Ming's Mandarin - Around the World

The glasses are staying.

I love to travel and it would be a shame lets just say, if I get interviewed and don’t actually know how to say where I’ve been or want to go (can you imagine :|). I’m pretty good with the basics but will include them anyway!

TODAY'S CLASS AGENDA

VOCAB

For any beginners reading:                        

1.  Country   国家 guo jia             

2. Travel 旅游 lu you

3. England 英国 ying guo

4. Singapore 新加坡 xin jia po

5. China 中国 zhong guo

6. Japan 日本 ri ben

7. America 美国 mei guo

8. France 法国 fa guo

For the pro students: – me (google translator approved)

9. Spain 西班牙 xi ban ya

10. Russia 俄国 e guo

11. Morocco 摩洛哥 mo luo ge

12. Taiwan 台湾 tai wan

13. Philipines 菲律宾 fei lv bin (fei lui bin)

14. Egypt 埃及 ai ji

15. Mexico 墨西哥 mo xi ge

16. India 印度 yin du

17. Australia (formal term) 澳大利亚 ao da li ya OR (informal term) 澳洲 ao zhou

18. Europe 欧洲 ou zhou

19. Asia 亚洲 ya zhou

20. Africa 非洲 fei zhou

21. London 伦敦 lun dun

22. Paris 巴黎 ba li

23. New York 纽约 niu yue

24. Sydney 悉尼 xi ni

25. Hong Kong 香港 xiang gang

26. Holiday – 度假 du jia

27. Public Holiday – 假期 jia qi

28. VISA - 签证 qian zheng

PHRASES (That I can see myself needing to use..)

1. I was born in Sydney, Australia 我的出生地在澳大利亚的悉尼 wo de chu sheng di zai ao da li ya de xi ni

2. I grew up in Singapore 我在新加坡长大 wo zai xin jia po zhang da

3. I really want to travel to Japan 我真的想要到日本旅游 wo zhen de xiang yao dao ri ben lui you

4. I have family in London, Sydney and Spain. 我在伦敦，悉尼和西班牙都有家人 wo zai lun dun, xi ni he xi ban ya dou you jia ren

5. Will I need a VISA if I want to go to Egypt? 如果我想到埃及，我需要签证吗？ ru guo wo xiang dao ai ji, wo xu yao qian zheng ma?

6. Is there anyone who wants to travel with me to Taiwan? 有没有人想要和我一起到台湾旅游呢？ you mei you ren xiang yao he wo yi qi dao tai wan lui you ne?

Hao le! Tong xue men, ming tian jian!

Foodie Adventures (London) - NOPI

Theres nothing I love more than sitting down and reading a good restaurant review. In fact, its what I spend most afternoons doing (yes I crazy search online everyday for new food haunts to quench my never ending lust for new foods). However when I myself then stumble upon something worth sharing - its hard to get the words out the way you want to (I'll give it a go).

After months and months of wanting to try out Ottolenghi's salads, my friends and I decided to meet up for a catch up and their sister restaurant which is a brasserie (but more of a sit and eat a meal catch up kinda place than the other) with a twist. They serve dishes with the freshest ingredients and they certainly look it. Beautiful colours, tasty, healthy but so so so delicious. I could come back everyday. Their flavours are of Middle-east and Asia and are open all day for breakfast, lunch, dinner and a pre-theatre menu.

The top floor is formal with the bottom floor having long canteen tables looking into an open kitchen (which was pretty damn cool).

They had so many cool items on the menu! You could order lots of starters to share (I went with lots of starters, for myself..), or a main, and sides, and, ahhh it was just all too much!

Pretty self explanatory

Roasted red pepper, red onion, goat's cheese, hazelnut pesto

Marinated olives

Whole twice-cooked baby chicken, lemon myrtle salt, chilli sauce

Steamed pak choi, garlic, crispy shallots

Mackerel, fennel and white grape salsa, tobiko

Roasted green, purple, white cauliflower, ricotta, golden raisin puree (my favourite)

Roasted aubergine, feta, pomegranate

Grilled pork tenderloin, peanut mango acar, pickled pomelo

Twice cooked baby chicken, lemon myrtle salt, chilli sauce

Organic prawns, kohlrabi, bacon sauerkraut jalapeno

Purple, candy, golden beetroot, labneh

Roast sirloin, truffle vinaigrette, Belper Knolle cheese

Nectarine galette, pistachio, white peach sorbet

Chocolate, spicy hazelnut, orange oil

Caramel and roasted peanut ice cream, chocolate sauce

I LOVE WHITE AND GOLD. HOW COOL IS THIS BATHROOM. YES I WENT INSIDE AND TOOK LOTS OF PHOTOS LIKE A CRAZY PERSON. YES MY FRIENDS (and other people in the bathroom) JUDGED ME.

