Checking In....

Am currently in NZ, back to this site again, and the stay is coming to an end... This time had chance to visit Rotorua and Lake Taupo. It's a total different view compared to South Island - no mountain (well, they do have some, but...) pretty different feel altogether, more of the Maori culture and also the thermal activities. Yes, going round to see what is all those fuss is about... But because was using Hamilton as the base, I miss out on the Geyser outburst which occurs at 10:15am sharp (how they get that, I have no idea)...

As for Hong Kong, I think I have tasted most of the sushi chains that has popped up since my last visit. Thank goodness for them as, well, the food was still the same from my past visit. So, I had sushi for dinner for most of my stay there. Lunch were with my HK colleagues, so had to deal with the food (wash down with lots of tea!!!), the worst lunch I had was at this pseudo-Thai corner shop (but on 2nd level) opposite the office block. If I ever go HK again, not going there... Yikes.

But the sushi store at Sun Plaza (which happens to be part of the Genki Sushi group) was the best I had, followed closely by the Itaemei sushi chain at MongKok. I think Sushi-One was the lowest on my list. I am certain there are still more places which I had not tasted, especially those in HK Island - I practically did not go over to HK Island, except for that 1 half day visit to the customer site.

And I think the prices there is slightly cheaper than Singapore for the quality. Had sushi and sashimi all the way... Avoided any cooked stuff and other cuisines. Had wanted to try Korean, but I have a feeling it would not be the same as what we would get in Korea and it would have some added MSG on it.

Yes, I tell my colleagues I am sensitive to MSG, and almost like being allergic to it. :D So, they instead suggested sushi places to go... Ahahahah

Right, flying back from NZ tmr... If today seem smooth, I am tempted to be out of this place by 4, latest before 5pm... Time to go shopping (for gloves, at request of mother!) - they only open till 7pm!!!!

After a while...

I think I am in a rather "low" feeling lately that I seems to be "binging" on Jap food... For 2 weeks in a row I have been going to Tomo (Hokkaido Sushi in M Hotel, which is a different focus is open by Thomas as well, and the next one, coming up in Nov, at The Sail, and focus is on cafe style-like food - sandwiches, etc) for Friday dinners. Maybe it's also because my usual Friday dinner partner is busy these 2 weeks - work activities and building castles (or dry swimming as some would put it)...

With all the issues at work - which leads to no enthusiasm for work, and since I tend to pamper myself a lot when I am not happy... by eating! (yes, I noticed that it's a habit - Not happy, eat; Happy, eat; Nothing to do, eat!) Isn't it a wonder that the weight is creeping up the scale and don't seems to be heading downwards?!?!? However, I have to say this - The Uni I had there is simply the best I ever had so far in my journey of Japanese Food - creamy and sweet, unlike those you get in the chain stores like Sakai Sushi/Sushi Teh. I have heard about the great food (including Uni) my friends/relatives had when they are over in Japan, but I have not got that chance of getting there to taste it. So, I guess I have to be contended with the food I get here. One more to log down into the travel wish list...

Maybe it's also that 2 months of traveling, especially the last month where it was Alor Setar which basically means you eat to survive rather than you live to eat, as well, there isn't much variety there for you to chose... It was either KFC, Pizza Hut, Kenny Rogers or Peranakan food; and we had Peranakan food from the same shop for the whole entire week for lunch!!! Dinner was no better as it was either the same Peranakan food shop, Thai food or Seafood (which we had to drive to the next town - Jitra)... The only good part is that of the seafood at Jitra - good food at very affordable pricing... A meal for 9 people, which includes 9 totally deep-fried catfishes (fish bones can be eaten as well! Very yummy!), crab tang hoon, soft shell crab, steam fish, toufu, vegetables and another 2 more dishes which I cannot remember, and drinks (coconuts, ambulah with sour prunes, cans of coke for some; and sometimes 2 drinks per person) - all comes up to only RM100-110!

Ok... With the current economy situation... Maybe it's time to tighten the belt a bit... Especially if I want to travel again!!! My Mar-Apr holidays seems like a decade away despite it being only, what, less than half a year ago? There is still more out there to go.... Canadian Rocky Mountains; Eastern Europe; Other parts of Western Europe which I have not been to, and still a lot to go; Turkey; Egypt (The rest of Middle East is on back burner); Israel; New Zealand; Hawaii, and many other parts of US, including Alaska; Bhutan (although I am not certain if I could take the altitude - I seems to have issues with altitude); Silk Road; All of South America; come to think of it, most of Central America; Iceland (are they part of Western Europe?!?!?); Antartica (if there is such chance!); Uluru in NT, Australia; Safari in Africa (Not sure where as yet); Not forgetting Japan for the food!!! So many places, so little time/money!!!!

