Just when you think everything was ok....

Funny how life tends to come up with its own twist and turns just when, just when you are done figuring out what was thrown to you in the first place... I've learnt so much moving forward yet sometimes, I feel like as if I've moved back a couple of steps too...

I've been thinking that maybe today I should've just stayed in bed and not gotten up to blog-_-'' but then again I won't have an outlet to vent out...

Firstly, I've got personal baggage which I've not fully settled back home and its been quite stressing this past month, just trying to figure out how best to move forward with it and let go...

Secondly, some issues with those that are related to you, people you thought you could trust but in the end find out how bad and rotten these people are when times change and they find that they have a chance to really make your life difficult and all it boils down to is just about monetary issues; sad I know... But I think some people justify their life through monetary value...

Don't they realise that once you pass on to the next life what you have now will not mean a thing if you have not made an impact in your life to help and care about those around you? In the end is it really worth it to place your life on money, especially money that comes from inheritance, something which in the first place does not belong to you but only when the person that owns it passes it on to you and those that the person trusts? Why bicker and make so much out of something when its not yours in the first place?

Honestly I find it sickenning when people fight over it, yes, you do need money to help you in your everyday life but do you really need it to control your life and show people that you have it all? I honestly find these kinds of people to be empty shells who can only move on in life if they think that they've attained the highest aspect of monetary values where they manipulate people and feel superior to others...

To sum it up, I'm a big believer of karma, and the saying of what goes around comes around; and whether you like it or not, it will always find ways to come back and let you experience what you've done to others and hopefully you can learn from it, but if you don't then its your own arrogance that has made you refused to see your own actions and learn to better yourself^^

Sorry guys, if you're reading the entry and find it depressing, just that I think I'm getting burn out.. I think I just need to refocus on myself and try to find ways to better myself no matter what life throws at me(though sometimes its easier said then done hehe;p) Well now its just me and my black coffee^^ hmm.. wonder if I will post another entry later on as I feel better after writing this hehe;p

Its Over... Finally Over... But is it?

Wow! Is what i can say...

Its been way too long since i've last updated my blog, funnily enough was just telling Jason, I needed to be in the mood to actually blog - well it was more of trying to find inspiration hehe;p

Its not been bad, just that the Christmas week has finally gone by; Merry Belated Christmas to all, hope you guys aren't offended i didn't call or wish you guys a Merry Christmas; have just been busy with work and planning the year ahead^^

So... get ready for a long blog entry hehe;p

First off, I'm gonna get to my dinner at Azabu Sabo, well its was a pre-Christmas dinner with Jason(who's been here visiting and busy shopping^^) and his friends in Singapore.

It was dinner at the Central Branch in Clarke Quay, where the attendees were, Ryan, Joe, Jeff, Chris, Kelly, Jason and me^^

It was a quaint little setting, this restaurant however, I was kinda put off with the fact that the dining areas were seperated into 2 areas, it kinda made the restaurant look alot smaller than it should be-_-...
Well Ryan, Jeff & Joe were the first to arrive, followed by me and Chris, and lastly the power couple Jason & Kelly(really betweeen this 2 you would think Jason is the woman as he takes almost forever to get ready for dinner, and he was an hour late!! hahaha;p)

Well Ryan, Joe, Jeff & I were geeting way to hungry to bother waiting so we guys decided to order first; I had the Katsu Bento, Ryan had the Cold Soba noodles, Chris had the regular Udon Noodles(because he was sick hehe;p), Jeff & Joe had the Seafood Udon Noodles^^

Yummy, Katsu Bento; for those back home in Brunei, its not something you can get as its basically deep fried pork cutlets and might I say for a restaurant that caters mainly on desserts, it was good...droolz.... hahahaha;p

Honestly, it couldn't really be called a bento as it was kinda a small serving; it came in a beautiful compartment for the rice and Katsu, but on the sides, (which I've neglected to put in the picture for the sake of making it mouth watering^^) was just plain miso soup and pickled vegetable - sad, I know^^
However I can't argue that it was extremely mouth watering, i've really enjoyed the food, it was actually good comfort food as it was raining earlier that day^^ Well We all had fun at dinner, I finally got to meet up with the friends Jason met when he was working here a couple of years back^^


Moving on; it was a couple of day after the dinner, I decided to show Jason one of my othe Guilty Indulgences that i've found along the way while staying in this little Island called Singapore^^

Ta-Dah!!

