OppSeuS

1 Caramel @ The Cathay

2009-09-21T00:02:00.002+08:00

Hanged out with a friend @ 1Caramel (run by the same people who run 1 Rochester and 126 @ East Coast Park). And, as it's name suggests, it is the place for desserts. Unlike the other 2 joints which are drinks joint, this one located in the heart of the city is more a dessert cafe sorta feel, but open till late (1am!). And.. The dessert selection is prettily set up in the glass cupboard-like display sets. It's just so many to choose from! Here's what we ordered...
An ice blended double shot espresso with caramel (i think). I like the 2 lil butterflies that set atop the whipped cream! So pretty and cute!

Luckily they had some promotion which allowed for 5 sampler sized items @ $10. And me and my friend could try a variety of the cakes. The peanut butter tart rocked! The red velvet showed promise, but maybe cos of it's small size, I felt it dried out a bit... But you can taste the richness of the cocoa in there.

My tea... I asked for something relaxing... Well, I did have a good sleep after that, so I supposed it worked. :)

Luncheon Meat

2009-08-18T01:35:00.002+08:00

There is something about luncheon meat that I love. Maybe it's the msg, the nitrates and sodium that goes into making it, but the combination just ROCKS. One of my favourite back to school food is thinly slice luncheon meat toasted till crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, paired with a baked beans side. All the same, I can't resist ordering HK cafe instant noodles telling them I don't want the noodles, just give me more luncheon meat. (I do love the noodles, just that it's carbs... URGH... I'd rather spend the calories on luncheon meat.) And, I realize my colleagues love luncheon meat just as much - tomorrow's breakfast menu consists of luncheon meat. YUM! Specially ordered because of the luncheon meat. Hahaha... Oh, and I hear Relish serves luncheon meat fries! *grin*

Time Out

2009-08-14T00:42:00.002+08:00

I need to time out and reconnect with My Maker and find myself again. I hope it happens this year.

My perfect wedding

2009-08-12T00:24:00.004+08:00

A friend was sharing with me how her other friend was on holiday with her boyfriend and on an impulse they got married at a little inn in a quiet little valley place. Well, I wouldn't say it was an impulse, it wasn't planned, but they had been dating long enough to know that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together, except that there were no wedding plans yet, they hadn't looked for a house and were just letting things go with the natural flow. And go with the natural flow they did. Well, they didn't want to rush into the wedding as they wanted to look for the perfect wedding location. So, when they found it in that quiet little valley, they got the innkeeper to get the solemnization documents and the innkeeper and his wife were the witnessess!!!

When I heard that, I was stunned for a while, because that would have been my perfect wedding! And I thought it only happened in my dreams. I had always dreamed that the perfect proposal will take place out of Singapore (eg. maybe in the Woods? At the top of a Mountain? By a quiet lake? in the night view of the Parisian/ New York lit skyline?) And my perfect wedding would be held in a quiet, serene place (meadows by the lakes... ahhh...) where the people are so friendly and warm, with no preparation, except spontaneity. Find the perfect place, head to the town to get a nice sundress, if there's a little chapel by the meadows, all the better. Get the local pastor or local solemnizer to solemnize the wedding and get the innkeeper and his wife to be the witnessess. The rings don't have to be anything expensive, even one weaved outta twigs also works. That evening's celebration will just be a nice, homely dinner celebration with whoever's at the inn. Or one at the local restaurant, proclaiming to all the patrons that "We're Married!". How COOL will that be? And, it will be a ONE OF A KIND wedding. Spontaneous? Impulsive? Whatever you may call it, I think it's absolutely romantic. Because, this kinda wedding, is one that focuses on the crux of the wedding - the joining of 2 as 1. No guest list, no dinner, no traditional ceremony to worry about - the only thing that matters would be the 2 of us. Imagine the thrill of coming back to Singapore and then proclaiming to everyone, "We're Married!".

Sure, I want everyone to celebrate in the joy, but many a times, many couples get too stressed up and caught up with the preparation, the most important thing is lost in the busyness. Not to say I won't have a "proper" wedding with the full works, but let's get to the crux of the matter first, the wedding is about the union of the man and woman in the eyes of God. Once that is celebrated between the 2 who really matter, then let's bring the joy to the rest. The excel sheets, house hunting, dinner venue etc. can all wait. :)

Ivy's Amazing Cakes...

2009-05-03T01:13:00.002+08:00

My colleague made these figurines herself!! All from icing!!! Too bad I don't have the photos of the other cakes that she made. But they're all so pretty and super yummy!!!

Cupcakes for friendship day

2009-02-15T23:04:00.001+08:00

As part of our annual FL Friendship day celebrations, we baked cupcakes for the event. (The last few years we had balloons, special heart shapes, musical dedications). Ad since it was my first time using this new microwave to bake, I decided to try out the recipe I was using (I used Magnolia's recipe as the base, but instead of using 2 types of flour, I just used all purpose flour and 2tsp of double acting baking soda) to ensure that the heat and all was appropriate for the recipe. That evening, JoTng came over to help design my trial batch of cupcakes. Check this one that she painstakingly decorated! It's got my name. =) Love it!!Really, decorating the cupcake with the stars was an exceptionally tiring task. I spent over 4 hours decorating 30 cupcakes for the FL event. Check some of the designs out. I changed the method of frosting a lil (cos I was super lazy to start the fire), so the colour came out a lil different. But since the stars were individually put, i could adjust and design each cupcake differently. But if I ever have to do so many cupcakes on this level, I'm gonna use a piped frosting. It'll be way easier.

1st tray of the cupcakes I made:The colourful heart's so pretty...

I also like the random multi-coloured stars...

Sundowner @ New Asia Bar

2009-01-28T00:25:00.003+08:00

I always thought New Asia Bar is dead at about 8pm since it's sorta a club. But I was very surprised that when I headed there the other day at 8+pm on a saturday evening, it was quite crowded! And I like the feel. Very different from City Space (which I'm a big fan of too!) cos it's not jazz/lounge music, rather it's more upbeat clubbing music that isn't blasted too loud. Just good for conversation. And from 6pm-9pm it's sundowner, so the drinks are a lil cheaper. And most of the seats were taken. Very nice chill out place. But next time if I go, must go earlier and get a seat nearer the window, then can enjoy the beautiful scenery and the changing sky colour from bright to dark.

China Club @ Capital Tower

2009-01-27T00:06:00.003+08:00

I was at China Club the other day for lunch and I had to take photos of the view from Capital Tower.

And for lunch, these were some of what we had. Starting with dim sum appetizers. I like how they used char siew mee as the carbo dish. Usually you'll get typical one dish carbo like yi mee or some other fried noodle/rice dish so this was different and I like the nice twist it added to the set meal.
And we ended off with 2 desserts! kekeke...

Colourful Popcorn

2009-01-26T23:55:00.002+08:00

Princess rented the machine and got the colours and Cinderella made the popcorn. Fresh popcorn tastes super yummy! I like! =)

Uber Cuteness

2008-12-30T01:13:00.004+08:00

Somehow, this year Christmas lacked the "feel", maybe I'll post in another post. But, I did catch some photos with lil Caleb and Karina, my niece who's about 1year+. Enjoy...
First up.. The handsome lil boy and me goofing around in front of the camera.

Aww.. So Sweet. With lil Karina...

It was so difficult to catch a good photo with her, cos she was sleepy and tired and not willing to entertain me.

Slow Food Movement

2008-11-23T21:17:00.000+08:00

At my recent trip to Cambodia, I stayed at this hotel that had the logo above printed on their hotel menu and at the bottom we saw this:

We were wondering what that meant. Maybe our food will take super long to come (which that evening it did! They had to go out to buy mango to make our mango passion smoothie, but that is another story). While our food did take a very long time to come that evening, but it was very well made, really made with the heart. Afraid that they were really slow with cooking, we decided to order our breakfast the night before. HAhaha... Typical kiasu Singaporean.

Anyway, I came back and googled this "slow food movement" thingy. And here's the description: "Slow Food is a non-profit, eco-gastronomic member-supported organization that was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world."

All about R

2008-11-23T20:53:00.000+08:00

I'm surprised that this had an unexpected big effect on me. The sadness still lingers. They say it's the mourning period now. I wonder how long this will last. I'm slowly beginning to understand why it had to happen, but I'm still wondering if this was the right decision. It's time to move on. Hopefully...

All about R

2008-11-18T00:38:00.000+08:00

I want to blog my feelings about this whole incident, but now is not the time. Maybe after it has blown over. All I can say is that I am really sad and feeling the lose.

TWG Tea Salon & Boutique

2008-11-09T21:44:00.000+08:00

Went to check out the newly opened TWG Tea Salon @ Republic plaza after lunch one of those days. I really like the setting. Going in, it's like you're transported to a totally different place, you wouldn't have imagined that this were in the heart of Raffles Place. Before the main dining area, there's this area you can see the varieties of tea they sell and some of the pastries they have it was done up in a very French patisserie style. The dining area doesn't sit many, so if you're intending to go with a big group, best to make reservations (we forgot to make reservations and had to wait a while before getting our table). It's so much like a high tea place. You sit down and you just don't feel like going back to work. A fantastic place to unwind with girlfriends. And, service was good too. Ok, they had this cute ang moh (I think he's French) waiter who was apologetic that we had to wait for our table to be "dressed" and he kept coming over to introduce the varieties of tea they had at the retail section while we waited to be seated. And, the variety of tea on the dining menu is overwhelming! They have so many varieties of tea - black, green, red, blue, flora etc etc. You name it, they have it. There's a little wait to get the tea (unlike many places who just place the tea leaves in and serve it). That's cos they don't serve it with tea leaves (apparently cos it mars the taste as the tea gets soaked longer - something I can attest to when I leave my green tea bag in the cup for too long and the tea becomes very strong and a little bitter), so they soak it long enough for the flavour to come out, and then decant it into the tea pots. Check the tea pots out! The silver one taken with the tea cup and saucer is actually insulated. It has a silver casing which has an insulating layer inside encompassing the chinaware. The other tea dining partner ordered had a flower in it. Super fascinating. I can't remmeber what is the name of the flower though...

I like this place - a great escape from the hustle and bustle of Shenton Way. Relax, unwind, recharge with tea before heading back to the busy rush of the Financial district.

TWG Tea Salon & Boutique
9 Raffles Place, #01 - 22
Republic Plaza
Singapore 048619

Tel: +65 6538 1837
Fax: +65 6534 1837

Opening hours:
Monday-Friday, 10:00 am - 8:00 pm

Home Party

2008-11-09T21:09:00.000+08:00

I really like the setting and ambience at Home Party. They transformed the Shangri-La Island ballroom into a home setting filled with potted plants and absolutely beautiful (and very expensive!) furniture from Baker. Too bad they didn't bring in the Princess chair this time. My preference? I still prefer Modani for it's cleaner cut and more modern look. Baker has a more classic look and definitely more intricacies to each design.

Tuna Cutting by the team from Tatsuya

We had a specially crafted ice stand for the tuna (I think it's about 100KG!) for them to do the tuna cutting. It's not something you see everyday, so it was interesting, but made that part of the room smell a little fishy. Overdose of tuna sashimi and it was FANTASTIC!

Desserts This one caught my eye because they had the card logo printed on the cakes. So cute right?

Vainity

2008-11-04T00:31:00.000+08:00

One of the prices I paid tonight for vanity: Aching feet from walking around in 4inch heels for more than 4hours. I still wonder how I managed to do that... Hmmm... Thank goodness for the feet gel soles from Ejie. Makes walking way easier. But, I still have aching feet...

Mr uber Handsome

2008-11-02T00:12:00.000+08:00

Enjoy... Random shots from Godpa's before army dinner (in which I gave Caleb a guitar which is almost as tall has him!) and from a wedding which we played at and Caleb was the page boy...

Halloween

2008-11-01T23:50:00.002+08:00

We were supposed to have a Halloween party at the office, but then it got cancelled. My colleagues had already bought some stuff, so we decided to make use of it and pose with it in the office. We had lunch together at VIvo and I goofed around with the devil's tail by wearing it around Vivo. Kekeke... Just for the fun of it. And that evening at Club5, I had to wear these pumpkin clips. I had bought them from Claire's (my favourite accessory store from US) when I chanced upon the store at Chitose Outlet mall. The original plan was to wear the clips and the earrings to the party, but since it didn't happen, I wanted to make my money's worth, so I insisted on wearing it although I looked like a crazy ditzy. hahaha...

Post Hokkaido

2008-11-01T23:23:00.000+08:00

After a much needed break to Hokkaido, here's some post Hokkaido goodies that I got..

The famous Ishiya Chocolate Factory's Shiroi Koibito cookies - Bai Se Lian Ren (White Lovers). It's a thin butter egg cookie sandwiched in white chocolate and milk chocolate. This is the original packaging when I got it off the shelf. It's so pretty right? It's like a present already. In fact all of the cookies were wrapped in this pretty wrapper.
Inside the wrapper, the metal box.
ROYCE Chocolate: Royce there is really cheaper than it is in Singapore. It's about $6-7 for the Nama Chocolate. Here's one from the selection the chocolate dipped potato chips. I don't remember seeing it in Singapore, so I decided to buy it to try it.
The flavour for the Royce Nama chocolate for the month: Apple Brandy. It tasted good, but can't really taste much of an apple taste, more of the Brandy.

And, my biggest purchase of the trip. My very first label - Burberry Blue Label. Definitely more to come slowly but surely.

Gym therapy?

2008-08-09T23:13:00.001+08:00

This year has been a year of many ups and downs. There have been quite a few disappointments which not many people know. Well, then again, I try not to make these disappointments obvious, I just let things go the natural way unless it's too much for me to bear then I will totally withdraw and emo to myself. After which, I usually feel better. One of the sources of letting these feelings out of my system is the gym. I used to hit the gym about 2 times a week last year. During CNY, I tried 5 times a week to lose the weight I put on during the festive snacking. But soon after that, all the stuffs started coming and I realized how therapeutic gym/exercise is. You don't know how much better I feel after a body combat class where I imagine those crazy feelings/ those crazy requests from work/ the disappointments etc. as the punching bag. The sweat, the adrenalin and the endorphins which come with it, it all just helps to lift my spirits up in the midst of all that disappointments.

Disappointed

2008-08-09T23:00:00.001+08:00

As an only child, my friends are one of the most important part of my lives. Besides doing crazy things, they are also the people whom I share things with. And, for my closest of friends, I share things and thoughts that are the deepest and darkest secrets/fears/feelings etc within me. Not that I do not share with my parents, but sometimes sharing with someone closer to your age and closer to that stage of life works better. And there are certain issues in life that I find very hard to share with my parents. To my closest of friends, however, I totally rip myself of all facades, tell my vulnerabilities and fears and just come clean to share my most honest thoughts and feelings as if they were my family having seen the best and worst of me. All the same, I do not share everything with one close friend. I share different things with different people. And while one close friend may hear about all my thoughts and struggles about work, another will not hear anything about my work issues, but hear about my love life etc. And my doing this is a very natural thing. I feel more comfortable sharing certain areas of my life with some rather than others.

Today I found out something which disappointed me so much that I could almost cry. A friend whom I consider a very good friend (let's call him A) actually had the nerve to share one of my private thoughts (which I had specifically said NOT to share with anyone) with someone (let's call her B). While the other person (B) whom A shared it with is also a close friend, but I remember saying very clearly that A was NOT TO SHARE IT WITH ANYONE INCLUDING B. And it does not help that this private thoughts are of B. I am not angry, but I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED in A. I can't believe that this actually happened, considering that I explicitly said before the sharing to A that he was NOT to breathe a word about this to ANYONE. I am VERY DISAPPOINTED.

I am still considering if I should confront A. But if I do so, A will tell B and it will be a never ending cycle. I really don't know. While I still consider him as a close friend, one thing's for sure, I'd just share stuff which I'm comfortable of having the possibility of it being passed around.

Chatterbox Chicken Rice

2008-06-07T01:36:00.000+08:00

FINALLY! I got to eat Chatterbox Chicken Rice.

Whatever you may say, I could never justify stepping into Marriot, pay $25 just to eat Chicken Rice, when I could easily get a plate for $3 from that yummy chicken rice store at Maxwell. Ok, maybe not a good comparison, but look at Boon Tiong Kee and 5 star chicken rice, for $25 my whole family would so full that our stomachs would be close to bursting.

