Singapore Garden Festival

I went for the Singapore Garden Festival on 20 Dec 2006. I enjoyed the settings and the pretty flowers, but not that much. My friend on the other hand, loved it. I dunno, maybe I prefer flowers in a real garden, rather than in a convention centre with air-con immitating the cool weather of temperate countries, while the smell of wilted flowers filling the recycled air surrounded us =( I'm quite a cynic, no?

Anyways, the other reason I was a bit disappointed was because my photos turned out bleahs there. I was fiddling with the manual mode of my camera, but somehow almost all of them turned out underexposed! Argh! So frustrating! Anyways, here are some of the more presentable ones that evening from my collection. Intuition took a lot more photographs than me though. He is getting better and better at photography ; ) Well done!





My favourite one is the cactus =) At least that one is not underexposed! And AGAIN, it is yet another macro shot. I need to work on my non-macro shots!

Post Christmas Celebration

I have blogged about Christmas and what it means to me, as well as quirkie Christmas presents and quirkie friends =) Intuition was rather indignant that a toothbrush would warrant a post in my blog while his lovely presents and presence have not yet had a dedicated post, and so now here I am, blogging about it =)

Intuition and I are practical people when it comes to celebrating events like Valentine's Day or birthdays. For example, he doesn't buy me flowers on Valentine's Day itself; he waits until the prices have gone back to normal before sending me a bouquet, which is really sweet and practical at the same time :P Likewise for birthdays... Unfortunately, when you've got a girlfriend whose birthday falls on a public holiday such as Christmas day, there isn't any way you're wriggling out of the situation of going somewhere non-crowded and eating food with non-hiked up prices. So that was what he suffered the first few years we're together, poor him :P

This year, we've wisened up. We celebrated on Boxing Day instead, when the crowds have dispersed and gone back to work, when restaurants are no longer serving ONLY their festive (and overpriced) menus, when everything is on SALE!

Intuition's goal that morning was to keep me from guessing where he was bringing me for lunch :P First he told me to meet him at Suntec's Marches. When I was on my way there, he smsed me: "Follow this instruction if you want food. Go to Marina Sq and await a mysterious fone-call." Of course I wanted my food, so I obediently went to Marina Sq and got that mysterious phone call. I met my date at Marina Sq and we went to the toilet--only it wasn't the toilet, but a corridor that also leads to outside the building which is connected to the Oriental Hotel! We're going to the Melt World Cafe at the Oriental Hotel!

The buffet had a reasonable spread (nothing as lavish as The Line), and the quality was pretty good. Furthermore, because it was a weekday lunch, there wasn't a lot of people, which was great cos we both hate crowded places =) I loved the sashimi! I also loved the baked salmon, the cheese selection, the mussels-in-cream-sauce, the mushroom soup, the fragrant Indian briyani rice and fluffy naan, the multitudes of curries available, and the wonderful, wonderful dessert selection! The caramel ice-cream on freshly baked waffle was divine! The mango mousse was rich and full of mango-goodness. The chocolate fountain was a wellspring of goodwill and happiness (at least temporarily!). Unfortunately, they didn't have a cold section =( I didn't get to slurp down raw oysters and raw scallops, but it's ok! ^-^

After gorging, we had walked around a bit to buy my birthday present (which was on sale, since it was after Christmas day!!), and then he hurried me down to the next Mystery Destination. It was..... a spa session! He brought me to the Civil Service Club's spa area and treated me to my first ever spa session =) It was quite an experience =) It wouldn't be something that I'd want to do again in Singapore though, cos it's so expensive? A session like that can easily set you back by more than $100 (but Intuition got it on discount, so it's ok ;) haha!). No wonder why so many are willing to travel to Bali or Bangkok for shopping and spa!

At the end of the day, after indulging in great food and pampering yourself with a spa treatment, the best way to end it is to eat simple comfort food =) We bought maggi-mee and a can of spiced diced pork and whipped up a simple dinner at my place. It was the best thing to have when faced with the cold, rainy weather--a steaming bowl of maggi mee with canned meat on the side =)

Catty Shots

I saw a cat lying around the car park on Saturday and thought that it would be a great photography subject, so after going up and pottering around the house for a bit, I got my camera out in search of the perfect Cat on Car shot (you know how cats like to lie down lazily on top of cars? They have an uncanny sense of who is the most particular car owner and will always end up on that car owner's car :P naughty creatures, cats!). Unfortunately, by the time I got to the carpark, the sun is shining on the cars and no cats were in sight. However, I saw this regular stray at a bench below my HDB flat.


