Celebrating One Year

Saturday Indulgence

Gabes first toast: "Let nobody go home hungry or sober!" and so it was, a 6 course lunch, copious amounts of wine and free flow champers left us decadently drunk by 4pm... and lunch wasn't even over till 5.30pm...

and in our inebriated state, hubs and i got these for me. *grin*

Piccies from Chloe and Neiman Marcus

no more shopping! i promise..... (to try)....

The Weekend Past - Eat, Drink, Party!!

Missed dinner with the girls on Friday night, but managed to get home just in time before they arrived at our place for yet another drinks sesh and a spot of Taboo.

Food notes: decided to venture out of the comfort zone of comte, brie and camembert, and tried to introduce a mild blue german (cambozola) instead, which went down pretty well. Shall be more adventurous next time. ;p

We slept in on Saturday morning and had a late brunch of bockwurst and some pancakes with hand-whipped fresh cream (yumz!). Am thinking of adding sliced pears to the batter next time or perhaps poaching/caramelising first… lazed around the rest of the morning, watching poor Maria getting thrashed by Serena Williams at the Australian Open and waiting for the oven-repairman to arrive. And as Murphy would have it – the oven was totally fine and didn't trip up at all when the guy tested it. Although he did say the moisture in the heating element that was causing the power trip had probably been removed from my repeated attempts at starting it up. We'll see. Good reason to make a roast next weekend.

Popped over to the Robinson's sale with mum and came away with more bowls, bedlinen for the guest room, a huge vase (hip high!) and a tiered cakestand – this time in brushed stainless steel. :) Hubs thinks I'm crazy… *shopaholic alert*

We had a date night on Saturday evening and it was perfect!

Made reservations at the Barfly, dressed up and took a leisurely stroll in lovely balmy weather to The Cannery. Clarke Quay has changed so much – it's so bustling and lively now, with new bars and restaurants. I think we can try a new place every fortnight for the next 6 months and still won't be done exploring, which is great! Barfly is a restaurant tucked into the 2^nd floor of The Cannery. Dark wooden stairs led up to an open reception area and into the dining area. And I must say – Wow. It almost doesn't feel like you're in Singapore. Very impressed. Black crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, each bulb fixed with mini dark shades, and cast a moody glow over the rich velvet upholstery, and the embossed leather menus made them feel especially luxe. We were given a table in the corner, which gave us privacy and yet allowed us a view of the snazzy bar and most of the restauratn. The service staff were polite, attentive yet unobstrusive. And the food was delish! The Unagi spring rolls were crisp and not too oily, the foie gras was heavenly and the accompanying apple chutney as nicely tart and refereshing. DH had the grain- fed lamb ribs – and it's one of the best (other than Daddy's special recipe ones – none other can compare!) we've tried. Roasted to perfection – a little charred on the outside and melt-in-your mouth juicy inside. I had the slow-cooked piglet. I think the meat is teased off the bone, cooked for a long time, separately from the skin, till soft and tender, shaped into a square patty and lightly panfried, then topped with the crispy deepfried skin. Oooh…amazing! The portions are large and we just didn't have space for dessert. Otherwise, the warm ganache chocolate cake looked enticing.

After dinner, we decided to explore the rest of the area before catching up K for his 30th birthday celebrations at MOS. There are a few restaurants I'd really like to try next, including Bice and Zuma, and I'm eagerly awaiting the opening of Nectarie – a dessert patisserie!

We also saw a Moroccan-themed bar and a mongolian grill called Tent (the inside really looked like a 蒙古包, with wooden beams and drapes and all… heh…). There was a street market and DH picked up a pair of earrings for me – delicate, 14K gold wires, embellished with blue swarovski crystals and a matching droplet of aquamarine. *joy*!!

Our little party at Studio 54 was a blast. The drinks started easily enough with some Rose Moets, and progressed to a bottle of 42below. That got everyone high and happy enough to get up and dance when the first strains of familiar retro music from our era started to play. Sadly there wasn't Belinda Carlisle – travesty!! – but at least they played Electric Dream, and I knew all the words… J Gosh, I feel so old… But it was a fun night – i guess retro-cheese does it for me… *embarrassed* But, J showed he was truly the king of retro-trivia – he knew just about all the titles, all artistes, lyrics, and exactly which movie they came from..

Ended the night with bak kut teh at the corner of Mohd Sultan, hot and comforting in the cool weather, before traipsing home, ears still muffled from the loud music, and singing "Summer Rain" in the basement carpark. *giggle* we were so dying for the song, Hubs found the track on our iPod and blasted it while we were in the shower – couldn't help but dance and sing to it. *mad* ;)

Catching up!

Finally downloaded the hundreds of photos over the past few months from the camera. Here are some of them...

Char & J's pink & chocolate wedding - it was so much fun making all the decor! I got to be bridezilla all over again (albeit vicariously)... hee hee… Who’s getting married next? Indulge me!!

My Birthday! - which we celebrated on the 16th instead... Mummy made red eggs and had them delivered together with a yummelicious dinner. Hubs was really sweetums – he made a huge brekkie for the both of us before we headed out for some furniture shopping at the new Marina Square.

Christmas Candlelight Service - Arise, Shine!

- and that's XJ's handprint from when he was 14! :)


We got a half-day off on the Friday before New Years, and thought we’d try out Brussel Sprouts – this new place just round the corner, which served up pretty decent moules-frites, and Belgian beer. Of course, we couldn’t resist the very sinful but very delicious caramelized pork belly… *drool*

Update: Just realised from Sunday's papers that Brussel Sprouts is actually another one of Emmanuel Stroobandt's babies! Mmm.. wonder if they serve up foie gras too?

