discovering Coventry... by bus!

Lynn and i got onto the bus today from Tesco at Cannon Park.

unfortunately we got onto the WRONG bus. or rather, the right number bus but in the wrong direction.

BUT it was fun! in some strange scary way. having lived in Coventry for 2 years, we realised there was still so much of Coventry we still didnt know about it.

we discovered Tile Hill!

'tbc' - URGH!

when i signed up for Blake & Wordsworth, i was concerned about a timetable clash since Emma Mason had put 'tbc' for her class times. When i spoke to her explaining my situtation (that i already signed up for another film module), she informed me of her provisional timetable and i was relieved that even though some of her class times clashed with my module, there was still one seminar time that i could squeeze into.

a few weeks back i was surfing the English Dept website and went to check the reading material i needed to get for Emma's class. it was then that i saw the finalised class times.

which SUCKS.

because she only had 2 seminar times, both of which clashed with my National Cinema and my Culture, Text & Identity.

tough decisions: take Blake & Wordsworth and drop National Cinema? or drop Blake & Wordsworth and take another module?

i didnt really want to drop National Cinema because if i do and want to take another film module as a replacement then i'd have to choice between the Renoir & Ophuls (errr, not really) and Silent Cinema (NO!!) since Hollywood Cinema is full.

so i decided to drop Blake & Wordsworth and go for my second choice English option - Poetry in English Since 1945.

which sounds like it could be a great module too since the Creative Writing teachers are doing the module and Warwick is a fantastic hub for Contemporary Poetry.

but then I WONT BE IN EMMA MASON'S CLASS! :( IT'S EMMA MASON! who's AMAZING! i had her for one lecture and she blew me away.

sigh.

Chicken Rice and nostalgia

when i first moved from Tampines to my current house, Simei was still a really small housing estate with very few facilities. No Eastpoint, only a row of shops next to the MRT station. there was a small "supermarket" and a collection of little shops (stationery, photocopy, barber) next to the first coffee shop, a cake shop, a fruit stall, a butcher and a fish monger, some vegetable stalls, a hairdresser and two other coffee shops. as the years went by, some of the shops changed, especially so when Eastpoint was built (bye bye beloved stationery shop, hello corporate Popular Bookshop). Most of the shops have changed hands and are no longer as nice as they used to be.

other than the fruit and meat stalls, the other 2 long-standing shops are Mirana Cake Shop and Snack Shop. Snack Shop is actually a little family-run coffee shop selling mainly chicken rice and cai perng (mixed vegetable/meat rice). over the years they have diversified, adding various noodle dishes to their menu. but no doubt, their chicken rice is still their best-seller.i remember there always being long queues starting from 11.30am all the way to 2pm and they'd never fail to close the shop at 8pm, afterwhich they'd wash the floors and clean the shop.

one of the first days when my dad was checking up on our new house (and i had tagged along), my grandmother and grandfather took me to explore the shops to find some place for lunch. that was when i first discovered the chicken rice at Snack Shop. and i guess that was when Snack Shop started being part of my life.

when i was a child, i'd always go to my grandparents' house for dinner on Saturday nights. they'd cook the same food (a traditional Cantonese soup, steamed waxed duck and lap cheong, and a few others) as well as buy roast duck, char siew, steamed chicken and roast pork from the nearby coffee shop. that lunch was probably one of the few meals i had with both my grandparents where a) we didnt eat the exact same food we had every Saturday night and b) i saw them sit in a coffee shop together. i wasnt happy about moving because i had lived in my Tampines flat since i was born and didnt like to think that i'd be leaving the place where i had all my wonderful childhood memories in. AND i had taken a really cold shower in the new house (because the heater had not been installed) and i was feeling miserable, but somehow the chicken rice made me feel better.

as i grew up, the chicken rice started being a bit of a staple. on days when i didnt feel like eating lunch in school, i'd come back to Simei and buy a packet of chicken rice to eat at home in front of the TV. of course i never bought JUST chicken rice - add a bit of tau pok here, some braised egg on occasions, some roast pork most of the time and voilà! a lip-smacking meal. when bubble tea came in vogue, i always paired a cup with my chicken rice. what makes the chicken rice so good is the fact that the rice is fragrant and the meats are deliciously flavourful. and the chilli sauce is spicy but has enough lime and garlic to give it a kick.another perenial favourite is Mirana's red bean paste waffle - crispy on the outside and generous with red bean filling. they used to only start making waffles after 4.30pm and there'd always be quite a long wait, especially after office hours when people make a detour on the way home for a waffle. after a while they started selling them at 1pm so i used to pick one up to accompany my chicken rice as "dessert". call me strange but everytime i get my waffle, i'd take a whiff of it and enjoy the lovely pandan aroma befor biting into the piping hot waffle. and if you didnt finish your waffle by the time you walked home, the dog would be asking for some.

even today, i still feel that Snack Shop's chicken rice tastes as good as it did many years ago. and Mirana has the best red bean paste waffle. perhaps my tastebuds are tainted by nostalgia. but i dont really care.

