Hot Pot Catch Up

Had a gathering this evening with a groups of girls from secondary school at the Chicken Hot Pot restaurant in Westgate. We had a chat on which of the many food outlets we wanted to eat at and it was  supposed to be at the Japanese collagen soup place. However, due to a little over-excitement and perhaps a bit of fuzzy-brain syndrome, a place for 5 of us was reserved at this place instead. We only realised the mistake when the food came and it looked good, so it didn't really matter. Great way to start a catch-up I guess.

The flavours for the 2 hotspots were quite good though. We got the set which included 2 hotspots, one with fish and one (obviously) with chicken. We opted for the chicken one to be a little spicy and a non spicy fish just so everyone could enjoy something just in case someone couldn't take the heat. The fish pot looked rather boring, but after digging into it, I found it really lovely with a salted vegetable and plum soup base. It tasted like my favourite steamed fish dish, just stewed instead of steamed. The chicken ended up tasting like Sze Chuan chicken, just with too little spice. 

Anyway, I guess the unique thing about this place is the little squeeze pack of shrimp paste that was given in the set to be squeezed into the boiling soup. It didn't taste like anything was added to it and it cooked like mash shrimp as well. It's nice, but nothing that big a deal. However, 2 hot pots didn't have enough ingredients for 5 and we got some extra ingredients out of the fridge. 

Overall, it was alright but nothing special, and I would rather head to one of the buffet hotspots places in Bugis as it came up to $18.60 per person. 

The Quacking Dead

I was trying to get info on my computer just now and I suddenly heard quacking coming from the kitchen. I knew dad was making roast duck, but I also knew that the duck was already long dead. I tried hard and really thought about what was making that sound but just couldn't figure it out and had to go in to the kitchen and find out. What I saw made me laugh my head off when I realise he was using a bicycle pump to separate the skin from the flesh of the duck. As he did so, the sounds made by the pump was similar to a duck quacking and I asked dad:

"The duck is already dead, why are you trying to make it quack?"

I just had to. 

Junky Craving

Had a craving for pizza and I didn't really want to order a whole pizza, or drive all the way to Sunset way to get a special order in. Mom, on the other hand, seem to be on a frozen prata binge and keeps frying prata to eat with curry, whatever dip ia available, or even a fried egg. I made use of her prata madness to satisfy my craving by making an ultimate junk food dish - fried prata topped with cheese and hotdogs. Fold them in half and I've got a cheesy, oily wrap full of processed crap. 

Sometimes one just have to fall of the wagon. 

Testing His Limits

Made some pasta yesterday and with the seafood my mom defrosted, I took the opportunity to use the squid ink I bought a few days back. I wasn't too sure what to do with it, to make a really black version of a spicy aglio olio, or a blackened arrabiata. So I made a mix of both, an aglio olio with chopped tomatoes with a load of seafood. I made it for my mom and I, so the spice level was just slightly too spicy for mom, yet not really as spicy as I would like. 

Today, as I was eating a leftover bowl of the pasta, I got Brayden joining me, wanting a taste of whatever I was eating. I decided to find a piece of pasta that wasn't covered in too much sauce for him to try. Obviously the little bit would still be spicy and I expected him to spit it out, but seems like this little boy loves his spicy stuff (he already enjoyed a piece of raw onion once). He ate the noodle, and started rubbing his face when the spice hit him, and strangely enough, wanted more. He would eat the noodle, rub his face and then come back for more. Seems like I found a new pasta friend. 

As you can see, he continues to play with the leftovers and ends up painting his face with squid ink. How it didn't burn his face, I still don't know. 

Test Kitchen 05

Found some beef brisket the other day at Giant and decided to get some tripe, ox tail and tendon to make some beef noodle soup. After looking for a recipe, I decided to try one that seems close to what I was looking for. After putting all the ingredients in a pot, it didn't look quite like what I was expiating at all, and mom said it was too salty. Decided to half the liquids and add in more water, and I decided to add some coriander to the pot to freshen it up. The meat and tendon turned out rather nice and didn't get too salty, and the gravy was much better after the salt reduction. Guess I'll have to try another version, or just reduce the amount of soy sauce in the recipe. 

Think I've to go with my own instincts with recipe these days, just like Remy in Ratatouille.

Simplest Things

Woke up today and didn't know what to eat. Mom suggested fried rice and I felt like having some junk like spam and thus an order of spam fried rice was put in. In a few minutes, out came a bowl of piping hot spam fried rice with chilli padi. It's simple, delicious, and definitely comfort food. 

Om Nom Nom!

Early Morning Dinner

Sent Adi home and since mom wanted to get stuff from NTUC, we head to big 24-hour branch in Clementi and got her drink supplies among other things. As I was getting a bit hungry, and it was time for my dinner, we went to the coffee shop just behind NTUC for some Mee Rebus which I haven't had for a long while. 

There's something about the rich beef and peanut gravy, mixed with with the tartness of the fresh lime juice, and the kick from the sliced green chilli. It doesn't feel disgustingly starchy and has the right balance to satisfy and perk you up at the same time. The only problem with this is the lack of ingredients as it's usually just noodles, bean sprouts and an egg. Just not enough meat and vegetables, but that's what good about buying this from a stall that sells cooked food as well. 

