c o m m e n c e m e n t

Yup the classic mortar board throwing.. To mark the end of 18 years of formal education, and especially the last 4 gruelling years of undergraduate life... Kinda bitter-sweet though..

To satisfy the curiosity of what was exchanged on stage that took so long, he asked me whether I would be continuing with Masters studies. To which I replied that I am working and would like to have a taste of industry first before considering my options again. And the poor guy seemed slightly disappointed, or perhaps I misread his expression. Oh well.

My parents who have supported me in all senses -- morally, spiritually, financially... Without whom it would all not have been possible. Looking back, it is quite amazing how they put up with my late nights and crankiness during exam periods etc... =P

My darling whom I'm blessed to have met at my stinct at NUS.. And my photographer for the day too! Noticed how amazing most photos turned out, like the sun-rays in the first photo? ;)

My lecture buddies for the 4 years (not including Mr Teddy Bear though)! Can't count the number of lectures we slept through together and lunches we had in and out of the LTs...

My fellow CSS Mech Engin friends! Still remember the first Xmas Celebrations when we took a photo making 'M E's with our fingers..

Must mention that my mum specially flew back to Singapore just to share in the joy of my commencement! And my sis and family flew back too! Many thanks to my sis and Andy for treating all of us to a celebration dinner at Town Restaurant, Fullerton Hotel!

Always been curious about the cafe seats along Fullerton Hotel which overlook the Singapore River, opposite Victoria Concert Hall. Was reading through reviews online to scout for a good place to eat and chanced upon rather good ones on their seafood buffet, and so learnt that Town Restuarant's the one I've been wanting to check out too! Lots of salmon (as in photo above), cold lobsters, scallops, sashimi, delicious mee siam and minestrone soup, chocolate mousse with a crunch, refreshing pomelo etc fruit punch to wash it down... And a great view of the Singapore River and VCH to boot!

l a k s a p e s t o

Laksa Pesto Pasta
Doesn't that just look like a beauty? Haha... Ok I admit I think I'm going nuts, but I finally tried this fusion dish I've been dying to cook! =P Fell in love with pesto sauces in Germany, and restaurants boasting fusion cooking in Singapore have been using local herbs like the (in)famous laksa leaves you see all ground up on the noodles... Supposed to use egg pasta but happened to have egg noodles at home so they came in handy. ;) Supposed to have prawns too, but I spotted these rib-eye steaks on offer in the supermarket so that was our meat for the meal. Adapted from a recipe I googled online, and it turned out really well!! My dad totally loved it! Haha.. I guess it's still dependent on whether you're a fan of laksa though.

Been meeting up with friends, trying to watching the stuff I've been hoarding (yes, I procrastinate entertainment gosh), catching up with my reading, playing some music at home... Sometimes it feels like I'm rushing to do all I've been wanting to before my last weeks of freedom's up.. Sometimes can't believe that I'm going to work for good next week already. Not a vacation job, not an internship, but a proper full-time job.. Argh can't help but feel a 'lil old...

j o y s o f c o o k i n g

Hainanese Pork Chop
Been trying some new recipes and perfecting some others, now that I have a few weeks left before I start work... Teriyaki sauce is surprisingly easy to make, with most ingredients readily available in most Singaporean kitchens! Also tried making some inside-out californian maki, which can be quite messy hee... The above's largely following my mum's recipe for Hainanese Pork Chop -- it's as yummy as it looks! =D Used the artificial vinegar the previous time, but found it a bit too sharp for my liking so had to add lots of sugar, but used the jap rice vinegar from my sushi making this time and it's so much better!

Gingerbread Cupcake @ Auntie Shahz
Been baking with Auntie Shah too, forgot to take a photo of the yummy oatmeal cheesecake we made before finishing it off argh! Just made some gingerbread cupcakes last week too, it's oh-so-delicious with the aroma of ginger and nutmeg and cinnamon, with a tinge of ginger that's not overpowering at all (yes, coming from someone who usually detests eating ginger). Some like it cold, but think I still prefer it warm, as the insides are nicely warm and moist yet the crust has a slight crunch to it mmm...

s a p p o r o r a m e n b i s h a m o n

Salmon Sashimi Rice @ Sapporo Ramen Bishamon
Tried this little ramen restaurant at Raffles City basement, somehow I guess in some extent due to the layout of that area of restaurants (cramped side-by-side with most of their tables outside along the corridor instead of within the contained restaurant premises itself), it seems to give one a fight-or-flight kind of feeling during the meal. Perhaps it's all planned for, given the lunch crowd that area would draw from offices around, hmm... The salmon sashimi was not bad, no fishy taste or smell to it at all, rice was slightly sweet (to Ivan's delight haha) and strewn with Ebiko bits (to my delight muahaha). The bento-bowl it came in seemed rather small. Comes with a tiny clump of preserved ginger (which we both can't stand oops) and a bowl of miso soup too. And that's about all to that dish though.

