Jumping Queue

I hate queue jumpers!!!  Sorry, I just have to rant as someone cut MY queue this morning while I was patiently waiting for my turn, with a crying baby in tow!!! Arrrghhhhh!  There have been some cases where I'm more irritated than usual, here are just a few examples:

At the Supermarket Cashier
In a highly populated place like Singapore, supermarkets can get really crowded.  So much so that the queues at the cashier would make you think that the supermarket was giving things away for free!  So there I was, stuck in a queue which would most probably take at least 20 minutes.  And here comes this auntie (this is how we usually address more elderly women) who walks right up to the front of the queue and places her purchases on the cashier's table.  Helloo???  I can understand that you are old and would get really tired waiting in line, but you can't just cut a long queue like that, it's not your right!  If you were to ask nicely, I'm sure many kind souls would gladly let you go ahead of them.

Ordering Food
At many eating places here, you have to line up at the stall, wait for the food to be prepared and bring it to your table.  One fine day during a 1-hour lunch break, I was lining up at a food stall.... long queue... After about 15 minutes, the queue had only moved a tiny bit while the queue got longer behind me.  In comes a giggly lady and starts talking to a couple right in front of me.  "What are you guys eating? Hmmmm.... what should I eat?  Should I eat this?".  She then proceeds to ask her friends to order TWO, not ONE portion of food!!  I couldn't take it any more and just had to ask: "Excuse me, are you trying to order food now??" and eyeballed the long long queue.  "Yes, is that ok?", she had the cheek to ask!  I was boiling, and stomped off to another food stall.  Grrrrrr.....

Queuing for the Bus
At bus interchanges, there are designated areas for people to line up for buses.  Some people won't join the queue as sometimes the wait is quite long.  They prefer to lounge around nearby, comfortably seated.  However once the bus appears, they would be the first to get up and cut the queue right at the HEAD of the queue!

Why do queue jumpers/cutters exist?

1. Some people are impatient and have total disregard for other people.  It's a Me, I, Mine mentality, a view that the world has to revolve around them
2. People being cut condone such behaviour.  If more people could speak up to at least let them know that this kind of selfish behaviour is not accepted.  Being Asian, many people prefer to just keep quiet and grumble under their breath...
3. Service staff condone such behaviour.  If your stall/shop/service requires customers to queue up, please apply it to all, except for special cases.  I don't expect you to scold your customers, all that is needed is a polite "Sorry sir, please join the queue"

Well, there..... I feel much better after all this ranting..... 

Morning Walk Series [1]

I've been bringing Little One for daily morning walks for about a year.  Our place is slightly away from the train station and shopping centre, making it a rather serene area.  Even though I've been staying here for many years, it was only through these walks that I realised that there is so much to see in the rooftop garden!  Here are some pretty flowers to start off the "Morning Walk" series:

Desert Rose

Desert Rose

Common name: Desert Rose
Binomial Name: Adenium obesum

Chicken & Carrot Congee

I've been blogging about food for some time but have never thought of blogging about baby food.  That is until someone asked me to share some baby food recipes too.  Here's my very first baby food recipe.

One of the most common food for babies in this part of the world, is porridge.  I prefer cooking congee (a thicker, less watery version of porridge).  Cooking congee the traditional way on the stove is very time consuming and needs lots of attention, especially when the congee reaches a rather thick consistency.  Once you let the congee burn, even if it's just a little at the bottom of the pot, the whole pot of congee will have a burnt taste.  Not good.....

However, in our modern world, cooking congee is a breeze.  I use a rice cooker which has a "Congee" setting!  Here's how easily healthy, nutritious homemade congee can be cooked for your precious baby:

Chicken & carrot congee for baby

Ingredients:
Rice (I use mixed unpolished rice)
1 clove of garlic, whole and with skin on
1 piece of carrot, cut into thin strips
1 piece of chicken, minced
light soya sauce
white pepper

1. Wash the rice and add it to the rice cooker pot.  Add water as specified by your rice cooker instructions in order to cook congee.  Add garlic and carrot strips to the rice cooker pot and start the rice cooker on "Congee" setting.
2. Season the minced chicken with a little light soya sauce and white pepper.
3. When the "Congee" cooking cycle has completed, add the minced chicken to the rice cooker pot and give the congee a quick stir.  Start the "Congee" again.  Once the 2nd "Congee" cooking cycle has completed, add a little light soya sauce to the congee.
4. Remove the clove of garlic and serve warm.  Be very careful to cool it sufficiently so as not to burn baby while feeding.

**NOTE**

I like to run the "Congee" setting twice in order to get a thicker, more mushed up congee as my little one doesn't have any back teeth yet.