Vanilla Cream Puff @ Tampopo Deli (Liang Court)

Once upon a time, within the building called Haw Par Centre, i was notified that there's a super famous cream puff outlet at Liang Court. They were so good; it was rumoured that there's no way you can get any after 3pm every day!

Now, my favourite traditional cream puffs come from Beard Papa and i can still vaguely recollect that swirling of cold, smooth cream in my mouth cavity when i first tried it at Takashimaya.

Therefore, it's just a matter of time before i finally got my mouth ready for a supposedly orgasmic experience at Tampopo Deli. Well, it took me around 4 years - helped no less by fate and bad luck.

The appearance was inviting enough; lightly powdered with a perfect looking crust that could pass off as a rock from a dry, parched planet like mercury.

The fragrance of delicious vanilla hit me as i quickly took a bite! Despite its sinful portrayal, the viscous cream was only lightly sweetened. Something mommy will nod in agreement.

So far, i have been relatively positive. There is, however, a slight problem. I prefer a holistically crunchy bite but the puffs at Tampopo had soggy insides. According to some bloggers, they prefer this over Beard Papa.

For me, it's Beard Papa who wins hands down.

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Location

177 River Valley Road,

#B1-16, Liang Court Shopping Center

Price

S$2.60 for one

Additional Information

There are many types of Japanese desserts, salads and even donburi to choose from. Prices are not cheap but i guess this could be an infrequent indulgence when the need arises.

Tables and chairs are available right outside the deli if you are too tired to tug the food home. By the way, i had this cream puff at around 7pm. Guess the rumour isn't true after all.

For my first post on Tampopo (Ramen), click HERE

For my second post on Tampopo (Tonkatsu), click HERE.

Arnold's Fried Chicken (City Plaza @ Paya Lebar) - It's Been So So Long!

Whenever anyone asks if there's a better fried chicken than KFC in Singapore, my recommendation will definitely be Arnold's Fried Chicken - an outfit that has been in operation since 1984!

The affection is so intense that i tried not to have KFC unless i develop an acute craving for fried chicken and am too lazy to travel all the way to City Plaza only to be faced with a queue number that could mean a wait of more than 30 minutes.

Expectedly, cravings are always acute by nature and i had betrayed Arnold's Chicken a few times by dining at KFC and Popeye Chicken. Frankly, I should not be blamed as Arnold's is notorious for its long waiting time!

It has been at least a year plus since i last visited this place and i took the opportunity of the Muslim fasting month to patronise this restaurant with my family last weekend.

Let's start with the scalding hot potato platter that's a must-have for potato lovers. Even a potato-neutral person like me could not resist having one piece after another.

Chicken Combo! The alluring smell of deep fried chicken was enticing enough for me to have that fleeting thought to stop taking pictures and tear apart the meat immediately!

They were as good as i remember; hot from the frying pot yet retained the tempting juiciness that remains forever memorable at a little corner of my brain.

To tell you the truth, it's the chicken skin that really matters!

Almost fat free, the thin crispy layer is best eaten on its own with a dab of chilli sauce. Oh my gosh, i am so tempted to rush down to City Plaza now!!

It was Joyce's first visit and from this picture, it's no doubt that she was pleased with the food.

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Location

810, Geylang Rd,

City Plaza, #02-99

Price

Please refer to Arnold's website at http://www.arnoldsfriedchicken.com/ for its menu and pricing.

Additional Information

Check out my first post on Arnold's Chicken HERE

Unexpected Entry - A 'Secretive' Fishing Spot?

Picture this - a black and white barrier that is supposed to be an obvious signal for restricted area was right in front of me. What should i do?

It was bright daylight and even though i was alone, i am in a damn adventurous mood. Add that to my insatiable curiousity and it's a blinking "danger" sign!

The clear concrete path proved too hard to ignore and i slowly made my way down. For a moment, i thought i should make a call to mom.

Just in case karma decides to pay a visit by bringing a wild boar to have my skin for dinner, knowing my love for pork lard.