Well, but a lunch meeting finally allowed me to eat this much talked about Chicken Rice that tourists come here specially to eat. We ordered in close to 20 packs of this. Check out the packaging man! You can't see really clearly from here, but it's so well packed, no one could imagine there's chicken rice in there. The packaging is just as fantastic as those mooncakes from hotels. Full Marks for its packaging. Then again, for $25, it had better be good to justify the money.

Each individual set came with it's rice, chicken (a lot of it!), soup and the sauces - black sauce, ginger, chilli and the sauce for the chicken.

Now to the food itself. The chicken was a letdown. Sure, it was soft, and cooked just right, but it was almost tasteless. I had to dunk the chicken in a whole load of the sauce to stomach it down. If you know me well, I'm not one who likes to put sauces on my food unless necessary. I prefer the natural taste. But, for this chicken, besides dunking it in the sauce, i smeared it fully with chilli and black sauce to give the bland chicken some taste. And as they always say, the secret to good chicken rice is in the chilli. Chatterbox's chilli was very good. I like it a lot. I'm particular about my chilli sauces. I don't like those with a very raw taste, so you won't see me eating green chillis and red cut chillis. Chatterbox's chilli was super tasty and it was almost good on its own. Garlicky, a little savoury, and most importantly, the raw chilli taste was masked. The rice was good. Still soft and yummy when we ate it. However, it wasn't the best I've tasted. I've tasted much better in other hawker center stores, and I felt some parts of the rice were a bit too mushy. The soup was ok, it was cabbage soup, btw, not chicken soup.

Would I pay to eat this again? No, definitely not on my own, unless there's a really good reason and it had better be an extremely good one, cause there are so many better and cheaper alternatives out there.

Now, that's one off my list of expensive Hawker food. Next one up is Chen Fu Ji fried rice.

Big Eater

2008-06-07T01:16:00.000+08:00

In line with my mum's delightful discovery of me knowing how to de-shell crabs and being able to enjoy the experience of eating crabs with her, we went to eat crabs again. My mum has been telling me about this place for a long time, saying how good their salted egg creamy crab is. My defense? "Mum, I don't eat crabs. I only take the sauce, so I won't really enjoy it." Now, that defense is useless. So, off we went to eat crabs... =)

We ordered the Prawn Noodles (the zi char version), which I didn't particularly like. Then again, I don't like the zichar version of prawn noodles. I only the soup version (beehoon please) or the fried hokkien mee version. The zichar version has too much black sauce that scares me away.
We also had some fried fuchouk (you know that vegetarian thing?) thing that was quite good and a nicely done version of sambal kangkong, oil reduced. The soup was normal. The stars of the night were the crabs (she ordered 2!). One chilli crab and one salted egg creamy crab. Hmmm... The chilli crab was nice, but not spectacular at least, the sauce wasn't spectacular enought for me. But, spicy? Yes, spicy. The salted egg crab was a nice change. Not something i'd eaten before... But I would have liked it if they added more sauce so that I get extras to dip with the crab meat.
Reasonable price with reasonable food and you get decent service,

Crabby Menu

2008-06-07T01:03:00.000+08:00

I finally learnt how to eat crabs.

You see, I've always avoided eating crabs cos I never knew how to de-shell them and I didn't want to be a freeloader to get people to de-shell the crab for me so that I can eat the meat. The story goes way back as to why my parents, being avid fans of seafood never taught me how to eat a crab. Long story short, I couldn't eat much seafood when I was younger, so I never really liked crabs, prawns until I grew older and could eat more seafood. So, since young, I never learnt how to peel a crab and I just couldn't be bothered to learn how to even though now I can eat seafood with no problems. I just procrastinated and I would just stick to the main shell and eat whatever roe or new shell that is forming. It wasn't until a customer dinner that I was forced to learn how to eat crabs. Yes, I was trying so hard to avoid having a pincer plonked on my plate, but my customer wouldn't let that happen. And, I had to learn how to de shell the crab meat.

Ever since then (that was in March), much to the delight of my mum, she's been suggesting for us as a family to eat crabs more often than before. In the last 2 months, I've eaten crabs twice! Considering we used to have it at most twice a year (cos she says it's not shiok to only have daddy and her eating crabs). Anyway, we went to Melben (the one near Bishan park), queued for 1 1/2hrs (I can't believe we ACTUALLY did that!!!) and got our crabs. It was good, definitely. I absolutely loved the crab in that milk soup (can't remember the name). The soup was super power packed. I didn't take photos of the crab, cos I was busy wolfing it down. But, both were good. I liked the black pepper version too. Just right, not overpowering with pepper.

But, really, the point of my post today is to show u a shot of the menu that I took when I was there. It's hilarious... Go ahead, have a good laugh. Mind you, this is an eatery that specialises in selling crabs and this is what you see in their menu:

Sarah Lee

2008-05-27T23:41:00.000+08:00

I had to post this UBER cute photo of little Sarah....

City Space

2008-05-27T23:15:00.000+08:00

I finally got to check out City Space after having wanted to go there for a very long time. But somehow, i always get distracted by New Asia Bar and my legs just walk up to New Asia Bar. LOL... But, that is another story. I really do like City Space. It's high up there, with nice dim lights, good service, drinks not exorbitantly expensive (quite normal pricing for high end bars), nice light house music, and their snackies just rock! The cashews are coated with some sweet stuff and they are served warm, they have some tapioca chip kinda stuff. Their mixed nuts was a bit "lao hong" though... One thing however was that their singer was quite terrible. It was much to our relief when she said it was her last set. Great ambience, great company... The fantastic way to chill out and relax especially after a hard week's work... Ahhh.... The life...

Hot Hot HOT!!!

2008-05-19T20:46:00.000+08:00

It is SO HOT today! It doesn't help that I was in the cool comfort (or at some times, the freezing room) of aircon for the whole of yesterday and this morning. The moment I stepped out of the hotel, the first thing that bit me was the sweltering heat and I immediately escaped back into the hotel lobby to enjoy the aircon and wait for my dad. And after my afternoon nap, I was drenched in sweat. HOT HOT HOT!!!!

Broadway Beng 3

2008-05-17T23:08:00.001+08:00

Today was the 1st time I caught one of our local productions by Dream Academy, and I enjoyed it so much I that wonder why I never watched our local productions earlier. Now I regret not watching Dim Sum Dollies earlier this year, and I'm looking forward to the upcoming Hossan Leong show. Here's to more local productions! =)

All about donations

2008-05-17T12:49:00.000+08:00

I was walking about Vivo City a couple of saturdays ago when I was abruptly stopped by some random guy. And when I say abruptly, I mean really abruptly. I was just walking when this donation bag was shoved into my face and the random guy said "hello". And he said the "hello" is such a way like I knew him or something. I looked up and thought it was some friend only to realize he was just a random guy. That first incidence got me quite put off as I was in my own train of thought and to be suddenly jolted by someone whom I thought was a friend but turned out to be a total stranger was absolutely a nuisance. But since he caught my attention, he went on to explain that he was with blah blah charity and was collecting funds for blah blah. He continued to explain the need for the funds blah blah blah, to which i was more peeved about the initial jolt to even bother about him explaining and I needed to get back to my train of thought. (I was rushing to buy a present for a good friend at Vivo, I didn't know what to buy and I didn't have enough time.) To cut him off from his charity sales talk, I dug out my wallet and opened the coin compartment trying to dig out some coins to drop into the donation bag. And then he said, "I'm sorry, we do not accept coins. We only accept dollar notes, preferable $10 and above." I was so taken aback when I heard this. I retorted, "You are asking for donations, rite? Why should you dictate how much I should donate. I am not obliged to give you anything so I will give anything I want to even if it is coins." He said, "But I'm sorry, we only accept dollar notes. Do you have dollar notes? Like a $10 note?" After being a nuisance and disturbing me from my train of thought and now demanding that I give dollar note donations, I was quite irritated. So I snubbed him off, "Look, I am the one donating. I only want to donate coins, so since you want only dollar notes, then forget it. You're not getting even the coins I wanted to donate although it'll add up to at least a few dollars." With that I walked away much to the astonishment of the guy (he probably thought I would relent and dig out my notes).

To me this whole thing about donations is about what I want to give. You cannot dictate what I should give or how much I should give. Isn't that the basis of donations? It is a gift given on my own free will, my free contribution. And demanding dollar notes, even worst, expecting $10 notes is too much to ask from from the general public. At least $2, I might consider if I have the loose note. And I believe this dollar note rule probably came from the charity. Hey, if u're a charity, u're getting donations from the public, you should be happy with whatever they give you. True, asking for dollar notes may increase your overall donations, but really most people give donation (especially this type of flag donations) out of loose change. Rare ones may give $2 notes or so. And it's not like it was for the Myanmar victims of the cyclone which is more well known, this was some little charity that I can't even remember what it was for. If it were for the Myanmarese victims, at least I would have considered giving the $10.

Back to my story. The guy was taken aback at my reaction and he quickly changed his statement, "Oh, if you have $2 notes also can." Too late boy, you changed your statement too late and I'm standing by my principle on donations. I said, "You guys are too high class a charity for coins, then forget it. You won't even get my $2 note. Go look somewhere else for your $10 note." With that I walked away, really away this time.

SiaSU?

2008-05-17T03:15:00.000+08:00

I was at T3 for supper today and as I was headed back to the car I saw this sign on the door which made me and Pet laugh out loud.. Check this out...

OMG! Can you believe an office called SIASU? Gosh... It almost sounds like KIASU. Hahaha.. We were laughing so hard trying to wonder which silly office was named like that. And amidst the laughter I tried desperately to take a photo which was challenging cos I couldn't contain my laughter and more so there was the SIA cabin crew walking pass and we were trying not to be obvious or look silly. In all that midst, we looked up and saw the meaning of SIASU...

They really need to change their name. Rebranding for SIA SU!

Atas Takeout

2008-05-17T03:04:00.000+08:00

We ordered into office the other day and got Tiffin Club to cater for lunch. It is really one of the better takeout places, but you also pay more for that and not everyone is a fan of eurasian food. The food is good, but some of the spices can be a little too strong. But, definitely one good takeout place if you can afford to spend at least $25 per set. What really intrigued me, however was the packaging. A pity that it was in office. The material for the take out packaging that they used were really good stuff. The Cardboard box was the thick kind and the plastic containers were good quality. Check it out man!

Lunch...

Mash Potatoes, Fish Pattie in tomato sauce, Couscous, Zucchini and cherry tomatoes...

Wild Rocket @ Mount Emily

2008-05-02T01:14:00.000+08:00

I finally came here for lunch the other day after many failed attempts for the past 1 1/2yrs with different bunches of friends to come here. I'll suggest this place, they'll get all excited, but then when they find out where it really is there'll be all sorts of excuses. Not that I'm complaining, but this place isn't the most accessible and for most starting out to work the food is more to the expensive side (I would usually suggest this place, followed by drinks at wild oats, but that has never happened up till now... Maybe one day).

Located on Mount Emily, this whole area is turning up into some arty farty kinda place. It's very near Old School (Singapore Arts Design Events on Mount Sophia) which is the arty farty place for designers to express their work. We parked at the building opposite ( I don't know the name, but it's where Wild Oats is) and on our walk to Hangout Hotel (where Wild Rocket is located), we came across these sculptures on the grass patch and I had to take a photo of it.

Ok, back to the main story. Wild Rocket. Wild Rocket is run by lawyer turned chef, Willin Low who serves simple, unfussy, modern comfortable fusion food. He puts an Asian touch to well known European staples. (Think: Duck Confit with YAM CAKE, and yes, that is your asian yam cake he's referring to; Conpoy chicken and scallops with pasta, Coconut Ice Cream with Gula Meleka, Tiramisu with Kueh buloh, Crab meat with chilli and tomato and the ever famous Singaporean fusion dish... Laksa Pesto)

We came in, ordered the food and were soon served with bread. The bread was warm and fragrant, but in my opinion a tad dry. But I had mine with balsamic vinegar and olive oil (I love my bread with well aged balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil, first press. If it's butter, I love it whipped and lightly salted, however, give me balsamic vinegar anytime. There's just something about vinegar... So similar to drinking wine, you can actually feel the flavour burst in your mouth as you swallow it. Sweet, sour, acidic....) and that was good.

The food took a while to come. And when it did come, the servers were in a total fluster not knowing who the serve the dish to. That is one of the things that irk me. Food out of the kitchen should be served immediately and not left sitting around while the servers decide which table it is for. This was what happened that day. First the soups and salads came. They weren't sure who ordered soups, so they just "tikam" and looked around all the tables trying to wonder who ordered the soup. You could see the lost look on their face whilst we were trying desperately to signal to them that we ordered the dish. But no, they didn't get the hint, and instead held the dishes, walked round the restaurant, before relenting, asking the server who took the order which table to serve to. Even after that, they still served it to the wrong person! Goodness, for a restaurant of this standard to have such service is a total disgrace. Maybe it was lunch, that's why. But, the restaurant wasn't even at full capacity and this could happen. The same thing happened with our main courses. We were seated in a long table style, so when they first served it to the front of the table (it was the end of the table which ordered it) and were told they didn't order that dish, they had to bring the dish away, walk around with it, put it back at the counter, try to double check and talk in front of the dish before deciphering who it was for! Because it was long table style there was no way any of us from the end of the table were going to shout out that that was our dish. It was such a let down, because by the time I received my pasta (I was seated right inside, so I got my dish last), the pasta had cooled a bit and the pasta while al dente, tasted too cold for my liking (the sauce was cold too!). I ordered the much talked about Laksa Pesto with prawns...

I wasn't wowed by the dish as many reviews had written about. Maybe all the reviews had placed my expectations at such a high level, or maybe it's just me. I didn't fancy the combination of the laksa leave and the pesto sauce. Somehow, something else was missing to marry the flavours together. There were 2 distinct flavours, one from the pesto and the other from the laksa leaves, which were not complementary to each other. Maybe I haven't yet learnt to appreciate the flavours. So, the pasta was quite a let down from me especially after all that hype. But, to give a fair verdict, I hope to try this place again, and this time, I will try the crabmeat with chilli and tomato one. I had a fantastic experience with crabmeat and tomato the last time at Turquoise Room, so that'll be the standard they'll have to match up to. A friend who's tried this dish at Wild rocket said it's really very good. My colleague who had the soft shell crab also said that it was good. That I'll try the next time too.

I had the Tiramisu with Kueh Buloh for dessert, which was nothing spectacular. It was supposed to come with espresso ice cream, which i have no idea where it was. It was just plain old tiramisu, nothing spectacular. I tried a bit of the chocolate lava cake too and the coconut ice cream with gula melaka. The Chocolate lava from the cake was too sweet (considering that this was paired with vanilla ice cream with is sweet in itself, they should have toned down the sweetness to a more bittersweet kinda lava) and the gula melaka with coconut ice cream made too for a diabetic kill. I didn't get to try the cheesecake, which I heard is a deconstructed cheesecake. That I will save for the next time when I give this place yet another shot to redeem itself. Hopefully the service will be better this time round.

Wild Rocket
10A Upper Wilkie Road
Tel: 6339-9448.
Opening hours: Tuesdays to Saturdays - noon to 3pm (lunch), 6.30pm to 11pm (dinner). Sundays - 11.30am to 4pm. Closed on Mondays.

Huang Jia and more about birthdays

2008-05-02T00:46:00.000+08:00

I had to share this on my blog. I headed to Huang Jia (which is the current chinese restaurant that I'm wild about) for my godma's birthday and I made some arrangements to get us to a private room and told them it was for a birthday celebration. They were so nice, the prepared the longevity buns for us, and gosh, we were SO surprised!! Look at the longevity buns man!!! Everyone was just so amused at the presentation and of course we wondering whether that big bun in the center is edible...

Check out the baby longevity buns inside the big bun! How cool is that!!! It was highly amusing. Everyone kept musing at the bun for a long time before the waiter came by and subtly informed us that the big bun could be cut. We all felt so silly, but hey, it was so amusing and was a good surprise (this dish took a while to come, cos it took a while to steam the buns).

