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31 Dec 2013

New Year Resolution for the Year 2014!


In about an hour plus time, it would be 2014 already! Omg so fast another brand New Year..

I want to thank my family members and all my friends who have been part of my life!.........(and so on)

Had experienced a full year in At-Sunrice Academy attaining pastry and bakery knowledge and skills, going
through a whole year of apprenticeship at SATS too. Basically my life is just school, work and going out with
friends for catching up sessions, eating yummy food and also made new friends from SATS as well as from 2
of the Omy blogclub events.

I should also state down my new year resolutions so that I could refer to them next year and keep in track
whether I had managed to fulfill them.

1) Work in a well known Japanese restaurant after graduating from At-Sunrice Academy (by March)
2) Perfect my knife skills
3) Learn as much as possible from my work place (not confirmed)
4) Pick up Japanese language (basic would do)
5) Improve my drawing skills and have a sketchbook filled with food sketches 
6) Blog more engaging posts 

Alright, 6 should be more than enough! Anyway...


Snacking on Sakura Matcha Kit Kat bars right now?? Yes, waffles coated with a layer of sakura matcha
chocolate! Loved the unique flora taste of sakura although it was just the flavoring.

29 Dec 2013

Menya Mushashi - All the way to the West


After this meal at Menya Mushashi which I ate with my friends at Westgate (a newly open mall beside
Jem), I somehow felt the pinch of spending so much on a bowl of ramen. A bowl of ramen from any
other restaurants could easily hit $15 to $20, more than enough to cover an entire day food expanses.
Perhaps I should stop trying so many different outlets and stick to the same few favorite ones to prevent
unwanted disappointment. Back to this bowl of Black Special Ramen Set which I ordered that included a
choice of side dish. I was once again greatly disappointed about almost every major components this bowl
contained. Murky looking broth that lacked flavor, only half a non-molten centre egg, average slice of
pork belly and a boring piece of fried bean curd skin. I was quite pissed off about the extremely low
amount of broth in my bowl too, not that I enjoyed it. The only thing I liked was the H-shaped noodles that
were supposed to 'collect' a bit of broth along its grooves, just like the spirals of fusilli pasta. Thick,
smooth, slightly chewy and I guessed mildly salted too.   

Dennis had the White Special Ramen Set that was the plainest among all. Simple thick broth with every
ingredients exactly the same as what I had described above.

Yong Xian tried the Red Special Ramen Set which looked more orangey than red and was mildly spicy. I
hoped they did not choose different types of ramen just for my photography sake or I would be so
touched LOL!

Our mediocre side dishes with the gyoza standing out because of its juicy meat fillings. The maki was too cloying due to its
tightly compressed rice. No more trying of new ramen outlets for me liao, unless I suffer a major crave! 

27 Dec 2013

Ramen Champion - Getting worse?


Before I begin typing this post, I was already questioning myself why the heck I choose to eat the same
bowl of ramen the third time? The first time I randomly tried (out of the other outlets), I fell for it. The
lovely thick and slightly flat noodles in the salty-savory broth with additional 3 huge spoonful of finely
chopped garlic was so addictive. The second time I ate, it was less satisfying but still delicious. This time, I
was utterly disappointed with this same type of ramen, but of far-fetched standard. The molten centred
eggs were still acceptable but not the broth. There was an obvious layer on the surface (definitely oil), and
the broth was rather bland and tasteless. What did I just paid for?  

My friend was searching for a bowl of ramen with spicy broth and the picture of Buta God Tonkotse
Ramen caught his attention. The flaring red broth from all that chili flakes or spices prevented me from
trying. He was thoroughly enjoying both his ramen, as well as the feeling of perspiring non-stop throughout
his meal. So not my meaning/sort of enjoyment.       

16 Dec 2013

Maccha House 抹茶館 - Back to the House


After my first round of 'house visit' to Maccha House 抹茶館 with my friend, I went
back again for some drinks to chill with mum! I just ordered an ordinary glass of matcha
with a really tiny scoop of green tea ice cream. I kept hoping the staff would be more
generous with the ice cream though. The drink itself was nothing special, only to satisfy
my craving for ice cold bitter matcha! 

My mum wanted something with azuki red beans and I got for her this drink. The first thing
she commented was why the cream looked like that?? (Looking split and ugly) Click the 'first
round' link above to have a clearer view of the cream. The drink was topped with 2 plain
chewy Japanese dumplings and a pile of sweet azuki beans that definitely did not impress
her, not one bit. My mum did not really enjoy her drink as she felt that it was too bitter and
not sweet enough for her liking. Furthermore, she was no fan of matcha products. This
shows that non-matcha fans would have a high chance of not liking this outlet due to the
bitter intensity.

