Prego Dinner

Girls night out on a Friday! It has been a loooong time since we last did that. Dinner and dancing but it turned out to be just dinner :p The dancing was replaced by drinks but alas! Terrible service (non-existant) at Ink Club Bar that we could kinda spend an hour there without anyone serving us our drink, so yes, we walked out. The waiter who took the pic for us was great in marketing - he positioned us exactly where he could capture the Prego sign. How's that for publicity?
Freshly baked Italian bread. So yummy and soft and delicious. I love the bottle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar - 2 in 1. Lovely.
A splash of balsamic vinegar in olive oil and bread. Perfecto!
We decided to share appys. Parma ham with melon and figs. Prosciutto, Melone e Fichi al Balsamico : 20 months old Parma ham, rock melon and balsamic figs. I really don't like parma ham on its own but when wrapped around the melon and figs, it was pretty good.
Calamari Fritti : crispy calamari, marinated artichokes and spicy tartare dressing. Hmmm...I love the clever way the lemon was wrapped so that the seeds would not drop out when we squeezed it. I didn't really taste the artichokes. The calamari was good too. Just nice.

Here is C's dish - Gnocchi di Spinaci Ripieni con Mousse di Gamberi in Salsa di Granchio: Spinach and potato dumplings stuffed with prawn mousse, crab meat and bisque sauce. This was pretty good though it could probably get a bit too much after a while.
D's dish - Spaghetti alla Carbonara: spaghetti with guanciale bacon, pecorino cheese, egg yolk. Very traditional but oh so yummy. The cream made all the difference. It was a huge portion too.
My order - Lasagne al Forno: oven-baked pasta layered with veal and beef ragout, tomato béchamel sauce. Also another traditional dish. It was good though I felt it was a bit too salty. The pasta itself was awesome.
A's order - Rigatoni al Ragout Magro: rigatoni with minced beef, veal and vegetables in tomato sauce. It was not too bad too though A said it was also salty. Maybe it is the meat which is salty?
T's order - Spaghetti alle Vongole: spaghetti with clams, garlic, parsley and white wine sauce. This was actually pretty good. Flavorful and just great. Not too creamy or salty. Nice.

Prego's standards seemed to have improved. I don't mind going there again for a meal. Anyone with Feed at Raffles Card? ;)

Mid-Autumn Festival

It is Mooncake Festival aka Mid-Autumn Festival again. On this day, the moon is said to be the brightest and roundest and biggest. It is also the Chinese Valentine's Day where couples will go admire the moon or something. This is also the year when I didn't really try many types of mooncakes unlike in previous years. Besides the durian mooncakes I bought from Cakerie 727, I also bought 2 boxes of the snowskin mooncakes from Fairmont. Aren't the boxes pretty? This time there was a "mirror" too.
I always love Fairmont (Raffles the Plaza) mooncakes, particularly for the champagne truffle mooncake which I think is even better than Raffles Hotel's version.
This year the new mooncake is the dark chocolate with strawberry. It was pretty ok. The champagne truffle was good. The Baileys (orange) was too strong for me. Rum n Raisin was pretty nice too. No more mooncakes till next year where probably I will just buy from Fairmont again. I have been told not to buy too many mooncakes now since not everyone eats them.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival. Soon it will be Christmas and 2009. Time sure flies.

Modesto's @ VivoCity

It was pretty late when we went for dinner at VivoCity. We were pretty hungry and didn't really want to wait in line for food. Walking along the row of restaurants facing the water, we decided on Modesto's. Cubes of herbed bread was served with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. The basket looked way too big for the bread?
We decided to share a pizza, pasta and dessert as it was quite late too. We ordered the mini four-cheese pizza. It was light and crispy with tomato, scamorza, mozzaerlla, gorgonzola and parmesan cheese. It was good. I love thin crust pizza.

It was back to my usual black ink (not squid, so it doesn't stain your teeth or lips) with scallops, prawns and tomatoes in a prawn bisque sauce. This was my favorite dish though it didn't taste that fantastic that night. Plus I think the portion has shrunk?

Highlight of the meal was the dessert - Coppa Tartufo
It is gianduja (my fave chocolate) ice cream coated with toasted bread crumbs and cocoa and served with strawberries and blueberries, whipped cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce. Absolutely fabulous.

Ipanema Gisele Bundchen

I was at Tangs and chanced upon their Atrium Sale at VivoCity. I was just looking around while waiting for a friend when I saw this. Simple yet not too casual. I was amazed by its lightness. It felt like walking on air. I loved the color too.

And it was a steal at less than $30. Plus I still have some rebate dollars in my Tangs card so this was virtually free since I got them using my rebate :) Now I have an alternative to my birkies. Sweet!

HK Kim Gary @ VivoCity

It is always a long line at HK Kim Gary. We decided to just bite the bullet and queue for it. It was not too bad, I think we waited for about 15 minutes before we were brought to a table.
I had the set which gave me a choice of corn soup or the borscht soup. I decided on the borscht as I totally loved the version served at Shashlik. Unfortunately it was more tomato soup at HK Kim Gary. Not that fantastic.
We decided to also order from the cheese menu and selected the oven baked mushroom with cheese sauce to share.
Lots of cheese and different types of mushrooms - oyster, button (from a can which was horrid), enoki. Not too bad.
My baked rice with fish fillet. This was pretty ok. Nothing to make me drool about it or want to go back again very soon.

