Y-Lyn's Journal...... Of Food, Fun & Travel =)

JB Trip Part I - Johor Premium Outlet

2012-01-26T17:26:00.004+08:00

Hubby drove my family to JB on a Sunday morning (upon request by my mum) to celebrate her birthday. Since hubby was driving, we need not spend more $$ purchasing the 1-Day JB Premium Outlet tour package which many tour agencies are offering now at $29.90/ pax. :) :)

Exit 302A

Parking Rate

There is a food court here that you wouldn't miss once you reach the outlet. It is located near the entrance. We didn't go in as we were eager to explore the shopping outlets.

Photo with mum and brother

It was really a very hot day and we could hardly open our eyes.

My parents

Me and Hubby

Kids having fun at the fountain.

There are many mid-range and local brands outlets here too. In fact, I observed most of the shoppers would carry carriers from G2000/ Adidas/ Vincci/ Paidini etc instead.

This crepe kiosk seemed to enjoy very good business. The queue was rather long.

We went up to the second level to have our lunch.

No queue at Coach when we were there.

Mum bought some coconut chocolate from this shop.

We had our lunch here at "Tang Shifu".

Abalone porridge. What presented here was very different from the photo in their menu.

The "abalone" was super tiny.

Black Chicken Soup

My Mee Sua was the last dish to arrive.

After lunch, we continued our shopping at Tebrau Jusco. Will post about it in my next blog post.

Zen Japanese Vegetarian Restaurant @ Midlink Plaza

2012-01-25T22:50:00.002+08:00

Unagi Don Set ($14)

This is not the real unagi since we are talking about a vegetarian restaurant here. The unagi is actually made of tofu grilled with seaweed and nice sweet teriyaki sauce.

Close-up

They offer a wide variety of dishes including salmon sashimi! Of course, all mock meat lah! Wonder how the mock sashimi taste.

Forlino @ One Fullerton

2012-01-14T21:28:00.019+08:00

Been very occupied with work for the past 2 weeks. This afternoon, I had lunch with hubby at Forlino. Will post more about the lunch soon. Here's Stitch! Have a nice weekend!!

The sign above states "EXIT" but this is the main entrance to the restaurant! I had verified with the staff.

Finding our way to the restaurant, we past by......

After going through quite a long walkway, we finally reached the restaurant. It was noon and we were the first customers.

Ramen Champion again!! @ T3

2012-01-09T23:49:00.000+08:00

2nd Birthday Celebration on New Year Day 2012

2012-01-07T23:28:00.001+08:00

On New Year Day, we also had a family gathering cum celebration of my little cousin's Krystal 10th Birthday.

After dinner, we went down to the playground to play with fireworks.

Cousins Joanne and Angeline both having fun and they taught me to use the "fireworks" mode in the camera to capture interesting light trails.

Such a perfect semi-circle created by Krystal.

After that, we went back to the house to sing Krystal Birthday song.

Cake-cutting

Receiving ang-baos and other pressies...

Cousin Grace still prepared some goodie bags to let the birthday girl play the host. Krystal distributed them to all the cousins.

My aunt's neighbour brought his cat to the house for us to take photo of it. He is definitely a very proud owner of this cat. Look at its fur!!!

Starting off 2012 at The Marmalade Pantry @ Ion Orchard

2012-01-02T19:29:00.001+08:00

My "Multiply" friends had a meet-up on New Year Day! We ordered lots of food to celebrate 2012 and also, to celebrate our friend - Hazel's 32th Birthday!

The making of future celebrity star.

I ordered "Clockwork" smoothie - Avocado, Banana, Yoghurt and Skimmed milk.

Salad for sharing

Nice club sandwiches (according to my friends) but I was too full to try them :(

I ordered the crabmeat linguine which came in a huge portion. It was tasty with generous serving of crabmeat but I had a hard time trying to finish up the whole dish on my own.

Two of my friends ordered the grilled salmon with soba.

4 different types of cupcakes for sharing, including "Hazel" the chocolate cupcake.

Astons Specialities @ Changi Airport T3

2011-12-31T22:31:00.000+08:00

We made a trip to Ramen Champion at Changi Airport Terminal 3 on New Year Eve at around 9pm as hubby was craving for the ramen from Ikkousha. However, the staff told us that we could only order from Riki Ramen as the other 3 stalls had run out of their stock. Disappointed, we took the skytrain to Terminal 1 to have our dinner at Astons Specialities.

At Terminal 3 - Kids having fun!

Nice X'mas Decor with the prominent landmark of Changi Airport - the control tower.

I ordered ribeye with pasta and onion rings.

Hubby's New York Strip with baked potato and coslaw.

In short, you can get good steak at a very affordable price here. I would love to revisit it again, maybe to try the infamous ieatSuperBurger.

Snowman at Terminal 1

After this very late dinner, we met up with a friend at the airport before going back home to count down!!!

Coffee Stars by Dao @ Wisma

2011-12-29T00:46:00.003+08:00

My friend, Sam and I had tea here after watching "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" at Lido IMAX theatre.

I ordered the tomato spinach soup. Nice presentation and it tasted good too. The bread was soft.

Sam ordered the seabass tom yam soup.

We had this Thai rice crackers as our appetizer.

Calamansi Drink

Sam had her dinner here too.

We also ordered 2 types of cakes to share.

Coconut Pandan Roll

Highly recommended!!

Matcha Chocolate Crepe

We saw their kitchen after we walked out of the restaurant.

Christmas tree at Lido Cineplex. MI 4, very action-packed and the show transported us from Moscow to Dubai to India. Didn't regret watching it on IMAX. Tom Cruise is reaching his 50 but his action stunts are amazing! Especially the part where he scaled the windows outside Burj Khalifa tower (Dubai), the tallest building in the world.

Ramen Champion @ Changi Airport T3

2011-12-27T14:04:00.001+08:00

Hubby and I spent our Christmas Eve at Changi Airport, avoiding the crowd in city area.

We settled at the newly opened Ramen Champion.

I had tried Ikkousha at Illuma before and decided to try a different stall this time.

