Paradise pavilion

Last weekend of the year with grams, post extremely cheem sermon ending early we headed down to Paradise Pavilion at Marina bay financial centre for a Chinese lunch ( in a long long time ) to wrap up the year .

Between us we don't think we could have finished their famous apple wood Peking duck, and we weren't much of a dim sum mood - started off with fire swordfish with salt and pepper ( which is her favourite dish of the day), our usual trio of eggs with poached spinach and finally the braised seafood bee hon with egg( the last of which I really wanted to check out after I saw Yi xiao's pic of it !) The last dish is also my favourite and the best thing about bringing grandma along to check ur Chinese food is that she can replicate it at home ! She says she can ! Lots of scallop in the vermicelli.. Somehow I think a dallop of truffle oil will elevate it to new heights .. So grandma when are u acquiring the bottle of truffle oil ? Haha!

Symmetry

Thanks to the reg for a weekend off I got to meet Pek and zj at symmetry - pity about short post call and xuan on call ! Parking was non existent on this end of the road and was ridiculously side slammed by another car passing by... Blindness..

Symmetry was very homely and cosy, was a nice hideout esp when the rain started... And for zj to capture us by the windowsill:p rock with johns and he geometrical arrangements of the utensil s makes it über personal.

We started with the truffles fries and the crab cakes but never got to the eggs- Pek had to go for a wedding( day of double weddings). The truffle fries were really good stuff, crisp and airy with truffle scented +++. There were two crab cakes - one in batter and one not. The diced apple slices were an interesting touch.

Had the coconut and brioche for desserts. Must say the coconut was interesting -the coconut was in the ice cream and was good with the cake base, and the barley some distance away. Having the brioche makes me miss deans or spruce's French toast somehow! The cuteness of the wooden forks were a highlight;)

'twas nice catching up, and thanks for the ride Pek to collect my pics ;) note to self: societe canteen at Cluny for a quiet brunch soon.

Taratata

Pre zouk out when chongs ended at 8 ( and I slept till 630 pm post avicii... Zzz) picked up chongs and headed over to initially planned Esquina but no luck with that and again more ill luck at keong saik snacks so we landed at the relatively emptier Taratata ( cos she was game for some steak)

Started with a lobster bisque. This has gotta be the most crustacean smelling thing I've had... With chunks of lobster. Tastes lovely soaked with the baguette.

I had the veal which was in a creamy broth as well it was almost like a stew. Rice resembled that of our local chicken rice!

And we both loved the steak ! Medium well and it's smokiness went well with the caramelised onions. Good stuff.

Great service helping us charge up her phone... And we at least had some luck with the parking ( though it was mighty hefty at the beach car park later 15 bucks gosh !!). The double digit rest served me well that night ! Missed the Jill though.. Above and beyond rocks and man they really appreciated the crowd. Love the group therapy to bits. They were doing a south East Asian tour and due to spin at KL on sunday.. I wish I can tag along being a groupie ;)

Los Primos

After the secondary school gathering, had some time to kill pre hobbit (at 1am!!) so we ended up at Los primos (Club street) - we were 5 min too late for the last order 11.15pm at Lollas.

Los primos is opened by the cousins behind Cugini(cousins in Italian). Yes Los primos is cousins in Spanish, opened just a few doors down heir Italian counterpart and they do bar food/hot tapas and cold tapas till late. Too bad no paella for us! The paella we saw at La cicala their neighbor looked so good too!

We started with a cold Tuna and egg pie( brings back some memories of that cold pie in the London market). It's a cold Ang Moh curry puff minus the spice.. A bit fishy and some getting used to but I guess it grows on you..

Things got better when the wonderful tortilla came by, possibly the best rendition I've had.. Layers of potato with egg and some onions and the sauce to top it all. Love the layers of texture and taste.

The cold grilled veggies too! A favourite. And the cheese with (extremely hard) baguette to go along,. We liked the middle row, plenty of character ;)

Watching hobbit in 3d IMAX in lido makes us feel like we are in a set - not really scenic and surreal per se. Too real for its own good! But still was quite an experience. Missed the downpour and timid us escaped the bawl. 2nd weekend off feels awesome possum!

