Kiri Kanan

Quotes of the Day

"If Brazil is the best team in the World Cup, then I am Geri Halliwell. And they need a good dentist."
I like this quote from Aunty Elton, short but slap-in-your-face-bitchy. And I somewhat agree with the dentist suggestion.

Japanese TV Show

Although this Japanese TV show is not food related, but man, we need to share this with you. Laugh (hard laugh with rolling on the floor and crying) is always good for health! Enjoy!

Kecemon

Kecemon. Weird word, isn't it? This word actually refers to one of my favorite dessert, which is kecemon. It is made from casava, coconut, sugar and a bit of salt. First they shred and steam the casava (with a pinch of salt), then springkle sugar to give a bit of sweet taste. Then at the end put in shreded coconut on top. If any one knows different names for it, lemme know ya! Back home I used to buy this dessert at wet market, and my colleague used to bring it to office to share. She is the one that told me the name of this shredded steam casava. And seems no one can provide other name, so I refer it as kecemon. Today the yummy kecemon is available thanks to my friend's visiting mum!

Blue Cupcake and Ronaldo's Bum

As my wifey walked to counter in da paolo, she passed one tray of cupcake. These cupcakes came with colorful icings, from the normal chocolate to bright colors such as yellow, blue and orange, with a bit of tiny colored choco & sugar springkles on it. It was so appealing that you have to get one. So we had one. The bright blue one. The cupcake itself was not sweet at all, plain. Although the icing was sweet, but it had a bit of tangy taste. Probably they put lemon in it, which is nice. Sweet but ngga giung.

Then we stopped at Provence Bakery & Cake. This is a Japanese bakery with France recipes. Based on Aang's recommendation we try the Ronaldo's bum. Bum? Ronaldo, the Brazil's target man? No leh, ain't gonna find bread with that name there, the real name is Brazilian Cheese Bun (buN not buM). It was Aang who named them Ronaldo's bum, and he loves this one... he can eat dozen of them single-handedly! Ronaldo's is a tapioca starch bun topped with soyabean flour. The bun was tender and soft, kenyal-kenyal enak digigit; which I doubt a professional soccer player's bum has this quality! The taste was really yummy, no wonder he loves it so much! And as our token of gratitute, we bought back some for him.

餅 (Mochi)

Again another cute-and-nicely-presented-Japanese-product. Inside this cute packaging lies 3 pieces of mochi. They are sitting nicely side-by-side inside the white plastic box buried under peanut powder. On top lies a small bottle of sweet sauce. So, how we gonna eat this? First pour sweet sauce on the peanut powder, then stir with the wooden stick (which is given). Then dig up the mochi and place it into your mouth. Then start to chew that sticky rice cake covered with peanut. Yummy, rite? But better chew it carefully, since mochi is actually very sticky and somewhat tricky treat. Every year after the new year, it is reported in the Japanese media how many people die from choking on this lovely rice cake...

Flavored Tofu!

Tofu for dessert is normal. Usually with longan. But this one is different. This stall said serving flavored tofu dessert. Comes with numbers of flavor as well. From fruits -like strawberry and mango- to almond and chocolate. Hiii... choco flavored tofu? No thank's! But for the sake of curiosity we had strawberry and mango tofu. Well, to be honest it is not that kinda tofu, y'know, the one that floating in miso soup, or beancurd tofu. Imagine you can have fried beancurd with almond flavor. Hiii! This so-called tofu is soya bean pudding, plus fruit (or choco) essence. Taste wise: ok, eat-able. :)

Ahn-nyong-ha-se-yo!

There we were, 8 of us, sitting nicely in Furama's Korean restaurant, hungry, waiting for the food to arrive. We started with beef golbi and -of course- sliced of juicy pork bacons. Wraped in lettuce with garlic, sliced green chilli, and korean sambal. Yummy. Then spicy sotong, which fit nicely with the rice. Then red colored spicy beef soup: strong, spicy and sour, but refreshing. Then the chicken ginseng soup. This should be healthy soup, recharged your energy and increase stamina. But the taste was strongly bitter. Can't stand it! Thank God, we have maesilju, the Korean plum wine. It was Seol Joong Mae, came with nice shaped bottle, with 4 fermented plums drowned at the bottom. The yellow colored liquor was sweet, smooth and nice, but still gave you that kick. And most important was it washed the bitter taste of chicken ginseng! Gahm-sah-hahm-ni-da!

