X is for...

...Xmas eve and Xin Wang Café.

The boy went to work for his office celebrations while I stayed home with the kids all day. In the afternoon I whipped up a tiramisu for tomorrow’s family lunch, so it could set overnight.

Made a simple dinner of bolognaise and an apple crumble for dessert. First time attempting the crumble, I liked my crust and everything actually came together really well, except I used green apples and they were super sour so the end result was not to my liking. Will stick with red apples in future!

For supper, the boy and I ventured to Xin Wang Hong Kong Café at Tiong Bahru Plaza, was in the mood for instant noodles with luncheon meat but the noodle texture was disappointing. It was an eat and dash affair, I didn’t want to usher in Christmas in the restaurant but the clock struck midnight in the car on the way home. 

Upon reaching home, I gave the boy his Christmas presents, this year it was a polka dot navy tie from TM Lewin, a snow globe and tickets to the Journey concert in March. I wasn’t expecting anything in return since the Mulberry bag was supposed to be several presents in one, but he still got me a Kenneth Cole watch. Cool design! 

W is for...

...Wanton Mee.

We had an appointment with the good doctor today and after confirming everything is on track, we dropped the kids at Membina and continued on to Katong to do W.

Eng’s Wanton Mee has been on my list of places to try since Adrienne has been raving about them, and they won the hawker masters for wanton mee. They used to be located within a hawker centre but have since moved out to a standalone shop.

I had high hopes for the noodles but it was anti-climatic. Maybe now’s not a good time to be trying them with me being queasy occasionally and being off meats like pork and chicken but truly I was not impressed…I prefer finer noodles and more sauce, I found the dish to be dry and wantons so-so.

Even with the addition of ketchup, it didn’t perk up for me. I think the Hong Kong style wanton mee near my office is much tastier and sometime ago I tried really good noodles opposite the OG at Rochor, so I don’t think I’ll be back at Eng’s anytime soon.

We took a walk around the neighbouring shops and stopped for ice cream at Ice Cream Gallery before heading to the maid employment agency to start the search for Wendy’s replacement. She’s indicated she has an offer from Canada and plans to move there in a few months once her visa is approved.

There was grand fireworks tonight, for the official opening of RWS on Sentosa. Yesterday there was a spectacular display as well, for Vivo’s anniversary. I love my balcony!

Oh, and then we found this bottle of water that had frozen in our fridge…am curious how it managed to not spill its contents, after all it was the fridge and not freezer. 

V is for...

...The Vault.

Bernard turned 40 today and Rachel organised a surprise party at The Vault for him last night. She booked a space in the private room, and we were among the early arrivals.

Lots of young, beautiful people around, The Vault is one of the ‘in’ places at the moment I guess. It’s got a New York skyloft industrial building vibe but I just felt old, surrounded by all the hip, young things!

Rachel and Bernard came not long after and he wasn’t very surprised by the shindig, because he said her phone had been going off the hook all evening! Monica, Gerard, Yvonne, Melissa and Derong were also present and I could get some last minute tips from Mel about Taipei.

Nick ordered some sides to share, we had truffle fries and mini wagyu burgers, which were so mini, they could have been Big Macs for a Barbie doll! LOL.

Cake was a Homer Simpson air-guitar confection, flavour was lychee, quite moist and the icing was not too thick.We didn’t stay too late, leaving just past 1am…some of us have kids to attend to bright and early!

U is for...

...Upper Thomson.

The plan was to eat ice cream at Udders last night since I was slightly better from my flu of the last few days, but the boy was in the mood for prata so I suggested Upper Thomson since they could both be found along that stretch.

However, I did not check where exactly the Udders was except that it was next to a Prata Place and directed the boy to the stretch near the Ampang Yong Tau Fu remembering there was a Prata Place there.

But there was no Udders in sight and I didn’t bother to check the location again, so we just settled for some prata and mutton soup at Prata Place. The prata was really crispy and not oily and the soup hit the spot on a cold, rainy day. 

He thought the Udders might be next to the Casuarina Curry further down the road and we swung by after our supper but nope, it wasn’t there either…it’s much further down nearer Sin Ming and I should have known better, because Mildred had mentioned an outlet there several months ago.

Was on MC earlier in the week as I battled the flu, and it coincided with the US Presidential Election Results. Yay, Obama has been re-elected. And Aunty Sarda has been discharged from hospital too, after some anti-biotic treatment.

T is for...

…Tamarind Hill.

There were so many T restaurants to choose from during Restaurant Week but I wanted something Asian since my boy doesn’t appreciate ang moh food.

I liked the sound of Tamarind Hill because it served contemporary Thai. The fact that it’s new, set in a colonial house in Labrador Park and looked romantic on its website didn’t hurt either.

Met the boy at his office and we drove to Alexandra for our 6.30pm reservation. The place was easy enough to find, and I had a good idea of what to expect since Wai Leng had dined there earlier in the week and had given me the lowdown.

