The republic referring to that little island mass south of our borders. That amazingly organized colony and even spectacular (at some places) scenery. Anyway, truthfully, with an exchange rate matching that of Australia, Singapore is NOT high on my list of "must visit" places, and if it weren't for the fact that we were there for a cousin's nuptials, we'd probably have continued our cuti cuti Malaysia, and lived like kings, with the kind of prices we were paying in Singapore. However, fortunately, because of the generosity of friends and relatives, the overall bill was pretty reasonable.One of my main benefactors during this visit was the inimitable Hairy Berry. After putting him through much stress to find a suitable venue that was fairly near to me, had easy parking, and is child friendly, he suggested NO SIGNBOARD at the Eastcoast Seafood Centre, just off the ECP. I have never quite gotten used to the abbreviations of the Singapore highways. BKE for Bukit Timah Expressway, AYE for Ayer Rajah, SLE for .... whatever.Driving in Singapore is a breeze. Everything is so well sign posted, and maps are good, you don't even need a GPS. Found our way to East Coast Seafood Centre in good time, and was actually the first to arrive. Sai Low was also joining us for dinner.Nothing like a frosted beer glass with icy cold draught to calm the nerves, of having to navigate through a strange land, with 4 kids in the car constantly playing and singing along to Mamma Mia soundtrack.I wasn't quite accustomed to seeing Hairy Berry in office garb, as the only times I've seen him was when he's back for the weekends. It's like after a scuba diving trip, when you suddenly bump into a fellow diver in the mall, and say, "oh, I've never seen you with clothes on, I almost didn't recognise you". (Real life story).The claim to fame for most of the Singapore seafood joints are the white pepper crab. Starting at S$40 per kg for Sri Lankan crab, it goes into the hundreds for crabs from white countries. In fact, the next tier up after the Sri lankan crab was the Australian Snow Crab at S$140. Hairy kept assuring me that if you dont convert, the prices are quite reasonable. True, they actually have it good, these Singies. Dollar for dollar, they go a much further distance. A kopi ping in kopitiam is only $0.70, as opposed to our RM1.70. And a noodle in kopitiams are about $3.I can't believe how green the vegetables are. Just like the zoo. All the animals so perfectly manicured. Everything is perfect in the little island. Penguins dive on cue, tigers pose for photographs, and in case they don't, there's a plastic replica for you to pose with outside most of the exhibits. Choy tam, fried with garlic. Hard to go wrong here.Marmite ribs. Oh dear, this is what happens when you blog about events after more than two weeks. Especially if the three weeks that have elapsed are filled with food and more food, everything becomes one big blur, with the help of alcohol. AS FAR as I recall, the ribs were good.I love deep fried mantous, because they're sinfully unhealthy. These were ordered for the purpose of soaking up the gravy from the chilli crabs.I think we all unanimously agreed that our Malaysian Chilli Crabs are far better than this particular offering. However, the Sri Lankan Crabs are fleshy, and rather meaty. I remember at one stage they were all the craze here. Huge mothers of crabs, which were then rumoured to have been fed on human carcasses floating off the Ganges. Is the Ganges near Sri Lanka? I lurve Sri Lankan crabs, whether or not they've been fed on human meat. After all, as the song goes, in Lion King, it's the Circle of Life. As long as it wasn't my direct ancestors they were feeding on....Oh, my mistake, I coulda sworn the Circle of Life lyrics were about the food chain....but I just googled it and its not. It's about sapphire skies.Ah, the white pepper crab. Rather good, I have to say. I love the peppery assault on the palate, and the strands of spring onion. A very delectable dish indeed, I have to say. Brings out the flavour of the crab, unlike the chilli crab which was drowned in the that starchy gravy. Hmmm, I kinda feel like having some now. KL got ah? Sure must have one leh. Calling out to the Queen of Crabs, Precious Pea.....oh knowledgeable Regina Crabus, where can we get White Pepper Crab in KL?Wat Tan Hor Fun. Mainly ordered for the kiddos. But tasty enough, and was our main carbs for the night.I am sure the pro-life people would be appalled at the amount of roe that was prematurely killed along with this mother crab. But heck, it was DEEEEELICIOUS!!!! Just look at that that!!! I can almost hear my pharmacist (Ciki, help, help!) stocking up on a year's supply of Lipitor for me, in anticipation.....Actually Hairy Berry did a very very naughty thing, and PAID!!!! ARGH!!! My Sai Low, who has been working in Singapore for years now, made a feeble attempt to fight for the bill, (that Chinese game, of Quick Draw Credit card mcgraw)..... The bill in ringgit terms is staggering, but Hairy Berry assured us that it was okay as long as you don't convert. Hey Hairy, thanks heaps, owe you a big big dinner in KL okay. Happy New Year everyone, welcome back all my dear friends from London, Krabi, Sydney, (in order of their arrival dates)....and here's to a gluttonous, culinefarious, 2009.

