Escape Restaurant & Lounge

Hubby brought us out to a buffet dinner last Sunday. Escape Restaurant & Lounge is located in One Farrer Hotel, which is conveniently just beside Farrer Park MRT.

I was quite surprised with the seafood section. There’s crabs, prawns, mussels and clams. And I almost missed out the OYSTERS as it’s a highly popular dish, leaving only a few pieces on its bed of ice. Ahh oysters. I terribly missed those from our Australia trip. These just filled the loneliness.

The mains were not much in my favour though. I like the Indian cuisine section. Lots to choose from. My carbo intake is mainly from there.

The desserts were pretty, special too, though I prefer the chocolate-ish ones. There’s the chocolate fountain for the marshmallow lovers (the kids’ favourite), self scoop icecream on a cone (sadly, there is only ripples and vanilla) and a rack full of popping candles, chocolates, sweets, for the sugar loving people (ah... young children’s favourite too).

Highlight: They served us a one time special. Half a cheese baked lobster for each patron. Oh the cheese. Definitely the highlight of the meal.

We had our fill. Leaving with three bloated tummies full of food. We enjoyed ourselves.

Hubby made his reservation through Eatigo, with a 50% discount. Make your reservation if you are keen to try out a new hotel international buffet.
https://eatigo.com/sg/singapore/en/r/escape-one-farrer-hotel-964

Ps. Really. This post lack of photos. Rusty from blogging. Rusty from reviewing. Rusty.

CNY Puppy Cookies

This year is a Dog year in the Chinese zodiac. Everyone was posting their home baked CNY goodies on social media. The hot favourite was this koko krunch puppy cookies. Since it's still the Chinese New Year and we have some family bonding time, it was our turn to try it out. These cookies are pretty simple to make.

Presenting one by me, one by hubby, and one by Josie. Latte wants to join in too.

Recipe from: http://www.submerryn.com/2012/08/cute-doggies-koko-krunch-cookies-recipe.html

Ingredients:

• 200g plain flour
• 45g icing sugar 
• 125g butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tablespoon cold water
• Chocolate chips, chocolate rice, Koko Krunch

Method:

1. Sift flour and sugar. 
2. Add chopped soft butter.
3. Rub with fingers.
4. Once the dough turns into ‘breadcrumbs’ add in cold water and vanilla essence. 
5. Knead lightly.
6. Rest dough for 10 minutes.
7. Measure about 10g of dough and put 2-3 chocolate chips into it.
8. Decorate the dog. Chocolate chip as the nose, chocolate rice as the eyes and Koko Krunch as the ears.
9. Preheat oven to 160 degrees. 
10. Bake for 20 minutes.

The ingredients

My little helper

Baking in progress

Little model

Sakae Sushi $15++ 60mins buffet

My 4th time stuffing myself with sushi and sashimi with this promotion from Sakae Sushi. This promotion had been ongoing for quite some time. Since last year I think. 

It's valid on weekdays, between 3 to 6 pm, $15++ per pax and you can eat anything off the conveyor belt for 60minutes. Red, pink, colored plates. If you eat sashimi, it's really worth it. Then it's my first time from the staff that every additional 15 minutes, $5 will be charged. Hmmz. 

Josie had a little (really very little) more sushi than the previous times. 

Our accomplishments. Not as crazy as our first time though. We only had 19 red, 19 colored and 2 pink for 5 adults. Our first attempt was over 30 red and a few colored for 3 adults. My record. Lol. 

For more information, check out Sakae's website: http://www.sakaesushi.com.sg/buffet.html

13th Anniversary

Happy 13th anniversary! The day we got together. 13 years already. It's also the day we signed our marriage certificate 8 years ago. 

It's presents day too! I got hubby a wallet (no surprise there) and he got me a pair of Jelly Bunny slippers. He also got Josie and I a Pooh bear each. Hehe presents for all. 

I made us breakfast! Simple breakfast. 

Hubby brought us to Shinkei Japanese Restaurant for buffet lunch. Our usual, buffet on this day. It's located at Toa Payoh. 