Well now that I had my dinner, I'd probably enjoy a good sleep, if the stupid mosquitoes would leave me alone. 

Finishing Touches

Today I finally found a recipe for the chocolate covering for the cake pop experiment and decided to give them a coating before they dry out too much. Also, the moulded cake has set enough to be handled a bit more roughly. I don't know why, but lately, I seem to be hitting some crap recipes online, and it happened with the chocolate. Somehow there was just too much chocolate and not enough butter for it to be runny enough to coat without getting it stuck in blobs. Ended up having to wing it with adding a little butter at a time until I got the consistency I needed. Finally, throw the moulded cake in, swirl around, tap off excess and let them harden in the cold wind coming through my kitchen. 

Oh yes, I got a natural cold kitchen right now!

Potato Crisps With A Punch

I felt like munching something and dug through a bag of snacks I bought the other day. Found the smaller pack of potato crisps and realised that it was a flavour I haven't tried. I'm not exactly sure what flavour it is supposed to be, but judging by the Thai words on it, I guessed it was tom yum. From the photo on the pack, possibly tom yum goong. Well, I like the flavour I think it's supposed to be and loved it even more after having my first bite. Sweet, salty, tart and with just a slight hint of spiciness. Now I wish there was a bigger bag!

Indian Rice Vermicelli Pancakes

As usual, I had my fill of local food and had to write about it. What better way to document my life than to take a pic of yummy food when my like revolves around it? So today's picture if of putu mayam. Putu mayam, also known as string hoppers or iddiyappam, are quite tasteless like rice vermicelli, and can be eaten as an accompaniment to curries, or as a dessert. Over here, it's usually served as a dessert with grated coconut and powdered red sugar.

We were once talking about my late grandmother loving huat kuehs (chinese steamed cupcakes), getuk ubi (mashed tapioca dessert), and putu mayam (string hoppers) and we realised that she probably loved the red sugar that is found in or with these 3 desserts. During this discussion, my aunt asked if putu mayam was the Indian bee hoon that we would sometimes buy for the 7th month prayer's offerings. I guess it does look like a serving of rice vermicelli made into a flat pancake, and the ingredients are similar. 

Piqued Curiosity

Had the TV on while I was blogging when the trailer for this movie came on, and it got me wondering if it would be as good as the Fast & Furious movies. Also how far it would go as Electronic Arts had come up with so many versions of the Need For Speed game. Here's the trailer; part of which I saw on TV to promoting it's cinema release this week.

  )

Cutting My Own Hair

I've grown up never having step foot in a barber or salon to get my hair done as my mom has always been my hairdresser. I've got my hair wash, cut and permed by her, and soon she taught me how to help her with perming her hair. I realised I'm crap at curling bunches of hair around the perming sticks and disliked the smell of perming solution.

Then finally mom got too tired of perming her hair and decided she just wanted to get it cut, but needed help with cutting the back as it's the hardest to get straight on your own. So I started to get used to cutting her hair, and 2 weeks back, she asked me to give her a haircut. I was rather sick of her usual layered look and decided to give her a cut with no proper look in mind. I just knew I wanted it no too short, yet short enough that all she had to do was run her hands through and not look crazy. More importantly, she could do without all the stupid little clips she used to hold up errant locks.

I then got a bit frustrated with my long hair and decided to get it cut. However, I knew I didn't want the bob I'm always sporting, and couldn't really tell what I wanted. So mom told me to go try cutting my own hair and see what came out of it. I decided today that I would get down to it and just went into the bathroom, scissors in hand, and chopped a load off. Finally, I managed to get something I was alright with just as my arm was getting too tired and my aim was getting crap.

So my first attempt, which needs a second trimming, was rather good if I should say so myself.

Words That Make A Song

Heard John Legend's "All Of Me" on the radio recently and found the song quite nice with sweet lyrics that are a rarity these days. It is this kind of songs, where the lyrics catch you instead of the beat, and the song stays with you longer than any club anthem would. The official video from VEVO can't be played here, so I'm putting up the chorus instead:

 Cause all of me
Loves all of you
Love your curves and all your edges
All your perfect imperfections
Give your all to me
I'll give my all to you
You're my end and my beginning
Even when I lose I'm winning
Cause I give you all of me
And you give me all of you

Test Kitchen 04

Mom bought some beef knuckle the other day when a craving hit and realised that it was a very odd cut with some that were nice and tender, while other bits were really very tough. So I told her we should use it for a stew or curry and decided to get dad to find a beef curry recipe to try out.

He was looking through some books and I didn't realise that he didn't find one he liked until I saw my sister commenting on something he posted on Facebook. Apparently he found it on his phone and instead of bookmarking it, he apparently posted the recipe he wanted to try. So since he already got a recipe and we had all the ingredients at home, it was time to make some Beef Sukka.

Well it's basically half done right now as it needs to boil down and dry up, but it will probably taste better the next day like most curries do anyway.