10 Dec 2013

Chocolate showpiece that I did in class - Easter theme!


Just a quick update of what I did in class during my first week of term 5. Yes, finally
term 5 and I would be graduating in about 3 months time! We had to do a chocolate
showpiece in pairs and the grouping was auto assigned. Dam! Anyway, my friend
and I came up with this Easter theme design, sticking to the original colour of dark,
milk and white chocolate.

Our mistake in decorating the back as we should have just focused on the front!

My instagram picture which I had posted as I just love my hand-molded chicks! Super smooth finishing
too! 

7 Dec 2013

En Jap Grill and Bar Skewer Buffet - Grilled delicacies


To celebrate my Mum's birthday, I suggested treating her to a buffet. Despite being out of the way, I
picked En Jap Grill and Bar as the venue, which was located at UE Square. The place had a relaxing vibe
and the restaurant was conducive and easy for conversation. Picking a buffet meal to celebrate my mum's
birthday was quite a horrible choice as she hardly eat much! (My brother and I felt that we were wasting
our money...) It was my second visit and having the skewer buffet here, which made me experienced
enough to know what to order in plentiful or in minimum. Click here to read about my first visit!

The platter of fresh sashimi, average thickness, for 4 of us. (One time order only) There were no fishy smell
at all and I hoped I could have free flow of them!   

Salad with thinly sliced pork! I hoped they were more generous with the pork slices as we did not want to
order another serving of salad just for it.

Basically all the skewers were grilled on the spot and could be seen through the glass panel that
separates the diners and the cooks. I felt that the open concept kitchen definitely made the cooks more
stress! There were hits and misses and the quality were not exactly consistent. Our favourites were
obviously the grilled beef (not shown here), scallops and salmon skewers as they were simply delicious
with natural juices emitting from them.   

5 Dec 2013

Experiment : Choux with Salted Yolk Custard


Just a quick post of my choux pastry I did quite some time ago! I decided to experiment with salted egg
yolk to incorporate into my custard cream to mimic the all-time popular 'liu sa bao' found in Chinese
restaurants serving Dim Sum. Baked some really nice looking oblong shaped choux pastry to hold the
custard cream. 

The standard custard cream recipe with salted egg yolk! I actually bought 4 salted eggs but ended up using
only 2. You know why? 2 were bad, I dam 'sway' right? Visible bits of salted egg yolk in there. I should
have boiled the eggs before using the food processor to blend them into paste, prior to adding into my
custard cream. My bad.

My yummy looking eclairs with salted yolk custard cream! I may want to experiment and modify the recipe
next time when I have the time...

29 Nov 2013

Artisan Boulangerie Co. - Bread and Savoury Fix


I wasn't born to be a bread lover, often avoiding bread during breakfast, not until I was attached to the
bakery section of my internship place for 2 months with Lawrance. While learning to make bread, I felt the
distance between me and bread being pulled slightly closer and I learnt to accept and appreciate bread
now. Ryan, who taught us to make bread suggested that we try the kind-of-newly-opened Artisan
Boulangerie Co., which is a bakery led by award winning French baker, Eran Mayer. The products are
made by artisan techniques (from scratch by hand), can be said to be quite uncommon in Singapore. After
work that day, we headed over to Orchard and took a shuttle bus to Great World City.    

The outlet had great lighting for photography which food bloggers like me would look for. After being
amazed by the selections of bread and savoury products available, we spend quite some time on deciding
the suitable lucky dough that would end up in our tummy. Thankfully the pretty staffs were really patient
with us and I must compliment them for their great costumer service too! Ryan picked the Ciabatta, known
literally as the slipper bread, topped with half a capsicum, cucumber slices and a pile of  micro-greens. I
guessed the bright red colour of the bell pepper and those greens were for colour contrast against the dull
white-brown crust of the ciabatta. They act as a crunch as well as a value-adding element to the bread too.
The large piece of flat oblong shape bread had a crisp exterior and a soft doughy, slightly chewy interior.  

My first target would definitely be the quiche as I just love savoury food. Due to limited choices, I ended
up picking the Smoked Salmon & Dill Quiche. I was kind of surprised that my quiche came with salad with
sweet-sour vinaigrette dressing that could cleanse my taste buds. I was thankful that the quiche was only
lightly salted by the few small pieces of smoked salmon visible. It was slightly cheesy inside and I tried to
eat as slow as possible to savour it. (I could have easily eaten 3 pieces of quiche!) The crust was slightly
thick, resulting in the inner layer of the tart being raw (unbaked). I only noticed that halfway through my
meal as this happens when I had too much free time to admire my food in details.  

