Winter Dates from China in Singapore

Winter Dates in packaging, bought from Fairprice supermarket, Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

I was looking for fruit in a Fairprice supermarket in Singapore. I wanted cheap fruit. The prices of most fruit in Singapore is twice the price of the UK.

I spied Winter Dates. What were they? Dates?

I bought them.

When I got home I was disappointed to find that they were rock hard. I was also puzzled. What was I supposed to do with them? Wait until they matured and softened? Then eat them raw? Or boil them up?

 I bit into one. It is edible. Like a hard apple. No flavour. Maybe bulk with a flavoursome fruit to make a fruit salad or fruit pie.

One suggestion on Facebook from Jane>

 Try Sephardi charoset?

• I looked ir up.
• Shredded apple, walnuts.

 Seder night food 

for Passover.

• 
  
• 
  
• Another suggestion, try soaking them in wine for a couple of days.

http://chestofbooks.com/gardening-horticulture/fruit/Tropical-And-Subtropical-Fruits/Date-Picking-And-Packing.html  

http://patosdategardens.com/Khalals.shtmlP Please share links to your favourite posts.

Hawthorn Berries - Products to try in Singapore or from the internet - or buy and cook and try, diy

Cut hawthorn berries, bought in Fairprice supermarket, Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

The berries looked rock hard. However, I was surprised to find that I could cut into them easily. A bit like thick skinned grapes, soft on the inside. Watch out for the one large stone in the middle, like a cherry stone.

See previous posts for more information.

Useful Websites

https://omnivorescookbook.com/recipes/hawthorn-berry-juice

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See Update added Saturday Oct 14th.

Dried Hawthorn Slices

https://www.fairprice.com.sg/product/one-sunny-dried-hawthorn-slices-500-g-90054995

Hawthorn Tea

https://www.fairprice.com.sg/product/planet-organic-hawthorn-berry-loose-herbal-tea-100-g-90143381?gclid=CjwKCAjwkaSaBhA4EiwALBgQaKVmMmHvCzYRYLDUvTG2D-dEpbFtZ8M3dU19skL8c9iOi4MoFtGlkRoC9IMQAvD_BwE

Hawthorn gin - at 99 Singapore dollars

https://www.fairprice.com.sg/product/hepple-sloe-hawthorn-gin-1-x-500ml-90061111

4.90 Sing dollars - that's my sort of price for a novelty and a snack. Hawthorn with salt and sugar, okay, plus added locrice and plum powder

https://www.fairprice.com.sg/product/green-earth-dried-hawthorn-130-g-90031475 

Singapore's Shopping Malls At MRT railway stations - Bukit Panjang's Hillion Mall

 I postponed visiting the mall to do grocery shopping for months. But one day I needed fruit, sushi and chicken. I could get tinned food and bread and yogurt and vegetables from corner shops. But I needed fruit.

So, off I went. To Hillion Mall. It is at the far end of the Downtown line. I like end of line stations. When going to them, you cannot make a mistake and overshoot the stop. Coming back, no problem, no choice, all the trains are going back the other way. (The only choice is, sometimes, which of the two trains, if there are two waiting will go first.

The good thing about Singapore is the frequency of the trains. Mostly three to five minutes. 

What is good about the Hillion Mall? Firstly, the little train ride for children running outside. Not always there. But often throughout the year. For a small fee. Even if you don't have children, it is amusing to watch.

At the entrance to the mall are the popular fast food places. McDonald's. And the popular coffee shops. Starbucks. 

At the far end is Fairprice. I had looked at ordering online. Unfortunately, you had to wait two days for some deliveries. At that rate it was quicker to go myself.

Enjoy Chinese New Year Singapore Style, with red packets promising pretty flowers, wealth and promotion

 

Red packet given free to shoppers in Fairprice supermarket, Bukit Panjang shopping mall in Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Red packets are supposed to be given to children and unmarried relatives, containing new banknotes. 

In olden days the banks issued lots of new notes specially for New Year, and gave away red packets with the name of the bank. Concerns for the environment and the amount of note money going into landfill have led to a new idea. The red packet itself is this used but the contents are different. The lucky colour red packet contains, a prettily printed note from the donor promising money to be paid plastic free and paper-free by a bank transfer such as Paynow on a mobile phone.

I showed my red packets online on Zoom to my friend Mike, in Singapore, who is a member of our Toastmasters Club, BHA. I asked him what the four gold characters in Chinese meant. He told me, enlighteningly:

The top character is flower. The next character down is open. 

That combination means, may the spring flowers open for you (and bless you).

The last but one character mean big riches (may you be wealthy). The last character means rise up (be successful, be promoted to be the boss).

Fairprice Supermarket. Bukit Panjang. Picture by Trevor Sharot.

Useful Websites

Fairprice, Bukit Panjang

About the Author Angela Lansbury

BIOGRAPHY

Angela Lansbury B A Hons ACG ALB PM5 EH5 DL5 VC5 
The Author of several books including  Etiquette For Every Occasion. Wedding Speeches & Toasts. How to be the Best Man. Quick Quotations. Who Said What When.