30

Hubs turns 30 today and we had a little dessert party last night to celebrate. Grand plans of baking a cheese cake and a chocolate tart fell through when the oven tripped the electrical circuits in the apartment. So I cheated and got a double chocolate praline birthday cake from the patissier and an assortment of macaroons from canele to stand in… heee…

Wines, cheese, fruits, desserts, and great company made for a very lovely evening indeed!

Happy Birthday, dear!!

Happy Birthday Hils!

Hils turns xx! No celebration is complete without alcohol and more alcohol. We started early at 5.30pm with our regular BYM (bring-your-mug) sessions in office before heading to Brewerkz for pub grub and beer. Only the brave ventured on to MOS where 4 bottles of the strong stuff was waiting...

Late dinner at Brewerkz

Our inebriated three-some: Hils, Len and Kwok Aun stumbling to MOS

It was crowded! But ha-ha, we're on the VIP list, so we whizz right past. *smug*

My poison...

...his poison

Part of our stash. There's still half a bottle of gin left behind in MOS with Len's name on it I think.

Tequila shots - no one is spared!!

Retro at 54 - brings back memories of MAMBO nite

Hed Kandi playing at the Arena so they put up some fancy schmancy hologram. Didn't think the music was too hot though.

*glug-lug-lug-lug*

With Pauline and Weems

So there... suaku me finally made it to MOS. Demographics were kinda weird - you get teeny-bopper wannabes and middle-aged half-balding ah bengs all under one roof. Not cute either...

Methinks Zouk's much better.

A Weekend of Excessessss

The Line at Shangri-La

Went to The Line at Shangri La for lunch on Friday. A similar concept to Straits Kitchen at the Hyatt – a buffet where there are several counters for different cuisines, except that SK serves up local hawker fare, whereas The Line has Italian, Jap, Indian, Chinese and a huge dessert selection. It even had a giant chocolate fountain! But by the time I made it to desserts, they’d run out of strawberries. Isn’t this supposed to be a buffet?! *disgruntled*

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喜喜 宴

Saturday evening, we managed to secure a table at 喜喜 宴, the private dining kitchen experience from Hong Kong which made its way to Singapore a few months ago. The food was excellent! (Hils described it as the Asian version of Fat Duck) It was modern Chinese, a little fusion-y, but well done. We started out with “Prancing Lobster in Dual Sauces”, followed by a whole host of innovative starters – most with some Japanese flavour. Some of my favourites were the fresh Japanese tomatoes drizzled with a creamy sesame sauce and the 2-week old chicken. Heh… It’s marinated and stored in the freezer for 2 weeks to “simulate the cold climate in Northern China”, and steamed before serving.

The main courses were a riot of flavours – Orange peel beef, Salivate Pork (口水肉), and 虾酱鱼 (as opposed to har jeong gai <虾酱鸡>).

The beef was tender, almost melts in your mouth, and the preserved mandarin skin was tangy and fragrant.

We asked for the “original level of spicy-ness” for the 口水肉, thinly sliced pork prepared with fiery Szechuan peppers, served with Japanese koniyaku noodles and century egg on the side. The translucent noodles soaked up the spicy gravy, while the century egg helped to soothe the palate.

The fish was crisp on the outside, fresh and succulent on the inside and came with an interesting Vietnamese style gravy and fresh pomelo.

Glutinous rice in lotus leaf, topped with hairy crabs, complete with roe. Very fragrant... mmmm.... lotsa carbo and cholesterol, but we just couldn't get enough!

Of course, fruit wasn’t JUST fruit at 喜喜 宴. Tropical fruit soaked in plum sauce took the place of sorbets as palate cleansers….

….before Ginseng chicken soup and mushrooms were served.

Three kinds of mushroom used here: Japanese shitake, Chinese abalone, and Italian Portobello, accented with pickled cucumbers.

Dessert was喜喜 宴 汤圆. Not your usual ahboh-ling… or even your black sesame-filled dumplings. These contained a lovely concoction of sesame, honey, peanuts, salted eggyolk and preserved winter melon. Interesting!

Dinner closed, with a shot each of whiskey, infused with honey and lime – brought to us by the Chef himself, who stayed to chat a while, and whom XJ recognised as his church friend. (If we’d known earlier, who knows, we could’ve jumped ahead of the usual 2 month long waiting list for a seating!)

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Christmas Lunch

Annual Christmas lunch at Chez Leonard’s… started out with a welcome drink. Looked innocently enough, like any other jell-o, but turned out to be Vodka Cranberry trifle. A foretaste of the alcoholism to follow.

As usual, Leonard outdid himself – roast turkey, plump sausages, 3 kinds of pasta, the creamiest & yummiest garlic mash I’ve ever had, and his own homemade truffle butter. Yumz! No one goes home hungry – or ever needing a meal in the next 12 hours for that matter.

Highlight of the afternoon, however, was the Jeroboam of Champagne, courtesy of Hanwai and Cindy – a whopping 3 litres worth. We had to chill it in a kitchen pail...

If you think that’s huge, I’m told there’s something called a Nebuchadnezzar bottle which contains a good 15 litres (20 bottles) of plonk. Leonard doesn’t take too well to bubbly, you see… and hmm.. it didn’t help that we all decided to toast him one by one. Haha. He didn’t hold up for very long. Well, he did get back at us with his shots of tequila-lime and mulled-wine jellies…