I woke up not-too-bright (let's just blame it on the downpour) and early (we caught the first show of the day) for the movie.

The verdict?

Love it. Every bit of it. Right down to ickle darling pendant bobs hanging off Anne Hathaway's coveted Chanel necklaces.

In all honesty, I almost suffered from brain damage with Plum Skyes's Bergdorf Blonds and Sophie Kinsella's Shopholic chronicles did little to settle my badly startled nerves. Having learnt my lesson the hard way, I refused to read the Devilish book as I was worried by the sheer frivolity that would make Elle Woods look sane.

I caught the movie because a. Hello Meryl Streep? and b.after watching Brokeback, I thought Anne Hathaway was worthy of my eight bucks.

Hey cmon. Princess Diaries? We all have our Dark Ages.

The movie plusated with high energy and at an hour and half long, it was adequate because I have such a short attention span. Two minutes into the chic-adelic opening scenes, I whispered to yang, "I need a new haircut.. Need to re-dye my hair.. "

And she whispered back, "I need to shop for new clothes.. and shoes.. "

The rest of the movie resembled a bubbling cauldron of "cry me a river" couture and blinding tribute to Chanel tweed. Oh, don't get me started on tweed..

Anne Hathaway was our likable heroine and Meryl Streep was divine. By the way, I thought the are-you-there-are-you-not wrinkles on the latter's almost flawless face were beautiful. And I meant that in the nicest way. I guess after watching inflammable beings on the Emmys, Meryl Streep's natural look was a touchdown. Having said that, you won't catch me sun-tanning anytime soon.

Did you enjoy it, darrelle?

A bitter pill to swallow.

I know jolly well that I should made my grienviences known ALOUD, instead of justing blogging about it and waiting for the perpetrator to read it. Truth is, I just need to get it off my heart- I don't expect a follow-up nor do I require any explanations to be made. Approaching the issue in person would only blow things out of proportion so I am just going to vent it out on my blog.

Anger Management 101.

Anway, this happened just before lunch and someone accused me of something bailing-out -but-not-quite on lunch. For a split second, I was half-miffed half-ludicrious totally-aghast because she was UTTERLY GUILTY of BAILING-OUT-BUT-NOT-QUITE on previous occasions HERSELF.

There, I have said my peace. I am going to take two deeps breaths, shrug it off and attempt to return to Zen mode.

The school magazine that I have been involved with (albeit on hiatus during my exchange) was mentioned in The Electric New Paper!

I am feeling ecstatic for those who have literally bled, cried and toiled during the publication process.

Congratulations guys!

Check BLURT! out HERE

Kia Hiang Restaurant

Whenever yang returns to Singapore, there would definitely be a mandatory trip made to international plaza at tanjong pagar for her beloved claypot spring chicken.

Claypot chicken.

The dish that everyone comes to Kia Hiang for. In fact, you will be hard-pressed to find a table that doesn't include this tantalizing pot of chow. The chicken is wrapped with cabbage and the duo is then braised in thick dark gravy. The result is a sensational bubbly pot of i-have-ran-out-descriptions.. There is just so much to experience from one humble claypot. The smoky flavour, the tenderness of chicken, the perfect gravy to douse over your rice..

Tasting is believing.

Tofu hotplate.

I guess this is the only place that whips up minced tofu omelette. Always comfortingly circular, this tofu dish poses as a customary companion to the claypot chicken. The sharp contrast between its crisp slightly charred edges and pillowy soft innards is undoubtly sensational and i can't hardly wait to get on with mouthful. Each and everytime, i end up huffing and fanning away due to over-enthusism. ARGH, I never seem to learn from my mistakes!

KIDS: do not try this at home.

Stir-fried kai lan with prawns.

"Less oily, less salty".. Not too sure if my instructions were heeded but i was satisfied with this plate of greens..

I usually stay away from stir fried vegetables in chinese restaurants. Reason being that more often than not, chefs tend to be a little heavy-handed with the oil and ultimately when the vegetables are served, you think to yourself, "damn I might as well have some fatty braised three layer pork instead.."