Ugly Yucky Babies

It is Bassett's Jelly Babies. Judging from the name and packaging, I thought this is just like my favorite gelatin snack Haribo. Cute little chewy, bit sour, sweet but not too sweet kinda jelly. But alas, when I open it everything is different! The babies are ugly, oddly shaped, thick and dull colored. Yes, dull and uninteresting colors such as dark yellow, dark orange and black. I thought this jelly supposed to be fun and happy snack!
Then I pop one into my mouth. Yuck. Not chewy at all. And sweet. Enough sugar to keep kids running around in the park non-stop for one whole day. Blah! Nothing compares with my Haribo.

Ah Balling in Almond Soup

It looks nice, doesn't it? But I still prefer ah balling with ginger soup rather almond. The almond soup is thick, creamy, and too sweet. The ah balling itself is nice, quite big -but that's normal size here- and nicely filled with sesame. For me the minus point is the soup. Hmm... I missed Ronde Gardu Jati!

Ayo Kapten Tsubasa!

Kuampred! Sjompred! Kenapa kudu kalah dari Oz! Reseh bener! Mending kalo kalah dari Brazil dan Kroasia, ok lah. Masih bisa terima. Tapi dari Oz? Kampung! Bener2 kampung! 84 menit masih berjalan sesuai dengan harapan, leading 1 to nuthing, eh bisa-bisanya kebobolan 3 gol dalam 6 menit! Haiya!
Ayo Kapten Tsubasa Ohzora! Berjuanglah demi Takeshi Castle, Ranma 1/2, Son Go Ku, Go Sho Gun, Totoro, Chihiro, dan Motoko Kusanagi! Kamu pasti bisa! Cayo!

Bishan North's Famous Chicken Wing

The stall name is Golden Rooster. Actually we've been passing this stall quite often. We know it also serves fried chicken accompanied with fries, red bean and bun. But we never tried it before. Until it was featured in Makan Place: Lost & Found, one of TV series about famous food stalls that were moved from their original place and try to find them now. And apparently Golden Rooster is famous for its chicken wings. After being featured, we eager to try their special menu. But alas, everyone did think the same thing! The queue is extremely long, peeps are buying dozens of wings, and we don't think our stomach can't compromise to wait that long. So we never try it until today. Taste wise: ok, the bbq wings are not greasy. The sambal is spicy and a bit sour, makes it perfect combination with the wings. Nice!

It started!

Picture this: 22 grown up men chasing and kicking one white round object in rectangle field surrounded by thousands of peeps screaming and chanting. While through out the world, millions choose to wake up in odd hours and glue their eyes on tv. Then they have to force themselves to stay awake for work for the rest of the day. And I am one of them. You know why? Coz world's biggest tournament has started! Ein kaffee bitte!

picture is taken from http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/

Potato, Ball and Oak Leaf

This is what we had for dinner in Meidi-ya: Korokke (コロッケ) aka potato croquette, mashed potato rolled with flour and breadcrumbs, then deep fried. Some sort of perkedel ya. Niku-dango is Japanese meat (pork) ball in sweet soy sauce.

The fun part is dessert counter. As you know, they have lots of funny and cute dessert and cakes... Thank God we have had our dinner already! Bare in mind: it is dangerous to visit the dessert counter on empty stomach.

Anyway, we tried one konyaku jelly with sesame and mochi. The jelly is boxed beautifully in fancy wrapping. Taste is standard-what do you expect from konyaku jelly. It is the packaging that rocks!

The mochi is quite special. It is wrapped with oak leaf and known as kashiwa mochi. This mochi is normally served during Boy's Festival. It has bean paste as its filling. Quite sweet as well. Hmm...

