October trip (Napa, Sacramento, San Diego)

Nothing really spectacular happened during this last trip back to Cali, but I thought I should at least write something down to remember it by.

We went up to Sacramento to attend Guy and Angie's wedding. It was really nice to hang out with the fam and explore the area a little bit. Got pretty jetlagged this time, I blame it on the lack of alcohol the first few days, which was quickly corrected when we got to Napa Valley.

Tried a few renowned restaurants in the area. Benu in downtown SF, which was recently awarded 2 michelin stars 1.5 years into operation. Maybe my expectations were too high, or maybe I didn't like the strong asian influence in the food, it didn't really blow me away. It was good, but not as good as I would like it to be. As an asian, I'm more critical about asian food, would have been super if I was white, I think.

Been yelping a lot about all the restaurants I tried during the trip, so if you are interested in the reviews, go check it out on

http://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=Ruh7DvkWtO_oXqyrCYbXig

Redd in Napa was surprisingly good for a 1 star michelin restaurant, the most memorable dish being the tuna tartare with avocado and crispy puffs (for more details, pls click on link above). It was way better than Wakuriya in San Mateo, which was also 1 star.

San Diego was awesome as usual. When I was driving past my old condo where I used to stay, on a bright sunny day, I even teared up because I wished I could just drive to my garage, go back to my home, plop myself on the comfy couch, and watch my Tivo-ed TV. Boo.

Halloween in San Francisco with Renee was really fun too! It was really fun catching up with her, and Lier who just happened to be there, and dressing up was fun. Even though the agenda was very packed, sloshball, two parties in a row, barhopping and restaurant trips, it was really fun. And I got to see Renee pissed drunk again! Yay! :)

I always wish I have more time to hang out with Deron's parents when we were there, and well, I always wish I have more time. Period.

Can't wait for next month when Jenn comes to visit!

The battle of two italian restaurants on Duxton Hill......

Lately, I've been on an Italian food craving spree. I alternate mostly between Italian and Japanese, and once it hits me, I HAVE to go to several Italian restaurants consecutively! It's in my blood, I can't stop it. 

It has come to my attention that there are a few Italian restaurants around Duxton Hill, kindly recommended by Lifang and her friend Alvin. So I decided to try them out. 

I'm going to review two restaurants: Etna and Pasta Brava because they are within the same price range,a nd I find them to be comparable on the general scale. Also, they have similar scores on hungrygowhere.com...... 

Although....

I was much more blown away by Etna. 

I know reviewers out there like to talk about the decor, the service of the crew and the whole experience. For me, it's really just about the food. 

We chose the favorite appetizer at Etna, burrata cheese with cherry tomatoes and arugula.

 I wish I had taken a picture of the cheese when I cut into it. The cheese literally oozes out in liquid form. It was a moment of pure bliss. The burrata is airflown in from Sicily every three days. And you can so taste the freshness. It's literally like drinking fresh squeezed milk, yet light at the same time. The tomatoes were sweet and delightful (a hard find in Singapore), and the arugula was soooo fresh ( another hard find!)

 I had a craving for gnocchi and chose the pumpkin gnocchi in four cheese sauce. The gnocchi was home-made, and the manager had to go to the kitchen to make sure they still have it. And I am perhaps the world's most critical judge of gnocchi. I generally hate gnocchi that are not home-made, because it has this peculiar chewy texture, and does not soak up the sauce one bit. I hate the texture, it's like eating frozen dumplings. It's been a long time since I've had decent gnocchi (the last time, it was in Tuscany), so imagine my surprise when I bit into the first mouthful of gnocchi and experienced......heaven. Pure heaven, when the gnocchi melts in my mouth, with a subtle flour and potato taste (and a hint of pumpkin), followed by the divine richness of the cheese sauce. Little pillows of love, I call them. I cannot express how impressed I am with the gnocchi.

Deron had the crab linguine in a lobster cream sauce. It was really tasty too, not too heavy, but it wasn't as impressive as the gnocchi. Seems like the normal kind of standard you would expect from a good Italian restaurant, so for crab lovers, this should hit the spot.