I have never try foie gras (鵝肝) (Pronounce it: fwah-grah) in my life, and as far as I know it’s an expensive dish. And it is also one of the world luxury’s food, apart from Caviar (魚子醬) & Truffle (松露).But, that night on Dec 24, Christmas Eve, hubby and I have the opportunity to taste it and we both fell in love immediately with it. It was so soft, it’s like a butter melting in your mouth. One word to describe it – Gorgeous!The day was started this way…I have not heard about this, neither do I have dine in here before. In fact, discover this place on my last food hunt trip in Oct. I know I know, I have yet to post anything thus far, but am more excited about this trip instead. Well, just one reason, and the reason is simple, cuz, I was moved by Mama Mia. [grin]Anyway, on the eve itself, hubby and I were wandering in the mall and we both wanted to have some quality time to spend on these 3 days 2 nights stay.We walked around to see what to have for our dinner tonight… and knowing KL’s life style is better to make a reservation soon, otherwise, we both will have room service again.I actually wanted to try Kampachi, tough I’ve tried many times in Penang, but this is something in KL that I’ve not try. Before I could suggest to hubby, I passed by The C Club, a place where I’ve read it some where, can’t recall whose blog and I was amazed with the food presentation and the services that they rendered to their customers.Without 2nd thought hubby said let’s try this instead. So, we both walked up front and made the reservation.Reservation made for 8pm, we were there 20mins early. The waitress brought us to our table and I believe that’s the supervisor whom came to us and checked with us how are us doing and so on. No wonder many bloggers commented that the service is in fact superb.We both quite like the arrangement, and the table setting though they arranged for us to sit near the entrance.The guy that came to us not long ago, he came again to check on us whether would we like to have a glass of wine or champagne. Since I can’t take any alcoholic I gave it a pass, hubby in fact have a glass of white wine.So, the guy opened up the 2 bottles of mineral water that had put on the table. This is the only thing that I never like about them for not letting the customer know. Guess how much per bottle of this?? RM11 per bottle!!! Damn expensive mineral water that I ever drink before in my whole life. Mind you, this ain’t Evian mineral water, just The C Club brand name mineral water.Ok, back to the food… before they served the soup, I was looking at the menu which placed on each table. And I realized there are 2 main entrée for each pax, and I thought it must be for us to select. But then, if I remember carefully, that’s the entire dinner arranged.Well, didn’t care much, we were just enjoyed every moment that we have down here.First, we were served Venus clam chowder with Victorian black mussel, cod brandade & torn tarragon.Hot from the oven bread to either dip with olive oil and balsamic vinegar or butter.Second that came along is the starter… and the starter is seriously gorgeous, and yummy!! Spiced duck rilletes topped with foie gras, frisee & port shallot reduction. What can I ask for more?? All the luxury food down on my plate for me on Christmas Eve!!There are 2 main courses for the guests that night, first being served was Fruits & nuts stuffed chicken roulade, served with Brussels sprouts, carrots & giblets.I didn’t really like it, but hubby enjoyed it very much. Probably I don’t like the fruits and nuts that accomplished with the chicken though it came along very well.2nd main course is Pan seared Pompano tumbled on Yukon gold potatoes, asparagus, haricot verts & served with kalamata olive tapenade & basil oil. Don’t ask me what are those, seriously those are jargons to me. My eyes are on the food instead. [grin]After the heavy main courses, here comes the dessert. Dessert is Rum raisin moist chocolate cake perched on assorted berries caramel, topped with semi freeze baileys cheese mousse.The sugar is sharp and we’re told to be careful.Every course to us is so fine and nicely presented. Just like the Mama Mia cast member says ‘Simply Gorgeous’!!Per Pax: RM160++Other ReviewFood & Makan PlaceA Whiff of LemongrassAh MokKinky Blur FairyPink ParisianJules Eating GuideKY SpeakThe Road to FabulousityLife of Continues*~Cynd's fairy tales~*A Yupppie’s ProgressNot Just a DinnerSimon SaysAddress & Contact NumberLot 5.11 & 6.11Level 5 & 6 Pavilion Kuala Lumpur168 Jalan Bukit BintangTel : +603-2141 3160Fax : +603-2141 8190Email : julian@thecaratclub.com

