The Old Malaya Cafe

Right here at 313 Somerset basement, I found myself a wonderful cool relief from the hot haze outside! See what i found.

The sweet lovely cold nice bowl of Trucker's Chendol at The Old Malaya Cafe (313 Somerset Basement 3) that save my day. Its prepared with lots of sticky brown Gula Melaka (palm sugar), red beans, coconut milk and of course with ice! It's really sweet so if you are a sweet-toothed, you will love it!

The Old Malaya Cafe serves the good old goodness of the taste from the Old Malaya town. It's located at 313 Somerset, Basement 3-10, Orchard Road, Singapore.

The White Rabbit

One bright and sunny Sunday morning, a little boy and a little girl whisked past a pretty green field in Dempsey Hill. There they found a white rabbit hole and stumbled upon THE WHITE RABBIT. The two little children found this place very interesting as it was housed in an old chapel. Without thinking, they climbed into the rabbit's burrow and there they found wonderful and delicious brunches for their hungry little stomachs that day !

A little fairy tale start for a quaint restaurant with a name that's close to that! Indeed. We went to THE WHITE RABBIT for a good Sunday brunch that morning. Look what we had below! The food was not that expensive and were pretty refreshing in our opinion.

1. Rustic Old English Breakfast - English "Fry Up" for 2 @ $20.00 per pax

The warm eggs were interestingly served in a mini cast iron skillet. The salads were fresh with mushrooms and tomatoes served alongside. There were 4 toasted bread slices per pax but I think the serving is a little small if you are hungry! Nevertheless we have to make do with that. The bacon slices were nicely cooked and not hard but found them a little cold. The eggs were the best!

2. Yoghurt and Fruit Bowl to share @ $14.00

This one is a sweet starter and a real pleaser!  Fresh and it came served with gooseberry, grapes, raspberries, blueberries, peaches, pears and many real goodness topped with yoghurt, of course! We both enjoyed it lots!

Only regret is that the food on the menu are pretty limited. Hope they increase the food selections there. Apart from that, its a thumbs up! A lovely lazy brunch set in a old chapel with a nice quiet ambience.... THE WHITE RABBIT is at 39C Harding Road, Singapore 249541 Tel: 6473 9965.

Singapore General Election 2011

Good morning! It's Polling Day today! Have you had your breakfast and voted yet?

May Singapore find good leaders to serve our country and may the best man win!

We the citizens of Singapore
Pledge ourselves as one united people
Regardless of race, language or religion
To build a democratic society
Based on justice and equality
So as to achieve happiness, prosperity
And progress for our nation

Halia Restaurant

Was kept busy from start of the year with springcleaning, then it was Chinese New Year and now its almost the end of the first quarter of Year 2011!! How time flies! How has the year been for you so far?? 

For us, we started the year on a very healthy note. I didnt a chance to post this earlier but we had visited Halia Restaurant @ Singapore Botanic Gardens for a great start to Year 2011! The Halia Restaurant serves local and western fare in the day and offers a continental menu for night dining. The restaurant also have specially created Ginger dishes, being located in the Ginger Gardens. Back to my account of my brunch at the Botanic Gardens Halia Restaurant on the brand New Year 2011 morning, all I could say is real goodness and delightful !! The Halia Restaurant as its name is called in Malay means "Ginger Restaurant". Not that it serves Ginger but that its located in the 1-hectare Ginger Garden, hence its restaurant name.

We were introduced to the special Chef menu - which was braised beef bread bowl that New Year morning. I would love to try it, if not that I am trying to take less of beef now.!  Instead, I searched the menu and ordered the Stripped Bacon served with Egg Boulaise, Spinach, Grilled Tomato, Brown Mushrooms on Bread (@ $22). Ted chose the Kurobuta and Portobello Mushroom Burger (@ $20). Both were wonderfully delicious. See our delicious evidences below ...

My choice of Stripped Bacon served with Egg Boulaise, Spinach,
Grilled Tomato, Brown Mushrooms on Bread

This came like a piece of art, the ingredients stacked nicely on top of each other. I almost couldnt bear to eat it. It was very fresh and delicious.  My stripped bacon was cooked just nicely and not a tad bit of hardness. One bite into the bread could fill you with so much healthy goodness of everything - including spinach, egg, tomato and mushrooms all in one mouthful ! Its simply wonderful!
 

(Black Pig) Kurobuta-Mushroom Burger

Ted's choice was a great balance of soft Kurobuta (in Japanese, this means "black pig pork") patty and fresh portobello mushroom. Served with a specially made japanese-western-mix sauce (tastes like apple puree to me!), the pork patty exudes sweetness with a soft touch. Eaten with the portobello, the taste is one of softness mix with juicy goodness. It was a real delight!!
 

 

I would recommend a thumbs up for a delicious breakfast at memorable Halia Gardens! Great meals which does not fail to please. The environment is comfortable and absolutely delightful dining in the midst of the Gardens.  Halia Restaurant is located at 1 Cluny Road, Ginger Garden (enter via Tyersall Avenue), Singapore Botanic Gardens, Singapore 259569 Tel: 6476 6711.

