Borough Market

I think the place that I'd miss most of London is Borough Market. It is one of those attractions that deserve to be called one. What's not to love really? The selection of fresh produce, amazing variety of cake, ready-to-eat proper food, and the very famous Fish & Chips.

I have been in Fish&Chips Land (FCL) for 3 years now, and I've only had that twice. It's not really difficult to tell that I'm not a huge fan. But you can't be in the FCL and not have the fish from Borough- so i was told. Jia and I headed down today to do just that. It wasn't cheap but the portion was large enough for two :)

And for the record, it was really tasty! for the copious amounts of oil we saw involved, it wasn't overly greasy.

Random Saturday brunches at Borough won't be possible soon, but till then I'm going to try to go as often as possible.

London Version: CNY

Chinese New Year spent in london was same old same old- except after 3 years of it spent abroad made me feel really (hmm.) jaded. yes, you celebrate with your friends, you countdown with your friends, you make really good food and eat together with them. Yet somehow, it just isn't the same. I miss the two reunion dinner nights on Chu Xi; the countdown with the cousins spent playing blackjack or 'dai di'. I miss going to 拜年 on the first day- visiting relatives and stuffing my face with all the new year goodies in every house.

Still, celebrating in London isn't that bad. I feel like things have sort of come full circle for me- celebrating with J and Z in year one and this year just made cny so much more meaningful. It still amazes me how J and I clicked instantly back in halls :) Going to Chinatown together to buy the entire stock of frozen fishballs, sotong balls, curry balls, prawn dumplings, and everything you can imagine was half the fun really. Eating with the close group of friends here in London obviously constituted the other half.

We ate, we drank and we gambled. Yes, I learnt to play Mahjong this year (so that's one strike of the never-ending to-do list) and I'm really quite excited about it. Thankfully, there'll be another celebration in 2 weeks so we can play for real (2 uncounted wins by the lover, and 2 all-draws on Sunday).

It is different, celebrating cny here. But whatever it is, celebrating it with close friends makes being away much easier. And so, without any jarring chinese new year songs (you know my stand on this), a rapidly diminishing stock of cny goodies from home, a crazy rush to vacuum everything before the Chu Yi, and then refusing to do anything on Chu Yi itself on top of an amazing steamboat dinner, I spent my last cny in ol' London.

The Best Friend's birthday

I decided to do things a little differently this year. Instead of having joint birthday celebrations as we always do at the start of the year, I wanted to have a single special celebration for my dearest bff :) So because of our crazy shared love for picnics, I went to Toast at taka to get us sandwiches and salads packed, got her favourite Tako balls, darn good ice lemon tea from Toast and of course, the Elvis Cupcake from there as well. Zipping to botanics where we had the picnic, we laid the blue chequered picnic map- because nothing screams picnic more then chequered prints, and dumped all the food on it :D








































The BFF even got us pseudo-champagne :D that was the real funn! the two of us attempting to pop the bottle was very hilarious, and i think a lot of tourists were more than amused. We spent the better part of the afternoon just sitting under our spot at the pavillion, before going across to 6th ave to meet Airen for Kampung Fish therapy. Yes, the little fishes that eat up all the dead skin on your legs to make them smooth. Its a little thing that we do whenever I get back to sg, and also a must on the list for the birthday girl.





































Having to trek back to Bugis in our newly smooth and 'light' legs was tiring, but nothing a shared Cab can't solve :D Dinner and post-dinner was spent at Haji Lane. Having really good kebabs along with shisha-ing with the girls was really the best fun i've had in ages.
















Love you hun, hope you had as much fun as I had planning the day for you. Can't wait till I get back so we can have more picnics. xx

Long overdue heritage tours: Amazing Race Part 2

The BFF and I were torn between calling our random walks across singapore 'heritage tours' or 'the (slow) Amazing Race'. But yes, it was a mix of both really. We started from Chinatown, walking through the crazy crowds, exploring the markets, and the millions of textile shops above the main square. With it being the 2 week run-up to the Chinese New Year, all things red were flashing proudly, accompanied by terrible, yet familiar CNY songs. Yes, i find them terrible, so sue me. That said, CNY wouldn't be CNY without them. SO. contradiction contradiction.

