L.I.F.E

Spring has arrived

2009-03-09T20:28:00.003-04:00

In winter, the sky turns dark by 5pm. I often leave office feeling so tired because it feels like I have been working till very late. Last Friday I noticed the sky was not totally dark when I left office by 6pm. I sensed spring.

So..Spring has finally arrived in NY on the weekend. I was so happy to go out without wearing coat/ heavy jacket, I put on big smile a kid going to visit Disneyland.

I finally can start cooking again. I hibernate in winter. I seldom cook in winter because it was too cold to prepare food and washing up. My office is located next to Korean town, I didn't want to walk so far to get food in winter. So I had been eating mostly Korean food for lunch and still..takeaway for dinner the whole winter. I am officially sick of Korean food, I can't even look at it anymore.

Today I left office at 6pm and the sky was still bright *jumping up and down*

Happy Ox Year

2009-01-25T23:22:00.017-05:00

Happy Year of Ox. May the year of Ox brings good health, happiness, wealth, peace and joy to everyone!

Chinese New Year will not complete without Pineapple Cookies, I was lazy to make, but I couldn't find in Chinatown nor in Malaysia Restaurants. Hence I decided to make it last minute. I initially planned to have CNY Eve Dinner at restaurant. But since I was going to bake Pineapple cookies, I decided to cook too.

I began preparing pineapple jam on Saturday. I decided to make cookies on Sunday.

After pineapple jam, I moved on to the crabs. I bought a dozen of crabs to make corn and crab soup and fragrant roll. The crabs were so small, I spent about 1 hour peeling the crabs.

On Sunday I began working in kitchen since 11 am, made breakfast, then started pineapple cookies. The cookies are so delicious.

I was so tired, spent about 7 hours to make cookies plus 5 menus for CNY Eve dinner, everything from scratch.

Crab and Corn Soup.

A must have for CNY Eve dinner. Fish or "yue" symbolises abundance and excess. The phrase to wish each other "nian nian you yue" means excess every year.

Braised 1/2 duck with soy sauce and rock sugar.

Fragrant rolls, this is a must have in my family. It takes a lot of effort to make. It is made with mince pork, mince prawn, crab meat, shallots, carrots, jicamas, mushrooms and 5 spice powder.

I made some fragrant rolls with salted egg yolks inside. They are so delicious, I love anything with salted egg yolks. I can only find Cooked Salted Eggs in Asian Supermarket here, they are yucky, the egg yolks are so mushy. Last year I bought a pack and I thought it was spoiled. I bought another 2 different brands and they all had mushy yolks, I ended up throwing all 3 packs. This is the second time I made my own salted duck eggs. I don't know what kind of duck eggs are they, I bought them from a fine food store. The duck eggs are the size of chicken eggs, and the yolks are not bright orange.

Oyster mushroom with snow peas.

It looks like a lot of food but everything was quite small portion, we don't have a lot of leftover, except for fragrant rolls. I still have about 10 rolls in fridge, yummy.

Jon's 30th Birthday

2009-01-25T21:57:00.004-05:00

Jon's big 30 was 2 weeks ago. I wanted to order designer cupcakes but I couldn't find pretty designer cupcakes in NY. So I just got mocha cake from Korean town.

We went to celebrate his birthday at Bar Americain, one of Bobby's Flay's restaurants (America Iron Chef). Initially we wanted to go Babbo, one of Iron Chef Mario Batali restaurants. However, the place was always full and reservation is one month in advance.

Despite of the crisis, Bar Americain was crowded. The food was good but not fantastic. Pizza with bacon and roasted garlic was awesome. Jon loved his steak. I didn't like my rack of pork, I expected pork ribs. We had soufflé for dessert, we were notified it would take 10 minutes. However we had to wait longer as the soufflé collapsed, lol. It was expensive an dinner but it was a good experience.

Happy Holidays

2008-12-25T19:19:00.013-05:00

Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year. even I do not celebrate it. I feel Christmas spirit as everyone is in holidays moods. I love to see Christmas window displays at stores.

When I was young, Christmas was the time to see Santa Claus at the mall, watched Christmas performance, sent out Christmas cards. It was funny, even most of my classmates didn't celebrate Christmas, but we sent Christmas cards to one another.

Back in Sydney, I celebrated Christmas by having dinner with friends in Chinatown. Most of the restaurants were closed at Christmas except in Chinatown. Sometimes we had BBQ or Steamboat Christmas party. Last year was my first Christmas in NY, I can't remember what I did on Christomas, I probably stayed at home editing photos from Miami trip.

This Christmas I decided to have dinner at home. I do not eat beef and lamb ( except Indonesia lamb satay) so I seldom cook them. There are 2 reasons why I seldom cook beef/ lamb. If I cook beef/lamb, I have to cook something else for myself. The second reason, supermarket near my house seldom sells good cut of beef/lamb. For special occasion, I normally go to Whole Foods Market in Manhattan to get best cut of meat. I love to shop there, it has the freshest vegetables and fruits, best cuts of meat, fresh seafood, wide range of fresh herbs, good quality of olives etc.

Simple Christmas dinner. Chicken for me, lamb for Jon and a side dish.

Roasted chicken leg with fresh thyme. The sauce is a mix of chicken stock, lime, tomato and green olives.

Lamb with mushroom gravy, forgot to take individual photo of the gravy.

We love the side dish, it has a lot of textures and flavors. It's roasted organic baby yam, french beans, garlic, walnut and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Wishing you every happiness at this festive holiday season and throughout the coming New Year.

Snowy Weekend

2008-12-20T19:31:00.007-05:00

Snowstorm hit New York on Friday. It was predicted that NY could see up to 5 inches of snow after the storm. I was nervous, my shopping plan was in jeopardy.

I took all these picture during my lunch break. My office is located next to Koreatown, a block from Empire State Building and 2 blocks from Herald Square, which is a retail hub. Hence, there was nothing to take other than shops.

I love it when it snows, it's beautiful, feels like I am inside a snow globe. But I hate slushy roads and slick sidewalks after the snow.

Icy road.

One of the shop I often visit.

Macy's Herald Square claims to be world largest store with 198,500 m² of selling floor. It stretches the whole block, but inside is divided into 2 sections: 7th avenue side ( west) and Broadway side ( east). It's so hard to find the door which connect both sides. I always get lost there, I hate to go there.

The snow flakes hitting face was quite painful.

By the time I finished work, the snow had stopped, it was drizzling and resulted in slippery sidewalks. Everyone just walked like penguins. But I still decided to go shopping.

Slushy road in Manhattan, it looked like grey mud.

This is what I hate the most. the ramp on the sidewalk to the road will be so slippery. Sometimes it looks like a solid ice surface, step on in, the ice breaks and shoes get soaked in 5 cm of waterpool.

Shopping in winter is so tiring, have to take off 3 layers of clothes and put back on 3 layers of clothes. Carrying shopping bags in snow was not fun either. My paper shopping bags got wet because it was snowing and almost torn, I had to put in another plastic shopping bag.

Walking home was a disaster. I bought Mc Donald meal and put the food inside one of my shopping bags while holding the coke, it was to cold I had to throw it away. It was drizzling, I missed the bus and my hands were full that I couldn't open umbrella. My feet get soaked in snow and icy water. When I almost reached home, my paper bag was torn apart, I had to hug my shopping bags to prevent things from falling.

Outside the house this morning.

We walked to a Thai restaurant near our home. There is a backyard which is outdoor sitting in summer. In winter they put a big Christmas tree there, the backyard and tree were covered by the snow, it was beautiful.

Taken one day before snowstorm. Every house has put up Christmas lightning.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T20:08:00.015-05:00

Thanksgiving is a national holiday in North America, it is celebrated on the fourth thursday in November. It is a national tradition where families and friends gather to feast on turkey at dinner. Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general.

I cooked Thanksgiving meal for 2. I was the chef, prep cook, food stylists, photographers, waitress, dish washer (during cooking), it was tiring. Jon used to be the photographer but he always couldn't wait to eat and often took sloppy photos. Hence, I fired him as photographer and give him a new position as the dish washer.

Thanksgiving is not complete without eating Turkey. Since it was only two of us, I wouldn't cook whole Turkey. I picked up a pack of Turkey thigh at the supermarket, but on the way to checkout, I saw pre-cooked Turkey breast, I decided to buy the cooked Turkey to save some cooking time.

Turkey breast with mushroom gravy, cranberry sauce, yellow bell peppers sauce. The yellow and red square thingy are red and yellow bell peppers. I wished I had tomatillo so I could make green sauce instead of yellow sauce.

I bought good quality of lamb rack, Jon loves it. I marinated the lamb overnight with thyme, rosemarry, crushed garlic and olive oil. Then coat it with mixture of Dijon mustard, honey and Worcestershire sauce before roasting. Served with mash potato, roast garlic and glazed pearl onions.

Pan fried salmon with red and yellow bell peppers sauce.

Pumpkin soup, I cooked too much that I can probably serve 20 people.

I roasted the pumpkin seeds.

I only cook at dinner and most of food photos are taken in the afternoon. Now that it is winter, it is dark by 5pm. I have not been happy with my photos lately, I need Lowel EGO light asap. The photo below taken in the morning with natural light, see the difference?

Stir Fried Egg with ginger and tomato

2008-10-26T16:55:00.009-04:00

One of the dish I normally cook when I am in hurry is stir fried egg with ginger and tomato. The idea comes from Chinese traditional fried egg and tomato. However, I like it to be wetter so I can pour the sauce over fluffy white rice. It's a simple and delicious meal that can be done just in 10 minutes (preparation and cooking).

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 small young ginger, julienne
1 small tomato cut in wedges, pulp removed or 6 cherry tomatoes, pulp removed.
1 tbsp of dried black bean
1 clove garlic
1/3 cups of water
2 tbsps of soy sauce
3 tbsps of olive oil

Methods:
1. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a wok over medium heat, crack the eggs, let it cook for 1 minute then scramble. Remove.
2. Heat 2 tbsps of olive oil in a wook over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and stir fry until fragnant.
3. Add eggs, water, black bean,tomatoes and soy sauce. Simmer for 1 minutes.
4. Garnish with spring onion.

Poached Fish with Brussel Sprout Revisited

2008-10-19T18:58:00.011-04:00

I made broiled fish with brussel sprouts last week. I am so in love with brussel sprouts. This time I cooked a little different.

I trimmed the leaves off the core and instead of topping with bacon chips, I sauté the brussel sprouts with bacon and fresh corn. I added pine nuts when the dish was almost done. This version resulted in more flavorful brussel sprouts. I love chewing the brussel sprouts as I get the smokiness flavor from the bacon and sweetness from the corn. I can't get enough of brussel sprouts!

Boston Trip

2008-10-12T17:42:00.042-04:00

I had always wanted to go Boston but have postponed the plan due to many reasons. Finally last couple weeks I had 2 days off on the weekeday, so Jon took days off too and we went to Boston. I made 6 pages personalised Boston guide which consists of map, where to go, addresses and what to eat. (It was nothing compared to 100 pages personalised Sydney & Gold Coast guide I made for my sisters).

We stayed at the Fairmont hotel, it is a beautiful old hotel located in Copley Square. Copley Square is well known for its architectural of old and new buildings. The hotel lobby is absolutely exquisite, and the staff were friendly and welcoming.

There is farmers' market every Tuesday and Friday in Copley Square. We were there on Tuesday and the market was just opposite the hotel. I almost couldn't resist buying those beautiful and fresh vegetables. I had to be crazy if I bought vegetables in Boston and put in hotel room! NY has farmers' market too but I never get to go because Jon is lazy.

Look at the colorful broccolis, different shapes of pumpkins, beautiful flowers.

Fresh apples, heirloom tomatoes, colorful bell peppers, green zebra tomatoes. I was so excited like a kid in a candy store.

Boston is a small, beautiful and clean city. It is not as diverse as in NY, I didn't see many African American and Hispanic. Boston is so easy to navigate, just walk The Freedom Trail, red brick path which leads to 16 significant historic sites.

We started walking at 11:30 am. We started from Trinity Church which is just opposite the hotel. Trinity Church is well known for its architechture: clay roof, huge arches, and tall tower.We then walked around Copley Square.

We continued to Boston Common, central public park in Boston. There were so many cute squirrels running around. Can you spot them?

King Fish Hall, one of the celebrity chef Todd English restaurants in Quincy Market, downtown Boston.

Notice the red brick path? The Freedom Trail leads to North End's Little Italy.

By the end of North End, Jon complained legs pain and wanted to go back hotel. I didn't let him because I still wanted to visit The Union Oyster House, which is the oldest restaurant in USA. We got there early at 5:30 pm for dinner.

The food there was nice. We ordered UNION GRILLED OYSTER, 1/2 doz for $13.50. It was one of the best oysters I had eaten in US, but still cannot beat my love to Oyster Kilpatrick. We had a bowl of BOSTON CLASSIC CLAM CHOWDER $6.95, it was the best clam chowder we ever had, it was hearty, creamy and delicious.

Jon had BROILED FRESH BOSTON SCROD — A NEW ENGLAND TRADITION which is a cut of fresh filet of scrod topped with seasoned crumbs and 1 baked potato $20.95. It was nice but it was pricey for just a fish fillet and potato. I had MUSHROOM RAVIOLI, served with sauteed wild mushrooms, herbs and a lite cream sauce $19.95. The ravioli was fresh and delicious, half way the meal, I was so full I struggled to finish it.

We took subway back to the hotel. The subway in Boston consists of only 2 cars, the subway is more like a bus on rail. I've never seen something like this before, the platform and the rail track are on the same level. To board the subway, commuters have to climb up a few step of stairs, just like boarding on a bus.

It was quite cold at night, we were lazy to go out, we stayed in the hotel room watching "Fringe". I craved for Clam Chowder the whole night.

The second day we went to The Prudential shopping mall. It was a nice but also an expensive shopping mall.

We had lunch at Legal Seafood in Prudential Centre. To my surprised, Jon said he wanted to order New England Clam Chowder. Lol, we both were craving for clam chowder. The clam chowder here is as nice as the clam chowder at Union Oyster House. Jon order fish menu on today's special which was broiled fish in soup with Callenilli beans and vegetables. The fish was so flavorful, the soup was mild so it didn't overpower the fish. I ordered THREE DOUBLE STUFFED BAKED SHRIMP $36.95. I didn't know it came with a small piece of steak, I couldn't finish my meal.

After lunch, we headed to Harvard University, it was raining heavily. Luckily the rained stopped when we arrived. We walked around Harvard University, we felt so weird walking among the students. We were embarrassed to take out our Nikon DSLR until we saw a group of tourist busy taking photos as well.

The visit to Harvard ended our Boston trip. You can view full collection of Boston photos here.

Poached Fish with Mushroom and Brussel Sprouts

2008-10-12T13:22:00.009-04:00

I normally finish work early on Friday so I always end up in Soho (one of the shopping destinations in NY). Everytime I visit Soho, I never fail to visit Dean & Deluca, an upscale grocery store. I love to see gourmet food ingredients or rare/expensive fresh produce. Fresh rare produce there is crazily expensive. I had never seen passion fruit in US but last week I saw in Dean & Deluca which costs $4 for one passion fruit. With $4 I can buy 10kg of passion fruits in Indonesia.

