as tempting as sin

Sabio

2012-01-28T05:17:00.000-08:00

Red and white sangria

Thurs, met all my bosses - submitted irb so had to get signatures, res mid posting, team meeting when things had to be cleared with head. Awful awful. Post nasal drip and forms is trouble, so much so it necessitated stayaway on wed. Nonetheless was really happy to meet up with wans and with V to get the ASM going. brainstormed till 830 ish then while V went for team 1 and 2 drinks, wans and i went to get dinner at Sabio (Duxton Hill). Been a place i've been wanting to try for eons. Almost always packed till it trickles down to the brimish. Even today - we had to settle by the seats plastered to the walls - resulting in a smallish table which couldnt really fit all the food. But eventually we got cosied in, and didnt move to the bar. Plus it resulted in a very pyschedelic photo!
3 in 1 fish salad. For once, a salad with more meat than salad. Cod, Mackerel, anchovies. Even Wans who doesnt like anchovies lapped it up. Good stuff.
Octopus - very flavourful, and yet still crunchy despite absorbin the flavours from the broth.

Scallops in a lovely lobster-bisque like creamy soup. Prob the best dish of the night.

Garlic mushrooms, like tortillas is always a favourite to order. Love this. And its good quantity!

Totally recommend Sabio for the interesting tapas (lots more cold and hot to try) and the vibes, and the chic interior. As much as I love the bar food at 83 as well. It helps thatTapas and bar food is the way to go for me in 2012!

No Menu

2012-01-21T01:18:00.000-08:00

Promised ML a treat for arranging all that leave for me;decided to go for the omakase Italian course at No Menu (Boon Tat Street) so that we dont really need to think and decide the dinner... Being adventurous in trusting the chef can be quite liberating.

Ate tons of this crusty bread. Thing about this no menu is that, you dont really know how much to expect - how many courses etc so I kinda ended up loading on the bread first. Well work makes me really hungry. Bread and butter (and olive oil and vinegar) is such comfort food.

Potato salad - somehow it reminds me of sec sch potluck days.

My was a substitute- roast beef (it'd have been parma ham) with honey melon, and more atop the same potato salad must have been a first, with tomato brushetta, buffalo cheese on tomato. Very refreshing I loved this combination.

Prawns and oyster. The cream sauce was super deliciouusss.

Pasta should come in a trio of tasting portions like these. Can try bits of everything and not having to struggle finishing up a pot of pasta and getting all carbo loaded.Risotto, gnocchi, ravioli. My favourite would be of cos the porcini risotto.

Seabass was not as nice as ML's lamb. Too small !

Again, desserts should come in trios! The hazelnut in the vanilla sauce was the most delicious. Meringue is not a fave though. Nice cuppa coffee to top it all.

Thanks ML for the lift up and lift back ;) Your perspective on r'ships is so very warped and so potentially influencing, real food for thought!

Baguette, Twelve Inch Records.

2012-01-14T23:36:00.000-08:00

Monday is always best to start with an outing - Met C.O in the am when cheang's gastro c came then when the shuttle looked empty towards Bugis we wanted to take it but by the time slow cheang crawled there it was full and we had to head towards Novena!

So here we were at Baguette- a Viet-inspired deli (Level 2, Square 2) . They sell baguette sandwiches, rice and noodles( at room temperature haha)... Love the crisp airy baguette bread. Very crusty esp nice after getting it toasted. Mine was Tuna baguette and I loved the chilli sauce and the strips of veggies within.

Was very drained out that day and needed a upsized yuan yang to get me thru that day... after delivering the usual milk tea and choc/cran/cheese to dear kels who had a terrible call..again we misst the bus trying to buy gong cha and the queue..exploded!

Hurried to Twelve Inch Records (V Hotel, Lavender). Got lost cos was getting the cake from Chocz.. the tanjong rhu road so doesnt lead to town...it goes all the way to the marina bay golf course only. Found my way really illegally towards V Hotel - thank goodness it has a huge signage. Taking the fireman's lift up to level 4.

When i arrived I had the last bits of the beef. They name all their pizzas after the names of the local bands (I guess the bands either inspired the flavours or they suggested the flavours).

Lamb and Black pepper crab. The lamb was laden with papadum. The crust was crisp and was my favourite part; too bad it was real flat and exposed so it turned cold very fast. Cheese was not steamin' like in Pizza huts ads
Egg and Duck. This crust was like a prata dough, I liked it too. I just like crust and its edges (just like how I like all the edges of the bread). The egg was like the crispy layer of a fried egg.

We actually ordered so much we managed to piece together another whole pizza to dabao. didnt photograph that picture of art;)

Cheese fries.

Chocolate hazelnut truffle cake from Chocz. (Basement 1, Kallang Leisure Park) They loved the dark choc mousse and hazelnuts which seem to be drowned in alcohol. Macaroons kept getting bounced off each other!

Long chat till midnight wondering what happened this year and what we will converse about at this point next year. What a year it has been, woman.

Buyan, Marmalade Pantry at the Stables

2012-01-06T23:03:00.000-08:00

Cheese sticks - Buyan

Salmon soup - Buyan

Cheese and mushrooms -Buyan

Double black out cake - PS cafe, Ann Siang Hill

Above and Beyond

Marmalade Pantry - Crabmeat Caesar salad

Marmalade pantry - Burger

Us against the world.

All geared up for Above and Beyond (thanks alot, Matt!! back door man!) we headed to the Duxton area for dinner - I wanted to try either Sabio or Buyan (Qian recommended Buyan's casual restaurant) and since Chongs tried Sabio before we headed to Buyan (Duxton Hill) for dinner. Buyan is a Russian restaurant and has areas for fine dining , casual dining , and the bar. We dined at the casual dining area which is at level 1. Level 2 is the fine dining area. Attracts a predominantly foreign crowd - mostly by the bar having drinks. Surprised the waiter and eventually the boss for not ordering any drinks. Apparently they do have good non alcoholic drinks as well.

We started off with the cheese sticks - half expecting it to be the thick mozarella kind- but no, it was like strips of unadulterated cheese! It was uber long and fun to eat cos it was so chewy and salty. Very savoury and I guess very good together with drinks.

We also had the salmon soup - lotsa carrots within, this was clear, comfort soup.

Also ordered the cheese mushrooms- oily and succulent with a layer of cheese atop. the favourite of J's!

Didnt take a picture of their signature dish - The plov. It was a rice dish with tender slices of lamb within and tasted between a hybrid of bryani and risotto - herbed and spiced, fluffed up grains. very interesting to eat.

We then headed to the Ann Siang area looking for desserts and ended up at PS cafe (Ann Siang Hill)- they were closing but were okay to take desserts. Drowning in the double black out cake - why cant the proportion of ice cream to cake be greater?? love love the ginormous cakes.

To Above and Beyond - parked outside for the night (turned out to be a great idea), and met M before he brought us in through the back, stampless. haha. Was still okay to get around though - Velvet was closed for renovations. Hung around members which was uber uber crowded, and got really sleepy despite! redbull (thanks M....) and took turns asleep at the bend. Then again at the car (no more re-entries through the back :( ).Until 5am when we had enough with the knocks (and unlocked...) and headed to my place to sleep over. Plans for bf at 530am were postponed cos we concussed till brunch time - Headed to Marmalade Pantry at the stables.

Oh boy it was crowded! indoors was definitely full, alfresco was out cos it was drizzling so we were sent to the area facing the carpark (and trees) with the balloon kids. We loved the balloons( i loved the bomb) and the balloon man very politely asked if we wanted any. I shoulda taken the bomb! Ordered the crabmeat caesar salad and the burger. I actually preferred the salad. The burger's patty was really nothing much to shout about.

Then headed to town to shop around Cine/Mandarin Gallery in our shirt/shorts combo until she realised at the very end that gasp! she left her credit card behind at the Stables! It marks the end of the night to day adventure. really misst this spontaenity so so much! age!

Maison Kayser

2012-01-03T05:52:00.000-08:00

Cheese for clare, cranberry for me, white chocolate for Jills. (of cos there is never such a clear definition) Xmas eve tea at Maison Kayser ;) baguette next up! costs as much as a piece of the artisanal bread here!

Zoukout day

2011-12-31T18:13:00.000-08:00

Booked a room at MBS which we hardly got to use - checked in late at 530pm meant that we couldnt get a fantastic view (and of the wrong side too, level6!) but heck, the pool (overcrowded with kids with a tiny adults section;( ) and the lovely empty gym (best in the am and during the check out lull period) and the hot pool at Banyan tree was worth it. Plus we got to check out late so Chongs could actually come back during her rounds to find me (and not dump me like in Bali!)

Witnessed the full moon at the hot pool (which kinda belonged to us and was a treat away from the cold, crowded lap pool), before J told me of the eclipse which we caught in our room. (cant catch much on camera). J caught the red eclipse on film. Send me!

The best foods of the night was not photographed unfortunately. The truffle fries by the MBS pool (Chong's dream to document all our truffle fries with this being the one with the best view!), and the best meal of my life at the Zoukout booth. Unforgettable.

Getting high on calories pre zoukout at Java Detour (Marina Bay Sands). Opens till late on weekends (or is it 24 hours?) Strawberry shortcake for her and Chocolate rum raisin for me, and black and white mochas for us both. Finished up the creamy bits for her, while the raisins did do me in...hehe. Drown my desserts in alcohol, anytime.

Pre Armin was the best meal of my life, after her 3 drinks and my 1 and enough of arena a, we headed to the booths - the seafood chowder had a tomato base but the huge chunk of fish in rice was seriously the BEST meal of my life. Warm and fuzzy. It was catered by Eatzi. Mmm.Telling Chongs I should eat it again, in a different setting and it'll prob not be the best anymore. Right food at the right place at the right time.

Of cos we had to take a nap before this dude rolled in at 5am...

The glorious mess. My glorious mess. What it takes for a hangover.

But I still managed to check out the level 57! Amazingballs I could loop round the MBS/Fullerton stretch daily. In 25minutes.

I actually finished the boy of plays, Victimology in 15 minutes. Very tempting to start reading plays and set my imagination on fire.

And so tempting to try the brunch at Sky 57. Where is the Chongs.

She's back to find me, on a drizzly cold Sunday morning, not so purrfect to check out the Ku De Ta brunch (mainly, alfresco dining)

So we ended up at TWG (Marina Bay Sands), having really healthy food being the extremely soberised folks we are. Tea salad was tops. Would like to have it again if it didnt cost a whopping 29 bucks.

Truffle scrambled eggs also came with prawns and salmon so we were almost same same. Truffle anything makes me order it. Damit. When it becomes available at home maybe i'll stop ordering it outside.

And they supplied us plenty of yellow toast. The yellow is such a mystery.

Burger was a puny little thing, but still tiny anything makes you crave for more. We were this close to stepping into DB for the burger but i yanked her out to follow our original plans for TWG. Many many little coves of TWG sprinkled in MBS though. And a very loud metrosexual comment I had to eat my words cos I actually knew K! Haha.

Shopped till 4 when we both dropped dead and I had to go get my valet coupon. End of the adventure, a year delayed.

Shin Yuu Japanese restaurant

2011-12-28T22:41:00.000-08:00

Chawan Mushi - the default starter

Complimentary starters - oysters, smoked duck, beef and salmon sushi rolls. I must say I find the pink cheese quite intriguing (the ones covering the salmon). Beef was kinda drowned in sauce (though I like stuff drowned in sauces...)

Sashimi platter - the default must have every round

Scallop again with the intriguing pink cheese.

Wagyu beef cubes - a default for most company..

These complimentary tiny morsels of octopus was all mine ;)

Fat shishamo - the fried ones that Z taught me to appreciate

Salmon+salmon skin

Avocado rolls

Sunday on a weekend J was not confined we headed out on a rainy evening to have the dinner (thanks for the treat - hope its the exams plus more to come including that coveted place ;)). That evening rounded thru HV thru Queens and I was totally stranded by the bins along Coronation Rd West. Totally no kind samaritian = late for dinner. But thanks for the lift;)

Shin Yuu (Greenwood) serves a decent ala carte buffet and was recommended by J. Didnt fast today - it was the FCCS course and of cos they fed us well throughout the day... difficult to do anything else when its just lectures all day long! Anyways. Got a window seat and the feast began.

The favourite part of the buffet was prob the sashimi (they have yellow tail and swordfish too). Btw king fish= yellow tail! Totally got fooled. Haha. We had multiple portions of sashimi +++. All they're missing to complete a buffet would be eel sans rice, and tamago too.

The sushi rolls (salmon skin, avocado) were also good cos the rice was actually well done (despite us trying to stay away from carbs!).

The wagyu beef cubes that night was not great - J said he has had better at the same place.

Fried stuff wise- surprisingly I liked the bits of the fried octopus - i think it was a complimentary serving. J loved the tempura loads, and the soft shell crab was the usual (I like!). The fried shishamo surprised J a little (cos they were huge) but was a little salty and different from the way I remember it was done at Riverview hotel when I first tried it with Z.

Pique Nique, Lucky 13, Oriole

2011-12-24T17:46:00.000-08:00

After fri's overnight, met Qian for tea at Pique Nique (Basement 1, Takashimaya) before she flies off to Taiwan next wed! - at first was almost at the Canele at Shaw where we parked but then decided to head further to Taka to check Picnique out. It started drizzling and we had to brave the crowds to get to Taka. Madness. Then I found out I left my phone behind. Sigh well done. Its not the distance back but the crowds!!

Latte - foamy and nice. Checked out the Nespresso's at Tangs and Illy (Fairprice finest at Scotts!) and loved the capsule machines - makes life easier when everything is neater in a capsule. Tempting tempting. Checked it out the day before when I thought it was the Tangs when actually it was the Isetan sale I wanted to check out with Qian -_-

Huge Whoopies fries - with lotsa curry and spice I'm sure Kels would have loved this- quality and quantity wise. Attracted the crowds too who peeped onto us..YQ felt over exposed man..

Sticky date pudding..my first of the day, non alcoholic.

Shopped for Toms, then nearing Far East to check out the gellish nails for her and popped (well my eyes popped) at the J salon for the perm. Amazing balls really !! haha. hope you get a better deal in Taiwan dear!

Walked over back to Shaw to get my phone, amazed for the warning slip that my car was in 2 lots..excuse me, the BM next to mine was not even in his lot and you dare give me a warning sign with nothing for him? horrors.

Headed over to Lucky 13 (Triple One Somerset) to meet the J and J. Jills was the earliest though she texted she was gonna be late and warned me about the tricky way there. Indeed it was lost-inducing but we found it. Opened by Michael Lu its his first venture out and omg love the vibe and the music of this isolated place. Not to mention the food too! Transforms to a clubbish atmosphere on weekends.

Beef burger with Onion Chipotle. Loved the generous sauteed onions, and the crisp fries simply reminds me of the standards of bar food in Bali. Beef was really tender. It was a good burger.

Baked egg with cheese and mushrooms- love anything drowned in cheese, really.

Quesidillas with chicken - I think quesidillas is best eaten with beef innards or mushrooms. This is a really chunky quesidillas cos of the chunks of chicken. Really healthy tasty chunks of grilled chicken.

Headed to Oriole (Pan Pacific Suites). My favouritest place in town for coffee and dessert. 2nd sticky date pudding of the day, alcoholic. Of cos it beats the first Hands and feet down.

Banoffee pie reminds me of Su, somehow. I just love the icecream which occupies much of the dessert (haha) and we gave up towards the end, pouring the flower pot innards onto the sticky date plate.

Jills gave me a lift back to Shaw...I was knocked out flat out dead to the world!! Gosh tiring weekend and I was on call on Sunday - normal call, but somehow the great calls have spoilt me! Extremes!

Grandma's

2011-12-21T02:16:00.000-08:00

Fantastic week when the C was away, and we were left to our own devices..no lists! blocked scopes and clinics! So we decided to head out post take for lunch - at first it was Tamp, then we became bolder and off we were to Raffles city (so J could buy stationary to please his gf...) and for me to shop!Had a simple quick lunch at Grandma's (Basement 1, Raffles City)

Somehow was not in a Nasi Lemak mood so didnt try the signature dish - was pretty pleased with my assam laksa. Loved the steak noodles and the shredded veg in the spicy soup. Comfort food.

Nasi Bhukari set for J.

Shopped around- bought Godskitchen and the golden Havis which lasted me thru the end of the posting right thru wearing it to kk too;) that week being superb we had massages plus, also the liberty of watching white sorcerer and snake (only cos everyone pangseh the package!! and we exited at noon!) which we left early to exit anyways.

Level 33

2011-12-17T22:54:00.000-08:00

Mondays cant be better with a best friend for company and good food to boot. And of cos daydreams of the Sail. So reminiscent of our last rendezvous ;) without the skipping of a heartbeat everytime the phone sounded. Quiet alcove this little hole in the wall was, which we spied on when we were at Lantern. We have found a quiet gem at Level 33 (Marina Bay Financial Centre). Plenty of ERP pitstops along the way (two, actually), but parking wasnt as daunting.

The best friend loves her bread platter. I love my bread crustier, and just the crust. The dips were fantastic cos they were so interesting. Beetroot, Vinegar, Chickpeas and truffle oil. First was her favourite, mine fave was the last.

Fat chips. Honestly I thought it was cos it was deep fried in fat.

Tapas platter - the fried white bait must have been dusted with some magic savoury powder. Super addictive. K loved the almonds, smokey and minimally dusted with sugar. Bought one packet back from the atas supermarket after!

Beef cubes - raw-ish centre dipped into the soya made it melt in your mouth. Though the sizzling pan was placed distally...

Another magic powder dusting the lamb ribs - very well marinated and can battle the ones at Disgruntled Chef (my gold standard...)

