Misty Fairy Land along PIE (Pan Island Expressway), Singapore

Fairy Territory?

along PIE

There's this particular stretch of road along Pan Island Expressway (PIE) that i will always look out for whenever i drive Alex to work.

With forest and HDB flats beyond the huge green field, it is an expansive, panoramic view that provides a really normal picture you can see in Singapore most of the times (over 70% of Singaporeans live in public housing)!

However, in the early morning when the sun rises not too long ago, there will likely be a blanket of morning mist enveloping the area.

A lover of fairy tales, i find the whole picture to be really mystifying and wonder if there will be any fairies or mythological creatures playing in the mist, not noticeable by the untrained human eye.

It's good to imagine! Especially when adult life can be really tiring.  

*pictures taken by passenger! it's dangerous to take pictures when driving!*

Pepper Crabs @ Eng Seng Restaurant (永成餐室)

Pepper Crabs

@ Eng Seng Restaurant

(永成餐室)

From young, the only crabs i had were steamed and when i was slightly older, i remember the rage was with chilli crabs, followed by pepper crabs.

Totally not my preferred cooking style; i find that pepper masks the true taste and is a definite no-no on my food like shark's fins soup although almost everyone insisted otherwise.

With that assumption, i had pepper crabs only once in my whole life and frankly, i didn't understand why it is such a popular dish amongst Singaporeans!

Is there something bloody wrong with their taste buds!?

Therefore, i was displaying some hesitance when Mr Kon said there's this super nice pepper crabs in Joo Chiat. After hearing it for a few times, i guess it's time to ascertain Mr Kon's recommendation!

Mee Goreng

I was informed that this is one of the signature dishes in Eng Seng.

Maybe i am too impressed with the mee goreng from Seafood Paradise; i found this lacking the oomph factor! It was a very mild version with an imbalance of tomato and chilli sauce.

Fried Rice

For a fleeting moment, i thought a big plate of plain white rice was served.

That's impossible since the Gang of Four is never a big fan of plain rice. This dish was simply done with minimal garnishing and flavour. There's a reason for such little seasoning and i will elaborate later.

Sweet and Sour Pork

Freshly served, the meat was so moist and tender! Although they were not crispy, these were filled with delightful meat juice that blended very well with the sauce.

Undeniably the best i ever have!

Pepper Crabs

My sensitive nose picked up the hot fragrance of stir-fried pepper crabs even before they appeared on the table!

As i held the meaty claw portion of this personal favourite crustacean in front of me, my tongue uncontrollably flicked out to lick the gooey black pepper sauce. A slight peppery sensation was felt and the peppery taste was, thankfully, not overwhelming!

It was (surprisingly) more than just plain pepper. This addictive taste was similar to a mixture of savoury marmite mixed with pepper and sugar.

To make it easier for patrons to appreciate the crab with lesser frustration, there were two persons personally in charge of hammering the crabs in the kitchen (saw it with my own eyes)!

With this nice consideration, it did not take me much effort for a clean extraction of the claw! Imagine the shiokness when you pop it into your mouth!

A dish i never thought i would like, i have to say that the pepper crabs in Eng Seng Restaurant have drastically changed my perception.

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With economical tze char pricing and mom's recent cravings for crabs (she abstained from seafood for a few months because of her chicken pox incident); i would make it a priority to revisit Eng Seng Restaurant again!

Location

247/249, Joo Chiat Place 

Motorists can drive along the Still road towards East Coast until you see this building that stands out with green painting and the curvy words "Durian Lingers". Eng Seng Restaurant is directly opposite the durian shop.

For bus commuters, you can take bus 33 or 642 and alight at the bus stop 82181 (Flora East). The restaurant is so near to the bus stop, you can literally hop there.

Price

Mee Goreng - $5.00

Fried Rice - $6.00

Sweet and Sour Pork - S$10.00

A Minimum of Two Peppers Crabs - S$45.60

(Subject to GST and drinks are charged separately)

Additional Information

Mixed traditional coffee shop setting!! So please don't expect air-conditioning! However, do expect the queues and the harsh reality that their ingredients run out pretty fast even before the sky turns black!

Oh, remember the fried rice? Mixing up the plain tasting rice with the black peppery sauce proved to be the perfect remedy and i could not resist filling up my bowl again and again with rice.

