07 Jan 2011 - Lai Lai Family Kitchen

A colleague passed him a $5 voucher for Lai Lai Family Kitchen, a place where both of them had wanted to return for a while. This was where they headed after work, arriving slightly after 8pm, hungry and tired.

Placed orders for 2 sets of beef and tendon noodles in no time, with side dishes of braised pork intestine, crispy chicken, red milk tea and mango juice.

The amount looked disappointing, probably because it was from the set menu. Maybe they should have ordered a large bowl of it a la carte. The meat and tendon were still large and chunky, generous enough. And this time round, the soup didn't taste as salty as before, evident as he emptied his bowl.


The crispy chicken lived up to its name, dusted with pepper, lightly salted and still pipping hot. This was also served with some fried fragrant curry leaves. Halfway through the dish, he picked up a piece of chicken and uncovered a dead insect drowned in oil. He made it known to a waitress, who apologised for it and immediately requested for a replacement for them. Good service is much appreciated when online postings complaining of slipshod service attitude are widespread. Big plus point for the restaurant.


The other side dish of pork intestine. They felt that it was a tasty and generous serving, but he also thought that it still smelt a little too strong for his liking. On a side note, this was very soft, as opposed to the springy ones he had tried in Taiwan.

01 Jan 2011 - Crystal Jade (La Mian Xiao Long Bao)

They had wanted to visit the fountain of wealth before catching a movie back in the neighbourhood. However, it seemed that visiting hours were already over by the time they got there. Had a bit of time to spare and she suggested that they grab some food, checking in at Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao.

He ordered beef brisket noodles. Noodles were springy and soup was savoury but not overtly salty. However, the amount of meat seemed to be lacking, and he told himself that he should return to Lai Lai Family Restaurant soon for a good bowl of beef noodles.


Her bowl of top grade beef noodles, with seafood, dumplings, egg and some other accompaniments. The variety probably made up for the few thin slices of beef.


Also placed an order for soup dumplings (xiao long bao). Quite good, the burst of soup with the first bite is always gratifying.

the mother of all stars

Have you ever wondered how stars were born? Introducing the mother of all stars, the papaya. He had never realised that papayas had cores in the form of a star. Wikipedia also lists that the seeds of the papaya are spicy, and are sometimes used to substitute black pepper. Should try it the next time round.


Just reading about the floods over at Queensland reminds him of the time spent there. Stubbies were always on the menu for dinner. No Australian beer found in the nearby supermarket, so he got some Stella Artois instead, despite some objections from her.

19 Dec 2010 - Universal Studios Singapore

She could finally visit the castle at Universal Studios Singapore!


The first ride that they took was "Revenge of the Mummy". Bad choice, he ended up with a headache and she took quite a bit of time to recover. So they walked around a bit and took photographs with the random stars appearing on the street.

Had fast food for late lunch at Friar's... just one beef mince wrap, some potatoes and a drink. Unfortunately, only managed to take a photograph of the window in low lighting.


After roaming the park for one whole day, legs were aching and stomachs were grumbling. She suggested dining at The Mussel Guys. Though he had 2 bad experiences at the Vivo City branch, he was starving, no more energy to think up of another place.

Blue mussels - got 2 pots, 500g and 350g. They were so hungry that they almost finished the soup in the pots. Some of the mussels seemed to have gone bad though, maybe a bad harvest.


Her steak and prawn set - 140g done medium well, accompanied by a grilled prawn, broccoli and mashed potato. At least not something that had gone bad.

12 Dec 2010 - Salad Sunday

She went to do her hair and was expected to be gone for hours. What did that mean?

Got up around noon and had chicken soup before watching streaming videos, going on a marathon. Felt hungry again at around 3pm, and had a craving for instant noodles. One packet wouldn't be filling enough, so he rummaged through the fridge and found some leftovers. Some lettuce leaves, one slice of cheese, near empty mayonnaise bottle.

Soaked the lettuce while he slurped up the peppery noodles. Gave then lettuce a final rinse before shredding them. Added a teaspoon of olive oil, a teaspoon blob of mayonnaise, sprinkle of black pepper, and shredded some cheese to top it up.

There you go, the movie snack. Leafy vegetables help cool down a little on a hot day.

17 Nov 2010 - home-made oyster vermicelli

Just yesterday, they visited the supermarket. Some of the ingredients were gotten so that they could satiate cravings for oyster vermicelli (mee sua).

