No more dining out!

Oh dear....it feels like we are back in circuit breaker again with all the chairs and tables cleared away or stacked away in all restaurants, cafe and dinning areas. Before it kicks in yesterday, we went out for our last dinning out....

Schools had just announced that all primary, secondary and JC etc will moved to home based learning from 19 May. 

The numbers were quite alarming yesterday with 38 local community cases not from dormitories, including 18 unlinked cases! 

Back to phase 2?

After being in phase 3 which is the norm besides traveling for quite some time, we need to reverse and move back to phase 2 again.....thanks to the Indian variant of the covid-19 virus. Due to large number of clusters appearing, especially from TTSH, the number of local cases had shot up to double digits recently.

Maison Sucree Bakery-beautiful lemon meringue tart

Located opposite redhill mrt station under a HDB flat was this Muslim owned bakery shop selling one of the most beautiful lemon meringue tart I ever seen.

Popped by over during lunchtime and grabbed some cakes. There was some outdoor seating available and they also served coffee and other drinks.

I wana get the lemon meringue tart $7 and their signature Paris-Brest $8.50. Their chocolate salted caramel and signature carrot cake looks pretty tempting.....haha....maybe next time.

Lemon meringue tarts are my favorite! Looks too pretty to be eaten.

Besides the look, the taste is also v important. Overall, I feel that the crust is good in the sense that it’s not too soft. I don’t like soft or thin soggy crust. Even after leaving in the fridge overnight, the tart crust itself is still cookie hard. As for the lemon filling, it’s good with the strong lemon citrusy taste but will be better if the texture can be softer and smoother instead of this stiff jelly-like texture. The meringue is perfect, but it seemed to slide off the lemon filling when I cut into it. In fact, the entire rose meringue can be lifted off the tart as it does not seem to gel well with the jelly-like lemon filling. Oh well, I hope they can improve it further. Anyway, for the price of $7, it’s pretty decent.

Nevertheless, the quest for the perfect lemon meringue tart continues.....

Sofi Cafe Pizza-Italian & keto friendly

Located in an alleyway along Tanjong pagar was this quiet and quaint cafe selling pizza, pasta and keto-friendly food. 

Like the ambience of the place as it was like a quiet hidden cafe with nice homely decoration.

Accidentally discovered this cafe one day while passing by and was attracted by the entrance. There was some outdoor seating available, and the place would look especially nice at night with the lighting.

Ordered the margarita classic pizza $18 and the sofi big breakfast $19.

There was a choice of which style of eggs preferred and between multi grain, brioche or sour dough bread. Glad I choose the sour dough coz it tasted so good, v crispy on the outside, chewy inside with a light buttery spread. The scrambled egg had a touch of truffle flavor which was just right. Bacon was crispy and the mushroom was flavorful. Definitely a must order as it was also recommended on the menu. 

Pizza was surprisingly huge and can feed 3-4 people. The pizza dough was thin and crispy with an oven baked aroma. We could actually finished it between me and my hubby as their thin dough like crust made it less filling than normal Pizza Hut pizza.

To end it off, we ordered their homemade tiramisu $13.50 which was recommended on the menu.
It was good with a strong taste of rum. However, for the price of $13.50, I felt it was too expensive for such a small slice of cake!? Anyway, we were curious and wana try it out for the first time. But for $13.50, it wasn’t good enough to wow us to try another time.

Reservation can be made online easily using the inline app found on the address by google map.

 

A taste of Japan at Koma

Manage to get a reservation at Koma restaurant at MBS on 21 Feb @5.30pm which I booked 2 months in advance. 

The entrance intro the restaurant was this impressive set of red torii gates, which reminds me of the Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto which I went a few years ago....so nostalgic memories....and sad since I don’t know when I can go Japan ever again...

The interior of the restaurant was just as impressive with the high ceiling, hanging lanterns, the district red Japanese styled curved bridge and the giant bell.

Dress code was smart casual. Service was polite and friendly. Ambience was excellent.

We got the round sofa booth all to ourselves. Safe distancing was not a problem as seats were well spaced apart.