Morphing into night and the laser show...which K misst cos she was kinda facing awful scenery (ie...person directed...hehe)... Such peace in the nightline. A bit difficult to let go as we wandered around Marina Bay Link Mall - gonna check out the Y-pasta soon. Back down to Earth.

Sauce

2011-12-14T23:44:00.000-08:00

Met Kels on the Sun after A&B, and her suggestion we met at Sauce (Esplanade). She was there early and almost wanted to shift elsewhere cos of then noise from the amphitheatre. The alfresco is done up in such a sunny garden style it looked attractive in the day. Well by night we sat at the bar tables to enjoy our semi bar food! Away from the noise.

A little disheartened I didnt get to check out 7ate9 before it closed, but this place is actually opened by the overeasy folks so was expecting good bar food! Sauces are served here too and are chargable per serving. Real interesting concept, and sauce is such a Kels thing.

Mushrooms which i must say was sauteed very well. Have learnt the art of sauteeing from J..

Beef nachos - well for once the nachos was served as a bowl, and you'd have to break the nacho bowl apart to eat it. Quite an interesting concept but well, it means its a compromise on nacho volume isnt it? The beef was done chilli con carne style so it went very well with the beans and chilli. Yums. Nothing beats the farmers style nachos at Overeasy though! Cheese and half boiled eggs thrown in.
No flash for this one -mentaiko pasta. Love this salty bits of roe. Reminds me abit of the roe we had, J! Mentaiko anything (with cream) seems to do magic to the pasta.

Walked around and almost to the helix before we turned back. Almost to the tail end of my east days and going to a new start soon;)

83

2011-12-11T23:49:00.000-08:00

After Hediard and Jewels, headed back then to meet Chongs for supper at 83 (Club St) - she got quite lost along Club/AnnSiang/Mohd Ali but we found each other(and more importantly, I found a lot...super many cars!!). This place is opened by the Sabio folks which is another place I wanna check out. Love bar food and tapas these days.

Love the art of this place, and the electronica too. Very chill vibes, with our sofa alcove to lounge in as we viewed the Bali photos. A lil strange with 2 girls across us but they must have thought us strange too, using the mini in a bar! Too bad for no disc - no godskitchen nor cream for chongs tonight. haha.

Marinated salmon with chickpea fries. We love this to bits- originally ordered this cos of the fries (these chickpeas must be the only type of fries here - a default order always when im with chongs or kels).. the chickpeas turned out to be like a mushy fillet. Quite an interesting eat. And the smoked thick slabs of salmon was damn simple and delicious. Not a salt overkill too.

Wagyu beef cubes - dipped in our blue cheese sauce its absolutely divine. Others were a salsa and another cream sauce which we couldnt figure out. Love skewered tender meats.

Tried unsuccessfully to look for desserts around Club st/annsiang but didnt wanna land up with double blackout again at PS. Still, keeping an eye out for the Yin/Yang platters and Our Korner which we must check out.

Z was not a risk we wanted to take so we ended up here - with a queue to boot and an inhouse party, we had house drinks while the music lasted (quite good electronica actually), smallish phuture room was not too inviting.

Just outside Avalon for a moment of peace.

The true peace came when we browsed (and literally, left with no choice but window shop) at MBS, and at 7-11. And wondered about the super many cars at the basement, all leaving their families to try their luck (in the casinoes or clubs) !

Hediard Cafe, Jewels Artisan

2011-12-08T18:38:00.000-08:00

Sat brunch was planned for the 26th but the surg skills workshop kinda stole my free weekend. ssw and even jason popped by, and we were hanging out mainly in the suturing before we skewered some chickens. Haha. Rushed abit to collect d's info before then after, popped by cicu..then I hurried down to Hediard Cafe (Tudor Court) to join the girls for brunch. Red, black. Chongs and I wanted to check it out some time too.

The girls had their fill so it was just down to me - they recommended the Norwegian - its eggs benedict with salmon (see..on an eggs roll...) or the breakfast set with croissant (short was saying how good the croissant was...). This was lovely simply cos the toast at the bottom was very airy and crisp. Well, but there should be more hollandaise...
Only problem was that this place tends to be on the quiet side and boisterous us was actually told to quieten down...hoho... thats not a good prognostic sign..

Rainy rainy so headed with short to Jewels Artisan (Orchard central) not knowing she promised her tuition kid pm slot!! But anyways. It was quite worth the time - the passion fruit tea was really fragrant, and the cakes were quite good (esp the below). We had the tea set with the chocolate truffle you can choose (we chose white chocolate champagne), salted egg macaroon and the regular chocolate cake, and chocolate ice cream. Its like a tasting platter of desserts. Very good for people like us who wanna try everything (preferbly, in greater quantities!)

Chocolate lava cake was so so good. I think i'd prefer it PIPING hot though. Short loved the berry compote lots. Well, I liked the white chocolate icecream lots. The proportion of ice cream to cake should be much much more.

Sat opposite the LUSH 99.5 studio and we see X ho streamin in! hehe. Picked up my ray bans at queensway en route to dropping her. Yay air con for my eyes now ;)

Glorious Sunday - L'etoile, Lantern

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

Night before was with the Chongs at 83/Av so was quite knocked out so brunch became lunch. To shaw today! Both working women then congregated to chill at L'etoile (Owen Road) a stones throw away (haha, the radius just becomes wider and wider right woman?). It was a very pleasant, bright level one (didnt manage to explore level 2 enough, where there is the sewing machine), with merchandise sold, mainly local produce- bought two (loved and cranky) and another paper wallet which I thought matched my other pouch made of plastic bags. So into environmentally friendly stuff. lol.
The crepes (sadly) ran out, and even the bagel. Normally the eggs benedict would be done on a bagel - but its done on toast today instead. Replaced the ham with salmon. Hollandaise sauce was a bit too tangy/sour for us though! Quite on an eggs roll. I should learn how to poach eggs nicely. and of course, perfect that hollandaise sauce. Okay homework for the end of the year.

French toast - cardinal sin..no maple syrup!!When we asked for extra syrup they actually gave us CLEAR sugar syrup. Our look of dismay earned us some honey so this became really drowned in honey. Mmm. all this is missing is prob the sea salt caramel sauce I gave you, babe.

Waffle with sea salt caramel icecream. Extremely chewy and reminds K of the belgian waffle. Not the toasty crisp kind I like.

Headed back pronto for the new ad, and for an hour at the step down unit before we headed down to Bali lane for more! Thanks much much for your oliverio slides (hahahaaha)

Avocado gula melaka, Salted caramel with almond. at Pluck (Haji lane) Next to my long dress, along with my buys of a hoops (hard to read) watch from a second bicycle shop, and the silver earrings. Shiok love the knick knacks and accessories here. Real interesting looks (and buys!) Love the love book in Threadbare and squirrel. Thinking of asking them if its on sale. Heart it.

Of cos we got braver and headed to a few stones throw away in a bid to satisfy the fries craving. Its gotta be the truffle fries from Lantern (Fullerton Bay Hotel)! had our own day bed (replacing yours, K...haha) right at the corner -so much so that we could tell when there was a switch from cd to live. Haha. Peanuts much much.

The last time I was here was also on a Sunday (but in the day) with grandma... we had the open face anchovies sandwich which they didnt have now...guess the menu has changed. Lantern is just so quiet and chill on Sundays. Love it.

Mini wagyu beef burgers. For a small patty it really packs succulence.

Smoked duck spring rolls. Good stuff- crisp, salty. Everything we like.

The night almost went up in smoke cos i thought i lost my ray bans (i actually went by bali lane again...the prominent parking lot is most unnerving) but thank goodness the next morning when i was less blind i found it. Its only when you lose something that you realise how things are so easily taken for granted. Thank goodness ;)

Maison Ikkoku

2011-11-27T07:12:00.000-08:00

Weekend mommy and bro went to China, woke up early Sun morning just to jagga the house, so I ran before that, came home to practise my cello before my lesson after. Lesson was pretty good cos I practised the easy cello pieces plus got the xmas songs to play for the weeks ahead (cos B is going away...happy hols!). Picked up oranges for home then headed to meet Ws for coffee at Maison Ikkoku, a new artisanal Japanese bar at 20 Kandahar street. Round and round looking for parking before I managed to find a spot at the public carpark. Went to the place first (cos the post call babe overslept!) and reserved a spot, only to find myself rained out at Bali lane while i got my ribbon earrings. Bummer. Had to ask her dad to round to pick me up and drop us...almost wanted out to an indoor place but Im glad we still came by ;)

Flat white x 2 (cos they mixed the orders). Pretty balanced coffee.

Eggs Benedict with salmon. This was good cos again it was very balanced, toast was not too thick, and eggs were fluffy much. Only jibe was the overtly salty smoked salmon. Though I love my salt, so didnt mind all that much - just neutralise with the asparagus.

Stayed on till the place closed at 7pm and there was no one else left. The cafe was pretty packed when we first got in but they kindly held a place for me which I thought was quite a nice gesture. Would wanna check out the furniture and apparel section on the second floor when Im here again. (I guess i would pop by if im around the area - after checking out that date icecream place).

Drove us to town for me to check out my runners and we ended up at the stand talking till she managed a cab for gran's. Am glad to buy 2cellos and IQ84 as company for the week! IQ 84 has gotten me chapter after chapter, esp during the fantastic SPS call.

Open door policy

2011-11-20T06:43:00.000-08:00

With no list at DSOT, Cheang joined me at MOT, only to be overutilised at the adrenalect. I started off with jc's, then hopped over to the LAP pancreatic (ugh, lap), and a pyolomyotomy (one of two that week!!) -thought there were 3 regs scrubbed then, with 2 doing the spreader...... then to cheang's. But she escaped and found us at bean flat out trying to resus ourselves in my first icecream since med days. Double booked us both, at the same time at 715pm. Hehe. Dropped them off and instructed to meet at Books actually. Really looked forward to Open door policy ( Yong Siak Street). Surprisingly there was space still, even with double booking.

We started off with the steak tartare with speared toasted (till burnt though) bread. Missed that shot (i thought i didnt!). Liked the truffle chips. Preferred Kilo's red wine drowned steak tartare though.

Halloumi cheese - blobs of semi hard cheese. Like a hard tofu/cottage cheese (reminiscent of Krith's place's)

Lamb confit, puff pastry - its presented like a pizza, lotsa salad atop the puff pastry. Difficult to share and keep in place though, the tender strips of lamb kept falling off.

Wild mushroom truffle risotto. Comfort food, period. Loved the greenish mushrooms.

Was fun naming syncope and hearing the arguments. So glad to have cheang in the dsot downstairs - the only hightlight of the day being our lunch of (stale) OT food. Trying to meet more for breakfast time now. And for now, the ERP at SCGS is OFF for the holidays!! Yes best news for my coming after 8 now. Haha! No more incentive to rush anymore.

I'll be back to check out orange thimble and dripz. And of cos, a day dedicated to Books Actually. When im done with IQ 84.

Thurs dinner

2011-11-15T10:05:00.000-08:00

Refused to take a chance with the quinoa yet again. So using the tomato lemon cous cous left in the cupboard, we topped up with the beef and chicken sausages, mushrooms, pecans and cranberries. I thought it too watery but eventually it dried out and hun thought it was just nice, and better than the other flavour. Think cant really go wrong with this Waitrose Cous Cous so i really recommend it. Though i think we should get a measuring cylinder soon. And perhaps trying the other brands to see if indeed cous cous is really fool proof.

Big Fish

2011-11-12T09:59:00.000-08:00

Had to choose somewhere nearby cos ching was on call (otherwise brewerkz would be the way to go!!). With a light OT day, we gathered the HOs to head out - they were slightly delayed with the Geri referral (cos BB got bounced from pt/ot after the home visit). Took TW's car with the HOs out to Big Fish. The whole reason for choosing this place is so that we can have udders after actually....about half had the set lunch, some the fish and chips - I took the salmon and requested for a side of fries. Loved the crisp fries! Salmon also marinated well..headed back real quick; early day but on call is almost the worse feeling to have, offset by the wonderful lunch and company. (except for sitting at the head of the table)...

Dempsey Brasserie

2011-11-09T09:49:00.000-08:00

Post call with ching - a pdu/pyloric channel, perf appendix, another pdu in the am which I scrubbed (no drain/wash/biopsy, plus double overlay). Lots going on in eot - bleeding gda, adhesio/sb resec, right hemi, the last 2 of which belonged to J. Passed lunch and headed to the grouponz place (feels really estranged, us!), then headed to send in the phone (mighty long transferring the data) then to Dempsey brasserie for tea. Too late for the food so had the Elderflower Sprite instead.

Bought the cheese - Mimolette from Jones (on a hunt for the orangest cheese), Walnut bread and spinach leaves from Culina. Left over turkey from before, and i realised the leaves tasted fantastic with the pseudo bacon bits. Soup was mild, to say the least. Need a chunky chowder soon.

Soho Coffee, Food for thought

2011-11-04T07:21:00.000-07:00

Post take, post post call = tired, lunch was assembled from the night before's spinach leaves, thousand island dressings. I had to finish the tub of Thick and creamy yoghurt (expired!) which he refused to help. haha. Only had 10 min left before zooming down to cello...

Post cello headed to lil india before pick up at PS..decided to head to Armenian St for Soho Coffee- crossing our toes that this place would be (!) open on a Sunday, and it was close to 6 at that time. Parked at the Fort Canning car park, tried to enter the Peranakan Musuem (no more free entry for Singaporeans....only NUS.. hiak hiak) Walked by an interesting casual eatery we hoped to catch open the next time we were here. Also Peek! a fantastic photography shop - loved the fish camera. Funky colour, funky views. Thinking of it loads.

Happily walked into Soho Coffee (Armenian St) - its off that street, belonging to a white building (cant remember the name) so its a tad difficult to find. It faces a furniture shop (which was open and we checked out!). Coffee here is overwhelmed by the milk though! Mighty wasted. Food ran out - J wanted the eggs benedict. I bought the culinary book by SMU for ideas around the idea. Love the read. Decided for Torte/Food for thought. Plenty of interesting sights on the way to Queen's/Waterloo. Old churches. Interesting Tel Co building with splashes of red.

Interesting advert though mighty ridiculously mocking the value of health. Attention grabbing it was.

Underhand means. Musuem looking so bare naked without the shadows (we loved the night musuem!)

Singaporean murals. Reminds us of the car blocking the titanic mural...sigh!

Along the way here browsed at an overtly overpriced camping store.

Almost settled for a Mexican place, couldnt find Torte, and we ended up in Food for Thought (Queen's Street). Cheese, and something like a squash. Favourite of his.

My salmon with tomato risotto. I liked the risotto muchos cos it was very smokey and tasty.

But he enjoyed his creamy Salmon risotto much, though saying much too bare. I prefer my vegeterian smokey one ;)

Love the items they were selling on the shelves; singa plastic/shopping bag, interesting kueh tutu eraser. And the decor of the 540/740 (?) pasta bottles overhanging, some of which had the hand written wishes of the children. Amazing. Love the thought put into the interiors of this lovely, warm place. Surprisingly not too crowded for a Sunday (minus the group of girls celebrating a bd)... Wanna try the gula melaka pancakes with K...come home soon!

Post sunday call

2011-11-02T09:28:00.000-07:00

So happy to see wee in its new home. Amidst all the wee twigs.

This particular call was particularly...empty. No ops, one post op nstem, one to sign out..thats it. 1-6am = zzz. minimal 4+4 scopes in the am too. cant ask for more..(included skipping tb) snoozed, lapped, simple dinner of fresh figs (biggie xoxo, smallie me), Breemer cheese XO (fantastic smokey taste, vaguely tasting of wine), cherries, lao - hong crackers, pecans, cranberries. Tasted best with pecans. Love the personally assembled mono cheese platter.

Group therapy

2011-10-29T06:44:00.000-07:00

TGIF. Fridays are the best in team1 - other than the m's to present, it was just the day cases. 2 lumps done bipolarly by J (cos of the collar one) and the other hernias were each taken by K and J since I ald had one on my own early in the week. Regs still having a headache over the video - post exits headed to J's where we bumped in the lobby - he headed for blades and mussels while I headed for laps before heading to Group therapy (Duxton Road) where the 6pm meeting officially started at 7pm.

The casual cafe only opens after 7pm, but the 2 lady owners welcomed me in and had some friendly banter before the crowd came in. The place is meant as an events place, and the coffee, beers are just part of their passion for food. Love the quirky furniture and vibe of this place; just check out the rockin (literally!) chairs below.

Don't you love these rockers.

Shelves loaded with my favourite! picture books (the missing piece) and stuff made by a non profit organisation run by a power 98 dj; from which I bought a purse made of tons of coiled up plastic bags and another chocolate heart. hehe.poor handicraft on my part though! but i loved the one and only.
Carol's beef stew.

My eggs ben with salmon. Must be my first on thick toast. Everytime I have thick toast I think of Kels. who is away atm. hello woman if you're reading this!! Love this creamy creamy salmon!

Could only enjoy her company for an hour! till 8pm where she had to rush off to church at farrer park. To think half a year flew by without tennis at yours! Miss those tennis days, with yh too.

