Brussel Sprouts

I keep forgetting to update my blog. My one week mid term break arrived and left like summer love.. not that it was much of a break anyway. sigh.

It's three in the afternoon, the weather's great- cloudy skies, with little sunshine peeking through and a touch of grim- and I'm tryin to finish reading up my quiz on Market Research... What a way to spend Sunday afternoon.. To think a year ago, I was jetsetting around Belgium, lieg-ing belgium waffles, ducking CHINESE chocolate vendors... I had a pretty good time in Belgium- without a breath of doubt, the food played a goliathic role in shaping my opinion.

I like Belgian food and it definitely agrees with me.. the chocolates, the liege waffles, the mussels and the FRITES FRITES FRITES.



Opened by Singapore's celebrity chef Emmanuel Stroobant himself, I had been meaning to try out Brussel Sprouts ever since I read about it in 8 Days magazine. Boy is that place hot! It wasn't packed with the air-kissing crowd but with yuppies, who wear TGIF badges proudly on their sleves.

I wasn't about to muscle (you KNEW that was coming, didn't you?) my way in so we headed off to Cappadocia for dinner instead. However, after calculating the odds of ever returning to this highly inaccessible place, we decided to visit Brussel Sprouts. Thanks to the never-diminshing crowd, we had to sit by the bar, which wasn't all that bad since the bartenders were rather friendly. Unfortunately the place suffered from poor accoustics and I found myself shouting, straining to hear myself over the crowd. Since we already had dinner, we decided to get the all inclusive platter. Yea, something light.


Hand-cut fries, parmesan cheese croquette, grey prawn croquettes, meatloaf with gerkin dressing, Brussel Sprout eggs.

On any given day, this platter would have been 'gawd's gift'. You just cannot go wrong with fried stuff! It is almost incomprehensible for anything deep fried to taste bad.. I mean, it may taste bad as in sinful but SIN (let's face it) is delectable.

The fries, tough and all, was a sob story in the making. I was surpised because Brussel Sprouts offers free flow of fries with every pot of mussels and judging by the number of pots churned out and high turnover rate, one would naturally expect crisp freshly made fries. Instead, the fries here tasted like they have been grazing the kitchen bench for too long... Sorry folks, but even McDonald's has wayyy better fries.

The battered and deep fried mussels suffered from a similar fate- rubbery, limp... Not a pretty picture. I don't mean to get all Gordon Ramsey here but if a Belgian restaurant screws up mussels and fries...



The parmesan cheese croquette was well-breaded and broke away to reveal gummy-ish lympathic insides, which failed to elicit a word of praise from us. The grey prawn croqutte, IN MY OPINION, was a disaster. Reminicent of lobster bisque, the orange gumbo within was fishy and rubbed me up the wrong way. It was an ugly moment.

On any given day, thou shall not venture near meatloaf. My failure to habour any goodwill towards anything that looks SO drastically different from its original pre-handled state produced an inertia but after the disappointing croquettes, there was pretty much nothing left to gush over.. and boiled eggs weren't exactly exciting to begin with. The meatloaf was mildly gratifying, liven up by the aromatic threads of onion and was good with or without the gerkin dressing.

Though I didn't have the mussels or entrees, the sample platter was enough to draw my attention eslewhere.

The Aftermath of Chinese New Year

I am tired. By the end of day 3, I was done with all that house-visiting, exchanging of niceties and saturating in the stuffy living rooms, exacerbated by the humidity. Many consider Mr Lee Kuan Yew to be someone with great foresight and that I couldn't agree more. Over the weekend, the one policy I identified with most was his insistence on nation-wide installation of air conditioning. Arh, I might have learnt it the hard way but I have to admit (at the risk of sounding like a wuss) that the air conditioner is indeed mankind's gift to Singaporeans.

Also, Urban Legend: One kuih bangket / pineapple tart / cashew nut cookie / piece of bak kwa is enough.

