Gu Ma Jia [姑妈家] - Chinese New Year 2019 Reunion Dinner Menu

[Media Invite] 

Gu Ma Jia is award-winning restaurant which bagged awards at Singapore Food Festival for 2 years and at Singapore Food Master Award for another 2 years.

Their creation of delectable home-cooked dishes, are well loved by all as a healthier choice as well based on the founder, Gu Ma's philosophy of no added MSG (Monosodium Glutamate), less salt, less sugar and less oil.

Recently, I was invited for a media food tasting for Gu Ma Jia's Chinese New Year Menu for 2019.  I remembered the settings when I first visited in 2014 and now, the restaurant's upper level had a revamp, so much brighter, simple and chic! There is a new addition, the bar counter, to allow patrons to chill over some drinks while the dining area can be divided into half with the folding doors, perfect for cosy celebrations or even team meetings (there is a projector screen available), follow by a feast.

Now, let me share with you some of the mouth-watering dishes created for CNY 2019. Apart from the usual tasty dishes, you can also place orders in advance for Gu Ma Jia's Roasted Suckling Pig as well as other ala carte dishes. This is still my most favourite dish for Chinese New Year, the Prosperity Yu Sheng was plated with Gui Fei Abalone slices coupled with sauce which is the most important to decide whether if the yu sheng is nice. Its refreshing and zesty yet not overly sweet sauce was totally pleasant to the tastebud! 

Prosperity Yu Sheng (Gui Fei Abalone) - 鸿运发财鱼生 （贵妃鲍）
$40.80 / $50.80

Lobster Cold Platter wowed everyone who was seated around the table with its heavenly and beautiful presentation. Quality is never compromised, this platter was made up of premium quality fresh lobster salad served together with delectable dishes like Smoked Duck, Mixed Sauce Pacific Clams and Gu Ma Beancurd, which was crispy on the outside and with a palatable taste inside. The overall combination for this dish, I gave it a thumbs up!

Lobster Cold Platter [龙虾拼盘], $138 

Smoked Duck slices

Mixed Sauce Pacific Clams

Fish ( 鱼 / Yú ) is one of the lucky dishes to eat during Chinese New Year. It symbolizes that one may have ‘Surplus' more than they need during Chinese New Year. Gu Ma Jia came up with a new creation, Lychee Sweet & Sour Grouper!

Not only the dish was palatable with the tangy, sweet and sour sauce which made it so appetizing, I think the chef must have had the parents in mind when coming up with the creation for this dish. I loved that the fish bones were removed, the fresh and tender fish meat were cubed and wrapped with a coat of crispy skin. It was totally hassle-free to savour this dish. I guarantee, this dish will be well received by the old and young!

Lychee Sweet and Sour Grouper (Market Rate)

On top of the Chinese New Year Dishes, we were also served with Gu Ma Jia's signature dishes. This is another dish which will send diners whipping out their mobile phone to video the flaming ribs when served.

Kyoto Pork Ribs

The exclusive and Award-winning Assam Fish Head is one dish you should never miss when you make your visit. The fresh fish head was totally soaked in the very flavourful gravy, well balanced with the right amount of sourness and spiciness as well as with a generous topping of lady's fingers, egg plants and tomatoes. Intially, I did not want to take any white rice for that evening but it was hard to resist, you have to have a bowl to go with this dish! I tried this dish 4 years ago during a media tasting, 4 years later, it was still so good!

My all time favourite, Claypot Chicken with ginger and sesame oil, perfect for a rainy weather to warm the bodies and this is perfect as confinement food too! Read more about the review here.

Gu Ma Jia's rendition of Butter Milk Salted Egg Crabs, it is finger licking good. The taste, it was ADDICTIVE!

White pepper Crabs using white pepper all the way brought in from Sarawak! I would not say the crabs at Gu Ma Jia is the cheapest but you be assured that the quality of the crabs were fresh and good! One of the contributing factors which made me a returning customer because I know quality will never be compromised.