Gantetsu Miso Ramen
I had not tried this type of ramen before, with corns and butter. I didn't quite like it and didn't manage to finish off the soup. I find the favour too strong for me.

Hubby ordred the Ikkousha Ramen and he liked it very much.

Althogether, there are 4 ramen stalls here.

Between the 2 types of ramen, we both prefer the ramen from Ikkousha.

Go! Go! Curry! @ Parco Marina Bay

2011-12-27T00:06:00.001+08:00

Go! Go! Curry! opened at Parco Marina and currently, they are running a 30% discount for all items! Too good a deal to be missed! I was actually attracted by its gorilla mascot first. It gave me quite a scare as it suddenly appeared in front of me when I was shopping around in the mall.

I decided to buy something from Go! Go! Curry! back for dinner with hubby.

Bought "The Grand Slam" so that I could try out the different varieties - the chicken, the pork, the shrimps and sausages. Only $12.50 after discount.

The portion was just right for both of us. The chicken was tender and so if you like your meat to have a firmer texture, choose the pork katsu.

For take-away, they separated the curry from the rice. The curry was almost black and although it looked sort of... unappetizing, it tasted good and went well with the rice.

The next time I would order a set of pork katsu curry for my own! :)

Lunch at Adobo! and my New Pet (Marimo) from 112 Katong!!

2011-12-24T19:25:00.002+08:00

Adobo is the name of a popular dish and cooking process in Philippine cuisine that involves meat or seafood marinated in a sauce of vinegar and garlic, browned in oil, and simmered in the marinade.

[credit: Wikipedia].

We were here at Ali Baba Eating House as I would like to try their cripsy roasted pork again. However, I was slightly disappointed when they were still preparing this dish and wouldn't be ready so soon. Hubby asked for their recommendation and ordered the Filipino Sausages.

I had stewed pork instead. The sambal really can kill! I only dipped a bit to the meat and my whole tongue went numb immediately. No joke! The meat itself was quite sweet in taste.

Lumpia Shanghai (Fried Eggrolls) - $0.50 each

Total cost for our lunch here was only $9. Pocket-friendly!

After lunch, we proceeded to 112 Katong, the newly opened mall which is just across the road.

Inside the mall with all the X'mas Decor.

Angelic Theme

Bought something from the mall.... MARIMO!!!! I got super excited when I saw them for sale in Singapore. I thought I could only get them in Japan. Hubby must be wondering how these 2 little furry balls could get me so darn excited. Haha....

Cute right?

Multiply Potluck X'mas Gathering

2011-12-22T19:28:00.001+08:00

This was my my first X'mas gathering with my Multiply friends. We decided to have potluck and we really had a lot of food for the party!

Food Galore

Disappointing Sakae delivery. All the sushi were sort of messed up to one side.

Family Potluck Dinner @ Ah Ma's place

2011-12-18T01:00:00.003+08:00

We had a potluck dinner last night. I contributed the Sakae Sushi Tray (Grande) and these are some of the varieties of food that we had, not including the desserts yet.

I self-collected this tray of sushi from the White Sands branch.

Nice presentation!

I ordered the same sushi party set for the following afternoon's X'mas party at a friend's place.

We also had bee hoon which definitely went well with the curry.

Home-cooked Red Hot Curry

Mini Yam ring

Fish head

Sweet Prawns

Mid-wings

My parents bought roasted duck.

Some goodies from Taiwan and Japan that my aunts bought from their holidays there. :)

Another potluck and gathering later! Yay!! :):):)

Kunming ~ Dali - Day 2

2011-12-14T18:40:00.003+08:00

Kunming:
Luyu Tea Culture Centre
Dinosaur Valley

Dali:
Erhai Park
Foreigners' Street

http://mystique0811.multiply.com/photos/album/204/Kunming_-_Dali_28

Kunming - Day 1

2011-12-12T19:00:00.070+08:00

8 Days Yunnan Shangri-la Deluxe Tour with CTC
Airline: China Eastern
Departure time from Singapore: 3am at Terminal 3
Arrival time at Kunming: 7am (4 hours flight)

The flight was very uncomfortable. It was quite stuffy and I couldn't sleep as I felt that the airplane was very warm. At first, I thought I was the only one having this problem. A while later, I also saw some passengers starting to fan themselves.

We were greeted by the local guide 小善who looks and talks quite like Quan Yifeng. Our itinerary started immediately and we visited 圆通寺, followed by 大观楼. After that, we proceeded to our hotel for lunch and checked in. As we had an early flight, after lunch, we rested in our hotel for about 3 hours before dinner at a specialized mushroom hotpot restaurant. After dinner, we went to the theatre to watch a performance "Dynamic Yunnan".

In Kunming, we addressed the girls as "Ashima" (阿思马) and the men as ”A-Hei-Ge" (阿黑哥).

圆通寺 (Yuantong Temple)

Next stop: 大观楼 (Daguan Pavilion)

During this winter period, we couldn't find colourful flowers or green leaves in the pond. However, we saw lots of seagulls during this season.

On the coach, I spotted these signboards which stated that these were shops selling dog meat.

We had our first meal in Kunming at our hotel.

In Yunnan, they only have freshwater fish which means that their fish has lots of tiny bones in them. Thus, we need to eat the meat slowly.

I loved the way they cooked their egg together with tomato.

Our hotel room at Longway Hotel. It is a relatively new hotel and it is very clean.

At the dinner venue, we spotted this huge wedding car. The photo of the wedding couple was also very big and was placed right at the entrance of the hotel. Our guide told us that it was quite common for a wedding couple to host about 100 tables and normally, they would serve almost all the dishes together at the same time. Thus, when our guide attended a wedding dinner in Singapore, she was not used to our culture. The guests would also bring extra containers to "tabao" the leftover food.

We reached the hotpot restaurant in the hotel.

These are all the condiments provided for us to make our own dipping sauce.

I put a bit of everything and this was my bowl of sauce.

