Bus Breakdown - Complementary Ride

Ever wonder what would happen if the bus you took breaks down? It happened to me recently during one of my bus rides. Halfway through the journey, we heard the bus captain making some announcement and honestly those of us on the upper deck of the bus didnt pay any attention to it.

Then at the next bus stop, the bus stopped for a long time, and the captain walked up and said "Really sorry but the bus broke down" in mandarin. So we all have to leave. In fact some of the passengers were so "blur" that the captain had to walk up a second time to chase them out (politely). I translated the captain's message for some of the non-Chinese passengers.

Oh well, guess these things happen from time to time.

So what happened next? Heh, all the passengers could grab a ticket, that would let them take the next bus ride for free. Actually my card was not deducted at all for this particular trip - guess they did some magic at the back. The captain of the next bus was pretty surprised to see a crowd at this bus stop and the first few passengers just walked up without tapping their cards. He started collecting these complementary tickets from all of us boarding his bus. 

So this is how that bus ticket looks like. I havent had a bus ticket for such a long time ever since everything goes by that transit card payment.

Complementary Ride Ticket

New Food Goals 20 and 30 by 2035

Singapore's goals of "30 by 30", i.e. 30% of food to be sourced locally by 2030, was set in 2019, and after many years I guess they think it is no longer feasible to do so. Admittedly local vegetables continued to be priced higher than foreign imports - who could beat the prices from either China or just cheaper vegetables from our neighbours Malaysia and Indonesia?

Thus they changed the targets last week (4th Nov), to have 20% of fibres (defined as leafy vegetables and such, not including rooted veges and 30% of proteins to be sourced locally by 2035. 

Honestly I am a bit disappointed. It is possible if we truly aim for it. We have done so for water isnt it? As for the protein part, they said that eggs already exceeded the original target, i.e. about 34% of eggs are sourced locally. So indeed if we set our mind on some of these targets, it is actually possible to achieve them. The prices of locally produced vegetables could be controlled depending on the types of veges and of course the rent. Maybe NTUC could help to roll out more promotions (they did in Aug for the SG60 celebrations) too to support our local farmers.

Food prices have been rising, and the inflation of food, both raw ingredients and cooked, would continue to put a strain on our residents.

Hope fully the new targets could be met, and not just 'adjusted' along the way or pushed back further. Would keep an eye on the Food Statistics when it is next published.

 

Happy 60th Birthday Singapore!

Today is the 9th of August and Happy 60th Birthday to Singapore!!

I believe there are plenty of congratulatory notes all over the place and many of us (thos who didnt go overseas) would be looking forward to the National Day Parade at Padang this evening. The weather looks good thus far (dont jinx it!) and the fireworks will be fantastic, based on the views from past many weekends of pre-shows.

Taking this chance to continue showing support for locally made products, especially our vegetables and eggs! NTUC has been running many promotions for both vegetables and other locally produced food. They continued with the one for one - eggs, but it seems to have stopped for a number of NTUC outlets. I found this one at the Serangoon Nex (but the place is terribly crowded, definitely not my go to weekend grocery shopping place).

Chew's One for One Eggs - NTUC

The vegetables are on promotion too! I found the Green Harvest and Phyotgreen ones (nai bai, kai lan and others). Green Harvest offered free dou miao for any 2 packs of other vegetables bought. Heh our locally produced vegetables are pesticide free some more.

Well, not just locally produced vegetables and eggs, but we have plenty of other celebratory offers, including local favourites like chilli crab and durian flavoured food. So not surprising that fast food restaurants started with lots of chilli crab promotional food. I like the chendol flavoured ice cream cone from MacDonalds, and the chilli crab sauce seems authentic too.

Mac $1.30 Ice Cream Chendol Cone

Mac Chilli Sauce

So yup Happy Birthday once again Singapore! And looking forward to many many years of peace and prosperity for this Little Red Dot!! :)

Yours truly,

Little Red Dot Diaries

Luckin Coffee Available at NTUC

 I was somewhat surprised to see Luckin Coffee beind sold at NTUC. Heh nope not the normal version at the Luckin shops, but rather the different instant mix version. Even the Coconut flavour version (I thought unique and seasonal?) is available - per box of 9 cups being sold at $10.90 (discounted from $11.90). Not a bad thing but I wouldnt feel that uniqueness (or should I say experience) of getting a Luckin coffee via such an instant mix isnt it?

Luckin Coffee Coconut at NTUC

I can understand why Starbucks x Nespresso capsules work for some (me included) because all you want is a traditional coffee made quickly at home, i.e. an instant "cappuccino". Whereas the Luckin coffee experience is a different one - one order from their app prior to reaching the store with different vouchers to offset the price plus getting some varied flavour of the month. The latter would not be offered via a box of instant mix.