Thank s to my intership, i have too many errands to run tomorrow. Finance office, Career Office, Dean's Office.. and the bank itself.. A lunch appointment with my girls in school. Teachers' Day Dinner in the evening..

an afterthought:

meeting fellow floggers was an extremely humbling experience. i thought i knew it, clearly i didn't. some of them embark on weekly food hunts and they have covered places unknown to me (clearly, an adventurous spirit is insufficient, you got to have a driver's license, baby!). the epicurean wisdom some of these seasoned folks possess left me hanging onto every offering of advice and recommendation- look under "gastro-groupie" in the dictionary and you might just find a passport-size photo of me.

having said that i am actually comforted by my limited knowledge. i wouldn't like to proliferate over-discerning tastebuds and a cache-full of knowledge on just about every place i visit. i have a guilty pleasure for conveyor belt sushi and mass-produced buns sold in bakery franchises. choosing enjoyment over wisdom, i feel my simple somewhat crude tastebuds creates the most earnest experiences- so why take the fun out of it?

true, my review credibility may take the backseat but then again, i am not here to tell you what to eat or where to go. my blog is a reflection of enjoyment and what i take pleasure in. you should take my opinions with a pinch of sodium-free salt or better yet, try it out for yourself and feedback to me. i leave the 'critical' aspect to 'old-hands' chubby hubby and umami- they are here for a good reason and they serve this purpose well and proud.

before i get all emotional (or have i already crossed the line?) i would like to end off by thanking each and everyone of you phantom readers for visiting my blog. though only my mum has professed to be an ardent fan, i know the rest of you are out there silently supporting me, calling the toll-free line.. oops sorry, that's for the president's star charity show..

any-ho, really now!

humbly yours,
some like it haute

Sage Restaurant

Last night, I had the pleasure of dining with seventeen food bloggers floggers at Sage, the restaurant. This year, Colin has graciously undertaken the somewhat repellent task of rsvp-er, coordinator and planner and may I congratulate him on the task well-done!

The amusing thing about meeting fellow floggers is that we know each other by blog address, rather than by name or face, thus it was enlightening to finally be able to attach a face to the pseudonym. What a relief to know that noone batters half an eyelash as cameras were whipped out! Mind you, even the service staff looked like they have been through many dinners of such and were versant to the savoir-faire of floggers. But alas, my canon proved defenseless against the warm dim lighting and with limited knowledge of camera tricks, I gave up trying to snap decent pictures.

Coversation flowed as freely as the Limoncello and Grappa (thanks to ivan and umami) on our table and the five courses dinner was enterwined with memorable moments and a couple fleeting glitches. we had, in order of ascending preference,

Baked fillet of sea bass topped with tiger prawn mousse, braised fennel and a lemon-basil emulsion. The braised fennel had a bit of welcomed crunch to it but that was pretty much what i enjoyed this dish. I guessed overall the preparation methods were intended to inject a novel twist to the otherwise conventional ingredients but loose grasp of the flavours resulted in a 'neither-here-nor-there' experience. On top of that, the texture of the fish was unimpressive, which was a real pity considering how much i would have enjoyed a fish dish.

Dessert arrived in the form of panna cotta where fromage blanc panna cotta was topped with candied strawberries, Champagne jelly and a strawberry sorbet. Who could hold anything against sorbet? NYE, definitely! On top of that, the creamy fromage blanc had me digging in with such gusto, i had trouble pacing myself. My only gripe was the champagne jelly which cause my tongue to semi-recoil in repluse but overall, it was an enjoyable treat.

One of our appetizers was the fricasse of burgundy escargot with lentil du puy and field mushrooms, poached egg and italian parsley foam. Due the monotone filiing of this dish, i got to admt i had to keep referring to the menu to identify whatever that was in my mouth. Not cool at all.. But any-ho, the stewed escargots were rather sizable and squigly in texture..

The downside was that i am not a poached-egg fan. In fact, i care naught for it and it wouldn't make difference in my life if poached egg never existed. haha.. Overlooking the egg-misadventure, I say this was an interesting first course.

OOO, we are on a uphill now..

The featured entree was US corn fed shortribs braised in red wine topped with slices of foie gras and borrow marrow, glazed root vegetables and a mousseline of butternut pumpkin. I was surprised by how easily my shortrib disintegrated with a prod of my fork. The tenderness of the shortribs had me thinking, "hmm, if i were rich enough, i would want to buy a cow farm and feed my cows corn so that i would have a ready supply of corn fed beef." Imagine my dining companions would be shocked by my train of thought.. boy am i glad, speech bubbles don't exist in real life!

