Uma Uma Ramen and a side of fries at Robert Timms.

Starting our day at Forum the shopping mall.

There's no other reason for me to be there besides Toys' R Us!

Walking in just made me feel like a kid all over again.

Feel like.

Apparently for my friend,

he was just a big kid.

Nerf guns.

Honestly?

He was shopping for a kid.

Seems like that was just a handy excuse for him to get one for himself.

And at last count, he modified it.

For longer distances.

And just for the record,

these sponge discs hurt alright!

So we decide on ramen.

Uma uma ramen rides on its fame as a Japanese ramen chain from Fukuoka.

The noodles here are done Hakata style with thin al dente noodles, a rich tonkotsu broth with spicy miso and topped with flavourful charsiu slices.

Sounds good?

Apparently, that's all the good there is.

Take our advice,

ramen anywhere else is a better bang for your buck.

So something's gotta make up for this hey.

Coffee break at Robert Timms at Somerset.

I love that it's always quiet here. :)

Uh huh.

It's telepathic.

My lion knows I'm angry about wasting stomach space at lunch.

White chocolate latte.

Blur bear that's too cute.

Latte.

And those fries.

Oh those thick cut fries with mayo and tomato sauce.

I've totally forgotten about my dismal lunch. :)

And just because it's been forever since we were out.

We headed to Jones to pick up some duck fat for his chicken confit attempt.

And another latte break.

That was our lazy Saturday.

Seven hours just chillaxing.

And look what I came home to!

Oh my marbled cheese brownies. :)

Yum!

Happy Valley Seafood Theme Park Hotel RWG

Oh where oh where,

would you find

live seafood.

In tanks.

To pick at your fancy...

On top of a mountain? :)

These grass prawns.

Are scrambling all over each other.

EAT ME.

I'm superbly fresh.

I mean,

them.

Not I of course.

Claypot beancurd with seafood.

Big on ingredients.

And I mean for both the former and the latter.

Fried slices of garoupa.

Thick slices.

But these were battered.

I'd rather just have them plain and simple.

Plum sauce chicken.

This was a specialty

And rightfully so.

Satisfyingly huge portion.

Crispy battered skin on.

And they were skimping on the chicken either. :)

Sambal kangkong.

Oh my yum.

Perfectly fried.

Wok-hei-ed.

And no traces of skimpy washing of the vegetables.

Crunchy.

Savoury.

Sambal-ed.

If you take vegetables.

Make this a definite order.

And these babies? 

Sorry to be cruel.

But you died amidst a lot of fanfare. 

We loved you.

Very much.

Steamed with egg

And another 300grammes in superior stock.

Nothing superior about the stock, believe you me.

But these cost us barely a little more than SGD 10.

Seriously.

To lo chuay?

So the pinyin is terrible for hokkien.

But.

Where to find! 

And that was a pre concert feast.

Emil Chau was better than we all expected. 

A pure two and a half hours of his greatest hits, his new releases, his change in singing perspective.

Just soaking in the electrifying charge of his fans.

I'm a convert.

First concert of the year with the 'rents and our beloved family friends.

It's been a rough week for us but they made it all better.

<3 p="">

Ming Ren Restaurant Genting Hotel

Mountain view from Resort Hotel.

I was never one to bother about "the view"

Till I had my first taste of the mountain from the comfort of my room. 

Takes my breath away every morning. :)

So this was where Dad hurried off to with reservations once we checked ourselves in.

Ming Ren at Genting Hotel.

Double boiled herbal soup.

Appetizing.

Very appetizing.

Kung Pao Chicken.

It was a little too sweet for my liking.

Potato pork.

This was just like comfort food at home. 

You need rice for gravy like this.

Lots of rice.

Crunchy prawns on a bed of delightful greens.

Threadfin or ikan kurau.

This was fish with a hearty bite.

Lightly salted gravy with slivers of chinese black mushrooms and minced meat served on the side.

Dad likes the fish simple.

I take the sauce.

All of it. :)

Perfect for a post dinner chill out.

Preferably with a live soccer match.

I missed the simple times with you. :)

Old Hong Kong @ Square 2

In the mood for soup.

It's a permanent mood.

Sharksfin -Melon- Crabmeat soup.

Visible morsels of crab meat.

Diced vegetables.

And savoury thick soup.

Does wonders for the appetite.

Triple mixed meat platter.

The duck was the star*

Crisp skin, ohsodeliciously indulgent layer of fat and tender braised meat.

