long men ke zhan de DIAN XIAO ER - friday 28 July 2006

friday evening in the city with OHANA. we couldnt decide where to go for dinner so we parked at marina square to look around. but it didnt take us long to agree unanimously on dian xiao er. we patronized the eatery with an olden chinese-concept furnishing when it was still at chinatown and we are still a big fan of their shi quan ya. the duck is well roasted and it's nicely complemented with the chinese herb-infused sauce. very tasty! :) a definite must-try if you are at dian xiao er! it's usually packed after 7pm and the small space doesnt help. so you must go early to beat the dinner crowd or be prepared to wait in line.


the table of dishes which we ordered.

beancurd is healthy and delicious!

oooohh.. the yummy-licious shi quan ya

will you marry me? i dont think so.

HAIZ! what a disappointment. his show is such a flop. wish him better luck for his movie lar.

军翔加油!

the revamped newton circus food centre - tuesday 4 July 2006

just doing some blog updating of photos taken during my makan adventures. i was inspired by someone elses' blog to start somewhat of a food blog of my own. i mean since i love food so much, why not share some of the good makan places which i have been to with you all, right? so, hope you guys enjoy my posts and photos lar. must let me know if you have hao jie shao okie. :)

one evening after bible study, we were wondering where to go for our usual friday night supper when daddy suggested NCFC. he mentioned that some stalls had started business already despite the fact that it was not officially opened yet. although we were not craving for bbq seafood, which NCFC is known for, we decided to go check out the new look of NCFC anyway. since it was not publically launched, the crowd that night was incomparable to that of the past, but a significant supper crowd was still present. we browsed through the stalls and my goodness!!! i saw the humongous-est prawn in my whole life!!! it was nearly a feet long, or slightly more than that, from head to tail!!! and yes im sure it's a prawn and not a lobster lar!! haha.. geez! i was so amazed i couldnt stop telling my parents how shocked (in a child-like amused way) i was and i think they were equally amazed by my response towards the giant prawn. my mummy called me suaku can. haha.. before we left NCFC, after devouring some popiah (which was damn ex $1.80 for one puny roll), orh-lua and cheng teng, i told them i had to come back another time to feast on those giant prawns no matter what...

which i did. :D yay!


we found a nice open-air spot to settle. it was quite early, but the place was already brimming with hungry customers.

we spotted some people in familiar uniforms. like before, the hawkers were touting for customers and offering to find seats for them. some drink stall lady kept asking us to order sugarcane drink from her to which we politely declined each time. but after the meal, we ordered sugarcane drink from her. her perserverance paid off huh..

the $1.80 popiah and orh-lua. there was only one stall there which sells popiah lor. daddy's chai taow kueh in the background.

the BBQ stuff! wooh! the super prawns! don't know if you can tell how big they were from the photo but one big plate could only hold 3 of them. yar.. so you can estimate how abnormally huge they were. can you imagine me grinning from ear to ear when they arrived on the table?! hahahaha..

the stir-fried kai lan and gravy soaked la la! we ordered stingray too! poppit's fave.

the leftover shells of the super prawns. they tasted pretty nice with garlic and chilli, but not as good as what i had expected. worth a try but i would probably give it a miss the next time.

the food was obviously yummy...

cuz we wiped out everything! this is the food form of a hurricane katrina devastation. lots of casualties.. haha..

after the very filling meal, we ordered some sugarcane drinks and enjoyed the lovely sunset setting at NCFC before we headed home, satiated and happy :)

TCC, my treat! - Tuesday 1 August 2006

after some pretty good dinner of zi char and garlic mussels (YUM! ;p) along rivervalley, i decided to take OHANA to the nearby TCC at Great World City for a post-dinner cuppa-coffee treat! it's really nice to bring OHANA out for a treat once in awhile, where we relax and chill out together somewhere nice after a hard day's work. im really thankful i've such a fantastic family where we all place family first and enjoy spending good quality time together. im also thankful that they are so supportive and would play along with my wacky ideas most of the time just to make me happy. hehe.. it's really about 'giving and taking'. i feel so blessed and im so proud of OHANA!

we are truly the FANTASTIC FOUR, right?! :D

we took a short walk from the zi char place to Great World City. TCC is concealed in a corner outside the main shopping area of the building which makes it suitable for a private retreat.

the cozy interior of TCC with its warm lighting, cream-coloured sofas and patterned brown walls. too bad this corner was taken when we arrived so we had to settle for the usual cafe-style table and seats.