No story with this one: KFC Original Recipe thigh and drumstick, chips, potato and gravy, and coleslaw. I know it’s not the white meat, chef biatch, but this photo’s for you!

eat me pleaseeeee!!! Holidays always seem to be great times to catch up with family and friends. For lunch on New Year's day, it was all about family. My mother wanted something different from the usual places we eat at, hence she requested we visit Pan Heong at Batu Caves, especially since my uncle and aunt has yet to savour their fantastic sang har (water prawns) noodles. Once we got there, we realised it would be an incredibly long wait since we had 10 tables ahead of us.Thus, we decided to give up and head further down the road to Rawang. A quick google search on 3G, got me Lan Je's telephone number and subsequently, I managed to confirm they were opened plus book a steamed fish for each person. crackly crunchy super fresh prawnsThe drive was pretty smooth especially since the road to Rawang from Selayang has been widened. Right before we hit the town, I had to get my bearings right before I recognised the small low stalls on the side of the road, where Lan Je is located at. Couldn't miss the crowd of people hanging there. Luckily we got a seat quickly but the waitress took a long time to clean up the place since it was laden with bones and fish remnants all over the place. Long long ago, Lan Je used to sell economy rice to the workers from the nearby cement factory. She started selling steamed tilapia fish, which got a good response from her customers and ever since then she has been famous for that dish. Nowadays, Lan Je does not get involved with the day to day running of the stall. Instead it is manned by her sons and daughter-in-laws, who have also perfected the art of steaming the fish. At the stall, small black tilapia fish vs the more common red tilapia fish is used (around 300grams) hence you order one fish per person. This means you don't have to fight for your fish and you can take your time eating it. Topped with a slightly spicy topping of garlic, ginger and chillies (you can adjust how spicy you want when you place your order), the fish is steamed just right, yielding flesh that is silky smooth. My favourite bit is when you turn the fish over and you get the not so dry fish flesh underneath. Even Splashie Boy and my aunt who both hate eating fish with bones ate their own portions with relish. My mother, uncle and I were in heaven since we love eating fish and sucking the bones until everything is clean. The menu here is pretty standard and pork free. It seems even Malays patronise this stall as they love the steamed fish. Aside from the steamed fish, they also do a salted dry fried prawns very well. The very fresh prawns are fried till the skin is all crunchy and edible. The fried vegetables (yau mak), which we had was also very good and crunchy. The only let down was their chicken with dried chillies. We all felt it was a little hard. Total damage for 5 of us was RM118, which we all thought was worth it especially since it was such a satisfying meal. You'll definitely see us returning for the steamed fish here, and to be honest now with the highways interlinking everything together, it is not that far away. For more pictures, see my Flickr set.Lan Je Steamed Fish27-28, Block C, Jalan Rawang Gerai MPS, Batu 16 RawangTel No: 012-227 0037(Pork free. To get here, drive down from Selayang towards Rawang, you will pass by Templer's Park on the way there. Just before you hit the town area, you will see these low stalls on both sides of the road. After the BHP Petrol Station, make a U turn and you will see Lan Je on your left hand side. Open from 11.30am to 3pm, 6-10pm. Closed on Tuesdays. It is advisable you call ahead and book your fish especially during peak times, as they tend to run out of food if you are late.)*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review. Other reviews:@h Phen's Confession Roomabsolut gingerMy Gastronomic AdventureCumi & Ciki (with a map even!)Tagged with: Malaysian Food + Steamed fish

One of the quick lunches that we had over the weekend. We were at IMM for some window shopping. When asked what to eat, the answer was "without much waiting time place" as we were all kinda hungry.We thought of having Nasi Goreng at the corner ground floor shop but decided not to waste our money and time there because the food's horrible and they refuse to acknowledge though we told him what the problem was. Oh well, we walked past and realise many people agree with us. There's noticebly less people there now. (only suckers still go there lol)We decided to have Chicken Rice instead. It's near the QB Haircut outlet. You can see the word Kopitiam. The full name's All Time Favourites Kopitiam.The chicken's here not too bad. We can see many people ordering the chicken rice too. This is the half a soy sauce chicken.We added a piece of tofu.Plus a sidedish of BBQ Meat. This is so so only lah.They also serve herbal soup that has chicken feet. The soup's quite nice if you like the herbal taste. Chicken feet boiled in the soup makes it really nice.We had 5 bowls of rice.I think it was around $28 for the above.All Time Favourites Kopitiam#01-47/48IMM Shopping Mall2 Jurong East Street 21Singapore 609601