Post call comfort food

2011-10-26T07:15:00.000-07:00

It was the call with double digit admissions plus blues which we saw till 4am (the most ridiculous nappy rash......)when ching gathered everyone for a drink at the fish pond. Super sweet moment. and I stayed for my own pdu which started at 530pm (cos of 4 tas of which one was a stab......). from open to close of the 3mm hole. So happy! And even happier to see xo at recovery and got home for a nap, with this on the table on awakening. thanks muchos ;)

Dempsey Brasserie

2011-10-22T03:28:00.000-07:00

Rounds early today cos the t1 regs were prep for the workshop (but we still had time for bf before that!).. 2nd time here at Dempsey Brasserie with another bunch of sec sch frens -this time with qian, jas and wm. Expected to have brunch when the suturing was going on, but turned out i was the cam whore, gloves stealth thief, and caterer helper so was a tad late post gj/vasc graft fun. thanks girls (and boy) for waiting! they started first with jas's eggs ben, qians soup and wm's biggie breakfast, while i happily helped myself to the truffle fries while waiting for mine...grilled about the spontaneous trips i took =) haha. hi e, if you're reading this you're prob more updated than the ones here!!

Eggs florentine - balanced meal, healthy almost. Would trade salad for fries though !
Headed over to Brunetti (Tanglin mall) with qian cos jas had to head over to Vivo with wm. We had cakes here mainly, though the ice cream looked damn tempting. no descriptions though, just their italian names. Qian ordered the Poached Pear cheesecake.... this was a tad better than the one I had simply cos it was a fluffier cheesecake..

Rum and raisin cheese cake just didnt taste of rum and raisin! dense bland.

Bought an XO cheese from Marketplace then headed to J's who (!) rushed to buy a dvd player after dinner and rented Son of Babylon to watch. Took a spin to furniture shop before coming back for the shop and simple comfort chicken cuttlefish porridge for dinner at Old Airport Road. Picked up satay sticks for the bbq too for cm. Went back for the call while delivering the matcha which was just as well since there was a perf div. Sigh call cm, missing the bbq plus the 2nd.

Smith's Fish and Chips

2011-10-19T07:06:00.000-07:00

It was 4 lap choles and a hernia (which I did) and 2 scopes of which one was for a hiatal planned for feeding so it was really interesting to watch if the scope would transilluminate (it didnt). The last with mr C while J exited with ching so after that popped by the lap converted open AR when mr F was using the circ stapler.. headed towards East coast road and eventually landed up at Smith's Fish and Chips (Tanjong Katong Road). His was Haddock and mine was cod but he ended up liking his favourite instead. Haha. I specifically specified I wanted the fish not oily - it was not, but damn, the fries were! Haha. And we rented infinite justice (he had a stack of 4 cds on the mid east) when we realised that it was not playable on the lap top - we didnt figure out the region. (region2). I guessed it was United Kingdom. Plus it an overnight. Plus I convinced him not to take the package. haha. But it turned out cm that I was right cos it worked on UK.

Dann's Cafe

2011-10-15T11:04:00.000-07:00

Week of short days, feels like passive income somwwhat. Lap chole, followed by a conversion (big faux pas pushing up and inadvertent ripping but thats not the cause of it!) cos of deficient post wall, followed by pseudo l maj lump that took 5 min, longer time for the anaes (and DA rash too!) and update than the actual. Resisted the break to eat (thanks mok for the soy/pancakes), and headed out to Dann's Cafe (Eastwood Centre) that Teck Wee has been raving about the alkaline coffees.

Parked my car at army camp car park, to the arrival of 2 carpark attendents, and then arriving to the restaurant with the chef's daily moods board on my seat... the above is unfair treatment to TW... only heart heart. i HEART the flat white. Possibly the best i've had here, nutty and natural sweetness from the milk. Mmm lovely. Would be back just for this.

And btw, even the tap water is alkaline!

Fish and mushroom cheese Tortilla wrap - not exactly a wrap, more like a ultra thin pancake. For it was not foldable - the wrap was toasted to a crisp and very nutty and grainy! Lovely with the cheese sauce within. I must admit I ate the fish separately - didnt want the wrap to dilute the taste of the tender fish. The sprouts by the side was most interesting.

LS also had the wrap but with sprouts instead, TW had the prawn pasta (too stiff!) and Mr C the hoggie - with baguette. It was a strange site to see 3 men eating organic, dainty brunch style food.

This place serves seafood and vegetables mainly - and too bad for my second round of coffee- the maintainace guys came so we had the last of the available coffee.

And I was so happy to find the elusive quinoa!!

D24 from Ice cream gallery - I must say I havent had a durian ice cream in an uber long time. The last was prob sharing scoops or just tasting portions. The last full blown durian I had on my own could possibly on a stick.

Went to change money at Chinatown (max cash out at 2k!), pick tri colored top, forgot the paper unds, then J didnt wanna let me do the groceries so we ended up at Kallang Leisure Park to top up the dinner stuff (other than the loaf and the salmon sitting in the fridge since Mon....).

The above was actually Mon's contingency plan in case the cous cous grains refuse to behave... Smoked salmon, roe, Philly's cream cheese, Multi grain bread from Swissbake. Yes there was ALOT of bread.... and I discovered the three types of roe..enlightenment

Somehow the mixed spinach volume was alot less than the plain pure spinach. New addition of corn, pecan. Bought croutons of the seasoned kind, but had to finish the Italian ones.

Thank goodness didnt open the chowder...

And there's still blueberries..yoghurt..

Intricately done up leftovers.... ;) thks to the one who DIDNT finish it up!

Booked the H Park and Fitzwilliam. Yay we are all set. Poor thing for the last min journal club/research PLUS call..us both. blardi tight time better fly fast.

Ah Chew's desserts

2011-10-12T11:34:00.000-07:00

Post take Tues - only a thromb pile and then we were basically free- but with Mok and Jaime being my London consultant, too late too ex though! Exited at noon, then with the reg clinic running in the pm, our exits were still NOT happening despite others happening. Anyways it was early so J picked me in the end to initially head to Chinatown (long queue!!) then to City Hall then Funnan to get my coolbeans camera lens cover (auto! and star wars etc which I didnt understand)

Headed to Ah Chew's - almost wanted to bring him to Honeymoon desserts but I guess we were too lazy to cross the road.

A magically white combi - almond with rice balls, HK red bean ice with red bean and steamed milk egg white - never ate any of these before but real comfort food. Somehow I still miss ice cream! Almost thinking of going to Tom's even.

PS Cafe, Ann Siang Hill

2011-10-08T00:25:00.000-07:00

PS Cafe - Truffle fries
Strawberry Vanilla Pancakes

Truffle omelette and Mushroom croissant

K Ki - White chocolate cake with Rockmelon

Champagne Mousse

Sunday was a pretty chill round, with 5 to see, following which bf took longer than rounds such that when it all ended we had to see one in 33 in af, but then it was off to pick K then heading to PS Cafe, Ann Siang Hill. Its hidden round the corner, at the entrance to Ann Siang Hill Park. Went up to the second floor, where it was a East West clash. Ching Changs from the left, opera at the superior, and brits on the right. A tad confusing.

I was most excited to come here after seeing M post a single picture of the truffle fries, and eventually a whole post on coming here. So hungry after seeing those pictures, so dragged K here for brunch. She was post night, picked her up in my cab cos she obligingly came with me yayers. my face totally lighted up when the mega mountain of truffle fries came. The truffle scent in the air was awesome possum. Sprinkled with generous amounts of parmesan cheese topped it all.

In addition we had the Strawberry Vanilla Pancakes, which were very much like sweet pancakes (oh, the pancakes at House, we miss you), and we almost had another bread platter again (we're carb monsters) but her facing the mirrors with words written all over led us to order the Truffle omelette and Mushroom croissant. This must have been the most decadent croissant I've ever had, but of cos we had it in a most civilised way, eating it in sections. Everything from the truffle scent of the eggs to the huge portebllo mushrooms struck the right notes.

We then headed to Om to pick up (only one) black top, from which I finally brought K to K Ki (Ann Siang Hill) to sample the cakes- we had the Champagne Mousse (that's Lou's and mine favourite) and the White chocolate cake with Rockmelon centre. Was very tempted to eat the Mont Blanc again (cos its the biggest cake and it'll definitely make me full) but we didnt!

Standing Sushi Bar

2011-10-05T10:23:00.000-07:00

On a post take Thurs, I intended to take Kels to Food for thought at Queens street (couldnt figure out the mini burgers place at Queen's) but the last order was before 9pm! So we ended up at Standing Sushi Bar - a place I've been wanting to try for a long time, but its the branch at Raffles Place that I've been eyeing, as well as Five Izakaya.

This is the Sakura Don - which is pretty much like diced up Chirashi Don. Love the assortment and the colours. Very fun to eat.

Kelly's set of Salmon in butter sauce, Mackerel, Sashimi. Very comprehensive and a steal at $20.

Kakiage's gotta be my favouritest tempura cos its so crisp and crunchy. And tastes almost healthy!

Fried white bait - prefer the baits to be pint sized actually..

We headed down to 1 Altitude for drinks, and some heart to heart. Sigh babe, missed our old days so very much -hugs- Time's never enough with you. Gorgeous view, great company, what more can I ask for? For it to happen nightly, actually.

Bronte

2011-09-24T07:35:00.000-07:00

On the weekend after Bali when I had the weekend off I was quick to date the Mountains to Bronte (Greenwood Avenue) to try their brunch. Most ex brunch ever after the knock against the kerb (bloody BM) and the fine along the yellow lines (please don't follow me...). Thou the food was uber reasonable, I was most sulks during the brunch, save for the girls thank goodness. Miss the girls so.
Poached eggs, spinach, salmon - Eggs royale was really delicious, though I do wish it came in its usual , in pairs instead of a long bread and some toasts by the side.

Jas' Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, with mushrooms.

I enjoyed part of Qian's burger - smokey thick patty. Even the fries were good crisp stuff. Recommend it along with Big Bad Wolf's.

Good food, reasonable prices, chill place minus the crowds- recommend this place for brunch. Wanted to try the corn fritters but forgot it (left to get my phone from the car - maybe should have shifted it at this point of time!!).

Droppped Qian and Jas at Cluny court so Jas could shop for her picnic at Bishan Park. Would have loved to join them plus have more desserts, but off mommy and I were after a heavy downpour to Chinatown to plan our next trip, and to Sakuraya to get dinner while catching Arsenal vs Liverpool. Poor Arsenal! OG. What a very wholesome day with family and friends.

Post call grub

2011-09-21T07:48:00.000-07:00

After a fantastic sub 10 call, with a crab dinner to boot and r2 to see the cases all before midnight it was rather shiok to enjoy the home prepared dinner (okay not ALL that home made cos most of them were assembled from Cold Storage). Smoked cheese and (lots of) left over crackers, peppered salmon, bran baguette, avocado/cheese/roastbeef/spinach leaves/almond slivers. Simple comforts.

Sque Rotisserie

2011-09-17T10:06:00.000-07:00

On take day, with just 3 day admissions, partial gastrect going on alongside my forehead, multi flank/UL, hugeass axilla bumps, I was done in time to pick up the boys from TMFT from golf and then headed down to Central to meet Jo & Jills at Sque Rotisserie (Central). Opened by Emmanuel Stroobant just a month back, it occupies the space formerly owned by Sun with Moon. Its broken into sections now - 2 indoor seatings, alfresco dining and another alfresco bar. Pretty spaced out, and still not too crowded for now. Pretty good for conversation and catching up, which we most needed to do.

We ordered the platters to share as below..

Sque platter- onion rings, baked potato, crabcakes, wings. Crabcakes were the most awesome followed by the crisp airy onion rings. Well, they were not really rings, more like strips.

Combination platter- for which I could only try the beef cheek and the wings. And of cos, my dear potatoes. Comfort food for my friends.

Chocolate beer pie , for which none of us could taste the beer. Interestingly, the nicest part of this dessert is in the very potent liquer filled cherry. Ooh, the liquer rush was pretty good.

Chocolate mousse - my first gulp = soap ?? the spice/cinamon made it taste really so, though once I got by that I enjoyed the mousse pretty much. Its a distant cousin of icecream, so i like.

Just before desserts came (Which was a pretty long time!) , we met Pang and her fren Shaoru, who shared with us this amazing peach fruit beer. Awesome possum indeed. Inspired the girls to go to Bali - Jo just back from ZJJ and Jill just back from Viet. Cant wait to head to London and Viet yays.

The best post call ever

2011-09-13T00:52:00.000-07:00

6 abscesses, 2 appendix, 1 perf = GG
Clearing them through the night meant I managed to do 3, and scooted off with miss z after the lap app, to Maxwell thanks to our dear r2;)

Possibly the best time to eat at Zhen Zhen's Porridge (Maxwell Hawker Centre) is after 2pm (just before they close at 230pm), where there's parking galore and there is no queue. Shiok best post call food. Comfort at its best.

Checked out my favourite Picture book shop ever. And found a furniture shop with cute tree-like clothes stand. Tempted.

We headed to Kki where I finally picked up my electric blue Casio ;) but they ran out of Mont Blanc (what I wanted) and the chocolate one (that miss Z wanted) so we drove over to Flor instead. Where cream resides;) My ever favourite Earl Grey Mont Blanc.

She chose the one with the least cream - Summer Berries. I ate most of her cream ;)

Off to Little India to thread brows, City hall to pick up groceries, and checking out the sale at Warehouse where I picked up a bikini;) Post call dinner was rabbit food - Figs pizza from Skinny Pizza (my favouritest fruitiest pizza), Cous cous (unpronouncable, to someone), Sundried tomatoes/rocket/feta. Wholesome, in more ways than one.

Awwwwfully Chocolate

2011-09-07T12:49:00.000-07:00

On take, finished with the 4 lumps, crammed data entry and heck, headed to 328 Katong and ended up checking out the 3-in-1 concept, with the people watching as we had Kahlau Cold poached chocolate from Awfully Chocolate. Maybe JooJoo when I'm not too hungry!

Jimmy Monkey

2011-09-03T10:40:00.000-07:00

The quaint bare.

The queer electic.

The comfort secluded, best enjoyed on a drizzly evening. Smoked duck, goat's cheese, toast tartine. Dom Pedro milkshake, Long Black.

Braving crowds at Ikea to find the right bench, snag the hotdog/icecream cone, finding the white Ray Bans otw chowing down the Sub Standard Chilli crab sandwich and awesomer Peanut butter cookie. Getting lost at One North Residences up a wrong road, then somehow darl managed to drive right up to the doorstep of Jimmy Monkey's just before it closed at 8pm. Turn right when the girl says turn left. Thank goodness for the GPSes in my life. You and Kels are my life compasses indeed ;) cant wait for you to buy a place here. And so we can cross over to Verve for some pizza. Mmm.

Warpaint

2011-08-31T12:27:00.000-07:00

Not ethereal, nor eclectic.

Our first concert;) with a sandwich to go, surprising beef chilli fries, and dublin mudslide.

South Coast

2011-08-27T00:07:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night (the day I got to handle day surg on my own!), Pops and Mum picked Su ann from Bedok and subsequently collected me and we headed down to MBS - where we successfully found the car park to the Hotel, but still when we reached the ground level we found ourselves at the Shoppes side again, resulting in a long far walk (cos we thought the restaurant was at the hotel). Turns out South Coast (Marina Bay Sands) was along the walkway facing the Marina Bay waterway (facing Fullerton).

My parents were initially astonished when they saw the place cos :

1. They didnt expect a bar/alfresco place

2. They called in and the waitress who answered no shorts and slippers

3. I was in shorts and slippers.

And we actually went to check out Pizza Mozzera before realising they were full and then having to come back up to eventually dine here. So anyway, we had no problems securing a seat - we sat at a communal large square bar-table. During my bd weekend, I tried to get a reservation here to no avail, so I was pleasantly surprised to find it not all that crowded. Though we only found mainly expats hanging out there. It was a pretty chill out post work kinda place, with good food to boot.

Lamb ribs - rubbed with plenty of herbs, this was mighty tender. Though I still prefer the lamb ribs at the Disgruntled Chef.

Fried white bait - fish fries. I think I'll stick to potato fries !

Lamb burger- chunks of lamb, and a goat's cheese patty within the burger. I had fun eating this in sections. Fries were also pretty good. I had mine done in Medium while Su-Ann had hers done medium well.

Dad had a Wagyu beef burger while Mum had the Fried Barramundi with fries.

The best thing about the restaurant is there you can actually catch the water works from where you were sitting (though the view's slightly obstructed by the trees). Eventually we got up and got near to where the action was- images were projected onto the spray of water, with lights and spotlights circulating around the skyline and buildings. Pretty sight, I must say.

The biggest surprise of the night was getting into Ku De Ta wearing shorts and slippers (not that I would try it again). And finding it super crowded at 10 plus (the last time I was there on a Wed around 11 it was not packed at all! and the infinity pool was already closed with no one!) and yes, also to find the infinity pool bobbing with swimmers. I must get into that pool one day. But amazingly, the drinks arrived in no time even though it was packed. We left early though, cos I was post take the next day. Surprisingly smooth night.

Hippopotamus

2011-08-24T23:40:00.000-07:00

Celebrated Dad's bd at Hippopotamus (Marina Square) - a word I used to have most trouble trying to spell in my younger days. This place is actually a bona fide French chain, and for its price i thought I should give it a shot and try the steak here.

Escargoes- with lotsa oil and butter.

Mixed beef skewers- had different cuts of meat like sirloin, hump. I thought it was rather interesting cos of the different cuts and textures. But couldnt second guess the cuts at all. Sigh.

Sides of Ratatouille and potato gratin (below).

Might or might not return to this place given that there're more steak places to try. Not been getting much of a steak fix these days..

Marmalade Pantry

2011-08-20T22:39:00.000-07:00

Saturday pre bd (after a very xian off day converted to FNAC day ;( ), initial plans to take the family out to MBS foiled cos of BV bag (hence making the trip to Ion) hence we settled for Marmalade Pantry (Level 3, Ion Orchard) instead. After some haggling at BV, mummy and I headed to join the rest -who already ordered!!!- hence we had to wait for ours :(

Crabmeat Corn Soup - very sweet, thick and loaded with chunks of corn.

