My Singapore Local Cuisine Pig-Out!

Hello dearies, I am back in KL and siginificantly heavier after my trip back to Singapore from 6th May till 11th May 2009.

Wednesday 6th May 2009

Alan was a little tardy in coming back to fetch me but we made good time after sending the two doggies for boarding at Dog Groomz. We took only 2+hours to drive (zoom more like it) from KL city to Singapore.

Our task - to pick Mum up for a surprise dinner at the Raffles Town Club. All of us were in cahoots and got the unsuspecting mother to wait by her office roadside to get picked up and driven to RTC. She expected to see my fatherinlaw's Mercs but her jaws dropped when she noticed our KL car making the turn into the drive way. hahaa

Dinner was a delicious affair at RTC and it was Alan's treat. We all had a great gathering and caught up over Peking Duck, Toufu and Vege, Steamed Soon Hock, Pork Ribs etc etc. The bill came up to be almost $400 for ten pax.

We all headed home to kiss and sayang Ash babie after that ! :D

Thursday 7th May 2009

Alan had to go to work and work hard so I set up many appointments to catch up with old friends over good food. haahah. Today, I met Zesa and Sheng for lunch from 12-2pm at Bugis Junction. The mountain tortise in me was surprised to note how much Bugis Jn had changed over the years and the basement food alley looked absolutely delectable!

Interestingly, we forgoed local food and opted for Japanese at Ajisen. After Sheng left reluctantly to get back to work, Zesa and I shopped around until it was time for her to leave for duties with the Boyfriend.

I hopped onto the MRT and because my belly was hidden in my waist 26'' jeans, no one gave up their seat for poor ol' me. hahaa. I ventured to Lido all alone and decided to burn some time and watch a movie (17 Again) before meeting my friends for dinner.

There was nothing to buy, b4 the movie and therefore I opted for a drink at TCC. I tried this soy +red bean mix and it was delicious! ;D

After the movie which lasted 102 minutes (from 5pm), I walked to far east plaza to do some light shopping before meeting my long-lost Secondary school friend Alan for dinner. Our girl pal had cancelled on us due to a flu and we waited at The Ship for Daryl to turn up as well.

The dinner was really good and very very affordable. 2 slices of pork chop with apple sauce + soup+ dessert+ coffee/tea cost only $12.90 ++. Amidst the cosy ambience, the three of us caught up and chilled. :) It was nice.

Friday 8th May 2009

I arranged to meet Melaine (my ex-student from Crescent who has migrated to New Zealand) at 1pm and since we both needed to satisfy our cravings for local food, I suggested Qi Ji at Marina Square. We both had mee siam and I had a poh piah whilst she had two sticks of otah - all washed down with iced barley. :D~

After that, and because Qi Ji was too squeezy to sit and chat, we adjourned to Secret Recipe for a drink. She showed me photographs for her life in NZ which seemed to be made up of party after party hahaha. It was a lovely few hrs we spent and I was late for my subsequent appointment!

When I rushed into Azabu Sabo, to my horror I was greeted by Yew Hock and Wee Suan MARKING their MYE papers. ahhahaha Embarrassed, they quickly put the piles aside and we started chit chatting. hahahaha.

I shared with them some horror stories from Muar and KL and in turn they shared with me some horror stories from Crescent. ahahaha. Both were equally scary. In due time, my hardworking husband joined us from Millennia Walk where he was having his meeting and both of us bade Wees and Yew goodbye and headed to Esplanade for our dinner appointment.

Everyone was late so Alan and I started on a Hawaiian Pizza at Al dente first. Then, Alexis, Elaine, Leo, Eileen and Vicky streamed in. All of us had our mains before deciding that parking was too expensive to just leave there and then and so we adjourned to Max Brenner to have our dessert.

Even after my angel hair at Al dente, I could still find the stomach for my fresh Strawberry+milk Choco+ Vanilla icecream+ Yoghurt drink. Yumz. Alan had a Belgian waffle which was even MORE sinful (after his medium rare beef steak).

It was perhaps 10 when we bade each other goodbye with stomaches brimming , so that Vicky could return to her worried husband who had called her four times during dinner and supper to enquire about her good health. hahaha :D

Saturday 9th May 2009

I let Alan sleep in today and not schedule any appointments to catch up with my friends. ahha My poor husband had been working really hard in Spore HQ and I had been out having a whale of a time in Spore. So it was PAY BACK TIME, ya?

