Headed to Sydney – again!

I am so excited, Singapore Airlines currently has an awesome promotion currently running. And, I am headed to Sydney again, this time with my aunt. Thanks aunty!

I’m impressed by the easily available vegan options and choices in Sydney during my last visit last year.

Soon, I’m going to make my way to Sydney again on 5th July for 12 days. I’ll be acting as a tour guide for my aunt, who has decided to opt for in-flight vegan meals with me too! Yayy, I’m so happy!!

During the 12 days I will be in Sydney, I will be spending about 1 week in the Blue Mountains. Activities I will be doing include Bushwalking, visiting the Jenolan Caves (maybe consider doing Plug Hole Adventure Caving), Three Sisters, Scenic World, and abseiling if possible! Not to forget stuffing myself with the most delicious vegan food only available in the Blue Mountains. More about that below. The list goes on..!

And while in Sydney, Bondi Beach, Gap Bluff, Manly Beach, sunset at Mrs Macquarie’s chair, Sydney Opera House… just to name some of them.

Currently, I have some places I would definitely be visiting:

For Food:

Blue Mountains
1. Rubyfruit - Leura (Amanda & Simone! Love them loads, not forgetting the unbelievably delicious tasting cheesecakes and hot meals available.)
2. Mountain High Pies - Wentworth Falls (Vegan options available.)
3. Cafe Memento – Blackheath (Was closed when I visited last time!)

Sydney:
1. Funky Pies - Bondi (The bestest ever all vegan pies!!!!)
2. Iku Wholefood (Healthy and delicious quick-to-go vegan meals!! All wholesome and nutritious food, with gluten-free options available.)
3. Mother Chu’s Vegetarian Kitchen (Long history! Introduced by my mum who was in Sydney many many years ago, this place is still going strong, and gets really packed! Mother Chu takes part in the running of the restaurant, I’ve seen and spoken to her during dining hours, an amazing lady.)
4. Green Gourmet – Newtown (Chinese Buffet option available, but highly recommended is the Vegan’s Choice next door. They serve all sorts of desserts, and even tofu ice cream that is very light and not tofu-y at all. I tried Rose+Choc flavor, it was yummy!)
5. Coles (I am going to get all sorts of vegan goodies such as Sweet Williams Chocolate back to Singapore! Heehee.)

For Health and Wellness:

This is particularly memorable. During my last visit last year, my best vegan buddy, Liam, was going for Colon Irrigation at Colon Care Centre (Surry Hills). Initially, I was extremely turned off and did not want to try it at all. After my mum went for the colon irrigation, she was in good spirits and more energetic. As such after much hesitation (and recommendation from Liam), I decided to try it out. It was surprisingly good!!

The benefits of a colon irrigation as taken from their website:

What can Colon Hydrotherapy Aid in?

• Liver overload from alcohol or medications
• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Depression
• Back ache
• Headaches & lack of concentration
• Skin Disorders
• Bloating and flatulence
• Digestive problems
• Yeast / Candida overgrowth

For Shopping:

1. Braintree Hemp – Newtown (Bought a bamboo long skirt + hemp long cardigan + unique scarf the last time when they were on sale. Mum also bought. I <3 them!)

This is my vegan friendly list of things-to-do and visit during my upcoming 12 days in Sydney.

If anyone would be so kind as to be able to provide me with more information on ethical vegan shopping, and places to go, please feel free to leave a comment below or drop me an email. Much appreciated!!

Vegan Sports Shoes! – Adidas by Stella McCartney

Hello there SGVegan readers! Its been a while since I’ve blogged and I truly apologize for the long hiatus!  I am truly grateful for the continuous support I have been getting from you during this period by continuing to subscribe to my humble blog and dropping me emails. My apologies for not being able to reply to all of them. Hope you are all doing well!

Recently, the sole of my 8+ years old sports shoe fell apart when I wore it for the first time in a long while. It was a good excuse to purchase a pair of sports shoes, haha! After much research, here’s the pair I bought:

It was not easy to search for a vegan sports shoes here in Singapore. I asked my SGVeganGrrrrls Kat and she suggested Adidas by Stella McCartney.