We were served with a cup of vinegar enzymes, to help with digestion, On top of that, we were also served with a bowl of delicacy which is part of the Chinese New Year Dishes, Double Boiled Peach Gum with Red Dates.

This dessert is nourising to the bodies, I have cooked it before and it was extremely time consuming to prepare, from soaking to picking out the dirt from the peach gums. So elated to have this bowl of goodness!

Double Boiled Peach Gum with Red Dates [冰糖红枣炖桃胶], $32.80 

For more information, you can go to http://www.gumajia.com.sg/ , click here for more information on Chinese New Year 2019 Reunion Dinner

To view the menu. You can call 62852023 to make your booking or email: sales@gumajia.com.sg . 

It is only a month away to Chinese New Year.  Remember to make your reservation earlier as the slots always get taken up fast!  On a side note, Gu Ma Jia does buffet catering and lunch bento boxes services too! 

Location :

Gu Ma Jia Food Pot ( 姑妈家 )
45, Tai Thong Crescent
Senette Estate
Singapore 347886
Tel : 62855602

Getting There:

By train : Nearest MRT is Potong Pasir
By buses : 8, 61, 64, 65, 66, 90, 125, 151, 154  
By car : Free parking after 5pm but it does seem a little challenging to find a parking lot during the peak hours. However, there are parking lots available outside the private houses. 

Thank you for reading and if you would like to stay tune for future updates, do follow me on : 

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Disclaimer: We were invited by AT Marketing Consultancy for food tasting session at 姑妈家 (Gu Ma Jia). No monetary compensation is involved. All opinions are of my own.

[Review] Eu Yan Sang Health Food for the whole family

Here I am at the last installment for Eu Yan Sang health products for the family. Looking for something to improve the appetite of your picky eaters and general immune health, read on.

I believed most of us are familiar with manuka honey, that is produced when bees pollinated the flowers. What makes manuka honey different from the usual honey is, the presence of an active ingredient, Methylglyoxal, which gives manuka honey its antibacterial and antiviral properties. The higher the concentration of Methylglyoxal, the better it is.

For the bottle I am having, it is Eu Yan Sang Manuka Honey MG 30+ and contains at least 30mg/kg of Methylglyoxal (MG) and Eu Yan Sang's range of Manuka comes in number of MG 30+ to MG 550+.

Eu Yan Sang Manuka Honey is of premium quality, 100% sourced from some of the unpolluted regions in New Zealand. I like that it does not contains preservatives nor any added colourings, 100% natural and does not consist of artificial colourings. 

Some benefits of Manuka Honey:

1. Antibacterial and Antiviral properties - I like to take a teaspoonful neat whenever I have a sore throat and allow the manuka honey to just flow down my throat.

It was also shared to that manuka honey helps with improving immunity as well. On good days, I will make it into a warm drink for Xavier and I love to add into my ginger drink (Honey ginger) on cold weather or on days I felt the need to keep my body warm.

2. Improves the digestive system - Common digestive disorder symptoms include irregular bowel movement, constipation, diarrhea and abdominal pain.

3. Improves skin health - I read that some people do mask with manuka honey, especially for those with acne. Manuka honey's anti-inflammatory properties help with the healing process.

Next, for the picky eaters or kids who have poor appetite. This is no stranger to me, I have learnt that Si Shen is traditionally used to help improve digestive health as it regulates, nourishes and strengthens the spleen. Not only that it helps in improving appetite, it  may help with fatigue too.

Very often, I bought the herbs to boil "Si Shen Soup" with some pork ribs, it tastes mildly sweet and bland, not bitter at all. But for the busy mums, Eu Yan Sang Si Shen Powder could be an easier option for you. Either you take 15mg of Si Shen powder in a cup with warm water or you can opt add into your soups that allows this taste to blend it in. Personally, I like to cook Lotus roots soup and just mix the powder in. For little toddlers, you can also mix into their porridge too!

Here are the previous posts if you have missed them:
- Eu Yan Sang Health Food and Supplements for adults
- Eu Yan Sang Health Supplement for Children

If you have enjoyed reading my posts, do follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram !  
Disclaimer: This post is a sponsored post by Eu Yan Sang Singapore, no monetary compensation is involved and all opinions are of my own.