Each table had an "Ashima" to serve the guests. She would pour in all the mushrooms plate by plate and to ensure that they were all fully cooked before she served the soup to our bowls. They used wild mushrooms and thus, it was important that they must be fully cooked before they could be served.

My first bowl of mushroom soup.

The second bowl was served with more veggies.

The third bowl was served with noodles.

After a hearty mushroom hotpot dinner, we proceeded to the theatre to watch a performance "Dynamic Yunnan".

I didn't take any photo during the performance as it was not allowed.

Finale

This rounded up our first day at Kunming.

Off to Shangri-la!!

2011-12-02T10:12:00.010+08:00

I will be away for a winter holiday with hubby in Yunnan for 8 days. Will not be blogging during this period. We booked the tour package from CTC during NATAs fair this year. Itinerary covers the following places:

Kunming: Daguan Pavilion, Colorful Yunnan-Peacock Garden, Jiuxiang Karst Cave, Stone Forest, Cuihu Park, Yuantong Temple, Flower Market , Jinma Biji Archway, Nanping Street

Dali: Mingzhu Square, Dali Ancient Town, Foreigners’ Street, Erhai Park, Zhang Dali Bai Garden, Three-course Tea Ceremony, Tie-dyed Cloth Factory, Congsheng Three Pagodas

Lijiang: Lion Hill, Dayan Ancient Town, Square Street, view Yulong Snow Mountain, Blue Moon Valley, Baishui River, Ganhaizi, Jade Water Village, Show, Heilongtan(Jade Spring Park), Night Tour at Shuhe Town

Shangri-la: The first Bend of Yangtze River, Shika Snow Mountain (2-way cable car), Dukezong Ancient Town, Zhuanjing Tong

Some of the food that we will get to try when we get there:

Cross-Bridge Noodle, Steamboat Chicken, Yiliang Roast Duck, Seafood Meal, Dali Nanzhao Palace Banquet, Naxi Farmer’s Meal+Lijiang Pancake, Zhongdian Tibetstyle Eight-treasure Steamboat

The weather there is rather cold now.

Will blog about the trip when I am back!! Time to pack now :)

TCC - 50% Discount Birthday Treat!

2011-11-28T18:53:00.001+08:00

Got a pleasant surprise from my letter box before my birthday. I received a birthday card from TCC and the best part was that it came with a birthday privilege card!

After our dinner at Nanxiang, we decided to move over to TCC for some desserts.

Drink Menu

I ordered the Sensuale Tea

All 3 of us love chocolate and our choice was obvious.... Dark Devotion x 3

Birthday Celebration with my Multiply pals at Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant 南翔馒头店 @ Bugis Junction

2011-11-28T13:50:00.004+08:00

We made an impromptu decision to dine at Nanxiang after my Multiply pal, Sam read up many negative reviews on Nandos at Bugis. However, the food at Nanxiang was really not up to standard as well and definitely, do not compare this with the one at Shanghai. The worst dish for this meal was the fried rice. My friend Pauline said her maid could do a better job.

We were seated very near to the entrance.

Steamed baskets as part of the interior decor

Scallop soup that my 2 friends ordered

Tofu with Century Egg

Drunken Chicken

Lion's Head (Meatball)

Prawns in Salted Egg Yolk

Do not ever order the fried rice if you were to make a visit here!

Xiao Long Bao

Me with the bouquet of flowers that they gave me :)

Sam and I

Thanks Sam and Pauline for celebrating my birthday! :)

Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant @ Bugis
200 Victoria Street #02-53 Bugis Junction S(188021)

Tel: +65 6835 7577

My Birthday Celebration at Level 33

2011-11-27T01:54:00.003+08:00

Hubby gave me a surprise when we reached home. He bought a durian cake for me from Emicakes and the cake was really the shape of durian! So cute right? :)

Me, the Happy Birthday gal :)

Zam Zam & The Children Little Museum

2011-11-25T20:59:00.000+08:00

Kki @ Ann Siang Hill

2011-11-21T14:57:00.131+08:00

After our lunch at Maxwell Market, we decided to take a slow walk and do some photography around the area. When we reached Ann Siang Hill, I decided to google for the address of Kki, a cake shop which I had read in many blogs.

Cake counter

Kki is a small little patisserie with only 4 tables inside the shop for the customers. There are another 2 tables outside the shop. I asked hubby to sit at the table outside first while I would go in and place our order. When I reached the counter, I asked for the beverage menu first since I already knew what cake I wanted to order (I am a chocolate lover!). The lady boss immediately highlighted to me that in order to dine in the shop, customer must order at least one cake. Seriously, I was a bit put-off by her statement as I thought this should not be the way to welcome a customer to your shop. Anyway, I humbly explained that I already knew about the varieties of cakes that they had and I just wanted to have a look at the beverage menu. :(

Anyway, I ordered a glass of jasmine gryphon tea ($3.50) for myself and a cup of latte ($4.50) for hubby.

Little Red Riding Hood ($8.50)

I must admit that their cake was really good. Very rich and dense chocolate with a raspberry core. I was really tempted to try other pretty cakes but I don't quite fancy take-away. Clumsy me might crush the cake on my way home.

You can also find "The Little Drom Stall" within the same shop. You can find vintage toys/ items here but mostly quite expensive.

Along Ann Siang Hill

Kki

7 Ann Siang Hill

Opening Hours:

Tue–Sat: 12pm – 7pm

Sun: 1pm – 7pm

(Closed on Mon)

Dali Exhibition: Dreams & Fantasy - Part III

2011-11-20T20:14:00.000+08:00

Dali Exhibition: Mythology & Religion - Part II

2011-11-20T19:23:00.000+08:00

The second theme of Dali Exhibition: Mythology & Religion

Man with Butterflies

Lady Godiva with Butterflies

Dali selected the image of Lady Godiva as one of his favourites, and paid homage to her sensuous and shapely female form through the conception of this sculpture. Lady Godiva was a noble woman who took pity of the people of her city because they suffered from her husband's abusive laws. According to legend, she rode naked through the streets to free the people from the oppressive rule.

