Megumi @ Upper East Coast Road

Decided to walk over to Megumi for a quick Jap dinner over the weekend. It was hot hot hot, and everyone was tired.


We ordered this UFO maki to share. It was a crispy seafood roll, according to the description on the menu. This was very well received indeed. The crispy seafood roll inside was clearly fried upon order, it was warm and crispy and it was delicious paired with the rice and ebiko. Thumbs up for this one. We ordered it recently when we went there again. It was very well received by all!


My favourite california roll was good, but overshadowed by the excellent UFO maki. We also devoured this in a jiffy, nevertheless.


Cutie ordered a california handroll, which he adorably calls a sushi cone. He couldnt wait for me to snap a pic... see, his fingers are reaching for his handroll already!


My order of sumi udon. I wanted cold noodles, given the sweltering weather. And I saw this interesting charcoal wheat noodles on the menu and gave it a try. It was smooth and nice, didnt taste like charcoal! I hear it has some cleansing properties, so give it try if you are game for some gut cleansing! See the little quail's egg in the corner? I wasnt sure whether I am supposed to add it to the dip, or crack it over the noodles or what.


The server recommended asahki sashimi, I believe it was called. It was a whole fish, sliced up. I found it a tad warm, I like it slightly colder and the pieces stuck together as though it was sliced with a blunt knife. Didn't really like this one. It cost $35.





Here is Cutie, all ready to eat. He usually eats his dinner earlier, but these days, he is going through a growth spurt, so having a 2nd dinner is usual for him.


Sweetie is doing some gymnastics before dinner. Haha.

School Carnival at Fort Canning

Cutie's pre-school held a carnival at fort canning for charity. So we bought tickets to support the charity and headed there on Saturday morning.


Driving Game, using a magnet to direct the metal car.


Ball Throwing game.


He looks cool with sunglasses, I think.


Drumming game...


Picking balls...


Riding the little car...


saying hi to a teacher from his school...

Cutie also brought home some balloons for himself and his sister. His is a balloon sword, and he liked it so much, he brought it with him to the bath.


He also requested a balloon flower for his sister, which I thought was very sweet.


Yes, Sweetie likes her balloon too.

All in all, a great weekend!

Brotzeit, #01-?? Vivocity and Tung Lok Classics, Chinese Swimming Club at Amber Road

Went to Brotzeit for lunch today. It a German pub, run by Paulaner Brauhaus I believe. They do seem to have a wide array of drinks. Foodwise, it seemed pretty limited. There weren't many things that tempted me on the menu. Eventually we shared a sausage platter (SGD32) and ordered a potato salad (SGD5.80). He had a original lager (SGD10.90) and I had a Mango Wiessbier (a beer mixer of white beer and mango juice, SGD8.90). I enjoyed our lunch very much..


It was enjoyable conversation, with refreshing insights. He is very mature, very smart... yet also very nice and warm. He looks cool, but now I see that he actually has very grounded and traditional values. He was trying to convince me of the sanctity of marriage. He actually firmly believes in the doctrine of marriage... and the erosion of family values is a phenomenon that worries him. How quaint, and sweet.


Tung Lok Signatures



We went to Tung Lok Classics at Chinese Swimming Club for dinner over the weekend. The restaurant was well reviewed in the local papers in the past week, resulting obviously in a large crowd of people descending on the place. It wasn't equipped to take the crowd, and there was no sitting area for a comfortable wait.

To appease us, they sent a complimentary juice desssert, served in an extravagant display of shaved ice.


Cutie liked the juice, I think he had 2!

No matter. The kids had fun though.


Cutie and Daddy.


Me and Sweetie.


Cutie doing his own thing.


Sweetie doing her own thing.


Bought a new camera - a Canon Ixus. Love the functions, and the various cool and nifty things like automatic macros function, nice sleek design etc.


Took this photo in the car, and see how well it turned out!

Cutie

Generally, he has been a good boy, he is learning to accept criticism, and we are learning to do it in a more gentle manner. He can be quite embarrassed if we scold him in public or in front of others. If we are insensitive to his feelings, he will manifest his feelings of hurt pride and/or embarrassment by talking louder, in this pseudo macho bravado - "If Daddy scolds me again, I will cut him with the scissors! Lalala..." He says it loud enough for the people around to hear... I think it's so that he can manage his fragile male ego from being told off. Is this a guy thing?