Having a rough idea of what the cost would be like, I decided to scour Queensway Shopping Center for this specific brand first.

It was a bad move.

Due to time constraints, I simply headed there and realized that no shops carried the shoes, except for one stall with a very limited apparel range of the Adidas by Stella McCartney.

Being nearby in the vicinity of IMM, I headed to the Adidas warehouse, and discovered 2 racks of the Stella McCartney apparel range. Prices were reasonable, and I bought a sports bra at $49.50 (usual $99).

The salesperson informed me that only the Vivocity and Suntec outlets carry the full range of Stella McCartney.

I was meeting a friend at Vivocity, so I popped by to have a look.

And ended up S$170.10 poorer.

I tried on the other designs and this caught my fancy:

Unfortunately, its for indoor use, so the support is not very strong. This pair of shoes is called “Tucana Pack Away Textile” and retails for S$149 if I remembered correctly.

I was lucky the saleslady decided to bring out this last pair that was not on the rack. According to her, it was a popular design, and the last pair happened to be my size! Yayyy!

Presenting my… Cacatua Runner!

I especially love this part as I think its very slick:

And the airy inner part:

Which makes use of OrthoLite technology, that…

Being more ethically aware of the “ingredients” that go into the making of vegan sports shoes/apparel, and plus, the companies’ manufacturing processes and the supply chain, I wanted to get a pair of shoes that would reflect my ethical awareness of what goes into the making of the sports shoes I wear.

Yeah, not all sports shoes are vegan, even though they appear to be.

I discovered that even if the sports shoes do not contain leather material, the glue that is used may contain animal products and byproducts! 

My pair of Cacatua Runner shoes costs S$189. After a 10% discount for regular priced items, I ended up paying $170 for this pair of vegan shoes.

Many of my friends who hear about the price of my vegan sports shoes are shocked at the steep price. And I agree. My bank account has just taken a beating.

So why did I still choose to get this pair of shoes?

I think about it as making a more compassionate choice by choosing a product I wear, not just simply what I eat. Its like a non-food equivalent of the dairy industry. I want the people who made my shoes, to be able to enjoy their deserved human rights and labor practices.

Even though sports shoes may appear vegan, are in fact made of materials that are toxic to both humans and animals, and companies, through their environmentally destructive manufacturing and supply chain practices, are indirectly responsible for the destruction of wildlife habitats.

Unfortunately, the majority of us have been conditioned to only look at the sticker price of items and not at the real costs paid by the environment, the animals and our fellow human beings all over the world! 

What we don’t see, and does not affect us directly, we will adopt an indifferent attitude. I am trying to be more aware of the consequences of my actions and putting it into practice. And I just took a small step towards this goal.

Handing out VeganBurg vouchers to the lunchtime crowd at Raffles Place

So today, the SGVeganGrrrls met up, for a session of VeganBurg voucher giveaway at Raffles Place.

The main aim was to target the lunchtime crowd with an offer that could not be resisted – 2 burgers… for the price of S$10!

It was my first time handing out vegan-related leaflets, and I felt so good doing it! Every single leaflet I was giving out and being accepted, I felt that I was doing my small bit for the better of the environment. And the sense of accomplishment was furthermore sealed when members of the public slowed down their hasty steps, and bothered to ask details about the food and the location of the outlet. Yayy!

So a big thank you to the Hot Veganista sister, Kat!~

*Photo credit: Kat*

Happy 2013 and let’s start the new year with a good cause!

Hello to all SGVegan readers!

I would like to say a huge thank you to all of you for your support for a healthier lifestyle alternative through this blog. I know not all of you here are vegans or vegetarians but I feel so blessed to have you here on the blog, subscribing to any updates that I post.

To those who are subscribed to my blog (through email or WordPress), I would like to take this opportunity to thank you from the bottom of my heart. A huge apology for the lack of posts on my end for the last quarter of 2012 – its been a hectic personal journey during this period. I am looking forward to posting and sharing more with you on my recent trip to Nepal…coming up!