FIRE!

lynn nearly set the house on fire yesterday.

I KID YOU NOT.

some serious flambé action going on in the kitchen. too much, in fact.

allow me to elaborate:

lynn is heating up the pan on the stove to dry off all the water on the surface.
after a few mins, lynn adds oil
lynn does not realise that on the sides of the pan there is still some water
lynn realises she has poured too much oil into her pan
lynn decides to pour some of it out into my pan

water + HOT oil = very bad combination

+ because she has tilted the pan, the fire from the stove leaps onto the pan and starts burning up the cooking oil

HELLO flambé!

and flambé in my really small kitchen is really not that cool. replace 'cool' with 'scary'.

thank goodness for fast thinking (i.e. taking the pan off the stove and letting the fire burn out in the pan, and closing the kitchen door) or else we'd have the fire alarm going off. and from experience, that would have been another adventure trying to turn it off.

a Food Trail Adventure

moon and i had planned some time ago to go on a CBD food trail because when both of us were working along Shenton Way, we got to feast on some really good food every lunchtime. we had planned to do a route starting with the lor mee stall on the ground floor of the building along Shenton Way that was opposite SGX building, working our way to Amoy Food Centre, then around to Maxwell Food Centre and finally off to Chinatown for desserts. we had planned to sample at least 8 dishes and tried to get many people to join us so that we could order many dishes and still be able to finish all.

unfortunately, things dont usually always go according to plan. like that fact that it ended up with only two of us plus my mom who was free and game for the adventure. and also that my appetite has shrunk (sacred bleu!) and after one stop was feeling pretty full already. not good if one wants to undertake such a task.

we met at Raffles Place MRT station and walked to the first food outlet. but to our disappointment, we couldnt find the lor mee stall! instead, the little coffee shop seems to have been replaced by a whole slew of new hawkers. so we sadly trooped off to Amoy to try the lor mee there instead.

moon had earlier recommended the char kway teow sold at the unassuming stall #01-01, simply names Char Kway Teow. i really liked the char kway teow because it was not overly sweet (the lime gave it some kick) and the noodles had a lovely burnt wok aroma to them. rather generous with the ingredients and the beansprouts were nice and crunchy while not undercooked. i was rather surprised that the stall didnt have any foodie awards despite the long queue - or perhaps the owner did not want to display any awards? whatever it is, i definitely give it 2 thumbs up! we also tried the famous fish soup/porridge stall on the upper floor (right in the middle - you'll find it by its long queue) which was delicious. though it was more expensive than other fish soup stalls, the $5 bowl (smallest) definitely had loads of fish slices. the soup is packed with flavour and having porridge instead of the rice and soup separate really makes a difference as the rice soaks up the stong flavour of the soup. and they use lard in their soup. mmmm...
on the other hand, the lor mee was quite a let-down. moon had told me that when she was working in SGX there had been a debate among the staff about which lor mee was nicer - the one across the road from them or the one at Amoy Food Centre. while moon was more inclined to the one opposite the office, a few felt that the Amoy Food Centre one was superior. when we tried it however, i found it lacking in flavour, and instead tasting rather bland and merely starchy. there was not enough vinegar nor minced garlic and no chilli sauce added by the side of the bowl. perhaps we should have added more vinegar to taste but that would still have not really given it much body, only one dimension of taste.
i was significantly full after downing the meal with some soy milk and by the time we got to Maxwell Food Centre (which is just 2 mins away) i could not imagine myself eating the famous wanton mee so we settled on just ordering the China Street wu xiang as planned. i enjoyed the chilli sauce for the wu xiang and the ingredients were hot and crispy, having been fried-to-order.
feeling terribly demoralised at how little we could eat, we threw in the towel and went straight for dessert at Mei Heong Yun in Chinatown. which is apparently rather famous (according to both my mom and rachel though moon had never heard of it despite living near Chinatown her whole life - though she isnt good with street or restaurant names). moon and i each had a bowl of mango, pomelo and sago dessert while my mom had peanut paste.
i loved the mango dessert because it was very refreshing and i could the sweetness of the mango puree yet enjoy the hint of sourness from the cubed mango and the bitterness of the pomelo. the peanut paste was nice and thick and was not overly sweet nor powdery.
we took a break from food by venturing to People's Park to look at the new shops that had sprung up selling "trendy" clothes but after a while, the heat got the better of us and we made a beeline to People's Park Centre for more dessert. this time moon and my mom had longan ice while i had almond jelly with longans.
the drink was not impressive but nonetheless very refreshing and not overly sweet. the finely shaved ice was a redeeming aspect of the drink. on the other hand, the almond jelly fascinated us because it was very chewy, rather like konnyaku instead of the usual agar-agar style almond jelly.
we called it a day and decided to go shopping instead. and while looking at Bossini in Chinatown, we figured that the Orchard Rd branch might have a bigger range so we made our way (moon and i) to Takashimaya where we discovered, to our disappointment that the downtown outlet did not have the 50% discount that the Chinatown one was offering. on the other hand, the trip to Orchard Rd allowed me to visit the Food Republic on the top floor of Wisma Atria for the first time. moon suggested i try the fried Hokkien prawn noodles which was rather steeply priced at $4 (smallest) but surprisingly good (it seems hard to find good fried hokkien prawn noodles these days). it had the burnt wok taste (essential!) and the prawn stock used to cook the noodles with was very flavourful.
as mentioned in the Sunday Times a few weeks back, hawker food seems to have gone down in quality, with many old favourites closing/disappearing from the food scene. i really hope that they will not be lost forever.