Announcing her arrival, butterflies not only hover around her and her noble steed, but also adorn her body as she plays her trumpet. Lady Godiva embodies earthly beauty, whereas the butterflies depict the ethereal world, a symbol of soul.

Hair of Lady Godiva is as beautiful as the horse's mane.

Adam and Eve

The serpent coils himself in the shape of a heart.

Unicorn

Dali chose to portray the unicorn as a phallic figure whose horn penetrates a stone wall through a heart-shaped opening, from which a drop of blood is slowly falling. The nude, reposing female stretched out in the foreground at the hooves of the animal underlines the sensual nature of this sculpture.

St George and the Dragon

St George is recognized as the guardian angel of Aragon and a celebrated saint of chivalry throughout medieval Europe. In this sculpture, St. George is slaying the dragon, while his inspirational muse, Surrealist Art, exalts in the background.

The Bible

Homage to Terpsichore

Dali used a reflected image, setting a soft, carnal muse against a hardened, statuesque one. The lack of definition in both faces clearly underlines the purely symbolic significance of these figures. The smooth and classical dancer is representative of inner harmony and the unconscious, while the angular, cubist figure from which we see branches sprouting, represents the ever-growing and chaotic rhythm of modern life.

Both figures dance side by side within each of us, one representing grace and the subconscious; the other representing the sensuality of life.

Dali Exhibition: Feminity & Sensuality - Part I

2011-11-20T18:01:00.002+08:00

Basically, the Dali Exhibition circled around 3 main themes. The first theme that I am going to post here is on "Feminity and Sensuality".

Woman Aflame
This sculpture comprises of a female faceless figure with drawers and also fire. The flames seems to have a life of its own and represents the concealed intensity of unconscious desire. The drawers represent the unknown of hidden secrets. The faceless female symbolizes all women as though a woman's beauty laid in her mystery. The clutch, another symbol used commonly in Dali's work. He called it "Symbol of Death" and "Symbol of Resurrection". It represents a blend of authority, stability and sexual power.

You can find these recurring symbols in Dali's work.

Space Venus
This sculpture represents a marble female torso, a body separation into two parts with a melting clock, an egg and ants. The clock conveys two messages: 1) The beauty of the flesh is temporary and will vanish. 2) Beauty of Art is timeless and eternal. The ants are reminders of human mortality. The egg symbolizes life and renewal.

Homage to Fashion

The woman is a symbol of fashion. The man kneeling in front of her is paying homage to her beauty and elegance. Hence, the feminine figure is like a muse, a source of inspiration.

Woman of Time

Is beauty dependent of time or is it eternal?

Anthropomorphic Cabinet

The empty drawers symbolize hidden secrets.

Premonition of Drawers

The lithographs presented here made use symbols such as ants to express Dali's insecurities and fear related to women and sexuality. The ants symbolize fear, nervousness and decay.

Dali - Mind of a Genius Exhibition (Intro)

2011-11-14T18:42:00.002+08:00

Getting ready for Christmas?

Hubby at the counter purchasing the tickets.

The "lobsters" decor was replaced by the huge Titanic banner.

Interesting fun activity booklets for the kids... not too sure how to get one for myself?

Dali Exhibition occupied the whole of Level 3.

As I didn't want to rush through two exhibitions at a time, we only bought tickets for admission to Dali Exhibition. There was a 20% discount for OCBC card holders.

Entrance to Dali Exhibition.

Photography was allowed, just need to off the flash :)

Some quotes from Dali for you to ponder...

Another melting clock greeted us right at the entrance to the Dali Exhibition.

With Dali's Signature

Interesting fact

I will blog about the rest of Dali's exhibition in 3 posts based on the 3 main themes.

Our First Visit to the ArtScience Museum

2011-11-13T19:28:00.003+08:00

Last Monday, 7 Nov (a public holiday), hubby and I went to the ArtScience Museum to catch the Dali Exhibition before it ends on 13 Nov (which is today!). We took lots of photos around the museum and also in the exhibition area itself. For this post, I will post some of the photos we took before we went into the musum and also after the exhibition.

Before we went into the museum, the sky was clear and cloudless which made photography a bit uninteresting.

"Dance of Time II"
Dali's iconic reporesentations of melted clocks.
These liquiefying soft clocks represent fleeting time. Time passing, fading beauty, vanishing youth and unavoidable mortality have been crystallized in his melted clocks.

Cloudless sky at around 1pm.

The following photo was taken almost at the same spot after we came out from the museum, around 2 hours later. That day, the sky was filled with lovely clouds. I saw many of my friends posting photos of clouds on facebook, instagram etc on the same day.

Will blog about the Dali Exhibition in my next post! Stay tuned! :)

Fuss-free Homecooked Meal at home with CP products

2011-11-12T23:26:00.004+08:00

It is always good to stock up these easy-to-prepare CP food products at home. They will come handy especially for rainy days when you are lazy to go out for meal.

The shrimp patties are individually packed.

I cooked my spaghetti and topped it up with Prego tomato sauce, CP shrimp patty and CP chicken rolls.

Also prepared another portion for hubby :)

Super Nice Century Eggs from Yung Kee, Hong Kong

2011-11-12T12:29:00.003+08:00

Hubby bought back a box of century eggs from Yung Kee, Hong Kong. I was rather shocked when he told me that he bought a box of eggs back to Singapore.
Each box comes with 6 century eggs with pickled ginger.

Wow... The outer part of the eggs came in a very nice translucent colour and were very smooth. The eggs paired very well with the pickled ginger. They are definitely the best century eggs that I ever had!

Another buffet post: Ellenborough Market Cafe @ Swissotel Merchant Court

2011-11-06T23:59:00.000+08:00

4 Nov (Fri): A Farewell Dinner for a colleague

Think it cost about $43++ per person. However, there is a OCBC credit card promotion ie for every 3 diners, one dine for free. Will not really recommend this place as I think The Square @ Furama RiverFront is much more value for money.