In the meantime, I would like to draw your attention to a good cause that is happening this Saturday (tomorrow), 12 Jan 2013 at Fortune Centre, organised by Delcie’s Desserts and Cakes.

As some of you may know already, Delcie’s is having a soft launch opening of her new flagship branch outlet tomorrow 11am-6pm in town (see poster above). Proceeds from all in-store sales will be fully donated to these 2 charities (below) as Delcie’s way of expressing thanks for all the blessings she has received.

1. Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple
2. Sri Krishnan Temple (Waterloo Street)

Let me share my humble opinion of Delcie’s Chinese New Year cookies. I have always been a very picky eater of Chinese New Year (CNY) cookies, especially pineapple tarts even when I was a vegetarian. I remember when I was young, I would remove the pineapple and just have the base, which is the tart. My parents would chide me for my lack of manners as it was “not nice” and polite to throw away the pineapple which, in their opinion, is the essence of the pineapple tart. I guess you could say I was a precocious child… pineapple tart without the pineapple. Haha, how embarrassing.

Anyway, all these changed the moment I stepped into Delcie’s and tried their CNY cookies. Ohmygosh, I was hooked!!

I ate every single item, fell in love with them, made orders, and ever since, been a long-time customer. What caused the change?

Well, it is definitely the taste. While the Pineapple tarts/balls are diabetic friendly also (hooray!), they are definitely not lacking in taste/flavor. A single sitting…and I can polish off a full tub of 42 pieces. With huge perseverance… I usually just polish off half a tub, so that I have enough for the next sitting. Trust me, it takes mountains of willpower. Unlike the usual ones outside, one does not get sick and tired of Delcie’s CNY cookies. My favorite ones are Delcie’s Pineapple Balls (Vegan) and Melting White Almond.

*Pics from Delcie’s*

So…why not take this opportunity to head down to Fortune Centre tomorrow and sample some of her awesome CNY cookies?

Remember… a new year… a new beginning… new resolutions… so let’s have our new year cookies while supporting a good cause!

(P.S.: Eating these CNY cookies do not make you gain weight unlike the others, haha!)

See you there.

[World Vegetarian Day] and an introspective look into life

“This life is as impermanent as a water bubble, remember how quickly it decays and death comes.” - Lama Tsongkhapa, The Foundation of All Good Qualities

—–

Its been a long while since I’ve last blogged.

Life as a graduate student has been really hectic for the past few 2.5 months. I apologise sincerely for the lack of blog posts on my end. If you do have any queries, please feel free to drop me an email.

Now, what finally got me to blog at this hour?

The past 2.5 months have been a roller coaster ride of experiences (and emotions) for myself.

I’ve used the most amount of brain juice ever in my life and, at the *ripe* old age of 24, have encountered 2 sudden deaths from my circle of friends. One of whom is my age.

As I am typing this, many many thoughts are flying through my mind.

Life is really funny.

Looking back, it seems like life is there just for a fleeting moment, yet the majority of us live our lives as if we are permanently existing.

Well, take myself, for instance. Ever since I started on my graduate studies, my first priority has been lab. Lab, lab, lab. Trying to dust those cobwebs that accumulated in my brain for the past 1 year. Head to lab early, head back home late.

I’ve been struggling to maintain a work-life balance. I’ve yet to come to a balance point, but I am still striving to achieve it!

아자 아자 화이팅! Q(^_^Q)

Anyway!

Amidst the hectic-ness of life, I’m glad to have been able to support the organising of a recent World Vegetarian Day 2012 on 01 October. Needless to say, this is one of the highlights of my veg*an journey.

October is the Vegetarian Awareness Month – to inform the public about the health benefits of a vegetarian diet, the saving of animals’ lives and preservation of our Mother Earth.

Together with Ms Zenna Ho of Eight Treasures Vegetarian Restaurant, the Vegan Topic team, consisting of Carol, Jeffrey, Bala, Katrina and myself, organised this humble event.

This event would not have been successful without the support from Dr George Jacobs (President of Vegetarian Society Singapore), Ms Delcie Lam (Delcie’s Desserts and Cakes), Ms Chan Shiao Chew (Lee Kum Kee), Mr Anson Loh (Highlanders) and Ms Peggy Ong.

