it's been a while

yep and now i'm going tap tap tap on my mobile phone instead of type type type on the keyboard. maybe i can also call this mobile blogging but i think the real sense of the term mobile blogging is when you get to use an actual app to blog. guilty! i did download an app that i've yet to try so i'll just rely on good old Safari and make do of all the default settings in Blogger. since i have some time to spare while waiting for my princess to come out from her ballet class. there is really no point in this entry except that i have neglected blogging so much given how my life has changed drastically when i moved to Singapore last year. plus the fact that i came here alone then hubby followed and at last my daughter. next month we'll be experiencing our next National Day here. wow! can you believe it? time flies so fast. and oh yeah, i did neglet blogging. so i hope i can sustain this since my mobile phone is telling me it's possible to blog anywhere and anytime. watch out for some major typos though!

Fish Soup

i can't seem to get enough of this dish. i've concluded that my most favorite dish in Singapore to date (been living here for half a year) is the fried fish soup at the Luk Lu Eating House at  Beach Road corner Aliwal Street. i know i blogged about this already or maybe just can't stop talking about it. i recently discovered that for additional 1 dollar, the aunty there can give me extra of everything (fish, vegetable - i prefer mixed and fried egg!!!). i think the aunty remembers me because the first time i tried ordering there alone i called her noodles - spaghetti! everytime i order, she just says 'the usual spaghetti' and i nod my head. lol!

Oh, the fried fish soup at the Beach Road market is also nice but for me, nothing can top my fried fish spaghetti soup.

Chee Cheong Fan

No matter how many times I practiced the 'chee cheong fan' word in my head preparing for the time when i finally get to order the dish, it still came out wrong! the aunty still gave me a blank huh? look and i had to repeat it 3x until she said the word correctly. embarrassing!

But the dish was reaaallyyyyy niiiiccceeee. just now my colleague said that the name chee cheong fan literally means pig intestines. the rice noodle is made to look like pig intestines. the sauce is sweet. there's a sprinkle of sesame seeds and chili on the side. strange name for a dish i told my colleage.

i've seen the picture of the dish in coffee shops and i saw people ordering it but didn't know the name. usually it was written in Chinese characters. hoping Zoie will learn soon. the other day i saw the name written in English with a picture of it then heard someone order it. there bloomed hope. haha. don't wanna risk describing it and getting a different dish.

my other colleague said that she prefers eating it with sweet sauce and chili but can order it with sesame oil and chili. sweet sauce... done! sesame oil, you're next!

Nando's Singapore

Uhm-uhm. Nando's! We ate at their Bugis Junction Branch. I must say that the chicken is rather good! Err, I was a little disappointed with the size. Oh yeah it's big but you should have seen the other plates around me. :(
My sidelines were Mediterranean rice (yummy!) and peri fries (fries with chili sprinkled on it. Forgot to try the perinaise). My chicken was Hot. Too afraid to take the very hot periperi or I might end up with tears in my eyes and runny nose. Anyway, dipping my fries in their sauce (if you want more, they have bottles of their different sauces on the table. If you really really want more, you can buy a bottle), I found out that the very hot is just more sour than the hot periperi plus a little warmer feeling. Price-wise, a bit more pricy than our my favorite Aston's.

At first, I thought it was a Filipino restaurant as the chicken is grilled much like they do in the Philippines. But then I saw that it's Portuguese. Well, let's not go into the story of Spanish colonization and cultures being similar and all that... thus, food turned out to be similar blah blah!

Overall rating: Since I went there with my colleagues. I will go back with my family.

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.

