Just.

Stall in Bukit Merah Central Hawker Centre

Quite worthwhile for $2. Taste: 7/10

I am not exaggerating when I say Madura never disappoints. I think that’s something because we try different dishes every time.

Food aside, the service is impeccable. Genuine smiles from people who make an effort are truly a rarity. Don’t you feel patronized by fake smiles and faker enthusiasm from service staff gunning for some Service Award?

Oh, you must try the Bru coffee too. It.is.out.of.this.world.

Whenever the kids are staying the night at their grandparents’ home, Big and I will go out for one of our supper dates. I know the kids are old enough but I guess we just don’t like the idea. There was once when Big had to bring me to A&E in the middle of the night and Gean ended up sobbing on my bed because she woke up to go to the bathroom and she couldn’t find me. Yes, this girl has a very weird cute habit of checking in on me whenever she goes to the bathroom at night. It’s like she got to make sure her mum hasn’t been kidnapped or something. LOL.

Anyway, we decided to pop by Mustafa’s for some toiletries shopping (you can’t believe the range they have there) and ended up at Madura’s for some Indian food. It’s opposite Mustafa (115 Syed Alwi Road).

The food is fantastic – and in my opinion, even better than Khansama’s.

The chicken tandoori was fragrant and tender

Butter naan. Fluffy and flavourful

Tissue ghee thosai – very light

The prices are pretty reasonable too. Food with masala tea for both of us = $20. Not too bad.

I was so inspired by Walter’s self help tips “From Excess to Austerity” that I came up with my own little guide based on our own practices-

• Eating at home. From the time my girls were babies till they were old enough to eat ‘outside food’, I have been cooking for them. Ever since Big took over the cooking (unlike me who had to cook out of necessity and duty, he loves to cook), I no longer have to wake up at 6am in the morning to put the herbs and meat into the slow cooker for soup, and to prepare ingredients so that I can cook immediately after reaching home from work.

Mutton Stew with carrots and onions. Truly soul food.

Steamed Fish fillet – no fishy smell and the kids love it

Baked honey pork ribs – as good as it looks

Braised broccoli with prawn – he can’t take prawns but will cook for us because we do

Miding fried with sambal belachan (Miding is not available in local markets – Big’s mum got it from Malaysia for us. It is very delicious but looking at it made me itch uncontrollably!)

Oven baked chicken thighs – this is as yummy as the fried version but much healthier

Apart from the luxury of being pampered with home cooked food, we also value the time that we spend eating together as a family. In this society where everyone is working late and having their own activities, not many families have the time to dine together.

• Drink at home too -  honestly, drinks at pubs are way too overpriced. Unless you have a real valid reason to go, eg, the band of Wala, you’re better off relaxing at home with a bottle (much cheaper) and paying your own music. Everytime I travel, I will buy a bottle of wine I would like to try, a pack of Hoegaarden and a bottle of Irish cream if we had already run out. Trust me, it’s much cheaper and enjoyable.

  You can also check out Wine Affaire at 73 Tras Street (6220 2493) - where you can have a free flow of wines at only $28.

  

  
  Very cosy ambience

  
  The two owners (local entrepreneurs) of Wine Affaire

• Watch movies at home – given that it will cost over $30 for us to watch a movie in the cinemas, we would much rather buy a DVD to chill out at home. After watching, we will pass it on to my parents and so forth, so the money is really well spent.


Chilling out on the couch for movies with homemade popcorn and drinks


This is a wonder machine. It not only plays DVDs, VCDs and CDs, it is USB compatible – it plays stuff that you download to your USB device.

• Carpool – I wrote about it before here. I like the idea that I get to save on transport expenses while not having my personal sphere invaded.

The benefits of carpooling are as follows:

1. You reduce transport expenses.

2. You save on travelling time (direct route, no stops etc).

3. There is no driving stress or fatigue if you are the passenger.

4. You could read/ check emails/ work etc if you are the passenger.

5. You enjoy co-savings on petrol costs if you are the driver.

6. It is environmentally friendly.

7. It reduces traffic congestion.

8. It reduces parking problems.

• Have cheap hobbies where you can relax and enjoy the fruits of your labour – for example, baking or crafts. It’s truly a win/ win/ win situation.