Funny title isn't it? Isn't it far much easier to call it Char Siu instead of "Roasted Pork Belly in China Town"? Anyway, this was the third time I attempt on the recipe of this book below following my energy draining Herbal Roasted Duck and my highly successful Crispy Roast Pork!First of all, this was a recipe all-gone-wrong. I am posting this up so that experts out there could provide me with some tips, and if possible, to share with me a good recipe for making tasty Char Siu. The recipe calls for 1kg of pork belly. After informing my trusted butcher that I want a good piece of pork belly for making Char Siu, he assured me that he will choose a nice cut for me. I was eyeing for those with several layers of fats and meat but he told me the one he chose was the most perfect for making Char Siu. I wasn't too satisfy with the cut but I shouldn't argue with the expert, right? WRONG! The piece I bought was a huge chunky piece of meat with only one layer of fats on top with the skin removed. Anyway, I have already boycott my used-to-be trusted butcher!!For the marinade, the ingredients are:2 pieces of Nam Yue (red fermented beancurd)1 tbsp malt sugar150g caster sugar1 tbsp light soy sauce1 tbsp oyster sauce1 tsp dark soy sauce1 tsp five spices powder1 tbsp "Shaoxing" wineFew drops of red food colouringMix the marinade ingredients well until the sugar is completely dissolved. I wonder if 5 spices powder necessary as I find the end result tasted weird due to the five spices powder taste.Mix well over pork belly and add in about 2 tbsp of chopped garlic. I used crushed garlic pip instead so that it is easier to remove before roasting. Marinade it overnight.Arrange the marinated pork on the roasting wire rack, roast in a preheated oven at 200 degree Celcius for 15 minutes. Dish out, dip the pork belly with some marinade sauce. Continue to roast for further 20 -30 minutes until cooked thoroughly. Dish out. Bring the remaining marinade sauce to boil. Cook until the sauce thicken, remove from heat and pour over the roasted pork belly or serve it separately.The meat was a bit dry. Too lean, hence tough! Tastewise, it wasn't what I expected. It doesn't taste anything familiar to me, especially when I could taste the strong five spices powder. I really wonder if this is the way they serve Char Siu in China Town aka Petaling Street. I am not giving up! I shall attempt this again but before that, I would need to do some more research on the marinade sauce. Anyway, do you any great Char Siu recipe to share??

Air Asia really make everyone can fly... even to Haikou, China. Haikou airport After landed @ airport, our first destination was this bird park... sounds weird rite as bord is so command in Malaysia. Something to share here is that the climate here is very similar to Malaysia, as their plants, fruits and seaside is so similar to Malaysia... When come to bird, of course Hitomi is the most happy one Myself with Hitomi After that, we had our lunch @ this restaurant yuhuuuu... beer!!! a very light beer which u can treat is as drinking water. First dish was this cold plated prawn. The prawn is fresh but i actually prefer if it is hot. Steamed duck with garlic and ginger. The duck texture is soft and it taste a bit salty The tasteless "lala" soup Sizzling lamb !! This is the best among all as the lamb was really tender and tasty. First time to had it with lots of black fungus Vegetables.. love all of it as it is sweet and crisp.. Steamed chicken. The texture of this chicken is similar to our "kampung chicken" which is tougher. This is the shocking "mui choy kou yuk". Look at the fats!!! Initially i dun dare to eat until my mum persuade me to try... gosh... it looks fat but it is delicious and melt in your mouth! Steamed fish -a fish that have the most fish bone that i ever try. End up, no one touch the fish even though the fish meat is fresh and sweet. We end our lunch with the China orange. Honestly, all of us still doesn't get use to local method of cooking and taste. But for me, it's a good experience.

I had actually been to Canton-i a couple of times prior to the kind invitation by Wai Kong of PRKraft for this proper food review session. I was pretty excited about the review as my previous visits were rather positive. In fact, it was my god mom who brought me there for the first time, [...]

