Rediscover what makes Chinese New Year special with Google

Chinese New Year is a busy time of the year for Singapore.

A look at the top related searches on Google shows just how busy: Singaporeans are planning celebrations with traditional treats like “Pineapple tart”, “Yusheng” and activities like “Chingay 2014”.

Most Searched Chinese New Year Related Searches in Singapore

1.    Chingay 20142.    Pineapple tart recipe3.    Abalone 4.    Horse 5.    Feng Shui 2014 6.    Chinese New Year 7.    Chinatown Singapore 8.    Lunar calendar 2014 9.    Yusheng recipe 10.  Egg tart recipe

 How many of these search terms did you contribute?

In between cooking for the big family reunion, visiting relatives, and stuffing lucky red packets, preparing for Chinese New Year can feel overwhelming. Google has launched an interesting microsite with lots of tips and tricks to help with the preparations at Google.com/ChineseNewYear.

Here are some tips for how you can use Google as you ring in the year of the horse:

●        Reunion meal prep: Google Search is the first place many turn to for recipe ideas. But let’s say you don’t like certain ingredients, like chives in your dumplings—you can type in [dumplings recipe -chives], and you can take those out of your results. After you’ve picked a recipe you like, you can keep track of all the ingredients you need to buy with Google Keep, which is a bit like sticky notes for your phone. Not sure how to fold dumplings? Search for videos by expert chefs on YouTube to brush up on your cooking technique. You can also share your recipes with friends and family on Google Docs.

●        Visiting relatives: Visiting three relatives in one day might seem daunting, but it’s not a problem if you have Google Now set up on your Android or iPhone. Google Now will automatically remind you of when you need to leave so you can beat the traffic and get the best routes, either by driving or by public transportation. If you’re driving, Google Maps will give you turn-by-turn directions spoken out loud so you can focus on the road ahead.

●        Send greetings abroad: Greet your friends and family face to face, even if you can’t be in the same room. Google Hangouts allows you to have video conversations with up to ten people at the same time, so you can chat to your cousin from Australia and your aunt in Canada all at once.

●        Remember those magic moments: Back up the photos you take on your phone using Google+ Auto Backup so you won’t ever lose those photos again.

Happy Horse Year everyone! I am looking forward to better luck, better fortune and more rewarding experiences in the year ahead. 🙂

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30 Minute Cookin’ with Celebrity Chef Eric Teo and Panasonic

A few weeks back, I was invited by Panasonic Singapore to do a sharing session on food photography and blogging at celebrity Chef Eric Teo’s Studio in Henderson.

Group photo

A glimpse of Chef Eric Teo’s work station

Media coverages on Chef Teo adorned the wall of his studio

Some of Chef Teo’s various award wins and trophies

Chef Teo’s super bling bling robe

If you are interested to find out more on my presentation, the deck is available here (Food Photography and Blogging Basics from Alvin Lim):

Other than me sharing on photography tips using the awesome Panasonic Lumix GX7, the highlight of the day was the cooking demonstration by Chef Teo:

Chef Teo at work

Chef Teo frying the mushrooms

Chef Teo plating

Chef Eric Teo’s mixed mushroom fried with beer batter

Take pictures!

Black tofu from black soya beans

Pouring the blended black tofu into little cups

Cooking prawns

Chef Teo working on scallops

It’s just stir-fried seafood and red pepper, but Chef Teo cooked them so beautifully everyone present could not wait to taste them

Adding the seafood into the tofu cups

Chef Eric Teo’s black tofu with seafood – my favourite dish for the day 

Moving on to the last dish – sambal fried rice

Chef Teo joked that experts only add the eggs right at the end

Close-up on the beautiful rice grains

Plating the fried rice

Chef Eric Teo’s sambal fried rice

You can view all the photos I took at the event with the Panasonic Lumix GX7 in this public facebook album.

The event was organised by local production company, Rolleyes. Teaming up with six renowned local chefs, Rolleyes seeks to make gourmet home cooking a reality for their viewers through their new 30 Minute Cookin’ series:

In each episode, viewers are shown how to achieve two to three-course meals within 30 minutes. Chef Teo’s demonstration is as part of this programme.

Visit 30 Minute Cookin’ for more details

You can watch Chef Teo’s cooking demonstrations as well as more from other  renowned chefs via the official website for 30 Minute Cookin’. 🙂

Usher in the year of the Horse with BBC’s exciting line-up of programmes and festive favourites!

This Chinese New Year holiday, BBC will be featuring a series of special holiday programmes, all day, from 31st January till 2nd February 2014, on the following BBC channels – BBC Knowledge, BBC Lifestyle, BBC Entertainment, and CBeebies (available on Starhub channels in Singapore).

I have 5 sets of BBC CBeebies Chinese New Year red packets to giveaway! To win them, simply LIKE my facebook page or FOLLOW me on Twitter and PM me with your name, contact number, email and mailing address to send the red packets to. The first five persons to do so before 9am tomorrow (25 Jan) will be the winners. 

More on the BBC programmes: 

Go back to where Chinese New Year started with BBC Knowledge (Starhub Channel 407) by taking an in-depth look into Beijing: Biography of an Imperial Capital. Also, take a peek into the driving forces of one the world’s largest economies with China on 4 Wheels and Gok Wan: Made in China.

Learn tips and tricks to preparing easy and delicious Chinese cuisine with fashion stylist Gok Wan in Gok Cooks Chinese on BBC Lifestyle (Starhub Channel 432). Craving for something different? Follow Rachel Khoo into her home kitchen in Little Paris Kitchen: Cooking with Rachel Khoo, where she teaches you how to whip up simple and rich French cuisine.