Vanilla Cupcakes


Cupcake decorated with hundreds and thousands and chocolate rice


Brownie (for my kids to decorate and have fun)


Raspberry and white Chocolate cheesecake


Oreo cheesecake

Crafts for kids (a packet of the wood powder costs only $5 and it can last you a very long time)


Bear shaped pen holder


Dog paperweight

• Take walks in parks,

  

  visit museums,

  

  rediscover your heritage by exploring different parts of Singapore eg. Arab Street, Little India, Chinatown etc.

  

  It’s enriching to the mind and soul while allowing us to rediscover our inner selves. It’s also much cheaper than hanging out at the malls (retail therapy is so very tempting and expensive) – and we’d end up eating in restaurants most of the time. I like this site because it gives me ideas on where to explore next in Singapore.

• Don’t stinge on quality – in other words, penny wise, pound foolish. Buy good quality items so that they can last you longer in the long run. My wardrobe consists of good pieces in a reasonable quantity so even if I decide to be very frugal in the coming recession, I have no problem being well groomed. The same goes for furniture, appliances and other paraphernalia in your life. Good does not mean expensive, so shop wisely.

• Grow your own herbs – it not only lets you cultivate green fingers in the process, you can to save some money too (supermarkets tend to price herbs quite steeply). If you have space for a little garden, try your hand at growing your own vegetables and chilli too! I draw the line at eating your dogs and cats though.


Our basil plant

• Have your hobby make some money for you. Don’t be entirely dependent on it as an income though – it can be a dampener on your passion if there is undue pressure.

  

• I am being very prudent in this period of time as we are technically in the midst of recession. The way I see it – LV, Hermes, Bvlgari, Tiffany etc will always be there, and I am more secure with some cash in the safe.

More melamine products:

View previous list here

Singapore

See my earlier list here.

As of 9 October 2008, the AVA has detected melamine in three additional products imported from China. Two of the products contain milk as an ingredient while the third is meant for manufacturing use and is not available in the retail market. They are
i) Cadbury Choclairs – Blueberry Flavour;
ii) Cadbury Choclairs – Coffee Flavour; and
iii) Panda Dairy Whole Milk Powder (industrial pack).

This brings the total number of affected products to 13. All importers will be required to destroy the tainted products under AVA’s supervision. The other products that were earlier found to be contaminated with melamine are:

i) Yi Li Choice Dairy Fruit Bar Yogurt Flavoured Ice Confection;
ii) Dutch Lady Strawberry Flavoured Milk;
iii) White Rabbit Creamy Candy;
iv) Dutch Lady Banana Flavoured Milk;
v) Dutch Lady Honeydew Flavoured Milk;
vi) Silang – House of Steamed Potato – Potato Cracker;
vii) ??? Puffed Rice Rolls – Butter Corn Flavour;
viii) ??? Puffed Rice Rolls – Cheese Flavour;
ix) New Sshmallows Mallow Dippers – Strawberry Flavour; and
x) Silang – House of Steamed Potato – Potato & Tomato Cracker

Japan

Frozen beans from China were pulled off the shelves after a woman fell ill eating a product which had 34,500 times the legal limit of pesticide.

This post is dedicated to my late grandmother.

I come from a pure Cantonese family where my maternal and paternal parents are Cantonese. One side of the family being Cantonese is quite enough for most but in my case, I got the double whammy.

Being Cantonese, I believe, is a whole culture in itself. The particular attention paid to our family traditions, wedding customs and cuisine, and not to mention our idiosyncrasies, make us a very unique dialect group. In this aspect, I think the Cantonese are not unlike the Peranakans – to whom our family is also related to due to marriage interlinks. That makes it a triple whammy. To those who like to complain about your family, I haven’t even started on mine.

In the aspect of the woman’s duty to her family, I believe that again the Cantonese is no doubt the most fussy and anally retentive – well, perhaps we share the dubious honor with the Peranakans – and I say this with love. Many a times have I heard the elders chastising away in Cantonese when a daughter-in-law does not know how to cook well or is sloppy with the house chores. Not only is the Cantonese daughter or daughter in law expected to cook and brew nutritious soups brewed for hours (which the Cantonese are well known for?and take care of her family, she is also expected to be presentable and possess manners and decorum befitting of a good upbringing – ????????????We are also probably expected to have two heads and four arms too.