It was around noon when we left fhome. First Stop: Brunch. We were very traumatised to find out that the meepok stall along east coast road had either moved / closed its doors and we headed to the next best alternative : Old Airport Road. There were had Chinese mutton soup, hokkien mee and also lormee. :D~~

Next Stop: Tangs shopping mall to use up the vouchers we had accumulated from reward points gained from our shopping expeditions in Singapore. (Actually there are many instalments that Alan is still paying for...)

So we had $290 Tangs voucher which we spent wisely on a 26 pc Corelle dining ware set (LOOK I AM BECOMING AN AH SOR). We paid only 80c for that set (and a few additional plates / spoons) after using the vouchers.

Wanting to take a look at the other sections, we moved into the steamers section and saw 1 taitai and 1 housewife (both friends) enquiring about a 3 layered steamer. After they had asked 10 questions and we asked to buy a steamer whichout considering much and then found out that the steamer we had purchased was the last piece. heeheh. Imagine the wrath of the housewife, unable to purchase the set after asking so much questions.

After paying for the steamer as well, we went for a drink outside. Alan bought his hot soya milk and I had an iced watermelon juice. Then we walked past a lady who was selling a nutmilk machine. She kindly demonstrated how to create soya bean milk in front of our very eyes and after much encouragement from two other housewives and me recalling advice from my gynae that soya milk is good for the baby, we promptly bought a machine for $289. Now we can have homemade soya bean milk everyday!!

Next stop: Robinsons. We exchanged our reward points for $150 worth of vouchers here but could not find anything much to buy. we roamed around centrepoint but there was nothing much as well and hopped into ToastBox for a drink.

At about 630pm, we picked mum up from work and Ening from home before heading towards ECP Food centre at the lagoon. We were also to meet Sharon and Chris and Alan's mum and Chris' mum as well.

Our dinner was a sinful tableful of satay beehoon, lala, oyster ommelette, carrot cake, stingray, sotong and we enjoyed our food whilst battling watchful eyes on our table.

After that we strolled down to the beach for some cool night breeze.... Nice!

(For the 'older generation' teachers in crescent, you may remember this freckle-producing but fun staff retreat activity of building sandcastles on the not-so-white and sandy beaches of ECP. I can't rem which year it was. Maybe 2005?

Sunday 10 May 2009 - HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY!

We ended up not bringing Ash to the beach for a walk this morning due to the wet weather. Poor baby. We slept in, however, relishing every moment of it. It was around noon that we all ventured out to Parkway Parade to have our brunch and do a little bit of shopping.

At the basement food court, we ordered many items to share such as meepok, beef noodles, mee rebus and tucked in heartily. hehehe. This trip was turning out to be more and more fulfilling!

After the meal, we went our separate ways. Alan had his eye on a video camcorder to record the birth of our child and whatever not and Jean and Mum went to run some errands. I was dead tired by the time all of us met again and headed back home for a short rest.

Alan and I were due to fetch TK at 530pm and then we headed to Shokudu at Raffles Place where we were to have our Mothers' Day dinner treat. We were joined by Yvonne, Jean, Mum , Sharon, Chris, my MIL, Sharon's FIL and MIL and Ah Ma.

After having eaten noodles for the past few days, I was delighted with my unagi fried rice (wrapped in egg). :D There were many varieties of food to choose from and I think everyone was not disappointed. :)

Alan and I also presented a handmade jewellery box to both our mothers. Alan had personally sandpapered and varnished the box and I had created a little lady bird clay figurine to decorate the boxes. Too bad, I forgot to take pics of it. Well, neither mother seemed too impressed with the gift, or so we deduced. Next time, we shall just stick to angpaos. :P

The night ended quickly and all the mothers and mothers-to-be went home contented and happy.

Monday 11th May 2009

Alan and I headed to parkway parade again today. My breakfast date was with Kala who brought her little shy daughter. hahaah. Alan also joined us at Olio Dome. It was quite sometime since Kala and I had done 'PP' and it was nice to meet up again :)

Alan and I also bought an ID mag from Borders after that to give us more novel ideas on house decor. We did a bit of shopping quickly and then went to Katong to satisfy my husband's craving - Katong Laksa!

Hopping home to pack, we carried our purchases and placed them into the car and then said tata to Ash before zooming off back to KL.what?? u guys are leaving me AGAIN??!!

It was a 3-hour drive due to the rain and a few stops along the way and we were glad to reach Sri Tiara in one piece. After resting a bit and unpacking, we drove to Kuchai Lama to have an expensive but v v delicious dinner (of cod fish, pig trotters and toufu) before fetching the dogs from their very nice boarding home. :D