The char siew (BBQ Pork) was lean but I'd have much preferred more generously charred edges.

The roast pork although lacklustre in color,

more than made up for itself in taste and texture.

Crisp thick layer of skin, lean meat and just that little bit of fat in between.

All gone in a bit! :)

Handmade cuttlefish pieces with beancurd skin and assorted mushrooms.

The cuttlefish pieces were bland but the sauce complemented it perfectly.

This was a recommended signature,

but I'd recommend some other beancurd dish though.

And these lipsmackingly delish fillets of cod.

So there were three of us.

And no I didn't just stop at one.

Exercising absolute control- I had one and a half.

There. I shared. :)

But of course if I could, 

I would have...

Thanks for the birthday treat.

For two years in a row.

Old Hong Kong at Square 2 was perfect for a quiet night.

A much overdue dinner date.

You're a blessing indeed.

:)

<3 p="p">

SAYS

Singapore's Social News Network.

Have you already heard?

SAYS.com is a country-specific social news network. Social media users from each country curate and share trending local news, videos, social causes, and get paid when they broadcast relevant advertiser-sponsored content.

So I thought this was a really good initiative. :)

They had all the things I was interested in.

And?

I get to share them in one click!

http://bit.ly/W6WkYG

Click!

See if you find news that interests you :)

I was excited about the AWARE bake sale.

Brownies perhaps.

:)

Updates soon!

Belgos Centraal Covent Garden

Half kilo of mussels for 5 pounds?

Mmmhmm.

Only if you arrive at 5pm.

Beat the Clock!

Anytime between 5-630pm.

The dishes on the special menu will cost you the price reflected on the time of your arrival.

Lessons in punctuality will cost you, my friend. :)

I had this when I was in London 4 years back and I thought there'd only be mussels on offer.

Apparently not.

I didn't keep count.

Was too busily slurping up my mussels and white wine sauce.

Little morsels of the sea.

Delish!

And thankfully,

they had more than just mussels on the promotional menu.

Dad says, "Mussels are fish bait. I do not eat fish bait."

Repeat after me.

Generous slices of smoked salmon with dill and asparagus

atop a bed of linguine in cream sauce.

Linguine - Favourite.

Salmon- Generous. Omega 3 rich hey!

Asparagus- A little too soft.

Cream sauce- Brings it all together. Hits all the right spots! :)

But.

That's a strike two for dad.

He does not take salmon.

And he calls himself a fisherman.

So there we go with roast chicken.

With sticky sweet Thai chilli sauce in a huge bowl on the side.

And a generous serving of fries.

Indulge yourself with some mayo and tomato dips.

I definitely did. :)

Bangers and mash.

These were the smallest serving for an item on the menu but they were a bang for the buck.

If you love your bangers full on savoury flavours.

Slicing into these bouncy meat packages are a dangerous affair.

They might spurt into your eye if you were looking. or not.

or fly off the plate.

Definite no no on the etiquette's page.

The mash was a good balance to the strong flavours on the meat.

We had them all at just 5.35 pounds each.

What's the 35 for?

35 minutes getting lost in Covent Garden.

You don't say.

Well, look for the Superdry outlet with the orange flag. Belgos is just opposite to it.

A nondescript place almost like an underground bar.

Waitstaff in parish outfits.

It's blasphemy to drink in a church! :)

Enjoy the experience.

It's a Belgium experience in London.

<3>

wagamama :)

wholesome food for the pan asian palate.

or the homesick people actually.

that's codeword for DAD.

he's the traditional chinese food man.

too many sandwiches a day make dad a dull boy.

it was a madly cold day out watching the changing of guards at Buckingham.

hiding in shops to thaw.

we finally decided to walk over to Victoria where they'd be watching the afternoon show for Wicked.

Wagamama's! :)

These guys have generous servings and complimentary miso and ocha.

It's no wonder they have a constant traffic of diners.

Walking into the interiors of the restaurant strikes up an immediate image of FFT @ Botanical Gardens.

Long communal style canteen tables.

Brackets below the tables for your personal items and coat hangers at the side.

It seemed like a place with quick turnovers and lunch fixes at first glance.

Then you realise that there's free WiFi on Cloud and there are a number of people quietly working on Macbooks having a leisurely dining experience.

I liked the atmosphere. :)

A large bowl of cha han.

Generous both in servings of rice and ingredients.

