Yishun Famous Laksa @ 928 Laksa [Block 928, Yishun Central 1]

As a Yishunian (have lived here my entire life), i am always proud to tell my friends and colleagues that you can find plenty of good food either within or somewhere near this suburban town!

One of Yishun's food legacies has to be this laksa stall located on the ground floor of a block of flats next to the bus interchange. To prevent any confusion, please keep in mind that it is stationed next to the popular dessert shop i blogged on quite a while ago (they used to co-exist in the same premise but have since separated). 

There are a few more things to note - order at the counter (self service, my dear), limited capacity for dine-in and for those who prefer to eat in (for those fresh bowl of piping hot laksa), you are almost guaranteed to have your sweat glands working like hell!

The star of the day - without any cockles as i find those shit eating shellfish seriously repulsive and could not understand how people could enjoy them [p.s. don't compare my smelly tofu to cockles]! 

Typically, laksa contains a mix of yellow noodles and thick bee hoon (vermicelli) even though personally, i would go for thick bee hoon. Mom has drilled into my memory long time ago that the latter type is less fattening than the former while just bee hoon lacks the thickness to attain that fulfilling bite. 

Despite the absence of fresh, pulpy prawns, the creamy gravy (thanks to coconut milk; for a creamier texture, mix in the yolk of the hard boiled egg) was delicious with a lip smacking flavour that pushes me to want more and more! 

I was never a laksa person until i was forced to share a bowl at 928 laksa with my mom back when i was still a secondary school student! And till this day, 928 Laksa remains my favourite laksa stall. 

By the way, don't waste the slurping good gravy (you can exercise another day to even out the calories). I would be more than happy to drink it from your bowl; upon your agreement of course! 

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Location

928, #01-155,

Yishun Central 1

Price

Minimum S$2.50

S$0.20 extra for takeaways.

Opening Hours

9am till 7pm or while stocks last.

Morning - Earlier than 7pm (as early as 4.30pm).

Additional Information

The queue can be quite significant for a neighbourhood eatery!

Johnny's 39th Birthday!

Gosh, this is so way overdue; i am having second thoughts publishing it!! Whatever, better late than never and i do have a loving label called "family" in my blog, don't i? :)

My brother in law, the husband of my elder sister, celebrated his birthday (the last that starts with the number 3) on 20 February and customary of my family culture, a cake is necessary to signify the event!

Please don't ask me what cake it was as i have no recollection! In the dictionary of Cavin, that would likely imply that the cake had nothing that caught the attention of my passive taste buds. 

Family portrait - that's the tradition in play here. 

For more pictures, refer to Joyce's facebook; she is an even more trigger happy photographer than me when it comes to family. On Jovyn, she has a bigger album collection than me although Jovyn stays in my house from Monday to Friday!

Once little fact about Jovyn - she can never keep her eyes away from things she wants, especially food. For her brother, it's the overall happy atmosphere that matters. Kids. 

Hereby i would like to wish Johnny (not a happy birthday since it was way over) many happy moments the rest of this year, and many more years after that.

Kumar: What Makes a Man a Man @ Esplanade - Theatres On The Bay

To put it bluntly, i am not an "art scene" person and this can be evidenced from the lack of any paid cultural participation in my coming thirty three years of life. Extra cash, in my opinion, would be better spent over a good meal rather than an arts performance. 

This would likely change after attending a live stand up comedy by Singapore's most famous drag queen; Kumar, at "the durians"! 

I didn't actually pay for the ticket as it was complimentary from a cousin who was desperately looking for anyone to accompany her three hours before the show! The fact i am jobless must have compelled her to make the call to me.

The last section of "Circle 3" might not sound appealing for theater veterans but for a "virgin mountain tortoise"; it was nothing to complain about and the steep elevated view was really quite impressive.

As expected from the dazzling diva, he brought the house down with his offending Singlish-peppered jokes (many of them hovering along the racial and sex lines; hence the need to have it rated as R18) and it was nothing short of a laughter filled night for many of us in the audience. 

If there's one thing i would like to be removed, it would be the three (or was it four) musical segments where the queen danced and lip-synced to the lyrics; ONCE (i would vote for the last one if possible) should be more than sufficient. 

