some like it haute

Be good

2012-02-03T11:46:00.001+08:00

and have an awesome weekend =)

Chicken and pancake from Maxwell

2012-02-02T09:55:00.006+08:00

(In case, this post sounds confusing, I had this meal just before Chinese New Year)

Thanks to the disturbingly warm weather over the past couple of weeks, I wasn’t in the mood for anything hot and soupy at a hawker centre. As more than half the stores at Maxwell Food Centre were closed for Chinese New Year, I suddenly felt inspired to eat something non-Chinese.

Taking full advantage of my adventurous mood, I had a Malay fried chicken from Aspirasi (#01-63 Maxwell Food Centre). This is one of the rare moments when risk-taking served me well.

The chicken was incredibly juicy, especially for something that had been out on display. The crispy chicken skin yields easily in your mouth and doesn't scratch the roof of your mouth. The folks at Aspirasi even upped the crunch (aka yum) factor with a sprinkle of brittle batter.

The chicken was let down by a watery sweet chili sauce but it was good enough on its own. I've got to say it was quite bony but this was one helluva grease bomb (albeit a very satisfying grease bomb) and I was happy with what I had to deal with.

I didn't get any rice as I wanted to save my carbs for something esle.

Ta-dah! A soft but chewy peanut pancake fresh out of the pan and warm. This is of course from the very creatively named store - Pancake (26 Maxwell Food Centre).

These days, most of the peanut pancakes out there are sold lukewarm so having a warm baby is quite something to be very happy about.

There was a mild but pleasant pandan aroma of the pancake filled with sweetened crushed peanuts that makes lapping up the fallen bits so very unglamourous. So good! I just had to get another (warm) slab as soon as I was done with my first.

Come to think of it, my meal sort of resembles a Southeast Asian chicken and waffles, no?

Little bundles of joy

2012-01-31T12:19:00.028+08:00

One of the most common questions I, as someone who is expecting, get asked is, "Do you have any cravings?"

To be honest, that was one of the few things I was looking forward to. Will I get any weird Brussels-sprouts-topped-with-peanut-butter cravings? Will I send kw out in the dead of the night for 4-cheese pizzas or char siew baos?

Well, to my surprise, I haven't experienced any acute or bizarre cravings. The one thing I have noticed though is that my palate has gone decidedly Asian, and I hanker for hawker, Korean and Chinese food all the time. On the flip side, I could gag at the things I used to love (and almost ate everyday) like egg white wraps, roasted pumpkin soup and muffins.

But if I had to narrow it down, I guess what I find particularly irresistable, especially over the last few weeks, has been dumplings.

红油抄手 from Ding Tai Fung

Dumplings, wantons, shui jiao, jiao zi ... Anything cocooned in flour-based dumpling skins, knobbly stuffed with pork and either chive or shrimp, boiled or steamed, served swimming in a clear broth or chili-garlic-vinegar concoction.

(O-m-drool, I'm practically salivating typing that last paragraph.)

They are just absolutely wholesome and comforting, piquing with puckery spiciness. Such bundles of joy (note: I don't even refer to kids like that)... During the reunion dinner at my parents' place, I swear my mum and I had some telepathy shingling going on as she prepared 3 different kinds of dumplings - handmade shui jiao, pork and chive cabbage and CP shrimp wantons. Where's my 'I heart Mummy' t-shirt?

红油抄手 from Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao

I'm pretty much mad about dumplings these days. I've been thinking of ways to sneak in weekly trips to Ding Tai Fung or Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao without seeming too obvious... I have even been thinking of organizing a dumpling party (can you imagine a hostess being totally driven by self-interest?)... I might have blown my cover but I will keep trying - for dumplings' sake.

Festive feasting at Auntie CM's place

2012-01-29T12:29:00.000+08:00

The top 3 things that I look forward to every Chinese New Year (in no particular order) are:

1. reunion dinner
2. flower butter cookies made by my aunt
3. Chinese New Year feast at Auntie CM and Uncle PG's place

If I had to miss out on any 1 of these 3 items above ... oh wait, that thought is wayyy too depressing than say, dying in my sleep.

I love dinners at Auntie CM and Uncle PG's place as they are incredibly generous hosts and I always feel so pampered - I remember one year, there were peeled and perfectly plump mangosteens nestled among an exquisite tropical fruit platter ... Peeled mangoesteens!? I bet only Thai royalty gets those!

Although we would tell Auntie CM and Uncle PG the same thing year after year ("There is always more than enough ... Don't need to prepare so much!"), it is an annual feast that would take us days to get over.

This year was rather special too as Auntie CM and Uncle PG had just renovated their place (big time, if I may add). As if the food wasn't enough to impress, their new place was marked by an open-concept, Chinoise-Balinese style that I absolutely dig.

Before proper dinner, there would always be a whole lot of nibbles and this year apart from the Chinese New Year cookies, there were smoked lup cheong and duck, bak kwa and kueh lapis, as well as steamed yam cake and carrot cake that I loaded up on.

What the ... As you can see, this wasn't your usual plum-sauce-crushed-peanuts lo hei. There was whole lotta salmon sashimi that I, who had been abstaining for months, couldn't resist. Thankfully, there was alot of commotion going on and I think I managed to get away with multiple servings. Heehee...

Year after year, I never seem to learn my lesson. Whenever this mammonth bucket of homemade Buddha Jumps Over The Wall arrives at our table, I would always silently chide myself for not leaving those pre-dinner snacks alone. Filled (and I mean, choked full to the brim) with abalone, scallops, fish maw, pork leg and Chinese mushrooms, this was just 1 of the 3 buckets we had that evening.

Check. This. Out. Can you count the number of abalone I have in my bowl? I ate enough to make these memories last a year. Insane...

Que heartburn.

Other dishes we had include ginger steamed chicken...

Steamed fish with light soya sauce...

And their signature heng hwa (xing hua) fried bee hoon - the fried bee hoon of my childhood dreams. Good stuff.

For dessert, I filled the hairline spaces in my tummy with chocolates, the hugest and sweetest red cherries from New Zealand as well as pomelo silvers (as that was all I could manage).

Though according to Auntie CM and Uncle PG, this was a much more "modest" affair compared to previous years, it was no less decadent and defnitely worth shifting my Hong Kong trip around for.

Year of the dragon

2012-01-26T11:16:00.000+08:00

Hopw you guys are living up the Lunar New Year with lots of fun, family and fooding!

The weekend before Chinese New Year, we visited Chinatown and got some decorations for our place.

We didn't get any flowers but what is Chinese New Year without a bit of prosperity-seeking and money plants?

To me, Chinese New Year is more treacherous than Christmas and New Year combined. Over Christmas and the New Year, the feasting usually consists of gatherings and huge meals, but Chinese New Year? Oh, I can only liken the trail of goodies leading up to those gatherings and huge meals to the footpath that led Hansel and Gretel up to the witch's candy hut.

Ahh, my favouritest flower butter cookies made by my aunt! This the only Butter Factory I’m rockin’ these days too. Sure, I can always pass over the enthusiasm as a baby bump but ingesting all that butter can’t be that good for one, no? Paula, care to chime in?

We had 3 tubs of pineapple tarts this year. I got a tub from Cedele after a successful food sampling session, one tub (the ballsy ones) was made by my aunt and the third tub (the longish ones) were made by kw's mum's hairdresser's wife (just four degrees of separation ... ). I am not the biggest fan of pineapple tarts but I got to say, we have a really good bounty this year, marked by incredibly crumble crusts (i'm sure there are remnants in my laptop keyboard).

Pretty orchids were all around my parents' and in-laws' home.

Dolled out the ang baos this year but it would be payback time next year!

New outfits accompanied by a manicure and pedicure.

A much welcomed break from all that butter and sugar.

Smoked salmon never fails!

Yang made these glorious cupcakes for our family gathering. Super duper moist. I have said it time and again but I got to repeat myself one more time - I'm not a fan of cupcakes but I can't resist cupcakes made by sister.

The chocolate cupcake was devilishly dark and rich but the red velvet stole my heart!

Weekend #4

2012-01-22T23:20:00.006+08:00

Occupied with none other than reunion dinners with both our families. Ate my weight in CP shrimp wantons (*heart*) and mum's dumplings (*emoticon kissy face*).

This little guy, who has been hovering around my dad throughout dinner, and I wish you all a huat-ppening lunar new year!

Ah Hai Fish Porridge & Seafood Soup - my fish soup underdog

2012-01-21T14:45:00.000+08:00

In case you haven’t realized, when I like something, I can have it just about every single day. I'm defnitely not one of those who likes to seek out new stuff, unless it's tried, tested and thumbs-up-ed by people I trust.

Knowing that I going through a fish soup phase, my mum recommended Ah Hai Fish Porridge & Seafood Soup (#01-49 Amoy Street Food Centre) which she and her collegues frequent. Side note: there must be at least 5 fish soup hawker stores in Amoy Street Food Centre?

I really enjoyed it - and thoroughly pleased I discovered something which I might have to queue up too long for!

Generally when I am in the mood for fish soup, I look forward to something light and clean-tasting. Ah Hai’s fish soup is more Han Kee than Jing Hua; the broth is "purer" but no less flavourful; and as a bonus, the portion is slightly more generous than the other two.

I somehow feel more for Ah Hai as I like supporting the underdog.

Jing Hua, Maxwell Food Centre

2012-01-21T12:09:00.000+08:00

It had been ridiculously warm these days (though very characteristic of the Chinese New Year season) but I was longing for some fish soup. My current favourite, Han Kee, was closed (they are taking a break from 13-29 January) so I thought it would be a good opportunity to try out the top rated fish soup store on iEat app - Jing Hua (77 Maxwell Road Food Centre).

Just a 5-minutes walk away, Maxwell Food Centre bore a different vibe from Amoy Street Food Centre, thanks to Anthony Bourdain and Singapore Tourism Board. I hope these tourists don't get caught in the lunch hour throng as things could get ugg-ly.

As I was there a good 20 minutes before the store opened, I circled the food centre, checking out other food stores and did my best to resist temptations from the other stores. I always thought tourists would go for the more well-known local favourites such as Tian Tian chicken rice or Zhen Zhen porridge so imagine my surprise when a couple of Taiwanese girls feverishly waited for Jing Hua to open for business. Being second in line, I wait for about another 5 minutes before receving this piping hot bowl of cloudy comfort.

Was it worth the 20-plus-5-minutes wait? Kind of - let's just say I could do without that first 20 minutes ~~of sheer agony~~ wait. The broth was darn tasty; sweeter and oomphier than Han Kee's (I tasted anchovies?).

Between Han Kee and Jing Hua, I do prefer the former just a little more as it is more clean-tasting. Then again, after all that Chinese New Year feasting, I am pretty sure I will need both for a cleansing session.

Tampopo's Stone Grill Curry Cheese Beef

2012-01-20T12:07:00.015+08:00

When you are done, this is one dish that would make you feel either really really good or really really bad about yourself.

Tender chunks of beef. Spicy curry with just a hint of sweetness. Gooey melted cheese to bind them altogether. A salacious raw egg that only contributes to the overall richness of the dish. Slathered over unsuspecting Japanese white rice. Served in heated stone pot.

Yeah, I like fries with that.

Slurp up at Sapporo Ramen Miharu

2012-01-18T12:01:00.000+08:00

Poor kw. His love for ramen has had to take a backseat ever since we started dating as I'm not overly enamored by ramen. I love instant noodles so the thought of paying for ramen just seems like a doozer to me. However last Sunday, I was feeling uninspired for lunch so he took the reins and led us to his favorite ramen place - Sapporo Ramen Miharu at Gallery Hotel.

Along with our ramen, we ordered a side of shiso gyoza. These gyozas at Miharu were pretty interesting. Within the thin skin, the minced shiso leaf offers a minty, sprightly flavour that livens up the fatty minced pork.

Kw's Miso Tonkutsu was something to take note of. Now, I'm not kidding when I say you can't help but take note of it; the aroma of roasted garlic just grabs your nostrils and oesopheus like a virus strain. Deadly stuff.

I was wary of anything too salty so I got the Tokusen Ton Shio. Oh my gaw-, it was crazy eat-my-words good. I have only ever loved the milky broth of Tampopo's signature black pig ramen but this, oh, this was a different ball game altogether. It was rich and yes, porky but not overwhelming so. Truly a gut-opening experience.

The thin and tender char siew offers a quick respite from the rich, unctuous broth and slurping action but it's not the star of the show; I didn't think it was bland since there was so much going on with the broth and noodles.

The noodles, which were imported from Nishiyama, were impeccable. Thick, chewy and unruly; in other words: bloody satisfying.

Weekend #3

2012-01-16T12:08:00.055+08:00

How was your weekend? Mine was rather eventful.

Lunch was a simple affair at Sushi Tei and instead of my usual grilled salmon head, I tried the Hokke Mackerel, which was from their seasonal menu. It was less oily than your average grilled mackerel and the skin was leathery as opposed to crisp. Mental note to self: I love mackerel but I hate the post-meal breath and burps.

The next rest of my Saturday seemed like a deja vu of last week's with desserts at Canele. Our usual go-to sweet crepe, the Nougatine has been renamed to Flower By The Sea. This must be part of the post-Pang rebrand but it's rather cheesy in a ching chong way isn't it? Sounds like something right out of the River Hongbao Festival or Chinggay Parade.

With more than half my family overseas, kw and I took my dad (who was on self-imposed pug patrol duty) out to Auntie Kim's. I really look forward to Korean food these days as my palate craves for more intense flavours. Naturally we had the kimchi fried rice again. I'm so glad Dad who tried it for the first time liked it very much too - funny how some of us still crave for the slightest bit of our parental approval even after we are all grown up and about to start families of our own.

Before dinner, we went to Chinatown to soak in the atmosphere and get Chinese New Year decorations. The area was thankfully not as crowded as I thought it would be and it was a very productive afternoon for us.

I'm seriously looking forward to Chinese New Year. I am thrilled to report my aunt who usually bakes cookies for us didn't forget about me this year. And my serious love for her flower butter cookies. See that tub on the right? I have single-handedly down tubs of these flower butter cookies in a single sitting. Those babies just melt in your mouth - hey, it's not my fault they make themselves so easily demolishable (Is there even such a word? Well, I guess there is now).

For someone who gets ridiculously sleepy after 7pm, I had a helluva time at Mark and Yunwen's annual Beer Fest.

The pop quiz trivia they organised was so much fun and I spent a good part of my Sunday morning thinking about when we should plan our trivia party. However, the game and my dismal encylopedia of general knowledge did make me realise I would probably embarress myself on national TV if I were ever embushed.

Can you believe I tried Miharu for the first time? Goodness gracious, it was gooood. More on it soon!

Squeezed in a little retail therapy too - blame it on the darn heatwave. I'm pretty much a tote person on a day-to-day basis but I wanted something smaller and daintier to carry around for Chinese New Year. Though I have always had a soft soft for Furla, I decided to go cheap and chic with a Charles & Keith retro-looking handbag. Plus I love the colour - coral. Be good Hun, you will look great next to all the Chanels and Pradas at our family gatherings.

Akari @ Marina Boulevard

2012-01-12T12:04:00.003+08:00

I met up with my elder sister for lunch at Akari at Marina Boulevard as it was near her office and she liked the food there. Interestingly, apart from a couple of invited food blogger tastings, there doesn't seem much written about this restaurant. While waiting for her, a quick glance at the menu and ahem, prices suggested this was somewhere she, and not me, would suggest to meet for lunch.

