Dental Review @ The Dental Practice

Dental Review

@ The Dental Practice

After more than two years since my last visit, i am finally back to my ex-colleague's dental clinic for a supposedly half a year routine dental checkup!

It's not a good sign when i realised that my gums are bleeding more often and a sore sensation was frequently felt in between my teeth...... Awwww, ageing is really cruel!!

According to Dr Edwin Oh, my teeth are (thankfully) doing well and the few fillings i have are still intact. Yooohooo!! Some periodontitis (gum disease) though.... which was easily rectified with a simple scaling procedure!

Of course, Dr Oh can only see so much with his naked eyes! A bitewing x-ray was necessary to check if there's any decay in-between the posterior teeth.

If you are wondering why i seem to know the dental terms pretty well, it's because i served my national service in a military dental clinic (Dr Oh was one of the resident dentists)!

Cool right?!?! Hahahaha

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Interested to let Dr Edwin Oh Chih Min analyse your oral hygiene?

The Dental Practice is located at Block 746, Bedok Reservoir Road, #01-3007. Please call 62425626 for an appointment! 

Strawberry Cream Puff @ Beard Papa's

Beard Papa used to attract a long queue at its virgin store in Takashimaya and i can vaguely remember the deliciously cold cream oozing out of that somewhat crunchy pastry known simply as Cream Puff.

I cannot even remember the last time i had that signature creamy rich puff from Beard Papa.

It's been so long, i was surprised to find out recently that flavours other than vanilla are available. Ms Tan, after knowing how poor and pathetic i am for the past few months, offered me a strawberry flavour (for free of course)!

The strawberry cream tasted as natural as it can be without being overloaded with excessive sugar. There was that sourish, refreshing aftertaste that was so much like real strawberries.

As a person with a sweet tooth, i don't really enjoy this strawberry puff. By all means give me the vanilla flavour!! 

Wu Xiang (Ngoh Hiang, 五香) @ Nam Heng Restaurant (南興餐室)

Wu Xiang (Ngoh Hiang)

@ Nam Heng Restaurant

I am a variety lover, which means i enjoy having things that allow a lot of choices well within financial limits! And it's precisely this reason i love to eat Wu Xiang (五香).

At first glance, Wu Xiang may look really complicated with so many food items to choose from! Sentences that run through my head may range from "this looks delicious" to "are you sure that is edible!?".

 

Comprising of mostly deep fried food items (my bane when it comes to food), the choice is yours to decide what you like to eat, place them on a plate and pass it to the person manning the stall.

 

Usually not termed as a main dish, my mom and i decided to have a plate of wu xiang in Nam Heng since we were seated right in front of the stall.

After years of experience, i know it's always good to go for the basics when we ordered too much (of other dishes) and just wanted to give the wu xiang a try.

What appeared in front of us eventually was a plate filled with items like spring roll, prawn cracker, fish cake and century egg.

With the exception of the egg, the others were normally re-fried for that hot crispy bite.

One item i used for comparison across wu xiang stalls is prawn cracker. The one in Nam Heng had too thick a batter and though it was reflecting a hopeful yellowish tinge, the taste was disappointingly bland.

As with any mixed dish, one item could be horrid but the other items could be terribly good. In the case of the crunchy spring rolls, it was one of the better ones i had in wu xiang stalls with bits of carrots and long beans.

Although i am a late bloomer when it comes to chilli, i do know how to differentiate the chilli used for different Singapore dishes okay! For wu xiang, the chilli has to have a scoop of peanut bits and it has to be hot yet sweet!

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I might be back for the spring roll and maybe fish cake but definitely not for its prawn cracker!

Location

949 Upper Serangoon Road

(Junction of Simon Road and very near to Kovan MRT Station)

Price

Depending on your selection! Mine cost around S$4.50.

Additional Information

Nam Heng is open daily and their operation usually ends at night except for Sunday and Monday when they close at 4pm.

Touristy Junk Cruise in Singapore

Back in November 2010, the administrative team of my department organised a dinner cruise for a rare get-together session after work!

It was really fun to partake in a touristy activity and seriously, as a citizen, we often take things for granted without realising there are many things often miss out in our daily lives.

Without further ado, let's now continue the pictorial trail of this novel trip.

Embarking the junk from Marina South pier, i expected it to be the classic type with sails shown on many pictures of the Hong Kong harbour. It may look small but the space is sufficient for 150 passengers!

The more popular Cheng Ho ship; it looks way more grand with an imperial air around it. In addition, it has an air-conditioned area! However, there's no way we can exclusively use this vessel for our event.

Facing the cooling sea breeze, we took in the Singapore's skyline as the junk slowly made its way to Saint John Island where it will anchor for roughly an hour for us to have dinner.

Of course, nothing beats a beautiful setting sun while on a cruise. The admin team was really anxious that it will turn out to be a rainy day as it had been raining for the past few days!

Silhouette of a colleague against the setting sun. I love this picture!

Our buffet dinner on the ship! It was sufficient to fill our stomachs without any fanciful item that was particularly outstanding.

Second level where the captain controls the ship.

Everyone was really famished by this time! Time should not be wasted though and many of them could be seen interacting with one another while eating! Precisely the reason for organising this!

One highlight of this trip was the stopover at Sentosa to watch the Songs of the Seas show!

Okay, it wasn't very comfortable as the boat was rocking and we actually watched the show from its back without really knowing what it was all about.

Visually, there was a lot of fire, lights and water!

The show ended with the beloved fireworks that always fascinate people.

It was definitely a wise move by the Sentosa management to demolish the ageing Musical Fountains and come up with this pyrotechnics show.

Some of us were already showing signs of motion sickness by the time the show ended and i was grateful that the engine was restarted to continue our cruise back to the pier.

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Skills wise, i am a noob. Hardware wise, Nikon D5000 isn't exactly the top of the range. Conditions wise, the boat was shaking!!! 

These three factors explained why i did not manage to take any pictures of the Singapore's skyline at night.

Except this last one when we reached the pier.

Roasted Chicken Rice (烧鸡饭) @ Yee Shun Coffeeshop, Toa Payoh

Roasted Chicken Rice

@ Yee Shun Coffeeshop, Toa Payoh

When i was still working in Pet Lovers Centre, i am frequently assigned to this branch in Toa Payoh (TPY) as it was a relatively new outlet and i was one of the more experienced "floaters" in the company.

Back in those happy days, it's habitual for me to have roast chicken rice at this run-down coffee shop whenever i am working in TPY! Even if it's pouring cats and dogs or as hot as an oven toaster!

It's been a long time since i last dined in this coffee shop and having tested so many chicken rice stalls in the last five years, i am back once again to recollect the good memories.

At S$2.50 a plate, the portion was still comfortable despite an expected slight inflationary increase. However, the affable lady who used to take my order is sadly no longer around. :(

Having tried so many chicken rice stalls in Singapore, health fanatics will like the rice here as they were drier without compromising on the all-important chicken rice fragrance.

Similarly, the chicken meat was also found to be less oily. In this instance, it's a bad sign as the meat lacked the necessary juiciness that authentic chicken rice lovers look for!

Auntie, my mom, begged to differ.

She adored the fact that this plate of chicken was not loaded with too much oil (bad for health she said) and in particular, loved the hot and sensational chilli!

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Location

Yee Shun Coffee Shop (Mooi Kee Chicken Duck Rice Stall)

Block 183, Toa Payoh Central

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.