French toast - tasted very much like fried eggy cake dusted with sugar and lotsa clotted cream. Anything with cream, or creamy is my favourite.

My Eggs Benedict which I swopped to salmon, converting it to an Eggs Royale instead. This tastes very clean and not dripping with Hollandaise sauce. Reminds me vaguely of Cafe Hacienda's now (which has closed and replaced by Roadhouse which I'm going to try out tonight!). Just eggs ben, and salad. Very very healthy.

Mummy's smoked salmon with scrambled eggs, on the other hand looks loaded with creamy eggs - but again healthy cos its lying on a bed of brown bread.

Dad's lamb sandwich which Mummy really liked.

Bro's steak sandwich - salty ++ , but big portions. and I kept koping the healthy chips (as deemed by sis)

Sis's Falefel wrap. Basically, an ang moh popiah. A very vegeterian choice which I will never choose but she likesl;)

MP is a very convenient place to have all day brunch (like for us, having such food for dinner), and yet not crowded enough to warrant a reservation. We just walked straight in to have dinner. Plus its a great place to people watch (and at the same time, be watched!!)

Walked around Ion for abit (to pick up Burt's bees and Mummy to F21 to exchange her pouch) before H. We picked up icecream on our way home cos we were too lazy to head to MBS to walk further. Happy bd to the on call;)

Ben and Jerry's , X men

2011-08-17T21:32:00.000-07:00

On a Tues when AM was clinic cover while lap choles were going on, and PM was colonic ops which ended surprisingly early, after sending short back J came by to go for dinner before X Men at 950pm. Wanted try out Roadhouse at Dempsey but despite the sign saying we're open, to the contrary its not! Disappointment ++ and it was already close to 9pm so we had to settle for Ben and Jerry's at Dempsey.

I had the Super mix and match of New York fudge, Cherry Garcia and Strawberry cheesecake. I realise its quite a fruit overdose and I really misst Dublin Mudslide loads. He had a waffle with the new Peanut Butter flavour (which he claims is not new). Waffle was too nuah for us both!

Caught X Men at the Great world city Grand - quite glad we caught it on the big screen instead of the lido small one. Solid storyline and the action is not as overwhelming as Transformers. And I finally got to try Garrett's popcorn! The cheesecorn tastes very much like atas cheezels. Picture with B1/B2 fail before a slow drive back (as compared to the rush to!).

Ember

2011-08-13T21:01:00.000-07:00

Got booked by short on the Fri night before my bd to have dinner with Su, Am, Yan at Ember (Hotel 1929, Keong Saik Road). Arriving past time (cos not given a time!) we were all ready to order when I came - they all more or less decided (save for Am who owed us a proposal story), who turned out to substitute things on the set menu which confused her further as to what she actually ordered.

Bread was rather forgettable.

On the other hand the crabcake tasted like it was soaked in crab bisque. Its like, one step away eating from the real thing and so suffused with the flavour it might even be better than the real thing.

The crabmeat capellini tasted very much like chinese fried noodles though... Am's sakura ebi cappellini was drowning in ebi it looked so delicious!!

Seabass - I took out the bacon and the highlight for this was surprisingly the bed of mushrooms. Its a different base from the others who had the bacon ragout with mushrooms (cos they complained the mushrooms were shrivelled out). Very smooth sea bass but didnt taste as flavourful as them mushrooms. Yes for once the plant outshining the meat.

Palate cleanser Sorbet with grapefruit. Sour things make you forget how good the salty ones taste. How can i forget my distaste for orange. Miss the Iggy's rock melon soup muchos.

Apple pie - the layered pastry was very crisp and flaky. Though i wished there were bigger apple chunks. This was over in a few bites.

The biggest dessert goes to Am's Sticky date pudding. Jealous much, portion wise.

Met Fly, M, Cel at Filter after for some champagne but left after a short while, packed ++. Music's pretty much Phuture like though the DJ was just coming on as I was leaving. Found some peace elsewhere ;)

Blooie's Roadhouse

2011-08-10T20:52:00.000-07:00

Tennis with J got off to a rocky hurtful start cos of the net which some one ripped and J risking tetany for. But we both have improved somewhat to get a decent rally. After which, had dinner at Blooie's Roadhouse (Siglap) after going around the world even passing by my favourite Arnold's to find out that Big bad wolf was closed!

Reuben - loved the saukeraut and the sourness it gives to the beef salami. But it makes me miss the version at Brewerkz loads.

Beef chilli cheese fries - his favourite. I think the fries are called their special cos of the seasoning they add to the fries just before they load it with cheese and beef chilli. Comfort food for him. And not forgetting his BBQ wings too.

Early day for him so it was H early. Would never be able to drive here on my own again, though its a lovely neighbourhood reminding me loads of Greenwood, nearer home.

1 Twenty Six

2011-08-06T20:14:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday Carol! Plans to play tennis were shelved after I ended late post take. We had dinner at 1 Twenty Six (Playground@ Big Splash) , alfresco dining by the beach seems very much like a beach holiday already. We lounged at the couches facing the sea (although I reserved an indoor seat ;P). We must play tennis one of these days at your new place.

1 Twenty Six, pretty much like Rochester, has a communal dining menu as well. For 70 ++ per pax, you get the Nibble or Coast (the latter sounds very good...) Platter to share, a mains and a dessert or cheese platter to share. Sounds like very much how I dine, so I get a bit of everything to try. But we went for ala carte in the end cos well, we prefer the flexibility.

The nibble platter - a compilation of their consequential nibbles - our favourite was the Homemade code brandade with grilled brushetta. Can't really go way off with Soft shell crab (frying yummifies almost everything), and with the Vongole clams with garlic and herb crumb (very creamy, and the crumbs were yums) although we didnt like the Potato Skins with sour cream and ocean trout caviar.

126 Home made burger with Ground angus beef, sauteed spinach, mushrooms, Fontine cheese and fries.

This burger is one of the better ones I've had here (I'm dying to try the 4seasons one...). The beef patty was substantial and had the smokey taste which I like. Plus the fries were really crisp and the thickness just right for me. A favourite for us both ;)

Capellini with crab meat, chilli flakes, leek and creme fraiche.

This is one cream bomb but I really liked the al dente Capellini. Enough cream dosage for the rest of the year (cos I ate most of it!). Loads of crab meat to boot as well.

C hasnt come round to this part of Big Splash (she's mostly confined to Sushi Tei - and I don't know where that is) so we intend (or rather, she...) intends to check out Brussel Sprouts here - for once, its not as cramped as the one in Robertson Quay. Beach side dining here is so rustic.

Had supper at Coffee club with calamari/wings/salmon quesidillas. And still got appetite for more ;)

Burger Bench and Bar

2011-08-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

The happiest Monday at work ever - clinics getting blocked for convos, meant scotting out at 1215 to catch the 1320 transformers in 3D, then back by 1645 to see the pre ops and clinic admissions before heading to the (evening round like) tb conference. And re-living their teenhood at Cine and eating burgers. T3's surprising luxury. triple J excursion.

Queen and Mangosteen

2011-07-30T21:08:00.000-07:00

This is the post call dinner that WP promised, which I thought was also kinda an excuse to check out the Ted Baker sale; this is also the dinner where she splurged 300 bucks on 4 of us on this insane volume of food. Insane. Check it out.

The Pims that Z likes. That I ordered. Minty and very refreshing.

Cocktail Prawns

i LOVE onion rings. Esp chunky ones. Miss the huge ones at Brewerkz.

WP loves these hot wings. I miss Bonchon's wings.

Fish and chips which they're good for......well. I think the only thing i liked about this, was the curry sauce dip, which I dipped everything else into.

Seafood platter, which I love the cold crab shredds right in the middle. The crayfish were mostly empty shells, sadly.

Codfish. Smooth but not salty. I was helping myself to the risotto at the sides ;)

Lamb. Again I was checking out the carbs- these multi coloured potatoes were soooo good and fun to eat.

Shepherd's Pie, with lamb. Very curry based.

On the other hand the Fisherman's pie was very creamy..

This is the last and the Best !! The Goat cheese tart, with 2 portabello mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, and a very crisp biscuit crust. Very simple, very synergistic flavours and texture.

Also, a salmon salad which no one touched (except the salmon). 4 of us 2 girls 2 boys finished almost everything, save for the greens. well done, except that the post call people were stricken with food coma thereafter...

The Plain

2011-07-23T05:01:00.000-07:00

Flat White, Soy
humpty dumpty with vegemite soldiers - dippy eggs with vegemite on buttered toast sticks
dean's breakfast - poached eggs on melted cheese and vegemite sour dough toasts

Pastrami ciabatta - beef
The cute coinbanks at Bon Heur Patissiere

Eiffel in white

Bouheur Patisserie - chocolate tart

Chest nut Mont blanc xoxo for K

On eve of Good Friday it was KK's last day and hence 3 of us (K, L and i) (none of us were needed in ot/clinic) having had breakfast at hman's post m's still went onto lunch soon after. Having risked getting lost (actually we wont cos my human gps is around) we took a cab there. And I found out that the wonderful coffee place that Kok was talking about (other than toy) was The Plain! absolutely lousy at remembering names esp after renaming my idol (AVB)to a certain bebier ugh.

We took a cab there but backtracked a little back to the restaurant The Plain (Craig Road). Its a very discrete place (very black and white). We were rather surprised to find seats still at lunch hour (unlike 40 hands!) - and right at the end there was a huge dining table, donned with lotsa mags like Appetite, Time out and... Monocele! Even further back there was another corner dining table where Kok was envious of his fren donned with human accessories. Not like he wasnt actually. Tsk tsk.

We found our own table and realised the menu was full of Marmite stuff which was a very aussie thing which I guess L was happy about. I liked the toast soldiers muchos simplier cos it was mini bite sized and really salty. Fun to dip into the soft boiled eggs. Marmite simply makes everything very salty. Dean's breakfast seems like the adult version of the toast soldiers, laden with cheese. I'll give the beef salami a miss the next time round. It seems like they rotate around the items on the menu quite a fair bit so i'll be due for a return visit soon.

Having read about Bonheur Patissiere (70 Duxton Road) this up and coming French patissiere, we decided to check it out cos we were just round the corner- didnt realise that at all. But twas nice. Bonheur, is French for Happiness. Anyways, supposed to be good for hot chocolate but after the coffee we simply couldnt drink more. The chocolate tart reminds me loads of Laurents. Miss the aroma of that place, loads. Chest nut Mont Blanc was for K, realised that posting was lotsa takeaway cakes for K. I think L wanted to try the green tea, and I the Sakura but couldnt do more cos we were stuffed. Miss L, KK, and K loads; those were good times - being near the CBD is such a luxury I miss right now.

Two fat men

2011-07-20T23:28:00.000-07:00

Fish and Chips

Wings

Grilled Squid

After a particularly good post take, I could actually head down to E's right on the dot at 5. Went to Two Fat Men (East Coast Road) for dinner after didnt feel like italian's for dinner. Possibly drove much of the length of the East before this caught my eye.. could even remember that it served Thai food.

Had quite an overdose with fries, with the fish and chips, wings and an additional beef chilli fries. The grilled squid came quite naked without dressing, but when the thai chilli came it was actually quite delicious - grilled squid gotten right has this crisp bits which I quite like. Otherwise...the bar was a pretty chill place to hang out after work - they even screened tennis. We were quite oblivious though ;) finally understood my infamy in theater..

Kungfu Paradise

2011-07-16T23:25:00.000-07:00

Kungfu drink : Banana, Peanut butter smoothie. Tastes like a Reese's Milkshake, with no hint of the banana! Funkey Monkey.

French Toast with icecream ; this makes us miss the French Toast in Stanley Island, Hongkong. Same same, but different : It was thinner, artery cloggin oil rig that has kaya in between those egg layers. Sinful goodness.
Sampler platter: potato wedges, onion rings, popcorn chicken. Noticed platters tend not to include fries in that potato segment ; more often than not, it was wedges. Loved the cheese sauce and salsa.
Beef balls, was quite a genius matching them with mashed potatoes.

Crab chilli pasta - wow this was awesome possum, chunks of crab swarmed with eggy sweet chilli crab sauce is the best for dipping everything from fried mantou to fries (sigh miss you, yella fellas) to pasta. Fantastico.

Anyway, to sum up, it was an entire day in clinics but the driving force was meeting with K (after the Mon movie was postponed cos dad was coming back and had to pick A). It was almost delayed cos there was the fam conference at 6pm but my kind reg decided to let me go and we managed to catch the earlier Kungfu Panda 2 at Century Square instead of catching the hour later show at TP. (Thanks for finding me in the East, you tanned self!) The action sequences were pretty entralling and I thought there was better character development in the second one.

Plan was actually to eat at Vegan Burger but the journey to Eunos just took forever and on the way Bedok Point caught our eye, (or rather, K's) so we u-turned back to check out the mega food complex. For once, a shopping centre whose tenants were 80% f&b and 20 % retail than the other way round, though most of them tend to be chains. Kungfu Paradise (Level 1, Bedok Point) itself was an off shoot of Paradise Inn. Pretty multi conceptual, a bit Hongkie, a bit Western (Pasta, Cheese baked stuff galore) and a bit bar food (fried snacks ++ ) with a smogaboard of weird drinks (check out the above). You'd have some colourful fun here. (Everything's very bright and loud !!)

Flo Rida, Wavehouse

2011-07-13T22:45:00.000-07:00

It was a wonderful mid week cos I got the day off (it was full op day....muahaha) so went out with mama to check out the mango sale (it was the 1st day..madness) but in the end I didnt get anything ..she got espirit shoes, mango pants and a coach bag (wah the sale's really not bad....)..she's a happy camper. I'm one cos I was heading to the Flo Rida concert at Wave house after.... and I had a full day of rest!

This place brings us nice memories of Far East Movement not too long ago. A real chill place to hold a concert, and rather intimate too. And the best thing is, it serves food!

Fries.. Chong's poison

Calamari..my poison ;)

Flo Rida got all his girls up for Low, and he's super interactive - throws everything possible to the audience - towels, shoes, and as he stripped he just threw it all into the audience He was prob all ready to go home naked ;) everyone tried to get a piece of him as he ventured into the audience. The sweetest was when he threw roses! ;)

Chongs tried to get me to rsvp Ku De Ta but I didn't (sighh...don't switch on my com much at home....) but alas, we still got it...the club itself was like a Phuture in the air. Foggies still rockin to katy perry and gaga...

But the view was fantabulous. More so than New asia cos it was open air. Yet not as windy as I thought it might be. New Asia definitely has a better 360 view, esp since its nearer the city, but being exposed outdoors at Ku De Ta was quite a different feeling..

The highlight for us has gotta be the infinity pool..it looks like its 50m! I could swim here everyday....

Miss U Cafe

2011-07-09T23:20:00.000-07:00

It was quite a night; started with a l neck case, after which a vasc angio for nec fasc/isch took effectively the chunk of the night before we could begin the lap appendix and i finally gotta do almost everything myself for the open under the watchful eyes of miss l;) that was the adrenaline rush for the night. So by morning and the surge of day surg cases, I was in deep need for meat.

After the very long dual lumps (haha), we had a late lunch at Miss U Cafe - Actually wanted to check out the Jap place next door, but most of it on the stretch including Foo House was closed so we settled for here. Had the Miss U Sampler, and soft shell crabs to share. Fried food really tastes so good after a call, esp off the frier (not cold kfc!!). This consisted of wedges, popcorn chicken, calamari and the last item I couldnt reach right at the end (yes, no chance to get to it before it was gone!!)

My very dimly litted Herb crusted salmon - this was really crisp, dusted with crumbs, and divine with the sweet barbeque sauce. Just wished the slab of salmon never ended..... LS ordered bulgogi, while D and S had chicken, XL had seafood pasta, and XT had the the salmon too, but in mango sauce.

Day kinda ended there and then with exits at the restaurant, but had to come back to get the rest of my call things still in the room. We were the last customers to leave the place, but no pressure... great service there, with good food to boost. Good start to the weekend indeed - can forsee a weekend of meat and fries !!

On a side note, The particular sadness of Lemon cake is a really quaint book.. How interesting it must be to convey emotions via taste ! Mmm..

Eighteen chefs

2011-07-06T22:24:00.000-07:00

On a particularly light clinic day, when many were blocked cos some went for the part3 prep course and hence only a record of 10 pts to see (i only hit half a column....), so we quickly headed out for lunch at Eighteen Chefs (East point). It being the school holidays we actually snagged a seat inside (got shooed in) though mr l kinda missed his dosage of vit d. haha.

Ate here twice - when i was a student and then when i was working.. feels like very nydc, maybe on a budget. Bright, colourful, cheery and everything with self service, but with the boss still playing host.

The soup with bits of corn. Didnt catch the name but I like almost any kind of creamy soup.

Since I've been always trying the cheese baked stuff, I decided to try the new items on the seafood menu - Salmon with orange butter. Again nothing can go wrong with lotsa cream but....I'll stick to the cheese baked stuff if i'm back again! I miss the Three Amigos at NYDC lots. Anyone wanna relive teenage years with me at NYDC again?

Sushi Tei

2011-07-02T07:49:00.000-07:00

Monday started with a good list of sub 10, and with Boss away, only one hernia was planned but another turned up! And was not listed (though the mrn was searchable.....) but thankfully we managed to squeeze another in, to the wrath of no one. The initial noon deadline was also thankfully no longer. But the first was a rush, still.

We headed out to lunch - wp in her 3quarts and carrying her precious m/m, driving us to Sushi Tei (Tampines One) where she overordered yet ago. $180 bucks for 3 peeps is quite insane..for sushi tei !!