So got cat better than no cat right? I sat down at the bench near this cat and started snapping away. To get its attention, I went like "meow, meow..." and it worked--the cat looked at me. The next thing I knew, it hopped off its bench and started walking in my direction.

After it circled my legs several times, it hopped onto the bench and onto my lap! I was shocked! Are cats this friendly? Or is it because that spot is more comfortable than the wooden bench??


Unfortunately, being closer doesn't mean better =( My movements were restricted and there were many angles I couldn't get at, because its back was facing me most of the time! I wanted to catch a shot of it yawning, but this is as good as I got it. After cropping it, it looks better, but oh shucks! If only the camera was more tilted upwards! It's times like this when I wish my camera had a swivel-lcd display =(


Anyways, I got up and left the cat on the bench and went on to the next. It followed me again! And happily lay on my lap again! This is one friendly cat. I had to say goodbye though =) This is my parting shot.

Friends :-)

I'm not very good at keeping in touch with friends. Usually, I tend to be the passive one, waiting for people to ask me out or to call me. As such, I don't have a lot of friends that I regularly meet from my secondary school and JC days. Thankfully, I do have a few good ones whom I meet up with, laugh a lot with and talk a lot with =) Gara, Mer and WXY being some of them (the only ones?!! boy I lead a sad life!!).

They also know that I love to eat and have a growing fondness for cooking, so they've been egging me to cook for them. This holiday period was the perfect time to do so, seeing how some of us are clearing leave and one of them is on holiday, being a school teacher! I gave them a few choices: pasta or hamburger? They chose pasta. Cream or tomato sauce? Cream sauce it was!

Personally I like tomato sauce, but I can see why they prefer cream sauce. Many eateries serve the tomato sauce pasta too tart and not very tasty. Cream sauces on the other hand, usually taste of cheese, cheese and more cheese, and you can't really go wrong with that, unless you're lactose intolerant, in which case you have my deepest sympathies.

After some mulling, I finally decided on something simple but cannot-go-wrong: Bacon + Mushrooms + Chicken pasta (using linguine). Really, there is no way this will taste bad as long as you use good bacon and fresh mushrooms! I used store-bought cream sauce and added some milk to the sauce, because I didn't want it to be too thick and saltish. Some cream sauces bought off-the-shelf have enough salt content to last you for a week. Thankfully the one I bought this time wasn't too saltish but silly me, I didn't note down the brand and name >_<

WXY and Mer did a great job with the desserts and drinks. They bought the cakes (chocolate based, no less!) from Four Leaves and brought sparkling apple juice for the evening. Gara said she nearly brought Baileys but decided against it, to my greatest regret =( My brother was at home, so I had to cook for him too. He repaid my kindness by being our in-house waiter ("Do you need more drinks?" *goes get more cups for my friends*); his service was top-notch, but the only tip he got was that he could partake of our meal together ;) hahaha.. It was a great evening of fun and laughter =)

Gara, WXY and Mer also presented me with a log cake that evening! They also sang me "Happy Birthday" for the first time in goodness knows how many years, since we hardly ever get to meet around my birthday period! (See, the other sucky part about being born on Christmas is that no one is really free to meet up with you!!!) Anyways, you babes are tres sweet ;) Thanks a mil for the cakes and the company!

Christmas Presents!

This year, I've received lots of lovely presents from my lovely friends. This year, I've also received some erm, interesting presents from my interesting friends. The winner of which must be this:


an electric toothbrush.

It was given to me by the guys in my cell group. When I first received the oddly shaped package, I didn't think too much about it until one of them asked me to guess. I felt it, and it seemed to be shaped like a toothbrush, so I asked incredulously, "Did you guys get me a toothbrush?" and he said "well, not quite..." and then i was like, "An electric toothbrush??" *cue in slack-jawed open eyed expression*

I was like, WHAT WHY HOW WHHYYYY??? Did I suffer from terrible breath? Are my teeth yellowing already? Are my gums receding? Do I show more plague than teeth when I smile? No, no, no and no, he said. It's because I like to eat, he said. So it was a toss-up between a cookbook, a blender and an electric toothbrush (so that I can brush my teeth after I eat). Sodesu ne.