As usual, food at Huang Jia was good. The crispy chicken rocked (and I dare say now that it's the best in town. Chef Chan, I hear, has dropped much in his standards and his once famous crispy chicken doesn't much live up to its name, and I hear the food is oily and basically not the least fulfilling). The lobsters however were nothing all that great, but I loved the other dishes that came. They were all good (but definitely not as fantastic as the 1st time I came here. Then again, the 1st time I came here the bill was about $150+ per person, so definitely the food was damn good). And, the mango pudding dessert was yummy yum yum... While the service was a little too slow, but the friendliness of the staff, the great private room ambience and the wonderful food far made up for it. All of this rounded up with the heavenly oreo durian cake from Goodwood Park Hotel (Their durian cake with all its mousse is the best in town!) was just such a good end to a wonderful dinner. We did have a little incident of a chipped spoon. The nerve of such a restaurant to provide diners with chipped spoons, but their service recovery made up for it (we got extra 15% off the bill on top of the discounts that we were getting from the Huang Jia membership card and the managers came in to apologize profusely and we had a complimentary fruit platter). I was satisfied with the service recovery, compared to the pathetic service that I got at One Rochester (they served me a chipped cup, to which I complained and the waiter was so reluctant to change the cup. No apology nothing... I had poured my tea into the cup and he wanted to just change the cup and not change my tea!.. Gosh, that's like 1/2 a pot of tea gone!! Oh well... that's another story).

But Huang Jia, as always is good. They have a sister outlet at Central called Huang Ting which also serves their famous dishes. Haven't been there to try it yet, somehow the feeling of going to Leisure Park (it's in the east, it's got ample parking space, the less crowded leisure park than Central) keeps pulling me back to Huang Jia. I somehow don't feel like travelling down to Central and battle that crazy 5 storey winding drive up to the carpark. So, Huang Jia does it for me now. =)

Huang Jia Restaurant
#01-01 Kallang Leisure Park
5, Stadium Walk
(S) 397693
Tel: 6344 0250

Baker Furniture

2008-05-02T00:03:00.000+08:00

I saw this chair at Baker furniture and it immediately reminded me of Princess... Went to their showroom and all the furniture was fantastic. But if I would to choose any for myself I prefer Molteni. I prefer a more clean cut, modern feel.

The sleepy town of Tiong Bahru

2008-05-01T23:12:00.000+08:00

Tiong Bahru is one of the little gems in Singapore which I hold especially close to my heart. You see, my maternal grandmother used to stay here and I used to come here every saturday. However, this part of Tiong Bahru (Eng Hoon street) was one place I hardly ventured to. Besides the seafood restaurant, there really was nothing much here. But it is here in this sleepy part of Tiong Bahru (away from the wildly popular Tiong Bahru market) that 2 new cafe/restaurants have sprout out.

Tbone Steakhouse and Caffe Pralet have sprouted out on this sleepy street. We tried Tbone Steakhouse on CNY eve lunch and most of us decided to go for the set lunch. The fish and chips were ok (normal, nothing particularly fantastic neither was it that wrong.), the bolognaise which my colleague ordered was a bit to jelat for her liking (probably due to the strong pungence of the cheese used and the beef had that strong beef taste). The chicken cordon bleu was terrible. My colleague who took it said the chicken didn't taste fresh (that's probably cos it's frozen, like all other chicken cordom bleu and she could smell that strong chicken smell) and the chicken was tough. Well, both of them who ordered it didn't come anywhere close to finishing it, that should give you an idea how bad it was. I had the minute steak. Which wasn't too bad, the sauce was unique with an underlying red wine taste, however the piece of beef while it wasn't inedible wasn't the best. But for $16.50, I wasn't expecting a lot. The food here is average, probably your hawker standard and for that standard, u're paying cafe prices which is a little pricey. But, I guess what I liked about this place was the environment. We were sitting by the road, and it suddenly feels like time stood still for a while. Like you were transported back into time with the old nostalgia of Tiong Bahru (especially on that afternoon when we were seated next to the shop selling temple items, yet it was so quiet without many cars).
Anyhow, I came back to this area a month after that, not to patronize Tbone Steakhouse, but to check out Caffe Pralet. I spotted this place when I came to Tbone steakhouse and it looked really cosy and the whole cafe looked great from the outside. Caffe Pralet is in fact run by Creative Culinaire, known for their cooking and bakery classes. Service was a tad slow considering the cafe had a small seating capacity and it wasn't running at full strength (probably 75%). It took a long while for food and drinks to come. But, portions wise, it was very reasonable. The asian food was good (their mee siam had sold out when we came!). The fish and chips which the neighbouring table ordered looked really tempting. Mine was shepherd's pie which was not too bad, although I thought the pie filling (or rather the sauce) was a bit too sweet for my liking. The desserts were good. We ordered 3 cakes, the pralet (their famouse cake which is the chocolate cake with the crispy biscuit thingy), black forrest (I'm not a fan of black forrest, but this version had more mousse than cake and it wasn' too sweet) and a cheese cake. To sum it all, cafe style food at reasonable prices.

A&W in Indonesia

2008-05-01T22:57:00.000+08:00

I was in Jakarta sometime in March and we came past A&W and that was the immediate stop for lunch. And like JJ said, eating waffles, drinking root beer float and eating curly fries is like a childhood dream come true. All I needed was just coney dog. And indeed, A&W's root beer float and waffles with ice cream is still just as good. Ahhh...

My blog's alive!!!

2008-05-01T22:41:00.001+08:00

Ah... This blog is alive. So, here are some super backdated posts and photos...

Changi Airport Terminal 3 which I first visited on Day4 of CNY...

1) Starting from the basement... There is another Popeyes at the airport! Whee... in my opinion, Popeyes' chicken is much better than KFC. So, it's really a pity to see that they only had one outlet at T1 before this outlet opened. And Popeyes' has another outlet at the Singapore Flyer. Yippee!! Hopefully they open a few more outlets in due course. =)
2) The food court at the basement
3) Check out the propeller which was a great source of amusement to many kids.
4) And the other T3 attractions: the natural lite ceiling panels, the indoor garden.
5) Came across this little store which sells local products, condiments and sauces.
6) The shop had miniature versions of soya sauce and kaya. It really looked very cute
7) As I was walking at the tree top shopping area, guess what I came across? DBS Asia treasures outlet! Obviously I had to take a photo. If you're an Asia Treasures customer, you can get limo rides from the airport and use the exclusive lounge.
8 & 9) I came across this game shop at the airport and they were selling games like this... It tickled me so much I had to take a photo of it!

Shokudo

Since my first trip there (I think somewhere late Feb), I've gotten hooked on Shokudo and have made at least 3 trips ever since. This is the Japanese version of Marche. Everytime I come here I spend a long time deciding what to eat cos the choices are aplenty, and the food is reasonable and good (much better that Sakae in my opinion). A bowl of Ramen costs about $8, which really is very reasonable. They have a section which does the normal sushi, sashimi, japanese salads; another with western japanese food, jap curries, teppanyaki and grills, ramens etc etc. There's just so much to choose from and you can just go crazy. Only problem is that they have a small variety of desserts, but they do some of it well. The tofu cheesecake was good and the mango slush was absolutely refreshing and much needed for a mango fix, they also have some unique Japanese ice cream (eg. green tea, white sesame etc.). But the crepes and waffles didn;t wow me. That aside, go for the food and if you want something more exciting for desserts, head on somewhere else (like Menotti, Canele or even Ben & Jerry's).

Some random shots at Raffles place...

I was walking to the MRT station from the gym when I came across these windmills. It looked so beautiful especially that evening. After a good workout and nice warm bath, the light breeze blowing on your face, the ipod playing to a nice, light jazz easy listening music and the windmills just blowing in the wind. Ahhh... That was so relaxing after a hard day's work... The simple pleasures of life.

2008-02-27T01:44:00.000+08:00

It's 1.30am in the morning. Guess what I am doing? Looking at all the spreadsheets and formulas and my eyes are going crossed. And whilst I'm waiting for my file to be saved, I decide that it's time to vent a little bit. That would make for a 13 over hour day. I should be sleeping now! Why am I still working? Grrr... SO MUCH to do, so little time and yet people are chasing us like mad. Give us a break la. It's a new year, tonnes of rebasing to do, reformatting and all that crap.

I do love my job. Really. I just need to get through this week...

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2008-02-23T16:17:00.000+08:00

I've been quiet for a while and it will continue to be. I've got tons to upload, but now I'm just too busy with the new budget and new reporting. It's a saturday and I'm working from home. How exciting is that. But, I still love my job. =)

2008-02-04T23:31:00.000+08:00

Today I made a little stop at EMO town. I wonder how long I would be here. Oh well...

Blue Spoon Gourmet and 2am Dessert Bar

2008-01-22T00:50:00.000+08:00

Contrary to what many people think, I'm not the type who only goes for "atas" food or drinks. Really... It's just that I believe in eating good food (which doesn't have to be expensive). Food should always be enjoyed, it just isn't an end to hunger. So while paying a premium may get you good food, but I also enjoy hunting for places which quality food at a reasonable price.

A while back, I read about this place, Blue Spoon Frozen Gourmet about how they specialize in Frozen gourmet food and I hear that while the food is frozen, it still tastes good after a good heating. It's the cheater's guide to preparing great food for a party. Just buy them from here and all you have to do is heat them up and it's like you whipped up a full meal on your own. I've been wanting to visit this place, but its location at Ghim Moh has been quite a deterrent.

Anyway, I finally made my way there with Pet to check out this place. It's my first time there, so I really didn't know where it was, so I parked at the carpark at the back of the store, not realising that there is one in front of it. But, it's still not a far walk, so it was good. While they do serve other western and asian foods (eg. steaks, lamb n pork chops, chinese beef stew, ayam buah keluak, curry debal etc etc.), we decided to go for their pies which I heard they are famous for. I added on the meal (add $3 for a bowl of soup and a drink). The soup of the day was clam chowder, and while it may not be the best I've ever tried, but it is good. The chowder is thick and flavourful and it's got quite a bit of potato and carrot cubes in there, and definitely it isn't the canned stuff.

Ahhh... And the shepherd's pie (we had the chicken version). It is really very good! I haven't tasted Shepherd's pie this good before! The mashed potato is sufficiently salty and creamy without being overpowering. It's good to eat on its own or together with the meat portion at the bottom. And the meat at the bottom was very tasty and still moist! Considering that this was frozen food, this is very good stuff. Much better than Shepherd's pie that I've tried at other places which are supposedly freshly made. Oh, and the whole dish is moist and doesn't suffer from that drying effect of typical frozen food. Super YUMMY!

The lasagne was good too, but didn't fare as well as the Shepherd's pie (I've tasted better ones). We went for the beef version. I like that the beef didn't have that strong beef smell and because they had it baked on the spot, the cheese was just flowing and oozing. However, I don't like that the lasagne pasta bits stick to your teeth and it tastes a bit too floury. Maybe it wasn't so well cooked.

I was pretty much blown away by the Shepherd's pie ($5.50 for eating there and $5 for the frozen tabao version) that I bought one back home. I haven't tried it yet (apparently it can keep for 3 months in the freezer!), but when I do, then I can tell you whether this place is really the party organizer's cheat sheet to gourmet food. I also bought the ayam buah keluak ($5 for tabao version, $5.90 for eating there - which i think is served with rice). And, my parents and I were impressed that for just $5 there were 3 huge chunks of chicken and a huge buah keluak nut. While I would have preferred a more spicy version, this was good for only $5! Plus, ayam buah keluak is not easy to prepare (it's super time consuming having to prepare especially the nut) so, for a huge bowl at $5 it was very good. And, the chicken was well kept, it didn't break out into pieces like most frozen pieces do. (I was told not to keep it too long before eating).

Back to my dinner, the other hilight for the night was desserts. And since we were near Holland V, we headed to 2am dessert bar for desserts. I have been dying to try this place. Mostly because I am a fan of the chef. The chef in question took part in Sam Leong's show (Star Chef) and every time I see it, I am convinced that she's the best of them all. Maybe that's because she looks so professional and she makes super yummilicious desserts (and I'm a sucker for desserts). So, when she didn't win the title of Star Chef, I was quite disappointed. But, hearing that she opened her own place, I had to come here to try her creations.

And, I am so glad I came here. Firstly, it has an open bar concept and walking into the dessert place immediately reminded me of a typical New Yorker restaurant's bar area. (It brought back fond and heart warming memories! Oh, how I miss New York, Austin, the US!) Although I made a reservation (so typical of the working me) in the hope of them giving us a nice seat, we were left with a couple of seats by the bar area. Disappointing, but at least we got a seat. There were some people after us who were told that they had to wait for others to move off as there were no more seats available. Some of the people just take this place as a chill out area, so moving their butts takes quite a while.

Recommendations were for the Chocolate tart with Blood Orange Sorbet which we ordered. And, for the chocolate fix, we ordered Hot Chocolate (almost too literally) which came with home made churros.

Let me begin with the chocolate tart. It was heavenly, nothing quite like what I've ever tried before. Firstly, the tart pastry is light and fluffy, not too flaky, but still able to hold its piece when cut. It tastes good on its own, but pair that with the chocolate filling and it doesn't the least overwhelm the chocolate tart filling (which many other chocolate tarts do, and you end up with more "biscuit-y" kinda morsel in your mouth from the tart pastry), but instead just enhances the tart filling. The filling is heavy, bittersweet (MMmm... My favourite!), thick and just goes fantastically well with the tart pastry. It's like every bite into it almost seems to bring you to cloud 9. Oh, and did I mention that this tart is served warm and the chocolate filling literally oozes out when the tart is split into 2... Simply fantastic... Such a heavy piece paired with a tarty yet refreshing blood orange sorbet (which i would have preferred if it were more sour) was a unique combination that went well. Not quite like the tried and tested chocolate lava/chocolate brownie and vanilla ice-cream combination, but a match that could possibly be made in heaven too. We polished off the chocolate tart in a few minutes and that was what made us order our last dessert (Tiramisu).

The Hot Chocolate, of which we witnessed the heating preparation of (they have the chocolate in plastic bag kinda thing and heat it up in a water bath before pouring it in a cup), is an awfully sinful chocolate drink that is not for the faint hearted. Let's just say this is almost too literally a cup of HoT CHOCOLATE and not a cup of hot chocolate DRINK. It's way too sinful to be called a drink and even if you are a chocolate fanatic, that drink will probably curb your chocolate cravings for the rest of the evening, if not for the next couple of days or so. The hot CHocolate has a slight bitterness to it (good! I like) and is thicker in comparison to any other hot chocolate drink that you find outside. In fact, it was a little too thick for my liking, and the 2 of us had problems finishing the drink. Got a bit jelat at the end, too chocolatey, and each spoonful became too much to handle. But, maybe that's cos there were only 2 of us sharing it and it was too much to stomach at one sitting. The churros however were fantastic (we should have ordered just a plate of homemade churros instead). They were served warm and coated with a mix of cinnamon and sugar. The warmth from the churros helped to bring out the fragrance of the cinnamon and sugar and made each mouthful such a delight. Crispy on the outside, light and soft on the inside. Sadly there were only 3 pieces which were gone in no time.

We were so blown away by the chocolate tart that we were determined to try yet another of Janice's desserts. Sitting at the bar of the open kitchen, we pretty much saw what people were ordering and the presentation of the tiramisu looked the best and most tempting. So we ordered it. Hmmm... It was ok, I guess. Not too sweet (which is good!), but let's just say I've tasted better. But, the coffee gelato that came with it was power packed and so were the 2 kahlua jellies by the side. You can actually taste bits of the coffee bean in the gelato and it's not the sweet sweet type of gelato, in fact because of the coffee, it kinda made the gelato bittersweet. Not everyone's cup of tea, but I sure did enjoy it. Oh and the kahlua jelly (I wish she served more of it!) was so delectable and cute. Too bad, one pop in the mouth and it's GONE. Oh well...

I really do like 2am dessert bar quite a bit, and I'll definitely be back here to try out her other desserts and of course to get another dose of the chocolate tart. YUM YUM!

Bluespoon Frozen Gourmet And Snack Bar
Block 21 Ghim Moh Road, #01-213
Tel: 6455-6455
Opening hours: 8am to 7pm daily

2am Dessert Bar
21A Lorong Liput
Holland Village
Tel: 6291 9727
Hours: Mon-Sat: 6pm - 2am (Closed on Sun)

1st Dec 07 - FL Girls' Grooming Session

2008-01-07T01:12:00.000+08:00

A bit back dated, but here it is.. Finally...

Joanna's an exceptional talent. She transformed Judah room into such a cosy and nice place for a girls' tea party. She's superb with details, tying ribbons and flowers on the chairs and all. She even got us one of the hanging sash!! Looks good enough for a wedding man! And, because of her contact, we managed to get all these decorations for free. Joanna, you rock la! Thank you so much babe!
Oooo... And check out the food. So colourful arrangements, right? Hahaha... I ordered them from Sweet Secrets and took a painsticking 1/2hr to arrange them so that they look super appetizing. LOL...

Going into 2008...