Blogs travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Club Vice President Public Relations (VPPR), Previous President

Join BHA 1st Wednesday 7pm and 3rd Saturday 2 pm Singapore time 

Vice President Public Relations (VP PR) of Tampines Changkat Advanced;

Secretary of weekly online Singapore International Dynamic Toastmasters Speakers’ Club;

Member and past president of Harrovians toastmasters club, UK; Past member of HOD Toastmasters, London. Past member in Singapore of: Toastmasters Club of Singapore (TCS); Tiarel; and Senja Cashew.

More details from Toastmasters International find a club.

Regular attendee at annual Swanwick Writers’ School, England.

Regular attendee at annual Writers’ Holiday, Wales.

Contributor to poetry readings, and after tea courses on: Speaking On Radio To Promote Books; and Plots And Character.

Winner of many club and area speaking contests in the UK and Singapore.

Language advisor to Empire Toastmasters club in Indonesia.

Language and speech workshops in Singapore.

Speaker on radio and TV in England, Scotland, the USA, and Australia.

Compiler of a school course on public speaking for teachers to prepare pupils for school open days with attending ceremonies before government ministers, Singapore.

Former member of Harrow Writers’ Circle, London, and two writing groups in Singapore.

Angela is on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter. She would be delighted to link up with new friends.

 Please share links to your favourite posts.

Books by Angela Lansbury
How to be the best man. (Ward Lock / Cassell.)
Wedding Speeches and Toasts.(Ward Lock / Cassell.)
Unforgettable British Weekends.
Poetry Workshop Workbook.
The Tailor and the Spy. (Lulu.)
Larry The Talking Labrador. (Lulu.)
Writing Poetry for fun.

Quick Quotations

Who Said What When

 

I'm dreaming of a pink Christmas (tree)!

Fairprice supermarket, Bukit Panjang, Singapore. Pink Xmas trees and pink baubles to decorate trees.

 I heard my family in Singapore were going around some shops. I asked for photos. 

The song says, I'm dreaming of a White Christmas. But that was written in summer time by a Jewish songwriter in California many years ago. Songwise, it was a great success. As a nostalgic song, it still resonates. However, the seasonal colours, with different combinations, seem to be the trend. This year, 2021, the colour appears to be pink.

In the old days trees were green. You could keep decorations from one year to the next. I suppose that in an old folks' home, they might not mind. Now, your artificial tree will look so last year. Unless you keep them and display all the colours.

Useful Websites

FairPrice, Hillion Mall, beside Bukit Panjang MRT and light railway station interchange, Singapore. Hillion Mall is open 24 hours.

https://www.fairprice.com.sg/

About the author

About the Author Angela Lansbury

BIOGRAPHY

Angela Lansbury B A Hons ACG ALB PM5 EH5 DL5 VC5 
The Author of several books, including  Etiquette For Every Occasion. Wedding Speeches & Toasts. How to be the Best Man. Quick Quotations. Who Said What When.

Blogs travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Club Vice President Public Relations (VPPR), Previous President

Join BHA 1st Wednesday 7pm and 3rd Saturday 2 pm Singapore time 

Vice President Public Relations (VP PR) of Tampines Changkat Advanced;

Secretary of weekly online Singapore International Dynamic Toastmasters Speakers’ Club;

Member and past president of Harrovians toastmasters club, UK; Past member of HOD Toastmasters, London. Past member in Singapore of: Toastmasters Club of Singapore (TCS); Tiarel; and Senja Cashew.

More details from Toastmasters International find a club.

Regular attendee at annual Swanwick Writers’ School, England.

Regular attendee at annual Writers’ Holiday, Wales.

Contributor to poetry readings, and after tea courses on: Speaking On Radio To Promote Books; and Plots And Character.

Winner of many club and area speaking contests in the UK and Singapore.

Language advisor to Empire Toastmasters club in Indonesia.

Language and speech workshops in Singapore.

Speaker on radio and TV in England, Scotland, the USA, and Australia.

Compiler of a school course on public speaking for teachers to prepare pupils for school open days with attending ceremonies before government ministers, Singapore.

Former member of Harrow Writers’ Circle, London, and two writing groups in Singapore.

Angela is on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter. She would be delighted to link up with new friends.

 Please share links to your favourite posts.

Chinese Decorations and Statues at Toa Payoh in Singapore

Toa Payoh is easy to get to, on the red North-south train line, only four stops north of Orchard (which is the central stop, the Piccadilly of Singapore). Here's the arch you see as you exit from the MRT (mass railway transit).

At the other end, walking towards the community centre, is a pair of amusing statue groups, next to Starbuck coffee shop.

If it rains, inside the indoor mall by the MRT are more decorations and the Popular book and stationery store, as well as Fairprice supermarket.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, writer, author, speaker.