Not going to do much review. But it would be our first and last time there. Friendly staff. But too expensive for the variety and quality. And omg, where's the aircon?! I was feeling hot all the way. It's a Japanese buffef, not Korean bbq. It's that hot. 

Anyway, it seems that there are deals out there to have the same buffet lunch at a cheaper price compared to our original non discounted price. How we know? Staff kept confirming if we had voucher. Thrice I think. Made me feel that we overpaid hahaha. Lugi. That's the word. 

Baby didn't show interest in eating or staying still in the baby high chair. Oh well. First and last.

Happy anniversary my dear. #13yearsandgoing

Yoghurt

Baby eats yoghurt for the first time. And I think she likes it. Haha. Not blw, but spoonfed.

She finished half of this. Mundella banana yoghurt for babies and toddlers. I wonder if she can eat the normal plain yoghurt that we adults eat? Hmm.. Think no right? 

Little Diner

Hubby initiated a Saturdate for today. He went searching for a nice place for us to have lunch. His initial choice was met with some hiccups, and found an even better choice, and made a reservation days before. 

So! Our big date (today is our 154 by the way) was at Little Diner, located at 789 Bukit Timah Road. Parking was a little difficult outside the restaurant. Many parked huge cars, and squeezy lots space. We parked at Guthrie House, about 5 minutes walking. 

Preview of our lunch. Yum yum. 

Little Dinner looks like a space restricted place from the outside. Inside, it's still small, but not as small as what I imagined. Cozy place, friendly people. Lovely. 

On every reserved table, there's a tiny handwritten note with the name of the person the table is reserved to, time and number of people. Lovely gesture. When we were seated, we were served almost immediately with water. Even baby gets her cup of water in a plastic cup and and shorter (than the adults') straw. 

Little Diner's promotions are listed at a glance on the wall. 

Ok.. The dog's portrait is cute. Our Latte at this point of time, is having his grooming session, being served like a king. 

My order: Omelette of the Day (Smoked Salmon) ... S$15.50

Served with Thick Brioche Toast & Mix Greens.

Lol. The description said to have toast? But my order doesn't come with toast. Made me feel not totally satisfied (in terms of full). However, the omelette is very thick, and it wrapped a very thick layer of smoked salmon. Delicious. Though a little too salty. But worth the value. 

Hubby's order: The Italian Benedict ... S$19.50

Parma Ham Slices, Roasted Red Bell Peppers, Sautéed Mushrooms, Poached Eggs & Hollandaise Sauce on Toasted Brioche. Side of Baby Green Salad.

Oh I love his. Delicious poached eggs with hallamdaise sauce. When eggs are nicely done, it's a winner. Did I ever mention I love eating eggs?

Our coffees. Hubby's Mocha S$5.50 and my small cup of Cappuccino S$4.80 (there are two sizes to choose for Cappuccino). Delicious coffee. Little Diner serve coffee from Toby's Estate. What more need I say?

Overall, love the food, love the people. Baby friendly too, with high chairs and child cutlery. We'll be back to try the other food that we saw served to other tables (greedy us lol).  

Little Diner

http://littlediner.sg/

789 Bukit Timah Road Singapore 269763

Make your reservations via Chope! http://book.chope.co/mr/booking?rid=littlediner1210ldra-4

IN & OUT Cafe at Big Box

Dinner out today. I suggested to go down to Jurong East, for some shopping and dinner.

We decided to settle our dinner at IN & OUT Cafe. It is newly open in Big Box, level 2 (Behind Hip Box). Their concept is very Ikea restaurant (sorry I can only relate to that).

Hubby had the Lamb set meal with soup and cakes, while I had the chicken. The set does not come with drinks, hence we topped up $1.80 each for free flow of soft drink. $19.80 for everything in the picture.

Overall not that bad. And I love the place as everything is so new. Haha. They have a children area too, where the children can dine together. Their highchair though... does not have safety belt. Not too good for babies who just learn or just learnt to sit in high chair. It seems so dangerous for baby to sit in it.