Yup, for the uninitiated, I'm a big fan of anything related to Japanese culture & food (sorry mum, I must've been Japanese in my former life hehe;p) Mochi is basically a sweet dessert you can find in Japan & some parts of China as they're both quite closely related. Its usually made of a nice soft chewy skin made from rice flour and could be flavored with green tea and other flavors. The fillings inside can range from peanuts to red beans and such as with today's advancements Ice Cream^^

I've always been looking for some mochi since I came to Singapore but stumbling across this has been one of my best mistakes^^ This creamery can be found in Bugis, though I'm aware they have branches in Takashimaya and Vivo; I've yet to go over to these ones to try, hehe;p And the range of flavors you can get with this is roughly 20 flavors, I've almost tried all of them though my favorites are the Green Tea aka Macha, Chocolate Espresso and Asako Bean^^

The guilty part - they cost $2 a pop^^ Jason and everyone who I've introduce this sweet treat finds it abit too much to pay, however I beg to differ as I've always been very willing to spend on good quality food no matter the price^^

So guess that's it for the current update, will probably update more in the next couple of days, I'm feeling inspired^^ Till then.... Happy Eating^^

GEOX... No, its not a Deodorant...

So, this is what happens when you're accompanying a friend out shopping while they're here on holiday - you end up buying stuff too!!

Most of you know how thrifty I've become since I came over to Singapore to work, but these things were just too tempting to pass up; and when I actually tried them on... lets just say I got hooked-_-'''

Wanna see what I ended up buying?



Yup, its a new pair of shoes, and not any pair of shoes, they had to be the GEOX brand^^
I was hooked as soon as I put them on when we were out shopping at City Hall, It was ridiculous, to top it off, Jason was egging me on to buy it and I do have to agree, its an investment($150 just flew the coup hehe;p)...

See, the thing about this shoes is that it helps regulate your core body temperature and also it prevents your legs(well me personally) from sweating bucket loads of sweat. And the main thing, it feels light walking in them^^
You can check out their website to find out more: Http://www.geox.com
I actually used them before heading out of the shop!! It was paid already of course;p




Well scracth one thing down for what I need to get for New Years^^

Dinner @ Blue Jaz....

Another day on leave, gosh! I feel like as if I've got sooo much time on my hands now, since I've left work for leave which feels nice^^ So here's another day, hanging out with Jason, who I think is on a mission since he got here - he's been shopping non stop!! hahaha;p I guess its that way when you really come over for a holiday instead of work...


Today, we hung around the City Hall area, Raffles shopping center and Marina Square though we did spend almost 4hours at City Hall, abit much I know but what can you say when you've not met up with friends from back home and they're here for a holiday and you're on leave and there is just so much to catch up on hehe;)

Roughly round 6ish one of his friends called; Maggie(yup Maggie, not the instant noodles hehe;p)that was her name and she brought us over to a little hang out just off Bugis area, down Arab Street and into this tiny Bali Lane and into this quaint small cafe called Blue Jaz Cafe. Note that its not a typo, just that the jazz for the cafe was just spelt with one z...


Once we arrived there, after getting lost; apparently Maggies is abit like Jason in a sense that both have completely no sense of direction when it comes to walking because they drive alot hehe;p We met up with Jason's other friends - Connie & Esther. Guess Jason was abit too happy to meet up with his friends to intro me to them, we had to do our own self introduction^^

I might say that the cafe has a really nice ambience, however i felt like the menu needed abit of work as they were kinda lost in protraying what kind of cuisine they were really offering. You had everything form Creole chicken to Hot Dogs to Fish & chips; you can say its an international menu, but it just was lacking to me... They've even offered a live band that plays on the premises on the weekends from 9:30pm till 1am and according to connie(who's a regular there) they're quite good.