Test Kitchen 03

After getting the cookie scoop, along with the rest of Bake It Yourself, I decided to try making cupcakes to use up a Nutella buttercream I made earlier when testing out the Nutella dream cookies. Also to top them off with some moulded sugar decorations.

I looked for a recipe which would use coconut flour so it would be easier on my blood sugar levels and managed to find one that was diabetic-friendly. Furthermore, I had a sugar-free maple syrup! So I went off baking the cupcakes, which were true to their name - fluffy! Only thing was that the sugar-free syrup seem to have lost all trace of sweetness and I ended up having fluffy, dark chocolate cupcakes. Great for my pairing with the Nutella buttercream and sugar decoration I guess.

Today, I got Adi over to mould the decoration and help with frosting the cupcakes, as well as make some cake pops. The cake pops ended up a bit too soft and needed a bit more time in the fridge, so we managed to only get weirdly frosted square cupcakes with tiny baking-themed sugar decor.

Bought The Whole Store

Dad and I were looking for an ice cream scoop, or cookie scoop, as we wanted to try making cupcakes. After searching around for one, I finally found that Bake It Yourself had it in their stock, and it was priced affordably at $9.90 instead of $20. 

Going around, and up and down, the store, I found more and more things inspiring me, and fit some ideas I had for a while. Soon I was grabbing cake pop moulds, sugar paste moulds and fondant. Not only was everything so cute, they were nicely priced and I hope this store doesn't have to raise its prices. 

Oh, and when I couldn't find the cookie scoop, they were nice enough to run up to their storeroom to get some and stock up the shelves right away. Now that's awesome service!

Over The Top Japan

Lately I've been looking up websites while contemplating what are the more important things I should do during the first trip to Japan. I think Angie has covered the most important ones like Mount Fuji and Tokyo Disneyland, and I've added the super touristy Tsukiji market to my list, along with a few places to eat.

Looking through all the things about Japan, I would say that "weird" would be a bit of an unfair and slightly mean description of the things they have there. I think "over the top" would be better as they're obviously very dignified and spirited about their culture, and are always striving to make things better and more interesting. It's like one of the suggestions I found while looking through TimeOut's list and couldn't help but giggle at the thought of Angie and the rest going for it - the karaoke session in a jacuzzi.

However, I feel this OTT quality is good when it comes to the food scene when they are always trying to "up their game" and come up with new twists to good old dishes, or simply creating one store which sells every kind of yakitori from all over Japan. Makes it easier for me!

Getting so excited!!

Test Kitchen 02

My aunt have been bugging us to make tiramisu as she wanted to know how much it would cost, and how much work it would require. After buying the ingredients about a week ago, we finally set a date and time and got down to layering the dessert this afternoon. Before this, she also mentioned that someone made a caramel banana dessert she wanted to try and I suggested we make it different and with localised flavours.

We started with making the tiramisu, and after all the coffee extraction, egg beating and layering, we got the dessert in the fridge within an hour. We then started on the caramel banana dessert using a gula melaka caramel, and coconut cream. It was relatively easy, just biscuit crumbs and butter, topped with caramel bananas, and topped that with a layer of whipped coconut cream. Done within another hour. We had a bit more biscuit base left and decided to finish up my lemon curd from my last experiment. So last dessert was just as easy, layer of biscuit, lemon curd and green-tinted, whipped coconut cream with toasted coconut for a little pizazz!

3 hours, 3 desserts!

Easter Egg Hunt

Dad and I were hunting for an ice cream scoop for a cupcake mission we intend to start on someday and ended up going to a few stored to look for them. We ended up at Cold Storage and found that they are stocking chocolate eggs in preparation for Easter. Looking at all the eggs, I was looking for 2 in particular; a giant Ferrero Rocher egg and mini Kinder Bueno eggs. I had these 2 when we were in England for Grandma's funeral and have not found anything close. 

This time, I did find something interesting enough to buy and try. They were Ferrero Eggs, the darker ones are pure chocolate while the gold ones were hazelnut - or so the package said. After opening them to try, I found the chocolate ones to be dark chocolate coated wafer eggs, encasing chocolate ganache. The gold ones were milk chocolate coated wafer eggs with a hazelnut ganache centre. 

Imagine the dark chocolate and normal Ferrero Rocher without the nuts and sprinkles. Yummy, but not as yummy as the giant Ferrero Rocher egg which I will still be hunting for!

Week Of Birthdays

I was just thinking the other day that the first week of March will be full of birthday celebrations if everyone I knew threw a party for themselves. My grandfather would have his on the 1st, my cousin's daughter on the 2nd, Airol on the 4th, Ai Li would have her's today. Thank goodness that birthday parties aren't really a big thing once we're done with our 21st. Most of us tend to leave the country now to get away from any birthday surprises and having the birthday song sung by everyone in the village. 

The one thing that could possibly be good for anyone celebrating their birthday these days might be the cupcake trend. One could choose a birthday cake big enough for one, therefore not having to force everyone else to from the same big cake, with the same flavor that might not be to everyone's liking. Another way is to choose a few different flavours, blow out a candle on our favourite flavour, and let everyone else decide what they would like to eat. With most cupcakes being about 4 mouthfuls, these go down without making one feel full of buttercream. 