1st two pictures courtesy of j's flashy cam and the yellow ones mine. Tortilla, veggies, Tuna pie and Cheese platter

Five and dime

Post 1pm sat round with practicals like ia and chest tube ! And chilling at the island, found five and dime with the secret backyard parking and incredible window seats, enjoyed the lobster Mac and cheese ( suspect its prob the same mentaiko sauce!), flamed salmon wrapped in arugula leaves, and sharks fish and chips. They coated the fries with the same yummy crisp batter and the tartare was x 3 cos we loved how it tasted like an egg mayo salad...

And we were yet again just on time for skyfall on I max.. Super centralized.. Super immersive go pro experience.. Beautiful cinematography and a flashback on a masterpiece of a painting.. Love the subtlety of the soundtrack

And thanks for the collage ;)

Red dot microbrewery

On a Friday when my dad and I ended work at the same time we hit the drinking holes - Robertson quay/ Martin road looked crazy with bomba and baker&cook packed to the brims.. We headed to the quieter red dot at Dempsey ( think a newer outlet just opened at boat quay !) where we easily got a seat and didnt look out of place in my scrubs and his uniform. Heh it exuded that much comfort and casuality that we were comfortable in our own skin- or uniform.

White bait seems to be the new favorite bar food, and we also had a smoked salmon, avocado, roe
And cheese to share. The cashew nuts with lime was also yums with the 4.5% pale ale dad ordered.

Tgi(father)!

And the band only starts at 1030! Old folks have to sleep early !!

Mitsuba by Yurine

Nazi chef has shifted to central ! Intending to bring family here previously ( ended up in fika instead cos everyone was at the IT fair), brought them here on actual day of bros birthday ( after the yummy popiah dinner over the weekend ).

Mummy had their signature chiraishi don lookin as good as ever, dad the sashimi-udon set, bro the salmon-swordfish set and sis the beancurd udon.. I have a thing for hot pots now the last time the chef was at chikuwa tei I tried the cod hot pot this time I tried the salmon head hot pot- their nabes come in either a fish based soup or miso base. I chose the former and it was great.. Guess the sweetness from the salmon head did add to the umami of the soup !

Rushed to fix my specs and wanted to hang out at the heli pad but it was not open yet ! On a wed night not open at 10pm ?? Hmmm... Only when we zoomed down the car park did we see people lingering at the entrance..1 altitude shall be the next fixture !

Don Quixote

Thanks R, for all the priceless time and patience with us all through those dire times. Will never forget the surprise macs, awesome possum views (the only daylight tutorial!), the breaking of silence while u go into your r mode.. We will pass it on ;)

And to the food, paella don Quixote special was really tasty !! Love the morsels of grain each soaking up the sea food stock. Tapas were egg and prawn, asparagus and grilled prawns.. Nothing beats the paella !!

And an afternoon of baking in jones in the corner with realists and dreamers ( case in point: chicks on flip board and their fried ancestors lol) and spotting our bosses prof s!! And mr p.. It's wonderful talking about anything else but facts ;) and the shopping at haji!! Uncontrollable Pek was astonished at my self control ( and my liking of everything).

Night feat this year was miniature flying acrobatics though the clear pool of synchronised swim- gym was quite Coolbeans..

Last of all, red bull coffee coke and I was still stoned at tbc! Sorry Chong will improve during the REAL full moon !!

Fika (Millenia Walk)

Last weekend off at team 2 before I'm off to cts.. A quiet slow simple one amidst 2 exploding birthday gatherings ( not as if we were not celebrating too !) after a night at tbc and night fest and the afternoon of fiddling with the cello and it's new buddy the tuner (thanks j !)

Herring for starters, not as salty as I last remembered it to be.. The biscuits were like a cross bred with a form of rye.

The seafood and ribs platter were massive. You can choose between the cream, tomato or aglio based and we chose the latter, for the seafood platter. Fish, scallops, prawns , mussels, squid and crayfish lie on a bed of pasta.

