The Food Maestro

Is that Ice cream? No, its Gelato...

2010-06-22T20:50:00.005+08:00

Its funny how people tend to become complacent once they've stayed with a particular establishment for a long period of time that they forget that there are plenty more cuisines and dishes you can find round the world^^

I decided to make a simple gelato for the crew to try and see what they think of it. My experiment for the day - a simple lime gelato with pineapple and cucumber bits^^ This tooke me awhile to make as its been since ages since I made gelato, though I was very eager for this challenge^^

I know, some of you might say,"hey, where's the cucumber and pineapple bits?" here's the picture to prove the bits and pieces of cucumber and pineapple^^ and trust me this was really good^^

Now I have some sweet cravings-_-...

2010-06-22T20:41:00.004+08:00

I was sooo excited with finally taking some time out, that I was in the mood of making sweets for my crew as I was worried they will miss me and the interesting foods that I tend to create on the fly(well, I think they will miss my food more then me, though you never know^^), since I'll be away for a few days^^

I was on a roll making chocolate mousse pie with macadamia nut(this one I didn't take a photo off as everyone walloped the whole thing before I could. So the next day, I was thinking along the lines of a key lime tart but at the same time, I've not had any meringue lately. The result Lemon meringue pie, with a heck load of lemon zest; because I like to be different hehe;p

I was happy with the result, though funny things about these sweet stuff they tend to taste better the next day^^ Kept some in the fridge and enjoyed them then next day much to everyone's Joy^^

Gazpacho Slush anyone?

2010-06-22T20:34:00.002+08:00

Been experiencing some whacked out temperatures lately - its hot one minute, cold the next seriously what's going on? And it just sooo happened that day one of my cooks was asking me if I knew how to make a Gazpacho and I was craving something cold and savory(seriously feel like I've outgrown the sweet stuff hehe) I decided to make some but with a twist^^

Its surprising how the crew in the restaurant reacted to it as they were expecting something sweet when clearly if you take a whiff of it you would know that it's gonna be a savory treat^^ You hear people saying interesting, or this is very wrong, though I tell them they've yet to really travel round let alone experience different cuisines for them to judge^^

I was really happy with the product, Gazpacho Slush with Chilli & Raisin 'Caviar'(though if I were allowed to use some sherry to bring out the sweetness of the tomatoes and peppers it would've been great^^). I finished 3 bowls of it by myself hehe;p

Finally a spark of creativity!!

2010-05-24T13:10:00.003+08:00

I was feeling peckish the other day, and the only thing I was really craving for were some caramelised onions (I feel that I'm gonna get addicted to this again, considering the last time with pandan...).

So I decided to make some to abate the craving and soon enough my mind was drifting to finding ways of creating a dish that could go well with this very very simple and delicious item^^ I remembered stephanie from top chef made an infused tea pizza for her challenge and well my mind found it^^

My tea infused, caramelised & bacon pizza. Its a little sweet and savory, packs a nice tang from the tannins of the tea and i had this huge grin on my face because of how well this dish came together^^

Frozen fruits anyone?

2010-05-07T08:57:00.002+08:00

Recently my fridge has been giving me problems, firstly, the thermostat got busted and melted its wires out, and then its fan motor just wouldn't go. Now it seems like it really likes to keep my vegetables in a frozen state so that it stays 'fresh' till you take it out of the fridge - go figure-_-...

Whee! look at my frozen cherry tomatoes hahahaha;p

First Dish Created in my new Apartment

2010-05-07T08:47:00.005+08:00

People would've expected a huge pot roast, or maybe a complicated and interesting dish for my first dish in my new apartment, unfortunately I was short on utensils and ingredients so all I only managed to create was a salad^^

Simplicity at its best, a baby spinach salad with vine & sun dried tomatoes tossed with kalamata olives and dried cranberries drizzled with aged balsamico;p

Cheese stuffed Burger

2010-05-07T08:30:00.005+08:00

This was something I made a couple of months back when work started getting hectic, my boss approached me on an idea about making a burger where the cheese would be stuffed inside so that when you bite into it the melted cheese would oooze out^^

It looks ridiculously huge huh? hehe;p Well its not, just that I took and extremely closeup shot of it - how would you guys like to look at the fillings?

Looks yummy, though I couldn't try it since I've not taken beef for 7years now, its the only protien that I can't take anymore, sad, I know, but the feedback from those who ate the burger was priceless - YUM!!

A loooong Absence-_-..

2010-05-07T08:27:00.002+08:00

So sorry guys, been a heck of a loooong time since I've updated, and yes, I know I should at least keep you guys posted, though working through a 70hr work shift doesn't really leave much time for creativity and the such^^

Well enough of complaining now back to blogging since January hehe;p

Late Night Supper...

2010-01-16T01:49:00.005+08:00

This was a fun gathering considering its been a loooooooong while since most of the group has caught up, everyone was always busy and had their own commitments so it was nice that, Jason, Keong, Selina & I manage to catch up and have a little supper and guess who ended up cooking?

Yes, you guessed it - me! hehe;p Though the menu idea came from Jason, he mentioned he wanted to try a very spicy spaghetti, fish & chips and a dessert, I set my brain to work in coming up with a viable menu for the four of us to try^^

Roughly round 3ish in the afternoon, I told Jason I got the menu planned and managed to coax Keong to join us because he said he was bored on his off day (sometimes I wonder what this friend of mine does when he's busy - bored on you off day? I always find that I don't have enough time during my off days!! Hahaha;p)

We all met up round 9ish and so I set off to start with the first dish; I was initially planning on making some double boiled soup, however we've been experiencing very hot weather, I decided against it and just start of with my own version of Spaghetti Arabiatta - its suppose to be like a spicy tomato sauce for spaghetti. My version is a simple mix of black olives, chilli padi, chopped parsley, garlic, salmon and sun-dried cherry tomatoes(which I made myself^^)

Not too spicy, not too sweet, I think it was just a nice mix, though Jason commented it could have been spicier (you and me both, however Selina & Keong might pass out from the heat hehe;p next time I'll make it to our heat level; now that reminds me where did I hide those poblano peppers, that's a guarantee to give us that necessary kick hahaha;p)

Moving on, I was inspired to create this dish and try it out; and since someone has to be fit while serving his nation, I'm not mentioning who hehe;p; I thought why not make a fish and chip which is less fattening and more tasty. My solution- take some leftover sourdough bread crumbs, dry it out, pulverise it and coat the fish fillets with egg wash, bread it and grill it^^ And I'll throw in a side of deconstructed Tzatziki with Cherry Tomato Confit to give it that refreshing bite for more. The only guilty part of this dish would have to be the home made fries, which I accidentally burnt (sorry guys T-T)

Dessert was a fun part, its a play on the bread and butter pudding I made with the pandan cream mix, I remembered the last time I made it it tasted something like Kaya Toast, which you could find in the Kopitiams here and I decided to name it Kaya Toast, re-imagined^^ it was fun as everyone was kinda unsure of what the dish really was (the three of them must have thought I've gone abit left field hahaha;p)

However I must say it was an interesting dessert (clarified butter as the sauce, are you kidding me?!? hahaha) for me to try and hopefully try to incorporate to my work one day^^

I hoped you guys enjoyed the impromptu supper, it was fun, maybe next time Keong can think of the menu and Selina can cook it hehe;p

I'm Addicted to the Color GREEN!!!

2010-01-16T01:18:00.004+08:00

I've never thought I would come to this; and moreover for a fact I always was a skeptic when chefs mention that there will be times when you come across simple ingredients that you fall in love with the ingredient and it become an obsession... I'm admitting my obsession to the wonderful screwpine leaf or for those of you who know its most common name - the pandan leaf^^

I've only become obsessed with this since I recalled Lady Fa once mentioning she made her Sri Muka's with the juices of the pandan leaf and the result is always spectacular and so I decided to give it a try (albiet not making sri muka but just testing her theory) and look what happened!!! I was just telling Ange the other day that I made green pancakes from breakfast, and no, its not the usual commercial mixing batter, I made it with the classic recipe which is basically a simple souffle batter with extra flour^^ Lo and behold!

I kid you not, its green on the inside too^^ and the thing is that with the natural coloring, its sooooo guilt free^^ Ange was saying St. Patrick's day is still long off so what was up, and I did say I was testing a theory hehe;p

Moving on, since I had some of the juices left, I thought I might as well try and incorporate it into a classic English dish - the bread and butter pudding... you can only guess what happened...

See how addicted I am to this pandan leaf, its kinda my new nicotine kick hahaha;p Now I'm thinking of reinventing the very well known Thai dish - Pandan chicken, what can I say but "Green much?" hahaha;p

Back from my short Sabbatical

2010-01-09T19:26:00.003+08:00

Refreshed from my short 3day vacation, and surprisingly that the weekend has been quite slow, I got plenty of energy to spare that I ended up creating not one but two dishes at work today^^

The first dish is kinda like a reminiscent of when I could really eat beef (I don't consume beef anymore for those of you who should know if ever I do have to have dinner at your plcae^^, well its more due to religous reasons, though people have argued that I should be able to close one eye and be fine with it since I work in this field, I would just tell you that its just not me^^).

Moving on, I was butchering my Ribeye slab and I found that I had some trimmings (my cooks don't like it when I'm on Butcher station since I always save most of the scraps and have next to no wastage when I'm portioning the meat hehe;p) I decided to make some kebabs for my cooks since they were kinda down that I had not given them much for wastage( oh, how my bosses would love me now hahaha)^^

Its an irony when I look at it that I don't consume beef anymore, I somehow have gotten better at cooking it just by looking at its texture and smell; I know some of you might disagree but I know I'm good:) If I had the photos of the doneness(didn't get the chance for a photo op, cooks completely devoured it) inside the kebab you'll know I'm right^^

Then came the afternoon, I was feeling peckish for something sweet... and I ended up making....

My no recipe "REAL PANDAN" Souffle^^ Well its called no recipe(in case you guys are wondering) because I completely forgotten my ratios (and I just remembered a tip from lady Fa about natural food colorings) for the recipe that I decided to just whack it and hope for the best. And I can say it turned out really well, and I managed to have some leftover batter which made fluffly pancakes:) I've got some leftover pandan juice in the chiller and I'm gonna whip up more of the batter for pancakes tomorrow hehe;p

Talk about ouch!!

2010-01-07T16:28:00.002+08:00

This is what happens when my thumb wanted to say hi to the pavement, enough said hahaha;p

Just an update, its still recovering though I think it likes the pain and it was very amusing thta I didn't realise it was bleeding till later on hahaha;p

Green Eggs Anyone?

