Jones the Grocer (Mandarin Gallery)

Started the day at 6am super early now i drive to and fro work in the dark so prob be as pale as a sheet when i finish this posting in......5 years?

It was a day when i discovered A SNT is the only thing you need to do in a PE, and how at the end of the day its all about collecting the changes and awaiting to round PRN (which can be quite disconcerting). 55 is only gonna be where i am, and fri's the firing day. omg! for a month.

gotta trouble fly on the first day and she orientated me on thurs - the list printing (only select the located ones) down to being split by two teams to just vitalising everyone. out of the ot they come and check one by one in the middle of the day. bumped into candice at the lobby so happily gathered all of us to lunch with mothi/nings and eventually (finally!) a very sniffly kels. a great respite to the rush of the morning. tho had a momentary shock re : the next mornings grand ward round and feeling super unprepared (and the shock never translated to action in the end too.....)

the exits then lasted forever (cos 730 was the magic no!!) and eventually when it all ended there was 2 washouts and 2 cs to be done and a listing for a persistent bld so womg it was mega lateness for this dinner.

So I arrive at this dinner at Jones the Grocer (Mandarin Gallery) totally apologetically to meet Joanne and Ms K - our long awaited date (cos Boeing Boeing was just impossible for tickets). Carol couldnt make it and Nat can only do supper (sigh) so it was just us. Ms K read the msg aloud in the teachers room to responses of the place being in Dempsey but of cos she checked it out and it opened in July 2010.

The entrees and tapas page looked too wonderful to miss out for the mains so we did just that :to order loads and loads of entrees and tapas. It was eclectic mix of ingredients and tastes we absolutely loved it.

Antipasti; I can't believe I only remembered I had this before AFTER I browsed through the pictures and saw it again. Loved the sundried tomatoes loads and the onions. We swooped for the onions plus sundried tomatoes, and for more feta instead of blue cheese. Absolutely delightful platter.

Is still a fan of the brown nutty bread x3.

Wanted to order the mains of lamb meatballs (but the 27 bucks for meatballs just puts me off) so had the Lamb and Rosemary sausages instead - absolutely loved the long long plate and how its laid out amidst all the nuts! You can see that its still not the end (s) that I managed to capture on my camera !

Seared scallop only as an afterthought (and I had an extra). I must say that even though salads make a big chunk of the dish that we ordered for the other things besides, it was still dressed very well and so we didn't mind all that much.

I bet this would appear to be a salad we ordered - but its a portabello mushroom with cheese! And an ang moh chai tao kway below (still can't figure out what it is). I still like the quirky layering of tastes in this.

Another tapas of salmon and avocado on baguette- i realise I don't like avocado all that much unless its mashed into a milkshake (or some other variant). Totally not a purist. Loved the preserved fruit (whatever it is) right atop.

Was gonna let the waitress take away the plate (we each took one and told her to clear ) till the waitress told us - hey you're missing the whole point ! the highlight is the dots on the plate ! the balsamic reduction !

Then you should be like 2am where chanting of every dot and scrape on the plate is described larh!

Anyway it was really good and we didnt let them clear it. Till they offered to give us a small serving of it ;P service is commendable.

Lasagna's the most unique version I've had - layers of crisp pasta (and i really mean, CRISP!) sheets with blue cheese stuffing and the most tart poached pears I've ever ever eaten. Easily of the most interesting dishes I've had.

Really enjoyed the evening dotted with updates of old classmates/old teachers(and their funny nicknames)/principals/pet peeves of english/40/40 feats/6 jades tradition, it was an evening filled with laughter and reminiscing.

Walked with Jo to the train station (cos I thought Borders'd still be open)and didnt mind cos i always enjoy my conversations with her. Tryin to have more dinners with mrs lee sj/Lim LL/mrs eng soon. Working just makes me miss the old times so so much!

