Saturday 30 August 2008

End of Seventh Month

Well, parents were doing another round of praying for the seventh's month end, hoping business will be good for the rest of the year.. So we have another round of our seventh month sacrificial offerings...

Nothing gloomy as you can see my happy parents posing happily in front of my car...


Random shots taken from my sister's balcony, but the night was approaching.. So, the photos were really dark..
Man on bottom left is my Older uncle, mummy's younger brother... and others are just the factory employees..




Just a shot of my sister's balcony and the neighbourhood before I leave the balcony..



Friday 29 August 2008

Random Last Week of August in School...

Just a blue Monday in school as per normal.. Except that the long waited iPhone made its way to school and it was Paul's.. Paul sure had a happy weekend with his new acquisition of the iPhone..

Everyone was so fascinated and checking the phone.. I tried searching Paul's facebook for this really funny shot of Calvin.. But nope.. the photo ain't there.. Maybe it was too vulgar to be posted.. Er-hem er-hem..

After a whole week of lousy lectures by lousy NTU lecturers, well, not all were bad, i do recall accounting lecturer and Malay teacher were good.. but, Aero lecturers? Well, let's just say their teaching skills are inversely proportional to their knowledge.. Except Prof Ng Teng Yong.. His lessons were not worth missing at all..
It was gonna be our ENS presentation since it was a Friday.. Our presentation on Foreign became a talk show.. and I insisted that the title was called "You Complain!" We pretty much amazed our ENS prof... But it was all good.. :)

Friday was pancakes day for Tim... But for all of us, its Cafe Palette Day! Where everyone order a cheap breakfast set.. :P




Lighting in Palette was pretty good, given that the photos was taken by my phone.. haha..






Dave had is FYP competition group meeting.. I was just studying in school, while waiting to meet up with the gals for dinner later...










Eileen and I wanted to try Cheeky Monkey, but we were worried Jiemei wun noe how to get there... Suat may know since her bf stays along that street.. So in the end, we landed up at AMK hub again! not knowing wad wo eat... So it was New York NewYork again... But I was getting a little bored of that...


Check out Eileen's necklace! Isn't it gorgeous? :D I want one too!!! I think her Dad got that for her... good taste yeah? Wish my dad had such taste too...

Sunday 24 August 2008

Curry Favour (AGAIN)

Dave and I were meeting up with Samuel (Chee.. not Lew!~~I spelled Liew previously.. and drove poor Sam sianz... cuz I spelled it wrong for the N-th time~~) for lunch on a Sunday.. We met at my place.. Cuz Sam was so nice to pick us for a meal and send us back.. So nice right? Hehe... Sam very easy-going.. as usual.. But after walkin ard the whole AMK hub, we seriously couldn't find anything better to eat.. To a point that poor Dave was sooooo hungry, he wanted BUFFET!!!!

I swore I won't eat buffet... So I didn't.. My principal was that if you are paying that fixed amount for an infinite amount of food, how good can the food be? Image consious me won't wanna waste money gorging myself or overpaying for the limited amount of not so tasty food I would be eating.. So, I went for ala Carte...

We decided on Curry Favor at Novena Square since I had no idea for a better buffet and we were in AMK hub(which had no buffet).. Besides.. Dave and Sam were craving for Japanese food.. But to be honest, calling themselves Curry Favor, they have to be good with their curry.. But.. There wasn't anything special about the curry... But I wasn't really sure how good should a Japanese curry... Maybe spicy, but yet not till the point ur tongue can't taste anything? And you gotta sweat while eating the curry cuz of the spiciness.. But the mild sweetness of the curry should still be there despite the spiciness... So where's the best Japanese curry?