It was a lovely experience. Set atop a slope, the entrance is lined with lots of candles exuding a romantic feel so I think it's a great place for dates and special occasions. The hostess was warm and friendly and the service staff attentive and eager to please.

A lemongrass drink was served upon arrival, and it was a pleasant drink - not too overpowering with the lemongrass.

The menu was made up of 4 courses i.e. Tamarind Platter for 2 comprising Thai fish cake, soft shell crab, and an orange chicken combination; Tom Yam Martini; choice of pork tendorloin phranang curry, seafood yellow curry or stir fried duck with basil and ended with a dessert platter.

Though the starter portions were small, they whet my appetite for more. The fish cake was a tad bland but I could live with it. The soft shell crab was fried to perfection, not too oily and not overcooked.

The tom yam martini I think some people will either love or hate. Nick is not a fan of cold soups and his request to replace his with something hot was granted with a plain tom yam broth.

I stuck with the chilled soup, I quite enjoyed the salty tangy savoury cold chicken-based broth, especially when combined with the bits of kaffir lime leaves lining the rim. It's not spicy at all, the tom yam flavour is very subtle.

We opted for the seafood yellow curry and pork tendorloin phranang for our mains, and they were served with a fried fruit rice. The pork curry was spicy and 'lemak', and the portion generous. The pork was very tender and as nice as it was, 2 of us struggled to finish it.

The seafood curry was more an assam-type gravy and laden with pineapples. It was nice too, the seafood cooked just right and being lighter, it was a nice contrast with the heavier pork dish.

Dessert was nothing to shout about though, just an assortment of red bean, kiwi and coconut jellies...very average. Overall though I think the restaurant is a gem and I would definitely try to go back, if not for dinner, then to have a drink at the gorgeous bar area!

S is for...

...Saturday Night Supper.

The kids slept really early last night and I was in a mood to go out. I had wanted to do something non-food related for S, like the Singapore Flyer or Sentosa or soccer even, but since I was peckish, I caved and deemed it ‘S’ for supper and dragged the boy out. The fact that it was a Saturday night is of no significance.

We went to check out the new Timbre at Alexandra Village, Swana and Kevin arrived just before us and were having their drinks with John.

 

Having newly opened, the place wasn’t very crowded which was great, we could enjoy the music and it wasn’t too noisy. Swana ordered a Philly Cheesesteak pizza and I don’t know if it was because I was hungry or what, but the pizza tasted really, really good. Full of toppings, it was cheesy and crispy.

John had bottles of vodka open, so I didn’t have to order a drink and tapped into his loot. Both the owners Danny and Edward were around, it’s been ages since we saw them and we reminisced about the good old’ days when we frequented Timbre often and Nick played football with them, before the kids took over our lives!

Edward shared his productivity measures in light of the shortage of labour in the service industry, he’s invested in new equipment and outsourced some functions, that’s why he claims the pizzas are better now and more consistent at all the outlets.

He’s also in the midst of planning his wedding, John is helping out and we got to meet his fiancé as well. If all goes well, they could be on a Trafalgar tour for their honeymoon!

We didn’t stay out too late, the place closes early because they are still testing the nearby residents’ threshold for noise. Nice place to chill, will be back!

R is for...

R is for Re! Or Relaxing Retro Retreat!



Thanks to the prize I won at this year’s D&D, I had a free night’s stay at Hotel Re with dining vouchers to boot so I redeemed it for R.


The plan was to rest and recharge ourselves and that’s just what we did.

Checked in late yesterday after the boy arrived back from KL, had to lie to the kids we were working late because they didn’t want me to leave them alone.


After dumping the bags, we went down to Re!Fill, their lobby restaurant. My vouchers were worth $80 and since breakfast was already included, we used everything up for dinner. I ordered soft shell crab, we had a soup each, mocktails, he had wine, and I had cod for my main and a burger for him.



My lobster bisque was bland but the cod was alright, though a bit dry. He said his burger was not too bad.

Watched the ending of Thor in the room after dinner, the HBO connection was really bad though. We didn’t venture out and slept pretty early.

When we awoke this morning, we had a quick breakfast, the spread had a fair bit of variety despite being compact and then we took a short walk around Pearl’s Hill Park.


I have been wanting to check it out for ages since it’s so near home and we finally got the chance since it was at the hotel doorstep.

My legs were wobbly after climbing some steps to get to the top. There’s a city reservoir that was fenced up, I thought we would be able to walk around it but it’s not like a pond. There was a pond though, poorly maintained and full of algae…couldn’t see the fish through the murkiness.



There was a fitness corner and lots of really tall trees and you could see bits of the city but other than that, nothing much to make me want to come back and visit again.


We checked out after that and did some marketing at Tiong Bahru market before reuniting with the kids.

Mildred had come over with a cake for Mother Mary's birthday and the girls blew out the candles. Then we headed to town with both our mums, ending up at Island Cafe for lunch.

In the evening, fed the kids early and then we went for mass at St Teresa's before heading to Marina Square to jalan and eat.