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What you will find inside:
Dinner and drinks with CG after Patho CA
EOPL (end of posting lunch) today
A previous CG outing
On my 21st birthday I went to Sentosa with my family over the weekend, although the Pathology CA was looming. I spammed myself with an unbelievable amount of food, both at Sentosa and Vivocity
In this entry you'll see lots of pictures of food but very little accompanying text. Let your imagination take over
Hi ppl,
Long time no post... was very very busy with Surg posting at TTSH. Anyway, after everything was over, I hopped over the Causeway to explore the city of JB by myself, a manifestation of pent up wanderlust.
Beforehand I researched on Wikipedia the nice places in JB to eat, and also found out that JB was reportedly crime infested. So, to prevent risking my safety, I decided to dress as shabbily as possible put everything in a waistpouch. Crazy man!!! When I went to the Central Square I realised I was a major fashion disaster, looking more like a hawker/karang guni man than a shopper.
( FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD!!!!!!!!!!! )
Trying the food around SGH was like exploring a strange exciting country, where you sample food that is cheap but amazingly captivating. Here in Novena Square near TTSH, you are like exploring the city. The restaurants are famous, everything is well-known and expensive. Still, for those who have not seen them before, or want differing opinions, it is worth putting up some pictures.
The pictures were taken with my handphone camera, so everything looks pretty misty, as my camera isn't that good. Nevertheless, please appreciate the dreamlike quality it adds.
( DURING THE FIRST WEEK OF THE SURG POSTING... )
Since it is the first week of Surgery posting, when writeups and exams are not too urgent, it's good to take a bit of a siesta
EDIT: Apologies if my previous two entries have swarmed your friend's pages. I have made the necessary corrections
Replies: Hey Gwee sorry I didn't reply to both your comments. Anyway I don't feel I'm ready to post in a public forum yet haha.
If you did not know, one of the countries in the world that fascinate me is China. On one hand, you have the scholars and liu2ying1s that we Singaporeans love to hate, but on the other hand you have a country rich in history and tradition. I like reading Chinese history, about the rise and fall of kingdoms and empires and heroes, there is magic and majesty in it.
This rich heritage is thus also manifested in the country's food. Singapore's rich food heritage is partly descended from that of China's, and indeed the precursor triumphs over it's offspring. At least, that is what I thought so when I went to two restaurants- Lao Beijing and Red Star Restaurant- both in Tiong Bahru. We start off with Lao Beijing which is at Tiong Bahru Plaza.
When I started food blogging, it was to appreciate the beautiful form of the food I had seen during my outings. Now, I want also to celebrate the people who have been eating with me
( Portsdown Road )
On the way to Tiong Bahru Market, there is this restaurant known as Cafe Pralet and it is apparently quite distinguished, having received many awards and accolades. We went there yesterday for Andrew's surprise birthday party to give him a smashing 21st , and to enjoy some good food.
The interior of the restaurant does not surpass 18 Chefs at East Point, and it is in fact quite crowded. Nevertheless, it is cosy enough.
A set meal will generally set you back by up to $12. Here is my lunch, which consists of rice and ayam tempura, the latter being Chicken cooked Peranakan style. I found the sauce sweet yet not too rich. The key to its success? Onions, lots of it, on top of other spices
Meat was tender but not the type which would disintegrate in your mouth and spread like powder over the teeth. Rather, the texture was soft yet wholesome. Downside is that the chilli was very hot, very very hot, so it killed many of my taste buds
Next few pictures you will see other people's lunches which I of course did not taste, but can serve as eye candy.
Now I must pause to commend this wonderful creation you see down here- the trademark PRALET CAKE. Excellent stuff. Rich chocolatey taste, but the trump card lies elsewhere- the wafer underneath the cake. Let's see what Shaun has to say about it:
"The crispy and light-tasting wafer serves as an excellent COUNTERPOINT to the soft and rich chocolate on the top"- Shaun Chan
Indeed! I liked the way the wafer crackled in my mouth. It was fragrant but not too chewy, and stood out from the rest of the cake. An ingenious contraption.
When we left I took some time to take pictures of my surroundings. Here's a poem on the wall.
Overall, I actually felt that $12 for the meal wasn't too worth it because my meal was quite plain, basically with only chicken and rice. Maybe it will be more worth it if I tried the Western food. Nevertheless, 18 Chefs is a better bet, by all means.
The VIP card allows me to come back for more, and if there's anything else I'll post. Meanwhile, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW!!!!
Last week I patronised this stall in Tiong Bahru Market. It looked attractive because of the curry and the pictures of celebrities. In fact, in TBM, if your stall doesn't have any newspaper cutting or picture or any form of endorsement from the media, you are pretty much condemned.
So I ordered this vegetable curry and bread thingy. The vegetable curry, as per all veggie curries, was very thin and liquidish. It was more spicy than fragrant. There were a lot of veggies so I was very saturated at the end. Bread is good, very crispy and original. This stall is worth a try.
This two weeks I had been having Tiong Bahru chweekweh and that is the best I have tried so far. The chai bor on top is very fine and has a rich fragrant smell, unlike others which are very coarse and pungent. That is the distinguishing factor of the chwee kweh. I actually found it addictive. Of course, the price to pay is not just that few dollars (sry I didn't pay I dunno) but your health as well. Look at the oil! It's probably the reason why the chai bor tasted so good.