We'll definitely go back for the spacious seatings, cheap and nice food and the cold air-conditioning. Haha...

Melvados

Saturday afternoon was spent at girlfriend's place, relaxing, eating her homecooked korean ricecakes and pancakes, chit chatting, letting baby bond with the rabbits and eating loads more.

After lunch was cakes then icecream. Ah.. The calories to burn haha.. 

I wish to recommend the cake that we had. It is delicious. I love what I had.

I then did a search online and found more information from their website. The cake we had was the Marble Chocolate Brownie. A 1kg cake pre-cut into 10 pieces at S$27.00

http://www.melvados.com/index.php/buy-online/tray-cakes/marble-brownie.html

For those of you who love cream cheese as much as you love chocolate, this brownie was made for you! With swirls of light cream cheese swirled in brownie batter and topped with chocolate chips and walnuts, this brownie is a promises an intensely rich and delicious flavor.

Girlfriend got it from the woodlands outlet. Thought of going down after our session, but the place was already closed. The next time we are in the neighbourhood, this is a place I wish to go.



Melvados
http://www.melvados.com/

Melvados Joo Chiat
216 Joo Chiat Road #01-11, Singapore 427483
Tel: 64449351
Opening Hours:
Tue-Sun 10:00 am - 8:00 pm,
Closed on Mondays

Melvados Woodlands (Within Foodedge Gourmet's premises)
26 Woodlands Terrace, 
Singapore 738449
Tel:  63394953
Opening hours:
Mon-Fri: 10am - 4.30pm
Sat: 9am - 1pm
Closed on Sundays & Public Holidays

Korean Tteokbokki

Tonight's dinner menu was Korean Tteokbokki. Spicy ricecake with egg, some pork and green onions. Kind of a failure, as it was way toooooo spicy. Friend mentioned that the chilli paste is not spicy at all, so maybe I got too generous. Oops.

Recipe is from http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/ddukbokkie. But I skipped quite alot of ingredients. My cooking style: anyhowcookanyhoweat. Haha oops. 

Here's what went into tonight's dinner. 

- 500g rice cake (bought from NTUC)

- 1/3 cup chilli paste 

- 4 cups water

- 2 stalks green onion

- 2 hardboiled eggs 

- 7 ikan bilis 

- some pork

I improvised the ingredients but the method used is the same as the recipe. 

Next attempt, lesser rice cakes, lesser chilli paste. Burning mouth and tongue >.<

Marriott Cafe - Hi Tea Buffet

A late post. 

The hubbs saw this promotion (http://www.ladyironchef.com/2015/05/singapore-marriott-hotel/) and immediately made a reservation. 

Quote from Lady Iron Chef's page

We are dying to share this promotion with you! Only S$20++ for High Tea (usual price: S$39++/adult) at Marriott Cafe from 4 May to 31 July; this is yet another special of Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel’s 20th Anniversary celebrations. Incredible! This is a deal too good to be true. This promotion is limited to the first 20 reservations per day, so make sure you make your booking ASAP and at least 2-day reservation required. Fastest fingers first, guys!

Lucky hubbs. He managed to make a reservation for last friday. 

Due to our parents-commitments earlier in the day, we only managed to reach the restaurant at 4. One hour lost. Lol. Kiasuism. And the buffet ends at 5.30pm. 

Yet again, I had a very rushed meal. Plus baby wasn't really cooperative. Milk and hugs were her demands. 

Nevertheless, I had a happy meal. The food taste delicious. Time spent with my love ones.

Happy 7th Wedding Anniversary

It's our 7th year wedding anniversary. The traditional wedding date. Like so confusing to have two dates. One ROM one traditional wedding. So it's like 7 years or 7.5 years? Nevertheless, it's still a day to celebrate. 

The hubbs booked us a buffet lunch at the hotel we held our wedding dinner. Some credit cards, like Maybank, offers 1 for 1 promotion. 

