Channel U Reality Programme - Find the WASABI《Wasabi 新体验》

こんばんは, おげんきですか?

Hello everyone, greeting in Japanese. The above sentence means "Good evening, how are you?"

This is one of the greeting sentence that I remembered from my basic Japanese language class. Japan is a really beautiful country which I hope to visit one day, they have beautiful scenery, yummy Japanese food, kawaii fashion style and etc.

Now I can find out more about Japanese culture, food, lifestyle and people through Channel U new reality programme - Find the WASABI《Wasabi 新体验》.

Thanks Channel U for the invitation, I attended the private screening of "Find the WASABI" which was held at Kuishin Bo, Great World City.

Continue reading to find out more.

The host of the day was Ivy Tan from Yes 93.3 FM (left).

Credits to Channel U.

The cast appearance: Seraph Sun 孙欣佩, MediaCorp Artiste.

Seraph shared with us a background of herself: She was spotted by MediaCorp after winning the Ms Popularity title in “SNAP”. She joined MediaCorp as a full time artiste in 2013. And in this February, Seraph will embark on the reality series - Find the WASABI.

Credits to Channel U.

“Find the WASABI!” is an info-variety, reality-TV Asian co-pro series in which 3 Asian celebs with extensive knowledge on Japan compete against each other to find the hidden taste of Japan – further discovering its culture, food, lifestyle and people through challenging tasks and games.

The 3 Asian celebrities are also known as theWASABI hunters. They are representative from 3 different countries. Let's see who are they:

Singapore: Seraph Sun 孙欣佩 

Thailand: Palm (lead vocalist of band “Instinct”) 

Indonesia: Sheryl Gething (19 year old female vocalist)

Interwoven throughout the programme are latest news on Japan’s fashion, beauty and culture – making it the most exciting, entertaining, and up-to-date visual travelogue to Japan.

****

This was so different from what I thought. I thought in every episode, they will be hunting for different food and mix it with wasabi. This was totally wrong.

We got to watch the preview of the first and second episode.

In episode 1, 3 Asian celebs have come to Japan for a competition to find the “secret spice” of Japan. The 3 WASABI Hunters will live together in the “WASABI House”, and every week, they will face the challenges of various “Japanese Cultural Mission”. 

Only 1 person will emerge as the ultimate winner and be crowned the prestige title of WASABI CHAMPION. 

The battle begins on this day of arrival...

Now who are you rooting for?

I am rooting for Seraph, I support team Singapore :)

In episode 2, the 3 WASABI Hunters receives another mission. RAMEN Report! After learning the skills of TV gourmet report from the Japanese master himself, the 3 hunters rival at the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum. The loser faces the first BATSU GAME of the series!

So happy, Seraph won the first round. Good job!

After the screening, we proceeded for a mini game where audience were picked and answered questions relating to Japanese culture.

And loser will face batsu game where they have to eat sushi with wasabi.

Credits to Channel U.

"Find the WASABI" will be airing in 4 different countries - Singapore, Japan, Thailand and Indonesia.

The 13 episodes long programme will debut on Channel U this 18 February at 8pm. 

Credits to Channel U.

A group photo to end off the screening session. Wow, that's really a big group.

A photo with Seraph. She is so pretty.

With Ivy. Ivy is good at hosting event, she never fail to entertain the audience with her jokes.

After which, we proceeded for a yummy buffet at Kuishin Bo.

I must say this is an unique and entertaining variety show. If you love Japanese culture, remember to catch "Find the WASABI" on Channel U.

Debuts 18 Feb 2014, every Tuesday 8pm!

Chinese New Year 2014

The year of Horse has finally arrived after 12-year cycle, the horse has galloped its way here to usher Chinese New Year (CNY) 2014.

Here are some of my happenings during this CNY:

Passed by Chinatown and the festive decorations have caught my attention. I took this shot while I was on a bus.

