7th day of Christmas

Office gift exchange. My first shaky head doll powered by solar energy (or in this case, office fluorescent light). I asked for desk accessories.

Space @ My Humble House

This is a good place for healthier, gourmet versions of the Singaporean hawker classics (e.g. Laksa, Chicken Rice). I especially like dining around the fountain. There is no menu per se, just 2 displays on the table, 1 for Chinese tapas (similar to dimsum) and 1 for main courses. The waitress will recite the drinks list for you on request.

Having tried most of the items on the menu, what's worth trying is the Chicken Rice, an adaptation of the Singaporean Hainanese Chicken Rice. The chicken is cooked thoroughly but still soft & moist in a clear, light sauce. The set is served with double boiled soup instead of just chicken stock. The rice is what you would expect with any usual version of this dish.

Ma Maison

This place is cramped with French country and traditional Japanese decorative ornaments and furniture. Navigating my way to the table and around the other patrons proved to be quite a challenge. It's French Japanese fare so the clientele is mainly Japanese with Japanese magazines, sake and Japanese speaking staff.


Fried Camembert cheese pieces served with a honey olive oil dip. How unusual as I have never come across this before. But the cheese was perfectly melted like toasted marshmallows. With a mild cheese flavour.

Check out the quaint copper mug that held my iced coffee.

6th day of Christmas

My present to myself. Lladro Magic Forest Hair Stick. I had to order it 6 months ago as it's a 2007 issue. So glad it came in time for Christmas.

5th day of Christmas

A burgundy Cartier notepad holder. What a perfect present, I love it! 1 more to add to my collection of planners, diaries, notebooks and notepads.

7atenine

Huge place with lots of different areas for various types of eating, drinking & socializing. There are areas with big comfy couches, areas with sit-down dinner plating, bar counters, alfresco and a cordoned area for wine tasting or private dining.

I was surprised that for such a huge space, only tapas (read finger food) is available. Not even pub grub. The drinks menu is bigger than the food menu.

Still, the stuff is fantastic. I had a foiegras tartine (A signature of the St Pierre group) and crab sandwich (chef's specialty). You can guess the sizes from the picture. Kudos to the chef for keeping the ingredients fresh and flavourful. But, at $20 a pop this place is destined to be a see & be seen spot.

4th day of Christmas

I have been giving out towels as presents for the last 2 years. Finally, my cousin Sylvia has given me the same item (in a different colour).

This year, I got her Lancome moisturizer. It's the 2nd most practical gift (next to towels) that will finish quickly.

3rd day of Christmas

Bangle from my Sister. Is that a hint that I am to start dressing up on weekends as well? I don't have enough fun stuff so this is a good addition.

2nd day of Christmas

Perfume Body Lotion from my sis-in-law. She always gives me something from Anna Sui every year. This super sweet scent is sure to attract ants to me.

1st day of Christmas

My favourite present this year is from my parents! Subway angpow.

Christmas Day Lunch

Home-cooked food.

Starters: Pumpkin Soup
Mains: Venison Wellington with mustard wine sauce
Sides: Mango Salad in Sesame Dressing & Champs (mashed potato with spring onions and leeks)
Dessert: Grapes, Strawberries, Jackfruit and Mango
Beverages: Ginger Beer, Red and White Wine

Christmas Eve dinner

We had an ice-cream train instead of the usual log cake.

Farm Fresh Game

The farm just delivered 2kg of fresh venison. The low cholesterol, low fat meat with a woody fruity flavour that can't be compared to beef. Just in time for Christmas Day lunch. What a chunk of protein.


We also got a kilo of frogs legs just to make up the minimum order amount. Haven't decided how to prepare it.
(1) Stirfry with dried red chilies to have with porridge or
(2) Braised in herbed brandy butter sauce paired with crusty french bread?

Au Petit Salut

Ahh...french food. I have a craving every now and then. Nothing chichi, just the usual cafe/bistro stuff is good enough with a nice selection of fizzy fruity beverages.

This place offers steak tartare as a starter or mains and the smoothest coffee that can satisfy the most finicky taste buds. I decided to eschew the usual chef's recommendations and have the Sirloin Steak in Cafe de Paris sauce (never had it before). It tastes suspiciously like creamed spinach on steak. With crispy-on-the-outside, fluffy-on-the-inside thick cut fries. The nice waitresses even brought me a big dollop of ketchup to dunk them in.

Amuse Bouche is duck rilette (picture on top). You can even buy it home in prettily packaged jars. This is one of the few restaurants that allow you to buy pre-packed versions of their menu home. Got my Brother his birthday present.