Well, some thought certainly went into it, but still... I would have much prefered the cook book or the blender (and I was actually thinking of getting a blender so that I can do purees :D) but I guess I should be thankful. Afterall, it is a practical gift and it was thoughtfully picked out... It wasn't like they plucked it out randomly at Gardian Pharmacy and Tadaaa!

I was wondering how did they know I like to cook. Apparently they got the idea from this blog, which I didn't know that they read. Anyways, guys, this post is dedicated to you! Thanks for the Christmas prezzie, I will use it with much amusement and will remember your thoughtfulness each time I brush my teeth after I eat ; )

Blessed Christmas

Christmas is just round the corner. Those who know me knows also that my birthday falls on Christmas day.

It's strange being born on such a special day. 25 December is celebrated all over the world as the birthday of Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace, Counsellor, Saviour of the world. What happens when your birthday falls on the same day as Someone as important as that? For my earlier years, it's often not much fun, cos Someone else gets all the (deserving!) attention ;) Now, I think it's pretty special to be born on the same day as my God and Saviour (albeit it's just a designated date!).

My story about my God and I.

Recently I asked God a self-centred question: "Do You love me?" and the humbling answer came almost immediately. I thought of how God brought me to know Him as my Lord and Saviour over the years; how can I doubt His love? I thought of all the times He brought me through my delinquent years, my stresses in schools and my troubles at work; how can I doubt His love? I thought of His faithfulness even though I strayed, even after tasting His goodness; how can I doubt His love?

I was reading the story of Solomon and the kings of Israel in the Old Testament. King after king, they failed to lead their people in the right direction of following God and His commandments even after He specifically told them to do so. Yet even though the kings keep leading His people astray, God was always faithful to keep a burning lamp on the throne for David, and for the Son of David who will eventually rule forever and ever. The Son of David came 2000 years ago in the form of Jesus Christ, and He will rule for all eternity, with justice, righteousness and peace. What a glorious reign! In this time of injustice, unrest and a general climate of fear, the thought that Jesus, the Ultimate Ruler, lives and is sovereign brings peace to our hearts and minds.

I'm going carolling this year with my cell group. I look forward to telling the tale of the Messiah's birth through beautiful songs. It's a wonderful story, the retelling of the most significant birth in the world and the purpose behind it all. It's not so that we can buy more presents and gorge ourselves silly. If that is Christmas to you, I suggest you look beyond the commercialism--into the story of Nativity, for it is how God came to dwell with men. Immanuel has come. Will you dwell with God today?

Musings on Food and Relationships

Chinese New Year dinner @ Granny's. Pardon the blurriness.

I've found out why I'm always talking about food and why good food to me truly affects my perceived quality of life.

It's in my genes.

I should have long suspected it, seeing how my parents will drive for hours in the search of The Perfect Crab / Yong Tau Fu / Roast Duck when we were in Malaysia. They think nothing of driving two hours in the hot Malaysian sun and in the horrendous Malaysian jam to get to the divine Malaysian food. I remember many hours of my childhood spent at the backseat of the car in a long, long jam as the sun beat down on us mercilessly as we go to the regular joints, a mere 2 hours away. It was really something that we're used to as kids.

My parents enjoy a great marriage and have a pretty good relationship by any standards. Oh they bicker and quarrel and have their fair share of shouting matches, but I suppose this is part and parcel of married life. They've got plenty of lovey-dovey moments too, which is really something since they're both about 50 years old now. I suspect one contributing reason to their good marriage is this, as my dad shared: "I found a good eating partner in your mum!"

The way I see it, being able to enjoy good food together is a great ingredient for a good marriage (notice all the food-metaphors!). Meals together are a great bonding time. Going out-of-the-way to get to the good food allows for: 1. quality time spent together travelling. 2. a common goal to work towards together, therefore creating oppurtunities for teamwork and interaction. Working together helps you to understand each other better and to adjust to one another's habits and quirks. 3. enjoying something together!