Fried Salmon skin - mom's fren's reco has been my fave since sec school. How nostalgic. I'm reminded of the HK steamboats, where the fried fish skin when dipped into soup crackles and becomes part crisp part soft -most intriguing textures.

Sashimi which was just nice 1 piece each. Particularly enjoyed the unknown fish to the right.

Mango prawn roll - the core was a fried prawn tempura. Loved the rice stuffed head was digging out the innards.

Clams- with lotsa cream and cheese this was quite good.

But the best is the jumbo prawns with a creamy roe top - this was awesome possum!!!

Wp's craving for hotpot- salmon spicy hotpot, which she regretted cos she'd have preferred the miso soup one. The spiciness is not quite the tom yum kind which has lotsa kick.

Unagi, of which we had difficulty conquering! humongous.

Both of the top belonged to a set lunch meal, where I thought came with 3 side dishes each (included in the price), but I was mistaken!!! So bloody misleading, so i ordered 6 sides in total - half udon, 2 x salmon sashimi, sashimi salad, chawan mushi and the fried bait below

I ended up eating lotsa this white bait (and the fried salmon skin) - I'm a fan of crisp fried food!

We were overstuffed and wp had no space for her matcha ice cream. We exited seeing the post ops and quite a no whilst I completed my angiejolie in 10 min flat. But was H to fetch bro over and then to the east again to get dad. Travelling 2x up down PIE to east is really no mean joke!!

Papa Palheta, Pluck

2011-06-29T07:20:00.000-07:00

Thought we might get a chance at getting the whole day off, but in the end it turned out to be still not escaping from the angiejolie presentation in the am (no questions asked abt list and no icu folks to present too), before heading to an extremely light reg clinic (where i only saw one cervical ln) then fetched the girls over to sgh, passing by the gorgeous scenery in the glorious sunlight on the way to the accreditation. Sadly all the cold cut trios went to all the important people and I was left with the egg mayos ;( tastes exactly like the bengawan solo sandwiches.

Pretty impressive, popped up mostly during the interview and the only thinking qn was what we would change abt it, went round the table with jl concurring with myself haha. D just killed us all with funds, but otherwise cross our fingers we don't have to go thru it again!!

Lingered till another round happened with the faculty and to the mo room where W counselled us on our first month insecurities (you're really the man....) we persuaded pek to forgo a bilat hernia to join us at Papa Palheta (140 Bukit Timah Road), where caffeine happiness lies. Gosh its soooo difficult to locate this place! Enter by Hooper Road, and its NOT facing the main road. Its the back lane. And when you enter it feels like trespassing into someone's backyard. Kitchen in the backyard. Very limited bar-window seats in air con comfort, but cos it was a cloudy rainy day it was also quite pleasant to hang out outside.

And the first greeting was, Hi there there's no menu and you girls look like you do ice coffee.

Yes sir. Any milk based ones?

Yeah...latte, cappucino, flat white

Yay flat white for me please, followed by Latte for Wans and Cappucino for short. Only gripe is that there is no food (food is everything to me, and I was craving for a cake). Drinking coffee here seems to be as strict as eating sushi under the eyes of a strict watchful japanese chef. No sugar allowed okay. But fair enough, the steamed milk gives this natural sweetness none of us needed to add the sugar after. We all LOVED the coffee. (though I'd love love soy latte, which they said upfront they don't do) Here all payment is in the form of tips but the guiding price is $4 each..Quite a bold concept to have here, where the tipping culture is not in vogue.

The trio of us wanna aspire to be the watch shopping trio one of these days, and halt all questions on why this. Concurring on the rawness of the juniors and the seemingly apologetic self for being in this programme is the most frustrating. Nonetheless this marks the end of the first month and having survived the culture shock of the different ball game.

Abintan came to join us midway, with a very sleepy post night. Amused greatly by the marathons and the agony. Short and him left for dinner with frens whilst Pek was MOST tempted to follow me down to Haji Lane (with utmost difficulty in parking) and I happily loaded on accessories (necklace, ring were mini joys) and we spent a good two hours there. We dropped by Pluck (Haji Lane) to have ice-cream - Nuts and Honey ( Walnuts in Honey icecream) and Butter Pecan. I chose the former while Pek chose the later and I really am a fan of the former. Reminds me of the ice cream at KPO. Butter Pecan on the other hand makes me miss Gelare! The one at holland v and citylink mall has closed so...where're you now?

Pek's stamina to shop and to bother to try all the dresses (though getting nothing) amazes me. Must check out her Pickering Street shop soon. Miss you woman.

Lobster Place

2011-06-22T20:20:00.000-07:00

Post very shack call of 21/with zilch sleep and reg clerking side by side thru the night (2 majors and 2 butts) and cos boss needed to attend a pta, we rounded 630 and by the time we were finally done it was still running around to settle ercps and a faux pas of a scan. Didnt start off well when someone muttered fantastic luck and at that very moment the text of a TA arrived. Oh well. Boss took us out to Lobster Place (and my breakfast was just nicely settled in my stomach, just an hour ago). It is at ITE East, at a conference room converted to a restaurant. Marvellous view of landing planes, though.

My face lighted up when I saw the 6 lobsters nicely soaked in its broth. They showcased the raw ones too, prior to this. Lobster porridge is awesome possum.

Lobster Porridge - but somehow I kept thinking of the Keisuke Tokyo prawn ramen. Thats like noodles soaked in lobster bisque. I'm distracted.

Vegetable and abalone mushroom, when boss asked if I minded the mushrooms - I don't like abalone, I clarified.

Mango prawns, full of soggy salty mango chunks.

After the first round, boss ordered more - since i thought i was full at the start of lunch, the more i ate, paradoxically the more hungry i seemed ;( we wanted to try the mongolian chicken but there was no more ! So we had the prawn omelette instead. So fluffy it looked like my daily egg thosai.

Roast chicken, instead of mongolian chicken. Esp since I saw many tables ordering this (we saw many students!!). Not bad, the skin was thin and crisp. Sigh, my weakness is fried chicken. When's my next bonchon/arnold's.

We attended to the face/b after we came back, and guzzled milos non stop at exits at p, and was celebrating the cancellation of a lap chol (which turned out to have ca h f!) and off we were to dinner at vivo and ted baker. That is worthy of an entire entry in itself, it was rather insane, even given my standards of volume.

Tippling Terrace

2011-06-18T22:43:00.000-07:00

A second day in a row sitting in the spankin new clinic f is quite enough. Piles muchos, and thereafter at least did a coolbeans pilomatrixoma and off to the tp to check out the turbulence ++. Met the mountains post itacho at Tippling Terrace (Dempsey), the cocktail offshot of Tippling Club. It felt like expat wonderland (one of which has the bottega I'm eyeing too haha)

Very cute Apple pie drink. Its actually a rectangular glass encased in this apple pie box - beware the cool fillings ;) would be great if they had pie flakes and apple chunks instead of ice chunks, but alas it was apple liquer and cinnamon.

Bar snacks are the drawing factor for me, and this truffle fries was quite a shocker when it came. Why does it look like the fries counterpart of the Iggy's burger :( it was more like potato sticks then fries! And after the apple pie I couldnt taste no truffle :(

On the other hand the Dempsey Hill looked like such a pretty landscape. Gorgeouslicious, the soil base was filled with pisatchio, white and dark chocolate sponge bits, and the branches a delicate dark chocolate biscuit with mint leaves. A delicate art piece it was.

Aston's Express, Tampines

2011-06-15T19:43:00.000-07:00

Post very gd 8/call boss took us out to lunch. Night was free (and esp gd, starting off with arnold's fried goodness for dinner tks to mr s who remembered!) except for a 5 hour r/hemi which i was spared from, so actually still had the stamina to make it out. Headed to Aston's Express near Tampines Round Market, with everyone in toll. Meat tastes especially good after a (shiok) call.

We shared garlic bread and a sausage platter (which I was too slow to capture).

Lamb chops with sides of onion rings and fries.

I was quite pleased cos for once the lamb was not anorexic. The indulgent oil bomb marks the end of a fantastic call, blessed with post call re-arrangement of otm and another volunteering to scrub for a bilat hernia repair thence, home stat. Meat bliss.

Canopy Garden Dining and Bar

2011-06-11T22:19:00.000-07:00

The night before we met, J was dying to try Canopy Garden Dining and Bar at Bishan Park - cos her dear was never free enough for weekend brunch. So off we were the next day, getting picked up in my new darling ;) to the place itself, albeit in threatening weather (which cheered J cos she thought her dear would have a chance at going for her mom's) but when we reached our destination it was cloudy duddy perfect weather for tea. All confusing that am after my stitching course and J getting caught up with family resulted in tea instead (but better than never!). Thank goodness it was not spoilt by a fine, something we remembered too late more than halfway into tea. Shall try to keep my darling taint free !

The place itself reminded us very much of Botanics, but a miniature version. Even the restaurant itself is a miniature version of the likes of Halia and Casa Verde (ooh, that 4 cheese pizza....). How to hold a wedding here?? Pretty place indeed, pretty small too.

Y and J chose blueberry smoothie and avocado-soy (not gao enough) but I tried the Mojito with Earl grey tea. I guess after Artistique at Mandarin I've been raring to try more alcoholic teas but I think.....alcohol goes better with icecream!

This Eggs Royale I liked cos the muffin beneath was still crisp. Quite difficult to have cos it always gets sogged out by the Hollandaise sauce. But then again, a dearth of Hollandaise sauce is also a cardinal sin. A balance yet again.

When the pancakes arrived I first thought of hotcakes, but this was a much sweeter version. Butter x 3 more please.

Qian also ordered her fries - which is the favouritest of them all really. Crisp and thick, they were awesome possum. I kinda liked dipping them into the maple syrup. Haha. Reminds me of the youtiao dipped into the sweet tauhuay sauce the night before ;)

And desserts definitely looked prettier in pictures than were displayed! So none for us yet. I guess I'd wanna try the trio of burgers (chicken satay, cod and wagyu beef in mantou (which seemed fried)) if I do return..

After the tea and sending J off to get her cake Q and I went to City hall, where I picked up the mini Clinique, and in a hunt for shoes I picked up 2 tops instead. Always in excess, but never enough for those that I need.

Oriole Lunch

2011-06-08T09:20:00.000-07:00

Met up with Jo and Jills on Jills bd (happy bd!! hope you like the sketchbook of heels ;)). Re arranged for lunch to be earlier. I was quite indignant I didnt get to try the brunch cos we met on a Saturday, and they only served brunch on Public holiday (which was yesterday) and Sunday (which is tomorrow). Bummer. But anyways was happy enough to meet the girls and to get the office jacket from Jills. Thanks loads!!

So here we are at Oriole (Pan Pacific Suite) ,my favourite hangout in town for great coffee. Citrus Sin and Chilli Chocolate Mocha are by far my favourite too. After a while, they kinda tasted similar. Haha. I must have been distracted by conversation.

Calamari was really good and dusted with good stuff. Spice and nice.

Squid ink pasta with crabmeat - this was delicious too. We wanted to relive the squid ink days of Ma Maison so here we were trying squid ink out again. Tangy with the tomatoes and indulging in chunks of crabmeat.

Philly cheesesteak was a favourite too, heavenly between toasted buns. This makes me miss the steak sandwiches from Morton's.

Desserts - of which Honey crumble Affogato's still the all time favourite.

We walked to Uniqlo where Jills has already decided on her prison garb, whilst was at HMV trying to source for cheap ear phones but of cos couldnt find any. Jills had to go back to change to head to attica to continue her bd fun whilst Jo was also heading back so I was back shopping again. Bliss is team2 ;)

House, Acid Bar

2011-06-01T01:43:00.000-07:00

Got the weekend off for the pledge taking - dad gave me a lift to m/w and then after headed down but was almost late, so had to cab from holland v. Still ended up lingering around the foyer with kels before we headed in. A little strange to be in the same pledge taking as many foreign (and familiar) regs/even acs (our dear vir lady haha). It was like grad ceremony again, worse still cos many in the crowd werent that familiar. Even the panel up on stage too.

When it was all over, we remained in our seats to capture our last moment collectively as a class, then we broke off for a catered lunch, but shortly after our cg headed out - and all in J's van - Wm and I ended up being very very squashed behind in the boot. It was rather traumatic cos we kept imagining the boot will give way and we'll roll out, all ready to be rolled over by the incoming traffic. But we survived !! Made it to the destination, House (Dempsey). In time to find 2 other groups (Pek's, and Ian's cliques).

Over the dinner, D recounted his horror stories while M was all ready to play punk with him soon to test the waters. The tale of fooling the operator got D in stitches but everyone'd love to witness the him at work. Haha. It was nice getting everyone tog, as Daryl almost couldnt make it.

My favourite ever sweet potato nibblets, and also the truffle fries which never saw my camera lens before it disappeared. Kels where are you lets go and try the PS's truffle fries on M's blog.

I was never a fan of Skinny Pizza until I tried this Fig and Cheese one. Its really fruity with the plump fresh figs. On the other hand the Veal one tasted very much like atas rendang.

If i ever do land up here again I'd wanna try the Truffle mushroom one.

Chocolate toffee cake was a favourite of Marc's. I guess I never looked at choc cakes the same way again after PS's. Size-wise.

Strawberry short cake was also popular, and I like it that the cake was warm - not after we drowned it in sauce though.
Jeremy requested for the carrot cake, and D asked for the Salted caramel cake (not pictured cos I had it with Kels before). My favourite remains the latter. Such interesting take on textures.
J kindly dropped us at DFS (where it was a hidden excuse to shop more!) , and we headed to Ion to see the blue B.V. bag that never was (sigh, regrets are left in HK) and hungry us headed to Hu-Hu Udon (B4, Ion Orchard). I had the cold Udon. My favourite cold one is still the one mei and i had at a Kyoto train station. Best ever. Doused in tasty light sauce with plenty of seaweed. The closest here would be Tetsu in Tanglin Mall.
Kel's curry beef udon. Tasted pretty much like my usual maggi mee kinda curry flavour.
Soon after we headed to Acid Bar. Recollection of Chong's the first time we were here. Fries and Calamari combi, along with Sangria is, well, bliss. Esp with the right company!
I was happy enough they played my all time favourite Under the Bridge, as requested. I never tire of that song, accousitic, though its been a long time since Z.

Met Chongs that night too ;) great full stop to the goodbye.

Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck

2011-05-28T22:55:00.000-07:00

Vegetables (plants have difficult names to remember...)

Cold Chicken with sesame sauce (animals are easier)

Vegetables with trio of eggs

Awesome possum Peking Duck Pre op

Entering by layers.... to be ingested with sugar grains

Chops...

After some buzzing....

Post Markus Schulz (it was fab 1am-5am set, with a power encore) I didnt have much of a snooze after macs bf at clarke quay - prob settled into bed at 830am and by noon I was up getting a text from qian post hair makeover, so I headed to pickup the texts from novena and the brows done before picking her at Wisma to go to the 1st month's of Ewan. The pm kinda passed in a blur after the nasi lemak from Adam road - the usual food coma sunk in and I was in tandem with the baby too. Loved the scribes on the walls. Makes it so personal.

Missed out on the bath + monopoly deal while I was totally knocked out on the sofa (they ripped all the cardboard from the play room without me noticing) and around 720pm we departed for Paragon to try Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck (Paragon, Level 4). We went for the 2nd seating as the 1st was full. Uber posh and the food was also quite mind blowing.

Cosy it was in our little pavilion (though we were next to a boisterous room with multiple courses!!!) with our own pillows. We booked our duck for the night and had some veggs to detox - poached spinach in 3 eggs, a lovely lotus flower crunchy cold vegs which I really cant remember the name of!, and a chicken with glass noodles + veg cold dish to start off.

The Peking Duck was of cos the most exciting part - the first eat was the top most layer to be eaten with sugar, and 2nd eat was the skin and meat to be eaten with veg and crepe, and the 3rd was the minced duck stir fry to be eaten with the lettuce. love them ALL! J is gonna bring her future in laws here while I'll bring my fam here too esp since we all love duck.

Thanks for the treat Qian. Cant wait for E to be vack though Qian will be away by then. Happy birthday 0.25 ;) thanks for your mag too J - bless your lovely nephew, congrats!!

Oriole Brunch

2011-05-25T08:12:00.000-07:00

On Vesak when we only had 4 pts to see, and after boss came after to see his ocularis job/icu i was free to go, and thanks to ml's lift i got to town in no time, and at a very unearthly hour too, when none of the shops were open and i headed down all the way to borders and on my way back, I found my pink pr. bag - which was kept inside getting ready to be shipped back to Korea - i nearly misst it. Reserved it hoping to pick it up later (which I did, after a long story). I was the earliest and waited inside Oriole (Pan Pacific Suites) for the girls - who were all quite punctual! Dont like being hungry waiting for late folks. Anw, I had to come here again to try the brunch - cos the last time I tried, I came on a Saturday, which was damn disgusting cos it was right in between a public holiday and a Sunday, which are the only two occasions they do brunch. Fate is meant to be changed, so here I am, yet again. Great excuse for great coffee. Great company with the trio too esp E who is very much missed. And she misses seeing Jas's again!

Fries cos Jas was craving for some. The thick potato wedges must have been dusted with some parmesan, and was lovely with the dip.
Oriole Big breakfast. This is a platter where different people with different restrictions have an excuse to share. The steak's mine. Reminds me of the iron cast breakfast of Graze's.

Lamb sausages- this was pretty interesting, except for the fact that the sausages were a little anorexic. It was fun to eat the chickpeas/tomato/cheese combination you see on the right.

Buttermilk pancakes, with lotsa cream and chunk of banana. This in turn, suffered from a lack of maple syrup. You need, you ask, cos none is given! Pancakes without maple syrup (and butter....) is most unfortunate.