Pistachio tiramisu. The pistachio really adds a depth of flavor to the tiramisu, strongly recommended.

This meal really brought me back to Italy, I felt. Finally, the reviews on hungrygowhere did not disappoint! :D

Next up, is Pasta Brava.

We had the foie gras in the porcini sauce and burrata cheese to start. The foie gras was cooked properly, and the sauce was tasty, so in all, a good dish. I don't really give high points, because foie gras is so fatty that it's really hard to make it taste bad (other than overcooking it).

As you can tell, the burrata cheese was served with two slices of tomato and some vegetables. I find the dish terribly underwhelming. The burrata cheese was slightly sour, with no flavor at all, and the vegetables and tomato slices were very blah.

Next up, I had one of the fresh pasta dishes. It was a minced beef ravioli in a gorgonzola sauce. This was pretty delicious, the sauce was very well balanced, but I have to say that the portion was really not very filling. Also, the filling wasn't cooked completely, which is fine for me cuz I like my meat bloody, but this could be a concern for others. I know I eat a lot for a human being, so maybe this would be a good choice for those who don't eat very much.

In general, I have to say that Etna was a much more authentic meal, and perhaps slightly cheaper than Pasta Brava. Strongly recommended! :)

Phi Phi Islands!

Went to Phi Phi Islands for our one year anniversary last weekend. How time flies! :) General conclusion of the trip, the beaches were beautiful, I had too many boat rides, the food was amazing. Obviously, the thai food must be better than that outside of Thailand, but I'm still amazed at the difference. The thai food I am used to uses oil with a heavy hand, but the thai food in Thailand was much lighter. Everytime I order something, the cook takes out a fresh basket of vegetables, and starts cooking to order from scratch. The tom yam and tom kha soups I had were chock full of fresh lemongrass, cabbage, tomatoes and other vegetables. 

We fell in love with this restaurant called "Pad Thai" in the village behind Phi phi island village hotel, where we stayed. Would strongly recommend the spa, it was really great. We went to the restaurant like 3 meals out of the 6 meals we had. The pineapple fried rice, soups, and prawn in garlic pepper sauce were the best I've ever had in Thai cuisine....

We had a great time. Went snorkelling too. I almost died getting to Maya Bay, but I'm glad I'm okay. :)

 Prawn and squid in spicy sauce at Rassada Pier (3 bucks). The most unassuming place that surprised us with exceptionally good food. I had two servings! :D

 On the boat ride to the hotel.

 Our bungalow! :)

 At the hotel bar. First stop of the trip. Hehe.

 Fresh flowers everywhere!

 Most yummy tom yam soup.

 Super awesome tom kha!

 Phi phi Ley island.

 The fish likes seaweed crackers!

 Really good glass noodle salad (if only they didn't put cilantro...)

 At another hotel bar. :)

 At Pad Thai! :)

 The best pineapple fried rice. They cut up the pineapple right there and uses the fresh pineapple. Yum!

 Giant prawns. Mmm.

 We keep seeing these signs in the hotel. And when we were walking one night, there was a loud explosion right in front of us, and this small coconut was responsible for it! Almost got killed (2nd time that day.)

I heart the hotel. :) Especially the swim up pool bar. :)

Pics from K.L

 We look so chirpy....toe-wise.

 At Bangsar drinking wine in between shopping. :)

 Getting ready to partay!

 At Zouk!

Klang Bakuteh....so good!

Probably the worst night of my life.....

Went to Kuala Lumpur with the girls a few weeks ago, and it was pretty fun. I have to say that Zouk in Malaysia is waaayyy better than the Zouk in Singapore. The people look better, the music is better, and the drinks are cheaper. Can't complain!

Wasn't very impressed with Malaysian food in general, even though I have to point out that their seafood is yummy and a third of the prices in Singapore. The rest of the food...too much MSG and too much oil. Could do without. The Klang bakuteh was awesome tho!