The fact that I came from a family of foodies was driven home even more on two separate instances. One was when I was having my usual breakfast with dad (see, meals are a great bonding oppurtunity!) and he was lamenting, "I'm not hungry, and I'm getting fat lah. I shouldn't eat so much (refering to his favourite fishball noodles)" to which I heartily agreed, since his waistline was expanding. The next thing I knew, he ordered that bowl of his favourite fishball noodles and said "What to do, you come from a family of gluttons..."

The other instance was today, when Intuition and I joined my mum for dinner. Intuition has always complained that I eat as much as he does, which is highly unbecoming for a girl. Today, my mum's appetite put us both to shame. We ordered a bowl of mee-sua each and shared a plate of hokkien-prawn noodles and chicken wings. After we ate, Intuition and I were stuffed, while my mum continued ogling at the other food available at the hawker centre and said "Let's order a plate of carrot cake! Ooooh that fish looks good. How about ordering a fish to share? What else shall we eat... I feel like I've not really eaten anything. Are you both full yet??" It dawned on Intuition that my appetite is small potatoes compared to my point of origin.

For the rest of the evening, all we talked about were where to find the best hokkien mee, where is the best chwee kueh, which stalls are over-rated and how food-court food sucks.

It was truly a humbling experience. Sigh, I'm not worthy of the term "foodie" =( There is much room for improvement!

Perfect Substitute #1: Pasta

Bacon and mushroom aglio olio @ Basil Alcove

As a follow up to my previous post about the Law of Perfect Substitutes, here is my first recommendation.

The perfect substitute to sub-standard pasta at places such as Pasta Mania
Initially, I was happy about Pasta Mania because finally you can get a plate of pasta below $10. That was during my days of darkness, before my tastebuds attained enlightenment, which came in two parts.

Part 1 of enlightenment came shortly after I discovered how easy it was to cook delicious pasta! Just use good sauce, good ingredients and boil the noodles according to the specifications on the packet. Part 2 of enlightenment came after I discovered some cafes that serve far, far better pasta at equally reasonable prices. After that, the pasta at Pasta Mania just didn't make the cut anymore. Intuition and I thumb our noses at this yuckyfood overpriced establishment each time we walk past it now.

For the better alternatives, please visit:

1. Basil Alcove (@ Fortune Centre, along Middle Road)
This admittedly is rather out of the way for people who take MRT. You have to drop off at Bugis or Dhoby Ghaut and walk all the way to Fortune Centre. The pasta there is very fancy and yummy =) and affordable, too! The orange-basil sauce shrimp pasta is full of fresh shrimps. The fancy-sounding orange sauce tastes just right with it! At $8.80, it's really a bargain =) At $8.80, I also never want to eat at Pasta Mania again, ever.

2. Creation Cafe (@ Shaw Tower level 1, in between Bugis Junction and Suntec City)
Creation Cafe offers set meals at $14.80, offering a soup, a drink, a main and a dessert. The pasta there is tasty and served piping hot. The desserts are quite good too. The last time I went, it was an apple crumble with ice-cream and it had a very home-cooked feel to it, which is not a bad thing.

The service is good at both places. Between the two, I prefer Basil Alcove's food. However, it's quite a small joint and the ambience isn't so fantastic. If I visit Creation Cafe, it will be because it's more convenient and accessible from where I usually hang out.

Check out these places and let me know if you like it!

Stir Fried Goodness

Last week, my mum was too lazy to cook, as was often the case, seeing how my family likes to make disparaging remarks on her consistently constant menu of "fried fish, fried eggs, fried veg..." It is good comfort food, no doubt, but we like variety. Furthermore, my brother and I are the pickiest eaters in my mum's world, so we need more than consistent comfort food to satisfy our greedy appetites.

Anyway, I digress. My mum declared herself too lazy to cook, and said "why don't you both cook for me instead?" to which we happily agreed, because it means that we get to experiment and eat something other than fish, eggs and veg, not that we're really complaining. We drove down to the supermarket and bought a pile of groceries, and since it was my mum paying for it, we bought indulgences like a block of parmesan cheese, more sausages, and more milk.

My brother wanted to cook the fool-proof Italian sausage pasta, and I simply went along. Since I've talked about it before, I won't bother going into the details of the recipe. However, I want to highlight one change: instead of cooking the usual oodles of Italian noodles (spaghetti, linguine, angel's hair etc...), we did gnocchi. Instead of boiling gnocchi like instructed on the packet, we stir-fried it. The result?