Chilli chocolate mocha to wash it all down.

Indeed our convos revolved around the different stages of a rships (which 3 of us are, incidentally). rships are indeed a great way to discover yourself again. Reacting to a whole new situation, and rationalising it means you're on your way out of love isnt it. How very cumbersome. My homework is to watch Strangers, again. Haha. But its great to welcome E back again. My rational half is back for a bit ;)

Walked her to her mom and gran at Robinsons, before heading to quiksilver- disappointing range there. Family pick up in a new one ;) and headed to pick up the new pr bag ;);) and then headed for a ride before H beckons. Bye old j and welcoming the new baby into the family!!

Ootoya (Clementi Mall)

2011-05-21T01:04:00.000-07:00

On elections day on Sat, my family decided to have a moms day dinner and at first I was thinking of standing sushi bar but no one wanted to try a new place so then I had a moment of brilliance thinking about Ootoya (almost wanted to be boring and just return to the comfortable sakuraya which is gonna be less crowded now). We headed down to Ootoya (Clementi Mall, Level 3) - its location is a little obscure, behind the Starbucks - but still the queue was snaking. And for good reason - for that opening weekend all their sets were going at $9.80!! (and dad joked that after election weekend the offer no longer stands). For the mega load of food here to feed 5 hungry souls was under a hundred bucks - and we ordered 6 sets and lotsa sides.

Wakame seaweed that was rather interestingly savoury with the kelp. I like the way the japanese do their lady fingers too. Minimal sap.
My set was the Scallop rice set. I liked the fact that the rice was heated throughout my meal - Cold rice is just depressing. Should invest in one of these (esp since I'm always attacking the ingredients first)

Set came with a chicken egg tofu soup that would do well with some rice cooked within the broth too.

We ordered additional 2 fish sets- the above being Hoke and the one below the Mackerel. The Hoke was the better one - smoked to perfection, and its an oilier fish. Bones were a pain, but creatures which have difficult access tend to taste better. Mmm crab anyone?

Dad's hamburger steak set
A's Chicken katsu set - came doused in soup.

Mei's Soy bean multi grain porridge that she liked but a tad salty. Had this when I was with Carol. Healthy neednt be boring.

Mommy's QQ udon.

Adjourned to the pharm where I managed to find some physiogel on offer and dad finally got his bp machine.

Happy mom's day -Trio of Hilton's cheesecakes- Blueberry, American, Marble. I actually liked the Marble best cos of the dark choc swirls.

Next day post take was a mega long 2.5 hr round with solo reg (cos the others were at an m3 exam) and poor him had to supervise my i/ds till late. (it was day before regs changeover.) Thanks Mr C for all the guidance ;) Tried to head to nov to get an atlas but alas it was too heavy and I headed to town instead and got the trio above for mommy. Alas by 8pm no more whole American Cheesecakes left and hence the trio which will be over in a gulp. Haha.

Burger Bench and Bar

2011-05-18T00:46:00.000-07:00

On a Thursday take and I was not doing the take I was at the dsot doing my very first piles and then subsequently 2 more skin tags and ended at a decent time to be jio to catch a show with chong and the ong brothers. They planned to watch priest at an (indecently early!!) time of 725pm (at Balestier too!!) but eventually it was pushed till later after they decided to start off with table tennis at marc's house followed by dinner. I was amazed I still remembered my way thru mt rosie. I guess I subconsciously missed the good times.

We headed to dinner at Burger Bench and Bar (Level 1 Cineleisure) my favourite burger place in the world (ok, maybe in SG haha - i still miss the Angus burger in HK). We started out with more at the table tennis and eventually ppl started falling out so for the actual movie it was just the brothers and the twins. Anyway, we had a long catch up over dinner - I finally tried the green curry catfish - its gotta be the crispest fish fillet I've had. Others had the beef burgers in numerous forms -Chongs had the pseudo ramly (beef omelette), the brothers shared the caramelised shrooms and the sarawak black pepper. Glad they all liked the burgers loads!! (sigh, to think I jus had macs just before typing this entry).

The best thing was that the brothers had the amex card which entitles you to $7 tickets on weekdays plus 1 medium popcorn for every 2 tickets...mummy i need a sub card soon....

Anyway. The Priest was a vampire version of Jurassic Park. Startling effects, action packed and eye candy galore. Horror thriller, but I kinda grew out of vampires since my Buffy days. needless to say the twilight saga. Haha.

Chongs and I were tempted to go for drinks but we wanted to save energy for the weekend but it was for nothing!! ;( Sadly fri night was a wasted drive out, and sat with nat's didnt happen neither. And Sun's call. Bullocks there goes the weekend and the 3rd consecutive PH also burnt with work. New phase of working life doesnt seem very restful.

Shots, Kki

2011-05-14T01:25:00.000-07:00

We were actually pretty free but delayed lunch till about noon on a Fri, a clinic day. Some new incomers actually came over to help (when they werent really supposed to) but not ours. Anyhow, we left to Shots (Ann Siang Hill) to try out the lunch food. I've been here twice but it was always just for the coffee.

The pretty colours of my Tiramisu latte (Cold). A little sad to mix it all up to get a uniform colour.

Roast beef

Primevera

Roast beef and Primevera tasted about the same after a while. The Primevera was a fancy name for a vegeterian sandwich - lotsa peppers and shrooms inside. Im beginning to take a fancy to vegeterian food. Au naturale's the way to go.

The real happiness was revisiting my picture book shop at Club street and then discovering a new vintage clothing shop right next to Kki, Om. I started with picking up one black/white and black piece, and Louisa then directed me to buying 2 more white ones -_- and another tiny black one for mommy. 5 tops! In a takeaway bag that resembles food. Haha. L will be back to buy more dresses.

Strawberry Champagne

L bought more trinkets here in Kki (Ann Siang Hill). My first here was with X, who directed me to the right place (would have bypassed it totally). Spotted a bright red cake the Strawberry Champagne which is pretty interesting. The red composes of tiny red powder particles covering the mousse. There is a strawberry jam core within. Real delightful to eat. Three quarters into the cake, L suddenly said she could taste the champagne. Haha. I might be immune.

The mont blanc xoxo love at second sight.

Came back with one of those for kels and got a scolding for not inviting her. Haha. Off again the weekend (labour day!) gonna miss the breast days.

Freshness Burger

2011-05-11T00:33:00.000-07:00

Freshness Burger

Freshly cut potatoes, Onion rings

My last day as a ho was marked by a list of 4 pts, and with emperor w back I spent my pm deployed to the g clinic. But before that, we headed out for a late bf (and still had to rush back for a change to off a chest t) at Central. Nearest place with shops. It was a spontaenous choice of Freshness Burger (Central, Level1). The last I had Freshness Burger was in HK - again it was the nearest shopping center near our hostel, and was the terminal stop for the bus.

I had the Freshness Burger and L had the Classic cheeseburger. The meat was tender and the bread looked like french toast (it seemed fried on one side). For me, the huge ass tomato was kinda in the way. But it was quite a good one - a good very light one. Could have seconds

The fried potato wedges were kinda disappointing though. Not fresh outta the frier. The onion rings were, and the batter ultra light making it sublime. Size is a plus too ;)

Caramel Macchiato, Kiwi mix protector

The drinks are worth a mention - L had the caramel Macchiato and I tried the kiwi mix protector - never ever had a blended kiwi (the sourness puts me off) but this was really refreshing. Lotsa pulp to boot.

I bought more foodstuff for K (her spam and kit kat sweet potato) and even shoes (thats for myself). It was such a luxury till it all ended when we came back at lunchtime (we went out at breakfast time). Summoned down to clinic and then after a pre-op L cont'd with her call and off I was into the next phase of life. Moving onto a different place in a different phase would be quite daunting.

Tampopo

2011-05-07T01:19:00.000-07:00

Crab and mushroom Porridge

Sushi platter

On the labour day public hol, my reg gave me the best ever present by exemption and hence slept in till had to accompany m to sime darby to browse a silver and red then eventually we went to browse tours at Chinatown and m couldnt believe the land prices of the Guilin tour tilll she went home to check out the airfares which was mighty ridiculous. Liang court's Kino was having a 20% off in lieu of their 11th anniversary so I headed to pick up my secular bib and the (4!) wine manga and finally had a late tea at Tampopo (Level 1, Liang Court). Some very comforting food we had - even more comforting with the 10% discount. Not for the 3 takeaway cakes though, which came home mighty squashed - esp the Chiffon Cheesecake. The others were the green tea chiffon and the wonderful as always Scoop cake.

M and I had the Crab and Mushroom Porridge, and I have been wanting to try their sushi or sashimi platters (they looked so good on hautestuff!) and finally we got down to trying it. Sublime. We had a sushi platter. Freshest you can have on the plumpest rice grains. Maybe havent had Japanese in some time. The omelette was strangely orange, and is the sweetest I've had.

Went to town to recee the hair salons - the Korean one at Borders is mighty mighty ex and my old one at tj pagar's sister outlet was just packed so didnt manage a cut at all. Managed one on Mon thou, and with a foam-dye it was a much cheaper alternative.

Prive

2011-04-20T23:49:00.000-07:00

On a Tuesday when solo vascular depressingly ended at 9 plus, where all the hos were still around surprisingly (and comfortingly!). Z and I met for dinner/supper. She was in a roast chicken mood but I could think of nothing less than cocette (which doesnt serve roast chicken on tuesdays!!!!) Hence we landed up in Prive (Keppel Island) where I finally finally gotta try the small bites, which is prob their idea of bar food. First up, the fries with the awesome truffle mayonaise, makes a dallop of difference. Chicken wings fried in shrimp paste with Thai chilli sauce. It was crisp and tasty but i still miss Bonchon loads.

Onion Rings with thick thick batter - prefer the lighter ones a la Da Mario

Mushrooms with cheese - these were the most delicious morsels of fried stuff in awhile.

Trio of mini Wagyu burgers- the meat was steak in chunks, and was really delicious between butter toasted buns. Simple and good.

Z stopped really early leaving me to finish most, and we were both most dreadful of work cm. Sigh to brunch and dine all day'd be a luxury.

CM-PB brunch, K Ki, Green Pumpkin

2011-04-16T21:27:00.000-07:00

It was a post very good take Sat (only 6!!) and we ended changes by 11. So did date so we happily arranged to meet at CM-PB (Block 7, Dempsey). Despite it being raining and there was not really much shelter and we kept thinking of changing brunch places for shelter. Sheltered date with a brolly like a very patient servant outside her taxi door (though grouch was that i didnt open the door for her like a true gentleman doh) She felt bad having to divert work to cheang (thanks!) but hearing the rants of the two faced cons and the incessant screaming kids was hilarious and boy was i glad i was spared of all that lot. Perhaps not in R2/3 when it comes to paeds surg. I was really enticed to try the brunch at CM-PB after I saw the scrawlings on the glass panel when I was here watching soccer with bro nights ago and the name scrambled eggs with truffle oil seemed to summon me back and it did, no doubt. Unfortunately these eggs were not piping hot (Why!!) else it'd have been divine.

The chilli corn carne with Wagyu 'd have been great if it was piping too. why guys! Still, the brewerkz one is a mighty killer one, anytime.

We walked all the way to the very crowded House and the even more crowded PS (brunch is the new red) so we decided to hail a cab. Actually me town vs date suburbs got us to Ann Siang. Couldn't wait to try K Ki (Ann Siang Hill). We walked a loop and I totally bypassed it towards Club street when date pulled me back to this unassuming shop steps back. To think I missed it for Shots when i was here with daddy!

K ki is subdivided to the quirky vintage section and the cakes section. attracts hordes of curious tourists and cake chasing fans. I'd like to think i'm part both.

By the way, none of the cakes had names of description, and date was amazed I could chant back the descriptions after the owner introduced them all once! I wish I had similar talents for work.

And the cakes were all too tiny; we felt we could have one of each (there were perhaps, 10 of them?!). We started with the cheesecake with a rockmelon core. This was really light and the cheese whipped so finely it just melted.

This chocolate dome was flavoured with a tinge of caffeine, and has a praline core. Very interesting to eat.

The Mont Blanc came out moments later (with the dark chocolate raspberry cake!) when we went to check out the display again (cos we started off with 2 cakes which obviously was over in a gulp)

Date had coffee at CM-PB and was totally at unimpressed hence we had a second round of drinks at Shots (Ann Siang Hill) my second time here after dad's- hers a Hazelnut latte and mine a tiramisu latte (above). A very fascinating whirl of colours, and taste to match as well. we spent the afternoon getting annoyed at loud storytelling jappies, and enchanted with the blackwhite shots of the photo mags. Every single one of our outings seem to have a component of magazine browsing, bimbotic or not.

When evening dawned and it was less hot to browse, we walked to Chinatown, and through Smith Street, we discovered the 4 seasons 4 d effect of a poster and some really cool table mats (too sharp for my table) and also, a Tin Tin memoribilia shop! How oddsome!!

Cos we were on the NEL line, I thought I'd kill some time before meeting the sibs at Kenny Rogers (little did I know they were so early!!) We headed to Nex, where date's mind was dead set on Green Pumpkin (basement 1, Nex). At first, the joy of finding it, but to the horrors after the cakes, the signature boobs buns were all wiped out!!! All cos she wanted to continue the cake bonanza, with this pumpkin Mont Blanc. Definitely not as refined as that of K Ki's.

On the other hand, I wanted to try the Green tea swiss roll with Red bean. Now im dying to try the Rich and Good swiss rolls, and also the green tea swiss roll from Bread Talk.

After visiting the library - and being so happy amidst all the new books!!- we wandered to the roof top , and discovered the pet walk area (and a lift all to them too!) and the wild wild wet area, where kids were lining up to pray to the rain gods, till the bucket turned over getting them all a good slappin. And a boy who made the other boys ram their crotches onto the pole, in a bit to high jump over. Tall kids can be meanbeans. Haha. Well, I don't bully date ;)

Brewerkz

2011-04-13T20:28:00.000-07:00

Nachos

Beef Chilli Cheese. With Corn Bread.

Corned beef sandwich.

Fridays is a lunch out day so during our 2nd fri of the month, we were given 1.5 hours to do changes (despite having k&t breakfast! they were surprised we could have more haha), and we rushed along to the cons carpark where ms chng was waiting and collected K on level 2 on the way.

We met Sj at Brewerkz (Riverside Point) for lunch - at the alfresco area cos it was a nice cloudy day. And good thing so too, cos we had extra entertainment when Mich Chia and Bryan Wong was actually filimg right about beside us..its been quite a recent whirlwind of star gazing recently with apple hong at tj pagar and kym ng at taiwan airport.

We started with Nachos and when everyone's burgers and fish and chips came they were rather overwhelmed by the size! Kels and I ordered the beef chilli cheese and the Corn beef sandwich. Loved the beef chilli cheese and had the corn bread during my call after. The corn beef sandwich had a nice crusty rye bread with slices of corn beef and cheese. Mighty tasty Reuben it was. Wanted to finish up Sj's fish and chips as well but it nastily fell. Oh well.

Post lunch the cons had varying destinations (join the dark side....) and we headed back and back to my Fri call. quite a good call, with Colin even being able to scrub for the laprot. First call back at shagggh's good.

A Curious Tepee

2011-04-09T01:10:00.000-07:00

I found a lovely place at the heart of Orchard Road to idle away the afternoon in a quiet place with sensual music, a Penguin classic, and a lovely flat white. And a thought about going to the Mosaic Festival. Need to find my balance again, after the ridiculous absite exam that took me 2 hours at ttsh. and to think I just came back from taiwan days back! holiday mood aint that good for exams. Later was in a dilema with dinner with z vs going to join short at butter, but early am sunday rounds are just such a bummer. actually, age is, rather than the rounds. The next day I couldnt help but share my new found gem with short. we finished rounds early enough so we took a cab down to a Curious Tepee (*scape) Honestly I cant really remember the name of this sandwich (mediterrenean?) but I remember it was the spicier of the two sandwiches up for offer. Its loaded with chunks of chicken, cheese, avocado and egg. Chips on the side too. Very very deliciously healthy sandwich that tasted good in everybite.

Grilled vegetable tart that turned out to be surprisingly good. Loaded with cheese and generously filled with thick slices of grilled vegetables, this was simple comfort food.

Took a bus back home after, basically to spend more time with bro before he books in. And, we were due to catch Man U vs Liverpool after. The macs at Rideout we will never go again, it was crowded to the brims of the alfresco area and we had to hurry to Holland V where the whole wala wala stretch was full max, and we were lucky enough to secure a seat right below a slightly blurred (but big!) screen at Three Monkeys (Holland Village). A rather blarrh nachos, and an equally blahhh iced chocolate to wash down all the excitement of the match, although we were late enough (but didnt miss out all the excitement though when we were trying to find a place, the oohs and aahs really frustrated us!!). Cheerios to liverpool. To the Kuyt, whom we've always been laughing at, well done on your hat trick!

Ananda Bhavan

2011-04-06T07:58:00.000-07:00

It was the first lunch we had at Tiong Bahru Market cos we discovered that no one takes the free shuttle on a day when it rains and when its slightly past the lunch hour of 130pm. So we happily hopped on, and to our joy, we triggered memories of the Tau Kwa Pop (its damn awesome, but its in my archive), Jian Bo Chwee Kuay, and the marvellous Beef Horfan from the cantonese stall. All of which I had during my med sip days with marc and jeremy (boy I miss them and their appetite loads).

We ended at a rather decent time so that Kels could get her brows threaded at my place where I dropped her to park and rather short changed on parking, and we decided to trawl the Little India streets at night (a first for us both and a real eye opener!!), in a bit to find Chellas (as recommended by smallpotatoes) and food 03, unfortunately both failed - we walked all the way to the spanish tapas place but we didnt feel like it. So we ended up triggering more nostalgia for me at Ananda Bhavan (Serangoon Road) , where I had my first taste of Indian food during med school.

