Yummy Claypot

Due to work and other committment, we had to postpone a very important celebration till Sunday evening. 

In Singapore, when we talk about celebration, it is usually food.  

Not too sure what to eat and since Alicia wanted seafood and we old fogeys were too stingy to fork out on real seafood, we decided to check out the small little outlets in Katong. At Joo Chiat, home of the Viets, we came across this new claypot outlet. The decor looks good, there was a decent crowd inside and so we went in.

They served claypot and there was this big counter where the guy (yah.. look like from the PRC) was putting ingredient into small claypots.  Didn't look too promising now that we went nearer but we were already in so nevermind decided to give it a try. 

Their claypot soup was kept warm in a giant urn and not those glass and metallic steamers that are commonly used in stalls. We ordered the melon sharkfin or is it sharkfin melon soup which cost only $4 but was in a teeny weeny claypot. However, it tasted real good with big chunks of chicken.

We also ordered the house special - a double vege dish of kailan and seaweed fried with ikan bilis. This was quite different and the combination was rather palatable.

What is claypot without claypot rice? Initially we wanted the large portion but was 'encouraged' by the waitress to go for the single serving since the large claypot will take 40 mins to cook. So in the end we settled for ne of the normal chicken claypot and another pork rib claypot. Each claypot only cost $5.50. These was quite normal but for its price we ccouldn't really complain

Finally since Alicia originally wanted seafood and since they had some seafood on their menu, we ordered the XO crab bee hoon. This time we scored big time! The dish came with a mid size crab with plenty of roe boiled in rich creamy milk based soup favoured of course with XO. I must admit this was real good comparable to the XO fish soup noodle in Holland V. And the dish with the crab cost only $20! Real value for money!

 

Tiong Bahru Market

Yah we on Singapore Tourist Board's Uniquely Singapore website.

http://www.visitsingapore.com/publish/stbportal/en/home/about_singapore/fun_stuff/multimedia1.html

Just look for Tiong Bahru Market Breakfast and click on it.

Cheap thrill!

Blackmail

I don't like junk mail and I am not talking about those you find in the letter box. I am talking about those silly chain letters that people circulate via email; the type that ends with "send this to xxx people and you will be rich/misfortune will strike you blah blah blah....

So I do not have a habit of reading them more so forwarding them. I find people who forward this type of letter silly... imagine Microsoft giving $$$ to people to forward email (have anybody figure out how they are going to trace all these emails in the first place) or misfortune will strike you (if so I must have died a thousand death by now) BUT and this is a very big but the type of chain mail I hate the most are those with a religious message that goes something like:

"It is easy to pass jokes or foolish photos but when it comes to God, sometimes you feel ashamed to forward to others because ,............"

This latest one I got ends with:

If you are not ashamed in doing this, please, follow Jesus’ instructions. He said (Matthew 10:33): “But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven". If you are not ashamed, send this message... Only if you believe in Him."

It is not right to coerce people to forward things about religion using this method. Things like that should be all about free will and personal belief and not because some one makes you out to be ashamed of your own God! That is emotional blackmail!.

I am not ashamed of anything but as a matter of principal I do not forward chain mail of any sort and secondly I understand the sensitivity of sending religious materials to friends etc. Yea I can hear some people out there saying "but it is your duty to evangelise, spread the word of God blah....." and I agree but there is a time and a place for this and using chain mail with a threat of the wrath of God or ashamed of God is not it.

It will only turn people off just like those pompous rich people in those upmarket churches here who speak with a "my religion is superior to yours, therefore I am superior to you and you better believe in my God or you will go to hell....." attitude.

So good Christian friends out there - if you are reading this. thank you very much for your thoughts but please do not send me any such email in future. If you must share, set up a blog like a good friend of mine does and I will happily go there and read of my own free will.

No Meat Day

While on the way to work yesterday, out of the blue, have this insane thought that I have been having too much red meat in my daily diet and decided this was the day to do something about it. So resolved henceforth to reduce my intake of red meat starting from the same day by having a no red meat day at least once a week.