Arrived at the airport 1.5h before the flight back. At the budget terminal, so we had to make do with our options and settled on a local restaurant that pretty much only had nasi lemak left. After the meal, we walked around the few shops that they had, and spent a significant amount of time at DFS.

Since we had already checked in, we figured we had plenty of time.

Wrong.

After leisurely making our way through immigrations and standing in line to screen our bags, I casually took a glance at my watch. And again. 15 minutes to take off???

We cut the line for screening and dashed off to the gate. Gerry in front, me following behind (Gerry must have been a sprinter or something in high school...), and Ariane troddling behind while texting waaaay behind us. When I got to the gate, I knew we were too late from the look of dismay on Gerry's face.

And we HAD to book the latest Jetstar flight for the whole day. 10.50pm. :/

The guy at the gate suddenly, upon our pleas and sullen faces, had a burst of emotion on his face and exclaimed: Tiger airways! 1130am! You can still make it! Gogogogogo!

Gerry dashed off again, and I tried to follow suit, while frantically trying to find Ariane.

She was lounging on a chair texting on the phone, calm as the sea.

"Ariane!!! We need to go!!!" I yelled across while starting on the stairs up.

For those who are not familiar with the budget terminal, they have this brilliant setup where they separate the gates into two or three major areas with their own set of immigration booths. Which means, we need to exit the boarding area to the ticketing area in order to get to the Tiger airways gate.

I was panting and gasping upon reaching the top of the stairs just in time to see Gerry sprint through the X-ray detector (where many signs saying "NO EXIT" are posted all around. Also, there is a stream of people waiting to scan their bags to get in in the opposite direction with officers standing there.). I hear the sensor alarm go off and Gerry stopped in mid-stride, with wary eyes looking frantically around her. No reaction from the officers. She jumps over the barrier and dashes off.

I sighed, and did the same. And about 10 secs later, I hear the sensor go off again so I knew that Ariane has done it as well. Gerry ran through the immigration booths as well, and I was so shocked and amazed that nobody has apprehended her yet that I followed suit. I found her finally at the Tiger ticketing booth, where she told us that the tiger flight is completely booked.

We then went back dejectedly to the Jetstar counter where the guy told us the next flight is at 610am. We wanted to get tickets but he said we can't get them until 4am. But this is not the lowest point of my life.

At this point, we are covered in dried sweat, super hungover from the night before (Gerry and I slept maybe 3 hours, Ariane slept slightly more), and super tired. And it was only 11pm.

So we tried to find a hotel for the night. Went to the info counter and the lady gave us the contact number of the only hotel that was not an hr away. We asked them if they can call for us, and they said no. And their response was "They probably will not pick up anyway, and are fully booked". THEN WHY DID YOU GIVE ME THE NUMBER IN THE FIRST PLACE???

After which, they said "oh, can try to book online", and winningly told us that the airport offers THREE WHOLE HOURS of free wifi. Gee, thanks.

Gerry tried to look up available rooms. Lo and behold, they were fully booked. Also didn't pick up the phone. F***ers. At this point, I was super down. Called my mum, bawled for a few minutes. Call Deron, bawled for a few more.

I was going to have to spend the night here. But this is not the lowest point of my life.

We went to the airport free seating area, which was a total of maybe 20 seats, but there were maybe about 50 people. People were sleeping on the chairs, on the floor, everywhere!!! We settled into a booth in the cafe which was right next to the seating area (pretty much just an extension of the airport since there are no walls). I noticed the service staff behind the counter staring at us, so I went over and explained the situation. The guys grappled with himself for about 10 seconds when he finally just consented to us staying there with a rapid nod of the head and that was all.

Five minutes later, his co-worker came over and asked us fiercely "You want sleep? You buy drink!" Ohhhhh. We bought two bottles of mineral water (which was probably the most expensive in the terminal because the cafe was deserted. I mean, people would rather sleep on the floor than buy a drink. It was about a dollar fifty in USD. At this point, Gerry started laughing and in seconds, we were all laughing. "We are pushing 30, really shouldn't be in situations like this..." I said, and we laughed even harder. "Can't believe we have to buy mineral water to get lodging for the night..." Hehe.

