Mama Mia!

Hi there, sorry I have not blogged for so long. i know many must have been chiding me for my absence. But it is really crazy trying to juggle 3 fashion shows! I promise I will become stronger and better designer after surviving all these. :)

Anyway, here's a little dish that Gary prepared for me on Sunday that is really YUMMY. Looking at the picture is enough to make me hungry again. These are spaghetti with baby abalone and squids in white wine. His food is ultimate indulgence and comfort for me when I am tired. Spaghetti al dente with garlic chopped finely, sprinkled with white wine, and served with generous chewy fresh abalone plus FAT squids. The aroma of the white wine and garlic already greet me before I taste them. Mama mia! If one day he opens a restaurant, I will be the first in line.

That warm feeling in the tummy

Sorry for my slow updates as I can hardly breathe preparing for my new fashion showcase, upcoming design trip, new collection for fashion design incubator @ Japanese Parco next year and a queue of custom make orders. Not to mention I have to constantly come up with new arrivals before my customers "complain". :P

Anyway, I was so happy that tonight I got to savour Gary's cooking again. Sometimes I think he is a food genie coming up with fantastic creations whenever I wish for it. His seafood soup packs a oomph with the most generous serving of seafood I will ever get. Will be perfect with mussels and pasta. There was once he even served it with toasted garlic bread oozing with garlic goodness for my family. And my whole family was relishing it. So unforgettable.... The dishes he whips up always get cleaned out when served in gatherings!

And he prepared a bottle of milo just the way I like it with milk and not hot water that can last me for 2 days of breakfast. My mum moved to my sis house temporarily to take care of my new born niece. I felt a warm cosy feeling in my tummy as I bade him farewell tonight.

Seafood soup with generous servings of prawns and clams.

Served with meeee...

Satisfy your craving for Penang food

Char Koay Teow. I chomped it down readily.


Penang Curry Mee. Soup is not too thick and prawns are big.

My mum was a Penangnite and when I was a kid, we always made what seem to me an annual "food" pilgrimage back to Penang. What made me excited during the long ardous journey back was the promise of koay teow thng (flat rice noodles in duck soup with bouncy fishballs, char koay teow (fried rice noodles with prawms and clams), Penang laksa, loh bak (assorted fried meat) and oh jian (fried oyster ommelette) when we arrived. The list goes on. Even now I make sure I go back every year to visit my aunts and alas Penang food with my loving bf. He will make the trip back with me every year even though Penang is not the most exciting isle on earth.

I never quite seem to find Penang food in Singapore that satisfies my craving. Even Penang buffets in big hotels dont seem quite near to Penang standards. But if the craving kicks in, I will visit this humble hawker store in ABC Market which is near to Ikea Alexandra. It is called Jason Penang Cuisine, Block 6, #01-113, Jalan Bukit Merah. It is closed on Monday.

A plate of hot piping char koay teow is only $2.50 with big prawns and springy koay teow plus clams! So is the curry mee with flavoursome soup and tau pok that squirts curry as you bite into them. They serve many Penang favourites like laksa too. Looking at the pictures make me salivate again. As portions are not big, you can actually order 3 dishes with a friend and savour them All!

The Best Beef Horfun

doesnt this make you salivate?

I seldom use the word "best" when it comes to describing something as it is quite impossible to have the best for something. But this is really the best beef hor fun I have ever tasted in my life. The black bean gravy is thick and flavoursome, the horfun is springy and tasty. There is a generous serving of beef and the slices are so big that you can probably "slap" someone with it. And yet it is so tender that when you sink your teeth into the beef, it melts in your mouth.

Only $6 for a plate which is big enough for 1 person. Served in restuarant Moi Lum at Peck Seah Street which is just beside my fashion suite @ Red Dot Building.

TTB is back!

Finally after 2 weeks being posted to a work trip, Gary is back.