2008-01-05T17:28:00.001+08:00

2007 has passed and a new year of new beginnings has begun. God taught me many things during this year. In particular:
a) Trusting in Him (like how He provided me with this job which when I reflected back and looked into my old journal, He answered every request I had put up to Him about a job I wanted).
b) Obedience in Him and listening to Him. (to put aside all the noise of work, life and everything and obey Him)

During CYC, God spoke to me and I know that in 2008 it would be a time to wait. Not take things in my own hands, but just to wait upon the Lord. That at least is with respect to a single aspect in my life. While it is difficult and painful, wait I will. And as I cry out to God about how painful it is to wait and how things seem all so gloomy still, nevertheless, our God is a faithful God. He has already shone it to me that when I get all sad from the pain, He cheers me up with the little things that help me go on. God is preparing me slowly for this aspect of my life and I know it. I can feel it. And I also can feel the Holy Spirit's leading for a strong relationship with God for that will be the basis and foundation of what may be to come.

December came and went...

2008-01-05T17:26:00.000+08:00

December has been a very eventful month.

Work wise it marked the start of the lull period and many people (including myself) was just clearing leave. It was in this period that I actually managed to take leave and enjoy it. Before that, the 2 days I took was mainly for church stuff. And those days when i was back at work, there was always something to look forward to. Another party, a team gathering etc etc. Lots and lots of food, booze and pure fun. It really was a good way to get back to work after my 10 day mandatory block leave.

December began with our mission trip to Baguio. And that trip was absolutely amazing. So many testimonies both on an individual level and on a team level. About open heaven, breaking down the walls of Jericho. So many visions, all of which the Lord answered and brought to completion what He had promised. My own testimony of how I came along on this trip, how the Lord answered my prayers almost immediately and how He was a my source of strength and support is so much to share. Praise be to God for all He has done. All we needed to do was to obey and follow what He has directed for us. Indeed Baguio was the trip in which I felt the Lord so real at every step of the way.

And after my return from Baguio, there were those few days to spend with some very special people in my life. A very dear friend who returned from Down Under unannounced and another who will be leaving to a very far Swiss land for the next year and definitely not forgetting some girl time with my mum and godma. While I was reluctant to go for CYC, I am so glad that I finally pushed myself to go for it. I praise the Lord that even though I was so unprepared as a camp committee member, but it was in this state of slight fatigue and unpreparedness that I surrendered all to Him and heard Him so clearly. So many things He is saying to me and so many things I have learnt. About waiting, about the true heart of worship and so much more.

Oh, and I must blog about this. God is an amazing God, during this leave period, He thought me so much about worship. From Baguio to CYC's last night of worship and climaxing at the worship service @ 10.30am when we had no drums and no bassist. Oh that was such a huge faith trip for me. In Baguio, worship was absolutely amazing. The presence of the Lord was so strong in the place. Nothing can describe that feeling and that experience. I sang my heart out, my spirit rejoiced and physically I was exuberant in the Lord. And that day I experienced what it meant to when you sing "oh I feel like dancing, it's foolishness I know, but when the world has seen the light, they will dance with joy like we're dancing now". Ask the Baguio mission team who saw me jumping, prancing around at Grandma Perry's. I was dancing with joy. That was lesson 1. Lesson 2 came at CYC's last night. You know when I joined Paul and Seng (together with Nat and XT) to worship with Fairfield, although we don't know what songs we'll be singing, but just let God take charge, at least I knew that the songs we were singing were familiar songs. At CyC's last night, we didn't know the order of the songs and worst of all some of the songs I had only heard once and a couple I'd never heard before until that night. Now, that is really a faith journey. I worried about how I feared I would screw things up about everything, but as we prepared ourselves for worship, God taught me the 2nd lesson. It was not about knowing how to play, but as long as I worshipped Him whether the songs were knew or not, that was what mattered most. And, yes, it was an amazing time of worship and just letting God's spirit take over. I told God, God, I don't know how to play a lot of songs, so You take charge man. In that act of surrendering, I worshipped God not being familiar with many of the songs, but still being able to worship Him in spirit and truth. The final lesson came on the day after that night's worship. I was playing for service, but we had no drummer (long story). The drummer is highly important in a band to help hold it together, but with no drummer?!?! Thank goodness for a wonderful bassist, but as God tested my faith more, Seng was sick on that morning and it was just the guitar, KB and piano. I wondered, oh no.. how how how? How to play with no drummer, no bassist, how to let the music flow, especially the fast ones and the rythmic ones? Me of little faith, didn't learn my lesson 1 & 2 well. I asked God, God, how can we lead the congregation in worship when aesthetically, our band isn't full? Yes, worship is all about You, but still, aesthetics are important, right? God soon opened my eyes and showed me the congregation worshipping HIm with so much zest for they were worshipping the Lord God almighty. oh, how I cried out to the Lord and the rest of the worship session was just such an amazing experience. Pardon me for my lack of description. But, you had to be there to understand it, you had to be there to experience it.

Then came the festive period... Feasting, more feasting and even more feasting. Catching up with ex colleagues, church people, parties and above all else, my time with God. Remembering His grace and He sending His son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins.

December came and went. For me, the highest point was Baguio and CYC. While Christmas partying and all was all fun, but really, those experiences with God can never be replaced.

My First Christmas at the office...

2007-12-27T17:30:00.000+08:00

I've heard a lot from my colleagues about how the Christmas feel in the office is always very cheery and also about that legendary turkey from Ah Huat's kitchen. So, after waiting 8 months, I finally had my chance to experience Christmas in the office, and yes... It is such a cheery and festive mood. Everyone's just so happy and even the Christmas decorations are great!

Oh, and check out the food we had to feast on. This is only a small little part of the huge spread we had. We had others like Pizza, nuggets, sushi, tonnes of alcohol... And the dessert wine we had was absolutely fantastic. Super smooth, and yet, not too sweet. I've never quite tried anything like this.

The turkey was roasted by Ah Huat's kitchen. Yes yes... And, Ah Huat's not super cheapolad kinda restaurant. Ah Huat's actually my VP. He took leave, woke up at 5am and roasted the Turkey specially for us. And, we made him make super a lot of Potato Salad so that we can dabao, but, there was a huge scuffle for the dabao-ed Potato Salad. Yes, it's SO popular!!! Back to the Turkey... Most turkeys tend to be dry. It really isn't easy to roast such a HUGE bird, but Ah Huat's turkey is the most moist you can ever get. The breast part (usually the driest) came off as one whole slice and didn't split when he was slicing a thin piece down. Tells u how juicy the bird is. And, you really don't need much sauce, it's good on it's own. And the Durian and CHocolate Log cake were baked by Uncle Leong (another VP's) wife. It is so good I will rank it second after Goodwood Park's Durian array of pastries. She's very generous with the durian so you can imagine how much durian there is. The last time she made durian mooncakes for us, we jus walloped the whole thing.. Yum yum... =)

Blue Lobster

2007-12-18T18:15:00.000+08:00

I tried this place a while back. Sorry for the lack of pictures... Maybe one day I'll post them up. But anyway, it's got good food, but terrible service. We waited so long for our food, they did so many wrongs that should never be done in a restaurant. Ambience was nice, but service was down right TERRIBLE. Well, for the price we paid, I expected better service...

2007-12-13T00:01:00.000+08:00

God does the most amazing things that makes you go more than WOW

My Day Off...

2007-12-03T09:12:00.000+08:00

It's my day off. A much needed day of rest not from work but from everything else BUT work. I haven't been having much of a weekend for the last few weeks because of the increased amount of work for mission trip and for CYC. It became so bad that one day I just refused to go to cell group and stay for CYC meeting that lasted longer than the stated time. I mean, hey, it's my saturday, but I'm doing almost the same hours as my usual working day! Like 10am to 6+ 7pm in church, discounting a break for lunch. At least at work, I get to enjoy a good and fulfilling lunch. But still, I enjoy all that busyness and am extremely excited about my mission trip. I can't wait for it man! And this much needed rest day would give me some time to realign my focus and get myself in and ready for whatever holds ahead for the mission trip. I really don't know what to expect for the mission trip, but it's going to be one **** of a journey. =) Can't say the same for CYC though. Maybe I've been too busy to even bother about CYC. Ahh.. We'll take things one at a time. For now, I'm looking forward to my packed off day, tomorrow's company event @ Muse bar and D-Day on Wednesday. Yipppeee....

Gourmet Plus @ Frankel Avenue

2007-11-17T23:54:00.000+08:00

I've been wanting to come here for quite a number of times, but some how it always
slipped my mind. So, finally, today I headed here for dinner. Gourmet Plus is sister to Pichon in Boat Quay and whips up simple French cuisine in this sleepy eastern suburb of Frankel.

Before I go on about the food, I have to mention that I was a little irritated by the level of service. Firstly when we were seated, the waiter and waitresses kept hovering around us wanting us to place our order. That was totally unacceptable as we hadn't even gone through the menu. Just give us a few minutes of unobtrusive service to let us decide on what we want! Next, when we were placing our order, the waiter (I think he was the floor manager) was terrible at taking my order. I placed my order without looking much at the menu or pointing at the menu and he looked very lost and couldn't repeat a single of my orders. So, I repeated my order, pointing to each order in the menu (and finally he got it. Gee...). Whilst I was placing my order, a huge party of about 12 persons came in and there wasn't a stretch of seats for 12. My server was so distracted by the party of 12 that when he took my order, he kept looking over and finally, he just walked off to attaned to that party of 12! That was just so wrong, can't you wait a little while, get done with my order before attending to that party of 12? What's worst is that this was the second time I was repeating the order and you suddenly just leave like this!?! (Like I said, the 1st time I rattle off the menu without pointing to it, he looked so lost I had to repeat it again pointing to the menu. So, it's not my fault he isn't apt with the menu.) If it weren't for the fact that I was with my parents, I would have just walked out with such terrible service. So the server left to arrange the tables for the party of 12 and after he was done, he came back to take the rest of my order not before collecting the whole chunk of menus from our table (how discourteous! We hadn't even finished placing our order and he just took the menus away from our table just because of the party of 12!!!!). We placed our dessert order too as the chocolate lava cake required 15 mins of preparation time and we wanted the dessert to come immediately after our dinner. Mum wanted some bread with butter which they didn't serve and we asked if we could order bread (but our server just didn't understand what we wanted he said he could give us butter. Like.. huh? And he said the menu does not have bread) I found it very odd that they didn't serve bread, but they actually do sell bread at the delicatessen part of the store. The server could have simply showed us the bread counter and asked us to choose our bread and sell us the bread and serve it with butter. But, obviously, he was not so business minded. In the end, we ordered garlic bread, the only bread on the menu.

I was disappointed when the bread came. Look at some of the sides, it was actually burnt and they had the cheek to serve it. That coupled with the terrible service was enough to kill my whole mood for dinner that evening. The garlic bread was nothing to shout out about. The bread was thin enough, but there was totally no taste of garlic on the garlic bread. It just tasted bland.
The smoked salmon salad was also a let down. The salad was mixed in vinegrette. I would have preferred if there was a stronger taste of the balsamic vinegar. Oh well...

While waiting for our mains to come, we got a chance to browse the delicatessen. The delicatessen sells some of the meats served on their maincourse menu. It also includes a variety of cheeses and sausages and the breads that they bake in house. They also have things like preserved feta cheeses, sundried tomatoes etc. Great place to get delicatessen meats, cheese platters and the like etc. etc. In fact, it's well situated in frankel, allowing the residents nearby to get access to all the food they need for entertaining.

The main courses fared slightly better than the appetisers. We ordered the arrabiata, aglio olio with mushrooms, lamb shank and pan-seared scallops. The pastas were done al-dente. Just the right texture and they were sufficiently spicy. The arrabiata was tangy and rich with the tomato base.
And, I liked this aglio olio too which wasn't oily, although I would have preferred a stronger flavour of the garlic infused into the olive oil base.
We also had the chef's special of pan-seared scallops with salad and parmesan shavings which came with a sweet underlying sauce.

The lamb shank was not too bad, it didn't have a very strong lamb taste, but the lamb was not stewed long enough so that the meat would just melt in your mouth.

So, after dinner, we were sitting around waiting for desserts when another waited came up and asked us if we would like to place our dessert order. To which we said we had already placed our order. After a while, the original waiter who took our order came over and asked us what we had ordered for desserts (gosh!) and we were so shocked like didn't he take our orders when we first ordered? We ordered it with the main course cos we didn't want to have to wait and extra 15mins for the lava cake to be prepared, so imagine our irritation! Desserts were ok, I guess. NOthing spectacular. We had the chocolate lava cake which really oozed out of chocolate, my only qualm was that it was such a small piece.

The creme brulee came with some fruits inside the brulee. I didn't exactly like it cause I like the strong vanilla, egg and creme taste of the custard instead of barring it with the slightly sourish taste of the fruits. But, really, it wasn't bad.
We also had a tiramisu, which just passable. It was more towards the dry side, no where near the one I had at Peaberry & Pretzel.

Overall the main course fared better than the rest, but there is still much room for improvement for the food. This place is indeed a gem to find in the east and it's great for a quiet saturday dinner. Service needs A LOT of improvement, but I shan't fault them because they don't charge service and there is not GST charge. Further to that there was the DBS card discount. So all in, we spent about $23 per person for dinner.

Gourmet Plus
Address:
117 Frankel Avenue
Frankel Estate
Singapore 458232
Tel: 6441 1120
Opening hours: 10am- 10.30pm

Peaberry & Pretzel

2007-11-17T22:09:00.000+08:00

A while back, I posted that Sunset Way was one of my latest weekend haunt out spot. In particular, I really liked the environment at Peaberry & Pretzel and it was this store which made me drive from Bedok to Clementi 2 consecutive weekends in a roll. Just check out the environment inside the shop (They also have a nice al fresco dining area which is very similar to the rest of the stores along the Sunset Way area. Think: Wooden planks, some greenery, yet being in the heart of a HDB estate.)

If you know how much of a desserts person I am, you would understand why I was so attracted to the dessert display counter. The display counter had a display of mostly takeout desserts (you can't really see much from here cos of the condensation, but it did look very tempting). Each of the desserts were made in these plastic somewhat inverted pyramid-shaped (small square base with a larger square top) like container. The best part of that is that you get to see the different layers and beautiful colours that make up each dessert. The top of each dessert is also adorned with a variety of colours making the whole display very appealing to the eye.

Now more to the food. When I first visited Peaberry & Pretzel, I was determined to eat German food cos it was the weekend of Oktoberfest and I wanted to go German in celebration of Oktoberfest. So I ordered a sausage set that came with a variety of german potato salad and sauerkraut. We had about 5-6 different sausages on each plate. They were generally ok, not great, but the lamb one was really nasty. I did enjoy the potato salad and sauerkraut quite a bit though. I also got the apple crumble pie with vanilla ice cream. It was ok, but not great, cos the apples used were a bit on the sour side.

The next week when I went there I was smarter and brought my camera and had Hunter's Schnitzel (Viennese cutlet, we had it in chicken) and beef goulash. I really enjoyed the chicken cutlet (it came with creamy mushroom sauce) which wasn't too oily, tender and flavourful. Yum yum...

The beef goulash came and was up to the brim of the bowl (Very generous with the portion, maybe because they specially did the order for us as the kitchen was closing already.) A tad oily and I wished the tomato base was a little richer and there was a stronger taste of beef. It would have been wonderful with a warm bread roll and butter.
Ahhh... And how could I not order desserts? We had the tiramisu (this is the takeout portion as the normal restaurant portion had sold out, but it was a good size and it was cheaper). I really liked it and while it isn't the best I've had but it's been one of the better ones I've had in a long while. You can taste the liquor in the appropriately wet ladyfinger layer which combined really well with the mascarpone cheese. I especially like the crunchy bits at the top which I can't figure what they are.
Oooo... And I couldn't resist the chocolate pudding. The first time I was here I didn't order it cos I thought it was one of those jelly like puddings which I don't fancy. But, reading a few reviews later, i relaised that it was something like those chocolate lava cake type of chocolate pudding. So, imagine a whole ramekin of dark chocolate (ahh... my favourite!), baked till warm. What I really liked about this dessert was that the chocolate pudding was actually bittersweet! Not like the lava cakes you get outside which are more on the sweet side. And for those who don't like it bittersweet (I loved the bitterness of the cocoa), they do serve it was vanilla ice cream and vanilla cream. So, you can add it to the chocolate. For me, I was more than happy with the bittersweet pudding. Absolutely wonderful... Yum yum yum...