Let's see if I will get a chance to see Lake Titsee in Nov... No news as yet...

2 more days to.....

I believe that I did blog about wanting to dine at Kaisen in one of my previous entry... Well, before I got that chance, I have heard that the chef has left and open his own shop in town (from a food blogger who is big on Japanese food, pointedly on sushi and sashimi). Well, the countdown has started, and in 2 days time, I will be dinning in Tomo Dining and get to experience what she has been raving about... I just can't wait... Drool...

I can still remember my first encounter with Japanese food, it was not a very good experience mind you... In fact, I hated the taste of the meal - it all tasted the same to me, which is the miso taste. I have to say this, I hate the taste of miso, and I am not sure why, especially now that I have tasted so many different types of Japanese food, that at that time, all I could taste from the food, was just plain miso. Puts me off immediately, and from then, I never did touch Japanese food anymore. Oh, and I still don't like anything with miso, which is why I don't drink the miso soup that comes with the bento sets...

Fortunate, well depending on how you look at it - it could be unfortunate on my bank account considering the $$$ you have to pay for a quality meal, I was re-introduced into it by accident, in an unexpected place. It was only till my stay in Brisbane, on a short trip to Gold Coast with a few friends, and was hunting for food to eat. Now, do note that this was eons ago, and well, it was a different time and place from today - today, Gold Coast is literally littered with lots of Japanese Restaurants. Back then, it was more like small scale, "food-court" like type of setting, and very suitable for student's budget! Needless to say, I was hooked since that day. Of course, when I started working, then I got to know more about the cuisine as well as the quality of it... Heh...

But.... With this meal, and tomorrow's family dinner at Asia Grand (and Christmas is just round the corner), haiz... there goes my waist line...

Some food reviews....

Recently I have been having my usual meals at the Ichiban Boshi (with Kuriya Fish Market) at Great World City. That's my usual joint for Japanese food and I love the sashimi that I could get at the fish market. Of course this means my bill would have been rather high, especially when I come across Uni. They had introduced me to another type of Uni, which according to them is from the sea (presuming the normal ones were cultivated, much like those oysters). Man, if you like Uni, these would be even better - it's much larger in size and so much sweeter than the usual one. I have also learned that fishes have different names when they are of different size. Apparently large yellow tail is not known as Hamachi, but Burii (but then he could be explaining the fish in very simple terms...) Whatever, it was nice... However, I am saving up (or waiting to find a occasion/reason) to try out the meal at Akane (located within Japanese Association at Adam road). There is also another recommended place - Kaisan at Raffles Hotel... Drooling while blogging about them... One day... One day I will get to taste the food there... And will blog about them after it... Heh...

Ever since I been to Korea and had this wonderful BBQ meal at one of the restuarant, I have always wanted to experience that kind of meal again, but never did find one in Singapore. I have tried Crystal Jade's Korean BBQ once, but the Galbi was so-so... The ginseng chicken soup was nice (I heard some Koreans who tried it claims that it's better than those in Korea!). My mum loves the desserts (although I think those are not really traditional Korean desserts), so much that she started to experiment on her own, trying to recreate them. I have also track down all the different Korean restuarants that apparently had recently mushroomed in Singapore. However, from what I heard, the quality for them are still not as close to what you can get in Korea. Anyway, I read about this Korean BBQ restuarant that just opened at Dempsey Road, and friday, I had my dinner there. When I first heard about them, I had actually took some time from one of the days, while driving my mum back to her place, to turn into Dempsey road just to find out where the place was. It was quite easy to find, since it's facing the Napier Road... and mother had this comment about not seeing people dining in there...

Well, guess what - it was a good thing we were early that day... Apparently, they had quite a lot of reservations. We managed to get our table, and we sat down, started to look at the menu... I noticed that it's all mains, and with very little vegtables. The reason was when you ordered your mains, they would come with the side dishes, like the kimchi, and other types of pickled vegetables, and even a plate of tofu! We had like 9 side dishes,which accompanies our BBQ plate of Wagyu beef and marinated pork rib. We also ordered the popular seafood and spring onion pancake. I have noticed that this pancake seems to be very popular with Koreans and they usually would order them as part of their meals...