Ortho-K for Kids with Videre Eyecare

Being an avid reader since young,  Xav has been on glasses when he started Primary 1. But boys being boys, I needed to constantly remind him to handle his glasses properly, not to act cool by removing or wearing the glasses with a single hand, clean the smudged lens when needed for he can be totally oblivious to it, check for worn-out nose pads and scratched lens and the list goes on.

Orthokeratology or Ortho-K for short, this may sound familiar to some of you and foreign to some. Ortho-K is the use of gas permeable contact lenses (hard lens) to be worn at night so that the lens can gently reshaped the cornea and temporary correct the short-sightedness while one is sleeping so that the next day, one can still function without having the need to wear glasses or contact lenses and also to slow down the progression of myopia.

This is a totally new experience for us and especially so, for the boy as it can be quite fearful for some kids to put a foreign object in their eyes. To be honest, I do have my reservation about it because at the end of the day, it concerns his vision and his eye health as well as concerns like infection and ulceration with regards to this journey. I will cover this in the later part of the post. 

We made our first consultation with Yee Leen, one of the optometrist from Videre Eyecare for an Ortho-K evaluation and also a trial fit to assess if Xav was suitable for it.

Below image is a WAM 700 machine that can check for multiple objective refraction, eye pressure, axial length of the eye and many more.

Was it only me? I was amazed by this little station that could straight away give the reading of power of the lens directly from the lens.

Yee Leen gave Xav a thorough professional Comprehensive Eye Examination, Corneal Health Screening, Dry Eyes Detection, Corneal Curvature Mapping (Topography), Eye Pressure (Intra-Ocular Pressure), Contact Lens Fit, Wear & Care as well as Contact Lens Safety Recommendation.

With Yee Leen, explaining to him how Ortho-K treatment works. 

Being a competitive swimmer, Ortho-K treatment would be of beneficial to him and he would definately love to have clearer vision under water.

After explaining to Xav what the routine involved, the safety precaution to take, the commitment and discipline needed for this treatment, he told us he would love to give it a try! Whooo hooo! He is ready to throw away his glasses! 

This is his new commitment and routine (day and night), I was surprised that he was actually more cautious and remembered the steps much better than me which was good! The hygiene and proper handling of the lens is very crucial to prevent any risk of infection.

Daily routine

As his eyes are a little dry due to the regular swim, he has to do the following in the morning before school:

1. Drip blink Intensive Eyedrops before he removes the lens and drip again after he removes so as to moisturize the eyes. 

2. Use the saline to rinse the suction pump before using it to remove the lens.

Before wearing the lens to sleep (at night):
1. Drip blink Intensive Eyedrops before he dons on the lens and drip again after he wears it.
2. After pouring away the contents (conditioning solution), use the saline to rinse the lens holder, overturn it and leave to dry.

I have raised some of my concerns, here are some advice given to me on how to prevent eye infection, ulceration and lack of oxygen to the corneal: 

1. Always wash your hands clean (with soap) before handling the lens. 

2. DO NOT clean the Ortho-K lens with tap water. Tap water is teeming with bacterial although it has gone through intensive filtering, always wash with Saline. 

3. Commitment to return for regular check of the eyes to make sure eye health is in optimal condition is essential. Early detection is always better than allowing any poor eye health to deteriorate. 

4. Most would have thought that it is fine to keep using the same contact lens casing. But do you know that it is essential to change it every quarterly? 

5. Once the lens are being put on, the child should be heading to bed straight away. The optimum hours of sleep is between 6 to 8 hours with the lens on. For Xav, he usually sleeps at 10.30pm due to his training hours but thankfully it still meets the sleep requirement of 8 hours. 

How often did we go back for review?
The first night after Xav donned on the Ortho-K lens, we have to return to very next day for a review to see if the fitting had taken place well.

The second visit was a week later and third was two weeks later. The frequency of returning for reviews will be stretched longer as it goes.

