An IKEA Outing!

We were at IKEA Tampines sourcing out storage cabinets for my newly arranged bedroom and to lunch at its Restaurant.

Swedish Meatballs (Friends Members Price $5)
Topped with cream sauce and Lingonberry jam, served with boiled Potatoes on the side.

I love the dining atmosphere at IKEA; its cool, airy and comfortable environment sets you in a perfect mood for meals.

Weekday Special: Curry Rice Set ($5.50)

This Swedish restaurant surprisingly serves up pretty decent local Malay fare also. The plate comes in mildly spiced Curry Vegetable, crisp Fried Chicken and an Ngoh Hiang meat roll. Sedap!

Of course, our evening was spent toiling over the jigsaw furniture from IKEA... i kind of enjoyed the process of the assembling, except for the unaccustomed physical exertion ;)

A Gift of Rice Dumplings

What can be sweeter than receiving a gift of food, home-made food especially?

Ric's mom despite her thrifty nature, always made for my family Rice Dumpling during the 端午节 (Rice Dumpling Festival). These are her second this year ;)

Waking up early in the weekend morning, she got the dumplings ready for her whole family to enjoy by breakfast time.

Ingredients used were simple, and taste nondescript but this is how we feel traditional food should be - unpretentious while keeping tradition alive.

Chili Harvest... after so long.

My 1st Bangladesh Chili Plant from uncle had died off under the aggression of whiteflies... so the harvest this time was the 1st from its seeds!

Happy!

Can give some to colleagues, sister-in-law, uncle... enough?
Never mind, we shall work harder ;)

D-PLUS Japanese Bread

Day Plus Bread ($1 per piece)

Brother lugged in 10 individually vacuum packed bread for our breakfast! Chocolate, Cheese, Melon, Hokkaido Creme and Pumpkin flavored.

Conveniently available from the little shops at our neighbourhood market; i heard NTUC has it too.

What makes this Day Plus Bread special is its use of only Natural Yeast for its Bread.

Making it real spongy, moist and soft. Yeah, and sweetly fragrant like any Japanese confectionery.
Perfect with a bitter cup of coffee to synergize your morning ;)

Oh! Chocolaty Cheese...

Bakerzin Cookies and Cream Cheesecake (Promotion: 2 for $48)
Cream cheese studded with cookie crumble and sprinkled with crushed cookie bits.

We can't get enough of Cheese Cakes these days. It had certainly over taken Chocolate Cakes as our favourite.

Eating it well chilled from the freezer, it's likening to a bite into rich creamy Ice-cream... Mmmm.

Sports Car - You like?

A Lotus Elise we came across at the car park. A new one now easily sets you back at near S$250,000, includes COE!?

As to every average girl, a sport-looking car impresses. We are not into the specification of the machines; just its cool cool look...

The seats are a definite hard knock for a date. Plus the super low profiles that makes getting in and out of the car elegantly a real challenge. Haha...

But we still like looking at one.

May i catch a Lamborghini soon...

IVORY - The Indian Kitchen

IVORY - The Indian Kitchen is a value for money venue for your discovery of Indian cuisine along the coastal states of the Indian Peninsula.

At $15 nett per head, the buffet lunch offers an interesting array of spice rich Indian cooking.

This view zooms in to the vegetarian section of their spread, Cottage Cheese with Cauliflower and Ladyfinger, Eggplant Lasagna, Seafood with Button Mushrooms etc.

Of course, the table runs much further on to Appetisers, Soups, meaty Mains and sweet traditional Indian Desserts.

Dahi Vada, often served as a great starter or a cold appetizer. They described it as 'dumplings' ;)

Samosa Chaat is our favourite Appetiser today!

The result is a kind of culinary symphony, with the sweetness of the Tamarind sauce and yogurt, crisp of the Samosa crust, the heat from some Chili uniting in perfect poise.

The varies colors and textures of the ingredients offer visual appeal, too.

Seafood Fillet.

Minty Mutton Curry and Chicken Tikka deserve our calls for repeat rounds ;)

Not forgetting to partake some Naan with Lentil Tadka and their Mutton Curry.

Hakka Chicken with long grain Rice.

Knowing carbohydrate are a big "no, no" in Buffets (to make it worthwhile ;). Here, you can't help but to indulge in the Rice and Naans...

Fresh fruits and Semiya Payas, a traditional dessert of Vermicelli, Full Cream Milk, Cashew Nuts - smelling heavenly and non too sweet.

You maybe surprised, the Masala Tea was a deciding factor in our dining here.