The butternut pumpkin mousseline was heavenly, plate-scrapping-worthy of my unrequited love. I think I might have found a penchant for mousseline.

The chestnut mousseline with oxtail consomme and truffle oil was MY FAVOURITE DISH OF THE NIGHT. Notable for its unique presentation (in a transparent coffee cup) and outstanding taste, who would have thought that this little wonder could contain a variety of flavours. Though we were adviced to mix the fillings, most of us felt it was best not to overstir the layers so that each ingredient stood a chance of outshining it predecessor.

Although the truffle oil was missable, shreds of oxtail was best accompanied by the OTT chestnut mousseline. Believe me, the inssipid-looking chestnut mousseline packed a savoury punch and you could orchestrate an acapella with our harmonious tones of pleasure.. from my side of the table at least.

As it was colin's 21st birthday, we had cake! And just how amazing was it? I snucked ivan's portion because he was too stuffed. Chocolate truffles from Colin's friend, Julius caught my attention.. I visited the website and GUESS WHAT! I know that guy from acjc! Haha, he was known to us by another name of course but it is amazing to know that he is pursuing his endorphins-riddled dream.. Que It's a small world after all

Now i am going to recommend you visit two blogs by mia, the really skinny epicurean and ivan from recent runes for great write-ups and pictures.

Incredible thanks to IVAN for beautiful pictures!

Tze Char

a coffee shop just opposite singapore press holdings, this was where we went for dinner to satisfy yang's craving of 'chili crab and fish head beehoon'. apologies for not remembering the name but it is situated bright beside the car park on the extreme right. you will know you are in the right place because it is extremely crowded on the weekends. in fact, my family has always avoided this place during the weekends since a table wait of an hour and food wait of another hour usually awaits you.

that being a thursday, we knew we were in for a treat.

prawn paste chicken

well-seasoned and evenly battered, it is impossible to dig into prawn paste chicken without appreciating its mouth watering qualities. as i sank my teeth into the tantalizing flesh, the ambroisial nature of the crunch-ridden skin resulted in a temporary loss of caution, which led me to dispense with the need to trim away the fat.

seafood horfun

flat rice noodles tossed in a seafood medley and kailan, sauced out in slightly starchy gravy. i am fussy about my hor fun- preferring the beef version to seafood, as a result, this dish failed elicit any form of interest from me. however, a cleared-out plate by the end of dinner probably tells of a different experience with the rest of the diners.

hong siew tofu tasted similar to the hor fun. the same seafood ingredients made their presence felt against the comfort of pan-fried tofu..

no wonder this is a dish that has appeared over and over and OVER AGAIN on our dinner tables.



though fishy business is my business, i choose to have fish slice bee hoon soup at very selective places. with thick slices of fresh fish in a hearty non-milky broth, three words describes dish: perfect for homecoming.



i can't remember the last time i had chili crab. in fact, i usually am too lazy to deal with crabs and thus, picking around the tough shells for tiny morsels of flesh doesn't warrant much interest. but tonight, i threw my book "glamourous ways to eat" out of the window and got literally down and dirty with the chili crab.

the many flavours of chili, garlic and onions converged with a ballsy dash of lime juice to produce a kick-ass gravy that lingered in my cavities long after it was savoured. the crab was undoubtly fresh, making every dig and tug a worthy experience.

now if only we had mantous..

i heart chili crab.

Coffee Bean Breakfast here

If my nutritionist permitted, I would love to wake up to Coffee Bean breakfast every morning.

The egg club sandwich: egg, ham and cheese encased between two slices of toasted ciabattas, is best approached on an empty stomach. The sandwich was served with a rejunevating cranberry salad on the side.

Perhaps if we all started our day with a chocolate muffin, we would probably have energizer bunnies running the show.

