Venice Garden Seafood Restaurant

Fish Head Hot Pot


After a visit to the PNE, we cruised the neighbourhood for dinner.  Venice Garden Seafood is located in a plaza shared with T and T Supermarket and it there was plenty of parking in the lot.

It’s been a while since we’ve eaten in the area and this restaurant seems to be a reincarnation of a previous restaurant that we visited once.  It seems to have gone a tad upscale since we last ate here.  There were white tablecloths during dinner.



My mother’s fave dish is Fish Head Hot Pot.  I had a piece of fish and thought it was kind of fishy.  The pieces were mostly skin and bones and were deep fried first before combined into the hotpot.  This dish seemed to be okay with mom.  I however, didn’t enjoy it. 

Complimentary Turnip & Carrot Soup


We opted for a menu combination that included a complimentary soup, rice and dessert.  These clear soups are my kids’ favourite types of soup.  This one was very good and had a rich flavour.

Silky Eggs and Prawns


The Silky Eggs and Prawns were cooked quite nicely; however I thought the eggs were insufficiently seasoned.   It was my favourite dish of the whole dinner.  Rating:  4.5/6

Tofu Hot Pot


The Tofu Hot Pot was okay.  I thought it tasted like the Fish Head Hot Pot in that it had the same sauce.   Rating:  3.5/6

Beef and Bok Choy


The Beef and Bok Choy was okay.   The beef was plentiful and tender.  Rating:  4/6

Spicy Green Beans


The Spicy Green Beans unfortunately were ruined by my mother who asked for the dish to be not so spicy.  The cook interpreted this to mean no spice at all.  This pretty much made the dish flavourless.   Rating:  3.5/6

Green Bean and Tapioca Dessert Soup


Complimentary sweet soup was meh.  I haven’t had too many versions in my life that were good enough to have me want to pay for it.   Rating:  3/6

Overall, the meal was economical.  We took home plenty of leftovers.  Eating in the East Side definitely is cheaper it seems.  The flavours at Venice Garden are not as delicate and refined as some Cantonese restaurants.  However, the portions are large and there are combo meal deals to be had. 

The restaurant menu options include congee, noodles and Cantonese fare.  The service was not so attentive.  The premises in the eating area were relatively clean though.   I don’t know if I’d come back again as some dishes were misses.   I wish the dishes were more consistently good and seasoned better.

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"What's Your Weapon?": Billie Jean King, Arthritis Foundation, Ad Council, and USTA Launch Arthritis Campaign

Before Twitter and the U.S. Open was a flutter this afternoon with the news of Venus Williams withdrawing due to the diagnosis of the autoimmune disease- Sjogren's Syndrome, the U.S. Tennis Association was focused on another health related issue. Today the press release went out that tennis legend Billie Jean King was joining the Arthritis Foundation, the Ad Council, and the US Tennis Association (USTA) to launch a public service campaign against arthritis (the leading cause of disability in America).



The ads, launched at the U.S. Open today, feature King (who has osteoarthritis- OA) and highlight the power of movement and exercise as "weapons" in the fight against arthritis. King tells viewers "tennis is my weapon" against arthritis. The ad then asks viewers, "what is your weapon against arthritis?" and directs them to the campaign's website in order to find out: Fight Arthritis Pain. On first view, I was not terribly impressed. The brief ad (33 seconds) does not tell you very much (e.g., King says tennis is her "weapon" but nothing is said about the benefits of movement). The goal of the ad simply appears to be motivating viewers to visit the website for additional information.



The other thing that is not clear in the ad (but clarified in the press release and website) is that this campaign is targeting OA specifically. While OA is the most common type of arthritis, it is not the only type. For example, in contrast to OA which breaks down cartilage, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (a chronic autoimmune disease) causes inflammation of the lining of the joints. Would the exercise recommendations be the same no matter what type of arthritis? I would say that distinction is unclear for viewers.



However, I did feel better when I read the press release and saw that these ads were tested in focus groups by the Ad Council. Testing your images and messages with your target population is incredibly important. It is reported that participants felt that the concept of "having a weapon" against arthritis was powerful and motivating. That is good news considering formative research by the Ad Council found that only 16% of OA sufferers surveyed felt "very confident" that they could manage their pain. Therefore, if an ad can make viewers feel empowered and confident- that is a good thing.