So how did the meal goes... While wagyu beef was not like those thinly sliced beef prime ribs that I had in Korea, it was still lovely, the marinated pork ribs were sweeter, but then I was forwarn when they recommend it, and the pancake was actually quite good. While I don't claim to be expert in Korean food, I would say my meal at this place went quite well. The only part which damper the glee was that the meal cost over $100. But then again, we are talking about Wagyu beef.... So I guess it's expected... Oh, just in case you want to try it, it's Chang Korean BBQ Restaurant at Dempsey Road (Why it seems to have a Chinese name, I have no idea).

Another food which I had been eyeing was Peking Duck. Being me, I love skins, be it chicken or duck or even pork for that matter. I love suckling pig (I have not found the ultimate one yet), and even roast duck. Give me a plate of rice with just the skin - would be heaven for me... I have also been tracking down places and tried at some of them. The issue with this peking duck is that it's usually 2 dishes and it's better if you got company... So I could only take this if I had my mum and aunt with me.... Well, till I found this restuarant where their duck is done slightly different, but the skin... Ooo... Tasted good, and each dish is always only a quarter of the duck... I'm talking about a rather new resturant off Purvis St - Tea Cusine. It was that good that we went there twice - consecutive 2 Saturdays. Funny part, we also saw a couple who was there on those 2 Sats as well! (Not sure if they went back the 3rd Sat, but I was at work after that, another long story for that) Not sure why, but mother seems to be into desserts - she is also trying her hand in making some of the desserts we had there as well! In the process, she got some of the ingredients mixed up between the ones at Crystal Jade and here...

One more place which I could get good roast duck (and skin, but not in Peking duck manner) was this duck rice stall in Ghim Moh Hawker Center. There are a few stores there selling roast duck rice (including the once famous Johnson duck), but this particular one is next to a Ipoh hor fun stall which was also once famous - the chef was on TV once introducing his hor fun. There is usually a queue at the stall, but it's not as long as the Char Kuay Teow one. It seems that this is one hawker centre that has quite a few stalls that server good stuff... Only issue is, do you have the time to queue for it... I heard the yong tau foo (think it's Hakka) there is also good, then there is this boneless chicken rice stall (which I have never tried, I usually goes to another stall which I like) Oh, if you follow the MOE ratings, like A, B, C, and D.... Please don't go there - especially the duck stall... while it's rated 'C', the queue is still long... Just like the Char Kuay Teow stall which I think got only a B. What's the worry anyway, the places here are relatively cleaner than those I could find in Penang, and I still eat those in Penang... I am still alive and kicking... Heck, I think you would have forgotten it when you first taste the food!

Oh well... I guess this explains why my waist line is still growing instead of being controlled and it's quite impossible to reduce it!!!

Penang.... Or rather Penang food... :P

Because of my ties with Penang (majority of my relatives are there).... Most of the time I have been ask what to do in Penang or where to go, or even what/where to eat in Penang... So, since I received an sms from tehsi saying that she might be going to Penang in Dec and asking about the place... I thot, well, maybe I should just write about the place... But then again, I don't do touristy places while in Penang... So, I guess I can only suggest some places that it's famous for, but seriously... When I am in Penang, it's basically visitation and eating!!!!

I guess to start with, we should start at the point where you would get to Penang... It's either via bus or plane.... My preference is the plane - somehow, no matter how much they had "improved" on the bus transportation, I still cannot see myself taking a "fridge" for 8 hours, trying to make myself sleep, like me taking an 8 hour flight, where you get the road/bus noise - similar to plane noise, with the only difference where the bus needs to make some stops for people to relief themselves - which we would often do due to the coldness in the bus... I mean even the plane is not that cold... I thot I was sleeping in Artic condition... Ok... Maybe Artic would be much colder... And arriving in Penang not in a "good" condition, and then scramble from the bus terminal to my aunt's place... Nope. Taking the plane is a better choice - reach there within an hour with less hassle of carrying your stuff across the immigration at the Causeway/Tuas Link.