Peaberry & Pretzel
106 Clementi Street 12
#01-52
Singapore 120106
Tel: 6777 3477
Opening Hours: 12pm - 10pm
Website: http://www.peaberryandpretzel.com.sg/

Calendar's Carrot Cake

2007-11-05T23:57:00.000+08:00

When I first heard of the American Carrot Cake, I never really wanted to try it. Cos, etched in my mind was the wonderfully savoury taste of the Singaporean version of fried carrot cake. I could never ever imagine how carrot cake would ever taste nice if it was done the sweet way. To add to that, some of my buddies around me do not like the American version of Carrot Cake and so I never really got a chance to order it when we were out for meals. And, if you know me, I seldom buy sliced cakes home to eat. It was not until I was at Cedele sometime early this year buying some cakes for a friend and I asked for their best selling cakes which they said was the American Carrot Cake. I figured that if other people like it, it can't be all that bad and decided to take a shot at it. Turned out that my friend didn't like Carrot Cake and so I had it all to myself, and boy was I bowled over! It was really YUM! And, since then, I've given Carrot Cakes a lease of life in my gastronomic adventures.

A while back, I was reading thebakerwhocooks blog entry and she was raving all about this American Carrot Cake from Calendar's and I just HAD to try it. But, it's situated in Pandan Loop and I had no occasion to buy it. I had contemplated buyingit for the monthly CGL meeting (where we will celebrate birthdays monthly), but I never did because i wondered whether they knew how to enjoy carrot cake or whether it'll all go to waste. SOme edging and encouraging from Mei after I told her my concerns got me to pick up that phone, make the call and 4 days later drive from Bedok to Pandan Loop (Read: West Coast!)on a Saturday morning to get the cake.

And gee... This is really good stuff! I love this cake, flavourful without the spices overpowering the cake, rich in nuts and raisins, and for a carrot cake, it is surprisingly moist and light enough... I could eat up the whole quarter of this cake if not for the fact that the calories will do too much harm to my body. =) You guys should try it!

Anyway, there is another way to get this cake instead of driving all the way to Pandan Loop and ordering a min 1kg cake. Calendar's does mainly corporate rather than retail sales and they supply their cakes (Carrot Cake, Chocolate Cake and Apple Crumble) to quite a few places like Soup Spoon ( Raffles Place and City Hall) and Cold Storage. I was speaking to the boss and he told me that there's a little cafe at the Cold Storage at Tanglin Mall and they're the ones who supply the cakes and crumble pies there. He was telling me how the apple crumble is quite similar to cobblers... So, I can't wait to make a trip there to try the apple crumble!! I miss a decent cobbler... and my yummy key lime pie.

Calendar's
American Pies, cakes & other pastries
(owned and operated by Storrap Pte Ltd)
257 Pandan Loop #04-00 Singapore 128434
Tel: 6464 0383
Email: calendars_pies@yahoo.com.sg

Krispy Kreme!!!

2007-11-05T23:32:00.000+08:00

A very sweet friend of mine bought me a dozen donuts recently when he came back from Bali. And, me, being selfish me kept both the glazed donuts all to myself (no la, but seriously, there were only 2, I polished off one the night he brought it back and then there was one.) The rest were sweet sweet sweet. I quite like the dark chocolate one too... Not too sweet.

Tired tired tired...

2007-10-27T20:35:00.000+08:00

I am tired. I don't know why, but I think with all the crazy renovation and having to get so many things in order sometimes I just feel like I'm running on nothing. This last month has been most trying and it still is. I need a break. A break away from everything and just to spend time with myself and if time permits time with the closest of my buddies - with nothing to worry but just to spend quality chill out time together. I don't know how long I can last this way. It's so emotionally and physically draining sometimes.

Chill Out...

2007-10-11T00:29:00.000+08:00

I have my favourite haunt outs from time to time. For a while it was Rochester, then Holland Village and East Coast Park, recently it was Dempsey and St James. And, I just found a really nice place which might just be my next weekend haunt out spot - Sunset Way. I was utterly stunned when I went there last week to meet a friend for dinner. It looked really quite and sleepy from the outside of the HDB estate, but I tell you, don't be deceived by that facade, because walking in, you'll see that it's a hive of activity! We ate at this really nice, dainty and a little girly place which serves German food (hmm... dainty and German doesn't go right? But, who cares, they've got decent food and reasonable prices and a HUGE selection of desserts considering that this is a HDB estate kind of restaurant!) - Peaberry & Pretzel. I will blog more about it when I have the time, but, I'm definitely going to make a trip there again soon.

October

2007-10-01T23:25:00.000+08:00

It is October! And it never struck me that September has flown past and we're into our last quarter of 2007!!! Goodness, time is passing too fast. And come the first week of October I will have been with this job for 6 months and it almost seemed like I had just joined. Wowowhee...

Anyway, it wasn't until yesterday during service when I realized that it was Children's Day today. Yes, 1st October is Children's day, but that day has become so unsignificant for me as celebrating it seems like a distant memory. After graduating from primary school, I spent the next 4 years of secondary school moaning and groaning on why they don't give us a holiday on children's day. Then came JC where this period of time is the super stress and mugging period that really, a school holiday doesn't make a difference. And when uni came, Children's Day totally slips your mind. You're bogged down with too many projects to even realise and you get acquainted to a new festival that happens in October and it is more exciting and appeals more to the adults than Children's Day - Oktoberfest.

Yes yes yes! Oktoberfest is here and I wanna celebrate it. Technically, Oktoberfest this year started 22 Sept 07 and ends on 7th Oct 07, but who cares, let's just celebrate it and get an excuse to hang out with friends and have fun. I missed celebrating St Pat's day this year (cos everyone thought I was mad to celebrate St Pat's day. hey! It's a great festival of being Irish and green!) so, hopefully I still get to celebrate Oktoberfest without everyone thinking I'm mad. Hahaha... So, go out, play and have fun. And, if u're game for an Oktoberfest party, let me know NOW!

Beautiful Sunset

2007-09-27T23:14:00.000+08:00

I was at OBS last saturday for some company team bonding and I had a smashing time. But, I shall leave that for another post or not. I just wanted to share a few photos though, of the beautiful sunset when we were leaving Pulau Ubin. Just look at the colours! Such a magnificent piece of art. Enjoy!

Ma Maison

2007-09-27T22:32:00.000+08:00

The last time I saw this restaurant was a few months back at Central. My friend and I were deciding between eating at Waraku and Ma Maison. In the end, we decided to go for Waraku and I made it a point to go back to Ma Maison one day. That thought totally slipped my mind until my friend suggested eating at some Japanese-Western place at Bugis. I didn't know Ma Maison had an outlet in Bugis, so I thought she was referring to a "Pasta de Waraku" copycat. (ps. I have to try Pasta de Waraku one day!). It wasn't until we walked to the little corner did I realize it was Ma Maison, the place that I said I'll try, but obviously that slipped my mind. Anyway, i was glad cos I had read about this place and how their brown sauce is simmered for 28 days! Can you beat that?!?!

Ok, to the ambience, the restaurant adopts the look of a traditional English cottage, complete with parquetry flooring, wooden tables and chairs. The pots and pans and typical english kitchen accessories together with the table cloth and curtains make the whole environment homely and you feel transported to a small little cottage in England. And, almost makes you feel like it's Christmas and the family is crowded around about to eat the meatloaf, turkey, ribs etc etc.

The western cuisines are carefully prepared with a touch of Japanese unique to the restaurant’s style. You get things like the marriage of a thick piece of pork cutlet (think: tonkatsu) together with the brown sauce. I wanted to order the original hamburger steak which is supposedly quite famouse, but I figured it'll be way too much for me to eat. So, I went for the beef stroganoff with buttered rice topped with an omelette. The stroganoff was good and would have been perfect with toasted bread. The brown sauce, while very flavourful and you could taste the essence of the beef in the sauce, was a bit too salty for my liking. The buttered rice wasn't tasty to eat on it's own, but that's probably because it's supposed to be eaten with the stew. But, I absolutely loved the omelette. It was the most perfect omelette I've ever eaten. Texture wise: wobbly, yet firm. Taste: Light and very well mixed, almost like a curd of jelly. Flavour: Just right, not too salty, yet you could taste the egg flavour. Absolutely yummilcious. Ooo... =) In fact, now I'm still thinking of it.

My main course cost about $17. Not too expensive and for the ambience (they play nice jazz at the back) I definitely would come back here with a bunch of good pals to just chill and relax over dinner. And the next time I'm back, I'll definitely try the Original Hamburger Steak and/or Beef Stew. Yum yum... And I heard the mash potato's good. *winks*

Ma Maison
200 Victoria St.
#02-51 Parco Bugis Junction
Singapore 188021
Tel: 63384819

6 Eu Tong Sen Street,
The Central @ Clarke Quay
Singapore 59817

Hours:
Mon - Fri: 11.30am to 2.30pm, 6pm - 10pm
Sat & Sun: 11.30am to 10pm

Eighteen Chefs

2007-09-27T21:45:00.000+08:00

Found out about this new eatery from ieatishootipost's blog. And, it's one of those "For a good cause" projects cause this place supports the yellow ribbon project. This new eatery at Eastpoint Mall that takes a leaf from Brit celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s restaurant Fifteen. The latter offers work to wayward teenagers, equipping them with culinary skills to help them reintegrate into society through gainful employment.

Eighteen Chefs owner and executive chef Benny Se Teo, who had himself served time, started a month-long internship at Fifteen after chatting with Liam Black on the restaurant’s online forum. It was there that Se Teo, a trained tze char chef, honed his skills in Western cuisine. On his return to Singapore, he set up Eighteen Chefs, modeling Fifteen in its mission to offer employment and a helping hand to juvenile delinquents. Eighteen Chefs also sports an eye-catching wall mural painted by ex-offenders. To read the full story, please refer to ieatishootipost's post.

Anyway, I ordered the Lobster Mornay pasta set which came with soup and ice cream as dessert, all these for $16.90 only. Very reasonable. However, I wasn't impressed with the Lobster Mornay I had. I would have preferred if the sauce was had more cheese. But, at $16.90 for lobster, I shouldn't put my expectations too high. I have yet to try the baked rice, though which is what they are famouse for. But, I definitely will make a trip back to try out the baked rice. Oh.. And the savoury nibbles they serve looked really good from the neighbouring table's order. Yum yum... And, they're really reasonably priced! Since it was also a birthday celebration for ESPN and Charlene, I got them a cake from Swiss Backerei. I have always wanted to buy their food items as I've heard lots of good stuff about it. However, I got there really late and they were officially closed. The lady was really sweet, she specially sold me the cake although they had packed everything in already. Anyway, back to the cake, it's some Royal Palaris or something like that - apparently their best seller. And, boy was it good, super rich, super chocolatey. My only complain is that it's a bit dry and maybe a bit too heavy. But, if you like that type of heavy chocolate stuff with crunch bits in it (yum yum!), you'll like this. Do let it thaw for a while to allow the chocolate fudge/mousse/wadeva it is melt a bit and that will wet the cake a little so that when you cut it, it doesn't start disintegrating.

Eighteen Chefs
3 Simei Street 6 #01-36 Eastpoint Mall
Open noon to 11pm daily
Tel: (65) 67821298

Swiss Backerei
97 Frankel Avenue
Open 7.30am to 7.30pm
Tel: (65) 64418766

Food for Thought

2007-09-27T00:15:00.000+08:00

I read about this place from ieatishootipost's blog and decided to check it out for our inaugural Love Feast.

I had never been here and did not know what to expect. But, I loved the experience. It was a really comfy and nice environment, very Ikea styled wooden environment with simple food - Sandwiches, Soups, a couple of main course choices, salad and dessert. Simple but tasty food.

I ordered the combination platter for one which allowed me to choose 2 of the following: a full soup, half a salad, half a sandwich. I had orginally wanted to go for the soup and salad, but when I found out the half sandwich came with some greens, I decided to go for the sandwich and it was a good choice. The sandwich was yummy. And the mushroom soup was really full of mushroom. The food here is quite healthy, for instance, they don't put cream into their mushroom soup, so it was a little thin, but the abundance of mushrooms used more than made up for it. And desserts.. How could I ever not have them? Too bad they didn't have their red velvet cake (the guy told me that if I wanted a particular dessert, i should call to reserve that cake. And I was like "reserve 1 slice of cake?!?!". And he went "yes yes!! we have customers who call way in advance just to reserve a slice of cake". Ok, got the hint. Next time I go there, I'm going to call to reserve my cake first.) I ordered the nutella cupcake which wasn't fantastic. I like Marmalade Pantry's one better. And the apple crumble thingy. The apple crumble thingy was really good! I loved the crusted top. Sweet, buttery and rich. All the sinful stuff, but it tasted good and complemented the apple crumble well (since the crumble wasn't too sweet). Yummy yum yum. Now i'm still thinking about it!. I do like this place for it's ambience. Great for friends chilling out. And, I'll definitely be back to try the sandwich platter (you get to make your own sandwiches, and they'll provide you with the filling). Oh, and they make one of the meanest mash potato here. Real mash potato, not packet type. It's the best I've ever tasted, just like the way my mum makes it. Creamy, rich,just wet enough. As you savour each mouthful, you can taste the milk and cheese in the potato and there are little bits of potato hidden with the mash. Really good stuff!! =) I don't know if they do make it regularly (they should add this into their regular menu!), but it actually came with the main course they were serving for the day. So, I asked if I could buy the mash alone, which they (thankfully) allowed.

Oh, and another reason why I'll come back is because this place is a social enterprise and their profits do go to help the poor and needy. Simple but well done food, in the company of great friends and yet being able to help the poor, why not? Go check out their website for more details on their social enterprise and other community projects.

Food For Thought

420 North Bridge Road

North Bridge Centre

#01-06

Singapore 188727

Tel: (65) 6338 8724

The Prime Society

2007-09-26T23:33:00.000+08:00

We went to Dempsey Hill for lunch the other day and visited The Prime Society. There have been some write-ups about this place, so it was timely that we went there to check it out. So, let me start with the concept of the eatery. "The Prime Society" sounds posh and very "atas", but we were pleasantly surprised that the restaurant had a more homely feel with lots of unpainted stone walls and wooden furniture, giving it a dress down, old world yet hip feel (aka not Morton's or Lawry's kind of setting). It was really a comfortable place great for a bunch of friends to catch lunch together.

So, when we sat at our tables, we were welcomed with the "Inauguration Kit" - Really just an envelop containing the cutlery which, I must say was very heavy. The menu was shaped like that of a royal decree together with the signature of the prime princess (check the inset) and the simulation of the red candle seal. Amusing.

We ordered a jug of Primed (past tense!) Iced Tea and it was refreshing. The goodness of the mixed fruits (oranges, lime, lemon, cherries) made great flavour for the tea which was subtle and fragrant. My colleague ordered the Tiger Beer ___ which she said was good. I'm not a fan of Tiger Beer, so i passed and didn't try that one. The Prime Society had these really cool coasters, pity that I only managed to get 3 in the whole collection. I think the whole collection probably consists of The Prime Society's "Districtus Commandments" (refer below). You should go check out their website for and read their book for more details.

Placemats - Our placements came in form of paper explaining the different cuts of the pork, fish and artichoke. I don't know if they have others in the series, but that kept us busy for a while as we were reading the different parts whilst waiting for our food to come.

(From left to right)
Ah... Now, to the food. We had a couple of salad starters - Chorizo Salad and Caesar Salad. Both were good and I like that both salad dressings were not overpowering (I don't understand why some places love to dose their salad in the dressing. I love salads light with minimal dressing - enough just to musk the tinge of bitterness of raw vegetables, cos only then can you taste the real sweetness and goodness of the fresh leaves. But that's just me. That's why a simple vinegrette or olive oil dressing will do it for me. In fact, if the vegetables are very fresh, I prefer it without the dressing. But, that's a story for another day.) They served their Caesar Salad with thinly sliced and well toasted baguette bread which is a change from the croutons that are normally sprinkled on.
We ordered a full rack of pork ribs to share. They were well grilled and steaming hot when we got them. The meat from the ribs were soft, but I felt lacked the flavour and I ended up having to pour some sauce on to the meat to add some flavour to it. But the fries and grilled vegetables that came with it were really yummy. Yes, the fries were really good, such that I kinda began to regret changing my fries to mash potato (although my mash potato hadn't come. Yes, I am a sucker for good mash potato).
While most of us order the steaks, 2 of my other colleagues ordered fish and the chicken, which, I guess were ok. They didn't say much about their dishes and neither did I try it, so I can't give a fair comment.
Mine was the 160gm Sirloin with blue cheese butter (ah yess... I prefer my steak with butter instead of sauces. I'll explain why another time, but the butter somehow enhances the flavour of the steak, while sauces just musk the flavour). As with all other food I'm served for the first time, i always make it a point not to add anything else before trying the food (exception for Shark's fin soup where pepper is a MUST). My logic? If you try it not in it's original state, how would you be able to taste the food and if added ingredients are needed, how would you know what needs to be added. And, I try to stick by eating food in it's original state so that you get to taste the flavours that the chef is trying to combine and the artwork of piecing each flavour together with the juices of the original meat/dish that make the medley of flavours a joy to eat. Sauces and condiments should only help to enhance the flavour and never overpower them. So, back to my piece of meat. My medium sirloin was just right and the juices of the meat were well retained in the steak. However, the meat was bland and the cut of the meat was a bit tough. I kinda regretted not choosing the sauces. Definitely nowhere near Morton's (gosh, that one just has the juices bursting in your mouth and the meat is so flavourful and tender,it almost melts with those few bites it lasts in your mouth!), but slightly better than Jack's Place type. But, definitely not a place I'll recommend to come for steaks, unless you're in the area and you really want steaks. But how often can you say you're in the area when the area is Dempsey Hill? The mash potato that came by the side wasn't fantastic either. It was a tad dry (thank goodness for the juices from the steak) not rich and creamy enough. But, for it being real mash potato (I dislike those instant ones from the packet!) it was OK. Maybe my standards are too high.