Sultan D-24

We were in Geylang again, trying another durian stall. This one is called Ah Hung Durian. The special durian is the Sultan D-24. Priced $13 per KG, these durians have to be really-really worth every cents. And actually they are. With butter-like-yellow colored and strong aroma, definitely irresistable. And the most important its taste: sweet with a bit bitter taste at the end. Perfect. Delicious. Great. But costly... but we'll be back for sure!

Drinking at Minus 8

After nice and fullfiling dinner, we went to Eski Bar. This bar is famous because it has one super cold room, so cold that you need winter jacket to survive. And this is the reason why we're there.

The super cold room is not big, probably only enough for dozen peeps flocking. But it is freezing cold, just like meat storage. The room is equiped with one bar table made from ice. It said the room temperature is minus 8 degrees. Has to be that low to keep the bar table from melting. Definitely need a jacket to stay (and the bar actually lend jackets). Cool rite?

The drinks are ok, nuthing special and expensive. The bar served several brands of vodka, but doesn't have my favorite flavoured Absolut. The bar tender said they are out of stock. Darn! Bet it will be great to have Absolut Vanilla in this freezing cold room. So I stucked with couple of Smirnoff instead. One thing I learnt: 2 shots didn't make you feel warmer, but made you broke.

Nett-nett for us the minus-8-meat-storage room is the main catch. This makes the bar unique. Where else you'll need winter coat in this hot and humid island! Definitely it will be in the list of places-to-go-for-entertaining-visiting-buddies.

Alimento mexicano!

We headed to Lor Mambong for Mexican food. Well, at least we ordered something that we haven't had before: beef stew, chicken flauta, and prawn fajitas. The beef stew served with rice and tortilla, and amazingly its appearence and taste reminded us with rendang. Probably this is the taste of rendang cooked without coconut milk. Meaty, spicy, a bit sour, but not heavy. And we managed to spare a bit of place in our stomach for dessert: kahlua choco mousse. Yummy!

Mrs. Walrus and Smelly Baby Oysters

Hi there! It’s me – the wifey – guest blogging for Smiling Sugriwa. And nothing is more proper than writing about something he doesn’t have guts to touch… Something dangerous… Something disgusting… Something smelly…
Actually, I’m (only) talking about Oyster Mee Swa. It is a very simple dish of soggy-thin-white-mee, swimming happily in this steamy thick brown gravy, topped generously with shredded chicken, 3 pieces of fat juicy oysters, chopped Chinese parsley, fried onions and a spoonful of chili paste. It is one of my comfort food; hot soup with a hint of tangy black vinegar, the distinct smell of parsley, and the spicy chili that compliment the fishy smell from the oysters.
Still, if we are to be stranded in deserted island - three of us: my stubborn hubby, me, and an aunty with her small Oyster Mee Swa stall - I think he’ll prefer to starve himself to death rather than touching the food.
This afternoon, while happily chewing the rubbery creature, the image of Mr. Walrus and the Oysters from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland just crossed my mind. And I cannot help but thinking that in my previous life, I might have tusks…

Pirate's Treats

In the spirit of pirates, sailing to exotic and dangerous island, searching for hidden-lost-and-forgotten treasure, sword fighting and plundering and looting village, and of course kidnaping girls, m&m is introducing Pirate Pearls, a bag of button size chocolates printed with silver skeleton (or swords or pirate ship or any other pirates gimmick) that melts in your mouth not your hands. Cute ya? Too bad it wasn't filled with rum... Yo ho!

Yellow Colored Pepsi

Bizarre. Odd. Weird. Those words came out when I see the Pepsi Gold, a World Cup special edition product. The title Gold does mean drink is yellowish gold, not normal dark colored cola. Yellow colored cola? Scary ya? It's even uglier after you pour it into glass... looks exactly like pee. Morning pee.
The taste is even worse... For the love of God! What is this! Doesn't taste like Pepsi or cola based beverage. Or any other soda drink. Again weird. Even worse than Pepsi Kopi Tarik. Blah! So I guess gold doesn't always mean numero uno...