Lunch at my uncle’s was gut-busting. My aunt cooks really, really well so you can imagine how tormenting it was to have to control my intake. It wasn’t the most elaborate of meals but everything tasted of perfection.

Naturally, we started off with Yusheng:

Following that, we indulged in a very delectable spread featuring Fried Bee Hoon (Vermicelli), Broccoli with Abalone & Mushrooms, Kong Bak Pau (Chinese Braised Pork with Buns) and Tom Yum Soup.

Bloated from all that, I lumbered through the next couple of houses and struggled to strike conversations. It wasn’t until the second last house that I regained my bearings and managed to stomach a few more snacks.

The buddies then came over for dinner and we finalised plans for Dia’s 30th. We realised how it wasn’t going to be a cheap affair, but neither were we going to scrimp on our own 30th birthday celebrations. As much as it’s just another number, there’s no denying (for us at least) that 30 is a landmark age. So we settled on a staycation at Capella (because the girl doesn’t do cheap) after plenty of deliberation. It may not exactly be a weekend getaway at a nearby resort, but it’s certainly fancy enough. ;)

And because it’s not a festive season without some alcohol (I think?), Min brought a bottle of Baileys to share with us:

A toast to all of us, and all our other girls who turn 30 this year!

Here’s to another 16 years of friendship, and even more to come!

*clinks*

. . . . .

Song of the Day

More Today Than Yesterday, by Goldfinger

Lunch was a scrumptious bowl of Chicken Curry with 3 slices of bread.

The parents had Ayam Pongteh.

And that was my only meal of the day, no thanks to the incessant snacking while waiting for guests to arrive. Yikes.

When evening came, I immediately assumed babysitting duties, as I am wont to do each year. To my credit, I am a terrific babysitter. How do I know? My four-year-old nephew Elijah was extremely upset when it was time to leave. Everyone wondered if I had some kinda special game that got him so hooked. All I had was a Magna Doodle board and plenty of imagination as I played along in his constant “killing” and “reviving” of a certain Jango Fett. I know right. BOYS.

It also helps that the cheeky fella was adorable.

Dad was mesmerised by my other nephew, Rafel, and couldn’t stop cuddling him. But really, the kid was that huggable.

My family and I are heading out to visit the rellies tomorrow. That means more food, and more trouble for my waistline. The gym is gonna appear extra laborious this week.

. . . . .

Song of the Day

If This City Never Sleeps, by Rosie Thomas

My dad loves it heaps though, and never fails to decorate the lobby right outside our apartment.

It’s become a bit of a highlight for our neighbours (and their visitors) who actually look forward to it each year. No kidding.

We get a fairly large number of visitors each festive season, and we usually have a good assortment of goodies awaiting them. This year, though, I think we might have outdone ourselves with 11 different types of snacks, including three variations of pineapple tarts:

I can only think of one other household (the Gohs) that serves more food.

Reunion dinner at our place is usually quite low-key with only our immediate family members. As such, we don’t typically have a huge spread, serving only four dishes: Ayam Pongteh (Braised Chicken with Salted Bean Paste), Chicken Curry, and my two favourites – Hee Peow Soup (Fish Maw Soup with Cabbage, Fishballs, Prawn balls and Meatballs) & Ngoh Hiang (Pork & Water Chestnut Rolls with Beancurd Skin).

This year, we opted to save the Ayam Pongteh and Chicken Curry for the extended family who usually come over for lunch or dinner, thus explaining the lack of photographic evidence.

As much as I love that we have Monday & Tuesday off, I’m well aware that I’m gonna have trouble adjusting back to the daily grind right after all this. Oh well. Here’s to a prosperous and joyous long weekend!

Happy Year of the Dragon! :)

So what’s a coughing, phlegm-filled girl to do on a Thursday in between sleeping off the meds? Go on Pinterest of course. And look at pictures that inadvertently cause drool to slide down the side of my mouth like a slippery sucker.