I saw French Horn Mushroom for $25/lb, it is 1/2 the size of King Oyster Mushroom. King Oyster Mushroom is normally available in Asian Grocery store for $2/lb. Other names for the mushroom are Eringii Mushroom and King Trumpet Mushroom. That one piece of French Horn Mushroom costs $3.15 in Dean & Deluce.

I bought 5 pieces of brussel sporuts for 97 cents, only later I found a tub of brussel sprouts for $2 in a supermarket near my house.

This is what I cooked with the above ingredients. Pan fry fish with brussel sprouts and french horn mushroom, drizzled with balsamic reduction, basil oil, butter sauce and sprinkled with bacon chips. It was delicious. The result of pan fry fish, I had to clean up my stove.

I craved for more brussel sprouts the whole night. I still have some leftover brussel sprouts so I decided to cook the same dish again today. Because I don't want to clean up my stove again, I poached the fish instead. The poached version tastes much better.

Poach Fish

Ingredients
1 fish fillet, cut into serving size portions.
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
a handful of basil leaves
4 slices of lemon
salt and pepper
1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Methods:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Season the fish with salt and pepper.
3. Arrange the fish in a small baking tray or oven safe dish.
4. Throw in garlic, basil leaves and lemon.
5. Pour the oil over fish.
6. Bake for 20 minutes.

It smelt so nice when I took it out from the oven. Both the fish and oil were so flavourful, the leftover oil can be used as dipping oil.

Stir Fry Brussel Sprouts

Ingredients:
1/2 cups brussel sprouts, halved.
1 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp of olive oil
2 tsp of unsalted butter.
salt and pepper to taste

Methods:
1. Saute brussel sprouts with olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add garlic.
3. Cook for 10 minutes until undersides are golden brown.
4. Turn off the heat and add unsalted butter.
5. Add salt and pepper.

*For Balsamic Reduction, simmer balsamic vinegar over medium heat until it reduces about 75%, it will be darker and thicker.
*For Basil Oil. Finely chopped a handful of basil leaves. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil.

Sprinkle it with bacon chips.

CSI: NY filming

2008-10-07T21:20:00.009-04:00

CSI:NY was filming a block away from my office. During my lunch break, I saw a large crowd gathered in front of Chase Bank. I thought it was news reporter reporting on some latest finance market crisis. However every passer-by was snapping photos, which normally do not happen with news reporting. I didn't know who or what the attention/attraction were but I took out my camera and started snapping too lol.

After my lunch, I walked past the area again, camera crews and the crowd were still there. I asked a guy who had been snapping non stop who did he snap? He said "CSI NY." Ahh , I then see familiar face, Gary Sinise of CSI NY.

Everyone was welcomed to watch the filming within a distance and taking photos, but crews reminded us not to use flash. They did a few retake of Gary and a lady crossing the road.

Updated: The filming was for Season 5 episode 8: My Name is Mac Taylor, which was aired Nov 19.

Summer Fruits

2008-09-21T13:35:00.015-04:00

One of the great delights of summer is abudance of fruits. After months of the same old apples, pears and oranges, it is the time of the year when stone fruits and succulent berries are at their peak. Some berries like strawberries, blueberries and raspberries are available throughout the year in US but late spring to early summer is their 'peak'. Strawberries at their peak season are of high quality and very sweet.

Start summer morning with colorful breakfast. Pancakes with fresh summer fruits, butter and maple syrup.

My half eaten pancakes.

Another healthy breakfast, granola, yoghurt and berries.

I love yoghurt with fruits. In Sydney, yoghurt is available anywhere at fruit bars/ fresh food stores. I once bought manufactured prepared yoghurt and it tasted horrible, since then I only trusted yoghurt at fresh food stores.

Yoghurt with different toppings at fruit bar in SydneyPhoto taken from Flickr

However in NY, there isn't any cafe/stores that sell yoghurt like in Sydney. I have no choice but to try manufactured prepared yoghurt, they taste ok but I still prefer yoghurt at fruit bars in Sydney. In US, yogurt (instead of yoghurt) is a common spelling. All manufactured preparead yoghurt in US are fat free/ low fat, it makes me wonder if full cream yoghurt available in US?

I like to buy blueberries in bulk and freeze them. I put frozen blueberries on top of yoghurt or just eat them frozen as sweet treats, it is like biting mini blueberries ice.

From all the summer fruits, my favorite is pluot. The first time I saw pluot, I was hesitated to try because they look weird with spotted skin, but I soon fell in love with this fruit. Pluots were originally invented in the late 20th century and are now grown in parts of Washington and California. Pluot is a hybrid of plum and apricot being 3/4 plum and 1/4 apricot in percentage. It has smooth skin like plum, sometimes it is called Dinosaur Egg. The name Pluot comes from PLU for the plum and OT for the apricot.

There are a lot of varieties but the common one is Dapple Dandy which has red spotted skin and flesh ranges from red to pink.

How does it taste? It is exteremly sweet and juicy. It is reddiesh at outer part and pinkish at inner part. Like plum, pluot is easily bruised.

See the flesh color, from reddish to pinkish.

Ippudo

2008-09-06T20:03:00.021-04:00

I found out about Ippudo from Chopsticks, Japanese magazine in NY. Ippudo has 34 branches in Japan. Its founder is Shigemi Kawahara, who won Ramen King in ramen competition in 2005. NY branch is the first Ippudo branch outside Japan.

We arrived after 1 pm, the place was still packed. We waited for 20 minutes.The atmosphere of this place is fun and unique. The bar table in the reception area is filled with packaged ramen noodles and the wall is decorated with ramen bowls.

The dining room is divided into 2 areas. The first area has a spawling bamboo tree sculpture. It has 3 communal tables: a long rectangular table, a round tree trunk shape table, and a bar-like seating. There are also 3 booths in this area for a group of 5 or more. The second area is kind of hidden in the back room with tables.

We were escorted to the bar-like communal table. I believe communal table are for party of two. The seats at the bar-like communal table are interesting, every two seats are designed to make up a love couch.

We started with Kakuni $8.00. It came with 2 pieces of tender and flavorful braised pork belly, 2 halves eggs , bok choy and wasabi sauces. It was pricey for 2 pieces of pork belly. We didn't order Gyoza this time because they don't have Gyoza in the menu hee..

Their popular ramen are Shiromaru (white) and Akamaru (red) both are $13, which is overpriced for a bowl of ramen. Extra ball of noodle is available for $2 exta.

Shiromaru broth is original tonkatsu broth. It is rich, flavorful and milky tonkatsu broth garnishes with chasu, seaweed, cabbage and scallion.

Akamaru uses the same broth as Shiromaru but enhanced with chili and secret black sauce, which I think is a mixed of garlic and black sesame oil. Akamaru broth is richer and more flavorful than Shiromaru. At my first sip of the broth, I knew I have found not only the best ramen in NY, but the best ramen I have ever eaten. It has serious broth, porky, flavorful with milky complexion. It was quite spicy I didn't have to add chili powder.

I like the oversized round-bottom spoon for ramen broth. I could put the noodle in the spoon and still scoop enough broth. The round bottom was design to avoid splattering.

The housemade noodles are firm and springy, it was cooked perfectly. Most Japanese noodles are made with kansui, a type of alkaline water, which resulted in firm noodle to avoid turning soggy.

The broth was so tasty I drained dry my bowl.

This sequin painting is unique. Air from AC must be blowing on it, it made the characters seem moving.

The second time we visited Ippudo, they were 3 of us and we were seated at the back area, we had our own table. It was long weekend, and to my surprise, there was no waiting. I think most people must have traveled out of NY.

We tried Harata bun, 2 buns for an order, it is available in chicken and pork. We order both chicken and pork. Inside the buns were lettuce, Japanese mayonaise and chicken/pork. We prefer pork bun which has a big slab of juicy, tender bbq pork and to-die-for sauce, omg, it was soooo good. I shared 1 pork bun with Jon, hence, both of us were not satisfied and ordered another pork Harata. In total we ordered 3 serves of Harata, $8 per order, so we spent $24 for buns. Definetely the most expensive buns we have ever eaten.

This time I tried miso ramen, I regretted ordering it, should have selected Akamaru. The broth was a bit sweet which i don't like. The noodles were also thicker than noodles in Akamaru or Shiromaru noodle. Oh yeah, I added a lot of chili powder in my ramen.

We had Annin Tofu and Matcha Brulee for dessert. Annin tofu was nice, clean and firm, but not my favorite. I love brulee, especially matcha brulee, crust sugar topping, creamy texture with a hint of bitterness from the matcha. It came with strawberries, a cherry and a matcha mochi. The price is $8 for each dessert.

This is the room underground where they made the noodles.

I had been delaying posting about ramen because everytime I see ramen photos, I crave for more ramen. It's happening to me now, looks like I have to make another trip to Ippudo tomorrow.

Ippudo
65 4th Ave
(between 9th & 10th St)
New York, NY 10003
Tel: (212) 388 -0088

Naruto Ramen

2008-09-06T17:48:00.009-04:00

This was our 4th weekend in a row hunting for the best ramen in NY/NJ area. A friend of Jon recommended Naruto, it is located in the Upper East Side. The place is very small, like Rai Rai Ken, there is a counter with some stools and kitchen right in front of the counter.

We, again, started with Gyoza, it was ok, not as nice as Gyoza at Batten Ramen. By this point I wonder why Japanese restaurants in NY/NJ displays their gyozas upside down?
Gyoza, pork dumpling $4.5

There are only 3 kinds of ramen in the menu: Naruto Ramen, Miso Ramen and Curry Ramen. I chose Naruto Ramen $8.50. I didn't think that I would like it because the broth wasn't tonkatsu based but soy sauce based. But to my surprised, it was really nice. Naruto ramen was topped with chasu ( Japanese roast pork), bamboo shoot, boiled egg, beansprout, naruto(kamaboko/ Japanese fish cake), nori seaweed and scallion. The noodle was chewy and springy. As usual. I need a lot of chilli powder in my ramen.

Jon ordered Miso Ramen ($8.5), it came with the same topping with Naruto ramen, plus corn and butter. It was a little spicy and the butter gives nice creamy flavor. I like it because it wasn't as sweet as Miso ramen I ate at other places.

To this point, my favorite is still Santoka Ramen, and Naruto being the second.

Naruto Ramen
1596 3rd Ave
(between 89th and 90th st)
New York, NY 10128
Tel: (212) 289-7803

Batten Ramen

2008-09-06T16:31:00.019-04:00

We were in the mission to find the best Ramen in NY/NJ area. A lot of reviews rated Batten Ramen as one of the best ramen in NY/NJ area. We were eager to try.

Batten Ramen is located in Fort Lee, NJ, which is more of Japanese/ Korean neighborhood. The restaurant is located in a small shopping center. The place itself is quite small, can seat at most 30 customers. There was a shelf of mangas and Japanese magazines for customers to read while waiting for their orders to arrive.

As usual, we love to start with Gyoza ( Japanese Dumpling). Unlike Gyoza that we had previous week at Rai Rai Ken, the gyoza here was really nice. It was nicely brown and crispy at the bottom, translucent skin, enough chewiness and succulent filling. It was visually very appealing too.

Gyoza filling should be well balanced with the skin. The folded part on top of gyoza is the part that create chewiness of the skin. Too much filling will make it hard to fold, hence not much chewiness. Too little filling will be like eating just the skin

I ordered Batten Ramen, which is noodle in tonkatsu broth (Hakata style ramen), top with a thick slab of pork, egg, bamboo shoots, woodear mushroms and scallion. The broth was rich but not milky enough for my liking. I like it but not crazy about it.

This is the thickest slab of pork I've ever seen in ramen.

Jon ordered Miso ramen. It had butter added it it which creates nice broth but there is a hint of sweetness in the miso broth which I don't like.

The noodles used in both ramen are different. Noodles in Batten Ramen were thinner and paler in color compared to noodle in Miso Ramen. Hakata style ramen normally uses think, non curly noodle.

This is how I eat my ramen, I need extra spiciness.

Overall it was really nice and afforadble but far from our home. I still prefer Santoka ramen. I will visit again if I happen to be in the area.

Batten Ramen

2024 Center Ave Fort Lee,

NJ 07024

Tel: (201) 461-5465

He cooked!

2008-08-26T20:59:00.010-04:00

I love to cook but it's been tiring to cook after work. Sometimes I feel annoyed because everytime Jon is home, dinner is ready, whether I buy or I cook. He doesn't have to worry about dinner. I also want to not worry about dinner and be served.

I asked him to be in charge of dinner tonight, I don't care if he wanted to buy back or prepare dinner himself. But buying food for me is the biggest challenge for him since I am a fussy eater. I don't eat beef, I don't eat pork/chicken cooked in certain style, no onions, no pizza, no sandwich, no junk food, no street food (vendors selling food on portable stall/food truck, mostly middle Easten style food). Whereas he generally eats everything and anything.

He decided to cook spagetti for dinner. Haha. It was his second time cooking since we got married (1.5 years). The first time he cooked for me was last month when I taught him how to cook nice, al dante Instant Mie Goreng.

It wasn't that bad eventhough the presentation was weird. If only he could cook everyday...

I believe he will lose weight if he cooks more. Reason being that the cook gets to smell and sees his/her own cooking all the way whereas the non-cooking people get to smell the fragance hence bringing out more appetite and anticipates a good meal.

Rai Rai Ken

2008-07-27T18:28:00.012-04:00

When I was posting about Santoka Ramen, I was so hungry for ramen. But Santoka is in New Jersey, it will take us 1 hour to get there plus $10 toll. I searched for people's recommendation for best ramen in NY. Apparently, the best ramen (Batten Ramen) is in New Jersey as well, the second being Santoka, and Rai Rai Ken is nominated as third best ramen in NY area.

So we went to Rai Rai Ken, again, so lucky to get parking just in front of the restaurant (in Manhattan). The place is so small, it can only occupy 15 people maximum and long queue expected during peak hours. We went there at 3pm, so there wasn't queue.

We ordered Shio Ramen and Miso ramen. I was so disappointed when Shio Ramen arrived at my table. It was Tokyo style ramen, clear, soy based broth!!! When it comes to Ramen, I love rich, thick and flavorful tonkatsu broth. Clear broth seems like Chinese noodles. Noodles texture wasn't chewy, soup was so salty. It was $8.5 with bamboo shoot, boiled egg, roast pork, spinach, fish cake, dry seaweed and scallion topping.

Miso ramen was way better than Shio Ramen, the broth was thick but it has this nutty and sweet flavor which I don't like. The toppings were different too: beansprout, cabbage, onion, fried garlic, scallion, and chicken. It was kinda weird with chicken, feel like eating Laksa. It is expensive for $9 without roast pork. Extra roast pork topping for $3.

The gyoza wasn't that great either. It was crispy but the filling was so little it didn't have juicy taste from the meat filling. It felt like eating crispy skin.

I normally eat my ramen broth till the last drop, but not this time. Not satisfied with this ramen, I am paying $10 toll next week for a bowl of good ramen.