2010-01-07T15:59:00.003+08:00

This dish was done a looooong while back and I'll say it been like a couple of months now, just that I've only gotten the free time of posting this on my blog hehe;p

I was working breakfast shift one day and I thought lets play around and see what I came up with? and I remember hearing and watching people make green eggs before and no, its not rotten eggs people hahaha;p

The eggs didn't turn out as green as I liked beacuse we only had frozen spinach in the kitchen hehe;p I wish I had some fresh spinach and some fresh herbs to kinda bring some "oomph" to the dish.

All in all, I was quite happy with this dish, though you can count on the fact that I'll be finding ways to improve it though^^

New Year, New Resolution - Not!!

2010-01-07T15:46:00.003+08:00

Boy, time sure does fly when you're not really looking at the clock and your churning out orders day in and day out; and poof what do you know, its 2010 already hahaha;p

Yes I know I'm kinda way fa behind on the New Years greetings and all, but those that know me know very well how much I'm not in tune with the festivities anyway because of the work haha;p

Well I got some free time the other day and I thought I might as well get some shopping done and I've been eyeing this beautiful procelain knife since the first time I laid eyes on it - pricey little thing it is and everyone thinks I've gone off my knockers when I went to get it, however to me its once of the best things I've ever bought for myeslf^^

Pretty aint it? And it only cost me just over $200 hehe;p

Now, I'm looking at this other knife from Wushtof which has been made with Japanese input, and this one is roughly $350ish^^

Well you guys be the judge bout what I spend on, I find it funny sometimes that I don't spend on clothes and gadgets, instead I only spend more on cook books, knives, good food and wines^^

B'fast cravings, though I don't know whether this is called a B'fast dish

2009-12-09T23:12:00.004+08:00

Well, I remembered posting bout creating a b'fast dish a while back... well I've made it, however I don't think this dish can be classified as a b'fast dish...

Why don't you guys be the judge for it^^

Its a four-minute boiled egg with tempanade crostinni served with some smoked salmon & a spicy pineapple chutney on the side^^

The runny yolk actually complements the whole dish and acts like a simple sauce to tie in all the components of the dish^^

New Phone, New Applications^^

2009-12-09T23:02:00.005+08:00

Well, I guess the six months of using a bust up phone has been kinda worth it^^

I finally picked up a new phone, the HTC Touch Pro 2 to be exact, its soooo fun playing around with new things; my mind is easily entertained these days, wonder whats up with that? hahaha;p

Here's another look at my former fone, the sony ericsson P1:

It was fun using the P1 for 3years, but I guess its time I needed a new fone, as the touchscreen got busted, the alram didn't work and the sides were starting to come off^^

Now its time to get use to a HTC, this should be fun^^

I'm not high maintenance!!

2009-11-25T00:35:00.003+08:00

This month seems to have it for me, I seem to get smacked left, right, up & centre....

Here I was the other day, hanging out at Jurong Point with Selina, Elizabeth & Mushin and the topic of where we should head for dinner be.... I was outvoted (again!! I won't ever win any election if I were ever planning to run for one hahaha;p) 3 to 1. Dinner was decided to be at KFC, yes, you guys heard me right, at a fast food joint, which I almost never step foot in with the only exception of a mcD's sausage egg mcmuffin hehe;p

When we got there, it was packed to my amusement, I've never seen this many people enjoying fast food like here on the island.... We managed to find a spot to place our stuff, and I decided to sit and try to soak up the atmosphere(when there clearly was none hahaha;p) while Selina & Mushin went to get their orders. when the 2 came back with their orders I was very intrigued with what they order, it was just fried chicken with some fried covered with simple cheddar...

It looked interesting and all but I was not planning on buying anything as some of you might recall my escapades into these establishment, I never fare well hahahaha;p Selina was making fun of me as I was clearly looking round the outlet and trying to analyse why people were coming here for dinner. In the end I decided to go and try to order....

Imagine a person standing and staring at the menu for 15mins. yup, that's me, I didn't know how to order and the staff that served me thought I was playing a joke with her, bless her soul. Seriously the one here looks soooo much different from the one back home and I'm not even fond of the one back home especially with the mashed potato incident (Ange did tell me I'll regret it, but what was I to do with a grumpy and cheeky stomach?hehe;p)

I didn't even know I was allowed to change my drink from a coke to ice lemon tea hahaha;p

It was fun, though I highly doubt I'll be setting foot in one fast food joint such as KFC any time soon, as Selina pointed out maybe I'm high maintenance I should stick to my bars and restauarnts at my usual haunt at Clarke quay hahahaha;p

Just when you thought life couldn't get funny enough...

2009-11-24T23:57:00.004+08:00

Funny thing happened to me on my way to work today; seriously of all things life can throw at you I never saw this one coming.... Its ridiculously embarassing and totally uncalled for.

I left home 'exposing' myself- I didn't realise the seam leading to my zipper was torn (seriously guys, I don't know how i manage to tear that area and completely not realise it -_-'). Imagine the embarasssment when one of the boys at work mentioned why I wasn't feeling breezy down there!!

As soon as I looked down i could almost see my boxers and I turned bright red as a tomato!! I bolted out of my kitchen and zoomed down to the mall's G2000 to get a new pair stat... And to add insult to injury I had to wait another 30mins for the sweet lady attending to me to sew & resize the length of my new pants before I could wear them... She was wondering why I was sooooo anxious to wear those new pants...

Oh well, lets see whatelse gets thrown my way in the coming few days^^

Suddenly had the urge...

2009-11-23T02:25:00.002+08:00

I've got this urge to try and create a breakfast dish... problem is, its been floating in the head for the past couple of days and I've not finished conceptualizing it yet. I've got an idea of how it should look, however I don't know what components I'm gonna use to build it.

Funny how this reads like as if I'm building a house hahahaha;p

Lets hope the idea strikes me soon, I'm really itching to create a new dish as it been awhile^^

Great Tribute to Julia Child^^

2009-11-23T02:12:00.003+08:00

So what does one do when one is feeling down and out at the moment?

Watch movies about food to make you feel better!!

I just recently watched the movie called Julie & Julia (well my school was featured in it and they kept sending newsletters bout it so it was kinda hard to ignore^^).

This movie is actually 2 stories made into one and I must say it was done in a very interesting way where plots are constantly being passed from the past to the present and shows how these 2 extraordinary women dealt with their obstacles in their lives at that time. For those of you who are regular foodies, you would obviuosly know who Julia Child is as this lady needs no introduction; she was the pioneer for the food industry in the States and because of her the States as we know is a major powerhouse today!! And Julie Powell is just an inoccent blogger turned foodie as she wanted to try and cook all 562 recipes of Julia's in 365days.

I don't wanna spoil much from the movie, but I hope you guys can catch it before you miss it in cinemas and have to wait for the dvds, its a spectacular movie for me; Meryl Streep captured and emulated Julia in such a way you would think she's still alive and acting in her own role!! Amy Adams also played a really good Julie Powell as she showed that anyone can really cook if you've mustered the courage and passion to challenge yourself^^

Been down in the dumps!!

2009-11-23T02:08:00.002+08:00

I don't know what's really up with me recently... I've just been feeling uninspired to create new dishes. Even going to work feels like a major drag right now... Whats up with me? hahaha;p I think I might have the case of the burn-out...

Or could it be that I've been thinking of finding new pastures and challenging myself... I hope this mood goes away REAL soon...this just feels really really crappy^^ maybe I'll make a crappy sandwich to cheer me up hahaha;p

Funny Foods^^

2009-11-04T03:17:00.005+08:00

Tell me what does this remind most of you of? Yup, this might not look like your regular entry but I can assure you guys it is related to food^^ Yes, I looks like a band aid, yea a band aid with mint?! What the heck? Well its not really a band aid, its actually chocolate mints^^

This interesting item came from Taiwan. One of the part timer who went there for a holiday actually found something interesting to bring back for show & tell. And now I get to show & tell too^^ These items are basically chocolates being made into everyday and our not so everyday items^^

Yea, in case if your wondering. this was a surprise, even I was fooled first when I saw this, but then again when have you ever seen the wrapper by the name of delicious? hehe;p Its motto is that its better than sex haha;p

And the finale (trust me, some of you guys wouldn't want to know what this is hehe^^)....

2 Days of no sleep!!

2009-11-02T22:07:00.003+08:00

Its funny when you realise that 24hrs in a day sometimes aint ever enough for a person. I was up for 2 days recently due to the fact that I was working dinner shifts and breakfast shifts back to back and also at the same time, I had alot of paperwork to catch up on and to top that off, there was still the impeding promo briefing that needed to be carried out for the staff - busy much you say? hahaha;p

So on one of those days when I just got home round 12ish, I decided to squeeze in some paperwork and I thought I could be done by 1ish - I didn't get it done till 3ish!! So I figured what the heck, since I gotta leave home by 5:30am for my b'fast shift I might as well catch up on some tv series as my little R&R before heading back to work.

Halfway watching Grey's Anatomy my hands were itchy to make something, and since I don't eat late at night, I thought I might as well practice my pastry skills which I've not done in awhile...

I soon realise how rusty I am, but hey, its the best one can pull off with no sleep in a day^^

Whats in the food?

2009-10-30T12:58:00.007+08:00

I just recently watched this film called Food Inc. and I must say, I was impressed and also abit disturbed by the facts which have been brought to light in the film. I would say this film is very insightful in explaining how the food industry have evovled in the States and how it would affect the industry in other countries.

It even brought to fact that food is processed in the same way as a production or 'assembled' on an assembly line. It also pointed out that there are just a few companies who run a majority of the processed food when you might litreally find thousands upon thousands of labels but when in fact they are only really manufactured by roughly a handful of companies - not a good thing in my opinion...

Of course the movie documentary does showcase the advancements of the food indursty, however at the same time it makes you think whether these advancements are really for the good of the public or just for profits for those coporations. For example, before chickens, used to be bred for roughly 75 days for slaughter, now in the present, the breeding time has been almost cut to half that, they've developed ways to breed chickens in 38days for slaughter and when you see the conditions of those chickens you wonder if its worth eating that meat as its pumped full of antibiotics and hormones. Those chickens are literally bloated on the breast area as its been noted that more and more people nowadays prefer the breast meat so the feed has been designed to grow those areas of the chicken at such a rate that the body of those chicken can't keep up with the exponential growth rate.

It was even more disturbing to find out that because of these new and 'improved' practises, bacteria which is usually not found in those food are contaminated but at the same time being sold to the general public!! It makes you wonder if you should really grow your own food (talk about being in a dilemma, on one hand there's not enough land, on the other, how much can you really grow by yourself to be sustainable?)