Now I feel like trying to make my own cupcakes, but first, I'll just eat a few on behalf of the birthdays these week. Oom Nom Nom!

Inducting A New Member

Babysitting day today and we decided to let Brayden try his hand at feeding himself to get this hand-eye coordination working better. I was showing him a bottle of Nutella and mom asked where my pack of Nutella Go was as it would be easier for him to handle a little stick rather than mess up a whole bottle with a spoon. So we opened it and let him taste a little bit of Nutella, then showed him what to do with each stick. After messing with his first stick, mom and I managed to leave on stick and some Nutella for him to play with. He did do a good job with dipping and licking off the Nutella, and finally took a bite of the biscuit. Midway through, he was laughing like a maniac in his chair. Think he was in Nutella heaven! Finally when he finished the last biscuit, he started with his spoon and in a huge mess.

I think I just made a new Nutella fan. Hahaha!!

Attention Seeker

We brought Adi over to our place tonight as I wanted to pass her the Nutella cupcake I got. She was so tired, she ended up sleeping before I could even get the cupcake out to try. So she ended up sleeping over at our place for the night. However, midway through her nap, she shuffles about in the couch and Barkley took the opportunity to get a scratch from her. It ended up with Adi's hand hanging from the couch, wiggling her fingers once in a while to scratch Barkley's stomach. However, Barkley was not satisfied and would wiggle to ensure he got some action from her fingers when she dozed off again. 

Attention whore!

Childhood Favourites 06

Ever since I got a taste of Nutella, the taste was etched into my tastebuds, my mind and my heart. Mom never bought a jar like the one in the picture, but she did let us have the single portions that came with their own plastic palette knives. All we had to do was lift the foil lid, mix the nutty chocolate paste around to make sure the oil was evenly spread, and start slathering it onto our tongues. Pure bliss!

Now it's in bottles and we're using butter knives!

LIstening Pleasure

Just heard this version of "Stay", originally sung by Rihanna, whom I find has a irritatingly nasal voice. This cover , done by 30 Seconds To Mars is waaaaaaaay better, at least to my ears.

Enjoy

Thirty Seconds To Mars - Stay (Rihanna) in the Live Lounge

Oyster Hunting

It would have been Ah Kong's 91 today, and I think he would have enjoyed the oyster hunt we had today. After having a taste of the oysters we picked yesterday, dad and I decided to get the right tools and go in prepared. We asked if Uncle Dennis and my cousin Criszean would like to come along, but in the end, Criszean couldn't make it, but Ian and Denise could. 

So the 5 of us went, and 4 of us hunted while Denise sat guarding the drinks and enjoyed the wind. After chipping off a few small ones, I managed to get a huge one and that got us going with the hunt for bigger oysters. In the end, we managed a huge haul, with some really huge that were as big as our palms. 

After getting the yummy oysters out, we decided to make our very own version of mild oyster omelette, with a side of spicy oysters to top it off. 

Steals From The East

Dad and I went for another round at the Expo today as there was a Pet Expo on and we wanted to see if there was anything nice for Barkley, and maybe look to see if there are any dogs we might be able to adopt. Other than that, there were a few samples being given away and we took some for Barkley. Then they were giving away cat kibbles and dad blindly took them, and I thought I could always give them to Adi's girlfriend, or make friends with some strays. There were a few dogs there I would gladly adopt, but I'd have to ask Barkley first. He can be a bit crazy sometimes.

Later on we went to the fair Watsons was holding to look for a few household products and ended up with more snacks than anything. However, there was a deal on nail polish and I called Angie to check if she might want to get some, and she was happy to get a few colors. Following that was the book fair which helped me add a few more "branded" books to my collection. So far it's Bovril, Coca Cola, Heinz Baked Beans and Lyle's Golden Syrup. Wonder how many of these books are out there.

Following our Expo visit, we headed to Changi beach as Dad wanted to cast his net and check out what fish he might snag. Going in, he found the ground too muddy and soft, making it a big problem for him to stand. Furthermore, the strong winds were blowing the net back towards him, which didn't do anything to help in the cast. We decided to walk along the shore to check out what we could dig up and we ended up with a few oysters (only because we didn't have the right tools)

I would say it was a really fruitful day.

Setting Standards

I've been eating from this coffee shop for at least the last 30 years of my life (I can't account for the first 2and a half years), and it is a place that has set a few standards in my culinary journey. It is the place I had half boiled eggs which I slurped from a saucer, followed up by pouring my hot Milo in the same saucer to cool off, and then drank from. It was the place I got my first taste of assam laksa, the first kaya toast and also the most awesome iced Milo kosong. So far, I haven't found any kaya toast and iced Milo kosong that have even come close to the ones I get at Chin Hin Eating House. 