Rai Rai Ken
214 E 10th St
New York 10003
(Btwn 1st & 2nd Ave)
Tel: 212-477-7030

Ocean Jewel Seafood Restaurant

2008-07-27T17:26:00.008-04:00

It's been a year I hadn't had yum cha/dim sum. The last time I had yum cha was last year July with How's family at Zilver Sydney. I had been craving for good dim sum.

We searched for recommendation on good yum cha in Flushing, NY. We decided to try Ocean Jewel. That place was so crowded, so many cars entering the restaurant parking. We decided not to park in the restaurant and park on the street instead. Just 5 meters ahead from restaurant parking, we saw an empty parking spot. No way, can't be that lucky, with so many cars trying to find parking, we just simply found one? Anyway, all the sign saying that it was free parking on Sunday. So it was fine. We parked there and went to the restaurant to get queue number.

Jon still doubt about the parking, it can't be free. He asked a guy about it and he said it was actually Saturday! lol.. At the end, we still parked there for free because the meter didn't work.

Back to the dim sum, I was so excited to have my first dim sum in NY and haven't not eaten dim sum for a year, I took 4 dishes from the first cart that came. Not in the pictures were chicken feet and bean curd rolls.

This is a must to have when having dim sum. Shrimp steamed rice roll/ chee cheong fun. I was disappointed with this shrimp rice roll. The sauce was too thick and too sweet and the rice roll was a little soggy.

This is like Siu Mai on top of bitter guard, it tasted ok.

Prawn, ham, scallion wrap in cellophane noodles. It was good and the ham added unique flavors to it.

Har Gow was disappointing, i didn't find that fresh shrimp flavors when I bit into it. Topping was small diced carrot instead of fish roe.

Char Leong is also one of my favorite at dim sum. It is You Tiao (Chinese Fried Dough Fritters) wrapped with rice roll/ chee cheong fan. I like it but I would prefer more soy sauce and no thick black sauce.

My favorite, watermelon dessert. Watermelon balls, lychees, pineapples, canned grapes in syrup. It was the best watermelon dessert I've ever eaten.

I wasn't satisfied with the dim sum. I am yet to find the best dim sum in NY.

Ocean Jewel Seafood Restaurant
13330 39th Ave
Flushing, NY 11354
Tel: (718) 359-8600

Santoka

2008-07-27T00:50:00.011-04:00

There is a very big Japanese marketplace in Edgewater, New Jersey, it is called Mitsuwa. You can find almost all the Japanese ingredients, from Japanese vegetables, seafood, pickles, Kobe beef, ready food, sushi, sake etc. It is a one stop shop for Japanese food.

Outside of the supermarket is a small foodcourt. All the stalls sell Japanese food. From bento, Katsu, ramen, sushi to pasta (japanese).

I have always wanted to try the ramen stall, Santoka, but the queue is always so long. This time we went there in the afternoon, past lunch peak hour. There was still queue but not as long as usual.

I ordered the regular Miso Ramen and Shio Ramen. Both had the same toppings: chasu pork, kamaboko(fish cake), bamboo shoot, wood ear mushroom, and scallion.

Add $1 for the egg.

My eyes lit up when I had my first spoonful. That was the kind of broth that I had been craving for a year, almost like the broth from my favorite Ramen Kan in Sydney. It was so good, it was definetely the best ramen I have had in US. The broth was rich, thick and flavorful. Among the 2 Ramen, I prefer Miso broth than Shio, Miso broth has more flavor.

What was so wonderful about this ramen, it wasn't just the broth, but the noodles as well. The noodles were thin egg noodles, texture was great, chewy and absorbs the broth flavor. This is definetely the best ramen noodles I have eaten.

The thin flavorful noodles were so similar to Tiong Sim noodles in my hometown, Medan. It is family run noodle shops and have been around for more than a decade. Tiong Sim noodles are so flavorful, you can just eat it without any broth.

Photos from makanmana.net

Santoka
595 River Road,
Edgewater, NJ 07020
Tel: (201) 941-9113

10 reasons I love summer

2008-07-19T22:50:00.014-04:00

1 It's warm and sunny

2. Barefoot walk on green green grass.

3. Having lunch in the park while watching some live performance.

4. Fruits are at their peak. I love colourful summer fruit( strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, blackberry, plum, peach, nectarine, apricot, mangoes, and the list goes on.

5. Make use of summer fruit to make healthy breakfast

6. Make use of the sunlight to take beautiful (food) photos.

7. Beautiful flowers in the park

8. ~~Hit the beach.~~ NY beach ain't great. Hit the pool.

9. The outside becomes the inside. Balcony, backyard, park. We cook and eat there.

10. Colorful summer dresses.

The Dark Knight

2008-07-17T23:21:00.016-04:00

We were invited by Lexus to watch The Dark Knight premiere. Dinner was served too! We were so excited. I am not a fan of superheroes comics/movies. In fact, I haven't seen any Batman movies in the past. But I got to see this one as it is Heath's Ledger last completed film role.

It took us 1 hour to get to the theather as it was peak hours, traffic was heavy. I was wondering whether theatre parking lot would be all Lexus cars? Well, 80% of the cars were Lexus.

What can I say, The Dark Knight is stunning, thrilling, action-packed, and brilliantly acted. Christian Bale'as Bruce Wayne/Batman is powerful and fierce. Heath Ledger's Joker, a psychopatic, mass murdering clown is stealing the show. Every Ledger frames utterly soar, your eyes are drawn to him in every scene. His performance is the most interesting thing in the film. When The Joker is absent, the film seems to lose its energy.

Whether you are a fan or not, you gotta see The Dark Knight. I would like to watch it again on IMAX. Probably a couple of weeks later as tickets are selling like hotcakes. Have to try my luck at a later time.

Photo from Warner Bros

Chinese Braised Pork Belly

2008-07-11T23:56:00.003-04:00

Braised pork belly is a Chinese old time favorite. It is easy to cook and the ingredients doesn't cost much. I cook this dish whenever I crave for sinful soft luscious fat and flavorful meat. Unlike the old style of braising which could take hours, I prefer to cook using pressure cooker, the meat is unbelievably soft and tender in just under 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

500g pork belly, cut into big chunks
6 dried mushrooms, pre soaked
2 star anise
1 cinnamon
1 tsp five spice powder
1 tbsp pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp sweet soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup Shao Xing wine
1 cup water

Methods:
1. Sauté the garlic over medium heat until fragnant. Turn up the heat to high and add pork belly, dark soy sauce and pepper. Cook for about 2 minutes.
2. Transfer to pressure cooker. Add the remaining ingredients.
3. Cook over medium heat for 20- 30 minutes.

I normally add boiled eggs but this time I ran out of eggs =( To braise in normal pot, double the amount of water and simmer for about 1.5-2 hours.

Miso Roasted Chicken with Citrus Soy

2008-07-05T00:12:00.006-04:00

Serve 4

Citrus Soy Ingredients
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar or sake
1/2 tbsp chili sauce or chili flakes
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tbsp honey
1 tsp ginger juice
1 tsp chopped cilantro/coriander
1/4 lemon, juiced
1/4 lime, juiced
1/4 orange, juiced
1/2 tsp of yuzu

Miso Roasted Chicken Ingredients
4 pieces chicken thigh or chicken breast
4 tbsp white miso paste
3 tbsp honey
salt and pepper
4 ears corns, kernels removed from cobs
1 cup of button mushrooms or baby bella, halved
1/4 cup of olive oil for pan frying chicken
4 tbsp olive oil for sautéing

Method
1. Season the chicken with miso paste, honey, salt and pepper for at least 1 hour.
2. Pan fry the chicken over medium heat for 5 minutes, flip over and cook for another 5 minutes. 3. Transfer to roasting pan and cook in oven at 180C for 15 - 20 minutes. Flip the chicken every 5 minutes so both sides won't get too dry.
4. Sautéing mushroom and corn in 2 tbsp of olive oil.
5. Divide mushroom and corn in 4 plates, add the chicken and drizzle with citrus soy.

Can serve with couscous too.

About cooking dinner

2008-07-04T14:30:00.020-04:00

I enjoy cooking whenever I have the luxury of having "free" time. I love spending time in kitchen preparing food: slicing, dicing, chopping, butchering, mixing, and cooking it: sautéing, pan frying, roasting, stewing, boiling, as long as I don't have to deep fry.

I seldom deep fry for few reasons. Firstly, my kitchen is not near window, the whole house smells bad after deep frying food. Secondly, it is such a waste of oil. There are so much to do with keeping the oil for re-use such as filtering the food particles, storing in cointainer and ohhh think about washing those oily strainer and container. Recently a study found that a toxin called HNE formed when vegetables-based cooking oils are reheated. Hence, I never reuse oil.

I often spend time in kitchen cooking simple dish and present it nicely for the photos taking session. Inspired by Wokking Mum, I too cooked the vegetables and arranged them nicely. Since then, food presentation has been a major part of my dishing process.

Here are some food that I have cooked sometime back.

Steam fish with fry ginger and mushroom.

Stir fry mushrooms with tofu. I used King Oyster mushroom, Shiitake and Enoki mushroom. There is nothing fancy, just normal stir fry but I arranged it nicely.

I cooked Tofu Steak from what was left from the dish above. Deep fried the tofu with potato flour. The sauce is combination of sake, dashi and soy sauce. I don't have recipe, most of the time I just simply google recipe and look at the ingredients but never follow that closely to the "amount" used but simply used them as a quick reference.

A few days ago, I suddenly felt like eating Couscous. Couscous is a coarsely ground semolina pasta and is a staple in many North African countries. Walking down the vegetables section in supermarket, I often look around to get ideas how to make my food look better? Couscous is not a pretty dish, hence I decided to stuff them inside cherry tomato (hide it). But what about the topping/ decoration? Do I want to use a sprig of herbs leaf, beans, nuts or something else? What else can I use? My eyes caught sight of the mushrooms ...

I cooked kind of "same but different" food with 5 main ingredients: cherry tomatoes, baby bella mushroom, corns, chicken and instant couscous. Here are the menu:
- stuffed cherry tomatoes with couscous, then topped with baby bella mushroom.
-miso roasted chicken with couscous (corn, chicken, diced mushroom, tomatoes and feta).
-miso roasted chicken with corn, tomatoes and mushroom.

And the fun began, a lot of work to do. Marinating chicken, cutting the top off tomatoes, cutting mushrooms, cutting the corn off kernels, boiled water, cooked couscous, pan fried tomatoes, corn and mushroom, pan fried chicken, washing, roasted chicken, stuffed the couscous and more washing. Made sauce for chicken, more cutting and more washing. Arranged them in plates for the photos, adding more to the washing load. I got so tired at the end, especially cooking in summer, it was already so hot and humid, definitely hotter in kitchen. It took me 2 hours to cook, to wash and to clean up the stove and oven, it only took 15 minutes to eat. While washing the last pile of plates, I was thinking if I was out of my mind spending 2 hours cooking for two in hot summer?

Prepare some for his lunch too.

I love the stuffed cherry tomatoes. It is a nice and pretty dish as an appetizer. Jon commented that the natural dryness of the couscous together with the sweet tasting tomato topped with the earthy taste of the mushroom were fantastic! In his own words: "mouth watering fusion appetizer dish, less the toothpick!" I also got chance to use my appetizer plate. Can also stuffed the tomatoes with corn, rice or mince meat.

Despite all the troubles and lots of washing, will I do it again? Definitely!

Prawn Noodle

2008-06-29T19:03:00.011-04:00

Since I read Leslie's post about Wah Kee Prawn Noodle I inserted it into my MUST TRY list when in Singapore. I am not a big fan of straight yellow noodle in soup, I prefer curly noodle in soup (like ramen). But since it is voted the best prawn noodle in Singapore, I had to try it.

It opens till 2 pm everyday except Monday. It was a bit rush because I normally got out of house at 12pm. First attempt to go there failed due to some "unforeseen" circumstances. They was absolutely no way I was leaving Singapore without eating Wah Kee Prawn Noodle. On the following day (attempt #2), along with my sister and Jon, we took a $13 cab ride to Cambridge Road Hawker Centre.

We all were so excited to try the prawn noodle. Wah Kee sells $3, $5, $8 and $10 prawn noodle. We ordered $3, $5 and $10 prawn noodle. I ordered $10 prawn noodle , it came with a bowl of soup noodle and another bowl of soup with 3 jumbo prawns. Isn't it too much soup?

Jon ordered $3 dry prawn noodle, it came with 5 medium peeled prawns and prawn paste. Apparently, the dry noodle doesn't taste so good, he ended up pouring soup in it.

$5 came with 4 big prawns.

Prawns sizes in comparison. Wonder how big are the $8 prawns?

The prawns were very fresh. The soup was so tasty and thick, I could taste the seafood broth, it was sweet. But after a while, I couldn't eat it anymore because I felt the soup was so sweet. Besides, I am not exactly a fan of that kind of noodle soup. I managed to finish the noodle but not the soup. The soup would be excellent if it was less sweet and saltier. Jon and my sister love it. It was ok for me, but it is not something that I will crave for in the near future.

Wah Kee Prawn Noodles
Blk 41A Cambridge Road Hawker Centre (Pek Kio) #01-15
Tel: + 65 9688 3633
7:30 am - 2 pm
Closed on Monday

Hokkien Prawn Noodle

2008-06-25T19:18:00.007-04:00

I never failed to have the Hokkien Prawn Noodle at the well known Thye Hong Hokkien Prawn Noodle at Food Republic Wisma Atria everytime I am back in Singapore. Expect long queue during peak hour, but the queue progresses at a fairly quick as the noodle is cooked in a big wok.

The noodle contains a mixture both of yellow egg noodle and thicker version of vermicelli, cooked together with prawns, bean sprouts, spring onions and prawn stocks. It doesn't look very appetizing but it sure taste amazingly delicious. This dish was a little watery but not soggy and with rich gravy resulted from the prawn stock added. The prawns were fresh and chili tasted great.

There are so many nice food in Food Republic which I have always wanted to try. But everytime I am there, I always ended up queuing at Thye Hong stall.

Thye Hong
Food Republic
435 Orchard Road
#04-00 Wisma Atria
Singapore 238877

Ayam Penyet vs ayam cobek

2008-06-24T16:25:00.013-04:00

One of the food that I always eat when in Singapore is Ayam Penyet Ria at Lucky Plaza. Ayam penyet means smashed fried chicken. It is an Indonesia dish from Surabaya (East Java). Ayam Penyet Ria has franchise in Medan too but the one in Singapore tastes better.

The chicken was smashed after deep-frying. It was crispy, sprinkled with bits of fry batter and served with fried tofu and sambal/chili sauce. The sambal was blazingly hot. Everytime Jon and I ate there, we had to order 2 glasses of drink each to cool down the "heat". Some restaurants purposely make the chili sauce extremely hot so customers do not ask for more (and customer would order more drinks = more profits?).

The last time I was in Singapore, I had a chance to try the ayam cobek @ Java Kitchen. Cobek means mortal. Ayam cobek is an Indonesian dish from Bandung (West Java) and it is normally served on mortal. It is almost the same as ayam penyet, both are deep fried and sprinkled with bits of fried batter, but without smashing the chicken.