You should forgive my overworked imagination since the forest was not exactly in its best form. Fallen trees, dried up twigs, broken trunks - signs of destruction that leaves much to the mind to guess what really happened.

Thinking the path will eventually be overwhelmed with dead leaves and filled with potholes due to a lack of maintenance, i was bewildered to find it almost clean. As you can see in this picture, there's a second barrier to cross.

Should i heed this unworded 'sign' and turn back?

NEVER!

I am a man who adheres to the rules and laws of a country. There wasn't a sign to say no entry nor any mention that this is a protected area. An old sign, caked with moss, merely indicated that no poaching is allowed.

Before long, i reached the end of the path - a clearing to the open reservoir!

Devoid of any human, it was dead quiet. Even the water appeared still. But it's obvious that this is open to the public with the installation of PUB's new eye-catching signpost.

Badly needing a rest, i sat down and took in the impending sunset amidst the tranquil greenery. The silence was getting to be a bit uncomfortable; even the slight rustling of leaves due to a gentle breeze sounded eerie!

I got my butt going before imagination turns into reality!

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Location

Roughly to be around the location of the red star! It is not far from the main Mandai road and you may take bus no 183 or 171 from Ang Mo Kio or Yishun and alight at bus stop 48049.

Additional Information

Definitely a good spot for anglers. In fact, i did bump into a few of them when i walked in. Funny thing is that there are five or six of them who seemed to be strangers yet all of them came out the same time i went in.

Weird indeed.

Navel Oranges - Worms Within!

It's not hard to guess how the name comes about for navel oranges.

And besides Lu Gan (芦柑) that is the must-have for Chinese New Year, navel oranges are normally my substitutes during the non festive period.

It's easy to tear off the skin and the pulp is sweet for the taste buds without being overly juicy.

But they don't come cheap! And for a person who prefers to spend on food than on fruits, i will not make an effort to buy unless i am absolutely craving for them.

Hence, you can imagine how delighted i was when i received a big bag of navel oranges from one of my mom's friends! This delight-ness, unfortunately, lasted only for a few days.

I was peeling the navel oranges and separating the segments one evening when my fingers felt a slight sogginess. "oh, spoiled liao. better throw them away" - a usual sentence for most of us.

It's only upon a closer look i realised there were some longish stuff in the heart of the orange. For that fleeting moment, i can only recollect that quite a number had been devoured by me in the past days!

BLOODY WORMS!!!!

Not just one, not just two. Mind you, i can count at least a dozen of those disgusting maggots with my naked eyes!

My only consolation?

I didn't discover them halfway through eating the oranges.

New York New York (Root Beer Float, Roasted Mushroom Cappuccino Soup, Chef Wong's Wok-Fried Salad, NYNY Party Platter) @ Parkway Parade

For a restaurant that has been on an expansion spree for the last couple of years in Singapore, i am somewhat ashamed that i had never stepped in to try its food.

Reviews have not been positive, even amongst my friends but that should not be an excuse. I have no qualms in trying bad food even though knowing my passive eating habits; it's rare to find me writing a really horrendous blog review on a specific food establishment.

That was why i am pretty accommodating when my younger sister suggested dining at New York New York last week. And Cavin can never reject free food. :P

Root Beer Float

My first and the most unforgettable root beer float came from the no-longer-in-Singapore fast food restaurant - A&W.

I will usually use that as a yardstick to compare across the root floats i ordered in many places and even till now, A&W Root Beer Float remains the best in my heart.

This icy drink, from New York New York, is comparable. What it lacked was that unique, beery and bubbly (or some said gassy) sensation that made drinking A&W Root Beer Float so satisfying!

Roasted Mushroom Cappuccino Soup

Complimentary with a minimum spending of S$40 for standard chartered credit cards, this will interest people who love their soup creamy and milky!

Forget about the cappuccino - that little amount of powder was insufficient to have any impact.

Chef Wong's Wok-Fried Salad

For a non-salad person, this was so delicious i was resisting the temptation to finish everything and leave minimal portions for my family.

