June: Foodscapade and Friendships

Still unable to blog about NYC because I don't have my pictures yet. >.< 

But I've been meaning to compile a post of most of the outings in June! I still have no job (yet), so I have been spending my time meeting up with people I hold dearly to my heart. (: Hopefully I'll hear some response from potential employers in the next week or so! (:

The Connoisseur Concerto (TCC)

I would definitely list TCC as one of my favorite restaurants. They have a wide range of food in their menu and I especially return for their pasta! When I was in JC I would often go the the outlet at Changi Airport to study so I would say I'm a frequent patron. 

Pretty Brinda as my date that day! She is flying with SQ so she always tell me stories about her travels (and always shares good shopping buys). I find myself living vicariously through her!

The Sushi Bar

I bet a lot of people are starting to know about this sushi place recently, judging by the long queues that have built up slowly every time I visit. My first visit was made during lunch time, and we had to wait about 10 minutes to get a seat. The place is pretty small, if I were to estimate, I'll probably say that it sits about 20 people.

Shiyun - my part-time bf, pageant mate (for two pageants) and course mate!

Janice - my roommate in NTU for three years! They got to know each other through me and we have been inseparable ever since (:

Grilled salmon - I forgot what sauce it came with but I thought it was quite a good match to the salmon meat. But then again, everything goes well with salmon! Overall, I would order it again just because I love salmon but I think this dish was not the best in the menu.

I had the chawamushi and I loved it alot! Very silky and soft, and just the right amount of sweetness to make it so damn yummy!

The sashimi came in thick slices and melts in your mouth (I don't eat sashimi but this is the feedback I got from my friends).

Salmon Aburi Roll - this is the star of the day. The salmon was seared  (not too raw) so I enjoyed it. The rice was sweet and the whole roll was overall very tasty. (: I can't decide if I like this or the Shiok Maki at Koh Grill more. I think that Shiok Maki would find favor with cheese lovers while the Salmon Aburi Roll is for people who prefer something not so overpowering. There were other rolls worth ordering but by the time we wanted to do so, they closed their kitchen ):

So instead we settled for some stuffed chicken wings, which I felt were not so memorable. 

Would definitely patronize The Sushi Bar again for the food. But I think it's becoming more and more popular, such that I may think twice about visiting just cos I hate the long queue!

A random picture of Shiyun and I in Topshop's dressing room after Jan left to meet her family. Love these pieces we tried on but there's simply no occasion to wear them to. ): Plus the fact that they come with hefty price tags. :/ 

Dinner Buffet @ Brio's, Grand Copthorne Hotel

One of my best friends had vouchers for this buffet, so we took the chance to gather and bond over yummy food!

Seafood selection - I only took the prawns cos they were sweet and juicy. As for my favorite scallops, the raw ones weren't fantastic.

Stuck to the cooked scallop instead. They were grilled and topped with cheese! So good (:

Another dish that I liked with the beef.

My favorite Laksa. Definitely still prefer Katong Laksa over any other ones I've tried though.

Prata station where a prata man will make one on the spot!

The durian station is outside (cos they don't wanna turn off people with the smell) so we moved outside. This is probably the only picture I have of us lol

I love durian but theirs was simply not a joy to eat cos it was not fresh ): 

Durian lovers should head on over to Swissotel Merchant Court's buffet at Ellenborough Market Cafe, cos their durian dessert is simply the bomb!

Ippudo @ Mandarin Gallery

Ippudo is no stranger to anyone, and despite the long queues and over-ratedness, I feel that they haven't compromised on quality. Still ranks the top of my list of ramen places!

Xinlei! Haven't seen this girl in ages (: Always love to hang out with her cos she gives valuable advice. She is so cute and humble especially when I bring up the subject of her appearing in print ads that are displayed at the MRT stations. lol

After lunch we headed to Paul's for some coffee, tea and snacks. (: Didn't do our research beforehand so we didn't order Paul's popular pastries.

Xinlei left to do her hair (taitai life) while I went to meet Shiyun & Jan. Squeezed in one more meetup with them cos Jan was leaving for her grad trip to the States!

OOTD that day. I think white is my color cos it makes me look fairer somehow (:

Koh Grill and Sushi Bar

Beef Sukiyaki - Yummy! Must order.

Crappy Maki - Swordfish belly on top, soft shell crab wrapped in the rice. Was not a fan of this but it is one of Shiyun's recommendation. 

Fried Salmon Skin - who doesn't love crunchy things right? lol

And the famous Shiok Maki! It looks as good as it tastes. The one-hour queue was worth it!

Plain Vanilla Bakery

 I stay in Tampines and hardly go to the Bukit Timah/Holland V area. PV Bakery has been around for so long and I have yet to try their cupcakes. But I found myself doing an event at Biopolis (one MRT stop away) so I told myself this was the perfect opportunity to go buy some!