It was served with deep fried tofu, deep fried tempe (fermented soy bean) and nice soup. The sambal was great, not too mild and not too hot, hence I prefer ayam cobek@ Java Kitchen over Ayam Penyet Ria. I still dream about the sambal. Yummy!

The "kick" factor for most Indonesian food is the chili. If the chili is too mild, there is no "power". If it is too hot, tongue and lips go numb. The right spicy hot will make the food addictive.

What could be better than ice kacang after eating spicy food.

Ayam Penyet Ria
304 Orchard Road
#04-25/26 Lucky Plaza
Singapore 238863
Tel: + 65 6235 7385

Java Kitchen Lucky Plaza
304 Orchard Road
#03-36/37
Singapore 238863

Java Kitchen Katong
228 Tanjong Katong Rd
Tel: + 65 64451766
Tuesday - Friday: 11:30-15:00 & 18:00- 22.30
Saturday - Sunday: 11:30-22:30
Closed on Monday

Java Kitchen Vivo City
Food Republic, VivoCity
Tel: + 65 63769928
Everyday: 10:00-22:00
public holiday's/ Friday/ Saturday 10:00-23:00pm

I hate green

2008-06-15T20:49:00.011-04:00

I went to a gift shop -Precious Thots- in CityLink Mall Singapore. They had collections of mini Kokeshi dolls available in many colors. I admired their cute faces, pretty designs, beautiful colors (except for the green one). Suddenly my elbow knocked one the the doll placed at the edge, it dropped and the head came off. I had to pay $12 for the mini doll that I broke. Actually it wasn't that bad, I could glue it and it would be fine. But....the one I broke was GREEN!!! I'm allergic to Green.

I was wondering if green was the least popular kokeshi doll hence they placed them at the edge and hoped that people like me would drop them?

It's cute, isn't it? Except that it was green. And because it was green, I refused to keep it.

I love (green) trees, green scenery and green food. I don't mind green drink, green dishwashing sponge, green dishwashing liquid and green beauty/body products. But other than those, I can't help it, I hate green.

Meanwhile, Jon finally agreed to get rid of green blanket that had been sitting in storage for years. I can't believe somebody would buy green blanket.

Zong Zi

2008-06-06T16:39:00.010-04:00

Zong Zi (Chinese Rice Dumpling) festival is on this coming Sunday. Zong Zi is eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival which is on the 5th day of 5th months of Chinese calender.

I had my mom make Zong zi for me when I was back home last 2 months. There are different kinds of zong zi fillings depend on the style. I think the on my mom made was Hokkian style.

There is no way I will make zong zi in NY, hence I didn't bother to copy the recipe. I used to help my auntie and mom making zong zi, it was fun. But this time around I was too busy to help =p

1. Put a spoonful of rice into the bamboo leaf mould and add a bit of everything. Top with more rice.
2.Wrap the leaves to close the opening, forms a pyramid-shaped dumpling and ties it firmly with thread/straw.
3. The individually tied dumplings are bundled together.

My mom initially made just 1 kg of rice but due to high demand(for my friends, sister's friends and brother's friends) they were not enough. She then ended up making 3 kg of rice lol.

I can't find zong zi in Chinatown NY. I can only stare at the photos.

Turtle Cake

2008-06-06T16:30:00.003-04:00

Back in Medan, I went to a bakery to order a birthday cake for a friend's birthday. The shop assistant showed me lots of samples from cake decoration magazine and some Wilton books. Wilton is the leading cake decorating and bakeware household brand in the industry. Wilton also provided cake decorating classes in US and Canada. Since I saw the Wilton books, I had high expectation of them, thinking that this bakery probably have got some "class" and probably a lot of "passions" in their work, I decided to order a turtle cake. Upon ordering, the asistant said that they had never made a turtle cake before so they didn't have sample. Oh God. Here we go~

I managed to find a cute turtle cake sample with dotted shell. However I preferred the shell pattern to be rounded in the middle and have some lining instead of the polka dotted shell. I showed her Kuma Kuma turtle handphone chain and told her I wanted the shell pattern like that. She wrote a note on my order form and drew the shell pattern like a sun shape, which is right.

There had to be misunderstanding, my turtle shell turned out to have a lots of small suns. Weird shell, no legs and no tail. Even though it was not what I expected or imagined, overall it was still a cute cake. I also asked if it would be fondant cake and the assistant said yes, but it turned out to be butter cream cake. Maybe they did not understand what fondant is.

Short vacation

2008-05-16T14:56:00.022-04:00

I haven't updated blog for quite sometime. I was away for 3 weeks in Indonesia. Still miss family and friends. I had a lot of fun, ate all the yummy food that are not available in US.

Miss this little creature which was always so playful and cute who loves wagging its tail.

I brought along list of must-eat mom's food and must-eat local food. The first mom's food that I MUST eat when back home would be the stuffed braised duck. Served with deep fried mantou to deep the sauce *slurp*

One of the popular local food in Medan is Sate Padang. It originated from Padang, one of the cities in West Sumatera. Nevertheless, it is very popular in Medan. One portion normally consists of 1-2 rice cakes, 8-10 satays, doused with spicy thick yellow sauce, and sprinkled with deep fried shallot. The sauce is made of meat broth mixed with different kind of spices such as tumeric, ginger, garlic, coriander, galangal, cumin, curry powder,lemon grass, cinamon, bay leaves, chili, etc *Gosh*

The satays have a lot of varieties to choose from: lamb, chicken, squid, quail eggs, cockle, beef, beef tongue, beef intestines. Some people love to eat it with Mamee sprinkled on top. I love Jangek, the squarish crackers in the photo on the right, which is made of cow skin/meat/fat.

Satay Padang is normally sold on a small cart with a little burner to keep the sauce hot and a tiny grill. Satays are pre grilled, the tiny grill is used to warm up the satays.

I normally buy extra sauce to dip with 10 packs of jangek *crunch*. Can't wait for the next trip to Medan.

Frozen Grand Central

2008-02-17T00:27:00.013-05:00

Improv Everywhere is a large troupe specializes in causing scenes of chaos and joy /prank based in NY, led by a comedian Charlie Todd.

Last month, 207 people froze in place at the exact same time in Grand Central Station NY, one of the world's biggest railway station. It was the coolest prank ever.

It was on the news, with highlight of his other hilarious pranks.

It seems to be spreading, the frozen mission happened in London and Toronto and other towns are organizing the similar mission.

Happy Valentine

2008-02-14T22:13:00.028-05:00

Valentine's Day is a big celebration day in New York. Almost everyone on the streets were carrying roses. Card shops were so crowded at the Valentine's section.

I went to Papyrus which has a lot of creative hand-made cards. But obviously doing "last minute" shopping, there wasn't many selections left. I don't really fancy printed cards, only the cute ones like Forever Friends or Me To You. I decided to use cards that I have made previously. But not quite with the Valentine's Theme.

I then made a quick and easy one. Jon said he gave me a score of 98 for the card, the missing 2 marks due to the "not-so-nice" handwriting. Hey I made it in hurry!

We had Valentine's Day dinner at PlaneThai, it's a Thai + Sushi restaurant. The restaurant interior is mainly red, with a lot of big pillars. It looks a little like a chinese/thai temple.

Tables setting

We had Bamboo Chicken $16. Grilled free range chicken, marinated in curry+ herbs with green papaya salad. It was sweet and curry taste was mild, it blended well with the herbs. The presentation was cool too.

We also ordered Tom Yung Goong, Sashimi Deluxe and Spider Roll. I didn't use flash, the photos turned out bad.

We had Trio Brulee $7. Three mini brulee of the day which were ginger, chocolate and green tea. The chocolate one was really good.

On that day, florists open till late. The one near our home was still opened when we walked past at 10 pm and they were quite a few people buying rose. Last minute roses.

Pineapple Tarts

2008-02-09T15:12:00.014-05:00

My favorite CNY tidbits are pineapple tarts, emping cookies (emping is cracker made of gnemon seeds) and love letters. I miss homemade pineapple tarts so I decided to make myself using mom's recipe. They are many pineapple tarts sold in Chinese bakeries but must be "commercially homemade".. pretty sure they are made from pre-packed pineapple jams and pre-made dough.

I bought a small pineapple and made my own pineapple jam the day before. The tart dough was easy to make. (I lost the recipe..nevermind, I don't think I will make again till next year).

The first batch. Absolute ugly. However they tasted pretty nice. I was wondering how my mom and auntie shaped them so nicely..

I got lazy to make sphere/round shapes. So for the rest, I made them like how Wokking Mum made it, with pineapple outside. It was much easier.

Jon's creation.

I ran out of pineapple jam, so i put peanut butter instead =o).

I prefer cooking than baking. Baking is like science, there is formula to follow. Amount, temperature, timing are crucial. I can probably do it once a while, which is pretty is fun.

Happy Chinese New Year

2008-02-06T22:18:00.002-05:00

Happy Chinese New Year. Wishing everyone Happiness, Good Fortune and Prosperity in the Year of Rat.

Here I am in New York, missing much of the Chinese New Year festive back home. I cooked for Chinese New Year Eve, celebrated with Jon. I initially came up with 8 menu but I had to reduce to 5 due to the fact that there is only 2 of us and limited preparation time. I was very much motivated to an additional dish, however was too tired due to work committment. Cooking 5 dishes drove me a little nutz. I did some preparation for this evening's dinner till 11pm the night before, straight after a 3 hour grocery shopping at Flushing, Queens. (1.5 hours shopping and 1.5 hours travelling back and forth).

Chinese New Year's Eve menu: Steam Barramundi, Braised Chinese Mushroom, Pork & Shrimp Roll (Ngo Hiang), Slow-braised pork belly (Dong Po Rou), Corn Crab Soup.

Crabs for the soup.

I will blog more about the dinner next time.

Vacation Day 5: Back to Miami

2008-02-02T19:58:00.004-05:00

It is a long overdue post on Miami trip=Þ

Miami and Miami Beach are two different cities in Florida. Miami Beach is tourist-centric, a large number of the people who live there tend to be working in the service industry. Miami Beach (particularly South Beach) is what normally seen on TV: celebrities, fancy restaurants, flashy cars. When people say they visited Miami, they actually meant they went to Miami Beach.

We stayed at the same hotel which we stayed on the first day located on Miami Beach. This is the view from room. Looking at the city, it is clean, green with trees and grass, blue and bright sunny sky. I love Miami Beach. Plan for the day was to visit the famous South Beach and Lincoln Road shopping area.

South Beach is one the the popular beaches in Miami Beach. "Miami Vice" was filmed in South Beach, back in the days whereby it was a poor area with high crime rate. Today it is one of the wealthiest areas on the beach. South Beach is know for its night life with hundreds of nightclubs and restaurant. Being a popular beach, it is always crowded. Due to limited time, we did a short stroll along the beach to experience the South Beach breeze and waves. =o)

These are four of us. After the beach, we went for lunch at a local Cuban Restaurant. The food was ok but my photos didnt turn out nice, hence decided not to post. Besides, the 4 of us didn't really enjoyed the meal. During lunch, Abishek mentioned about returning to NY the next day. I was shocked I thought we had 1 more day *sob*

A few blocks from the beach is the Lincoln Road Mall. It is a 12-block pedestarian mall, lined with almost 200 stores, indoor/outdoor restaurants, sidewalk cafes, bars and galleries. We spent the whole afternoon here. There were lots of nice fancy restaurants. Regretted having lunch back at the Cuban place.

We visited a lot of art galleries and below are my favorite. They were made of wires.

Miami Beach is also famous for its art deco architectures, which are building built during the pre-war period with rounded corner and geometric ornamentation. Below is the example of art deco architechture.
,

After the shopping at Lincoln Road Mall, we went back to hotel, played cards, had some rest and went back to Lincoln Road Mall for dinner. We missed the lunch at Lincoln Road so we went there for dinner =)

We had Italian food. The dish on the left was Blackened Chicken which Abishek had and said was"fantastic!". The other one was chicken with cheese I think.

Jon had Fettucini with Porchini mushroom and yeah .. I had Oyster again! There was only 1 oyster menu which was the "Oyster Rockefellar". They were oyster with spinach and cheese. I knew I wouldn't like the spinach and cheese part but I was craving for oyster, hence I ordered it.

We had 2 bottles of complimentary wine. Both Abishek and Virteeka had 1 glass each and I shared the rest with Jon. Thankfully we had a designated driver.

Related posts: Day 1- Miami, Day 2- Marathon, Day 3- Key West, Day 4 - Dry Tortugas

The Island Fish Co

2008-01-19T00:59:00.004-05:00

On day 4, from Dry Tortugas, the ferry arrived back to Key West at 5:30pm. We shopped for souvenirs and then drove back to Miami. Along the way, we looked for someplace to eat just by simply touching a button on GPS. Lo and behold, it brought us to this fantastic restaurant and Tiki bar called The Island Fish Co, in Marathon.

The restaurant is divided into 3 sections: restaurants, tiki bar and souvenir shop.

I craved for Oyster Kilpatrick (Oyster topped with bacon and Worcestershire sauce). My eyes lit up when I saw there are a lot of Oyster menu. It was comparable to the Oyster Kilpatrick back in Australia. It seeems like the Oyster Kilpatrick is an Australian dish since all references/ recipes I found were mainly from Aussie site.

The Island's Oyster Combo $8.95. 2 of Baked BBQ Oyster topped with bacon and pamersan cheese. 2 of Oyster Rockefeller: baked oyster with spinach, parmesan cheese and Pernod liquor. 2 of Baked Key Lime Garlic Oyster, topped with garlic butter and bread crumbs. My favorite was the one with bacon. Everything with bacon is always nice.

Prime Ribs $19.95. Tender prime cut seasoned & grilled to perfection. Served with new potatoes & sautéed vegetables. The steak was very special, it was so soft like stewed beef but not quite "stewed".

Caribbean Special $18.95. Pan Seared Grouper with pineapple salsa, black beans & Chef's rice.

Pasta Basilico with Chicken $15.95. Vine ripe tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, parmesan cheese & fresh basil over linguini

Chicken Wings Island Platter 8.95. One dozen choice of mild, medium or hot chicken wings. Served with fries and coleslaw.

Ultimate Chocolate Cake $4.95. A house specialty baked on the premise, flourless, with two layers of chocolate served with raspberry puree and whipped cream.

Deep Fried Key Lime Pie $4.95. Key Lime Pie deep fried crispy, rolled in cinnamon sugar and drizzled with mango sauce. Finally served with whipped cream.

We ate so much, it was nice to try different type of food. The food was fantastic. We laughed so much during the dinner listening to Abhishek's lifestory. After the dinner, got back into the car and heading back for Miami. We arrived back at the hotel at 11 pm. It was an eventful day.

Vacation Day 4: Dry Tortugas

2008-01-05T23:46:00.003-05:00

70 miles (113 km) west of Key West, out over the emerald water of the Gulf of Mexico, lies a cluster of seven island called Dry Tortugas. The area is known for its famous bird and sea life, and its legends of pirates and sunken gold. The name "Tortugas"(Turtles) was given by the Spanish Explorer Ponce De Leon in 1513 due to abundance of sea turtles. "Dry" because none of the islands have fresh water.

