When one is sick, the selection of meals is pretty limited. Most would go for liquid foods such as soup, porridge, mushy stuff, ice cream?? My usual strategy is to stop eating completely and simply go into hibernation. However, it is THE B Day! How can one miss out on the chance of great food and awesome company right? 

I was honored to have Z celebrate my aging and she was extremely accommodating to my weird tummy, which demanded clean and refreshing tastes. We first decided on Duxton (based on our dessert destination, read it in B Day Part 2) and despite her pasta craving, she agreed to doing Japanese with me (a last minute change). Problem is, Duxton is not really known for Japanese food. I would usually head to Clarke Quay/Robertson/River Valley for that. Thank god for the invention called the Internet and Google, we ended up at Hanayoshi.  

Simple and spartan furnishing, very typical of Japanese restaurants. We started off with a Hotate sashimi. Very clean, sweet and succulent meat. We were reminiscing our best hotate experience. Mine was in Hokkaido where i had a freshly shucked hotate with shoyu. Heavenly. Z tried to explain her steamboat hotate and her method of cooking which involves a quick dipping of her sashimi grade hotate into boiling stock. Whatever it is, our dinner conversations always revolve around food and more food.

A good tamago IMO should always be made fresh and served warm. My Tsukiji experience at Sushi Dai taught me that. I didn't used to like tamago because it is too sweet but good tamago shouldn't be over-sweetened. The one at Itacho is not bad. Hanayoshi's is passable- slighty warmed but it didn't seem freshly made (i think it was the microwave).

This is my idea of a clean, refreshing and soothing meal- ice cold udon. Both of us ordered the Inaniwa udon. Call me a spoilt brat but noodles should be freshly made. Most packet ones (especially udon) don't have that chewy texture. Sadly, the ones at Hanayoshi is not freshly made. I ordered it anyway because i wanted something cold to extinguish the fire in the throat. It wasn't too bad and could be considered tangy. The sushi wasn't too shady as well- big chunky slices of fish and a small ball of rice. Wasn't particularly wowed by the freshness/cut of the meat but it was alright.

Z's tempura with her noodles. Chunky battered real crab meat. Good job! The thing i love about tempura is that it is always so crispy but somehow it never seem to taste oily. I need to learn to deep fry like this. One can never go wrong with deep fried foods (no wonder i don't seem to recover).

For desserts i had the Ume gelato. It seems milky but before the milk taste hits you, the refreshing sourish sweet Ume taste would kick in and it was just really exciting (if you can call it that). It may take you by surprise on the first tasting, then confusion sets in, but acceptance follows. Anyway, it comes with the set but if you order it on the side, it would cost you $8 a pop. Worth it? I'm not sure but you should try it for yourself. Life is too short, try everything once. :)

The fairly satisfied us who were all set to take on desserts. What is a birthday without sweets right? Stay tuned for Part 2 on Flor Patisserie. 

Hanayoshi

21 Duxton Road

Tel: +65 6225 5567

Mon-Sat: 12pm - 2.30pm, 6.30pm - 10pm

Been meaning to try Toby's Estate for a long while but the boy has been too lazy to drive down to Robertson on the weekends. Since we started the birthday week earlier this year and because he can't celebrate with me on my actual birthday itself, waking a lil earlier and driving a lil further seems like a fair sacrifice. 

Toby's is just a stone's throw away from Kith Cafe which is also very popular with the residents in the area. Shall try that some time soon. Love the old warehouse feel to the area. Very grunge but they have since refurbished and repainted the exterior. We have noted this place some time ago before Toby moved in. There's an ice cream place that S likes but i thought nothing of. Can't remember the name of the place but they sell mattresses too. 

Huge ass roaster which wasn't in use when we were there. Would love the aroma of freshly roasted beans.

Something we noticed about the recent development in the cafe scene is that they all kinda have the same decor. Brick walls juxtaposed with a black, white and wood theme. A little raw, a little unfinished. I'm not complaining because i like it this way. The flooring of my future home would be cement or i would have a cement wall feature.

Nice airy space to chill at but my main complain is that there are not enough seats in the house! The concept of communal dining is cool but it's not very comfortable squeezing between different groups of people early in the morning just to get my caffeine fix. The space could be better utilized i feel.

The coffee is easy on the palate. I usually don't take coffee without sugar but after having Papa Pahleta's, i concluded that good coffee doesn't require any additional sweetening. I would put this in the same category. Can't say too much about the coffee as my throat was crying for help from the soreness and i think coffee made it worse. :(

Hate being sick, especially when this is the birthday week. Everyone i met said that i look sick and grumpy. S asked why i'm so angry at the world. I'm just really annoyed at being sick. Know what it's like to see all the nice food but not feeling like eating them at all? That feeling SUCKS.