Was hoping to try White Chocolate Strawberry but there weren't any that day.

Love how they just use string and not plastic bags! (:

My pick would be - Salted Caramel (which is why I bought two) and Chocolate Hazelnut. (:

6 cupcakes for $19. A bit pricey compared to their competitors, but so worth every cent! I'm looking forward to heading down to one of their branches soon if I can!

Roger & Emmeline's Wedding @ Goodwood Park Hotel

First wedding of a peer that I have ever attended! Roger was my orientation group senior in University

Good to catch up with old pals (:

OOTD shot through the mirrored doors at the lobby. My photographer Shiyun is getting better and better at helping me take pictures. lol :D

Kabe No Ana @ Nex

Before Joel became super busy with his internship, we sat down to have a proper dinner together (and not the usual dapao go home watch TV and eat kind)

Was craving for mentaiko sauce so we headed down to Kabe No Ana for Japanese pasta! My favorite pick is the Mentaiko Shrimp Pasta (pictured in the foreground)! (: Will definitely crave for it from time to time.

Will be back with July's Foodscapade post as well as NYC.

Sleep tight kitties! xxx

Updates + Ran's 21st @ Todai

My last post was two weeks ago! Time to update this space. 

I'm glad to say that today I submitted my last ever university assignment and sat for my very last university quiz. How fast time flies! Still quite stressed over not getting a job yet. D: But I'm happy cos Joel is one step away in securing his internship with a good company. Hopefully by June/July we would both be earning our keep!

End of March we celebrated my sister, Randi's 21st. Unlike my 21st two and a half years ago where I opted for a grand party (lol), she decided to keep it intimate. Under some recommendations, she chose a buffet dinner at Todai @ Marina Bay Sands for the family, her boyfriend and three of her closest friends. Heard some good things about the place too but when the night was over I knew I won't be heading back there ever.

OKAY. Let me do a mini-rant. I hate ill-behaved kids. And promised myself that I will never ever let my future kids be ill-mannered. When I walked into Todai the first thing I spotted was the fondue machine and I was quite happy at the sight of it. I gotta have fondue at every buffet I go. It's like a personal gauge of whether the buffet is good. (Such a bad choice of indicator. lol) There were a bunch of kids surrounding the machine, seemingly using spoons to pour chocolate from the fondue machine over their ice cream. Okay fair enough. Then my vision zoomed in on this fat kid scooping chocolate from the fondue machine with a spoon and putting it into his mouth. THEN HE PUT THE SPOON BACK INTO THE CHOCOLATE. In the mind alarm bells were going off and I was thinking, "WTF I plan to eat that later!" I immediately exclaimed to  the nearest Todai staff I could find, "Those kids are double dipping! That is damn GROSS." and she went to stop that pig of a child. ARGH. Didn't your parents ever teach you about hygiene???? That totally ruined my night. >:(  End of rant.

Randi and Barny.

Nicole and I. 

The fore-mentioned chocolate fondue machine which was unfortunately violated by stupid fat kids! And just when you would think that people who visit MBS will have more class. I obviously thought wrong.

Pathetic array of food. Didn't even want to try all. I only took the duck confit meat and chilli crab.

Vanilla ice-cream. Skipped this.

Alaskan crab, which I spammed cause honestly this was the best thing there. Very juicy and sweet! If you are into fresh oysters and scallops then the seafood spread will appeal to you. I don't take sashimi but I heard they refilled it quite slowly and in small portions. (So you'll be paiseh to take many pieces?) IMO, there are other buffets that serve bigger portions of sashimi all at once so you can happily spam and gorge yourself on it.

Pasta section where the chef will cook it on the spot. I stood there for sometime thinking about what I should get but in the end I was thinking pasta would waste the space in my stomach. Skipped it.

I didn't take pictures of the large array of sushi, but I would say there was some effort put into creating new variety of sushi combinations. Felt that it was one of the better sections of Todai. Honestly, the other sections aren't worth mentioning. 

The dessert section was probably the nicest looking, with the macaron tower thingy. But the time we hit the dessert most of the yummy desserts such as eclairs were gone. (T.T)

Since it was Todai's birthday month, March and April babies get a free (pathetic) cake! Other than it being a suitable photo-taking prop, it did not serve any other purpose. lol. I think it just sat on the table after Randi took a bite and declared it inedible.

March/April babies get to use the photo booth too, which was probably the funnest part of the whole dinner. Nevertheless, although dinner was super meh, I guess the important agenda of the night was spending time with the family.

Will I recommend Todai? No. It is expensive ($68++ for dinner) and not worth the money. Variety was limited and food was refilled slowly. The food was displayed in an aesthetic manner that made most of the dishes look appealing, but when you've tried them for the first time, there is little desire to go for a second round.

I don't think this is a really biased view although I'm a fussy eater. My whole family thought the same way about it too. D: