Seoul Yummy Waffle & Cleopatra's Champagne @ Seoul Yummy [Square 2]

It was supposed to be a dim sum trip to celebrate the Mother's Day but my dear pig sister was totally against the idea [came as a surprise as she used to love them so much].

Eventually, the choice was given to my great mother (she was the ultimate queen that day) who, to my utter disappointment, made the decision to revisit Seoul Yummy! I was so craving for dim sum.. :(

The only way to curb that disappointment was desserts. Seoul Yummy waffle it shall be! 

Lacking the key buttery flavour despite the existence of peanut butter, the crisp waffles helped little to comfort my broken soul. Thankfully, the smooth and slightly sourish soft serve ice cream managed to rescue this dish. 

Cleopatra's Champagne sounded like a great drink befitting the mother and came in an exquisite tea pot. 

Bundled with three big bags of flower buds, i thought it was pretty good although not much difference from the flower tea bags i could get from the retail shops. Well, it is the experience that counts! 

And not many places are that generous to give you more than one tea bag! 

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Location

10, Sinaran Drive,#03-69, 

Novena Square 2

Price

Seoul Yummy Waffle - S$7.90

Cleopatra's Champagne - S$5.90

[Subject to GST and Service Charge]

For my first post on Seoul Yummy, please click HERE.

Shabu No Koya (US Kurobuta Shabu Shabu & US Ribeye Sukiyaki) @ River Valley [Liang Court]

My eldest sister miraculously managed to secure over S$200 worth of vouchers for the Teo family to partake in a good meal at Shabu No Koya a few weeks ago.

Soup based food items are always welcome in our family as we believe that drinking soup is healthier, appears to reduce our food intake and hence, would hopefully result in some weight loss! 

As the name suggests, Shabu No Koya serves shabu shabu which is essentially steamboat featuring thin slices of meat. 

With two electrical stoves on our table, we decided to split and have one shabu shabu set (US Kurobota Pork Collar) and one US ribeye sukiyaki set.  

The above is the round bar counter where the premium beef and pork are freshly sliced, in order to lock the nutrients, before serving them to the customers. 

Let's start with the little appetisers - ordered for the sake of the bulldog-cheek baby who could only stomach soft food that requires as minimal chewing as possible.

Chef's Potato Salad

Not too bad yet not exceptional either. The best i have so far came from the hands of Mr Kon; his version was painstakingly made from scratch and was simply a pleasure to have.  

Homemade Tamago Tofu

Tamago means egg in Japanese. They were lightly toasted and tasted a notch better than the egg tofu we can purchase from the supermarket. 

US Kurobuta Shabu Shabu

Our pork bone broth (additional charge of S$3) served in a fire-safe paper. Five types are available with varying charges; original (free), dashi (S$1), spicy miso (S$3), chicken broth (S$1) and of course, pork bone (S$3). 

Mom, ever the fish person, added an extra plate of fresh looking salmon.

Thinly sliced US Kurobuta Pork Collar! 

This set belongs to the pork gang; mom and younger sister and i only took a few sips to conclude i didn't enjoy the taste. I am very sensitive to the raw porky taste and find it to be a major turnoff especially in steamboat. 

US Ribeye Sukiyaki 

Sukiyaki is similar to shabu shabu although the broth used is clearer, tastes sweeter and usually drank by the diners sparingly. Dad drank big mouthfuls of them and complained extensively after the dinner! 

My recommendation is to add one or two spoonfuls to your plain rice as a flavouring. 

Like the shabu shabu set, you also get a basket of vegetables, mushrooms and tofu to add to the soup. 

Without a doubt, two small baskets were insufficient for the five of us (exclude the baby). Extra ala-carte orders were necessary to fill out stomachs (with particular emphasis on the pig sister)!  

Thin slices of US ribeye! 

They were awesome! The moment i put it in my mouth after a few seconds of swirling in the boiling broth, i could literally feel the sweet juices enveloping the taste buds! 