Chocoholics would find gratification in Coffee Bean's double chocolate chip muffin. choc-ed full od chips and less buttery than the cranberry muffin, this muffin was almost crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. Pleasurable.

i am talking to my ex boss from sanshin sushi copenhagen.

neither my face nor name rings bell, which is hardly surprising since he was hardly ever around.

anyway he is in thailand now, training to become a professional golfer.

for someone who doesn't recognize me, he sure is chatty.

i am carrying out one of those semi-interrogative conversation with him, like asking him how he is supporting himself before his golf career takes off. yada yada.. he s inviting me to phuket in November. HELLO!? Not happening. but wait, this guy could just be friendly right? oh nooooooo he is suddenly PROMISING to take me to japan.. oh god, this guy can't be for real. RECALL: he doesn't remember me at all.

he probably thinks i am some louis-vuitton-chanel-prada-hubba-lovin' girl, hanging onto to every empty promise that he dishes out. sigh just for kicks, i am going to play along and see what he says.. HAHA. i may be a little sadistic and i am not claiming any responsibility for his dense-ness.

seriously, how many girls have fallen for his "hey honey, let me take you shopping" line..

oh yes, i mentioned in my previous post that i should dust my textbooks and oil my academic gear.. but fate has a way of twisting events and i suddenly found myself on the receiving end of an internship offer. i have just accepted it so yea, so i have to apply for a leave of absence with school. i know what you are thinking, first the exchange program.. now an internship.. what's this girl up to??? at this rate, i will probably take FOREVER to graduate.

but then again, i am not in a hurry to graduate.

yang's back. she touched down just before dinner time and was craving, if not commanding for chili crabs and fish bee hoon soup.. at her extremely odd request, we went to toa payoh for dinner.

the camera is with my sister.. so i will update soon!

first day of school.

i didn't have any lessons but i crashed a class that i was thinking of bidding for. oh well, it was a rather enjoyable lesson though i have a sneaky feeling the professor was more interested in mapping out his life story than going through the syllables in detail. haha..

oh i see so many unfamilar faces! i almost felt like a freshman myself.. but over lunch with vanessa, i kicked back my heels, leaned back on my seat and put up my best interpretation of a cool experienced third year student.. BROU HAHA. i don't even think the auntie cleaner was convinced.. BAH.

after eight months of where-did-my-textbook-go, it is defintely time to turn up the mug-mode..

i just got home from the airport after sending wai of to amsterdam. i can't believe she's gone!!! WAHHH for two whole semesters.. standing at the departure gates reminded me of my send-off seven months earlier. the fear of an overweight lugagge, the overwhelming sense of excitment which blanketed any xenophobia, the guilty feeling for wanting to go away so badly.. how i wished i was the one waving good-bye to the people i would miss most.

my mum just informed me that my younger sister will be home this wednesday- talk about an impromptu decision. my mum was all mollycoodling.. worried about her being all lonely in durham.. i mean, HONESTLY!? if you want to bring up a child who's build on nerves of steel and truly independent.. then again, it would be nice to have another presence in the house, especially around the dinner table- kind of takes the heat of being the center of attention and conversation.

Shimbashi Soba Tea Time

After reading Victoria Abbott’s Untangling my Chopsticks- A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto, I found myself craving for Japanese desserts.

However trying to get hold of Japanese desserts, which have not been sealed in an air-tight bag and slapped with a god-knows-when expiry date is as easy as making soba from grounded buckwheat. On an island where most Japanese restaurants served mass-produced desserts that can easily be found in supermarkets, teatime dessert specials at Shimbashi Soba seem like the answer to my prayers.

The restaurant layout is sleek and uncomplicated, which told me two things- #1: Shimbashi does not rely on frivolous froufrou restaurant décor to enhance the overall dining experience and #2: Shimbashi would rather ‘let their food do the talking’. Service, characteristic of Japanese service, was gracious and polite.

Although the thing to have here is soba, the dessert variety gives reason to smile. Scanning through the menu, one would find the use of similar ingredients (such as red bean and matcha) differentiated by forms, texture and state at room temperature..

Uguisu Kuzumochi- home made gelatious cake made from kuzu and matcha, served with vanilla ice cream and soy bean powder.

This dessert is nothing short of luscious. Beneath the dusting of peanut powder, the gelatious mouldy-green mass reminded me of a sticker muay chee. The infusion of green tea left a bitter aftertaste, which paired well with the creamy vanilla ice cream.


Soba Abekawa- 3 pairs of soba balls topped with matcha dust, peanut powder and mashed red bean. The tiny moulds of soba balls were made from freshly grounded buckwheat (same ingredient used for making the soba noodles). The toppings were subtly flavoured, thereby allowing the soba balls’ natural wheaty scent to shine through effortlessly.


Anmitsu- soba balls, red bean, jelly cubes, fruits, served with brown sugar syrup. This is great for those who are looking to try something different, but do not consider "adventurous" to be a personal trait. The Anmitsu plays up the different flavour and texture of each ingredient to produce a possible crowd favourite. There is another version where vanilla ice cream is served as well- now wouldn’t that be just heavenly?

(l-r) baked egg omelette, grilled mackeral, prawn tempura, salmon sashimi, served with a bowl of buckwheat soba.

I was feeling dead hungry and it didn't help that the desserts aroused my taste buds and whetted my appetite.. so i had a lunch set. With my preferred japanese items neatly tucked into a bento box, this was perfect for me. A steamy bowl of hand made buckwheat soba did the trick of pacifying my growling tummy.

Shimbashi Soba's efforts in creating tasty healthy food, while maintaining a distinct fuss free presentation, is applaudable. Though the menu consists of items found in other Japanese restaurants, it is the stamp of quality assurance that sets Shimbashi Soba apart from the rest. Ultimately, it the novelty of a clean and unprocessed feel that converts first-timers into repeat customers.

This article is featured in Wine Dine & Unwind

Din Tai Fung / Piper's Pies

i had lunch with din tai fung raffles city with mum. we have never held din tai fung's noodles in high regard so we skipped the noodles and went straight for appetizers and soup.

the xiao long bao is definitely the blue-eyed boy of din tai fung menu. how do we know that? well, if you flip to the back of their paper chopstick holders, you won't be able to find the usual instructions for handling chopsticks. instead directions for eating the xiao long bao are found in simple step-by-step manual, which gives you the impression that eating xiao long bao is like an art form or long-standing ritual that must be uphold through the test of time and commercialization.

for the less informed, here are the instructions with my two cents worth:

pick it up gently. be careful not to pierce through the elicate skin prematurely. nibble a small hole preferably at the tip. sip the warm steamy broth within with the countenance of a cloistral nightingale sipping through a water hole. dab a dash of vinegar and chili oil onto the remains and finish it in a mouthful.



i like the braised warm tofu with minced pork and mushrooms. the just-nice-for-one serving size.. the slightly saltish sauce.. carefully-diced toppings and ever since jie told me about shaolin monks and their sole dependance on the tofu for protein, i am UTTERLY convinced of the tofu's health benefits.

disclaimer: eating tofu three time a day, seven days a week will not ensure the mastery of three hundred consecutive somersaults and ability to fly through air <--- kids, you have to get bitten by a spider for this to happen.



the crispy prawn pancake was a pleasant surprise too. every bite was a delight with strong crunch of prawns eluding through the paper-thin beancurd wrapping. double-boiled chicken soup tastes like.. double-boiled chicken soup. que homer simpson's 'doh'.



in 1993, din tai fung snared themselves a spot on the new york times list of "10 best international restaurants." i am sure back then din tai fung must have been worthy of such titlement, however, fame is a double edged sword. although a couple of dishes were good, the rest just qualifies as decent. mounting expectations resulted in a "come ci comme ca" experience. i wouldn't be surprised if fame has seeped through the tall hats of the chefs and given them the impression that it is alright to bank on the hype and name.

after din tai fung, feelings of unsatisfaction led us to peter's pies where we ravaged through a peter's special. i know i am biased towards pies.. but it wouldn't be wrong of me to award peter's special with two licked-thumbs up. practically stew enclosed in a pie, one will find saucy chunks of beef nesting in the buttery embrace of puff pastry.

how do i love thee?.. let me count the ways

my mum actually arranged this shot for me, how cute can she get? haha..

last night i had dinner with a very very old friend. a friend so old, i actually used these words on him, "xxx, i don't want to be your friend anymore...because you are such a jerk*.." hey i was eleven alright!

but anyway we were just talking.. i don't remember the exact details.. or rather i do, but it would be plain insensitive (not to mention rude) of me to throw it into the open.. but the point is i cannot wait to see where or what we will be like ten years down the road.

flickr should create a tool, which doubles up as a time machine that takes snapshots of us ten, or maybe just five years down the road. think of how much gratification or trepidation these polaroids of our future would fill us.

after dinner, i headed down to edward's house and although i missed out on dinner, it was dessert galore~ there was ben and jerry's, denessa brought a tiramisu cake from sweet secrets, the honeydew was awesomely sweet and edward's mum's cupcakes were heavenly- totally worth busting the day's calorie intake for.

edward's dad kept asking if we needed more champagne and i had a smashing great time playing texas holdem poker with shazzy looking chips. haha. honestly, though we weren't playing with real money, the gold-fringed chips made the game look almost professional.. but i realise what a chicken i am when it comes to gambling. i almost never raise bids and would "check/pass" if everyone esle did it too. perhaps this is due to the lack of alcohol content in my blood vessels. haha..

i can't believe summer's coming to an end. wai and edward would soon leave us for colder, greener pastures and gawd knows how long it will be before we have another gathering of such. i am getting used to charl and wai's coming and going, almost like 'see ya later'.. but for edward, fresh out of national service, it seems more like "awww... our little boy's all grown up.. he doesn't need mummy anymore..."

how very drama-mama.

*subject to change since memory is failing on me.. some ginko nuts soup please!

Food Republic

today, i brought anja (pronounced "AN-YAH") out for lunch at orchard road. i had initially intended to take her for sushi but she beat me to it by having it yesterday. as a result, we headed to food republic because it was a good place to introduce the concept of food court and local food.

i asked wai and edward along because it was a good opportunity for anja to meet the locals and brush up on her singlish english.

waimin so very pretty LARH!



check out the spread!

we had the three evils: char kway teow, oyster omeletter and fried hokkien mee, along with fried carrort cake, popiah and pad thai.



our asian carrot cake! devoid of cream cheese, walnuts and erm actually carrots too.. turnip is an ingredient featured majorly in our asian carrot cake.. the verdict? it was pretty good and anja loved it..

Thye Hong hokkien mee..

WAIT WAIT.. not so quick! prior to this, you have to join a resonably-quick queue, yup even on a weekday. i dread to think of what the queue is like on a weekend..

now this is my cue to take on the role of the devil's advocate.

WHAT IS THE BIG FUSS?! it's the singapore herd mentality.. join the queue when you see one, be it for free fruit juice samples or hello kitties.. and even if you have no clue on how good the food is.

i feel really stupid to have made edward line up simply because it was horrible. you have the normal ingredients of egg noodles, thick vermicilli, egg, squid, big prawns, lard ya-dah.. and somehow it shouldn't be that easy to screw up especially since the hawker would have had experience.. but it sure tasted like NOTHING. as in bland and uninspiring.. it doesn't even qualify as pedastrian since most next-door hokkien mees are at least decent..

why does it happen to be the most popular store? i have no clue. zilch.


i still prefer the popiah from takashimaya's food hall

and the pad thai is nothing to shout about.. in fact, have it only if your life depended on it. THAT and if you have a cursed skin disease that causes you to break out in can't-stop-itching hives if you see a plate of pad thai and delibrately avoid it.

this plate of char kway teow is from the same hokkien mee stall. not the tastiest i have had but compared with the horrendous hokkien mee, this one at least made it down my oesophagus.

well, we are on an uphill here.. featured on the left is the oyster omelette (from the same hokkien mee stall). this was delectable, right down to the very last oily eggy bit.





after lunch, we introduced anja to the concept of "dessert by the road".

yup, from our very own uncle and his motorcart stash of potong ice cream.

smile for happy day!

"Roasted Pumpkin with Caramelized Apple & Toasted Almonds"

Pumpkin roasted to perfection with a blend of spices. The apple & almonds give a surprise flavour and added crunch."

i had this pumpkin soup for dinner from the soup spoon at raffles city and i thought it was pretty amazing. i know it is difficult to go gaga over soup but this bowl of pumpkin pureed goodness had me relishing for more, even after i had wipped the bowl clean with my bread bun. it was thick enough without that creamy-churlish feeling..

will be back for more!

i wouldn't be surprised if my aching muscles kept me in bed tomorrow. this morning, Family decided into venture into the great outdoors by trekking bukit timah hill. i know you must be thinking, "chen yixiao and nature? the combination of which sounds so wrong.. in fact we don't even dare to imagine the subsequent must-not-be-named catastrope that would befall on humanity in seven days and seven nights.."