It's delish. The exterior was crispy, and the inside was chewy. It tastes a little like french fries, only healthier, chewier and better. Add a pile of sausages, sauteed mushrooms, onions and chilli to it, and you've got yourself some happy diners.

I read about this cooking method here. My mother, a staunch anti-pasta (hur hur hur, geddit? geddit?? anyways, bad Italian food joke here...) person, loved it! She said "Sometimes it tastes like it's cheesy... it looks like scallops, yet it can also look like fishballs.. I like it!"

I liked it lots too =)

Quirkie Creations: Christmas Tree

Christmas is coming! Here is a little Christmas e-card I did up one day when I had a lot of better things to do (and here I go again, getting distracted with useless tasks...). Personally, I like the dotty tree, but so far my friends seem to prefer the leafy one. Which is your preferance?





Both are nice lah, huh? ;) *shameless!*

The Law of Perfect Substitutes: The Background

I've mentioned overpriced yuckyfood establishments before in a food related post. Today, I shall share more about my convictions and findings that will help us all spend our money somewhere else. I mean, why would anyone want to pay too much for lousy food??!

One thing that binds Intuition and I together is our mutual love for good food and mutual intolerance for overpriced yuckyfood establishments. Can you imagine the conflicts that will arise if we don't see eye to eye in such areas? It will greatly decrease the quality of our dating life!

We meet about twice a week, and because he stays in the far West and I stay in the far East of Singapore, we always end up meeting in City Hall, the Great Compromise. Because we always meet in town, we have to eat in town (duh!), and because we do so, we have tried and tested many good places worth returning to, and several awful places that should never have seen the light of day.

One thing that we never understand is how these crappy places are always, always crowded. If the food is good, fine! But these are places that serves ketchup-laden soggy dough pizzas, intensely coloured sugar water (that also leaves your tongue and teeth discoloured), bland oily pasta, chicken-flavoured mayonnaise cardboard sandwiches and too-sweet-too-dry cakes for dessert. Why go there at all??? Oh, the agony! the agony!!

The only reason that I could think of for people settling for less-than-best in their food-life is because these detestable food chains are too conveniently located. The better, cheaper, tastier ones usually takes some walking around to get there. All the better, I say. You can work up an appetite, enjoy more conversation, and walk it off after the meal.

After saying so much, here's a little law that we work by: The Law of Perfect Substitutes. Example:
I crave for a sandwich. I could go to Delifrance, which is not cheap, serves dollops of mayonnaise with measly strands of chicken paired to perfection with wilted greens, OR I could go to Subway for their fresher, cheaper, tastier and healthier alternatives! Substitution!

The only catch is that you must know where is the perfect substitute being served. And I will be willing to share with you my database of perfect substitutes for pizza, pasta, western food, sandwiches, desserts etc if you'll be nice to me and share yours too! ;) Watch this space!

It's a beautiful day

Supposed to go back to my office to finish up something today, since I'm on leave on Monday... but I'm still here at home, lazing on the couch (and that's the angle of the shot. Lying down on the couch, camera in hand, facing the sky). I'm trying to lay a guilt trip on my mum to send me to town later ("Muuuuum, if you love me you'll send me to City Hall..." *bambi eyes*), but she's not falling for it. Darn.

Jolie Fleurs

Quirkie Picture of the Day: Asleep in the manger...

Clue: Not baby Jesus ; )

One of my favourite pictures...

I took a picture of this beautiful bouquet of flowers while I was mugging for something 2 years back. It's a bouquet that was given to my mum for excellence at work, something that she's very proud of, and we are of her, too. What was I doing, taking photos while mugging? It's that law at work, that when you're stressed with your studies, suddenly even housework seems more appealing, and you'll do whatever your hand finds to do, but. Hence, this shot =) I'm glad I did though. Fresh flowers are such pretty things, but they're here today, wilted tomorrow. Reminds me of the parable of the lilies, that Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like them. If God clothed the lilies, how much more His children =)

Let's talk about something else.

An obligatory non-food picture of a quirkie family pet. Its quirks include furiously digging furiously on the floor for nothing in particular.

