Dude! My cravings were satisfied at Artichoke.

I had the pleasure of being in the company of 10 over chefs-to-be from the Culinary Institute of America at an informal, lively communal dining at Artichoke Cafe & Bar. I swore to stay away from town during the F1 weekend, but relented in the end because I was seduced by the special menu. Be prepared to drool buckets because the food was AWSUM.

The three different types of dips came first, served with piping hot and crispy breead with an olive-y soft centre. The red one is called Beetroot Borani, the one in the middle is the Carrot Curry Tzatziki and the one on the top right is the Chickpea Hummus. My favourite is the Carrot Curry Tzatziki with the pomegranate seeds. The hummus is one of the better ones I’ve tasted, really smooth and flavourful. Yum.

The dish in the middle with the round thing on top is called the Midnight Munchies. It is made up of crunchy ramen, fresh veggies, kimchi (I swear, it must have slipped past my buds cos I didn’t taste any) smoked egg and some nuts. We had a good time picking at the salad and I got a little too excited when Rasyidah cut the egg and out came the perfect yolk. No regrets there.

The Salmon Pancake caused the war of flavours on my tastebuds. There were so many different flavours infused in one dish, I had trouble savouring them. The pancakes were soft and the smoked salmon was like any other smoked salmon but the sour cream gave it an extra kick. Nay on the onions though. Maybe if it were caramalised, I might reconsider.
This was my second favourite dish. These babies were glazed with Red Bull. How cool is that? I make an exception to my no-sweet-on-my-savoury tastebuds to these wings. They were crispy, the glaze went perfectly well with the wings…
Awwww, yeah.
My picture does not do justice to this steak. Each slice was succulent, melts in your mouth and packed with flavour. One tiny downside though, the sauce was rather sweet. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t overpoweringly sweet, I just don’t like my meat.. sweet. Hmm. Let’s just say I prefer things that are savoury to stay savoury. Otherwise, it was a great piece of steak. Price was slightly steep though. But good steak.
I didn’t get to try the Artichoke’s signature Bak Chor Mee sandwiches because I don’t eat pork. Bak Chor mee is essentially a noodle dish of Teochew origin with minced pork and loads and loads of sambal (chilli paste) on it. I remember my Chinese friends devouring bowls after bowls of these in school, and the redder it was with chilli, the spicier it tastes and the more ‘shiok’ (awesome) it was.
So this signature dish had savoury minced meat and crispy deep fried meepok noodles (flat, yellow and starchy kinds) encased in soft, steamed buns. Traditionally, the noodles be boiled.. but in this case, it’s deep fried. The meat seemed to have been braised in soy sauce.. with a tinge of spiciness from the sambal. Rasyidah added that it’s a ‘ride for the mouth and the palette’. So it must be excellent. It had to be, since it was the dish represented Singapore at a recent Copenhagen food event.

The Lamb Poutine was my favourite dish of the lot. It may not look wholly appetising in this picture, but trust me… that was some delicious lamb. The meat was succulent, just like the steak and bits of it were charred to perfection and the fatty taste was just mmmmmm~ The fries paled in comparison to the party that was going on in my mouth, but hey… I have to admit it was a great sidekick.

We topped the meal off with a great tray of dessert. I am not a huge fan of sweet things, but I love the soursop meringue pie. It’s sweet and sour and the crust is crispy and semi-savoury. So, so good.

Overall, the dining experience at Artichoke was a pleasant one. Loved the ambiance of the cafe; it was very warm an welcoming. The service is great, plus, we did a tour of the edible garden right outside the cafe! We got to try Chocolate mint leaves among other leaves. I am so not a culinary student. The prices were a little too steep, but the experience was definitely value for money.
I love the idea of communal dining where we’d order a few things to share and you have hands reaching out all over to grab at a piece of food. It doesn’t make you feel completely full, but a meal always tastes better when shared. 
Don’t you think?