I can't wait to go back and explore their menu more! *add in* I must confess, I wrote half of this post after I had finished my lunch yesterday but having since I have gone back with my parents and added in extra food photos. IT WAS THAT GOOD. They (at first) didn't want to order many veggie dishes but after having tried two, reordered more veggies (and repeated some dishes - yes - that good).

NOPI website here. And while you're at it - take a look at Ottolenghi's too!

Singapore National Games Closing Ceremony

Got the most amazing opportunity to perform at the closing ceremony for the Singapore National Games the other day. It was also my first chance to wear this little number out in public!

Feeling like a princess

Pink prom dream team

 I found it hilarious that we had matching outfits. We were saying how @syakirfmso should have worn one of the pink plastic rain coats that were going around as well so that we could have all matched (I'm sure he would have still found a way to make pink look pretty G - it had a hood as well so it was practically a hoodie!).

Stalker-Cam alert.

And now for the best bit... taking photos with all my AMAZING fans! These are a few I nabbed off someones camera (yes, they took photos of us getting our photos taken..)

And these are just a few that I was tagged in via instagram and twitter. I LOVE THEM! I love meeting all of you guys. After all, its you who keep me motivated to work harder and make me love doing what I do so much more. You really mean the world to me.

Found this video online too if you're interested in seeing the performance - click here. The fireworks were pretty spectacular.

Look of the day - Light and Bright

Looking very much the student (is it just me? There's something about Ralph Lauren that just screams sophistication). Yesterday morning I opted for light colours - white, light grey jeans and pinky nude flats. Sharing the camera with my little friend on the right was kinda fun too.

White Sweater is from Ralph Lauren (It's pretty old but I found a similar one on their site here). Leggings-style jeans are from Marc by Marc Jacobs and can be found here and here (I got mine at Ngee Ann City in Singapore). Shoes are my ultimate favs from Miu Miu.

Oh how I miss my Lion City.

Ming's Mandarin - Fruit Factors

Does this make one look smarter?

Mum has now decided that I have to start blogging about my mandarin progress so that she can check that I’m ACTUALLY learning something (but this could be fun, I learn a bit, you learn a bit.. you know, half the stress?) so I’m starting this little ‘Ming’s Mandarin’ section. We’ll see how this goes.

TODAY'S CLASS AGENDA (lets start slow, shall we? Focused towards me remember..)

VOCAB (I’m crap with fruit and this is a good reminder)

For any beginners reading:                         

1.  Fruit 水果 shui guo

2. Fruit Juice 果汁 guo zhi

3. Apple 萍果 pinguo

4. Orange 橙 cheng

5. Banana香蕉 xiang jiao

6. Strawberry/Blueberries 草莓 Cao  Mei / 蓝莓 lan mei

For the pro students: – me (DW I google translate checked)

7. Papaya 木瓜 mu gua

8. Watermelon 西瓜 xi gua

9. Kiwi 奇异果 qi yi guo

10. Pineapple 凤梨 feng li

11. Rock Melon 哈密瓜 ha mi gua

12 Pear 梨子 li zi

13. Raspberries 山莓 shan mei

14. Avocado 鳄梨 e li

15. Mango 芒果 mang guo

16. Peach 桃子 tao zi

17. Lychee  荔枝 li zhi

18. Durian 榴莲 liu lian

PHRASES (That I can see myself needing to use..)

1. Can I order a fruit salad? 我想点一份水果沙拉 wo xiang dian yi fen shui guo sha la

2. What type of fruit juices do you have? 请问你们有什么类型的果汁 qing wen ni men you she me lei xing de guo zhi

3. Where can I find a fruit market? 请问我能在哪里找到水果市场 qing wen wo neng zai na li zhao dao shui guo shi chang

4. Does this supermarket have any (e.g. blueberries)? 请问这个超市（short for 超级市场 chao ji shi chang）有没有.........（eg.蓝莓）qing wen zhe ge chao shi you mei you..

5. My favourite smoothie is strawberry and banana  我最喜欢的是草莓和香蕉冰沙 wo zui xi huan de shi cao mei he xiang jiao bing sha

6. I don’t eat durian 我不吃榴莲 wo bu chi liu lian 

OK THAT’S ENOUGH FOR TODAY!

Xia ke! Ming tian jian!