My Singapore Must See #1: Lian Shun Shuang Lin Monastery

Each day when I head home from uni, I drive along PIE and am always mesmerised by the colourful and delicate exterior of the Lian Shun Shuang Lin Monastery. The monastery is almost impossible to miss, with its crafted roof tops overlooking the busy road. I knew that I had to venture there as soon as possible!

The monastery is surrounded by HBD’s. In fact, the only way to get into the temple is by either walking or driving through the HBD car park. It look me a while to find the entrance, seeing as it is a very busy and confusing area. So, if you plan on going there, make sure you understand the map!

Once you are inside the monastery you hardly notice Singapore’s skyscrapers, busy traffic and white noise. It feels and looks like an entirely different world.

The monastery actually has quite an interesting historical background. It is in fact the oldest Buddhist monastery in Singapore and is a National Monument. The temple itself is more an a century old, with up to 11 years of restoration work put in since 1991. The layout of the monastery is deigned in a traditional Chinese format. 

The gardens are extremely intricate and breathtaking. I was blown away by each of the temples and the traditional architecture. The colouring of the walls and the art was exquisite as well as how every single face was designed and carried out with such evident precision. I have never seen anything quite like it.

I MORE than recommend one to visit the Lian Shun Shuang Lin Monastery. In my opinion it is one of Singapore’s most underrated and most breathtaking sights. It is the traditional architecture, gardens and historical Chinese layout which makes this monastery my must see in Singapore!

Kaylah cooks #2: The Perfect Tiramisu

Seeing as yesterday was mother’s day, I decided to make my lovely mother her absolute favourite dessert; Tiramisu! I have never made Tiramisu before so I was slightly anxious, but it was actually pretty simple! It turned out so well and was absolutely delicious! In light of this I decided to share the recipe with you all.

You will need:

Cream Layers:

½ cup of cream

1/3 cup icing sugar

2 cups mascarpone cheese

Sponge biscuit layers:

2 tablespoons instant coffee powder

1 tablespoon of caster sugar

1 ½ cups of boiling water

2x 250g packets of sponge finger biscuits

Toppings:

50g of dark chocolate, grated

1x 150g punnet of raspberries

Method:

Firstly, line a cake tin or serving dish with glad wrap if you wish to remove the Tiramisu once it is set.

Boil water and add it to a bowl with the coffee powder and sugar. Make sure all the ingredients have dissolved and leave to cool.

Beat the cream and icing sugar until soft peaks form. Following this, delicately fold in the mascarpone.

Dip the sponge fingers into the coffee mixture and  place them into the setting dish. Be mindful that the sponge fingers will absorb the coffee mixture and become soggy extremely quickly if left for too long in the mixture.  Arrange them into a single base layer.

Spread half of the cream mixture over the biscuits in the dish. Following this, repeat the process of dipping the sponge fingers in the coffee and form the second layer. Add the rest of the cream then put in the fridge overnight to set.

The next day grate the chocolate and sprinkle over the Tiramisu. Add raspberries or any other fruits of your choice. 

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Groovy Platforms

The warm weather in Singapore almost prohibits one from wearing closed shoes comfortably.  I have tirelessly tried to overcome this challenge, although when I’m walking around outside for long periods of time, closed shoes are definitely not best option.

With the weather rapidly heating up as the middle of the year draws near, I decided that I must find a pair of shoes which were both extremely sophisticated and comfortable.

 Being quite tall, I have always been quite ignorant towards platform shoes for everyday wear. Although, in Singapore I have been seeing them everywhere and they must be one of the hottest trends at the moment!

I scanned the shelves at Zara, Topshop and H&M, and don’t get me wrong, there were some seriously exquisite and to die for shoes there, although I didn’t feel comfortable with spending almost SG$200 on a single pair of shoes.

As I was heading back to the MRT, I spotted Pull and Bear; a store which I don’t think I have ever been into, because I always assumed it was pricey being a small European store. Although, I went in and spotted a groovy pair of platform shoes which were black and white; two of the best colours one can ever dress in, in my opinion. I love wearing colourful tops, so I knew that by having a simply coloured shoe, it wouldn’t be distracting, but would be a subtle yet edgy addition to an outfit.  Best of all they were SG$70! Which is quite good for a quality pair of shoes.  

The shoes are extremely light and SO easy to walk in! I now understand why people are so often leaning towards them.