2005. what it meant.



recognize yourself?
if i could do it again, i would want to experience 2005 with every single one of you.

eve of the eve.

woke up at seven to follow mum to office to settle accomodation stuff for denmark and chiang mai.

mum took half day off to visit a friend who had brought her son down for medical treatment at mount elizabeth and we ended up having lunch at 'my mum's cuisine' for convenience's sake. well, nothing's changed- food is still mediocore and service ranks top from the bottom. the fact that i didn't even bother with the camera says it all huh?

and this is what happens when intelligible behaviour evanesces into the shady halls of a shopping mall.

i get myself an inconceivable-looking key chain. yeah a very "what were you thinking" moment.. but he's A DOOR RA BLE.
called the 'coco man,' it was love at first fright for this crazy-looking plush toy and i.. haha..

of course, kogepan still olds a special place in my heart.. i think coco man will be my other half when i begin my euro- foray.

dooodolls galore

my burnt red bean bun.

am adoring kogepan.

Kogepan means "Burnt Bread" in Japanese. He was made of the best bean paste ingredient, yet he was accidentally burnt in the oven. No customers wanna buy a burnt piece of bread, and that's all Kogepan want to be is to be bought. His depression drives him to many things, like smoking and drinking (Kogepan gets drunk on milk), and he often times tries to pass himself as one of the popular breads at the bakery.

-an except from kawaiigifts

he's so cute! i want to bring him on my travels..

but i cannot seem to be able to find him singapore..

in appreciation of a could-have-been great snack

in fact i think kogepan bears a strong resemblance to marvin the robot from 'the hitchhiker's guide.. ' whose dead-pan humour left me bent over in laguther in just about anything he said.



like who can resist a manically depressed geometrically- symmetrical robot who talks l-i-k-e t-h-a-t??

Nachos

stone and aches.

yang and i woke up bright and early to catch 'the family stone' at cathy orchard. it definitely feels good to have the rather empty cinema to yourself. no inconsiderate latecomers who choose to arrive when the trailers are on. no pesky annoying beng-ish ringing tones that rings incessantly thereby irritating EVERYone but the owner who seems to have forgotten that he paid $0.70 for a download of that huang fei hong-esque tune.

alright back to the movie.. 'the family stone' was pretty good.. i would probably give it a 3.5 out of 5 as the actors (stellar cast, mind you) held up and didn't get all mushy-whooshy with the whole family/ christmas theme.. which by the way is a diaboolical way of creating a movie that reeks of weeks-old christmas meatloaf. oh! notable mentions include rachel mcadam's mean portrayal as a pesky bitchy younger sister, diane keaton's amazing photo frames collection and sarah jessica parker's uber-classic no- frills wardrobe, which left me sighing and aahing in envy.

while waiting to the cinema to open its doors, we decided to heck it and snacked on nachos with cheese, while catching previews of 2006 movies.

dip it. lick it. and smile!

question- why are popcorns getting so expensive? i was almost flabbergasted by the $6.80 we had to fork out for a large popcorn and two drinks *cough and clears throat* excuse me? no diet coke? [insert bitchy look thrown at poor unassuming 'paid-only-$4.50-an-hour' service stuff] at least the popcorn at cathy orchard was the best i have had in erm 2 weeks.

no kidding, i have had popcorn from golden village (gv), lido and cathy orchard so i kind of qualify as professor popcorn experdo. lido? two words- chuck it. literally flat out styrofoamy tasting- can't believe i used to be such a fan. ok that's more than two words. gv? decent on the top. not too crazy about the bottom which really makes me suspect if they top the top with 'good batch' and fill up the bucket with 'bad batch'. leaving the consistently coated in butter-and-sugar popcorn cathy orchard tops but beware- because just like anything under the world, quality comes with a price.

haha i am going to catch hitchhiker's guide on dvd now. till tomorrow. adieus!

Cafe Rosso

You got brunched.

Christmas carols actully put me in a good mood.
Despite the usual toenail- curling, gut- churlish of most cliche tunes, they do have this questionable quality of infesting a "jolly well holiday season" feeling within me. The tunes stay in my head thereafter working its childish yet nostalgic charms into my head.

Just like the flu bug.

Today i had the priviledge of brunching with three amazing ladies at cafe rosso! you got to give dennessa full credit for standing up to the scrambled eggs toast and bacon all by herself! Respect *pounds chest with left fist twice, peace* (how wrong
do i look man?!)

