Chinese New Year Part I

Chinese New Year, twinsies' birthday and my wedding anniversary get intertwined all around January and February. It means memories are vague, I can't manage the sequence unless I sit down and focus on recalling. I had to look back to the calendar to check what date was this year's CNY.

As with every year, we have a 1st round of reunion with my parents. It will usually be on the weekend before. This year, we had the dinner with my uncles and aunts at a Teochew restaurant. Very tickled to see a 'Dumb Waited' labeled on the wall. Do you know what it is?

Food was interesting, not great. Noticed that every other table outside our private room, was eating the same dishes, guess that's the easiest way to decide and serve the masses. 

After dinner, we headed to the east of Singapore to visit a funfair. The entire family adores fun fairs, but it's truly getting expensive to ride these in Singapore. Costs ranges from $4 - $8. What a killjoy for the parents. Uncle Ringo is a rich man for sure. He monopolises the fun fair market here in Singapore. 

I love this photo because I can tell who is Anya from far. Her chubby, chubby cheeks she had since birth!

The 12 year old who wants the 'red shark' balloons. Not sure which part of them are interesting to him but he insisted he wanted these as prizes.

Happy kids, broke parents.

The older two took at least two rounds of this, amazing that their dinner did not come out....

I think this will be the last time they sit in this. Too slow..... they are more the Legoland Technik roller coaster type now.

Glorious Food!

Damn.... Upload failed and a month after, I'm still craving for 麻辣....

Seeing this makes me drool....

But since age is catching up and the hips are expanding exponentially, input matters and I believe chili increases metabolism. So, more to mala in the new year and I'm getting a little desperate, as I have started browsing Chinese sites just for mala recipes. Hmmm....

Llao llao... Kinda got sick of it, I just want the frozen yog without the toppings. Kids are still in love with it, the fruits, cookies and sauces. Nevertheless, always great fun sharing food with these kiddos. Love our family of six! 

Slapped cakes, our latest discovery of DIY cum overpriced pancakes. But why do we keep going back? Because we don't need to plan what to have in the fridge in advance, they have five different type of pancake mix and Daddy and I get to eat non-pancakes, particularly - eggs Benedict!

A Date with my Camera (and a GF)

29th September - It wasn't the best day for the two Mummies to attend a Food Photography workshop. TT lamented that her son is having exams next week, while I am just recovering from flu and don't have an appetite to eat, not to mention that Aidan too, has oral examinations next week.

But well, 11a.m. and we were seated in a nice restaurant 'Loola' at the Esplanade! What a treat for both of us, to be able to have a (kid-less) lunch date and also get to choose our main course of what WE want to eat and have time to eat them slowly.

I was also happy because I get to shoot what I eat, which is something I like but I don't do that often because my dining companions don't always appreciate that (including Hubby. His rules: char kway teow and bak kut teh are fine; but no taking pictures of that prawn and melon salad with vinaigrette dressing or squid ink linguine served with seasonal truffles in any places that require you to place a white napkin on your lap... if you know what I mean..) and another dear friend who rolls her eyes and says: "Wah lau eh, take photo again? You are just like a typical Singaporean." (but there is a difference - I don't post them on Facebook!).

So, as the instructor aptly put it, it was a right place for us to take our time to shoot our food and not getting any stares about it. It was fun for me too, because I got to meet like-minded people from all sorts of background who loves to shoot their food too! We moved around tables, 'borrowing' dishes to shoot because not one dish came out from the kitchen looking identical. TT's fish was a good example, hers came out too cooked, skin blackened and all so we were looking to other tables to search for a better-looking fish. No one on our table ordered the pork belly (think: fats) so we had to move to the other tables and asked for permission to shoot their food!

 Not bad for us, there weren't many seats left when we arrived on the dot (photographers must  be really punctual people) but we managed to get seats near the window which gave me this view and also, later, a lot of natural light.

 Nice to look at but a tad too salty for my taste buds.

Bone Marrow (Tulang in Malay) with vinaigrette which had not much for a taste but texture close to foie gras.

 The dish we borrowed: Looks yummy but I won't be able to stomach all those fats!

 My yummy duck thigh marinated with Asian spices. Would taste even better with some white rice. Didn't like the pickles they served below, reminds me of those that came with sushi.

This must be the most interesting dish - maybe that was why the instructor took this as his sample when he took us through his presentation and samples. It has more colours, a variety of textures and types of food to play with. The poached egg was something most people were targeting at - to wait for it to be cut and have the yolk ooze out. Quite amused that we had 'visitors' who hung around waiting for TT to cut her egg!

 Not a sweet tooth person but the chocolate based desserts were nice. Too much that I couldn't finish. The chocolate ice cream was the best (no photos, it looked just like any scoop of ice cream placed in a silver bowl). Smooth, creamy, not very sweet and totally chocolaty. The guy on our table first complimented it, then TT agreed and I had to nod when I tasted it, it's not like anything we have tasted outside before!