So this is what I ordered while waiting for Jeff & Ryan to arrive:

Grilled Creole Chicken as it was named on the menu, its supposed to be Grilled Chicken thigh, served on a bed of Potato wedges and Greens, served with a Spicy Sauce(made with Olive Oil,Red& Green chilli, Garlic, Onions, Spiring Onions & Cilantro).
Now here was the problem... I don't see any sauce, all I saw was just oil drizzled across my plate and it was even on the edge of the plate, I was wondering if they ever heard of Creole cooking before?... In case you're wondering, Creole cuisine are mainly for the small group of islands in the Sychelles, just abit off the coast of the African Continent. Creole foods, usually incorporate inspirations from Chinese, French & African cuisines so its quite a delicate mix and if not done right can be very disastorous (Case in point - the above)

Not only that, the chicken was overcooked(Never overcook your protiens - its very hard to swallow it down let alone pay for it!!) and not exactly tender. It was very dry and felt like it needed abit more seasoning. Greens were even more surprising; I was surprised that the cook overcooked it, as when the greens arrive, they were on the verge of turning yellow; a sign of it being overcooked or just using vegetables which are not fresh... It was a sad dish for me and to top it off, the wine that I ordered, it was served chilled as i would believe the bottle was either opened the day before and kept in the chiller to prevent it form oxidising. The wine was abit flat and lacking in characters of its variety, it was a 2006 Cabernet Shiraz from South Australia... tsk tsk...

I was trying my best to be very nice and since I was extremely hungry(in the wrong place!) I decided to give their German Hot Dog a try...

I know, which part of it is remotely German?
This came with a side of coleslaw, and fries. If you wanted it to be German, at least put some saukraut on the side to fool some of us... And its sooo much cheaper than coleslaw...
The Bread was just a simple plain bread, no spread at all for it, the meager mustard(french mustard even, German?!?) that was squeezed on top was not even enough for me to spread on the bread. The sausage was a huge disappointment again, the items used were so not reflective of Germany at all. It felt like they were using commercial hot dogs & surprisingly I somehow managed to finish it. I think it was just because of my hunger... hehe;p

Good thing that Jeff & Ryan came on time so we decide to walk to somewherelse to continue our conversation - total spent on my bill - $45.00 plus GST & service charge.. Urgh... I feel my guts convulsing....

Snow Mountain Garlic

I never actually have seen nor heard bout it till, big sis and her hubby brought this over to let me and Jason to have a sample of it and a story(unfortunately I'm not gonna divulge in this blog;P) about it...

It so does not look like your regular garlic, as apparrently from what was told to them which they in turn told us, these garlic actually grows in the Himalayas and they grow on the stalk of the garlic plant as temperatures in those altitudes; the ground sometimes solidifies and become rock solid so it can be difficult for the plant to carry nutirents from the root to the leaves thus the bulbs form on the stalk to compensate for emergency situations... Ingenious!!




Not only that while reading the brochure, its been pointed out that the garlic is only harvested once a year and it provides tons and tons of health benefits to the heart, blood and much more (and according to the person who sold it to them, if u eat 8bulbs it has a similar effect to viagra WTH!?!)... Gotta research on it...

However I might add its actually quite pleasent on the palatte; it had a nice crunch and very clean taste to it and I felt like as if it provided a nice refreshing aftertaste as it wasn't too overpowering like the garlic which we are used too... Now I'm gonna go hunting to get my hands on some tomorrow^^

Dinner @ The Straits Kitchen...

Today's a great day, 1) Big Sis & her family are in town, 2) One of my best friends from Brunei, Jason is also in town & 3) I'm on leave till the end of the week - Yeah!!!!

Well, Jason was more of a surprise considering he mentioned he would only get here on the 17th so I was really happy to get a sms from him last night when he said he was coming on the 16th hehe;p

I met up with Jason roughly round 4ish today at the MRT station, he mentioned the bus arrived a little late from JB, and boy did he stood out from the crowd, dressed in a bright pink tee, brown knee high khakis and with his leapord like cap hahaha - suddenly I felt like as if I were a local here;)

I brought him over to my place for a quiet R&R and some food as he was starving after the trip down and also because the person that he would be staying with would only get off work at 6pm so we had loads to catch up on and its been almost a year since I last saw him, well if you don't consider the time that I did meet up with him and the gang when I went back home last August...