I've been going on and on about food for the last few posts, so much so that my friends are asking me if it's a food blog I'm starting, walking in the shadows of great food bloggers like Chubby Hubby and Kuidaore. Well... that wasn't my intention, but there certainly is a lot of inspiration from these blogs! Looking at their food creations make me weep with frustration, that many of the items they've described so succulently are food that I've not even tried! But i digress... *ahem*

I can talk about the funny people in my life! *beams!* Gara certainly thinks that I've got loads of strange friends, she being one of them. She thinks that it's cos birds of a feather flock together, but I think it's cos opposites attract, me being so normal and all.

Quirkie Habits of Friends that I've Observed
1. Friend A: likes to "countdown" after he has to shut his PC down forcibly and needs to turn it on again. I.e., he will hold the button down til the PC shuts down, then before starting it on again, he will quickly do a count down: "12345678910...10987654321", THEN he'll switch it on again.

2. Friend B: Friend B is beyond description... I don't even know where to begin. His strangeness is innate. Maybe I'll share his classic joke: "I like to dash around... dash here, dash there... so that people will say that I'm DASHING. *heeheehee!*" and that's just the tip of the ice-berg!

3. Friend C: Hahaha.. my precious Friend C is unforgettable. There's also no way she'll chance upon this :P Friend C likes to dress up to work, and on days she feels prettier, she'll say "Quirkie! Come and take photo for meeee!" so I'll snap away as she preens and poses in various locations in the office. After that, when she views the pictures on the computer, she'll exclaim "Aiyohh I look sooo fat here! See, it's all your fault! You take photo, make me look fat!" There is no justice in this world :P

My own quirkie habits? Why, surely I don't have any! I just like to eat good food and that totally excludes Cafe Cartel, Pasta Mania, Macdonald's, Delifrance, TCC, Sakura and other overpriced yuckyfood establishments (my other nick is Food Snob, as given by Dumbbell). Please, if you're my friend reading this, please don't ever, ever organize a gathering at such places!! I love to hunt out cheap and good eats. One day, when I've met my quota of non-food related posts, I'll post up a list of food places that Intuition and I have carefully researched on, devoting our time, money and effort to making sure that it is worthy of a place in our Little Blue Book of Food. ^-^

So there! A non-food (almost!) post!

Sofra Revisited

I went to Sofra again with my lovely DG mates, and ordered exactly what I ordered when I went there on Sunday. I must try some other food there next time! Nonetheless, the food was still good =) Here are some pictures of our outing.


First came our soup and drinks--red lentil soup and apple tea.


This is the pide, what I call the turkish pizza.


Here is the glutton's platter! The presentation is quite cool. I like the use of fake swords through the brinjals and meats :P

There was one more dish that we ate, the baked chicken with rice, cheese and potatoes, but it came slightly burnt on the outside, which didn't make for a pretty picture. The pictures I took of it didn't turn out nice either, for my hands were impatient to start scooping the food from there, resulting in blurry shots of charred food =( Not a pretty picture at all!

Okay, I think I've talked too much about food so far. Will think about other things and blog about them soon!

Ambitions in Life

Well, not exactly ambitions. More like little goals in life that I want to tick of my "To Do" list ; )

Presenting a list of items I aspire to cook in this life-time, in no particular order:

- Pizza (including making the dough!)
- Mentaiko-tobiko Pasta (this seems easy enough!)
- Truffle-anything (pasta, with scrambled eggs, pizza, soup... anything lah!)
- Real vanilla beans infused creme brulee, rather than using vanilla extract / essence.
- Chocolate mousse cake (Varlhona, no less! and I've only heard of that stuff!)
- Chocolate truffles :D
- Mee siam (mai hum, naturally... My grandmother makes a mean, mean mee siam)
- Gourmet ice-cream
- Carrot-cake (the one with the cream-cheese frosting)
- Chocolate lava cake
- Clam chowder soup
- Lasagne

and a whole host of other things that I don't know I want to make until I chance upon them! Good night ; )

Sofra So Good!

Last night I had a wonderful dinner! Intuition brought my family and I
out to Sofra @ Shaw Towers for a meal of turkish delicacies.