Picking out from the lunch menu, I went for the Gindara Saikyou Yaki Set while my sister went for the Nabeyaki Udon Akari. A quick note about the Nabeyaki Udon Akari as I didn’t take a picture of it: the udon was served in a cast iron pot and came with a hugeass king prawn which stayed crisp-crunch as she polished off her udon (I knew because I stole the prawn head, hoho).

Both of us were served an appetizer of the day was diced daikon with miso paste. My set also included an egg mayo that was tasty as it wasn’t drenched in mayo; served alongside an equally pleasing pickled shredded daikon.

My gindara was a piece of cod that had been marinated in saikyo miso (a type of sweet miso) before being grilled. It wasn’t overtly oily which made downing this sizable slab easy peasy.

I can’t wrap my head around it but the rice at Akari is pretty unique. Their rice was sticker than usual, and had seaweed and mushroom strips stirred through it.
The only disappointment was I had expected clams in the miso soup (as depicted in the picture) but I didn’t find any in ‘person’

For dessert, both of us were served a very pleasant peach konnyaku.

For an upscale restaurant, the service and timing can be inconsistent - my sister's nabeyaki udon came a good 15 minutes after my gindara. I thought the food was pretty good but it is pricey and I know very few people who can stomach the bill like my sister who make her salary work hard for her and not the other way round.

Han Kee - fish soup for the soul

2012-01-11T08:09:00.000+08:00

I have got to admit, several days of heavy eating was causing my system to crave for something light. It had after all, not experienced real hunger since Christmas.

I once walked past Han Kee (Amoy Street Food Centre, #02-129) at 11:20am on a weekday and was shocked to find a 10-person queue. Were their bosses on leave or something? This time around, I was there at 10:10am and 5 minutes later, $5 netted me a bountiful bowl of plump, fresh fish slices.

The soup tastes of pure flavour and dedication. Every day, to make their soup, the owner would boil the bones of the batang fish for five hours – which is how long their opening hours are too.

For someone who craves spicy, sourish things these days, this bowl of light, clean-tasting fish soup from Han Kee was the perfect antidote to my long-suffering system.

The auntie taking orders was rather friendly too; when I went back again to takeaway for my mum, she gave me a knowing smile, as if to say, "It's ok, others have returned as soon as they are done for a second bowl too."

Damn, if only I had done that.

Weekend #2

2012-01-09T12:08:00.009+08:00

I have an instagram picture of kimchi fried rice on my iPhone that I am reluctant to delete. But before that, how was your second weekend of 2012?

Mine was filled with good fooding and even better company just like what as what my horoscope expected. Nah, not really. I reckon my weekly horoscope should read something along the lines of “By Sunday midday, Venus will cross Mars and you will start to feel like a fatty bom bom. Watch your expenses as food intake will cause a Juputer-sized hole in your pocket.”

But I am not complaining.

Especially not when I get to spend Saturday brunch at Ding Tai Fung, downing xiao long baos with Zee and Diana.

Before crossing over to Canele for Apple Crumble and Praline Noisette ice cream, and an overhaul-ed Le Royale.

I can't complain about early dinner at Auntie Kim’s either. I know many people prefer Kim’s Family Restaurant but that place is a little too grungy and rowdy for a relaxing Saturday night. Plus we know we can always score a table at 6pm.

Auntie Kim's kimchi fried rice. For a fried rice nut, it sure took me long enough to discover this. Adding a fried egg on just about anything just takes it to the next level in my heart. It is slightly sticky but the rice grains were firm and full-bodied; I can just imagine the wholesome delicious of the dish when you pierce the runny yolk and let me seep between the full-bodied rice grains.

Haemul pajeon, pan-fried seafood and scallion pancake that we ordered out of greed. It was a little starchy but tasty especially with that msg-ish soy dunking sauce. We took half of it back for dinner the next day and you know what, paired with kewpie mayonnaise, it was even better than what we had the night before. Go try it, seriously.

Clear beef soup with gingko nuts and chestnuts. I’m so glad we ordered this instead of the usual kimchi stew. Filled with loads of tender toothsome beef short rib, glass noodles and egg. Good stuff.

I wore jeans for the first time in years. I have always hated the way jeans felt - as if they were sausage casings. But these dark indigo skinny jeans from Dorothy Perkins were such a surprise find; it even has a elastic waistband that can take me from buffet to baby bump.

On Sunday, we went back to my parents’ place for lunch as my mum made mee rebus and kong pak bau.

Clearly a low-carb, low fat diet wasn't past of my New Year resolution.

We brought pastries from Flor Patisserie for dessert. Our favourite, the Wakakusayama was a airy light green tea swiss roll filled with red bean cream; the Strawberry Soufflé was truly the antithesis of a heavy, dense cheesecake; and a mango cheese tart that had an unobvious mango flavour but was still really pleasant.

All in all, the harbinger of a slothy Sunday afternoon. Then again, I'm complaining.

Zhen Jie Dessert . Ah Balling

2012-01-08T12:04:00.002+08:00

If you clicked on my “sweet-toothed” label, you would find an adventurous repertoire of tarts, cake and ice cream and PS Café. Chinese desserts? Hmm, could live without them.

Though full, there seemed to be just enough space in our stomachs for some sweet soups desserts. What can I say? Zhen Jie Dessert . Ah Balling (Amoy Street Food Centre, #02-113) serendipitously happened to be there at the right place at the right time.

Evidently, Zhen Jie is known for their Ah Balling and what I like about this store is the freedom of choice. You have about 7 different types of fillings and soups to choose from, and you can choose to have either 4 or 6 Ah Ballings. I love variety even if it is variety’s sake as I always stick to familiar favourites.

The peanut and black sesame Ah Ballings in ginger soup was pretty good. Each Ah Balling collapsed lazily into the soup with a nibble though the skin seemed thicker, more mochi-like than your average glutinous rice ball - perhaps this is because they were homemade?

Bean Curd Barley with Gingko Nuts is something I never sought for as most out there are just watered down sweet soups with lackluster filling. Mum spun an old maids’ tale about how beancurd skin is good for the baby’s complexion and I fell for it hook, line and sinker.

Slightly softened gingko nuts, with a healthy supple of beancurd skin and barley. Whoa, I loved this! It was a fulfilling lovely treat I could have everyday even if there were no perceived aesthetic benefits for the baby.

Now that my curiosity and appetite have both been piqued, I can't wait to try the black sesame and peanut paste as well as their orh nee.

Chinese desserts? Mmm, could learn to love them!

Tai Seng Noodle House

2012-01-07T12:03:00.012+08:00

I’m really making my runs at Amoy Street Food Centre since it’s a five stone’s throw away from my mum’s office. Taking advantage of the fact that we were there before the lunch crowd (does a victory dance), I gamely marched right up to Tai Seng Noodle House (Amoy Street Food Centre, #02-123) to stake my claim on these unchartered territories.

$4 fetched us a substantial plate of char siew and fried wanton noodles ad well as a bowl of wanton (there were about 5 or 6 wantons?) soup. An additional dollar scored us a piece of their signature pork rib and tau pok. By default, it comes with mee kia but I’m a mee pok person and were mighty pleased with those noodles that had bite to them.

To be honest, the char siew and wantons were ordinary, the pork ribs were great though I felt slightly short-changed but there was just something about this dish that felt very wholesome and feel-good.

Perhaps it was the super sweet uncle / helper or the equally sweet satisfaction that I had enjoyed a plate of noodles without having to suffer the usual snaking queue. Whatever it is, I can’t wait to have it again!

Yuan Chun Famous Lor Mee 源春驰名卤面

2012-01-06T14:37:00.004+08:00

Lor Mee was never my thing. As a kid, it was a dark, shady mess that blended into the background while fried char kway teow and chicken rice took centre stage. It was only until I past the age group that gave most parents tons to worry about did I began to acquire a taste for soupy, vinegary things.

Yuan Chun Famous Lor Mee (Amoy Street Food Centre, ##02-123) is pretty darn popular and there are plenty of reminders just in case short term memory strikes. The word 'Fanous' is there right up on their signboard; they proudly occupy two hawker stores; and there is perpetually a queue unless you are there at 11:20am on a weekday like us.

Their lor mee is of the watery, slurpy category, with thicker-than-usual yellow noodles accompanied by smatterings of braised pork belly and crispy chunks of ngo hiang.

Was it the best lor mee I ever had? Hmm, lor mee is something I find hard to rave about. I know what makes a very mediocre bowl but to nail down a kickass bowl? I leave it to the self-proclaimed experts on the Makansutra forum. It was tasty and I would have it again if I didn’t need to queue and the craving strikes.

More prawn mee for me

2012-01-04T16:25:00.017+08:00

I had prawn mee like what, twice last year? So what are the odds that I matched my 2011 quota within the first 2 days of 2012?

My first on-the-record meal of 2012 (because Nature Valley granola bars make such fascinating blog topics) consisted of Noo Cheng Adam Road Prawn Noodle (Zion Road Food Centre, Store No. 4). The ~~world~~ tiny-island-famous prawn stock was rich and peppery but lacking heart - or something that would trigger sweet memories.

On the other hand, my mum's maiden attempt at Penang prawn noodles, while un-famous, was a labor of love that had been brewing all afternoon.

DIY or AYO (Assemble Your Own) with yellow noodles and/ or been hoon, prawns, fish cake (many many since I'm a fish cake freak), boiled egg, kang kong, bean sprouts and shallots.

Add in some pork ribs that had gone into simmering the stock.

Bonus side dish - homemade ngo hiang

So chuggable. I had to keep turning them away or deprive others of these delicious, meaty ngo hiang. Packed a few back for kw's parents :)

Fresh Fish Seafood Soup, Sembwang Hills Food Centre

2012-01-02T12:46:00.001+08:00

One unusually blah Saturday morning, we trolled Sembawang Hill Food Centre for something to dapao home for lunch. My cat-ish curiosity got the better of me when I spied a few people queuing up for Fresh Fish Seafood Soup (Sembawang Hill Food Centre, #01-36) and others around the store were having steaming bowls of fresh fish soup with instant noodles (aka one of my greatest loves).

Screw takeway, I was having mine on the spot.

Just 5 minutes later, I forgot all about the blazing heat and tucked excitedly into a steaming bowl of soup that was light but surprisingly flavourful filled with supremely fresh chunks of fish and noodles that were barely cooked initially but softened as we ate along.

New Year Eve Party 2011

2012-01-01T15:13:00.000+08:00

Dear 2011, you have been a delicious year. I'm glad we ended on a befitting note with our annual New Year Eve party slash feast that had an Asian slight due to current cravings and palate changes.

Sashimi assortment

Smoked salmon wrapped in prata with cumin yogurt dip

Smokey barbeque pork ribs

Seafood gumbo

Chicken cacciatore

Beef rendang

Muah Otah

Prawn paste drumlets

Chocolaate cherry cake from Cedele

Pistachio crumble also from Cedele

Baked blueberry cheesecake

Party crashers

May 2012 be a year filled with happiness, love and more merry making!

2011 - an amazing year

2011-12-31T12:05:00.001+08:00

If you have been following this blog, you would know that 2011 has been an absolute blast.

We moved into our new place. New home. New couch. New chapter of our lives. But a house is only a shell unless there are memories attached to it. What I want is for our home is to be a place people associate with love, stability and laughter.

From birthdays to the requisite sin-driven hen party lunch that was filled with dreamy Italians (well, more like food coma after an Italian buffet lunch) right down to the many weddings we attended this year (including ours, HAR HAR), it was a year filled with much celebration.

沾仔记 Tsim Chai Kee, Hong Kong

Caprice at Four Seasons Hotel, Hong Kong

I was lucky enough to visit Hong Kong with my mum and mother-in-law, as well as spend a week in New York City for a honeymoon that filled with much epic fooding.

Eleven Madison Park, New York City

Peter Luger, New York City

It would be hard to top this year but 2012 stands a pretty good chance as we are expecting someone special next July.

Happy days ahead, folks =)

A blessing in disguide - Penang Road Cafe

2011-12-30T11:15:00.014+08:00

I was excited about my hawker food date with my younger sister. I got to Wee Nam Kee early enough to beat the lunch crowds and placed our orders shortly before Yang arrived. We then waited in schoolgirl-anticipation for our roasted chicken rice, hotplate beancurd and “san ba” fried noodles.

10 minutes later, our roasted chicken rice arrived. The roasted chicken was pleasing and the rice fragrant but somewhat sticky. And that was it.

5 minutes later, we heard someone at the cashier yell to her assistant to check on our other orders. 10 minutes later, noone offered any status updates. 20 minutes later, with no sign or even an acknowledgement of whether our other two dishes were on their way, we gave up. The chicken rice wasn't even mind-blowing and we almost blew our top.

It wasn’t so much so that we were kept waiting – after all, we were prepared to wait. It was the cluelessness, the ignorance and the eventual nonchalance of whether our food was even being prepared. We paid for our chicken rice and my younger sister didn’t even bother reminding them we had also ordered a lime juice – that was a peace offering.

Still hungry, we walked over to Penang Road Café, having heard good things about this modest eatery (of course, there are those who love being piss-asses and can’t help showing off their culinary connoisseurness by comparing this eatery to hawker stores in Penang).

Compared to our wait earlier, both our dishes were served up within 10 minutes. Good start for a couple of grouchy folks.

The broth of the Hokkien prawn mee was seriously intense and oomphy. Never mind the scrawny prawns or lean meat, it was all about the broth and Penang Road Café's played hardball. I even liked how they automatically served both rice vermicelli and yellow noodles. However, the Hokkien prawn mee didn’t take the spotlight away from the Penang char kway teow.

The Penang char kway teow was one of the best or probably even the best Penang char kway teows I have had in my 26 years of life - and soon to be further shortened if I get my weekly fix of it.

Penang Road Café's char kway teow was fried alongside cockles, lup cheong and eggs swathed in wonderful “wo hei” smokiness. I couldn’t even tell when the kway teow ended and the egg began; then suddenly I would bite into a piece of crispy pork lard, releasing an urgent unctuous aroma that made me feel as if I had just gotten away with a dirty little secret.

Friggin’ satisfying.

Boxing Day

2011-12-29T15:54:00.000+08:00

We earned a slow, quiet morning after a late night. Popped into Dino Cake House for some childhood favourites of mine.

Dino’s fried rice is still nostalgically good but the presentation has changed slightly and it looks less impressive, compared to a mountainous heap of rice.

I also picked at some chicken pie. I remembered it to be a lot stewier and er, bigger. What changed? Was it me or the chicken pie?

But I guess that meant more room for a carrot cream cheese slice.

I thought I was pretty set for dinner after a continuous stream of snacks including granola bars and steamed sweet potatoes. However, 5 minutes into Bobby Flay’s Boy Meets Grill, my stomach went Girl Meats Grill and conveniently called out for some barbeque leftovers and a handsome hunk of homemade ham that Yang made earlier. Que meat sweats.

All that salty stuff could only mean one thing - Haagen Daaz's vanilla ice cream for dessert =)

Christmas BBQ at 76

2011-12-28T12:05:00.001+08:00

We did it! We pulled it off like a couple of amateurs who rarely stayed more than 30 minutes in their kitchen but spent Christmas eve night marinating meats till Christmas Day itself!