My grandmother is a classic example of a good wife and daughter in law. She brought up seven (!) children and kept house while working. Her cooking is unsurpassed and till this day, I have not been able to find someone who can make salted vegetable with duck soup that can be on par with hers.

Although she had passed away for more than two years now, little things in life still remind me of her significance in my life. Strangely, I was her favourite grandchild even though she had favored sons. From her, I learned how to savor and appreciate steamed sweet potatoes. I remember sitting at the dining table while she patiently peeled off the skins for me.

I also remember her morning ritual of making fresh strong coffee – from the fresh powder that she would buy from the old school coffee beans shop at Cassia Crescent. She would use a strainer bag like this:

credits to www.cubanfoodmarket.com

The fragrance of the coffee would permeate throughout our old house and she would sit down to have a hot cup of coffee before starting on her daily chores – a habit that I was soon to acquire in my later years.

Taken at the National Museum

She used to snort at commercial cereal and would only make “wu” for me – a very healthy and nutritious concoction of cooked dong sum power. I have fond memories of her ladling it out in one of these yellow metal plates to be cooled before feeding me. It was truly a labour of love – it is extremely tedious to grind the dong sum into powder form and then cook it slowly over a low fire so as not to burn it. I have not tasted “wu” ever since she passed away and the thought of it will always make me tear up.

The charcoal stove in the picture also reminds me of the times she made love letters for the Chinese New Year. Not the mushy crap that I used to get from the gawky boy in the school bus but this delicious confection:

credits to www.littlemissmay.com

Gramps will pour the liquid thinly over the metal molder and cook it over the charcoal stove. After it is cooked and still hot, she will peel it from the metal plate using her cotton gloved hand and swiftly roll it with a thin wooden stick to make it into this shape -

credits to http://www.resepirrrecipe.com

She would make a bottle just for me to chomp on every year. The homemade taste of love letters is a taste and nostalgia that I have not been able to find in those factory manufactured ones.

Thankfully, we still have her legacy with us and that is – the speaking of the dialect. She taught me and subsequently my daughter to speak fluent Cantonese. My daughter has also inherited her love of steamed potatoes and like me, sometimes would still tear up when taking a bite of the food that reminds us of her “tai po”.

And given her partiality towards coffee, I suspect the morning habit of a hot cup is likely to make its appearance in a few years’ time.

Source – Centre for Food Safety (HK)

Earlier list here

I wouldn’t miss it for the world because

1. My kids get to tear around the garden and the yard with their aunties and uncles of similar ages. I am too old to do the “let’s see how many lanterns we can burn” stunt.

2. I get to be called ‘fat’ relentlessly and mercilessly which happens in every family outing – while my mother piles on more food on my plate.

3. It’s a combined birthday celebration for my dad and Gean.

This is my one and only brother. He is as retarded as he looks. And no, it does not run in the family.

This is my mama. Her hair is messed up by the useless fan which did nothing to alleviate the heat.

This is my dad and my two offsprings. BTW, my new nerd image – “teacherish”?

With an uncle like that, who needs enemies? LOL

Two candles – one for meimei, one for gong gong

Lately I’ve been feeling an urge to cook, bake, write, read and do a million other things during the scarce 18 hours I have in a day.

Baked butter cookies with chocolate chips for my kids yesterday night after they have slept.

This is my own recipe -

250gm butter
500gm flour
1tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
200gm dark brown sugar
100ml honey
2 eggs, beaten
chocolate chips to taste (your preference to add more or less)

Heat oven to 180 degrees C.

Beat the butter and brown sugar till creamy.

Add the beaten eggs and honey, mix till even consistency.

Sift the flour, then add baking soda and salt

Fold in the flour with mixer on low speed – stop when the flour is completely mixed in.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes so that it’s easier to cut out the shapes. If making simple round shapes, no need to chill the dough.

Bake for 10 – 12 minutes or till the sides are golden.