This looked infinitely promising.

but lacked flavour making the odd dash of chilli powder, chilli oil and soy sauce a necessary evil.

yaki soba.

coming across as highly recommended on the reviews.

This did not disappoint. :)

Wok fired and flavourful.

Now this was our second visit at Covent Garden before Singin' in the Rain.

Our preferred choice of pre-theatre dining.

Fuss free and deliciously satisfying.

Dad picked a Katsu Curry don.

Hmm. I'd rather not.

The katsu was over fried and just too dry.

The curry sauce lacked depth.

But the japanese rice was delicious with the sauce.

Happy campers. :)

And then he hides from the camera because of his beanie hair. 

Hahaha.

Loving London.

Pierre Herme's Vanilla Tart

This was a dessert experience like no other.

And therefore has a post entirely devoted to it.

It was epic.

Not in proportions.

But here's how it went.

Last night in Paris.

Out on the streets along Rue Madeline till 720pm

We climbed the 6 floors to our loft style apartment on Rue de Lille to drop off our stuff and literally RAN off into the streets towards St Sulpice.

My feet were hurting as hell. I limped my way along while I told the brothers to run ahead.

Last chance for Pierre Herme.

It was now or never.

Before I knew it, I had already lost sight of them both.

By the time I got in, these boys were already making payment.

What did you choose?

Why not the mille-feuille? What about that tart? Did you get macarons?

Oh I wish I was there to choose too.

I chose this vanilla tart because I read that it's made of 4 vanilla pods! says Nigel.

Sure.

Well. Hang on. Mum wanted a crossiant.

Pain aux chocolate.

I had excellent service. I'd pay for service like that. And the food of course. :)

Satisfied, we left the shop.

It was a dear price to pay for a tart. EUR $6.50?

We took a walk home while I looked out for cabs.

But decided to head home soon to cook dinner.

Then.

It was the after dinner.

The tart.

First fall.

Fall into love.

At first taste.

The creme Anglais.

The tart shell.

The mascarpone.

The ohdearme vanilla scent.

This was amazing.

Amazingly delicious.

And even the word doesn't suffice.

Decadent.

And throw in whatever word you wish.

You just need to taste it to believe it.

YUM.

Check it out here: http://kitchenmusings.com/2009/07/pierre-hermes-vanilla-tart.html

Pierre Herme's Vanilla Tart
Sugar dough
150 g Butter
30 g Almond Powder
95 g Confectionary Sugar
0.5 g Vanilla Powder
60 g Eggs
1 g Sea salt
250 g Flour type (55)
Method:
Soften butter and add the ingredients one by one. Keep the dough in the cooler wrapped in plastic wrap.
Sugar dough Tart Shells
Roll out the dough 2mm thin and cut with round cutter to the desired size. Line tarts on a tray covered with a silpat and poke the bottom with a fork. Let the shells set in the freezer.
Place some beans into the bottom of the shell and bake at 335F for 25 minutes, remove the beans and bake for another 5-8 minutes until golden brown.
Biscuit cuillere
360 g Egg white
5 g Egg white powder
225 g Sugar
200 g Egg yolk
20 g invert sugar
125 g Flour type (55)
125 g Potato starch
Make meringue with the egg white, egg white powder and sugar to stiff peaks. Add in the egg yolks and trimoline slowly. Fold in the flour. Layer on a pan and bake at 445F for 10 minutes and let cool on a cooling rack. Store wrapped in plastic.
Titanium dioxide paste25 g Titanium dioxide powder
15 g Water
Mix well and set aside
Syrup 30B
50 g Sucrose
45 g Water
Boil Together.
Neutral Glaze
500 g water
2 already used vanilla beans
200 g sucrose
20 g NH pectin
10 g lemon juice
Mix the sucrose with the NH pectin, add the water and vanilla beans and bring to a boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off heat, add the lemon juice. Let steep for 30 minutes before straining into a container. Keep refrigerated, reheat before use.
Vanilla Glaze
480 g White chocolate couverture
180 g Cream
10 g Glucose
25 g Syrup 30b
360 g Neutral glaze
0.5 g Vanilla bean Madagascar
12.5 g Titanium dioxide paste
Melt the chocolate. Boil the cream with the grated vanilla bean and pour into the chocolate in three additions. Boil the neutral glaze with the sugar syrup and glucose. Pour this sugar mixture into the ganache and add the titanium dioxide paste. Blend the mixture to obtain a smooth and homogeneous texture; avoid incorporating air. Keep in cooler until ready to use.
English Vanilla cream
500 g Cream
1 Vanilla bean, Mexican
1 Vanilla bean, Madagascar
1 Vanilla bean, Tahitian
100 g Egg yolks
125 g Sucrose
7 g Gelatin leaves gold quality
Soak the gelatin leaves in cold water. Mix the egg yolk and sucrose together. Bring the cream to a boil and pour half of it on the egg yolk/sucrose mixture. Pour this mixture back into to the remaining cream and cook until the it coats the back of a spoon. Strain this mixture onto the squeezed gelatin leaves and blend. Keep in the cooler
Vanilla Mascarpone Cream
375 g English vanilla cream
250 g Mascarpone
Vanilla ganache
225 g Cream
1 Vanilla bean, Mexican
1 Vanilla bean, Madagascar
1 Vanilla bean, Tahitian
4 g Vanilla extract - none alcoholic
2 g Vanilla powder
250 g White chocolate couverture
Split open and scrap out the vanilla beans and place in the cream. Bring to boil and infuse for about 20 minutes. Melt the chocolate.. Take the vanilla beans out of the cream and add in the vanilla extract and vanilla powder. Bring to boil, pour the cream in 3 additions over the chocolate, mix well Blend the ganache to a smooth consistency. Store in cool place before using.
Vanilla Syrup
500 g bottled water
0.5 g vanilla bean, Mexican
0.5 g vanilla bean, Madagascar
0.5 g vanilla bean, Tahitian
10 g Vanilla extract
250 g Sucrose
25 g Brown rum
Boil the water with the sugar and vanilla beans and let infuse for 30 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and the rum. Keep in the cooler.
Assembly:
Fill the baked sugar dough shell with a little melted vanilla ganache. Then place a piece of biscuit cuillere soaked in the vanilla syrup on it. Fill the rest of the tart with vanilla ganache. Let cool in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Coat the vanilla mascarpone cream disc with vanilla glaze and place it on the tart.
Dust the left side of the tart with some vanilla powder.

