Coming from a hot South East Asia country, I couldn’t understand why would anybody flock outside and lie down on the grass when the sun is shining brightly. An hour ago, I was making a trip down to the nearby supermarket and for the first time since I’ve been here in London since 29th September, I felt the warmth from the sun.

I totally get it now.

Since Rui Rui has to work today and will only finish work tonight, I’m finally given free rein to settle my own meal. Oh the possibilities! However, after wandering around the tiny supermarket, I settled on “Tong Yun” and frozen “Hor Yip Fan”. I must admit, I really didn’t think this one through carefully. It was only after I’ve finished my meal, did I realise that both items I ate are made of glutinous rice.

Oh well, doesn’t matter. The brand of “Tong Yun” came from Singapore, and it’s a brand that I’m very familiar with, so I had to get it. While the “Hor Yip Fan” (lotus leaf wrapped rice), an item that I would often order from dim sum restaurants, is interestingly from Netherlands. These days, looking at the country of origin before making any purchase, has became even more important to me.

I’ve cleaned out the good o’Tatung rice cooker and used it to steam the lotus leaf rice. The food was quite alright. “Tong yun” turned out to be filled with red bean paste instead of peanut. Although I’ve made it a point to buy the ones with peanut, I must have picked the wrong one from the fridge. The “Hor Yip Fan” from Netherlands, is a bit weird. Its taste is alright and on point, but the glutinous rice didn’t turn out to be as stick as I’m used to. Perhaps it’s because I didn’t steam it long enough; a couple of bites was a little cool.