Chill on rack

Posh, this recipe is also for you, I remember you mentioned you wanted it

**

Also cooked Barley with Lotus seeds and Gingko nuts for the kids today.. I left out the beancurd sheets because I added lotus seeds today. The Cantonese – and I am one – believe that nourishing desserts like this one helps to yang yan and zhi nuan. It’s especially good for children in terms of rejuvenation and nourishing.

The “recipe” for this one is literally boil barley first, then add lotus seeds, after which add gingko nuts and rock sugar. LOL. Easy peasy.

The next time I will make my soy milk version with beancurd and egg white. That one, I will share the step by step recipe like above.

I was on leave today and we decided to chill at Sentosa beach and go via cable car! As usual, we are blessed with good weather whenever we go on family outings.

Boarding at Mount Faber

Thankfully we all do not suffer from motion sickness and were able to enjoy the scenery without discomfort. It was a tad warm though.

The scenery!

**

We went to Coastes at Siloso Beach. It’s under the Emerald Hill group so we had the fabulous ICB pizza (prawns and tomato pesto!) and their famous grilled chicken wings. I brought the kids there sometime ago when they still had a sand pit in the pool table area, but now they have filled the sand pit with cement. And so the kids played by the beach.

Glorious weather and cool breezes by the beach. Heaven.

**

Sakae is situated beside Coastes so we sampled some of the food from their menu too.

Japanese cheesecake. Pretty presentation. The kids and Big told me my homemade one tastes much better which warms me deep inside.. *loved*

Yasai Tempura – quite passable. Just vegetables deep fried with batter.

Foie Gras pasta in cream/ tepanyaki sauce. Quite a hit with the kids.

Waffles with Walnut buttercotch and White chocolate raspberry icecream. From New Zealand Natural Icecream. Yum! We all loved it.

It’s very convenient to get eats from different restaurants as the food outlets are located within a stone’s throw of each other.

Two gorgeous bikini babes in front of us.. They were kissing at some point too. Hmm.. The guys will go, “the good ones are all taken!”

**
After showering the kiddos, we settled down for a family dinner at Coastes. It really has a beautiful and relaxing ambience….

Aaahh… I promptly ordered a ice cold Hoegaarden white, to which the kids squealed that “women shouldn’t drink beer” Kids.

Bwahaahahahaha!!!! They took a small sip, made a face and declared it “nasty”.

GOOD. That’s my evil “reverse psychology” plan.

La evil mother and her two poor kids. *excuse the bare face and messy hair because of the humidity and breezes.*

Fire burnt ovens – makes for fantastic pizzas.

One of the shiokest things in the world is to chill with your family, pig out on chicken wings and pizza, and chug some ice cold beer…

….in these surroundings. Shiok.

My girls and I.. and Big being the sweet photographer as always.

After the walk in Kent Ridge Park on Saturday, we had dinner at Khansama Tandoori Village in Science Hub, which is like, beside our place.

The restaurant has a rich and opulent theme and is almost like an Indian museum of sorts..



Figurines depicting the Indian way of life.

The crockery – double plated with brass.

Rich and vibrant hues

There are a few attentive staff on standby at all times. The level of service is good.

The bar counter

Reshami Tikka (chicken) full portion S$12.00
Very tender and flavourful. 8/10.

Mutton Seekh Kebab half portion S$6.00
Intense tandoori taste, but a tad dry. 6/10

Navrattan Kurma S$7.50 full portion
Garden Vegetables cooked with butter and cream sauce, North Indian style
Savoury and not too heavy. 7.5/10

Butter Chicken full portion S$10.50
Chicken was tender and succulent, and the sauce very flavourful. 8.5/10

Left: Cheese Pratha (soft bread) S$4.50 6.5/10 (good hint of cheese, soft fluffy bread)
Right: Missi Roti (thin bread) S$2.50 4/10 (an acquired taste perhaps, a tad too dry for my liking)

All in all, it was quite a good dinner and at S$50.00 for 2 persons, is quite reasonable priced.

They are located at

87 Science Park Drive

#02-01 The Science Hub

Tel: 6776 0300

That’s how I feel after eating HALF a bowl of rice for dinner

Seriously. I don’t know what is wrong with me. I am talking about serious lethargy here. It’s always after I have had carbs, even though it is a minimal amount.