What they bought:
1x pack of vermicelli $1.10
1x pack of frozen oysters $4
1x pepper corn grinder $7.08
2x packs of cheese sausages $7.95
1x pack of parsley $0.85

Woke up really late today, so oyster mee sua was to be late brunch. Preparations as below, they used 2 pots of water, 1 for mee sua and another for blanching the oysters. Please note that this tastes nothing like the Taiwanese version which many of us love, it's just homemade and good enough for them.

For the mee sua pot:
1. Put to boil 3 bowls of water in the pot
2. Add 2x chicken stock cubes into the pot, 1x tablespoon premium dark soy sauce and 1x tablespoon standard dark soy sauce into the pot
3. Put mee sua into the pot when water starts boiling again
4. Add corn starch as needed to thicken the broth
(on hindsight, they probably should have tried adding a little Chinese culinary wine too)

For the oysters
1. Defrost and rinse (some of them burst easily, sad)
2. Drain and pat with corn starch
3. Blanch oysters in batches in the other pot of boiling water using a colander ladle (to protect oysters from strong bubbling)
4. Remove and put in a serving bowl to cool

To serve, heap vermicelli into a bowl, then add oysters at the top. Garnish with condiments of your choice. For them, one teaspoon of vinegar adds some zest, another teaspoon of sesame seed oil for aroma, and decorating with a sprig of parsley completes the picture with a certain sense of freshness.

His setting of the bowl for her


Her setting of the bowl for him


Sounds all beautiful, right? In between, they had actually microwaved a remaining potato to make cheese potato. Put the new grinder toy to work, and sprinkled the peppercorns onto the melted cheese. She added a sprig of parsley just for the picture.


They also had a pack of 5 cheese sausages microwaved, but it had all been gobbled up way before they even remembered the camera.

14 Nov 2010 - Yuki Yaki

He saw Citibank 1 for 1 Sunday dinner buffet at Indulge at Grand Park, Grand Park Hotel City Hall. Nothing's free in this world, better check if the deal's still on. He tried calling the listed numbers restaurant reservation, hotel reception, and none of his calls were picked up. Adopted an apprehensive approach and reached the restaurant at 4+pm, where the reservations counter was manned by one lady. They stood in front of her while she was very busy answering 2 telephones that kept ringing, jotting down room service details, etc.

Tired of standing, he approached the hotel reception for help, which couldn't help out in any way. After what seemed like eternity, the desk phone finally stopped ringing and the tired restaurant reservations lady asked what they wanted. He then asked to reserve seating for 2, and she immediately informed them that the Citibank promo quota had been reached. It sounded very nonsensical to him at that moment, and he decided so have dinner elsewhere instead.

Grand Park Hotel City Hall lobby, the only thing we got out of the trip there.


It was a rainy day, and she was unhappy that she didn't get to have her international buffet. Perhaps they should have just continued with the plan. In any case, it was still 1.5 hours to dinner, so he decided for them to try something more novel.

Got over to Marina Square and checked themselves into Yuki Yaki. It's been around for years but it's his first time eating there. Supposed to be a 2-hour buffet and 0.5 hour DIY ice cream session.

Started off with fried salmon skin, octopus, nuggets and some sushi.


The attentive young waitress set up the barbecue for them, and left some butter to melt.


The master grilling the different marinated beef


After one grill, the foil would have become charred. To minimise wastage of the foil, they grilled seafood on it before having it changed. The mussels were OK but the bamboo clams were too fishy.


Her favourite snack/appetiser of pickled seaweed.


His - salmon sashimi.


After the foil change, she fought for her turn to grab the food. Salmon chunks, chicken wings mid-joints and more beef.


The second round of sashimi - she liked the prawns while he found them a little squishy, mushy...


Twin-sharing pot of herbal chicken soup and miso soup. She brought over 2 large servings of vegetables and mushrooms nonchalantly, claiming it would be easy to finish them. Guess what? He ended up having to be the receptacle.


After 2 hours of struggle, it was time to switch the hot plate for the cold plate. Ice cream making time! Their waitress transferred them to another table so that they could start making ice cream in a shorter time, instead of waiting for their hot plate to cool.


Let the games begin! DIY ice cream, they played like kids. Choco-mint mix in this picture.


Either chocolate or cappuccino, can't remember.


Mint ice cream


The making of vanilla ice cream. Spread the ice cream on the cold plate, sprinkle in toppings, let it cool for a bit before moulding.


One eyed skull ice cream drawing which they left for a long while, forgetting to flip. Tasted more of ice than cream.


Durian ice cream


Moulding the chocolate ice cream into a rectangular shape.


DIY ice cream roll


When it was time to call it a day, they realised that they had been in the restaurant for 3.5 hours. So tough on the stomach... and health probably took a hit.