The press release did not describe the demographics of the focus group participants, but I am assuming they were similar to those originally surveyed (adults age 55+ with OA). If so, it would mean that Billie Jean King was an appropriate "Champion" for the cause and someone that audience admired, having watched her in the 1960s-1970s, her prime competitive years. However, I wonder if she would be the best choice for ads targeting arthritis sufferers in a younger demographic? After all, different types of arthritis can affect people of all ages. Again, this is another reason that I would have wanted to see a clearer definition of the audience for these ads. If we are focused on older adults with OA, then it is a great choice. If we are focused on people of all ages with all types of arthritis, then maybe not.



Overall, I give this campaign a "B". The impetus of the campaign is good in that it is based on research...research that shows that arthritis suffers are too sedentary and do not feel like they have control over their pain management. The campaign aims to address these barriers by empowering viewers with a "champion" who they admire and can model. The campaign also links them to a website with all the information they need about the benefits of exercise for arthritis. However, the execution of this campaign is not as strong as its foundation. It would have benefited from a more clearly defined audience and message.

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Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (September 2011)

Yes, it's that time of the year again...
when we get to enjoy delicious mooncake pastries, pomelos, yam...
when we get to see children carrying lanterns walking around the neighbourhood...

The mid-autumn festival is the time when families come together to appreciate the full moon. I grew up looking forward to the fifteen day of the lunar eighth month...it is one of the many Chinese festivals that I really liked, I rank it right after the Chinese New Year :)




This year's mooncake festival will be a special occasion for me as I'm hosting the Aspiring Bakers #11 for September 2011!! Many thanks to Small Small Baker for giving me this opportunity to host this event!

If you are interest to find out what's on the previous Aspiring Bakers #10 - Easy as Pie (August 2011) entries, hosted by Janine of Not the Kitchen Sink! you may refer to this link HERE.

The theme for this month is none other than "Mid-Autumn Treats"!

Who can join?
Everyone!(if you do not have a blog, just send me a photo and recipe of your bake)

How to join?
Step 1 :
Make a mooncake, be it snow skin or traditional mooncake (including ice cream mooncakes, agar agar mooncakes, puff pastry mooncakes) in the month of September 2011.

Step 2 :
Post it on your blog between 01 September 2011 to 30 September 2011.
Your post must include the recipe or link to the original recipe. If you are using a recipe from a book, please include the title of the book too.
Any entries that are posted outside the date range will not be accepted.
Any entries that do not include a recipe or link to the original recipe will not be accepted too.

Step 3 :
Please mention that you are submitting your post to Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (September 2011) hosted by Happy Home Baking and provide a link back to this post HERE.
Entries will not be accepted if the above is not included.

Step 4 :
Email to me (I have removed my email address since the event is over, there is just too many spam mails in my mailbox) in the following format:

Your name or nickname:
Your blog name: (omit this if you do not have a blog)
Name of your bake:
URL of your post:
Attach your photo in your email (one photo for each entry, preferably less than 500kb).Please use "Aspiring Bakers #11" as your email subject. You may submit more than 1 entry. Please send a separate email for each and every entry.


I look forward to your active participation and support for this event!

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French Braided Ponytail

Remember last weekend when I said in this post that I would band Syd's hair at night and then throw it up into a quick style every morning? It was a great idea. Unfortunately, I didn't follow through. Instead, I did a different kind of ponytail that she wore for a few days.

The very front of Syd's hairline was still in a single cornrow, as seen back in the post mentioned above. I just left that alone, since it still looked good. I divided the rest of her hair into 4 sections, with one part going from front to back and another one going from ear to ear.

I french braided each section toward the center where the parts intersected.

When all 4 sections had been french braided, I joined them into a ponytail. The ponytail consisted of 3 tendrils of hair from each of the 4 french braids. I braided each tendril, resulting in a ponytail made of 12 individual braids.

After 2 days of that style, we removed the individual braids but kept the french braids and she had a great looking braid out ponytail.

I've done countless cornrow ponytails through the years, but this was the first time I had ever even thought of using french braids instead. I think I'll have to explore this more...I love the way it looks!

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Foreign Dreams

Foreign Dreams is a haunting Hidden Object game with unusual puzzles! When nightmares begin to torment her friend, a young woman decides to help him. Gradually, she realizes that Victor is haunted by memories of terrible events he experienced in his childhood. In order to save him from his past she prepares to enter a world of horrible and dangerous dreams. But can she get out again? Play Foreign Dreams to find out!