Well for those of you who would be interested to see the good & bad of the industry which everyone seems to take for granted this would be a good docu-movie to impart some awareness to you guys^^

Before you Enlist - the wishlist;)

2009-10-13T22:01:00.008+08:00

Time sure flies when you're not really keeping tabs on it, well how do you keep tabs on it?!? haha;p Jason was telling me he was feeling peckish the other day and it was roughly a week before he was due to enlist and serve his country; he told me the one thing he wanted to try before he does go for the enlistment was to try a pavlova ( seriously, the last time I made one was way way back when I was still working in Melbourne hehe;p)

I took up his challenge and he also requested for some pasta & soup for him to try.. and I must say I was quite surprised with some of the results^^

First up is this double boiled chicken soup with ginger & asparagus, sounds like a very odd combination but honestly, it turned out quite well. It was very cleansing on the palate and also it prepared you for the upcoming course which was the pasta; well the pasta was not a new creation, just a classic which I brought back(Ange would drool for this hehe;p)^^

Its the rustic remake of the olio I made a while back and yes, ange, I'll make it for the group when I get back, lets hope we'll have enough space in out tummys since every time I'm back we'll be just eating only^^
The pasta dish as always was a crowd favorite, even my staff went ecstatic for it^^

Well I was a little disappointed with this one due to the fact that I almost burnt it when I first baked it, it almost turned into a golden brown - we don't want that with a pavlova!! Well good thing I checked it during the 5mins intervals I planned orelse there was no saving this, and the second baking too alot longer as I was not used to the other oven we had^^ Shows how long since I last made this hehe;p Jason, when you do visit Brunei one day, I'll treat you to one which is sooo sooo divine, and its from the restaurant that I always promote even though I'm across the pond^^

Yes, you guys back home, I'm talking about Saffron^^ Lady Fa will be so please with my PR for her restaurant hahaha;p

Well that's it for my updates for awhile, will be busy with work as my boss will be on leave till next week and I'll be in the weeds with paperwork and meetings^^ Till then, Jason have fun with your NS and guys at home, can't wait to catch up with the chaos form the other side of the pond^^

And the answer is....

2009-10-13T21:52:00.005+08:00

Last time, I checked I remembered that the guessing game was still on, however, I think everyone got discouraged from the last answer hehe;p

Sad though, this one was a very edible one^^

well here's one more look at the item:

And here's the anwser: Its actually a sweet paste made from Almonds, Sesame seeds & Sugar^^ I made this out of the whim and I thought it would be a nice guessing game since the last one drew quite a few attention from you guys^^

This one's the fried bread stuffed with the almond paste^^

This other one was baked and I must say, I didn't know which I preferred better.... Well you guys can decide for me^^

Sheperd's Pie Again? Well not quite^^

2009-09-27T01:34:00.008+08:00

Here I was watching Top Chef the other day and they were deconstructing classical dishes. One of them happen to chance onto one of my favorite comfort foods - the Sheperd's Pie^^

Unfortunately for the contestant, he's only ever tried his own sheperd's pie, so we couldn't really see the real deconstruction process^^ As for me, I've had quite a few in my time in the industry, and I can still remember the one I had in the land down under, chunky chunks of lamb and veal braised in veal & chicken stock, tomatoes, carrots & a generous helping of mashed potatoes on top, gratinated to a crisp;)

So this is what a regular sheperd's pie looks like, somewhat, depending on the chef who's making it... This one's mine^^

And this is what my deconstructed one looked like:

For those of you wondering, a deconstruction is basically when one breaks down a dish so that all the components are allowed to shine on their own and when eaten together comes together in the mouth as the complete dish it was^^ It sounds confusing and all, however, the experience of trying dishes that are executed properly, you'll really fall in love with the dish no matter how it looks like;) Boy would my lecturer's back from school would love to smack me in the head for writing this down. Though they've probably always known I've always taken my food far left field, its always risky but I'm akways capable of executing it just right^^

This is my up close and personal shot of my dish^^ Cool huh? One dish executed two ways^^

Vegan Salad

2009-09-27T00:58:00.004+08:00

You know how, when you're trying out something new, everyone around you will be curious and would want to try it out too? Well this so goes with my vegan diet right now, It was funny when I made this salad, everyone was eyeing it and they wanted to have a nice bite at it too... cheeky people I work with...

I was trying out salad combinations in my mind and somehow I got to this creation... Its a very interesting combination, one somehow I've taken a liking to once I actually sat down to munch on it hehe;p

So here's to my Fruit & vegetable salad with Gula Melaka Dressing.
I enjoyed eating it though, it actually balances out the sweetness of the dressing and cos lettuce^^ Though on reflecting, I think I could've added some nuts into the mix to give it that extra bite^^

Well, there's always another trial run^^

Pop! Goes the Popcorn

2009-09-27T00:49:00.004+08:00

Well here's another day of being a vegan, and surprisingly enough I was craving for something sweet^^ And of all things, I wanted Popcorn^^ Well i got one of the boys to go buy some corn kernels which I could use to make them, however the store only sold microwaveable ones-_-''' Totally uncalled for, so what do i do when I was presented this option? I ripped out the bag, washed the corn kernels and made them myself^^ hehe;p

Doesn't look half bad eh? You couldn't even tell it was popped in the pot^^ and drizzle some caramel topping and say hello to extra pounds haha;p

Vegan, I'm going vegan

2009-09-22T13:21:00.005+08:00

Vegan... Surprisingly alot of my coworkers have been asking me why I've decided to become a vegan. Honestly, I don't know... its just that I've been on vegan diets before and no, its not from a religous aspect, I think its more on personal well being^^

However before I bore whomever is reading about me going on and on about my vegan stint, FYI I'm probably gonna stick to this indefinietly - yes, its very hard as there are plenty of temptations in the kitchen; what with everyone munching on tender juicy steaks, and crispy fried chicken but I disgress^^

So here's to my first week as a vegan (trust me I've got tons and tons of dishes whcih are completely catered to vegans so I know in a sense I aint really missing out - much hehe;p).

So here's one of the first few dishes I made which is cooked without any garlic, onions(well this is more of the buddhist belief, am not really sure how it relates to being a vegan but apparently they don't belong on the diet - will probably have to get some research done) and anything that is of animal origin^^ Looks yummy huh? I knew you guys will have a hard time believing this but everyone wanted to try some and I was left with just small scraps (thanks guys, I owe ya one-_-').

Till then, I'll be posting more soon^^

Sheperd pie, one of my comfort foods^^

2009-09-22T13:12:00.006+08:00

This little guy will probably be one of my last carnivorous meal in a while and I've been hankering to make some pie in the kitchen for awhile since its been raining quite frequently on the little island^^

Since we've got an excess of mutton in the kitchen the other day, I thought I might as well make some comfort food which I've yet to have in a loooooooong while^^

I gotta admit, I've always liked sheperd's pie since the time I went to the land down under for my studies in the field and it is easily one of the things I can make at home with my eyes closed hehe;p well not literally;)

And what's more better than one sheperd's pie? Its having more than one.... boy have I become a glutton hahaha;p

And the answer is....

2009-09-22T13:00:00.004+08:00

Here's to you guys & gals who have been squaring off in my facebook about what this particular thing was^^

Well the answer is.... wait for it... wait for it.... Its (you guys are gonna kill me hahaha;p) just a plain ol' simple egg, which I've removed the yolk & whites and just markered it black hehe;p

It was fun though guys & gals, Lets see if you'll have better luck with this one^^

Bon-Journo Italiano

2009-09-16T15:53:00.004+08:00

Recently I've been feeling down in the rut, so my cooking has been kind of off lately. This was one of the interesting outcomes I've had, however the only thing that made it not such a great dish was that I was kinda short on the seasoning^^

I was trying for a rustic Italian feel, sure I was lacking in alot of particular ingredients from the region, so you do what you need to do^^ If only my company would ever start to understand and use 'real' food one day, but eh, one can wish hehe;p

If only I had some olives, sun-dried tomatoes, black truffles & shaved parmesan cheese, this dish would've been heaven....I should probably find a way to incorporate aioli...hmmm now that has gotten me to start thinking again....Till next time, I wonder whats in the works hehe;p

From a Hole in the head to a Toad in a Hole - Go figure...

2009-09-16T13:33:00.004+08:00

This dish is such a coincidentel experiment, I was listening to a song on the radio the other day which was playing hole in the head by the sugarbabes and when I got home I was rewatching Top Chef Season 2 where Sam made a toad in a hole, on the way to work, while I was reading Larousse on English cookery, it mentioned Toad in a Hole... Fast forward to work, I thought I should try and make it, since its been in my face for the whole day already hehe;p

And to top it off I had a new guinea pig to try my food, he's a new commis who just tansferred from Junction 8...

Well I must say considering the only visual reference I've ever had about a toad in a hole was the one made by Sam on Top Chef, and I must say, it was his own interpertation^^ So this is mine, I've actually made it differently from the regular one, which apparently use yorkshire pudding base, mine was more of the dough type and its flavored with bananas & raisins and 'stuffed' with herb sausages^^

Waffles, I want some Belgium Waffles...

2009-09-16T13:23:00.003+08:00

Funnily enough, I was craving for some Belgium waffles, though unfortunately for me the outlet only has its own regular waffles. So what does one do when life gives you lemons, you make lemon meringue pie right? Well that was kind of my case in point, I decided to add fruits and crunchy topping to my own waffles^^

This isn't exactly an original, though I did enjoy sharing it with my cooks^^ and I had a little help from a former staff^^

Trying to be artsy, well you guys make the decision

2009-08-24T15:15:00.006+08:00

Just sticking a parsley spring in a cheese shaker made me do this...

So what do you guys think? yay or nay? hahaha...

Multi-tasking you say

2009-08-24T14:08:00.004+08:00

"Chef?"

"Yes?"

"Do you still remember the dessert you made the other day?"

"Which one would that be? I've made quite a few for our staff food..."

"Well its the one with the bread and the custard..."

"Oh right, you mean the bread and butter pudding?"

"Yes, could you make it again today for dinner? It was super yummy the last time you made it."

"Umm, Ok, let me go check to see if I still have any bread left over - well you're in luck, I just happen to have some, I'll prepare some now."

"Thanks Chef"

"Your welcome"

That was the conversation between one of my service staff and I, and she's a 17yr old!! Trying to juggle school & work. Kids from where I'm from should take note bout how much kids on the island... They're ready to face reality that not everything can be handed to you if you ask your parents, you should learn to stand on your own two feet when you're about to finish high school. But then again, there are laws from there that state children below 18 can work - urgh I hope things change back there soon enough so that the kids'll be able to see the whole picture that is our world, instead of being satisfied with the small bubble which they've been brought up to believe everything will always be provided for you..

Well back to topic, was getting abit off topic earlier on... apologies.