Anyway, my hilight for the whole meal was the Prime "Pina Colada". In their own words - "Spiced pineapple carpaccio, dark rum jelly, vanilla bean ice-cream and coconut foam". It was heavenly. I started tasting each level first before mixing everything up. And, each level tasted absolutely delicious! So, you can imagine how well they tasted when I mixed them all together. You get a mouthful of citrusy fruit, with chewy jelly, cold and creamy ice-cream and a light bubly foam. Ignoring the flavours from the equation, texture wise is already exciting enough. Now, add in the flavours, imagine the marriage of the textures and the flavours. Ah... What more can I say?

The Prime Society
Tanglin Village #01-20
10 Dempsey Road (S)247700
Lunch: 11.30am - 3pm
Dinner: 6pm - 12midnight
Tel: 64747427

Are you married?

2007-09-25T00:43:00.000+08:00

I was at some company event and mixing around getting to know some of my colleagues from the rest of the other departments. So after chatting for a while one of my colleagues asked me "Are you married?" I was stunned for a while and I didn't know how to reply. In turn I asked her "Er... Do I look that old?" She laughed and said, "No, in fact you look very young. But, I thought that's a normal question to ask." I grinned and replied her, "I'm a fresh grad, young and single without any family commitments waiting to conquer the corporate world."

That little conversation amused me and I can't help but wonder, is the latest introduction phrase "Are you married?" I'm posting this up on facebook as my "questions". But, if you have an answer do tag it on my tagboard. =)

Charm Bibimbab & Gimbab

2007-09-25T00:12:00.000+08:00

Ever since Steffi intro-ed me to Icon Village, I have been going there whenever I am
a) bored
b) in need of some interesting shopping
c) on lunch duty and need to tabao
d) need our Yami Yoghurt fix

In all seriousness, Icon Village is a really small place (only 1 level), but with the void of good shopping around the Tanjong Pagar area (we only have IP which is really nothing compared to Raffles Place), this place came as a good refresher and I can't get enough of it. Furthermore, some of the shops are ones I'm seeing for the first time (although they say they have a couple more branches around the island). But, it's good that these shops open here instead of bigwig store names which are sprouting out everywhere around the island that shopping at these stores becomes a bore now (read: G2000, GG5 etc etc.) One other thing I like about Icon Village is that it has a few takeout stores (as in catered to takeout, not eat in then tabao sort of stores). And, these takeout stores vary from Hotdog stand type to shepherd's pie stuff and the one that caught my eye was this one - Korean takeout. Anyway, I was on lunch duty last week, and so I decided to try this Korean takeout.

This place has a very small seating area, but they seem to cater more to a takeout crowd with their food served in disposable ware and they are well stocked with doggy bags for a quick and easy takeout. Their food selection was limited to 2 different kinds of food - Bibimbab and gimbab (as their name suggests). In fact, the menu below pretty much showcases what they sell. I ordered the Charm Gimbab which is a Korean pickled vegetable wrapped in sushi style. It wasn't too bad although I thought the rice could have been more flavourful and a little more moist. Maybe I am too used to the Japanese style of sushi. But, I did like the pickled vegetables used as the filling. And, it came with a bowl of soup which was a little bland, but, ok, I guess. Seriously, for cheap Korean takeout, I think this place is not too bad and you get quite a lot to fill you up. Where in the world can you get Korean food for S$4.80 and have it fill you up? Plus the service staff were really nice too and they're authentic Koreans. I'll go back to try the rest of the flavours and try out the bibimbab when I'm on lunch duty again, but that'll be in about 5 weeks time.

Charm Bibimbab & Gimbab
Icon Village
12 Gopeng Street
#01-26

Frontliner's Sports Day 2007

2007-09-11T00:16:00.000+08:00

Bittersweet memories

2007-08-31T23:28:00.000+08:00

I saw something which I bought for someone last year. Something which I never got to pass to that someone. And, it brought back those bittersweet memories.

PS Cafe

2007-08-29T00:31:00.000+08:00

I finally went to PS Cafe at Dempsey Road. It was really refreshing to go there in the afternoon, cos all this while every time I've been to Dempsey was always at night and you can't really see much. So, seeing it in the day was really different. And as my colleague put it, it seemed like we were on holiday. Take a look at the pictures and you'll understand why. =)

So, here we were going trigger happy at Ben and Jerry's...

The scenes at PS Cafe... Doesn't it look like a retreat enclave? That's why we were in such a "holidaying" mood when we were there for lunch and we didn't feel like going back to office at all. It felt like you were almost transported to some little cafe and eatery while on a holiday at somewhere like Australia (or so my colleague says.. =)).

And... This was what we had for lunch. According to my colleague who's been here for dinner, the lunch menu is not as extensive as the dinner menu. But, the food was good. My only 2 qualms were that their salad was drowned in sauce (while it was nice and tangy... it was overpowering) and the fact that they got our order wrong twice. Not any major mistake, but I can't believe it happened twice! First I ordered ice water and the girl thought it was ice mocha. Next, during desserts, they served us a chocolate cake instead of our marshmallow brownie. Pity that they didn't leave the prepared portions of food at our table for our complementary pleasure. Ah well... Maybe they like to do this so that they get to try out the food that's served there. Haha... That's just me guessing.

Without doubt, Dempsey is really a great place to hide away to and take time to reflect away from the hustle and bustle of the city. And, if you are like me who only hangs out at Dempsey at night, do check Dempsey out during the day, it's worth the drive.

PS Cafe
28B Harding Rd
Tel: (+65) 9070 8782 / (+65) 6479 3343
Opening Hours:
Dinner
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Sunday :~ 6.30pm - Midnight
Last food order 10.30pm ~ Last bar order 11.00pm
Friday & Saturday :~ 6.30pm - 2.00am
Last food order 10.30pm ~ Last bar order 1.00am
Lunch
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday :~ 11.30am - 5.00pm
Last food order 3.00pm ~ Last tea & cake order 4.30p.m
Brunch
Saturday & Sunday :~ 9.30am - 5.00pm
Last food order 3.00pm ~ Last tea & cake order 4.30p.m

No Monday blues?

2007-08-26T23:32:00.000+08:00

I am actually looking forward to the next 3 days. Considering that it is a sunday, and I'm not in blues mood, it's really good. You see, the bosses are at offsite in some place away from Singapore. And you know how that saying goes, When the cats are away, the mice come out to play. As my boss put it, "Those girls are going to be partying the next 3 days away." I hope that is the case and there aren't any urgent request to ruin the next 3 days. I've got lunch activities planned up till Tuesday and I'm so excited about them. Hehe... =) Yippeee!!!!!!!!!!.........

Random Thoughts...

2007-08-24T00:32:00.001+08:00

I had so much chocolate this week. I need to run... But, I'm so lazy.. Boohoo...

Crossing Over

2007-08-21T00:07:00.000+08:00

Remember the song that was playing in my head? My dearest mr Goh didn't send it to me. I think he finds it highly amusing in torturing me and letting me go through the agony of having a song play in my head, but not knowing what song it is. He even laughed at me and said it was fun seeing me in such pain and restlessness because of the agony of not knowing the song la. So evil right? But, it's really a terrible feeling of having a song play in your head, only being able to play a certain part of the song, but not knowing what song it is. But, finally, I got it. Not from Nat, but from a very lovable Ivee, who although was tempted to torture me like what Nat did, but still sent me the song in the end. Haha... And, for the record, I can only remember 1 line in that song what it was playing in my head "Holy Spirit move in us.." So, here, go read the lyrics (which I hope are correct). It's a very powerful song with a catchy tune. Really puts you in the mood for missions...

Crossing Over
City Harvest Church

Verse1:
We come before Your Throne
Our hearts we give to You
We long to see Your Kingdom come
And bring Your truth to all the earth

Pre Chorus:
Nations will cry out Your name
Send us to Your harvest, Lord we pray

Chorus:
By your Spirit oh Lord
We claim the nations, of the world for You, Jesus
Pour down Your rain
Holy Spirit move in us today.

By your Spirit oh Lord
We claim the nations of the world for You, Jesus
By your word of truth
We’re crossing over
To win the lost for You.

Verse 2:
Your courts before our eyes
You set our hearts on fire
To give what we can never give
To gain what we can never lose

Commencement Dinner 2007

2007-08-19T21:37:00.000+08:00

This is way overdue. But, I just got some of the photos from the neighbour, so, only managed to post it now. Anyhow, NUS Bizad organised our Commencement Dinner for us the day after our Commencement (6 Jul 07). So, it was a nice Friday evening dinner at the Asian Civilisation Museum (which, has become one of my favourite areas of late). It was really appropriate, since most of us were working around the area.

As with all other prom nights, it's more about the ambience and setting than about the food. Why? Cos everyone is busy taking photos. Tonnes of them. And, with both an elegant ballroom and and outside patio area to take photos, you can imagine how trigger happy we all were. I'll post more of the scenic photos another time. The food sucked though... I'm glad I took the fish, the guys were having problem cutting their steak. The presentation wasn't fantastic, and I'm sure the guys didn't have enough to eat. Oh well.. But, it was more about the company and more photos. They had a "live photo" taking going around and a live band, which played quite decent and entertaining music.

Overall.. It was a really interesting night. Everyone was so spontaneous and we had a great post dinner party (at Zouk for some.. and for me at New Asia Bar). Gosh.. New asia bar has some good lookers and a very good view. But, it was really fun. Wish I could relive that night again. So sad, I don't know when's the next time I'll see these people again and have as much fun again. =( Ah... But, I thought this Commencement Dinner was a great closing to another chapter of my life. Memorable, fun and all in good cheer! =)

Song in my head

2007-08-15T23:28:00.000+08:00

There's this song that has been playing in my head since this morning. Sadly, I forgot to lyrics, only remember the tune. So, I asked my trusty human ipod what song it was (i vaguely remembered 1 line of the song) and my dearest human ipod was such a darling to say he probably knew what song I was referring to. BUT!!! He just has to keep me in the suspense. What a nimkumputt, rite? And he can still joke about it and tease me on wanting to stew it long. It's so irritating to not know the song, only having the tune of the chorus play over and over again. And now, I can't get the song out of my head until I know what song it is. Grrr... Please my dearest natnat... Please spare me the agony and tell me what song it is!!! And, send me the song soon, so that I can get the song out of my head. It's not doing a lot of good since I can't concentrate at work. Send me the song quick!!! If not, I will be bugging you till the cows come home. Hahaha... K, sleep early, get over ur fever (u're probably going to take MC tomorrow anyway), and send me the song first thing in the morning, if not, I'm going to bomb your phone big time. tc...

Random Old Photos 1

2007-08-13T23:53:00.000+08:00

I was looking for my Photoshop CD ROM, when I came across the CD which I thought I had lost. Apparently, it was lying somewhere in my stash of old CDs (together with all those camp photos which I will clear soon and that explains why this post is Random Old photos 1. More to come). So, here's a peak at my much fatter days... Have fun... And enjoy those wonderful memories we used to share!

The little love of my life...

2007-08-05T21:25:00.000+08:00

Caleb never seizes to make my day. I was in church the other day and I saw him dressed in the Nautica T-shirt I got for his birthday and his new black and red Mickey crocs that Godpa got for him. I couldn't resist the temptation to take photos. So, here's the series of photos.. Enjoy...

L-R: Caleb wearing his shoes; After he wore his shoes, i asked him to shoe me his shoes and this was the pose he gave me. It was so amusing... But obviously not really a clear view; I asked him to point to his shoes and look at the camera which he dutifully did; and finally, realising I didn't get very good view, i got him to sit down and point to his shoes. Check out the mickey mouse holes on the crocs!! So cute right? Godpa, I think this was a damn good buy. =)

Got the boy to do a nice pose with me, so you can see in full view his birthday presents: His T-shirt and Black Mickey crocs. Godpa, you better wear your crocs one day to church then can take together with your Godson! Haha... Anyhow, the little boy got distracted whilst taking photos and started to find some stuff to play with. Haha....

Honjin Japanese Restaurant @ Chow House

2007-08-04T16:10:00.000+08:00

We went for an early celebration for Daddy's Birthday on 30 July, cos the grandma would be over for the weekend (aka... We can't go for nice exotic food at a nice little restaurnant.) And, since I was craving for Japanese (was supposed to come here with Joanna last friday, but they were fully booked!), so I suggested this place. The food was ok, not too bad. I ate super A LOT of sashimi. But, my favourite is the scallop sashimi which they served as a complementary dish and it's limited to one serving. I guess, it is that good and expensive that they had to limit it, if not, I forsee that I could eat the scallop sashimi the whole night, and they'll be bankrupt.

They also served us one serving of fried salmon fish head. Which, I didn't know how to eat and while it tasted like normal salmon I didn't find it fantastic. Mummy on the otherhand said this dish was very good. Oh well... I'm a fish fillet person. I don't like to pick out the bones from fish. Maybe because I got choked over a fish bone when I was really young that made me have this apprehension on anything that isn't boneless fish fillet or boneless fish slices. I did think that the salmon head was quite amusing and snapped a photo. Haha...

Boss and the deer

2007-08-03T22:13:00.000+08:00

I was working on my research when Boss came over to talk to my neighbour. I was very engrossed in my work, so I didn't hear what they were discussing until boss suddenly asked the following questions.

Boss: What do you call a deer with no eyes?

..silence..

Boss: No idea?

Boss: Now, what do you call a deer with no eyes and is not moving?

..silence..

Boss: Still no idea?

I laughed out loud. It's one of the better lame jokes I've heard in a while. And when you're stressed, this comes as good relief.

Training course in Bugis

2007-07-31T15:29:00.000+08:00

Here I am at Bugis again for my Microsoft Excel (expert apparently) class. And, I'm totally bored. I wanna go home soon!! Haha... My naughty "pai kia" student behaviour is coming into play again.

I had the Access class a couple of weeks ago and it was a good refresher from work. It was on a 2 day course starting on Thursday. And since I didn't have to wear working clothes (I was clad in my jeans and t-shirt), it felt like going back to school. And I felt like I had a long weekend, cos my brain was off work for 4 days straight.

This time my course is right smack in the middle of the week. Tuesday and Wednesday. So, I have to be back at work on Thursday and Friday. And, I know that I've got quite a bit of work waiting for me back at the office. Nonetheless, I shall enjoy my course while it lasts. But, being in Bugis for so many days was quite a bore. I wasn't in the mood to shop and anyway, I didn't see anything that caught my eye. Oh well... I can't wait for next week's training in City Hall. Haha...

Mood swings...

2007-07-29T23:41:00.000+08:00

I am feeling moody. I have been since last week. Maybe it's the none stop rain and depressing weather. Maybe it's just one too many heartaches coming down all at once. Sometimes I feel like letting it all out. But, I don't know where to begin. I don't even know how all these feelings started. I want to share it with someone, but I don't know how to, I don't know why I'm feeling like that... UUURRRGGGGHHHHzzz... This sucks.

The Turquoise Room

2007-07-28T15:14:00.000+08:00

I headed to Turquoise Room (7 Lock Road, near Little Bali) with some of my colleagues during lunch sometime this week. It's one of those lunch time perks that we have once in a while to perk up the drudgery of the working life. We usually try to source out some quaint little place or somewhere with really good food and for this time, it was to Turquoise Room. My colleague had read about it in a magazine, so we decided to try it out.