Anyway... Back to topic... At the Penang International Airport.... You will need to pay the consortium a fix price for your trip to town, unless someone is picking you up from the airport... The furthest was Batu Ferringhi which cost about $40 - $45 (Can't quite remember, since my trips are usually to Gurney for official trips or someone will pick me up at the airport). So just queue for the payment and ticket. Hop into the "limo" and you are driven to your destination... Just to add... You will find that majority, if not all, the taxis/cabs you find in Penang are fixed, not running on meter. Despite the recent campaign by the Govt, they are still running on fixed prices... So please check with them on the pricing and see if you could get them to price it a little lower than what they demand... In the last trip, 2 rides from Gurney to Paya Terbong range between $20 - $25. I had my aunt who bargain for it to drop to $20 in 1st trip and going solo on the other, I was not that persuasive enough to get it dropped to $20...

Ok... Places to go... Well, it depends... Most of the places, other than Penang Hill and Botanical Gardens, are with some religious connection as Penang has a lot of Chinese influence and thus most of the places to see are mainly temples... There's the snake temple, Reclining budhha temple, the famous Kek Lok Si temple where there's a huge statue of Godess of Mercy. There is also a famous mosque somewhere in Georgetown. The others that may be of interest would be Batu Ferringhi where the beaches are supposed to be... But if you have been to beaches in Surfers, or California... The beaches in Penang (and in fact in Singapore) are nothing compared to them., well, other than you are able to get a tan 365 days of the year... Batu Ferringhi, and some part of Tanjong Bungah, has stretches of hotels, where most of the tourists stays. For photos, maybe the old shophouses/warehouses along Penang Road and near Swatow Lane would be of interest... And if you believe the locals, there is this giant footprint, that was supposedly of Admiral Zheng Ho, somewhere in Batu Maung.

There are shopping malls in Penang, with the oldest, which happens to be the tallest building in Penang, Komtar complex. You used to be able to take at trip up to an observation deck in Komtar building (if I am not wrong, you have to pay for it...), but I have not been back in Komtar area, so I am not certain if this is still available. Next to it, there is a newer cousin, Prangin Mall. Then there is a newer Gurney Plaza, and Island shopping mall which is quite near to Gurney Plaza. On the other side of the island, there is a Bukit Jambul shopping mall... But I don't shop, so it does not really matters... I have seen enough shopping malls in SG. There are also pasar malam just outside those hotels in the Batu Ferringhi/Tanjong Bungah stretch which opens in the night... Nice drive-by if you have nothing to do....

Now food... ah, that's my topic... Now, let's see...

Firstly, Fruit rojak, which consist of slices of cucumber, turnip, pineapple, sour mangoes, jumbu ayer, perhaps some cuttlefish, and slices of crispy you tiao, mixed with the prawn paste, chilli, perhaps some lime juice and sugar. Yummy! The one that I usually eats is in Gurney drive food stalls, just outside of Gurney Plaza. it slip my mind the stall no. but I think it's 76 or 77. They are that popular that they are now selling their prawn paste in small tub for people to bring back...

Laksa, to be specific, Assam laksa. To me, when people say laksa, this comes into mind, not the lemak curry version which sells in Singapore. I have to confess this - I never did like this dish when I was young... I remember my aunt had to cook something else for me, or I would not have anything to eat, whenever her mood strikes her to cook this for meals... Now, I pester her to cook this, as I can't get enough of it... Anyway... The one that is an old favourite is of course the famous one in Ayer Itam market, near the Kek Lok Si temple. But recently, I found that the one in Penang Road, coffee shop just next to the famous cendol food stall, is just as good, if not better. However, since my relatives live far from Georgetown, I found the Farlim version is as good... So, any of those will do. Some other people swear by the stall in Lorong Selamat, as well as the Balik Pulau version... Whatever, it depends on what you like... But any of these area would be good enough... Just try not to eat those in Gurney drive - Seriously... I had only "ok" versions of it and some are even not "ok"...