My other friend had the Tuna Stuffed Focaccia. It was a rustic piece of  'figure of 8' loaf and I guessed he
wanted something filling enough to be his dinner. Although the sesame seeds were sprinkled rather
randomly and unevenly, the perfect golden brown crust was really crispy! The interior was also light and
naturally flavorful, if you understand what I meant. It was sliced in half and stuffed generously with tuna.
This loaf was so photogenic that I had problem choosing the best 'pose'. (Sorry, can't see the tuna filling
from this angle.)  

Both Ryan and Lawrance added on coffee which emitted a lovely aroma. The barista did a great job
creating such an impressive coffee art which I would not bare to destroy if I had a cup too. (I did not order
as I did not want to risk having insomnia that night.) 

Last but not least, we shared the Cafe, Passionfruit and Cassis (black current) Eclairs (From bottom to
top)! 3 lovely stripes of colours on each eclairs depicting the flavor it contained and only the Cafe (coffee)
was easily guessed right. The choux pastry were towards the hard and dry side (more water than milk (if
any) used in the recipe?) and baked into a crisp dark brown hollow case. Our favorite was the Cafe, light
in flavor and not overly sweet. Passionfruit was fruity and tangy, same as the more unique Cassis. Overall,
the ambiance was not bad, great for a chilling out session or a romantic hi tea meal with partner. I was also
thankful that I was dining with patient people as it took me about 15 minutes to finish taking pictures!

25 Nov 2013

Xing Xing Odeh Odeh Tapioca Cake - Handmade kuehs


YAY! I had a weekday off that day and I decided to take a walk around the CBD area in search for
desserts or snacks to munch on while most people were busy at work. I specially went to try the popular
Tian Tian Chicken Rice for lunch before the lunch crowd outbreak and it was really tasty! I noticed a
queue of aunties at this ondeh-ondeh ; tapioca cake outlet and ended up buying a couple of those chewy
munchies.

Peering through the glass pane, I noticed that only 4 snacks were sold here. The ingredients used were
mainly tapioca, shredded coconut, palm sugar and obviously glutinous rice flour. I spotted the uncle behind
making more of these snacks by hand and I basically bought everything to try! You don't always have to
indulge in cakes and pastries to gain satisfaction as these kuehs were also yummy in their own ways.

My top favorite was the tapioca cake, coated generously with shredded coconut! It was the softest
tapioca cake I have ever eaten and I could barely hold the pieces upright without breaking them. The kueh
kosui was firmer and chewier and had a wonderful aroma and taste of gula melaka (palm sugar). I was
also addicted to this kueh. The odeh odeh / lor mai qi (glutinous rice balls) were like irregular ping pong
balls (not exactly round though) with thin extremely stretchy skin. They were soft but too sticky as they
kept annoyingly sticking to my fingers. The amount of coconut / peanut fillings were so generous that I
found the peanuts too compact, resulting in cluster formation. The worst was the Ubi Kayu which I
stopped after a mere bite. It was like eating into pure tapioca flesh, only mildly sweetened by a thin layer of
sugar on top.

18 Nov 2013

My Term 4 Plated Dessert Exam


My Term 4 has passed, and my exam that term was to create a plated dessert with 1 main component and
3 or more sub components. Total time taken was about 10 hours which was split into 2 days. The theme
of my dessert is Fossil! Just a brief about my components below and I tried not to 'advertise' my own 
creation so much...

Banoffee Ice cream (banana + toffee with digestive biscuits for extra crunch) coated with silky chocolate
glaze, giving a gooey texture as the ice cream melted within. 

One of the criteria was to plate 4 plates of similar dessert and here's my picture of 2!

My small choux filling was salted custard cream while my big choux was salted hazelnut ganache.

My osmanthus Jelly which I loved so much! Beautiful yellowish transparency with the flower and petals
encased within. Those mint leaves gave extra minty flavor as well as colour! 

14 Nov 2013

Hifumi - Celebrating a birthday


Meeting out and gathering as a group would happen less occasionally nowadays since
each of us have our own lifestyle and work commitments to concentrate on. The only
thing that would pull us together would be a special occasion such as a birthday or a
public holiday like Christmas which would be approaching real soon! Anyway, we were
still procrastinating on where should we have our dinner that day. I ended up recommending
Hifumi since they have the concept of free flow appetizer when you ordered a main course.
I just love the feel of Jap display... 

I love capturing simple images of minimalist objects such as this unique shape bowl
containing my chawanmushi. I was utterly stunned by its silky smooth texture, although
the bottom half felt kind of powdery.  

Among all the appetizers available, this was our favorite! Glazed with sugary sweetness,
these sweet potato fries were so addictive that we shared a rather huge serving! 

Let me show you guys the 4 main courses which we ordered! Random tossing of unagi, salmon, prawns,
egg, cucumber and roes! Just the colours itself was so attractive!  