Earlier, i spotted the Masala Tea counter and promptly declared to the waitress, "Table for 2" ;)

Hup Fatt Fish Head Beehoon

There were but a few stalls in business for dinner diners at Hong Lim temporary Food Centre. And with 3, 4 stalls specializing in Fish Head Bee Hoon!

Somehow, we selected 合发(昌记) at #01-22.

Fish Head with Fish Slices Bee Hoon ($10)

Put off by the stall assistant hard-sell attitude, we were grateful when our decent looking bowlful arrived.

The soup had a delightful char-aroma from its pan-seared Fish pieces! And serving is plentiful!

Having pan-seared their seafood, it thus omit the strong fishy taste commonly associated with Fish Heads. Great doing.

Hello Kitty play Mahjong!?

Also from the store that sells the Alessi Watches at OUB Centre.

This Mahjong set is a perfect gift for your girlfriends who do Mahjong!

Hello Kitty Mahjong Tiles set - gold/ pink ($180-$200)

Can you Mahjong?
I can't and i probably wouldn't, even with these lovable Mahjong tiles ;)

Alessi: Cute Watches

Alessi KAJ Wrist Watch (Online purchase: US$85)

These Alessi Italian Design Watches we came across at OUB Centre, level 2 were colorful and interesting!

I love its extended second hands that ticks and reminds me of the propellers of Doraemon's "Bamboo Dragonfly". Pity i've outgrown such cute childish watches :(

Paying tribute to its designer Karim Rashid.

TCC, 1-for-2 Promotion!

TCC's wonderful 1-for-2 Promotion had us with them for lunch. It meant to pay for 1 Main and getting another Main free, + plus 1 Coffee/ Tea.

Great deal, nice relax ambience at TCC Millenia Walk.

Seafood Aglio Olio ($18.8++)
Spaghetti aglio olio subtly flavoured with chili and garlic accompanied with succulent pan-seared scallops and fresh prawns.

Pan-seared Chicken Breast with Porcini Sauce ($18.9++)
Pan-seared tender Chicken breast accompanied with wildly aromatic porcini sauce and served with a side of shiso pumpkin mash and broccolini.

Both the Mains were palate pleasing and daintifully done up; albeit the small serving.

TCC's Premium Coffee ($4.2++)

No complaints of TCC Coffee, even their minimal selection.
They are after all, the Coffee Connoisseur ;)

My Humble Tuna

Oh!
Checking my blog entry, it's been so long since i last made Tuna Sandwiches!

This is the morning breakfast, prepared yesterday night when i was feeling rather low spirited. The simple food preparation process has a therapeutic effect ;)

Not doing anything, and sit moping is bad, bad, bad...

Lunch at Olio Cafe

Today's the day when Orchard Rd floods! We saw the signboard flashes of a flood warning on the expressway but couldn't imagine the worst till we watched the evening News.

It was a chilling day with heavy morning downpour; even our road trip today was filled with traffic jams, leaving us famished with a late lunch at City Square Mall.

Seeing my self-embracing gesture in a bid to keeping warm, the attendant quickens his serve of a warm glass of water... This is good customer service.

Olio's Club Sandwich ($12.50++)

It tasted somewhat similar to my homemade sandwiches... and i might have done better ;) but the French fries here were great.

Extreme Vegetarian with Egg Fettuccine ($12.80++)

Nothing fanciful about this unpretentious Alio e Olio dish.

But i enjoyed the simple tasting that's enliven by their inclusion of the tart-sweet Sun-dried Tomatoes in its recipe; it's appetite whetting good.

Sweet Strawberry? Where?

It was a love-and hate relationship...

We disliked Strawberries for its often sourish tasting stock. Yet, its brilliant colors and sweet fragrant so easily enthrall us...

Driscoll's Strawberry, USA (Discounted: $4.45 for 454g)

Driscoll's was the trademark i recognized.
AND, just below the branding, be sure to read "Sweet Strawberry"!

The ones we brought today read, "Strawberries. Fraises" and it's a tad tartly. We can also testify that the bigger the berries, the lower risk of biting into sourness ;)

Westlake Stewed Pork Buns

Westlake Braised Pork Bun, 扣肉包 ($2.20)

I'm a typical Hokkien and you can't pull off a "Kong Ba Bao" just with the likes of these at Westlake ;)

Yeah, we were spoiled with the betters since childhood where this typical Hokkien dish was an indispensable entry in any standard banquet. I particularly remember Dad loving it so much then.