Due to the extreme heat conditions here in Sunny Singapore, we have been eating ice cream a lot. Here he is, eating vanilla ice cream. His favourite flavours are green tea and vanilla.



Cutie also copes with the heat by taking frequent baths. He loves to have lots of bubbles in the tub, and if I take away the bathsoap, he will use shampoo, handsoap and anything else that is available. SIGH. How to scold him, when he is so delighted?

Sweetie

Our little princess. Wearing a tiara.


Sweetie is very good at posing for the camera... it's an instinctive girly thing maybe... she will turn to the camera and smile!

Sweetie is 10 months now. Very sweet and observant and friendly.

You know, I am very proud of my 2 little ones, they are growing rapidly! I find such joy in playing with them, reading to them, going for walks or just watching them.


I find that Cutie is a very good big brother, albeit a little rough from time to time... He takes time to play with Sweetie, does silly things to entertain her and make her laugh... Here is the video evidence of the above! I wasn't sure if my approach was right... you know, at first, when I decided to spend more time with Cutie after Sweetie arrived. Some experienced moms, and most books, suggested that it was important to spend more time with the elder sibling, because the elder sibling would be very aware of the new addition, and would be particularly sensitive to the intrusion and/or change. The baby would however be blissfully oblivious. So I adhered to this rule... resulting in me spending more time with Cutie than Sweetie.

The good thing of course, is that Cutie never felt threatened or abandoned. So he loves Sweetie and is always sharing things with her and playing with her. Nevertheless, I worried about this approach, I obssessed that Sweetie might not be close to me. The fears were of course unfounded. Sweetie still prefers me over any other caregiver. But now that she is older, she is more vocal in her demands for my attention as well. Fortunately, now that we are all pretty settled into the new family structure, the fact that I am now paying more attention to Sweetie does not change Cutie's attitude towards her. He is still the caring and loving big brother. I hope the way I dealt with this situation had helped, in a way. I think different kids respond differently so I dont know if my approach would be appropriate for everyone, but I think it did work well for me.

Chat Masala @ Upper East Coast Road

DH and I have reached our verdict.



Between Chat Masala and Kinara, Chat Masala wins hands down. We came here for dinner over the weekend, and although both places were quite crowded, we opted for Chat Masala.





Actually Chat Masala's naans were not as fluffy as those in Kinara. Although these naans were still enjoyable. We ordered 2 garlic naans, 1 cheese naan, and 1 lacha paratha.

Fish curry. This was slightly tangy and spicy. With 3 sizeable chunks of fish. MIL liked this gravy best.

Butter chicken. This was creamy and delicious. DH's and my favourite. It was not spicy-hot, but it had a nice fragrance of spices.

Palak Paneer. This is cubes of cottage cheese cooked in pureed spinach. It's a really healthy dish, and it was also delicious.

We mopped up the gravy from all the dishes. I think the choices tonight were excellent. Kinara's dishes are too salty for my palate, but Chat Masala's dishes are all interesting and delicious, with a perfect pairing of spices and textures. I particularly like the fact that everything takes effort to prepare and tastes different. (you know, not like some places where the fish, the chicken, the beef are all covered with the same boring sauce).

Kinara @ East Coast Road

Some competition heating up here in East Coast Road.



Just 2 doors away from Chat Masala, is Kinara. The decor is more traditional, with wooden carvings, metal cups, and even a big wooden swing outside.



Let's see how this place measures up, foodwise.



DH ordered a leg of lamb (SGD36 for half portion). It was expensive I think for so little meat. It was tender, but too salty.

This was mushroom methi (SGD12). Also too salty.

The naans were fantastic though. Freshly baked, and served piping hot. They were chewy and delicious. SGD2 each or SGD 6 for a basket of 4 different types of naan.

Aston's @ East Coast Road

This place has been pretty well reviewed by floggers (food bloggers). It also always has a perpetual queue of diners waiting outside every single time I walk or drive by.