Apom. This is a snack which mainly sold by Indians. The version they have is nice and crisply on the outer layer and then a nice thick layer in the middle. In the last trip, my coz has been chomping on this, like biscuits... Not that it matters on where to get it, but I think you rarely get this in SG nowadays, so it's a snack to try... The other would be the mein chang kueh, er, chinese pancakes(??). Flour layer and in the center youget peanuts and sugar - in Penang you can get sweet corn in the center as well. The version that I like is the very crispy one (no sweet corn), and the only place I know in Penang that you can get this is the food centre at Jalan Trengganu, near Free School. They are totally cripsy and it can keep for 1 day!!!! Pity that I don't get to eat this that often, unless someone volunteer to go there to buy it... Thinking about it makes my mouth drool.... :P~~~~

Another thing to try would be the chee cheong fun. Now the version you have in sg are mainly the HK version where it comes with something in the middle as part of the dim sum thingy, the shanghai version where there is something in the middle, but with a different sauce and finally the 'normal' wet market version. Well, for this comparison, I'm talking about the wet market version. I don't eat them in SG as I find it's not appealing to my taste and the sweet sauce somehow turns me off this dish... Now in Penang, their version is rather different, mainly because the sauce they use is different... The version they have do not have the sweet sauce, but a sauce somewhat similar to prawn paste, a bit thin. Now I might not eat it in bulk, but I don't think twice if it's place in front of me. I used to have this for breakfast as my aunt tends to buy them.

The other famous food would be the char kuay teow. The most famous one is in Lorong Selamat. I think that's the two sisters' stall, and it's crowded. I don't really like it, as their version is really oily, but everyone I know swears by it... It's different and lighter in colour and in sweetness as compared to SG version. They are supposed to be lighter in the oilness but not the one at Selamat. Of course, I would prefer penang version as it's not as sweet, but it's not high on my eating list... Heh...

Next would be the wanton mee. Most of the sg version contains tomato sauce; with some following the Hk version which is based on light sauce. Somehow the version in Penang is also different. Now, previously, I would have a favourite stall to get this (and somehow, my mum and relatives, knows him quite well, cannot remember the connection, most probably they lived in the same kampong when they were young), but he had sold his business and moved to KL to be with his children. So, the next one that was quite good is the one in Ayer Itam market. By the way, the reason for the difference, somehow the noodles that is used plays an important part in the overall taste of it... The versions we had in sg, mostly comes too soggy or soft, which is not that great. The version that stall has was different; the noodles was not too soggy nor soft, with a right "qu qu" crunch to it; add in the different slight sweet sauce, yummy!

Cendol. Ah.. This coconut based ice dessert which is another food which I don't touch in sg. Somehow the ingredients in penang seems better, especially the green, er (dang, i forgot the name of that green stuff, which is like noodles), "noodles". The most famous would be the stall off Penang road. I still cannot remember the street name where the stall is at, but, if you are there in Penang road, you can always ask for directions - Everyone knows that stall. The other would be ice kacang - most famous was the Swatow lane version. The stalls are still there and now, the ice kacang comes in different variety, that it's no longer the sweet pink colour ice mountain with only huge kidney beans... Now you have it with different colour jelly, as well as whole kernel of corn as well as scoops of durian placed on top ofthe pile of ice... Great to cool off during a hot day!

Of course there are other food stuff... A recommended food center is 2 coffee shops in New Lane (off Macalister Road, very near Sunway hotel). They got lots of food stall there, and one of the famous one, and yet most elusive one, is the deep fried pig intestine porridge. It's sold by this old man who does not operate the stall like clock work. If you are lucky, you would find the stall open in your trip there, if not, like the past 2 trips I made, he closed his shop even before the peak period starts. But the porridge, my mum and aunt swears by it...

Basically comes to food, you will find it literally everywhere in different nooks and corners, which does not goes very well with my waistline...

Enjoy your trip...

Oh.... As for stay... er... I guess Northam Suites would be a good choice - I know Shuttlebug stays there everytime I hear him heading there... I stayed in Evergreen for my official trips, and the prices are similar, and at times, he could get it cheaper than those in Evergreen. As for budget... Hmmm... That's a problem, as I usually have places to stay... So, it's kind of hard for me to recommend... Got to ask my coz... I really have no idea...

Oh my...

Wow... I just realised that I have not been blogging much lately... Exactly 1 month (plus 1 day) since the last entry....

The last entry mentioned something about 2 days of leave... Well, this entry is also at the eve of another bout of leave taking. This time, however, I am going to be out of country (Yeah!) Yup, taking a nice (eating frenzy) holiday to Penang. Ok, maybe throw in a to-attend-wedding - my coz is getting married - into the mix, which happens to be more eating session, so took this opportunity to take a break, leave all the work behind. Pity that I cannot leave my stomach behind, as I just realised that even my "extra size" pants are getting tight lately as well....