Big sis, texted me that we would be meeting up for dinner @ 8pm at the Straits Kitchen so everything was set as soon as I sent Jason back to the MRT station to meet up with the person who would be accomodating him @ Ang Mo Kio(I still can't get over the fact that the area is named after a tomato... hehehe;p). I told him that i would meet up with him at 7:30pm and take the MRT up to Orchard for dinner with Big Sis & her family.

However if you should know about Jason, Divo he is, this one-_-...
He made me wait for almost 30mins at Ang Mo Kio station because he got so caught up with a conversation with his accomodator that he forgot about the time and had to rush through with his shower - we only left Ang Mo Kio at 8pm and I made him apologise profusely to Big Sis... hahaha... Faridah herself was sooo paitent in waiting for us that I think her hunger pangs won out so she texted me that they were in the restaurant already as she was too hungry to wait any longer:(

Well good news was we arrived as fast as the MRT could take us and they were kinda halfway through the dinner - Ahmad made Jason sit beside him so he can behave during dinner hahaha;p

So this is what we had for dinner:

This was from the chinese section of the Straits Kitchen, On the left you can find the Mini Buddha-Jumps-Over-The-Wall(a beautiful soup of chinese herbs such as ginger, ginseng and boxtrot flower double broiled with seafoods such as scallops, abalone and the likes). In the Center you can find the Chicken Broth and finally to the right a mix of Roasted Chicken & Duck yummy^^

Next we had:

On the right Steamed Sea bass with Ginger & Chilli, In the middle some stir fried baby kailan(Can't miss out on the Greens^^) and Some Stir fired Carrot Cake^^

The thing that I liked about the restaurant is the fact that since its been renovated, they've changed the ambience and settings, its a buffet style dinner where you have showcase kitchen form the different cuisines you can find in South East Asia, namely Chinese, Malay & Indian and everything from Peranakan style desserts and even ice kacang^^ Not Only that they have really really well places equipments to accomodate to the current settings of the restaurant...


I believe that the fridge here was specially made to cater to the restaurant and to top it off the doors of the fridges are double encased so that when a person opens the doors it doesn't fog up and also it helps insulate the fridge from outside temperautures so the temperature in the fridge doesn't fluctuate too much - cool huh?



The Dessert Section, that had items ranging from the Ice Kacang to the regular Peranakan desserts such as Kueh Lapis, Muah Chi and even fruits, ice creams & Sherbets of local fruit flavors such as durian, soursop and sweet corn^^


As you can see, even with the showcase kitchens, they've really constructed it so well that there is no smoke coming out from the kitchens!! Amazing and i would really wanna have those exhaust systems in my kitchen when i do run a place of my own one day^^

Well as usual with our gatherings, it lasts for a few hours as we were having laughs and sharing stories and everything; there was even an ongoing joke about a recipe for B.O. hehehe;p What a way to start my vacation especially with friends around^^

Crumble ala jason

This is Jason's creation of a crumble recipe which he found in my school's book - honestly, I've not tried this one yet even when i was in school. However it does look good, considering the roadblock we encountered along the way^^

Next Time, I guess we could try making it with a proper fruit compote Jase^^ Don't worry will teach you how to make one when the time permits^^

When the cat goes away, the mice come out to play...

I know, sounds very cheesy - the title that is...
But that was what we actually did when my big boss went home, we went crazy in the kitchen making food^^ hehe;p I hate to see my food cost for this month; but i disgress, it was all worth it as its been a busy period here, with Chirstmas and New Years and all;)


I was inspired so i decided to make bread with yoghurt as the leavening agent; honestly i saw this on an anime once and I thought that its quite possible to make the bread since my kitchen desn't hold any yeast so in a sense it was worth a try^^


Ta-Dah!! My Yoghurt Dough...