I decided to wash off my makeup and change to glasses. And pee. Bad idea. I was peeing in the stall, thinking about how sad my life was at that point when rain descended upon me. Rain! I yelled and squirmed and ran out of the stall. The toilet was sheltered so what the.... I looked over and turns out, it was a shower cubicle next to my stall and somebody was having too much fun with the shower sprays. Now, this, is the lowest point of my life.

The plastic chairs were so hard, I really dunno how Gerry does it, but she slept so comfortably the whole night! Every one of us were grabbing on tight to our bags, and trying to get some sleep. We woke up at 4am, and had to wait around till 5 to get to the gate. We weren't taking any chances, so we just waited around the gate.

Got dinked at immigrations since our passports said we are officially out of the country but erm, we are still in Malaysia. Oops. Maybe the dashing through customs wasn't a great idea..... This really fierce officer berated us for about 5 minutes before letting us through. Whew!

At the gate, two white guys tried to make conversation with us. They came over and sat right across from us, with about an inch of legroom and started talking about how they would love someone to show them around Singapore. Gerry immediately covered her head with the hood, and I don't think Ariane actually realized it at the time because she started inspecting her feet and pedicure and picking at it. Ha!

Finally boarded the plane at dawn, never been so happy to be on a budget flight.

:)

REAL food

I was craving organic wholesome california style food the other day, simply because I am sick of eating the unhealthy food around. I wanted something I could eat and feel good and healthy, but I didn't want to compromise on the taste. I googled organic food and stumbled upon this place called "REAL food". It had pretty decent reviews on hungrygowhere so I decided to give it a shot.

Went to the branch at Clarke Quay, but they were closed for renovation for like four days. Just my luck. T_T As I am super stubborn when it comes to food, we ended up going to the other branch after that, which is located at 110 Killiney Road, a short walk from Somerset train station.

And I was so glad that I went. Not only does the decor remind me of californian bistros, with wide minimalist spaces, the menu was very varied, with soups, pastas, veggie burgers and juices. So happy!

 We had the aubergine toast which was grilled and drizzled with olive oil on toast. It was very nice and satisfying, although they had too much coriander in it.

 The vegetable dumplings consist of 10 different kinds of ingredients, but again the coriander was too strong for my liking. People who like coriander will love it though. It's light and tasty.

The green vegetable juice was soooooooooooooooooo good. I added CHIA seeds which gave it an extra crunch. It was so yummy and tasty in a super healthy way. It tasted just sweet enough (I hate juices that taste too sweet and you know they add sugar syrup in it). Will be going back for that!

The pumpkin soup was nice and sweet, not too creamy, and the toasted ciabatta bread made a nice compliment to it.

On top of the tasty food, they have magazines like vogue and US and Star which you can leaf through when you are eating. It's a great way to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon for sure.

I left feeling satisfied and super healthy. It's a really good feeling, I have to say.

Will be going back! :) This week, next week, the week after....

Infused with Infuzi

Been curious about this atas restaurant at our workplace. It's never crowded, but according to Nicole, it is the longest-lasting restaurant in Biopolis! 

We were having Monday blues, so we decided to go ahead and pamper ourselves. 

Service is impeccable. The waiter even walked me halfway to the bathrooms. 

But the food. The food. The food.

Is Amazing with a capital "A".

We were greeted with an amuse bouche which is some sort of coarse pate. It is gamey and tasty, albeit a little salty. 

 I can never say no to foie gras, and this was pan fried with a fruit compote. First of all, I cannot believe what a generous portion the foie gras is. Secondly, it was divine. As I am typing, I am thinking back on the sweet fatty goodness of the melt-in-your-mouth foie gras as it melted in my mouth. The glaze was sweet and earthy, and complemented the foie gras to perfection. The fruit compote was not too sweet, and gave a greater depth to the layers of flavors of the foie gras. Well done Chef!