We went to Tea Cosy at Eclectic Attic in Plaza Singapura on one of our couply dates (wah, power! at, in , on! ). Not many know about Tea Cosy because it is a cafe of sort nestled in a vintage store. I love the vintage feel of the place!

Miniature Cake Platter – good for greedy people like me who likes to try a little of everything. The cakes taste very good too, warm, soft and fluffy. The raspberry cake tasted a little like the one I last baked. I find the cake stand very irresistable, and was tempted to buy one for our breakfast mornings! Alas, they do not sell it.

I had raspberry mint tea while Big had “Thousand Nights” which had orange pekoe, lemon grass and mint leaves. I totally dig their vintage crockery.

The Decadent Salad (greens, sauteed prawns and pan seared foie gras) It was so good.

Eclectic Attic is located at:

Plaza Singapura
68 Orchard Road #05-10 Singapore 238839
(65) 6836 9736

That’s right. This stall  – at Lorong 9 Geylang, owned by this old uncle who don’t try to pull a fast one or dump crappy durians on you. Of course it was Big who brought me there when he first found out I love durians.

And this stall never fails to deliver. 10 out of 10 times we were there, the durians that the uncle opened for us were unbelievable. The D24 and ?? here far surpass the others we have tried elsewhere and the best thing is, the prices are reasonable.

So, don’t bother with those stalls along the main road at Geylang (especially the one opposite Lorong 11 callled Chin Yong or something). We tried once and were disgusted by the slick oiliness of the ah bengs there who quoted prices randomly and who tried to fob off crappy durians on us.

Not me, damn it! The eating place at Geylang! LOL.

See, the man hears me reminiscing about the fried mee in Jalan Petaling and lamenting about how we can’t be frivolous and just drive there for the noodles. So he does his research about nice fried noodles available here. And discovered the joys of the ???? Hahaha!!

Good, but not as gloriously sinfully good as the one in Petaling, but it will do to sooth the cravings for a while.

This is one of the best toufu dish I have ever tasted. The skin was crisp, the insides – soft and flavourful and the garnishing absolutely delicious.

Fried Potato Leaves with Sambal. Not fantastic, but was not too bad. I think it lacks the oomph because the sambal was not spicy and fragrant enough, and they should have added more garlic to ?? the dish.

This was another winner. Hakka pork chop. Good texture and flavour.

Claypot Chicken Rice. Don’t bother with this. Crust badly done, overly salty rice and no “fragrance” overall.

At this rate that the man is feeding me while insisting that “you are not fat, darling!”…………

Last Sunday we went to Jalan Berseh Food Centre for some local sinful treats. Thanks to C who very kindly shared with me about this location after she found out that I love Braised pig trotters with vinegar. Thanks C!

Yeah, Braised pig trotters with vinegar. And not any ole vinegar, mind you. For the authentic taste, only Chan Kong Chye “Bulldog” brand vinegar will do.

And ooh, was it thick and richly fragrant with vinegar. And it brings to mind good memories. There was a period of time when I could not have this without breaking down. My grandma had made this for me during my confinement, and after she passed away, I just couldn’t eat this without thinking of her. Sigh.

.

.

Yam rice which was done quite well. Very fluffy, fragrant and tasty. I used to really dislike yam rice, and always wondered why on earth my mum and grandma loved such an unpleasant tasting dish. Very strangely as years go by, I started to develop a taste for it.

.

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Roast duck! Will you look at that sinful shine? Damn, I “hate” blogging about food. I always feel horrendously hungry, even after a meal.

.

Oh, oh, oh!!

More sinful stuff

And guess who we saw making the obligatory rounds with the obligatory orchid garland.

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.

**

And lunch, we strolled down slowly to Sim Lim Tower where he proceeded to check out his techy stuff and I proceeded to have a splitting headache. It was not because of the lack of interest in the techy stuff, I swear. I think I might be allergic to sunlight, esp the afternoon sun. It sounds idiotic, I know, but I would always get a splitting headache when I am exposed to the afternoon sun for more than a few minutes. Very strange, I know.

In any case, I felt better by the time we got to Albert OG (retail therapy?) and I managed to get some very funky health foods like organic beetroot oatmilk, eight treasures rose tea and five grain powder. I figure that since we are such horrid hawker food fans, we had better balance out with some healthy grub.