the unexpected Marina Bay Sands stroll

what was supposed to be an early dinner at the coffee shop near our block became a stroll at the Marina Bay Sands Casino and mall. the dinner pushed through but my husband asked me to accompany him to work. i refused because i was wearing slippers and floral shorts! i left my phone and ez link card at home. so i had this brilliant idea of walking with him to the mrt station and taking the bus home because i had coins in my wallet. to kill time, we strolled to the station then again had this brilliant idea that i can travel with him by just paying cash to ride the bus. we found the right bus number to Bugis then transferred to another bus to Marina Bay Sands. so there i was walking along shops like Manolo Blahnik, gazing up the beautiful hotel which looked like a ship is perched on its roof and gazing into the Merlion at a distance in my "pambahay" holding nothing but my wallet and my keys. i had my first taste of a would-be favorite, teh cino, tea with milk and milo. i had a piece of crispy curry puff. too bad the man-made river with boats that you can ride for a fee at the center of the mall was closed already. hubby and i crossed a small bridge there. i gazed longingly at shops like Manolo, Tiffany and Coach. LOL! So i said to my hubby, to make sure that what you plan to buy for me as a gift will make me happy, just buy it there. the shops are all high-end. even my teh cino is $2.00. i really love adventures like this one even though when i looked at myself in the mirror of the toilet, i looked like i was just strolling outside the hdb buildings. trust hubby to take me to such unexpected adventures. i immediately planned when i will be coming back and maybe this time look a little bit more presentable. hehehe

i've been here for 4 months already!!!

OMG... oh no, not the local TV show... Oh my gulay. I've been here for 4 months and I forgot about this blog... that is, a friend mentioned it. So, here I am typing away. In the course of 4 months I've been able to:

1. get a job
2. make friends with some aunties and uncles (coffee shop)
3. ate a LOT of fish soup - fried fish, with milk, mixed veggies and SPAGHETTI (big bee hoon if you may)
4. ate a LOT of fishball soup
5. tried the BBQ Stingray
6. tasted the Bak Kut Teh (a bit smelly)
7. ate a LOT of Nasi Goreng plus all kinds of meat
8. tasted the Nasi Pattaya (ooppsss... is this correct?)
10. enjoyed some satay
11. watched the National Day Parade (outside the stadium)
12. watched the YOG opening on TV
13. forgot to mention - rent a room and live independently although i do miss my friend
14. walked along the lake
15. prepare for my child's coming to Singapore

a whole lot more...

Grand Singapore Sale - my new friend

being single is difficult... being married has its share of hardships... but being married and then suddenly finding herself alone ergo single is like being a fish out of water. i was single before but why is it so hard now. phonecalls... the internet... these are my only connection to my husband and daughter who are in the Philippines. a month more... i'll never be alone again. okay, let's get back to me being alone... what i did was go inside almost every mall that flank orchard mall. look at almost every shop on sale... and bought myself unplanned things...

313 Somerset
Cotton On - 313 Somerset (my most favorite mall in Orchard)
i got a grey marle kari dress for $5 (u.p. $19.95)
a black jasmine dress - $10 (u.p. $24.95)
a gray tallulah tee - $5 (u.p. $19.95)
a white, gray and black striped canvass tote - $10 upon purchase of other items (u.p. $39.95)

313 Somerset
New Look
Dolly Twist Lock Mini Bowler bag - $9.90 (u.p. $19.90)

Robinsons Mall
Arthur Yen striped purple long sleeves - $9 (was $69 i think)
Arthur Yen maroon bolero - $9 (was $79)

Plaza Singapura
The Box
a pair of jeans - $15 (u.p. $59.90)

wooootttt!!!  retail therapy $332.60 worth for $72.90. less than a hundred dollars. am i good or what?

oh oh oh wait. did i mention i tasted the fish soup at 313 Somerset? on the top floor. ed's i think... yum yum...

ed's fish soup... it made my list... it's milky and yummy...

language barrier leh

the funny thing about language barrier is that you actually put more effort in doing all kinds of gestures and pointing to things just to be able to understand each other. i've actually spoken less words here in Singapore than i ever did in one day in my entire life. although everybody speaks the English language, what hinders one from understanding is actually the accent. also sometimes i thought i've had my train of thought intact when i suddenly would stop in the middle of what i was saying just wondering if my grammar is correct because the language i was speaking is not my first language but something i've been taught. for the kopitiam crew, i always just say a few things eat here or take away then point point point, how much, okay finally thank you. "so funny lah!"