What Xav experienced was, after the first night, he removed it and vision was much better than when he was totally off glasses (before he started Ortho-K treatment) though it was still blurred. Second day onwards, he excitedly told me "Mummy, my vision is so much clearer now!"

Xav is now enjoying lens-free in the day and can indulge himself in all kind of sports without having the risk of getting broken glasses or bent frame at the end of the day.

The price of Ortho-K lens starts from $1,800 onwards depending on individual complexity and can last for 1 to 2 years before you change. 

Thank you Videre Eyecare! for all the knowledge and patience in guiding us on this journey. Should you be keen to start your child on the Ortho-K journey, do give Videre Eyecare a call and make an appointment for an consultation and lens fitting at 6369 0041. Book your appointment online at http://videre-eyecare.com.sg/our-services/professional-eye-examination-by-age-group/ortho-k

Videre Eyecare is located at:
Forum the Shopping Mall

583 Orchard Road

#01-26/27/35/36/37

Singapore 238884 Email: forum@videre-eyecare.com.sg

Website: videre-eyecare.com.sg 

For more information, you can also visit Videre Eyecare:

Website | Facebook | Instagram

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Disclaimer: This review post is a collaboration between Videre Eyecare and MyFatPocket, all opinions are of my own.

[Review] Eu Yan Sang Health Supplement for the Children

Allow me to summarize the differences before I conceived Xav and Vera, during pregnancy and their immune system during their first 5 years.  

Before I conceived Xav: Did not consume any chinese herbs nor supplements to strenthen to my immunity. 
During the pregnancy: Did not consume any chinese herbs but took a supplement to increase my energy level. 
After birth (childhood): First 4 years, he was wheezing every 3 months and needed to be on neubalizer and was even hospitalized twice for Bronchiolitis. He was on a pill 'Singulair' for lung strenthening daily for almost 2.5 years before things changed for the better with changes to the diet and lifestyle.

Before I conceived Vera: for 6 months, I was on chinese herbs to strengthen my health and tried to conceive. 
During Pregnancy: I was regularly going back to the sinseh for reviews and continued on with the consumption of chinese herbs to strengthen my body through out the pregnancy. 
After birth (childhood) : Minus the severe eczema saga, Vera hardly visits the PD or GP. Whenever she is unwell, I will make changes to her diet and use essential oils to work on her accupressure points. Her body is very receptive to fight against the virus without medical intervention. She will usually break the fever by the second or third day. The first time she took paracetamol was in September when her temperature hit 40 degree celsius. That was my max, that temperature was way beyond my and her comfort level to fight.  

Not that she does not fall sick at all, on and off she would still still get cough and cold bugs. But I usually self-medicate based on past experience. Mainly because, my TCM always prescribe the usual pearl poweder and Hou Zao San for phlegm and I will also boil soups that can soothe and nourish the lungs. At times when I ran out of the prescribed powder for cough, the nearest Eu Yan Sang outlet will be the shop to go to, as it is much nearer to me than the usual TCM hall I always go to for consultation. 

Before this collaboration came, my cupboard will always have a few boxes of the following on standby: 

Eu Yan Sang Kitz Cough Powder
This was recommended to me by one of the EYS staff when  I walked in and told her that I had no idea if the kids' cough leaned more on the heaty or cold type of cough. You will see alot of similar cough powder on the shelf but this box with the purple packaging was recommended to be the "Neutral" type which is suitable to help eliminate symptoms for both types of cough.

Do not belittle this tiny bottle, it works wonder each time!

Best Seller, $29.80

I think I have very cooperative kids, I have no issues with Xav and Vera taking any chinese medication or supplement and yes, no struggles nor attempts to run off. I would guess it was partly due to the fact that I introduced to them when they were very young and they were kind of used to it. Infact, they find western medicine yucky.

Eu Yan Sang Pearl Powder

If you have heard about the benefits of Pearl Powder, it's high mineral content essential for healthy skin and can help slow down anti-aging process. It is often grind into super fine powder and being used internally and externally for beauty purposes.