Raffles Hotel Courtyard

Happy New Year 2011!! Strawberry Moments wishes everyone a healthy, delicious and sumptuous new year filled with abundance and joy!

Ted and me had a wonderful string of celebrations with family and friends from Xmas in December 2010 right till New Year's Day in January 2011!!  And we really cant believe that all this happy feasting is coming to a close.  We also cant wait to share with everyone about our delicious ordeals this festive season, which had probably added a few pounds extra on us now... But hey, all those extra calories can wait ! We only have one year end, right? And its just the most wonderful time of the year to make merry and feast with our loved ones and friends??? So what the heck, just pig out first !

We believe with all this wonderful feasting this one month, we will definitely have more, more and lots more great abundance in the coming year 2011. We also pray and wish everyone, like us will have good health and great abundance in this coming new year too!! Cheers to a brand new year 2011 !!

Complimentary bread served to us before our order came

To recount, our Eve of Xmas Eve was spent at Raffles Hotel Courtyard. This place is now serving the finest ocean-fresh seafood selections prepared à la minute in light Mediterranean flavours typical of the French Riviera, such as the Courtyard Bouillabaisse with Maine Lobster, Red Grouper, Black Cod, Black Mussels, Saffron and Provençal herbs.

I really enjoyed my evening there. There was not that many choices on the menu and this two caught our eyes. I ordered the Black Cod Fish main served with tomato puree, comes with beehoon (@ $50), while Ted had the meal of the night - Singapore Fresh Chilli Crab, comes with beehoon ($10/kg est @ $80) !

Fresh Seafood Tank

Freshness is the key word here.  I recalled seeing the chef catching the crab from the tank and cooking it right at the counter!! What a shock! 

Black Cod Fish with tomato puree

My Black Cod Fish probably wasnt caught live but it was definitely fresh and the dish was cooked with very creamy cheese, complementing very well with the tomato puree. Served with the local beehoon and squeezed with a pinch of lime, the overall effect is tantalising !! Western meets Asian, that's what I would call the dish !

Singapore Chilli Crab with beehoon

The Singapore Chilli Crab was pretty Asian and really Singaporean, in my opinion (if you know what I mean).  The dish also came served with 2 pieces of the local bun, (or called "man-tou" locally, one piece steamed and the other fried) which is best to be quickly eaten while its hot, dipped into the chilli crab gravy.  We could savour the freshness of the crab. Its meat was firm, superbly tasty and sweet!  It was wonderful and definitely a great taste!! (Personally, I prefer the cod fish better as the chilli crab can also be found at the East Coast seafood restaurants)

Whats more, there was a surprise choir (see left picture) that came and serenaded everyone at the Courtyard with Xmas Carols into the night...  The atmosphere was just perfect and heavenly! We could feel so much for Xmas that peaceful evening.  It was a great way to soak into the Xmas atmosphere .... Even now I am missing it ...

Raffles Hotel Courtyard is at Raffles Hotel Singapore, 1 Beach Road, Singapore 189673 Tel: (65) 6412-1816.  

Last visit to the Former Singapore Supreme Court

I am posting this a month late. I had visited the Former Singapore Supreme Court on 17 Oct 10. The last day from which it will be closed to all for entry. This was also the day where the places were opened to the public with a public guided tour the whole day to let the public take a last look at this solemn building of our country's justice and strength.  The Former Supreme Court will be taken down and the City Hall building will also be refurbished from this day forth (18 Oct 10) and when it reopens later, this place will become a National Art Gallery Museum for the public. Feeling patriotic, I thought I had to at least make it there to capture some shots of this special place as part of my memory lane next time. So here they are just some snippets of the place for everyone to remember by in future... enjoy!

  

  

Old Airport Road Hwa Famous Hougang Wan Ton Mee

If you like wanton mee reminiscing the old good days, you won't want to miss this "Hua Kee Hougang Famous Wan Ton Mee" stall at Old Airport Road. Found this stall with a long snake queue of people that evening. The front of the stall was adorned with newspaper cuttings and accolades like great food ratings for the wanton mee and TV recommended awards etc and such.

Believe the sauce and the cooking oil used in the wanton mee made it sooo very delicious. The stall claims that it uses a traditional recipe of sauce. No wonder the mee tastes so special and nice. Probably that's also why I felt like the wanton mee seems like a long lost friend to me. The taste was so unforgettable. It was a flavour that I had lost for many years, just like what I ate before when I was young ... simply nostalgic!

The noodles are chewy, fried wanton is crispy and charsiew well barbequed. So good, I really cant complain. Do note that there are also many wanton mee stall in the food centre claiming to be the Old Airport Food Centre famous wanton mee. This one is really good and well worth the money - @ $3.00 per bowl! Try it and see!