We reached about 12, and the carpark was pretty full. We had to go all the way up to level 6. Giddy me. That's another reason I should not learn driving. Lol. Anyway, the restaurant, Square @ Furama was pretty full too. Seems like the others are also there for the promotion. 

The spread, I find is so so. Not really a huge spread. And the crowded restaurant makes me feel alittle giddy. We were lucky we got a table at a corner. Our cosy corner. But the bad thing is that our plates clear slower. Food wise, pretty tasty. Maybe I was't feeling that well at the start, the nicest was the ice cream. Hahah! As by then, alot of the guests left and the cold ice cream cooled my head. 

We then went shopping at Vivocity. Baby missed her nap earlier, hence slept through the entire time until we got back to the car. Then we went to fetch Latte home from his grooming. 

Supper was a Nutella Chocolate Cake, made specially by the hubbs. Such a special gift. I like. Very delicious. Very touched :D 

Happy anniversary my dear.

Pear Pork Wedges

Tonight's dinner highlight is Pear Pork Wedges. Done using the airfryer. A very simple yet tasty dish. Recipe is from the Airfryer recipe book that the hubs bought for me.. us.. haha.. He cooks too... Way better than me.

The ingredients are simple too.

• 1x Chinese Pear
• 8x Pork Belly Slices
• Some salt
• Some pepper

Method

• Core and peel the pear. Cut into 8 pieces
• Wrap the pork belly around each piece of pear. Hold with a toothpick.
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper (I FORGOT to do this. OMG)
• Airfry the pear pork wedges at 200 degree Celsius for about 8 minutes. Flip the wedges midway.

Very tasty dish. Even though the photo is not that tasty looking. I was messy and hence the photo looks messy too LOL. The hubs gave a thumbs up, even though I forgot about the salt and pepper. Sighs. Silly me.

元宵节快乐

It's the last day of the Lunar New Year. A day for more reunions.

Since it's the 15th of the lunar calendar, the hubby made vegetable curry for dinner, to go with white rice. Yum yum. But maybe a little too spicy. 

Happy 148!

Also, time to open her baby's red packets? She loves her angpows. She complains when I removed the wet, slobbery one from her hands. Duh... She made me feel like a bully. 

Happy Valentine's Day

This year's Valentine's Day is a 3 human and 1 dog affair. Haha. 

Hubby gave me a Hoodie Pooh at midnight as this year's v day gift. Cute! LO likes it too. Lol. I did not get anything for him but made him mini cheesecake (cupcake size). 

After LO's nap and milk, we headed out for lunch. It was 2 plus when we reached. It became a pretty late lunch. I was craving for Taiwanese food, so we settled at Lee's Taiwanese. Not sure why, but LO fussed alot to sleep while we waited for our food. I am guessing the loud music (though usually she will just sleep through when in her carrier) and the talking from nearby tables. 

Desserts was llao llao softserve. Yummy. I can eat more. Let's have more soon!! Yummy~ This big cup cost $6.90 (If I didn't remember wrongly). With chocolate, almond nuts and fruits. I like the softserve and almond nuts. Fruit I can do without in this case. Chocolate is nice, but the person drizzled lots on the spoon and stuck there after hardening. Duh. Wasted!

We window shopped a little in the 3 connecting malls and grocery shopped for dinner. The hubby is cooking. Yay. Seafood pasta with scallops and mussels. The seafood were from Big Box and not very expensive. We intended to get the alaska king crab legs. But... It's huge. I doubt any of our pots is able to fit it in. Haha...

The day was ended with homemade mini cheesecake (in a cup) that I made the day before. Hmm I'll try the nobake version next time. LO always wanted attention at the time when I have to look after the oven for any sign of overcooking. Haha.. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Bah Kwa

Decided to try out making my own bah kwa after seeing Baking Taitai's recipe, especially since I have most of the ingredients. That's one criteria when cooking or baking from a recipe. I hate to buy stuff that we would only use that one, two occasions.

Here's my successful batch:

First attempt. TOO thick. Omg. It's like meat patty.

Second attempt still too thick (but not as crazy as the first) and maybe of the uneven thickness, some parts got burnt.