The green vegetables were given a slight tossing in the wok and kept their delightful crunchiness while having the appetising balsamic dressing thoroughly mixed in.

NYNY Party Platter

In order to save valuable stomach space for our durians feast later, we thought it might be better for us to order a party platter that has a wider spread yet not as filling as ordering one main dish for each person.

We regret it.

Portions were huge and i am the first person to raise the white flag! My stomach just could not stomach any more of them! Truth is; only the bread crumbs prawns and roasted chicken can make it.

The others (ribs, corns, fried fish etc) were not up to my expectation for a company that has seven branches in Singapore.

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Location

80 Marine Parade Road

#01-10 Parkway Parade

Price

Root Beer Float - S$7.90

Chef Wong's Wok-Fried Salad - S$10.90

NYNY Party Platter - S$38.90

I lost the receipt but the standard GST and Service Charge should still be applicable.

Random - Dong Yi (同伊)

With the millions of work tasks (an exaggeration of course) i face on a daily basis for the past few weeks, i am too exhausted to look through the billions of pictures i have on my computer and come out with a decent post.

What's more, i am busy chasing the Korean period drama - Dong Yi (同伊)!

No point in telling you much since i have barely completed 10% of the episodes. You may refer to http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Dong_Yi for some really basic information of this show.

The English title is Jewel in the Crown and it's hard not to compare it to the really famous Jewel in the Palace (大長今); even the main actor is the same. I was immensely impressed with Da Jang Geum and can still vividly remember the tune of its theme song!

Let's see if Dong Yi can be as satisfying as Da Jang Geum.

By the way, this is definitely not a decent post! And i am guilty of it.

Katsujyu & Torikurozu @ Ootoya Japanese Restaurant (Clementi Mall)

Nowadays, with the exception of sushi, i would usually satisfy my Japanese food craving at Ootoya - the place that serves authentic homemade Japanese food!

This claim was proudly displayed on the front page of the menu. I can't say it's shameless since the food was incredibly different (and good) and emitted a homely feel to them.

Katsujyu

Basically - this is pork cutlet don although the title on the menu said "rice with breaded pork flavoured sea tangle". The word tangle doesn't sound too appetising. And 'flavoured' gave a wrong impression when real pork is indeed used for this dish.

Beautifully served in lacquer ware box, this did manage to seduce my stomach with splatters of runny eggs on top of thick chunks of crispy, breaded pork!

However, given my indifferent attitude towards pork cutlet, i am again not impressed with this one from Ootoya. It was one of the better ones i had but sadly, i would not make an effort to try it again.

Torikurozu

This remains as delicious as the first time i tried it at Ootoya's first outlet in Orchard Central.

Juicy chicken meat that was poles apart from the drier pork katsu! I am not going to repeat what i did mention in my post here.

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Location

3155, Clementi Ave West,

#03-53, The Clementi Mall

(opposite Clementi MRT Station)

Price

Katsujyu (set)- S$16.00

Torikurozu (alacarte) - S$12.00

Subject to GST and Service Charge

Additional Information

My first post on Ootoya (Orchard Central)can be found HERE.

My first post on Ootoya (Clementi Mall) can be found HERE.

 

The Long Forgotten 1.2 MB Floppy Disk

That ambitious plan to take back my bedroom is well on track although i had to make the sad decision to sacrifice the tonnes of textbooks, novels, notes, comics that were my best companions before the arrival of DS Lite and subsequently, iPhone.

While rummaging through the box of business textbooks, i chanced upon this black and thin plastic thing hidden within a white paper sleeve. For that moment, it evoked some kind of distant memory.

A memory i could not put a finger to. Until i pulled it out.

Oh my gosh, this is ANCIENT! When my parents bought me my first desktop computer in 1992, the drive to read this portable diskette was included. Back then, there was no CD-rom and the 1.44 MB diskette was considered the latest technology!

The whirring of the motor that read this 1.2 MB diskette was always unnerving; you never know if it still works since this portable disk was famously known to be really delicate.

Not exactly something that will be safe in my hands.

Opps, i did it once again!