Special Miso Ramen @ Sapporo Ramen Bishamon
The portion's not too bad, with quite a bit of ramen (but of course), quite a sizeable slice of pork, and yippee, some bamboo shoots too! The soup's unfortunately nothing much though, would rather opt for the soups at the restaurants in Liang Court anyday... =P

d e l i g h t & d e l i c i o u s

Full Moon Burger @ Delight 'N' Delicious
Tried this western food stall with a rather interesting menu, located in a coffee shop at Jalan Membina (which is really quite near my place muahaha). This burger comes in a Full Moon serving of 2 x 150g patty and a Half Moon version. Patties are quite juicy and drizzled with melted mozarella mmhmm... Only thing is that the bread and veggies come separately (burger's too large to stay together, or simply a matter of presentation?) so could get kinda messy trying to eat it together hee...

Paprika Chicken @ Delight 'N' Delicious
Chicken with spices and mozarella melted over it. Didn't find it that exciting, but that is one yummy albeit rather buttery mashed potato... Could almost square up to Popeye's mashed potato, though it would lose a few points in the sauce department...

Proscuitto di Parma Pasta @ Delight 'N' Delicious
Ingredients of the usual ham and mushrooms, but what I really like about this pasta is the creamy tomato sauce. Found their rendition of the sauce slightly too runny though...

Chargrilled Ribeye Steak @ Delight 'N' Delicious
Woot! Look at all that blood!! That's what I call medium rare. And steak for $13.80! Only slight let-down is that some bits of it were unfortunately a bit tough hmm...

Hot Chocolate Brownie @ Delight 'N' Delicious
Nice warm brownie that wasn't too dry nor too heavy, and comes with quite a sizeable scoop of vanilla ice cream on it too! Quite impressed that they even put in effort to do some art with streaks of jam and chocolate fudge, thumbs up for this $4.50 dessert! Generally not too bad a place for some western food near home, they even have a discount card that give you some free food with a certain number of stamps collected hee, only gripe would be the level of noise in the usual coffee shop setting, but oh well, that's what you get for a relatively economical bill for that quality and quantity of food at the end of the meal!

d i n n e r @ e s p l a n a d e

Strongbow apple cider @ Harry's Bar
Here's Ivan's latest rave... Zappel with a tinge of alcohol! Muahaha... =P Makes me miss the wonderfully cool smooth and refreshing Apfelwein that we tasted on our first trip to Germany, in Frankfurt mmmm... Oh, to his delight, this particular Harry's at CHIJMES is apparently some Liverpool fan territory...

Bailey's Irish Cream Hot Cake @ The Cookie Museum
Was reading how some online bloggers were going googoogaga over this dessert, couldn't help myself but splurge a bit and try it at The Cookie Museum at the Esplanade.. =P Really one opulent tai-tai place decked out in victorian... Sadly the whipped cream topping the hot cake slipped off just as I was taking this photo sigh... The cake itself is nothing much to comment about, but the sauce at the bottom is quite amazing, I actually requested for spoons to scoop up every bit of decadence hee... However Ivan found that it contains a bit too many flavours though, such that it overpowers the cake totally oh well...

Pomegranate Ruby Tea @ The Cookie Museum
To wrap up a night of sinful gastronomy, we had some sips of this light tea. It smells really fruity and refreshing, but it's a bit erm too light for my taste... Let him sample the lavender cookies there too, I simply love 'em! But be warned, it takes some getting used to eating something you usually associate with solely smelling... ;)

J B t r i p

Mozarella cheese-baked black pepper sauce chicken chop @ Yew's Cafe
Drove into JB for a day-trip with Ji Gu and Auntie Shah.. Initially we were afraid that our favourite roasted duck stall would be closed on Thursdays, but when we reached, to our horror, the entire coffee shop was undergoing demolishment works! And upon querying shopowners in the vicinity, the roast duck shopowner still hasn't found a new place yet. Woe to us.. =S So we moved on to another town, but on the way, we passed by this area with a bowling alley which Ji Gu has been thinking of trying but haven't got to it yet. So off we went into that shopping mall establishment that comprises mainly the bowling alley and this Bistro-restaurant, Yew's Cafe. Generally, prices are higher than the usual Malaysian fare, but considering the chic restaurant ambience and quality of western food, it's still quite a steal (after converting to SGD of course, and comparing with restaurants in Singapore).