So when i was going round to making the bread & butter pudding, madam Ange called me all the way from across the pond. And it was kinda funny, she only realise that I was making something whilst talking to her halfway when she heard me whisking the eggs & cream together.

If only you guys could've seen me then, I looked like I was mentally chanllenged, with one head on my shoulder, whisking eggs & cream together and also trying to place everything in the bowl. It was fun, multi tasking, talking on the fone and checking up on my boys and getting the dessert done^^

Crepes, Crepes

2009-08-24T13:56:00.004+08:00

Funny how this dish came along, to cut a long story short, my chef was planning on making popiah for late supper and when I was observing his batter it kind of reminded me of crepe batter. I asked him if making popiah batter; shouldn't it be alot more thicker much more resembling a dough, and he said yea, it should, however he's never made those before so he decided to make it similar to a pancake batter...

Well that's one way of going round a problem^^ So while he was busy with his popiah production, I thought, since its been way too long - I decided to make some crepes, to compliment the savory one that he was making^^

So, here's the pancakes or crepes or whichever way you want to call them. I initailly was planning on stacking them to make it like a multilayered cake, however I figured that my kitchen was way too hot and it would make the so called cake kinda look like mush. I decided to make some caramelised bananas infused with maple and ginger and wrapped together with the crepe.

Looks very simple, however the taste was great^^ Yums^^

Maltesers in Bread, that can't be right now can it?

2009-08-14T17:45:00.004+08:00

True, its sooo true, i like playing around with food(well not literally per say) but more on trying to find mixes and matches, though this one I actually found kinda amusing^^

I was trying to incorporate some leftover sweet potatoes into my bread and I thought, hey lets add something sweet into the dough for filling and somehow my mind just jumped straight ahead to maltesers - go figure hehe;p

Initially I wanted to bake it, however chocolate and baking aren't always on good terms with each other, so I decided to take another alternative route - deep frying it, and guess what It turned out quite well!!

At first I wanted to make something like a bagel, but with bagels you need to poach them first, and quite frankly I didn't have time for that so I made it into something like a belinier, you know those doughnuts with fillings pumped into them after they've been fried, though mine already had its filling in them already - naughty I know;)

I know what you guys are thinking, I should've been more generous with the fillings, however I was afraid they might explode during frying (Oh well, there's always another time^^)...

Durian, durians, Durian Crumble??

2009-08-14T17:34:00.008+08:00

This was made for a staff who was leaving the kitchen (well as of this post he's left a couple of months ago, that's how long I've been away from blogging and the internet hahahaha;p).

I asked him, what he wanted to eat since he was leaving us already and his reply as always by him was anything you make chef, would be good; I don't know whether to take it as a good thing or a bad thing, but one thing was that it felt like I was leaving because it was something I had make and try to impress him hahaha;)

Ta-Dah!! My Durian Crumble;)
I know alot of people are gonna wonder about the smell and all, though I've a;ways been fond of durians, so the smell didn't bother me - it made me wanna eat it before taking a photo of it!!

Though I didn't take the photo of the filling inside, it was bananas macerated in gula melake and some durian puree. Delicious!!

Think poaching, but not in water...

2009-08-14T17:11:00.004+08:00

Here's to a post in a loooooooong while, well here I was the other day reading through the Larousse Gastronomique (for those not in the know, its kinda like the french kitchen's bible) and I was reading up on poaching. Its only mentioned that food items are cooked in a liquid which is brought to a simmer which is about to boil and most people poach in water, so I thought for good measure let's try Oil?

Why not right? Its only fun when you get to try and experiment^^

This was kinda my expreiment & breakfast that I shared with my staff and boy were they happy they got a very nice and filling breakfast^^
My Oil Poached Prawn & Egg Salad with a Chilli & Ginger Vinegratte.
I've only realised this when posting it up the egg was also poached albiet in water though not oil hehe;)

Finally Online!!!

2009-08-13T00:14:00.002+08:00

Thank GoD!!!!!

Its been ages since my modem's been down and after strangling my housemate to get it done in ages, I'm finally back online!!!
so be prepared for a ridiculous amount of updates in the coming days^^

Till den, I've got to take a shower and sleep because its 1am already hahaha^^

Sweet Potato Bread V2.0

2009-02-28T20:52:00.000+08:00

Finally I got to try and make my sweet potato breads again, this time, I was thinking of making as a sort of buttermilk filling in the breadroll. The sweet potatoes were basically roasted in the oven so as to retain most of the sweetness instead of boiling it, where the flavors would be lost in the liquid^^

And with the help(well kinda, she wanted to make a flower?!?) of Selina, we set out to rolling and trying it out.

Well I've basically made 2 types, one was by frying it as much like a belineir and baking it in the oven^^

This one is the fried one, I liked its texture, though what I realised was that the frying actually makes the texture of the dough abit dull and also it masked most of the sweet potato filling...

These ones are the baked ones, yup the odd looking flowery one was done by Selina, she was sooo excited with it that she almost didn't let me take a photo shot of it; she claims she was extremely hungry and wanted to wolf it down hehe;p

I kinda misjudged the amount of filling that had to be in the dough, and turns out that I put in a tab bit too little, oh well now I have to make a V2.1 soon...

Its fun trying to teach yourself the rights and wrongs of cooking^^

Back to your roots per se...

2009-02-28T20:32:00.000+08:00

I had a short trip back home to Brunei recently and I can't say enough how much I missed everyone back home, and the best thing was I got to catch up with everyone again^^

It was mad fun, getting into the group dynamics again and we hung out at the Bistro dela Tungku (courtesy of Lady Fa, she's so gonna kill me when she reads this hehe;p) Well this beautiful Bistro is located in Rimba and its location is only known to a few people and the food is always great!! Everyone's always having fun and letting down their hair(well not me, my hair is short enough, though Jasinta was having fun hahaha;p)and this time round we had Argentenian BBQ.

I can still smell(Rina, for your info I've washed my hair hehe;p) the smoke form the BBQ pit, where there was a whole carcass of lamb there Roasting and the Chicken, not to mention the salads & gorgeous spread of food, mmmm droolz....

It was a fun night to catch up(literally, we were there till 2am) and the good food that we had, I still look it up on my taste memory - mmm fingerling potatoes, prawn & avocado salad, tuna pasta, and the list goes on.... And I did bring back something from home - eclairs hehe;p

An unexpected Outing^^

2009-02-28T19:52:00.000+08:00

This was kinda an impromptu gathering where it was supposed to be a whole group of me and my friends but, in the end just came down to just me, selina & 'mother' hehe;p
The occasion was basically 'mother' got a nice windfall(well can't really call it that, but it just sound nice^^) and she wanted to treat all of us to good fish head curry^^ Do I hear some people drooling hehe;p

So, we headed over to Juroung west where there's this Kopitiam stall that is well known for their fish head curry and might I add, I was kinda curious to find out how they make this curry on the island^^

Turns out I was pleasently surprised with the curry as featured below:

Honestly, I've yet to try out fish head curry made with a combination of milk(coconut & evaporated milk), I was sooo taken aback with the clever usage of the milks as it provided a nice silky texture and also a play on the palate as you could feel the milk soilds, those that has been refined and coagulated with the gelatin found in the fish head. Not only that I was blown away with the usage of pineapple as an acid where it impart more of a bite instead of the usual runny gravy that you usually find with this dish^^

I can still feel the texture of the curry gravy on my tongue, and the fish head was cooked just right, it was not so overdone and the cheeks were attacked by me first hehe;p Sorry Selina & 'mother' but the cheeks were the most wonderfully moist and tender part of the head^^ And still drooling for more^^

Well we did have a food spread of a many different varieties of food, but I must say the curry takes the cake so I won't bore anyone with details of the so-so food stuffss^^

And another discovery was that Selina ordered something which was very intriguing... and from what she told me this was a dish which the Hakka contingent of the Chinese dialect have on Chinese New Year (yes, if your all still wondering, I'm still in Chinese New Year mode hehe;p). The irony of it was that she's not Hakka, instead she's from the Fukien Dialect - Surprise, Surprise!!

The interesting thing about this dish is that in order to eat it, you need to pour tea soup over it and mix it all up and voila, a healthy vegan dish on its own for you to fill your tummy^^ I'm still uncertain or rather, I've forgotten what this dish is called, so I'll have to ask Selian whats it called again;)

Not as Expected...

2009-02-28T19:30:00.000+08:00

Conceptually I thought I would be able to readapt a classic; however fantasy sometimes doesn't realy translate into reality. I know my taste memory is still very green and I've got a long way to go when it comes to being a great cook; I was hoping this could've worked - Oh well at least I found one way this dish doesn't turn out right^^

The dish in particular is a classic bread & butter pudding... This time I was hoping to incorporate caramelised taro into it. For those of you who aren't sure, taro is what we called yam in Asia^^

I guess my first mistake was cutting it into a Brunoise instead of the Macadoise. Another thing that I didn't expect was the reaction I would get with the sugar & taro, it almost turned into sludge when I was done pouring over it. However mistakes learned, I could alwaays try another way of making it^^

Look out for version 2.0

Sticky Rice cakes^^

2009-02-26T13:08:00.001+08:00

For those in the know, well its a chinese tradition, that every Chinese New Year, Chinese families will make this treat; its like wishful thinking(being prosperous and having abundance) and a reminder of your roots(don't foget where you came from and family bonds)^^

I'm not sure of the spelling in english but its called the nian kao - I hope I got the spelling right hehe;p

How my family makes this is usally with a nice slice of yam stuck together with the rice cake and fried in batter; so I was extremely surprised when I saw another way of making it^^ See here on the Island, one of my friends actually took the time to wrap it in springroll pastry and the result as you can see from the above was very different both in texture and in tatse^^

It was sooo refreshing to see the rice cake oozing out of the pastry and moreover a crunch when you do bite into the treat^^

Fritters what?

2009-02-26T12:36:00.000+08:00

Since I'm still on the path of rediscovery, I was scheming through a book, which has always inspired me time and time again whenever I read it; its like a totaly different book whenever you read it another time^^

This time round, while I was reading the book, I came across chef Jasper white's recipe for Apple fritters, and I realised that its been a long while since I actually had some myself. So I made my own adaptation for apple fritters, and it was with a yeast batter, mainly because the apples that were in my chiller were very very sour (kinda surprised by those granny smiths^^).

Although, I didn't have any icing sugar in the kitchen, I drizzled some honey and maple to give it some nice balance^^ Yum^^

A toss of Salads and stuff...

2009-02-12T16:40:00.000+08:00

I've been doing some thinking while charging straight ahead on since the year of the Ox has come to play... I'm thinking, I need to find more stable ground on where I am, where I'm heading and where I want to be...