Guaranteed not enough - two additional servings were requested! 

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To be honest, i have to make some comparison to the Chinese style steamboats along Liang Seah street, which also include good quality thinly sliced meat in their buffet menu and feature a more extensive variety of soup base. 

Given their average rate of not more than S$25 per pax for a buffet steamboat (unlimited serving of meat), the scrooge in me would have to throw his lot with the steamboat restaurants in Liang Seah street.

Location

177, River Valley Road,

#B1-03/05, Liang Court

Price

As above. A standard (original broth) kurobuta pork shabu shabu for dinner would set us back by S$27 while a standard US ribeye sukiyaki costs S$28. Subject to GST and Service Charge.

Mount Vernon Complex (翡珑山) - Sanctuary and Crematorium

Continuation for my post to Mount Vernon Columbarium located HERE. Given i was already in the complex, i might as well make use of the time to stroll around and check out the niches!  

Just to make things clear, this shall be a pictorial post! My brains have been over-utilised for the past few days and it's time to give it a damn good rest.

From the main entrance along Upper Aljunied road, the above is the first big building i came to. 

Six funeral parlours available for families and friends to commemorate / celebrate / mourn the death of their loved ones. 

An empty service hall (the more accepted term for funeral parlour); it would be disrespectful to barge into an operational hall no matter how keen i am to check it out! 

Beside the six-hall in one sanctuary is a disused service hall that seems to be stuck in the 1980s without all the modern amenities of the 21st century. Bet this would be a popular spot for thrill seekers at night.

Turn your ashes into diamonds; this latest technology doesn't come cheap although i thought it is really cool to have your loved ones as a diamond ring that you can keep close to you for a long long time. 

The use of this kind of stone seat was very widespread before the 90s; in gardens, parks, schools and even outside offices. Nowadays. 

Let's retrace our footsteps to where i stop at my last Mount Vernon's post - the Mount Vernon Columbarium Pagoda, except that this time, i am at the low-rise blocks.

Design wise - they were laid out like a hexagon (use some imagination) and from the top of the pagoda, you can see blocks of them neatly spaced out. Quite an impressive sight.

The lack of connected sheltered walkway also means that you would subject to the elements of nature! 

Side view of the blocks. There are easily more than fifty such blocks!

Niches holding the urns of the departed. Nowadays, you can neither buy nor reserve any niche within Mount Vernon. This has something to do with the future development of Mount Vernon into a new town. 

I am not sure about you even though i doubt would even consider purchasing a flat in the vicinity. The original purpose of this area is to keep the dead and there will likely be some remnants right?

Stone-cast paper money burner.

Almost tripped on these round things! Well, i would much prefer to trip instead of stepping on dog shit! 

Those things look like mangoes and the trees were filled with them. The abundance of fruits yet absence of ants would likely mean they are inedible. 

Incense sticks cauldron. Someone left right before my grand arrival. 

A more commonly used paper burner container. As you may have noticed from the above picture, most of the niches have been sealed up.

And the things that stood out were the stalks of fake flowers of varied colour and shape. I wonder if they were indeed placed by the families. 

Real flowers like the above were uncommon during my visit and are no doubt a rarity given the low level of visitors.

An exposed niche - spacious enough to hold my head. 

Most niches contained the ashes of one or two people. The above kept the remains for four persons! Hm.....  the rate for a niche is based on the number of persons or the number of niche used? Pretty worth it if it is the former. 

Saw two unusual white bellied squirrels playing with the common squirrels. 

Not all the blocks feature Chinese green-tiled roofs.

These were likely the first blocks to be built and uniquely, the incense sticks holder was incorporated into the blocks without the need for a separate holder.

Guess the purpose for this building!

More niches! The space between each block is squeezy and i cannot imagine how chaotic it would be during the Qing Ming festival when families come to pay their annual respect. 

With a super common design, this building appeared boring to many. However, it exuded an eerie gloominess to it and would be a marvelous place to play hide and seek when night falls. 

-The End-