Lamb Shank @ Yew's Cafe
My order was the chicken chop above, was quite a generous portion, albeit the sauce being slightly on the salty side. Lots of melted mozarella cheese with black pepper sauce and sausages on top mmm... Would never have tried mozarella with black pepper sauce as the sauce might overpower the cheese, but I just felt like having both that day, so why not just have the combination? ;) Auntie Shah had the Lamb Shank, which came with quite an impressive presentation. It was done in a stew sauce and was rather tender, although sadly the tulang-looking bone was devoid of bone marrow. Came with a serving of vegetables and mashed potatoes.

Ji Gu & his Tuna Spaghetti @ Yew's Cafe
Forgot to take a photo of this first dish that was served before devouring it. =P Was really not bad, having the right consistency, i.e. not too soggy nor dry, with enough sauce to go around, although the only gripe would be the rather miserable amount of tuna that came with it.

Auntie Shah & her Lamb Shank @ Yew's Cafe
That's Auntie Shah getting all prepared to dig into her succulent lamb shank... ;) I would say it's quite nice place to head to if you're in the mood for some western cuisine in JB and a pleasant air-conditioned dining environment.

Iced Lemon Tea & Curry Puffs & Goreng Pisang
Next we sent the car for servicing. We were told to return in 20 min however when we did, the mechanic was still not done, so we were chased off to have some tea first. Walked around the shophouses there, checked out some home contractors for fun, and finally got some Goreng Pisang and Curry Puffs from a roadside stall (the kind which is set up behind their own van). Only 1RM for 4 curry puffs! And with really crispy skin and tasty curry potato or sardine filling! What more can one ask for mmm.. It was quite a sweltering afternoon so we headed to a nearby coffee shop for some iced lemon tea and chendol too.

Lobster in 'Champion sauce' @ Jade Restaurant
Following that, we dropped by the kampong house and did a bit of cleaning up and had a wonderfully cold bath (no time to wash the car though sadly). Refreshed, we embarked on an hour-plus journey up to Pengarang for some seafood dinner! The previous time they were there with one of my cousins, they noticed that almost all the tables had ordered a plate of lobsters, so it's time to check 'em out! They come in three sizes and respective prices, and the waitress recommended their 'Champion sauce' that's of chicken broth base and has lots of wolfberry sweetness mmm... Mouthwatering huh? ;) Finger-licking goodness that was finished down to the last bits in their legs and all..

Steamed Fish @ Jade Restaurant
They also had two types of fish swimming around in their tanks. If I didn't remember wrongly, we had the garoupa, steamed in Hong Kong style (whatever that means haha). Really fresh, and not the least bit lor gor (referring to being more tough and not easily broken apart). Lovely delicious seafood dinner that was worth the trip up! =) Sweet ending to a relaxing pigging-out trip in JB hee...

h i g h l a n d e r c o f f e e

Macadamia Coffee Latte @ Highlander Coffee
Met Soon at Highlander Coffee, which is a cafe that also offers Barista workshops situated along Kampong Bahru Road, for a chit chat before he flies back to Germany this Sunday. Got to know this place through his intro cos he works around there. They serve really good coffee at reasonable prices (i.e. less than Starbucks etc) and provide free wireless internet for surfing too. And best of all, they actually bother to do coffee art! =D Ain't that a pretty twin heart on my coffee? ;) Their beverages come served with a caramel cookie too, been eyeing this brand of cookies ever since I went a'hunting for the tea-time caramel cookies which I used to pig out on in Germany (good stuff for dumping into your drinks hee)! Might go get some myself when I'm not feeling too fat (or when temptation just takes over)...

So much has happened in the slightly-less-than-a-year that passed... So many things in life are so transient.. At least there are memories to hold on to, but sometimes mine seem to be fading... Really glad to get to catch up with him this round he's back, but somehow keep getting this nostalgic removed feeling, like a reminder that my life less than a year ago was so different from what it is now and probably in the future too...

g r a d u a t i o n m a s s

CSS had Graduation/Exam Mass on the last day of semester before the start of reading week. Had blessings, some song singing, video presentations, lots of hugging and photo-taking... Generally quite emo... Somehow this last day of sem seems even more significant to me as I won't even be going back to campus for exams anymore... Yes yes, I'll explain this for the umpteenth time and risk getting shot at again -- I've managed to cram enough modules in all the previous sems and chose all non-examinable modules for this sem hee.. Quite 先苦后甜 huh... But at least I've got the peace of mind that if anything screws up in the earlier sems I can always salvage it later on without having to delay graduation... Glad all that planning paid off, really have to give thanks to God for it!