I never quite understood how Dia can look at pictures of food all day, but after two straight hours, I get it now. Not only do they make your screen look absolutely delectable, they also give you great ideas for future parties/get-togethers. Here are some easy recipes that I particularly want to try out next time I have friends over:

Cheddar Bay Biscuits (recipe)

Ham and Cheese Sliders (recipe)

Bacon Strip Pancakes (recipe)

Healthy Baked Chicken Nuggets (recipe)

Nutella Bread Pudding (recipe)

The rest of the recipes I’ve pinned are here, if you’re interested. :)

(Don’t quite understand how Pinterest works? You can read about it here.)

. . . . .

Song of the Day, because I’m taking a trip down memory lane back to my secondary school days…

Voices That Care, by Various Artists

Available only in Vanilla (for real?!), Chocolate and Strawberry, these novel straws are a product of Hungary (although manufactured in Singy) and they’re pretty fun for days when you just need that um, extra flavour. My only gripe is that the flavour is only at its most intense with the initial sip, then it sort of fizzles out. My tip is to pour yourself a smaller serving of milk to get the most out of it. Still, it’s not too bad for $1.90 and it has a pretty long shelf life, so why not?

. . . . .

Song of the Day

The Walk, by Mayer Hawthorne

I’ve got my own list too. Nothing healthy. All indulgent.

1. Ice Cream

Chinatown Ice Cream Factory

One of the most famous ice-creams in New York City which specialises in its “exotic” Chinese flavours like Lychee and Red Bean, among others.

Gonna try: Almond Cookie

Grom

Famous throughout Italy, this gelato even has a fan in Sarah Jessica Parker. It is known for being creamy and overpriced. Regardless, I’m getting a cup.

Gonna try: Crema di Grom, Caramello al sale

2. Burger

Shake Shack

I seem to be on an unending quest to find the perfect burger. And this one is supposedly better than LA’s famous In-N-Out? I am soooo in.

Gonna try: Shack Stack

3. Pizza

Joe’s Pizza

Quintessentially New York? Perhaps not, but I do love me a good pizza. GQ went so far as to call it the perfect New York experience. We’ll see.

Gonna try: Pepperoni

4. Red Velvet Cupcakes

Make My Cake

Located in Harlem, Design*Sponge tells me that the New York Times has rated their Red Velvet cupcakes as one of the best in NYC. *drools*

5. Soul Food

Amy Ruth’s

Someone once told me that authentic Soul Food can’t be found anywhere outside of the United States. With this one being one of the most well-known restaurants in NYC serving deep-fried fare, who am I to deny my arteries from being clogged?

Gonna try: Reverend Al (Chicken and Waffle) *gulp*

6. Hot Dog

Gray’s Papaya

This 24-hour hot dog joint has been featured in Sex and the City, How I Met Your Mother and even Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations. Yeah, if it’s good enough for Mr Bourdain, it’s good enough for me.

7. Chinese Takeout

You’re gonna laugh, but I only want this so I can experience eating Chinese food from these takeout boxes. I AM SUCH A SUCKER.

I think it’s safe to say we’ll be putting on weight?

(This is the second in a series of countdown posts to NYC. The first one can be found here.)

. . . . .

Song of the Day

My Body, by Young the Giant

Despite being a sweltering afternoon, we badly wanted some Magnum (no thanks in part to the 1-for-1 promotion they have going on now), so we headed over to Changi Village to get some ice cream. On our way back to Treehouse Villas @ Changi, this unsuspecting shop stood out, not because it was the only one with chic, minimalistic decor but also because I saw the word “chocolate” emblazoned in bright, orange letters.

“Now, what is this new devilry?”, I asked Nessa.

Clueless, we stood in front of the store for a good 3 minutes trying to figure out what was going on. What was Chocolate Origin? Why does it look sooo promising? And why haven’t we heard of it?