New Kid On The Block Syndrome- My relatives suffer from the NKOTB Syndrome where they exhibite overwhelming affection for i'm-so-cute-i-can-count-to-ten kids. The scenario is laid out like a normal family reunion where some chitter chatter over pistachio nuts and melon seeds, a couple delibate over who's pineapple tarts were better and a group cowers over the television watching Chinese New Year tv speicals... Suddenly el kiddo clad enters the room and everyone perks up. People burst into a frenzy of praise, cooing and asking if she remembers them.

xxx, do you know who I am? Your third aunt! I took you shopping last week, do you remember? Oh what a pretty dress.. who bought it for you? ME! XXX, Your fourth uncle here.. The last time I saw you, you were this tall! ...

It is hilarious to watch a mob of aunties and uncles fight for a three year old's attention but a little distURbing when the poor girl obviously has a stunned look smacked upon her angelic face. sIGH, I know for sure that once a new baby enters the scene, she will be a forgotten soul, lost amongst the faces of those who have out grown their cuteness.

On the first day of CNY, we went over to auntie cm's place for dinner. Best known for their generosity, I had the most amazing Buddha Jumps Over the Wall (Again), ate my year's worth of abalone and shark's fin. Almost a tradition in its own right, uncle pg had made a photo slideshow, using pictures collected from vacations, past gatherings etc... All I can say is: to prevent further cringe-worthy moments, any photographs of me aged 11 to 18 shall be destroyed and the era will henceforth be referred to as The Dark (& Lost) Ages.

Jimmy went back to Jarkarta over the holidays and came back with this:



A little alarming. Has 'Guilt Sin Gluttony' transcribed all over.



FOUR -holly comollly- DOZEN Krispy Kreme Original Glazed Donuts



I suddenly feel so empowered.. Knowing that these babies can't be found in Singapore and how many would kill / beg / steal for them... *evil smirk*


Actual shot taken.

What a random post this has been.. From all of us at Gardenia Road, Happy Lunar New Year.

And Happy Birthday Yang!

a Reunion Dinner afterthought:

Can my relatives greet each other in most normal 'Long time no see.. How do you do?' manner, instead of "Oh you have gained/ lost weight!"

I guess finding a cure for Aids might be easier to achieve.

Sigh, but since there isn't any malice involved, I ought to just shrug it off. Tis the season to be forgiving.. Whoops, to a season-ista, christmas is like so last year! Nonetheless, I am glad to be home for this festive season

Happy Lunar New Year folks.

SMU Bondue Presents

Vegas Night


A short clip done by a SMU student Vincent Ha for Vegas Night.
Leave me a comment if you can't see the video.

Get your tickets for Vegas Night, guys!

Shanghai Eats

You didn't think the non food entries will persist, did you? Don't worry guys, I haven't defected to the non-grub side, afterall, there's only that many pensive moments one can shoulder in a week.

Located near Upper Thomson Road and Thong Soon Road, this Shanghainese eatery was easy to miss but clearly a hit with regulars. Their dumplings are made only after orders are taken and this ensures a fresh unmanufactured quality, unfamilar to most Chinese dumpling eateries here in Singapore. But that handmade aspect also happens to be their Achilles Heel because Wait You Must and be prepared to wait for a long time.

"Waiter, a DOUBLE shot of Patience for me please.. Neither saken nor stirred!"

For our appetizers, we had Eight Treasure Vegetable and Drunkard Chicken.



The Eight Treasure Vegetable wasn't anything we hadn't seen or tasted before. In fact, it was regretfully boring and borderlined on atrocity. On the other end of the spectrum, the drunkard chicken was the comeback kid- the smooth texture illuminated by the sweet wine essence, which shone without overwhelming. We showed our appreciation by ordering a second portion!



The Handmade noodle above came with beacurd cubes, pork chop and chopped greens. While the sauce was too salty for my liking and the pork chop so-so. The Fried Shanghai Noodles, on the other hand, drew dismissive looks for its slipshod appearance and uncanny resemblance to the ubiquitous mee goreng. I can't quite put my finger on what the unique sauce was. Somewhat sweet, bitingly spicy.. it was like a mambo jambo of flavours better left forgotten.