 Click here for more #Blogtember posts!

Weekly Wishes #9
Previous week’s wishes:
❤ Finish recording a song
❤ Take a test roll on le Diana Mini
❤ Cook something new
❤ WORK, I NEED WORK.

Last week had been pretty great. I managed to have just enough money to sustain me till payday, which is a GREAT accomplishment having to work with $600. 

It’s the season to fall sick! I was down with the flu a greater part of last week and still am battling the sniffles. I am trying hard not to depend on my Blue Best Friend, but unfortunately, I have had to succumb twice this time. But I made some ground beef hash for lunch last week. It was YUMMEH and very, very satisfying. 

I am FINALLY going to do some travelling! This coming Thursday I will be Beijing-bound! Can’t wait to get into the aircraft and learn something.. and do some exploring of course.
WEEKLY WISHES #9
❤ Drink at least 1.5 litres of water everyday
❤ Try at least ONE strange food in Beijing (and live to tell the story)
❤ Pack bags, prepare items for Beijing AND the following week
❤ Get at least 5 new blogger friends!

❤ Drink at least 1.5 litres of water everyday
I’ve seen this wish floating around blogosphere the past week and am inspired to do the same! I don’t drink enough water sometimes, and my lips get chapped and broken and sore. It’s going to be worst when I am in Australia the next couple of weeks as the weather there is significantly drier than hot, humid Singapore. I don’t wanna get dry lips that escalated into painful rashes on my upper lip. That wasn’t fun.
❤ Try at least ONE strange food in Beijing (and live to tell the story)
My friend Miao went to Beijing for New Year and told me how exciting Beijing city was. From the shopping to the strange food and the Great Wall, she recounted a couple of very interesting tales of her trip. One of which was when she tried eating a grilled starfish. She described the little morsel as ‘sandy’. Halfway through the sandy experience, the lady who sold her the starfish yelled at her to peel off the skin first before eating. Needless to say, she didn’t have a great experience with the starfish. 

❤ Pack bags, prepare items for Beijing AND the following week
It’s gonna be an intensely packed month for me in October. Once I come back from Beijing, I have less than 24 hours to get ready for a week-long trip to Darwin.. with a stopover in Manila before making our way to Narita, TOKYO! Finally, my dreams of visiting Japan are coming true! I must make sure to pack extra sweaters since it’s spring in Darwin and autumn in Japan. Don’t want to have to buy warm clothings like I had to in Chiangmai because it got unexpectedly cold.

❤ Get at least 5 new blogger friends!
It’s a little bit of a long shot… But, I am going to try. I am opening up my sidebar for you to place your ads, and the best part is… it is completely FREE! That’s right. It’s free and easy to advertise on my blog. Just drop me an email at to indicate your interest. Do put ‘BUTTON SWAP’ in your header so it’s easy for me to get back to you :)
Hope you have a smooth sailing week ahead!

Oh she was but, a fool.

Blogtember Day 12 – Creative writing day: write a (very short) fictional story that starts with this sentence: “To say I was dreading the dinner party would be the understatement of the century.”


To say I was dreading the dinner party would be the understatement of the century. We were all dressed to the nines; clad in sexy, uber classy dresses, high heels, hair set and red lips. My to-do list for tonight was simple: 

1. Drink all the champagne 
2. Kiss some hot guys, 
3. Have some fun 
4. Try not to make eye contact with Him. 

There were 30 other people in the clique to socialise with, and hundreds others when we head to the party venue, so that seemed like a pretty easy task.

Great. Of all people to be stuck in a taxi with, WHY HIM? I swear, He had gone down to the lobby first while I herded all the semi-drunken sheep from the hotel suite to get their asses downstairs. Shouldn’t He have packed them up nicely into the cabs and gone off with them? Why did He have to hover around like a fly waiting to be smacked till I had no choice but to share space with him? Thank God the other three companions were awesome.. no, four. We managed to seduce the cab driver to squeeze in an extra person. Do not ask.