Problem with these standards is finding another place which does things just as good. Other than the passing of the lady who made the assam laksa, the coffee shop, along with the neighboring blocks, are all moving out. While some of the shops have found another location, the owner of this coffee shop has no time to search for one as yet. So now everything is in limbo, and I shall have to wait patiently to find out if I will ever get another place to chill out with a refreshing iced Milo kosong and crispy, buttery, sweet, salty kaya toast.  

Guess I have to learn to make my own kaya toast for now… hmmm….

I Love Eggs

My favourite food has always been the simple egg. Soft-boiled, hard-boiled, poached, scrambled, fried or whichever way it's done, I like it. Sadly, eggs had to be drastically cut out of my diet when it was struck by HFMD, which gave me some weird rashes when I ate more than 1 in a week. Oh the misery of looking at breakfast menus and pining over a a typical full English. 

However, that problem seemed to have passed after a while, and it could be due to the eggs being produced these days, with added vitamins and minerals. So once I didn't get weird rashes from too much eggs, one of the first things I made was an egg mayo sandwich. Full of eggy goodness!

Can't wait to try the egg mayo sandwiches Angie have been raving about though…. Om Nom Nom!

The Knife That Broke

Things seems to improve with technology but seems like they also start to get more fragile. So we can now look at the people calling us over the phone, but a hard knock and there goes the screen. 

Today's hard knock seem to happen to the knife I was using to try cutting off a piece of nougat. The nougat wasn't tough, but if I broke it off, it would have been too big. So as I was trying to cut a piece of nougat, the handle of the knife broke off, leaving the blade stuck in nougat. Not sure who bought this knife, or if it was some freebie, but it's crap! 

Air Fried Snacks

We've been using the air fryer to experiment with a lot of things ever since we brought it out of hiding for our CNY reunion dinner. Air-fried whole prawns are one of the best things to come out of that gadget, but not everything comes out as nice as it would out of a hot oil bath. The good thing about air fryer is cooking meat with fat around it. Most of the fat liquifies to help make any skin crispy, and the excess drips away. However, things like mantous don't turn out with soft and fluffy insides when you finally get the skin browned enough. What turns out good are chicken tails and necks. Low heat and slow cooking just makes the fat drip away and turn the skin crispy.

So good I only got a picture when it was half gone.

Hanging Gardens At Westlake Mansions

I get a message this morning from my aunt asking if I'd like to head down to Sungei Tengah to get some vegetables and plants. My aunt has a strange affinity for flowers; she's like a bee, attracted to any bright colored flowers, even on the ugliest of plants. It might be because my grandmother used to have a wonderful amount of plants outside the house, most of which were orchids that bloomed with an assortment of colored flowers. And ever since I found a place which sold little orchids for cheap, right next to farm-fresh vegetables, Kok Fah Farms was a place she'd always asked if we were free to take her to. 

Since then, dad and I managed to find another place with really nice plants at low prices and since we were already in the area, we had to bring my aunt there for a look. Eco Garden sells a different range of orchids. Mom already fell in love with the ones we got for her for the birthday, and bought a few more herself when I brought her there with Angie. This time, my aunt got a look and was so happy to find the amount of flowers they had available. 

I on the other hand, was just looking at the edible stuff which I'll probably blog about once I've got it done to my satisfaction. For now, all I will show is mom's hanging garden, which was started with some donations from my aunt. I'm wondering how crazy this would get. 

Local Flavours Are Best

On the topic of sales held at the Expo, I love the finds at food events. Although most times there are the same old big companies trying to ply their goods, there are the smaller companies trying to breakout into the market, or find experimental flavours of old favourites. 

One of the first finds I had was dried bean curd skin, about the size and shape of tortellinis. I haven't seen it in supermarkets, and they made a simple dish with it just using spring onion, garlic and soy sauce. Well other than my love for bean curd skin, the dish actually sold me as you could taste all the flavours that had been absorbed by the bean curd skin. 

Another item was Noi Noi's range of sausages. I like sausages with a casing that snaps and cracks under your bite, with a slightly chewy, meaty filling. This obsession was because of the Viking Hotdog we used to have in Singapore, and Noi Noi got memories flooding back. However, Noi Noi managed to capture my dad because of the use of bacon wrapped around their pork sausage, while I really liked their MaLa flavour which is like a silent killer that creeps up on you. Seriously good on a bun, with instant noodles or just on their own!

At another event, we found an old favourite with new flavours, bamboo stick ice cream, or more commonly known as Potong ice cream. These ones were done by Rasa Sayang and they had Coconut, Cempedak and Cendol flavours. I couldn't decide, and since it wa cheaper to buy in bulk, I got all three for myself! 

Can't wait for more food discoveries!

Warehouse Bargains

I'm not one for crowds, but when it comes to getting a good deal out of a sale, I'd put on my boots made for walking and stomp right through. There are sales that can be held so often that you can skip a few and just bulk buy whatever you need in the next. Or there are the rare ones that you miss and hope it will be held in six months or wait another year. 

Big sales in Singapore are usually held in 2 places, Suntec City or Singapore Expo. Although Expo is further than Suntec, the good thing is the accessibility of sales schedules on the Expo website. This helps in planning your week, and when to execute a mass bargain hunting mission. Dad is always up for a hunting mission, and he got hooked with our first successful hunt at the Mayer sale. Now every time I ask if he wants to go for some sale or exhibition, he's always up for it. 

