We celebrated Saresha's birthday at this gem of a place in China Square. The restaurant's recommended on this site and TimeOut. We found it with little difficulty, but it was a rather terrible walk from Chinatown MRT because of the sweltering heat. Usually we would order warm water when we go to restaurants but it was so bloody freaking hot that day, we both ordered iced water, which was a very welcome respite!
Anyway, the restaurant had set lunches for only $20++! All set lunches started with 3 types of appetisers & a salad:
From left: Seaweed with slices of mushroom delicately seasoned in some (I-don't-know-what) sauce, chawanmushi and battered Japanese fish cake. The chawanmushi was so silky smooth, it was almost creamy. I liked that they put edamame in the egg too. It was a really great way to start the meal. The fish cake was very delicious too, I liked the soft texture and the light taste.
The salad was good too, I always rather enjoy Japanese salads - well, those that don't use Thousand Island as dressing anyway. The mashed potato was yummy, as was the dressing they used - very nice!
We ordered different main courses. I decided to go for Saba Shioyaki:
The mackerel was grilled to perfection. The skin was very lightly crisped and melted in my mouth while the meat was still juicy and tender. It must be the first time I've ever eaten such a fabulously prepared mackerel. I liked that the husband-wife team were thoughtful enough not to give patrons too much rice in the set meal. :)
Saresha had Saba Misoni, or better known as mackerel in miso sauce:
Perhaps she can comment on her meal later. :)
Anyway, besides our set lunches, we ordered Yaki-Gyoza and Hotate Guratan (scallop gratin) as sides.
While the gyoza was nothing really out of the ordinary, it was still well prepared. We were impressed with the size of the scallops and that they gave us 4 whole ones - so, so, so yummy! *slurp*
And to round up the meal, they gave us homemade Peach Sorbet. While it was quite nice, I rather felt as if I was eating crushed peach-flavoured ice. Heh!
And we weren't totally satisfied with just that, so we also ordered Daigaku Imo (sweet potato in sweet sauce). It was really a highlight of the meal and the best way to end it.
Of course, to end off the post, I'd usually declare that I must go back to the restaurant because of such a wonderful first experience and such delicious food. Unfortunately, the day we went was also the last day of busins for the restaurant. It was with a tinge of regret when we stepped out, knowing there'd never be a chance for us to return. But I guess, some of the best things is life can only be experienced once, so that we can savour that experience over and over again in our memories. So, through my little blog, I jot down these little details for posterity. I wish the owners all the best for their future endeavours.
Met up with the girls for dinner on Friday. R and I discovered a mutual liking for Indian food so she introduced me to Shahi Maharani at Raffles City. My usual haunt's Kinara but I'm always willing to try new restaurants. And yes, I only like North Indian food, sorry... Anyway, we managed to convince SH to go along, so off we went...
They served crackers, like at Kinara. It was more herb-ish and spicy though, and they didn't provide marmalade. :-\ Instead, they provided pickled onions and chilli.
We were a little adventurous that night, so we ordered:
A) Paneer Pakoras:
Found under the "Regal Hor D'Oeuvres" section, it's basically spicy mint with cottage cheese and deep fried. I'm not sure if cottage cheese is suppose to have any chees-y taste or not, but when we bit into it, it tasted more like tofu than cheese. Nevertheless, I still like its crispy-on-the-outside and soft-on-the-inside texture.
We also ordered 2 very different types of meats and its respective curries. On the far end was Chicken Korma and the one at the forefront was Mutton Vindaloo. We also ordered Plain naan and Cheesy Naan. SH wondered if we'd all go into collective coma after eating the Chicken Korma... -_-" Sometimes I wonder at my friends... ;p
The Chicken Korma was really delicious! It's basically tender strips of chicken cooked in a delicate korma sauce made from nuts and crushed cottage cheese. The curry was more sweet than spicy, and I love the meshing of the crushed nuts with the chicken strips. Sedap!!! I departed from tradition again and ordered Mutton Vindaloo instead of my usual Rogan Josh. There was already a warning in the menu that it'd be ultra spicy and R even asked me if I really wanted to order that. But there's always room to try out new foods. Hence, we all got our tongues burned rather severely by the curry. We also had to change from drinking warm water to ice water to cool the fire in our mouths. I must admit that while the mutton was quite tasty, the spiciness of the curry took much of the original taste of the meat away. I think I still very much prefer my Rogan Josh afterall. The naans were fantastic though. SH loved the Cheesy Naan a great deal, but then again, she's a cheese lover, so... it reminded me of cheese prata though.
