Last Post of the Year

It's time to bid farewell to 2009 and say welcome to 2010. Although I usually abhor the passing of time - it flies too fast - and I yearn for the clock to turn back, I must say 2009 was a very long and somewhat depressing time. It all seems like a blur now but earlier in the year, when business was slow and rent too high, everything was bleak, gloomy and seemingly hopeless. Stock markets were bad, inflation abound, and yup, the office phone hardly rang. Add to that my list of personal problems and an Armageddon would have been merciful.

And so here I am on the last day of the year, feeling pensive. 2010 marks the start of a new decade! It seemed just yesterday that I was flying home from a holiday in UK and partaking in the Countdown to 2000 festivities along Orchard Road. It has been an eventful and fantastic 10 years. I can't say I'm regretting or anything like that, and I'm not one to look back and lament. I firmly believe in looking forward and as apprehensive or reluctant that I am, I can confidently say 2010 couldn't be any worse than 2009 was.

Here are some things I potentially can look forward to:
1. New office premises (?!)
2. A longer holiday, one that requires a longer than 7 hour flight
3. More business (!?)
4. Unexpected surprises, hopefully pleasant ones
5. More people knowing Cardblanche

And I gave up making resolutions a long time ago, but here are some I think I should try to attain:
1. Regular workout and gym sessions (at least 3 times a week)
2. More adventures and experiments in the kitchen
3. Improve my dessert skills
4. Meet and know more people
5. Increase awareness of Cardblanche

Happy New Year! And may all your dreams be fulfilled in the coming months!

Using a percolator

I've never used a percolator to make coffee before, and decided I should take pictures. Basically, I find it a novel and fun concept to be able to make espresso with a tiny contraption, and whilst it doesn't taste as fantastic as a cuppa brewed from a machine, it beats 3-in-1 coffees hands down.

Here goes:


1. Fill the percolator with water and tightly pack in espresso powder. (I used Illy-yums!) Put it over a small flame.


2. Heat up some milk if you take your espresso milky. I don't have a steamer to make "steamed milk" or froth up cappucino, so this will have to do.


3. Add in a drizzle of honey/maple syrup. I'm trying to find hazelnut syrup but it's very tough.


4. When the water in the percolator starts boiling, switch off the flame and let it stand until all the coffee appears on the top portion. Pour it into the cup, add the milk and syrup and voila, an easy, fuss-free, home-made cuppa espresso.

Ippudo SG

Ippudo has finally arrived on the shores of Singapore. Braving the long queues and hordes in Orchard Road, I made Kimmy accompany me on an excursion to taste Ippudo Singapore.

Of course I thought we were being smart by reaching the eatery at 1130am. But Singaporeans think alike, and there was a long queue already. That's ok, I was expecting to wait. The wait turned into a 50 minute long torture as I was submitted to incessant chatter by 5 executives in the line behind me complaining about anything and everything, and especially Ippudo. I dunno why they were talking so loudly, and it was so disturbing I couldn't hear my thoughts or write coherent updates on Facebook.

Eventually we got a seat in this ramen joint that's a bit too chi-chi for liking. I don't think a ramen joint needs pretty (and massive) chandeliers and fancy wall decor. They probably just need to add condiments on the table. I was looking for my shoyu, chilli oil, chilli flakes, sesame seeds, garlic, garlic press, ginger slices, pickled vegetables, pepper, etc, etc but it was a big bare table, very utilitarian, shared with other patrons. Kimmy said Ippudo gives or sells this wonderful tao gey (bean sprouts) dish but it wasn't on the menu. What was on it, thankfully, is the gyoza (dumplings), which is quite possibly the best gyoza I've ever eaten. They are miniscule, but full of flavour.

Everything aside, most importantly, the broth lives up to its name. The Shiomaru and Akamaru were both delicious, hearty and full-flavoured. The tamago (egg) was overcooked though. Methinks it was perfect to begin with, but ended up being cooked thoroughly in hot broth. Ippudo should really look into perfecting their onsen-tamago. In the meantime, DO NOT order the egg with your ramen, save that $2!

Final verdict: Delicious but rather expensive at nearly $50 for 2 persons (just for ramen?!). If you love Hakata-style ramen, Ippudo will be worth your wait. Here are some pictures of Ippudo in Singapore and Tokyo.


Delicious gyoza.


Akamaru ramen, pork-flavoured soup with miso paste and garlic oil.