Third attempt, success. Looks good. Taste is there but of course not as good as the pros.
All three attempts were done in one batch of ingredients as per the recipe. My oven is pretty small. So I divided them and it's good since I can trial and error. But of course, it's very electricity consuming (oopsss).

The only ingredient that I did not use was the cognac/alcohol. None at home. Or rather. The cognac is not opened. Haha. Maybe that's the taste that is missing.

A few days after I attempted this, Baking Taitai came up with another recipe using pineapples (Baking Taitai's Pineapple Bah Kwa). Maybe I will try that... Maybe. But I will need my little boss's approval. Haha... Tight and busy schedule from her.


From Baking Taitai
http://bakingtaitai.blogspot.sg/2014/01/homemade-cognac-bak-kwa-chinese-pork.html

Ingredients:

• 100g brown sugar 
• 1 tbsp premium light soy sauce 
• ½ tbsp fish sauce 
• 1 tbsp premium oyster sauce 
• 1 tsp premium dark soy sauce 
• ¼ tsp Chinese five spices powder 
• ½ tsp salt 
• 500g minced pork (with some fat for greater taste)
• Honey Glaze (for brushing on the cooked slice pork)
  1 tbsp honey dilute with 1 tsp water 

Method

• Put the first 7 ingredients in a bowl and mixed well into a sauce. 
• Place the minced meat in a big mixing bowl and pour the mixed sauce into it and start mixing together with a pair of chopsticks. 
• Blend and stir the mixture in one direction until the meat becomes gluey. (this is important, otherwise the meat will break up) 
• Store in the fridge for several hours or overnight.  
• Spread the marinated minced pork thinly onto the baking tray lay with parchment or non stick baking paper. 
• Bake at pre-heated oven at 130C for 12 mins. After the meat is cooked at this stage, remove from oven. Increase the oven temperature to 200C.
• Cut the cooked meat into 9 pieces or any desired size. Flip to the opposite side and brush the meat with the honey glaze.  
• Put the tray back into the oven. Grill one side for 8~10mins, remove from oven, flip over to the other side, brush with honey glaze before putting it back to the oven to grill for another 6~8mins or until golden brown with slight burnt. 
• Once done, let it cool and enjoy!

Homecooked 炸酱面

The hubs made me lunch today. He's not working today as we had to bring our LO to an important milestone at the polyclinic. Her 3 month screening and vaccinations.

It's 炸酱面. And it's DELICIOUS. Yumss..

Saprinos Pizza for post Christmas gathering

[Rant].. Crap. I accidentally overwrote my almost completed draft with an empty draft. Gotta redo the whole post. Crap. [/Endof Rant]

Finally after 2 hiccups, I'm able to meet up with my gfs. Location, my place.

Ordered Sarpino's Pizza for lunch. 2 large classic pizzas for $35, with $3 delivery fee. They came well within the time frame and very on the dot. Besides pizza, CL topped up the meal with winglets and I airfried fries and chicken nuggets. We were all super full at the end of the meal.

It's my first time having pizzas from Sarpino's. Quite tasty. The crust is thick, but not to a point that we will feel sick of it. Everyone finished the crust. As for the ingredients, maybe I was too hungry cos the two taste pretty similar except I managed to taste pineapple from the Aloha pizzas. Ahh... It must be me being too hungry. Oopss...

SAN REMO - Grilled oregano chicken strips loaded with roasted red peppers, parmesa and mozzarella cheese

ALOHA - Turkey bacon and sweet pineapples topped with mozzarella cheese

Gifts from the girls. Thank you!

XY bought this Popin Cookin (See this video of what it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5jiLWNE9Cw) to try out. Is that popular now? #old #outoftouch #nottrendingafterbeingamom

Here's one of the completed gummy. The rainbow color is pretty. But the girls were saying that the power and coloring powder seems too chemicalish, they dare not eat. 

The baby boss was busy sleeping or eating. The girls didn't get to play much with her. Well, she's still a baby too. In another few months she will be much more receptive to playing.