Ribs were tender and doused in BBQ sauce and presented on a wooden platter with mash and salad.

The above reminds me of the trend towards communal dining and sharing platters a la disgruntled chef or one Rochester.. Guess I will check out platters at club street soon!

Also had the open faced fika style sandwich with shrimp, roe and scallop , served with salad. This was their cold sandwich and they had hot options s well..

This is my second visit to Fika but first at the millennia walk branch.. I think I was reminiscing about my 21st at a now defunct Scandinavian restaurant here at millennia walk!

And I always have to remind myself about the insane parking surcharges whenever comex is being held..

Club Street Social

 Goats Cheese, Honey, Thyme crostini - yummy morsels !!

 All day breakfast - truffled egg toast

 Pan seared Lobster, Yuzu, avocado Panini

Nutella Bread pudding

Crazy crash in or with scc mand returning and an actively bleeding hepat , I ended being the porter of the day, with m and m summaries late into the evening with short salvaging her exploding hern. With tapas options like salt and esquina we ended up heading to club street and ignoring her jap booking simply cos I felt like homely hearty casual bar food and her turning back on la cicada. We landed up finally in Club Street Social (Gemhill Lane) I'm glad we did cos I've found a new favourite appetiser in crostinis - very yummy morsels of crisp toast and the amazing flavours of sweet honey and pungent goats cheese. Truffled toast was rather blahh, much prefer the one at Over easy. And the lobster panini that I specially came here for..had just too little lobster !! Donated all my avocados to short. Nutella Bread pudding was much of a hyperglycemic parade. Love this hole in the wall gem we found.

Othello

Night before was beer fest and trouse brothers, so got off to a late start on sunday morning, sorry girls yq had to cancel Pilates and j on her friend and me on cello !tried the Taiwanese lychee beer and the yummy sothesby cider that came with the admission. Thank goodness the stand up comedy was not much of a flop. We noticed while e whites loved racism and sex jokes e Singaporeans love their digs on politics and our infamous laws.

 Anyhow we landed in hillcrest again cos I wanted to try baker and cook but when we reached there they said they were not doing dine in that day! Ugh really tough luck with that area. Plus pepperonis was full house so we ended up by default at Othello, cos. tried bronte before. Good for me cos I was craving eggs. I always crave eggs, makes me feel like I'm actually having a weekend when I tuck into my poached eggs. It was a happy occasion cos jas was announcing her proposal, and how logistics wise it can be quite a painful affair, when you come to talk about the practicalities of a wedding. Anyhow, its a happy busy that I'm sure she doesn't mind ;) Had my eggs benedict with mushrooms which is a first for me. Somehow I miss my eggs being drowned in the creamy hollandaise. This was also on a normal toasted bread instead of a muffin. Jas had a cordon bleau while Qian had a vegetarian pasta. Othello is great for having lotsa space and sunshine and basically nice to hang out at on a Sunday afternoon.

After the brunch I headed to family day at universal studios with the family and by George, I was so happy to have my turkey leg!! Don't find it here, last I had it was in Disney land, prob with kels. Mummy was stunning (to my nervous system) and transformers was nauseating. Think I'm at an awkward Age when I'm too old for shrek and Madagascar but I'm too hum ji for battle star galatica :(

Sapphire, Jewel Box

Mother's Day was a post night of showers (it was an almost with sied van dyl ;( ), and hence a cooling misty morning when I companied gran to church, and thereafter a vegeterian lunch before we headed out to Jewel box at Mount Faber. Originially intended for Hort Park (after Southern Ridges passerbying), but missing the turn landed us in Mount Faber. Even then I had to circle around and ascend it twice (thanks for changing the shock absorbers, dad) before we reached the coach carpark (cos I refused to valet for 5 heh) and climbed up.

Awesome possum view from the alfresco area, the architecture was equally amazing. The alfresco area seemed sprawling, and from where we perched ourselves, we had a elevated view of Sentosa and beyond. There was also an indoor glass box. They only served the buffet (and special Mothers day buffet brunch) but they made it special for us allowing us to have coffee there. Just as well cos there was space. Its a good place to go with good view sans the crowd..thanks for the lovely carnations (for gran!)