Fried Shanghai Noodles. Something tells me you probably can't find this in Shanghai.

Onto what we came for...


Guotie

The Guotie (also known as gyoza or potstickler) resembled ducklings with their fur-feathered bottoms turned upwards. A testimony to the proprietor's skills, the dumplings were beautifully shaped and intricately folded. A swift dap of vinegar and ginger and we were made hardcore converts.


Xiao Long Bao

The xiao long bao above took a grand thirty minutes to arrive but it was well worth the wait. We all know an assessment of the xiao long bao wouldn't be complete (or anything at all) without the broth test. Here, the thickish dumpling skin held the insides soundly but gave way to a tiny nibble to release ambrosial oil-less broth. Amazing.



The Sheng Jian Bao (panfried bun) was by far the best I have tasted in a long while. The contrast between the pillowy crown and crisp bottom ushered this bonne bouche into a league of its own. Compared with other panfried buns, this version kicked butts with a titillating meat mix and gorgeous shell.

The atmosphere is remarkably laid back and at times, you are required to serve yourself. The kitchen staff works at an unflustered pace (now that's practically unheard of in Chinese restaurants) and I had to doubly remind myself to keep cool. Like I said, the food is good but the service slow. So slow by the time we wrapped up dinner, I had actually finish writing this review. But of course, if time is on your side and you are craving for some quality Shanghainese dumplings, this is definitely your domain to have and hold.

A Post on Daily Nothingness

Back by popular demand, I am going to blog about LIFE again. Very soon, I will be camera-whoring and copy-and-pasting quotes, song lyrics about my tortured soul as a student. Just you wait. Haha..

Anyway, I took the bus home today and was trying to trying to finish at least one chapter of my Consumer Behaviour text. Times like these make me wonder what I had been doing in secondary school and jc. I am a currently marketing and corpcomms major and all those years of toiling under physics, chemistry and biology have come to naught. Those science subjects are completely irrelevant to what I am doing now, though I can imagine them tailored to marketing... how the force of shopping bags over customers grip influences their purchase behaviour or the ickle atoms that form chains of molecules, sending "buy me buy me" signals to our brains. But at least I would never have to pick up another science textbook..

On the bus, I was trying my darnest to mind my own business but I was inevitably distracted by a conversation between couple. Chinese man in his late forties early fifties, was trying to sweet talk his Philippino female friend and in the midst of doing so, successfully sending our dear naive female protanganist into fits of giggles. The highlight of the conversation came when he said,

"You have such a sexy body... Not like those Chinese girls so out of shape... "

I am telling you if we had speech bubbles over our heads, mine would be filled with question marks. Like this: ??????????? Hello UGLY Uncle, you ain't exactly Adonis du Jour unless you consider your beer paunch to be the must-have much-coveted accessory for this season...

Oh dear, has this guy been wearing blinkers lately?

If you have been feeling down, this joker story ought to cheer you up.

My parents have been working really hard, tranforming my sisters' rooms into a livable speace, rather than the warehouse storage rooms they once were. You would be amazed by the amount of stuff that are of zilch value (except to a gazillion dust mites). We had bags of soft toys, books, clothes and our garung guni man had the time of his life. My mum was surprised when he gave us our compensation fee because I think she would have paid him to get rid of our junk instead. Well, one man's junk is another man's treasure.

This post is for those who don't really care about whether I have baked or fried eggs for breakfast, dim sum or two cups of coffee for lunch, sushi or a can of corn kernels for dinner... Yes, you know who you are!

I have just ended week six of year 3 semester 2, a week more and it would be the mid term break and CHINESE CHING CHONG NEW YEAR. But the upcoming week would feel more like eternity because it is the week of the exams and I have two papers- Computer as an Analysis Tool (CAT) and Consumer Behaviour.

