Lunch @ O'Coffee Club

Beef Daube ($16.50++)

Fish & Chips ($14.50++)

Looking through the cafe's extensive menu, we both chosen 2 main courses each but when placing orders, i decide to have both of Ric's option - his favourite of Beef and Cod Fish.

While Ric enjoys his strong smoky braised beef, i had loved the delicate moist fish.

Aged Sumatra Mandheling ($7.80++)

Today's our first with "aged" or "vintage" coffee, meaning green (unroasted) coffee beans that have been stored well over long periods!

What's served is the exceptional Aged Sumatra Mandheling, a rare, aged old European tradition that is full bodied, with a unique syrupy flavor and clear neutral acidity!

Gifted Hands - The Ben Carson Story (2009)

Everyone needs a push sometimes, an encouragement; someone who believes in them. And most time, only people who truly loves you does that. Believing in a person can help them believe in themselves; spur them endeavoring on.

But success don't happen overnight.

From "the dumbest kid in the world" to one of world's most famous Neurosurgeon, Gifted Hands was based on such a unbelievable life story of Ben Carson. A fast paced motivational storyline with awe-inspiring medicinal theories; we got to know an amazing character today.

8 mins movie excerpts from Gifted Hands

"You can do anything that anyone can do; only you can do it better." This was what Ben's illiterate mom been encouraging him since he's a neighbourhood boy, even after he become an accomplished doctor later in life.

Here for more inspirational quotes from Dr Ben Carson.

Four Leaves Cream Puff

Custard Cream Puff ($1.30)

Don't i seem to be squashing the pure snowy cream puff from Four Leaves Bakery? And for that i got my fingers all coated richly with their icing sugar :)

We had previously mentioned the significant price gap between a Tampopo Cream Puff and that of Four Leaves and how we had wanted to see if there's a huge disparity between the two?

Well, close your eyes and bite into each separately. You shall notice that our untrained palate couldn't differentiate their individual custard cream - both equally sweet, rich and smooth. But then, there's no denying that Tampopo bakes a more luscious flour dough.

For the 100%  price difference, you judge which is of better value.

$2 Wanton Noodle

We had tried visiting this Tiong Bahru stall previously but it was always closed - We gave up. Not until a recent article from Yahoo! that we learned about their irregular opening hours: Wed, Fri, Sun, 6am-2pm.

True enough.

Today's a Wed and a constant long queue forms :) 

Chicken Feet ($3)

Many placed a separate order for their plate of phoenix feet or meat dumplings, we followed suit. You should too. The phoenix feet are a melt in the mouth! I could shallow the entire feet without removing any bones!

And you may fancy their meaty dumplings with a tinge of dried sole fish; dried sole fish powder added?

Wanton Noodle ($2)

What other characteristics about 華豐 Wanton noodle?

Their springy noodle was familiar among their trade but Hua Fong has a special chili flavoring sauce which stands out from the others. Their low pricing that doesn't compromises on quality makes the trip all the more worthwhile. You could see that the roasted char siew is notably delectable too!

Chingay floats to the Neighbourhood!

What a night!

When 11 glowing Chingay floats carrying its enthusiastic participants made their appearance in the Jurong GRC. More merriment to the parade as the adjoining Bukit Batok Community Club organised vibrant staging of songs and dances with food and games carnivals!

Singapore is a quiet city, but not tonight with drums playing and dragon dances!

Joining the sizeable crowd of onlookers, we could feel the excitement in the night cool air!



A spectacle event that involves partial road closure and a big team of traffic escorts! Whew!!

Monkeying Around

"Oh! Why are you filming me?"
"I'm just getting a meal up this mango tree."

"Mmmm... See the delicious color, it's really sweet!"

"There doesn't seem to be enough food in the forested area of the Bukit Batok Hillside Park where i came from. Or maybe i'm just getting tired of that place. This neighbourhood seems fun as i people-watch from their windows! But they were shy and shut their window on me?"

"Just the other day, my friend was here. Did you see him today?"

"But, of course i'm prettier!" Heard everybody saying so..

Banana Boat Aloe Vera Gel

Banana Boat Aloe Vera Gel, 230gms ($11.95)

While having other sun protection product, I especially love this bottle of Banana Boat After-Sun Aloe Vera Gel which i had for years. It is of very practical use to me cos i often went into the sun quite unplanned for and could not apply any sun protection before - Well, i hate the stickiness and oiliness of sunscreen lotions anyway.