On the 4th day of the trip, we went for Dry Tortugas ferry which embarked from Key West. We left hotel 6 am in the morning as it took around an hour to get to Key West.

The boat trip included breakfast and lunch. I decided to eat on the deck eventhough it was windy. When the ferry set sail, it was even windier and so .. my breakfast flew. Half way the trip, the sea was choppy. Virteeka and I started to experience bad sea sickness.

Due to the location, it was impossible to get to Dry Tortugas by private boats. Trip to the island was pricey but really worth it. Seaplanes are available at $229/person and 40 minutes travel time. The ferry cost us $154/person with 2.5 hours travel time. Both provides around 3 hours of "island" time.

Our destination was Fort Jefferson, which is located on one of the islands in the Dry Tortugas. Fort Jefferson is a six-sided building constructed of 16 millions handmade red bricks. It is the largest 19th century coastal fort. Begun in 1846, construction continued for 30 years, but never finished. During the Civil War the fort was a military prison for captured deserters. The most famous convicted being Dr. Samuel Mudd, who set the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth during his escape in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
Aerial view of Fort Jefferson. Image taken from Wikipedia

We had to take all our belongings from the ferry as they had to clean it. We just put them on the beach. As I stepped out of the ferry, see the crystal clear water and instantly my sea sickness gone!

Inside Fort Jefferson.

View of garden, taken from top floor of Fort Jefferson.

When we walked to outer side of top floor, we could see gulf Mexico. OMG, it was sooooo beautiful. Never have I seen water so blue before. (no Photoshop adjustment, except for image resize)

Looking out through window of a gun room oon second floor.

Moat surrounding the fort.

Some damages occured due to poor foundation. Others due to hurricane.

There was a 1/2 hour guided tour which Jon and I missed because we were excited to take pictures. We really would have walked the whole Fort, but due to limited time, had to give it up.

After touring part of the fort, we went for lunch back on the ferry and proceeded to snorkle straight after. By the time we started snorkeling, it was a little cloudy, looked like it was going to rain. Purchased a disposable underwater camera, had lots of fun taking pictures underwater. It was so difficult to take picture underwater due to the fact that we were wearing those big sized goggles which made it extremely difficult to see thru the "view-finder" of the camera.

Then, all of a sudden, it started to rain. We started to swim ashore. So did everyone else, trying to safeguard their belongings from getting wet. The only shelter were the changing rooms or the ferry, which located some distant from the beach. Upon arriving back at the changing room areas.... and just when it was my turn to use the changing room, the rain stopped... Grr.

The boys went back snorkeling.

Jon lost the disposable underwater camera during the "run for shelter". Only the camera strap was attached to his finger... . He couldn't find it, so there goes all our snorkeling photos.

I really love this place, it is so isolated, surrounded by cyrstal clear blue sea. There was this lady said that she has been to so many places in the world and she's never seen water so clear like this before. Even though the voyage back and forth isn't exactly "smooth sailing", we totally enjoyed the trip. It was a great experience.

Related posts: Day 1 - Miami, Day 2 - Marathon, Day 3 - Key West

Happy New Year

2008-01-02T00:34:00.005-05:00

Happy New Year 2008. Hope 2008 will bring Happiness and Luck for everyone.
This is my first time celebrating New Year in New York. The decision to takepart in this first and last NYC celebration was partially due to to fact that Jon's cousin, Jasmine, visited us all the way from midwest, Winsconsin specially for New York City Times Square EOY countdown and fireworks.

"Each year, millions of eyes from all over the world are focused on the sparkling Waterford Crystal Times Square New Year's Eve Ball. At 11:59 p.m., the Ball begins its descent as millions of voices unite to count down the final seconds of the year, and celebrate the beginning of a new year full of hopes, challenges, changes and dreams. " (Times Square NYC)

Image from Times Square NYC

The crystal ball would be placed on the building on 45th street (red square). Good location to see countdown and ball drop would be in bow tie area (red line). As Jon couldn't finish work earlier, Jasmine and I went earlier at 4:30pm. It was so crowded, roads were closed, police only allowed people with hotel pass or employee pass to get in. We were only allowed to enter from 52th street (point 1) and walked to 50th street (point 2) where there were barricades surrounded the block. The block infront was vacant. We were told that police would open the barricade and we would be able to move forward at a later time. Many people wanted to get out of barricade to buy food or head off to the washrooms, however they were told if they got out of the barricade, they will not be able to join in again... talk about one way eh?

We waited there for 2.5 hours before police let us move forward. A small portion of the barricade was opened up. It was the scariest moment ever. Jasmine and I held hand so we wouldn't lose each other. People at the back kept pushing, not knowing that it was only a small exit in front. We were sandwiched between people, all trying to be "funnelled through the bottlenecked barricade. People kept pushing while the front couldn't move, I couldn't breathe and I started to get so worried. I couldn't see the road, I just moved where people pushed me. Somehow and sometime later we eventually moved 1 block forward.

We arrived at 49th street (point 3). Every hour, there were countdown for other countries, displayed on the LCD screen. When it was 6pm, the crystal ball was raised to atop One Times Square building. To be honest, the ball seemed a little tiny. I expected it was bigger since it was the highlight of NY Times Square countdown.

As soon as Jon finished work, he came to join us. It took us almost 3 hours to get to our current point and it only took him 20 minutes from his office. Road were closed, how did he get in?? He simply flashed his employee swipe card. LoL. Hmmm wonder how that worked. There were lots of people wearing tall hats... arghh.. blocking my views!

Standing there 1 hour, we then allowed to move 1/2 block forward. We ended staying at point 4. (Thank God the tall hat guys were gone) As crowd realised it was impossible to move forward anymore, everyone was more relaxed. Got to know people around us from all over the world. Met some aussies as well, singing songs got into some interesting conversations...it was getting better.

Countdown started at 11:59pm. There were a lot of balloon on the sky. I was busy videotaping and kept moving so I could get better view for my video. In 2 minutes, everything was over. My first comment was "what????That's it? Where has the ball gone?" I had to replay my video to see what happened, that was pathetic. So this was what happened. As countdown began, the ball slowly descent. When countdown arrived at 1, 30 seconds worth of firework fired from the building and confetti being thrown by people from the top of buildings around Times Square. I kinda expected more. I waited 7.5 hours in the cold, without going to toilet and standing for the whole night just to see the small crystal ball and 30 second fireworks?????? That was a big disappointment! I could see firework behind me which came from Central Park but it was far and half blocked by buildings.

Lesson learnt: don't bother to take video, there is always better version in YouTube.

Confetti on the road and confetti shower (not captured well with my camera).

New York Times Square 2008.

To my horror, when I was typing this post, I searched some info on the said-to-be-world-famous-sparkling-crystal-ball, I read this line "Click here for a New York Post video of the New Year's Ball currently on display at Macy's Herald Square through December 10th." OMG, that was the ball? The ball that was displayed in Macy (department store). I would have taken photos with it back then if it wasn't so crowded. That was the ball that people all over the world are dying to see in Times Square.. *banging my head*

These photos were taken by my father in law during his visit to NY

The crystal ball wasn't even 1/4 the size of Sydney Disco Ball for NYE2004. Both Sydney and NY are in Top 10 destinations for New Year's Eve. But NY celebration is nothing compared to Sydney.

Sydney always puts big show on NYE. Sydney has an advantage being a harbour city, using Harbour Bridge as centre piece and water to create mirror effect. Every year there is different theme for NYE celebration and icon related to the theme will be constructed at the centre of the bridge. This year icon was hourglass to symbolise the theme "Time of Our Lives." It was the biggest celebration ever, with new Pyrotechnic effects including 3D fireworks and it was the first time that bridge icon was animated. Too bad I missed it.

Sydney 9pm fireworks with new 3D pyrotechnics.

Sydney midnite firework. With new pyrotechnic effects on the bridge and animated hourglass icon. Spinning hourglass could be seen better if standing right in front of the bridge.

I always like the end part of Sydney Harbour Bridge firework show, the waterfall effect.

Image from timesonline.com

I like London firework too, it was cool. I like the water spinning effect at 05:00 of the video.

Vacation Day 3: Key West

2007-12-27T19:40:00.002-05:00

Started the day with big breakfast at IHOP.

Breakfast Sampler $8.79. Eggs,bacon strips,pork sausages,ham strips, hash brown and two fluffy buttermilk pancakes.

International Passport $7.99. Eggs,bacon strips,pork sausages and Swedish crepes.

Our next destination was Key West. We stopped at 7 mile bridge on the way to Key West. There are 2 bridges. The one on the right is the old 7 mile bridge which was badly damaged by hurricane in 1935. On the left is the new 7 mile bridge which is part of the Overseas Highway.

7 mile bridge made its debut in the film True Lies (1994), starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis. A section of the old bridge is shown being destroyed by missle strikes. The missiles were edited in, and the explosions were done on an 80-foot (24 m) model of the bridge, but filming was done on the actual bridge, and the "destroyed" section is the former swing span, which had been removed upon completion of the new bridge. (Wikipedia)

Below is part of the movie which shows the 7 mile bridge.

From 7 mile bridge, it took us 1 hour to get to Key West. Key West is a city and an island of the same name,located at the southermost tip of Florida Keys.

This tiny island -which is rumoured to fit into New York's Central Park- teems with color and life around the clock. Historic architectural blend with local boutique stores, art galleries, museums, sidewalk cafes, trendy restaurants and legendary pubs. Souvenir shops, unique stores are everywhere. We spent long time shopping there.

It is a small, relax and fun town with laid back lifestyle. Most of the pubs and restaurants feature live music performances.

One of the attraction in Key West is Ernest Hemingway Home. Ernest Hemingway was one of America's most famous writer who won Noble Prize for Literature in 1954 for "The Old Man and the Sea". We reached there 15 minutes prior to closing, so we didn't go in the house.

The biggest attraction on the island is an oversized concrete buoy, which claims to be the southernmost point in the Continental US. The monument sits only 90 miles from Cuba's coast. From Key West, it is nearer to get to Cuba than to Miami, which is 150 miles away.

Artist painting in Southermost point.

We missed a lot of attractions in Key West as we only spent 1/2 day there. Key West is such a nice, charm town. I will definately return in future.

We stayed at Continental Inn in Marathon. It has nice beach but we didn't get to enjoy since we reached there at 8 pm and left 6 am in the morning.

I like the design of the switches in the hotel.

Related posts: Day 1- Miami, Day 2- Marathon

Vacation Day 2: Marathon

2007-12-26T20:17:00.002-05:00

Early in the morning, the guys got up at 5 am to see sunrise. I was lazy I preferred to sleep instead. Jon took a lot of sunrise photos. He said the sun rised so fast, it was like a balloon flew up to the sky.

After that everyone went for swimming ..less me! Besides, we were leaving for Marathon in the next couple of hours, I hate to pack "wet cloths". I managed to get some shots of the beachfront of the hotel.

Upon working up an appetite, we went for breakfast buffet at the hotel. Not much selection and food wasn't great. After breakfast we checkout and got ready for next destination, Marathon.

Below is map of Florida Keys taken from Google Map. Florida Keys is a chain of about 1700 islands in the southeast United States. Most of the islands are linked by a scenic road called the Overseas Highway (completed in 1938), which has 42 bridges. Florida Keys are divided into five regions: Key Largo, Islamorada, Marathon, Big Pine Key, and Key West .

Our destination, Marathon, is in the heart of Florida Keys. Marathon offers many relaxing vacation resorts, diverse water activities and great restaurants that serve fresh seafood. We stayed at Seashell Beach Resort. The view was great, though the room was a bit old.

View from our room.

Our room, second floor, taken from the jetty.

We spent the whole afternoon kayaking. The water was calm and shallow, so it was good for newbie like me. Paddling was tiring eventhough I only contributed 30% of energy lol, thanx hubby!

When we were done with paddling, I jumped out of the kayak and into the sea to head towards shore... since the water was only knee deep. However upon taking 5 steps towards the shore, I felt some real slimy and sandy sea vegetation. I asked Jon to throw me slippers as I didn't dare to walk on slimy sand. I took a step and my foot sank into muddy sand, I was shocked, quickly withdrew my foot but my slipper stuck inside. Lost that right Billabong slipper in the process. Dope! There was no way I could walk to the seaside, Jon had to paddle the kayak to fetch me. =o)

Virteeka and Jon tried their luck hunting for my slipper. Sigh... gone!

We went back to our room to shower. After Jon had showered, it was my turn then, he went to the jetty to take photos. When I came out from the shower, I was surprised to see him in swim trunk. Why would he go swimming just after his shower? Long story short, while he was taking some pictures, his beloved Oakley shades fell into the sea haha. He had to jump into the sea to find his sunglasses. He was successful this time.

Dinner time ~ We went to Key Fisheries Restaurant. The place is located next to marina, it was so cold and windy.

Fried Oyster platter $15.95. I was a bit disappointed because I expected the oysters came in shell.

Garlic Golden Crab $15.95. We didn't expect the portion was huge since it was $15.95. The size of it was twice the size of the usual mud crab we had back in Singapore. The shell was thick and hard, but we were given plastic crab cracker. Very frustrating. It took us both an hour and 15 minutes to finish the crab. If I were to eat it alone, I would probably need 2.5 hours. Took so much effort to crack the shell and just ate a bit and a bit.

Finishing the crab was a big accomplishment! Never knew that cracking crabs could be so tiring.

These were what our friends ordered: Conch Fritters $4.95 and Key Lime Mahi $15.95, Mahi sauteed with limes, scallion, shallots, tomatoes and white wine. Jon was jealous at Abhishek since he didn't have to struggle yet could put a big chunk of "meat" into his mouth and was capable of enjoying a mouthful of delious seafood.

Related post: Day 1-Miami

Vacation Day 1: Miami

2007-12-25T20:39:00.001-05:00

Jon took his end of year leave. I had options of going somewhere cold for skiing or to somewhere warm. Of course I chose option "warm". Ideal vacation for me is when I don't have to pack long sleeves and winter clothing. So...6 day trips to Miami and Key West was fantastic! Miami is a haven for tourists with its subtropical climate, pretty harbors and spectacular beaches. Especially coming from Sydney Australia, the sun, the sand and the sea would definitely bring us some fond memories.

We took a connecting flight in Orlando. The plane was the smallest plane I had ever sat in (could probably call it "private jet"). The seats were 2 by 1. It was pretty scary, Thank God it was only 40 minutes flight.

As soon as we arrived in Miami, everyone was so hungry, we had lunch at airport. Grilled chicken with tomato and herbs baguette and Thai grilled chicken sandwich.

Next, we picked up a nice rented car. In the United States, 19 states do not require an official front license plate. Florida is one of them.

Located in the heart of Miami Beach, this oceanfront hotel seems well priced and good value.

The resort faces the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Indian Creek on the other. The rooms, though equally cost had some minor differences. Some rooms were smaller with poorly lit shower area. Some rooms were spacious with double sinks. Generally they are all of acceptable standards and with some partial ocean view.