Borough Market on a day too cold to be out on the streets of #London.

Morning walk through the floors of Tate Modern.

My parents brush with Art.

Pun totally intended.

The winds were harsh and streets too cold.

Yet we walked on past Shakespeare's Globe towards Borough Market.

Without a shelter to hide,

it was the food that took our mind off the cold for a bit.

A very short bit.

The Mont d'Or

Simply heat and serve for a deliciously simple cheese fondue.

The costs weren't for the smells. But take my advice.

No. Don't smell it.

It's good when infused in oil.

But that's as far as we go.

I mean, as far as we stay away.

This was new.

I didn't see a demo kitchen last time I was here.

Four years ago?

It's been that long already.

I actually have no idea what it was but it had a pungent meat taste.

Too pungent to be enjoyable.

It was huge on fat and anything hot tasted better that it would on a cold, cold day.

But this!

Was just as good as I remembered.

Thai Green Curry was awesome.

With rice.

So was the Vietnamese Curry.

Ohmyyum.

Fresh.

And pricey it seems.

A treat for the eyes!

Mum's lunch.

We grabbed a weiner.

With tomato and sauerkraut.

Dad had a smoked meat sandwich.

My parents and their less than preferred food choices.

Thanks for sticking it out with us :)

Raclette cheese.

Shaved and served with new baby potatoes.

Delish!

Walking onwards to London Bridge after thawing in the church.

I kid you not.

It was THAT cold.

Look at their faces.

And no, they didn't stay to watch the tower bridge lift.

But they waited for me to.

I was too excited for my own good.

I almost froze over in the cold.

*sings

London Bridge is lifting up.

Falling down.

Lifting up.

Shop on.

Too cold to do anything else but hang out in the shopping streets of Oxford Circus.

Their first experience on Primark.

No one went mad shopping. We came out with small paperbags.

Good job!

And a good fifteen minute walk home to Cosway Street right where Marylebone is.

Seashell of Lisson Grove and their awesome cod and chips.

Takeaway packed with pots of tomato, mustard and vinegar.

Rough cut chips with mayo and tomato.

The indulgence.

And because we wanted a rice meal...

Minced beef and mushroom cooking on the stove.

Fried.

Chef Nigel and I.

With the simplest of salt and black pepper from the cafe at Tate Modern.

Oil from the minced beef.

We managed a decent fried shortgrain rice attempt at home.

Topped with hand pulled pieces of buffalo mozzarella.

This was simple.

Simply satisfying.

:)