About mooncakes

This mooncake festival was special. Two reasons made it special. Firstly, I took the effort to read through forums to see which are the mooncakes that come highly recommended. Secondly, I gifted one box of mooncakes to my lao gong's family.

Here is a review of the mooncakes that I sampled:

1. Jewels Champagne Mooncake


Jewels is a new cafe that carries an exquisite range of chocolates. The chef and owner of Jewels has been a chocolatier in the F&B industry for more than 20 years. She is also the very chef who concocted the champagne mooncake popular at Raffles Hotel.

The skin of the mooncake is soft and the filling (lian rong) sweet. Within the mooncake is a spherical chocolate that contained champagne. One thing about the mooncake I noted was that the chocolate and the fillings seemed to fall apart pretty easily. Many a times, I ended up eating the chocolate and the fillings plus skin separately.

2. Raffles Hotel Champagne Mooncake

Coincidentally, I got to taste the Raffles Hotel champagne mooncake this mooncake festival. My comment about the mooncake in comparison to that of Jewels is that its fillings is richer in champagne. The chocolate and the fillings is one in taste and it doesn't fall apart as I eat.

The opinions about these 2 champagne mooncakes are mixed-good comments for each. I guess its subjective and for my readers to judge.

3. Goodwood Park Durian Mooncake

I am not a durian lover. I merely stole a bite of the durian mooncake. Just couldn't resist tasting the famous Goodwood Park durian mooncake. What made it so famous?

The filling is just like the flesh of a D24 durian freshly bought. Very rich and addictive to durian lovers. Despite being a person who prefers mangos to durians, I definitely think this mooncake is a must-buy.

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Having said the above, I am really fortunate to be able to taste the above famous mooncakes this season. Not surprisingly, the above mooncakes are ranked among the best in Singapore, not to be missed. This post may be a tad too late. But! Remember not to miss them next mooncake festival.

I mean, why grow fat by eating mooncakes that are mediocre in quality? Go for quality!

http://sgcgo.com/mid-autumn-mooncakes/
http://www.lifestyleasia.com/features/the-best-mooncakes-in-singapore-2010/article-id/5457

Putting numbers to facts of life

1. The correlation between money and happiness

How many of us do remember Marslow's Theory of Needs? At the bottom-most of all needs is physiology needs of human beings. During such times, money to buy food and basic necessities to make life comfortable plays an important role. As annual income increases, other factors come into play to increase general satisfaction.

I came across this study that put a number to the annual household income that money buys happiness:

US$75,000

That's the magic figure obtained by the study which is performed on a group of Americans. Per the study (click here), "the level of 75,000 dollars was just above the median income of 71,500 dollars for US households in 2008." Should we do a research, the median income in Singapore is approximately S$53,000 dollars (click here).

Based on the following assumptions:
- The annual household income approximates the median income in Singapore.
- The standard of living in Singapore and America in terms of spendings vis-a-vis earnings is approximately the same.

From the above, the magic number for the annual household income that money can buy happiness for Singapore would be S$53,000.

2. Health and overtime

We all know that sleeping late is unhealthy. But do you know that overtime also has an impact on a person's health?

Based on research by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, working just three hours overtime every day has been linked to a 60% higher risk of heart problems.

So, isn't it time to pack up your bag to knock off now?

3. Prepare to lose your best friends

Earlier this week, I read from Yahoo (I couldn't locate the webpage now), that a person who has entered into a relationship must be prepared to lose at least 2 best friends. Based on the research, an average person has only 4 best friends at any one time. The amount of time that a person spends with a new significant other approximates the time that a person spends with 2 best friends.

As with general relationships, time is required for bonding between 2 individuals. Not surprisingly, spending more time with your significant other results in a decrease in time spent with your best friends. 2 to be specific.

That's all I have. Please feel free to comment with any statistics in life that are interesting. =)