bo liau - nothing to do

i woke up at 12 noon with a headache. being single (away from family) yet married can become torture. i have 3 days without work. yesterday i braved the sales and today i spent half the day sleeping and half the day walking around Bedok Central. having nothing to do or nothing to do anything with can be ultra boring. i did the laundry yesterday but the day proved to be longer than i thought so I went to Expo and today, i decided to walk around Bedok Central. The first thing I did was check out the fish soup. First taste, hmmm, not so delish but after i poured the chili with sauce in and it blended with the milk, i found myself devouring every fish slice and slurping the soup as well as sweating like hell in the sweltering heat. i also drank sugarcane juice. yumyum. i better try the fish soup in the other kopitiams nearby. i ate the one in front of the bus interchange. after that i walked around and decided to check out the Bedok Princess Cinema. was it just me or is it that the cinema entrance is nowhere to be found? anyways, i went to the Bedok Community Library. The library was vast. there were 3 floors of books. i found myself leafing through a magazine and sat amidst old people reading books until this inconsiderate Chinese gay started fanning himself with a newspaper loudly and throwing the other parts of the newspaper on the table and on the floor and never bothered to pick it up. i felt the urge to swat him with the magazine i'm holding. so i left and went to check out the other floors.

the first floor was vast. i was surprised to see a lot of people spending time at the library. there were people of all ages. i will take my daughter here. i know she loves books. i am overwhelmed by the Singaporeans' love for reading.

this is where Zoie and I will spend our day. the 3rd floor is filled with children's books. there's even a toddler's nook.

this is the toddler's nook.

i spent most of my time reading about Singapore. okay, i read about Canada first then found a more interesting book on the country i live in. i then looked at the time and was surprised more than 2 hours have passed. i've never spent this much time in one place before not counting the sales and the grocery.

speaking of grocery, i went to buy food at Fair Price. The prices there are super cheap. After that i walked around and toyed with the idea of getting an iPhone not that i already have budget for it. heehee! i then became busy finding my way back. i always get lost. always! even in the Philippines, always! aaaarrrggghhh. okay so i went to look for the curry puff store and ended up buying 5 pieces and mistakenly ordering teh c which turned out to be hot and after paying and asking the cashier if the milk tea was cold she looked at me as though she wanted to hurl the hot milk tea at me. this language barrier kills me sometimes. anyways, i drank it with straw and shared a table with an old man. i liked looking at old people in Singapore. they all look so healthy. so i did consume 3 pieces of curry puff after telling myself that i was still full. after that i saw a store selling bags for just $5 and bought one. great ending. i also called my husband overseas. hmmmm...

Singapore Expo Sale

i am very tired today having come from the John Little Sale at Singapore Expo. My experience before wasn't as bad as this although i went home with much more loot today than my first time. It only takes one bus and 69 cents from the ez-link card to get to Expo. I love my new place. so near the sales. There were several sale happening simultaneously in several halls at Singapore Expo. I went to the comfort room first and the queue was so long i almost peed in my pants. eherm. excuse me. the toilet was so dirty too. anyways, i did not dare enter the other halls because i don't really have much to spend. i managed to taste a few products at Singapore Food Expo and then went out to look for the Popular Sale. The queue to the cashier was so long and i was holding what? items not even worth 10 dollars. so i decided i'd come back and went to check out the John Little Sale because everyone seemed to be holding a plastic bag from John Little. I managed to get hold of really cheap items. The sale was pretty exciting because they feature items by the hour and one man kept on shouting so customers will buy the featured item which was either buy one take one or 70% off.

My Loot:
1 brown Arthur Yen knitted blouse worth 69 dollars for only 9 dollars
1 long sleeved Arthur Yen black shirt usual price 49 dollars again for only 9 dollars
1 pair of high heeled shoes (forgot the brand) for 10 dollars must have been worth twice or more
1 dry iron for 11.90

pretty neat huh. i did put back some things like food and stuff. also, i was quite undecided about buying a bag. maybe because i will soon have my own LV albeit the fact that it's a second hand bag from my sis in law. i bought it for a low price. eherm, correction, i bought them for a sibling's price. LOL. when oh when will you arrive, my papillon and pochette? hehehe. i also want want want a big Neverfull for my laptop. hmm. probably next year?

i want my fish soup

fish soup - you can have the fish meat fried or not and you can have milk on the soup. this is my most favorite dish so far and i have tried having this dish from several hawkers already.

