Coffee Club

we had lunch at coffee club and they have a new menu.. i have no idea how long ago the change was made but i was disappointed to find that they had removed their sun-dried tomato salmon dish for i was looking forward to a healthy light lunch.

 

mum's honey mustard chicken ciabatta is a safe and delicious bet for those overwhelmed by the wide selection of sandwiches.



on a heartier side, dad's mushroom and parmesan cheese baked rice set lunch includes dessert and regular coffee. the dessert materialized in the form of a berry compote and mascarpone sable tart. the chilled berry compote was delectably tangy and it reminded me of the berry gelato i had from gelatissimo at shaw yesterday. the mascarpone tart consists of fresh blueberries and mascarpone cheese, sandwiched between two thin sable-like biscuits. though it was dad's dessert, jie and i circled around it like a couple of pesky vultures

 

smoked salmon caesar salad. well, i was definitely wrong about the light lunch aspect as i marched into the food hall of takashimaya and munched on pineapples and popiah.

being typical singaporeans, the topic of dinner surfaced promptly as we were almost done with lunch. seeing how convenient it was to obtain japanese ingredients from the supermarket, we decided on japanese sukiyaki.



i think we got a little carried away with the mushrooms.. there were at least four different types of mushrooms. enoki mushrooms which are those with long thin stems and tiny white caps. two types of hon-shimeji mushrooms which have shorter stems and are sold in clusters.



i am a big fan of fishcakes so must-haves despite the lack of true nutritional value include kamaboko (japanese steamed fish cake) and chikuwa (ring of japanese fish cake, shaped into the form of the bamboo). i know to foreigners they may look utterly unplatable and even intimidating since it bears zilch resemblence to its original source.. and furthermore, the unnatural highlighter pink swirl in the middle of the kamaboko does nothing to appease your nerves. called me 'weird' but there's just something gratifying about chewing those squeshy stuffs. haha..

it was a relief to find that those mushrooms were free of the pungent scent that accompanied other mushrooms such as the portobello mushrooms. i stayed clear of the shitake mushrooms (dark brown caps and white gills) though.. and lavished much attention on the clams instead.

while in copenhagen, i never craved for local food such as char kway teow or laksa. in fact, i have been home for two weeks and i haven't even had chicken rice yet.. but home-created steamboats were one thing i sorely missed especially during chinese new year.

another reason why i am glad to be home.

Kuriya

i finally met up with my cousins fr lunch at rice table. personally, i think the set lunch is a better deal than the set dinner. altough the variety is said to be smaller, quintessential indonesian dishes such as tahu telor, sate ayam and rendang were available and in fact, the additionl dishes available during dinner weren't exactly items that would float my sampan in the first place.

dinner was at the new kuriya restaurant at raffles city. first time for me and second time for the rest of my family.. guess why? because they were there yesterday! fancy that.. haha..

although jimmy was treating, we tried HARD not to take advantage of his generosity.. but going by the potpurri of delicious items showcased in the menu, it was difficult to exercise some restraint.



(clockwise l-r) sushi mori, grilled and deep-fried beancurd, salmon salad and grilled seafood on houba leaf.

unfortunately, the lighting at kuriya was not ideal for photo taking so i gave up in the end. in my opinion, kuriya deserves return visits for the following reasons:

1. they offer mini versions of sobas. which is excellent if you are just looking for something light
2. their soba is painstakingly hand-made but be warned for it is extremely healthy-tasting
3. great service for their staff are personal

my advice would be to order the set lunches or dinners if you are in need to serious fuelling. each set comes with an assortment of assidiously-prepared japanese treats which aim to satisfy even the fussiest eaters. kuriya has private rooms too and they are named after the four seasons.

this place makes me crave for a visit to japan!