One of the most Instagramable spot in the restaurant.

Posing on the bridge and imagining myself in Japan...haha....

For starters, we ordered the oysters on the half shell $24 consisting of 6 pieces of oysters and crispy chicken $12 with flat rice, truffle salt and tomato ponzu dipping sauce.

The oysters were just so so and not as fresh as we expected. However, we quite like the fried chicken as it was tender and flavorful.

For the mains, we ordered the scallion fried rice $32 consisting of shrimps, chicken and scallops. The server would pour the gravy sauce over the rice on the hot plate. It was delicious as you can taste the wok hei taste in the rice. However, I find the portion to be bit too little for 2 person. 

Also ordered this spicy tofu hotpot $25 to go with the rice. It was not spicy at all....

For drinks, I ordered the tiger mint ice tea $15 on the left and Hubby chose Pinkku $15 on the right. Both were non-alcoholic drinks. 

To end it off, we ordered lemon yuzu $16 and the Japanese cheese cake $16. The Japanese cheesecake tasted just normal and can get bit jelak after a few bites. I preferred the lemon yuzu not just because it looked good but taste good as well. 

The outer casing of the lemon was made of chocolate with lemon mousse enclosing a core of lemon syrup in the center. Below the lemon was lemon sorbet and surrounded by dark chocolate crumbs which complement well with the sourness of the lemon. Must try!

Overall, it was a nice place to eat, more for finger food and drinks. There was free complimentary parking if you spent more than $150 during dinner time. 

Figurines collection and package from Japan

Splurge $400+ on three figurines bought from Goodsmiles company Japan, my biggest spend on toys so far. As the amount exceeded SGD $400, there is a GST tax added which amounts to $28 but Singpost added an extra $10 for handling fee (what the hell) and the total amounts to $38...

By the way, I collected the package from popstation and can use credit card to pay for the GST at the machine. Just scan the collection slip and then enter the sms pin. Then, it will prompt for GST payment. After payment is completed, the door to the package will opened.

From the left: Figma Hyakkimaru (8500 yen before tax), Nendoroid Zenitsu  Agatsuma (5364 yen before tax) and Kenshin Himura (14 630 yen before tax). Comes with bonus additional accessories for Hyakkimaru and a poster signed by manga artist of Kenshin.



Check out my unboxing video of Kenshin:



Also finally managed to unbox and assembled my Keroro figurine ($6), one of my favorite character from a long time ago. It was selling cheaply at Toymana, so decide to get it and add to my collection. 

Another item from Toymana was this Gengar Figurine ($15). Both Keroro and Gengar were made in Japan by Bandai Spirits. It was a steal getting them at such prices.

Goodbye 2020

What a year to remember! Not just for me but for everyone on this planet earth. I’m glad I survived 2020, and as the saying goes, what doesn’t kill u makes u stronger. Life is harsh for almost everyone in 2020. But no matter what shit life throws at u, u just have to take it and move on. It sucks but it does not kill. It’s like the world suddenly changed. I remember rushing to supermarket to stock up on food and toilet paper. There was a time during phase 1 where there were no Macdonald or bubble tea and the only place I can shop for things outside is the supermarket. I remember how I yearned to be able to sit down and eat in the hawker center when no outside dinning was allowed. I realize all the simple little things we took for granted, like being able to eat outside, enjoy a freshly cooked pipping hot meal, eating cakes and desserts...etc. It’s only when such simple little joys are taken away then we realize how important they are. Work had been tough since I don’t have the privilege of working from home. I remember having to work 12 hrs shift for 2 consecutive day with half hr lunch and concuss out the next day. But then, times flies really fast during those times since I’m not working 5 days a week. I keep telling myself that no matter how shitty work is, I’m considered lucky since I got a job and it’s recession and even COVID-19 proof.

What I really missed most is to be able to travel again....those days of being able to just buy an air ticket suddenly and jet off on a budget is now like a dream....I missed the freedom of going anywhere in this world anytime I want as easily as snapping my fingers. Those were the pre-covid days....which we can never go back 😞