While working on the details, found out that shutterbug is also going to be there during the same period - now talking about timing.... He is there for a wedding as well, but he is the photographer for that wedding... and no, it's not the same couple... Heh... Anyway, got onto the SQ's $188 per person flight ticket special that they were having and found out that in the end, including taxes and surcharges... It's bloated to $309 per person!!!

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Had a team dinner yesterday night - to celebrate the sign-off from 2 sites - one of which was the reason why I was hired in the current company. Anyway, we had it at Senso, down at Club St. It's an Italian restuarant, and between the 17 (I think) of us, we had a meal costing about $1400, which includes 5 bottles of wine... We had Carpaccio, Mozzarella Senso and Caprese for appetizer and for mains, we had orders of Lumache, Fettuccine, Linguine Senso, Branzino Senso, Merluzzo, Manzo, Agnello and Ossobuco Senso. Finally, for desserts, it's Tiramisu Senso, Cioccolata, Semifreddo and Pera (maybe not this dish). Had a great dinner, chats and laughter - absolutely nothing on work! I tried taking some shots of the food, but it did not turn out well as I was taking it with my Treo650's cam which is not very good for those lighting conditions...

After the dinner, most of us proceed to Suntec for a bout of Karaoke at KBox (and crinched at some songs where they butchered it with their singing). By the time I got home, it was 2 am... Which explains why my eyes are "complaining" at this moment as well, they did not have much rest yesterday....

So... Time to rest... For it's holiday time!!!! Well, almost... less than 24 hours more to go!!!!

Another blog entry at 2 am..... On Jap Food!!!

Of late, I have been blogging at 2 am... Perhaps it's because of the video... Yes, still not happy with it, especially after viewing on my TV via DVD player... So I am in the midst of rendering again after some adjustment...

Today I had dinner with my mum at Sakae Sushi. She had this 1-for-1 Sashimi Classic thingy, so we had dinner at the Tiong Bahru branch (nearest one I guess)... We did not really enjoyed it, as we started to compare it to the Ichiban Boshi Jap Restaurant (with Kuriya Fish Market) in Great World City. Somehow we found the seaweed that they (IB) use for Temaki was better (same price), the Chawa Mushi was also better (but more ex), even the Sashimi was fresher (and I think it's cheaper, from my mum's calculation). I guess that's why I started to go there instead.

We had gone a long way since our first introduction to Japanese food almost 20 years ago... Not sure I had blog about it before, but, it's kind of funny that we hate our first bite. Perhaps it's the restaurant that we went to, but everything we ordered, it tasted the same, and it's all taste of the miso. We had never like the taste of miso, and still don't, and because most of the food that we had ordered then came with that taste, it puts us off Jap food for a long time; till I had my first sushi in Gold Coast (of all places!) years later. Perhaps it could be the cooking of those time, where miso is the taste...

Anyway, it was in Australia that I found out not all Jap food have miso taste.... Thus the adventure of learning more about Jap food starts... After I started working, there used to be a Jap restaurant (Asuka) that I discovered in Tiong Bahru and was opened by a Jap lady and her partner. Almost every month while I was out at site in Central Plaza, I would have at least 1 meal per month at that restuarant. It was good, but a bit pricy. I was such a regular there that they gave me their discount card and the lady could recognised me, along with the captain and the sushi counter chefs. It was a pity that I had to stop patronising it as I was no longer around that area. Not sure what happen to it, but it has since been long gone from Tiong Bahru Plaza.

So now, my mum got hooked on it as well - Well, not as hooked as I am... But she nows learns to appreciate it... Oh, the place to go for Jap Udon? Waruku at East Coast Park (Same car park as Long Beach Main Branch). Mother had the udon there and she loves that version (nice and slighty springly)... She also tried the Ichiban version and did not like it... Since then, she decided not to order that at any other places... Next location to try would be the Kuriya at Shaw Centre; by the same company - infact, they own chain Jap places like Kuriya Fine Dining at Great World City; Kuriya at Shaw Centre; Ichiban Boshi at various locations; Fiesta at various locations; and even Kuishin-Bo at Suntec...