A Gathering

tonight, i had some friends over for japanese dinner. people whom i have known since we were thirteen and a couple even go back to when i was eight or nine.



i am heartened by the fact that though most of us hav chosen radically different university routes, there exists a prevailing need to stay in contact.



i was watching my grey's anatomy dvds and suddenly a thought came to mind "why the hell does it always rain when meredith and dr sherperd face a confrontation?"

and the amusing thing is the rain density looks unchanged. it is neither the heavy-soak-through-your-skin downpour or light-as-confetti drizzle- more like shower tap consistency. hmmm, it also bugs me that they NEVER get wet. it is almost as if they have some sort of premonition to finish making a point before the rain penetrates the earth's atmospheric layer and hits the nearest surface at a precise velocity. well at least it isn't like one of those soap-puppy dramas where they get all wet (ooo bad for mcdreamy's coiffed hair and those dry-cleaning bills) trashing it out.

that would have been truly cringe-worthy.

it's sad i know. but i just couldn't bring myself to wait for the rest of season 2 and i read episode synopsises from three different tv network websites. arghhh. now i can't wait for season three.

Serangoon Gardens

four hours of clubbing in 3-inch heels. by the end of last night, my feet hurt so bad i had walked home bare-footed.

ok, that sounded worst than it actually was because

1. i didn't have to walk much since newly-made-friend janice gave me a ride home.
2. i only had to walk from janice's car to my front gate which was less than ten metres away.

but it was a great night out with the girls! and guys (ducks away from mop posed as a dart).. felt like some ac gathering but what the heck- they are good in small doses.

the damage was done anyway and i had to turn to my crummy diamante-balding flip-flops for lunch today. yes! i dragged my utterly sorry ass to lunch with wai and charl. again, i am guilty of over-exaggetaing (wait, could you be guilty of that?!) because charl was kind enough to give me a ride.. anyway we headed off to serangoon gardens hawker centre since i was craving good taste and high value... which simply reads: burst my budget. needs great-tasting and cheap cheap cheap food.


charl enjoying her duck rice..

apparently the duck rice is pretty popular.. so be prepared to wait during lunch hours.



i had mee pok dry.. "original botanical gardens fishball noodle" screamed the signboard. hmm, i don't really have a clue on how popular or famous this store is but i just couldn't resist the sight of deep fried fishcakes displayed in front of the store.



but it is definitely one of the better fishball noodles i've had so far.. just the right amount of chili, oil and vinegar coated each strand of chewy noodles and i like the extra bits of salted fish which were delightfully crunchy.



wai had a pallid-looking beef hor fun so we decided to order roti john. you must be thinking, "where's the link?!" believe me, typing it out doesn't read much sense either. but you see, under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be satisfying nor justifiable to subject your tastebuds to such anemic flavours so.. in an attempt to make up for the substandard entree.. ok! i admit it's a really bad excuse to pig out.

Birthday Invite 2007

keeping in theme with home dinner parties, nadia prepared a jamie-oliver-inspired italian dinner for us. we stepped into the dining room which was bathed in warm glows of sunset lighting, which made for a romantic night in .. with the girls, of course! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! haha..



the table was adorned with lovely candle stands and table ware.. which looking back looks extremely goth.. and i have no idea what prompted these girls to look like they are posing for a 1950s family potrait.. hahaha.. looking good girls!




first up, bruschetta.. fresh tomatoes tossed in olive oil and herbs on toasted baguette.. oooo.. our second appetizer was a first for me- baked anchovies with mozerella cheese, infused with lemon zest, accompanied by creme frachie. phew.. what a load of description for something that was no bigger than the face of my palm. but every ingredient was clearly put to good use. though the pungent chewy mozzerella formed the base of the dish, any sign of biliousness was cut by the citrusy scent of lemon zest.


 


the prawn aglio olio was a recipe from nadia's uncle.. -family back-up- with an extra dash of chili flakes, it was HOT HOT HOT.. my lips actually swelled slightly after that.. no idea why hollywood resorts to collagen when there are chili flakes are just sitting on the supermarket shelves waiting to be bought? cheaper and a temporary solution which you can resort to as and when your heart desires. hmmm, maybe those celebrities should keep a packetful in their pockets and fling it onto the papparazzi when pissed off... the baked chicken topped with cream-coated portobello mushrooms and mozerella cheese was my favourite dish of the night.. albeit the fact that i am no fan of mushrooms..



thanks nadia!