Last highlight of the day would be this delightful tau huey that I bought from Long Ji Soya Bean Bean Curd Stall. 60 cents will get you the normal tau huey but for 10 more cents you get almond flavoured dessert which really tastes good. The sweet flavours of the almond and syrup blend in very well, and enhance each other. Quite a good finding.
We wanted to go to this french restaurant near TBM but it was full. Meals go for only $6 so it seemed like an exciting prospect. I think we need to make a reservation first. Nvm some other time, if we manage to go there.
So we start off with Friday's trip to Tiong Bahru Market. We chanced by this very innocuous looking char-siew rice stall and the owner was keen to pounce on us. He was a very sweet talker, started rattling on about how good his suckling pig rice was. Even claimed that LKY's grandchildren visited his stall once a month. He's that guy in yellow.
Thus, we gave in. Three of us (Gwee, Ben, I) each bought a plate of suckling pig rice and shared a plate of char siew (that you see above). The owner started motioning to his assistants to prepare the dish and we stood there blankly. And then he turned to us, "One person $13 please"
Shock.
But turns out that suckling pig is actually very expensive so each plate costs $12, plus we shared the $3 charsiew among ourselves. The signboard did quote these exact prices all right but we were too complacent to take a good look ourselves
But I guess after all it wasn' too bad. The suckling pig was fresh and fragrant and juicy (ie oily). I asked Gwee what he liked about the pork and he mentioned how the skin was crispy yet brittle. Some pork skin is crispy yet tough and not easy to eat. Very true. Look at the picture above, look at the piece of pork in the centre. You can see that its skin is very nicely cracked, and looks like shards of glass
And here's the very alluring plate of char siew. I liked the sauce a lot. Stood out from the rest because it had an extra fragrance to it, and it was very smooth, as you can see from the glistening surface of the char siew.
Therefore we actually had a good lunch, one of those rare experiences to try good pork. But, beware of sweet talkers.
Is it about the taste and the satisfaction? I soon realised that it was more of what food stands for, and in my case it would be my beloved family. You see, since young, my nucleated family have been going out with my dad's siblings, who are single, during some weekends for good food. That was one of the best ways for the seven of us to bond.
Being a very Chinese family, we would always go to Chinese restaurants or kopitiam tze-char stalls. You can thus say that Chinese cuisine is the food of my childhood- when I think about it I think of the warmness and togetherness my family shares. On the other hand, Western food is more businesslike- I take it during gatherings with a mix of friends and acquaintances from Medical School. My friends rattle off the names of main and side courses which I struggle to pronounce and comprehend, and I keep quiet to avoid embarrassment.
It's no secret that more than half of my pictures are derived from family gatherings, of course I do my own exploration. Here I present to you some of the best pictures from Chinese restaurants I have been to so far.
( THE BEST OF CHINESE FOOD )
There is a secret minute Chinese-ness in me, I realise, but it's not the Hwa Chong type of Chineseness. That type is proud and sophisicated and boasts of its rich heritage. Mine is the heartlandish hokkien type of Chineseness (my family speak either Hokkien or English). Being in a Westernised environment that is Medical School, and subsequently the hospitals, I hope that aspect is not lost.
And I hope the good days of such family gatherings and good food will never end, but one day all things will conclude. I hope these pictures can preserve the wonderful memories of my food and youth. Hopefully, one day my children will get to know the wonderful people I share these delicious food with, and if that sadly doesn't happen, they get to see the pictures.
( FOOD IN SERANGOON!!!!!!!!!!!! TAKE A GOOD LOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! )
Presenting history
Dear Sir/Madam,
Last Thursday my clinical group (cg) mates decided to travel down to 18 Chefs @ East Point for lunch (former name- 15 Chefs). At first I felt very reluctant because I wanted to stay back in CGH to clerk patients, but after a trip down to the restaurant my mind changed. I find it the best restaurant I've been to in my life so far.
The restaurant was set up by a former drug addict who decided to repent and make something meaningful out of his life. After his last stint in jail, he decided to travel to Britain (and supposedly other places in Europe) to learn culinary skills from the masters, and the restaurant was set up through a combination of labour and vision and skill. The name comes from his dream to own a huge restaurant of eighteen chefs, but currently there are four, one of whom is an ex-convict. That's right- the owner also wants to impart skills to willing ex-convicts so that they have a niche in society, and not just do the odd jobs that no one wants.
Throughout the past few months I've been to restaurants here and there, and I have sifted out some of the really good food to show you all here:
Contents:
1) Some good dessert that I tried at Jurong Point
2) Good food at Timbre
3) A fantastic Korean restaurant I went to this afternoon
Throughout the entry you may see my flaws as a writer, firstly because I don't remember the names of the restaurant, and secondly I can't recognise or name some foods. But I hope the pictures themselves can do the talking.
Isn't M2 JUST about memory work? You think about it
( I wonder if this is true learning but exams seem truer now... )
There may be errors here and there. And not to mention I took almost one hour to type this, so tml I have to omit some details
Goodbye people. This is the end.