These are the stuff that he bought for me. :)
My favourite Jurlique Rosewater Balancing Mist. Rose is my favourite scent! This mist is really refreshing and moisturising in this heat. But I realise it is so much cheaper in Australia which costs $33Aud in the airport. If you buy it in the dutyfree shops in the airport elsewhere, it costs $50+sgd.
And whereever I go, I like to buy fashion magazines especially bridal ones. So he knows. :)


The very next day, Gary is busy whipping up dishes in the kitchen again. Nothing too fussy but full of warmth. I like the ham cut to strips of this thickness. Ham noodles anyone?


It is chicken soup with noodles, ham and eggs. The noodles are really springy and the chicken soup is bring to the boil with real chicken breast meat. really nourishing.


My favourite-Sunny side up!

Relaxing @ TCC

It was one of the rare times when I could go out for a walk and relax at a cafe to read magazine and recharge my thoughts.

I ordered Spic Chic and Lichit Yoghurt. Nice!

The delectable juicy chicken in bite size portions are more satisfying than nuggets and melt in your mouth when dipped with the tangy orange mayo sauce. The orange mayo sauce has a light tinge of orange flavour that makes it light and refreshing.


The lychees in youghurt are surprisingly very light and thirst quenching. It has the right tinge of sweetness and sourness that leaves you craving for more.



TCC Cafe is one of my favourite haunts as compared to other coffee joints. I like the fact that all the cafe boutiques are furnished with much thought from the choice of furniture to the colours to the paintings. Every cafe is different yet you can tell it belongs to TCC. My favourite is the one at Robertson Quay which even has a swing! Compare this to the other coffee joints where every joint looks THE SAME. Borringg...

You can tell they design their food with much thought as well. The items never fail to delight your palatte and they change quite regularly which is bad if you fall in love with any of their dishes. I really love their potato balls few years back but they have since revamped their menu.

Their service is quite impeccable as well. Qudos to a coffee joint chain that turn into a gourmet cafe.

TCC is having 1 for 1 pasta/main dish for July for their members. Just accumulate $80 of receipts to be their member.

Curry Fish Head Ooh La La

The best eating places sometimes are those that are hardly posh or even noticeable.

There is a hawker centre above Beauty World. And right at the corner is a zichar stall that is always full of customers during weekend nights. It is a place where my boyfriend brought me to eat the unforgettable Curry Fish Head. Food is cheap and good, service is prompt and stall owner uncle is always full of smiles. Just a bit warm if the day is hot.

The stall is Fu Gui Chun. And you can see my boyfriend doing the ordering. i always leave the ordering up to him. He seems to have a knack for sniffing out/cooking/delivering yummy food.


The tofu was dancing on this sizzling hot place. As you bite into the tofu, the flavoursome gravy spews out. The plate is lined with a thin layer of omelette that is cooked just nice and not charred which always happen with hot plates.

The assam curry fish head is their specialty. And whenever I eat with Gary's family, I never have enough of it. The sourness of the gravy packs a punch but it is not weighed down with the greasiness of coconut milk. It actually sends your tastebuds singing ooh lala. The fish meat could be softer.


The kangkong is crunchy and spicy without being overwhelming. A few prawns or shrimps would have made this dish perfect.


Everything was finished! A testamount to how tasty the dishes are.

All these for only $33. Cant wait to be back again.

Pasta by the River-Da Mario Pizzeria

Da Mario actually started as a humble joint which served very homely pasta and pizzas. Last year, when I visited them again, they actually moved to a bigger restaurant with a slightly more posh feel but still retaining the cosiness associated with family pizzeria. I love supporting such places where you can see their business grow over the years due to the hard/heartwork of the team.

I ordered the Spaghetti al Cartucio and Pizza Rustica.


This is made of Italian sausages, cheese and rustica.


The picture says a thousand words isnt it. The piping hot gooey cheese and sausages were a heavenly mix. I can still remember the taste when I sank my teeth into the pizza. The crust was made just the way I like it, it wasnt too thin or thick and there is a freshness to it as I think they made the pizza in house. The portion was just nice for 2 people.


This seafood pasta is cooked with white wine, tomato sauce and garlic and then wrapped in "paper" which sealed in the flavour. It usually takes about 20 minutes to prepare. So be patient. $18.