For a better braised pork bun, you may try the ones from Beng Hiang Hokkien Restaurant ;)

Robert Timms Freeze Dried

I was discussing Coffee Bag with Ric and he urges me to try out crystallized or dried freeze Coffee.

"...for the purest form of Instant Coffee..." He swears by.

Robert Timms Premium, Rich & Smooth 100g ($8.10)

Robert Timms Instant Coffee was selected and Ric swiftly packed his shopping bags with Creamer and Brown Sugar...

We never looked back since.
The richly aromatic brew left us ditching all other 3-in-1 instant Coffee Mix. We skipped Brown Sugar altogether.

Now i was always looking forward to our next Coffee session... as i began missing the bittersweetness raze on my palate...

I Love Yam Ring, You?

Chicken fillet in Yam Ring ($12)

Whenever we came about ordering Cze Char, i often like to suggest Yam Ring (佛砵飘香, 芋圈).

Crisply deep fried, yet moist with ingredients of all sorts - Vegetables, Nuts, Mushrooms, Meat/ Prawns. It is an interesting dish.

And this is something that's difficult to prepare at home.

Golden Prawns with Mayonnaise ($10, 1 day promotion)

天佳福 Cze Char, however is not doing the Prawns so well today.

Whampoa, 广东小食

Also in Blk 91, Whampoa Food Centre, stall #01-21 sells popular Chinese snacks such as Porridge, Fried Rice Vermicelli, Yam Cake and Chee Cheong Fun.

Yam Cake ($1.50)

Nothing fantastic about such nominal fare but we simply enjoys simple, unpretentious tasting at times.

And i missed having the Chee Cheong Fun; i'm a dupe for the plain rice roll that often cost as much as a bowl of Mains... Don't you?

Now the stall front!

Come in the morning, and you must be prepared to queue... long...long... We have tried that ;)

新恒丰 Kway Teow Stall

Lunch was at Xin Heng Feng Guo Tiao Tan - Blk 91, Whampoa Food Centre.

We were here to testify that a mere Fishball noodle stall could operate from 2 joints but was only charging $2.20 ($2.50 for non-self service) for an ingredients loaded bowl!?

Seeing is believing!

Besides being cheaply affordable, it was also tasty.

Ingredients used were fresh, and if you were lover of fried Shallots (葱头油), you would be so happy as the added garnishing were generous, chunky and crispy!

Hokkien Popiah!

The Works - after hours of toiling in kitchen with Mom today! Brother chip in to help in the evening as he too was earnest to eat ;)

The bulk of the work was however these:

Working with the Mandoline for 3hrs, i was on the julienne Carrots, French beans, Turnips while Mom was on the Cabbages and frying the strips of Bean Curbs.

It was worth very effort for an enjoyable dinner of fun and taste with the family.

Please try not having just 1 person (the mother) doing the entire arduous manual kitchen job, having a kitchen helper; 2 people working together can be a lot more pleasurable and fulfilling ;)

Be good, go help in the kitchen.
Mum would be so glad...!

Meidi-Ya : A Jam Exhibition

If you love Fruit Jam or the many assorted spread for your daily bread, come on down to Meidi-ya Supermarket for their Jam Exhibition!?

Should be correct, i read the banner :)

Nouveau 2009 Blueberry Jam at $25!
Nouveau Pomelo Jam (not in pic) at $30!!

Oh, just get any one of it for me; i'm fine with anything... Ha.

Ginger Jam, and Honey with Stem Ginger? Intriguing.

Peanut Butter and the assortment of Fruit Jams by Meidi-Ya ;)

Japanese Carrot

Japan Carrot ($9.50, 2 in a bag)

Spotted something familiar in Meidi-Ya - the Carrot with its 'hair' still intact, just like the ones Brother brought back from Tokyo!

The long rosette of leaves on its crown are beautifully fresh; i adore the thought of a Rabbit nibbling on it while the stout taproots are still buried underground ;)

Can the leaves be eaten? By us?

See Star : 戚玉武

For one who had never been mindful of good-looking male actors or celebrities, i was actually taken aback to seeing Qi Yu Wu in person.

Boy, he is certainly fine-looking :)

They were filming in Shanghai Dolly at Clarke Quay for the coming Mediacorp TV serial titled "走进走出" (The Family Court).

In a short breather, he was sensitive enough to look over the window, waved and smiled charmingly...! 真叫人受宠若惊...！

At that instant, one wished she had been younger, prettier, better in everything so as to avoid blushing and may even braved a photo shot with this gorgeous man...!

Hahaha... so i do like looking at handsome man also; always thought i have the immunity :P