This Christmas, kw and I hosted our first barbeque back at our new place, inviting just our families, close friends and a couple of pugs. I’m crossing my fingers, hoping this is the first of many to come.

Are you feeling festive yet?

Do the lights turn you on?

No? Ok… how about these DIY menus?

Naturally our zealousness landed our guests with loads of food. For the barbeque, we prepared kalbi beef shortribs; BYOB (Build Your Own Burger) with beef patties from Culina, streaky bacon, lettuce, tomatoes and either cheddar or emmental cheese; garlic chili chicken; saba shioyaki and sweet potatoes.

A hunk of yogurt-marinated leg of lamb that we grilled in the oven.

Or maybe actual humans?

Don't worry, you will get to see more of them later.

We were super duper thrilled by the turnout. I don’t know how many of you suffer from this but whenever I organise something, I have an acute phobia of last-minute no-shows (shudder). And something even more amazing? There weren’t that much leftovers.

Our mums prepared stuff too. Kw’s mum whipped up a cold potato salad this time round. I should have taken a picture of it – the radishes had faces carved in them!

My mum brought along smoked salmon and pomelo salad, as well as stir fried vermicelli with braised leg of pork aka ter ka bee hoon la.

Just a fraction of the spread as I was too busy ~~making sure I had enough to hibernate over the monsoon season~~ taking care of the guests.

Desserts were a contributed effort with yang baking gingerbread cupcakes with cinnamon buttercream and candy cane frosting … there were only 9 of these rare commodities.

My elder sister brought along an apologetically soft strawberry shortcake from Patisserie Glace that suffered slightly on the journey over.

Diana whipped up an apple crumble with a killer crust.

Taboo brought out the competitive spirit in many of us. It is never just a game.

Team #2 vs. Team #1 aka Team W-i-n-n-e-r-s

In the spirit of Christmas and ~~snatching~~ giving, we had a $20 gift exchange done Secret Santa-style.

Karl and his cupcake luggage tag which he was remarkably unnerved by.

Zhu with her NERF gun and Diana with a robot that matched her outfit.

Zee and the most practical gift I have seen so far; Jansen with a gift that matched his macho-esque physique.

The NERF gun showed us it only takes a plastic gun and 2 foam balls to make a uman sacrifice out of Andrew.

Definitely the first of many Christmas barbeques to come!

A homemade Christmas Eve dinner

2011-12-26T18:09:00.000+08:00

Spent with kw's side of the family.

Smoked duck salad made by kw's dad

Roast beef also made by my father-in-law

Not to be outdone, a cheesy-oniony potato salad made by kw's mum

A very delicious turkey made by second aunt

Always been a 'leg' person

Barbequed lamb kebabs by small uncle

We brought along a delicious, fruit-studded, boozy fruitcake made by Weylin

along with family favourites. Macademia Nut Brittle was, as usual, the finish to be finished.

A chocolate ice cream logcake to remind us what festive season it was

Aloe vera, wolfberries and kiwi - something light to wash it all down

Christmas Eve lunch at Hua Ting, Orchard Hotel

2011-12-25T13:47:00.001+08:00

How has your Christmas weekend been so far?

My family had a not-your-usual Christmas Eve lunch at Hua Ting, a family-favourite, well-regarded Cantonese restaurant. Given a choice, I would pick roasted duck or over turkey ANY day.

It was our first time there and the meal was thoroughly enjoyable. I was pleasantly surprised by the food and service after reading mixed reviews but it could also have been I was in a ridiculously good mood (it’s Christmas and I’m having dim sum lunch with my family – I’m easy to please).

We had regular dim sum stalwarts, which need little introduction...

Hua Ting’s har gows were full of plump shrimp. Too bad the plural of “shrimp” is still “shrimp” but I love how the words “plump” and “shrimp” kind of has a ring to it. These har gows came in threes but dad stole one before I snapped a picture of it. They were really good, I wouldn’t blame him.

The siew mais were stuffed with fresh shrimp as well. Normally har gow is my thing and siew mai usually takes a backseat, but these shrimp-loaded siew mais were firmly in the passenger’s seat.

Hua Ting’s char siew paus were ok-good. The bun itself wasn’t the fluffiest of the lot but the char siew filling was pleasing in a sweet barbequed, stewy kind of way. Am I making any sense here?

The stir-fried carrot cake was moreish. I’m clearly running out of ways to describe fried carrot cake. Do they hand make their radish cakes as they were teethingly soft?

And other more unique stuff like...

These steamed dumplings were not too bad as well. I think I’m slowly warming up to this kind of mochi-esque, translucent dumpling skins.

Cordeceps cheong fun – I could not for the love of char siew figure out what the filling was as my elder sister ordered it but I lapped it up anyway. The skin was kind of thick but I love the taste of rice cakes, kway teow and things made with rice flour.

I found the mooshy texture of the pan-fried cod fish dumplings odd initially but when eaten with the crisp, slightly charred skin, it was easy to down at least two of them. Someone at the table missed out on them, oops.

Chicken and mango tarts – I raised an eyebrow when my younger sister wanted to order it, but both eyebrows raised in agreement as I tucked into the sweet mash mango encased within the flaky, buttery pastry. I didn’t taste much of the chicken but I didn’t miss it either.

For our carbs, we had their signature stewed CK hor fun with scallops, fish and prawns, bathed in an egg gravy. It might not have the smoky “wok hei” aroma, but it was still incredibly satisfying. I probably haven’t had hor fun in yonks and more than made up for it with multiple servings.

When the restaurant called me to confirm our reservation, they asked if we would like to pre-order some dishes and I placed an advance order for their roasted duck and pork. I’m not sure if you can order these dishes on the spot, but it would be a good idea to pre-order them because they are absolutely worth the arduous effort.

Oddly enough, this was also the last dish to arrive despite the pre-order. But even on a 7.5/10 fullness, this platter was incredibly satisfying. The roasted duck and pork both bore an ideal 10-20-70 percentage of skin, fat and lean meat; the skin of the roasted duck was ethereally crisp while the roasted pork skin was brilliantly crunchy.

Hua Ting’s dessert menu is relatively substantial, considering some Chinese restaurants only offer 5-6 items for dessert.

Kw’s warm, soothing cream of black sesame and almond.

Mum couldn’t resist the pulot hitam, vanilla ice cream in a young coconut. My sister got the chilled aloe vera with fresh fruits that was also served in a young coconut (not shown). Guess who had a scrapping good time with both coconuts at the end of the meal?

We are family

OH OH OH

I got all my sisters with me

The WIW edition

2011-12-24T12:55:00.083+08:00

WIW stands for 'What I wore' and not a typo error for World War I.

It's Christmas eve and you are still talking about your wedding?

Ooookay, trust me, I am quite tired of talking/ blogging about it too but I had received a few emails and comments asking me where I got my dresses from so I summoned all the energy I have on a drizzly Friday afternoon to blog about this. I mean, I would rather look at pictures of char siew on this blog, don't you agree? After this, I will stop talking/ blogging about my wedding - for the next 10 months at least.

I wore 7 dresses over two days.

1. My wedding gown from Le Grand Wedding
I had contemplated dresses from Dang Bridal and Silhouette The Atelier but eventually settled for this as it was structually beautiful, not too bride-ly in a cliche way and I could move around in it fairly easily.

2. A white cheongsam also from Le Grand Wedding
After the tea ceremony at my in-laws place, I changed into a white cheongsam which was also from Le Grand Wedding. It was a knee-length dress, with pretty scalloped cap sleeves and French lace at the bottom. It was also - takes a deep breath - very very snug, hence the candid shots we took in kw's room.

3. Sretsis dress for tea ceremony at my parents place
My tea ceremony dress is from a Thai label called Sretsis and this dress was from Lula Rock. I loooved this dress so much - probably even more than my wedding gown.

4. Sue Wong dress for solemnization ceremony
I wore a Sue Wong piece from Avana for my solemnization ceremony. I remember being 'just ok' with this dress but my mum insisted she got it for me. When I slipped into it on the actual day, I was surprised by how much I grew to love it as the evening went on.

5. Sretsis dress for after-party.
I changed into a shorter Sretsis number for the after-party. Mesh, sequinns and frilly in a disco-rama way. Also from Lula Rock.

6. Sue Wong dress for second march-in
At Shangri La, I wore my wedding gown gown and for my first change, another Sue Wong piece from Avana that my mum insisted on getting for me... Heehee.

7. Vintage lace gown from Ann Teoh
My favouritest dress of the entire affair was the custom-made beige vintage lace dress made by Ann Teoh. I loved the asymmetrical tulle that was light as cotton candy, the intrictae vintage shimmery lace and the tulle wrap. This dress was beautiful, comfortable and definitely an heirloom contender.

Day 2 - Shangri La Banquet

2011-12-23T12:00:00.097+08:00

For our reception, we replaced the cold canapes with black and white fried carrot cake =)

Hardworking ladies at reception

Parents and in-laws =)

No idea why the guys look like they have difficulties with their corsages. Zhu to the rescue!

We opted for a super duper simple set-up because at the end of the day, the guests won't notice the decor and they can't eat the flowers.

Monkeying about in the waiting room

Finally! (And the guests think, dinner will be served in 10 minutes.) Just for the record, we actually started on time and my mum said it was the first wedding she's attended that commenced punctually.

My sister and I, cam whoring.

Pop goes the champange. I don't even remember this little gig we had on stage.

Best Man and Maid of Honour speeches by Kwanjee and Diana

Waiting for our second march-in

Thank you speech time

Awesome emcees, Vernon and Diana =)

The evening just blitzed past with more thank-yous and hugging.

Inpromptu yum seng led by kw's uncle.

We had fun, didn't we?

Photography by Ivan Tan

Day 1 – Solemnization Soiree

2011-12-22T12:06:00.001+08:00

After tea ceremony at my parents' place, we had to quickly adjourn back to our place for the solemnization ceremony. Thankfully, we didn't have to do much as Zee, Zhu, Chris and Dave had done up the last-minute prep.

You know how they say the Chinese banquet is usually held for the parents as the wedding couple probably won't know 60% percent of their guests? Well, we didn't balk at the idea of having a Chinese banquet but in constrast to our Chinese banquet, the solemnization ceremony was defnitely a much smaller, intimate affair shared with our immediate family and close friends.

Well wishes from our guests

On the menu: Roast Angus Ribeye, Baby Back BBQ Ribs, Buffalo Wings with Blue Cheese Dressing, Baked Whole Salmon, Mixed Mesculin Salad, Mixed Grilled Vegetables, Roasted Red Skin Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes and Mac & Cheese

Mini hummingbird and red velvet cupcakes baked by Yang.

Zhu's speech

Muthu's turn

The Strawberry Hill from Patisserie Glace beats all other strawberry shortcakes' tushies.

Photography by Ivan Tan

Day 1 - Gatecrashing & Tea Ceremony

2011-12-20T18:00:00.083+08:00

It has been a little over 2 months since the wedding and we finally received our photos from the Almost Famous Ivan Tan! My poor HP laptop almost conked out under the sheer size of 600+ images. As there are many many pictures (not complaining), I’m going to split them up according to Day 1 - Gatecrashing & Tea Ceremony; Day 1 – Solemnization Soiree; and Day 2 - Shangri La Banquet.

After day 1, Ivan very efficiently cranked out some photos for day 2’s banquet and I had also used them for my A-Z wrap-up here:
Wedding Bites (A-E)
Wedding Bites (F-J)
Wedding Bites (K-P)
Wedding Bites (Q-U)
Wedding Bites (V-Z)

BEHOLD THE OTHERS!

One looks simply delighted at the thought of torturing the groom and his posse, the other looks evidently concerned. Guys, you should know by now who was on your side that day.

Persistent pugs

No surprises who gave into their charms...

Here they come!

Armed with red packets

The posse

Them vs. him (nah, we weren't that cruel)

Let the games begin ...

Wanna know who's single or choped? Heehee...

A shot of Diana to ease the level of testosterone so far ...

Zee - head honcho for a good reason

So eager ...

Not.

Let's get physical

And after the workout ...

My mum took pity on them.

But it's not over ...

None of the girls should ever answer a job ad for a mixologist.

Something made me laugh ridculously hard. I look like I am about to fall off my chair, which given my lack of grace, could very well happen at either at beauty pageants (er) or my own wedding.

One family portrait before leaving for my in-laws place.

They can haz puppies too!

And after the tea cermeony, more cam-whoring.

=)

Behold, the very delicious roasted pig from Tiong Bahru! I'm referring to the animal in the left picture *cough*

Dad distracted as soon as he was done with the tea ceremony.

I have a lot of cousins =)

Photography by Ivan Tan

Your Woul, My World

2011-12-19T12:06:00.000+08:00

Did you have a good weekend? Hope you were sm*rt or lucky enough to not have to use the train this weekend.

My cousin, Kenny got married (the final wedding within the family this year)! Will blog more about it later when I have stolen all my sister's and cousin's photos.

The day before, we had lunch at Your Woul at Goldhill Centre. Any page of the colourful menu easily outshines the bare-essentials-only decor of the restaurant. Thanks to the cold, drizzly weather, I was in the mood for soup and could have just easily ordered a single portion of kimchee chigae but why would I do that when there is the option of a gigantic pot of pot luck stew waiting for 2 people or more to demolish it? That we had.

Ban chan - 2 types of kimchee, deep fried egg-battered luncheon meat, marinated fish cake, apple mayonnaise and sweetish hard boiled egg.

Your Woul's Korean pot luck stew closely resembled a budae chigae (loosely traslated to "army stew"). It was very personality-driven (think grungy and no nonsense) and the reason to avoid it is reason why it is delectable (sodium nitrate, mmm). Filled with ramen, sausages, luncheon meat, beef slices, kimchee, assorted mushrooms and rice cakes, I can't think of a better and more delicious way to combine these junk meats.

Oh man, this pot luck stew totally satisfied my cravings for Korean instant noodles. I could just just have easily bought a 5-pack of Korean instant noodles and relished them at home, but having them in a restaurant with lots of mystery meats just makes them a little more legit.

I'm glad my health-concious dad doesn't read my blog.

She's got the rempah

2011-12-15T13:31:00.002+08:00

I had an awesome cannot-be-beaten (happy to be proven wrong anytime) Wednesday and it was all because of this:

My mum, younger sister and I had scheduled a cooking class with our (ok, my ex) neighbour Rosalind Soon, who specialises in Peranakan and Penang cuisine, and I had been super excited about it since a week ago.

But before that, we needd to fuel up and I enjoyed a Korean lunch with mum at Ko Ryo Jeong Korean Restaurant. Ko Ryo Jeong is one of those old timer Korean restaurants that existed way before K-pop and Hallyu crashed upon our shores. I have seen tour groups from Korea here - not judging, just observing.

We shared their spicy beef soup and barbecued saba, and a modest array of tasty banchan that made for a very satisfying lunch.

Back to the highlight of my day.

Like I mentioned earlier, I was majorly excited about this cooking class. The 3 of us have not participate in one since our trip to Chiang Mai and that was a gut-busting trip that we all still remember till this day.

There are pre-scheduled classes that you can join but Mrs Soon would do her best to accommodate customized classes at long as there is a minimum of 3 people. More details can be found here.