Dinner was provided after mass, with more fellowship and laughter... Will so miss everyone, from those whom I've known ever since I first stepped into CSS in Yr1 to those whom I've only started to get to know in the past year.. But I suppose it doesn't just end there, there'll always be the many gatherings during the hols and can always go back for campus mass when I've got the time, and might meet some at church etc... Simply am at a loss of words to describe how much journeying and growing with this community has enriched me.. Love all you guys!

s e l f m a d e

Chocolate and Banana Ice Cream cake with Chocolate Ganache Glazing
Been trying my hand out at making Ice Cream cakes (mainly to make one for my darling's bday hee). Quite fun to try out different variations of ingredients and proportions, my first one was quite disastrous haha... You won't believe how much unhealthy stuff goes into each bit of it though, they'll so be my downfall sigh... =P

Instant noodles passing off as a pasta dish
Yes, horror of horrors, I'm actually missing the generic pasta meals I used to dish up in Germany. So cooked this for lunch one day, with instant noodles instead of pasta. Minus the fresh mushrooms too. Argh I miss the fresh mushrooms that I used to always have stock of in my fridge...

a n e w s e a s o n

Charmaine & I
A New Season -- NUSSO's concert at UCC on 14 March 2009. Kinda marks the end of my undergrad journey with NUSSO and the start of a new phase in my life... That's Charmaine, my desk partner for most of the pieces this concert, a really bubbly, earnest Yr1 gal who made all those crazy note-reading rehearsals bearable. ;)

My dad, me, Ivan, Ivan's dad and mum (from left to right)
Really appreciate family and friends for coming, despite most not actually having been musically-trained or that great a fan of classical music... =) Pretty photos huh, thanks to Ivan's wonderful DSLR lens haha...

Yao Guai, Moli, me and Michael Tan (from left to right)
Oops, pai seh, can't remember her actual name, but she even happily calls herself Yao Guai on facebook haha.. One jovial lady, who upon hearing that the really tall Bassoonist is a German exchange student, commented "Ah, no wonder so ugly.", when she's a German herself haha... Unfortunately didn't manage to take photos with Winnie & her bf, Sam and Isaac before they left though..

Violin 2 gals
My violin 2 section for this year's concert! Ok, minus the handful of guys, which makes the Violin 1 guys really jealous haha... Really glad that the whole atmosphere within the orchestra has gotten so much friendlier and chummy after returning from Germany. Good job guys! Hope it'll persist... =) Sometimes music ain't all about technicalities, it's something human, something more intimate...

r a n d o m e a t s

Squid Ink Pasta with Smoked Salmon & Cream-based sauce @ Dome
Tried out Dome at Shaw House with Ivan, I must say service was quite impressive since I seem to remember that about them despite only blogging about this almost a month later. Quite cozy old-time decor, complete with my fav booth seat tables too. ;) First time having squid ink pasta without the pasta sauce being made of squid ink too. Doesn't seem much different from other pasta though, guess squid ink's not strong in flavour on its own anyway so the other tastes kinda overpower it. A generally nice combination which wasn't too jelak despite the cream-based sauce.

Deep-fried combo @ Dome
Typical deep-fried mix of calamari, chicken wings, prawns and potato wedges, served with 3 types of dip -- salsa, sour cream and chilli. The chilli one was surprisingly hot! The sour cream was unfortunately slightly bland, though it adds a refreshing dimension that's light on the palate when mixed with the other dips.

Mille-feuille @ Coffee Club
Which means thousand-layers in French, referring to the brownish bit peeking from behind the scoop of vanilla ice cream, adorned with raspberries and blueberries. Presentation was really sweet with a substantial amount of fruits and chocolate fudge blobs and a chocolate leaf, however it seemed to overshadow the actual protagonist of the dish. Which also sadly didn't perform up to expectations. The pastry was actually tough! We had some problems tearing it apart with our dessert forks. Oh well, at least the ambience at the outlet at Raffles City was really chill...