and if you know where that lor mee stall has gone to, PLEASE CONTACT ME!

Goooooood Morning Bangkok!

OOoOOoOo i had a fantastic time in Bangkok - beginning to think the life of the rich suits me well indeed. i'm turning into a travel snob! soon i wont be able to backpack anymore! i'll NEED clean toilets and comfy beds and properly hot showers and buffet breakfasts! ARGH!

but back to the point: my mom and i went for a girly trip to Bangkok to relax and spend quality time with each other before i return to the UK. in fact, she decided that this was going to be my 21st birthday gift since she wont be in the UK to celebrate my birthday. Or to remind me of the fact that after 21 years of money spent on me, i am still alive and yet her returns are but nought.

it was a toss up between Phuket and Bangkok and finally Bangkok won - because Banyan Tree Resort was having some promotional price for their suites with Sunny Holidays (Royal Orchid Holidays' official tour agent in Singapore). and how often does one get to enjoy a stay in Banyan Tree?

let me get this out of the way - i think that once you experience Banyan Tree service, THERE IS NO TURNING BACK! oh my oh my were we pampered! the fact that at the check-in desk the staff fill in ALL the forms for you instead of handing you a pen and asking you to DIY is a good indicator of how fantastic the experience is. we were shown to our room by the front desk service staff who engaged in pleasant chat with us in the elevator and even introduced all the facilities in the suite when he walked us through the rooms. WOW.
everyday they place some incense sticks and essential oil in the living room for you to burn - and they have an explanation of each fragrance (which is changed daily throughout the hotel) and the qualities they possess.
we had very comfortable beds that were soft yet did not sink in - the pillows were made of down which was divine!
i am a sucker for posh bathrooms! :) i loved the powerful shower and the huge bathtub to soak in... the bathroom was well stocked with bath salts, bath oils and body lotion.
trendy robes were provided - which was especially good for when we were lounging on the sofa and taking turns to massage each others' feet after a good soak.
a complimentary platter of fruit was placed daily in the suite with 2 sets of cutlery and fancily -folded napkins.
the first evening we ventured out to Siam Paragon (right at Siam BTS Station's doorstep) to have some dinner - the basement is filled with food stalls which was impressive. we decided to try this place called Bug & Bee which functions along the same concept as Marché in Singapore where you are given a card as you enter and you accumulate the bill in the card and pay when you leave the premises.

