFC and Pizza Hut for the girls who are left at AG Home while their "parents" are out having dinner! Thanks to everyone for their generosity.

Big thanks to SCS Butter, Happi Mummi and iwatch_ueat for doing such a fantastic job in organizing the event and taking all the stress off of me! Haha. OK buy you all dinner sometime! Also special thanks to Michelle for taking the photos that night.

Finally to all ieatishootipost readers out there and especially to my regular makankakis! By reading the Blog and joining me on the makan sessions, you have also greatly contributed to this event. Like I told everyone that night, Bloggers like me feed off readers like yourselves! "If a tree fell in the forest and there was no one to hear it, was there really a sound?"

A Story of Inspiration Unfolds

I would like to conclude by sharing a story of something which happened that night which really inspired me when I and I hope it will show you that nothing in this world occurs by pure coincidence.


Pastor Michael Ross-Watson (Big MOG) and Pastor Andrew

Big MOG was a missionary in Indonesia many years ago. During this time he had formally adopted 2 children and permanently fostered 4 others. Tini was one girl whom Big MOG and his wife fostered. Tini was sold to another family as a maid when she was only four years old. When she was 9, her lady boss became very ill and she had to care for her. When she finally died, she was left with her boss who sexually abused her for 2 years. When Big MOG found out about her plight, he and his wife undertook to adopt her into their family. Through their patience, love and compassion, Tini was eventually healed of her psychological scars and is now happily married and the mother of a teenager living in Java.

Another girl that Big MOG adopted was a 7 week old pre-mature baby girl, born less than a kilogram (Normal around 3 kg). The baby girl had a severely damaged right leg and had multiple infections and was given up to die by the doctors (Sometimes we use our minds but not our hearts). They said that even if she lived, she would never be able to walk. Undeterred, The MOGs took her in and nursed her and through a miracle of God, her leg was completely healed. Angela now lives in London. She is perfectly well, has published a few children's book and is now pursuing a Masters in Journalism. She has in fact just returned from visiting Tini in Java!

Big MOG shared his story of his two girls about 8 years ago at a church camp run by Covenant Presbyterian Church. In the audience was a young couple who are struggling with the "crazy" idea of picking up girls from the street to care for them. (This was at the time when they were in the process of setting up AG Home). Hearing Big MOG's personal story convinced them that what they are trying to do was not that "crazy" after all since there were others doing it successfully. Who would have known that 8 years later, Pastor Andrew and his wife Grace would be sitting at a dinner table with the man who inspired them to carry on with their work!

So despite all the headache and heartaches in trying to organize my very first Charity Dinner (lots of it was shared with my three friends), I guess at the end of the day, lots of great stuff came out of it and though I thought that I was not ever going to organize another one, this last story really inspired me that whatever was done that night might somehow play a significant role in someone's life. I guess that makes it all worth the while!

So thanks for reading and I hope that more people will be able to get involve in the next Event!
In the meantime, those of you who feel that you still want to contribute to AG Home, please do so by contacting Pastor Andrew directly at andrew@aghome.org.sg.

No one has ever seen God;
but if we love one another,
God lives in us
and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:12

www.booze.com.sg




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www.nuffnang.com.sg


Astons Prime
467 Joo Chiat Road
Open 11.30 to 11pm
Closed on Tuesdays
Call 63442447 for reservations
astonsspecialties.blogspot.com

Andrew and Grace Home: The ieat Charity Makan Session

E is a teenaged girl who has been run but now she has found a real purpose for running.

Having dropped out of school last year, the troubled teen got herself into a mess when she got hooked on glue sniffing. After several fallouts, her mother felt that she was beyond parental control and filed a police report. That is when she found herself in the Andrew and Grace Home.

The initial few months were not easy as she slowly adjusted to her new environment. After her initial confinement period, she did lapse back into glue sniffing twice but now she is confident that she has kicked the habit once and for all. That's because she has found a new love in long distance running.

It all happened one day when her training coach got her to go for a jog together. Something finally clicked and she finally found something that she was really good at! Now she runs from AG home to Bedok Jetty and back, a distance of 17km in under 2 hours and hopes to be able to run competitively in the future.

When I asked her what made the biggest difference in her life, she mentioned that it was the love showered upon her by Ah Pa (Andrew), Mommy Grace and the other volunteers at the home. Her sports coach, who is an employee of the centre even sleeps in the same bedroom with the girls on a mattress strewn upon the floor!

The Andrew and Grace Home (AG Home) has its beginnings in 1988 when Pastor Andrew took in two troubled teens into his new four foom flat in Yishun. There was only one little problem. He and his wife had just been newly married and for Grace it was a bit of a shock. She recalled that Andrew had given away her music room which was her favourite room in the whole house. It was a bit of a tough time for the newly married couple but after a while, Love broke through. To love the lovely is easy, but it takes a very special kind of compassion to love the unlovely. Twenty years later, the couple now have 2 sons and 50 "adopted" daughters living in a hostel in Telok Kurau.

The present AG Home was set up 9 years ago and provides a haven for teen aged girls between the ages of 12 to 16. These girls may come from difficult home circumstances, drug addiction or are delinquents. They also provide shelter and protection for moms and mothers-to-be and sees about 20 babies being born a year who are subsequently put up for adoption.

The home runs several programs to help the girls develop skills to enhance their employability upon discharge. One of the projects is the AG Cafe which trains the girls for the F & B industry. Food is of course closest to the heart this blog so I thought it was a good project for us to support.

This picture shows the kitchen which has been set up in the hostel. It functions both as the kitchen to prepare dinner for the girls as well as a training kitchen for them to conduct culinary skill courses. I hope that we will be able to hook up with some readers from the F&B industry to see how we can support this project.

Currently, it takes $500 to house each girl every month. Parents are asked to contribute whatever they can and the rest of the money has to be raised from elsewhere. The centre receives a monthly contribution from MCYS which covers about one third of the total running costs. Another third comes from pledges from individuals and companies and the remaining third has to be raised ad hoc every month.

As you all know, ieatishootipost is one year old and I have hinted that there will be a makan session to mark its first anniversary. Rather than just coming together to enjoy food and make new friends, I thought it would be meaningful if we can make it a charity dinner instead and be able to raise funds to support the AG Home.

The picture on the left shows a mural on the wall of the the lobby area. This mural was drawn by an ex-addict and depicts Andrew and Grace with four of the girls in the centre.

OK, the details of the ieat Charity Makan Session are being finalized, but let me just give you all an idea of what has been planned so far.

Date: 15 Sep 2007 (Saturday evening)

Venue and Menu: I have found a Restaurant Owner who is willing to sponsor the event! I am finalizing the menu (5 course) with him so I will release the details later. But in the meantime, this is one of the items that will be on the menu:



Other Highlights: Found a sponsor for Wine as well! We are in the process of finalizing the Wine list!

Price: This is to be finalized. (Around $100 per pax)

What you can do:

1. Come to the Makan Session! The money that you pay towards the food and wine will all go to AG Home.
2. If you feel that you want to contribute more, there's nothing to stop you from writing a check and supporting AG Home directly.
3. If you or your company can sponsor the event (Cheques direct to AG Home) or provide stuff that we can auction or use as door gifts do let me know by writing to leslie.tay@gmail.com. All sponsorship will be acknowledged on the blog.

I will provide final details later this week but if you are ready to reserve your seats, please write to me at leslie.tay@gmail.com

Hope to see you all at the Charity Makan Session!

More about AG Home can be found on their website: www.aghome.org.sg