 Here's the instructor which TT 'invited' over to ask him how to shoot an ugly-looking piece of fish.

His tip? Don't focus on the skin - zoom into the white flesh - and move the tip of the asparagus closer to the meat so that it provides some colour contrasts and beautify the layout.

Bottom two are my favourite shoots - thanks to TT whose idea was to ask me to help her hold the fork while she shoots. So I took a few shots myself and the roe really stands out. The last one's been photoshopped, not sure if you can see any 'fake' spots? Maybe I'll post a 'Spot the Difference' later on.

Top three photos sent in to Canon from this photo workshop will win a Canon Selphy printer. Not bad, I could use one at home. Maybe my printing of photos can become a monthly routine if I have one, so that I don't need to print 500-600 every half a year....

For the $60 that I have paid, I've totally enjoyed myself (could be better if I was hungry but I haven't missed food for more than a week). Thanks to TT for accompanying me. So honoured that her first reason to go was because I wanted to go and secondly because she could eat - if you are a Mom, you'd know why we say that. How do we have the luxury to shoot when we are eating with the kids? We don't even glance long enough at the food as we dive in to divide and spilt what's been served into smaller portions and dished out to separate plates to feed the hungry monsters.

Kalbi!

(picture taken from http://savorysweetlife.com/2009/07/marinade-this-bulgogi-recipe-korean-barbequed-beef/


(picture taken from http://nookandpantry.blogspot.sg/2009/02/kalbi-korean-barbeque-short-ribs.html)

It was a birthday celebration for Hubby last night. He felt like having Korean BBQ beef, and we had yummy ones from a Korean restaurant in our neighbourhood. He couldn't recall what the dish was called, and he thinks it isn't Bulgogi beef because it may turn out to be the first picture (lean beef and sometimes with gravy). He wanted picture #2. I was equally confused. I suspected it may be called 'short ribs' but I wasn't sure but I was confident that it had been marinated, so I told him to just order "Marinated beef lah!"

To our disappointment, when we collected the takeaway, it came out to be picture #1. Not that it wasn't good, the texture was just different. We both love solid pieces of meat, dry and grilled with only the juice and oil glazed onto the meat. Aidan was happy, to him, it didn't make any difference, it was just beef - sweet, juicy and yummy. Before dinner started, half the serving had gone into the 2 boys' stomachs.

It's never the same eating the dish and not thinking how it would have been better if it was short ribs instead. Plus having the other half muttering he knew he shouldn't have listened to me and me too wishing I should have told him to describe in details that we wanted "marinated beef in slices, not the curly type, no gravy." Hence, I decided I'll hunt down the name of the dish, so precise that we will never repeat the same mistake again. I know for a fact that my MIL likes the same dish, because we will order the same dish (at least two servings) when we eat with them back in KL. Usually, we just point to the picture, and I made it a point to remember it was dish #1 on that menu (how hard is that to remember, right?). So it's worth all the trouble to know what this dish is called.

Went through a ton of websites (which is making my stomach growl right now) and I learnt there is a name for it - Kalbi!
Quoted from Savory Sweet Life's site, it says:
"The primary difference between bulgogi and kalbi are the cuts of beef used as well as the cooking method.  Traditionally short-ribs are used for preparing Kalbi and is cooked on a charcoal grill or broiled in the oven.  Bulgogi on the other hand is thinly (card stock thin) sliced, against the grain rib-eye steak prepared on a hibachi grill, broiled in the oven, or pan-fried.  Both dishes use a similar or same type of marinade. "

Goodbye Bulgogi, you have just lost a loyal fan. The good news? Same marinade = same great taste! But now I can chew on the bones and have chunky bites of marinated beef to accompany raw garlic and fresh lettuce, without having Bulgogi sauce dripping down my hand.

Hence, the quest is on... to find the perfect marinade so that we can make this at home. We live by a peculiar but practical belief - if you like something, you should be able to have abundance of it until you feel like vomiting. That's why each time we order crabs, we prefer to dug in at home, and with minimum 3 different cooking styles (chilli, black pepper, butter - the usual because we are fans of all) and at least 2 crabs for each flavour. So, if I am able to find a good home-made recipe for the marinade, we will be able to have a beef feast with plain, fragrant white rice, raw garlic, lettuce, and maybe a Kimchee soup (and my kids can have miso)!

And Happy Birthday, Hubs. I guarantee you will taste home-cooked Kalbi soon.

Cooking Class with Irene Jansen

The company organised a team building exercise for the Marketing department. The cook and teacher was Irene Jansen, from Culinary Adventures.

We did a shrimp paste toast, molten chocolate cupcakes and herb rice served with basil/lemongrass chicken. All in all, not bad, it was fun catching up with the girls and not having to talk about work. And we didn't have to do any washing up, there were 2 assistants on standby to help us clean up, which was even better!