Based on Mrs Soon’s repertoire, we picked out dishes - nasi lemak, beef rendang and char siew - we love from the bottom of our hearts. Speaking of hearts, did you know that latest research has proven that coconut oil is actually good for your heart? *Heart*

It was a demonstration class which was great because Mrs Soon had a lot planned for that afternoon, and chances are I would be the one slowing the class down, much to the chagrin of my younger sister.

Before we started, we sampled some rending which she had prepared earlier. Mrs Soon used the shin which made a heck of a difference. I took a bite and my knees went weak. No need for those beefcakes from Abercrombie & Fitch; I will take you home like, right now.

Mrs Soon’s char is siew is slightly darker in colour as she didn't add cochineal aka red food colouring. Oh my effing god, I could smell it cooking in the oven, caramelizing its way to sweet, sticky deliciousness. Was it good? Is China rich and southern Europe on need of a colonial master? Hell yeah.

You say “char siew”, I say “meat lust”.

And you are going right into muh belly ...

In the midst of all this, Mrs Soon also starting preparing components of the nasi lemak. She worked like a seasoned cook and with the help of her help, Mary Lou, whipped up these dishes within the two and half hour class. The best part if we could pick at the food fresh out of the deep fryer, oven or grill. I can’t help it if I’m easily distracted and some help staying focused.

Deep fried ginger fish.

Aromatic otah with mackerel chunks.

Deep fried boxing chicken done 2 ways.

Sambal Udang (prawns) with incredible kick.

As well as freshly fried plan bilis that were seriously addictive, archar which I thought could do with more heat and twang, and the fluffiest coconut rice that I could demolish buckets of.

Add a generous dollop of homemade chilli and I am set for life.

I’m not kidding when I say I’m low maintenance. Give me some crunchy ikan bilis, rice and chilli and I won’t disturb for you for the rest of the day.

Something sweet to end our afternoon - pineapple tarts Mrs Soon had made since Chinese New Year was just around the corner.

We packed up ~~our achievements~~ a bunch of stuff back for dad and kw, and the pugs wouldn’t leave my mum alone while she was prepping dinner for the men.

Funny how they like to line up after one another.

I will be back, Soon

2011-12-13T11:57:00.006+08:00

When I was a kid, I loved following my parents to their office during the school holidays. Never been one to sleep in anyway, I knew there were good (and by good, I knew tasty) things awaiting me and one of my favourite breakfasts was Soon Heng Pork & Fish Porridge (Amoy Street Food Centre, #01-36).

Those days, I always thought the owner looked like Adolf Hitler (that itty bitty moustache) but his porridge was nothing evil, cruel and on the contrary, a bowl of nostalgic comfort.

I made an impromptu pit-stop for Soon Heng after collecting Christmas cakes I had ordered from Weylin. I needed it.

I had a particularly down morning. Kw barely rested as he was coughing all night; I had a horrible dream where I was on a vacation but stuck in the hotel elevator that seemed to be on an endless descent (no, it wasn’t a nightmare because I couldn’t find the breakfast buffet); and I was too lethargic to go to the gym.

This humble bowl of pork porridge laced with marinated minced and lean pork, and pork liver was the warm embrace I needed after a cheerless morning.

Weekend #49

2011-12-12T12:07:00.000+08:00

How was your weekend?

Mine started out productive and receded into a lazy mode worthy of a drizzly quiet weekend.

After claiming a couple of free movie tickets from Cathay, I picked up books that I reserved from the library. Book reservations are one thing that I truly am grateful for. No more wandering about the library, second guessing if some random book would be interesting. Plus books are really expensive these days and I hardly read them twice. Can't wait to devour these over the next few weeks!

After running those errands, I was exhausted. Lunch was at 313 Somerset but I couldn’t think of anything worth having till I remembered Tarafuku… and their *hearts* buffet.

Tarafuku’s buffet isn’t a mile long or unmanageably expansive by any measure but the food is good. Freshly fried, prepared and sometimes only upon request, you can’t ask for a more than decent spread, especially since you might spend more at other restaurants.

Obligatory healthy first plate. I usually skip the salad line at most buffets but I love giant bean sprouts and sesame spinach. After this plate though, the rest of the meal were just multiple variations of these below:

Various shades of brown plus white refined carbs equals deliciousness to the power of 3. You have no idea how little it takes to make me happy these days.

At the risk of further upsetting my height-to-weight ratio, I maxed out my omega-3 quota for the week by loading up on fried teriyaki-drenched salmon collar and grilled mackerel.

Desserts-wise, there were some cream cakes, custard and ice cream available but I went back for seconds of these cream puffs and cream-filled sponge cakes. I had some fruit too, don’t worry. The cranberries in those biscotti, do they count? Kidding.

Thank god we didn’t do anything strenuous after lunch and the bromance on 50/50 was more endearing than churlish. Good movie. Won’t spoil the movie for you. Seth Rogen – hilarious.

We weren’t (ok, maybe it was just me) in the mood to wait at least 20 minutes at Imperial Treasure on Sunday, so we decided to try out The Asian Kitchen - Lu Gang Xiao Zhen.

Most of what we had was surprisingly good for a place that was too glossy and chain-looking for our usual liking.

The Mala Guitar Duck offered much satisfaction with its crispy fatty skin and gaminess though it was nowhere lip-numbingly spicy.

I even shared a quiet moment with the sourish pickled cabbage that accompanied the tender TAK pork belly.

We probably won’t order the oyster mee sua again as it got monotonous after a while and I have muh eye on the stir-fried tang hoon. Oh, I’m saving space for their signature roasted pork the next time round too.

Back to my books… Happy happy week ahead!

"Tian Tian Lai" to Toa Payoh Lorong 1 Block 127

2011-12-09T15:09:00.005+08:00

On really short notice, my younger sister gamely joined me at Toa Payoh Lorong 1 Block 127 to appease my massive hawker food cravings. We were supposed to meet at 10:45am but I, Miss kan-cheong-cannot-be-late spider, was there at 10:30am to check out the scene. This early bird even scored a table under the fan – table 76, sign of good things to come?

We placed our orders for what we originally came for but while waiting, we enjoyed a fast and easy economic bee hoon & mee from the popular store that sells economic nasi lemak for $2. I remember eating a lot of economic noodles when I followed my parents to the market and this was a trip down memory lane that led me to TAF club.

Along with our starches, we had a fried egg (we are a family that loves fried eggs after all); the chicken wing was deliciously crispy and fragrant; and I reconciled with on old love – the dodgy mystery meat fish fillet. Ooo, the chilli had a good kick to it too.

Tian Tian Lai (Come Daily) Hokkien Mee

Though the store looked deceptively peaceful, we had to wait for about 10 minutes for Tian Tian Lai’s (Come Daily) fried hokkien mee (#02-27) because someone had dapao-ed around 50 packets to feed a factory. I’m sure the wait is much longer on weekends so I can’t complain (I will just tell my MP to do something about it. Kidding.).

Gooey, prawn-y and crazy satisfying with just a smear of chilli, I would Tian Tian Lai if I were a skinny biatch. Tian Tian Lai's fried hokkien mee is one that sits on the ‘wet’ end and it has sparked a desire to get my fix of the charred, dry and slightly sticky version.

Chey Sua fried carrot cake

About 5 minutes later, the famous Chey Sua fried carrot cake (#02-30) sauntered over to our table. Talk about good timing. Though I usually prefer black carrot cake, the white carrot cake is supposedly more unique as the egg is crisp like a paella’s socarrat.

Just in case you were wondering why our plate looks so brown, it is because my younger sister had asked the aunty to fry it a little longer for a crispier carrot cake (yup, I'm convinced we were born from the same parents). By the way, the chili is a little watered down so you might have to ask for more on the side if you are into numbingly spicy stuff - or steal from the economic nasi lemak store. The radish cake itself is soft and yields defencelessly in every bite - a lovely contrast to the crusty, slightly burnt egg.

Ah Mao peanut pancake

By now, I was thankful I wore a loose-fitting top to brunch. While snooping around, I found Ah Mao peanut pancake which had one of those “Culinary Exellence” certificates hanging on its store front. Though I don’t believe in queues, I’m such a sucker for such stuff (no doubt thanks to our education system). I got to admit this is not a peanut pancake to flip over; it had gone soft around the once-crisp edges and the peanut filling is thin. But I gulped it down anyway.

Teochew Handmade Pau

Before we left, I got a box of char siew and kong bak paus for my parents from Teochew Handmade Pau (#02-02). I like their char siew pao as it is filled with lean meat instead of pork fat. From the corner of my eye, I spied a mini lotus paste pau that would fit ever so snugly into the tiniest space left in my tummy. This little baby oozed molten lotus paste and sealed a sweet end to our adventure in Toa Payoh.

Tarty tasty Tuesday

2011-12-07T15:22:00.023+08:00

It was finally my day off and I packed it in alright.

Lunch with my elder sister at PS Cafe Palais Renaissance.

PS ‘s Chicken in the Basket was a real surprise. Initially I thought it would just be deep fried chicken breast all sad and dry, in other words - resistible. Yet on the contrary, they were and I tore into those juicy, crusty strips like a mega trucker driver who had jut returned from a stay at Chiva Som . Were they first marinated with turmeric? Love that little twist. Lots of double dipping with lemongrass mayonnaise and barbecue sauce.

I love fried chicken.

You know the movie, 'Departures'? The Japanese movie that won Best Foreign Language Film at the 81st Academy Awards, Best Actor (Masahiro Motoki) at the 3rd Asian Film Awards and 3rd Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor (Masahiro Motoki) at the 17th Golden Rooster Award etc etc…

My favorite scene (and possibly a top five movie-food moment) sees the three protaganists tuck in - bare-hands - into a basket of fried chicken on Christmas eve. My sister told me in Japan, it's a tradition to eat KFD on Christmas day. Oh my gaw-. I'm not if that is true but I have always felt an affinity to the Japanese culture - one way beyond Shinkasen bentos - and I now understand what it is. Amen.

I was going to have tea later but the sweet and sour lemon pie had been calling out to me since er, last week.

Tangy, tart with just a hint of sweetness. Satisfaction.

After that, I met up with my other sister and ex tuition teacher, Ms Yeo, who I haven’t met up with 10 years. We recently reconnected through Facebook and met up for tea at TWG.

It’s crazy, isn’t it? I have had a whole bunch of tuition teachers but Ms Yeo was the only one who truly made a difference. She made me love maths. Back in those days when most people were pre-occupied with their first “BGRs” (that means boy-girl relationship for all you non Gen X or Ys out there), I was feverishly practising both A and E Mathematics by doing my Ten Year Series twice! And I wonder why boys never took any interest in me.

Anyway, back to tea, along with the pastries, we had macarons and scones.

Really enjoyed the buttery, raisin scones; these three words belong together like "warm, fluffy bread" and "deep fried chicken".

Raspberry Millefeuille - a block of Chestnut cream intermittently studded with raspberry wholes.

I think we all liked the Singapore Surprise more. Such patriotic folks we are. Loved the buttery, biscuit-y tart shell contrast against the tangy, custardy filling. Come to think of it, I have always had better luck with tarts at TWG.

After tea, I was positively itching for something savoury. It kind of slipped my mind that I just had fried chicken as Bon Bon chicken reared it's glossy, saucy head. I can feel my abs making a comeback.

Hmm... I wasn't blown way by the sweet-spicy wings and cold seaweed-sprinkled fries but at least, I satisfied my curiosity.

Hope you all have a tasty week ahead as there is plenty of time to make up for lost time.

Third time magical

2011-12-06T12:36:00.039+08:00

In my previous post, I kept my self-pity and blog-wailing to the minimum when I had to miss out on kw's cousin, Stella's wedding in Taipei. Well, thanks to kw and whatsapp, I did feel as if I was there soakin' in the love and happiness, as he updated and sent me pictures of the day's happenings.

The bride and groom - Stella and Armstrong.

The insanely beautiful and I'm sure, blushing bride. I almost sorry kw has to come home to 'this' (draws imaginery circle around face).

Kw also brought back a gargantuan wedding chocolate gift box from Stella's Black As Choclate boutique. Men are chocolates, not? Best pick those that are dark, rich and soft on the inside :p

Wait, you know better than to take relationship advice from me right? MCYS and SDN are going to send me hate mail. Better that than their quarterly Love Byte magazine.

The wedding even made it to the Taiwanese tabloids. They even printed the bride ad groom's height and weight. Shudder! Being an artiste means your skin better be as thick as ganache.

My consolation gift.

My consolation lunch with Yang at Imperial Treasure (her treat-score!).

In the meantime, congrats and best wishes to the happy couple. See you in Feb!

Weekend #48

2011-12-05T12:04:00.007+08:00

How was your weekend, lovelies? Hope it was every bit as delightful as what 48 hours worth of could offer.

Mine was good - salvaged by family and friends. I was supposed to be in Taipei for the weekend for kw's cousin's wedding but had to stay back for work ~~and miss out on all the fun~~. Nonetheless, I was determined to make full use of it by meeting up with friends and sleeping early (sleep is a real precious commodity these days).

I kicked off my Saturday with dim sum brunch with my primary school friends Toon, Qin and Ming at Imperial Treasure Noodle & Congee House. I was third in line when the eatery opened at 10:30am - guess not everyone sleeps in over the weekend. You might be tired of hearing about me rave about Imperial Treasure but I never everrrr get sick of dim sum there. We ordered a bunch of stuff and these were my favourites.

What everyone should order at Imperial Treasure are their caramelized and buttery char siew soh. I would suggest you order enough so that everyone has at least one but this is the time to care and not share.

Egg tarts - these will served fresh from the oven. Well, that's what I like to think as they were a mouthful of warm, flaky, eggy pleasure.

We also tried one of their house specialities - braised beef with rice flour cakes. The braised beef was teethingly tender and the rice flour cakes reminded me of ddeokbokki. Isn't rice flour super versatile and yummeh?

And for dessert, pan-fried red bean pancake. This was more of a sampling portion and I could really do with more red bean, so luckily I was running out of stomach space.

Dinner was with my family at the very dependable Akashi.

Gyu teriyaki (one of my top three favorite beef dishes in Singapore), chicken wakadori (not just your boring ol white meat), a sumptuous Akashi bento and a sizable serving of tempura moriwase. Initially I thought this would be enough for the four of us but I got hungrier as the meal went on. For some reason, I was carb-loading on the rice, so much so that when I glanced over at my mum's bowl, she cradled it protectively and said, "I'm saving this for the tempura."

Still hungry, I decided to take things into my own fat fingers and ordered the katsu don, hoping that eggy, saucy fried pork and rice would somehow appease my hunger. It did - and more. It was the sort of fullness that would deliver a good 8 hours of sleep thereafter.

Sunday lunch with Diana at kitschy Food Republic. My tastebuds are a little off these days and I find myself cravings for local food. Strange huh? I like but never used to clammer for local food; these days, the thought of sandwiches, wraps and anything cafe-bistro-ish make me gag. This neat popiah from Food Republic did a good job of satisfying my cravings.

But of course that wasn't enough and being seated next to Toast Box that continually churns our warm thick toasts didn't help =)

Hope you had a great weekend too!