Personal Taste 个人取向 Korean Drama Channel U Private Screening

I was really excited! I was invited to attend the Channel U “Personal Taste” Private Screening on 28 August 2010 at the *Scape Park. Just cant wait to see my favourite Korean Kimchi heartthrob Lee Min Ho again! Finally his new drama its here on Singapore TV, about 9 months wait after the hit “Boys Over Flowers” Korean drama serial! Hooray!!

I was about 15 minutes late for my special appointment that afternoon, unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances. Ted and me had to run and rushed up to Level 5 of *Scape Park where the screening was held. Never mind about that but let me quickly recap just what happened yesterday. When we reached, the kind lady staff quickly took our attendance and whisked us in without further ado after putting a stamp each on our hands as entry identification. We were also given a free goodie bag too (containing a “Personal Taste” poster and a notebook – so nice!) Look what we got!

Lovely "Personal Taste" Private Screening door gifts

Not going to miss out anything, I quickly grabbed my seat. 4 of the audience were already playing some games in front with the hosts that evening, who happened to be famous Channel 8 TV hosts - Lee Teng and Jeremy. It was a game where 4 female fans of the Korean heartthrob were asked what they were to do if they meet with Lee Min Ho. There was a moment of excitement. You mean Min Ho is here?

Look who is here?

Suddenly the audience was excited.  Jeremy disappeared to the back of the “Personal Taste” drama advertisement board.  Lee Teng asked who could be at the back of the board. Suddenly, “Lee Min Ho” appeared !! Jeremy was carrying a fan wearing an image of “Min Ho” on the mask to everyone’s surprise. The gesture made the audience laughed uncontrollably. As someone in the audience put it aptly, this must be the short version of “Lee Min Ho”!! More laughter.

Meeting "Lee Min Ho"

The 4 fans were asked to say what they would do if they were to meet Min Ho and so they spoke words of admiration and love for their Korean idol Lee Min Ho and each also got to take a candid photo with “Min Ho” posed by Jeremy!! ‘Min Ho’ was sooo funny!!

Lucky fans posing with "Lee Min Ho"

The audience was just not getting enough of Min Ho after this. Finally Lee Teng and Jeremy said the magic words – and the screening of the new drama started, to everyone’s delight! Let the show begin.

"Personal Taste" drama begins

Ted and me relaxed in our seats. The drama was projected on the big white screen in front. There were also 2 LCD TVs aptly located in the front for the fans that evening.  

Screenshots of "Personal Taste" Korean drama

We were treated to an episode of the Korean drama “Personal Taste”. Starring handsome doe-eyed Korean heartthrob LEE Min-Ho and the pretty SUN Ye-Jin, the ghizz of the episode of the drama revolves around an architect, Jeon Jin Ho (played by LEE Min-Ho) and the daughter of a famous furniture designer, Pak Kae In (played by SUN Ye-Jin). There were many misadventures between the two lead characters causing many funny misunderstandings between the two of them.

A fateful encounter between the two lead both fighting to chase after a cab to rush to a convention centre and consequently ended up with both taking the same bus after the cab went off, started this whole captivating plot. Jin Ho, the architect was rushing to the Convention Centre and carrying a model of the future Art Centre in his hands on the bus, and with Kae In also on the same bus after both failed to chase after a same cab earlier. The bus braked and Kae In almost fell on Jin Ho’s laps but as part of his quick reaction to protect his wooden model, he groped at Kae In’s butt to prevent her from sitting and destroying his hardwork!! A beautiful misunderstanding that got both of them acquainted with each other but all on the wrong footing.

Many funny encounters and twists between the two lead unfolds later in the episode, with the manly Jin Ho being misunderstood as a gay and many more creative twists to the plot. (Wont spill the beans anymore here. Watch it yourself !) The episode ended with suspense to the upcoming plot. So much said, I really cant wait for the continuing episode of the drama, thinking about it now…

Hosts Lee Teng and Jeremy

After the episode ended, Lee Teng and Jeremy appeared in front of the audience again. More excitement awaits. The hosts played some more games to the audience’s delight. A few questions were threw to the floor regarding the drama and the lucky audience got to win shopping vouchers.

Choose me, choose me

Then there was a second game where Jeremy thew a ball to the audience crowd to pick a lucky audience who gets to pose in the “Personal Taste” drama board and after that, she gets to win an autographed poster by Lee Min Ho. 3 lucky female fans got the special prize!! What an envy!

"Hey how do i look?" Jeremy posing in the drama board

Lucky audience picked to pose

Finally the session came to an end. Hosts Lee Teng and Jeremy thanked everyone and hope everyone will continue to support and catch the new upcoming Korean drama “Personal Taste” which will be debuting on Channel U from 4 September 2010.

I will very busy from September again. (Just like the Channel U “I am busy” tagline) Am definitely not going to miss “Personal Taste”! Got be at home on Saturday nights to catch my favourite Korean drama again!  So don’t miss it – the new Korean drama “Personal Taste” starring LEE Min-Ho and SUN Ye-Jin on Channel U every Saturday night at 930pm starting from 4 September 2010 !!!