I had a craving for minchee during the week before Christmas. We didn’t have any pork mince in the freezer, so we used turkey mince instead. Well, it did seem appropriate, with Christmas coming and all. In this turkey version, the mince turned out looking quite wormy, but it’s just the way it came (we could’ve broken it up more as we cooked it, I suppose). I did miss the extra fattiness and flavour that pork mince gives the dish; but of course turkey, being leaner, is a healthy alternative. I regularly get asked for a recipe for minchee, so here it is - the closest thing we have to a recipe. Everything is done to taste, so there are no specific amounts mentioned for the seasoning. Season to your taste, and taste as you go. Minchee, Jac and TFP’s version We use the same weight of pork mince as potato e.g. 250 grams pork mince and 250 grams potato (use whatever amounts you think you need to feed however many people you are cooking for. We like to cook extra so we’ll have leftovers for the next day). Peel and chop the potatoes into 1cm cubes. Parboil them (we do it in the microwave, placing the potatoes in water) until softened but still firm - they should be cooked and firm (they must still hold their cube shape) but not hard. Drain the potatoes and set aside. In a pan or wok (we like to use our electric fry pan) heat up a little vegetable or peanut oil. Fry chopped onion and garlic until softened, then add the mince. Use spatula to break the mince up so it won’t cook in big clumps. No need to season at this point. When the colour of mince has changed from its raw pink to a greyish/brownish colour, it’s time to add the potatoes. Mix the pork and potatoes through carefully so you won’t break the potatoes up in the process. Season the mixture well with black pepper, soy sauce and oyster sauce. We use more oyster sauce than soy. If you like it saucier, add some water or chicken stock to make a bit of a gravy. We usually let it cook for a few minutes more so the flavours can sink into the potatoes and mince, and the mince is definitely cooked through. That’s pretty much it. Enjoy with rice (and a green vegetable dish for a more balanced meal). For photos of our meals featuring minchee, see my minchee category!

party time just started....Happy New Year! Am sure everyone had a roaring time partying to usher the new year, especially from all the photos I saw in Facebook. We celebrated at our friend Maukitten's house. Her food is always amazing, hence we were looking forward to it.delish nasi kerabu tinged blueEvery year, it is a different theme; Japanese, Italian pasta and pizza and this year, it was all kinds of rice with satay. I liked the nasi kerabu tinged blue and mixed with tiny eggplants you usually find in Thai green curries.the satayman provided yummy chicken and lamb satay for all of usNext was Japanese inspired rice with hijiki seaweed and edamame beans. We also had edamame beans for snacks before the rice dishes were ready.Japanese inspired rice with edamame beansMy favourite was the mushroom black rice. Maukitten got the black rice from Thailand itself, doubt it was coloured like the hoo-hah over locally bought Thai black rice, which they found is coloured (see NST report here). We added fried bacon bits for extra flavour - really yummy stuff.mushroom black rice, you could add bacon bits to this for extra flavourOf course we had salad - loads of leafs tossed in olive oil and juicy satay - chicken and lamb. Really good stuff of course, especially eaten hot off the grill. To cool off, we had Dennis' wicked fruit daiquiris - hidden by the blended fruit but laden with vodka. For entertainment, we had the Mamma Mia movie on big screen projector with speakers even. I had fun with the movie since it was my first time watching it. We even had fireworks from nearby, when the countdown began. Overall, a great party and thanks very much to Maukitten for inviting us. For more pictures of the food and party, click on my flickr set.So how did all of you spend your New Year? Do share with me the wonderful parties, get togethers and celebrations you all had. Would be fun to compare notes.

Went back to BM recently and managed to find some time to visit AEON Seberang Perai City again. Besides shopping, another reason was to try one of the restaurants new to me. After excluding the Japanese and Korean restaurants, we were down to either Food & Tea or Hongkie Recipe. In the end, we decided to dine at Food & Tea since we have tried the latter before at E-Gate. We thought we made the correct decision judging on the number of customers at the restaurant compared to the rest. Even the menu looked pretty good with plenty of food which seemed reasonable priced. I had a recommended drink called Pineapple Cubes in Coconut Milk @ RM4.80 while SL had the Purple Rain (some sort of blackcurrant smoothie) @ RM6.30. Oh, the pineapple drink was surely a tempting thing, taste wise it was pretty okay too. If only they had hollowed out the pineapple properly and given more fresh pineapple cubes, then the drink would have been better. I only hope they don’t reuse the pineapple for hygiene reasons. On the other hand, Purple Rain tasted like something made from juice powder.. not recommended. A starter we had was the Seafood Salad Roll, which was a recommended item. They come in four pieces and specially blended mayonaise as the dipping sauce. And according to the menu, this is a best-seller (RM5.80) Prawn and some crab filament are wrapped in each salad roll, deep fried to crispy and golden brown. I thought they tasted ok after the first bite but the taste got worse on the subsequent bites, I don’t know why. Barely finishing the second piece, I already wanted to stop and move on to other food (too oily maybe?) Then came SL’s Sweet & Sour Pork Skewers with Ramen Noodle @ RM6.80. As interesting as the concept of combining ramen and pork skewers might be, it was screwed up by the noodle’s weird tasting sauce. I honestly don’t know what was on the chef’s mind when he invented the sauce. It had all the flavors of sour, spicy and sweet - like mixing Sichuan sauce and Kimchi together omg. So bad I would use the words 不三不四 to describe it in Chinese. Lastly, Smoked Ham and Cheese Focaccia @ RM5.50, which is basically a toasted focaccia bread topped with lots of cheese, ham and tomato paste. I didn’t especially enjoyed it since I found it to be so-so at best. Gimme a bread, some cheese and tomato paste and I bet I can prepare something that taste similar, if not better than this, lol. Although I have only ordered a few item off the menu, I can already safely conclude that I won’t be a returning customer. Not only the food sucked, service was bad too. And it would take a really persuasive man to convince me to dine at Food & Tea again, even just for a yam char session. Technorati Tags: Food & Tea

