A "National" Afternoon Tea

14th July 2012, Written by Xin Li.
"National" Afternoon Tea

Three months ago, I was toying around an idea of an afternoon tea near National Day like the one we had long time ago. Furthermore, the past one year had been quite eventful with some keen interest in local politics or arts so I thought “National” would be a nice theme besides the party itself being one to two weeks away from National Day (initially).

Part of the plan was also to gather theMoose members again but that failed (for the last time). Nonetheless, I had a great company on the day itself. Daniel, Lay Sian and Peter who just came back from South Korea were there to join us too.

The most exciting part of the event was probably the preparation for the food and the planning of the menus. One of my favourite dishes was the Cold Water Seared Scallops served with Conpoy and Salted Egg Yolk, a Sam Leong recipe from the Singapore Airlines’ Above and Beyond Cookbook. I thought it would be great to have some dishes taken from our national carrier’s menus.

Liang Wei also did a mean (and delicious) Mini Curry Croque Madame Muffins, a modified version of Rachel Khoo’s Croque Madame. During the preparation we realized we didn’t have enough curry and we experimented with adding camembert and leftover prawns for the kueh pie tee to the egg white, resulting in a kind of Baked Eggs Muffin, perfect for brunch. French is quite appropriate for the "National" theme too, considering its 14th July, Bastille Day, just that its not Singapore's national day yet.

Sarah Choo, a multi-talented artist, baker, photographer and the list goes on…baked a lovely Strawberry Custard Pie for the event too.

The food was prepared in three categories namely, Afternoon Tea (with British themed items), Nostalgia (featuring kueh pie tee, traditional pastries and biscuits) and International (such as Croque Madame)

On the last few days leading up to the event, I was quite worried there would be an excess of food as the attendance list gets shorter last minute and the food were already prepared and there was much uncertainty. Fortunately, there were pleasant surprises and the afternoon tea turned out better than I thought.

As you can see, Gracia/ Miss Hoon, my niece, was hyperactive during the whole afternoon tea. In contrast, my nephew was slightly terrified by the sight of so many “strangers”.

Part of the event calls for dressing up according to the theme, Mu Yao came as a student from NJC , Sarah, came in a beautiful outfit inspired by the Ah-go-go era while I wore a police uniform borrowed from a friend of mine, reminded me of my NPCC days.

The Sea, Land and Air were also present at the event.

Muthu and Vinleon wore flower garlands (like the MPs attending an event)

Bright Lights, Bigger City, taken by Jeremy Chan from the Camera Rental Centre was on display. I like the colours and the composition of this piece. Taken in 2009, the theme remains relevant even till today and perhaps the future as well.

Higher than the Sun, also taken by Jeremy Chan in 2012 seemed to highlight that every growing thirst for development and “progression” in our island nation. Are we like the Dubai of Southeast Asia?

I will like to thank everyone who came for my humble afternoon tea. And for those who helped and came dressed for the event, thank you very much for the effort, really appreciate that! Hope you have enjoyed yourself and the food!