The whole night had been brilliant so far. I spent the past hour drinking ‘classy wine’ as Joseph called it, had – for once- appropriate conversations with friends whose alcohol levels are way above limits and did a little scoping around the room, enjoying the view of delicious looking men in suits. Many people said how good I looked that night; men of different nationalities have come up to me and asked for a dance. I did all that, and maybe rewarded some of them with a little kiss or two, but deep in my heart I wished that He was the one who told me I look pretty; His was the cheek and/or lips I kissed and He was the man who had asked me for a dance.

Unfortunately, He hadn’t said a word to me that night, not that I expected any from Him. But what I’ve noticed from time to time were the glances he was giving me. Some were subtle and some, like the last one I caught, was unabashed. Jessica dragged me towards the bar for more drinks. I hesitated, because in order to get to where she wanted to go, we’d have to walk by Him. The tension in the space between us mounted as I drew closer to Him.

“You look beautiful tonight.”

I froze, not knowing what to do next. Jess had skipped ahead to score some free drinks and I just… didn’t know if I should believe what I just heard. It couldn’t be anyone else. I know the voice of Mick Lawner anywhere. 

Without warning, a soft touch ran down the slit of my dress where it ended at the middle of spine. I felt him putting his face on my shoulder, right next to my ear. He was so close, I could literally hear him breathing. This was the most contact we had, ever, and we were friends, or whatever the hell we were for a very long time. I melted at his touch, against my better judgment. He just knew what ticked me. He knew, me. 

He held his face there for what seemed to be the longest five seconds of my life, before turning in to give me a kiss. I turned towards him and surrendered to what was my wildest dreams come true.

“I can’t take my eyes off you, Mia.”

I was a huge fool.

**
I know this was supposed to be a very short story, but honestly this is the shortest I’ve written in a long, long time. Accomplishment of the year: I started and FINISHED a damn story. Woohoo!
 Click here for more #Blogtember posts!

Ride on the magic schoolbus!

Hank Butitta bought a bus. And his idea of turning a school bus into a livable, comfortable and flexible space is ingenious. This is perfect for a road trip with a few friends, a party bus or maybe somewhere to rest your tired souls during the Burning Man Festival maybe.

I love how the space is so flexible. It could be a functional workspace by day, and party house by night. Pull out a few hidden compartments, toss some pillows on them and you can have a cosy girls’ night in! 
I wish we had the money and the expertise to design and build something as awesome as this. It would have made all road trips and party buses waaaaay more awesome than it already is. 

Weekends in Melbourne

Today for the Blogtember challenge, we’re only supposed to share pictures!

Here are some of the pictures I took during my 2-week stint in Melbourne. We didn’t do a lot of sightseeing as 75% of the time, we were working.. hard. Here are the finer parts of the trip I enjoyed.

 Click here for more #Blogtember posts!

What I Ate Wednesday: Savoury Egg Custard

I’ve finally succeeded in making the yummy egg custards I love so much from Sakae Sushi. Rasyidah and I used to go every. single. freaking. week when we were both back in school (and richer apparently) and I’d order at LEAST two Unagi Chawanmushi. Now the quality of Sakae Sushi’s buffet has gone down, and eels are on the soon-to-be-extinct list… I have to find alternatives.
These little savoury treats are so easy to make! You just need eggs, some condiments, a ramekin, an oven or a steamer. The trick to the flavour of the chawanmushi is this:
BONITO FLAKES!
These are the same things you sprinkle on top of your takoyaki (you know, the one that looks like it’s alive) and they taste so good! So what I did was to bring a pot of water to a boil and add in the bonito flakes. Kill the flames and let the mixture steep for 5 minutes. After which you strain it through a sieve and the end result is a nice cup of clear, yellow liquid packed with flavour. The Japanese call it the Dashi stock, but I didn’t add dried kombu seaweed to enhance the flavour… so I don’t know what to call it. 