Vanessa savoured a french toast with ham breakfast set; diana did lunch rather than brunch with the penne pomodore 'something'- a tomato-based vegetarian pasta; while i lavished room space on my gluteus maximus on a luxurious baked quiche

just a sidetrack: it was quite a concidence that the four of us assumed sides of either having returned from overseas or are about to leave for somewhere.. Like denessa had just returned from Hong Kong last week, diana from a school trip in New York City only yesterday and how vanessa will be leaving for Milan, plus myself for Copenhagen very very soon.

With the exception of denessa, we probably owe it to our school for the overseas opportunities.. a very 'awww' moment there.. haha.. perhaps, smu should change its punchline to:
smu. experience the jetsetter's lifestyle with us.

thanks for today's brunch-out, girls! .. reminded me of what i will really miss when i am away.

a taste cafe rosso

these few days are and were going to be great.. caught with charl at crystal -dUh- jade where i renewed my now-unwavering loyalty for scallion pastry.. this sat's new year's eve party.. tomorrow i will be catching the family stone with yang ..

so darr, sher! i've only got till next wednesday before i leave for chiang mai to brunch-munch.. call me!

oh i have signed up with gramaphone (the cd chop) for unlimited dvds for a motnh at $30.. how cool is that?! watched wicker's park yesterday and once again, i SO DO NOT see the big- hoo-ha over diane kruger.. i mean, her blond pallid looks don't really do anything for me.. maybe it is because i am more of a 'dark-haired' person, patrick dempsey anyone? i guess, it isn't much of an acting stretch to pose as the babe all the time too..

perhaps it is the casting director's fault.. to have cast too good-looking adonises opposite her, so much so that she practically fades into semi-obscurity when there is a love scene..

having said that though, it would be hell- cool to have someone as amazingly-cough-hot as josh harnett's character matthew lose his marbles over my disappearance.. HAHA..

Modesto

today's christmas lunch took place at modestos at orchard parade hotel as i was determined to strike firewood pizza off my to-try list.



being in an italian eatery, we had the matter-of-course bruchettas for appetizers.. *insert ziyi zhang's thick bejing-accented english here* "the tomatoes are too cold.." is that traditional? -no idea.. though i would have preferred everything warm. luckily the calamari provided warm relief and with a generous dollap of pickled tar tar sauce, modestos was back on track.





as i cannot resist anything with roasted eggplants, the pizza alle verdure stared bare-faced at myself, as if challenging me to order something esle. the paper-thin pizza was topped with grilled eggplants, zuchinni and capsiciums and it was a delight to have and hol-, munch.



jimmy's pizza bruciaculo was topped with anchovies, garlic and chili.. guess none of us wanted anything too experimental.



yang's casonsei alla boscaiola required considerable courage and an even greater threshold for cream. with 'half-moon shaped' pasta filled with minced chicken and beef drenched in cramy ham and mushroom sauce, it had the makings of a stomach-churlish dish which only she (and thousands of cream afficianandos) could love. to each his own! cheers.

a closer look



jie's assorted seafood soup was carbless and full of seafood. moving on!



mum's filletto de manzo ai funghi e rosmarino was actually beef fillet with potato wedges. the beef fillet was extremely tender, despite being medium.. good dish to have if you aren't in the moof for pasta-pizza-italian.

Jade Fullerton

i am still here!
and contrary to popular belief, i haven't stopped eating..
haha, stay tuned for updates.

how was my xmas weekend?
well two wedding dinners and a christmas eve party later, i am feeling yaw-zhaaa..
first wedding dinner was held at grand corpthorne waterfront but the other one which i just returned from was held at fullerton. i have to admit i was very very pleased with the food... well wedding food, we all know, is just about as interesting and predictable as air plane food.. though not disastrous tasting, the ubiqutous cold platter, starchy shark's fin soup, boring roast chicken and eww-yuck-eww ee fu noodles don't exactly fuel anyone's imagination.. which is why i was "very very pleased" with the fullerton dinner.. which was prepared by tung lok's jade restaurant.

no pictures as i didn't think there would be anything interesting but i was proven so wrong but the choke full of good stuff shark's fin, wonderful braised tofu and abalone dish, great tasting soon hock and get this GLUTINOUS RICE WRAPPED IN LOTUS LEAF- amazing stuff because we have this common joke in our family where my mum has banned ee-fu noodles on my sisters and my wedding dinners, preferring either yangchow fried rice, crispy noodles and glutinous rice instead.. it felt like jade/ fullerton was spot on and the glutinous rice was gamely polished off within minutes.

another thing to note was that unlike dinners where the servers placed the dishes in the center of the table, at fullerton, we were served individual portions, thus saving the need to reach across the table for second helpings... the feeling of being fussed over.. sigh

and there was two different types of dessert! hands up if you are sick and tired of mango pudding.. haha.. tonight there was a choice of either chocolate mousse cake or semi-sphere- shaped tiramisu which was served with strawberries... ooooooo..