While my two pig partners were gorging themselves with the deep fried stuff and what nots.. and let's not forget the added inches to their waistlines.. Lol.... Oh, as I was saying.. while they were eating their infinite supply of ala carte buffet, I had my beef sukiyaki.. But what's so bad? They added glass noodles aka tang hoon, instead of my favourite 白滝蒟蒻-shirataki konnyaku.. So the restaurant lost their authenticity in Japanese food..
Well, I wun recommend this place unless you want to eat loads of Jap food as buffet... But I think might as well go for Nihon Mura in Jurong stadium.. But I think its too far for most pple.. :P


Saturday 23 August 2008

Summer Festival in Singapore シンガポール日本学校の夏祭り

The annual Summer FEstival is here again... The last time 三人went there was 3 years ago, when I was still in year 1 of my studies in NTU.. But the location is still the same, at the Singapore Japanese School, except that this year, they had the wet weather plan.. So everything was kind of indoor and we didn't go down to the field... Oh, and this time round, each of the さん人 except me, brought along a 'date'.. Hehe... but oh well, it was weird though.. 2 couples and... me... in Yukata浴衣...As usual, there were Japanese food for sale, sold by different food stalls.. And the stuff sold did have a touch of Singapore style to it... Price was kinda high too. There were the Japanese soccer players in these orange jerseys.. I think they are from the Singapore Lions or something.. Not so sure... But I do think the guy on the left is extremely cute!! Damien's date thought so too... That's why we took photo with the cute soccer players together.. :S

Elvin bought this bottle of ラムネRamune.. It has this top for you to press in, the ball will drop into the bottle... and release guess some how... Its interesting though... Probably the gas goes into the drink by pressure... Not sure...

Damien's date partner, however, was nice enough to help us, the 三人 take picture... On the left is Elaine... Elvin's date.... :P This reminds me of the summer festival I had in Japan... I shall upload it as soon as possible... REally lagging behind..

Tuesday 12 August 2008

Orders from the Ds...

Thanks to Damien and Dave, I had a chance to bake another order after my return from Japan... And mind you, this was in August last year... Damien even drove down to my place to collect the cake! Ain't that nice?
This is an ultimate Chocolate lover cake.. You can't guess how many times chocolate was used in this recipe.. First, there is chocolate in the chocolate sponge.. Second, there is chocolate cake scraps in the cream cheese frosting with a touch of Bailey's.. And then, a luscious shiny coating of chocolate ganache coats the cake, topped with some White Lover cookies and oreo cookies on sides... And, Joey is a girl, so let's add the white chocolate coated strawberries for the added female touch for the birthday girl!
Dave ordered $50 worth of cookies to give them away.. That's so generous of him.. Maybe it was a way of make up? But whether it was or not, I really felt that it was sweet of him to do so.. So I made two new kinds of cookies... The one above is triple C.. Why did I name it that? Firstly, there is white Chocolate chip, secondly, there is chocolate Cake chunks, and lastly, its a Cookie!
ANd right above is Ginger Brulee!! Its actually a soft ginger spice cookie, topped with burnt suger, like the burnt cream on Creme Brulee! But this isn't the top fave for most people because spiced cookies and desserts still hasn't taken to the Local's liking... All locals think of when it comes to cookies are chocolates and nuts... Oh, and maybe sometimes raisins..

Above, is my old time favourite.. White lovers... Thin crispy cookies with a sandwiched layer of White Chocolate Ganache... Like the Shiroi Koibito from Hokkaido.. Except,I can't create that flaky, melt in your mouth feel of the Shiroi Koibito... And, the cookie is not as dark as the one and made.. And it doesn't turn soft soon.. Maybe its the vacuum packing?

Friday 8 August 2008

Bistro Au Petit and 2am Dessert Bar

Bistro Au Petit.. My first french dining experience... Surprisingly eh? Since I helped out at a French Pastry shop for 2 months, it is kind of a wonder why I never had any French Dining....

But thanks to Mr Samuel Chee, who returned from France a few weeks back, and missed French food, we decided to try out French dining in Singapore.. After a little research, I decided on Bistro Au Petit in Chip Bee Gardens, Holland Village.. The biggest problem with night dining is the really bad lighting... No natural light, and restaurants are usually litted in orange glow lights to help stimulate your appetite.. Notice that ambience is really important.. Seldom do you enter dark restaurants.. Ever recalled a time you entered a restaurant with really dark lighting that it puts you off the idea of dinner? Maybe eating in the dark can help in my diet!! HAha... But again, think of the fast food restaurants.... They are mostly brightly lited... BArs on the other hand are dark cuz pple dun eat there... They drink...
So the photos are pretty bad...
I really tried my best to touch up these photos... So Be glad if you can figure out what's in the photo... Well, my cam's not that pro, so who am I to complain the lighting? Their photo turned out really great though... But that's professsional...
Lights are illuminated enough to see the food clearly.. But I think the shade of the light was to suit this feeling of Bistro FRance..
Samuel and I each ordered a set dinner... And we could make our selection based on the following:

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Set Dinner Menu 38++ per person( Strictly no Sharing )

Appetizers
Platter of homemade duck rillette, roulade of foie gras and duck pâté in pastry
Lobster raviolis with sautéed spinach, tomato fondue and light bisque emulsion
Beef tartare served with mesclun and Parmesan crisp
Warm green asparagus, organic poached egg and smoked ham with garlic saffron mayonnaise and petit salad
Warm millefeuille of vegetables, cured salmon and couscous salad,tarragon dressing
Traditional “Bouillabaisse”

Main Course
Grainfed sirloin steak served with French fries“Grilled or Café de Paris ”
Braised lamb shank in white wine with homemade tagliatelle
Provencal-style braised pork spareribs with tomato and roots vegetables
Veal loin wrapped with grilled vegetables and bacon served with mashed potato
Black truffle risotto with Parmesan shavings and baby spinach, red wine sauce “Papillote” of fish of the day with julienne of vegetables and fresh herbs

Desserts
Fresh fruit platter with a scoop of citrus sorbet

Chocolate tart fondant with pistachio ice cream

Choux buns with vanilla ice cream, warm chocolate sauce and sliced almonds

Homemade cheesecake served with sorbet

Passionfruit Blanc Manger

“Coupe Latte”chocolate and vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce, whipped cream
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I didn't write the strictly no sharing.. Its the content on the menu.. SEriously! But the service is really long, you probably hungry enough not to share..
We were both served freshly baked fRench bread and its free flow! So you can keep asking for more!

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So what did we eat? For me, I had

Traditional “Bouillabaisse” for appetiser

Provencal-style braised pork spareribs with tomato and roots vegetables
for main course

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My date partner had
Lobster raviolis with sautéed spinach, tomato fondue and light bisque emulsionfor appetiser


Veal loin wrapped with grilled vegetables and bacon served with mashed potato
for main course

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And yes... How can I do without deserts? Thank god SAm is a sweet tooth too.. So we didn't have to miss out the desserts on the menu...
Chocolate tart fondant with pistachio ice cream
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Choux buns with vanilla ice cream, warm chocolate sauce and sliced almonds

____________________________________________________________________________________ I think Samuel's tart wasn't very wow.. The crust lacked something I think... BUt the overall was just a fair.. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't fantastic either... Samuel oso felt that the standards were pretty far from the French food he had... Nice place to chill though... The service is kinda long, so make sure you have chatting company and probably something to read while waiting... But food presentation was definitely French enough...

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2am Dessert Bar (Click for Link)

After the dinner, Sam and I met up with his gf.. It was the first time I was seeing her.. And the first respond I got from her shocked me.. Haha.. She asked "Aye? The Xiao Hua Xiao Cao Girl?"
Lol.. Its like a year ago since I joined... I went to Au Bistro Petit in August 8th 2008.. The U-channel's Hey! Gorgeous was in Septembet 2007.. I am really amazed someone knew me.. I thought not many people knew... Except for my classmates, friends and a really cool professor.. Lol.. I doubt some of my friends even know! But Sam's gal is really sweet.. and innocent.. Innocently cute... Haha.. So since dinner was on Sam, 2am Dessert Bar was on me... Besides, I had so much fun recalling my time in Hey! Gorgeous.. Lol..


Nope... I didn't take thhose picts above.. But the website in the link above had these pictures... The ambience deserves 8! I minus-ed 2 for the ambience because the toilet was always a long wait..
But the seats which we had that day was the main reason the ambience was so great... You could literally sleep there... Lighting was just nice and warm enough.. Not perfect for photos, but perfect for a Chillax session..

It ain't ca;;ed the Desert Bar for nothing.. They had pretty interesting desert creation... I would recommend the Twix... Check out my ugly photo... It doesn't do justice to their desert...

But thankfully, with they captured a better photo of their desert... Difference in the deserts? Can you spot? Hint* The crumble and the shape of the burnt caramel mousse's shape..
The other dessert we had was the Masala Chai Chocolate..


This one is a no no if you wanna order it... Its just chocolate cake with Sorbet... Nothing special in my opinion...