Its odd, after all this time of upping and leaving my home, and after a heck load of trials and revelations back home, getting out of a bad relationship, and not cooking for over a year... I knew I came over to the Island to find myself, and find myself I did, though, I feel its still missing some things, maybe my tenure with my current place is about to be up (and not at a right time with the current economic season, though I'm optimistic^^)

My love for cooking, I feel is still growing, its not come to a stop yet, I feel like its time that I really started to get into the real world of cooking, I miss the real combat ground, where one honors and do right for the ingredients, ideas and concepts of my peers, something I've missed alot when I just starting out.... The passion is still there, just that I thought I had killed it as my former life back home, though now I'm more confident in my skills, I wanna move forward and keep getting better...

I'm getting there, and the journey so far has been extremely insightful for me, getting to re-acquaint myself in the field that I know I will be in for a loong time ahead^^ I know I'll reach my destination, when, I don't know, but I do know that I don't want to stop, I want to get better in what I love doing and which is my Passion!!

Yakitate Sing-pan!! Well Kinda hehe;p

2009-02-12T16:19:00.000+08:00

I've always had the fasination for making Polo Pau(am not quite sure how they spell it) since I first started learning how to make bread; mainly because this bread is unique in a sense, its baked with a cookie crust on top of it...

So I decided to create my own(and what I found out was that this is a very popular bread in Japan and its flavored with musk melon!! Am drooling, just thinking about the flavor combinations) I've always noticed that even though its baked with the cookie crust, the crust is never crispy and crunchy, well the fact that bread dough and cookie dough have to be cooked in different temperatures - there has to be a way to make it come out right, right?

As you can see I basically made a crumble crust, and held it together with some buttermilk^^ Its a little off the mark, though you will have to forgive me, its my first time making it^^
The major thing mising from this bread is a form of color, well amd just gonna try again next time to make it come out even better^^

The next one will be better^^

Pizza, We should open a pizzaria; well maybe not... yet...

2009-02-12T16:03:00.000+08:00

Jason was saying that since he was leaving soon, he wanted to have some pizza, and no, its not the ones from work, it had to be different - basically handmade;) So it fell to me to make its since he was leaving soon(and I did promise to make it for him before he left) and I had to kinda remember the recipe off the top of my head, because its been a long while since I've made any bread^^

It was kinda like a trial and error thing, though I found my rythm in making the dough easily as if it was second nature to me, eventhough its been sooo long since I made anything with bread^^

I ended up making 2 pizzas with different toppings on both, one was a classic Hawaiian and the other was my creation of Smoked Salmon Pizza^^

It was funny when pizzas were done, everyone was scarmbling to get a slice hehe;p

Something Imprinted in my Mind from Adelaide...

2009-02-12T15:49:00.000+08:00

For those of you who don't know, I was studying in Adelaide a long, long, long time ago, and one of the distinctive things I've always been reminded of Adelaide was one of its night specialties(well not really because of the fact that most people would be drunk to remember this food hehe;p)...

Its called a pie floater; what it basically is.. its a really really thick pea soup and placed in the middle is a really fatty pie that has been turned upside down, hence the name pie floater. The great thing about this is that in order to really enjoy it, you would have to be on the verge of being drunk and that's where the hunger pangs come it, and this dish is synonymous with Adelaide(as its the only place in Australia you can get it!!).

So I decided to make one, kinda like an intrepetation on it, and since my kitchen padawan was gonna fly the coop soon, and I thought he might like to see something different^^

So? Whatcha think about it? I know it kinda looks more classy then its original predecessor(believe me, it aint easy to find its picture on the web)

Frankly, I enjoyed it, though I wished I had better cheeses to work with in my kitchen, it was the cheap mass produced chesse, so the soup became abit too thick for the milk fats of the cheese, but all in all everyone enjoyed it^^

Something Sour to keep you healthy... and it aint a whiskey sour;p

2009-02-12T15:35:00.000+08:00

Here's something I found a couple of days back when I was getting some bread at the convenient store close to where I stay. And guess what I found?

I know some of you might think that I've gone bonkers with this but what the heck, eh? Its called plum vinegar and it comes in 4 different flavors^^

I'm pretty sure there's gonna be a ton of ways to make stuff out of this base, I especially love the acid that it gives, its not too overpowering and apparently from the back of the package it says its a natural breath freshner (don't know about that, but we'll see)...

Now to find a way to make something for this, I'm thinking salad or maybe a nice sauce accompaniment for an entree or appetiser... hmm... decisions... decisions...

As Requested^^

2009-02-12T15:21:00.000+08:00

Wow! Been a heck of awhile since I last posted anything, guess with the Ox year well under way, I've been charging ahead like the ox hehe;p

Well the first post I decided to put up the pictures of the Pineapple Tarts that I made somewhere in between the Chinese New Year week...

As far as the comments I got, everyone was kinda surprised with the cookie, as it was done in a way that it was light and crumbly, some even thought it wasn't cooked, though I assured them it was^^ And considering this is my first attempt at making them, I kinda liked it; though I must say the Pineapple marmalade on the top should've been given some acid to counter the caramelisation process in the oven^^

Anyways am still very hapy with the outcome^^

Coleslaw? No, Jackslaw hehe;p

2009-02-05T01:12:00.000+08:00

I'm pretty sure this hasn't been tried out yet; as most people find the smell of the humble jackfruit a little too pungent for their liking, though I've always been a fan since I was a wee toddler^^

I thought I could try to make an asian version of the every trusty coleslaw and this is what I came up with, I'm open to comments^^

Ta-Dah!! A simple Jackfruit with Longan slaw drizzled with a chilli lemon vinagrette^^

B'fast Smarts^^

2009-02-05T00:51:00.000+08:00

So here I was the other day during my breakfast shift, things were going slow, and I do mean S-L-O-W...

I was thinking on making a simple breakfast with strawberries and I ended up making a full breakfast with a simple strawberry side-_-.. I know...silly me.. hehe;p
However I think the result was quite well...

See a simple breakfast of grilled ham & cheese sandwich, cheesy sausage strips, fried egg and honey mapled glaced strawberries with a sweet mayo drizzle^^

Filling^^

Battle of Buttermilk...

2009-02-05T00:36:00.000+08:00

Its been awhile since I last blogged Hehe;p
So I thought I should come up with this odd title for this entry^^

Well, this came about during the first & second days of Chinese New Year; and we had a ridiculous amount of 'controlled' items for staff meals, so my outlet chef and the other assistant decide to have a battle to see who could make the best buttermilk shellfish^^ I'm guessing some of you know who won, hehe;p

It was quite close, just the fact that I was a little slower in finishing (as we all know good food takes time^^), my buttermilk crayfish was liked most by the staff in the outlet^^

Another look at the winning dish^^

Roll for Good Luck^^

2009-01-27T08:50:00.000+08:00

Yea!! Chinese New Years is here, and well even though I'm working in another country doesn't mean I can't celebrate it in my little own way^^

This is odd actually, as I just came home from work like half an hour before it was officially Chinese New Year, one of my roommates was actually getting ready to roll the mandarins on the floor as from what I was told, it symbolises good luck as the rolling of the mandarins provide good chi as in more bountiful returns for those who stay in the place?

I'm not quite sure on what it means, but... if it means I'll earn more this year then I'm all up for it hehe;p

Hehe, If only I could get a picture on the looks of our neighbors faces when they actually saw us doing this, I think he thought we've gone insane^^ Though I have to admit, It was Fun^^

Gong Xi Fa Cai and Many Prosperous & Happy Returns everyone$$ Cheers to the Year of the OX^^

Sacllops, the thing I crave for New Years but was shot down...

2009-01-27T08:30:00.000+08:00

Scallops!!! I've been waiting to actually cook these the other day when they finally arrive for the kitchen to use for the Gathering dinner..

Unfortunately as the title suggests, it was a huge letdown beacuse a)the scallops were frozen b)they were sooo puny, you can't even call them scallops and c)On the freshness scale, I don't think it was even frozen fresh at all...

I tried my best to salvage whatever I could and decided to make a small appetizer of the scallops, well basically seared scallops served on top of a sauteed version of a vichicoise and orange monte au buerre... Conceptually, it sounded quite well and I thought it was gonna be okay if I did manage to pull it off, though I guess I'll let you guys decide^^

Yea, its actually dull in the color department, though, I did try my best, my worst fears were confirmed when I tasted the scallops - they seriously weren't frozen fresh... Sad though that the company (I know it was good intentions and all though there wasn't any thought for the quality) would consider getting these kind of quality scallops-_-...

Oh well, at least it looks good in picture rather than the taste hehe;p

Of Chillies & Lamb...

2009-01-27T08:10:00.000+08:00

This basically came out of a discussion I had the other day with Jason, and I'm thinking it was along the lines, he mentioned he's never had Shepherds pie before. I was dumbstruck; because it was one of the most simplistic(well for me anyway) comfort foods you can find and its such great fun eating it^^

So I decided to make some at work, so he could experience what shepherds pie really was albiet that the minced lamb had to be changed to minced chicken as my kitchen doesn't hold any lamb^^

I know what some of you might be thinking, shouldn't it come with its own pie base too? well it could though personally I've always liked serving it on a dish, it looks much more appetising^^ The filling inside is basically sauteed minced chicken with mushroom, tomatoes, onions and garlic with some thyme & tomatoe paste and topped off with mashed potatoes;)

Doesn't it make your mouth just water, just by looking at it? hehe;p
It would have been even better if the dish was made with lamb though I guess you really need to imrpovise sometimes when you don't have certain items^^ But if you should know, everyone finished it off so I can safely say it was all a success^^

Not only that I got round to making the Chilli Chocolate souffle v2.0.
Unfortunately this time, my oven door was left ajar when there was a pizza order so my souffle basically became a dud when it was done-_-...

Sadly it didn't get to really rise, so what came out of the oven was basically a round shaped-like souffle - a dud-_-..
Well maybe making it a third time would be the charm^^

Trip to Morocco, well sorta

2009-01-21T00:20:00.000+08:00

I've been meaning to try out the Moroccan lounge in Clarke Quay - and honestly I was quite happy with it^^

Met up with Jason and off we went to Clarke Quay; well we were abit early so we got to exploring Liang court(he told me they sold squared watermelons, and I had to see it to believe it^^) nearby... Honestly I became like a kid in a candy store^^ We were exploring the supermarket in the basement and it was amazing with what the amount of fresh produce I could find, its been way toooo long^^ Was planning on taking photos of the items, but was told we couldn't really do so & sadly we didn't find the watermelons, maybe next time...

It was after I could get myself away from the supermarket, we headed back to Marrakesh - a beautiful lounge style restaurant which caters middle eastern & morroccan food^^

So this was what we had...

