Autobus Cafe, OUE Downtown Gallery

Autobus Cafe is a new multi-concept eatery slash bike retail store within OUE Downtown Gallery. I have been there at least twice now and it feels like quite a treat whenever I head there with friends. The weekday lunch menu is pretty much like Super Simple and Grain Traders; they offer bowls ranging from S$12, $14 to S$16 with additional charges for premium ingredients.

I'm not super adventurous so I found a combination that I like and I will more or less stick with it. Romaine lettuce topped with grilled bell peppers, grilled corn, mushrooms, spicy creamy salmon sashimi chunks, and yogurt cilantro chicken. Yup, I usually go for the two protein option as it feels more celebratory.

Pumpkins by the Bay

Instead of the usual floral displays, autumn stalwart pumpkins took over Gardens by the Bay. Perhaps in time for Halloween too, there was something candidly quirky about these edible showpieces ... hur hur hur 🎃🎃🎃 There was a little section of succulents called "Aloe in Wonderland;" you got to hand it to the planning folks at Gardens by the Bay for making plants relevant and interesting.

 

  

Folklore, Destination Singapore Beach Road

Despite being Singaporean and once upon a time a food blogger, I'm woefully under-educated in the world of Peranakan foo-, I mean, cuisine. My knowledge of Peranakan or Nonya cuisine fall along the lines of kuehs, chap chye and curry chicken. Sacrileges, yeah? Well, not any longer.

Thanks for Chef Damian D'Silva, I have gained an appreciation for Peranakan food and at the end of the meal I was even wondering if there was a kind Peranakan who would teach me how to make all those dishes. HA, who am I kidding? I am probably too careless to carry out all that laborious work by myself. Oh well, at least I know where I can get my fix whenever those Peranakan pangs hit.

Created in 2001, the Sambal Buah Keluak Fried Rice is one of Chef D'Silva’s signature and it has quite the following. I love love love fried rice. I could eat it everyday if it didn’t go straight to my hips. I took a bit of the Sambal Buah Keluak Fried Rice and all I could think of was, What the devil is it this glorious hideous-looking mess? I can finally see why people call buah keluack "black gold.” Awesome wok hei, a solid knock-out.

The classic Ngoh Hiang (stuffed with water chestnuts, minced pork and prawns) is not unlike anything you would have tasted. Sure, its predictable but it is also crowd pleaser so don’t find your feelings.

The Babi Assam boasted soft fatty wobbly chunks of pork belly braised in sweet tangy tamarind sauce. I like how it wasn't slathered in sauce but caramelized and slick. Eating it would make you feel like you are cheating on your cardiologist. Shh, nobody needs to know.

The Peranakan Chap Chye was another game-changing dish. And by game-changing, I’m referring to the addition of sweet holy pork belly. The usual suspects cabbage., beancurd skin, tung hoon and black fungus gently braised in a pork and prawn stock until they have fully soaked in DAH flavours. Deceptively simple and a must-order.

Ayam Lemak Chilli Padi was one heck of a curry chicken dish. Fiery, aromatic and richly-spiced, it is a lot more complex than it appears. I knew I would pay for it later, but I couldn't help myself from slurping up the gravy.

Oxtail stew is one of those dishes I loved as a kid. But of course, I never had anything like this and I wish I could buy the gravy by the pack. Slow-cooked in more spices than I can count of remember, the oxtail itself yielded easily without losing any of its gelatinous texture. Another stellar dish.

Kueh Kosui has never been my favourite kueh. It always felt a little stodgy and insipid, unlike the cool kids kueh salat and ondeh ondeh. Of course, by now, you would have realised that Folklore does things a little differently here. The Kueh Kosui is commendably soft, with the grated coconut lending some textural contrast.

Another dessert we had was the Kueh Bengkah with vanilla ice cream. The tapioca cake is rather dense but paired with vanilla ice cream and gula melaka, this trio makes for a delightful treat.

California // A photography session with Anna Wu Photography

I know you guys are probably sick of hearing me blab about California. This is the last post, I pinky promise. As it was rare that we were all in one continent at the same time, we took the opportunity to engage Anna from Anna Wu Photography (website / Facebook) for a family photoshoot.

Boy, was it exhausting! I don't know about you, but herding four kids around for an hour and dealing with toddler tantrums is totally not my idea of a fun and relaxing shoot. Nonetheless, we shouldered on and Anna was super lovely to work with. I am super glad the photos came out more than half decent (no doubt thanks to Anna). I love how Anna captured the impiness of the kids and the roar-ing good time we had (we did have to pretend we were dinosaurs half the time to get the kids to cooperate). 

 

 

That's all, folks!

California // A lifetime of memories

Needless to say, our trip to California was incredible. On the flight back, we even talked about what we would do on our next trip. The place is incredibly liveable, the weather perfect and the food amazing. It's hard to explain this but whenever we travel, the concentration of attention and time we spend together leaves an indelible change in the boys. I guess the icing on the cake was certainly the feeling that we are creating memories for our children. Memories that they take with them through life - in the highest of highs and darkest of times.