Kitty Cat moment

i always ride the number 12 bus when i was still living in Bedok. this cat reminded me of my Gato who died when i left our home for college. he died out of loneliness. he was always sleeping in my old room.

all the HDB cats here in Singapore are quite cute and fat. they say that cats are not allowed in HDBs and if there are regular checks, some can be sent to their death (depressing). they give a week for owners to claim the cats with collars and a day for stray cats (sad).

anyway, this cat was just lying there... not a care in the world. i took its picture then ran off to catch my bus.

sunny side up

so, i've put a face to the posts (refer to background of blog). i do hope i don't get in trouble with what i've been saying. hmm... should i blur my face out? hmm again. and another hmm...

i just would like to note that i am very happy this morning. this is the first time that i've cooked 4 sunny side ups in a row without murder. erm, sorry i don't bring my phone to the kitchen. so you'll just have to take my word for it. is it the Singapore brown eggs? the fying pan? the amount of oil i poured? the heat level? what?

for years, i have been struggling to make my husband's preferred egg dish. take it from the scrambled egg lady (that's me!), every sunny side up attempt i made became a sunny side down. i was always amazed at how tapsilog vendors whip up a beautiful sunny side up. today was a dream come true for me.

our breakfast? bread (too bad i don't have a toaster), my lovely sunny side ups and bacon. uhm-uhm!

Nasi Goreng Pattaya

Spiderman. That's the first thought in my head when they served me the Nasi Goreng Pattaya. For weeks, I have been seeing people order this egg dish with some kind of chili artwork on top and I didn't know how to describe it when I tried ordering. So, that's just how I said it. "Can you please give me the egg thing with the ketchup on top?" and the confused then amused reaction I got from the Malay/ Indian (can't tell) waiter was, "Oh! The Nasi Pattaya!" I paired this up with a honeydew milk drink that I like so much. I love the color of the drink. I love the taste. As I digged in and savored the uhm-uhm flavor, I discovered, to my horror, that the little orange bits were pieces of shrimp! This is further confirmed as I took out the mother shrimp inside. Nothing wrong with the shrimp! The "wrong" thing was me. I am allergic to all "eat-able" creatures that turn orange when cooked. The gastronomic delight led me to take anti-histamines. But it's really worth the drugs because I ordered the dish again and again.

Too bad I recently moved and am now a Woodlander. I will definitely miss that Malay restaurant along Bedok South Avenue 3.

Claypot Chicken

I am writing this as I am having lunch. Sorry for the bad photo. I know this looks like some mangled chicken with veggies on top. Kinda reminds me of the dead turkey in the Cooking Mama Beta version game that a colleague shared to me. BUT... this is actually very, very nice. Very nice for my foreign mouth because another colleague said that this is not burnt enough for him. Uhm, is this supposed to be really burnt? Like bitter burnt? Anyways, the dish also has Chinese sausage. Yummy!

It's from the kopitiam downstairs. The same kopitiam that sells my utmost favorite, the fish soup! It's supposed to be famous. The kopitiam is along Beach Road corner Aliwal Street.

Home is where your family is

Today, my daughter is flying off to Manila to stay for a day with her grandmother (my husband's side) before flying off to Singapore. She doesn't realize (or maybe she does) that she will be leaving the place where she was born and will be calling another country her home. From what I see, all that matters to her is that her parents are here in Singapore and she will be staying with them for good. (Erm, to see her boyfriend as well... I forgot!)

I've always thought that it was kind of "cruel" of us to have just left her there - with our parents. To just leave a little girl to sometimes fend for herself. Like that time when she had to make a poo poo on her own because grandma wasn't around and she was too embarrassed to ask her grandpa for help... I know our parents took good care of her but there's this real huge guilt feeling hanging over my head. I will always, always think that I have missed 5 months of her life... her babyhood. Oh well... Okay, okay, fine! I have traded away that 5 months with a brighter future. Hmm... Speaking of future. My friend just told me that she feels poorer here in Singapore even though they already own their own flat. True, that we did give up our car, our unit and our maid to do everything on our own... Now, I am confused. Anyways, this should be discussed in another post. Back to my original topic, I wish when I wake up tomorrow it's Wednesday already. Then, I can hug my princess before she decides she's not a baby anymore.