Jac brought home some cooked peeled prawns from work - leftovers from her work Christmas party (Jac and her workmates all took leftovers home that day, so nothing was wasted). I ate five cold cooked prawns with some of the cocktail sauce Jac made for the party. She made a curry using a jar of tikka masala sauce and added peas, green beans, tomatoes and some of the barbecue chicken that was leftover from the cold meats platter. Last of all, she added the last of the leftover cooked prawns. She made sure they were warmed all the way through but not so much that they’d get overcooked and tough. This made a very tasty dish, which I ate with a big bowl of freshly cooked rice.

While I was in the bathroom dressing up for Christmas Eve dinner with hubby, suddenly I heard a door bell sound. Then hubby walked up and opened the door and caught by a surprise & a warm hospitality from the hotel.We both have never expected this surprise from the hotel in fact.This is something that the hotel thought for their guests who spent their Christmas out from their home.So, what’s inside there?? A lollipop, fruit cake, cookies and a Santa Claus candy, isn’t it warmth and thoughtful of them?I remember when I was small, dad brought us to KL for Christmas too, when the clock stroke 12am, all the cook from the kitchen marched out from the kitchen and have a bang on their wok, pots, and pans. That’s how they celebrated with their guests in their coffee house. Till today, I still remember it vividly.Stay tune guys… I’ll have more to share after this.

Remember the wedding lunch the other day? After such a filling lunch a few people thought that we should go for coffee. There's always room for some drinks no matter how full you are. So during coffee, Eggs Benedict was suddenly brought up.Someone said we should go meet for breakfast and let's have Eggs Benedict at Choupinette. The guy who has become our unofficial outing organizer was tasked to send out email to see who will be interested. As usual, he passes the task to his sub committee to do it. (faints!) Anyway, the sub-committee was efficient and within 24 hours, an email was sent out.We met for breakfast this morning. It's beside Coronation Plaza along Bukit Timah Road.So the following is what the 7 of us had for breakfast.All of us had the sets, so they come with a glass of juice and also a hot drink.Person 1 had scramble eggs with sausage. $18Person 2 had Eggs Florentine. $20Person 3 had the Eggs Benedict. $20Person 4 had the Eggs Royale. $21Person 5 had the poached eggs with chilli pork sausage. $18Person 6 and 7 both had Eggs Benedict too. $20Persons 1 to 7 shared a baguette. $2.80That was very delicious when you spread it with loads of butter and jam. ahh....So what's Eggs Benedict?Eggs Benedict is a dish that consists of a half of a muffin, topped with ham or bacon, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce.There are variations of it and you can see above. Replace ham with spinach and you have Eggs Florentine. Replace ham with smoked salmon and you have Eggs Royale. If you want to read more, hop over to Wikipedia.This is not just an Eggs Benedict place. We came here just to satisfy cravings for Eggs Benedict. They have pastries and desserts that are famous too. Hop over to fellow food blogger LadyIronChef to see what he and his group of friends had recently.Oh ya, some reviews of this place says the poach eggs are all nicely done with the yokes all soft and flowing. For the 6 sets above that had poach eggs, only 3 sets fit the criteria. Also, to get eggs shaped so nicely, the secret is to have vinegar in the boiling water when you poach the eggs, they were probably a bit generous with the vinegar today. The eggs tasted a little too vinegarish.Choupinette607 Bukit Timah Road#01-01Singapore 269708Tel: 6466 0613