And of course, after the purchase of such virtuous foods, we figured it wouldn’t hurt all that much to indulge a teensy weensy more..

Homemade Pumpkin Cake. It’s really to die for.

Popiah!

And that’s not all. Every Sunday, we’ve been making it a point to go out on our “few-hours-couply-dates” when the kids are having class. And apart from exploring the museums, going for walks etc, we have been having fun trying the different hi teas in town. Shall post the pics of that when I can bring myself to take pics in a nice posh environment. I really don’t know how the food bloggers can do it, especially in a Michelin restaurant or in a fine dining establishment. It already seems rather gauche in a hotel setting.

And as you can see, I have no problems taking pictures merrily away in hawker centres, coffee shops or little eateries. Not being a snob, but it’s just something that holds me back otherwise.

I don’t normally read food blogs unless they are peppered with personal life anecdotes/ they contain relevant local references and recommendations, or/ and they contain the recipes of which food they are featuring. I enjoy reading The Dutchess and Beaulotus, one for her light hearted snippets on food and life, the other a very candid and real sharing about her life, family and mouth watering recipes.

What I definitely feel irritating about some food blogs is the way the author puts on this superior snooty air and talks about Michelin places or expensive delicacies like the rest of the world are not deserving. Come on, get a grip, it’s just food. And moreover you are not the cook, so what’s the huff and puff about?!

As you probably guessed, I am not fussy about food. I don’t necessarily have to go to expensive restaurants all the time, save for happy occasions celebrated in the House of Xtralicious. In fact, give me dai pai tong food and I am a happy woman.

In response to my soul searching, cowboy my good friend responds,

“Awwww shaddup woman. You need to go like bake a cake for mandy and keep your yap shut.

More knitting and less talkin is what you need.”

Idiot.

But suddenly I felt like baking, something that has strangely been therapeutic for me. And so I baked.

Blackcurrant and White Chocolate Cheesecake, which RN said was “f**king pretty“. LOL!

Hazelnut and Raspberry Pie (with a hint of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove)

Shelly was very kind to say that they can sell, but honestly 1. I think they are ugly and no where near Nigella standard. 2. I will go crazy if I have to do this all day. It takes the pleasure and relaxation out of the very act of baking.

But it was good for this afternoon. And as I was folding in the flour, I felt myself slip into a state of relaxation. It was so comfortable watching the flour blend seamlessly into the texture, the specks blending into the greater state of matter. It was good.

What was even better was that my mind was racing thereafter with ideas and plans for the business. I was invigorated, alive. I can feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins. I thought of the photo shoot for the magazine on Saturday, the promos I will be running for the business and the various new challenges I have charted up for myself.

It was good.

Like I said earlier, we don’t make a big hooha out of Valentine’s Day. It’s a combination of a case of been there done that and a deep conviction that it’s a day where merchants laugh all the way to the banks. In any case, as I had shared in the bar, I had good memories of the ex-es who had “chut patterns”, a few notable examples being the incident of the 10,000 folded paper hearts, the incident of the candles on the beach stating never dying love (which died anyway hah!), the sweep my feet off to Phuket surprise holiday, the huge (to me back then) 0.5 carat diamond ring, the one who hand stitched my name etc etc. All good memories of course. Good times.

These days, I am happy with a simple dinner with the man and my kids and a walk together after the meal, just enjoying each other’s company.

This year, I made reservations at The Turquoise Room at Gillman Village, which is surrounded by beautiful greenery. The restaurant itself possesses a nice cosy ambience and I was comfortable bringing the children along as they will sit and dine nicely without running around or making too much noise. I had called several restaurants before deciding on The Turquoise Room but as the others do not have Duck Leg Confit on their set menus, I had to give them a miss. No prizes for guessing who likes duck leg confit

I was also torn between cooking for him and going for dinner at the Turquoise Room. In the end, I decided to take the idea of dressing up nicely, taking the kids out and having people cook and serve us, and run with it.

They had a colouring book and a cute little pencil case stuffed with markers and colour pencils to entertain Gean! *scores many mummy brownies*

The interior of the restaurant

The girls seating outside after dessert to relax (more…)