Classic Cocktail - The Blue Lagoon; well its just basically Vodka & Sprite mixed together but still its good^^

Marrakesh Signature Cocktail - The Marrakesh Special; its an interesting blend of Pineapple, vodka & if I remember correctly some coconut(hmm probably have to go back for seconds^^)

Enough bout the drinks we're heading off to food^^
What was ordered was kinda typical for morroccan food, though I don't think I'm an expert, I've known most of the basics^^

First up is the Falafels - Yup well its a simple finger type food, which is made up of basically mashed chickpeas, flavored with spices and fried, can you say yum?^^

Next up is a middle eastern salad called Fattoush- I think that's how its spelled^^
Its basically made up of cucumbers, tomatoes, olive(3types!), Carrots, Capsicum, & Onions. Drizzled on top was the dressing made of olive oil, lemon juice & what I presume for them smoked paprika powder. The thing I liked about this salad was the fact that they had pita chips on top and it was executed in way that it was very refreshing on the palate, it was a rustic feel & was not too acidic and the seasoning was just right. We keep having more after the first bite^^

Lastly, its my favorite, the Kibbeh; its basically mince lamb fritters stuffed with Pines nuts, and they weren't kidding on the stuffing^^

As you can see, its genorously suffed with pine nuts, and we know how much these little guys cost^^ It was well done, the meat was moist though, i wish it was seasoned a little bit more because lamb has quite a heavy feel on the palate it can easily overpower the spices when its not executed properly^^

All in all, it was a great impromptu kinda dinner before the Chinese New Year(yes, I know, I'm a little late in posting it up^^) After having a couple more drinks we decided to call it a night, well that is after someone got abit overdosed on the food & drinks hehe;p

Souffle... Chiffon... Souffle...

2009-01-20T23:52:00.000+08:00

Yes!! Finally, the kitchen has Chilli Padi again, well, mainly because one of the old new menu items uses it for the sauce...

So... I decided to make an improtu dessert with chilli - wierd to some people, but for me its because I had chocolate infused with some chillies before and I've actually liked the combination^^

It was supposed to be a Souffle, though texture wise, it became a chiffon - I put too much flour in it-_-..
I was abit unhappy with the flavor as the chocolate the restaurant uses is quite sweet and it overpowered the chilli; oh well back to trying to better it again... Gonna try this again tomorrow for work^^

Sweet, Sweeter, Sweetest....

2009-01-17T18:44:00.001+08:00

So moving along, I was thinking about something to make with apples - since its been quite cool in the island lately, its always windy but not a drop of rain anywhere (though from what I've heard back home its been pouring buckets hehe;p)...

I was really contemplating on either making an appetizer or a dessert... Jason was asking me what kind of amuse it was gonna be; and frankly I didn't even know which it was gonna be... I've been restricted to the fact that I know apples always goes well with pork, though sadly my kitchen doesn't carry any so I was thinking maybe chicken - but the thought made me think other wise. So off I went to the fountain area to get some frozen fruits and, I managed to get some cranberries & blueberries^^

Not Long everything was coming into the picture and I was leaning towards a dessert with the apples and this is what I got>>

I call it my Toffee'd Apple with Forest Fruit Compote

The apple slices were poached in coffee and caramelised in the oven to give it the sweet and 'burnt' texture, while the fruits, I've basically made a nice compote with it^^
Initially I was quite happy with the presentation though, I wished I didn't quenelled the cream - it kinda sticks out-_-... And I should've tasted the compote - Jason was the first to go grab a glass of water as it was extremely sweet; though after the sugar rush, I reckon if the dish was served cold, it would've been fine^^

Oh well, its still trail & error, I'm planning on re-working this dish, its piqued my interest if you might say^^

Does procrastinating ever work? Sometimes...

2009-01-17T18:37:00.001+08:00

I guess I should be proud of myself, got busted for smoking today, of all days I decided to go light up hehe;p Irony of It all is that I've been procrastinating about not lighting up again and this comes and slaps me in the face;) (Nice one Big guy up there, it sure got me thinking bout my choice of lighting up again -$200!!)

Can't really seem to get the scanner working; was planning on scanning in the fine as my constant reminder so that I don't light up again (as much as I've always been fond of this addiction-_-...)

Don't worry will post it up when I figure out the scanner hehe;p

Nice one... Its been awhile....

2009-01-16T10:04:00.000+08:00

This feels kinda pathetic of me especially, since its been along time since I've cut myself while working, however this time, I've actually given myself a nice gash while opening a beer bottle... Sad, I know....

Trust me, I'm no Masochist, just wanted to show off my own 'war' scars(God knows how much I've had when I first strated in the kitchen hehe;p), though this can't really count as one... can it?

There, its all patched up... Now its to deal with a stuffy glove for the next few days at work -_-...

Food Smarts...

2009-01-11T12:55:00.000+08:00

I don't know whats gotten into me lately, but I think I've been more interested in creating small simple dishes such as amuses or appetizers... I think its because its one of the most interesting componets to the meal, 1. its the start of a meal so when people taste a really good appetizer or amuse, they will know that the food that is about to be served during the whole service will be good & 2. it showcases what the chef is capable of creating under certain constraints^^ something I've still getting used to at where I work at....

This is my creation - Pan Seared Fish Fillets with a Citron Creme^^
I was thinking about something to do with Dory Fish (which at where I work at, is basically the only fish used-_-..) and also I was thinking about something to do with Vodka Citron.
I honestly think this pairing goes well together especially with the earthyness of the fish fillet and the citrus zest of the sauce; and that if I had some vodka to work with, where I flambe the lemon zest together with the lime leaves, its would give the sauce the extra zest, unfortunately I didn't have it...

All in all, I was very happy with what I came up with in 15minutes, before my area chef called me over to talk about some stuff, luckily, I wolved down my creation before he got a chance to lay his eyes on it, orelse I'll be given that look hehe;p Till next time...

Of The year behind...

2009-01-06T03:09:00.000+08:00

I should've posted this a long, long time ago, but hey, do you know the amount of time you need to rework some of the pictures? (well I'm still new to editing pictures & stuff... hmm... should consider getting Adobe Photoshop....)

Well this was basically the Post-Christmas/Pre-New Year's/Brithday celebration for the outlet and might I add, everyone who came, made it so much more fun^^

Since I'm a foodie first & foremost, I'm gonna post the pictures of the foods first^^ hehe;p

First up is the Peppered Mini-Sausages with an Apple Pineapple Prune Sauce...
I would also like to point out that the foods that were cooked on the night itself did come from the menu, however it was my interpretation on how it would actually taste; though I do know some who did disagree, Heck!! I was doing all the cooking so you have no say on the subject matter^^ hehe;p

Next up, quite a self explainatory by itself, some Turkey Ham, well it was 2 types: The Cheesy Stuff Ham & The Apricot & Black Pepper Ham, Served with a Pineapple Mint Dip & Turkey Gravy...

Turkey!!! No Christmas celebration is without its Turkey^^ Well this one has been chopped up in advance for easy service as I wouldn't want to be stuck carving it for those who wanna have a bite of it^^

Mmm... Meatball Pasta, This is the favorite of almost everyone who loves meatballs^^ A Simple dish which I've thickened the napolitan sauce and sauteed, the zucchini, olives & mushroom together with the pasta & Baked it off in the oven with cheese... mmm...can you say, fattening? hahahaha;p

And Lastly, I kinda liked this one alot, though some did find the spiciness overpowering Spicy Shrimp Pasta^^ Its basically, a spiced up napolitan sauce with lemon juice & chillies, Sauteed with some Spring Onions & Shitake Mushroom - very oriental in creation, I think its suited this dish best^^

Now I would not bore you much longer on the food, However I guess the following random pictures will explain itself;)

And you said we were buddies?!?

Trying our best to look cool for the camera - go figure hahaha;p

The Happy B'day Celebrant getting all trigger happy hehe;)

Hmmm... How do I explain this?

I'm sure some of you have noticed this already... Yes, I'm a short boss to my Tall kitchen crew hahahahaha;p

I guess at the end of the day, we're all still kids at heart^^ Musical chairs anyone?

The final 2 of Musical Chairs... Not posting the winner, those who were there will know who won^^

All in all, it was a great night, where everyone enjoyed themselves and were ridiculously haggard the next day for work, school and such hehe;p Believe me I eneded up being awake for almost 48hrs hahaha;p Well Chinese New years is round the corner, lets charge ahead & see what the coming Ox Year brings us^^ I'm ready, are You?

My kinda B'fast Salad^^

2009-01-06T02:43:00.000+08:00

Its been quite surprising to find the restaurant getting quieter since the Christmas & New Years celebrations have subsided...

Here I was, after getting through my daily checklist and finding that it was still only 2pm, I decided to use my fruits left over from the breakfast session to make a nice salad for the staff meal of the afternoon; so everyone wouldn't be sooo overly sleepy (because the restaurant has been quiet^^) after their meal^^ how thoughtful rite? Well, actually I had other things on my mind, and it revolved around fruits so...

I know, its kinda messy from the picture, however I thought, I should kinda like de-construct it as a regular salad and since this is my intrepretation, I kinda liked it^^

The dressing is made of Honey & yoghurt (a simple and beautiful combination that I've always found refreshing for the type of climate we have here on the island^^), topped with crumble pops & dried raisins & a dash of chopped mint - to give it the refreshing taste^^

I can honestly say everyone was sooo happy to have something different to try, and since its kinda very infrequent of me to cook for staff meal, as I'm in charge when the boss is away - they all finished it^^ hehe;p

I'm thinking maybe I'll make some scones next... its been awhile since I made some... yummmm.....

Amuse-Bouche...

2009-01-02T11:40:00.000+08:00

Well here's to a first blog entry for the year 2009^^
Happy New Year to all, and its great that my 2 weeks madness of work with the Christmas and New Year's crowd has finally subsided so I can give some of my time to blogging^^

I've found a new show that's quite addictive - Top Chef!

Its a very interesting show, where chefs are pitted against each other to duke it out to see who can handle the most in any situation and to see how creative they are^^ If there was a competition like this here, I would definitely be out to try it - I feel like it would be a good challenge to myself and I can finally prove my worth in this industry^^

And its because of this show, its got me reminiscing about my school days when you have different lessons on cooking and presentation and how you are supposed to showcase your skills - the amuse-bouche was brought up. Its basically a dish kinda like a hors-doves' where its presented to diners before the start of their meal and its a showcase of the chef's talent, culinary expertise and whats to come for the meal^^

I somehow managed to find some time to create some the other day - the one above is a very simple dish, where its a stuffed tomato with duxelle mushrooms and spinach, Its a very simple dish and i quite liked the taste of it, though I did find that (since my company only uses shitake mushrooms) the taste and smell of it were abit over pugent to my liking^^ though in terms of presentation, I think it needed abit more work^^

How, funny is this? I'm critiquing myself on my own dish hahaha;p

This next one is a mushroom cake served with a slice of totamto and mint on the side. An odd combination though, I find the combination of the earthy mushroom to be accompanied well with the refreshing mint on the side^^

Its quite fun to see what one's imagination can come up with in the kitchen, especially since the kitchen that I'm running in, its quite a limited amount of items which I have access to^^

Who knows, I might come up with more ideas, till then, 2009 is still fresh, got plenty of time to busy myself^^

Just when you think everything was ok....