Tucked away in the sleepy Gillman village, this place was a very good getaway from the hustle and bustle of Shenton way. Housed in the ground floor of one of those old black and white houses (think: similar to Rochester Park minus the glam and aircon), it had a very old school setting. Cemented floors without any tiles or carpeting ( like our old classrooms), wooden chairs and tables and just the natural breeze and some fans to cool the place. The walls are painted white and turquoise and most of the furnishing is white with turquoise coming in subtly. And, you're located next to lush greenery. Or maybe I should add, a forest. When we came here during noon, we could still hear the sounds of the forest, the crickets, the birds and what have you. It's a quiet place during lunch and we had pretty much a lot of attention from the wait staff. They were friendly without being intrusive, although more care to orders (well majority of us wanted the same set meal only difference is in the drinks. But our server still insisted on going to us one by one and asking us what we wanted. So, the set was repeated 4 times!!) would have been great. Still, I have no qualms about the place.

I was trigger happy yet again and busy snapping photos. My colleagues on the otherhand were trying to figure out why I loved to take photos. Simple... It doesn't take much to snap shots from a digital camera. After all, if I don't like it I can delete it. So, if I see some nice stuff, i just go off snapping. And here we go with the array of photos I snapped of the surroundings...
L-R: Row 1- The Menu, Eating area set ups
Row 2 - The Bar, Eating Area set up, Alfresco dining near the forest
Row 3 - The nice comfy sofa, Open air alfresco dining

Food was ok... I guess. We started with pumpkin soup, which I would have preferred if it were a little more salty. The crabmeat pasta was good. I couldn't finish it as yet. But the sauce was thick and complemented the crabmeat well, and the pasta was done al-dente. Yum yum... For coffee, we headed to one of the sofa area to enjoy the forest scenary and just chit chat about everything and anything under the sun. It could have gone on if not for the end of our lunch break.

This place is definitely a very good getaway place and what I like about it is that it is not as commercialised as Rochester Park and Dempsey (I still like those 2 places) and probably not as well explored by many people. So, for now, it still remains quiet. I can't say the same for the crowd at night, and that would wait till I get the chance to go back there in the evening on another day. Great for people who like nature, dressing down and natural breeze. My only qualm is it's accessibility issues. There's a bus stop outside, but it's quite a walk in.

The Turquoise Room
Gillman Village
7 Lock Road (S)108935
Mon – Thu: 12noon - 11pm
Fri – Sat: 12noon - 12am
Sunday: 10am - 10pm
Sunday Brunch: 10am - 3pm
Telephone: 64733655

Life is too short for the wrong job

2007-07-24T00:49:00.000+08:00

I found this string of ads and pictures rather amusing. And, it helped to perk up my blue monday morning up. Enjoy...

About Choux pastry and cakes both BIG and SMALL

2007-07-21T23:48:00.000+08:00

I have lots to blog about, but I just haven't had the time to sit down and write them all out. You see, by the time I get home on weekdays, I'm usually just so tired out
that I either plonk myself in front of the TV and lobo my night away, or I would be on my bed ready to sleep (which btw happens rather promptly). So, while I try to get the Commencement dinner photos up and all else, here's something else to keep this blog alive...

About Choux Pastry...
Don't ask me why, but I had a sudden whim to make choux pastry from scratch and try piping stuff into them. Maybe I was so inspired by Beard Papa's cream puffs that it started to choux craze. So, I tried it out for YAM refreshments. Don't know much about the feedback, but I hope it's decent. =)

Tall cakes...
I was around Bugis on Friday just walking aimlessly trying to decide what to eat at 11.30am for lunch (i hate early lunches whenever I've eaten my breakfast. I'd rather eat at 2pm than 11am. But somehow, the trainer was probably too sian to talk about the next topic and made us break for lunch)and yet avoid the shopping area lest I spend another bomb on clothes. And, I saw this outside InterContinental Hotel. Singapore's tallest wedding cake. Check out the total ingredients used for this cake!!

About smaller cakes...
InterContinental was having their Wedding Festival and had a whole string of shops occupying the pushcart area at the atrium in Bugis Junction. And there, I saw these pretty little things which I have yet to master... So pretty right?

Preparing the cupcakes. They are frosted on the spot...

Pretty pretty...

Commencement 2007

2007-07-05T22:13:00.000+08:00

After so many years of studying... FINALLY!!! I've graduated with my BBA from NUS!!! Yippeee....

Of course, there were tonnes of photo taking. But, I shall let the photos do the talking...

The neighbour, bus buddy, finance whizz, chocolate fanatic, donut man, movie buff, listening ear (esp to heartaches), camera man, animal bully, cat lover who never fails to cheer me up and amuse me with his nonchalance and interesting comments. What would bizad life be without you? I think those 1 1/2 hr bus rides would have been unbearable without ur company. Mr guinea pig to my brownie and cupcake baking binges. Thanks for all the wonderful friendship over all these years and all the wonderful company. How i miss those movie days at marina sq, the dissing of tv mobile's disgusting ads, tearing my hair over finance cases. Haha... You're the man la. Rock on banker!!!
The other neighbour, the other finance whizz who i suspiciously think is related to the owl. Haha.... he practically lives on US timing. LOL..

My robing buddy, who's super smart, yet another finance whizz but who understands me well especially when it comes to project work. Though we haven't worked a lot with each other, we share very similar sentiments on certain working styles. Love ya babe!! And, don't overwork yourself.

And, surprisingly, we managed to take a shot together... At the front house when we were trying to collect our baggage. Hahaha... This was 1 year ago after our service marketing presentation.
One year on... This is where we are... =) Service marketing rocks la...
And finally... My mummy, daddy.. and My ever so sweet bestest fren... Jo!!! Thanks babe for helping me take so many photos and for coming all the way down to take photos. Love you loads...

Oh.. One more.. My commencement was before theirs. And I was taking so many photos before this that by the time I was done, they were in getting ready to robe. But, as you can see, my camera was tired. So, the photos didn't come out all that pretty. Progressively got worst... haha...

The Spot in on YOUth

2007-07-04T00:17:00.000+08:00

I was talking to Sophie, and she said that I should update my blog. And, yes, before I say anything more, I think this is the one thing that should be said.

Thank you Lord for watching over the event, for making the event even remotely possible in less than a month. Lord, you deserve all the honour and all glory for this event, because without you Lord, this event would never have happened and would not have been able to happen like this. Thank you Lord!!

Chewy Junior

2007-06-20T23:31:00.000+08:00

Whenever I go for courses and class ends early, I can't help but find my feet bringing me to that beloved spot in Tanjong Pagar - where Chocolat and Spice is. I really love their muffins. Pity that they close so early, and I can't be bothered to stand in that long (and not to mention super stuff and hot weather making it unbearable at times) queue which forms during lunch. So, I hardly venture there to buy it during lunch. So, since I was on course today and ended a tad earlier than 6.30pm (or should I say 7pm?) , I decided to try my luck and see if Chocolat and Spice was opened. But as you can see from the title of this blog, obviously, they weren't open. But instead, I decided to give Chewy Junior a try. I had read about it from Straits Times before and my colleague bought it once for us to try. But the last time I had it, it wasn't all that good, but, I decided to try it yet again, this time making sure I had psycho-ed myself enough to know that it is a CHEWY piece of dough and not anything light like an eclair. And, for sure, after all that psychological talk, it tasted not too bad.

So, I bought a box of 9 Chewies for my churchies, and I think there were 2 schools that divided people: you either like it or don't like it. Some said that it was really good that they liked it. But some were like.. er.. It's ok. I belong to the latter. So far, I've tried the original and the last time, the chocolate one. I've yet to try the kaya, cheese and oreo which look REALLY good. I probably will give it a try, but I'll definitely not stand in a long queue to wait for this. Besides, if Chocolat and Spice is open, I'll rather my muffins to the Chewies. Or at least, I'll stand in queue for the muffins, and if I'm in a happy mood and Chewy Junior doesn't have a queue, I might buy some to test out the rest of the flavours.

Goodwood Park Hotel's Durian Creations

2007-06-18T23:55:00.000+08:00

It's been an event filled weekend and this coming weeks will be filled too. Anyway, to back track a little, after hearing all those raves about Goodwood Park Hotel's durian creations, I finally tried them this year. I had intended to buy their famous durian mousse cake for my parents' surprise 25th Wedding Anniversary celebration (that's another story..) and while I was at it I couldn't resist buying their other durian creations. And, indeed, they are legendary. Not sugar laden, with the right amount of creamyness and smoothness but still being able to tastes chuncks of durian and bite into some durian fibre. VERY YUMMY!! The cake was really good too!! A durian fan's paradise...

Happy Father's Day

2007-06-18T00:08:00.000+08:00

I love my daddy a lot. And my daddy always loves his little girl cos she is "daddy's little jojo".

'Nuf said.

The Spot is on YOUth - Publicity 1

2007-06-13T00:22:00.000+08:00

That's the lovely poster that Glenn designed for us for the Youth Day event we're having at FL. And, I donned the TKGS uniform (1st in 6 years!!) for the publicity. I found the photo highly amusing and I just had to put it here. =)

Happy 21st Birthday Pet...

2007-06-10T00:16:00.000+08:00

Welcome to ADULTHOOD babe!!

Love you lots, Miss you Loads and Hurry Up come back to Singapore!! Happy 21st Birthday!!

Birthday Celebration 6 - La Cantina, Changi Village Hotel

2007-06-04T23:55:00.000+08:00

Thursday, 31st May 2007

Jo arranged a birthday dinner for me at La Cantina, Changi Village Hotel, since I was complaining that ever since she worked there, she hasn't treated me to Cantina. I've eaten there before, and the food is not too bad and the view is lovely. Yup, so for my 23rd, she arranged dinner there and called along some of my closest churchies: Nat, Mei, Gav, Ben, Gen, and not forgetting Stanley and Louis. Pet... I wish you were there!!! Anyhow, as they all said, my focus was not on the celebration that night, but on my little prince, whom I told Jo I wanted to spend my birthday with (since the bigger princes seem a little far fetched. But, you know what? Miraculously I spent my birthday with all of the princes I wanted to... =)) And boy, I love my little prince so much!! And, for that night, he was my focus. Sorry to neglect the rest of you, but just for tonight, all I needed was my little prince. Godpa must have been so jealous since he was off to call while we were having a while of a time. I shall let the pictures speak for itself...

Jo... thanks for EVERYTHING. Love you LOADS!!!

Birthday Celebration 5 - Sage

2007-06-04T23:24:00.000+08:00

Wednesday, 30th May 2007

I was supposed to spend tonight with my parents. But when I checked worship schedule, I realised I was on, so had to cancel my plans. But after constant urging from Jo to try to change with someone, I finally got someone to replace me which freed me for dinner on my birthday. Since my parents and I had already made plans for Morton's on monday, so I decided not to disrupt the plans and Jo so sweetly planned a wonderful birthday dinner for me at Sage at Robertson Walk.

JJ very sweetly came to pick me from office (so I didn't have to take an MRT there..) And we were there early. Not early enough to go to another place to have drinks, but still early. In the end, we ended up heading early to the restaurant and having a chat over some bubbly. Sage is located on the 2nd floor of Robertson Walk and is nicely done up with the dim lights but modern interiors. Our only qualms was the open kitchen, of which the look didn't complement the whole look of the restaurant. It's a small place, sitting no more than 40 - 50. The wait staff were very friendly and it almost felt like you were eating at a friend's place. The lady boss was even more hospitable. You know, that feeling when the boss comes out to talk to you and makes you feel so welcomed? And yes, there was bread with butter served while we were waiting for Jo and Stanley (by which the dr was uber hungry). Yummy yummy...

I can't exactly figure out the type of cuisine served at Sage. But, it's good stuff. My first dish was the escargot with prawns in risotto and egg. (Look at the dish with green stuff) The consome was very rich, a tad salty though, but I soon found out the reason for that, and they had it froth. The escargots were out of their shell and so were the prawns, which made eating a breeze. So, the reason for the salty consome? See that white thing? It's an egg poached so well the yolk just oozes out when you break the white. It's amazing! So, with the richness of the yolk and the plainness of the white eaten together with the consome everything just came off so well. You have chewy bits of escargot and prawns mixed together with the consome + yolk and the soft springiness of the white and some small bits of rice to break the monotony. Every mouthful is a new experience in itself!! A master's work in itself.

Ooo.. and I finally got to eat foie gras!!! Picked off a piece from Stanley's plate. And, it was good! I can't really describe it, cos it was a small piece that I picked off. But, it was soft, smooth and it just went down so well.

Next for me was the lamb shank, which I heard was good. It is good, except that it's a bit too salty. You know, lamb has this certain smell that tends to come off very strong? This one had the smell, but it was well under control by the chef. I would have preferred if the accompanying sauce that made a water like body around the island shaped shank was sweeter to counter the saltiness of the lamb. But, a very well prepared dish indeed.

I had my cheese platter for dessert. I'm a sucker for cheeses, especially european cheese. Although the saltiness from the lamb shank didn't put me in much of a mood for the cheese. But, still, the cheeses were good. I really liked Jo's dessert of the strawberry terrine with champagne ice cream. I just love it when the strawberry terrine just melts in your mouth. Ahh... Heaven...

Dinner was very good... Meant to be eaten slowly and enjoyed to the full. If not for Morton's this would have been my best birthday meal where food is concerned. Jo, thank you so much for a wonderful night. *wink* and even more surprising surprises of the night...

Birthday Celebration 4 - Lunch at Uncle Sam's

2007-06-04T23:00:00.000+08:00

Wednesday, 30th May 2007
I met Ling, Roomie, Steffi and Gav for lunch on the actual day. Pity that KY couldn't make it since she had a meeting. So, we trooped down to Uncle Sam's to try out the claypot (of which I've heard lots about). Ever since I started work here, lunches are my most treasured 1 - 1.5hrs since it's the time I get to take a break from work, recharge and reenergize over lunch. To allow me to think frivolous stuff and leave those difficult calculations, formulas and concepts to be pushed to the side. Lunch is the time to talk rubbish, bitch, complain, laugh, be lame and all. All of which, we had during lunch. What more could I ask for? The food was good, except Ling and I forgot to ask them not to put the spring onion. Don't ask us why we don't eat spring onion. I know, apparently there's no smell, but to us, there is. So imagine our horror when our claypots came with lots of spring onions on it. Good that it came first, so it gave us time to scrap away the spring onions while waiting for the other claypots to come. And Ling paid for lunch (she always has this credit card BAD habit, hor sophie? We need to BAR her from her BAD habit). But, Ling's always such a dear...

Birthday Celebration 3 - Prego

2007-06-04T22:49:00.000+08:00

Tuesday, 29th may 2007

Nat and JJ were so surprised that I had never eaten at Prego before, so the 4 of us (plus Mei) decided to check it out as part of my birthday celebration.
It was good italian food, but we over ordered. There were so many appetizers to eat. And the bread, balsamic vinegar and olive oil was good. Well aged balsamic vinegar... Ahh... You know, one of my simplest pleasures is just to eat fresh, warm, well risen, good bread together with well whipped butter, quality extra virgin olive oil and well aged balsamic vinegar. Just that, and it'll make a meal for me, and I'll be super contented. I digress. Back to the story, I was so full before my main came! Regretted ordering my main. Oh, and JJ arranged for a small (luckily it was a small one, cos I was SO FULL!!!) but nonetheless very pretty mango cake and got the staff the sing a birthday song for me. It was a night of fantastic company. I love my 2 favouritest BnS guys. Just a pity that my other favouritest is close to 10,000km away from me. Veen, I wish you were here with us... miss you so much!!

Birthday Celebration 2 - Morton's and Felicia's House

2007-06-04T22:20:00.000+08:00

Monday, 28th May 2007

My parents brought me to Morton's for my birthday dinner. =) And this time it was to eat the steaks and not just drink the martinis and eat the steak sandwiches (which I must say is really good). Well, didn't really dress up, cos I was in office wear after all, but definitely more dressed up than the jeans and heels I wore the last time. And no... no beach sandals. That aside.. It was a lovely dinner. I was so amused at the huge onion bread that they served when we were seated. I was even more intrigued at the little presentation our server did on what the specials were and the presentation of the different cuts. Oh, and when they were introducing one of the lobster dish, they actually used a real lobster in the presentation. But, since we were here for the steak, we had it. And, the cuts were HUGE!!! The steak was just fantabulous. Well seasoned, nicely charred on the outside with a slight crisp and the inside was juicy and chewy. Absolutely delicious, like nothing I've ever tried. Indeed the BEST steak. The creamy spinach was good too. But, really the spotlight is on the steak. =) And how could I not order their infamous legendary chocolate cake which ooozed of dark molten chocolate, served warm with a scoop of haagen dazs vanilla ice cream. So delicious... While we were ordering our desserts, the server asked us whether it was any occasion or was it just a usual family dinner, so we told her it was my birthday celebration. She was so sweet, when we were about to leave, she gave us a doggy bag with a huge slice of Morton's cheesecake in it. And, gosh, the cheesecake is GOOD!!! As good as the one from Hilton that i bought for Gav's birthday. Oooo... Yum yum yum...