Ah Ma 79th Birthday Celebration at The Square @ Furama Riverfront Hotel

2011-11-06T12:59:00.005+08:00

29 Oct (Sat): We celebrated Ah Ma's birthday in advance. Aunt Alicia suggested going to The Square at Furama Riverfront Hotel for buffet spread. The restaurant is located at the 2nd level. On the 3rd level, you can find the Indonesian Kintamani Restaurant.

Entrance of The "Square"

There is a wide varieties of food here and I would say it is really very value for money at $28 per pax after discount. (1 for 1 if you are paying by certain credit cards). I guess they might have revamp their menu or change their chef recently as there were many bad reviews on this buffet in the past. Now, I think this place is definitely worth a visit. The buffet comes with free flow of juices/ tea and coffee.

At the Seafood/ Salad Section:

Can D-I-Y salmon salad....

I didn't try the following, decided to save my stomach space for something better..

Fruit Section..

Slip lobsters. I only ate 1 as it was difficult to get the flesh out.

Very fresh prawns

Cooked food station:

Can get some ham, roasted pork from this station.

Many different types of cheese to try.

My cousins took a bit of each type of cheese to try with crackers.

Crab and fish maw soup but not much meat, can skip this.

Very thick slices of fresh salmon..

Some cooked items that I took.

Scallops

Desserts

Waffle

Ah Ma's Birthday Cake prepared by the hotel.

Family photo :)

The grandchildren...

Me and Ah Ma

Complimentary Cake (Disclaimer: Don't think you will also get such a big cake if you are here for celebration. As my auntie works in the hotel line, so probably it is easier for her to make this special request :)

The staff helped us to cut the cake nicely into 20 pieces.

Very rich chocolate cake. Nice!

Service was really very good. They still helped us to pack the leftover cake into this nice box.

Bought a little gift for Ah Ma. When she opened her present, she jokingly said LV ah? Haha... I didn't know my Ah Ma also know what LV is! Don't play play...

The Square @ Furama Riverfront Hotel

405 Havelock Road,

Furama Riverfront Singapore

$88 Groupon Horse-Riding @ Horse Valley, Johor Bahru

2011-11-03T00:48:00.011+08:00

Will blog about my horse-riding trip soon.....

Mookata Traditional Thai BBQ @ East Coast Road

2011-10-29T00:08:00.005+08:00

I took this photo about one month back after our meal at Saveur. I was attracted by the interesting signboard which stretched above two storefronts with the two prominent little pink piggies at each end. Along this stretch of road, we can find many specialty restaurants that will definitely whet your appetitie. I was happy to come back just within a month to try out Mookata!

Mookata Traditional Thai BBQ - This is their trademark logo :) So cute! The restaurant is located along the same stretch of road where you can find Astons, 1928 Peranakan shop. It is not easy to miss it. If you are driving there, I would suggest that you go to Katong Village, just directly opposite to find your parking lot.

I reached the restaurant at around 6pm on a weekday. There was still no crowd yet as the heavy rain had just stopped. Around 7pm, the crowd then started to come in.

The whole place is rather spacious and most importantly, you don't feel too hot and stuffy after all the BBQ.

You can find a ceramic plate (with a metal plate on top to hold the hotpot) placed on every table to prevent overheating and damaging the table top.

Prior to this visit, I had not heard of the Mookata dining concept. Its direct translation is "Pork Skillet". Mookata is a combination of BBQ and asian hotpot altogether. Normally, when we have our steamboat cum BBQ, the steamboat hotpot is at the core and we will grill our meats around the hotpot. However, Mookata reverses the concept. You will find a dome-shaped metal pan with a trough running around the edge for steamboat.

Mookata at East Coast Road just celebrated their first year opening anniversary recently.

They serve 3 types of home-made chilli sauces of different degree of spiciness. I find the one at the middle tasted a bit sweeter and the one at the far end the most spicy. Oh well, you got to try them on your own and have fun experimenting with the different tastes.

Let's check up the menu!

We had a "Set for 2" which consisted of a plate of meat and another plate of veggies, egg and vermicelli (aka tung hoon).

The egg was nicely nested amongst the veggies....

This is one of the business partners of the restaurant, Mr Lee Bajin. He brought in the hotpot and showed us how about cooking our meat. A very sincere and attentive guy, we saw him making his rounds very often to ensure that the customers were happy with the food and service.

He poured a kettle of vegetable broth into the hotpot.

After that, he put a piece of lard on the top of the metal dome and rubbed it against the dome surface to prepare for the BBQ.

The lard will then melt and the oil will drip down from the dome to the broth, to add taste to it.

Table Setting

We started to place the meat on the metal dome.

If your stomach still have space for more good food after finishing up the set, you might want to try some of their premium a-la-carte selections.

We had a plate of Wagyu Beef and...

Tom Yam Chicken (Thighs). Make sure that you don't overcook the wagyu beef. Normally, I like it medium well. I love the tom yam chicken. It was really well-marinated and tender. Try eating the chicken meat on its own without adding the extra chilli sauce to taste the original tom-yam flavour.

A nice plate of flower clams which the other blogger, Joycelyn loves to eat.

We had fun stacking the meat on the dome and flipping them to ensure that they were well-cooked and not burnt. The meat used here were all really fresh and of good quality. Maybe you will find the pricing a bit high compared to other steamboat restaurants, but they are really worth the money that you are paying for.

All is cooked with charcoal instead of electric stove.

Spread of BBQ meat and steamboat. The broth might get a bit salty at first and you can request to top up the steamboat with water instead of the veggie broth.

We were also being served with a plate of Kurobuta (Very thinly sliced high grade pork collar).

Nice!

Hmm... Overall, the three of us had a very satisfying meal at Mookata. Hope you all can come down and try the Mookata experience too!

Here is the address of Mookata Traditional Thai BBQ Restaurant.

Click the link for the location of the restaurant within streetdirectory.com map

http://www.streetdirectory.com/428797

Have fun "Pigging Out" at Mookata!

Thank you Mr Francis Tan from streetdirectory.com for organizing this wonderful makan session,

Mr Lee Bajin for hosting us, Joycelyn & Kenneth for the company.