Consumer Behaviour ain't that bad.. just six chapters rambling on and on about consumer affective and cognition but CAT is plain disgusting. For CAT, we basically use microsoft excel spreadsheets to solve problems... Yea, that's just the rough idea.. the REAL THING is to die for. While it isn't as bad as Mariah Carey's greatest hits album, CAT is something you would wish for on your free-rider collegue. Hi My Name is Yixiao and I am excel-phobic.. Death to Microsoft Excel. Just Eight More Weeks.

Hmm, I am looking forward to Chinese New Year.. I don't know why though.. the red packets only cause a momentary surge in monetary gratification and I have to think of excuses to answer that really-duh 'Why are you stil sin-?' question.. though I could come up with chillingly smart-ass answers, I probably shouldn't exercise curtness during this festive season since it would reflect more poorly on my parents than myself... so I will just pretend to look coy, blush and return to my knitting. Note to self: Bring half knitted sweater when house visiting.

But I miss last year's .. spending it alone in cold agony so nothing can be worse than that.. I think I would blog about the different types pineapple tarts from house to house...

Hmm.. what esle is there.. Oh yes, the business faculty Bondue will be organising an event called Vegas Night, where they would attempt to re-create glamorama glitz and blitz of Vegas with the help of casino game tables and 'dead famous' celebrities such as Elvis and Marilyn Monroe.. ERM right, so why am I even mentioning this since I could hardly qualify for Miss School Spirit? Because *cough* I have been asked to play Miss Monroe herself. -Silence- I thought it would be good fun alright!!.. Cross my pinkies that nobody calls up the White House to tell them that they have found Weapon of Mass Destruction here in Singapore!!!

Eck, I got to get back to work..

Hey, rhymes with 'mad'.. is this good enough for you? Haha..

A year ago, I downloaded Skype.

Cappadocia Café Restaurant

The Real Cappadocia.

Hmmm, my first Turkish entry.. Let's see, I have just about a mug's full of knowledge in Turkish Food and as I'm typing this review, I have four other IE windows on the side, providing some sort of crash course to TurkishCuisine101.

Of course after Greece, I know Turkish doner kebab is spankinliciously can't-get-you-out-of-my-head good but it's like fast food.. junk food. Furthermore, Turkish is established as one of the top three cuisines of our time, alongside Chinese and French. So suppose doner kebab was all I knew about Turkish food, it would be such injustice to myself and their heritage.

The menu at Cappadocia is extensive and loaded with droolsworthy pictures and helpful lengthy descriptions. Yes, a snapshot paints a thousand words but it didn’t help that most were attention-grabbing and affixed with tantalizing speech bubbles that whispered, “Mossuaka tonight, baby? You know you want me..” or in the words of famous Makansutra guru, “die die must try...” -gulp- With no friendly neighbourhood waiter around, we took quite a while to decide.

For starters, we were introduced to Karisik Meze, which was an ensemble of Turkish appetizers. Don't you just LOVE sampler platters? I know I dooo.. Sampler platters are perfect for people like me who take forever to decide and over the course of two minutes, can and will drive the waiter nuts with my indecisiveness.

Anyway... Regarded as "Middle East's answer to Spanish tapas" (and in my opinion, "Chinese dim sum"), the meze platter definitely lived up to our expectations anticipation.


Meze

I got to say with nowhere esle to compare, I am not in a position to 'review' or evaluate the taste. The hummus and tzatziki dip look familar but geee what's the leafy-looking mummified tube?

YAPRAK SARMA

????? Yaprak what--??? Haha, it is actually vine leaves with pilaf rice stuffing which strangely reminds me of our Chinese glutinous rice dumpling. The cigar shaped Sigara Boregi is stuffed with spinach and feta cheese, wrapped in phyllo dough and deep fried. The bead-faced falafel, made out of grounded chickpeas and spices, was pretty good too. But give me some warm toasted piede and tzatziki dip and I promise to be quiet for the rest of the evening.