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Thank you, Meixin, for the invitation!

The Term of My Heart Condition - Supraventricular Tachycardia

Image taken from http://joshuatwe.blogspot.sg/2013/01/take-look-at-me-now.html

While watching the hilarious Ah Boys to Men two-part film, i could not help but think back of my days in the national service (Singapore's mandatory conscription for all men). Not the tough training in the movie though as i was placed in a non-combat vocation. 

Please don't get me wrong; i totally enjoyed performing my national duty and took great pride in my service work. In case you are unaware, i was a dental orderly attached to the air force (yes, there are indeed dental clinics in the armed forces)! 

My hyperactivity was well known among my polytechnic friends and some expressed surprise i was not given the healthier Pes A or B. Pes E was my actual medical status; a result of a pre-exisiting heart condition.

Image taken from http://www.straightuplove.com/love-at-first-sight/

Many people have asked me what was the exact medical problem i had; and many a time, my memory drew a blank. I know it has the word "tachycardia" but this was too vague. Tachycardia, in the medical dictionary, only means fast heartbeat which could be easily ignited when you have your "love at first sight" moment.

Image taken from http://hqmeded-ecg.blogspot.sg/2012/03/wide-complex-tachycardia-after.html

Today, i had my pre-employment medical checkup and since she is the professional, i probed the doctor further on the condition. A doubt has finally been clarified!!! That term is Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT)! 

To read more (especially if you love the technical aspect of things), check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supraventricular_tachycardia.

My work is starting on April Fools' Day and i would not be able to gallivant as much as i would love to after that. With this entry in mind, i shall share, in the near future, some of the funny moments i had before my heart operation.

Do look out for them! 

Lee Kheong Roasted Delicacy 李强烧腊 [Roast Duck and Char Siew] @ Hong Lim Food Centre [Chinatown]

I was super disappointed to find Ji Ji Wanton Noodle Specialist closed last Sunday and even though my stomach was in a murderous mood to get lunch, i was adamant in slowly looking around the available stalls for something which could satisfy my taste buds at the same time.

After circling the hawker centre twice, i finally zeroed in on a stall selling charcoal roasted delights. It would be great if i could travel to Paya Lebar for Kay Lee char siew but i was literally on the verge of fainting from hunger!

The queue was at least 15-person long - not really the best situation when the body was suffering from lack of food. Nonetheless, the human mind is stronger and i persistently soothed my tummy: "This would be good. Look at the fantastically bloody long queue. I assure you would be fattened up in no time"!

It was a torturous wait of forty minutes! I was in fact lucky as i managed to secure the last serving of char siew and there were still ten persons right behind me.

Hunger prevailed with the order of a plate of roasted delights (mix of char siew and roast duck) for two persons for a total of S$10. The usual me would have preferred a standard plate which cost at least S$3 at this stall.

Bad things first - the plain rice was too dry and immensely hard to stomach! The saviour came in the form of the marvellous chilli sauce! On char siew, it had a nice glaze with an inner pinkish glow and tasted extremely healthy; which means it was full of lean meat and devoid of any fat that would have make this sinfully to-die-for (for those who did not get my sarcasm, the char siew here was not my cup of tea)! 

The roast duck was an entirely different picture from the char siew; it was meaty and topped with a layer of crunchy skin that was perfectly charred on top yet dripping with fatty juices underneath. The flavour that remained etched in my memory can only be described as mildly gamey yet sickening delicious! 

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Location

531A, Upper Cross Street, 

#02-15, Hong Lim Food Centre

Additional Information

Be there early as everything would likely be cleaned out by around 1.30pm (as in my case on a Sunday)!

Penang Fried Kueh Teow @ Kedai Minuman Dan Makanan Tai Soon [Johore Bahru]

It was a day excursion to Johore Bahru with my family last week and my brother in law, knowing we are noobs when it comes to dining in a foreign country, drove us to a local coffee shop that supposedly serves pretty good breakfast. 