Chinatown got too crowded after a while, so in our pursuit of somewhere less maddening we tried to find our way to Ann Siang Hill. As mentioned in an earlier post, I have a crazy thing for shophouses. And Ann Siang Hill is the land of shophouses. What I find most intriguing is the fact that the facades are kept, but the insides are completely modern- with shops selling streetwear, to cakes, to high street brands. The unraveling of the old school mosaic exteriors to modern and functional interiors makes me feel like i've stepped into a completely different world. Okay, I do think it could be the air conditioning which makes the 'stepping in' process a whole lot cooler, literally. I don't know if I'm making sense here, but i don't know if I want too. Ann Siang is just a place for you to come see and fall in love with, and it'll never be for the same reasons, I guess.






































I'm slightly ashamed to say that we had to rely on a pocket map that the BFF's mom got to help us navigate. We got a little lost somewhere along the way, but thank god the BFF can read maps (having a map, and knowing how to read it are completely different matters). And so, from Ann Siang, we headed off down Club Street and then on to Amoy Street Hawker Center. Having worked in the area, I've heard a million and one rave reviews about the food at Amoy. However, that million and one rave reviews= crazy long queues= not a good idea for lunch. But, it was a Saturday, and Saturday meant no people in suits fighting for a table, or standing in the long lines. Butbut, Saturday also meant that a lot of stalls weren't opened :( nonetheless, we managed to find a Malay Stall with the most amazing briyani ever. and i'm pretty sure it wasn't because we were hungry.

Along our tan-inducing walk, we chanced upon a very old school coffee bean shop. We have the amazing Monmouth in London, but I do think the old school coffee bean shops in Singapore are comparable. The aroma of the freshly ground coffee beans really takes the cake. Yes, i don't think the beans come from all over the world, but I love the old-fashioned, and these are the best.

I can't remember where we took the MRT from, but we ended up at Rochor for my last fix of Soya Bean Milk :) I only drink it from one place and one place only! I introduced it to the BFF during our secondary school days- and I'd drag her (we walked, mind you) all the way there just so we could have the iced-cold drink. yuum.

It's tradition, I say.

The things in life that just can't be left out.

Studying overseas has made me appreciate the sheer diversity of the variety of food that we have at home.Whether it is meepok or satay or stingray, you name it and you'll get it. You just can't get the same stuff anywhere else, Chinatown or not.

Adam Road Hawker Center is one of the haunts i frequent back home in sg. It is impossible to go wrong here- judging from the snaking queues of the Nasi Lemak stalls to the equally long queues at the Prawn Mee stall. The Prawn Mee at Adam Road is the BEST prawn mee I've tasted in my entire life. Yes. I can't not eat before I leave because I'll keep thinking about it. It is that good! Being back for only a month this winter break meant that I just had to make a trip down.

So, we made a trip down during his lunch break to wolf down the whole of Adam Road! I had my prawn mee, and he had nasi lemak (without the chicken, because he was afraid I couldn't finish the rest of the food), and we had Oyster Omelette and a Roti John to share. O the goodness of it all! And although mayonnaise on top of the Roti John would have made it taste so much better, we stuffed our faces till we couldn't eat anymore. Lol.

I miss the food already, and I just had it. argh.

Day-Trippin' cross the Causeway

Eating at Kelongs- Seafood Restaurants on Stilts (i think), has been somewhat a memory of the past for me. Whenever we made family trips up to Bintan in Indonesia, or Tioman Island, eating at a Kelong would be mandatory. I loved the fact that we could go fishing around the area, and get the cook to season and fry it the way we like it.

So, starting off our journey rather late and with a very very empty stomach, the 5 of us formed a search-party for the best kelong in JB. And of course the search party thing is silly, all we had to do was to ask the taxi driver to take us to the restaurant with the best seafood, and we were there pronto. JP's rather fluent Malay expedited the whole process while bringing the cousin's supposed knowledge of Malay to shame.

