Boring title, but at least I got my main topic across.
But before that, I've been sun and wind drying mandarin oranges all week and I've friends asking, albeit with curiousity, why do I make dried mandarin orange peels.
And of all times of the year, now.
Let's see, the sweltering sun and the consistent sea and land breezes now make the perfect weather condition for making dried mandarin orange peels. Like I've mentioned, sun and wind drying, where the fragrance of the mandarin orange gets locked in effectively and yes, my my, they smell really lovely now with their own zesty scent immersed fully with the essence of the sun.
Orange or Mandarin Orange peels are a common sight at trad medicinal halls because they're believed to contain really useful and effective medicinal qualities ("橙皮" anyone?). Not only do they add a tangy dash of flavour to trad Chinese desserts like the red bean soup, they make a tasty snack on their own as well.
Before I left my house yesterday early afternoon, I had put out two more Mandarin Orange skin to dry (it's somewhat my own family's trait of peeling them into the shape of, ahem, "Patrick the Starfish" ha) and as you can see here, just merely one day had passed and they're dried almost to perfection. I feel a sense of accomplishment here, thanks to the weather conditions which we don't love as much, but is an absolute god-send to sun-dried natural ingredients.
We speak of fruits and that, makes me think of Miyazaki (宮崎県), famous for their signature tropical mangoes. At least that's what I heard from the representative of Miyazaki prefecture yesterday during our お喋り会 (to make a loose translation, "conversation/cultural exchange session"). I'm never exactly a hardcore fan of this juicy orangey fruit because it makes me feel really "heaty" even after having some of it, although admittedly, its goopy sweet goodness is very addictive.
I really appreciate this opportunity my school extended to me and my fellows, where so far we've had sessions with representatives from Sakai (Osaka City), Kagoshima Prefecture and Tokyo. If not for our school's first time partnership with CLAIR (The Japan Council of Local Authorities for International Relations, Singapore), we wouldn't have been able to have such an enjoyable session with Usa-san - representative of Miyazaki Prefecture and Nori-san - representative of Niigata Prefecture (新潟県). I believe those two are somewhat good friends as Nori-san kept like jabbing Usa-san, in a way where he kept emphasizing that her name's U.S.A (stands for "United States of America" too, if you get my drift).
I really like the both of them, as they were not only very friendly and open, they showed genuine interest and inquisitiveness when the 9 of us were trying our best to relate our experiences in Japan and our hobbies and ourselves as a whole in as much as our Japanese language knowledge and training could allow. They were very patient to guide us and tried their best to satisfy our curiousity about the prefectures they represent. while at the same time trying to make sense of our English (because most of us ended up lapsing back into using English to converse as we weren't exactly very sure yet of expressions in the Japanese language).
I like the part where Nori-san was explaining to us the phenomenon of snow monkeys immersing themselves into the onsens in Niigata prefecture. The way he expressed the snow monkeys seeking the comfort of heat in the onsens due to the icy cold conditions was really animated and funny.
Nori-san and Usa-san are going back to their prefectures soon, as CLAIR is somewhat like, as Nori-san had tried his utmost best to explain to us, an extension of the Japan Tourism Board of sorts in Singapore, where representatives from all prefectures were sent by their respective governors to Singapore to promote their prefectures and their term in Singapore is quite a substantial long period before they have to go back to switch with another representative. It's kinda like shift work, if you ask me.
It's a pity that I didn't get to hear more from the representatives about themselves and the prefectures they are promoting (what we got to know from them was actually quite surface, in my opinion), mainly because I guess there's 9 of us this time and this 2 hour session is like not exactly enough, in a sense whereby everyone of us are very eager to share and express our thoughts and experiences, which kinda resulted in the representatives not having enough time to share and impart more.
Nori-san, Usa-san, please take care and have a safe journey home as we all really enjoyed your company! Usa-san, congratulations on your son and we hope to see him soon! ざひまたシンガポールへ来てください！
Jade Sis had to get some home essentials at Suntec Giant after that, where while I was just wandering around waiting for her, I happened to chance upon this suspicious-looking pack of Matcha Latte by Gold Kili.
"Suspicious" because it's instant. And all instant stuffs have the very high tendency of tasting horrible.
I have had the Matcha Latte at MOS Burgers once out of curiousity and to me, it tasted weird. Which eventually I concluded that it didn't suit my tastebuds.
Now, Gold Kili's Jasmine Green Tea was nothing to be sneezed at. My good friend Sam gave me a pack and up till now I'm still inhaling on it. So yes, it's good stuff, as I've mentioned above. And due to this good impression, I was a little hesitant on whether I should give this instant Matcha Latte a shot. I mean, this is not a tea bag after all but a kinda three-in-one mix like Milo.
And it's $6.50 for 15 long sachets, which somehow turned out to be $5.95. Giant is sure a supermarket of discount surprises ha.
To be honest, I got a little worried when I stared at the seemingly harmless green powder at the bottom of my Nescafe red ceramic cup this morning because I didn't smell any fragrance at all. I mean, there should be at least a bit of fragrance for tea ya as it's their signature trait?
I was prepared for the worst when lo and behold, the fragrance which assailed my nostrils was like a resounding, "Hello, I'm here!" greeting when I poured in hot water to the powder. 3 parts hot water and 1 part warm water later, I was ready to taste this light olivine green brew, whose colour looked pretty soothing and pleasant.
The first sip, the distinct taste of matcha danced along my tastebuds and soon after, permeated my entire being. The milk, which I had feared would be an over-powering factor, didn't turn out as scary as I've thought. It's creamy, no doubt about that, but turns out to be quite balanced and not cloying. There was no unpleasant after-taste or whatsoever afterwards, as the brew is as light as the matcha implied.
The only downside though, is it does make you feel abit dry after you finish it to the last drop. Might need to get a cup of preferably, warm water to wash it down afterwards.
I would say that this Gold Kili Matcha Latte suits individuals with the taste range of light to medium. And as Matcha could be quite an acquired taste to some, it can be quite adventurous to try this out I should say.
Speaking of adventurous, earlier in the week, I spotted a pack of instant Bundung in our office pantry stash. Had been contemplating to try it, if not for the fact that I'm not exactly a fan of that rose syrup and condensed milk concoction.