The wonderful Wednesday

2011-12-01T18:21:00.000+08:00

A wonderful day often begins with breakfast with the family, a massage that leaves me incredibly relaxed (dazed even) and tea in the good company of ladies who have been around ever since you were born.

It's funny how I have always felt comfortable around my mum's friends, a pretty electic bunch of strong ladies. Then again, I have always preferred the company of those older than me - they seem to have so much more worth listening to.

It was the first time we met up since the wedding and we had tea at PS Cafe, otherwise know as the mecca for towering cakes and calorific pusuits.

Something tart with a pillowy crown

Something suffocatingly chocolatey and thick

And something heady, cheesy-sprinkled

and deep-fried to balance all that sweet stuff.

Sometimes I do find it very hard to ask for more in life.

Have a carefree Tuesday

2011-11-29T13:08:00.000+08:00

Carefree Tuesday by yixiaohere featuring alexandre birman shoes

Antoinette - Fit for a drama queen

2011-11-28T12:05:00.000+08:00

Wouldn't you like to use the guillotine on the next person who thinks he or she is haha-so-witty by attributing the infamous "let them eat cake" to Marie Antoinette?

Chef Pang KOk Keong, whose name used to be synonymous with Canele, has found his Sugar Daddy and established a string of cafes including Pique Nique and Antoinette. My cousin and I met up for brunch at Antoinette as the savouries sounded promising and the sweets looked amazing.

After reading Catherine's post on Antoinette, I must admit it was this scrambled egg gratin that lured me to Antoinette. Sacre bleu! You can have my head when I'm done eating yeah?

Silky folds of scrambled eggs hidden beneath the brutish deliciousness of melted cheese, ham and mushroom, served with thick slices of ~~refined carbs~~ pain de mie toasts.

Are you supposed to scoop the gratin onto the toast or mop them up with it? I don't know - maybe both because I know that Man created toast on top of utensils for a reason.

I must admit we order the spaghetti marinara AFTER our sweets. Heh heh. Tomato-based pasta with smatterings of mussels, scallops, squids and prawns. Quite blah and overpriced. Okay, moving on ...

Having devoured both seasons of Top Chef Just Desserts, I feel I can better appreciate the hard work that goes onto every manicured slice of pastry. Normally I don't like fancy smancy pastries that taste tongue-scrappingly awful or like a bar of lavender soap dunked in an English granny's afternoon tea but I found the sweets at Antoinette were pretty darn fantastic.

The namesake Antoinette is their signature creation and it was an extremely refined, dainty play of textures. Beyond the smoothest, creamiest milk chocolate infused with Earl Grey tea, we found an extremely pleasing crisp hazelnut feuillitine and dark chocolate earl grey tea crémeux.

For some reason, we left the dome on top alone till the end. To my surprise, it wasn't wholly solid when I poked at it. My cousin, with her vivid imagination, described it as an alien-predator sac. Like Facebook, things didn't get prettier with a mindless poke - a thick red liquid oozed from within ... Mama Alien is not going to be happy ... Thankfully, the raspberry coulis tasted better than what it seemed 5 seconds again but I can't say I would miss it if it weren't there.

See Catherine's post for a curated view of this bubble and how I am being totally disrespectful of their efforts.

A pretty layered slice named Brittany also made its presence felt. Though it bore a sort of seediness I could appreciate at any time of the day but I was preoccupied with the other 2 treats.

My cousin and I were discussing favouritism and while I generally despise those who practise favouritism, I can't help but proclaim the Mont Blanc to be my favourite pastry of the day. It's ok since pastries don't have feelings right?

The earthiness of chestnuts (not forgetting the beautiful piping), almost weightless Chantilly cream and fragrant, almond-y pate sucre tart shell ... I loved loved loved this!

I would like to return to Antoinette again to try out other stuff. I see a carbonara gnocchi and mushroom risotto that my younger sister would go absolutely jebeesus nuts for!

Oddly enough when I read other people's reviews and they smack down the pastries with "wasn't impressed" or "not blown away", it got me really irritated. Not liking it for its taste is one thing but not appreciating the work that goes into making those pastries? I say, off with your head.

A big bite out of the Big Apple

2011-11-25T18:23:00.000+08:00

Bits of New York

Pre Daniel

Out exploring

It was either breakfast at Starbucks or

Cafe Gillard

Dapper or Draper? =)

Shuguh Daddy

Cute chairs at Anthropologie

A tribute to John Lennon.

He murdered and shot dead here, while walking into his home.

Not a fan but I hand-carried a dozen Magnolia Bakery cupcakes back for my sister. Sisterly love...

Grand Central Terminal

Mid afternoon pit stop at Le Pain Quotien

But not your enthusism

The Met. Deescribing this as grand just doesn't do it justice.

Rocking those gladiator flats

Sigh, ~~I think~~ I need another holiday.

And Diana became Mrs Foo

2011-11-23T12:18:00.091+08:00

2 weeks ago, he said, "Happy 11.11.11. You will always be my #1."

Later she replied, "Happy 20.11.2011. You will always be my #1
even when we are 2 (too) 0 (old) to remember."

The blushing, beautiful bride got married on 20.11.2011

The gorgeous gown

Fellow bridesmaids Zee, Michelle and Diana's sister, Vivian

The bridal bouquet

My day pearls

Me, Diana and Zee

Weapon of mass humiliation

The groom reciting the love contract

Just in case you are curious - Andrew, the groom

Church ceremony

The ring to rule him all

Us cam whoring

Lady in red

Stunning wedding cake with peonies (psst, dinner was at Peony Jade)

My evening pearls

Kw and I

Yang and I

The couple giving their thank-you speech

Group shot

One more to capture the moment

Fang's birthday at Open Door Policy

2011-11-21T12:58:00.000+08:00

Less than 24 hours ago, we celebrated my sister’s birthday at Open Door Policy (ODP). Growing up, to say I put my eider sister on a pedestal is an understatement. She was the pretty one growing up (my stick straight hair was a limp bob next to her Shirley temple curls); she had excellent grades (my parents probably gave up on my academic abilities); she was and still is the apple of my grandma's eye (sigh, I have grandma issues). Even though we now lead pretty different lives (and I'm still flying below her radar), I'm glad as hell we have grown closer throughout the years.

ODP has a rather strict seating policy for dinner - they have 3 seatings at 6pm ,7pm and 8pm; and I received this SMS a couple of hours before our 7pm reservation.

A gentle reminder of your reservation at ODP tonight. Please remember that we use a standard seating time of 2 hours to enable as many people as possible to enjoy our food. Please contact us at +65 6221 9307 if there are any changes to your reservation.

Best regards,
Open Door Policy

There is usually nothing “gentle” about these reminders and back in those good old (corporate) days, I myself am usually half-snarky when I use this word in my emails. Hoho.

But all you need to do is pop by and physically witness why they have to enforce such a regimental rule. The place enjoyed roaring business on a Sunday evening and this meant chair-to-chair (or elbow-to-elbow, if you were sitting at the counter overlooking the open kitchen) cramness in a tiny shophouse.

Like the restaurant space, ODP’s menu wasn't overly expansive but we found many likable things to order.

halloumi cheese with olives, white anchovies and crusty bread

We started off with some cheese and bread in the form of a handsome toss up, consisting of grilled halloumi cheese, black olives, white anchovies and crusty bread chunks.

puff pastry pizzetta, lamb confit and greek salad garnish

Next up, a towering display of rocket, feta cheese and the crazy tender lamb confit atop a puff pastry "pizza"

For our mains, we covered 4 legs, 2 legs, wish-I-had legs and I-have-no-legs-but-I-can-stem(stand).

48 hour cooked braised beef cheek with mochi potatoes,
carrot puree and snow pea tendrils

For some reason, my dad was craving for steak but since ODP didn’t have steak, we order beef cheeks instead. Braised for 48 hours, the beef cheek was a moreish, marble-y chunk that could easily glide off your fork and into (I hope) your mouth. The steak was never again mentioned.

pan seared sea bass with artichoke,
potatoes and rocket salad

This was a sizable serving of sea bass resting over a bed of roasted artichoke and potatoes. Be warned, it isn’t Chilean sea bass though, so don’t expect an oily, cod-like slab ala Ember; to be honest, if you wanted a dish like Ember’s Chilean sea bass, you should er, visit Ember.

confit duck leg, puy lentils, sage and smoked bacon

Kw’s pick. Shreddy, tender goodness.

wild mushroom risotto with truffle crumbs

Omg, this was a heady dream of al dente rice pearls!

For desserts, the chocolate and pistachio soufflé sounded interesting but I was too full to insist on ordering it.

the ice cream 'why just sunday'

Vanilla ice cream, chocolate cake, caramel and honeycomb… OPS’s sundae sounded like something we could have any day of the week indeed. However, the sad dry cake could not be redeemed by the vanilla ice cream and caramel; and speaking of their ice cream, it tasted neither like cheap-vanilla-essence or vanilla bean-infused (both of which would have been acceptable to me).

lime panna cotta with coconut sago, cashew nuts and mint

Because Mum can't resist anything with coconut and the birthday girl wanted panna cotta. ODP’s lime panna cotta bore an unorthodox Asian twist on an Italian classic. The panna cotta was smooth but not the smoothest I have had and overall, it felt as if there were too many people talking over one another in a small room.

Though desserts were sort of a letdown, the rest of our meal at ODP was pretty good.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JIE!

Epicness at Peter Luger

2011-11-19T15:09:00.002+08:00

I have heard so much about Peter Luger from 2 people close to me - kw and yang, my younger sister. Both of them basically swear by Peter Luger's steak and talk about it as if it is the steak to rule them all. I knew I had break into their circle of trust and visit this haven for self-professed, die hard and born again carnivores.

A basket of bread rolls that we had to will ourselves from finishing (probably the best decision we made that afternoon).

Besides the steak, the one thing that kw raves about is their thick-cut bacon. Pork - a 4 letter word that can also be done in many ways.

This was one bacon on steroids. Slightly charred, tender and -duh- fatty... This would bring you back to those good ol' days when your kids were cute and there was a flat running rate for cabs.

Behold the mothership of all steaks! Dry-aged in-house, the ribeye was effing breathlessly fantastic. It is the crust, I'm telling you. The juicy, pink slab bore a superficial crisp char that amplified Dooey's (did I just name our steak?) deliciousness.

I’m sorry, I really shouldn’t be showering this much attention on another beefcake on our honeymoon but seriously…but this was a meat debauchery of unspeakable proportions. This cow which died for this has priority entry into greener pastures of heaven.

Un-freakin'-believable.

So glad we worked up an appetite with a walk across Williamsburg Bridge. I love how serene I look in this picture as it I were doing a cross-stitch. Oh, the thoughts running through my head at that point in time…

Sides to accompany the slab:

A very creamy creamed spinach.

3-4 inches long golden crisp stilettos fries.

Portion control? Not when you have had three plates looking like this and fistful of fries...

Kw's not-so-secret agenda was to try out Peter Luger's burger. It was a tidy throw-together of bun, beef, onion and cheese that I foresee would become part of his dinner conversations.

The burger was good (nailed it for kw) but it was only a pit stop for me when I need a breather from the steak.

You are what you eat and it sure felt like we had an extra stomach for dessert. By then, I was tired from chewing and we were definitely in need of some form of lubricant to wash down all that meat.

Holy Cow! Check out Peter Luger's Holy Cow hot fudge sundae - a dessert to match the prowess of our entree. Smooth creamy vanilla ice cream, open tap on hot fudge and heaps of "Schlag" whipped cream.

The clean-plate, clean-bone policy is in the house.

Please don’t be mistaken, I barely got 2 inches off the ground but even then, I am surprised I could still lift off the ground after this epic fooding.

Oh Peter Luger, you have ruined me for life!

Cheapass lunch at 53rd & 6th Halal Food Cart

2011-11-18T12:07:00.000+08:00

Careful now. People have killed and been killed over this gyro from 53rd Street and 6th Halad Food Cart.

I have heard the queues can be notoriously long at night so thankfully there were only 7-8 people on front of us on a weekday afternoon.

I was tempted to get the works - lamb, pita, rice and all - but bearing in mind that we have just had lobster roll and a 20-hr flight that evening, we shared a lamb gyro and side order of falafels because those babies are made of chickpea right so minimal damage right? Ah, the voice of gutly reason...

I loved the grainy texture of the falafels but they were too cold to provide any form of satisfaction. If I were you, I would take these home and toast them for a few minutes to reinstate their full glory.

Back to the gyro, it was really good. Finely chopped up lamb, well-balanced spices and kickass hot sauce (activated our tear ducts) and white sauce (yogurt and something).

It was really good but I can't help but wish we had bigger chunks of lamb to chew on. Quite frankly, you could have taken my share of the meat and I would have been happy nibbling away on the hot sauce and yogurt drenched fluffy pita. That, I thought, was to die for...

Luke's Lobster

2011-11-16T12:03:00.019+08:00

I was hangry. We had been at the Met for about 2 hours and I was feeling more moody than Monet. I’m not usually this uncultured or impatient (oh, who am I kidding?) but all I had on my mind was Luke's lobster roll.

Lobster roll was one of those things I had missed out on on my previous trip to NYC and I was determined to get my fair share of the claw. I considered getting my fix at Pearl Oyster Bar and Mary’s Fish Camp but their rolls look as if they suffer from a serious case of mayo abuse. I’m sure those rolls are good in an eyeballs-roll-back-to-the-head sort of way so you be the judge since I can only speak for Luke’s rolls.

Barely visible sheen of butter coating the plump sweet lobster chunks, a dash of mayo within a bun that had been buttered and toasted.

Always butter your bun. Quick win, pleasure multipler effect.

If there was ever such a thing as delayed gratification, this would be it. Techinically the roll took about 5 minutes to arrive at our table but I had been waiting over an hour.

USD2 extra scores you a pack of Ms Vicki’s chips and Maine root soda.You save USD1.50 and gain the munchies ... Pretty good deal, no?

Luke gets his lobster from father Jeff's sustainable Maine seafood company. Judging by the amount of foie gras I have had on this trip, I’m sure you can tell I’m hardly the most eco-consious eater but hey, I will highlight anything that makes me (and possibly, you) feel better as a diner.

We also had soups to ward off the gusty weather.

The clam chowder was pretty good. It is probably one of the very few times I taste more clam than cream.

The spicy crab soup was a bowl of thick and quick comfort for someone who was feeling crabby minutes earlier. More curry spicy than chili spicy, there was a strong aroma of turmeric but not at the expense of the sweet-tasting crab. You gotta try this.

*Sticks up three fingers* W-I-N-N-E-R!

Hype & Halo at Per Se

2011-11-14T13:01:00.000+08:00

On our previous trip to California, we didn’t try to secure a table at The French Laundry but here in New York, we thought getting one at Per Se would be less painful. Er, not quite. We called a month in advance but were placed on waitlist after re-dialing umpteen times and being put on hold for 20 minutes. But the day before, while snooping around Opentable for a place for Sunday lunch, I suddenly found a lunch spot at Per Se and clicked on it faster than you can say, “chope.”

Believe me, I could not believe we scored a table this fortuitously till we walked past the jewel blue doors of Per Se and nestled comfortably into a booth that overlooked the restaurant.

In his final review, Sam Sifton crowned Per Se as the 'Best Restaurant in New York. While it is technically superb but can I just say something? Wait, let me put on my inflatable sumo wrestler costume and bulletproof underwear… I thought Per Se was impressive but not the be-all-and-end-all of restaurants in New York.