I forced myself to order something anyway. Ham and Cheese Croissant was really good. The pastry is very light and airy and extremely crispy! I would love for the centre texture to have more pull though. The pastries are outsourced. S said something about it coming from Bread Project. I should just go straight to the source to get my croissant. Absolutely missing the croissant and pate in Saigon.. Sighs.

S had the poached egg with salmon on brioche. My first impression is that it looks a lot like WH's but the brioche is not toasted and this is more buttery and very fluffy. Shall try the brioche with jam next time to get a more accurate feel to the texture.

Nicely done eggs but i wouldn't say that this dish is spectacular? Not something i would definitely come back for.

W showed up at Toby's after we were about done with our breakfast. He had the Toby’s Breakfast- a composition of scrambled eggs, back bacon, roasted tomatoes and peppers and sautéed mushrooms. The eggs sure look runny enough. Shall try this when i feel better. Anyway, it's breakfast till 3pm daily so more incentives to come down. Downside to this place is also the really slow service. They really need to work on getting the coffee and food out faster.

The night was spent with my JC pals because Yuf is back from down under. Missing from the group- Junda, CW, Pui and Dao. It's hard to get the entire gang to meet up since everyone is busy with work and life. Anyway it's interesting because i met the JC folks last birthday week too! :)) They had dinner at Rakuichi (had dinner with family so didn't do that with them, shall try that soon) and we then proceeded to PS cafe for desserts and truffle fries. YUMS.

Birthdays are meant to be spent with friends and people who matters. Cheers to friendship and love. :) Thank you guys for spending your precious time with me. :))

Toby's Estate
8 Rodyk Street #01-03/04
Tel: +65 6636 7629
Daily: 7.30am - 6pm

I remember the days when birthdays used to be fun and exciting. Presents from family, relatives and friends, little surprises from loved ones, giving out hand-wrapped birthday goodies to classmates, huge ass birthday cake etc. Birthdays used to be magical, until you grow older that is and that's when the meaning of birthday loses itself. It becomes just another day (unless you have great friends who remember). I don't feel much different from what i did the day or month before. It's another jump in the number that represents age, another mark towards becoming an adult (i still don't see myself as one), another reminder that it's time to grow up and move on. Sad hur? That is life. 

Anyway, i was pretty determined not to let all the negativities dampen the festive season (which is my birthday) so i started doing this birthday week thingy. Birthdays are way too important to be celebrated in just 1 day so mine is a week long celebration! So for those who missed your chance to congratulate me, you have 6 more days. :P So a full 7 days of feasting and catching up with people who matters to me. Yay-ness!

This year birthday week 2 days earlier because we celebrated my uncle's birthday (which is a day before mine). Hello to 9 days of non stop eating! Ended up having impromptu lunch on NY day at Dian Xiao Er near home (Serangoon Nex Branch). 

I kinda like the roast duck that they have. This is the duck roasted with 10 wonder herbs with things like Astragalue, Codonopsis Root, Dried Longan etc.. (god knows what the rest of the wonders are but they sure taste yummy). The sauce is sweet and yet not overpowering with herb. I could simple have the sauce with a pot of white rice and finish every single grain. The duck is fabulous too, think brown caramelized duck skin that crackles when you pop it into your mouth and a moist juicy texture to the meat.  

The Emerald Toufu, a homemade wheatgrass blended toufu, is also a favorite with diners. Crispy exterior and a silky interior, this dish sure made me feel healthy since it's like eating vegetables. 

 

We also had the Braised Mushrooms in Chinese Wine. I love the big oyster mushrooms and the sweet taste of the Chinese wine. This is something i could eat everyday. Besides, alcohol is a great complement to food, be it cooked in or drunk along with it.

This is one of my favorite dishes at DXE- Stir Fried Lotus Root with Macadamia Nuts. Love the crunchy texture of the lotus root and the nuts. These are 2 of my favorite ingredients. They also have water chestnut as well as gingko nuts! Love them. This dish is surely refreshing and has a very clean and crisp taste. 

 

We also had the Mongolian Pork Ribs. The sauce is unique with quite a bit of spices and chili. It's just that the meat was kinda overcooked. I was expecting ribs that would fall off the bone but instead i was doing a tug of war with mine.  

To end the lunch, i had the gui ling gao to soothe my sore throat (which has sadly developed into a raging inferno and congested chest full of phlegm and more..). The jelly wasn't very herby/bitter as compared to the one i had at Changi Airport. I suppose it's good for the normal diner but i wanted something that would put out the fire in the throat so that was a little disappointing.