And there's a trio that performed at 8pm and they were really good!!! I wouldn't mind going back again just to eat and listen to them, they were rather delightful.
The trio performs nightly except on Tuesdays, by the way. :)
Oh man... the last episodes of my favourite shows are just impossible cliffhangers!!! Aaron Hotchner (Thomas Gibson) gets shot in the last episode of Criminal Minds!!!
Sigh... he better return to the show in Season 5... he's an anchor... and the stories are getting better and better. In fact, Season 4 is the best I've watched... ARGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
Why? Why?? Why???
Title: Sutra
Choreographer & Lead Dancer: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
Visual Creation & Design: Antony Gormley
Cast: Monks from the Shaolin Temple
Prior to watching the performance, SN told me that people who like Shaolin's martial arts won't like this production and people who like Sidi Larbi also won't like this performance. So I decided, I shall just go with an open mind. And boy, an open mind can be a truly wondrous thing.
I confess that I'm a complete novice when it comes to dance performances. Most of the time, the choreography just escapes me and I absolutely reject most contemporary dance performances by default. However, I was rather awed by the rich imagery that Sutra had to offer. Gormley's use of wooden boxes was meant to "embody the Buddhist concept of the body as both vector of energy and as delimited space". What struck me was the everchanging design of the "props". At times, the monks would be moving around the stage and carrying the boxes on their backs, at times stacking them up into 1 single row (which reminded me of those portable toilets found at outside sites actually... :p), at times stacking them up into rows and columns of 4, reminding me of a bookcase, etc etc. When the monks moved around stacking the boxes, Sidi Larbi would actually be at a corner, stacking up little boxes into the exact same structure as the larger boxes - interesting!
What I also found intriguing was the scoring of the music. The 5-piece ensemble of piano, percussion and strings was amazing. The music was tentative at times, which eventually grew to be more and more energetic and powerful. But the intriguing part was really how a contemporary classical score can gel so well with the Chinese-ness of Shaolin's martial arts. The monks' performance also displayed their ability to 刚中带柔 which contrasted very nicely with Sidi Larbi's extremely flexible movements. The youngest monk in the production was also rather adorable and he drew laughter from the audience with his cute moments.
Anyway, all in all, it was a really enjoyable performance for me. I'm not sure if I learned anything more about dance after this, but it sure made me want to go read and learn more about movements & choreography.
Besides food, the other thing I really like blogging about is FLOWERS! We went to the Sentosa Flower Show 2009 during CNY. The show wasn't as good as the one in 2008 where there were really plenty of very pretty flowers in bloom. However, the Sentosa staff still managed to pull off a good show this year. Here're some photos to share:
1) Flowery Shapes:
I liked the way flowers were used and trimmed into objects of different shapes. The double-hearts was used as a group photo-taking station. The Sentosa staff were all very helpful, courteous and cheerful, despite the heat, humidity and the never-ending requests for a gadzillion photos. The flower ducks weren't new either but they were still cute. The rainbow was really cheerful - and I mean, who in the world wouldn't like rainbows anyway? Rainbows have this strange way of emitting smiles and feelings of wonder in people whenever they appear. I love them. :)
2) Fields of Flowers:
I love the flowerbeds and the burst of glorious colours. Can you espy the pot of gold here? :)
3) Flowers in Bloom:
And I love using the macro function to take close-ups, especially of individual flowers. :)
Beauty of nature - what's not to like? And though this year's show was not as exciting as 2008's, it was still worth the $2 entrance fees. I'm certainly looking forward to the 2010 show already! :)
I've not been fulfilling my resolution to blog more often. So I shall do so by blogging about food, something I really enjoy. Hee!!! Plus I love taking photos of food. :p
For mum's birthday, we went to Man Fu Yuan at Hotel InterContinental.
The restaurant's really nice. The interior deco is such that it allows
for plenty of privacy for patrons. The service was pretty good and the
food was rather delicious. I quite liked the dim sum.
This is a place I'd definitely consider going again. For a hotel, the dim sum's very reasonably priced. The service was good and the ambience conducive for intimate get-togethers. The other place in the hotel I really want to try out is the buffet at Olive Tree. Soon! :)
