Pink Sunday

Read off IMBB that the theme was "Pink" so i suggested to dear that perhaps we could try cooking something up with fits the theme. She had a great idea; making a "pink" theme soup in an yin-yang setup. Basically one side of it will be a red base soup while the other side a white cream based soup. Hence wheen u mixed the 2 together you'll get a pink soup.

Sounds interesting but we sort of gave up the idea cause we thought we do with a more filling dinner. We spent 1 hour plus shopping at Cold Storage, thinking of the ingredients to get. Since it was kind of an impromtu idea that we try cooking something up in pink, the joy was in spending quality time together and enjoying each other's company.

As usual, we have brunch on Sundays. We settle for bruch at Tiong Bahru Market. There's so much food there that anyone will be spoilt for choice!~!~! Somehow i was having a huge craving for "Lor Mee", not just the normal "Lor Mee" but the one with the fried fillets of shark. Yum Yum... ( disclaimer: I can understand the reason why some people refused to take shark's fin or shark's meat, i have even heard of reasons like sharks isn't a sort of meat cultivated for food. But hey, if u do take sushi, most of the produce you'll eat ain't "cultivated for food" either. It's about choice; i respect your choice and i hope u too will respect mine too ;) )

Anyway back to the topic. I had a very cheap and good bowl of "Lor Mee" fiilled with lots of bean sprots, fried fish, fish cakes, lean pork and a thick and high quality gravy. There was so much stuff inside the bowl of "Lor Mee" that i could hardly mix my noodles well!!~!~~! Oh by the way the stall is "Tiong Bahru Lor Mee" and for a bowl of noodle like what i had, it's just $3.

I like mine with lots of vinegar and minced garlic. I also like some chopped chilli padis. I enjoy the kick they give when i bite chew thru them. Shiok!~!~!~ I'm definately going back for the "Lor Mee" even it means i will have to queue for 20 minutes.

Dear had our all0time favourite nasi lemak. Those $1.90 ones are quite good. Actually dear jus like the FRIED chicken wings, the FRIED luncheon meat and the FRIED cuttlefish fillet. Actually i also lah, i admit i'm a hard-core FRIED chicken wing fan. lolz...

After our late breakfast, we went to Great World City to see-see look-look. But before we went to shop at Cold Storage, we couldn't help but walk into this Japanese Restaurant at the basement of GWC. Our eyes were treated to a feast of bright colours ( the Orange of Salmon, the Red of Tuna, the Green of Wasabi).. But what catches our eyes were the variety of Californian Rolls ( Lobster C.R, Fried Salmon CR, Salmon and Avocado Salad C.R,...) We have yet again fallen prey to the great tatics that restuarants employ these days. Bearing in mind we just had breakfast, we bought only a lobster Californian Roll and a set of those sweet-saltish bean curd rolls.

After gobbling up the food, we finally decided to pay cold storage a visit. Went around looking for ingredients for our experiment. Wanted to do chicken but was cracking our heads on how to make a pink theme out of chicken. After some discussion, we decided to do a pink salmon pasta and a pink dessert. Finally we have a concept of what we wanna so. Now it's really shopping time.

The rewards : a packet of pre-processed salmon belly, a tin of tomato paste, a tin of tomatoes in tomatoe juice, a cup of fresh cream, a box of " Konniakyu" jelly powder, a box of fresh strawberries, a packet of pasta. Now it's time to go back and experiment!~!~! Well not before dropping by at Auntie Anne's for a Sour Cream Pretzel.

it's getting late. Gotta sleep now else tomorrow orh-bak kat... Talk about the food tomorrow ;)

Dinner @ IMM's Crunchy Carrot Cafe & Restaurant

The last day of my 2-day long Certified Installer Course. After which managed to leave early so met up with dear at Jurong Point. Shopped around looking for toys and clothes for Dylan but didn't managed to get the ones we wanted ( or rather what Dylan will like ). Subsquently we made our way to IMM for our dinner.

Settled at the Crunchy Carrot Cafe & Restaurant. I had my usual Wanton Mee Soup. Dear had ,let me see, Alfredo pasta, and one Chicken Supreme pizza. Lolz. I meant we shared the food.

Let's see some pictures...