It was a very different texture to work with as the leavening agent is yoghurt and that I'm not using any other form of liquids for the dough^^


Proofing it for roughly 30mins, I pounded it down to a small flat bread, kinda like a mini-pita^^ Shoved it into the oven and baked it for 15mins and this is is how it turned out^^



Mmm..yummy^^




Next up is Jason's Crumble^^

In search of Swartland Winery....

Who knew finding a particular wine would take almost 6 months? Its been tooo long since i last had this particular wine - well if you considered that i drank like say a whole bottle while it was on exhibition during the Food & Wine Expo in May^^ I know - Ridiculous ain't it?

The Wine in question? Well its a blend, a shiraz malbec vintage 2006 to be precise; from the Swartland Winery (South African wine which I was soooooo wrong to misjudge since I'm more used to old world wines - South African wines are considered new world and boy, did it change my preception[in a good way] of them^^).



Its the one, third from the right. Such a beautiful blend, and here I was expecting a full bodied red wine(typical of these varieties) to come at me full blast with its tanins and yet to be matured palatte; however I was really blown away by the maturity of the blend in terms of the nose and palatte. On the nose, it was rich in fruits and earth, moreover I was not expecting to find them using a blend of French & American Oaks while holding them in their barrels - it kinda reminded of me of having a cigar and also tree bark(!?). On the palatte, I honestly thought I was sampling a very light medium bodied red really well developed berries, plums and prunes. Something not too overpowering and also it provide much more visual in terms of making me think of having dark 75% cocoa chocolate at that moment... hehe, what can i say? i have a really active imagination for my age hahaha;p

Oh, how I wish I was able to persuade Chris(a rep. from the winery) to sell me a bottle when I was there....

Guess I'll have to wait till I come across it here in Singapore - which reminds me, he did mention it should be out in this quarter of the year... hehe... better start Wine hunting @ the wine Network...

Sweet Potato Bread^^

This shows how much out of practise i've been with making breads hehe...



Though the outcome was pretty good, i'm somehow still alittle dissappointed with it - well to top it off, my kitchen doesn't have any yeast(I had no choice but to resort to using baking powder-_-) and also i was trying out how to incorporate sweet potatoes into bread^^



Well hope it looks good to most of you guys and in case if you're wondering taste was excellent; now its just a matter of finding the right consistency and texture for the recipe^^

Should I call this a mistake?

You know how sometimes, when you're really preoccupied with your thoughts that you kinda forget what you're doing... Well that was what happened to me a couple of days ago. See, I was suppose to be caramelising some sliced bananas however this time i forgot to turn off the fire and accidentally let the bananas simmer in the caramel solution - Stupid ain't it?

However instead of throwing out the food; and i for one don't like to waste food, i decided to take the cooked bananas and make some banana bread... Something I've not made for a looong while but it was something that i've always enjoyed making and eating^^

So off i went cooling down the mushy banana's and i added eggs to it and flour, Mixed it all up and baked it in my make-shift mould for my banana bread. Results were kinda surprising(i finally realised how out of practise i was with making it). It became something like a malay type kueh aka. Bingka Pisang hehe;p




Well for those that aren't quite sure what a bingka is; its a typical malay dessert you would find in Malysia, Brunei & Singapore however its also one that's kinda rarely seen since its quite perishable so its not really that advisable to place it for sale for long periods of time - read food poisoning - since it contains milk and eggs; however mine was lactose free hehe;p



Now to try and find a recipe to make a flourless one.... Wonder where i'm gonna find that....

The Birthday Girl^^

Today is a special day for me, yes, its special to me because its my mum's birthday^^ Happy Birthday Mum, I know you kinda dread turning the big 5-0, but if you look on the bright side all my friends think you're way younger that you let on hehe;P

Do excuse the picture guys, it was taken during my parents 25th anniversary which was last year September 19th 2007, its kinda sad i can't be home to celebrate the birthday with my mum, however with me being across the pond, I'm sure my mum will be fine with it and i'm gonna call her to surprise her (she thinks all of her sons will always forget her birthday-_-?) And Mum, don't worry i've got your gift sent over to you so hopefully you'll get it when you do read this post^^


Love ya loads & i'll try to call home more^^

The Other Addiction.....