Game Size 91  MB

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Screenshots:

Have fun and feel free to leave your comments!

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Brink of Consciousness – Dorian Gray Syndrome BETA

New TEST Hidden Object  - Adventure Game from MagicIndie and BigFish

Thanks To Jasmine!

Beta Closed!Thanks For Playing!

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PuppetShow: Lost Town Collectors Edition

After discovering a new system of caves, the entire town is excited to explore, until Suzy is kidnapped by a mechanical beast! Emerging from the darkness and startling the townfolk, the creature causes a cave-in behind him, leaving no trail to follow. Track the creature down and explore the mysterious caves in PuppetShow: Lost Town, a beautiful Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure game! 

New Version: August 31, 2011

Game Size 562  MB

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(Only For Premium Users)

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Screenshots:

Have fun and feel free to leave your comments!

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Allora and the Broken Portal

A powerful wizard has been sucked into a portal and is lost! Only you can save him from a terrible fate in Allora and the Broken Portal! Approached by an Elf girl and a rodent friend, it is up to the eyes of a human to solve perplexing puzzles and collect the valuable crystals that power the portal. Use your Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure talents to travel to Faraway Forest and collect the necessary items and save the wizard!

 New version: 31 August 2011,

Game Size 260  MB

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Screenshots:

Have fun and feel free to leave your comments!

More about → Allora and the Broken Portal

What Does THAT Do?! - "No Taste" Red Icing Color

"No Taste" Red?! Really?! Do most icing colors have a taste? To me, they don't. To lots of people, including my friend, Jeff, they do. He came up to me at his daughter's birthday party, "Beki, why does red icing always taste so awful?" I told him that it doesn't have to.

Enter... "No Taste" Red Icing Color.

Ever since I learned that some people do taste red, I use this coloring for any icing that I am going to serve to people who I don't know well enough to know if they taste red. It will take a little more coloring to make a deep red, but as you can see in the fondant and in the icing bag in the photo below, it will get you a deep color.  (And by takes a little more, I mean sometimes you'll use the whole jar on one batch of icing.)

Another note on getting a "good" red coloring. Start with any color other than white! I usually dye my icing or fondant a little yellow or orange before I add the red coloring. If I start with white, it tends to look pink, then pinker, then pinker, then pinker... etc., etc.

Your color will deepen as it sits. So, I also try to make my red (or black) the day before. I get it almost as dark as I want it to be, then I let it sit overnight before I decide if I need to add more. Dark icing colors do take a lot of coloring. Stock up before you start a big, dark cake.

Do you have an idea for "What Does THAT Do?!" Send me a photo or a description, and I'll try to find out for you.


Click the Links Below to See:
More What Does THAT Do?! Posts
How to Color Icing
Icing Recipes

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return of THE FRINGE

THE FRINGE IS BACK...

You may be asking if the fringe never really went away, and how has it changed in 2011? 

The answer is, it hasn’t really. It’s still best worn thick, blunt, and long (sweeping the top of the eyes preferably). And it’s still best worn in one of the following ways: with a messy, neo-bohemian, grungy edge with an aura of ’60s sex-kitten nonchalance (think Francoise Hardy or Jane Birkin) straight and sleek; elegant but still natural. 

Hair cuts to wear it with 

The bob 

 When we talk about fringed bobs its easy to think of 1920s style cuts like the Louise Brooks. But not so in 2011; now the fringe is the perfect accompaniment to a longer bob (think Abbey Lee Kershaw, below). Again this can work perfectly for a sixties-inspired look, 

or for a grungy messy look. 

The short crop 

 A pixie crop is also perfect with a fringe in 2011, but a slightly different type of fringe. Rather than being cut separate to the rest of the hair, it should all be a continuous; the crop simply cut longer in front to create the effect of the fringe. 

 Long hair 

 This rather goes without saying: bangs are perfect for hair shoulder length or longer, particularly when hair is naturally straight or with a slight wave.

Need any more info on fringes -

or would like to get one to update your hair for 2011?

Call Mana 02 8919 0146

{Source: Fashionising.com}

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Healthy Hair Becomes Longer Hair

The question I get asked most often is some variation of:
"How can I get my (or my daughter's) hair as long as Syd's?"

Unfortunatley, there is no magic formula, cream, or pill. The best advice I can give is to make sure your hair is moisturized and stop being so rough with it.