We hesitated. After all, we already had plenty of Magnums in our 7-11 plastic bag. Surely, we couldn’t squeeze in chocolate cake too?

Riiiiight.

Who were we kidding?

We promptly bought the smallest one (6-inch) and it was the best $29 I’ve spent this entire week.

I’m slightly upset that I didn’t cut the cake more delicately, making it look less picture perfect…

… because this delicious piece of heaven was rich, velvety smooth and had just the right amount of sweetness. It was an orgasmic first taste where mmms, oohs, and aahs were completely necessary.

Paired with a glass of ginger beer (you thought that was champagne, didn’t you? hehe!), it was a perfect, perfect afternoon.

Now wipe that drool from your mouth and run down to Changi Village right now. ;)

I’m gonna keep this short seeing how it’s wayyyy past my bedtime. Yep, this 20-something still has trouble waking up at 5:45am after all these years.

Dinner was at the Disgruntled Chef, at Dempsey Road, in which we ordered several Small Plates, a couple of Big Plates and desserts to share. And because we’re all stressed out at work, we ordered a jug of cocktail for kicks.

Here’s an interior shot of the restaurant:

Nessa peruses the menu:

Our first Small Plate was also the best one, in my opinion – Crab Cakes, with cucumber and tomato chilli jam:

Small Plate #2 – Crispy Lamb Shortribs, with chilli and cumin. Not fantastic, but not bad either:

Small Plate #3 was the most unexciting of the lot. Baked Scallops, with vegetables and truffle butter:

Here comes our first Big Plate – Roasted Miso Cod, with sauteed mushrooms. The rest didn’t like this as much as I did:

Our second Big Plate was much raved about, but I personally thought was quite uneventful – Crackling Suckling Pig, with crudites and honey & clove sauce:

All that food wasn’t enough, so we ordered another Small Plate – Baked Camembert Fondue, with chicory, toast and apple sauce. We loved the cheese. :)

Our first of two desserts – Fig Crisp, with roquefort parfait, port reduction and chocolate ice cream was nice enough:

But we preferred the Sticky Toffee Pudding, with vanilla ice cream:

Our jug of Fresh Raspberry Mojito:

Here I am, with Dia:

And Nessa with Min, the birthday girl:

Overall, I’d say the food was a bit of a hit-and-miss. They weren’t as delectable as I’d hope they’d be, and the service wasn’t exactly the most impeccable either. But it has a good ambience and is certainly a nice place to hang out. I just wish I drove, then getting there wouldn’t have been such a hassle.

. . . . .

Song of the Day

As I Lay Me Down, by Sophie B. Hawkins

As far as Hump Day goes, today was by far one of the best Hump Days ever. The Sara Bareilles concert was the order of the day, but since we were going to be in the area, why not have a good dinner at a celeb restaurant to start things off? And so, we did.

Gambling-aside, I’m sure glad we have Marina Bay Sands. With its host of celebrity restaurants, it was enough to give any foodie an unending appetite for decadence. We settled on db Bistro Moderne, excited at the prospect that this was the prelude to the real deal (Daniel) when we hit NYC later this year.

The buddy who is an unabashed foodie:

Choux pastry with gruyere cheese:

Lydia’s Duck Confit:

My Original db Burger:

Poached pear for dessert:

(Dia will most likely have reviews of the food, so you may want to check out her blog.)

After that very satiating dinner, we had just enough time to walk over to the Esplanade for the concert. On our way there, we couldn’t help stopping in our tracks many, many times to capture some photos of a very picturesque Singapore skyline.

We also talked about visiting the ArtScience Museum one day.

Then it was a whole evening of musical bliss as we sat there and indulged in the glorious, talented and charming Sara Bareilles.

Like I mentioned right at the beginning, ’twas a thoroughly indulgent evening. :)

. . . . .

Song of the Day

Winter Song, by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dkpmdgg6s4

What was yours like? :p

. . . . .

Song of the Day

I Don’t Want To Wait, by Paula Cole