Crack two eggs and whisk it with a tablespoon (or two) of soya sauce. I made this twice; the first time I didn’t add pepper and a dash of salt and I found it rather bland. The second time made with a dash of salt and pepper along with two tablespoons of light soya sauce, was perfect.

The next part is a little tricky. I didn’t measure how much dashi I poured into the egg mixture, maybe a little less than 25 ml to 2 eggs.. It’s more of a trial and error process. I found that the less dashi you put, the less silken the texture of the chawanmushi would be. So, good luck with experimenting!

After whisking the dashi in with the egg, strain the mixture through a sieve to eliminate all the gooey slime, resulting in a bright yellow, smooth and goo-free liquid.

I added a few cooked shrimps and some mushrooms into the base of the ramekin. I was out of shitake mushrooms, and I neither had chicken nor gingko nuts but you can literally put anything to your fancy inside the chawanmushi.  Pour the egg mixture into the ramekin and set it on a baking tray. Fill the tray with boiling water till it covers half the ramekin. Put it into your oven (I set it to 150 C) and leave it to cook for a little over 15 minutes. Really depends on your oven really.

Practice makes perfect! I hope someday I’ll perfect my chawanmushi making skills so that it’ll look like as flawless as this:

xx

If I could relive this day…

It was more than just a memory. This day was, in my humble opinion, the most perfect day of 2012. It was the day where 12 friends who had been travelling far and wide for quite awhile, reunited on a single island.

The morning was a little angst-ridden, but the day got better as it rolled by. While we were having lunch, Farhan happened to ride by in his bike and catcalled at us, the way only a Singaporean would do to another Singaporean. It had been a month since I last saw him as he had been in Cambodia, travelling. I was thrilled to see him.

Later in the evening, Joey, who had been sketchy about his plans before, had showed up at the doorstep of the hostel we stayed at asking the boys if they had a charger. Him being there made everything just PERFECT.

It was a semi-relaxed night, chilling round the campfire at the beach and dancing to the tunes that seemed to escalate in intensity as the night wore on. Dinah and Helmi suggested getting a massage and I went with them. I will never say no to a massage in Thailand. Come on.

2 hours later, I stepped outside and Joey was waiting for me with two cups of… whatever it was. I stared at him, dumbfounded, couldn’t believe he actually remembered our pact to ‘chug’ at least a drink down every time we saw each other (a pact that lasted even till today). We went back to the campfire, where we last left everyone else and found that nobody was there anymore. I craned my neck to look for the signs of a familiar face and I found them…. in the sea.

My friends were prancing around in the shallow waters, fully dressed and completely sober. Before I knew it, Farhan literally scooped me up and dunked me into the water with him. That idiot, thank God I managed to take out my phone from my pockets and dumped it with the rest of our belongings.

There was a whole load of drama that night, a lot of interesting stories unfolding and a lot of promises to keep mouths shut were made. But despite all that, it was a perfect night. I wouldn’t mind reliving it all over again.

 Click here for more #Blogtember posts!

Weekly Wishes #8
Previous week’s wishes:
❤ GET LAUNDRY DONE
❤ Start writing again
❤ Enjoy the downtime while it lasts
❤ Quit obsessing over black cats.

I am proud to say that I’ve been quite productive last week. I got my 90% of my laundry done, met up with a couple of people I haven’t seen in ages.. And I started writing again from scratch after getting inspired by the grand party on The Great Gatsby. 

My uniform had been altered and ready to be worn whenever they decide to roster me in for duty. According to the email sent, we were to receive our schedule for the next month today. It is already 1740 hours in Melbourne and there are no signs of an updated roster. Sigh. I am getting a little stir crazy here.