Mookata Traditional Thai BBQ

103/105 East Coast Road

Singapore 428797

Phone No: 6344 2985

Opening hours:

Monday to Sunday: 1200hr to 2230hr

Tuesday: 1700 to 2230hr

(Closed on Tuesday during lunch)

Website: http://www.mookata.com/

Musical - The Lion King @ MBS & Cedele's Vegetarian Burger for dinner

2011-10-26T23:43:00.002+08:00

A Sunday Breakfast at Coffee Club, Tampines One

2011-10-26T09:16:00.003+08:00

Our friend asked us out for breakfast at Coffee Club on Sunday morning.

English Breakfast Tea for me...

I ordered Picnic Pancakes Set. ($10.20)

Hubby ordered the American Breakfast Set. ($10.50) The sunny side-up was not quite nicely done though.

Our friend came only after we had almost finished our breakfast. After that, he brought us to his new place which is currently under renovation at Pasir Ris.

Terracotta Warriors Exhibition @ ACM

2011-10-21T22:13:00.009+08:00

Glad that we still had a chance to catch a good glimpse of the 10 terracotta figures that were being displayed at the exhibition on its last day! Another good news was that admission to this special exhibition is free!

I had installed the iPhone App before coming down to the museum.

Labour-Intensive

Some works by Justin Lee. His work blends Western pop art with traditional Eastern imagery. Although the terracotta warriors are tomb figures, he added colour to them suggesting that life after death might not be so bad after all!

Personally, I did find this installation a bit eerie.... Haha...

Maidens armed with modern technologies.

Entrance to the main terracotta warriors exhibition....

Many people, including kids are trying out the special iPhone App created for this exhibition.

The General (Qin Dynasty)

I love this sword with the golden handle, made of iron, gold and turquoise.

Duplicates

Mechandize stall selling works of Justin Lee and other museum collectibles.

After that, we went to Funan DigitaLife Mall for our lunch.

We ordered Ginseng Chicken Double-Boiled Soup for two at food function Soup Master 老火汤. The day before, hubby had ordered soup from the same franchise stall at Punggol and he said it was good. Best part, the soup does not contain MSG.

Yam Rice

Pepper Lunch @ White Sands

2011-10-20T21:01:00.002+08:00

I am really glad that Pepper Lunch opens another outlet at White Sands! We got one more option for dining when we are at White Sands which we frequent regularly.
Hubby ordered Rib-Eye Steak ($16.90) and he topped up $2 for a drink and ice-cream.

Pouring the honey brown sauce onto the meat.

Done!

I ordered Curry Rice with Seafood. ($14.90)

I poured all the curry into the rice and stirred everything, including the scallops and prawns together.

Ready to serve!

Website: http://www.pepperlunch.com.sg/

Saboten @ Parco Marina Bay

2011-10-16T23:14:00.006+08:00

Before going for Kit Chan's Concert at Marina Bay Sands, we had our dinner at Saboten at Parco Marina.

Sauce for the tonkatsu. 3 scoops will be enough and mix it with the grounded sesame seeds.

Grinding the sesame seeds...

Free flow of shredded cabbage

Both of us ordered the Loin Katsu Set which comes with rice, pickles, miso soup, free-flow of cabbage and also desserts.
Great Tonkatsu served here.

We had a scoop of green tea ice-cream each. The ice-cream was soft but nothing exceptional.

After dinner, we took our time to walk over to Marina Bay Sands, passing the helix bridge. It took us around 15 minutes to walk from Millenia Walk to MBS.

Unarguably one of the most established local singers, Kit Chan is often dubbed as Singapore’s “national treasure” for good reasons. Since her debut in 1993, she has proven herself in many diversified areas – singing, theatre, television drama, poetry, song writing, community work, etc.

Before the start of the concert, in her sexy voice, she made the "Not-so-standard" type of announcement to the audience: “Please turn off your mobile phones, even if you own HTC phones and subscribe to SingTel” (the show was sponsored by HTC and SingTel ), and urged those who didn’t like the way she made the announcement not to write into the forum pages to complain.

The music director for the concert was Goh Kheng Long. However, seated at the circle seat, I couldn't see the faces of the performers :( Kit Chan impressed us with her good sense of humour and of cause, her great vocal. I think she is really the best in Singapore! Other than Mandarin songs, she also sang English, Cantonese and even French!

Photography is strictly not allowed during the concert. If the usherer caught you taking photos/ recording the concert, he/ she will flash the torchlight at you which can be very embarrassing.

It was a great concert! I totally enjoyed it and I think I will be getting her new album "Re-Interpreting Kit Chan" soon!

Hi-Tea Buffet @ Chihuly Lounge, Ritz-Carlton

2011-10-10T22:44:00.001+08:00

High-Tea Session with my Multiply friends

At the entrance of the Ritz-Carlton hotel

Sculptures

I took this photo at the entrance as the 2 hotel staffs opened the door for me.

Can see Marina Bay Sands from here.

Chihuly Lounge is named after a famed American glass artist Dale Chihuly. The yellow sculptural glassworks were done by him. You can find another of his glasswork collection in Singapore at the Resort World.

As you entered the louge, you will find the dessert bar on the left side. By the way, strangely there is no reception counter here. When I reached here at around 2.30pm, the lounge was quite empty. However, "Greenhouse" at the opposite side was already swarming with guests.

Table Setting

As there were 7 of us, we were assigned to the sofa seats next to the glass window. The sofa was comfy but the table was too low for us.

Milk, Heart-shaped Sugar and Lemon

Honey too...

Pretty teapots

I ordered Granny's Garden, a type of fruit tea.

My friend ordered Iced Passionfruit Tea and she told us that the ice were actually frozen tea. I ordered this as well after I was almost done with my pot of hot tea.

Salmon in tomato buns... Yummy!

The desserts.....

"Watermelon" cakes. Nice to look at but non of us tried this because we got a feeling that it will be too sweet for us. We tried most of the other desserts and they were all very sweet which we all didn't really like.

Froggies

This was one of the very few desserts that we liked.