The beach is only a few steps away from the pool. Lounge chairs/umbrellas are available for rental on the beach. The stretch of beach for the hotel is clean and beautiful.

On the same late afternoon, we decided to go for the Thriller Powerboat ride. It was the most exciting boat ride I've ever had. It went so fast I could feel the wind slapping my face and water prickling my face like needles being thrown. The back seats tend to be the wettest seats on the boat.

The tour provided panaromic sightseeing of Miami. It was a very well narrated 45 minute tour accompanied with fantastic music.

One of the viewing destination was Millionaire's Row, multi-million dollar homes of celebrities. To name a few: Shaquille O'Neal, Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan.

The tour ended at Bayside Marketplace, semi-outdoor mall with a lot of souvernir shops, local boutiques and open-air cafes. Too busy and too excited to shop that I didn't take any photos of Bayside :)

Soba

2007-12-17T22:55:00.002-05:00

Simple food can look expensive and more delicious if presentation is nice. I often think of nice food presentation. But thought about the "washing" of dishes later on, which then led me to say.. Nahh....forget it, too much effort.

We had soba for dinner. I had some prawn and shitake mushrooms in the fridge, decided to add them on soba.
* pan fry prawn and shitake mushroom
* add 2 tbsp of soy sauce
* use toothpick to hold both end of the prawn
* place the prawn on shitake mushroom.

For soba sauce, I bought bottle ready-to-use soba sauce from Asian grocery.

Miso Soup

2007-12-16T01:00:00.001-05:00

I cooked miso soup and added some edamame beans. My super blur husband asked, "Is that buah petay?" I was stunned, could not believe what I heard. Who ever cook miso soup with petay?

Petay/stinky beans is kind of smelly beans that is very popular in South East Asia. Those who like it described petay as beans that has pungeont aroma that lingers. (Especially true when urinating - serious contamination). I have never tasted it before and no one can convince me to eat it. =o) Never!!

Bella Vita

2007-12-15T01:43:00.001-05:00

Bella Vita, an Italian restaurant that is famous for its brick oven pizza in Times Square area. Considering the area of the restaurant, the price is reasonable. Expect to wait at least 20 minutes on the weekend, especially big group. The place was a bit small, nice crowd, great ambience.

Fried Calamari $8.95. Fresh tender fried calamari served with spicy marinara sauce. This lovely, big portion appetizer was so tender and juicy, crispy and not too oily. When dipped a piece in spicy marinara sauce, it was delicious.

Large pizza $15.95. Homemade tomato sauce and fresh mozarella with choose-your-own topping at $2.50 each. We had fresh mushroom and chicken. It was so fresh with right amount of sauce and toppings. The crust was made to perfection and it was scattered with basil. I love basil~

Spaghetti e Pollo Cacciatore $25.95
This was a family sized Spagetti with peppers, onions, mushrooms, white wine, sliced chicken breast in a light tomato sauce. It was very fresh and tasty, though a little more sauce won't hurt on this dish~

Bella Vita
211 W 43rd Street, between Broadway and Eight Avenue
New York, NY
Tel: 212-730-1479
Fax: 212-123-4567

Torys

2007-12-15T00:01:00.001-05:00

Torys is a yakitori restaurant located in midtown area. Most of the items that we had were from the yakitori menu. Portion served is of appetiser size, so we had to order a lot of dish.

We started off with Kyona & Jyako, onsen tamago salad: baby arugula scattered with roast baby sardine and dressing of poached organic egg. The salad was so tasty and light.

Torys specialized in yakitori, the yakitori menu is divided into 4 parts: Yakitori Chicken, Chicken Limited, Yakitori Special, and Vegetable. Highlight was Chicken Limited which has very limited availabity. We arrived there at 7pm and some Chicken Limited had sold out. I feel that "Chicken Limited" is weird. The menu listing had soft knee bone, soft bone, neck, tail, hmmm...aren't those parts that normally people do not eat?

Some of the yakitori dishes we ordered were liver, meatball, soft knee bone, chicken tail, organic pork, lamb chop, eringi mushroom. They were all very small portion and each skewer cost $2-$4.50, they were expensive. The yakitori dishes were served with sea salt, and not season with yakitori sauce, hence it had a nice grilled and burned taste instead of sweet taste.

Lamb Chop $6

We ordered tofu cooked in hot pot and chicken rice cooked in earthenware pot. Both were cooked at the table. The tofu required 25 minutes and chicken rice required 35 minutes to cook.

As soon as we finished all yakitori dishes, the tofu was done. Daiginjyo tofu premium pure tofu in hot pot $8. We shared among 4 people so everyone just had 1 spoonful of tofu *lol*. It was plain silken tofu, we had to add some salt for a little taste. It was so soft, silky and melted in the mouth. It worth waiting 25 minutes to get those one spoonful of tofu. I wished there were more.

Jidori Donabe Gohan rice with chicken cooked in earthenware pot $12. This was small portion too, everyone just had 2 spoonfuls haha.. It tasted a bit like claypot chicken rice.

Dessert time! We decided to have 1 dessert each. Each of them tasted very good, we didn't regret ordering 4 different desserts to share.
Coffee jelly with vanilla ice cream $6
Pumpkin pudding $7
Ice Banana: Frozen banana served with coconut milk, tapioca & mint $7 Yawaraka annin tofu creamy apricot kernel tofu $5.5

It was a great dinner , good food with good company, especially with friends that take photos of food too. Most of the time, I feel that people scrutinize at me for taking food pictures. It has become a ritual for me that I must take food pictures before anyone is allowed to touch the food.

Yakitori Torys
248 E 52nd Street
New York, NY 10022
Tel: 212-813-1800

Vegetables

2007-12-14T23:11:00.001-05:00

I travel to Flushing (home to Chinese/ Korean communities in the northern part of Queens, New York) to buy Asian grocery & vegetables weekly. For the next 3 days dinner will consist a lot of vegetables. If I keep too long they will end up in rubbish bin.

Mixed vegetables

I saw this weird mushroom a few times but never tasted and didn't know how to cook.

I happened to see WokkingMum cooked this dish. It has become one of our favorite dish; tender flesh, mild flavor, chewy texture, it tastes like abalone (poor man's version).

oshiruko

2007-11-09T21:32:00.001-05:00

The reason I made green tea ice cream was because I bought the wrong red bean when trying to make Ichigo Daifuku. I didn't want to waste the red bean so I tried making this dessert.

There are 2 kinds of red bean soup in Japanese dessert: zenzai and oshiruko. Zenzai is served cold and thick/less watery. Oshiruko is served hot and more watery. Both zenzai and oshiruko are served with mochi or shiratama/ glutinuous rice dumplings. Mine is combination *lol* because it is watery and I served it cold as I don't want the ice cream to melt fast.

Shiratama is similar to Chinese Tong Yuen. I put 50g of glutinuous rice and 50ml of water. Mix them until the dough is as soft as ear lobe.

Make the dough into small balls, flatten them with your palms. Press the middle so the dumplings can be cooked evenly. Put the dumplings into boil water. They will float when they are done.

Green Tea Ice Cream

2007-11-09T20:40:00.001-05:00

When I told my sister that I made green tea ice cream, she was excited. "How did you make ice cream? Do you have ice cream maker?" she asked. "Nope, I bought Vanilla ice cream and green tea powder." I replied. Hoho yeah that was a cheat. As a matter of fact, there are many Japanese restaurants that do them this way as well. The secret is to get good quality of green tea powder.

It is easy to make.
1. Soften vanilla ice cream
2. Add some green tea powder and mix it. I bought 350ml tub and I put 5 teaspoons of green tea powder.
3. Put back into ice cream tub and freeze it.

Green tea ice cream with red bean and shiratama.

Ichigo Daifuku

2007-11-06T22:31:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite Japanese dessert is Ichigo Daifuku. Daifuku is sweet Japanese glutinious rice cake/ mochi. Ichigo means strawberry. Ichigo Daifuku contains strawberry wrapped in red bean paste.

Red bean paste is a common daifuku filling, however mashed red bean is fine too. The thing about red bean paste is that you have to find the right kind, Japanese vs Chinese. Make sure to get Japanese red bean paste as the canned chinese red bean paste is a little too wet and not suitable for the daifuku filling.

How to make the filling:

1. Place a piece of lint-free cloth and put a spoonful of red bean paste.
2. Flatten the paste with the same piece of cloth.
3. Add a strawberry (stem removed) on top.
4. Using the cloth, wrap the paste around strawberry.
Paste can be wrapped by hand too. But by using a piece of cloth, it can remove excessive water from the paste.

The dough recipe can be found here Kyoto Cooking Circle

Halloween

2007-10-31T23:05:00.001-04:00

Halloween is a big event in US, celebrated by both adults and kids. Children go trick or treats, knocking on neighbours' doors collecting candies. Adults celebrate by having costume parties.

Treat bags. I packed 1 pumpkin marshmallow and 1 M&M packet/2 mini chocolates in a treat bag.

Children went from door to door, and also from one store to another store collecting candies while parents waited outside the store.

I went to NYC's Village Halloween Parade, which is the largest Halloween celebration in the US. The parade streched more than a mile, presented the night of every October 31st in NYC. It was reported that 2 million people gathered for the event. Unreal.

It was so crowded, it took us 10 minutes to get out of subway station. 20 minutes to find a good spot for 4 people.

The crowd

Some interesting costumes.

The parade. More photos of the parade here

This is hubby, it was scary.

There was a man dressed like this as if he was headless, took away his head from the neck.

Below are my some houses in the neighbourhood.

Scrambled eggs

2007-10-24T00:19:00.001-04:00

Jon liked this breakfast on the roadtrip. He liked the idea of the baked bean in a seperate small bowl. He does not like the food to get "contaminated" with other food Duh.. less the eggs of course.. (messy eater).

This is my version of baked bean in seperate bowl :)

I made scrambled eggs for the first time. I did exactly what Gordon Ramsay did.

But mine seemed a bit funny. Anyway Jon said it was good, maybe he just wanted to please me.

Bea's Cafe

2007-10-22T02:08:00.001-04:00

Bea's is a small cafe that serves homestyle breakfast (in New Hampshire). Great breakfast to start the day.

Egg and ham croissant with homemade fries.

Sunnyside up eggs. Underneath was homemade fries topped with bacon and cheese. Served with toast.

Bea's Cafe
Conway Marketplace
50 White Mountain Highway
Conway, NH 03818-4208
Tel: (603) 447-4900

My trip to New Hampshire

2007-10-22T01:09:00.001-04:00

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. One of its 4 nicknames is "Switzerland of America" for its beautiful mountain scenery.

Having told that most of the trip will be in car, I didn't expect to enjoy it. I prepared a lot of sweets and mints to reduce the chance of getting motion sickness.

We went for mountail trail, walking along pathway that carpetted with colourful leaves and foliage. It was so cold near 2°C but everyone enjoyed it.

I love the colorful leaves.

This is the first time I enjoyed travelling in a car. Throughout the whole roadtrip, the drive was spectacular. View was always so beautiful as if we were driving through a canvas painting. We made a lot of stops, took loads of pictures and enjoyed the breathtaking views. Below are some of my favorite shots.

The only thing I didn't enjoy was the scenic train ride up to the mountain. It was a steam locomotive that produced large amount of smoke. The train consists of a coal burning locomotive pushing a single passenger car up the mountain, and descending the mountain by going backwards. The railway is 3 miles (4.8km) long. Each 3-mile ride burns one ton of coal and consumes 1,000 gallons(3800l) of water.

It was so jerky, way worst then the subway rides in NYC only slower. I did not enjoy as much as I would have liked to as I tend to feel dizzy from the "rocking" seat. So most of the time I sat straight and looked straight in front.

It snowed up in the mountain, the view was great, something I have never seen before.

Ate too much

2007-10-21T00:45:00.001-04:00

We were invited by Jon's colleague for lunch over at his house. It was simply fantastic! They served way too many dishes for 4 heads. Growing up in a multi cultural environment, both Jon and I were familiar with a couple of the dishes, but to be honest, this was the first time we actually had an authentic traditional indian cuisine plus indian desserts!!

We were so full, it was so impossible to have dinner.

When it was dinner time, we decided to go to Chili's for some desserts. We had a look at the menu, and we saw RIBS!! Although still very full, but we could not resist ordering baby back ribs.

And of course we ordered dessert. Molten Chocolate Cake, warm chocolate cake with chocolate fudge filling, topped with vanilla ice cream and crunchy chocolate shell. We both went home with unrecognised tummies which almost exploded.

Red Bean Daifuku

2007-10-21T00:38:00.002-04:00

I saw nice 'Chinese version' of a red bean daifuku/ mochi in an Asian bakery. It was so pretty and very delicious-looking. I could not resist buying it. There were some pink powder scattered on top which made it looked like a juicy peach.

The way to make Daifuku skin is to flatten daifuku dough into a circle, wrap around prepared red bean ball and then gently pinch the edges to seal. I have seen daifuku made so perfectly whereby one cannot see the seal mark.

Back to the daifuku I bought, I flipped it, and was suprised to see how they wrap it.

Basically they flattened the dough into a square, and wrap the red bean like the way Japanese wraps bento box. This is a good idea to make daifuku. ~Easy Peazy~

Chocolate Cupcakes

2007-10-02T23:17:00.001-04:00

I bought Lindt chocolates for baking cakes. But as the days go by, one by one.. they disappeared. Hubby would say "Can I have one please?" And the next day again, and again. I'd better start baking before they were all gone.

Cakes dough and lindt chocolate on top. The purpose of the chocolate is to create lava, melting chocolate in the centre of the cake.

Chocolate cupcakes. No icing because I am too lazy and it tastes so good without icing.

Look at the melting chocolate inside.

First Bento

2007-10-02T00:09:00.002-04:00

I packed lunch for Jon and decided to decorate a bit and ended up making bento.

Food I used:
Egg omelette = blanket
Smoked Ham = top of blanket, flowers on blanket, pillow and cheek
Fish Ball = Heads and hands
Nori = Eyes and mouth

It looks a bit plain so I decided to add some hair.

Cup Spring Rolls

2007-09-29T01:22:00.001-04:00

When I am preparing dinner, I always think what if I cook this instead, and always change my mind at last minute.

Today plan was to cook beef but then I thought about my leftover spring roll wrappers and thought about Su Yin Nasi Lemak cup. Ok change plan for dinner.

I cut my spring roll wrappers into 4, so they became the size of wonton wrappers. Arrange them in muffin tray and baked them like this.

Cup spring rolls with salad.

I arranged 2 wrappers in muffin tray to get bigger cups.

Salad dressing is Orange Vinaigrette. I got the recipe from Wokking Mum. Both Jon and I love it, it is very refreshing.

Spring Roll filling
1 packet of vermicelli
5 chinese mushrooms
100g minced meat
1/2 carrot, shredded
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp sweet soy sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
a pinch of pepper

1. Soak vermicelli in boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and cut into short threads.
2. Soak chinese mushrooms in boiling water. Drain and minced.
3. Saute garlic, carrot, minced meat, mushrooms and vermicelli. Add sweet soy sauce, soy sauce and pepper to taste.