This place is owned by Krith's dad and during the anat class days, we will all train down to Little India to have a taste of the very delicious naans at her place. And not to mention, her birthday at the main branch further down, opposite to Mustafa. She's the one who also introduced the anat girls to the farrer park threading and eventually to vanessa (much more convenient).

This picture shows the very delicious fried puff (its actually empty inside) - called Batava or something along those lines. Its extremely tasty with any of those 3 dips. Very carbolicious and oily but totally worth it!

We also ordered a Salt Lassi and its hands down, the saltiest drink EVER.especially since the yoghurt was also unprocessed. Its the kinda yoghurt that I open and i think that its spoilt (i hope its not, but we didnt get no stomachache).

Garlic naan, Cheese Naan

Butter naan, Kashmiri nut naan

This particular branch is vegeterian, hence its mostly carb stuff. You should check out all the quotes on the walls of the 2nd level restaurant which compares herbivores vs carnivores. Some of it is quite hilarious, esp when it talks about the digestive systems. Which Kels and I don't mind (she orders naan all the time).. I tried all 4 when Krith treated us and my favourite is the Kasmiri nut one cos its sweet and really unique. Dips wise I really like the cottage cheese sauce, where the cheese has the consistency of tofu. I believe it was Kels' favourite too.

Eventually I hope to get down to trying more Indian food..and finding Chellas and Food03!

Blu Kouzina

2011-04-02T00:29:00.000-07:00

Clearly, if I do not blog about this stat, I will lose the receipt and the sms and I won't be able to recall the name of this place, nor any of the complex Greek dishes we had, which is a shame cos they were all really quite delicious, albeit unique.

So this place is called Blu Kouzina (893 Bukit Timah Road). Suggested by Qian, in place of my suggestion of brunch at Artichoke (i think its a little too far for her haha). It was an early Sun for me - my last vascular weekend when clam rounded late at 845ish yays and even then with breakfast I still finished up by 1130 to meet the girls at the place.

The lovely bread with the lovelier spread of dips - salt, olive oil and pepper. What a shame I couldnt enjoy the health benefits of olive oil and chose the death of butter, claims the owner. Oh well..butter makes my world go round. yummers. It was so good we had two rounds of this (the picture features a half eaten basket) without asking, the generous them.

Fried bread with feta cheese (Tiganopsom)tastes remarkably like Greek prata.

Salad (Xoriatiki)- doused with lotsa cucumbers (crisp, juicy ones), olives, and tomatoes. and capsicum. A very light olive oil dressing and a dollap of feta cheese to top it all. I thought all that was missing was meat. But I guess im missing the idea of a SALAD in the first place.

Eggplant with minced meat (beef) and potatoes - it was like a Greek lasgna with the addition of slices of eggplant, and potatoes instead of pasta. Beef was also marinated well - solid stuff. With the crisp cheese top layer lay another layer of cream.

Qian's Beef - very much like a greek kebab.

Jas' lamb chops with her very cute rice-in-a-tomato. Very much like the one I had in Italy, the tomato rice. She hardly has lamb outside (i only like lamb burgers cos the patties are solid, unlike the very skinny lamb chops). I hope to convert them with the very yummy lamb ribs at the Disgruntled chef.

We ended off with a dessert called Baklava - i think they havent made enough cos to the left is Baklava, and the one on the right is the complimentary dessert! Jas and I thought that Baklava was a Russian dessert with lotsa clotted cream, but obviously we havent eaten Greek dessert before, and their version of Baklava even. This was a dense, nutty dessert - a walnut core, with surrounding oatmeal and a biscuit crust. On the right, the dessert was more flaky with the beehoon like crust holding it all together - it too, has a walnut core right at the centre. Very unique, very sweet, sealed our palate.

Thanks Qian for the lift back - we passed by the huge old holland road field (sigh, holds lotsa nice memories of the attempted kite flying and the helicopter flying too, with him. not to mention the attempted picnic.) Lovely weekend to cherish.

Centre PS

2011-03-30T04:08:00.000-07:00

(Clockwise from bottom left) Chestnut, Pistachio, Chocolate Hazelnut, Chocolate green tea Red bean, Cheesecake and chocolate tart. (they all are supposed to have really fancy names)

On a day when the skies were looking grey and gloomy I suggested walking all the way to Tiong Bahru (we wanted to try Forty Hands but we couldnt find it - i kinda thought it was near Pralat), we ended up in Ah Chiang' s Porridge again, for the second time in the week (Mon, Wed). We ventured further way past TBM in an attempt to locate Forty Hands (yeah we were quite desperate..) we walked further and the consolation was we walked right into Centre PS for the cakes. There was once I passed by this cake shop but didnt stop for the cakes. No regrets stepping in, cos we were totally sugar happy from our platter of 6 cakes..

Kelly's favourite was the chestnut vs pistachio whilst mine was the chocolate red bean green tea (yeah, all in one...shiok) vs the choc tart.

The service here is fantastic - they told us where Forty Hands was (its actually right round behind the block, where the TBM bus passes), and when the happy cake platter disappeared and we had to face reality back at work and no cab in site, they happily lent us a huge umbrella (cos we are huge....) and we caught the last TBM back, for me to be the MSW guest speaker for mr s c s (put in my 2 cents 2 sentences and pray rehab will take). The umbrella's still with me weeks into this entry, and finally by this time I've also finally tried Forty Hands and we have a date back to try the brunch too ;) Better return that brolly soon.

Far East Movement, Wavehouse Sentosa

2011-03-26T06:52:00.000-07:00

A Thursday when i discovered three of my bestest gfs were ALL on call and would have ALL loved to catch Far East Movement at Wavehouse. In the end Chongs managed to swop hers and having her change into her rocker chic of jeans and tank (I was still in a stiff white shirt....) was most swift and ... practised. Haha its been some time, Chong. We were 2 hours late (it started at 7pm) cos C promised 730 but she only ended at 830!when it was supposed to be gasp, her earliest! I had hope that they'd be two hours late too. Eventually i found out on Life (saturday's) that they appeared soon after our arrival (at 915pm no less!). Kena conned by the organisers when they said that the event started way before and thought we wasted all our money.

The party was really on a high just as we came - the attica djs were really getting the crowd up and going (neither did we know that they were up to stripping moments before!!) and moments after we found our lounge seats to order some food that we found Far East movement coming on..in all honesty we thought that it was their ___th set but it was probably just their first.

Beef patties - its name exactly. I was expecting many patties - but it was simply one! kenna conned again but anyway it was one smokey tender patty so I shan't complain much.

Nachos were a monster!! It was a massive mountain of it, but not enough cheese and sour cream to match. Please get the proportions right, people.

Really strange to be just having food and icecream soda but we were in our comfort zone and perfectly zen in our happiness. Age...We were just enjoying the vibe from the lounge seats and got it all up for their one hit wonder(s). A lil disappointed I didnt get to hear kels favourite I party (i love it!!).. The set was so so short and there was no encore so we thought we really misst it all but..there was all to it!

Wanted to move onto attica/zouk but z was totally empty and by the time we reached clarke quay C was a goner so we zoomed home. Need more spontaenity and actually, more of C in my life! Miss you loads.

Well I tried to upload the video but its taking far too long. Go listen to I party. Gosh its really hypnotic!

Flor

2011-03-23T05:51:00.000-07:00

Earl Grey Choc

Napolean

Trauma workshop on a sat means no weekend for a second in a row; but to make up for it it was a fun bunch - with ms p chairing the first and eventually mr j the second (where the orthopod cath and set the chest t)and mr g the last (from which i escaped!). With the generous hy starting my morn w kaya toast (and alas, i think even the Wang standard is better than k&t now haha) and brunch being awesome even with the simple smokey beehon (i was hungry pangs) and bottomless sea coconut, it was such a light hearted affair compared to the very stressful lonesome atls, esp with the test right at the end.

Gave Short a lift to her gran, and armed with our mr bean stuff we got thru the gantry to visit her..hope the grand old dame gets well soon ;) having dragged her all the way to the mph bookshop to check out the magazine where the Pigeon Hole was, I dragged her further all the way to Duxton to check it out. On our way to getting lost, we discovered a lovely independent bookshop called Littered with Books (Duxton Road) where I bought an awesome possum of an art book full of Manolo Blahniks(for someone!). Its such a gentle way to spend a rainy afternoon in a loft full of hand chosen books. short found another haven too (after curious tepee, I suppose!). When she called tham for directions to duxton em who was baking tgt, she reminded us of Flor, but we were all too determined to get to the Pigeon Hole. Coincidentally we actually parked opposite Pigeon Hole but the shops all looked so deserted we walked all the way down and actually discovered the lovely gem of the bookshop. No regrets getting lost and stumbling into that gem!

Turned out The Pigeon Hole was hosting an event (about changing your life, doh), so we couldnt continue our zen pm there, plus we were spoilt silly by the selection of cakes at Flor (which we popped by but was too packed) - the Pigeon Hole only had drinks (coffee) and either chips of choc bread and butter pudding (which turns out to be the only thing that was served there that I read about and I wanted to try!!)..hence forth we walked back to Flor(Duxton Road)where we were lucky enough to first spot a seat outside then inside. Too clautrophobic to be sitting to two intense couples tho, one esp w the photography ;P

Short spotted the Earl Grey Choc from miles whilst I ordered the Napolean my all time favourite. The cream was smooth and early grey subtle, we loved it - esp with the chunks of banana at the core. The Napolean gives the best of both worlds between a fruit strudel and a strawberry shortcake. Was most tempted to go for the third cake the chestnut ones but alas when we were done with these two they were all gone!!

Gave short a lift to town where I picked up Far East Movement...then drove to flyfairy's place to join her all the way to sijia, sorry for the horrid human tomtom dirrections. Haha. Im the worst ever human gps, even with the google maps in my hand. dunno how i got thru taiwan japan and aussie navigating on my own. haha. Ah Nogh's directions were like the worst!! but still thankful for you being the secretary and apologies for not rsvping.

The steamboat was lovely (thanks for hosting sj and parents!!). we were a noisy bunch from the boisterous storytelling from tiff and wp..miss the old batch so so much..and everyone seems to have moved on (except me...haha still stuck here). A very radiant c also all fresh from a speedodating event (bojo haha) with stories to tell. All things in life should be experienced once, I agree. Jio me next time k?

Hope the happiness trickles over to the sunday colo call...

Oso

2011-03-19T01:39:00.000-07:00

It was a Monday and we were deliberating on loads of choices - gave up waiting for the boys. It was past CNY and we decided to meet up during short's leave. Called her x 1 in the AM for lim kr's teaching when i realised the girl is on leave. Then when work ended and i tried to call her she must have thought i was some insane sn trying to locate her at 7pm. Anw, after work ended around 7 ish we decided to head to Oso (Bukit Pasoh Road). Wanted to try Cocette too but it was full till next seating at 845pm and short couldnt wait! Picked her up at Outram MRT and we headed st to Chinatown and managed to secure a nice lot in the car park. One way street is a terror. (went agt the traffic x 1). We got slightly disorientated cos of the huge Oso sign, but the bar on level one was by another name. But we strolled right in and found our way...

Btw, I was totally not dressed for the occasion wearing a Pisa tshirt (supported by ducks, no less) and pants. When I was hobbling up the stairs I thought even the waitress was wearing more formal than myself... and everyone was dressed to the nines inside....oh well heck the faux pas.

The very delicious looking bread platter I've seen in all too many food blogs I finally got to try for myself. Best of all was the soft fluffy tomato relish bread. Lovely texture in between that of cake and bread.

Seafood soup with a minestrome base was a little thinned out, I thought.

Eggs with black truffle was the bomb. We had cute mini frying pans with an egg each. Very thoughtful.

Pasta with rabbit meat was a little too gamey for us!

Mushroom risotto is something short could eat forever, but of which I ended up eating mostly. Very grainy and full of bite and flavour. Love almost all types of risottoes from the gritty to the mushy. Creamy anything is ultimately delicious.

After dinner we went next door to Absinthe where we had some small talk with the chef and was amazed by his passion for his food (cooking it, not like us devouring it). Would love to try the French food there some time. Actually loads of opportunities for set lunches with the standard of restaurants here. But would we like our lovely lunches to be punctuated with calls... Spoiler.

Ah Chiang Fish Porridge, The King's Speech

2011-03-16T07:39:00.000-07:00

Monday into the the 3rd week (Mar has 31 long days) is easing in, and after an early solo 645 rounds and occupying the dark corner in the dark radio round, and a bf that gave us both a colicky L abdo pain thereafter, we survived the temptation of a show (where the rumour spread like wildfire, pretty much like our level 9 escapades) - damn those transfs and pending t/fs, to have lunch out at Tiong Bahru, out on a rainy day, where the rain stopped just for us to cross over to Ah Chiang's Porridge (Seng Poh Road), to ease the very rumbly toast loaded stomachs of ours. Kels was giving me incredulous looks of -are you sure you know where you're going-kinda look cos unlike her i just don't have an inbuilt gps haha, or a googlemap rather. But still my distant memory of bf here after a night of mahjong was rather foolproof (im really a night creature thru and thru) and I brought us successfully here. Happiness when I remembered the very signboard of the menu.

Plate of raw fish fresh and clean tasting. Not fishy at all, though we prefer the very decorated garnished ones at Zhen Zhen Porridge. Like I said....volume matters to us.

Fish head porridge for me and century egg fish porridge with egg for her (I had soft boiled eggs in the am). Cos the porridge here is cooked on a charcoal stove, it has this wholesome flavour about it. Its got the right consistency - not too goey neither too watery, and is the perfect comfort food for the perfect weather. Cloudy and perfect for eating in a coffee shop.

Fried fish skin (oh, twas lovely in the Da Fei Yang in HK in the lamb steamboat...sigh) and youtiao that could do with being crispier. We just cant miss out on fried food in every meal...either fried..or toasted..or sweet for me ;)

Bumped in the vasc hos and c again on the bus back. The key to taking the TBM bus is to take it when its raining and no one bothers to go out (unless they're desperate to eat out like...us). Changes were light much thanks to K's good take and hence an early exit during our soy break meant gulping our drinks while gasping at Wans's agony (poor babe) and rushing off. 2 angios got cancelled (list vs dates) so off we were to attend to plug and fast af (it always must happen at exit) before we took a leisurely drive out (left exactly at 6, when its still bright and the shuttle is still full) to Cineleisure. Was trying to take a gamble at the single line but chicken us still decided in safety in numbers and to victimised people by being the first (the van doesnt count). Amidst the Mar Hol kiddos we managed to get the tickets and our Mc Wings and Honey Chipotle Fries before loading on more tissue for the King's Speech. Cold old school brit humour it was much enjoyable though I'd pretty much watch a more dramatic action loaded piece in the cinema. Rango, Black swan, winter's bone (if its even showing), never let me go (to watch with Mei) beckons. And Di goes in tomorrow. Surprise at home indeed, mummy says.

Donoma

2011-03-12T01:21:00.000-08:00

Mon post double take was most horrific - I ended mighty late with a freakin mort plus a possible presentation on pancreatitis (which the mo kindly prepared everything with thanks ;)) but in the end with help from the kind souls I was able to meet my best friend for dinner. Cant rem how our valentines have been over the last 13 years, can you, Kels? Picked Kels from blk 5 where she had to kill time talking to Jerry. Thanks always for waiting!!

Actually wanted to try Artichoke but they only had the Valentine's menu available, so I decided to try the American diner I was reading about in the Sunday times some time back - I keep thinking its Domanis (as in, the pasta place at Taka) but its not!! With the free pen they gave me at the end of the dinner I'd be able to recall the name better - Donoma (Keong Saik Road) - however Kelly managed to figure out the name and location of the place.

Keong Saik Road actually has parallel roads of which i was just here a week ago dining at Oso with short, and there's numerous pubs and drinking joints around...sleazy businesss...but still the place retains its old sch charm. Managed to parallel park next to a pub and walked one round to Keong saik where we saw many places we wanted to try (Nicholas, Pasta Inc, etc) and of cos, the institutional Tong Ya.

The restaurant was rather quiet and only a couple of tables were occupied so we easily got a space thought Kels did book. Cant believe they do not have a copy of that newspaper cutting (i only rem the surf and turf that was featured - which we didnt even order!).

All decked up for Valentine's day.

Cake like bread was warm and crumbly and delicious. Just like a home made butter cake.

Nachos was not in the right proportion as I'd like! Sometimes tradition precedes over innovation, like in this case. I'd like 80% nachos, 20 % filling and guacomole and sour cream, please. Not vice versa. It was like eating a taco pizza.

Reuben was delicious!! Thick and tall, stuffed with roast beef, onion and cheese. The line-up of fries reminds me loads of Iggy's burger's - except a much more generous portion than Iggy's famour tower of 4 fries.

Mac and Cheese again was not in the classic proportion of 60 % mac and 40 % cheese. The cheese I must say, didnt overwhelm the mac, but personally, I'd love it to overwhelm the pasta. Its powdered with cheese, and the liquid cheese was not drenching the mac. I guess I like things done....overwhelmingly.

Thanks for the GPS though I do prefer my own personal human GPS ;) food outings would never be the same without you anyway. We checked out the Popeye's and the alfresco bar near her place and its indeed damn chillaxing by the river. The next hangout place it shall be. Cant wait for the next posting with all our meals im looking forward to together!!

PS hope you like the agnes b!!