Do you also know that Pearl Powder works amazingly well to reduce phlegm. I like to give it to the kids when they are down with a phlegmy cough (but not when they are wheezing), preferably in the night time as Pearl Powder can help with grounding and promoting better sleep too! Now, I recalled when I was young, my mum used to give us powder whenever we experienced any traumatic experience, now I understood why!

I read that Pearl powder has "cooling" properties and it works to bring down body heatiness. I always pair it up with Kitz Cough Powder. Probable after 2 or 3 days, the symptoms would be so much better, else gone. 

Photo credit: Eu Yan Sang, 

Power Up series (Concentration, Vision & Appetite)

If you read part one of my review on Eu Yan Sang supplements for Adults, you would have read how Chicken Essence works for me since student days till date. But this was not given to the kids before, especially Xav.

If you do read labels, most of the normal essence sold in the market contains stimulents such as caffeine as well as caramel. To me, it is akin to feeding coke (think of the colouring and preservatives) to the kids on a daily basis. For Xav, it is a no-go as he used to have childhood asthma and I was told by the doctor to cut off any form of food with preservatives and colouring. I have put on hold of supplementing him with chicken essence until Eu Yan Sang has this formulated 'Power Up!' range that is suitable for children from 2 onwards!

Why Power Up! series?  You can be totally at ease in giving to the young bodies as it is caramel and preservatives free and no added flavouring!

The range consists of the following:
- Power Up! Concentration (Yellow Box)
- Power Up! Appetite (Blue Box)
- Power Up! Vision (Orange Box)

Each range has a cute doodle to indicate which part of the body would benefit (from the top to the bottom):

Power Up! Concentration: This is fat and cholestrol free as these were being extracted during the brewing process. Power Up! Concentration may help in giving the mind and cognitive support a boost for greater focus and mental clarity, I gave a bottle to Xav daily before he sat for his papers.

Power Up! Appetite: This may help in giving appetite a boost! I read that there are similar herbs like Dang Shen [党参], Huai Shan [淮山]  (Dried Chinese Yam) & Fu ling [茯苓] in the contents.

From my knowledge of chinese herbs, Huai Shan helps to invigorate the spleen and stomach, for deficiency in energy with poor appetite and fatigue. You can get the dried ones from medical shops or get the fresh wild yam from the supermarkets while Dang Shen helps in nourishing blood and vital energy. I always love to cook fresh wild yam & lotus roots soup, just add pork ribs and some honey dates.

Dang Shen is similar to Ginseng but it is much more afforable (some people called it the 'poor man's ginseng' and is often used for Qi deficiency by my Sinseh whenever I am consulting her for fatigue. Dang Shen can also help with improving appetite! So if you have a fussy eater, this may do good!

Power Up! Vision: I have always heard of snacking on wolfberries to improve eyesight or to simply seep it in a glass of hot water and drink up everything. In the bottles of Power Up! Vision, apart from the 100% pure chicken goodness, ingredients also include wolfberries [枸杞], Bei qi [北芪]  and Bai He [百合] extract. Of course having said this, proper eye habits must be practised (more on eye care tips here) as well as do take a look into your liver health. This organ plays a part to our eye health.

I have at times used Bai He when the kids are having cough, as the dried lily bulbs helps to moisten the lungs and promote better sleep. You can read more about the function and benefits of dried lily bulbs here. 

Apart from drinking it from the bottles, you can also use these in your cooking for the little ones! Steam chicken or fish in it, it is pretty much an effortless dish to prepare! You can more about how I cooked chicken essence soup from my previous post.

The Power Up! series is retailing at $17.90 per box (Eu Rewards Special at $13.90 each), check them out here!

If you are looking for an alternatives to western medicine for cough, do give the above products a try. It works well for both Xav and Vera and I hope it works for your little ones too! A gentle reminder to watch their diet as well, I usually cut off dairies like cow's milk, egg yolks especially, chicken and citrus fruits like berries and oranges, alot of warm water intake and plenty of sleep! Ample rest is very essential to allow the body to recover fast.

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Disclaimer: This post is a sponsored post by Eu Yan Sang Singapore, no monetary compensation is involved and all opinions are of my own.