as we were dying of thirst, my mom and i settled on the first order of business - drinks. i had a Lychee Yakult Smoothie (mmmmmmmmmm...) and my mom had a mango drink that was made up of some chewy jelly substance at the base of the glass and topped with ice cold mango puree.
we shared a Vietnamese starter platter (Four Seasons Platter) which comprised of fresh spring rolls, deep fried spring rolls, grilled pork balls and chicken grilled on sugar cane. Gorgeous dish though the fresh spring rolls didnt blow me away as the rice paper skin was too thick. the spicy peanut sauce caught me off-guard though as the full spiciness of the chilli paste on the side exploded in my mouth.
we also had a craving for teppanyaki so we ordered a beef teppanyaki set - the beef was rather dry but the lovely condiments made up for it.

there were so many quaint little eateries that we decided we would come back the next day for tea and we settled on this cute little cafe for a quick mid-day refuelling.
my mom ordered a slice of carrot cake though she scrapped off all the sour cream (!!). it had lots of carrot and nuts which she enjoyed.
i ordered an ice tea (i love Thai ice tea) and a slice of banoffee cheesecake. it was a bit too cheesey and too soft but i really liked the combination.

on our second day we indulged with a 2 hour body scrub and massage at the Banyan Tree Spa (a bit pricey but ohsogoood - plus 6* service). AND THEN WE HAD BUFFET DINNER IN THE HOTEL! talk about mega-indulgence!

We decided to try their buffet at Rom Sai Restaurant (where the daily buffet breakfast is served - which by the way, has an impressive spread as well) on the lower ground floor, overlooking a little garden oasis.
we started with cocktail starters - i had the prawn cocktail, served with sweet Thai dressingwhile my mom tried the mixed bean salad (nice but the dressing a but too sweet and creamy for my taste)
they had a good spread at their salad bar - i think they had about 10 different types of dressing. their roaste peppers with garlic was really delicious and i appreciated that they had bacon bits and croutons to top off the salads.
the grilled swordfish with black pepper and garlic (top) was well-executed, considering that it was placed in one of those covered servers which tends to dry out the food yet leave the top layer soggy from condensation. the cold crayfish was delicously light (and even my mom enjoyed it even though she is a "piping-hot-seafood" sort of person) and the cold prawns were wonderfully springy and left you wanting more (which of course i happily obliged my tastebuds). i couldnt decide, however, which type of Thai chili sauce i prefered - green or red. the green had a subtle tart aftertaste while the red was not overly sweet as some tend to be.
the fresh spring rolls were much better than the ones i tried the day before and the spicy peanut sauce was much tamer but really complemented the spring rolls rather than overpower them. i loved the papaya salad (centre), the spicy scallop salad (top right, next to fresh spring rolls), the spicy chicken salad (right of the papaya salad) and the roasted aubergine and ham salad (below the spicy chicken) - each had a unique spiciness to it which allowed me to eat them one after another without feeling a sense of deja vu. the smoked salmon and marinaded salmon were good while the prawn toast was slightly soggy instead of crispy as i would have liked.

the sashimi wasnt fantastic but i enjoyed the salmon (top) and the fatty tuna (left), and in a strange way the octopus (in between the tuna and the salmon) because it was fun to chew on. not a big fan of the mackeral though (bottom left).
what i absolutely loved at the buffet was the barbeque station - they had a spread of prawns, beef, satay (pork, beef and chicken), squid, shelled prawns on a sugar cane and sausages that you could pick and they'd barbeque it for you over a charcoal fire and serve to your table. mmmmmmm... i especially loved the squid, prawns on sugar cane and the satay (which was moist and not dried out as some skewered meat tends to be).
we went a bit fusion with the tempura by enjoying it with Thai chilli sauce instead.
i'm sure my brother (if he had come) would have tucked into the roast pork which was juicy and had a nice crispy skin. didnt particularly fancy the sauce as it was a bit too thick and too sweet.
the massaman beef curry was appetising as the ingredients had absorbed all the flavour from the gravy and was deliciously tender/soft.
i had tried the oden soup during the breakfast buffet and had liked it but was a bit disappointed with the ingredients that i picked during the evening buffet - i guess i'm not really big on the starchy oden pieces because i expected them to taste different from the soup (like yong tau fu) and thus be complementary.
when we finally ventured onto dessert, we both loved the ice cream/sorbet section, especially the coconut ice cream. mmm... we tried the berry compote which was refreshing though rather tart and thus had to be eaten in small spoonfuls. on the other hand, my mom loved the miniature fruits.
these little beauties are filled with yellow bean paste (the stuff that goes into tau suan and ang ku kueh) while the exterior skin is delightfully chewy. she must have taken all on the plate and was keeping a watch on the door of the kitchen to see if they would refill the platter. they did not. :)

i had a tiny slice of opera cake and a strawberry tartlet
and treated myself to chocolate mousse. the meal was washed down with a cup of tea (how terribly British!)
i really enjoyed the buffet even though there were some dishes that werent very nice (like the duck that was smothered with some honey-hoisin sauce and the tonkatsu which was too dry and the breaded outer layer soggy). they had an extensive spread, some of which we didnt try like the cooked-to-order pasta and pre-cooked hot items, and impeccable service (like if you took a soupy item and forgot to take a spoon from the station, they'd be there a few seconds later with a spoon for you).