Empty stomachs usually creates false impressions of vast appetites, and we fell for that trap! Amongst the 5 of us, we had 9 coconuts (an entire tree really), baby squid, la-la(s), cereal prawns, tofu, vege, egg, and of course Lobster- done in 2 different ways no less. Phwaarrr. So we point out what we want in the life seafood tanks they had, and next thing we knew, the chef does something amazing to it.

At the end of it, JP was our last man standing. He literally polished up everything saying 'Don't waste the prawns'. The rest of us just stared while he did his job.

Now, I'm regretting not snatching the last prawn away from him. Darn.

A little bit of old, and a little bit of new

Being back for a month now, I decided that I wanted my last week to be somewhat more fulfilling, something different. And with the Best Friend taking leave (thank youu!) today, we thought it would be a fantastic idea to spend the day exploring Little India and Haji Lane.

Since Rochor was our designated starting point for our very slow version of the 'Amazing Race', we couldn't possibly start it without drinking soya bean milk. Unfortch, the shop that I like wasn't opened when we got there, so we sat by the road eating the supernaturally delicious kueh lapis that the Best Friend's mom ordered for me. When the shop finally did open, we grabbed our drinks and pressed forth.

But that didn't really last long- we got distracted by the architectually impressive-ly structured NAFA, and sat on the fake grass to finish up our drinks, we still managed to continue our long hike (yea, right) towards Samy's Curry Restaurant at the Civil Service Club.

I decided on Little India because a friend of mine recently held her bday party there. And I got lost trying to navigate. It took a very patient JP on the phone, half an hour in the wrong direction and aching legs before I actually got there. So yes, I decided that I should put on the explorer cap to actually take in the sights proper, instead of the dizzying experience (not the good way) I had that night. And because JP told me that Samy's Curry was probably our best bet for lunch, that was our designated break.

To say that we were happy to see the sign would be the understatement of the new year. Haha.

Part 2 of our 'Amazing Race' and a very belated heritage tour saw us combing the Bugis Area and in specifics- Haji Lane. The mishmash of vintage apparel stores as well as lazy shisha cafes definitely tops the list for a laid back afternoon. With a new list of must-buys, and another date with the Best Friend to return on Thurs, I really can't wait. And although my legs feel like they don't really belong to me, there's going to be so much more to look forward too this week. School can wait.

old school fun

Yes, the NYE was a terrible affair - from counting down with the parents at the swissotel (that's the good part) to clubbing with my childhood friend and the usual gang (the better part) to realising that there was not one single cab available on the roads (this is where it starts). Seriously, no cab at all, and i walked down the entire stretch. i gave up, and sat by the curbside alone in the wee hours of the new year, wishing for some form of transportation to magically appear beside me. and then a rickshaw pulls up. well, in Cinderella fashion really, although without the prince, or the glass slipper, and besides it was waay past midnight. Plus, Cinderella's carriage was a pumpkin - kinda free of charge, unlike mine. But hell, anything in order to escape the crowd and go somewhere with CABs.

But for all that jazz, what with reaching home at 5, there was something good to look forward to in the morning. Breakfast was spent with jean at rocher, eating tauhui 2 stores away from the one i usually patronise. He actually called before he picked me up just to check if I was awake. Hey, I believe I'm one of the few who can sleep at 5 and wake up at 9 for breakfast.

So we had tauhui and Jean just went 'of course we must have that (the dough fritter)'. and so we did. Breakfast dragged into a lunch, and even the aunty at the shop knew what a Heineken Man he was. Hah.

Love the mix of old and new in Singapore, and this was in front of where Jean parked. I <3 shophouses.

Last night was clubbing night. I have been drinking quite a fair bit this holiday back home in sg, but it's all in good fun, and I haven't gotten thaat drunk. I think. Yea, but yesterday was reuniion - with jo back from HK and Jean joining us, it was funfunfun. but as usual, the gang was late, and because he picked me up from my get together with my jc friends, we went for drinks at cafe iguana first. always good to start the alcohol first (woot!). I keep forgetting how great Iguna can be - the whole laid back feel, high ceilings, and very good house beer. Yes, I did not have an allergic reaction, so cheers! So 3 pints and a margarita amongst the 2 of us, and we joined the rest for a crazy night.

I'm going to miss singapore. For reasons and more.