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I have never really tasted hakka food in Singapore except the hawker center's Yong Tau Foo. Coincidentally, thanks to Young Master's dad who's also a Hakka person, we decided to celebrate his birthday at this Moi Kang Hakka Restaurant on Trust Street in Tanjong Pagar.

The place was certainly crowded and we nearly couldn't get a reservation! Since it was also Chinese New Year, we ordered the 算盤子 because Young Master's mom said we have to be counting a lot of money this year! The 釀豆腐 (Yong Tau Foo which is stuffed tofu-cube) was so delicious! ...oh my...and the 扣肉 (Braised Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard) , oh my god, so good especially with the bun. My only thing is i don't eat the fats and the skin, the skin was a little too hard anyways. Sorry about my manners but i was like wolfing down the food and not paying attention to any conversation. Notice the Fish Maw with Chinese spinach in the picture? WOAH~ you know my favorite is Fish Maw, and their fish maw, is CRISPY! I still couldn't figure out how it was made, soft yet crispy as you bite into it.

I am going there again this weekend for my mom's birthday dinner. kekeke.

Meanwile, if you are not familiar with Hakka cuisine, check this out.

Labels: food

Members of the Kacang Puteh Club were back in Singapore to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The Singapore chapter were given the tasks of organizing dinners and after-dinner activities prior to their return. It was kind of tough to coordinate all their busy schedules.


The Kacang Puteh Club celebrated the CNY at Hua Ting restaurant. TTT, Springlily and Ms See were all present from the NY chapter. The Astorians and Miss Mo represented the Singapore Chapter.

Here were some of the dishes we had. Of course, we had the yu-sheng. I lou to have good plum flower luck, good health, good career, etc. We also had abalone, sharks fins, roast duck, steamed garouper (?). This was amidst Springlily trying to seek the others' opinions on altering her suits!

Besides Hua Ting, the Kacang Puteh Club also ventured a few other places too, eg the Cannery. The people at the Clinic really should have some re-training. First, they sell half-filled martinis for $18! Then they asked whether the drink would be 'on the rocks' or 'with ice'. Then they charge $50 for some IV-drip-looking cocktail. Ridiculous!
We also checked out Cafe Del Mar, which was full of teenagers, spgs in bikinis and fat ang-mohs in swimming trunks. They had bad cocktails too.
We also went to Oosh (still think they are so popular), Que Pasa and St James Power Station!


Quierantango (?) came back in the later part of CNY. We had dinner at House of Peranakan, together with Mrs Fort Lee. We then joined Miss See at the Hyatt bar, which looked nice but smelled of cigar though.

Young Master and Superst*r were bored out of their wits and were missing the Tokyo night scene so much so we decided to check out the Izakayas rumored to be existing in Cuppage Plaza. The car park was a little confusing when we got to into the building it reminded us of Lucky Plaza (which has all the Indonesian and Filipinos eateries). We sort of ran up and down the entire building to suss out the place a little. Very much as said by our Nihongo sinsei and Yamato-san the bartender at Coffee K, this place IS our Little Tokyo.

So it's Valentine's and so some sake or shoju or even beer with a little of those small appetizers would be perfect. We decided to try out this huge place on the 2nd floor called Nijumaru. Looks busy enough. The wait staff there are mostly Chinese and local aunties whom I overheard could speak a little Nihongo to the cook crew! *Surprised* Apparently some of the chefs are Japanese - uhm, delightful :)...but let's see...

We ordered the Tomato with mayo, Yaki-Shio Saba (Grilled Mackerel with Salt), Tori no Kara-age (Fried Chicken Nuggets) and a Curry Rice, and we had to drown them down with Ebisu beer. The mackerel was huge - singaporean breed? Overall, it turned out...not too shabby!

After a few burps, we went around to explore the rumored best sushi and best izakaya in town, as recommended by our Japanese friends. Turned out they are at the building next to Cuppage...we will be hanging out there pretty soon and telling everyone about here.

Meanwhile また明日〜〜

Labels: food

I'm having sleep deprivation. I haven't been home at a decent hour since last week.

Last Tues - After my pilates class in the evening, I met Miss See for wine on Evans Road
Last Thurs - I had company dinner at No Signboard and then drinks with FEP after that
Last Fri - I had dinner with St Nicholas girls JW and DF and then to Oosh (finally) for drinks
Last Sat - Went to St James Power station for my friend's Will's birthday
Last Sun - Went to Sunset Grill with the Astorians
Monday - Went to chinatown for dinner and Union Bar on Club Street for drinks with JW
Tuesday - Went to my evening Pilates class and then to Clinic for drinks with Springlily and former Fort Lee
Last night - Valentine's Day of course

I am really going to go to bed at a decent time this evening after my Italian survival class. Then it starts all over again on Friday.

It was Feb 14 yesterday. I rushed for my facial appointment after work. The streets were filled with couples holding bouquets with tiny flowers (fake, I think), ballons, stalks of roses, etc. I didn't feel jealous at all. Strange.

Anyway, after my face was thoroughly cleansed for the upcoming Chinese New Year, I met up with my date, New England Patriot (NEP). We met online and he used to be in NE. We've only gone out for a couple of times so I hardly know him but since he asked me out, I obliged. Btw, I was also invited to 2 other places but had to turn them down.

NEP brought me to Tanjong Beach on Sentosa beach. I didn't expect much since I thought we were just going to have drinks near my facial place so I was pleasantly surprised. I'm so easily conned. Sigh!