this is a kind of fish soup that i specially like. the fried fish soup with milk. i had this near Buangkok MRT. there are tofu and other veggies. the best fish soup i've had or rather soups are - the one below my office at 339 Beach Road and the one near the market near Kampong Glam. The one near Kampong Glam had interesting things in the soup and more milk in the soup. i like the tofu, seaweed and other veggies. the one downstairs had bitter gourd and very very delicious fish meat covered with very tasty batter. you can tell from the queue that never seem to shorten. i eat lunch after 130 pm and still the line is very long.

food for thought restaurant

after a meeting, my co-workers and i (well, 2 of them own the company and there were 4 of us) went to this cool cafe that one of them suggested. the fact that you eat there you are already actually helping feed a child all over the world. the restaurant is called Food for Thought, and it's located near Bugis... where exactly, i have no idea. we just like parked and walked towards there but i know it's near a church and near Queen St. i can probably find it again just by walking near the area. all the people eating there were wearing black, white, brown or gray. some were wearing blue. we were also wearing black. the cafe interiors were mostly silver and black.

 these are spaghetti sauce bottles that they used for interiors and some of the bottles inside has some drawing of some kid that they are helping. all the contents were donated as food as well.

 they had some merchandise for sale like books that kinda inspire you to help or do a good cause.

 their table napkins have inspiring thoughts on it. each of us had a different message. the tshirts of the servers also bore messages.

this was what i ordered. almond pesto chicken sandwich with salad on the side and lemon tea. the servings were quite large. i should have ordered the fries but i ended up eating some of the french fries on my boss' plate and part of his curry chicken. haha! i also got some of my officemate's sausage and scrambled egg and my other officemate's affogato (espresso with vanila ice cream). the food was mid-ranged. the price will actually buy us 2 meals already if compared to the usual kopitiam food that we eat.

the ambiance and the food - i give them a thumbs up!

I died and went to retail heaven

last sunday i moved into the room that i rented. then i decided to explore. i bugged my agent who was probably relaxing with his family on how to get to Ikea, the only store building in the world that i'd like to live in. anyways, after doing a hundred rounds at Bedok Central, i finally figured out how to get there. i rode the train to Tampines then okay, i admit, i got lost at the bus interchange. a kind bus captain directed me to the other direction. then i tapped my ez-link card at the bus only to be told, NO FARE. lol! so there i was inside the shuttle bus. then the bus stopped by a huge supermarket called Giant. i went down Ikea and oh my i just could resist going through everything and making circles going back to displays seriously contemplating if i need those cheap yet stylish things. i managed to buy hangers, a fleece blanket, a pillow and a red trash bin. i was actually there to buy just the hangers. then i ate hotdog sandwich and drank lemon tea. when i crossed the road to head over to Courts. what the... another retail heaven?! i swear i will spend a whole week there when i finally buy my own flat. whoa! these stores are huge. then i head over to Giant. Grocery heaven! I admit there are 2 things that are sure to win me over. bags and grocery shopping! i was drooling. haha! in fact i took a lot of things wanting to buy them at Giant then got dismayed by the queue outside.

will post pictures soon. that is, if my old Blackberry decides to make friends with my new Vostro.

cutie pie alert

beep beep beep... oops there goes my cute guy radar sounding an alarm. wah lau! i just stayed in the office for what? minor ot work and i go out the MRT and there were a LOT of cute guys around. so what if i'm married? i like beautiful things... i like looking at cute guys. all the way from circle line to green line up to here in the house, there is a cute guy in sight. woot! i am seriously thinking about doing more ot work... hey, enlighten me. is there like a rule here that says, cute guys must come out after 9 pm? seriously... i wasn't hungry. in fact, my stress went away.

my lunch

this was my lunch. you see the good uncle downstairs is really generous with the servings. i just point to the ones i like - in this case an eggplant dish with the eggplant looking like it's color blue and this fried thing which makes me wonder if it's pork or chicken. must be pork? or not... the good uncle and i exchange only a few words.

me: rice please
him: eat here? (eet heh?)
me: take away (then point point point to the things i want)
he then chop chop chop the things i wanted then plop plop plop on my plate
him: toofifteeh ($2.50)
his wife: sauce or curry? (then i point to whatever)
me: alright, thanks!