The spaghetti was infused with the flavour but I found it a wee bit too wet and soft. But the consistent texture of the savoury sauce saved it and the really hearty serving of fresh seafood. I lost count of the prawns that came with it, there were 2 mussels at least, scallop and lots of clams and squids. $22.

The waiters are friendly and many have been there since day 1 which is a testamount to the fact that the boss is nice. This pizzeria is diagonally opposite Gallery Hotel at Robertson Quay. I will recommend it as a place to chill out with your friends or your boyfriend on lazy Sunday. But reserve in advance on friday nights

Cheap and good pasta

When I was in Milan during university days, I developed a palatte for pastas since it is the national food. Even Italian classic beauty and actress Sophia Lauren once said whatever she had today she owed it to spaghetti.

But when I came back to Singapore, alas Italian food is really expensive cuisine. So having just started work then, whenever I had pasta craze, I will go to Pasta Mania which also just started! But over the years, as my palatte grew more sophisticated, I also found that the quality between different outlets seem to differ. Some outlets are good whereas another outlet's offerings can be barely satisfactory.

But I ate at the Cineleisure outlet few days ago, and I really fell in love with it again. After almost 2 years of not visiting Pastamania, they have added alot to their menus like even Japanese based pastas and fanciful drinks. But I always only go for the traditional ones. So I ordered the good ole aglio olio with prawns.


The spaghetti was al dente and not overly soft. The spaghetti absorbed the favour of the olive oil with chopped garlic. There was a fragrant burst of flavours in your mouth. Last time they used to serve whole prawns generously but now they only served prawns chopped in tiny bits. But one cannot expect too much from a pasta dish that cost less than $9.


The cream of tomato soup was so yummy that I actually drank it halfway before I remembered to take pictures. I dipped the prawns in the tomato cream soup to make them flavoursome. The soup has the right tinge of sourness which sent my tastebuds in euphoria for a while. My boyfriend did comment they could improve the soup's appearance by putting parsley and sprinkling chopped garlic on it while adding tomato chunks to improve the texture. He is a cookaholic! But well the bowl is only $2.30.


And 2 of us finished 3 bowls! The bowl should have been bigger.

15% off if you have their discount card. Of course you can't expect fine dining standards here, but good enough to satisfy your cravings for cheap and good pasta.

Lord of The Fries!

Kim Gary's Fries Selection. $3.60 per basket.

I hate to admit it. I love fries. Even though they are unhealthy and fatty. Thats the truth even though all the fast food chains claim they use the healthiest fries. I am the kind who will walk to the nearest macdonald when they have the SHAKER/SAMURAI fries! YUMMY.. And I will reject fries served that are lifeless and
COLD!

So you can imagine my excitement when I discovered a restaurant that offers a wide variety of fries in different flavours. Cool! they have mayo fries, beef sauce fries, seaweed fries and blah. So far I only tried the beef sauce fries and the seaweed fries and I think the former tastes really good with its gooey beef sauce. It just makes you want to keep eating them even though your subconscious mind tells you to stop as they are fatty. I tell myself just one more two more three more and soon they are all gone.

The restaurant is Kim Gary- one of the HK cha chan teng in Vivo City. The service was only so so as I went an hour before they are closing and they seem more interested shutting down the place than serving you.


Kim Gary's Seaweed Fries with the bowl of Nissin Noodles served with egg and luncheon meat.


I can never cook instant noodles that good. The texture of noodles is very important to me and I love their springy noodles. It costs $5.80 per bowl.

I will be back ... for more fries!

Dining in Melbourne-Seafood Ahoy!

Dining in Melbourne is an expensive affair. Even if you just want to eat hotdog roll. It costs as much as a large plate of fried rice here or even more. The one I ate costs about $6-$10. And most pizza and pastas seem to be the staple of melbournians.

I may have fashion sense but I certainly dont have much food sense. My boyfriend always say I should be more adventurous in trying out food, but I am contented to eat the same tried and tested thing everyday as I know I wont go hungry if the food doesnt taste nice. So I am happy to eat seafood pasta -which is my favourite- everyday and the difference between the pasta in Singapore and there is the seafood is so much fresher, fatter and succulent and the pasta is indeed flavoursome. It seems a bite can release a burst of flavours in your mouth.

