Korea/Jeju Trip @ May 2011 - Day 7 (Part I) Everland

Day 7 - 23 May 2011

A theme park day! Visited 2 theme parks in a day, Everland in the day and Lotteworld in the evening. Actually it was supposed to be on separate day but our tour guide rescheduled it to give us more time in shopping! We were very lucky to have a very considerate tour guide that always try to accommodate our interest.

Breakfast was quite boring at a local restaurant again near hotel. Right after breakfast we proceed to Everland located at Yongin.

Weekend Cooking III - Chuncheon Dakgalbi

As I mentioned earlier in my Korea travelogue that I fall in love with Dakgalbi. I tried cooking it at home. Google around for recipes and found one that looks quite similar to what I had in Korea. Here's my version of Chuncheon Dakgalbi!

Quite easy to prepare, just need to season the chicken and cut up the vegetables. Stir fry at the dinner table like having steamboat. This suppose to cook over a large cast iron pan but I do not have one so I used the electric hot pot. It turn out quite well, almost 70% similar to the one I had in Korea... not too bad la afterall...lol! 

Weekend Cooking II - Roast Chicken with Mashed Potatoes

It has been awhile since I last cooked a meal on weekend. Been craving for some nicely roasted chicken so decided to roast one for dinner...

Recipe refers to here.

Lenas @ Nex

29 June 2011

A farewell dinner for a colleague at Lenas @ Nex. Lenas is a family friendly restaurant under MOF that serve western food. The menu is quite interesting and extensive, from appetizer, soup, pasta, pizza, main course to dessert, under each section there are plenty of choices and combination. Even the set menu looks rather value for money too! You really have to be very decisive in ordering... lol! Everything on the menu looks appealing and it really takes sometimes to decide what to eat. We decided to go for ala carte and ordered 1 item from each section but we skipped pizza.

Cream of Mushroom Soup in Bread Bowl - S$8.90++

Crusty bread bowl with creamy mushroom soup! A comforting and soothing dish!

Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant (Parkroyal on Kitchener Road)

26 Jun 2011

Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant added a new outlet at Parkroyal on Kitchener Road. With UOB credit card promotion, is worth a visit as the food and ambiance are definitely above average. We ordered a mixture of dim sum and dishes, all executed well. Will come back again for the dim sums.    

Chrysanthemum & Wolfberry Tea

Kungfu Paradise

[Closed]
24 Jun 2011

I'm one of the 5 lucky winners to receive Kungfu Paradise $30 dining voucher from Sparklette giveaway! Kungfu Paradise is a casual dining tea cafe under Paradise Group serving a mixture of Western and Chinese cuisine. The restaurant ambiance is pretty cosy. A nice place to chill out with friends... however the food was not so fantastic!   

The Duo Master - S$12.90++

Very large serving portion of Chicken Chop &  Fish Fillet topped with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce. A tad too dry and bland tasting for our liking. I think cream sauce will be a better choice.

Chill out at Ikea @ Tampines

23 Jun 2011

With bosses not in town, we can stay out longer for lunch! So we sneaked to Ikea @ Tampines for lunch! Had a great lunch chilling out at the cafe with fellow colleagues!

Meat Balls

A must order whenever we eat here...

Korea/Jeju Trip @ May 2011 - Day 6

Day 6 - 22 May 2011

A shopping day at Seoul! Before checking out to make our way to the city of Seoul, we had our breakfast at the hotel cafe. We had buffet breakfast again...actually quite tired of it already. That's the trap of joining tour, you don't get to choose what to eat...!

Breakfast at Resom Spa Castle

Father's Day Celebration @ Ah Yat

19th June 2011

During special occasion like Father's Day, most restaurants will come up with value for money set menu to attract the crowds. This year Father's Day we chose to dine at Ah Yat Seafood as we saw the ads from the newspaper, the set meal they offered were really attractive and value for money! We were a group of 8 but we had the set meal for 6 pax and added on some dishes from the ala carte menu. However the portion they served were good, some of the dishes were enough for the 8 of us. Overall we had an enjoyable dinner!   

Happy Father's Day Set Meal - 6 pax @ $252++ / 10 pax @ $388++

Cold dish - Crown's Supreme Fresh Abalone "Ah Yat" Style

The dinner kicked off with a cold dish! Cousin's favourite abalone!

Awfully Chocolate

Awfully Chocolate selling quality chocolate cakes, ice cream and truffles has various outlets all over Singapore and Asia. Went with my colleague to the cafe along East Coast Road after I got my cake at Obolo for she wanted to get some super stacked chocolate cake for her son. I bought some truffles to try...

Dark chocolate truffle - $13.00/100g

Hand cut truffles - awfully dark, sinfully rich and smooth chocolate! 

Obolo - Joo Chiat

[Closed]
Obolo - A little french bakery cafe along Joo Chiat specialises in gourmet desserts, cheesecakes, tarts and macarons. It has been almost 2 years ago since my last visit. After getting my durian puffs at Puteri Mas, I saw Obolo is just opposite calling me... come come... lol! So here's what I get from there... wahahaha! What a sugar loaded weekends! And it didn't just end at Obolo as down the street there are Awfully Chocolate, Mooshi Bakes... lol!     

Tiramisu au Chocolat

Puteri Mas's Durian Puff

Whenever I am in Joo Chiat, I will definitely drop by Puteri Mas to get a box of mini durian puff home. My family and doggies love it! Puteri Mas specialises in durian dessert, is just few shops away from Tian Tian. The last time I bought was at $11/box and now $11.80/box! Wow price increasing yearly!  

Soft mini puff filled with fresh and fragrant D24 durian cream!