Sarracino Ristorante

i took an acquaintance to sarracino ristorante at ocean building for lunch today. first intoduced to me by my dad, i was intrigued by the wide variety of antipastis which ranged from vegetarian-friendly broccolli tossed in olive oil to heartier choices such as fried fish.

on one plate, you could choose to mix either three or five antipastis, depending on how loose the waistline of your outfit or wallet is. for a heartier meal, other italian tummy-tinkers such as lasagna, pasta and pizza al taglio were available as well.

the antipastis were served with complimentary blasmic-vinegar-and-olive-oil-tossed green salad that was tasty, albeit over-laden with olive oil. no worries for a slice of baguette was dutiful in mopping up remnants of the dressing.



for my antipasti mix, i chose the grilled zucchini, zucchini quiche and smoked salmon in olive oil, herbs and chili flakes. while the quiche would have tasted better with a heating, the thick slices of smoked salmon was delightfully pleasing. the other dish consists of fried fish, bow tie pasta salad and sausages. i didn't taste any of those but return visits would sort that out.



arh, raffles place should be renamed 'race-first place' during lunch hour- it is war zone plus national geographic mix discovery channel out there.

experience has caused seemingly diminutive office girls to unleash a dram of ferocity previously unseen or unnoted when carrying out office duties. they travel in packs and behave like creatures on animal planet primetime specials. call it 'lunchtime tension' if you will. their time-honoured practices have enabled them to refine 'table-choping' skills as they sniff out a table where the occupants are rice grains away from leaving. blink and whatdoyaknow, you have just missed out on an unoccupied table. in fact, they are so sharp, i am willing to bet by the time they reach the empty but uncleared table, the lingering human balm of previous occupants embraces their beings like a victory hug. the sense (or scent) of achievement is then further enhanced by a flick of tissue packet before they march off to place their orders.

how do i know that? well.. been there, done that.

birthday dinner number due "with ac friends"

wow this feels like a week long mardi gras celebration without the ott feather boas, skimpy over-sequinned costumes and greasy-oiled jingle-all-the way bodies. ok, fine this is more stepford than mardi gras!

nadia, thanks for the photos..











i am overwhelmed with relief that the dishes were well-received and well, i couldn't ask for a more appreciative reception.. planning dinner can be such fun and now i can't hardly wait for nadia's italian night on tuesaday!

of course, the second best thing sbout birthday parties is the presents.. let me ripppp them... now now, there is no need to sound like the basilisk from harry potter.. charl gave me a beautiful vintage scarf from london and fabric purse and her birthday card was a tear-jerker in the making.. although i was shameless enough to HINT to denessa what i wanted, it was her birthday card that cracked me up.. "because you're worth it" screamed the captions

arh, these girls (and of course, you CHEN!) have shown me what i have missing out on in singapore while i was away. i think as i age, i become more of a closet sentimentalist. it is like when you look back and think of how far you and your friends have come, you cannot help but wish the kleenex was just a reach away. how EMO NEMO can i get. sigh

wai brought over the dvd 'entourage' which debuts this saturday and we caught it after dinner. we were suppose to catch it pre-dinner but we just ended up yakking about old school gossip.. haha.. the serieswas pretty interesting but worrying in a way because you realise some guys are just plain superficial and might NEVER grow out of their 'hot legs and hot ass' mode.. and asking them to do so.. well i think getting your pet to sing the national anthem backwards is more likely to happen. heh heh..

anyway girls and chen, thank you for being part of my birthday celebrations.

SICC lunch

today we had lunch at the club because we wanted to try out the fortnight-long la mian special. but it turned out that the daily specials sounded too salivacious to pass up.



the curry cabbage and tau pok had some serious spice-kicking going on. by my second mouthful, i needed a refill of ice water.. who's complaining? no me of course! the gravy was thick with flavour and the chef definitely did not spare on the coconut milk and curry paste. and the result was a saucy good time!



i wonder how long it will take for me to get finally tired of fish. i have only been back for a week and i have had sushi twice and during dinner, i would charge towards the fish.. as soon as i saw the deep fried baby soon hock on the menu, it was an immediate must-order. the incredible taste matched it fancy hoo-ha looking appearance. the taste of fish was instantaneously gratifying to a fish-buff such as myself and the crisp skin managed to stay brittle against the mango salad topping. which reminds me- i miss thai food!

jie had prawn mee, which was laden with prawns and spare ribs. we could not resist ordering a second (or third, for that matter) helping of fragrant, herd-scented soup.

amusing enough, jimmy said his minced chicken la mian was comme ci comme ça which translates to "so-so" from french. which is why i didn't bother with a picture.