But on a few occasions, I did made a brave decision to try something else. So here goes.

Day 2 At The Verge which is recommended by Melbourne Secrets







I tried this so called Australian cuisine at this ex restaurant.. geesh was really ex and I hate the fact that they don’t put menus right outside. When u go in, u r trapped! But the food was good. Thinking abt it now makes me salivate. Australian seafood are best, big and fresh, the name of the dish I took was really long and fanciful but in actual fact, it meant there are dory fish, clams, mushrooms and dashi FOAM.. first time I heard of dashi foam, and was really foamy,, the mushrooms melt in ur mouth. And the clams spewed juice when u bite on them. I almost wanted to drink the sauce from the shell.

Dining is a pleasurable affair there. People take time to eat, and restaurant owner create their menu and place with pride. Each of the dining place I went has such a character of its own.

This is a place called Babble @ Greville Street , Prahran.



I tried this appetiser called Ginger salmon with Asparagus. Salmon is actually my favourite which i cant live without. The name of this appetiser sounded odd but I tried taking a bet. It did taste abit strong for me with asparagus embeded inside the salmon. I still managed to eat almost everything and when the waitress cleared the plate, she said " You did well!"





The menu is lovely isnt it!

One day when I was so tired from the shopping along Chapel Street, I came by this eatery. It is really interesting. They have all kind of noodles In A Box. Even Singapore noodles and laksa. At first, I thought it is a gimmicky thing, but the hot and piping noodles did taste yummy and it was surprisingly filling for such a small box. The Chef told me the small box holds 500g of noodles! woah.




I tried their Thai noodles with chicky. Really ooishi! Thinking about it makes me hungry again.

On the last day I went to this Greek restaurant called Stalactites with interiors like those of limestone caves. I think it is really the most adventurous choice I made. I have never tried Greek food before. As I look at the menu, I hardly know what to order as they sound really " Greek" to me.. So I asked the waitress what her recommendations are. After her list, I said ok I just want fish soup with rice. At least that sounds vaguely familiar.

The fish soup is something like the salty vegetable tofu soup we have except it is 10 times more sour! Ooh lala.. my boyfriend will have love it given his extremely sour tastebuds.

Every tourist must try this - Colonial Tramcar Restaurant

Ok this is not for the faint hearted! Why? Because this is really expensive. The colonial tramcar restauarant is a real restored tramcar that serves you meals while you sit inside the tramcar and tour around the suburbs. They serve luncheon, early dinner and late dinner. The early 3 course dinner I went for is a whopping $70 for 1 person! Geesh.. But you will get all your worth if you go with your date - cos it is romantic or if you drink alot as wines on board are covered in the charge and you can drink all you want- red wine , white wine, spirits ahoy!

Well but I guess all tourists to Melbourne must try it for once at least. The mahogany tramcar is really beautiful and sitting inside to dine is a real experience! It gives you an old fashioned experience of being back in time eating on board a real tram, as it moves slowly across Melbourne's fringes taking you to the parks and the famous St Kilda Beach. And the crew on my tram really looked like celebrity chefs Anthony Boudain and Jamie Oliver! They serve you like authentic waiters of 5 class restaurants-with flair and finesse.


Cream Liver and Cognac Pate, roasted red capscium dip with assorted crisp bread.
The appetiser sure sounds "cheeem" but they are quite delectable. Makes me want to eat the crackers dipped in the sauce again and again.


Prime Eye fillet of beef resting on potato and herb rosti.
I told the waiter that I will like to have my beef tender but not bloody so he ordered medium rare. But it is still abit tough, but i like the sauce though. It made the whole dish really savoury.


White Chocolate and Passionfruit Mousse with praline and vanilla rasberry syrup.
I am not a dessert or chocolate fan but this is really really heavenly-sweet with abit of yoghurty sourness. Melts in your month and I really wish I had more of this. The best dessert I ever tasted in my life!


Doesnt he look like Jamie Oliver?