Generally a good place to have a sit down Chinese meal with the family. They do have the CNY package too for dining in and taking out so do check out their website for more details.

Dian Xiao Er

9 outlets in Singapore- AMK Hub, Causeway Point, Jurong Point, Lot 1, Serangoon Nex, Tampines 1, VivoCity, West Coast Plaza

Mon- Fri: 11.30am - 2.30pm, 5.30pm - 9.30pm

Sat- Sun: 11.30am - 9.30pm

Most people would do their yearly reflections come 31st Dec, i would usually review it on my birthday. 1st reason being that it is really close to the end of the year and the 2nd being that i use it to chart my yearly growth.

This past year was a lot on maintaining balance in my life and i'm proud to say that i've achieved a state of equilibrium especially towards the end of the year. I spent a good part of 2010 working and stressing myself out and a small part of my 2011 resolution was to have a better work-life separation. I think i did that very well, i hardly brought work home but it wasn't too hard since i am such a Type A i usually finish it at work anyway. 

I felt more at ease and happier after taking up yoga. It has made me more at ease mentally and the plus point is that it gives me a better and stronger body. I feel like i can take on any challenge or shit life throws in my way. Positivity rocks. 

I started this blog end Nov and it has been a great space for me to share my thoughts and my love for food, fashion and travel. I hope you guys like it as much as i do. I've had friends telling me that they've read my articles and everyone has been nothing but encouraging. I hope you guys are not just being nice because we are friends. I can take criticisms really (may just cry in the privacy of my room but it's really ok. Kidding!).

2011 was also a year that i grew as an individual. I've become even more independent than before. December saw me doing a pseudo individual trip to Vietnam (read about it here) and i ate and did the sightseeing alone and i really enjoyed my own company (even though it'd be nice to share my thoughts with someone at certain points). That kinda contributed to my personal growth in a big way. 

I've made some really close friends in the past year and reconnected with some and they have helped me grow as an individual as well. It's amazing how Z and i became such close friends within such a short span of time and we even travelled together. She's like my long lost twin in so many ways- our outlook in life, interests, the way we think, the things we eat etc etc. Thanks babe for being such a great friend. Cheers to a lifetime of friendship! 

I've been quite happy and satisfied this year. I gave a lot and i learned to give in as well, i invested in my relationships with friends and it made happy that they are happy (read about it here). That said, in this new year, i'm not going to let myself be taken advantage of. It's not really friendship when people don't keep to their word and they disappoint time and time again. So yea, as positive as i am, i think there's only that much shit i can take so i'm walking away from bad relationships. 

To all my friends, thanks for being there for me in the past years and for the potential support that i'll receive in the many years to come. I love you guys!

This new year, i pray for courage, for growth, for peace and for love. And i hope we all find what we are looking for in life. 

XOXO,

C.

When it comes to BBQ meat, i like mine in a nice restaurant with attentive service, great meats, wide variety and without smoke. That's the only way to have BBQ really. Do not expect me to be standing in front of a grill, getting all dirty and greasy. Fun yes, but the cleaning up is not joke. I would do that if i am 16 once again but not at this age. Comfort creatures we are as we grow older.

My favorite place to go? Gyu Kaku. I've been there at least 4-5 times and it has never disappointed me (other than the time L and i ordered the ala carte dishes- absolutely unsatisfying). My advice, always go for the sets. Just look at the following pictures and you'd be convinced.

Fuku Set- modified

Warai Set- modified

I've tried both the Warai Set and the Fuku set. Not much difference, depending on what you feel like having more. Could always exchange the items for something else if you don't feel like having a particular cut. I love the wagyu short rib! Great marbling and very tender (provided you don't overcook them). 

Perhaps the only healthy dish in the mix. I always go for the Horenso salad which is a creamy sesame dressing with bacon and fried garlic with spinach. This also happens to be the best seller too.

L and i had some grilled miso salmon which imo is the nicest fish dish ever. It is now replaced by gindara in the Fuku set but it's not too bad. You can never go wrong with fresh and succulent grilled seafood.

Their bimbimbap is also one of my favorites. I would go to Gyu Kaku just for the bimbimbap. Of course i'd be lying if i said i wouldn't be ordering anything else. 

Ok it's kinda fattening to have this on a regular basis. Not the most healthy meal you can have. Just look at the oil on the plate. Tsk. I just had this again yesterday despite my sore throat and cough (sacrifices i make for friends) but you can only live once so it might as well be good right?