On the Friday before Christmas, eight of us chipped in to get pizza from Stuzzico. We got three “half” pizzas, which are 75cm long. People chipped in anywhere from $5 to $10. Those of us who tend to eat more than the others chose to chip in more. It’s only fair, after all. This was the pizza with rocket, feta and olives. As I’m not a fan of olives, I donated my olive to one of my workmates. The feta was creamy and not too salty - absolutely delicious. We’ve had this rocket and prosciutto pizza before - the thin slices of prosciutto are covered with powdered parmesan, and the rocket is fresh and peppery. It’s a fantastic combination, a team favourite. The last pizza was fresh tomato and fiordilatte. The greenery appeared to be English spinach, which I’ve never had on pizza before. It was really good. Here’s another view of the rocket and prosciutto pizza. A view of the rocket, feta and olive pizza and the rocket and prosciutto pizza. A view of the rocket and prosciutto pizza and the tomato and fiordilatte pizza. I started with one slice of each pizza. First, rocket and prosciutto… then, rocket, feta and olive… and fresh tomato and fiordilatte. All up I ate five slices of pizza. And five slices is what was left after everyone had eaten their fill. Here are the remaining five pieces. I’m pretty sure someone devoured them by the end of the day. These pizzas are best eaten fresh - they don’t stand up well to being eaten later, whether cold or reheated. The pizza base gets quite soggy and the fresh salad leaves tend to wilt. You could always pick off the old leaves and add fresh rocket or spinach, of course.

On the Friday morning of the week before Christmas, I toasted myself a bagel for breakfast. I spread butter and kaya on it. Mmmm… I just love biting into a warm chewy bagel. As I munched on my bagel, Jac assembled platters for her work Christmas party. She volunteered to be in charge of the catering this year. The first platter consisted of cold meats - barbecue chicken, salami and roast beef. As one of Jac’s workmates is Muslim, she bought the salami and roast beef from the new halal butcher at Carousel shopping centre (it’s next to Woolworths, where Lenards Chicken used to be). The second platter consisted of vegetables, with beetroot tzatziki dip in the centre, all arranged on a bed baby cos lettuce leaves. She did prepare other food for the party, but after I finished the last crumbs of my bagel, it was time for me to go to work, so I didn’t get to see it. Oh well.

Our quickie adventure away from Kuala Lumpur the last new days re-acquainted us with these past & present lovers.Happily they are still 20 to 30 % less expensive than the comparable ones in the capital tho not less tasty nor less lovable.the open air evening stall , Off Giant Manjung , Peraklocal woman local meatballs inhot soupsweety & slighty spicy RM3...a rare item of Indonesian originunder-performing sidekick rated only averageOpposite the Toyota 3S along the Sitiawan-Lumut road is this rare flat & white foldable bread , a Punjabi ( Indian ) staple with its trademark brown /black charred spots. Tear the flimsy bread with your bare hands then dip into the normal curries just like you do with roti canai .Its an efficient filler that rapidly dulls your senses to your other lovesthe dangerous, rough & burning oily hot fry with cut-short yellow noodles,in messy black sauce & chillis with tofu fritters ,and some vegetable stalksa typical mamak ( Indian Muslim ) offering in Seri Manjung, PerakRM 0.80 & 3.00 respectivelybsg rated 2.9 ( of 5 )this Peninsular Malaysian East Coast darling of firm brown rice ( which some misinformed critics say are under-cooked rejects )with trademark tuna fish slices in thick & grainy orange curry& pickled cucumbers, red chillis, carrots and raw onionstoday no tuna so daging also cana bsg top 10 dishfollowed by the mandatory Malaysian no 1 ( ...everybody is an expert !)inside a popular breakfast/lunch Malay restaurant in Seri ManjungRM2.50 each3.47 stars of 5beauties under the attap roof1st class kampung ambiencesomewhere in the coconut / cocoa plantations , our late lunch oftomyam prawns inside fresh coconuts , some squids & oystersplus D intoxicating 2some( true loves ) black & whitetoddy & stout ( we found it ! ) RM7 a jugKg Cina, Sitiawan's famed seafood havencaution : you must under order by 50 % !rated 2.7 stars of 5careful whisperLumut's ( gateway to Pangkor ) after 5 European Sanctuary& the real thing...perfect beverage ( RM10 a mug Carlsberg) ...definitely not cheap & just like slick Bangsar Telawi ( KL )all 4 just ?...but da real genuine authentic classic sea breeze omg !Sitiawan's Big lepak ( lost & wandering ) cornerthe famous Chinaman hawker king Rm3most admired most copied@ Red & Yellow , Sitiawan