Miniature Christmas Tree

Currently Reading

Freakonomics.

Bought it for $5 from the MPH sale at Expo.

Surprisingly reader friendly and entertaining.

My Chistmas Tree Centerpieces

My Christmas trees are finally out! 80 roses, hypericums, Christmas ferns and a bunch of parsley.

It took me 5 hours straight of back breaking work and $105. Although, it is meant to be displayed as a pair, the arrangement proved too large for my dining table and had to split up.

They measure 66cm and 46cm in height.

IAQ industry exam : Pass with Credit (>90%)

Office Xmas Lunch

We had our Christmas lunch today at a Mexican Restaurant along East Coast Beach. It sounds good right, the sea breeze, view of the ocean. truth is, it was so hot and humid that we were glad for the little bit of sea breeze that we got. Everyone was a little grouchy by the end of it. Thank goodness my leave starts tomorrow.

Snowflakes

My new sun-catcher.

Office Christmas Tree

Real Pine Tree! It even came with dressers to deck it up in pink bows and fake presents.

Christmas Ornament

The season has began!

Gift from a colleague and made entirely out of wood.

Wedding @ CHIJmes

Wedding part II - Chijmes Hall. I always thought a wedding in the old chapel would be soo charming. The old stained glass church windows and original cream, beige & dove grey colour scheme lovingly restored by the owners. The catering was done by Capella Restaurant.

Indian Wedding

My colleague Shirley's wedding Part I - Temple ceremony today. Check out the gold brick invites. It's a padded book with 2 map inserts. The bride looked lovely.

Dinner @ Novus

Wasn't in time to catch the exhibits. Just dinner.

Dinner with Colleagues

Shirley is getting married this weekend!! Last night out with us (the rest of the female colleagues) for a leisurely dinner before the mad rush for her wedding preparations. She came after collecting her wedding photos from the studio so she had lots of final prints for us to see.

Curtin Uni Open

Curtin University campus in Singapore opens for classes today amidst the clutter of yet-to-be-positioned plants and an uncemented car park. It is converted from an abandoned Civil Defence Camp opposite my place. A little cosmetic renovation over 6 months and a University campus is born. I can hardly believe how cost efficient and low key the whole process is.

Gourmet groceries

Strange how preparation for the Christmas feast starts a month in advance. As I accompanied my mom grocery shopping for special ingredients through a series of upmarket gourmet grocers and the usual mega marts. We ended up placing orders for the ham, turkey and other Xmas stuff instead of cooking it from scratch. Not before I scored these goodies from ThosB. White truffle olive oil and fresh foiegras pate that will probably be finished before the feasting begins.

Vegetable Flower Arrangement

Made from 2 packs of French Beans. Another use for farm-fresh produce if you are not a great cook or can't find any great recipes for them.

Moomba Tuckshop

A discreet hole-in-the-wall that serves up fresh sandwiches to the Shenton Way crowd. It's actually quite hard to find, hidden behind a swarm of bikes and smokers by the river. I don't come here often as it's located quite a distance from my office. Unless, I happen to have banking stuff to do. Then I have to make a little detour to grab lunch.



The food is so good that you usually cannot get a seat. Freshly peeled blue swimmer crab with wakame and tobiko on freshly baked olive bread, roasted chicken pasta salad and a rose cream pie. A welcome alternative to O'Brien's or Delifrance.

The White Rabbit

Picture of my Blackforest Mojito. Since I am on leave tomorrow, I wanted to have dinner a little further away from office. The newly opened White Rabbit is perfectly located at Dempsey Hill, a retreat in the middle of nowhere. It felt strange to be drinking alcohol in a converted church. But, the cocktail menu is much lauded and we had to try several items on it. The staff are very attentive and helpful. Even offering to help us call cabs for the trip home. A far cry from the early reviews of this place.

Serving Steak Tartare as a starter is brilliant as I never finish it as a main course. It came with thin crisp Melba toasts and 2 hidden quail eggs perfectly cooked with the yolks still runny. We also had their signature dish black truffle Mac & Cheese, a nice twist to the usual Mac & Cheese. Be careful, their side order of Mac & Cheese is completely different from the signature main course. Finishing off the meal with several more cocktails and a Baked Alaska, as their signature dessert Mars Bar Souffle takes too long to prepare (20 mins wait).

Definitely coming back here again. But, leave the car at home and just call a cab.

Christmas Lights

Christmas light-up in town. All those sweets and candies with big blue bows.