Lose yourself in the magical world of Arabia on BBC Entertainment (Starhub Channel 521), with the Sinbad (series 1) marathon.

Get your little ones in the mood for arts and crafts with a Mister Maker (series 3) marathon and the first episode of the new series of Mister Maker Around the World on CBeebies (Starhub Channel 303). Join Sarah & Duck as the little girl and her duck friend go on their adventures and try to solve problems that they encounter along the way. Ever wondered how the rest of the world celebrated Chinese New Year? Let’s Celebrate shows you how.

[25 Jan 2014, UPDATE]

The five winners are:

• Koh Hui Chen
• Keith Tan
• Lim Xinyi
• Adlena Wong
• Val Lim

Congratulations and happy new year! 

New Haircut and Hair Colour for 2014

To usher in 2014, I got a new haircut at my regular salon, Naoki Yoshihara by Ash and coloured my hair to a lighter tint of brown:

I blogged about this japanese salon at Liang Court previously. You can visit their official facebook page to find out more about them. 

I will be turning 34 this year in October… I need to feel young again. The hair colour seems to help. Friends whom I had not seen for a while all commented that I look younger, fresher or trendier.

This feels good, even though my waistline is expanding, my hair is thinning and I feel less capable of taking on and conquering the world with each passing year.

With Chinese New Year round the corner, might be a good time to change your hairstyle or try something different to surprise your relatives and loved ones when house visiting? 🙂

If you are thinking of popping by Naoki Yoshihara by Ash, please note the following festive period changes:

18th Jan 2014 – 28th Jan 2014: there will be a 30% increase on the total bill.
29th Jan 2014 and 30th Jan 2014: there will be a 50% increase on the total bill.

During the Chinese New  Year period, operation hours are:

30th Jan 2014: 10.30am to 3.00pm
31st Jan 2014 to 6th Feb 2014: Closed
Normal operation hours will resume from 7th Feb.
10.30am to 8.30pm (Closed on every Tues)

Year on Twitter 2013

In addition to the global #2013 #YearOnTwitter announced last week, Twitter has just launched the round-up of some the most popular local conversations and trends in Singapore and the some of the people who are driving them.

The list features popular local celebrities and politicians on the platform, and what Singaporeans are talking about in terms of local news stories, events and other categories.

Without further ado, here’s the list:

NEWS:

Haze

The haze that enveloped Singapore in mid-July, hitting the highest Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) levels in the last 16 years has been much talked about among Singaporeans. Singaporean then reacted in their usual manner, a mix of panic and humour.

The McDonald’s Hype

Long queues outside McDonald’s were a common sight in Singapore this year with the launch of limited edition Hello Kitty plush toys and Gru’s minions from the Despicable Me movies. Singaporeans have a healthy appetite for queues and some even started queuing in the early morning just to get their hands on these limited edition toys.

#HawkerHeroes

The SingTel Hawker Heroes Challenge was held in July this year. The highlight of the event was the showdown between TV celebrity and Michelin-starred chef Gordon Ramsay and pitting his skills against a group of elected food hawkers in Singapore! Speculations on the final winner of the challenge created a lot of hype on Twitter and the Team Singapore Hawkers took home the title. It’s no surprise when Gordon Ramsay shared, “If you want real food in Singapore, get it at the hawker stores.”

Little India Riot

The Indian national whose death had triggered riots in Singapore’s Little India has become one of the most talked about stories for 2013, with publications using Twitter to get different perspectives as the situation developed.

EVENTS: 

Formula One race

This year’s Formula One race is becoming one of Singapore most anticipated yearly events, not just for racing junkies, but also for the number of concerts and satellite events that come along with it.

Colour Run

Another international event that came to our shores in 2013, was the Colour Run, a 5km paint race when runners are showered in colored powder at stations. All this, for a good cause, supporting project Happy Feet.

ZoukOut

The annual event has reached it’s 13th edition this year and attracted it’s biggest crowd ever, with over 41,000 attendees. Even guests from overseas, like @csugiono, partied hard at the event!

LOCAL CELEBRITIES:

@JoannePeh

A familiar face on local TV and a two-time winner of Best Actress – Star Awards, Joanne Peh has become one of the most followed local celebrities on Twitter, with other local personalities making regular appearances on her Twitter Feed.

@nicolechen

If you love a good party, then definitely check out Nicole Chen’s Twitter. The model-turned-DJ talks about the latest parties around town and you can even find out more about her own mixes that she regularly shares.

@konghee

One of Singapore’s most controversial figures of 2013, Pastor Kong Hee has been battling allegations of misuse of Church funds. While he has never addressed allegations directly on Twitter, his Twitter feed remains upbeat and gives an interesting insight into this year’s most talked about figure.

LOCAL POLITICIANS: 

@leehsienloong

As the most followed local politician, Lee Hsien Loong’s Twitter feed keeps followers up to date on his very busy schedule. It’s also nice to know that even Prime Ministers are not immune to the allure of taking selfies.

@geraldgiam

This MP from the Worker’s Party is no stranger to social media, being a blogger since 2006. His Twitter feed gives followers an insight into what’s happening with the worker’s party, as well as to reach out to his supporters.

@YamKeng

While the Prime Minister has taken selfies, MP Baey Yam Keng took the title of most prolific selfie-r. The MP of Tampines has not only built up a reputation as being one of the more social media aware politicians, but his selfies have even spawned “fan sites”

@janicekoh

As the Nominated Member of Parliament representing the Arts Community and as a local artists in her own rights, Janice Koh’s Twitter feed is a pretty good barometer for how the local Art scene is doing.