A meal at Per Se is unforgettable but the wow factor is not tied to its food. It was about excesses – just imagine a magnificent view of Columbus Circle and Central Park, understated slate grey décor, immaculate service and overindulgent flow of mignadises.

First up, a couple of signature canapés that can also be enjoyed at The French Laundry.

Hit me: Gruyère gougères aka cheese puffs that implode in your mouth. Don’t bother to exercise restraint by biting into them as you would end up hurting your dining partner and your self-esteem.

Hit me one more time: Salmon coronets which features salmon tartare and crème fraiche was served in black sesame cone. Wish the salmon weren’t that finely minced to provide more bite; that would of course mean we need a bigger cone which is totally fine by me.

Love me some warm buns...

Where are the carbs police when you need them?

For dinner, Per Se offers two prix fixe 9 course tasting menus for US$295 - Seasonal Vegetables and Chef’s Tasting Menu, which changes daily. For lunch, in addition to the two 9 course menus, a shorter 5 course menu is available for US$185. Having gone through the trouble and excitement of getting a table, we decided the 9 course Chef’s Tasting Menu was the only way to go.

"OYSTERS AND PEARLS"

"Sabayon" of Pearl Tapioca with Island Creek Oysters and
Sterling White Sturgeon Caviar

Talk about making an entrance! This oyster and caviar dish was a stunning start to our meal. Creamy and rich with tapioca pearls (the unsung heroes) lurking beneath, this was a tough tough act to follow.

SALSIFY “EN FEUILLE DE BRIC”

Burgundy Truffle Crème Fraiche, Heirloom Radishes,
Mache and Sour Cherry Relish

A beautiful balancing act worthy of Cirque du Soleil.

SAUTEED FILLET OF CHATHAM BAY COD

Applewood Smoked Bacon, Cipollini Onion Shoots,
Melted Savoy Cabbage and Whole Grain Mustard

Oddly enough, the cod wasn’t mindblowing, despite the fact that it was a fatty, oily fish set up for success and easy love. This was quite ho-hum and it was sad I couldn't bring myself to love this cod more.

BUTTER POACHED NOVA SCOTIA LOBSTER

Parsnip Fondant, Honey Poached Cranberries,
Brussel Sprouts and Whole Grain Mustard

It was almost instinctive for us to compare Per Se’s lobster to Eleven Madison Park’s and in kw’s words, “Per Se has huge claws to fill.” Our streak with plump, sweet lobster continued at Per Se; it was faultless though Eleven Madison Park’s side of assorted mushrooms edged ahead just ever so slightly.

BACON & EGGS

Salmon Creek Farm's Pork Belly, Sunny Side Up Amerucana Hen Egg,
Anson Mills’ Polenta and Braised Collard Greens

This was easily another high point in our Per Se adventure! Tender pan-roasted pork belly, slightly pink in the middle, topped with a sunny side up, which upped the richness of the dish like an expensive divorce settlement. Five minutes into the dish, a light bulb suddenly went off in my head - the pork belly and braised collard greens reminded me of 梅菜扣肉.

SNAKE RIVER FARMS ’ "CALOTTE DE BOEUF"

Grilled Shitake Mushroom, Scallion, Tokyo Turnip,
Pea Shoots and “Sauce Japonaise”

Per Se’s beef dish was quite something. It was the first time the flavour of the beef became more pronounced as I chewed on. Something tells me my past experiences with beef have been a sham …. Oh golly!

TWIG FARMS’S “TOMME”

Sweet Onion Dumplings, “Fine Herbs,”
Toasted Rye and Madeira Bullion

Theatrics.

Er, chicken soup and hard cheese? Sorry for the unsophisticated review.

COCONUT SORBET

Marinated Pineapple, Young Coconut Water and
Pineapple Chips

This was such a pleasing palate cleanser slash dessert. If the meal ended here with this, I would be incredibly satisfied.

"S’MORES"

Dark Chocolate Torte, Vanilla Marshmallow,
Candied Virginia Peanuts and Caramel Ice Cream

I figure smores is something particularly close to the hearts of the Americans and this dessert was probably a hur-hur grown-up version of the childhood camping trip treat. But for me, this chocolate and marshmallows plate was tasty enough but not great; shame it took us quite a while to decipher the flavour of the ice cream. Beautiful plating though.

"PURPLE COW"

Concord Grape Soda, Vanilla "Génoise,"
Caramelized Fillo Chips and Grape Sherbet

Variations of grape. What’s eating Gilbert Grape? Nothing, just that after 3 nibbles, it felt like an overload of grape and grape flavours.

Just when we were getting satiated with two and a half desserts, the wave of mignardises descended upon us like an army of sweets. Of course, our greed got the better of us.

"MIGNARDISES"

A server brought around a huge wooden box with indentations in the base to many many chocolate made by wonky Willy in the kitchen. We picked out 6 different flavours – Bailey’s, passionfruit, balsamic and 3 other weird flavours that failed to register.

Just when I was starting to miss “normal” chocolate..

A triple tier of coconut, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate truffles; pistachio and milk chocolate macarons; and tooth-achingly sweet fudges.

The chocolate-covered hazelnuts were seriously addictive but by now, I had inhaled so much sugar, I could literally feel my heart rate racing.

Nope, we are not done yet.

POPCORN SORBET

Really tasted like popcorn ice cream. Loved these!

COFFEE AND DOUGHNUTS

Fresh out of the deep-fryer, cinnamon-sugared doughnuts, served alongside with cappuccino semifreddo. The doughnut was light, soft and not too sweet, nicely paired with slight creamy coffee parfait.

They say there is always room for dessert but by now, my stomach was starting to feel like a 600 square feet Manhattan apartment with 200 people had crammed into it.

In conclusion (I feel like I am writing an essay for General Paper), Per Se was a meal of a lifetime, not for its flavours and surprise element (which provided sparks at certain times) or its impeccable service and course-by-course timing but for its excesses.

The damage to our wallets and tummies was significant but Per Se was an experience we lived - albeit, just barely - to tell the tale.

The Eagle has landed

2011-11-13T18:02:00.000+08:00

Sunday lunch with the family and my parents suggested trying out the new lunch buffet at The Eagle, SICC.

Mesculun salad mix. Various salad toss-ups using Thai beef, sweet & spicy squid, crab rilette, smoked duck breast etc. Sushi platters. Nonya laksa. DIY rojak. Pizzas. Sole Roulade. Damn tasty fried chicken. Fried Kway Teow. Veal Piccata. Bread & butter pudding. Orange tart. Miniature lemon cheesecakes, strawberry and mango mousse slices, choux pastries, chocolate mousse, tiramisus, panna cottas etc (you can tell where I spent most of my time yeah?).

And the cutest balsimic vinegar and oilve oil bottle.

Small but satisfying selection.I didn't take too many pictures of the hot food because it would be quite gross flipping open the lids just to take pictures and er, this wasn't an invited food tasting session.

Good times for we had a reason to celebrate after all =)

Doing Dinner

2011-11-12T12:39:00.026+08:00

After lunch, I usually think about what I would have for dinner. Yup, that's me. Thinking about my next meal right after I'm done with my previous one. I wouldn't deny that I sometimes think about my next meal while tucking into my current meal. The brain is such a fascinating organ, ain't it?

I gave a quick thought about what to get because more often than not, at the purchase stage, I usually change my mind and spend a derisively long time pondering what to have as if it were the first time I was thiking about the meal.

I came. I shopped. I popped them into the oven. Ooo, check me out - budding domestic goddess.

Behold! Salmon and spinach, salami pizza, and brussel sprouts with parmesan.

Oh, almost forgot to mention, we had an Italian guest that evening. Say hello to a certain Mr. Da Paolo? First name, Gastronomia. Please be kind and don't laugh at my lack of culinary skills; I intend to make my marriage work beyond 72 days.

Just to give it a little personal touch, a lover's pinch of white truffle salt (aka magic salt) we bought from Chelsea Market. Touchdown!

Keste Pizzeria & A Blondie

2011-11-10T12:09:00.001+08:00

We arrived just before the crowds piled in and by 12.30pm, there were hungry faces waiting for tables at Keste Pizzeria.

TOSCANO

spring mix, fresh pear, walnut, lemon and extra virgin olive oil

The Toscano was very light and refreshing but we were quickly distracted. Keste serves their pizza really quickly, in a we-were-just-about-to-tuck-into-the-salad quickly. But of course the salad was not a distraction by any stretch of imagination or buffalo mozzerella cheese.

PIZZA DEL RE

mozzarella, mushroom, prosciutto di parma, truffle spread

So so good! Repeat after me: everything tastes better with truffle ... Truffle can make your troubles go away... I could swear but my mum reads my blog.

Puffy rims of smoky, chewy doughiness, heady porcini pung, salty prosciutto and indulgent truffle spread ... Definitely something to whatsapp home about.

While walking along 5th Avenue, we came across a truck giving out free blondies from Barnes & Noble.

Free blondies, especially those with white chocolate and chocolate chips, make me weeee-lly happy.

Osteria Morini - Comfort Italian

2011-11-08T12:18:00.000+08:00

Regarded as one of New York Times’ noteworthy newcomers in 2010, Osteria Morini is owned by chef Michael White, one celebrity chef who has yet to mark his spot on our shores. The food, an ode to Emilia Romagna (Northern part of Italy), is comfort rustic but still very elegant. I'll admit it is hard to pinpoint what's really pleasant about the meal; I recognize most of the flavours but I didn't expect them to come together quite like that.

Their focaccia is model citizen quality - crackingly crusty on the outside and airy fluffy on the inside. We are off to a very good start.

Mezzaluna, half-moon ravioli filled with roasted heirloom squash, cooked with amaretto and brown butter. If you like sweet, rich and comforting food, you will love this; if you don't, stay far far away from me. This went from "kw's dish" to '"let's share" in minutes.

As a side, we ordered one of their house-made sausages. I’m no sausage junkie but this was a really tasty grilled sausage. The menu describes it as "sweet" but nope, it didn't taste that way to me; in fact, I thought it was a fitting accompaniant to our sweetish pasta.

I was really torn between the Morini (sunny side ups with truffled cream spinach) and Branzino (grilled Mediterranean sea bass with salsa verde), and chose the latter upon our waiter’s recommendation.

No regrets. The skin beneath was delightfully crisp; the fish fishy in an oddly charming way, topped with tasty, garlicky crumbs.

For dessert, we ruled out the usual suspects - tiramisu and chocolate tart - and ordered the Budino Di Zucca, a luscious pumpkin custard, candied walnuts, topped with a flaky buttery crisp, and rum & raisin gelato. This was one hard-to-fault pumpkin treat.

Thumbs up for the torrone (almonds and honey) gelato too!

We really enjoyed this meal at Osteria Morini as it was neither fine dining nor stereotypically New York stereotypical (burgers, pizza etc). My only beef was that service was uncharacteristically chilly. We had to ask for the dessert menu and I had to ask twice for hot water. However, all in all, it was good meal to be had in New York City.

And the groomsmen wore... Weekend #44

2011-11-06T20:08:00.000+08:00

Inclusive of ours, we have four weddings within the family this year! Wheee.... The happiness is incredibly infectious =)

This weekend, my cousin, Barry got married. It was the second wedding out of the four and having just recovered from the fatigue of planning one, it felt majorly satisfying to attend their wedding and bask in their joy.

Probably the funniest groomsmen/ gatecrashing outfit I have ever seen. Irene, sorry, man boobs are not part of the package.

My cousin’s kid, Victoria. Fishball cheeks = effing cute

Behind the couple's backs

The bride and her chi-wah-wah (gown)

True colours revealed at the photobooth

Cam-whoring - entertainment before dinner

Le menu at Ritz Carlton. Like airplane food, wedding banquet dishes are alot better these days.

Next day at PS Cafe

A dense, squishy carrot cake to ward off drowsiness and prep myself for work. Reminds me of those steamed kueh slash cake. No harm done, there is enough room in my world for different kinds of carrot cake.

Congrats again, cousin!

Eleven Madison Park - Unforgettable

2011-11-05T12:03:00.041+08:00

Eleven Madison Park (EMP) was a fairy tale walk across Madison Square Park. In a city fraught with Michelin stars and in times when stars are nothing more than just a yardstick, I dare not discount EMP’s well-earned 3 stars; in fact after Daniel and Per Se, I told kw, the only three why EMP only had 3 Michi stars is because there is not such thing as 4 Michi stars.

The gentleman manning the front of house reminded me of a less slimy Pete Campbell (that’s a compliment by the way) and the impeccable service followed throughout the meal till we stepped out 2 hours later. I’m not crazy about the orange test-tube roses or the late 90s dining chairs but overall, the restaurant had an elegant decor that played supporting role to the wonderful meal ahead.

The menu is sleek and minimalist, reminding me of Apple products these days. On a white sheet of paper, 16 words sum up the lunch menu, promising anticipating and surprises that left us gilding down Madison Avenue thereafter.

Kw chose “Foie gras, White truffle, Lamb and Chocolate,” while I opted for “Fluke, Lobster, Guinea Fowl and Pistachio”

Warm, airy cheese-sprinkled gougères to warm our bellies and quell the excitement.

Next up, we were given a couple of amuse bouche – an incredibly playful mushroom tea and toasted truffle brioche - to kick things off. Serious wow factor here.

Next, to really kick things off and us out of our seats, a smoked sturgeon sabayon filled with diced sturgeon and chive oil. Oh gaw-, it was creamy, smoky, fishy and not at all appetising-sounding but incredibly sublime… As the other diners around us got their eggs, I couldn't help but watch their facial expressions change from bewildement to one of surprise and satisfaction.

Buns of hole-y glory made with organic flour, accompanied by cow’s and goat's milk butter. I would have loved another… and a third but it wasn’t a good idea to suffer from Death by Warm Buns on day 3 of our trip.

FLUKE

Fluke carpaccio alongside Mackintosh apples, celery and chives. My only small grievance was that it was a tad too sourish but this was the only slight misstep for the meal.

FOIE GRAS

Foie gras terrine sandwiched between brittle tuile and dusted with bitter almond crumble, and umeboshi (Japanese plum) on the side. Doesn’t this dish look like it belongs to the Museum of Modern Art? Love the foie and tuile pairing.

LOBSTER

Sherry poached lobster, with various mushrooms and spinach, alongside Matsusake sabayon. Lobster was crazy good. I don't get it - what ecosystem had this lobster been living in that I’m not a part of? Unbelievably plump and sweet - not at all meally or bland.

WHITE TRUFFLE

This knocked our socks off. Tortellini with fontina Val d'aosta, with shaved white truffle. Died and gone to WTH (white truffle heaven). But the real surprise of the dish was the sweetness of chestnut puree. It seemed like such a simple dish but was amazingly incredible and incredibly amazing.

GUINEA FOWL

Sou-perbly sou-vided guinea fowl with salsify (a root vegetable) purée, confit of the fowl leg and foie gras with shallots.

LAMB

Lamb loin sou-vided, served alongside goat's milk yogurt, eggplant duo - purée and grilled, as well as sweetbreads nuggets. Another amazing dish.