It was my first time to Tanjong Beach. We drove past this Dolphin place. Apparently, one could touch some dolphins there. I didn't know such a place existed on Sentosa.

When we arrived, I saw this beach bar. It has some deck chairs with umbrellas and I immediately thought it was the new Cafe Del Mar. I was so excited. I thought we were going there. However, NEP led me to the beach, by the edge of the water. Oh well, guess no bar tonight.

Along the way, we saw lots of couples in the dark. It was as if they were sunbathing in the dark! Wow! There was this couple who even had a table under this rest area and they were having candlelight dinner! Of course the girl must be thinking it's so romantic but the guy's the smarter one since he didn't have to fork out $300 to dine in a restaurant. Kekekeke!

I know this sound so cliche and I can't believe I'm writing this. But we found a spot under a coconut tree. NEP spread out a towel for us to sit. We enjoyed a bottle of red wine and some chocolates and it was quite lovely under the sky that was full of stars last night. We could also see the musical fountain from that spot. Meanwhile, I was observing this couple nearby (in the dark). They were both lying down hugging. I couldn't see them clearly because it was dark but I could imagine what the guy was up to.

I had to go to the bathroom so I went to the beach bar. Then I realized that the bar was not Cafe Del Mar but it was KM8. LOL! Thanks goodness! Anyway, I had a good time, good company, wine and outdoors in the evening.

Miss Mo has known about Sunset Grill at the Seletar airbase and heard that it was very difficult to locate. Therefore, on Saturday, after tennis and some ice-cold milo and kopi-C, Miss Mo and Superstar decided to check out the location of this restaurant.

It was a short drive from Jalan Kayu. After we passed the gate, we went to West Camp, which was the Seletar airport. We saw a canteen but thought it didn't look like a place you would watch the sun set. Finally, we decided to ask some guy at the airport for directions. Wow, the directions given were detailed and we wouldn't have been able to locate the place because it was on the other side of the runway!

We reached the destination after following the given directions. However, when we arrived, we sill couldn't locate it. We saw a group of golfers and one of them pointed to a shack and said the nearest one would be that shack. We were like 'that one'? Hmm.. We walked a little close and indeed, it was the elusive Sunset Grill.

We came back this evening. Superstar even lost her way the 2nd time! The atmosphere there was really laidback. We even talked to Jerry, the owner of the grill. I had a juicy burger and a couple of beers and the Astorians just had drinks.

We had a good time and would defnitely return.

Melbourne is considered the first ang-moh city I visited since my return from the US.
After spending such a long period of time in a western country, my desire to visit a ang-moh country wasn't that great. Nevertheless, since it was a business trip, I had no complaints.

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza for our work trip. It is near the Crown Casino, which is like one of those casinos in Vegas but on a smaller scale. The whole complex is located on the south side of the Yarra River, which is a picturesque cute little river. It's typical of most rivers you see in most western cities. There are upscale stores and restaurants at Crown Casino. For work, we had dinner at Number 8 restaurant. It was a really nice restaurant situated along the river. The steak I had was juicy and the wines they served were really good NZ wines. One highlight of our dinner was at top of the hour, the torches along the river would be lit up with fire, huge hot fire!

My work hours in Melbourne ended at around 4pm on a Friday afternoon. I had to rush to tour the downtown before it became dark. That was the only time I had because I was going to be out of the city for the weekend. I was hopping 3 hours would be enough for a quick tour.

Melbourne reminded me of Boston, a small university city with a river, old British feel, somewhat artsy, with trams. There were a few famous streets and I sort of finish walking within 2 hours! There wasn't much to shop either. I went to Myer department store but the shoes they were selling were for my mom's! I had dinner at the Dome cafe at Block Arcade. That was quite nice. I took the free city tram for a tour of the city and went back to my hotel, exhausted.

I signed up for a winery tour on Saturday. The driver-guide was Jamie and he was kind enough to offer me the front seat at the bus, next to him. It was cool since I had the best view! Jamie said he used to be a sommelier at Number 8 but I wondered why he's a guide now. Hmm...He took us to 4 wineries. First, we went to a boutique winer, Yuering Farms. Then we proceed to Rochford winery for more wine tasting and lunch. Then we went to Yuering Station for more wine tasting. By then, I was at my limit for wine. Any wine would have tasted the same to me. Finally, we went to Domaine Chandon, the maker of sparkling wine. It was really tasty with cheese and bread. The vineyards were really lovely too under the great weather. It was a great tour.


The next day, I joined the GoWest tour company for a Great Ocean Road tour. The Great Ocean road is the Australian version of the Pacific Coast Highway in CA. I really missed the open space in the US so I thought this tour was help relive some of my memories. Unlike the winery tour which was full of non-Asians, this tour was full of Asians. I found that odd. Anyway, being alone in tours can be nerve-wrecking but it turned out to be ok because I met lots of interesting people. I met this Japanese 23 y/o boy in this tour, who's a waiter. Due to his limited amount of English language, it was tough yet funny to communicate with him. The views on the drive were magnificent. The finale of the tour was visiting the 12 Apostles. It was made even more thrilling when we took the helicoptor ride atop to view the rock formations. It was my maiden ride but it was so cool.


I thought my trip was pretty fulfilling. I visited lots of places and even took the tram to the beach to have fish and chips! doubt I would go back to Melbourne though, it's too small.