Baits by Ding Tai Feng (Resorts World Sentosa), Jones the Grocer(Dempsey)

Today was a fine day after 17 hour marathon and woke up just in time to find gran downstairs for breakfast. lets change the routine sunday so i went with her to church and listened to the funky hokkien sermon - getting jolted about fathers day, and the fact that fathers and mothers day needs to be around so children rem to be filial at least once a year =P and the lack of need for wives/husbands/kids day cos such love is natural on a daily basis and there is no need for a special occasion to commerate it. Food for thought. How often do you express your love for your folks?
todays sermon was basically about the need for being truthful and straightforward in life, and its rather sad that most people put up a front to impress and to get on in life, and only in a state of intoxication do people reveal their true self. Honesty is a value instilled by elders, and if the elders do not impart this, each generation will degenerate exponentially, and dishonesty breeds dishonesty. This is definitely nurture mostly, hardly nature. In a bid for self survival its hardly a brotherhood mentality in mankind. To remain civil and civic minded requires conscious reminding and self check so that we do not go astray.

And its so important to reward your children for their honesty. Do not chide them for being honest and reporting their breakage/failure/falls/dismeanour/misbehaviour else they will never trust you to help them with their failures. You only prolong the agony, not help resolve their problems.

My gran protects me so much she's such a love =) it is my pleasure to bring her out today. My intention was to bring her to Vivo to try Bosses, but somehow our spontaenity led us to Resort Worlds Sentosa. We somehow went thru the gantry unscathed - btw, turn LEFT to the RWS carpark, i turned right to the hotel drop off but ended up touring the island before going into the VERY EX! carpark. 7 bucks for first hour and 2 bucks for subsequent hour zomg.

We went up to Universal Studios (really regret not allowing gran to bring her smaller bag with the brolly), and took some gorgeous photos (it was sweltering hot so the colours super brilliant at the expense of all the uv hahaha), and zoomed into Hersheys World. Picked up Reese's Whites and the assortment Nuggets which we bought before in US (mainly for mummy who says its not enough!).

We walked around the shopping gallery, the hotel, past the casino (dont go casino after church la, haha), and then after a round about, past some lost locals at Hard Rock Cafe, we ended up at Baits by Ding Tai Feng (Resorts World Sentosa). We entered by the wrong entrance, and after going thru the semi full restaurant to the proper entrance, we were greeted by a queue of 2 groups. Waited again (sigh DTF always gotta wait), but we were ushered in quite fast. By then we were melting away.

Love this xiaocai - sour doused vegetables in chilli oil. The seaweed and tau guar were aplentiful. Somehow this reminds me of the doused noodles in Hong Kong - the small stalls within the shopping mall, where you can select the noodles and vegetables
This awsome Duck in spring roll was just amazing. Smoked duck (the skin seems fried too) in freshly fried crisp and thin spring rolls, really really yummy.

Claypot tofu was nothing much to shout about, except there was plenty of seafood within. Should have gone for the sizzling hot plate tofu.

Steamed vegeterian dumplings. The innards has minty veggies and was really tasty with the dipping chilli paste.

Gran was really full so i ended up eating much of the above =P, we quickly zaoed off to get the car to get out. haha! 2 hours = 9 bucks. Otw to Baits I saw 7th heaven and i shall try it another time. Apparently they have soups and savoury stuff there now.

Sent Gran home, then met up with mountains - at first supposed to be at Holland V but then after their crystal jade lunch at Holland v with pri sch mate, jo, plans to go essential brews were shelved cos well, the shop is shelved! what happened!

decided to head to Jones the Grocer (Dempsey Hill) thereafter.

Fans of fruitshakes was the new couple while qian and i stuck to our milky chocolatey choices. Qian's chocolate milkshake and my mudslide coffee on the right. Was between mocha irish coffee (ice blended) and mudslide but chose the latter as it came with a scoop of chocolate chip chocolate icecream. Really yummy, with all that chocolate sauce within too!

Anti pasti selection - we chose to replace with cheeses and pumpkin, and I thought this platter was rather interesting. I loved the stuffed tomatoes and the powdery cheese and the roasted pumpkin.

The crusty bread (that came with the platter) was also delicious esp when doused with the cream cheese from the platter.

Jas had to join her sister at gran's church to plan the wedding, so i sent qian back and headed to novena for books and bought 2 dresses!! spree alert man, the last trip to chinatown cost me a dress and a jacket and top. wow M, you're not the only one seeing red in your account.

Thanks for the sexy slippers jas and the yummy sweets qian =)