Centralised Parking

Centralised Parking

The Gang of Four was supposed to have dinner at this Entrepreneur Business Centre located in Kaki Bukit.

As i maneuvered my car into a vacant lot using another existing stationary car as a guide, i was wondering why the car park lot was so huge! Frankly, there wasn't much maneuvering to speak of (which is not very common for me).

Only when i strolled past the stationary car (to the lift) did i realise that the vehicle was taking up two lots! Mind you, the driver was almost perfect in centralising his/her car.

Retribution came shortly after when the place we were supposed to have dinner was closed for renovation!!!

*Beats Chest*

Tze Char Mee Hoon (煮炒米粉) @ Hiap Hoe Eating House, Yishun

Looking at a full-house coffee shop with a long queue at You Huak Restaurant, Mom decided there and then that it's not her day to have her first try of the famous white bee hoon.

Nothing's lost though as we changed course to have our favourite hor fun at Hiap Hoe Eating House in Yishun!

And to compensate my mom (who has been craving for the white bee hoon since her chicken pox incident), we ordered the normally darker, tze char style, bee hoon!

Like its hor fun sibling, this was cooked to wok-hei perfection with savoury starchy sauce that made slurping a must in order to savour all its goodness!

Hor fun and bee hoon were not enough to feed three of us! And we were convinced a plate of Har Cheong Kai (Prawn Paste Chicken) should satisfy us!

When i first had har cheong kai, i swore i will never have it again as the smell was too disgusting! Yes, coming from a man who loves smelly tofu, this is UNACCEPTABLE!!

Things have changed after i had a damn good har cheong kai in Holland Village. Truthfully, the har cheong kai from Beng Tin Hng (the tze char stall) had the disgusting right smell that strengthened with nearing proximity.

Fresh out from the frying pan, the deep fried wings were crispy-hot and lip-smacking good! However, as ha cheong kai, i personally thought they lacked the strong marination of pungent prawn paste.

Having to see blood (typically of frozen chicken) while tearing the wing apart was also an anti-climax to a pretty good meal.

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Location

Block 747, Yishun Street 72,

#01-108, Hiap Hoe Eating House

(Stall Name: Beng Tin Hng)

(Walking distance from Yishun MRT Station)

Pricing

Bee Hoon - S$3.00

Prawn Paste Chicken - S$8.00 for 8 pieces

No Service Charge and GST.

Family Outing (패밀리가 떴다)

I know i have been slacking on blogging.

The main culprit unintentionally contributing to the lack of posts is this Korean variety show named "Family Outing"!

Though the conversation was in Korean, the video includes Chinese subtitles which help me tremendously in understanding most of the conversations. As with any translated languages, some jokes may seem pretty weird to us.

So what is family outing?

Basically, the family was made up of seven people from the lucrative entertainment industry!

The most famous is singer Lee Hyori, voted number one sex kitten in South Korea! There are other notable members like Dae-Sung from the very popular group, Big Bang and Yu Jae-Suk, top MC in South Korea!

Every outing will see the family inviting 'guests' (normally one) to different rural areas in South Korea to take care of a house while the residents (mostly the elderly) go on an apparently sponsored holiday.

Besides taking good care of the house, the family was required to complete some local farming tasks like picking pessimons, moving the cows and catching eels, to name a few.

Consisting of two episodes over a two day, one night trip, you will see the mischievous family embarking on various games that always turned out to be freaky hilarious and at times rough!

As with most Asian families, cooking and having dinner together is a must and the Korean cuisine usually looked so delicious, my craving for Korean food has never been stronger.

One segment i particularly enjoy was the morning game to decide who will be the unfortunate loser to make breakfast for everyone.

The games are mostly nonsensical like attempting to pull a thread through the eye of a needle with the host (Yu Jae-Suk) trying his best to fan it away, trying to catch a falling piece of paper, selecting the correct water hose etc!

Each morning game was unique so you will never find the same one a second time!

Seeing the sleepy celebrities without their makeup and unkempt hair was really refreshing in a country where looks are so important, plastic surgeries are common practice!

Spanning over 20 months and visitation of 41 different families, this realistic variety show eventually ended on February this year.

I am so hooked on this show! My free time is almost entirely used to watch the videos on my iPhone!   

My current watch is episode 79; another 7 episodes before the inevitable withdrawal symptoms step in.