I didn't decorate a single cupcake. Those above were done by my colleague's daughter. I was too tired standing in my heels doing that. I should have worn flats (which is my staple so I thought I'll wear heels for a change). I was sleepy too, and fingers smelt of onions and garlic.

I packed the food back, and the kids tried the chicken. They knew that I went for cooking class, and after tasting, they exclaimed: "Thank you, Mummy, for going to cooking class. The chicken is very nice and the cupcakes too!"

Wow... good thing? My kids appreciated the food, and bad thing? I need to cook more often... in their eyes....

Welcome to COCOTTE

I had to work hard, very hard, in order to arrive in one piece at this place.

I ventured into a part of Singapore where I have gone max 2 in my life - Little India.

It started out as an adventure. There are mostly one-way streets and also major roadworks for the new MRT line around the area. I prepped myself with the Maps app (which of course, stupid me, it doesn't show you where the constructions are) and eventually got lost halfway when I couldn't turn left into the lane as advised because it was all blocked up.

I started to panic, and decided to take a next left turn. I signalled, slowed down and the cab behind honked me. I wondered why until I turned and saw that I was facing 3 lanes of on-coming traffic - luckily it was my right of way.

After making big loops, I finally got near to the street I wanted to get on. It was one-way again, so I had to cut into the next lane but the traffic was just horrendous. Lorries, vans, taxis cutting my lane. My heart sank when I knew that it was mostly parallel parking, and I did find a lot which I quickly took; only to find out my sis's car ran out of parking coupons.


I cursed and swore, and craned my neck around the streets looking for some familiar logos and luckily I found a 7-11 almost 150m away. I got my coupon, told myself to stop thinking I am unlucky to take so long to get to my destination - for, if I had not driven my sis's mini car, and took our MPV instead, I'd probably wouldn't be able to park it anywhere on the streets because I just suck at parallel parking. So, I should consider myself lucky!


I never have had good things to say about the French (and Germans, except the husbands my girlfriends marry). I was traumatised when I was almost robbed and got hit by a girl gang when I was holidaying in Paris with my sister. (I'll come to the Germans another time). Louis Vuitton is overpriced and has too many copycats, so I will be worried people think I bought my LV from Bangkok, unless I keep the price tag on and maybe carry it around in its original boutique paperbag.

French food I knew only came in the form of escargots and duck confit.

COCOTTE here, serves french country cooking. Whatever that means, but the food is GOOD. Don't bother coming here if you are watching your diet (like me) because their servings are generous and food so flavourful that you will finish each morsel on the plates.

We ordered the Boeuf Bourguinon (beef stew-like) and Roast Pork Collar. Appetizers were the Pear Salad and Fried Tripe. Desserts were Passion Tarte and Creme Brulee. All were fantastic, flavourful; except the Fried Tripe which had the porky taste and me and my gf couldn't help but to douse the tripes with lemon juice and salsa that came with it. In fact, we asked for an additional serving of salsa, in order to finish that dish.

(sorry, no more food pics after this because we got carried away talking and I felt bad whipping my camera out to take photos during the dining session, after I made my gf wait half an hour for me)

I love beautiful toilets. I like the setting of this but the sinks are too shallow. The morbid me rose once again, and I wondered if someone who weren't feeling great, decided to puke in these 5cm shallow sinks, it might overflow. Yucks!

This is one great meal I had for a while, maybe the best so far for this year. I'll call it my little discovery - nevertheless, thanks to A, my wonderful, old (duration of 21 years of friendship, not age) friend who purchased a dining coupon over Groupon and asked me if I wanted to check this place out with her. I also am grateful to my in-laws who are here to visit and hence, I am able to plan a lunch while out at work in the office, and eat in absolute peace.

If you subscribe to one of those discount sites, watch for 'COCOTTE' again. You HAVE to buy at least one. We paid $35 each, for 2 set lunches and a glass of wine. Saved $25 between the two of us. And if you hate parking like me, don't even attempt to drive. Just take a cab.

My Favourite Restaurant of 2010

SKINNY PIZZA - I love it so much that I had it twice in a week, the last week of 2010.

Their pizzas are thin crust, and crispy like biscuits. I first heard of its 'Squid Ink Pizza' which didn't look very pretty. But I am generally a pizza fan (the other favourite restaurant is Waraku Pasta and Pizza) and I knew I had to try it some day.

So I went with a girlfriend one afternoon 2 months ago, then with my Sis last Wednesday and then with Hubby and the kids (minus Ally because she was down with flu) as a last dine-out of the year, for Friday lunch.

The food is generally good, albeit a little on the pricey side. If I could choose, I would and could simply order just 2 Squid-ink pizzas and have that as my main meal!

The Wheelock outlet has funky, bright and clean settings. I like this place better than the Raffles City one. They even have a hook at the side of the table for bags!

Here's us at the Raffles City branch - since I had to drop by the office to submit some claims.

Anya's playing Peek-a-boo here (above).

Her first French Fry/ Fries?

Love the light!