Dad's Latte Mocha - nothing fancy, simple yet palatable, just like him.. heh

Mum's tcc Iced Minty Mocha - cool and refreshing for her tastebuds! i tried to get a picture where the focus was on the drink and my mum would appear fuzzy at the background. but i failed lar. this is the clearest picture that i had of her drink

poppit's Mighty Joe Young - melodramatic name but is actually a very simple blend of banana, chocolate and coffee. poppit only realized the reason behind its name when she saw the slices of banana in it. can you get it?

my Mon Cherie - i was in a happy and fruity mood that evening so i got the recommended berry-ish drink. sweet!

the side dish we ordered - Chef's style Tofu Tortellini

it was quite nice and the sauce was something unique though i've forgotten what it actually was

TCC is truly a great place to hang out with your mates and try out the interesting blends of coffee. seeing all these photos again is making me crave for coffee! i think i'll go Coffee Bean to grab a frappe later. yea!

Ssending Ssip off from Ssingapore to Ssweeden - Monday 31 July 2006

pis is in Sweden right now as i type this blog entry. firstly, i would like to thank God that she is safe and sound and that she's enjoying the work and environment there. maybe she really isn't suited to stay in Singapore, or am i wrong? i would have to wait for her to return in a year's time to get the answer. Germany exchange really brought out the backpacker in her and i can tell that she's been dying to go and explore more of Europe since. brain said that pis has a European look, but i don't quite get it lar. haha. anyhow, i miss that spunky girl.. and i was quite surprised by how much i actually miss her considering how little time we actually got to meet up. i hope she likes the prezzies i we got for her. and i gotta say a BIG THANK YOU to JO for going shopping with me for pis's prezzies and contributing those great ideas. thanks girl! :D anway, we got her something like a poet's cap which would be very phototaking-handy for her tour around Europe, and some skin-care products to help her tide through the harsh weather conditions in Sweden. I made her a card too! heh.. although it was pretty last-minute, i was still quite proud of it and i felt good because it's been god-knows how long since i personally made a gift for someone. it feels really nice to make something special for people who mean something to you. it's good to know that the girl is settling well in Sweden and i'll see her in a year's time then. till we meet again, take care of yourself pis!


pis was scheduled to check-in at 8pm and i was at Tanah Merah MRT Station at 740pm! bad miscalculation of my journey time, which was longer than what i had expected. frantically replying friends' sms to tell them where i am and not to let pis check-in till i met her.

another 2 minutes has elapsed and there's still no sight of the Changi Airport-bound train. and i still need to take the Sky Train to Terminal 1. jialat!

finally!

trying to enjoy the last few minutes of calm before my sprint. photo-taking anyone?

and after a mad dash, aka "chiioong", towards Terminal 1, I MADE IT on time to pass pis her presents and took some photos with her. there was this unavoidable drama-mama feel as i chiioong-ed through the hallway of the airport with a sense of urgency.. heh.. friends and family gathered to say their "goodbye"s and "take care"s..

the "pig trotter" (zhu jiao) of the evening.. with her very bollywood companion :)

the mata checking to see if they resembled anyone on their wanted list

byebye pis.. go take Sweden by storm yea!

the photo which i used for the cover of my self-made card for pis.. cool right! and i spotted it on the day when i was shopping for her present. i simply had to capture it for her.

the full poster from Coffee Bean. i don't really think the choice of words are clear enough to bring out the intended meaning though