Tasting Turkish Gozleme at The Rocks Market, Sydney

Our first family vacay was a success i.e. all three of us returned sane and intact! Much of the credit goes to our little dude who obediently sat in his stroller most of the time (that never happens in Singapore) and the Man who navigated our way through the city. 

It was surprisingly relaxing and I still have a bunch of photos to sort out but for now, please make do with this amazing lunch we had at The Rocks Market.

One word, my friend. Gozleme. A traditional Turkish pastry and we ordered ours stuffed with minced beef, spinach and feta. Seriously good stuff. 

YF & KH Part 2

The celebration and feasting continued at Four Seasons Hotel. 

This is the third wedding I have attend at Four Seasons and it has been consistently good. The food was super yummy and the service wavered slightly from person-to-person but it was generally pretty good. 

The plump and fat juice wasabi prawns were the bomb! Oh man, still thinking about them. 

And I can't believe my hairstylist managed to coax this out of my limp double-chin-length bob! 

Happiness =)

YF & KH Part 1

Last week, my sister and KH finally tied the knot! You might remember they ROM-ed back in January and this time round, they went through the tea ceremony, wedding banquet ... you know, the whole shebang. I am very happy for the both of them and now, I want cousins for Russell pronto. 

TA-DAH... The beautiful couple!

The entire day was alot of fun and here are some pictures that would make you understand why it took me to long to step out my sister's shadow - and into KW's (haha). 

The most gigantic pot of orchids blurs your vision as soon as you walk into the living room. Seriously, I think you will only be able to find a bigger pot of orchids at the Istana. 

We came across Kreme Couture at Public Garden and my younger sister ordered these ridiculously beautiful cupcakes for a mini dessert reception. 

Although I will say my heart beats faster for the Peach Garden catering. XO fried carrot cake... Be still, my heart. I am clearly revealing my plebeian roots but I so do have a weakness for buffet catering. 

Oh yes, back to the bride. My parents and sister posing for the super talented Ivan Tan, who is still incredibly down-to-earth despite his success.  

Hello sis!

The munckin and my dad. Yes, he has a tablewater cracker in each hand. 

Needless to say, Soba and Toro weren't thrilled Russell picked from their stash of goodies. 

A mini battle ensues with the munckin reigning victory and only because he has a super special place in my dad's heart. 

KW and munckin waiting for the groom as the latter bore an all important task of opening the bridal car door - with Papa's help, of course. 

While I don't get selfies, I love family selfies. My cousin Celia never fails to remind me Russell will be enlisting in National Service before I realise it. 

I took this picture because everyone keeps saying how much Russell looks like me. Hmm, he is definitely pinch-muh-cheeks-cuter than I ever was. 

Mimicking my dad

The newlyweds at KH's place

The newlyweds at their new place

My sister, the Japanese aficionado 

Man and wife

Loveliness personified

Sydney beckons

The Daily Scoop, Sembawang Road

We recently learnt from our friend that there was a new-ish Daily Scoop branch along Sembawang Road and made our way down one Friday evening for a date night. Though it is supposedly closer to our place, the drive felt extremely long and the parking situation wasn't co-operative either - to be fair, with a work email due to be sent out that very same night, I wasn't in the best of moods to hunt down ice cream. 

But we made it anyway due to KW's determination and to make the journey worth our while, we had a waffle topped with Raspberry Pistachio Brittle and Kahlua Krunch. Though these two flavours aren't as winning as the other two that we had the last time round, they were still very pleasant (if only I didn't have that email hanging over my head).

The waffle was unfortunately disappointing. Although it looked gloriously golden brown, it was slightly underbaked and became shamefully soggy when any form of liquid came in contact with it. I am hoping this is a one-off as I am not about to write off their waffles just yet.

Almond Cashew Coconut Streusel Kaya Babycakes

What a mouthful and incredibly yummy one too, thanks to the streusel topping which I adapted from here. 

Have a lovely week ahead, folks. It's my elder sister's big big day tomorrow and we are flying off to Sydney on Friday! 

The weekend we celebrated Mother's Day

KW and I hosted a Mothers' Day lunch for both our mothers on one supremely hot Sunday afternoon. Yes, I still can't get over how hot it was. Anyhoo, we even picked up some flowers at the nursery the day before, completing forgetting that Mother's Day spells huge business for florists.

The flowers are beautiful aren't they? 

I chose them, queued up and paid for them. That was the easy part.

KW drove me to the nursery (while the Munckin fully cooperated by falling asleep in the car), eased into the heavy traffic, found a parking lot, waited for me, snipped those tough twigs off when the garden pliers proved too hard for me and arranged two out of the three bundles. Happy Mother's Day to me, indeed.

I just love the beautiful rustiness of these bouquets!

To prepare ourselves for the onslaught of carbs, we kept things light with a vegetable dip platter and garlic hummus as well as oven fried drumplets. The oven-fried drumlets were a doozer. Edible but I would not try them again. It was a pity, considering how good they smelt while baking in the oven. 

Clams with bagna cauda

But I guess that was ok since the pizzas were the star! 

First up, clams with bagna cauda sauce. This was incredible! I regret not taking a proper shot of this pizza  - the only up-close-and-personal shot was fuzzy was I was too excited to tuck in. And I say again, incredible!

Hungarian salami with almond pesto

The Hungarian salami with almond pesto was awesome too - and I am not saying if because I made the almond pesto. But guys, trust me, tomato-base is so 1990s... 

Balsamic mushrooms and Parmesan

I didn't think I would enjoy the balsamic mushrooms and Parmesan slice as much but wow, it was mind-blowingly good too. 

Margherita

The Margherita pizza was yummy too but definitely overshadowed and outshined by the others. 

The mothers get to relax, thanks to this guy. 

For dessert, I made roasted plum mini cakes and we banged out the ice cream for quick relief.

The biggest compliment came from my dad, who is usually not even a fan of deserts. "My kind of cake.. a little sourish and a little sweet," he commented. 

And of course, this blog post wouldn't be complete without the little dude who made me a mum. 

Got to start planning for Father's Day... Woot!

Marche, Vivocity

I never got the rosti at Marche. I never got why people waste stomach space for ridiculous amounts of grated potatoes, washed down with an insipid dollop of sour cream. 

Well, at least this eased the queues at other food stations. 

This savoury crepe stuffed with smoked salmon, red cabbage and mushrooms (a top-up) was a unctuous mashup of flavours and textures. Love love love the heady savouriness that seemed hellbent on sending you back to bed after you ingest all of it. 

Craving for meat, I walked right up to the rotisserie and was absolutely delighted to see them offer half a pork knuckle. It was a good mix of crackling skin, pork and lean meat, given the amount of meat the both of us had to shoulder. 

Marche might be a throwback to my secondary school days but it is more than just kitsch and frankly quite good.

Happy Mothers' Day!

I truly envy women who take to motherhood like a fish to water. Me? I felt like a piece of raw fish throw into pan of scalding oil, complete with sputter, sizzle and burnt scars.

To me, the idea of motherhood is akin to networking and making small talk. I am not comfortable with it at all but I would give it a shot if it is forced upon me. I am not a natural but I know with practice, I can overcome my phobia.

The sweetest of surprises arranged by the childcare 

Nearly two years into this thing called motherhood, I am glad the highest of highs overshadow the lowest of lows. 

Split (I refuse to call it "Solero") ice cream love

Of course, there will always be good and bad days but I know with these two around, I would not want to be anywhere else. 

Hello, 宝贝!

KW + XX, thank you for showing me I have alot to be grateful for!