2008-12-28T19:35:00.000+08:00

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?

2008-12-27T00:57:00.000+08:00

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...

2008-12-18T19:25:00.001+08:00

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....

2008-12-18T18:39:00.000+08:00

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

2008-12-17T02:55:00.000+08:00

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...

2008-12-17T01:30:00.000+08:00

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

2008-12-16T17:25:00.000+08:00

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...

2008-12-16T15:16:00.000+08:00

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....

2008-12-13T19:25:00.000+08:00

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^^

2008-12-13T19:14:00.000+08:00

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?

2008-12-06T20:59:00.000+08:00

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^^

2008-12-03T03:30:00.001+08:00

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.....

2008-12-03T03:09:00.000+08:00

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...

2008-12-03T02:33:00.000+08:00

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

I know, It might've been too early to taste it but....

2008-11-24T21:19:00.000+08:00

See here i was the other day, haven't been really sleeping much the past couple of days, only been getting like say 3-4 hours of sleep and i was working the morning shift the next day; i thought to myself i really needed to find a way to calm down and get my much deserved zzz's...

My initial thought was to ride out my next shift without sleeping so i would be fully exhausted and be neeeding sleep right when i get home - but then again i thought to myself that if i did that it would jeapordise my health, so my conclusion came to looking through my stock of red wines i have and to open one to calm me down and (hopefully) put me to sleep^^

I know - doesn't sound like a bright idea, but it was worth a shot - as i would not wanna go see a doctor bout this yet (I know - Drama hahahaha;p) Rummaging through my small cellar, and i do mean small by the way, i had to go through my most sought after merlots; yes, for those that don't know, I'm an avid merlot drinker and fell in love with this particular varietal during my short stint in Australia(which at that time I was fairly new to the wine scene)so yea that's that hehe;)

It was either my Brown Brother's Merlot 2004 or my Jacob's Creek 2006 - both which are good wines by the way, but somehow, I think the one from Victoria state was calling to me...so i went with my Brown Borthers 2004^^

So this is what i got from it:

Color - Beautiful plum red color with hints of burgundy

Nose - Refreshing hints of Caramel, a very earthy scent of soils, Blackcurrants,
Prunes, Raspberry, French Oak & maybe Smoked Wood(?)

Palate - Aged really well and still has its medium bodied volume, hints of
Chocolaty taste which reminds me of an odd mixture between dark chocolate
and truffles, dried Cranberries and oddly enough an aftertaste of caramel &
praline^^

Sounds weird that I'm actually making tasting notes of my wines, however i find that it actually helps me remember and recall those that i had before and i do miss them - just been busy with work (with the Christmas and New Years round the corner!?!).

And the good news, I finally felt relaxed and went to sleep like 30mins after drinking my merlot that i was up and refreshed the next day for work, guess it was me missing on my wines hehe^^

My New Addiction^^

2008-11-24T21:11:00.000+08:00

Would you believe that I've actually downed half a tub of Haagen Dazs, Green tea Ice cream?
I know, its sounds overly dramatic - however, I've missed this for sooooooooooo Long hehe;p

This might sound odd to your guys, but eventhough i have my passion for wine (especially red wine^^) my new addiction is the Haagen Dazs' Green tea ice cream...but on the other hand i haven't had my Ben & Jeery's Cookie Dough ice cream for awhile...hmmm gotta find some soon....hehe;p

Oh-well so much for my new addiction...Might actually have to find multiple addictions now hehe;p

Eww, What a Mess!?!

2008-11-18T11:18:00.001+08:00

The other day, a couple of friends and i decided to go for some nasi lemak at Boon Lay, as i was told that they have great nasi Lemak there and that it takes awhile to actually get it - like 30 minutes in queue!! However, since i was a little tired and needed to do some laundry as i was gonna be working on the breakfast shift the next day they decided that instead of Nasi Lemak we should try Wu Jiang at bukit Timah food court...

Mind you i do not know what it really was, and yet even though i do speak chinese i feel like an ABC most of the time so yea they were making fun at me for it-_-'''

So off we went to Bukit Timah Foodcourt just alittle way off Jln Jurong Kechil... I don't exactly remembered the name of the food court, but i do remember it was quite close to a church there hehe;p

Ta-Dah!! So this was what they were talking bout...

I know, for the uninitiated, it doesn't look appetising let alone really much appealing for those who could care less about good food... However good food comes in all forms and its usually those that look odd that do tend to taste a heck lot better that those that are being plated to precision but i disgress...

Technically, this can't be called a dish; its more like a morsel fo snacks, and from what i was told, you can pick and choose what items you want for the dish. my friends basically did all the choosing for what best combination go for having a kinda like dinner snack. So what you see is basically prawn crackers (yea the crispy thing the chopsticks are pointing to), Fishcakes(the rolls with a white filling inside), fried tofu, Egg and meat rolls and some cucumber strips. And it comes with spicy dipping sauce^^

Not only that we also had some carrot cake & sugar cane drinks to top it off for the day^^

Hmm... This is odd, i thought it would be just as a joke to label this post as it is but suprisingly the pics really fit the description eh? Please don't mind the pictures, i can happily say that the food however was excellent^^ hehe;p

More from Cafe Iguana^^

2008-11-18T10:39:00.000+08:00

This is just random stuff that i saw at cafe Iguana and i didn't place it in the last entry as it just didn't seem to fit anywhere...

I found it especially interesting with what they did for the bathrooms, it was like a mini encyclopedia for tequila and everything related to it, there was even a how to drink tequila poster^^

Not only that, there was even a history for mazcle tequila and the myth that comes with putting one of the Agave worms into the tequila to add flavor to them... I still remember the first time i saw a worm in my tequila and thought it was joke being pulled off by the bartender or was it just a mistake being put in by accident. My friend however thought me that on the contrary that it comes with the drink;) And apparently if you do get it in your shot, you will be the one to drink it as its an unspoken rule as respect for the bartender - however i thought that he was just pulling my leg-_-''

Birthday @ Cafe Iguana!!

2008-11-15T20:30:00.000+08:00

This actually took place quite early on in the week; it was kinda impromptu as the b'day boy wasn't supposed to know that it was supposed to be a treat for him.

The b'day boy is on the left...

Well first up was to pick him up at school, yea i know... sounds weird to be picking up a big boy from school now hehehe;p Nah it wasn't like dat, he said for us to meet up first at his school in Dover, den we would head off to Clarke Quay for drinks and all... One thing that I must say is that Clarke Quay has really transfromed since the last time i went there, considering it was roughly 3 - 4yrs ago -_-''

However it was a good transformation, everything was all hip and new(not counting those restaurants that were around even during the transformation) and it really does showcase and will live up in dues time to make Singapore the melting pot of cuisines around the world - there was everything to niche restaurants (Clinic, fancy having ur food being fed to you through IV anyone? hahaha... just kidding...) to middle eastern restauarnts (i'm in love with the morroccan lounge btw and can't wait to go back and try their full menu^^) and the regulars such as cafe Iguana and the likes...

Right, as we found our seats, we went bout ordering our drinks as the food service wouldn't start till 6ish, and since the b'dae boy was still getting acquainted to different forms of drinks i thought we could start off with tequila motif cocktails and this was what we ordered^^

The Drunken Iguana, the drink that gives a kick to start off things^^ who can go wrong with southern comfort & tequila right? - this was what i had...hehe;)

The Iguana Breeze - something to ease a newbie to our new friend tequila^^ This was actually a refreshing blend of lime and a splash of grenadine^^

And guess wat came with it? snacks, well sorta if you consider fried nachos ur typical snack;)
Can still taste the fragrant Tomato dip that came with it, flavored with limes, shallots, cumin and cilantro mmmm... Mouth watering^^

We were catching up with whats been going on in life and this and that, the usual stuff, when we placed our orders for later; well technically so we can get first dibs on the food before anyonelse starts ordering for food and the kitchen will be a tad slow playing catch up with the food orders^^ This was what we ordered, some calamari, mini chimichangas and some chicken and mushroom quessidillas - mind you, we weren't planning on gorjing down on main courses and not let the celebrant try this and that of the menu^^

But before moving on to the food (oddly enough our drinks were finished when we placed our order - go figure^^), we placed more orders on more cocktails... come one what would you expect? Ice water? hehe;p

This time we had...

A Caballa Negro - apparantly this is a classic favorite in Mexico (the beautiful country that produces Tequila^^ But its technically just a different variation to having your coke spiked with a different liqour aka rum and coke...)

and...

A Cazuela, a rich fruit cocktail of oranges, grapefruits, limes and a healthy serving of tequila^^

Not long after the drinks came, our foods finally came...

1st up is our Ancho Dusted Calamari Rings

Beautifully crumbed and deep fried to perfection where the calamari was not too tough & rubbery and not too soggy, it was set on a nice couli of jalepano sauce - Delicious with a capital D!! I love the fact that this was such a simple dish but it does whet your appetite for more and might i say it was addictive^^

Next was the Mini Chimichangas

Apologies for the half-arsed pic, we got alittle too carried away with chowing down on food, This was exquisite on its own, a well known mexican food, where you get your huge overdose on avocados(you see the green paste like thing, well its actually guacamole and its made from avocadoes - Divine^^), sour cream and Tomato concasse... So can you blame us? hehe;)

And finally the Chicken and Mushroom Quessidillas

As the words of the b'dae boy, "Its kinda like undercooked pastry, but crispy", filled to the max, it was literally dripping with soft cheddar and mozerella when it reached the table... and to top it of more the heavenly tomato dip that accompanied the nachos earlier^^

Reading what i've just wrote, i'm starting to have the hunger pangs for the foods again(not good, i don't wanna overdose on mexican food hahaha;p)

Dessert was a simple affair, we had a simple chocolate cake that cafe Iguana was well known for

The Ancho Chille Chocolate Cake

A decadant flourless chocolate cake that was served with its home made vanilla ice cream, can still literally taste the feel of the vanilla granules they used for the ice cream- simply a work of art and it complimented the cake very well. Jason was asking how come it was flourless, and i pointed out that cakes need not necessarily be made with flour, you can actually make cakes with many alternatives such as ground almonds, eggs and such. The one that we had, if i'm to guess, I believe it was made with ground almonds as it was quite heavy unlike those made with eggs which are usually sponge types and light - this one had a cool crumbling effect and it had hints of crushed and slivered almonds to create texture when you take a bite of it^^ Yummy^^

After dessert, we just chilled and had more drinks well, it was more of me having more to drink (me and tequila, we go way back so there was still lots of catching up to do hahaha;p) I placed my order for a nice after dinner cocktail which was the....