Orange Vinaigrette *recipe from Wokking Mum*
1/2 tablespoon Olive Oil
2 tablespoon Orange Juice
1/2 tablespoon Apple Cider
2 teaspoon Lemon or Lime Juice
a pinch of salt and sugar each

Spring Roll

2007-09-29T00:49:00.001-04:00

I made spring rolls for the first time. I used Vermicelli, shredded carrot, minced chicken, minced prawn and Chinese mushroom.

Comparing with spring roll to the ones from my hometown Medan, this definitely a failure. In fact, I never knew of spring roll with vermicelli till I saw them in Sydney. Medan spring roll uses jícama/Yam Bean ( Bengkuang in Malay).

But comparing the spring rolls to the ones in Sydney and New York, mine were nice =)

It can be eaten just the way it is without having to fry it.

Deep fried spring rolls.

Steak

2007-09-24T23:24:00.001-04:00

Dinner for Jon: Lamb steak, mushroom, butter capsicum, mash potato, bacon asparagus.
I had chicken instead of lamb. I can't stand lamb smell.

Preparation and cooking: 1 hour
Eating: 15 minutes
Washing: 20 minutes

Stationery

2007-09-24T15:37:00.002-04:00

I was sorting out my stuffs. We have so much stationery. We have a total of 116 combinations of pencils, pens, ink pens, markers and higlighters.

Why do 2 people have so much pens? And when we need a pen, we can't find any.

Pancakes

2007-09-24T12:07:00.002-04:00

Sunday Morning Breakfast.

Pancakes scattered with strawberry, boysenberry and blueberry. Served with syrup and butter.

Half eaten pancakes

Lazy Dinner

2007-09-24T11:29:00.001-04:00

This was what I made for dinner when I was lazy.

Prata. Pan fried frozen Prata

Japanese Curry. Japanese curry is the easiest thing to cook. Boil water, add chicken, potato, mushroom and curry cube, done.

Passion Fruit Drink. Refreshing!

Hop Kee Restaurant

2007-09-24T11:02:00.001-04:00

Original plan was to go Dim Sum, but the restaurant we planned to go was closed. We went to restaurant opposite Hop Kee. There isn't much to look at: simple decor and located below street level.

Flounder Kow $20.50 Boneless flounder cut in cubes with Chinese vegetables, mushroom, bambo shoots, water chesnuts and snow peas. Presentation wasn't great, taste was ok.

Mushu Pork $10.50 Shredded pork chop meat and scrambled eggs, stir fried with cabbage, mushroom and scallions. Served with Hoisin sauce and thin pancakes. It tasted like Char Kway Teow

Hop Kee Restaurant
21 Mott st,
New York 10013
Tel: +1 (212) 964 8365

Sea Shipment Arrived

2007-09-24T10:24:00.002-04:00

Sea shipment from Australia arrived. There were 75 boxes/items in total. I was alone when the movers came. Basically they carried the boxes inside and called out the box numbers and I had to tick and to advise them of where to put the stuffs.

Took me quite a while to get through the 3 pages of item listings. It was such a relieved when I got through the whole list.

I am so suprised and amazed at the amount of stuffs we collected over a period of stay back in Sydney. I have no idea how the previous 1 bedroom apartment in Sydney could fit all this stuffs? It was like doraemon pocket.

Boxes piling up in kitchen.

I walked here and there, from kitchen to bedroom to living room and back to kitchen, staring at those boxes. I didn't know where to start. I decided to start with kitchenware, I checked my list, I had 3 boxes of kitchenware and they were all at the bottom. With limited space, I had to reorganise and shift the boxes. As if I was on a mission to solve a puzzle.

Boxes in living room.

Unpacking will keep me busy for at least 2 weeks.

Happy Birthday Karn

2007-09-16T01:46:00.003-04:00

I planned this months ago, birthday cake for Karn. When I told her someone was going to give her something on her birthday, she had a lot of question marks. Who is this person? Did she go to NY and I passed the present to her? No...no..the present was not from NY but Sydney ha..ha..

Happy Birthday Karn! Glad that you like it. Well, who can resist such a lovely cake? It looks so real as if the sushi bar is moving.

Oh I can't believe it, she cut the cake, she even ate it. So cruel~~

more photos here

Passion Fruit

2007-09-11T19:17:00.001-04:00

Bubble tea store is no longer step away from my house (it was in Sydney). I managed to find passion fruit syrup hence could start making my own passion fruit green tea.

There are many types of passion fruit. There are 2 types particularly in Indonesia. The one with yellow flesh is sour and is used to make syrup. Another kind is as big as Panama passion fruit but with white flesh and it is very sweet. Not many people aware of sweet passion fruit/ white flesh. A friend from Malaysia said that the best fruit he has ever eaten was white passion fruit in Brastagi and he still craves for it. Likewise for me.

In Australia, passion fruit is mostly used as topping for desserts, cakes and fruit salad. It is also used to flavour soft drinks such as Passiona.

In Indonesia, the sweet passion fruit (white flesh) it is eaten straight as a fruit. Whereas it is very common to strain the passionfruit (yellow flesh) for its juice and cook it with sugar to make some sort of thick syrup, mixed with water and ice to be drunk.

White flesh sweet passion fruit

Normal passion fruit

Medan is famous for its passion fruit homemade syrup. Tourists who visit Medan, typically buy passion fruit syrup as gifts.

Passion fruit syrup has always been my favorite drink since I was young. Whenever I go back to Medan, my mom will make passion fruit syrup and make sure it will be enough for my stay in Medan *lol*

Passion Fruit drink

Polar Bear

2007-09-09T22:15:00.003-04:00

There is a new documentary movie "Arctic Tale" about the life cycle of a walrus and her calf, and a polar bear and her cubs . The polar bears are Ohhhh so cute.

If predictions of melting ice is true, most polar bears would be gone by 2050. Full report here.

My new collection, baby polar bear in an igloo. So cute~~

Air Shipment Arrived

2007-09-07T14:24:00.004-04:00

9 boxes air shipment are here. I have no idea how to unpack them. Computers, books/files are here but computer desk and book rack are not here. So it is hard to unpack.

I don't dare to imagine how to unpack the other 75 boxes that will be here soon.

House

2007-09-07T14:15:00.003-04:00

I have just moved to new house. It is in quiet neighbourhood. In fact, this is the first time in my life that I live in a quiet area.

I love the kitchen.

Mee Noodle Shop

2007-09-03T21:08:00.001-04:00

While loitering around 9th avenue, didn't know what to take out, I stumbled on a Chinese Restaurant. We ate there 4 days in a row.

Lo Mein $5.25. Stir fry egg noodle with vegetables and choice of pork, chicken and shrimp. This is the best Lo Mein in NYC so far.

Plain Fish Ball Soup $2.10. 4 fish balls, spinach, tofu and mushroom. Soup is too salty for my liking.

Shrimp with Lobster over Noodles $6.50. Jon likes this dish. However, the noodle tasted like gum/ rubber band to me. Well, after eating the nice Lo Mein, this dish is a little too plain.

Tofu with mixed vegetables $7.5

Mee Noodle Shop
795 9th Avenue (53rd & 9th)
Tel: + 1 (212) 765-2929

Wicked The Musical

2007-09-02T01:16:00.002-04:00

Been a real great day today! Firstly Jon received a call early in the morning from the leasing agent notifying him of the successful home lease application. Finally.. a permanent home. (for now).

Later after signing the lease, we returned back to city and decided to go for the broadway lottery tickets for the musical "WICKED" - prequel of the wizards of Oz. It is the "untold" story of the witches of Oz, features music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman, and it's based on the best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire.

Broadway lotteries tickets are available for most of the broadway musicals. Lotteries are conducted couple of hours before the start of the show. There is always a long queue for these tickets. Anyway both Jon and I decided to try our luck then. We queued up, waited for half an hour, submitted our names, walked around the blocks, returned to the scene and waited for the result of the lottery whereby the lucky winner's name would be yelled out. Names after names, our hope shrunk. Just when we thought that it was over, I heard my name being yelled out! Can't believe it~! It was only my second time queueing for the lottery. It was Jon's first time, anyway his name wasn't picked haha.

There were around 10 winners (20 tickets) out of 200 or more. (just for your information, we still have to pay around $25 for each ticket.) Of course it's great seats at a discounted price. =o)

It's my first musical, certainly won't be the last. It was spectacular. Jon and I loved it. The performance were gorgeous, orchestra were pitch perfect and the sets and backdrops were ever stunning! It was an perfect evening for the both of us.

More act photos here

Connie Talbot

2007-09-02T01:02:00.002-04:00

I can't breathe watching her sing. She is such a beautiful girl with lovely voice.

Cupcakes

2007-08-24T14:58:00.002-04:00

These cupcakes are so pretty and cute.

Until I saw Su Yin's cupcakes, omg, they are so adorable, cute and creative. Click here and here to see her creative cupcakes. The are the pretiest cupcakes I have ever seen.

Sapporo Restaurant

2007-08-21T16:05:00.001-04:00

We miss Ramen so much that we searched for reviews on good ramen around Times Square. We headed there for dinner. Considering that the restaurant is located in Times Square, the price is cheap.

Shoyu Ramen. Topped with sweet corn, fish cake, roast pork and beansprouts. I don't like this kind of soup. I prefer thick pork base soup.

Sapporo Ramen. Miso based soup topped with sweetcorn, butter, beansprouts, finely chopped pork, fish cake and garlic. The soup was a little sweet. I would have preferred Sapporo Ramen because of thicker soup if it wasn't sweet.

Ramen Kan in Sydney still remain my favorite ramen.

Sapporo Restaurant
152 W 49th St,
New York, NY 10019
Tel: +1 (212) 869-8972

Big Wong King

2007-08-21T15:09:00.001-04:00

First time in NY Chinatown. Being new in town, not knowing which restaurant to dine. We simply chose one that looks decent enough.

Instead of a pot of tea, we had 2 glasses of hot tea.

Rice with Roast Duck and Roast Pork Combination $4.5. In Sydney and Singapore, Roast pork is a piece of pork belly roasted until the skin is crispy crackling. It is called siew yuk (in cantonese) or sio bak (in hokkien). This is the second time that I ordered Roast Pork in NY and it came what we called Barbecued Pork (Char Siew) instead.

"Char Siew" literally means "roasted on a fork," the traditional cooking method for the dish. Anyway, Char Siew = Roast Pork here.

Roast duck and wontons with noodles $5.5

This Bean Chili is the best ever ~

Big Wong King Restaurant
67 Mott street
New York, NY 10013
Tel: +1 (212) 964 0540/1452

Favorite Bookmarks

2007-08-20T23:32:00.003-04:00

Food blogs I read

Canada Chow Times

Japan Obachan's Kitchen & Balcony Garden

Malaysia The Journal of a Girl who Loves To Cook
Malaysia Rasa Malaysia
Malaysia A Daily Obsession

Singapore ieat-ishoot-ipost
Singapore Let's get Wokking
Singapore Kuidaore
Singapore Chubby Hubby

Sydney Grab Your Fork
Sydney ChocolateSuze

USA Lily's Wai Sek Hong
USA Rasa Malaysia
USA Michael Symon: Live to Cook
USA White On Rice Couple

Bento Blogs

Cooking Cute
Kasumin Yorosiko
Kitchen Cow
Rico & Coco

Other blogs I read

Australia Gordon Jovic Photography
Australia Snippets of Life

Japan Tokyo times
Japan Hello Kitty Hell

Singapore Meow Studio

Cosmic Diner

2007-08-13T15:49:00.001-04:00

Our first proper breakfast in New York

Three Eggs Deluxe comes with bacon and sausage $9.65

Lumberjack pancakes & 2 eggs with choice of bacon/ham/sausage $8.85

Cosmic Diner
888 8th Avenue (Corner of 52nd Street)
New York, NY 10019
Phone: +1 212 333 5888

New York

2007-08-10T18:31:00.002-04:00

coming up soon!

Frankfurt - New York

2007-08-10T18:12:00.001-04:00

Stopped 2 hours in Frankfurt. There were 3 shower rooms available but had to book. When my name being called, it was 15 minutes to boarding. So I let Jon go instead.

Business class to NY wasn't full at lower deck, it was only 7 people, not sure about upper deck.

Here are the breakfast menu. Fresh start: fruit salad croissant and coffe.

My main: Poached eggs with pork sausage, sauteed mushroom, tomato and roasted potatoes.

Jon's Main: Wok fried chicken with ginger, mushroom and sesame oil served with selected vegetables and fried noodles.

Light Meal Menu
Entree: Tuna carpaccio with mixed fine lettuces wih choice of balsamic or green goddess dressing. Because I don't eat raw, Jon had 2 served of tuna carpaccio.

Main: Pan fried salmon fillet with creamy masala spice sauce, steamed potatoes and asparagus.

Dessert: Iced petit fours wih berry coulis.

After 7 hours flight, we finally reached New York.

Singapore - Frankfurt

2007-07-29T05:19:00.001-04:00

Singapore - Frankfurt 13 hours 20 minutes, transit 2 hours 30 minutes. I transitted in Singapore and met Jon there.

Food in Silver Kris Lounge at Changi Airport.

Cheese, salad and sandwiches.

We were sitting in the first row on the main deck. The TV is mounted on the wall, so it was quite far from the seat... then again, loads of leg space!

View from window.

Our welcome drinks. Screwdriver - a mixed of vodka and orange juice and Singapore Sling - dry gin, DOM Benedictine, cherry brandy, Angostura bitters, Grenadine, lime and pineapple juice. As I lowered my seat, I accidently knocked over my drink and it spilled onto Jon's seat hehe. Oppsssy..

Supper Menu
Left: Entree-Marinated scallops with orzo pasta, salmon roes, roasted vegetables and baby lettuce. Choice of creamy Singapore dressing or lemon vinaigrette.
Middle: My Main - Roasted chicken with Chinese wine and soya sauce, French bean and dry shrimp in XO sauce, fried rice.
Right: Jon's Main - Fettucine pasta wth saeed beef fillet and mushroom in black pepper sauce.

Before Touch-Down Menu
Top Left: Some fruit and croissant.
Top Right: Raspberry and blueberry Bichermuesli.
Bottom Left: Grilled gourmet pork sausage with warm salad of potatoes, mushrooms, tomato and peas.
Bottom Right: Omelette with cheese, chicken sausage, tomato and pan fried roesti potatoes.

Still 1 hour to go before we arrive at Frankfurt
.

Sydney - Singapore

2007-07-28T17:21:00.001-04:00

How should I begin writing about my 32 hours flight to New York...

The Sydney to Singapore leg was 8 hours 15minutes, transit time of around 2 hours at Changi Airport, Singapore.

Journey started with a round of pre-lunch served at the business lounge. So exciting~

On the plane, I had Cloud Nine for welcome drink. A tropical mix of rum, Cointreau and pineapple juice, topped with soda.

Stewardess took my lunch order and I selected the "King Fish" menu. Watched a pretty funnie movie "Blade of Glory" on the movie-on-demand.. fell asleep. Stewardess woke me up to serve lunch. Entree was served. It was Marinated Salmon with feta, tomato & cucumber sald and choice of balsamic or bush tomato dressing. Having just gotten awake, still feeling a little "blur", I thought "Didn't I choose King Fish?" hmm.. but soon I realised it only the entree.