Tick-Tock... Tick-Tock

Not sure why they put this photo but it spoiled our appetite... Haha...

The chef didn't know that music bars should have 5 lines... Nah.. I am not particular about this. The taste is more important.

Towards the end of our tea-session, a male waiter served us a tray of vodka.

Me and Hazel

Group photo

- Weekend Afternoon Tea buffet from 2:30 - 5 p.m., available on Saturday and Sunday
- $46++ per adult (inclusive of free-flow of freshly brewed and decaffeinated coffee and a selection of teas)

Saveur - French Cuisine in a Coffeeshop!

2011-10-08T22:34:00.004+08:00

I had read about Saveur from another blog that I am following. We came here last Sunday but the stall was closed as they had a wedding function to attend. We wanted to try our luck again today and finally, we got a taste of the French Cuisine served in this coffeeshop. At first, we thought the stall was closed again because the stall looked rather dim and quiet. We decided to sit down first, found a table just next to the road, looking at "Awfully Chocolate". However, we were "disturbed" by the auntie "Mary"selling the Tau Kwa Pau, who kept asking whether we wanted to order her Tau Kwa Pau or laksa. She was kind of disappointed when we said no to her.

The french stall opened at 12 noon. I went to take the menu immediately when I saw the chef coming out from the stall wearing a black apron. There were many newspaper articles at the front of the stall and if I am not wrong, it was set up and run by two young chaps. The menu is quite simple, one side for the starter and the other side shows the mains. The cod fish dish was not available, left with only 4 mains to choose from.

Foie Gras (30g at $7.50)
We ordered one to share as a starter. Having one piece by myself is a bit too sinful :P

Hubby ordered Duck Confit. ($8.90)

I had Chicken Roulade stuffed with foie gras, served on basmati rice. ($8.90)

Saveur

Ali Baba Eating House (Next to Aston's)

125 East Coast Road
Website: http://www.saveur.sg/

Ooysters Belgian Brasserie

2011-10-07T21:54:00.002+08:00

Gathering with friends at Ooysters (Opp Far East Square)

Ooysters Belgian Brasserie

25 Church Street, #01-04

Capital Square Three

Singapore 049482

Opening Hours: Mon – Fri: 12pm - 12am (Kitchen open from 12pm – 2:45pm and 6pm – 10:30pm)

Sat: 5:30pm - 12am Sat (Kitchen open from 5:30pm – 10:30pm)
Sunday: Closed

Mary's Corner Tau Kwa Pau & Adobo! Filipino Food @ East Coast Road

2011-10-02T21:34:00.003+08:00

Read about a new French Stall "Saveur" that sell yummy and affordable foie gras at a coffeeshop in Katong area. However, when we reached the coffeeshop, we were disappointed that the stall was not open as the owners have a wedding event to attend. As such, I ordered the famous Tau Kwa Pau from Mary's Corner (which I had never tried before) and hubby tried roast pork rice from the Filipino stall in the same coffeeshop. Fortunately, the food from both stalls did not disappoint us.

What you see here the the fillings for the Tau Kwa which include 3 different types of fishcakes, cucumber, hard-boiled egg and deep-fried yam crumbs.

Adobo!

I tried a piece of roasted pork from hubby's plate. The meat was tender with a crispy skin like german pork knuckles! Yummy! It cost only $4.50.

Ali Baba Eating House (Next to Aston's)

125 East Coast Road

Another Thai Meal - Thai Express

2011-10-01T13:42:00.002+08:00

Lunch with my colleague after Friday's work. Our intention was to go Tampines One for lunch before going to Amore Fitness to attend a class. However, we made a boo-boo... Haha... In the end, we didn't attend the class because we didn't bring our track shoes.

We requested for a table at the 2nd storey.

Glass noodles and prawns salad

Both of us ordered the $8.90 lunch set meal.

A Weekday Dinner at Magic Wok

2011-10-01T12:39:00.000+08:00

Hubby fetched me from work and we went to Downtown East for our dinner. Decided to settle at Magic Wok as Thai food is always very appetizing. Hubby ordered stir-fried kuay teow and the dish was sweet. They were very generous with the eggs too.

I ordered vermicelli, lesser eggs though. But it was still good :)

High-Tea Buffet @ Marriott Cafe

2011-09-26T21:21:00.001+08:00

High-Tea buffet with Sam, Pauline, Jiaming & family

- We bought the discount voucher from deal.com.sg

- Original price of the buffet is around $45 but we paid $31 nett, inclusive of free flow of soft drinks/ juices/ coffee/ tea.

- As Marriott Cafe is currently undergoing renovation, the buffet venue is shifted to 2nd level (outside their function rooms) during this period. During our meal, we saw a bride and her guests walking past our cafe. Guess they wanted to go to the lobby from their function room?

- Not too sure whether my expectation is too high, but was rather disappointed with the high-tea buffet spread. Maybe they should have more varieties of fanciful desserts, sandwiches, pastries and cakes for hi-tea instead focusing on local fare.

Family Gathering at Aunt Irene's place

2011-09-24T23:14:00.002+08:00

My parents, grandma and aunts just came back from a holiday trip in Bali. As Aunt Irene was still on leave after the trip, she invited the family to go to her house for dinner. We had fun playing Wii-Fit at her place. The kids also played darts at the balcony.

As usual, the aunties would do some baking. 2nd aunt made some durian puffs and tiramisu cake.

Cake in a cup.

Aunt Irene baked many mini shepherd pies both for adults and the young ones.

Pizzas for the kids..

Cousin Grace showed us the various Wii-Fit games....

Cousin Joanne... She is so tall..

Cousin Angeline

Mum joined in the fun too. Actually, I also played but I am not going to post my unglam photo here :P

Cousin Krystal shaking her butt off

Mediating....

Cousin Steffi

My mum gave me a box of peanut cookies and coconut cookies bought from Bali.