Oh well, who knows, maybe there are as many varied coffee drinkers with different preferences who might like it. Besides Coconut flavour, the mix traditional black coffee version is also available at $9.90 for 8 cups. Nope I didnt buy either - would still buy from their shop instead.

Luckin Instant Black Coffee

I think normal grocery food items being packaged with known brands is a thing - so while I was looking for that Demon Hunter Instant Ramen (not available yet), I came across this macadamia mixnuts with the Netflix brand instead. Maybe give them, i.e. Netflix, another month or so to get that spicy ramen flavours in all three versions right, and we would see them in stores all over. Heh with likes of Saja Boys' Your Idol topping the US charts, I think the related KPop Demon Hunter merchandise should be something made widely available soon.

NTUC Netflix Macadamia Mixnuts

More Eggs Promotion (Not Just Chicken Eggs) from NTUC

We eat eggs every day, from the half-boiled eggs with kaya toast to omelets and eggs fried into our fried rice. And it is a good thing that we started to have more supermarket promotions about eggs in this climate of increasing cost of living. The buy 2 and free 1 promotions seem to be on-going and I am glad. Buy 2 Get 1 Free extends to Chew's and Seng Choon. Rich or poor, eggs still form an important protein source for us and it is good efforts to keep the prices affordable.

Singapore imports large quantity of its eggs, supposedly more than 70%, from Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, and now even Poland, yup eggs air-flown from Europe. Not sure why though but it is a good thing that we diversify our food sources, especially for such an important ingredient like chicken eggs. Of course, beyond chicken eggs NTUC started running promotions for quail eggs too ($0.50 off for 2 packs purchased). I wonder if they are locally produced too.

Quail Eggs Promotion

We do have local farms for example names like Chew’s and Seng Choon although I wonder where does NTUC source its Pasar branded eggs from. Since the Pasar eggs are placed next to a sign with SG logo, I assumed they are locally produced too.

Besides eggs as a success story, hopefully the efforts to grow our vegetables farms can bear fruits one day, and we could continue to have access to affordable vegetables. Heh basic staples should be kept affordable.

See also:

- Support Local - Buy locally produced vegetables & eggs

KPop Demon Hunters - Movie Review

I've just spent my Saturday night watching the latest top movie / animation "KPop Demon Hunters" and I would say this is a really good movie. It has topped the Netflix charts in twenty over countries since the release on 20th June for the summer break. The plot revolves around three girls who formed a Demon Hunter  girl band group - HUNTR/X, a tradition from generations, who use voices and songs to form a barrier that shielded humans from demons. Here's the song from the starting section:

Heh the shield is named as "hon moon" - basically soul gate (hon = soul, and moon = gate), which is illustrated as a blue lined barrier formed from the souls of their fans in the animation. The aim of the three girls (Rumi, Mira, Zoey) is to create a golden hon moon so that the barrier stays "permanent". Of course, along the way the demons sent their own band Saja Boys, a boy band of five, who sought to steal the fans from the HUNTR/X and break the barriers so that demons could steal souls from humans. Some interactions among the two bands

Ok no more spoiling of the storyline. The big attraction of the movie would be the various songs. Plot wise pretty standard - self-discovery journey of the heroine(s) where fears, identities, dreams etc were played out. Here's the YouTube of one of the popular songs:

I'm guessing that Sony Pictures Animations (producer of KPop Demon Hunters) would likely release a sequel, and minimally some merchandise (instant noodles would be one track, toys another). I think there are some merchandise for sale on Netflix shop now. Looking forward to watching more on Netflix, the distribution platform for this move.

Luckin Coffee Payday Best Day Promo

I'm starting to be a Luckin Coffee fan due to the many promotions that they have been running. Just had their Payday Best Day promo today with 2 cups of coffee at $8. Quite a good deal actually. Had an Yirgacheffe Latte (1 of their Black Cup series, i.e. special coffee) the other day, and tried an iced caramel macchiato on Friday. And yup I've already used that $0.99 promo previously. :)

They have many vouchers so honestly each cup of coffee is not expensive. Heh I can't get a kopi-o at $0.99 easily in town.

Yirgacheffe Latte from Luckin

Caramel Macchiato

Considering the many varieties of coffee that they are offering, I would get to try different flavours and not get bored. This month it is the Iced Minty Coconut Latte but nope I didn't try that. I might do that over this weekend if I "run into" another Lukcin Coffee outlet. lol. Other than the varieties, the ease of ordering (before you reach that outlet) with a pick up, scan and go, makes it really convenient for those in a hurry. 

I like the non-coffee stuff that Luckin Coffee is offering too. The strawberry Daifuku is nice and soft, just a bit small - one mouthful type of treats. Oh well that is at least something to go with the coffee. 

With as many as like 60 outlets in Singapore, I guess Luckin is doing well here. Nope I am not paid in any way by them, but yup I would continue to use their promo vouchers. heh.

Strawberry Daifuku