Today, we head to Expo for a few of the sales with Angie. We had planned to go on Saturday so that she didn't have to take time off from work, but our plans changed for different reasons. She had to go get some Tau Sai Piah and I didn't want to compete with people coming in for the Michael Learns To Rock concert. In the end, she took half a day off work and we met up at Expo for the book and clothes sale. Dad and I were there a little earlier and decided to look through the baby stuff sale to see if there was anything we could get for Brayden. 

All sales so far have either been rather well displayed, or at least only one sample was displayed while the rest required staff to get your order. I think the worst sale I've seen was the fashion one where all the clothes were just dumped into bins that everyone had to dig through. Wouldn't it be a chore once the sale ends and auditing starts?

Anyway, I guess we could call it a good hunt when we managed to get some stuff for Brayden, a birthday gift for Adi (birthday in March), and some good books and bookscrapping accessories. Time to start printing photos. 

My Personal Muppet

If you haven't noticed already, there's one four-legged fur ball that is featured in a few of my posts. His name is Barkley. Originally called Ah Wang, then Elvis, he was sadly passed up by 2 families and ended up with us. I'm not sure exactly what happened to him but he came to us not knowing or not able (I'm still unsure) to climb up stairs. Then we found he couldn't lift his leg like most male dogs when he peed, and he had a very sensitive left hind leg. Then I later realise that the left side of this jaw had teeth that was in odd positions. that didn't mirror the typical sure of a dog's jaw. I honestly think he had a really rough start in life.

Whatever is it, Barkley has been a joy to have. He brings out a happiness you see in the smile everyone has when they see the muppet bounding in on Sesame Street with his love. His love for the outdoors, love for everyone he meets, the crazy love for anything covered in tennis-ball-green felt, love (or obsession) for squeaky toys, the unrelenting love for the wind in his face, and his greedy love of liver. 

Just look at that face!

Sharing Is Caring

I guess in my case, sharing was part of caring for my cousin's son, Brayden. It seems like he always like to share whatever I'm eating, or at least check out what I have in my food bowl, and there are certain foods which he would sit absolutely still to enjoy.

Today was no different, and the thing that got him to be an very good boy was a crunchy, juicy Fuji apple.

App Testing

Was a little bored and decided to play around with the app, Photo Grid, which I've been using when I need to get a collage of pictures to post. I've been using the app for a while but have yet to try the 'Template' function in it. So I open it up only to find a very limited number of templates which were definitely not what I'd ever use for the photos I take. Then I found the list of new templates which I could download and started clicking on a whole load of them. 

As I was going through the templates, this one caught my eye and I decided to give it a go first. It started out with just a few pictures from London, and in the end, it ended up as a little summary of Adi's trip to England! Guess I'm happy with the result and it's obviously something I would use with the kind of pictures I take. 

Marathon Time

Mom took a nap after her babysitting gig and woke up around 10 to catch the latest episode of NCIS. All of us then seemed to be wide awake and with no other new series on tv, mom finally decides to watch the stuff I've got on the computer. Basically, this would be the first time we've used the Apple TV since my sis left. Now it's time to get the drinks and snacks, sit back and get comfy for the longhaul.

Test Kitchen

Once in a while, the moods and ideas just gel together and I would end up getting a few recipes tested out in the kitchen. Once in a while I'm joined by Adi. Once in a while they fail, and once in a while the results are awesome.

So this weekend, I was actually craving something like a lemon meringue tart, just without the meringue. Yet, I didn't want something gummy like a lemon bar. Plus, I was too lazy to go all the way out just looking for a lemon tart, and I couldn't seem to find any everywhere I went. Since I planned to make Nutella tarts to help finish the bottle Adi opened a while back, I decided to try making lemon tarts. The idea to make Nutella tarts also came from the idea someone posted about Nutella Day, with a recipe for Nutella Dream Cookies, which we decided to try as well.

Mom also asked to try out a chilli crab recipe my aunt, Jeannie, mentioned a few days before. That led to us getting a few ingredients from Jurong Point, that led us to a Philips fair selling the air fryer my cousin wanted, which saw us buying a set for him, and then sending it to their house in Teck Whye Lane. On the way, I suggested picking a few belimbing, and so dad went hunting while mom and I continued on with the delivery. That's when the cooking list increased with a few more ideas to try.

In the end, within the 2 days, mom, Adi and I made Nutella Dream Cookies, Nutella Tart, Lemon Tart, Chilli Crab, Whole Apple Pies, Belimbing Chutney, Belimbing Pickles and even Candied Belimbing. PHEW!

Airport Nosh

Once again, the album dug out another dish that made me drool with both the hunger to eat and travel. This was the chicken pate served at the bar in Heathrow Airport's terminal 1 departure area. Oddly I can't remember the name of the place, but it was on the left corner right after immigration. The strange thing about this pate was that it was exactly like the one I remembered having a few years back, before immigration, at terminal 3. However, looking at the list of pubs and restaurants available, there doesn't seem to be any in both terminals of the same name. Stranger still is that both serve their pate the same way, on a board. The strangest thing is, I didn't take a photo of the first one I ate!! 