HA HA HA

aye, at least i made it back on my two feet and not on some stretcher.. i am not done with bragging yet.. this being our first time, Family randomly picked the green route which turned out to be a no-no for the inexperience OKAYYY.. with the exception of jimmy, the ex-rugger, who looked like he breezed through the entire journey, the rest of us lugged our way through in varying degrees of distress.

after two hours, i greeted civilisation and sweetened canned drinks with wide-open arms and a drenched t-shirt. would i do this again, ERM.. let me think about it..

from haute to hot.

i had a bowl of spicy beef kway teow from toa payoh central's food court. generous thumb-size chunks of beef and leafy kai lan adorned the brothy based rice noodles and the chili padi made its presence felt even without me actually biting into it. though the beef cubes were on the tough side, for four bucks, you weren't expecting wagyu- were you?

i attended denessa's dean list ceremony on friday and have been injected with an ambition to make it to dean's list for my third-year. I AM GOING TO DO IT! apparently business faculty does not have an award ceremony due to the sheer number of awardees but the tea reception after which is an incentive to do well!

just watch me..

Royal China Raffles Hotel

Instead of toiling around the kitchen, trying to prepare enough food to feed about twenty people for HER birthday, we took my grandmother out for lunch at raffles hotel's royal china.

Decked out in auspicious red carpeting and traditional Chinese furniture, Royal China resembled a caricature of what a restaurant should look like in a Hollywood movie. But tacky décor aside, service was attentive and care was taken to ensure we had a pleasurable dining experience.

The roast crispy pork belly was probably one of the best versions that i have had. There was little trace of fat within the pork and the panfried-to-almost-brittleness skin cracked into tiny bits upon the slightest pressure imposed by your tongue. This is one dish where only hokkien vulgarities could demonstrate your over the top reaction; however, we were dining in Raffles Hotel, a little restraint was duly appreciated.

Tip #1: Don't bother offering the last piece to anyone, you know you don't mean it anyway.

Apart from the Cha Xiu Bao, the quality of Cheung Fun serves as a yardstick of a restaurant’s competence and Royal China passes with flying colours. Thin rice flour blanket rolls of fresh prawns, cha xiu and chopped chives, drenched in light soy sauce and sesame oil created the delightful Royal China Cheung Fun.

The shanghai style marinated fried beancurd is not a pretty sight, albeit sounding like one. Imagine me getting all ‘honey-when's-your-next-botox-treatment’ superficial over dim sum! That being said, I am glad to say what should have been renamed "Shanghai Swamp Thing" soon silenced critics with its saucy rich braised flavour which was INCIDENTALLY perfect for mantou dipping! Yup, we actually ordered extra mantous for this! It ain't ugly, it's my dim sum

With its daintily crisp outsides and chewy insides, the panfried beancurd sheet roll, stuffed with with minced shrimp would be a regular feature on our dim sum tick list. Tip #2: see tip #1 above.

Each har gow was stuffed with at least three fresh succulent prawns and popping it whole into your mouth was an experience not to be missed by any har gow lover. Athough siew mai usually does fire up my senses me, Royal China’s, topped with roe, proved irresistible for the other diners.

We were unimpressed with the century egg porridge, which was bland and a little on the watery side. The congee was uninspiring and received a befitting lukewarm response. Along the same line of mediocrity, the char xiu bao was decent but forgettable.

The braised egg noodles with live boston lobster, ginger and spring onion was the undeniable ‘stud muffin’ of the entire meal. Well hello?! for $82 buckaroos a plate, it better damn well be. Although this purse-lightening dish is said to have been the brainchild of Royal China, my first encounter with the lobster noodle took place in her rival's restaurant at London’s Mandarin Kitchen. This may sound almost sacrilegious but I wasn't exactly blown away. In fact just a few doors down the street, Four Seasons's duck rice was way more gratifying.

Anyway, based on hearsay (well, my sister was sitting sitting a good two seats away), Royal China's version was better because this time round the chef wasn't over-enthusiastic with the oil. I know what you must be thinking: Like who cares about heart problems when you are feasting on lobster? I mean you wouldn't catch me ordering a trans fat-free abalone anytime soon. As for Royal China's noodle, everything just felt 'enough'.. you know.. like tasty ENOUGH, salty ENOUGH, noodles were chewy ENOUGH.. Thus there wasn't a ‘COWABUNGA WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!’ reaction.. But that's just my opinion, ask my sis and she will probably tell you that she's up for a weekly prescription of it.