I know, I know, its gonna sound like as if I have a major addiction, but it just feels like it hehe and i just got my paycheck so hey, i was entitled to splurge^^

I know, Ben & Jerry's? What kind of addiction is that? Well its more of an addiction to me in terms of food aka. comfort foods and besides who can say no to cookie dough and ice cream? hehe;p

Jason, if your reading this, I've just finished the pint hahaha, all 473ml of it... Jealous much? hehe;p Don't worry, we'll be heading for duck confit in Little India once your schedule clears up;)

Oddly enough, i think they've might have improved on the recipe or changed it as the texture wasn't as smooth as this as the last time i had it, it was abit more heavier, and a tad bit grainier before however now, its kinda lighter and not overly sweet, it even got to a point halfway i was kinda cookie dough hunting!! hmmm... might head off to their website to find some clues and see which new flavors I should get addicted to next hehe...


Damn... Now to rummage my coins to see if i can afford a small serving of it at the Cheers store downstairs(conveiniently!!) I'm still craving for the smooth creamy vanilla ice cream and the bits and bits of chocolate cookie dough that comes with it^^ or maybe the chunky monkey, or maybe the rocky road or or or.... mmm....droolzzzz......

Well Its another fork in the road...

Who knew 5 months would fly by sooo fast? Really got along well with those that were attached to my outlet for their short tenure - heck I thought short was only gonna be 2weeks hehe;p I really wasn't expecting to find good friends form this small batch that came over but as the saying goes, we're all just diamonds in the rough - just gotta look much more carefully^^

Today they'll be re-opening the outlet at Jurong Point, well more like a cleaning run and trial run to ensure the outlet is running at optimum efficiency (right in time for the christmas rush^^ hehe...)

And here they are...


First up, is the dishwashing lady whom the guys and I started to call auntie(because we barely knew her when she stepped foot in the kitchen and she got to know all of us in 30mins flat - ridiculous eh?) to being called our other 'mother' hehe;p

Yea, she does play a very motherly part in the kitchen, always loking out for all of us whenever she was on shift and i've yet to remember a time i've seen her down - honestly speaking i've never seen her down^^ She was always such a joy to have in the kitchen making us all laugh with her stories (well, more like tall stories, and i do mean tall^^). However our 'mother' was very good at finding and introducing us to places at hawker centres for good food and at ridiculous prices, now i can safely say my knowledge on the kopitiam and hawker centres in Singapore has improved hehe;p

Don't worry 'mother' we've still got our outing for laksa coming up - that is if we're all gonna be free since Christmas and New Years is just round the corner... but I'm definitely gearing to catch up with you for laksa and hearing more of your funny (tall) stories^^


Next is...



Well, he's the one on the Left <-, the one called Keong...
First time he came over to the outlet, man, was he shy! A very quite guy who if you told him to jump he would - literally... However as time passed we grew fond of him, and he started to open up and become more of a character within our kitchen - 'mother' even commented that he was never so alive till the point he came to my kitchen - I was not sure whether to take it as a good sign or not!?!

Good thing was that he turned out for the better, he's more confident in carrying out his duties and much more able to lead newbies in the kitchen and has basically become an all round nice guy - he's already been initiated to the drinking club and with a nickname to boot^^ rite, Mr. Crayfish? internal joke within the club hehe;p

We'll still be in touch orelse.... And I wish you all the best at your old new outlet and do keep in touch eventhough we'll be busy, i don't want you missing out on the drinking sessions^^


And finally....



The Assistant manager from the Jurong outlet - Joan^^ She's a character this one hehe;p and she's quite good at making things funny when they clearly are not... She's been a bag of laughs since she came over, work seriously doesn't seem like work^^ And she always had the infectious smile to make all the guys in the kitchen smile even when she's not trying hehe;p I know I'm complimenting her too much hahaha;p


Sad to see you guys go, however we'll all still be in touch, its only 5 stops aways from Bukit Batok, so do expect me to drop by and pester you guys when you all are busy working hehe;p Take Care and know you guys are always welcome to come back for more attachments with my outlet - that is if you want to;p