Anyway, this definitely made skipping the inflight sandwich worth it, and I would definitely lengthen a transit in Heathrow, or just fly there for this one. 

One Of The Best Things About Singapore

One of the best things about Singapore is that the food scene has been expanded to a point where you can get almost any country's famous dish. Anyone can say that every particular dish will always be best sampled in the original country, but you can't deny that proud countryfolk wouldn't try their best to replicate them. Other than particular ingredients that might be hard to come by in Singapore, most streetfare and grandmothers' recipes require what is readily available.

Lucky is someone like me who loves my travels and food. With the ease in which I can satisfy my cravings for food from foreign lands without having to bring along my passport, I'd say I'm a happy camper in Singapore. Just like heading down to Malaysia Boleh at Jurong Point to get a lovely, flavourful and well-balaced bowl of Penang laksa. The lines for the Penang char kway teow and oyster omelette were really long as the frying process was really slow. However, good things come to those who wait, in this case at least.

It was like dinner in Penang again, and topped off with the cendol for dessert. Big savings on the travel and accomodation, with just as big a satisfaction in the tummy.

For The Love Of....

As I was posting the travel photographs onto Facebook, I couldn't help drooling when I got to these 4 pictures of the early dinner we had at the Lobster Pot at Portland Bill. The crabcakes, crab salad, crab sandwiches, and scones with jam and clotted cream are to die for. I would definitely travel all the way to Dorset just to have that, and have done so the 3 times I was there. So far, I've not had anything done so good, and so simply really.

Now I need to find a way to replicate this or find cheap airfares!

Need Some Colour

My room is turning out whiter than I'd like and I'm wondering if I should add some colour or do some stencil work on the cupboards. It might be nice considering my birdcage candle holder has a nice pattern I could try to replicate yet I think that would be a little too much. 

Or I could fill empty spaces up with colour?

The One Thing I Like About Paris

After the 2 days in Paris, I realise that it is one city I did not like, and other than to visit Disney Studios which we didn't have enough time for, I probably will not go back there again by choice.

However, I did enjoy the food, and one of the first things I had in Paris was a Croque Monsieur from Disneyland. It was really well done, considering I took the one with a huge patch of browned cheese. The sliced brioche had a really good toast on the outside, and yet stayed really soft. Cheese in the centre, just like the top, melted into that perfect stringy texture. Even the ham was lovely, not too salty and thin enough to give a nice flavor and texture to the whole dish.

Now that is one thing I crave from Paris, but I still rather go to other parts of France for it if I ever was that desperate.

Childhood Favourites 05

Today mom made another one of my childhood favorites, although she didn't use my favorite or 2nd favourite filling. My grandmother called them potato cutlets, and was the one who made the first ones that the blew my mind. They're made like bergedils, the potato balls that go great with soto ayam, but my grandmother's twist was to mix them with luncheon meat instead. The luncheon meat kind are my 2nd favourtie filling though. The one that really captured my heart was when she made them with sardine. A potato-sardine cutlet, eaten with a green chilli akin to prawn vadai - absolute heaven!

Mom made a new version with corned beef or mutton, depending on what she found in the pantry. We never had corned beef as my grandmother was a buddhist. Since my dad, grandfather and brother-in-law love their corned beef, as well as it being halal for Adi to enjoy, it was quite easy to see why mom decided to make these instead - more mouths to finish a big batch!

Spreading Some Pepper Love

During this year's reunion dinner, my cousin Javier took a liking to my battery-operated pepper grinder as it was quite easy to use and was just as simply designed. My pair was bought while on my trip to Australia and it really has come in handy, especially with you need to pepper your food while cooking, or even when marinating, and you don't have 2 hands to work a manual grinder. The best thing it is for is actually for pasta and soup, when you just need that bit of freshly ground black pepper to add a lovely hit of earthly spice

So while out with Angie at JEM, I was walking in Robinsons when I saw them being sold there, and with a discount to top it off. Since I was looking for another one myself, I ended up getting Javier a pair  instead of waiting till his birthday in November. Goes to show how much he liked it as he sent his dad to pick it up the day I posted it out to him online.

Beggars Aren't Choosers

Went out with Angie today and I felt like I needed to have a cup of coffee the whole day, preferably with some soy milk. In the end, we went to McDonald's after dinner and shopping and I got some iced black coffee from McCafe. Honestly, the coffee is alright, but somehow, even with 3 shots of espresso in it, they still managed to make it diluted. Guess I've to ask for an iced espresso next time, if there is a next time. The whipped cream didn't even help either. Thank goodness for the brownie though.

An Addict Since Four

I got my first blue passport that allowed travel between Singapore and West Malaysia in 1985, and that also meant that it was the first year I started getting out of the country. Ever since, I've been enjoying my adventures out of the country, but my adventures have gone much further than West Malaysia after I got a red passport.