Headed to cello, then home to pick up the bikes (trio but all taken) and then from Macs to start of Changi Beach, before the lagoon put us off to dine instead at our River Valley zi char. Second time after till midnight (while the Man city vs QPR was going on), to Flyer/Kallang where an absolute of a gem of peaceful still waters lie. Love the reflection of the under-bridge, the smooth pavement of the F1 pits, the connector that leads to nowhere( at least, until the gps works). Dislike the smoggg, the endless traffic lights, the turning vs straight lanes, and gotta ditch the pedestrian mentality to battle the roads.

House

An excuse to pass the girls the Laduree macarons = meet up right after my trip (cos the macs expires in 4 days, even with refrigeration), and we headed to satisfy Qians craving for fries at House, Dempsey. We initially checked out the Still Bar (which is at the previous Oosh, magnified +++, maybe we'll try Addictions Cafe one day..). Obviously as you can see its a carb party with Yam fries (my new favourite!!!), truffle fries and sweet potato nibblets. LOVED the apple cider in House, its got me ordering cider everywhere I go now, instead of Sangria. This place closes early  (1130 pm) which was a real surprise, I always thought the bar area would open till late (?). We took a detour towards Qians pool so Jas could educate me on my new toy ;) Still, Garfield's Diner remains a mystery.

Creperie Des Arts

Sat was dinner at Boss's place (long dark way in)  - bought lotsa amazing yummy gelato from Gelatissimo (the caramel and fig, and the berry pavlova is amazing stuff), and Sunday after Cello headed to Creperie Des Arts with J. Actually he wanted to go to Skyve but I remember being underfed there so we then wanted to go to Mount Emily but it seemed closed down (is it already gone???) and finally on our descend before hitting Artichoke, we landed up in Prinsep, and tried Creperie Des Arts (Prinsep Street), a place I've been wanting to try since the last creperie behind Raffles Hotel.

Since I was just back from Paris (think we only had one crepe meal!), this place was like welcome home;) or so I wish. Saw a huge poster of Mont St Michel (sigh), with people trekking across the waters- must have been before the causeway was built. The lady owner (Singaporean and with child, congrats!) married a French guy from Normandy, explaining the poster. Love the casual vibe of the place, though we were sweltering hot after the cheese fondue. Lotsa cheese as you can see- from the Cheese platter (goats, blue, camembert, chedder), and their special of a Cheese/cold meats platter. Basically, you place a slab of cheese on this mini pan, and you roast it under the stove till it melts then you scrap it off onto your potato/cold meat. The potatoes are in a ceramic bowl above the stove. Well well, its like reverse fondue. Would be nicer if the reverse was true, having all the cheese melted atop and the potatoes roasting below. Guess life is interesting that way! 

Had the crepe craving settled with the scallop/apple compote crepe -love the buckwheat crepe. Wholemeal things always have this nutty aroma with it, this is like a French Thosai, come to think of it. More scallops would be lovely!

Nando's

Chicken Kebab from Nando's at Tampines Mall, to mark the start of booking the hotel and trains for Paris! Lousy wifii at starbucks meant I had to then relocate down to the Big Splash's whilst waiting for the bro (and being late the next am....) and booked the rouen one which we didnt use in the end. Thanks to Pek and XX in emailing 15 hotels to get only Les Globelins which was a real awesome find!

The Coastal Settlement

Wagyu beef cubes with yummy mushrooms

My stack highish reuben

Carols chicken curry

Early rainy evening, I kinda enjoyed getting lost trying to track down this off the beaten path (maybe not so anymore!) of a gem - The Coastal Settlement (Nethavan Road), really near Changi Village. Been on the top of my to do list before I leave Changi, this is a really cute vintage find, all nestled amidst the trees and chalets. I parked at another carpark down the road (the one right outside the place was completely full, on a mid weekday night), and we kinda enjoyed walking along the rained out roads. Pity for the wet seats though, the al fresco area exuded the chillout vibe albeit in the woods. We settled down inside to tuck into some delish Wagyu beef cubes, and my uber duber high Reuben (i miss the Brewerkz one loadssss!!) and Carol into her chicken curry (she concurs its strange paying $15 to eat that dish here). Many vintage collections, including cars at the garage and Vespas in situ, quite a quirky collection much to explore. It was an almost for the paris gang here (they have wifii!!) if only peks didnt have such a cmi ho to vet m's just the night before.