Tuesday 28/1/14

I made my first visit to StraitsKitchen @ Grand Hyatt Singapore for CNY lunch gathering.

StraitsKitchen is a Singapore-inspired restaurant presenting the best of local cuisine in a contemporary marketplace setting. If you love eating local food, you will love this place.

Jolene was already hungry.

StraitsKitchen has Yu Sheng promotion going on, so we ordered it for lo hei. 

Welcoming the new year with prosperity toss. 

Different ingredient symbolises different meanning, let us take a look at it:

Raw Fish – symbolizes excess throughout the New Year - 年年有余 

Pomelo – symbolizes luck and auspicious value - 大吉大利

Pepper – symbolizes attract money and valuables - 招财进宝

Oil – symbolizes money flowing in from all directions - 一本万利

Shredded Carrots – symbolizes blessings of good luck - 鸿运当头

Shredded Green Radish – symbolizes eternal youth - 青春常驻

Shredded White Radish – symbolizes prosperity in business and promotion at work - 风生水起

Peanut Crumbs – symbolizes a household filled with gold and silver - 金银满屋

Sesame Seeds – symbolizes a flourishing business - 生意兴隆

Deep-fried Flour Crisp – symbolizes gold - 满地黄金

Hope that 2014 will bring us good fortune. Huat ah!

I love the Deep-fried Flour Crisp. It is really addicting, couldn't stop eating it.

After walking round and round, here was what I got for my first plate. Initially I was trying to find what is the corner for sashimi, but there isn't any. I forgot that this was a local cuisine buffet. You could find some of the popular local favorites such as Satay, Beef Rendang, Hainanese Chicken Rice, Laksa, Tandoori Chicken and Naan.

By the second plate, I was already full. Prata will make you full, I have 3 pieces of prata!!! Usually for buffet, I could go like 3-4 rounds before proceeding for dessert. This was so bo hua!

Popiah. Too full for it.

Unique flavour of ice-cream - horlicks and coconut. Of all things I ate for lunch, ice-cream was mt favourite.

Thursday 30/1/14

Happy lunar new year to everyone. May 2014 be a prosperous year for all of us.

祝大家新年快乐, 馬年行大運:

馬上有錢

龍馬精神

一馬當先

馬到成功

Friday 31/1/14

Here comes the first day on lunar new year. On this important day, every household will visit the elders or the most senior members of the family to bai nian, wishing each other "happy new year".

New year sweet treats were placed on table for guests who came to visit us.

Chap Chai was prepared early in the  morning which we have for our brunch. 

Shark's fin soup is a must have for us for every CNY. We actually had the vegetarian shark's fin soup in order to protect the ocean environment. Hehe.

Vegetarian shark's fin soup was equally nice as well. The soup was rich was savoury, every mouth tasted so flavourful.

What is Donald so engrossed in?

Wow, now still have Ah Beng's phone (da ge da). A super exotic phone with the antenna. Super retro sia!

Comparing the size with iphone.

The Ah Beng's phone is like the size of a water bottle. Interesting.

Our yearly dinner affair on CNY - steamboat.

It is a preferred choice as it is easy to prepare while dining with a group of people.

My second yu sheng. 

Hope that 2014 will be an abundance and prosperity year for all of us. Huat ar!

Saturday 8/2/14

I was at Great World City the other day and saw there was lion dance performance going on at Level 1 atrium.

Watching the performance reminded me of Jack Neo's movie "The Lion Men", have you guys watch it?

Omg, this little boy was so cute. While watching the performance halfway, he came out with his own lion dance costume out and dance together with the music. Oh, what an adorable kid, so cute.

大头娃娃 came to distribute red packet to the audience.He gave it to the kids mostly.

Omg, the 2 boys under the lion dance costume seems only 10 years old. At such a young age, they were already so capable. They made me feel so ashamed. What am I doing when I was 10 years old?

Well, that pretty much sum up what I did during CNY, what about you? How did you spend your CNY?