Sofra is a Turkish restaurant at a little corner of Shaw Tower (2nd
floor). The ambience is relaxing, the scent of the food was promising,
and the prices were comforting (read: not too expensive!). We had a
seat right at the corner, and had a view of the road outside of Shaw
Towers. Not the greatest, but still, much better than a view of the
corridors of the shopping centre, no?

We ordered a mixed salad that had some brinjals (diced and fried with
spices... yum), hummus (chickpeas pounded with spices... yum), turkish
salsa (diced tomatoes and onions tossed with spices... yum) and bread.

As we were yumming over the starters, our main courses came.

Main course 1:
chicken, cheese and potatoes. It's more like potatoes + a medley of
beans and legumes, all mixed in with the chicken, and a generous
covering of oozly droolworthy cheeese :D~
Rating: MEGA, MEGA YUM.
Main course 2:
Pide--turkish pizza! It's light, cheesy, savoury and chewy! We wolfed
this down in no time at all =)
Rating: Big YUM.
Main course 3: platter for 2
My brother was so hungry he was threatening to bankrupt
Intuition with his appetite before dinner, so while ordering the food,
needless to say he went straight for the biggest portion, and this was
it! It's huge and satisfying. Roasted lamb and brinjals, shish kebabs,
chicken and mutton galore, breads and pitas, more tomato salsa...
mmmMMMmm! Heaven!
Rating: Big YUM.

And then there was the dessert! Pumpkin slices, pistachio pastry (baklava)
smothered in syrup, apricots stuffed with almonds... I didn't care too
much for it, as my preferred dessert should have a generous dose of
chocolate in it, but my mum and brother lapped it up.

My mum was so happy with this meal that with each mouthful, she
grinned at Intuition and thanked him for the treat ^-^ I told him that
he scored major, major points with her that night. My brother was also
very won over by this meal, the glutton that he is (well, we all are,
but there are gluttons and then there are gluttons... and he's a first
class glutton...).

Will be going there tomorrow! I shall try other items on the menu ; )
Yayz! You should go there soon, too!

Quirkie picture of the day

Having fun with soft toys and ornaments lying around the house =) Hee!

Who's calling the pot black...? Part Deux

So, previously, I ended with the tagline, "If I can cook, so can
you..." Let's talk about my successes, so that my detractors (you
know who you are... the both of you..) will have something nice to say
for a change ;)

The first time I was inspired to cook something by myself was when I
tasted this cold italian sausage pasta. The spicy sausages were
perfectly paired with olives and pasta, tossed in some herby cream
sauce. As I ate it, the magic taste seems to be coming form the
italian sausages--fragrant, savoury, juicy, with a good bite... When
paired with plain pasta and olives --> mmmMMMmmmm... The best thing
was that the whole dish didn't seem too hard to replicate! The
equation went like: storebought italian sausages + canned olives +
instant pasta + bottled tomato / cream sauce = yummy meal. Even I can
follow that!! Now, if only I knew where to buy these ingredients...

One fine day, while going grocery shopping with my family, I stopped
by the usual area to get some ham for breakfast when I saw these short
little fat suasages that are stuffed with italian herbs... the italian
sausages! I bought a dozen, grabbed some button mushrooms, tomato
sauce and pasta. Upon reaching home, I declared that I'll prepare
dinner, much to my mum's chagrin, who no doubt still remember the
curious incident of the dog-food in the night.

I can't remember if my brother helped me chop the onions and garlic
(he's my faithful and able kitchen help; a good cook and a much better
time-keeper), but no matter. I do remember dumping things into the
frying pan in the correct order for once. Garlic in with olive oil,
then the white onions, followed by the chopped up sausages
(*sseeezzzle.... sssszzzzz*), and then the mushrooms, and then a
generous dumping of Prego's tomato pasta sauce (ooohhh... can you
smell the concerto of herbs, meat and mushroons?). I also added one
chopped up red chilli to spice up the dish a notch. Not much fuss at
all, and altogether a very satisfying meal! The next time I repeated
this dish, olives were also added. I am proud and happy to report
that my brother and my mum ate it all up and declared me kitchen-safe.

Too bad this was done before the photography bug bit me, so no
photo-evidence, you shall just have to take my word for it. It was as
though I've attained enlightenment, that cooking is not such an
elusive skill. Given the right ingredients and right order of
dumping, anyone can whip up something yummy!