The place was crowded with at least eight different stalls for you to choose from!!! Frankly, for a kopitiam that operates only in the morning with that many stalls, they should seriously consider an expansion to add in more tables and chairs. 

Their breakfast offerings included items usually found in the afternoon back in Singapore; one of which is the Penang fried kuah teow (there were others like mixed vegetables rice, roast pork, chicken rice etc).

At RM 5 (normal serving is RM 4), i was impressed with the intensive infusion of the wok-hei. Unfortunately, the lack of a flavourful sourness, signature of Penang char kway teow, means that i am unlikely to be a return customer of this particular stall. 

I might just go back for the freshly fried doughsticks and butterfly buns though! If only they sell cold soya milk for me to dip the hot youtiao. 

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Location

Unknown although i am aware this is near to the popular Taman Seri Tebrau (da ma hua yuan or 大马花园). The Goodyear Autocare is opposite the kopitiam and next to Taman Seri Tebrau.

For added navigation, you may wish to note that the above picture (with KSL shopping mall as its backdrop) is taken right outside the kopitiam. 

Mookata Thai Style Steamboat & BBQ @ Golden Mile Complex [Little Thailand]

Trust me; Thailand style steamboat-and-barbecue is going to be the next big thing in Singapore's dynamic food scene! The sign was clear - a queue even though it was already past dinnertime at 8.30pm! 

It would be extremely desirable to have Thai cuisine in its native country [Thailand, in case you are unaware] but in Singapore, there is one such place where you can have your fix of authentic yet economical Thai food; Golden Mile Complex.

Apart from being located in an authentic site, Mookata New Udon Thai Food restaurant is also often mentioned when it comes to Thai style steamboat-and-barbecue! 

Ordering was fuss free - order one standard set that came with a variety of ingredients. Insufficient? Just top up individual ingredients which were priced separately.  

Standard Set - for a person who has been spoiled with Chinese steamboat buffet style, the servings appeared to be a tad too little. 

Protein ingredients included squid, marinated pork, marinated chicken, pork liver, prawns, hotdog, crabstick and fishballs (beef was included but our dear lala doesn't eat the red meat so we chose to swap).

Guess you don't need further introduction on the vegetables. 

Rice was charged on a per bowl basis although you can get your carbohydrates from the beehoon. That plastic pack of whitish stuff contained a sinfully rich component! 

Steamboat and BBQ Equipment - the charcoal powered appliance has a weird dome in the middle where you barbecue your meat and a surrounding moat that holds the water for steamboat. 

Begin by placing the whitish stuff on the BBQ dome for lubricating purpose just like the way we use butter and oil on the griddle. By the way, the 'sinfully rich' stuff is raw pork lard!!! Yummy! 

Unique this equipment definitely is although its design can be frustrating for non-native users! The narrow strip of water made it difficult to put in big-leaf vegetables and the convex shape of the BBQ plate meant that some of the food would occasionally slide into the boiling soup! 

To be fair, the ingredients were fresh and the most important factor for me to revisit was the marinated meat. 

Unlike Korean BBQ, the marination was not as intense even though i actually prefer the taste of natural meat juices that was enhanced with the nutty flavour of sesame seeds.

There is a second reason for me to make a return trip to Mookata - the chilli sauce! I could not really describe the taste except it was like the spicier version of the popular Kimball Thai Chilli Sauce mixed with a generous amount of sesame seeds! 

Using charcoal powered equipment has a problem; smoke. Depending on where you sit, this would be an issue of irritation to your eyes. Bring along a set of new clothing if you are thinking of going somewhere else after your meal; the smell lingering on my clothes was bad.

Health conscious individuals would not take kindly to the above sight! Hence, i have made the executive decision not to bring my dad to Mookata; a bloody risk i am not willing to take!

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Location

5001, Beach Road, #01-66B,

Golden Mile Complex

Price

Standard Set - S$39

Rice - S$1 a bowl

Drink - typically S$1.50 each

[No GST and No Service Charge]

Additional Information

Don't order too much in the beginning as you can always request for top up of the ingredients when you have depleted everything from the standard set. As i said before, top-ups were charged separately; in the case of our extra serving of marinated chicken, it was priced at S$10.