So the food I took for the day:

Breakfast = Cup of black coffee w/o sugar, egg mayo sandwich
Morning snack = 1 cup less sugar soya drink & 1 fragrant pear
Lunch = Thunder Tea rice (the greeny soupy thing taste horrible!)
Afternoon tea = Chinese tea and 1 banana
Pre dinner snack = 1 apple
Dinner = (was going to be tricky since it was communal and Mum cooks for everybody but fortunately it was) fish, vege, fried egg with the small ikan bilis and pork rib/carrot soup = so took everything except left the pork rib alone but dammed it look so tempting!
After Dinner = 1 banana & 1 pear
Supper = 4 cups green tea & 4 homemade (by Alicia) milo cookies

Talking of pork, while having lunch was sitting next to this lady who was eating a mean looking dish of pig trotter. Was wondering where she ordered it since wasn't aware there was a stall selling it. And then discovered that it was the fish soup stall! A fish soup stall that sell braised ter kar......... hmmmm must go try it out...

Return your tray??

The other day was at Maxwell Food Centre with some colleagues  for lunch.

After finishing the plate of rice, went to buy dessert. Came back to find our plates still on the table. The cleaner was at the next table clearing the plates there. Took my tray of empty plates and passed it to her.

What did I get? A thank you or a nod of appreciation? Fat chance! I got a very loud ticking off from her!! What the ##()*&&! I couldn't believe it. There I was thinking of helping her and helping myself at the same time and instead of a thank or a simple nod, I got a touch lasing for not leaving my tray at my table and troubling her. So bladdy paiseh. Everybody around there was staring wondering what I did. If she wasn't such an old lady, I would have scolded her there and then.

So much for the NEA's effort to get people to return their tray. If they don't educate the cleaners first, I think it is going to be a doubly uphill task getting people to return their trays if this is the thanks we will get.

And speaking of Maxwell, despite the many good food stalls there, it must rank as one of the dirtiest  food centre in town right up there with Marine Parade. There are very few cleaners and the tables are perpetually stacked with loads and loads of plates and utensils during lunch time.

Maybe time to make a complain to NEA?

Bridge Over Longkang Water

A friend asked me whether I not scared ranting on about M in a public post and whether I got kick out to sleep in the living room.

Well firstly I know she don’t read my blogs or at least she pretend not to have any interest in it and secondly she thinks I’m a silly old man who got nothing better to do than blog and the things I write are mostly craps. On this score I think she’s half right but at least I think blogging is  better than spending hours watching those silly K dramas.

Anyway, no I didn’t get kick into the living room, didn’t get whacked and we still had a very nice big breakfast at Swensen after the race. 

The thing is we have been together long enough and running together for the past few years and know each other idiosyncrasy so we are not going to let a little disagreement over a run affect our lives together. The important thing is to learn to live with each and give and take. I give she takes… ha ha ha until the next race next weekend.

A New Addition to the Family

So finally after what? 9 years - we did the unthinkable. We obliged the little Princess and fulfilled her wish which she had since P1 and got her this:The guy at the shop said to toilet train the dog, need to keep the dog in its cage for at least 2 weeks and not let it roam around. That's seem so cruel. True or not? Anybody can suggest any better way to toilet train the dog?

Ming Kee Live Seafood

What is a birthday without a good dinner? So the family gathered for a dinner at a small little seafood restaurant in Macpherson. Small in size but obviously not small in reputation cos it was quite crowded.
Although we were there early, the indoor area was apparently already fully booked so we had to sit outdoor. The service was a mixed. We were attended to by a waitress almost exclusively who kept on refilling our drinks and changing plates but on the other hand, the food came so slowly even though the place seems quite empty.

We ordered a few items from there signature dish 'menu' or rather the display photos on the outside. We were not disappointed.

The crab with bee hoon

I think the kids love the bee hoon cos they cleaned it out.The crab was hugh even bigger than the one from 3 Crabs.

Black Pepper Crab.

We wanted something different but the manager recommended this and it was good. No regrets there. One thing though - the prices are a bit on the high side. Each crab costs around $80.Ribs in stout

This was good. The meat was succulent and tender and it was polished off in double quick time.

Of course, we had more than these 3 items. Generally the standard of the food is pretty decent as evidenced from the newspapers write up inside the restaurant. I enjoyed the food and except for the crab dishes, the rest of the food were decently prized and the final bill of slightly over $300 for a 8 course dinner for 11 person is certainly very reasonable and worth another visit.