Peranakan Museum

After so many months (or was it weeks), I finally made it to the Peranakan Museum which took over the Asian Civilization Musuem (not the one at Empress Place) on Armenian Street. In the years I have been back in Singapore, the museums in the area kept changing its names and artifacts on display. I love museums, I love exploring and reading up on the history of places and things and cultures. I only found out recently that it is free admission to all, if not most, museums in Singapore every Friday nights from 6pm. That was a nice discovery.
Being a Peranakan Museum, it housed all things Peranakan (straits Chinese who married the indigenous people i.e. Malays) in the old days. The food cover is amazing, with its intricate designs and drawings on it.

Old phone. The real traditional one will have the circle rotary dial. I remembered we had those phones till the early 80s. It was actually pretty fun though it took a longer time to actually dial the other party's number.

Another old old old phone. This, I have only seen in movies and other museums. There are pre-recorded conversations played when you pick up the handset to listen. It was pretty funny to hear them speak in the peranakan way.
This is a beaded cover. Not exactly a cushion cover but something that was being displayed. I wondered how long it took to finish this.
I thought this was clever. The wooden block has several types of moulds for making kuehs.

I have not seen these buckets for so long! We used to have these at home too for washing clothes and other stuff. I think my grandma used it to wash the pigs' intestines when she cooked pig organ soup in the 80s.
And the larder overhead. Food were kept up there to prevent any insects from getting to them

Beaded shoes/slippers which they are famous for. These are usually handmade.

And the brooch. They love gold jewelry and some are actually silver plated.

Yummi Chiffon @ Tanjong Pagar MRT

I was at Tanjong Pagar MRT and was amazed by the changes over there. That showed how long I have not been there, or rather walked around the area. It seemed to be another Raffles Xchange with lots of F&B stalls and clothes/shoes outlets.

I saw Yummi Chiffon with its array of delectable-looking chiffon cakes and was tempted to try one. And I did. I bought the banana chocolate chiffon for breakfast with my soya bean milk drink. The chiffon was light as air and none too oily or heavy at all. It was awesome!

After running whatever errands I did over there, I decided to buy half a dozen back to the office for my colleagues to try. 2 x banana chocolate (my fave of the 3 with its light banana sweetness and slight chocolatey taste as a foil), 2 x cheese (recommended by gf but errr...I don't really like it - it was ok with a very slight cheesiness to it) and 2 x pandan (traditional flavor which was fragrant - we could smell it once the box was opened).

Best of all, the chiffon cakes were low in fat and sugar and had no preservatives. So you can only keep it for 1 night in the fridge. But best is to eat it on the day itself.

I hope they will open another outlet near my workplace soon. This is simply yummilicious and there are so many other flavors to try.

Location:
Yummi Chiffon
Raffles Place MRT B1 Atrium
Tangjong Pagar MRT B1-04
Winston Tan - 9833 9330
X-Venture Impex Pte Ltd (no retail)
290R Joo Chiat Road S427542
xvimpex@singnet.com.sg

Bistro Petit Salut @ Holland Village

Pink and blue girls. This seemed to be our colors :p Or green. But yes, ladies who lunched again. This time 4 of us, and at Bistro Petit Salut over at Chip Bee Gardens. This was more casual and relaxed. A homely place filled with warmth.

The crusty bread and butter. We were starving so we attacked the bread once we ordered. It seemed to be a baguette.
All of us ordered the same starter - seared baby bay scallops with cocktail potatoes and shallot vinaigrette. The scallops were sweet and went very well with the potatoes and shallots.
My and T main - Seared onglet beef “Café de Paris” with French fries - It was not as tender as the beef cheeks over at Dempsey outlet but it was not too bad. The portion seemed smaller too.
D's main - Seafood spaghetti, tomato fondue, parsley and olive oil - it was not too bad. Quite nice.
A main - Oven-roasted chicken leg confit with wild mushroom cream sauce and gratin potato - this was actually really nice. The meat was so juicy and tender.

A & D dessert - Homemade baked cheesecake with a scoop of sorbet - the sorbet was tangy and refreshing on the palate. The cheesecake was nice too.
T dessert - Nougat glacé with pistachio and mixed fruits - not exactly my favorite but something different.Guess I am not a huge fan of nougat.
My dessert - Crème Brulée - I love this. I simply like to crack the burnt sugar on top and dig through to the soft creamy custard.
I was so excited to find these black specks. Real vanilla beans were used to make the Crème Brulée.
Finally, a picture of my coffee. Guess it is from illy. Robust and not too bitter after I added milk and sugar.

I still prefer Au Petit Salut over at Dempsey just for the ambience and food selection even though Bistro is slightly cheaper.

Fried Bee Hoon @ Food Republic

Of all the noodles, I love beehoon. I like the thin slippery texture, especially for fine beehoon. I am not a fan of the thicker version (those from China) not the laksa type.

So sometimes when I want beehoon with wuxiang, I would go to Food Republic at Wisma Atria to satisfy my craving. I don't really know where else has wuxiang. Yes, I am still a newbie to finding wuxiang places. I like the tofu and the prawn crackers and fish cake and century egg with my beehoon. Nice.

Absolut Mango Attraction

I was invited to Absolut Attraction at eM by the River last week. 2 hours of free drinks :p Free flow of absolut Mango martini and mojitos. Yum. I like how they used the butterflies strap to ID female guests. Male guests were given another gold straps.
We decided to have Absolut Mango Mojito, so we sat indoors. There were not many available tables, so the bar counter it was for us. It was a nice place. I like eM by the River at Gallery Hotel. Pretty cozy and not too noisy. The Absolut Mango Martini was served outdoors by the river. That looked like a very relaxing place to be at. Just chilling and watching the world goes by.
S and I. We were in black! Well S was totally in black while I was only partially in black. We only had 1 drink before we left to get dinner. Alcohol was wasted on us :p
This was taken by the nightlife people. They took better picture, I think. Looking through the other pictures online, I think we left way too early or people only came much later.