time to detox.. haha

Ikea Lunch

teh love of my life.

yang and i popped by at ikea's today for christmas presents.



i had the steak, yang had the meatballs and we topped it off with serviettes? nah we will just lick our fingers chicken wings.



slight exaggeration? none taken.



for tea, it was almost hilarious. as yang could not tear herself away from the delectable temptation of beef rendang, we shared a plate of nasi padang from mansor d' cafe (3rd level) at far east plaza.





beef rendang. black squid. egg in sambal, fried egg amd fishcake. thereby creating a fiery feeling in my tummy.. feeling very LOTR mordor-ish.. oh! you definitely have to grab a cup of teh tarik.. i don't know how they do it but it is remarkably fragrant.. very different from the limp pasty drink that you get from most places nowadays.



i am so glad to have found this unassuming nasi padang outlet in such a convenient place in town.

now we're talking

sedappp!

Coriander Cafe

anything goes.

today yang and i had a simple lunch at coriander cafe down at thomson plaza.

coriander cafe serves your basic local food such as laksa, hor fun and provides good comfort away from the hustle and bustle of supermarket- goers.

a plate of mee goreng, minus any greens and bean sprouts. typical of yang.. despite the monotonous facade, the mee goreng was suitably tasty.. slightly spicy with an aromatic hint of tomato.

while i tried the seafood beehoon soup, which fortunately tasted better than it looked. haha..

we also had the 'crispy tofu' which was more fishcake than tofu and not exactly the most thought- provoking item un-alive but that does not mean i didn't enjoy the crispy breadcrumbed outer layer and spongy fishcakey insides..

life? swimming, i guess. after all agnozing over severely-inane decisions such as what to have to breakfast and lunch everyday could count as a really carefree life.

i popped by at gramaphone's to rent 'philadelphia'.. heavy stuff for the holiday season but i just had to get it after hearing it being raved on tv recently.

i have two wedding dinners coming up. exciting business, i tell you. i love attending wedding dinners, though the food never fails to arrive only when silly slapstick unessential speeches have been made and the games played usually spell 'yawn'. but i am still looking forward to them.

good movies are coming out. the 'family stone' and 'north country' look set to thrill.

oh yes, i caught oprah winfrey today. and she was doing a edition of 'oprah's favourite things' where she gives out things that delight her senseless to -get this EACH AND EVERYONE in the audience.. paid-for vacations, mp3 players, designer weekend totes.. all the while i was going "me me me" in front of the television.. now who says money can't buy happiness?! toosh!

i wonder where tt durai is now. as in geographically. he's got to have guts for staying around after all i am sure many are dying to wring his neck.. can he take evening walks around his estate without fear of being verbally attacked? does he wake up every morning wondering if any more of his antics will be exposed today?

a little piece of me.
bye.

Haagan Daaz

i have found the answer to the perennial question.

ben and jerry's or haagen daaz?

ok, my vote? -haagen daaz.
why? the day yang and i caught king kong, we ka-pooted a mini tub of ben and jerry's cookie dough icecream which make me smile at fist but cringe towards the end.. in fact, it was soooo sugar-riddled, i felt as if i was biting on grains of sugar..



but haagen daaz proved to be a dazzling treat.. maybe because i had the raspberry sorbet and i am a big berry-fan but yang's vanilla caramel brownie was marvellous, to the very last brownie morsel i believe.

and the flavours that i have tried so far.. green tea, coffee, cookies and cream, strawberry cheesecake.. all have not let me down.

look who's beaming.

so haagen daaz, you got my vote!

Crystal Jade Xiao Long Bao

a singaporean phenomenon.

a trip to crystal jade la mian only served to remind us the sheer popularity of seemingly- insipid beijing cusine.

the ever- popular xiao long bao. i REALLY don't think there's a need to elaborate on the taste as just about every alternate singaporean has had sleepless nights over this. my only advice: watch the 'juice'! or you will see the dry- cleaning bill.

la mian with beef in chili oil was extremely tasty. the shin of the beef proved to be agreeably tender while the chili oil gave a real kick to the otherwise fragrant but mild broth.

yang zhou siew mai surprised first-timers such as ourselves as it was devoid of meat!? banishing mr atkins to the corner, the dumpling was filled with glutinous rice instead, tasting very much like the rice dumplings that we ate during the dragon boat festival.

mum, on the other hand, was not in the mood for noodles and she tried out a soup dish- vegetables with tofu and vermicilli.

the highlight of my day was the sweet and sour chicken. when ordering this, i felt like a kid who was guilty of ordering an extra scoop of icecream.. reason being that dad doesn't usually approve of anything on the menu that starts of with 'sweet and sour..' as he believes that this is fake chinese food.. found only on tables where either 1. causasians and 2. kids under the age of 12 resided. tsk tsk, prejudice be gone!

the sweet and sour chicken was incredibly good! the chunks of deep fried chicken ball coated in salivacious tomato sauce was polished in little time.. like there was any reason not to do so.. oh yea, the fat content.. whoops. but just take a look at the glossy my-oh-my pictures and ask yourself if you will do otherwise.