Armut Patate

The Armut Patate was something altogether. The centers were stuffed with spinach and the potatoes were soft baked and then shallowed fried. It was 'Yay on its own', 'Yay with a dab of tzatziki'... You wanna remember this name: Armut Patate- License To Thrill.


Izgara Kofte

For our entree, we had the Izgara Kotfe, which consisted of grilled minced beef patties, served with side salad and pilaf rice. While the pepper gravy was pedastrian, the kofte was unlike any beef patty I've ever had. The kotfe was grilled to medium perfection and you could tell there was something going on there with the juicy patty on the verge of being leathery. A home run for this squashed baseball lookalike.

We gave dessert a miss since I do distinctively remember a nasty encounter with the baklava in Copenhagen. But overall, our meal warranted return visits.. if only Robertson Quay weren't such a $#%$ to get to.

Coffee Club Breakfast

I could launch into a homily about delicious breakfasts / brunches as a legally binding meal.

Down with "Just Coffee"! .. "Gimme my Banana Butterscotch Pancakes".. "Bring on the Peanut Butter and Banana Toasts!"... "Bacon for President!".. "Make BREAKFAST, Not War!"

Ok, I'm stretching a little..



Situated in the middle of Raffles Place, this Coffee Club branch appeals to me for a couple of reasons: #1. Behind the glass walls, you could watch and almost escape from the mad morning rush of the corporate crowd. #2. It was one of the few places around the area, which serves good indulgent breakfasts.

Now I know they serve questionable entrees but "brekking speaking", they do a pretty good job and I, for one, feel Da Paolo could maybe learn a thing or two about presentation and creativity...


Smoked salmon and corn cake

The smoked salmon was an elegant tower of mustard & dill marinated salmon, perched on a bed of scrambled eggs and a baby-fist-sized corn cake. I was amused by the decorative avant garde-ish leaf.

Isn't the smoked salmon twist just darn pretty?



Although this dish was more than easy on the eye, taste-wise, it was almost-there. The mustard zing was nowhere to be found, but the instinctive pairing of dill and smoked salmon worked for me. The scrambled eggs were egg-pectedly ordinary and the corn-speckled potato patty was shallowed fried golden brown. However, the crisp was missing and the corn cake suffered from a soggy top, consequence of wet mush scrambled eggs. This was not my type of "moshi moshi". Luckily, the seemingly inssipid ciabatta was soft, with a great tear-away quality to it.


Gypsy Eggs



I have had it!

Eggs-wise, that is.

Scrambled, poached, sunny side up, omeletted, soft boiled, hard-boiled, raw... but never BAKED! What the kitchen does with eggs is great and I am simply perplexed by how such a cooking method could have gone unnoticed for so long. Hidden beneath the surface, the fat-ridden bacon shreds and roasted capsicum duet was a hit in the making. Served on the side was Manchego-chesse-topped ciabatta, which would make one "Wham! Wake me up before you go go." Derek Zoolander wannabes, take heart!


Mushroom Bruschetta

The mushroom bruschette is topped with arugula and served with scrambled eggs. Now if you have followed my blog long enough, you would realise that anything dominated by black mushrooms usually causes a knot in my gut and this was no exception. Even at a foot away, there was no escaping the mushrooms' intrusive smell. Alert: Fetor Fatale! But of course, if like Jimmy, you find things like smelly beancurd locker room socks and fried intestines irresistable.. this might just be your tang.

Another item to try out is the turkish bread sandwich (not pictured), which consists of cheddar cheese, ham and scrambled eggs. This was the reason why Coffee Club's breakfasts caught my attention in the first place. A couple of weeks ago, my mum doggy-bagged her leftovers and after popping it into the microwave for just a minute or so, I actually had it for dinner. Erm, to be consumed within the very day itself.. Haha.. The melted cheddar cheese and scrambled eggs was uncompromisingly great and provided reason to get out of bed.

After such a sumptious breakfast, all I wanna do is head back to bed.