Thick but slightly dry pork cutlet embedded among moist and fluffy eggs! My second time having this dish!
My first visit can be found here! 

Swirly melted cheese fusing with Japanese curry rice! The surface definitely looked like it was torched
(char parts spotted).

Rather spicy curry chicken with vegetables fusion! Something which I would not have ordered...

Happy birthday!!! So many people were staring at us while we took pictures as we were making a hell lot
of noises (laughter) at a cafe. We were having fun among ourselves that those stares were oblivious to us,
LOL!

Posing with our printed polariod shots! The group shot was a tough one as we tried not to waste any films
or els someone would be angry...

Had many shots but these were the best 3!

Cheers!

12 Nov 2013

Launch of Ronald McDonald's Big Red Shoes bench!

On the 25th Oct 2013, McDonald has once again kicked off its annual McHappy Day fundraising with the launch of a travelling ''Ronald McDonald's Big Red Shoes bench'' at Dhoby Ghaut MRT station! As part of the McHappy day activities, McDonald will donate $1 per photo (instagram) with the hashtag #mchappydaysg, capped at 5000 entries, to RMHC. RMHC is an independent charity that had been running a ''home-away-from-home'' facility at National University Hospital (NUH) for families with children in intensive care.

I had a picture taken with Ronald McDonald's Big Red Shoes bench at Toa Payoh Bus Interchange! I
know my dressing style is rather horribly mismatched and I looked like I am in a sleeping attire. After
getting a stranger to snap this picture for me, I noticed that there were people queuing after me to take a
picture with this pair of large shoes! Just pass it on! Remember to upload your photo to instagram with
the hashtag #mchappydaysg !

Location of ''Ronald McDonald's Big Red Shoes'' bench

Dhoby Ghaut MRT station         26 Oct - 01 Nov
Harbourfront MRT station        02 Nov - 08 Nov
Toa Payoh Bus Interchange      09 Nov - 10 Nov 
Boon Lay Bus Interchange        16 Nov - 22 Nov

On the 10th of Nov, I had the chance to attend a casual gathering with 7 other bloggers to witness the set
out of the event where about 500 staff volunteers from McDonald would hit the Singapore street to raise
awareness for RMHC by selling 'Ronald Smile' for S$2 each! Now for more pictures!

By 12.30, everyone were smiling happily, full of energy and prepared to set out to sell those 'Ronald
Smiles'! Can you spot Ronald McDonald among the crowd? 

One really big happy family!

How could you not spam some great shots with Ronald McDonald before setting off?

This picture is so dam cute that I posted it! 

Bloggers turn to have a picture with Ronald McDonald!

I bought a ''Ronald Smile'' for S$2 to store up some good karma points! OMG,
why my hair style like army recruit?!?   

How could I resist not taking pictures of any food or drinks that appeared before my eyes! The sweet
mango fizzy drink was really refreshing! Imagine the hardworking volunteers out there trying their best
to sell as many ''Ronald Smiles'' as possible in the name of charity!  

I got to try the newly launched (not long ago) Banana Pie too! Some may say it tasted like goreng pisang
(banana fritters) but I disagreed. I created a little mess while breaking the crisp shell apart, revealing the
golden brown banana and the gooey 'sauce' encased within. The banana texture was more towards
'stewed' and more mushy as compared to goreng pisang which has a somewhat firmer bite. It was such
a delicious snack to me since I loved the original apple pie too! 
Hey minion, stop giving me that face! Those banana pies were the bloggers' share! Haha, I
think McDonald wanted to snatch all the bananas away from those minions! 
(Minion picture from google image)

Kitson Choong (Chief Operation Officer) came to share with us more about the event as well as the
initiative! He stressed the word 'family' many times and I knew he was someone who would cherish family
and bonding really much. He also explained to us in details about the fundraising activities conducted and
the operation of RMHC that has been running a ''home away from home'' facility (Ronald McDonald
House). I felt that he was going to tear while explaining to us about children in the intensive care part...

A picture with COO!

Next, we had 2 of the volunteers who shared about their experience and why do they want to work at
McDonald for over 10 years! I know it was not easy to work in a F&B industry and what kept them going
was being part of the 'family' (the same thing COO had mentioned). 

Time to camwhore a bit with May (left) and Janet (omy blog club administrator ; right)

Picture with Angela, May, Me, Kiahgek (left to right)
I felt that I am quite bad with posing for photos and my poses were so not natural LOL!...Still more
comfortable with taking pictures of food!

Another picture with Angela, May, Me, Yuki, Kiahgek (left to right)
I hoped McDonald could attain their desired amount for charity!  

Thank you Omy blog club and Janet for the invitation!