Chicken Noodle House

chicken noodle house.


brunch on sunday at holland village.

dad and mum had the 'set for 2' which consisted of plain hor fun with chicken and roasted meat plus a dish of stir-fried oyster sauce vegetables.



i had the ipoh hor fun which though did not look as fancy as my mum's cuisine, tasted somewhat better.. though chili sauce was still needed for some much-needed oopmh.. i thought it was tasty enough..

Hong Yuen dinner

our first weekend eat-out dinner since yang's return from durham and parent's foray into malaysia, took place at hong yuen.. since we did promise to take yang there

after last time's BLUNDERR (see Dec the 3rd), we got our lobster noodle order right. done pretty much london's-royal china style, the aroma of the crispy noodle was caught within a lingering layer of gravy. hmmmm... very nice...

the deep fried eggplant was seriously disarming and a great treat to boot. worthy of a second serving!





the hong siew tofu was safe and good wheras our minced meat and preserved vegetables claypot rice was extremely delicious though a little too salty towards the end.



but the surprise of the night was the peking duck.

the ardous nature of preparing peking duck as you needed at least two service staff to carry out the serving process effectively. it felt really indulgent to have someone wait on you, carefully slicing out the duck skin.. inch by inch, piece by piece..

the task is only completed after wrapping the duck skin with a thin slice of crepe. but really, the long process only served to heighten the lost- long anxiety of having peking duck.

aptly glossy and super inviting- looking, the duck skin was sheer ambrosial. the crisp-crunch texture of the skin that is enhanced by the unsubtle flavour of fat beneath it.

the chef then used the remaining flesh for a stir fry. slightly saltish and the duck flavour unfortunately lost to its tiny cubish nature, i would have prefer to just have the duck meat unprocessed. oh well, let's hope there's a next time!

too short.

caught king kong yesterday. surprisingly good.
got my accomodation for copenhagen yesterday. just as sweet!

Cafe Rosso encore

the brunchy bunch.

the activity of brunch should be celebrated, cherished and honoured. more dineries should pay more attention to those who awake too late for breakfast, too early for lunch. and boy are we lucky that cafe rosso (at holland village) is one such place.

hidden within the depths of lorong liput, cafe rosso is a western-japanese cafe, which has the makings of a fine eatery. choo, nicole and i shared the scrambled eggs on toast set, a sausage mix and hotcakes with bananas. the eggs/ toast set came with a juice of your choice and coffee or tea.. somehow the presence of two drinks serves as a reminder that the portions are big enough for two so unless you have some weird pregnancy-related craving for scrambled eggs, my advice to you is to s-h-a-r-e.

the piling scrambled eggs sat neatly on on two slices of white toast, with a few strips of bacons for company. more of a fried-rather-than-scrambled-eggs person, i only took a bite out of the eggs and it sure was rich and luxurious.. by the way, mr butter and miss milk both send their compliments. but if you are like choo and nicole who both consider carbonara lip-smackin good.. this scrambled eggs toast is made for you.

for a less severe but just as delightful option, i had the hotcakes. to be honest, this was my hidden agenda.. initially i pretended to let the girls suggest a place but after two seconds of er(s) and hmmm(s), i was like "i heard cafe rosso..." symmetrical round flaps of hotcakes drizzled with honey and sliced bananas redefined my idea of religion. though i am agnostic, i believe this is what heaven must taste like.

the sausage mix is from the finger food section and it consisted of veal and pork sausage cubes and potatoes.. a tad spicy but definitely invigorating, this is great pick-me-up food..

one thing about cafe rosso that i really appreciated was the precision of taste and style infused within each dish. the little things that made the difference in creating an overall pleasant dining experience.

next time round, i will probably be back for the pastas!

if you can read japanese

the three of us then hastily made way for movie at cineleisure where we caught elizabewth bennet and mr darcy in action in pride and prejudice.. and zhu, you should be proud of me! i picked up the original book last night... turns out i had it at home all this while.. pretty good stuff.. haha..