c u r r y f a v o u r

Ivan intro-ed me to Curry Favour that day (haha yes yes, my ubiquitous 'that day'). Somewhere around City Hall area.. Never knew it was linked to MoonRiver (though never been to either, despite having passed by both a couple of times).. Basically it's known for its Japanese curry. A typical dish has the usual sticky Jap rice and a tiny side of pickled ginger, and deep fried something, which in our case was fish and chicken (if my memory didn't fail me oops). Then it's served with this lovely amount of jap curry that comes in some contraption that looks almost like a genie lamp (yes, pardon me for my lack of vocab). Initially seemed like quite alot of curry, but cos it's not spicy yet rather tasty, don't be surprised that you'll be wondering where it all went before you notice it.. ;)

We had some crispy soft shell crab too.. Came with a wasabi mayo dip, remember having been served a similar at Cafe Cartel for theirs too.. Think it was a fair bit of crab mmm... Always had a soft spot for soft shell crab anyway hee.. Generally quite a nice dining experience I guess, with nice couches further in to lounge around too.. =)

v d a y

Had the sweetest ever Valentine's with my darl.. =P Really touched that he was putting so much effort into it and trying to keep the preparations hush hush so it'd be a surprise hee.. Can't stop gushing oops... That's my pretty light purple hydrangea set in its own quaint wicker basket -- my fav flower in my fav colour muahahaha.. The beauty of hydrangeas is in how a single stalk can naturally seem to be a bouquet on its own! =)

The pirate and his rum! Haha couldn't help myself but post this unglam photo of someone's alcoholic tendencies.. =P

Wasn't rum nor shandy.. Was actually Riesling! My gosh.. I'm no wine connoisseur but kinda liked them (a species of grape quite commonly grown in Germany) when I first tasted it in Germany.. Mmmm wine by the beach, with a soft sunset too.. How perfect can things get?

Perfecter! Pardon me, I simply had to coin that word.. Master chef's TLC work of art.. After much experimentation and sweat, voila! Pate and Avocada prawn salad which can't be described by any other word but heavenly... Would never had thought of making pate myself, especially not in Singapore hee.. But he apparently proved me wrong! And my my, that was one smooth salad, shan't further divulge his secret ingredients hee..

Simply had to fool around a bit with ice and fire as the sky turned dark... =P That was one really memorable Vday, couldn't have enjoyed it better, all thanks to my dearest!

d a i l y s c o o p

Waffle with Ameretto Ice Cream @ Daily Scoop
First heard of this ice cream parlor at Clementi Arcade along Sunset Way from the CSS people, so suddenly decided to look for it and give it a try after an afternoon at the career fair. Serves up a variety of homemade ice cream with some local flavours, such as Durian Durian (what else screams more 'Singaporean' than that?), and exotic ones such as Orange Tequila. Quite a number of flavours with liquer actually, how nice haha, though obviously the alcohol ain't that strong, can't imagine kids getting drunk in an ice cream, can you? ;) The ameretto's a almond liqeur, it came with mashmallow and chocolate bits too. The waffle was subtly crisp on the outside and soft inside, which is quite a well done version of the typical light Singaporean waffle in comparison to the heavier doughier Belgian waffle. Love both versions nonetheless.

Warm Chocolate Brownie with Lychee Martini @ Daily Scoop
The brownie's nothing to rave about, denser than the one I tried at Four Leaves but not as dense as the one at Mrs Field's. Lychee Martini's lychee flavour was rather refreshing, though the martini bit was hardly there.
Having had my fill of waffles yesterday at Olive Cove at NUS (finally) and today, think it brings me to the end of my waffle binge, but think my hunt for brownies has but just begun oops... =P

t e a

Viennese Chocolate Shortbread (Marks&Spencers) and
Ipoh White Coffee and
Peanut Cookies (First Choice) (in background)
Been pigging out on meals like breakfast and tea.. Blame it on being deprived of CNY cookies for 1 year haha, even Germany gets the blame for my Kaya spread craving! Sipping on ipoh white coffee while nibbling on cookies -- that's my idea of a perfect tea mmhmm.. Btw both cookies were bought while on promotion (good time to buy CNY cookies right after CNY as prices are slashed yet they're still rather fresh).

Chicken Curry Puff (1A)
Yes, I'm nuts enough to hunt down this stall at Block 94 Bukit Merah View, behind Henderson Primary School, which I heard is the original before the whole franchise chain started. Have always loved this version of the crispy curry puff, ever since my mum first bought them from some franchise stall at Jurong West (where we used to live in at one point in time). Not so much cos of the flaky skin, but rather for the really moist fillings which somehow seem to have gravy and yet not have been absorbed by the skin. The sardine version's delicious too. Helps that this stall's rather near to my home too muahaha..