I remembered the first few trips were mainly to Malaysia, and by long car rides. A memorable one was to Genting and I remembered 3 things very clearly - my grandmother having a go at the sharp shooter game near the casino, "chicken in a basket" dish (which was so good, I could eat everyday), and frozen in fear over crossing the bridge over the swimming pool (which I still am some what uncomfortable with). Obviously, this trip was probably the one that got me hooked as it was basically awesome new experiences and 99% of the memories were awesome.

The second big trip definitely got me hooked on flying. Well, I don't exactly love turbulence that comes with flying, but it is the fastest way to get to far off destinations. However, my first flight was only to Kuala Lumpur on a big Malaysian Airlines plane that had little bumps on the way. The take off was exciting and I was seated next to some guy with mom and sis behind me. After landing in KL, we were soon onto our second flight to Pangkor on a tiny little propellor plane that took about 10 passengers. Everyone was a bit skeptical about it, but it obviously got us to our destination, and boosted my confidence in air travel.

If only we had digital cameras then, so that taking photos would be much easier as you would know if the shot was good in an instant. However, I didn't have a camera, and mom was too busy making sure we didn't freak out to take pictures out of that tiny plane window to compare them to what I do now.

Twisting An Old Recipe 02

I've always loved the chilli crab sauce, but eating crab while it's hot isn't one of my favourite things. A while back, I had a chilli crab pasta and it gave me an idea to substitute the crab with prawns. Since it could work as a pasta sauce, I didn't see why I couldn't work as a dish alone. Then just before CNY, I got a few bags of frozen crayfish and thought I do a chilli crayfish instead. However, the freezer wasn't closed properly yesterday, causing the prawns to defrost. So I ended up with a big pot of chilli prawn and crayfish.

What better to do when  you have a big pot of food? Share! So I told Uncle Dennis to come for some and they brought the perfect accompaniment, mantous!

Twisting An Old Recipe

I wanted to test the oven on the apple pie recipe again, but didn't want to bother with making 9 mini pies. Since I already tried this for my sister's birthday party, I decided on making the apple slice so mom could have a try. 

Seems like we managed to get the oven setting right this time as the party didn't get to dark. So now we've got a new version we could do for Christmas so everyone can share, along with the little pies to take home. 

Seasonal Experiments

Just last year, my mom reintroduced me to this super sour fruit. She didnt have much ideas as to what to do with them other than slicing them into her sambal belacan, and that was best eaten with fried fish. Furthermore, we usually got only a handful or two of these at a time when they are in season, which made it hard to experiment with. 

Lucky for us, her cousin has a huge tree that happens to be bearing a lot of fruit just as Uncle Raymond visited them for CNY. He brought about 10 handfuls of fat, juicy fruits back to our place, more than enough for Uncle Dennis and experiments. The suggestions then came in with stories about people using it as replacement for tamarind and made me wonder what else I could do with it. Mom also wondered how it would taste if it was pickled. 

Guess it's time for some experiments.

Childhood Favourites 04

Went to the Floating Platform at Marina Bay today for the annual River HongBao and found another favorite of mine in the food corner. Putu Piring, similar to Kueh Tutu, but there's less rice flour mixture, lots more gula melaka, and no pandan leaf to sit on. The texture also differs from the chinese version as this is more like a dense sponge cake even if it's over-steamed. The kueh tutu somehow feels like gum paste in the mouth when it's over-steamed. 

Anyway, I can't really remember when I first ate one of these, but I do remember mom getting some kueh tutu from the coffeeshop under the Tai Chung building. They were either filled with the sugared shredded coconut or peanuts, but I loved the chewy texture of the rice flour mixture and the lovely panda smell. However, once I tried a putu piring, the gula melaka just got me hooked. There are some stalls that place these on pandan leaves, and that just makes it all sooooooo good!

Learning From Kids

Manvinder's son, Aaryan, got his own bowl of noodles and a plastic spoon so he could feed himself as we had dinner together As all of us were enjoying our dinner and were chatting about the mundane, we caught sight of how Aaryan was eating and it only brought laughs to all of us. So it's no problem if you eat messily as long as you enjoy it so much that you lick the spoon clean!

Beach Combing

The tide was really low and we went to Changi beach again to check out what yummy gems we could get. Other than the edible stuff we got, there were a few cool finds hidden in many spots across the exposed seabed. Fat starfish, skinny starfish, lots of hermit crabs, corals, weird weeds n anemones. Cool to know there's a good amount of sealife even with the traffic in our surtounding waters.

Christmas Treat For CNY

Gong Hei Fatt Choy!! Day 1 of Chinese Lunar New Year and everyone came over to our place for dinner as planned. We had a few usual things on the menu and mom had place the christmas pudding on the trolley together with the rest of the sweet stuff. Looking at the pudding, I decided it was no better time to cut it up for everyone to eat as everyone wouldn't mind something new. Looking at the box, it was named "hidden orange christmas pudding" and I wondered how hidden the orange would be. Cutting into the pudding, I realised they hid the whole orange in the pudding, and it was really nice with the liquor and sugar soaked into it. Other than it being really sweet, it was a refreshing treat to the same old CNY goodies.