The other place which I had quite good Jap food is Matsuo at Goldhill Plaza. It was mentioned, by this Jap guy that was interviewed for the Hokkaido Food Fest in Tampines Mall, in the Sunday's Life. Stumbled upon that restaurant while I was at customer site near Novena. Only issue was the place has this strong smell of fish, so if you are not comfortable with it, don't go there... You are warned... I guess the mark of a good Jap place is how many % of their customers are Japs... In Matsuo case, it's quite a high percent, especially dinner time, but then again, I had not been back there for a while, so I am not certain if it's still as popular as before....

Since then, I had Jap food in Malaysia, Australia (especially Melbourne, the seafood there is superb), Germany (eeks!) and even US. Now... If I could just get to Hokkaido, it would be great... Especially their fish market.... If I recall correctly, you could get fresh and good sashmi right at the market for a great price!

Talking about it makes me salivate again... Heh...

Ok, 30% more to go and it would be done....

Yummy....

It was just another night where I had no idea what I was going do on a Friday nite as well as where to go for dinner. It seems that Friday nite has become another makan nite with my mum lately... We had Japanese dinner at Great World City and today, it was Ivins at Binjal Park.

After dinner, has this craving for ice cream, and since it's a short hop from my mum's place, decided to call my ex-colleague(turned friend), who is staying near the place... It happened that I was in luck, I caught her just before she took the flight back from Jakarta, so she did not have anything on tonight... We met up at The Daily Scoop, where it is becoming a favourite place of mine for ice cream. She was the one that introduced me to this particular shop as well as into the world of Made-In-Singapore ice cream places. One of my particular favourite flavour from there was the Lychee Martini, where I have only recently learnt (via yesterday's Urban) that it includes vodka!!! The other recommended flavour would have to be the Durian Durian, and finally, Simply Chocolate is heavenly!!! I bought a pint of Lemon Sherbet for my mum as well...

Interestingly, because of this shop, I am beginning to be weaned off the American brand ice creams such as Ben and Jerry, Haagen-Dazs, etc. It seems that I am becoming more picky about the type of ice cream that I am having... It also start an interest in learning how to make ice cream - just that I never did have time to even experiment (and who is going to help in washing the equipment/bowls/etc???)

Hmm... Maybe I might have to start watching my waistline... Heh... Then again, the type of ice cream that they make... It's not as creamy as some other brands/location which is what I like about their ice cream... Light, nicely flavoured, and with chucks of the real stuff at a price that is still less the other named brands... Perfect!

One of my favourite past time - FOOD!

Yup, People's Park Food Centre is back in business! Had my dinner there yesterday at TianJin Fong Kee where I had ordered Hot and Spicy soup, "Zha Jian" noodles and 20 pieces of dumplings (jiao zi). Before any questions raised on the amount of food - I had my mum with me; in fact it was her suggestion that we go there for dinner!

This store has always been famous for their dumplings and the other Northern Chinese cusine dishes. Apparently, it's so good that they have their own website (where you can even ask them to cater for your functions)! What I did not know is that they have 3 different stores including 1 store in Serangoon Gardens Food Centre!

Anyway, coming back to the food - somehow it always happens, and it's happening to this store as well. The Hot and Spicy soup is no longer that delicious and felt a bit watery; and the noodles was ok, just a bit salty to my liking. The saving grace was the dumplings, it is also the star of the dishes for that store IMHO and still is! I think I had about 13 out of the 20 pieces of the dumplings. We even sms my aunt, who is in Penang, that we had that... Somehow, we tend to go for some interesting food when she is not around... I guess it's easier to decide for 2 person instead of 3, also the $$$ spend would be greater! ahahahahahhaah

Talking about that... We also had a good dinner at Pontini on Sat nite (and yes, I think my mum sms her about it as well!) where I had one of their signature dishes - Linguine with Maine Lobster. Starters was this seafood soup which was great as well and finish it off with warm chocolate cake (which was a bit of disappointment, as they seems to be less generous with the amount of chocolate... I mean you would expect chocolate to be oozing out when you get to the core of the cake rite?) Slurped! Mother kept it safe with a sea bass dish and even she finds the soup delicious! The best thing about the dinner? The cost is reduced to only approximately 72 dollars - to share between the 2 of us.... (Yes, there is a catch of course... You got to be on this A la carte program)

Oh well... I am very statisfied with the food I had this weekend... Wonder what will the next bring... Especially when I will be in...... Germany!!! Yup, flying into Frankfurt and taking their Bahn train down to Freiburg...

No... It will not be giantic frankfurters/sausages and pork knuckles!!!