my mom was so enamoured with the miniature fruits that at the airport she was like an excitable girl when she found boxes of them on sale.
and of course we couldnt leave Thailand without having some Mango with Sticky Rice dessert (even if it is at the airport!)

i really enjoyed the trip and now my mom and i are planning another trip to a Banyan Tree Resort. like i said, there's no turning back.

wired up

50 Great Styling Tips ( InStyle September 2006)

#50 - "Too often women confuse dressing appropriately with looking boring. And I wish more understood that after a certain age, it isn't a good idea to flaunt a lot of skin. No one notices if you're a bit more covered up but they certainly will notice when they are looking at too much of you. The reality is, most of us know when minis or tight jeans are not right anymore. Accepting it is one of the keys to aging gracefully. You can still look fabulous, just in a different version." (Shelly Musselman, co-owner of Dallas boutique Forty Five Ten)


i finally got down to cleaning out my wardrobe of the following:
1. clothes i can no longer wear
2. clothes that i no longer want to wear
3. clothes that are too what-was-i-thinking-when-i-bought-that??

cleaning out one's wardrobe is cathartic - i've always not liked throwing stuff out because everytime i try to i think "oh but i really like this piece" or "someday i'll find the occasion to wear this" and then back into the wardrobe they go. perhaps it is a sign that i've grown a bit - no longer clinging onto something that isnt right anymore. perhaps also that i have a better understanding of myself, what i look good in, what i feel good in and what i IS me.

is it also shocking that i've told people that i dont want to own more stuff? i'm going through a phase where i feel like i own too much stuff (much of which is not necessary) and it's cluttering up my life. i open my cupboard and i see loads of junk - stuff that i kept for prosterity but i know i will never look at again. guess it is time to sort that cupboard out as well.

as for my now half-empty wardrobe, it will be filled on friday with new clothes because i'm off to Bangkok for a spa/shopping/bonding time with my mom. we've had a bumpy relationship in the past few years partly because i "grew up" and so this summer has been an amazingly great "patch-up" time for us. we're starting to do stuff that we havent done together in years - just like in the good ol' days. and reading InStyle and watching The Devil Wears Prada (I LOVE THE CLOTHES IN THE MOVIE!) have wired me up for loads of shopping. :)

Bangkok, here i come!

a new yuppie haven?

my parents discovered this new place on Upper Changi Rd that they took me to on Saturday - was surprised that so much has changed along Upper Changi Rd (near Simpang Bedok). even the pet store where we sort of got our dog from is no more... instead, what have sprung up are new, trendy eateries. one of which is Miss U Cafe.they sell themselves as a food and wine cafe - at the back of the cafe they have an entire shelf of wine bottles and at the counter, a heap of corks.
between the three of us, we ordered a Black Pepper Chicken and a Mixed Grill Platter for 2.The chicken was well done but was not too impressed with the sauce - i found the sauce too "boring": i liked the first few mouthfuls but after that it failed to keep me interested. i guess the fact that the sauce for the chicken on the Mixed Grill Platter was also black pepper didnt help.the Mixed Grill Platter was pretty good (i am sure it would have been nicer if i hadnt already eaten another serving of Black Pepper Chicken) - pork chop with a pear glaze, cheese-stuffed bratwursts, grilled chicken with black pepper sauce, lamb chops with thyme and red wine sauce and beef steak, with sides of boiled vegetables, mash potatoes and a baked potato with sour cream.i think our dessert was was the highlight of the meal - the Tiramisu was deliciously moist with coffee liquer while the Oreo Cheesecake did not have a soggy base and the Oreo bits inside the cheese filling were nice and crunchy.

think the place is a great for desserts but only so-so for it's mains
- a 4/5 for the desserts and a measily 3 for the main dishes.

Miss U Cafe
Upper Changi Road
(in front of Jalan Pari Burong, near the flatted factories and the fire station)