20 pcs per box @ $11.80

Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice - Revisited

18th June 2011

Revisited Tian Tian at Joo Chiat after work for lunch on one of the working Saturday. Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice is always one of my favourite chicken rice stall in Singapore. Love their fluffy fragrant rice and super shiok chilli!

Which chicken rice stall is your favourite?  

Shanghai Mooncakes

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to all!

Shanghai mooncake or Walnut mooncake is a great alternative to traditional and snowskin mooncake. Buttery and crumbly pastry that complimented the lotus paste with melon seeds so well and the sweetness is just right. This is much easier to make too. That's why I chose this...lol! I always love simple recipe! Last month I was so tied up with every things that I did not submit any bake to Aspiring Bakers. I'm glad I am able to make it this month.

I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #11: Mid-Autumn Treats (Sept 2011) hosted by Happy Home Baking.

My Bakes - June 2011

Some of my bakes in Jun 2011, nothing new just some simple repeated bakes ...

Sakae - Not fantastic but always satisfying!

16th June 2011

Had dinner with Mr & Mrs Chua at Sakae @ Toa Payoh on a weekday evening!

Assorted sushi - my all times favourite!

San Shu Gong Delicacies

14th June 2011

Received these goodies from a close colleague ML, very generous one indeed...lol! Thank you so much and I enjoyed these delicacies very much!

San Shu Gong @ Jonker Street, Melaka

Seng Kee Black Chicken Herbal Soup

8th June 2011

With a few colleagues had a dinner gathering to celebrate FL, my ex-colleague birthday at Seng Kee nested along Changi Road. A zi char place that well known for herbal soup, herbal mee sua soup and steamed fish dishes. The restaurant has choice of aircon and al fresco seating. Enjoying food at the al fresco seating really give you a very old school feel. We enjoyed most of the food except for the crab which was forgettable!

Herbal Mee Sua Soup (L) - $6.00

Signature Mee Sua soup. A mixture of slice pork, kidney & liver in a flavourful herbal broth! Yum! 

Flor Pâtisserie - Revisited

12th June 2011

The last visit to this charming Japanese bakery cafe was almost a year ago. Always wanted to drop by again but simply has no chance till that day after lunch at Noble House since is just nearby. Bought 2 pcs of cakes and some cheese tarts home to enjoy over the weekend. 

Noble House

12th Jun 2011

Whenever we dine at Tung Lok group restaurants, is always Aunt Peggy's 'lobang'! She always has $50 dining voucher to clear off...lol! We have to spend $100 in order to off set the $50 voucher so is like 50% discount. Since she loves dim sum, I suggested to go Noble House at UIC Building along Shenton Way. It's been years since we last came here to dine.  

Noble House is well known for Cantonese cuisine and serve dim sum as well. Dim sum is decent enough but definitely not the best in town. With more and more fine dining Chinese restaurants blooming up over the years, Noble house no longer stands out and is just a typical Chinese restaurant to me with no 'wow' factor. 

  

Steamed Scallop Dumplings, Xiao Long Bao, Har Gau & Siew Mai

Swensen's @ Toa Payoh

[Closed]
6th Jun 2011

Swensen's is a family friendly restaurant not only specialised in ice cream dessert but also serve American and local dishes. Saw a good deal at Groupon in June's promotion that valid for Toa Payoh outlet so bought a couple of vouchers. Finished off the vouchers with Aunt on one of her no cooking day.

BBQ Chicken - $15.20++

A simple grill chicken glazed with BBQ sauce served with roasted potatoes and lotus root. Chicken was tender but the sauce was not that fantastic.

Vietnamese Steamed Fish

A new dish created by my aunt, another interesting recipe added to my Aunt's Cooking collection!

A very refreshing and appetizing steamed fish! A nice change to the traditional steamed fish!

Aunt's Cooking - May to Jun 2011

4th May 11
Stir Fry Sliced Grouper Fish with Spring Onion / Mustard with Shimeji Mushroom

Korea/Jeju Trip @ May 2011 - Day 5

Day 5 - 21 May 2011

Rise and shine on day 5, another relaxing day!   

Winter Sonata Cafe @ Yongpyong Resort

Breakfast was buffet at Winter Sonata Cafe. Those who had watched this drama, will find it familiar. This is the café where Jun Sang played the piano for Yoo Jin and they had a private dinner together.

A Momentous Mid-Autumn Festival at Häagen-Dazs!

*Advertorial*

Mid-Autumn festival is around the corner again. Instead of traditional mooncake why not try moon cake ice cream from Häagen-Dazs, a super premium ice cream brand. This year Häagen-Dazs introduces a selection of mooncakes and dine-in creations that can be enjoyed with your loved ones during this Mid Autumn Festival. Beautifully created with Häagen-Dazs’ luscious ice cream, traditional mooncakes are given a bold new twist in 4 different flavours – Chocolate & Vanilla, Cookies & Cream, Strawberry and Coffee & Macadamia Nut. The mooncakes are also available as dine-in creations, accompanied by exquisitedly handcrafted fruits at all Häagen-Dazs outlets.

A gift like no other for your loved ones this Mid Autumn Festival!

Triple Three @ Aunt's Birthday Dinner

29th May 2011

Celebrated Aunt's birthday at Triple Three, went for the International buffet, using the DBS credit card 1 for 1 promotion. We chose buffet because Aunt loves it especially for the fresh oysters.    

Triple Three located in Meritus Mandarin Hotel, popular for it's buffet. The spread is not very huge but has a good combination. Some of the items like sashimi, roast beef, pan fried cod fish & tempura deserve a mention as all were very good!