This is the main for lunch. Spiced King Fish, light soya broth, tomato chili jam, bok choy and oyster mushroom. It was nice but I couldn't finish it. I have never been able to finish a full meal on an airplane. Hence Jon always gets double shares =o)

For dessert, it was Burned fid and honeycomb ice cream. I didn't take photo as it just look like normal ice cream. But the taste was great.

Dinner on plane was Thai stle red curry duck, seasonal vegetables and steamed rice.

Sushi Rio

2007-07-28T08:38:00.001-04:00

New Sushi Bar at the corner of Liverpool and Sussex st. The ordering was cool. There were printed menu, just write down type and quantity of food to order and pass it on to waitstaffs.

Agedashi Tofu with omelette and oyster mushroom. I love this menu.

Seafood Miso Udon. Udon with prawn, scallop, tofu, mushroom and fish balls. I have tried many Japanese Hot pot and the best hotpot still Makoto and Masuya.

Salmon Nigiri.

Tamago sushi.

Inari sushi. There was seaweed topping. I never liked seaweed because it had strange taste. But the seaweed here was so nice and there wasn't any flavoured taste.

2 crazy girls with so many desserts. =o) We were so full because of the dessert. Strawberry daifuku is nice, same as Makoto. But the shape was ugly hehe. Daifuku is Japanese rice cake. Strawberry daifuku has strawberry and red bean paste inside.

Chestnust and Red Bean Daifuku. This used mashed red bean instead of red bean paste. While eating this, Karn asked me whether the strawberry daifuku used red bean paste or mashed red bean. *Hmmm* I really had no idea. I just ate it and didn't notice what kind of red bean was that. But at the end I was pretty sure that it used red bean paste.

Baked cheese cake. Not really a fan of it.

Coffee pudding. It was so bitter but top layer was sweet vanilla so kinda cover the bitterness of the pudding.

Sushi Rio
Corner of Liverpool and Sussex st.

Last Day in Sydney

2007-07-28T07:55:00.002-04:00

My last day in Sydney was kinda "happening". After the outing on the previous night, Karn stayed over a my place. We chit chatted till 2 am in the morning. As a result, she couldn't wake up in the morning and called in sick haha. When I left the house to attend the Australian Citizenship ceremony, she was still sleeping.

My citizenship ceremony was scheduled at 11am. I reached there 1/2 hour earlier for registration. There were about 100 people and queue was long.

To my surprise, the ceremony only took 15 minutes. First, welcome speech, followed by te reading of the pledge. There are 2 kinds of pledge: one is with the word "Under God" included and the other one without that word. After that everyone sang Australia National Anthem together. I felt kinda sad, an empty feeling inside, living my last moments as an Indonesian.

I took cab home and I had plenty of time to go lunch with Karn at Sushi Rio. After lunch, back home to take my luggages and went to airport.

Earlier this year, when I came back Sydney after my wedding, I felt a little bored of Sydney. This time knowing that I will be leaving Sydney for a couple of years, I felt really sad, but knowing that I am now an Australian and knowing that Jon and I will be back to Sydney eventually after his New York assignment... makes it all worthwhile..

Cuteness Overload

2007-07-28T01:11:00.002-04:00

After dinner at Chinta Ria, we dropped by at Passion FLower to have some drink.

Rio mentioned about the "Grabber" arcade machines. All the toys are sooo cuteee.If onlyI knew this place earlier.

Chinta Ria Temple of Love

2007-07-28T00:36:00.001-04:00

Farewell dinner with Chillie, Karn, Tracy, Paula,Rio, and Calvin. Too bad that Gigi couldn't make it. After a long discussion with Chillie, we finally decided to go Chinta Ria. A restaurant that drips with ambience, from the Chinese tapestry to the giant smiling Buddha.

Utensils provided were hawker style :- Plastic bowls and chopsticks. We all sat on stool at a long table, it was not exactly great seating for 7 people.

When the food arrived, everyone took out their cameras and started snapping at the food. As we were sitting outside in open air, it was dark and we had to use flash lights for all the pictures, pretty blinding for the eyes.

Sing Mai Fun aka Singapore Mee Hoon $16.50. Rice vermicelli wok-fried with barbecued chicken,egg and bean shoots.Lightly spiced. It was awesome.

Assam Fish $24.80. Rockling fillets simmered in a delicious spicy tangy tamarind flavoured sauce with tomatoes, string beans and pineapple pieces. It was nice but if it was a bit too sour for my personal liking, else it would be perfect.

Sambal Prawns $26.80. Fresh prawns in a light chilli paste with onion and tomato. Sambal is supposed to be a very spicy paste, but it was not as spicy as I thought it would be.

Beef Ria $22. Diced beef fillets wok-tossed in a delicious combination of spices, fresh ginger root, garlic and dry red chilli, finished with crisp carrot slices and snow peas.

The highlights is the Satchmo Squid. It is on the special menu. The squid is in a crunchy batter, perfectly fried until soft and served in a delicious sauce.

Sago pudding was nice but nothing special.

Great location, great atmosphere, food is good but not fantastic or outstanding, not very authentic.

Chinta Ria The Temple of Love
The Roof Terrace, Cockle Bay Wharf, Darling Park
Level 2, 201 Sussex St, Sydney
Tel +61 (02) 9264 3211

The Peak

2007-07-26T08:15:00.002-04:00

My entire 8 years in Sydney. I had been staying at The Peak. Firstly, stayed in level 30 for 3.5 years, 1 year in level 32 then 3.5 years in level 15. Everytime I met friends in Sydney, they would ask f I still stayed at The Peak.

Organic Strawberry

2007-07-26T06:49:00.001-04:00

Someone told me that Organic Strawberry tastes very good. It cost twice as much as normal strawberry. But I seriously can't tell the different. They were as big and sweet as normal ones.

Kobe Jones

2007-07-26T06:04:00.001-04:00

Farewell dinner with Jocelyn and Wai Yew at Kobe Jones. We sat outside but it was very warm. We even moved to another table because the heater was right above our table and it was burning hot.

My 650ml Sapporo, which is equal to 2 glasses.

One of Kobe Jones signature dishes. Number OneSpecial. $7 each (Order by the piece minimum of 2). Crab Salad with avocado wrapped in snapper and baked with Kobe Jones sauce. It wasn't real crab but crabstick. Everyone loved this dish.

Volcano Roll (8 pieces) $19. Oven baked scallops layered on top of our California roll with sesame seeds and shallot sprinkle. I love the scallops. But I think they put too much sauce.

Prawn and Vegetable Tempura $14.50. It was light crisp.

Seared Tuna Steak $29.50. au poivre with seafood risotto. This is a strange dish. But I love the Tuna. I thought the pink part of the tuna would still raw, but hey, it was cook. The risotto was perfectly cooked.

BBQ Baby Back Ribs $27.50. marinated in Sake and served with chilli jam. I love the sauce. The ribs were barbequed perfectly.

We were too full to order any dessert. This is their famous dessert. AMA OZEN (A selection of Kobe Jones' finest Desserts) $26. It came with Kobe Jones' famous chocolate chopsticks.

Kobe Jones
29 Lime Street
King Street Wharf, Sydney
NSW 2000, Australia
Tel: +61 (02) 9299 5290

Makoto Sushi Bar

2007-07-25T20:13:00.001-04:00

Everytime I go Makoto to eat, will be so full because we get a lot of special. I went with Chillie and we told Jack san that we didn't want any special but he still gave us Tuna Belly Sashimi and a lot of nigiri which we had to reject.

I came here mainly for the handroll and Ala Carte. My favorite handroll is Egg Omelete with Oyster.

Makoto Fisherman Soup $5.5. It used to be better. I think they change the recipe.

Green Tea Creme Brulee $5.6. My purpose to eat there that day was because I craved for Green Tea Brulee.

Makoto Sushi Bar
119 Liverpool Street (Cnr, Pitt & Liverpool St.) Sydney 2000
Tel: +61 (02) 9283-6767

Takeru

2007-07-25T19:54:00.001-04:00

Had farewell lunch with Matsu. We went to Takeru. The place has nice ambience, good food, served quickly by friendly staff, reasonable price and well presented.

Karage Chicken Lunch Set. Deep fried chicken, deep fried prawn, croquette, agedasi tofu, salad, rice, miso soup and pickles. That was a lot of food.

Omelet Curry Rice.

Takeru Japanese Cuisine
Shop 10, 339 Sussex St
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: +61 (02) 9283 3522

EasyWay

2007-07-25T19:46:00.001-04:00

I will miss EasyWay when I am in NY.

The Oaks

2007-07-12T22:27:00.002-04:00

Farewell Dinner with Wai Kiong's Family. We had dinner at The Oaks in Neutral Bay. The restaurant has a nice ambience but I think it is overpriced.

This is how it works if you want to have a steak. Order your own meat at the counter. You will be given raw meat and BBQ yourself.

All main meals include a jacket potato, fresh salad, a bread roll and come with your choice of herb and garlic or anchovy, dijon and chilli butter

Rib Eye on the Bone $22. Angus Hereford, Grain Fed - Dry Aged, Gympie Reg QLD, 20 mths. $22 for raw meat without seasoning, isn't it ovepriced?

Atlantic Salmon $24. Raw salmon in aluminum foil and jacket potato.

Bread Roll and an empty bowl for salad.

BBQing our steak, salmon an jacket potatoes.

Instruction on the wall on How to cook the perfect steak.

Finally! Steak without seasoning. At the side there is a table with many different sauces like mustard, BBQ sauce, chili sauce. I added teriyaki sauce on my salmon.

Oyster Kilpatrick 1 dz $25.

We had 3 different kind of mussels. All mussels are served with frites & dijon mustard mayonnaise.
Mariniere Mussels $22. Cooked with vegetables in a tasty broth
Provencale Mussels $22. Cooked with tomatoes, herbs & garlic
White Wine Mussels $22. Cooked with vegetables and white wine

The Oaks
118 Military Rd
Neutral Bay, NSW 2089
Tel: (02) 9953-5515

@ Bangkok

2007-07-12T22:26:00.002-04:00

I think it is my 7th visit to @Bangkok. A few months back, I was scared when Karn suggested to go @Bangkok but the other night, Icraved for the clear soup tom yum and chicken basil. I went there with Jon. Kinda farewell dinner with Jon?

Chicken Basil with Deep Fried Century Egg. This time the dish was wetter and saltier. Nevertheless I still love it.

Clear Soup Pork Leg Tom Yum. Clear soup with a lot of herbs, pork leg and oyster mushroom.

While we were eating, there was a big bang, everyone was shocked. It was from Milliore, the Korean Restaurant opposite. The ordering booth fell, I think someone accidently knocked it down. And the LCD monitor was gone. Ouch!

@Bangkok Restaurant
Capitol Square
G11 Atrium Street Level
Tel: +61 (02) 9211 5232

Zilver

2007-07-12T21:50:00.002-04:00

Had farewell Yum Cha lunch with How's family at Zilver. Didn't take a lot of pictures. Zilver yum cha is the best compared to the rest in Chinatown.

This is my favorite, Watermelon dessert in watermelon container. It is a real watermelon.

A lot of watermelon and some fruits and jellies at the bottom

Zilver
Level 1, 477 Pitt Street (corner of Hay Street)
Haymarket Chinatown, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9211 2232

Crazy week

2007-07-11T22:58:00.002-04:00

Last week was crazy. Had shipping on Friday, cleaning then Jon had farewell drink with his colleagues. I kinda had Welcome Back dinner with Karn hehe.

Saturday had farewell lunch and dinner with How's family.

Sunday was busy with selling stuffs, cleaning and another farewell dinner with family. Before that, Jon had farewell drinks with ex colleagues.

Monday had another shipping, more cleaning. Moved to World Tower and moved a lot of stuff to Wai Yew house.

Tuesday was so rush. Final cleaning, returned key to agent. Jon had farewell dinner at Masuya. Moved to Wai Yew's house and Jon did last minute packings.

Wednesday sent Jon to airport. It was a tiring day for me. Came back from work then studied for my L test. I was worried about not getting letter for my ceremony and called Sandy if he has received a ceremony letter. Planned to call Citizenship the next day but in the afternoon, received a call from Wai Yew that he received the letter.

It will be crazy week ahead. My L test is scheduled next Friday. I will fly on the same day as my citizenship ceremony day.

Shipping Part II

2007-07-09T10:44:00.003-04:00

Air freight was scheduled today. We were expecting the packers o buzz our unit. Then suddenly someone knocked our door and there they were. It must be the concierge guy that let them into the building.

There were only 9 boxes for the air freight.

The remaing junks

My internet booth hehe and junk shop

Clean empty room

Clean balcony and nice view. I am going to miss this apartment.

related post: Shipping Part I

Shipping Part I

2007-07-06T09:18:00.002-04:00

The day we've been waiting for, the shipping day. There are 2 shippings: sea freight and air freight. Today's shipping was for sea freight. The air freight packing will be on Monday. The guys from OSS came at 8 am. We sorta packed things based on categories. So we started with briefing telling them what goes today and what will go on Monday. So after a quick briefing on what goes and what stays.. the boys were off.

They went back to the vehicles got their gears and re-arrived with big bundles of bubble wraps, lots of boxes and tape.

As soon as they started packing, I went to Starbucks to get some coffee and cakes for the guys and ourselves. There were 3 packers: one in kitchen, one in bedroom and Jon stayed with another guy in living room to supervise. I went out for 20 minutes max. When I came back, I was amazed to see many boxes in the bedroom. It never came to my mind "What are inside those boxes?"

I moved to the kitchen. Oops! I told them to pack only the stuffs in middle shelf but the guy who was packing might misunderstand and he packed everything in the cupboard. There were only 2 boxes in the kitchen so he cut it open and took out the stuffs that I don't want to send over.

Next..I walked to the bedroom and read the description on the boxes. I saw "Hanger". Hanger?? What hanger??? I opened my wardrobe and OMG, EVERYTHING WAS GONE! The clothings were supposed to be sent by air freight on Monday. I don't mind the clothings by sea freight but I put favorite plushs, Fluffy and Fliffo in the wardrobe and they were gone. Arghh! They were inside one of those boxes. They are supposed to go inside my luggage. Arghhh! They are gone!!!!

I then decided to throw some old handphone boxes in the store room. To my suprised, the storeroom had been cleared too. Wow! These guys were unbelieveable. They packed so many things within 20 minutes.

Living room stuffs. There 75 boxes in total for sea freight.

Some wrapping papers from OSS and my cleaning cloths. As soon as packing finished, I started cleaning.

Packing

2007-07-02T01:33:00.002-04:00

I have been busy with packing. I have been staying in the same building for 8 years. When I moved, I moved to another level, so the packings and movings were really easy. This time I am moving out of the country and packings seem never ending.

Went to find a folder bag like the one Ken san gave me. Finally found the same one at Officeworks. Then went lunch with Chillie and Jon. On the way back, passed by Billabong and I bought another pack of thong magnets. There gone 1/2 of my day.