Crystal Jade Kitchen 翡翠小厨 @ Parkway Parade

2011-09-24T15:51:00.000+08:00

Very nice wasabi nuts for appetizer

As hubby was still down with flu, we both ordered congee. Hubby ordered "Ji Di congee" 及第粥 and I ordered liver congee. The congee was smooth but of course, we still missed the cheap and ingredient-full 及第粥 that we had in Hong Kong.

They have the steamboat a-la-carte buffet here too. I had tried the buffet at Tampines Mall and I think it was really good and value-for-money. The ingredients were fresh too.

After lunch, we went to Borders hoping to get some discounted items. However, the whole place was very crowded and a bit suffocating so we didn't get anything from there. Quite sad that it had closed down.

Saltwater Cafe @ Changi Village Hotel

2011-09-23T23:33:00.000+08:00

I bought 2 saltwater cafe discount vouchers from deal.com.sg. It was a real good deal as I paid only $18 nett per person for a weekday buffet dinner. Details of this deal can be found HERE

Entrance to the cafe

Salad Bar

Pie-Ti DIY Station

Sashimi, Scallops and Prawns. No oyster... but it's okay :)

Colourful Nyonya Kueh

Colourful desserts in shot glasses

I started my buffet dinner with a bowl of soup.

Lotus and pork ribs soup

Some salads that I took from the salad bar for appetizers, including a DIY Pie-Ti :)

Hubby took 2 plates of seafood.

For dinner, they also have a grill station at the poolside.

Four different types of sauce for the grilled meat

Grilled prawns and beef

Grilled lamb, taiwan sausages and squid

I took a plate of cooked items to sample.

Hubby made some rojak to share.

Fruit platter

Beautiful desserts in shot glasses.

We ended the meal with 2 scoops of ice-cream (Strawberry - Hubby's favourite and Yam). Tea and coffee are inclusive in the buffet too. The two of us actually spent almost 3 hours here on a Friday night. Nice ambience, a great choice to unwind here after a week of hectic work.

Saltwater Cafe

Changi Village Hotel

1 Netheravon Road

Singapore 508502
Tel: 6379 7018

Keisuke Tokyo @ Parco Marina Bay (Millenia Walk)

2011-09-17T18:58:00.007+08:00

I think I am obsessed with ramen these days. This was my third bowl of ramen within a week. After doing IPL at Musee Platinum, it was already around noon and in the moring, I had a Pilates class. Thus, I was starving! I craved for something piping hot and soupy. Didn't want to go too far, I decided to step into Keisuke Tokyo for a bowl of hot ramen.

It was rather quiet during lunch hour.

A curious boy looking into the kitchen to see the chefs at work

You can see a display of their special bowls right at the centre of the restaurant.

My order - Crab Stock Ramen and Egg ($15.80)

Everything else I selected "normal"

They provide beansprouts and chopped onions for every table

After quite a long wait, my ramen finally was served to me. You can see the the soup was really very thick. Overall presentation of the bowl of ramen was very nice. I am not too sure what the the "curly red threads" in the bowl, but they sure added colours to the presentation. The bowl used seemed to be different from those more spherical ones that I saw in other food blogs.

Yum Yum...

The noodles used are the broader and thicker ones.

I took some beansprouts, very appetizing.

After service charge and GST, the total cost for this bowl of ramen is $18.60, which is steeper than many of its competitors. I think this meal was worth it for the food and experience. However, I may not revisit anytime soon as there are still many ramen restaurants in Singapore that I have not tried! Yes... the famous Santouka and Ippudo are next in my list!

Ramen Dining Keisuke Tokyo

9 Raffles Boulevard Millenia Walk

#03-02

Singapore 039596

Ikkousha (Ramen Champion @ Iluma)

2011-09-14T23:50:00.000+08:00

Who is the Ultimate Ramen Champion here?

The Challengers - 6 Ramen Iron Chef

Each has their own specialty ramen

Long queue at Bario. However, I don't really like beansprouts and so I conveniently ordered my ramen from Ikkousha, just situated next to Bario. No queue!

Ikkousha serves Hakata ramen, a regional version of ramen that came from the Hakata district of Fukuoka city in Kyushu. I ordered their signature ramen - Hakata Ajitama Ramen ($13+). Presentation wise, not bad, seems like a fulfilling bowl of ramen with black fungas, Charsu, spring onions and a soft-boiled egg in pork bone broth. The noodle used are the slightly thinner ones, Charsu is thick but not the melt-in-the-mouth type. The egg is just ok but not as memorable as the one that I had at Marutama. :)

Again, like most authentic Japenese Ramen, the broth is very thick but salty. Did feel thirsty after the meal and I went to Koi immediately after that. lol...

Would like to check out the other 5 ramen stalls soon! Which is your favourite ramen stall here?

Mid-Autumn, Marutama Ramen @ The Central

2011-09-12T23:16:00.002+08:00

After the open doors kitchen tour at King Albert's park, I suggested to hubby to go to The Central as there was some Mid-Autumn food fair and lighting there. Photos taken by the river when the sky was still bright.

In most major Chinese festival celebration, we can always find the animal horoscope.

Horse

Dragon

2011 - Year of the Rabbit

Food Fair

A weird uncle dancing some awkward dance steps, asking for donation *Faint*

Performance by a China troupe

Hubby preferred to go to a proper place for dinner. I wanted to try Santouka but the queue was ridiculously long even though it was hidden at a very isolated corner in the shopping mall. Thus, our alternative was Marutama Ramen, which had a shorter queue.

At Marutama, they serve chicken-based stock. Not much variety in the menu so that you should not spending too much time in deciding what to order.

I ordered the Nama Karashi Ramen (Spicy). Do not be deceive by the colour of the broth (Same as the non-spicy version). The few sips were really quite powerful until my tongue was numb. Haha...

I love the Chashu which was those melt-in-the-mouth type.

We ordered dumplings for one of our side dishes, quite nice too.

The ajitsuke tamago ($1 each), by far was the best tasting soft-boiled egg that I ever had. It was beautifully done and sweet to taste. :)

Stewed pork was a bit disappointing. The meat was a bit tough.

Some photos taken by the river at night.

The same horse....

and the same dragon.... Haha..

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to All! >_<