Marukin Ramen

Picked up Chongs and short from sg together before heading down to town...sorry for budgeoning the plans for restaurant week!! Chongs wanted to head to watch Man on a Ledge (vs Hunger games..which i eventually caught with J) hence we went to town and settled for Marukin Ramen (Scotts Square). It was that vs. Delicious - which was the most crowded that I've ever seen it!

Everything here was accessible to me - and there were variations of the soup from Miso to Shoyu etc. 3 of us chose different bases of which mine was the most mild...

Teriyaki Chicken, Rice which was most plain after slurping down the soaked noodles....

Headed to watch the show and thereafter to Blujazz to catch some younguns..day after we realised when we were at TJ beach we should have done the massage instead!! Aging....

Pho Hoa

Almost meeting near Cityhall (only got that text in the car at sg) resulted in a meet up at Pho Hoa (Holland Village), a franchise I've been wanting to try since I saw the originals in Vietnam. Still the best is Orange Lantern, which I must go back to try again.. and he flies again off I wish I can have that jet setting lifestyle as work too...

Roadhouse

Somehow the boys love Roadhouse (Dempsey) loads. Half price Plain Jane brought J and I here, before Hugo. The all day's Eggs Ben is still my default order, love it. Roadhouse is probably the androgynous Cafe Hacienda that xy's dont mind hanging out at...

Cocotte

Having the Roast Chicken at Cocotte (Wanderlust Hotel) meant missing the WD (that boss had to do on his own!), the Russian extravaganza, and Timbre Rocks and Roots with on-leave Chongs.

But I wont miss my girls for the world.

Only they can watch me tear apart the bird and not be disgusted.

Feast and yet keep an ear for the achingly sweet tomboy of a singer.

And will not laugh (too hard) about forgetting to tip the valet with no manners.

Thanks for all these years, girls! To more meals, music, laughter.

By the way, the bird was good. Tender and worth getting messy for ;) And! I have a new found love for unbitterised Brussel Sprouts (the way Cocotte does it)

Crystal Jade Korean

When we checked out the March Kino sale, and Qian got really into the mood for some hearty soup so we ended up at Crystal Jade Korean (Takashimaya). Havent really gotten started onto the Intelligent Investor just as yet..

Multiple refills esp for her spinach...I just enjoyed the giant beansprouts
The Kimichi soup is so much better than the kk/sg one...very flavourful!
Seafood pancake - had more crispier and thinner ones before..

I really wanna try Auntie Kim's (the one at Thomson) soon!

Tasting room

The eggs Ben that Kels was raring to try

Pancakes

Truffle fries- another reason to pay a visit!

Met Kels for brunch after Sunday rounds ended surprinsingly early - even had time to send the cello for a check before meeting up with her. Horrors the night before ($18 bucks parking at Millenia Walk after the IT fair surcharge) so was a bit skeptical when the Marina Square parking was full as well, but managed a lot. And did not get fleeced. Kels booked a place at The Tasting Room (Marina Square) but honestly...we kinda booked the whole place as well (if you get it)

This was a place we wanted to try some time ago already, and almost did until we decided to Skyve instead cos Cheang was on call. So we finally got down to trying this place. Food wise it was good but unmemorable...its been an overdose of eggs ben and truffle fries of late (but im not complaining) so after a while when you eat it ever so often it becomes like one of your staples...my going out staples...its probably my comfort food, just like how pancakes and waffles (and of cos, Kaya toast) are Kel's comforts..gosh when was the last time we staked out kaya toast joints?? best friend can we do a food escapade soon....