Before desserts, we were given a mini demonstration (ode to the Wall Street protestors, haha) of the restaurant's take on the New York egg cream. Citrus plus full cream milk plus cocoa nib and olive oil infused orange saltwater. Fizzy yet creamy and at times, felt like we were having orange chocolate. Went from “hmm” to “mmm” in seconds.

PISTACHIO

Pistachio cheesecake flanked by two pistachio sponge cakes with grape sorbet, and pistachio crumble and smudges, as well as a smear of yogurt. Tasted like a deconstructed mixed nuts and fruit yogurt parfait. Ingenious.

CHOCOLATE

The chocolate dessert was slightly more straightforward but by no means less extraordinary. Hazelnut mousse within a guandija case, caramel crumble beneath the espresso ice cream and sponge on the left and right,.

PETIT FOURS

Pistachio and rose macaron, blueberry pâte de fruit and camomile shortbread with lemon curd. So much tastier than those from Daniel.

After our meal, we asked for a copy of the menu and to our surprise (and uber glee), they gave us two version based on what the both of us ordered. Ridiculously amazing!

Big Gay Ice Cream Store - Pimp my cone

2011-11-03T12:07:00.000+08:00

SALTY PIMP
Vanilla Ice Cream, Dulce de Leche, Sea Salt, Chocolate Dip

The one and only Big Gay Ice Cream Store

Motorino - Happy as a Clam

2011-11-01T12:13:00.000+08:00

Cherry Stone Clams - Sweet clams, milky mozz and puffy crust ...

AHHH, CLAM JUICE EFFING GOOD!

Who would have thought beets, salty anchovies and cheese, with a half boiled egg would make such a delicious appetizer? Someone who believes in charging USD$9 for it, I suppose.

Happy as a Cherry Stone Clam

Oh Motorino, how I miss you!

Daniel - Flawless

2011-10-31T12:11:00.104+08:00

We almost didn't make it to Daniel. A short nap stretched out to a couple of hours and we woke up 20 mins to our time of reservation; still groggy, we got dressed in 10mins and cabbed through the busy after-work peak traffic for our date with Daniel.

As we entered Daniel’s dining hall, the modern Renaissance decor took my breath away. For someone who has just renovated and moved into her new place, the cogs in my brain were spinning away, thinking of ways to incorporate certain design elements into the existing layout.

This is, after all, Daniel Boulud's flagship restaurant so we both went for the 6-course tasting menu. The one word I would use to describe our meal at Daniel is "flawless". All 12 dishes were extremely and consistently elegant; there were good and at times interesting flavors but nothing overtly exceptional.

A trio of sweet potato amuse bouche. I feel bad for saying this as I'm sure some must have spent time creating these bouches but the flavours were too subtle for a sweet potato nut such as myself.

Bread service - French baguettes, olive rolls, sourdough rolls, a multigrain roll, and raisin walnut bread. I picked an olive roll and was disappointed that it was cold (why such tragedy?!?!).

Onto our first course, characterized by duck.

DUCK TERRINE WITH MARCONA ALMOND
Honeycrisp Apple Confit, Sauternes Glazed Date Mâche Salad, Hazelnut-Cider Vinaigrette

Nothing like a medley of flavours, led by the pung of duck terrine to kick things off.

LOLA DUCK MOSAIC AND DAIKON RADISH

Can't fault this either... Mmm

TASTING OF YELLOWFIN TUNA
En Tartare with Northern Lights Caviar Cured with Compressed Celery Confit with Anchovy Dressing

Good but not wow.

WASABI CURED FLUKE WITH SHISO BAVAROIS
Roasted Beets, Edamame Coulis, Seaweed Bread Tuile

Firm but sweet, the fluke (a flatfish) was exceptional. It was my first time trying a fluke but oddly and gladly enough, it wouldn’t be my last on this trip.

ARTICHOKE AND SQUID INK RAVIOLINI
Little Neck Clams, Ruby Red Shrimp, Razor Clams Sea Beans, Saffron Cream, Opal Basil

Not a pasta fan but I wanted more of this.

CRISPY SCOTTISH LANGOUSTINES
Tandoori Hearts of Palm, Pickled Kumquat, Lemon Balm

Yummeh fried crustacean... Easy win.

BACON WRAPPED SWORDFISH
Spaghetti and Butternut Squash, Confit Cipollini Onion
Pumpkin Seed Gremolata, Ommegang Beer Jus

The bacon overpowered the swordfish but contrasted well against the sweet buttersquash puree.

ATLANTIC FLAKED COD WITH TARBAIS BEANS
Wild Lambsquarters, Chorizo, Parsley and Marcona Almond Emulsion

The cod was good but I thought the meats were more memorable.

DUO OF BEEF
Black Angus Short Ribs with Cauliflower Mousseline
Seared Wagyu Tenderloin, Oyster Mushroom Crispy Potato, Poached Bone Marrow

ROASTED VEAL TENDERLOIN WITH CREAMY POLENTA
Poached Cheeks with Parsley Pasta
Crispy sweetbreads with Chanterelles and Crosnes

Desserts - something fruity and something chocolatey.

LEMONGRASS POACHED PINEAPPLE
Coconut Meringue, Lime-Rum Gelée
Piña Colada Sorbet

Refreshing tingling pick-me-up.

WARM GUANAJA CHOCOLATE COULANT
Liquid Caramel, Fleur de Sel, Milk Sorbet

Kind of expecting to be wowed but this was uber gooey decadence nonetheless.

APPLE SPONGE CAKE AND CINNAMON ICE CREAM

A little sweet something from the kitchen to celebrate the occasion.

Post-dessert sweets include

Fluffiest mini Madelines - swoon.

Petit fours.

Chocolate nibbles - coffee creme brulee, peanut butter, blueberry and passionfruit.

It was then when we saw Daniel Boulud himself working the dining room and I must admit I was a little starstruck.

As you can see there were many components on the plate but most of it was pretty forgettable. Service was tip top professional and even synchronized at times but lacking genuine warmth.

Daniel may be to be one of only five Manhattan restaurants to have 4 The New York Times' stars rating as well as three Michelin stars, but months from today, the only thing I would remember is how beautiful the dining room was.

Flabulosity

2011-10-29T09:47:00.004+08:00

Guess who's back?

New York has been flabulous but I am happy to be home, particularly to the warm embrace of a curry puff for breakfast.

Update soon... In the meantime, have a fab weekend!

Wedding Bites (V-Z)

2011-10-28T12:18:00.064+08:00

Blogger’s note: We are off on our honeymoon. In the meantime, here is an A-Z rundown of our wedding preparations to keep you occupied in the meantime. Pictures by Ivan Tan.

V – Videographer: A Cinematic Story. I have not received the full footage but things look promising from what they prepared for our evening banquet at Shangri La.

W – Whimsy and wonder: The wedding ceremonies and banquet were serious back-breaking occasions (especially for the groomsmen) but we pulled off something we wanted and are truly blessed to have so many people share our joy.

My evening hairdo, taken with the iPhone

X - Xtra reinforcements: Angela, my makeup and hair, thank you for your hard work. Oh, if there is one vital tip I can offer, it is that Spanx is ridiculously much cheaper if you order online.

Y – Youtube-worthy videos.

Z – Zzz – and cold banquet food - was all we wanted after the hectic two-day affair.

Wedding Bites (Q-U)

2011-10-26T12:15:00.015+08:00

Blogger’s note: We are off on our honeymoon. In the meantime, here is an A-Z rundown of our wedding preparations to keep you occupied in the meantime. Pictures by Ivan Tan.

Q - Quasi pro-choice: I think most bridesmaids not-so-secretly dread looking matchy in identical bridesmaids’ dresses so I chose a colour palette (neutral, pale pink, champagne) and left them to decide what they would prefer to wear. Like my dad, I am a strong believer in dictatorial democracy.

R – Rest & Relax: Before the wedding, I was lucky enough to enjoy weekly spa sessions at Estheva Spa. My benefactor was none other than our “mei po” Aunty Chiah Ming. I would say Aunty Chiah Ming is sort of like my fairy godmother. From start to end, she made sure this wallpaper middle child got a chance to go the ball and have a kickass time. It kinda makes me sad that I don’t think I would ever be able to thank her enough.

pictures taken with the iPhone

S – Shangri La: Fantastic wedding manager, Stephanie; impeccable service; satisfying banquet and an amazing suite at their Valley Wing - I was very depressed we had to check out the next day.

T – Till death and low battery do us part.

U – Underestimate: Heads up, guys! Be it the budget or the girlfriends’ prowess, do not ever underestimate the importance of planning properly. We settled our venue, photographer and my wedding gown pretty early on and that saved us quite a bit of trauma.

Wedding Bites (K-P)

2011-10-24T12:14:00.041+08:00

Blogger’s note: We are off on our honeymoon. In the meantime, here is an A-Z rundown of our wedding preparations to keep you occupied in the meantime. Pictures by Ivan Tan.

K – K9 panache: My dad was more concerned about Toro and Soba’s bow ties than my dresses. Such heartbreakers!

L – Laughter and Ladies in waiting: Too many memories worth sharing. Thank you all again =)

M – Music. One of kw’s magnum opus was the soundtrack for solemnization and Shangri La. We picked ‘The VCR’ by XX for our pre wedding video, ‘Marchin On’ by One Republic for first march down, 'Punching in a Dream' by Naked and Famous for our second march down, and ‘Dog Days are Over’ by Florence and the Machine for our wedding video. I didn’t walk down the aisle for our solemnization ceremony as the attention would have been mortifying.

N – Nobody but chew. Enough said.

O – OMG: Tons of OMG moments during gatecrashing. (See Y for Youtube-worthy in an upcoming post.)

P – Photographer: Ivan Tan. Beautiful pictures and easy to work with. Our kids are going to think we are so cool thanks to you.

Wedding Bites (F-J)

2011-10-22T12:13:00.039+08:00

Blogger’s note: We are off on our honeymoon. In the meantime, here is an A-Z rundown of our wedding preparations to keep you occupied in the meantime. Pictures by Ivan Tan.

F - Foooood: I ~~should~~ will get a separate post done for what we ate as well but here's a quick one: Breakfast pastries were from Crystal Jade Bakery; lunch catering was done by Guan Hoe Soon and Peach Garden; and Dillon prepared a feast for our after-solemnization dinner party. At our solemization ceremony, we laid out our favourite Jagabee to nibble on during cocktail; and gave away sweet and savoury tau sar piahs from Yang Hua Cake Shop (our favourite in town) as wedding favours. At Shangri La, our fried carrot cake served during the cocktail session and 10-course dinner received awesome reviews!

G – Groomsmen: Kwanjee, Vernon, Zhongwei, Chris, Dave and Muthu, you guys were such good sport and I’m sure it made kw’s day to have you guys by his side.

H – Honeymoon: New York City! We thought about Barcelona (too dangerous in view of the economic situation) and Budapest/Vienna (there are only that many cathedrals I can take). New York City is one place we have been to before but not together … I was just looking for an excuse to head back.

I – In-laws: Super grateful to have kw’s parents as my in-laws =)

J - Jewellery: Mmm, arm candy from my mum and mother-in-law. To have and hold, then pass down to my kids in the future, assuming they behave themselves and buy me Tip Top curry puffs every week.

Wedding Bites (A-E)

2011-10-20T12:06:00.053+08:00

Blogger’s note: We are off on our honeymoon. In the meantime, here is an A-Z rundown of our wedding preparations to keep you occupied in the meantime. Pictures by Ivan Tan.

A – A+: That’s how I would rate our wedding from planning to actual delivery. Self-praise, ooo classy. Wait, let me explain… My benchmark was set pretty low to begin with - I had psyched myself up for pain and trauma after hearing way too many stories of mothers and mother-in-laws who try to plan their second weddings, nitpicking outsiders and unreliable vendors. The fact that nothing major screwed up and my bridesmaids haven’t de-friended me on Facebook makes me super relived and thankful.

B – Bridesmaids: Diana, Zee, Zhu and Yang. My criteria for choosing bridesmaids was simple – will they still like me after I turn into a neurotic, wedding-schedule-clutching twit? To you ladies, thank you for keeping my morale up when things were getting a wee bit too yadeeda for my liking. From the bottom of my heart, our big day was a lot more special, thanks to you guys.

C – Cakes and cupcakes: For our solemnization ceremony, we got a ginormous Strawberry Hill from Patisserie Glace (our favourite cake-tart to rule them all and still good 3 days later) for our wedding cake. Yang also baked pistachio and red velvet cupcakes; she was super busy with school work but I think she felt bad about inheriting all the good culinary genes and baked these yummeh babies for us.

D – Dresses: I had 8 dresses in total. Initially, I thought it would just be a simple affair of a rented wedding gown, evening dress and maybe a cheongsam, but I think my mum got a little carried away and I found myself with a wedding gown, cheongsam and poufy dress from Le Grand; Sretsis Magpie and Gagana Flounce dresses from Lula Rock, two Sue Wong dresses and an evening gown made by Ann Teoh. Stay tuned for a separate post on this (MUAHAHA).

E - Engagement: A simple and private affair shared by the both of – just the way I like it.

To be continued =)

Off on our Honeymoon

2011-10-18T18:38:00.001+08:00

Our service apartment in NYC

Be good =)

All Wrapped Up

2011-10-17T11:45:00.000+08:00

D Day

2011-10-15T17:33:00.000+08:00

Zee's instagram

It's finally today!

Last 72 Hours

2011-10-14T22:28:00.039+08:00

Black carrot cake with the parents for breakfast

Mum helping me out with my Chinese thank-you speech

Lunch with my mum and her close friends slash mahjong khakis

Wedding present from them

It ain't heavy, it's my wedding gown

Curry puff for breakfast twice in a roll, yo!

Loading up on omega 3

Prepping for solemnization party...

... all afternoon long

Cupcake flags =)

Pasta dinner back at my parent's place

Back to prepping for solemnization party

More Japanese food; think Zen

Bonding time with TV

Mid afternoon pit stop

Wedding favours - a sweet and savoury tau sar piah in each pack (thanks for packing them, Mum)

Tung Lok Classics

2011-10-10T14:49:00.001+08:00

Are you tired of hearing about the wedding? Yeah, me too. I am exhausted by the planning… the to-dos, what-ifs and oh-nos. Believe me, it’s all been good but I’m starting to feel like the kid whose trapped on a 30-hour bus ride to the Harry Potter theme park.

How was your weekend? I spent most of mine at work but still managed to enjoy quality couple and family time. Kw’s uncle treated the family to a meal at Tung Lok Classics. Never been there and it was a treat so no expectations.

Though the restaurant’s name and website suggest classic Chinese food, what we had that evening showed the stalwart also wanted in on the Mod Chin (Modern Chinese) piece of pie. There were a couple of bumps along the way but overall, it was an enjoyable meal.

The Four Tresured Appetizers was presented in a mammoth, dry-ice-spewing structure but deconstructed for easy dining.

From right to left: chilled fresh fruit with Italy sauce (Italy? Be kind, don’t judge); charcoal grilled Kurobuta pork roll (yummeh); deep-fried conpoy with salted egg yolk (crisp, musky tastiness); and baked crab meat served in shredded yam tart (kinda nasty and cheap tasting so I dug out the insides and ate the innocent unoffending tart shell).

[Ooops, forgot to take a picture]

Double boiled dragon fruit flower soup with conpoy and chicken. Aromatic, intense but light. No complains though the roof of my mouth begs to differ.