The Alfredo pasta. Very nice i would say. Creamy and jammed packed with ingredients. Lots of ham and bacons and peas.... ( 4/5 )















My favourite. The Wanton Mee Soup. The noodles were al dante. The char siew slightly on the unhealthy side ( lot's of fat ) and the huge wantons which even dear ( a self-taught wanton mee expert agrees with me when i asked her to try the soup and the wantons. ) ( 5/5 )















The Chicken Supreme Pizza. The crust is good. but i tot the pizza could use some more salt in it. apart from that, the amount of sauce was jus nice, and the serving is quite generous. ( 3/5 )

To the guy in blue shirt ( we presumme u're the manager ) Your service is excellent. You are polite, friendly and always smiling. Perhaps you could teach a thing or two to your colleague Ms Annie Low ( Your name's printed on the reciept ) who was manning the cashier station. She's like so unfriendly, cold and quiet. I was starting to wonder if she has hearingg problem after i asked her repeatedly how much was the bill. I basically had to look at the cashier machine to see the amount. After she handed me the reciept , i said thanks. She did something fantastic. She gently nodded her head. Wah.. i owe her one ah? lolz. Nevertheless dear and myself enjoyed our dinner. Will never allow such unfortunate events from spoilting the time i share with dear.

Food tasting : Swissotel @ The Stamford

Joined Jan and family for the food tasting dinner at Swissotel @ The Stamford on Tuesday night. The room was the Fullerton. The food served was a 9-course traditional chinese dinner but i thought there was an interesting fusion-twist to it.




Check out the table setting for the dinner that night.




First we were served the Chef's recommended Chinese Tea. I supposed the tea was carefully selected by the Chef to accompany and lift taste of the whole course of 9 dishes ( Chinese believes 9 dishes bores a very lucky and blissful meaning- Chang Chang Jiu Jiu ( in my own words it means , " Together Forever" ) to be served for the dinner. I am layman when it comes to food or tea but i thought the tea was very nice. It displays an elegant hue of violet and a very subtle chinese tea smell. I should really stop talking abt the tea else dear gonna say i'm getting more and more uncle ;)







Anyway the tea served was "Pu-er" or like dear's dad puts it, "paul-lay"-in Cantonese. At some point i really thought the tea was a fusion tea between a traditional chinese tea and perhaps an English tea. Hey hey, like i said, i'm layman already didn't i? Well at least it dun taste like hot chocolate to me ( winks at dear ) . Now whos' the one with the chocolate craving huh huh huh.

1st dish - Supreme Cold Dish









On the actual dinner, the dinner for the VIP table will be served individually. A very personalised touch i would say. The 1st dish was the Cold Dish ( Leng Pan ). There were sharks' fin ommlette, baby squid in a sweet a spicy sauce, sliced boiled prawn in a unidentifed sauce ( salad dressing/mayo), and "Wu-Xiang".

The prawn was very fresh and even thou it's a half a prawn, the size was quite substantial ( 4/5 ).
The baby squid was another interesting dish. A very unconventional dish as baby optopus would be more popular choice. Nevertheless it was very re-freshing ( 4/5 )
The "Wu Xiang". Nothing to shout about except the fact that the it provided a much needed contast in texture for the first dish. ( 3/5 ).
Shark's Fin Ommlette. I agree with dear that this was very nice. However the way i see it is, a Shark's Fin Ommlette has to have Shark's Fin isn't it? There were strands of Shark's Fin but i tot it could have done with a bit more Shark's Fin. ( 3/5 ).

2nd dish - Shark's Fin Soup








Served in a very elegant looking bowl, it gives off an air of prestige. Kind of like the Imperial Dinner ( Yu Shan ). The soup was very flavourful. Loads of shredded dried scallops were used, strands of finely sliced ( hand-torn ) chicken breast or pork. Beautiful... ( 3/5 )

3rd dish - Scallops and Asparagus








This dish should be considered a very "safe choice" for the dinner. Anyone hates scallops? However this dish caused quite a major discussion in and abt the round table. Personally i found the asparagus were a tad over-cooked and the scallops a tad under-cooked. Comments from the ground was that if the scallops were under-cooked, it could upsets some stomachs that evening. Taste-wise it was pretty conventional, nothing spectacular. ( 3/5 )

4th dish - Roast Chicken topped with sesame seed and peppercorn paste








As a "Chicken Person", i was expecting the the dish to provide a safe and comforting "half-time" in the course of the dinner. i was served the drumstick but dear and i exchanged as she loes drunstick and i adores chicken wings. Anyway i found the topping abit too salty. The hidden peppercorn packs a powerful punch considering the pepper were nowhere to be seen!~!~ Terrorists i say!~!~! Shiok Shiok!~!~! ( 3/5 ).