Pamplemousse

2011-03-05T01:10:00.000-08:00

It was a great Sunday when I ended early - it was a bad take but J and I both came down so we were done so quick it was all the changes done before breakfast. I still went to eat the canteen breakfast (daily dose of thosai is a must these days) and short went off to church. I took a cab back to get the car from which I loaded my blades etc and rushed off to pick short from hyatt and off to Pamplemousse (Block 7, Dempsey Road) where I would meet my surprise guest. It was another surprise meeeting Chris there too.

Bread was warm and toasty and one of the best mini baguettes I ever had. Tastes great had two pieces even though I was still full from the breakfast.

1st course - Salmon, from short's lunch set which was a very tastily marinated salmon sashimi. Besides the dash of colour the sauce was mighty zesty.

My crusted eggs with asparagus was MIGHTY TINY!!! The poached egg is breaded and sits on a bed of asparagus and very tasty sundried tomatoes. I just cant get over how tiny it is, though.

Uni pasta was quite divine though nat found it a little too oily for her

Kheng's eggs ben which he enjoyed.

Loved the ruckus of stories to hear, missed our old company loads. Kheng went off to get loafers while I had another failed attempt to get my size 10s as well. Least I picked up my folli follie's, and headed to blade. The joy of brunch on a Sunday;)

Food and Wine Company

2011-03-02T02:12:00.000-08:00

Met the girls late for brunch at Dempsey on a Saturday the 4th day of CNY - original plans to meet at Pamplemousse was totally crushed after my arrival wayyy past the closing time of 3pm (last order at 230pm) and Jas being earlier than me despite having an earlier appt (sorry qian waited for an hour!) hence we met round the block at the very quiet Food and Wine Company (Blk 7, Dempsey) where qians frens wanted to dine once. Most people sat al fresco (it was mighty hot!!), so We felt like we owned the whole indoor area (it felt like home, with the carpeted fluffy floors...) until someone strolled into study, and the girls hinting to me I should have a staycation like this. Was deciding on a holiday then. Ideas included Taiwan (which I decided on in the end), vs Kyushuu in Japan vs Penang where Qian had a recent holiday and so was totally recommending it.

Started off with polishing the remainders of their skinny fries..

Moved onto the very clean tasting nachos with that fiery spicy salsa dip (loved it!). I guess with individual portions of sauces you can control the drenchness of your nachos.

The chilli crab dip comes with potato wedges but we converted it to skinny fries. I think I miss Yella Fellas loads...their chili crab fries were just awesome possum.
Dessert platter- brownie, apple crumble and a fruit preserve. Rather generic but the girls liked it esp the coffee scented brownie. Of cos my favourite part of this was drowning whatever pastries into the ice cream!

Thanks Qian for the lift back and cant wait for the next pizza date ;)

Porn's, Honeymoon Dessert

2011-02-26T02:35:00.000-08:00

After that very full team meal at Putien, I was due to meet S around Cityhall area. Picked up Fb effect from nat lib, and then headed to meet him at the taxi stand of Raffles City. We initially wanted to try Artichoke (after the fantastic review by M, about the lamb ribs) but unfortunately, it didnt happen cos the place was full and there was a thirty min waiting time!! And having walked all the way there (he parked at Odeon Towers) I was a little indignant, but anyway we headed back to Shaw Towers, then decided on Liang Seah Street. Then, I was in between a Korean BBQ place and Porn's (28 Liang Seah Street) and eventually, the hot smokey korean place drove (mainly S) us to Porn's. Its much cleaner, air smells better, super white and new. Decor is kept simple and modern.

Mango Salad

Loved the fried fish layers atop, and the fact that we can add our own condiments to the dish (provided on the table). We added lotsa peanuts to it, but still the sweet sauce soaked the crunchiness up.

Drunken mama noodles

We asked what this was, and when the waitress told us it was maggi noodles I immediately said no, until she appeased me by saying it was a thicker version of it - not very much thicker, in actual fact. She was trying to sell it by saying it was much spicier and had more kick than the very delicious looking phad thai in egg pictured in the menu. Obviously S fell for it, while I was hoping it'd taste very much like the Thai Express extremely spicy drunken noodles (which I'd hope to get Kels to eventually try one day).

When it came it was indeed very tasty but not as spicy as we hoped it might be. I mean, how bad can oily spicy maggi mee be?

Tom Yum Soup

Oh this was potent clear soup that had a residual kick to it after the initial storm. Love love it, though i could do with a greater volume of straw mushrooms like the one in First Thai.

Much convos revolved around him trying to revolutionise secondary prevention and trying to fill in the gaps that people like me following daily orders don't have the luxury to forsee. The creativity and buzz of ideas is quite infectious, though I'm obviously still very immune to it.. What I'm working with is a mix of bad lifestyle plus whacked genes, but obviously at the tertiary stage much complications have resulted from that potent combination. When you pay for is proprotional to how sick you are, and not inversely proportional to how well you are, you take for granted your well being and the secondary prevention. Money talks, and preventing that money roll is not gonna get any talk.

We headed to Honeymoon Dessert (Level One, Bugis Junction) just opposite. He was really gian to drink coffee - but obviously I was game for dessert anytime (and we walked past ah chew's and jidechi -_-) so i finally persuaded him to try Honeymoon Dessert. Last had this in HK and Kels and I have been dying to try the Vivocity branch (which we havent).

We started with the Durian dumpling - which is laden with cream!! Do you remember it being so creamy, Kels? And do you remember more pieces, than one?? I really got a shock when I saw just one medium sized one, and got a bigger shock when I digged into the innards of fresh cream! Its so different from the one I had in HK!!
I had the Snow white sago, which is laden with fruits on a bed of sago and vanilla cream. Very fruity, sweet and refreshing. Just that your tastebuds'll get confused with the fruits - there's banana, mango, longan, atap chee. All that fruit's gonna seep into the vanilla cream, which makes it a real fruity combination.

I thoroughly recommended this dessert to S, who had the Durian and Black Gluitinous rice, in vanilla cream. This dessert is extremely creamy and rich - scoop a bit of durian, and a bit of the gritty rice, then dip into the vanilla, and its an amazing combination!

On the way back to Loof, S got reminded of perhaps it was too little too late, but what was comforting was that it was a departure in joy. You living it up for him now, and thats what matters most. It's the first dinner, and the first that I wont be at h during the annual visit! See you soon, before next year's cny beckons. Artichoke, when we do get a booking.

Cedele dinner

2011-02-23T02:59:00.000-08:00

It was a Monday, when J was on passive call and cos of the fantastic short list and mon being in lieu of post take sat, Mr S gave me an early day off after the round up and the excuse for not being in tum board. Called mommy who said she'll join me later in evening so i headed home for a nap before hitting town with her. Needed to pick up a present from agnes b, my gbunchen flip flops, and drop my follie's at the mandarin gallery shop to repair. Lotsa excuses to be in town!! Tho Short was not temped at my invites for cake cos her call was just too shack. To be let off at post call timing when you're not on call is prob the best feeling in the world and I've got J and Mr S to thank for that!

We headed to Paragon first to dump the car, then to Mandarin Gallery, when we revised our xmas memory that m liked a drum bag at one of the shops-which is not available anymore!! And so we had to head to the other end of Orchard to its other branch at Borders - where we found the navy blue (gorgeous python skin) and the tanned skin. To my surprise, she liked the former. And then we headed to Ion but then back again to initially try for dinner at Sun with Moon but as always it was crowded so we headed to Cedele (Level 3, Wheelock Place) for dinner.

Mommy had the grilled beef and mushrooms. She was a big fan of her choice. 6 slices of medium done beef with lotsa greens.

I had the big breakfast - overeasy eggs with sauteed mushrooms and toast. Finally I got to try Overeasy Eggs. It simply means, eggs cooked on both sides. Simple, but couple that with crisp toast and buttered mushrooms - it was comfort food on a rainy day!

Having that corner seat with Mom and peering out of the window onto the streets (and that sore thumb of an aparment building) is really a moment to cherish!! And even better, when we discovered the bread bar - we initially ordered an extra beef stew - but our mains came before it (it just didnt appear at all) so we cancelled it. Then, we realise the bread bar was for the soup, and if we had no soup (though technically, its through no fault of ours), we had to top up one buck for the bread. Mom and I didnt mind at all cos 1. we ate lotsa bread 2. the bread was so damn good 3. we def ate more than a buck's worth. Nutty and seedy bread is really really yummy with soft melted butter!!

Headed back to Taka to pick up my slippers then to Kino to pick up a stick book (very tempted to start reading bunny suicides- its just so morbid) and some pen refills. Buying pens (and getting to use new ones, not those free drug company ones which i used in med +++) is once again, quite therapeutic. So is icecream loading, which mom picked up on our way home.

Paradise Inn

2011-02-19T03:19:00.000-08:00

Last day of T2 when A left to t1 and I was alone with a good list. Except for the fact that A.L was not willing to leave the bunk at all, and the sn couldnt conc after that! But we settled for social os, and then headed out to East point for lunch. We initially wanted to eat at Eighteen Chefs (too full) , Eatzi (nowhere to be found) so we settled for Paradise Inn (East Point) for lunch.

Asparagus.
Hotplate Tofu.

Triple egg with vegetables - xj's favourite.

Prawn balls with salted egg - my favourite, but A doesnt eat these!!

Codfish - small slice, but smooth and really tasty. I prob can finish this all on my own.

Fried chicken - this had a ginger taste to it, and i guess the sauce must have had a tinge of it (I didnt look at what they ordered).

Egg custard for me while most of the rest had mango sago and A had his tangyuan.

We headed back for W to whip into shape the student, and we exited very soon after. If only everyday could be like this, work would be so much to look forward to! (not like there's not enough food in the dept though....)

Carls Junior

2011-02-16T20:17:00.000-08:00

Jalepeno burger (thick cut)

Chocolate fudge cake

It was a pre take Monday, and the list looking nice and short, and supposed to lunch with short, zj, jeff, along with af and me with zj driving cos he was the latest but! at noon was called to round up so af and i had to go upstairs to cso (though we promised to return stat but we didnt manage to!!!) to round up and that was when we realise m'm wanted to bring us out for lunch! So off we were in W's and my car to Tampines One to Carl's Junior (Tampines One) to have team lunch, with J leading the way in my car (totally don't know how to orientate to Tampines at all)

We had 6 combos (cos Mm and J shared one) so there were 6pkts of small fries and of cos I was the happiest cos I had about 2/3 of that!! I had a jalepeno burger (thick cut) which was mighty juicy and delicious, and the delicious crisp natural cut fries. Lotsa sch memories came out and realising W's previous bmi status was truly shocking the guts outta everyone. Enjoyed hearing W's exam stories in his faraway land too.. Really treasured this one and only team outing we had!! If only we had time to shop post lunch....

Got the choc fudge cake for ZJ (sorry Z and N for the polar!!) - but in the end short still gotta go out! My two months is just about more than halfway and we've yet to organise a mass batch outing yet... better arrange it soon before its shagghh vascular.

Ma Maison

2011-02-12T08:45:00.000-08:00

Baked Potatoes
Fried Cheese Fritters

Seafood Gratin

Seafood Paella

Cuttlefish ink spaghetti

First day back at work and I feel disorientated all over again and so not into the rhythm of the wards. Guess I got assimilated fast though it was still not fantastically optimal. The day ran by fast and was trying to reach Clare the entire time cos I saw the fb thread and nearly got rejected by Jo too at 6pm till I managed to reach clare's house/mom and finally her and manage to organise us together ;)

Met Clare at Bugis - left shaggh at 730pm impossible to reach bugis by 8 pm with jam and parking.and thank goodness so cos the car had no cashcard. took it out for the trip. and got chided by soo while walking him out, cos i decided to take the train in the end though i was quite enthralled by the tale of the free Last Supper saga he went thru in Italy. so took the friendly fast train and met clare at the station control - then jo at the stationary shop with her happy eye messager, that looked darn rude to jillian (she was xmas shopping). I was just gonna get pen refills at ANBC. We decided to have dinner at Ma Maison (Level 2, Bugis Junction), though I was planning on Casa Latina. It was drizzly though so lazy to walk.

Ma Maison is a really homely environment and its so fusion - japanese with western; italian/spanish with its pasta and paella. The appetisers sounded so good - the fried cheese and baked potatoes were such comfort food.

Lotsa carbos in line - paella that tasted much like chinese fried rice; cuttlefish black ink pasta that tasted saltishly satisfying; and a gratin that turned out to be macaroni based(always thought it was potato based must have been corrupted by delifrance). Loved each one of them cos it was so comforting, especially great on a rainy day.

Got a date with the girls to go party post dinner soon. Talking about the married lives of frens make us feel too free; and the luxury to plan your own dates is much to be relished ;)

Brewerkz, Overeasy

2011-02-09T21:12:00.000-08:00

Killer Beef Chilli Cheese
Mac and Cheese

Cheesesteak sliders Overeasy

Oreo Milkshake topped up with the minis Overeasy

It was Xmas eve and there was some small confusion as to whether it was half day but it was ! G came up to exit at around 1pm so it was happiness when it was true....came home and found grans and mei getting outta home and i fetched them to coro to get their logcake (which they didnt get in the end) and met mel and her mom there (hope she gets well soon). When i came here mom wanted to go and get the uDivine today so it meant going to town but it was Dad chinatown vs Mom town, so in the end it was a compromise to go to PS but still, it was a horrid jam to park. We had to go all the way up to level 4 but it was nearby the osim branch at level 3. 3 of us loved it (and the free gift, though we wished it was the mp3 player)...and mom said PS was better cos there were 3 chairs (and ion had 4 actually so actually, i win) vs chinatown only had one so mom wins haha. and the hunt for the logcake was again futile, at breadtalk/andersons/carrefour. Later the family went to dine at Sakuraya but I went home to sleep, cos meeting chongs for dinner/supper etc. Napped till a very late 830 pm when she called me to hear news about our intention to meet at 9pm which i pushed to 930 which she pushed to 10 cos she left her phone charged and left behind!!Parking at the upper decks of the zirca carpark, i walked all the way thru Brewerkz to Wine Garage to find to my astonishment, it has now closed!! So it was an aimless stroll thru Central before she met me at Bysi and we browsed thru the very club-like crowds in Clarke Quay and got into Pump room (which Chong had a bad feeling about and first instincts are always right), before deciding against Octapas to head again back to Brewerkz (Riverside Point) for some good American grub.

Chongs decided on the very creamy Mac and Cheese (funny, when she was thinking of meat all this while) whilst I decided on the beef chilli cheese bowl. actually wanted the fries but its either a separate type of chilli fries vs just the bowl with the corn chips so we went for the latter. The beef chilli cheese was a killer. No more for Chong after a few mouthful, and my stomach was in flames after getting through most parts of it. Full of minced beef, beans and chilli-curry sauce, it was lots to stomach. Could feel my stomach churning when I was tottering out of Brewerkz.

Headed to Pump but the coutdown was kinda cheesy and the crowd was a blah (truly growing out of this partying business), so we had a negotiation with a pair. Headed to Zouk where there was only house, so we got out , to the very ex parking ($12!!!!!!) at Butter, but we settled at Overeasy (One Fullerton), having a second supper - she had super cravings for burgers so we had the Cheesesteak Sliders, and I still had my cravings for fries(cos didnt have them at Brewerkz) so I ordered the haystack fries - and I'm so glad to find that the crisp ones I loved are back!!!!It had been soggy and tasted so refried the past few times I was here so I was mighty happy to have the standards back again. The burgers tasted great too with the tiny tender meat and the wonderfully toasty buttery buns - prob with a hint of garlic butter, tasting so good. No alcohol again - happy with the oreo milkshake, totally geting drunk in calories. The music was great in Overeasy - I think we had more fun clubbin in our seats at Overeasy/listening to Armin in my car than standing amidst the crowds. Happy xmas to us and may the new year bring more sane outings like tonight's ;) Being back at 3am and being back at work at 7am is no mean joke.
Still gotta love Yazz in her christmas outfit at the Pump room. Gonna be my hangout come 2011.

Putien

2011-02-05T02:05:00.000-08:00

Tues was dsot, and with a handful of pts on the list, j being post call and i zoomed thru much of the work and off i went to dsot for the elbow and butt, while j rounded up and eventually helped m. We all gathered at cso after for team lunch (really happiness, these days - breakfasts and lunches all w em) soon after a sumptious fried meegoreng bf just hours before that.

We split into two cars- plan to use mine was junked and we went in R's messy (but much roomier) car and we met at Putien (B1, Tampines Mall), albeit amidst horrendously full car park and the lousy barrier that took ages. We decided to order from the Prosperity Menu for 8 (there were 9 of us)

Prosperity Yu Sheng

Usually I have this with Parang fish so its my first with salmon - salmon tastes too good to be with the equally tasty yusheng. Chanting those cheng yu was a challenge!

Three Varieties Thick Soup(Sea Cucumber, Bamboo Pith, Crab Meat)

Comfort food.

"Hua Diao" Fresh Prawns

As fresh as can be! Never eat much prawns outside either cos Gran cooks too much prawns at home.

Deep Fried Squirrel Fish with Gravy

Very much like sweet and sour fish.

Homemade Beancurd

As Boss' wishes who felt like having this.

Deep Fried Chicken with Garlic

This is prob my favourite - it was dusted in cereal/garlic and gave it a really nice fragrance.

The other dishes not feature here were the Braised Bamboo Shoot with Assorted Mushrooms (very good!!crunchy and lathered with the yummiest gravy), Longetivity Noodles (basically, fried mee sua in the lightest way possible) and a Peanut Soup for dessert with tiny mochi to boot.

Again my roots and why this line again, and the mispronounciation of many a name got the table in fits. Thanks Mr F and Mr S for the treat, and farewell Mr F! I was in the right theater even when I was in the student, no less, by the way!