For our entree, we had the vegetable risotto with hokkaido scallops and squid in a squid ink sauce. This was really one of the lightest, yet most flavorful risottos I have ever tasted. The sweetness and sharpness of the cheese sauce complemented the briny seafoodish taste of the squid ink sauce, and the whole concoction just is an absolute pleasure to taste. We tried to savour it as slowly as we could... The scallops were sweet and cooked just right, and even the squid was tender and flavorful.

I have to say, I will be back. Even though I might have to face the taboo of having good meals at work, I will do it.

Easily one-michelin star worthy. Just good solid simple food, executed to perfection.

Deron's daily battle with the english of the delivery guys...

 Made panna cotta for Mum's day! :D

 Decided to go with a blueberry compote on it...

 And strawberry as well!

Sorry for the random pictures, was clearing my iphone pictures and wanted to include these. Hehe.

Itacho restaurant...the turning point of my life in Singapore

 Itacho...my love. My shining beacon of light in Singapore. Finally, I have found a Japanese restaurant comparable to a good japanese restaurant in California.

Singapore doesn't have good affordable japanese restaurants. They range from franchises like Sakae sushi which serves crap sushi, slightly more expensive Ichiban where the cooked food is not bad,  and Sushi Tei, which in my humble opinion, serves very decent fish. The only drawback is, I end up spending about 70 bucks cuz their expensive items, albeit being good, is quite pricey.

But Sushi Tei was my to-go place for the last few months, because I find the quality of the fish consistent (at least for Holland V and Paragon branch), and pretty good. The only thing I didn't like about it is that it feels like a chain. The standard items are there, but other than traditional sushi, they don't really have anything that seizes you.

Until I found Itacho. Special mention to my friend Luyi who introduced me to this heavenly place. Sure, it is a franchise too, which originates from Hong Kong. The only difference is that the owner is known for purchasing the top grade fish, and he brings in the freshest fish on a daily basis.

On top of it, they prepare fish on sushi several ways. They can sear it, leave it raw, or garnish them with really good seasonings like yuzu, salt or truffles.

AND the prices are reasonable. I did not say cheap because they are just a tiny bit cheaper than Sushi Tei, and that is if you don't eat a lot. I eat a lot and I have a taste for the more expensive stuff, so the bill turns out to be about the same...but I am much happier eating here, because every sushi is more tasty, and it's just more exciting.

A japanese restaurant should be about the fish, and in this restaurant, the limelight is the fish. I love that they have several different fresh fish every day, and they all sound interesting.

Mi amor!

 The prices are per piece, so it's really good for trying expensive items, if you don't know if you'll like it.

 The chawanmushi with salmon roe was pretty good. I would say that it is on par with sushi tei. Worth ordering if you are into it.

 The daily special included mackerel braised in miso over fried tofu (top left), and I have to say, it brings me back to my fav braised mackerel in Sakura restaurant on Convoy... The sauce is very good, and the mackerel meat is fatty and soft.

On the bottom, the yellowtail is 1.90 per piece, and I got the ones garnished with yuzu and black truffles. Freshest yellowtail I've had in Singapore. For some reason, Singapore doesn't get very good yellowtail, usually tainted with a slight fishy-ness. This is really fresh.

 The toro. I will get to it later...

 The jumbo scallop was sublime. This is one scallop cut into four pieces, and it is fresh and sweet!

 The anago which is actually one sushi piece, but it is sweet and yummy!

 Foie gras sushi which is actly on the dry side. Not ordering it again but I like that it's on the menu!

 The roasted fatty salmon sushi is THE BOMB. It is seared lightly, and so fatty it melts in your mouth!

 The toro with tendons is the best toro I've had in Singapore. Hands down. It looks good, and melts in your mouth into a pool of fatty goodness.

 The daily specials!

Also, on a sidenote, I want to thank Deron for making me his yummy carbonara these days. Yum! :)