5th dish - Abalone with Spinach

Dear was looking very forwards to the Abalone dish. After watching the "Zhong Guo 8-Da Ming Chai" show on TV, she sort of gotten hooked with the idea of promoting the politically correct way of eating Abalone. Utilising a toothpick, 1 is supposed to pick up the abalone using it, and bite the way thru. ( Tai She Ci leh bey ) Like that per table will be adjusted upwards to $3000!~!~! Jeffery's abalone slices seemed a bit too green. Perhaps it was due to the cooking process. My take was the dish has been cooked way before hand and only reheat before serving hence it gave the abalone time to soak up the chlorophyll of the spinach. Anyway the glow u see on the picture is not photoshoped. It's quite oily actually. ( 3/5 )

6th dish - Steamed Live Groupa with Superior Sauce

This dish is yet another blockbuster, the well-recieved Steamed Live Groupa. Very traditionally done so can't really comment on the presentation nor the style of cooking. The fish was very fresh and, thankfully , cooked just right. Eaten together with the Superior Sauce, the freshness and sweetness of the fish was throughly presented out ( 5/5 ).

7th dish - Baked Pork Ribs, Capital Style

This dish is very well executed. The meat is tender yet jam-packed with flavour. The outside was fried ( or baked ) to a crisp yet the inside is till juicy and tender. Ho Jia!~!~! ( 4/5 )

8th dish - Ee Noodles

The 8th dish was one of a simple yet elegant dish of Stir Fried Ee Noodles with straw mushrooms. Not a big fan of Ee noodles but this dish is simple and yet delicious. This goes to show sometimes simplicity works magic. Food not necessarliy has to be cooked in a very extravagant way, presented in grand fashion to win people's heart ( and stmoachs as well ). At times we just long for that familar comfort food. ( 3/5 )

The finale - Chang Chang Jiu Jiu - Bai Nian Hao He

The dessert for the night was a traditional Chinese hot dessert commonly served during weddings and festives occasions. The "Lian Zhi" signifies Childrens ( blessing the couple with good fortune and have child soon ) Bai-He ( Lotus leaf petals ? ) meant togetherness and wishes the couple's love for each other last as long as the "Sea Cries and Stone Breaks" . Sincerest best wishes, Jeffery and Grace!~

Saturday Nite out to Griller's

After dinner, we went down to TBP for a little after-dinner "stroll"... Okie okie the real reason was dear had a sudden bolt of craving for MacDonald's Chocolate Sundae. Hmmmm... So we made our way down, shopped around the mall a while. The perfume store at level 1 is having a sale. Well sort of.. Anyway i was abt to get another bottle of perfume as well so no harm taking a look.

After walking a while, we started to feel a little bit hungry. As dear puts it, it jus "mouth itchy".
so we head on to the "Griller Restaurant" on Level 4.

Wanted to get the Hawaiian Pizza but was told that they had run out of it. So after flipping thru the menu, we ordered the American Chicken Chop instead. And also 2 mugs of Root Beer Float. Griller's had this sort of roof-top Al-fresco dinning experience pull to it that dear and myself enjoy very much. How nice to enjoy a drink under the stars, with the gentle breeze brushing past our face, not to mention, in the company of your love ones. I mean isn't this the sort of life we longed for? To have someone you love by your side, enjoying each other's company...

Okie , back to the topic. It took longer than usual to see the food arrive at out table. And when it does on that night, both of us were stunned/shocked/traumatised/( fill in the other similar words here ). The serving was pathetically small~!

The first time i was truely disappointed with Griller's. It was different from wat we saw on the menu!~!~! Anyway dear, in her usual non-picky-abt-food attitude finished the food pretty well.

Isn't it great to have someone by your side who ain't picky abt her food? Yeah!~!~!
Total bill came up to less than $20. Not too bad considering the ambience was nice and the staffs were friendly ( why except one who told us they dun serve plain water here. This i find amusing, F&Bs keeping a glass of plain water away from their clients) Down side was the it closed quite early ( 2130) even on weekends.