Durian Party

this evening, family spent birthday dinner numero uno at windows on bukit. oh the US premier roast beef prime rib! and the fresh salmon sashimi.. the pan fried foie gras.. the stewed lamb topped with mash potato.. the dessert array of bread and butter pudding, bite-size cheesecakes and chocolate brownies plus durian pudding etc etc.. have i mentioned the utterly carnivoric US premier roast beef prime rib?

i received yang's gift sent through royal mail all the way from durham! grey's anatomy dvd season one and part of season two.. which is extremely thoughtful of her since i only managed to catch two episodes before leaving for copenhagen. during dinner, jie and jimmy presented me with a pendant from tiffany's and for some reason, i was really touched by the gift.. i guess it is because birthdays were never too much of a big deal in my family.. cake was de riguer and dinner was definitely on the books but we were not into all that gift-sharing hug-hug-smoochy-smoochy sit-by-the-fireplace-and-reminiscent routine.. plus the ultimate gift from my parents- the copenhagen exchange.. this year feels extra special.

plainly-put: i am happy. contented. at peace with myself.

it has been a week since i returned. what have i been doing? nothing much going by the empty biscuit boxes in the trash and abused tv remote control as a result of over exertion. a decomposition of my day reads like this: breakfast. tv. lunch. more tv. reading. gym. dinner. tv. reading. bed.. this actually feels more like a holiday, compared to my europe vacations.

and what was i reading? jodi picoult's vanishing act. i think she is a pretty good writer. she is great at finding the right words to expresss herself.. it is like how we might be feeling and thinking the same way, but i would be incapable of jotting down my emotions word-for-word, much less come up with books that make you go, "hey that's how i feel too!"

 

on monday, i met up with secondary school friends for a durian party. some of whom i have known since a single-digit marked my age. toon, mingxi, maryann, jingyi, laurene.. it is amazing when you think of how we have made it through secondary school, junior college, university and the remarkable stench of durians.. and somehow managed to hang on to the fraying threads of friendship.

yesterday, i met with with dear dear diana for lunch where we spent a precious lunch-hour by the sushi converyor belt yabbering about school, mutual friends and our plans for the near future. i do think that after my exchange program -due to sheer indolence and a lack of email updates- i have lost touch with many.. and honestly speaking, i am not too bothered by that but if i were to lose a friend (like diana) who line of thought and sense of humour is comfortingly similar to mine.. i would be more than upset... i would be VERY VERY UPSET. haha

after lunch with diana, i hopped on down to raffles city and was amazed by the transformation raffles marketplace had undergone. in fact, i was pretty disoriented and as soon as i saw janson's supermarket, i ran into that familar sight and sought shelter in it, under the pretense of shopping for tomorrow's dinner. there is a japanese stationary shop where i could have just spent an hour staring at the different san-x stickers and kawaii notepads. there also many new eateries.. mental note to myself: all the better for my foodie adventures.
 
 
 


some pictures from raffles marketplace.. so that you would not react like a mountain tortise when you check out the revamped site.

off to read my new book 'the man who ate everything' by jeffrey steingarten..

i touched down last saturday and only today did i made a time-honored visit down to legendary orchard road. considering how much time i used to spend roaming that vicinity before i left for copenhagen, my reluctance to hit the streets at once is definitely unorthodox.

well, orchard road really has not changes much.. then again, why do i keep keep expecting change after just six months? i caught the remnants of the great singapore sale and walked around till blisters sired. saw many items interesting enough to warrant a second look but none desirable enough to fish out my wallet.

arh, i have finally gotten down to organising a birthday dinner on sunday.. initially i wanted a big party but my lazy bones got the better of me and believe me, dialing the eight digits of people's numbers required considerable effort.. but i am glad i did it because planning the dinner has brought out the martha stewart in me.. wai's bringing over the entertainment and edward (hopefully) the wine..

laters!