And lastly, I would love to share this video with you. It was screened during the event. Please, give yourself just 15 minutes to go through this video to the end. I would appreciate that.

 

I hope the video was impactful to you, like it was for me. Watching the part on the male chicks being grinded up alive woke me up to the reality that even a vegetarian diet is harmful – both to us and the animals. Thank you. x

Rock and Roll Hall Of Famer Chrissie Hynde Shakes Things Up, VeganBurg Style

One of the most celebrated rockstars, Chrissie Hynde, went to VeganBurg’s spanking new 4th outlet in Singapore. Chrissie took a short break from her F1 race gig to shake things up at VeganBurg, where she had a taste of VeganBurg’s lip-smacking burgers. She visited all four VeganBurg outlets in Singapore where she sampled the menu.

Fresh from her Singapore Grand Prix performance, the singer-songwriter of the hits “I’ll Stand By You”, “Brass In Pocket”, “Don’t Get Me Wrong” and “Back On The Chain Gang” chilled at VeganBurg @ The Grandstand for lunch. Holding her favorite Cracked Pepper Mayo burger, Chrissie said “I’ve toured around the world with my band and always looking for the perfect burger. I finally found it at VeganBurg!”

“We think that Chrissie is the perfect personification of VeganBurg’s character and style. We’re all about great tasting burgers with a punch of rock and roll awesomeness. Edgy and straightforward – just like Chrissie.” said Alex Tan, VeganBurg’s founder.

Chrissie sat on the orange couch right beside the glass pane of the outlet. And boy, did she love the rock and roll vibe of the place! “The brand new eco-friendly fast food outlet combines a state-of-the-art industrial-safari themed interior design with biker style accents – perfect for rockstars and rockstars at heart. It’s an unbeatable combination!” said VeganBurg MarCom Warrior Katrina Lugartos. “On top of that, millions of people around the globe are embracing plant-based lifestyles in order to combat environmental destruction, or better their own health” she added. In addition to getting a healthy and yummy fast food meal, customers will also get a chance to swap their pre-loved toys that comes with a limited edition VeganBurg swap tag.

For more information on VeganBurg, please go to http://www.veganburg.com or follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

SGVegan in the Blue Mountains!

Its been 2 full days since I’ve been in the Blue Mountains in Katoomba, New South Wales.

I have been in Sydney for 10 days and 2 days in the Blue Mountains. Its a really wonderful vegan holiday.

Just wanted to share some thoughts here about Sydney.

Food-wise

Sydney is a vegan paradise with a lot of delicious vegan options available at convenient locations. All one simply needs to do is to log onto HappyCow to check out the places that are strictly vegan and gluten-free. HappyCow is more updated as compared to the one in Singapore and is a really handy guide if one has 3G network. Otherwise, do your homework first before coming over!

Since being in the Blue Mountains, the amazing thing I’ve learnt is that vegan options are more available in the mountain regions – most cafes and restaurants have a separate vegetarian and even, vegan items available on their menus. I heard from a waitress here that people who live in the mountains tend to be veg*ans!

In general, the most awesome thing is that everything is very well labelled on the menu here in Sydney. Vegan and gluten-free options can be easily pin-pointed on the menu without having to go through the lengthy Q&A session with the waiter/waitress who may be clueless about special options – yayyy!

Culture-wise

I’m also blown away by the friendly-ness of the Sydneysiders, especially those in the mountain region. I had bus drivers who detoured a bit just so that they can drop us at our destinations – can you believe it!

And just yesterday, there was this rally going on in Katoomba, right in front of The Carrington Hotel by a group of people about “No Hunting in NSW National Parks”.

I later learnt that it was organised by the Blue Mountains Conservation Society. It was well organised and the person who was speaking had a sense of humor – haha!

Mother Nature-wise

The air is really crisp and fresh when out of Sydney CBD. When I was staying with my vegan friend, Liam for about 4 days at Balmain, the air was so fresh!

And here in the Blue Mountains, I just did some bush-walking and the flowers are really amazingly beautiful!

Here are just some shots that I took. Enjoy!