As mentioned earlier, the cultural show (mostly traditional dances) is the nicest among all attractions in Sarawak Cultural Village. There are only two shows daily from 11.30am - 12.15pm and from 4.00pm to 4.45pm. So, watch your time and plan your visit within the village carefully if you want to enjoy the performance. The village is not too huge but moving from a place to another may take up ten to fifteen minutes. It is recommended to reach the theater earlier if you notice there are plenty of tourists in order to get nice seats near to the stage. The show starts with the Iban’s Ngajat Lesong, where the Iban warrior demonstrates his extraordinary strength of lifting a mortar weighing around 20kg. If you look at the photo, the white colored thing about to be carried by the warrior is the mortar mentioned earlier. At first, he would dance with the mortar held on his arms and waving it around. Then, comes the climax where he would hang the mortar from his mouth and continue to dance gracefully. Truly a feat of endurance. One of the beautiful Iban maiden performing during the dance. The Bidayuh’s Rajang Be’uh is a dance performend after the harvest season usually to entertain guests who enter the longhouse. The dancers’ movements which involve outstretching their hands imitate the movement of the eagles as they flap their wings in flight. Tolak Bala dance, performed to ask for blessing for a good harvest as well as protecting the community from evil spirits. The Tarian Menyak by the Melanau shows how they carry out their daily activities of processing sago flour. It was an entertaining performance which involves a lot of energy, agility and balance. What impressed me the most was how they made it all looked so easy and simple for them. Next up was in my opinion the nicest performance of the show, which still remained fresh in my memory. It was the Orang Ulu’s Kanjet Ngeleput, a dance which portrayed the nimbleness and stealthiness of the Orang Ulu warrior as he goes on a hunting trip in the jungle. One of the reasons I enjoyed his performance so much was because he was really into the character. He looked intimidating enough as the fierce some warrior. So fierce he even scared a baby boy to cry just by looking during the show. He apologized and moved on to pose his intimidation to the other more matured audience. We all laughed when he was trying to say sorry and calm the crying boy. I still remember his expression when he realized what he had done.. “ooops, I am sorry! Please don’t cry.” was literally written on his face, lol. The Ulu warrior noticed his prey (a balloon, lol).. and took out his blow pipe, ready to strike anytime. He then moved slowly towards the audience, and attempted to blow out a dart from the seating area. It hit the mark! Everyone was impressed and clapped furiously. A few Ulu maidens emerged and danced with him, maybe as a celebration of the successful hunt. The final performance was a song the entire show’s dancers and performers, titled Rasa Sayang. You can’t call yourself a Malaysian if you don’t know this song, lol. After the singing was over, the audience was invited to the stage to dance together by the maidens. But the locals (including me) were shy. So, only the foreigners were sporting and daring enough to join in. Actually I have taken more photos of the cultural show but I think it wouldn’t be fair to the management if I were to post all of them here. I hope the people would experience the show live instead of viewing it online. Also, I may have made some mistakes associating the dances with the photos so please pardon me if you found anything which is wrong. Lastly, the info regarding the different dances was retrieved from the Green Passport given to us for the visit.

We wanted to go to Holland Village to collect my 'just renewed' Sushi Tei card, but there was no parking. So Momo and I decided to just forget about eating there. We went to Holland Drive Food Centre instead.To have the ultra cheap $2 meal.Sorry, the first photo is blurry, it focused on the man at the side instead! I took only 1 photo. haha..These are the two plates we ordered. It is one of the most filling meal you can have for $2.Don't think it is healthy though. But the crispy 'roast goose' (tofu / beancurd skin) sure is delicious.If you are wondering, this is mock vegetarian food, the crispy tofu skin is suppose to represent "sao er" (roast goose). Does it look like it at all? LOL...I don't fancy mock 'cha shao' (bbq meat). I prefer the real thing. Anyone knows what the brown pieces is suppose to represent? :-)The thing I like are actually the cabbage, pickled green chilli and crispy tofu skin. They give a lot of bee hoon, so it is super filling.Noticed that they have gone back to using washable plates instead of disposable Styrofoam plates. Looks like they are turning greenie too.Zhen Ji Vegetarian Food44 Holland Drive02-26 Holland Drive Food CentreSingapore 120044