If I have to get all ogress on you and demand you save some space for dessert, I will do it! Royal China has an interesting spread of desserts and not ordering a couple to share would be your loss.

I was blown away by the double-boiled hot cream of almond in young coconut. It is served in a young coconut husk, so you should scrap the luscious flesh of the coconut and eat it together with the yummy almond cream for pleasure-maximization.

The chilled cream of mango, with pomelo and sago took resembled a liquid form of the mango pudding and tastes just as heavenly.

The chilled apple chrysamthathum tea with grass jelly and diced aloe vera could have had done with more zing but ideal for someone who was looking for something light.

This article is featured in Wine Dine & Unwind

today i finally did something interesting and mor importantly non-food related. to celebrate (or bemoan) our newly-acquired 21-years-of-age status, diana, zhu and i went down to the arthouse to catch philip kaufman's The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

interestingly enough, when i googled the movie to get more information i came across the censorship certification:

"Certification: Canada:PG (Ontario) (re-rating) (2005) / Canada:R (Manitoba) (2005) / Canada:13+ (Quebec) / Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) (original rating) / Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (2005) / Australia:M / Finland:K-16 / Hong Kong:III / Singapore:R21 / Spain:13 / Sweden:15 / UK:18 / USA:R / West Germany:16"

hmmm. i think it's odd that the censorship board in spain actually allows kids as young as thirteen to watch the movie.

determination of maturity across the world differs so greatly.

after that, we headed to indochine empress place where i chanced upon utterly delicious vietnamese spring rolls (cha gio).. believe me, i would have had more if only sakae sushi buffet hadn't filled me up..

i say, we should do this again!

Crystal Jade La Mian

we were supposed to be at home watching our nation's televised celebrations.. like 99% of mostly patriotic singaporeans. but instead, we thought, "since everyone's at home watching the telly, orchard road should be relatively empty.."

well true enough, the roads were clear, traffic was smooth despite the non-functioning erp gantries.. but we still had to queue at crystal jade xiao long bao?!

now this is the definitive measurement of success- while the staff at other restaurants were wondering why couldn't the lack of clientale persuade their employers to call it an early night, crystal jade was bustling with activity, almost as if everyone was oblivious to the ongoing national day parade and yada fireworks.

a creature of habit, i found myself ordering the la mian with stewed beef.

unassuming-looking at first glance, this delectable noodle soup consists of stringy noodles, uncut for auspicious reasons, with chunks of beef pieces and tendons. the major soup freak in me lapped up the hearty broth in good time and the kind people at crystal jade were sporting enough to give me a refill.



dad and mum order the la mian with steamed chicken, century egg and cucumber, tossed in chili oil (which part of a special promotion and thus not found on the menu).

when my mum informed me that it was a cool dish, i , being a wee-bit anal about the temperature of my food, thought to myself, "uh-oh, this is so not going to work..." however, a spoonful of which soon silenced the skeptic in me. though the century egg lay pretty much ignored, i wriggled my chopsticks into the chicken chunks furthest away from me, taking care to drag each piece across the plate in order to coat the surface with chili flakes and oil, to maximise the palatableness. did i say type that?





the fillings in the steamed vegetable buns made you wonder if scrooge mcduck had lent a hand (or wing) in producing them- this was quite an irony since crystal jade was pretty generous with the meat items. having said that, the pillowy soft bun was appeasing so no major damages were incurred.

i love love love the pan fried shanghai pork bun, even more so than the xiao long bao (which was absent from our table this evening). fatty minced pork capsuled in oil-laced refined carbs might not be just what the cardiologist ordered but really now..

beancurd, conpoy and corn soup.

for dessert, we skipped the all-time favourites such as red bean pancake and mango pudding and opted for a lighter glutinous ball in sweet wine. main ingrdients included ickle bits of rice flour balls and what looked to be softened rice grains. the slight aftertaste of wine added a novel dimension by cutting the saccharine sweetness found in most chinese desserts.

i like crystal jade. more than ding tai feng, more than asian kitchen.. i cannot put my finger on their x-factor, just that it makes me wanna go back for MOREEEEE