Sichuan Dou Hua

 Two plates of keropok being served before our meal, a good variety! Yummy!

 Love the spiciness of this spicy pork belly with garlic! Our one and only spicy dish.

 Didi kept saying, "It gotta swirl." Well, it did occasionally :P

 I kind of like the tenderness of the beef, sizzled with lots of garlic, spring onion and Chinese parsley. My father said that too much of those seemed to have stripped the beef of its natural flavour. Hmm, I would not disagree though although this is my favourite dish for the evening.

Every one of us got a fortune cookie at the end of the meal and this is mine! Trying to make meaning of it.

It was a family dinner at Sichuan Dou Hua and I kind of expected to taste lots of spicy stuff but it seemed that my family members are not really into spicy stuff nowadays. Besides those mentioned above, we also had steamed fish, roasted duck, asparagus, seafood noodles, soup. Hmm, after the meal, I think we unanimously felt that when it comes to Cantonese cuisine, Hua Ting and Asia Grand can do a better job than Sichuan Dou Hua. But then again, we did not really get to try some of the traditional Sichuan dishes that they do serve so I guess not much generalisation could be made.   

Pretty little gift

I can still remember clearly the blanket which my grandmother made for me using her near antique sewing machine many years ago. In those years that I had that blanket, I was kind of like Linus and his security blanket, one of the characters in Peanuts. That blanket provided much warmth and comfort not only physically but I must say, emotionally and psychologically. Once in a while, I knew I just got to sniff it a little and a whiff of it never failed to soothe, especially before I slept every night. I had used it for many years and it soon reached a stage where no matter how stitches one can sew, they could never stitch up all the tears. It was really worn out and torn after many years of being such a great companion in my sleep. One day, Mummy decided that it was beyond 'repair' and dat would mean it got to go into the trash bag. Many years now, I know I really still miss it. I think I had not really received any handsewn items since then. You know, it's really a joy to know that there are lovely people in my life who sew and handmade gifts are always much treasured. It started with Erinna's handsewn lunch bag and then subsequently there were quite a few gifts from Mark that were handsewn too. The recent one was a tissue pouch :)   

Thinking of food and discipline

 Never judge a kind of food by its smell!

This is really a good enough one-dish meal for me. Okie, stop shouting "Yucks" in my ears, I got you. But sorry, they are my love whenever I am in Taiwan.

One must be wondering why this silly gal had gone to Taiwan and yet there was no much mention of food at all. Well, I would say food in Taiwan, especially in those night markets, had really kind of put us, or at least me, in a spolit-for-choice 'predicament' as I looked at each and every kind with bewilderment. But unfortunately, there was really so much that the stomach could take. I must say that we had been eating so much that the overeating seemed to have caused some memory loss in me, ha, or was it more of the laziness of the brain? But I must admit that those two in the above pictures still kind of flutter past pretty much in my memory occasionally after my holiday trip. Hmm, no, no, no, silly gal, think it's time to stop thinking and wondering about food and time to get down to some serious stuff like detoxing, dieting and exercising. Well, in short, I guess it's discipline. Hmm, the relationship between food and discipline seem like a good connection to explore.   

A little secret

Would you believe that every photograph contains a little secret? And that little secret takes patience and watchfulness to unravel. 

The train ride

 Hmm, sure miss sipping almond milk

 As I had mouthfuls from this Taiwanese lunchbox, I kinda miss preparing my own.

Somebody indeed

 Is conformity the way to go?

 Not the tastiest sandwiches in town but I think it's still comfort food on a rainy day and a quiet afternoon :)

 Traces of "Somebody" in the food

 I am somebody who loves to sit by the window so I chose a seat for all of us by the window. Are you that somebody too?

 Do you know why I love sitting by the window? Do you see what I saw? Ain't they beautiful? 

Beautiful memories captured

I remember it was 2008 that Cheri, Mark and I last visited Somebody Cafe in Taipei and we even spoke to the artist. Four years later, glad that we were back there again. Nothing changed much actually. Well, I know I am somebody who can spend the whole afternoon in this lovely and cozy little cafe. Do you happen to be that somebody too?