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on Saturday, July 08 and Thursday, July 06 respectively

Auntie Kim's Korean Restaurant

a warm inviting blast of humidity smacks my face as soon as i left the airport terminal. toto, i bet this is home. the first couple of smses i received upon switching back to my singapore sim card were

"had car accident. please take cab home" and "did you receive my sms. please take a cab home"

whoa. not exactly the welcome home greeting i was expecting but at least noone was hurt in the accident. on my cab right back, i stared out of the window, trying to look for signs of change.. then again, six months is not too long a time for any earth-shattering changes.

new eateries have sprung up along upper thomsom road.. the church of holy spirit has received a new coat of peach paint. but other than that, the familarity of the unchanged brings forth a sense of comfort. on the road, sbs buses and lorries plough alongside whizzing bmws and toyotas.. the humidity and heat have left pedstrians looking a little less than barney-happy.. and the corner store at longhouse hawker centre sremains unoccupied.

as mum and dad had a dinner to attend, jie jimmy and i met up with philip (official not-gay designer of levis's uber-glamorous boxer shorts get yours today!) for dinner at auntie kim's. i know i am a glut and my teastebuds are not exactly discerning but i still have my dislikes and disinclinations. i had dinner at auntie kim's once (way long time ago) and due to sheer inexperience, ordered the wrong stuff, was turned off, never returned nor gave korean food a second chance.

but tonight when jimmy suggested korean, i thought "what the heck, have another go.."



first up, the yanghyum kalbi (grilled beef). as far as grilled meats go, there have been tons of major screw ups and disappointmeats which is why i am no fan of yakitori or teppanyaki. but i am glad to say this was a classic "foot in mouth" experience as the beef was grilled to tender perfection, coated with some great-tasting sauce and accented with chopped chili and garlic.

jie's choice of the kimchi chigae (spicy kimchi cabbage soup with tofu) was an anomaly against the backdrop of the other grilled dishes but no korean meal would have been complete with it.



the samgye-tang (ginseng chicken soup) is also another de riguer korean dish. stuffed with glutinous rice, young ginseng shoots and other strong-smelling herbs, i found the chicken soup a little to medical-tasting for my liking. but that did not stop me from picking the tender-to-shredded pieces of chicken.

two reasons why the godungeo gui (grilled mackeral) was my favourite.. first reason being it is fish.. second because IT IS FISH. ok, you get my point right? haha.. i am so into our gill-fitted scale-cladded friends after my stint in a sushi restaurant.. and also coupled with the fact that i am absoluely psychoed into all this fishy business surrounding the goodness of omega-three. yay for fish!

philip took us to the ps cafe (yes, zhu i hear you raving about it) along dempsey road where we order the g3 (green lime, green apple and ginger) cake and i had the scrummi-est carrot cake ever.. though it took ages for our orders to arrive, the service was apologetic and honestly speaking, noone would want to ruin a beautiful night out by nitpicking on the possibly-younger-than-us wait staff. i did not bother with pictures as the night lighting was not conducive anyway but i definitely forsee future returns..

staring at the mess cluttered in my room. it will probably take me a week to clear up but i have all the time in the world. so long folks.

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Durham, UK 2

durham.



a trip to durham calls for a return trip to bimbi's.. mary poppins likes hers with a spoonful of sugar.. i like mine with a spoonful of vinegar..



for lunch, we got a little too carried away in tesco and ended up buying all sorts of soups and salad.. i am telling you- my mum and i are too priviledged because healthy wholesome homemade meals are just BORRRRINGGG and we ACTUALLY get excited when we see ready-to-eat just-pop-into-microwave meals.. the picture below features cod fish from an award-winning fish and chips takeaway outlet near yang's home

bell's fish and chips.

believe me, you have no idea how amazing thhe fish tastes!urm and please refrain from licking your monitor..

when you gingerly tear open the crisp batter, it is almost as if you could near the fat lady belting out an opera classic in the background.. you know, like one of those moments when you find a glaring stage light shining down on you on as you stand alone on the unlit stage. Sensational with a capital S.

you know it's funny they now wrap fish and chips with tracing paper, instead of newspaper because apparently the print actually rubs onto the grub and well i guess it was not exactly hygenic because god knows how many people love to read in the bathroom and whee-hoo, recycling is good for the environment. BUT then again when you think about how many steps closer you are to your grave after you are done with the entire bag of chow.. the newspaper story should not seem that scary..

and i have also discovered a potentially deadly obsession. Harvey Nichols's sundried tomatoes and basil mayonnaise, coupled with rosemary speckled breadsticks. argh it's so addictive.. don't come any closer, stay away from me!!!