Dried out hair is more fragile and more likely to break off. Make sure you are keeping those strands nice and moisturized. At this point, I'm sure several of you are thinking, "What products should I use?"

That's actually the second most frequently asked question I receive. I could tell you what products we use most often on Syd's hair, but that might not help. Every head of hair is different. It's a process of trial and error until you find the products you like best for your own hair. Does something make your hair feel dry by the end of the day? If so, I'd suggest moving on and trying something new. If your hair seems too weighed down, go for something a little lighter. It can be frustrating as you search for the "perfect" product or combination of products, but once you discover what works for you, it's smooth sailing and happy hair. (For the record, we use Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer and Aussie Moist conditioner more often than any others for moisture.)

The number one reason that hair seems to stop getting any longer is because it is breaking off just as fast (and sometimes faster!) than it is growing. Ripping a brush or comb through your hair is a great way to ensure that it breaks off and negates the length retention you're striving for.

Be gentle. Take your time. Use your fingers to separate your tangled hair as much as possible. Be mindful of how often you are putting beads, barrettes, and rubber bands on the ends of the hair. You don't have to completely eliminate those things, but consistently using them  on a daily basis will contribute to breakage (read: lack of length).

And of course, genetics also play a part in the length of your hair. Some heads of hair grow much faster than others. There is also something called terminal length. This is the length that is reached when each strand ends the growing stage in the growth cycle (called the anagen phase). When a strand reaches the end of that stage, it remains dormant for a while before shedding on its own. Someone whose hair grows slower than average and has a fairly short-lived anagen stage won't be able to grow their hair as long as someone who has a faster growth rate and longer growth cycle.

I think the most important part of growing your hair is to make sure your hair remains healthy by staying moisturized and as undamaged as possible. Learn to embrace your healthy strands, no matter what their length. And in time, healthy hair will become longer hair.

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Links on videographical film criticism, editing, 'intensified continuity', 'chaos cinema', 'hapticity' and (post) cinematic affect

TOUCHING THE FILM OBJECT?

A FILMANALYTICAL video collage, made by Catherine Grant

TOUCHING THE FILM OBJECT? offers a brief audiovisual exploration of issues of sensuous proximity, contiguity or contact in experiencing or studying films - what theorist Laura U. Marks called 'hapticity'. It quotes from Marks' essay 'Haptic Visuality: Touching with the Eyes' [in FRAMEWORK: the Finnish Art Review, No. 2, 2004, pp. 79-82], as well as from Ingmar Bergman's 1966 film PERSONA (cinematography by Sven Nykvist). The music is excerpted from Robert Lippok and Beatrice Martini's BRANCHES, available at the Free Music Archive under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License. You can read an accompanying written essay about this video and videographic film studies here.

A ragbag of links, today, at Film Studies For Free. But this blog wanted to flag up some recently published, and curiously related, audiovisual items of possible interest, together with some associated written resources.

First up, is the video above, the latest of FSFF's videographic film studies experiments. Compared with FSFF's other videos, this film-theoretical one turned out to be a close kin of two earlier video 'primers' (on Gilda, film noir, gender and performance and on Elizabeth Taylor, framing and child stardom/performance). As befits primers, rather than

aiming to generate completely new insights, [these 'rich text objects' attempt], within the time-space of the average YouTube fan clip, to assemble and combine quotations from existing film scholarship on [their topics] with sequences from the film in question in order to provide a meaningful, scholarly and affective, immersive experience. [FSFF, April 7, 2011]

If you are beginning to be invested in, or just mildly curious about, the possibilities of videographic film criticism and film theory, then do read 'Touching the Film Object? Notes on the 'Haptic' in Videographical Film Studies' by Catherine Grant at FSFF's sister blog Filmanalytical, and also check out further links and thoughts here.

Next up, a pointer to an exciting, film-theory related, theme week at the great website In Media Res on Steven Shaviro's Post-Cinematic Affect, running between August 29 - Sept. 2, 2011.

There are a couple of interesting entries up already, with very lively comments streams. Further links will be added below as the posts go live. In the meantime, you can read a lengthy excerpt from Shaviro's book on Post-Cinematic Affect here. And do visit his blog where you will find lots more material from this work.