Traces of Autumn

My trip, my gifts

 I was pleasantly surprised that the travel journal that I had received as a gift came with a handsewn pouch again and to me, every pouch seems to depict different moods.  What do you think this would depict?

 Got this handsewn plush toy as a gift during my trip to Taiwan. Hmm, ugliness is a form of beauty. Do you see the beauty in it? Know what, I think I do :) 

Art is not always about something new but I think it's the ability to make use of what's available to create originality. I thought this label attached to the handsewn plush toy was really a brilliant idea!

Selfish Gene Cafe

 Putting parts together and recreating, notice anything familiar?  

 I knew I had to have B.O.B! Nice runny poached eggs on smoked salmon, such a delightful meal! PY had scrambled eggs on thick toasted brioche. Hmm, I think Selfish Gene certainly knows what it's dealing with when it comes to eggs :P

 I think banana cake is a must-try. Each mouthful is full of banana flavour and I like the fact that it's warm and moist. I must say that the crumble and peanut butter sauce with the banana cake was definitely a match made in heaven!

I like the lemon tart too, glad we ordered that. The lemon curd was not too overly sweet or sour, just the right balance of both.

Love the idea of brunch, oh well, not unless you get to wake up a little later in the morning (Note: being woken up NOT from the shrill of the alarm clock). To me, having brunch means you basically get to enjoy the luxury of time, without any schedule to follow or having to rush for another activity. Sure hope I get more of such time and enjoy such 'luxurious dining'. PY and I decided that we had to meet up for brunch before we flew off for our holiday this early December and we did! As usual, PY dearie came up with a suggestion for our meet up. Gosh, she seems to have endless suggestions and I would not be surprised if she has backup plans :P We had our brunch at Selfish Gene. Not many people in that cozy cafe and quite a lazy late morning I would say. Oh boy, when it comes to good food, I guess there's place for selfishness. What do you think? 

Time away from work

 You don't really need many lovely people at your workplace, hmm, maybe two would be enough? :)

 Crunchy! Love the garlic that went with the vegetables too.

 Bacon cheese roll...Not a fan of bacon but I think bacon, seafood paste and cheese marry perfectly in this dish!

 QQ...I think when one takes effort to prepare a dish, it can be felt when one tastes it. This mee sua seemed to tell me so. 

 The highlight! It has been a long time since I last had creamy crab from Seafood Paradise. As sinful as ever and I even told both of them that I felt like using that sauce for my pasta.

Our sugarless scones :)

It's finally the time of the year! I really do not know how I have spent the past months or even the past two weeks, one meeting following another, each one left me real exhausted. Maybe it's really time for a good break from work, certainly looking forward to some "me" time this December. Angeline dearie decided to give us a treat (Well, I bet she very much needed a good break too :P) and we had a hearty lunch at Seafood Paradise this afternoon! Well, the afternoon programme was followed by a kinda 'hands-on' activity conducted by Mark who taught us how to bake scones, hmm, to be precise, sugarless scones :P Ha, we all forgot to add sugar! I was sharing with Mark that I probably have learnt the science of baking scones and the next level to venture into would be the art of it. Thanks Angeline and Mark, time like this away from work never fails to bring lotsa smiles and laughter :)    

A letter to Autumn

Following "The Forgotten Beauty", I received another two pictures taken by XF and Didi. Goodness, they are so very lovely (at least in my eyes), love them! Miss the both of you :) Hugz! Well, the freaky self within was at work again. At times, just a look at a picture has a way of churning out words from my mind, or is it the heart?  

Dear Autumn,

I dreamt of you last night. You whispered into my ear and you promised that you would be back soon. Well, maybe not that soon. Time seemed to drift by without my knowledge and I am sorry for spending more time to admire the beauty of your hues, feel your poise within, watch you waltz in the gentle breeze and feel the peacefulness in you. But deep down, I know you live within my heart and I look forward to time spent together again. I managed a smile in the slight drizzle today just thinking of you...

Just a silly gal

The forgotten beauty

I was getting some stuff from the car when I saw this fallen flower on the ground of our garden. The concrete ground seemed cold and indifferent to this beautiful fallen bloom. A few ants were crawling on its petals, I guess sweetness still lingered within. What a forgotten piece of beauty...