On to the desserts, i love the Gyu Kaku ice cream which has soy bean powder and a gula melaka kinda syrup on real vanilla ice cream (with vanilla beans!). This has to be my favorite until i tried the Gyu Kaku Milk pudding.

This is the bomb really. Really soft custardy milk pudding which quivers as you try to scoop it up. Same dressings as the Gyu Kaku ice cream just that this is a milky heaven curd. My new favorite. 

Me with my hair all bunned up the first time i ate at GK because we weren't sure if we would smell after. L & i did a sniff test on each other after we left. Quite a sight to have 2 small girls sniffing each other in public. :P 

I've been to both the UE and Chijmes outlets and i prefer the UE one even though it's a little out of the way. Bigger space, quieter and not quite smoky too.

So yea.. this is my NY dinner and it was awesome despite the raging inferno in my throat. Hope you guys had a good one!

Gyu Kaku
Anchorpoint
368 Alexandra Road
Tel: +65 6479 4001

Chijmes
30 Victoria St #01-01/03
Tel: +65 6333 4001

UE Square
81A Clemenceau Ave
#01-18/19
Tel: +65 6733 4001

Holland Village
29 Lorong Mambong
Tel: +65 6466 4001

Opening hours:
Daily: 11.30am/12pm - 2.30pm (last order 2pm), 5.30/6pm - 10.30pm (last order 10pm)
(check website for specific opening hours for different branches)

Another weekend, another weekend brunch place that comes highly recommended by this skinnyfat girl. This time, we go French and the restaurant is no other than Crêperie des Arts, a traditional French crêpes place that hails from Brittany, a region in the northwest of France.

So what are crêpes? Essentially it's a very thin pancake which is usually made from wheat flour (crêpes de Froment) or buckwheat flour (galettes). Crêperie des Arts does a selection of both dessert and savory crêpes. 


On the location- nice little place tucked away at Prinsep Street. It is pretty quiet and cosy. There aren't many seats indoors so it may get pretty crowded. There is a 2nd level seating as well but it was closed to diners when i went. The decor reflects the coastal nature of Brittany with all the fishing nets and fake seafood on the walls (was pretty amused by that). 

It's like dining in someone's home. You see little kids' art pieces pasted on the walls, a bar counter that separates the dining space from the kitchen, uncoordinated mix of furniture, absolutely homey.

Outdoor seating- not many tables as well. 

Traditional French crêpes are served with apple cider! I love apple cider, it's like drinking sparkling juice with that bit of alcohol. Would have gone for the sweet cider (i only take sweet alcohol) but they were out of that so i had to go with the 5% one. Somehow it still tastes a little bitter to me? This is $8.50 a glass which imo is a little pricey since the glass is kinda small to me? 

We ordered the duck rillette for appetizers. If you are concerned about your cholesterol level, don't have this dish. A little more on the preparation of this dish- the meat is cubed or chopped, salted heavily and cooked slowly in fat until it is tender enough to be easily shredded, and then cooled with enough of the fat to form a paste. Spread that buttery mix on the toasted bread and send it right into your mouth. I guarantee a direct transportation to heaven (not in the kick-the-bucket sense but that may happen as well. Ok that's some dark humour. Hur hur).  

For mains, we had the crowd pleasers- complete Forestiere (i think i ordered this or perhaps the one without the egg) and Saint Caradec.

The Complete Forestiere is a crêpe with ham, mushroom and a sunny side up egg in the middle. This is quite the perfect breakfast/brunch dish. Texture of a pancake with all my savory sides= yums. The crêpe is wafer thin, extremely crispy but slightly spongey in the middle. I think the texture of the dish is perfect- there's some crunch which is complemented by the moisture of the egg yolk. 

S had the Saint-Caradec which has scallops flambéed with Calvados and served with a creamy leeks fondue. It was kinda bitter to me, maybe it's the leeks or something. Love the plump and fresh scallops which were well seared and very juicy but they do look kinda pathetic sitting on such a huge crêpe. 


To state the obvious, i did not finish my crêpe and neither did S. They were surprisingly very filling. I think i ate less than half of mine so we doggy bagged (for the dog. :P Couldn't stomach any more crêpe after brunch). Because we were so stuffed, there wasn't any space left for desserts. Heard the flambéed crêpe Suzette is a good choice for a dessert crêpe so maybe next time round (if i do not over order again). 


S thought that it is kinda pricey for crêpes, the mains are about S$20++. Then again that's the price you have to pay for authentic food in Sg. Another authentic French crêperie would be Entre-Nous Crêperie at Seah Street. Should give it a try some day.

If you prefer pancakes, Strictly Pancakes is just next door. However, you've been warned, that place is like a hangout for pimply teenagers and the usual NS boys and uni kids. I would recommend FfT for pancakes just down the road at Queens if you want to avoid the canteen crowd.