The past weekend had been insane. Spent a quiet Friday night in, curled up with a book and a mug of hot cappuccino. Saturday was party night at Tanjong Beach Club. I haven’t partied in a long, long while and let’s just say it was crazy. I was glad to be with great friends who made sure to look after each other no matter how messed up we were. The next day I woke up with a terrible headache. It was so bad, I think my hangover had a hangover. Sunday was a little more relaxed. Movie afternoon with the same people I partied with last night.. and a family dinner. It was overall a great weekend.

WEEKLY WISHES #8
❤ Finish recording a song
❤ Take a test roll on le Diana Mini
❤ Cook something new
❤ WORK, I NEED WORK.
❤ Finish recording a song
I am the kind of person who listens to a song, likes it and intends to cover it. I downloaded a TON of instrumental tracks off YouTube but 80% of the time, I don’t end up covering the song. The last song I did was a collaboration with my ultra talented cousin, Herlmi.

And I haven’t had the inspiration (nor the voice) to sing anything. But my big sister’s birthday is coming up and she loves Lana Del Ray. So I was thinking to do a song for her (in addition to the god-expensive truffle oil she wanted so much) as a gift.

❤ Take a test roll on le Diana Mini
I haven’t taken any quality film pictures this year, and I am itching to start again. Thankfully, my neighbour agreed to loan me her Diana Mini for my experimentation. I have recently gotten my hands on expired films… like 5 years expired kinds.. for a great steal and I can’t wait to use them. Especially, when I have a very, very good looking subject waiting for me. Hee.

❤ Cook something new
I have a strange craving for homemade chicken noodle soup since Melbourne and the best recipe I found so far takes like 4 hours.. and a whole freaking chicken to cook. I will try to come up with something. The thought of slurping down the smooth, warm and flavourful broth is just…….. mmmm.

❤ WORK, I NEED WORK!
I’ve never been so eager to start work, ever. But a three week long hiatus from work is driving me crazy. (I am going to regret this when I actually start working) If I weren’t so broke, I would have taken this opportunity to travel. But no, my bank account is squeezed dry, hence I have to stay home and endure the wrath of my mum. So I am really hoping they’d schedule me for some flights before I forget the stuff I learnt a month ago. A. MONTH. AGO.

Still obsessed with black cats. WHY ARE YOU SO CUTE.

Me, myself and that girl sitting by the window.

I am quite an awkward creature whereby I’d shy away from taking a photo ALONE, offering to be the one TAKING the photo instead. I don’t mind really mind candid shots where I don’t look so unglam though.
The above picture was taken during one of the best nights last year. 30 of us were in a five star hotel in Kuala Lumpur, getting ready for a wild night out. I still looked pretty decent here (makeup intact, hair un-tousled) because what came after was………. unforgettable.
The next day while on the bus going home, we were reviewing the photos and this one came up. By then I have completely forgotten the existence of this picture. One friend noted that this was one of the very few photos EVER anyone had of me alone. So while they were wolf whistling and teasing me good-naturedly about it, I was trying very hard to melt into the chair or disappear…. anything to draw myself away from the attention. 
Like every other person on this earth, I indulge in taking self portraits or selfies – that’s the in word these days, but I am rather self conscious about the way I look so I don’t usually post them. This would probably the only post with SO MANY BLOODY PICTURES OF MYSELF, I promise it won’t happen again.
But here’s one last picture:

Click here for more #Blogtember posts!

❤

What I Ate Wednesday: Roasted Veggies (AGAIN!)

I know, I know… This is my second roasted veggies post (first being here). But words can’t describe how much I love popping these little morsels in the oven. The smell of them roasting is just MARVELLOUS! And when roasted just right- slightly charred, the burst of flavours in your mouth… just, mmmmm~
This time I experimented with zucchinis and butternut squash. I am not a huge fan of pumpkin-variety vegetables.. but including the squash was the best decision I made today. The sweetness of the squash goes really well with the other veggies. I topped the dish with some goat cheese (an acquired taste, but I love it) and it was PERFECT!

1 2