• 'Cinema's Exhaustion and the Vitality ...' by Elena del Rio
• 'Post-Cinematic Effects' by Paul Bowman
• 'A hair of the dog that bit us' by Adrian Ivakhiv
• 'Fragments of unconscious' by Patricia MacCormack
• 'Steven Shaviro Presents': A response to the week

Finally, FSFF wanted to make sure that its own readers were alerted to a very lively debate on 'intensified continuity' and 'chaos cinema' in relation to the action film (broadly defined) that has sprung up online as a result of the publication of a two part video essay on those topics at the wonderful new (video-essay-rich) website PressPlay, curated by film critic and video essayist extraordinaire Matt Zoller Seitz. The 'Chaos Cinema' essay, embedded below, is by a young film scholar Matthias Stork and is well worth a look.

Below the videos, FSFF has linked to related online, scholarly and journalistic items treating substantially similar issues as 'Chaos Cinema', published before his essay, as well as to ones produced directly in response to Stork's work.

Enjoy! 

Chaos Cinema Part 1 from Matthias Stork.

The video essay Chaos Cinema, administered by Indiewire's journalistic blog PRESS PLAY, examines the extreme aesthetic principles of 21st century action films. These films operate on techniques that, while derived from classical cinema, threaten to shatter the established continuity formula. Chaos reigns in image and sound. Part 1 contrasts traditional action films with chaotic ones and takes a close look at the "sound" track, especially its use in car chases.

Chaos Cinema Part 2 from Matthias Stork.

Part 2 takes a look at the chaotic style in dialogue scenes, musicals, "shaky-cam" extravaganzas and mourns the rich history of early cinema.

• David Bordwell, 'Intensified Continuity: Visual Style in Contemporary American Film', originally in Film Quarterly, Vol. 55, No. 3 (Spring, 2002), pp. 16-28
• David Bordwell, 'Intensified Continuity Revisited', Observations of Film Art, May 2007
• David Bordwell, 'Unsteadicam Chronicles', Observations on Film Art, August 17, 2007
• David Bordwell, 'Bond vs. Chan: Jackie shows how it’s done', Observations on Film Art, September 15, 2010
  
• Steven Boone, 'Blind Fury: Notes on Chaos Cinema', PressPlay, August 27, 2011
• Chris Cagle, 'More on (Post-)Classicism', Category D: A Film and Media Studies Blog, February 18, 2007
• Jim Emerson, 'Agents of Chaos', Scanners, August 23, 2011
• Jim Emerson, 'The Architecture of Gravity', Scanners, January 20, 2009
• Jim Emerson, 'Bye, Sally -- Sally Menke, 1953 - 2010', Scanners, September 28, 2010
• Catherine Grant, 'Seeing the join: on film editing', Film Studies For Free, April 16, 2010
• Ian Grey, 'The Art of Chaos Cinema', PressPlay, August 26, 2011
• Ambrose Heron, 'Chaos Cinema and the Rise of the AVID', Film Detail, August 23, 2011
• Kevin Howley, 'Breaking, Making, and Killing Time in Pulp Fiction', Scope May 2004
• Neal King, 'Secret Agency in Mainstream Postmodern Cinema', Postmodern Culture, 18.3, 2008 
• Jakob Isak Nielsen, 'Structural completeness in The War Is Over', Short Film Studies, 1.1, 2010
• Catherine O'Rawe, 'More more Moro: Music and montage in Romanzo criminale', the italianist 29 · 2009 · 214-226
• Steven Shaviro, 'Slow Cinema Vs Fast Films', The Pinocchio Theory, May 12, 2010
• Matthias Stork, 'Chaos Cinema: The decline and fall of action filmmaking', PressPlay, August 22, 2011
• James Udden, 'Child of the Long Take: Alfonso Cuaron’s Film Aesthetics in the Shadow of Globalization', Style, Volume 43, No. 1, Spring 2009
• Matt Zoller Seitz, 'Why are so many modern action movies terrible?', PressPlay, August 25, 2011

More about → Links on videographical film criticism, editing, 'intensified continuity', 'chaos cinema', 'hapticity' and (post) cinematic affect

Sweet Little Cherry Sugar Cookies

What's better than a yummy sugar cookie... with a cherry on top?
No cherry-shaped cookie cutter? No problem. Try a bone-shaped cutter instead.

What You Need:
One batch Vanilla Sugar Cookies
Royal Icing in red, green & white
Bone-shaped cookie cutter (or heart-shaped cutter)
Decorating tips 3, 5, 352
3 Decorating bags
2 Small zip-top baggies
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