After washing away my day activities, i would apply the gel generously onto my scorching arms, neck and face. Yes, the face also, the cheeks and nose especially.

The water-based gel absorb into the skin fast and cools the sun-burned skin almost instantly! Preventing peeling while leaving behind a soft supple touch. It is not exaggerating to say that it feels like donning a face mask!

For you.

Burger King Chicken Day

We simply chanced on the first Burger King Chicken Day on our day off - when BK sells only their Chicken entries and offer a 1-for-1 for them all, ala-carte and set meals included!

All BK stores were thus marked by long lunch hour queues; their beef menu display board struck out by labels reading "ONLY CHICKEN items today." We never had Chicken at BK, only their famed beef patties. So this is a real good publicity stunt.

Our Set Meal at $7.95 + 1 free

Mushroom Swiss Tendergrill

And it does shed a different light on what BK can do with poultry while we recognise their expertise with Beef. We love their Mushroom Swiss beef burger, but the same recipe with grilled chicken thigh meat is deliciously awesome!!

Spicy Panini Tendergrill

Also with 100% chicken thigh meat but marinated with cayenne pepper, black pepper, mustard and celery seed, the grill tasted less spicy than it sounded. But it is the dry Panini bun that discounted the experience.

Singapore Airshow 2012

Singapore RSAF, F.16C the Fighting Falcons and F-15G the Strike Eagle

Ric has been fairly busy; attending the aerobatics display of the Singapore Air Show should be the last thing on his mind. But he had planned for our trip and checked that the flying display starts from 11am and lasted for an hour!

United States of America USAF, Bomber B-52

So we spent an hour sun-tanning along the Changi beach ;)

Malaysia RMAF, Smokey Bandits

Australia RAAF, Roulettes

Under the vast blue skies, team aerobatics were definitely more rousing and cause much sensation than the solo flying planes.

Following the team display of Smokey Bandits on MIG 29 fighters from Malaysia, we had performance from the Australia Roulettes flying their elegant PC-9/A designed by Pilatus Switzerland.

It is amazing watching these planes does their flip, twist, back flop, diving and "yoyo" stunts, with all grace and synchronized co-ordination.

Timberland Footwear

Timberland leather shoe ($59, stock clearance sale)

It was Valentine's evening and the shopping mall was quite deserted. We thus landed a very good bargain for the store's last pair of a genuine leather shoe, in my size!

Ric and i are faithful customers of Timberland for the past 10 years; our shoe racks are made up primarily of their footwear from sandals, slip-ons, hiking, boat shoes and city work shoes, adoring its guaranteed comfort, foot support and fashionable design. And when Timberland goes on sales, their reduced prices would be very much competitive to other regular shoemakers.

If you haven't found your ideal shoemaker, it's worth giving Timber a try. Their factory outlets in IMM and Changi City Mall will give you an edge over your buy.

鳳飛飛 - Strong lady with the sweetest voice.

Her demise came as a rude shock via my facebook update last evening.
But i do not think i would cry for any unrelated stranger; was looking out for the night News broadcast.

This morning, in my rare instance, i tuned to all the Chinese FM stations as i yield to hear her voice - a voice who accompanied my tender childhood. I finally caught traces of her "敲敲门"; a cheerful song but i had a rush of sadness.

Lunch time. "今宵多珍重" was playing on my office PC and tears welled up in my eyes.


最認真的藝人，最在乎歌迷的歌手，如彩虹的絢麗，如雲一般地散去。再會，親愛的鳳姐。
＿＿郭蘅祈（郭子）

A definitely courageous lady who survived her husband and younger brother who both died of cancer in 2009 and 2006 respectively. She had supported them both and held herself till 3 Jan this year; all the while humble and low-key, not emphasizing to the public of her illness - lung cancer.

Somehow, Whitney Houston's passing on after years of drug and alcohol abuses doesn't seem so deserving of our empathy and grief now..

Veteran Taiwanese singer, Fong Fei Fei,
My applause has always been for you.
And you know our love is always with you - on our saddest Valentine's day.