So I practically forced DH to come with me to Aston's one night. Although it was 9 pm there was STILL a QUEUE.

Fine, we wait. And then I realise, hey, there were empty seats in the place! and then I further realise, actually, the queue is for the diners to place their orders at the counter, and then we are quickly ushered indoors to take a seat. So, actually, the queuing time is only 10 minutes or so! Hmmm, but it gives other people the (false?) impression that this place is so packed that there is a long line of people who are prepared to wait for their dinner. Very clever gimmick.

The food, is very reasonably priced. You can get a meal for about 7-8 dollars, and your pasta even comes with free soup.

The steak was very much like Ponderosa's. Not surprising, considering that the chef did come from the now defunct Ponderosa's.

The steak was quite a big portion for SGD12.90. It was decently juicy, with a nice side of crispy onion rings. Avoid the watered down salty sauce on the side at all costs. At the end of the day, I'd rate this meal only a 6 upon 10.

It wasn't spectacular and honestly I don't see what the hype is about. Maybe we didn't order the right thing?

Roland Restaurant @ East Coast

Roland is a restaurant whose prices and decor are still set in the 1980s. Red fabric covered chairs, middle-aged aunties who serve you with nary a smile, classic dishes like veg in crispy yam basket and desserts like Orh nee (sweet yam paste).



Coffee pork ribs (SGD12.80 per serving). It was thick and meaty, a carnivorous neanderthal's delight (read: DH's favourite). The gravy was sweet and sticky with a hint of bitter coffee. One of the best pork ribs I've ever eaten.

Steamed Home-made Tofu with Spinach and Gingko Nuts (SGD8.80). We order tofu whenever we eat out with Baby so that he gets to try some of our food too. This tofu was excellent. Soft and wobbly and smooth. Tastes definitely home-made.
Braised Seafood Claypot (SGD18.80 for each individual serving). This contained deer tendon, a slice of abalone, fish maw, scallop, mushroom and broccoli. It was rich and savoury and really good.
Now, this is what we really came here for. Crab Bee Hoon, soupy version (SGD35). This creamy milky broth is like the fish head bee hoon one gets, but it is much sweeter and more flavourful because of the whole crab that it is cooked in. Ginger slices and spring onions help to make this a warm, comforting meal. Slurpiliciously good.

And again, a very affordable meal.

Megumi Japanese Restaurant

In all my years of dating DH whilst he lived in the East (8 years) and the years that we've been married and lived in the East (almost 3 years), we've never eaten at this place. So, when Chat Masala was full this evening, DH and I ended up walking over to Megumi for a quick dinner.



The signature megumi maki (SGD12) was ordinary california maki (crab stick, avocado) coated with seaweed and with tobikko sprinkled on top.



DH's ramen (SGD15.80) was like prawn noodles from beach road. The ramen tasted like the yellow noodles, thick and soft, and not at all like the ramen we've eaten in Japan, or even say Marutama's. The soup stock tasted like it had a hearty dose of MSG.



I didn't take any photos of my chirashi (sashimi on sushi rice, SGD16.80), but the fish was sliced so thin, I could see through it.



It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great.



As we left, I noticed that they had a white board with the day's offerings. Maybe I should have had something from that menu instead?



DESSERT AT HOME



After that unsatisfying meal, I went home, put Baby to bed, and then made dessert.

Shiratama azuki (glutinous rice balls, with red beans) and macha ice cream from Haagen Daaz. Mmm, lovely.

Wahiro @ Katong Mall

This is a little non-descript corner shop in quiet Katong Mall, Wahiro. It is run by a Japanese chef, who used to head restaurant Suntory, so it's supposed to be pretty good.

This is tempura anago, sea eel (as opposed to unagi, river eel, which is less sweet and fat, I understand). This was good. Light tempura batter, served hot and crispy.

I can't say I liked the sashimi. I don't think it was well sliced. Both times I had sashimi at this place, the guy served block-like pieces (imagine mahjong tiles, but not as fat). I don't think sashimi should be served like that. maybe the guy can't get good big pieces of fish.

This is the Wahiro set. cost about SGD35. I think there were a few more items that were served earlier like chawanmushi.

All in all, not too bad, but I prefer Inagiku.