After dinner, I headed off to Felicia's place, cos it was my "sister's" (as Ms P would say, aka Shalica's) last day at PBEA and they were giving her her farewell treat at Felicia's place. In my 3 months in PBEA, I've come to love this bunch of fun loving colleagues. They are the ones who first exposed me to Club5 and Chivas and a whole list of drinking games. And, the times we spent bonding over drinks (I inevitably put on a lot of weight during that period because of all the drinking and sneaking of food off from Brasserie) and dinner are the most memorable times. I've learnt to love Club 5 because of this bunch, but sigh... things won't ever be the same again. I want the old Club 5 back!!!

They were so sweet. Sally bought me a cake for my birthday (and it's really very good!) and Roy (Banquet Ops) brought the cake out and lit the candles. We left all the work to the Banquet Ops guy to do it. Our logic: Since he always does it for customers, I'm sure he's best at doing it. He said we were bullying him, but what are the ops ppl for? Haha... But, really, Roy's the best in the Ops team in my opinion. Well, at least he suits the people at PBEA. And as ever, we were playing cards again. Nellie and Fiona never cease to amuse me when they're super high and playing BIG bets. Haha...

Birthday Celebration 1 - Portobelle & Menotti

2007-06-04T01:22:00.000+08:00

My birthday celebration started with dinner on 24 May 2007 with Nat and JJ at Portobelle Restaurant at Killiney Road. They are so sweet. At first, I had worship practice on my birthday so I wasn't able to make it for dinner with them that day, so they decided to celebrate it earlier for me. JJ found the place for us and helped us coordinate everything and and made the reservations. It's a quaint and very small place (I think at most they can take 20 people in the shop), and with that comes a cosyness that's uncomparable. They serve Spanish, Greek, Italian and Mexican cuisine. I loved the Moussaka, considering that I'm not a fan of eggplant. But, the eggplant was soft and just went down very well with the sauce. In fact, it's been a while since I had Spanish and Greek food. Mmmm... Greek especially... Food was nice but portions were a bit too small. So 1 appetizer and 3 mains later, we were still hungry and we decided to adjourn to Menotti for desserts.

We had the Duomo, Soffiato and the gelato. Duomo (bottom 1st from left) was actually a recommended review from Urban and it is GOOD!!! I love the dark chocolate center and coffee beans and it's wrapped in mascaporne cheese. Gosh... It's really good, although I can't figure out what the sugary sticky coating fronting the dome shape is. Soffiato was equally fantastic, a warm DARK chocolate cake (if you haven't already known, my latest obsession is with Dark chocolate. I just love dark chocolate with its bittersweet taste and the richness of the cocoa in the chocolate. Ooo... You're almost i cloud 9!) served with chocolate chip gelato ice cream. JJ ordered a selection of gelato, which I must say was a VERY good selection. We had peanut, chocolate chip and coffee and all were SO GOOD!!! Not coyingly sweet or over rich. Just nice, the right amount. And I fell in love with the peanut one. One bite and you'll know why... Ahhh....

And, needless to say, tonnes of good laughs (Sigh... Veen, wish u were here tooo!!!), talking rubbish, just what I needed especially after a long day of work. These boys just perk me up!!! It's almost therapeutic to spend an evening with them. Haha... Thanks boys for the wonderful evenings, and yes... many many more to come. Pepper crab... *hint hint*...

My birthday celebration...

2007-06-03T23:21:00.000+08:00

I had a very very memorable 23rd birthday celebration. And, not just one, but multiple ones!!! And for that, I have my wonderful bunch of friends to thank. Thank you so much for the wonderful celebration, great company, fantastic food and so much more. I can't say enough thanks. Thank you to each and everyone of you. =)

And, my actual day celebration was even better. I still had to work, but I still had a fantabulous time. In fact, my actual day celebration started from 29th May 07 when I caught dinner with Nat, Mei and JJ. Then a nice long sleep and waking up slightly later the next day (cos I decided to pamper myself and take a cab to work), to reading Pet's birthday card from Aussie (miss you Pet... I wish you were here in town to celebrate my birthday with me..) and then a relaxing ride to the office. And for breakfast, I had cheesecake from Morton's!! It was super delicious, courteousy from the waitress who gave me the cake after she found out that it was my birthday celebration a couple of days ago. Cheesecake and spreadsheets. No wonder the spreadsheets looked more appealing that day... After which, this was followed by a call from Veen with 3 birthday wishes from Veen, Kris and Ryn from NYC!!! I was so surprised that they called. Thank you so much Veen for the call. I was really very touched and very surprised. It really made my morning!! =) And, gosh... I miss you so much. Come back to Singapore soon, can? Please... I really miss you a lot.

This was followed by lunch at Uncle Sam's claypot with my lovely pals who work in and around Shenton Way - Steffi, Gav, Roomie and Ling. Hee... Pity KY couldn't join us for lunch cos she had a meeting. But nonetheless, thank you so much for the great lunch company. It was a really relaxing time to chill out and spend my birthday with my churchies. And, Gav and KY, thank you so much for the fondue set!!! I really love it A LOT!!! =) *wink*

And, since it was my birthday, I decided I wouldn't stay all that late at work. Jo very sweetly arranged a wonderful dinner and JJ came pick me from office to head to Robertson walk. A bout of slow traffic later and wondering around Robertson walk to find the place, we finally found the Sage, tucked in a little corner on the 2nd floor of Robertson walk. A small, modern restaurant with lights dimmed. We were seated in front of the open kitchen, which... hmmm... I think the consensus was that it didn't look all that pretty. But, it's always interesting to see the chefs whip up the dishes. A glass of champagne, and some bread later, Jo and Stan arrived(well, it was a long, but enjoyable wait... *wink to Jo*) with a bouquet of purple roses. So sweet!!! Aww... Dinner was great with the flavours of the dishes very well layered. Pictures in the next post. Only complain was that the food tends to be a tad too salty for my liking. Hee... And, guess what I ordered for dessert? Cheese platter!!! Haha... My favourite. Although I kinda regretted, cos the food was a bit too salty for a cheese platter to round off my meal. The platter came with grapes by the side, so I was picking more of the grapes than anything. But, I still love the cheese. =)

I hitched a ride from JJ to go home to change before Part 2 to Zouk and also to put down my stuff. Jo kept rushing me to come out of my house and to rush to Piano Bar to join them cos she said there were cute guys there. (I was a little reluctant, cos I didn't want to go to Zouk since I heard the queue had started to form at 9pm!! Which spells that Zouk will be a mad house and be super packed that there will be room to stand and no room to dance. So, what's the fun?) On hearing that we weren't going to Zouk, I quickly left and headed to Piano Bar and there the unplanned surprise awaited me. Haha... I was so so shocked and my jaw just dropped. I almost couldn't believe me eyes. But, still, I got what I was wishing for. Not the way I hoped, but in a better way than I had been hoping for. =) *wink JO*

I took Vesak day holiday as my own time out to shop and hang with myself, which was good as I was roaming Marina. Saw quite a number of things that I wanted to buy, but, I need to exercise restrain. After which, it was off to CVH and prepare myself for my night with my churchies and my lil Prince, of cos lil Prince being my main focus of the night. I just love the boy so much!! He's so cute and I got him this little Tigger and he was so happy. Just seeing him smile is more than enough. =) Thank you JO for arranging this lovely 2 day celebration. I've really enjoyed every moment of it. Really... I can't say enough of thanks babe... Love ya girl!!

One of my birthday wishes...

2007-05-23T23:59:00.000+08:00

A restaurant which has good food and good service that is not intruding. A very comfortable environment whether the look be exotic, homely, modern etc, most important is that it makes the eating experience relaxed. A restaurant that doesn't have to be too atas such that more stress comes from ensuring you watch your actions so closely, do the right things at the right time and eat the right way (spoon out for soup, drink from the side of ur mouth etc.). A non threatening experience in which you're at total ease, just chatting while the background music just builds a romantic environment. A lovely dinner with a wonderful companion and an interesting and stimulating conversation. Follow this by a stroll by the beach/river/park or even a scenic drive before settling down at a chill out bar complete with a live band and a bottle of good, well aged wine put together with a cheese platter. Ahhh... Or even without the live band, just winding down on a comfy sofa/sun bed with soft easy listening/soothing/jazz/lounge music will do too. And as the night winds down to just enjoy the simple pleasures of great company, and good wine and cheese and let things steam up on their own cos while the night is winding down, the romance is heating up.

Mr Singapore Universe

2007-05-21T23:14:00.000+08:00

We trooped down to St. James to see the top 10 of Mr Singapore Universe today. All I can say is that I was disappointed at the standard. Only Mr Woodlands was good looking. But, some had very impressive credentials. What with 5 semesters on Dean's List (!!!) and one other guy who did Chinese translation for the MPs. Still, I wasn't impressed and we left promptly after the swimsuit show. Almost everyone's body was somewhere there. A few without the 6 pecs but majority just toned. To me the most amusing was the sacarstic remarks that we formed during the event and laughing at they different actions of the contestants. Well, there's one who walks like a penguin (it was at first funny watch him walk, but after a while, it became painful), a couple who's blusher looks like a punch on their face... Nonetheless, thanks to Stanley for helping us to get in for free. It was a good eye opener and it makes you realise how much attention is paid to Ms Singapore Universe as compared to Mr Singapore Universe. And, you realise that you derive entertainment value not from looking at how good the people look but how not and casting sacarstic comments. Luckily these comments aren't broadcasted. Then again, since they're in for the pageant, they should have been well prepared for it.

Random Thoughts...

2007-05-19T10:27:00.000+08:00

I've been a very good girl this week. I reach home no later than 10.30pm and am off to sleep by 11pm. The latest was only 12 midnight last night since today's saturday and I didn't need to get up early. It really surprised me, cos my parents were out of town and I thought I'd take the chance to go gallavanting with the car. But, maybe the flu and the medication got me so tired (yes... I had a flu during the week, which now has become stuffed nose. It's terribly horrible in the aircon especially, since my nose gets all stuffed up and I can't breathe properly. Especially in cold meeting rooms at work, I end up having to breathe through my mouth when my nose is all clogged up) and I just crash out every night. And, my internet connection has become such a bain in my life that I'm so fed up to repair the connection sometimes. So, pardon my lack of updates and slow email replying time.

On another note, we had fire drill in the office yesterday. And, I've been tasked to be the new fire warden for my floor. It was an interesting experience having to climb down 2X floors. But even more amusing were my colleagues' responses. Climbing down 2X floors is really no easy task, so most of them had decided to go for breakfast before the fire drill began (The lifts are shut down during fire drill). However, a fire drill, in all sense of it is supposed to be an exercise, and you're not supposed to know when it happens. Apparently, we missed cue and when they were preparing to go down for breakfast (and take the lift down), the alarm went off. Crap.. That meant the lifts were shut down and if they wanted breakfast, it was a 2X flor climb down. The alarm went off, breakfast plan was scrapped and we were told to "wait for further instructions". Seriously, if this were a real fire, would people even wait for instructions? We'd all have rushed down already!! When "further instructions" did come, only a few of us actually left the office and climbed down. Everyone else just came out of their work stations to chat and then went back to work.

After the climb down, we assembled at the grounds for roll call. So much for roll call. The list was prepared way beforehand. Like my colleague said, the worst thing to happen is for a real disaster to take place during the day of the fire drill and everyone mistaking that it was a drill. Imagine how many lives could have been lost because we didn't take it seriously.

The handsome boy...

2007-05-14T00:02:00.000+08:00

Guess who's back home???

And, I'm so glad he still remembers my name even after such a long time. I love Caleb so much, he just so CUTE!! Since I had my camera with me, I couldn't help but snap away. He's just so cute!!! After cg, we were doing duck walks and kangaroo hops, and after which, I just squatted on the floor for a while, and guess what the little prince did? He ran towards me with arms open wide and hugged me. So sweet, rite? And gosh, he's got a tight grip! (Oh.. He did that about 3 times, cos I hadn't stood up from my squatting position)

Love him so much!

Wala Wala with the TJ mates

2007-05-09T23:45:00.000+08:00

Finally, at long last, we managed to meet up. Thanks to Edmund for arranging the whole thing for us. And, finally, I managed to go to Wala Wala (was supposed to go last friday, but it was so packed). Nonetheless, the music on tuesday was good and it was a great night just chilling and hanging out (pity it's a tuesday and next day I had to go to work). So, although I was really tired (I had to OT that day and that made me 2 1/2 hrs late. But they were so sweet and understanding), but after listening to the music it totally recharged me. I love live music man!! =)

Missing the handsome boy...

2007-05-07T00:12:00.000+08:00

I am suffering from Caleb withdrawal symptom. That little handsome boy has been holidaying in the US for the last 3 over weeks, and I haven't seen him for such a long time. I miss him SSSOOOOO MUCH!!! Today I was in church seeing all those little toddlers playing at the back and that made me miss him even more. Sigh... Well, he'll be back soon, I can't wait to see him this weekend. Yipppeeee....

Coffee Bean's online Cake ordering

2007-05-03T23:42:00.000+08:00

Since Ivan left exchange, I volunteered to order the cake for the monthly CGL meeting in which we celebrate the CGLs birthday at the same time. True to my nature, I have been on the hunt for the best and most reasonable cakes around town (and of course the cakes that I've been yearning to try but never got a chance to). And, in fact, I look forward to the "cake buying" every month wanting to get the most reasonable cake which has a great taste. My motto: If you're going to waste those calories on cake, might as well get a good one, and I'd rather spend on a small but quality cake than a big but substandard cake. We've had choc.a.bloc's Crunchie Chocolate Fudge (in February), Secret Recipe's Chocolate Mud Cake (in March) and most recently, Classic Cakes' Mango Cheesecake (in April). Most of the selections come from recommendations from STOMP and other forums or I get the cakes from reknowned places. Well, I'd say I have a decent budget to get really "atas" cakes, however, I try to limit the budget to about $30-$40 for a cake for about 20 persons. That, I must say, has been a GREAT challenge with the rising cake prices. In the end, I usually end up with a cake which is about 1kg+. Well, one good thing is that there isn't any leftovers (From Ivan's experience sometimes we're left with quite a bit of cake). But it also means the piece each person gets is rather small. And, I'm not buying from high end places. In fact, regular shops like Prima Deli and Four Leaves are already charging about $30+ per kg, depending on the flavours. Really, just regular cakes these days are getting more expensive! Sometimes $30 can't even buy you a 1kg cake! Can you believe that? Such has been the case that I am now on the lookout for great promotions and good neighbourhood stores and online stores which dish out great cakes (eg. places like choc.a.bloc, chocolat n spice, classic cakes and many more) at similar Prima/4leaves prices. Maybe it's that thing about a small shop and the knowledge that each cake is attended to by the head chef that appeals to me more than a cake that's baked in some big bakery somewhere in Singapore and then delivered to the stores.

That's the reason why I'm going crazy about Coffee Bean's online cake ordering system. Recently they had some publicity to promote their online cake ordering system, and they have some really good promotions, like a 1.4kg cake going for $23!!! Where in the world can you get such a good price with a brand name to it? And, a 3kg cake that is only $42. WOw whee!! Not only do I get a big cake, but a get the brand equity of "Coffee Bean" on my cake (which hopefully spells quality cakes) And there's even a promotion on the mother's day cakes at $35 per cake (with special design and you can choose the flavours you want) and it's about 1.6kg for each cake. Can you believe it? Pity I missed last month's "cake of the month" (Hazelnut Praline Cheesecake... sounds good right?) that was going at $35 for 1.6kg. (This month's cake of the month didn't appeal to me as much as the strawberry flan.. haha...). And, their cupcakes are really cheap. $19.90 for 20!! when the market rate is about $2.50 (and for more "atas" places at $3-$3.50) per cupcake. I think I know what one of the CGLs monthly birthday cake is going to be... Can't wait for the next promotion.