Angove's Misty Mooring Red

Angove's Dry Red Wine, 750ml ($26)

Blended from selected grape varieties of Cabernet, Merlot, Shiraz and Petit Verdot, Misty Mooring Red is a smooth and easy-drinking wine from Angove Austrlia, with more than 100 years in winemaking.

The palate is medium bodied with really soft finish. We like it.
Between us; emptied the bottle in 2hrs!

水梅, Wild Water Plum

Like seasoned parachuters, the small fuzzy seeds of our Wrightia religiosa, the commonly known Siu-mei bonsai plant, cracked open its 2 harden green bean-like pod and scattered its seedlings by going with the breeze! We had waited all 7 months for its ripening!

Such pretty sight; i caught a handful of them flying off :)  

Jasmine smelling white flowers

Is your Water Plum flowering? It should flower all year.

Besides being sun-loving, the plant prefers moderate watering. We water only when it withers from dryness - florishing much after drought. And Sis method of removing most of its leaves by hand plucking further triggers the plant to bloom exceedingly!

Manhattan MegaSaver Lunch

Clear Seafood Broth

Looking for a value lunch deal? This February and March, the Manhattan Fish Market is having a promotion with several lunch sets at $7.90++ and $9.90++ that includes a day soup and soft drink! If you beat the clock and placed your order before 12pm, the $9.90 set would be charge at only $7.90; and that's what we did ;)

A crab claw, scrimp and squids in my seafood broth - delightful start of a meal.

Spaghetti in the Sea ($15.90++)

Fiery Cherry Snapper with Mussels ($13.90++)

I want my pasta while the man prefers his grilled Snapper with Garlic herb rice - it doesn't matter which menu you have, their kitchen is pretty reliable so far.

Bon appetit!

Komala's Vegetarian Fast Food

South Indian Meal ($8.60+)

Love experiencing with Indian food ;) whenever i had a chance to. With Groupon, we paid just $4.80 for a value meal at Komala's Vegetarian Restaurant today, includes an Indian dessert and a coke/coffee/tea.

Ordering 2 of their most pricey set meal, i believe we covered most of their savory sambar, vegetable curries and kuruma - they have so many variety of them! It is interesting.

Briyani Poori Meal ($8.60+)

If your partner, like Ric,  is not used to these light vegetarian palate, get him this Briyani Poori meal as the saffron rice with finely chopped vegetables tasted just like our regular meat briyani.

And the lightly fried Poori flour is an airy prata version that is great when dip into the potato and chenna (chickpeas) masala curry. I think the onion yoghurt is good too, albeit zero crispness of their Pappadam on both our plates.

Coffee ($1.20 x2 )

What we both agrees unanimously on is their coffee.

While its light color tone is a put off, the taste is very agreeing with us who like milk with coffee - their coffee carries a distinct aroma, we could not tell what, can you? Tell me.

Crackers and tibits from Batam

Nuts, Beans crackers, Fish crackers

This new year season, Dad had days of leave and went with friends to 2 days 1 night trip to Batam. Me and Mom loaded him with our shopping list and this was what Dad got us as he's quite clueless of which crackers we specifically like - so he bought a little of each.

Besides what you see here, we also have 2kg of Attap seeds, big bag of Petai beans and Salak, the fruit with scaly snake skin textures. All of top grade yet so... ... much cheaper than in Singapore market :))

Remember to get them when you go over!

豪大大雞排, HOT-STAR Large Fried Chicken

The large 30cm long chicken fillet was deep fried on the spot after we placed our order at their counter. Near 10 mins of waiting, the server dresses up our hot chicken piece with their seasoning and chili powder.

"Shake, shake, shake... ... shake, shake, shake"

Established in 1992, Hot-Star Fried Chicken now wholly famous in bustling Taipei Shilin Night Market is finally here in Singapore! And Ric make sure i try it cos, "It's different from the ones we had before, this is the real thing. It's not that saltish and much lesser oil also." He assured.

Original Fried Chicken ($4)

And i like it.

Not immediately, but slowly as i savour the unoily yet enticing chicken meat... something nice about the flour they use... the best part's when i'm half-way through - i reach the flavorsome rib bones; we all love the bone parts of fried chicken, don't we? "Suck, suck suck..."

Can buy me again?