You know what? I've kinda forgotten the name of that drink, however it did remind me of a white russian, it was basically tequila, kahlua and milk^^ I usually take the black russian on the rocks, but as they say when in Rome(or a Mexican restaurant)....

It was a great dinner outing and would you believe we were at cafe Iguana for roughly 4hours?!? Now thats what i would call wining and dining...

Birthday boy, I know you've been abit anxious waiting for me to post this entry, but it does take awhile for me to really know what to write down, and i'm kinda guessing this is one HUGE entry^^ hehe... Live your live to the fullest ya, and hopefully when your birthday comes around again, you might be able to take leave from your NS so you can meet with everyone for another round of celebrations^^ Happy Birthday again Jason...

Lookey What I Found on The Island? Well, not Really...

2008-11-10T17:10:00.000+08:00

Take a guess what this is?

Nope, its not black olives... though i wish i'm munching on some right now with a martini in hand while typing this hehe;p

Give up? Well its called a Kembayau (I think that's how you spell it - dun't really know the english name for it though-_-'') Its an olive like fruit which is kinda abundant in Brunei, Sarawak & Sabah, well maybe also in Indonesia - not quite sure on that... The interesting thing about this fruit is that in order to eat it, you have to soak it in hot water for a few minutes orelse you'll be biting into the smooth purplish skin into a thin layer (which would be the flesh of the fruit) and into something kinda hard inside which would be the seed hehe;p Funny but true, the seed actually takes up roughly 70% of the fruit!! And you just kinda eat it like a longan or lychee where you eat the flesh and spit out the seed... And it's soooo gooood to eat^^

Not only that, you can't boil them as they'll just go hard and in the end will be inedible for you. Double soaking them in boiling water will also do no good, so its only meant to be soaked once only, guess its good as you can make as much as you like to have in one go and not worry bout any wastage hehe^^ The skin is edible however i prefer having it without the skin as the skin makes my teeth purplish hehe;p

I've always liked eating this fruit since I was little and it was kinda nice when one of my roomates brought this back with him from his leave hehe;p thanks buddy... And to top it off you only need boiling hot water and salt or soy sauce or sugar and the list goes on hehe;p

Think I'm gonna go make some right now, before they go rotten^^ Laterz.........

Guess What I Heard?

2008-11-10T02:31:00.000+08:00

Well here i was minding my own business, catching up on my Crisis Core on my PSP, when this person sat down beside me during the train ride back home after work... It wasn't that i was trying to eavesdrop, however it was not easy trying to concentrate on finishing my mission when this person was talking bout politics and the likes - loudly over the phone. Honestly, i'm not a big fan of it, but this person was goin on and on about it - I'm greatful that Obama won the election race...

However it was kinda interesting hearing what this person was saying, such as the events sans post election race, about Palin and McCain's Camp(they're both Republicans!!) and her unhappiness bout the people in the camp and the instability of tibet and how China was refusing to budge on the said issue whereby the Dalai lama needs to be brought in to mediate and stuff... I found it even more amusing when the person was hoping that China's economy won't overtake the U.S.'s, well here's the deal and its been kinda precidted that China's economy will be the biggest economy in roughly 2015 so wake up!! Things are moving forward, the world is changing and yea, sometimes not to the way we hope but i'm sure it'll work out in the long run, so whatever ideas or views you have, i know we have freedom of speech but please don't go overboard-_-...

Guess its just another day in Singapore for me that is... hehe;p

Cravings for Tarts

2008-11-04T23:33:00.000+08:00

Something that i've not had for awhile, and i do mean a long while is custard tarts!!
Don't let the picture fool you, it actually tastes alot better then it looks, and this was taken way back when i was still in Brunei, before i decided to up and leave to Singapore for work commitments.

Still can taste the roughly chopped sweetcorn mixed together with the creamy custard filling and its soft and crumbly pastry (well more of a mixture of sweet and short pastry - the fact that its not even done with lard to achieve that texture is even more amaxing to me!!) Still... I can only wish my friends from back home would be willing to bring some over for me when they do come to visit me in the next couple of months hehe;p

Oh well now to find something similar to this to fill the void here in Singapore hehe... that reminds me, haven't been doing much exploring round the island since i got here...

Tales from The Taxi Driver

2008-11-02T18:45:00.000+08:00

Hey all,

I know its been awhile since i've blogged - do forgive me, like i said, i've been quite lacking in the memory deparment so, i do try to blog as much as i do - and to some of my friends that mention i don't blog much - I'm trying^^

Well here's to another post...
Was just the usual day at work (though it was busy, pay day so its expected), me and a few of the crew decided to go for chinese gyoza (till i know how to write the real chines name, i'm sticking to calling it gyoza hehe;p) It was fun, this time it was a different group, it was basically me, joan, jason and JX... Kinda cool to see the different dynamics when its not the usual drinking buddies. JX was abit shy, joan was her usual cheery mood (honestly, i've yet to see her feelin down or not happy) and jason was catching up with FFVII on his PSP (be paitent for the 777's) and well we all basically had a blast binjing out on gyoza, carrot cakes & beer....

It was not till we (well more like it was i who decided) to take the cab home, because
2. I was kinda lazy to walk home on a really full stomach
1. I thought we could all use a nice treat^^

We caught a cab just right out of the kopitiam(yes guys back home, i visit the kopitiam now hahaha;p)
1st stop was to drop joan off - she had fun watching my psp just playing FFVII on its own, while JX was just kinda sleepy and staring out the window and Jason was riding shotgun and hanging round Wutai, so to speak hehe;p
Next stop was JX, and we kinda learnt more about him - apparently he's only got one friend that he really trust, and me thinks jason is right on his trust issues, he's very very introverted, though i could be wrong...
Third stop was at Bukit Panjang - where Jason stays.... this is where it gets interesting... after jason got out of the car, i told the taxi driver where i was getting off, and he mentioned that it felt like he was taking a practical exam on roads in Singapore, I assured (& re-assured) him that i wasn't with his company...

I was surprised to learn that a cab shift is 12hrs and that in order to become a taxi driver in singapore you only go through a theoratical test and Thats it!! I should consider this as a new option of extra income - but then again, i don't own a car-_-''
Jason, you'll be surprised to here this, the taxi driver thought you've finished your NS; but when i told him u haven't he was shocked and tot u were 20ish and said u were abit plump so to say and asked me whether you've finished your NAFTA(he mentioned it was a physical test or something, one that you need to do before you head off for NS?) or something like that - i told him, he should've asked you before you got out of the car hehe;p

Interesting thing i've noted about the taxi drivers in the island of Singapore, they're like mini encyclopedias and they have really really cool random knowledge (how was i to know that a cab shift was 12hrs? eh?) and they're fun to get to know on long trips when your riding alone^^ Well after the Q&A about my friend jason he was asking me about what we were doing all the way in Bukit Batok and i told him that i was working round that area and i was kinda like their boss at work and so on and so forth and he said something interesting - "You're the Big boss, so it a given that you treat them all to a ride home" honestly, i was taken aback by it and wasn't really sure whether to take it as a compliment or an insult?

Next time more tales from the taxi driver... so stay tunded;p

Something you Don't see in aWhile

2008-11-02T02:54:00.000+08:00

Well, here i was, going through some photos i've snapped some time ago since i've settled in the island called Singapore, and i found a photo which was interesting as my roomate brought it back with him when he came back from his trip home to kuching; its called a Lak Kia Kio; well more approriately I don't know the exact name for it but i disgress... and the intersting thing is that its found mainly on the Island of Borneo(yup the place that you could find Brunei, Sarawak, Sabah & Kalimantan), yup just a stone's throw across the pond of the South China Sea towards the East^^

I've taken quite a liking to this particular fruit, because of the fact that if you want to eat it, and i was told that the only way to eat it was to make it into a soup as it has an inedible skin and that it costs quite abit now(right even with the economic situation round the world, fruits from the forest also cost more - what happened to fruits from the forest were part of mother nature's gift?) Not only that, i think this is what could be Borneo's own version of a Tom Yam soup (anyone willing to sponsor me to make the recipe, you know where to contact me^^) as i see it that most of the people living on the island enjoy food that are savory and spicy^^ or it could just be me hehe;)

Will update more when i find out more and if i can get my hands on more of this fruit....

Inginuity...

2008-10-21T00:48:00.000+08:00

Well here i was the other day, was so excited that one of my best frens just flew into town... After a quick dinner (which our times got mixed up, because of her earlier appointments) i finally caught up with her and the family at Sanur in takashimaya..

Mind you, its my first time dining in there, i enjoy Indonesian food, however, the best ones are usually found in the stalls - Sanur is more towards the middle class dining scenes hehe;p Interesting meal we had, telur goreng, crispy squid, rojak (well something like dat, just kinda forgot the name) and ayam bakar...

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and decieded to have a quick catch up of whats what and whos what from back home (being away can kinda make u feel as a foreigner - even for your own hometown haha!) Before that we went about ordering our drinks; she order a pot of chamomile tea and i thought i should treat myself (been hectic with work), I ordered a nice cup of roman coffee. Mind you its only called roman coffee because of the galliano, if it were to be with rum, then it'll be jamaican, vodka - russian and so on and so forth... hehe;p

When the drinks cames, i was very surprised with what was served with my coffee - it was a crystalised sugar stirer where you just dip it and stir - cool huh? (I felt so left out from the new and hip things you find in the food industry -_-'') Its interesting to find all the ingenuity that goes with the current advancements of the food industry, i felt like i needed to expand more of the food scouting to see new and exciting things... Well its a short post gonna sign off fro now just a little something to share hehe;p

Return To Blog-o-Sphere

2008-10-20T05:50:00.000+08:00

Wow!

Never thought that i would restart something that i once thought of as a complete waste of my own time; i should be busy concentrating majority of my resources (aka. mind and money) into something better.
However, since i realised this doesn't take up the majority of it my time; might as well - it wouldn't hurt rite?
and besides it does help me clear mental space - as i've been lacking of space in my mental capacity these days, hehe;p

Hmm... reading through the first couple of lines, seems like my blog seems like a dud - hopefully i'll be seeing changes in the nex couple of entries, for those of you who have come across my blog accidentally please forgive the emptiness, i promise the next time you get back it'll be better^^

So signing off for now i'll be back soon to update when something crosses my mind... hehe;)