Peking duck. Lean balanced with a thin layer of fat beneath the skin. Better dough skins than egg crepes.

Steamed Live “Soon Hock” with black fungus in light soya sauce. A familiar banquet dish, which I really enjoy and this time round, even more so without those finicky bones.

Braised sea cucumber with wild fungus in abalone sauce. Even for what it’s worth, I’m not a fan of sea cucumber. Too squishy for my liking and always reminds me of that thing from B-grade horror movie, Tremors.

Next up was a carb dish - braised lobster, spring onion and egg white with Japanese noodles (we were advised to toss the Japanese noodles and egg white together). The flash-fried lobster was moreish and the sauce/ broth was incredibly smooth and comforting.

A palate cleanser - test tube fruit juice, made out of oranges, pineapples, carrot, papaya and two other I’m-sure-negative-calorie ingredients.

For dessert, we had double boiled hashima and almond served in a young coconut. A lot of drama but I doubt the flame served any real purpose other than 3-seconds of amusement. Likeable as hashima tricks my brain into thinking I’m on my way to the Promised Land of Tofu Skin.

Petit four? Green bean and pandan shortcrust pastry. More butter, more power.

Betrothal Gift Exchange (过大礼)

2011-10-08T12:02:00.001+08:00

Perhaps the first official sign that we will be married in ~~less than two weeks’~~ a week was the betrothal gift exchange (过大礼) that took place last Sunday. These websites do a better job of explaining the significance of said custom but these days, it’s more about formality and to remind us – Internet generation who is more loyal to Steve Jobs than our actual jobs - of our Chinese roots.

Kw’s parents were very sweet – they even bothered to check what type of cakes my parents like. However, instead of Chinese pastries cum biscuits, we took on a modern approach for the wedding cakes and chose Juchheim’s Baumkuchen. Did you know that the Baumkuchen is popular present for wedding guests in Japan as the rings symbolise longevity and prosperity? How super apt, thinks this Nippon-phile.

To prepare for it, our parents scouted People’s Park Complex where proprietors took every opportunity to push for the seemingly most random gifts like plain silk pyjamas that symbolise fidelity in a marriage.

I know...

Led by our trusty “mei po”, aunty chiah ming, who mobilized her domestic brood for this special occasion, the entire occasion was such a hoot! Even Soba and Toro wanted in on the festivities, though they were probably hanging around for wedding cake crumbs.

Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

2011-10-07T12:26:00.001+08:00

If you have been living in a cave over the last couple of years and just crawled out to your nearest coffee joint to borrow their free wi-fi, there isn’t a lot to update you … the US economy is still in the doldrums and they are still accusing China of manipulating their currency; Osama is dead but not the war in Iraq and Afghanistan; our PAP has been re-elected (surprise!).

However, there is one thing you should know though – Steve Jobs has passed on. That itch you were having back in your cave was no coincidence; it was the collective sad energy of the world in mourning.

Now, I am no Apple or Steve Jobs evangelist. Reports of Foxconn’s mistreatment of workers and Apple's shrewd business ways interest me more than news of the latest iWhatevers. Oh, and I still find the Mac a biatch to use…

However, after reading through the relentless outpour of despair, I felt something stir in me. Everyone keeps talking about “Steve Jobs greatest contribution” (and let’s be honest, he didn’t invent the wheel or build a spaceship) and I kept thinking what has Apple/ Steve Jobs done for the ordinary Johnson and Jazlin (sigh, parents these days) .

Question, when was the last time you were awestruck by Starbucks' seasonal offerings or Chanel's re-upholstered 2.55 or Facebook's interface update (I truly question this point)?

I guess for me, Steve Jobs' greatest contribution was creating products that re-ignited the child-like excitement we have lost over the years.

I know this doesn't say much but the next time you or someone receives an Apple product, just watch. Watch their facial expression, watch them get girlie and geeky at the same time, then watch them moan in agony when they need to live without it.

So for this, I would like to say, thank you, Mr Jobs.

The Briefing + Kw's deception

2011-10-06T12:15:00.018+08:00

With less than two weeks to the wedding, kw and I invited our bridesmaids and groomsmen over for The Briefing. It was our first dinner party so we were pretty darn excited about it. I even created a Facebook event page for it though we invited less than 15 people *Hides face*

But for course, we made sure our guests were well-fed with lots of meat, booze and sweets. And thanks to Zhu and Jansen, I tried Le Cafe's soya bean tarts for the first time. Love them!

Anyway, though we did miss a couple of folks, the main intention of this party was to get everyone on the same (excel spreadsheet) page for the 2-day affair. So we did up a wedding coordination schedule for both days based on time and space; the final version will come with 3D glasses, I promise.

While kw took them through the A3-size schefule, I decided it was time to execute Operation Shock and Aww.

Just so happened, it was also kw’s birthday and I roped in Diana and Yang for his surprise – a Decepticons birthday cake. The Bengawan Solo cake surpassed our expectations, I deceit you not. Layers of light coffee sponge and vanilla fresh cream... This is one old school (technically, he was in primary school) that would give those pretty fondant (hurl) cakes a run for their money.

I asked yang to shock kw and the rest with an emergency and the first thing she said was, "We have a problem - the oven broke down!" I like to think that this is the best reaction I could ask for from someone who is going to bake cupcakes for our solemnization ceremony. Woo yeah!

I think the birthday boy was surprised alright =)

Everyone got on swimmingly (to be honest, I was a wee bit worried about the chemistry between “his” and “her” friends) and I hope everyone had an awesome time. These days I keep hearing my mum and her friends reminisce about those days when we were kids (happens a lot during wedding planning, I hear) and this dinner party felt like one of those occasions that we would be talking about years from now.

Kw's 30th Bedrock From the Sun

2011-10-04T12:48:00.003+08:00

Food was awesome, service was outstanding and the company was lovely… but the pictures turned out awful. Some things just don’t change, do they?

There are new restaurants opening up on a weekly basis in Singapore but with good reason, we headed back to one of our favourite tried-and-tested establishment, Bedrock Bar and Grill, for kw’s 30th.

Puffy pillows of carbs.

I can’t offer much insight on the thought process behind our menu orders as it was kw’s birthday and I was advertently fulfilling the role of the dutiful daughter-in-law-to-be… then again, Bedrock is a place where I am happy to let others take the reign as you can’t really go wrong with most of their offerings.

Take the Jamón Ibérico De Bellota for instance. I am not much of a ham person but caught on to the extra fine leathery texture as I nibbled away. Nothing like the finest ham in the world to celebrate someone’s 30th, ain’t it?

As our waiter took us through the menu, he held the Tomahawk Steak as if it were his calling to carry a hunk of raw, bloody flesh. A beefcake that had eluded me on previous visits, the Tomahawk sure is an impressive long-bone ribeye that marries the softness of Wagyu and beefiness of Black Angus.

TGIKB (Thank god it’s kw’s birthday) !

We came. We gnawed. We tomahawked through 1.2kg worth of beef. Perfect shade of red for medium rare, served with bits of slightly charred edges. It was an e-beef-phiny and well worth the morning-after meat sweat.

The Tomahawk comes with a fitting entourage of five different sauces - a Pinot Noir reduction, classic Bearnaise, whiskey mustard, stone mill mustard sauce (like!) and their signature chilli oil (interesting).

We ordered a bunch of side dishes too. Steamed broccolini, rocket parmesan salad, truffled mash potatoes and I-will-name-my-first-born-after-you, I mean, the Bedrock mac n’ cheese.

Oh gaw-, Bedrock’s mac n’ cheese was even better than I remembered. Larger surface area plus shallower dish equals feverishly awesome crust-to-cream ratio. On top of that, Bedrock uses a thicker pasta tube that holds its mandatory al dente-ness throughout the cooking period (long) and dining session (not that long).

And to round up the sweet evening, we ordered the Bedrock Waffle Ice Cream Sandwich and A Wedge of Chocolate.

Freshly made waffles with honey and fig ice cream… Mmm. After ingesting all that meat, we might as well have waffles since all of it will stick to our ribs till breakfast the next day.

Bedrock’s A Wedge of Chocolate was really “a wedge of chocolate”. That’s it. The 85% Varlhorna flourless chocolate cake was impeccable but please don’t have any expectations of a nougatine ice cream scoop like I did.

As per Bedrock tradition, the team sang and presented kw with a candle-lit caramel brownie. The Iron Man figurine? My idea – trademarked and copyrighted. Nah, just kidding, you can always pop by the toy department to get one. Kw’s a real fan boy of Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man/ Tony Stark character and I thought it would be such a hoot to surprise him! HAHA

Awesome food, outstanding service and great company ... boy, am I'm glad for the things that don't change.

A Weekend Filled with Joy #38

2011-10-02T22:02:00.002+08:00

Celebrated kw's 30th at Bedrock Bar & Grill with his parents.

Major round of spring cleaning before our first dinner party slash briefing session for our bridesmaids and groomsmen slash unofficial housewarming party. The Barefoot Countessa was spritually and audibly supportive.

Surprised kw with his favourite childhood character cake.

Witnessed my cousin, Barry, said "I Do" to his now-wife, Irene.

Tested my younger sister's SAP (Skinny Arm Pose).

Betrothal Gift Exchange (过大礼)

One of the many wedding cakes (礼饼)

What. A. Weekend.

I'm a Lifestylist

2011-09-27T13:06:00.000+08:00

According to New York Times Personality Test - VisualDNA, I'm a Lifestylist which means...

You are a bit of a dreamer and you are drawn to anything with a sense of mystique. Despite being a bit of a homebody, you love letting your mind wander off to far flung lands where anything can happen. There's a strong, thoughtful element to your character that means you love anything with a sense of intrigue to really get your heart racing.

You're creative and imaginative and like to be inspired. Home is where your heart is and you love nothing more than putting personal touches to your space. You're laid-back and relaxed with a very healthy attitude to life. Naturally down-to-earth, you don't believe in sweating the small stuff. Life's for living, with minimum stress and maximum enjoyment and so fun with family and friends is top of the list as far as you're concerned. Food is a definite passion too and you're always up for tantalizing your taste buds. You're a bit of a dreamer at heart. But there's nothing wrong with that. Set your sights high and you'll create the life you deserve. The Home and Garden section is perfect for you - bring the latest trends into your home.

Hmm, kinda true.

F1 Weekend #38

2011-09-26T12:03:00.001+08:00

Now this weekend post would not contain any Grand Prix highlights as I feel quite quite disconnected from the F1 fever. But it was a frantic weekend nonethless, spent catching up with our friends and ticking off the neverending wedding checklist.

Kicked off the weekend with my daily puff. This might not be the best curry puff in Singapore but it's my favourite. Perfect size and spice, these puffs offer much punch when eaten warm.

Posing with a sake bottle in an Erdem-inspired outfit at Cold Storage. I love how no one batted an eyelid when I was taking this shot - people probably thought I was a medical tourist or mental. I am weird and I still have friends. Yay!

Found and fell in love with the Sretsis Magpie dress. Sighhh... My pocket feels lighter just looking at it.

Kw's mum came back from Japan with these cutesy kewpie goodies - perfect for us kewpie mayo groupies.

Met up with our parents and "mei po" to check off wedding to-do list at SICC and polished too many of these crazy good chicken wings. I felt like a kid when I was eating them with my fingers.

Comfort lunch at Soup Spoon. Bowlfuls of Sunday goodness with Provencal roasted eggplant soup and roasted pumpkin salad.

We managed to sneak in some quiet time, which also means TV time. Caught Bobbby Flay take on and lost to Very Vera's carrot cake. The chicken wings in my tummy were calling out for sweet company.

I can't wait for the upcoming weekend as we are doing Bedrock Bar & Grill, a mini housewarming party and my cousin Barry is getting ROM-ed!

All in a day's off

2011-09-22T15:15:00.000+08:00

A spa session at Estheva Spa. This has pretty much been my weekly ritual for the past 3 weeks. I was a massage/ spa noob before receiving these gift vouchers from my "mei po" aunty Chiah Ming. My first time there, it took me a good 15 seconds to get over the shock of disrobing in front of the therapist (I don't even own a swimsuit, mind you).

Browsing discounted books and magazines before I met Diana for coffee. Que eyeball rolling. No wonder it's severely discounted.

Cupcakes from Da Paolo Gastronomia getting in on the Grand Prix action this weekend.

Dinner with my parents at their just-done-up place and garden.

Mod-retro dining chairs.

Two kinds of braised pig trotters - one with vinegar and the other without. Equal love for both. Mum's using the leftover sauce to make braised eggs. Yum-meh...

Missed the babies.

Don't think they miss me as much as though as I was their disciplinarian mistress.

My sister sent me this picture this morning, said they were holding hands. Epic cuteness.

Proust 20.09.11

2011-09-20T18:35:00.001+08:00

I was reading some of my old posts when I saw the Proust questionaire I did back in April. My current status now reads: post-corporate life; just moved into new place; and less than a month away to the wedding, so I thought it would be interesting to see how I have changed since April then. Well, to be honest not much but read on for version 20.09.11.

My daily ~~bread~~ wrap from Starbucks

What is your current state of mind?
Calm and grateful. Quite a few things to settle but no point worrying about them.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Surrounded by my family at the dining table, caught up in playful banter.

What is your greatest fear?
Not holding up the promise I made to myself – to live a life worth living.

Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Rona Economou, owner of Boubouki. The times we live in – last month is considered “history”.

Which living person do you most admire?
Rona Economou (read article).

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Ability to spit fire and caustic remarks in nano-seconds.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Untrustworthiness (same as before).

What is it that you most dislike?
Toxic people who exude negativity.

What is your greatest extravagance?
Spending too much time on Top Chef, Masterchef and Iron Chef America.

What do you most value in your friends?
Their well-earned independence.

What is your favorite journey?
When I am on my way to breakfast with my family…

What is your most treasured possession?
My engagement ring (same).

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Simplicity if it spells dullness.

On what occasion do you lie?
On Monday, kw's mum asked if I wanted anything from Japan and I said, "no." Le sigh...

Which living person do you most despise?
“Despise” is too strong a word.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Myself - I am being suicidally honest here. If you don’t love yourself, it would be hard for others to do so.

When and where were you happiest?
Last weekend when we spent a full Saturday at home.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
To not pass judgement as if I were handing out free samples.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Still unqualified to answer this question…

If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?
To tone down the post-confrontation crankiness.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Day after buffet at Basilico and orh nee overload at Shangri La food tasting.

What is your favorite occupation?
To be a creator of something that makes people happy.

What is your most marked characteristic?
Third finger on my left hand - looks as alien as ever.

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Would have to say it’s still Calpurnia from To Kill a Mockingbird (related to answer below).

How would you like to die?
In my sleep, and preferably after a heavy meal of fried chicken and mac & cheese.

What is your motto?
Living well is the best revenge - something I do forget from time to time but always makes me feel better when I remember it.

First Week Weekend #37

2011-09-19T12:03:00.012+08:00

How was your weekend?

It's been a week since we moved in. We did laundry for the first time. We had dinner at home also for the first time. Dad texted me, asking if I wanted apples as he was in the supermarket.

Mine was a good one.

Stay rosey

2011-09-16T16:41:00.000+08:00

Haven't done one of these in a while... Stay rosey and have a happy weekend!