Crêperie des Arts
44 Prinsep Street, #01-02/02, Prinsep Place
Tel: +65 6333 5330
Fri–Sun: 12pm – 2pm
Tue–Sun: 6pm – 11pm

On cold nights or rainy days, i often find myself craving for hot peppery soup and that's when i'll head down to Song Fa Ba Kut Teh to warm up my shivering tummy.

My favorite bkt is the clear soup (otherwise called white soup) which is packed with lotsa black and white pepper. Not a fan of the black herbal sort (too much herbs for me). I used to only eat at Founder's which has pretty decent bkt IMO but decided to give Song Fa a shot since i see it all the time at Clark Quay. 

Verdict? The soup is not bad, savory enough and is very aromatic. I still do think Founder's has really good soup but SF has way better ribs. The meat is so tender, it peels off the bone with a light tug of your teeth. The ribs absorbs the flavor of the soup so thoroughly you don't even have to dip it in too much dark sauce to give it the extra flavor. I have tried both the premium and the regular ribs here and the regular ones are much better. Trust me on this one. The regular rib is better than Founder's premium ribs as well. For $8 you would get the large bowl and that's about 6 ribs. On good days i can finish that by myself.

If you want more food, other dishes such as the braised intestines (really well marinated and clean), pork trotters (braised and melt-in-your-mouth meat!), chicken feet (i don't eat this) etc are pretty awesome too. If you like variety, you could go for the mixed soup of your choice- you could choose ribs, stomach, tail bone etc in the pork bone soup. Me? I'd just go for the regular pork rib bkt. :)

Love dipping the you tiao into the soup and then smearing it in the dark sauce before popping each golden babies into my mouth. The salted veggies are also a must order.

Simple comfort food to chase away the cold! Enjoy. There are 2 outlets along New Bridge Road, i always go to the air conditioned one. It's from the same kitchen and the prices are the same so why not dine in comfort right?

Song Fa Ba Kut Teh
11 & 17 New Bridge Road, #01-01
Tel: +65 6533 6128
Tues-Sun: 7am - 10pm
Closed Mon

My Vietnam trip was practically a cafe hunting trip. What best way to enjoy a holiday with lotsa nice coffee and desserts/pastry and simply zen out. Since i didn't do any research before i left, i basically counted on Lonely Planet for some of food options and i think Sozo was on it. Since it was along the same main street as my hotel, i decided to walk there to check it out. 

Sozo is unique from other cafes in the sense that it's mission is to help underprivileged Vietnamese families and their children to break the cycle of debt. Sozo has been providing training for employment for these families since 2005. Food is such an amazing thing because it provides sustenance and more. To me, food brings me joy (not because i'm greedy) and eating is a big thing at home since forever. Food brings family together- the preparation, the cooking, the feasting, the hanging out after and then more eating. So yea, great idea to use food to help these disadvantaged folks. 

The space is quite amazing (as all shops in Saigon are). The first time i popped by the store i thought it was just the ground floor but it turns out that there's more sitting space upstairs. Anyway, there is quite an array of baked goods such as muffins, cakes and cookies. They also do breakfast food (both Vietnamese and American) but i didn't try that.

I like the alfresco space upstairs- little balcony that looks out to the main street. Somehow it is just really quiet and serene upstairs despite the bustling traffic on the road. Feels like i'm chilling out at somebody's place.

This was breakfast before i left Saigon for Phu Quoc. Ice Blended Vietnamese coffee which was awesome. Boy that was some kick start to my hyper-energy for the rest of the day. The left is a Caramel roll which was nice when warmed up (absolutely bad when it's cold because it turns rock hard). The right is a carrot cake which is fabulous.

I like a good carrot cake but i seldom order it for desserts, simply because a lot of places don't make good ones. A good carrot cake should be very moist but dense at the same time. The cream cheese frosting is also very important to the entirety of the cake. At first glance, it may seem like there's too little frosting but the amount was just right, since the cake isn't very tall. The cake tastes very fresh as well and you can sill see and recognize the carrot bits in it, totally unlike what we usually see in Sg. Most of the time it looks like oxidised carrot (i don't think carrots oxidise but they always look like they do somehow).
So yea, great concept, great place, simple and hearty food that comes from the heart. Please support them!

Sozo
176 Bui Vien, District 1,Ho Chi Minh Ciy, Vietnam 
Tel: 095 870 6580 or 0909 306 971
Daily: 7:00am - 10:30pm
Email: info@sozocentre.com

Ho Chi Minh City on Dwellable