Amidst the blue, I met Baby

He was so very excited when I first stepped into the apartment. He must have known that I had missed him dearly. He must have also missed some company at home, jumping all over me and bringing his toy zebra to me. Ha, lovely Baby! He made my day, like he always does :) 

Group Therapy Cafe

 A nice and refreshing ice tea for the afternoon. And that was sure a unique piece of dessert - tangy lime cake

Ha, a kinda routine before we tuck in - take a few shots of the food. Oh well, I am sure we are both proud of moments like these :)

PY and I will always end up in a cafe after our meal and this time it was Group Therapy Cafe. I must say there are indeed quite a few hidden gems at Duxton Hill area and this is one. This cafe has a comfortable and relaxing space created on the second storey of a shophouse. When I saw poached eggs being served at another table, I thought I was hungry again, missed eggs benedict much! But like what PY suggested, we could have brunch the next meet up. Thank you, PY! Not just for those great suggestions for food but for being such great company :) 

Manbok Galbi

 BBQ beef with lotsa greens

 Love the cold noodles, reminded me much of summer. Well, it's kinda always summer back home though

Why do I have this feeling that I had the best pancake in a Korean restaurant in Cambodia?

Always love the new discoveries by PY when we meet up for food. I decided to have Korean and there came a suggestion from PY. Oh boy, she is indeed a food guru :) The last time I had Korean was my trip to Korea in June, kinda missing it already. Not crowded over at Tanjong Pagar area as it was a weekend so glad that it was a nice and quiet lunch :)

Potluck...Well, almost

It felt great to see all kinds of food prepared being laid on the table. Our second potluck for the year just took place about two weeks ago and once again, I must say that it was a wonderful spread! I prepared three dishes, any idea which three from the picture above? Ha, I better think of something else for the next potluck lest it's always the same kinda food prepared from me :P Cons and I were more into cooking while Kat and Rene were more for baking. And Miss Tan needs to work harder the next time! Those succulent ribs were the first to be polished off the plate but heh heh, those were not homecooked. 

  

 Lychee muffins

 Hae Bee Hiam quiche...I want to learn how to bake this! Love savoury quiche and this one, with a touch of local flavour :)

Ha, must give credit for Rene's effort to follow recipe so closely and try preparing two new dishes! I must have had eaten almost three of these meat puffs. Like the fact that these potluck sessions had allowed us the space to discover what's beyond and try new recipes. 

Chendol ice cream! Love every bit of it :) Erm, just that it melted too fast, dessert time was a little of a hurry for us all, haha! But glad that I took a shot of this and the dark chocolate ice cream.

The month of October...

When Mark showed me this photograph that he had taken, I thought I was very much captivated by it. As I looked at it once again, it seemed to reflect much of my life or probably what's ahead. After more than three decades of existence, what's really the essence of living as I move forward in this life journey of mine? Hmm, wish that I will continue to be blessed with simple joys and happiness. Wish that I will always appreciate what I have and who I am. Erinna, Adeline, Gean, Joyce, Lee Shan, Martin, Derrick and Mark... Thank you for being a part of my life journey :)

It was really a pleasant surprise! Angeline, Nura and Belinda, thank you for being so lovely and sweet, and for taking time to plan the day out despite our busyness at work. Time spent with friends will always remain as one of the best gifts one could ever receive. Sometimes, I think there is really nothing much more that I could ask for in life.

Miss Tan, I am sure with the friendship that we share, we will and can continue to sail smoothly through our life journey. Well, despite the storms, I know we will still continue to steer. Thank you for your lovely birthday card every year :) 

Rene, your friendship, love and care are all felt in every bit of the cupcakes that you had baked for us. You can never imagine how those have provided much warmth and brought much delight to my heart. Hugz!

That dear friend who will always be one week younger than me :)

To my very good friend and her big monster, what a lovely day spent with both of you! Will always be looking forward to the next gals' day out, ha! My very good friend, I just like to let you know that you are very much loved and much treasured for being you, just being you :)