Shiomaru ramen, pork-based soup.


Ippudo SG's fancy decor.


Shiomaru in Tokyo, see any differences?


Ippudo store in Ebisu, Tokyo.

Fa La La Sale - Everything must go!

Due to the ridiculous cheap prices some stores are selling their accessories now, as well as my waned interest in making little pieces, I have slashed prices on everything at Aglaia Accessories...So please, help me get rid of them, or to put it nicely, please take them off me and put them to good use. And if you take a photo of yourself wearing one of the pieces and email that to me, I might send you a surprise freebie as a gesture of appreciation. :)

Click now and Snap away!

Help the elves clear their shelves!

FA LA LA Sale!
Tis the season to be jolly! Fa la la la la la la la la.
Deck the halls and stuff the stockings! Fa la la la la la la la la.
50% off everything* and free postage if you buy 5 items or more.
Go to Aglaia Accessories now! Fa la la la la la la la la.

* except name necklaces

I love my family

I love my family, my extended family with uncles, aunties, cousins, gong gong, po po, and their domestic helpers. When I was younger, I used to grudgingly tag along for Sunday lunches. I loved to eat the food my granddad cooked, but the house was always so noisy, with the TV at top volume, and everyone shouting to get themselves heard. When siblings get together, they try to out-talk each other, so imagine a small 4-room flat with the echoes of loud loud Hainanese!

Years passed and I have grown to understand the relationships and behaviour of everyone in the family. There are still things that irritate me (like pieces of rice on the floor that stick to my socks) but overall, it's the whole fun of enjoying the closeness of the family unit that I appreciate now.

Thank you God for blessing my family all this time.

The holiday that wasn't a holiday

I was recently in Hong Kong on a 4-day holiday, except it did not feel like a holiday at all. It came and went by so fast I feel like I need another break again. Kimmy and I resolved to have a relaxing time and planned a suitably leisurely itinerary for ourselves. Unfortunately for us, Hong Kong is filled with massive and never-ending streets of shopping and we couldn't help but walk our way through the 4 days. No thanks to my lousy pair of shoes, I was suffering from back pains on the first day and it inadvertently affected my enthusiasm for this city that is a sensory overload (nearly as much as Tokyo!) Everywhere, there were things to see, hear, feel, touch and taste, and even though we didn't rush our way through the city (the way one would do at Bangkok's Chatuchak on a weekend), I think we felt even more tired than when we started out. Even a friend of ours we met who's a Hong Kong native agreed that the city (downtown HK areas) seemed to be lined with shops and people, without breaks in between, and it was extremely overwhelming.

So, whilst I wanted to be inspired by pretty things, cool weather (of which there was none) and take lots of pictures, I have only fun memories and a whole load of good food to show for it.


The beautiful skyline of Hong Kong from the cable car going to Ngong Ping.


Really good and cheap dim sum, heavenly!


Ubiquitous trams, which although cheap, I have never had the chance to take a ride on it.


Streets lined with people on a weekday afternoon.


And here is me, looking refreshed on the last day of my vacation, although inside, I was pretty tired.

A visit to Mint Museum

It's "cultural" month for me. A friend sent me an invite to her bear exhibition held at MINT Museum, another is staging a play, and yet another friend asked me to go for SSO's Beethoven concert next Friday. It's also a very busy month, the jobs have started coming in, and I've been working my ass off, nursing a cough and neglecting my regular workouts. Nevertheless, I'm trying my best to squeeze in time for some extra-curricular activities, here are some pictures I took at MINT.


Check out the estimated value of this very old Mickey Mouse toy.


I loved this, Batman charm bracelet, how cool is that!


This here is a remote controlled peacock and it's life-sized. I really cannot imagine who would have bought this toy to play.


I'm a fan of Astroboy but he seems rather grouchy here. Must be his "fighting" face.


Beatles toys.


Sean Connery James Bond figurine.



A rather disturbing old China toy of a soldier bashing the head of his enemy into the ground.


Last but not least, my friend's bear, who's travelled the world more than me, and has won numerous awards. He will now be loved and admired by many in MINT.

The baby bunnies go to a new home

Three baby bunnies were born recently but one died, think he got trampled on by its mom. The other two are strong and well, chubby and cute, and have been adopted by a nice person who I got to know out of the blue. If you've always wanted to bunny and have been waiting fervently, don't fret, there will be more opportunities in future. On a side note, two bunnies who got adopted in the past have given birth too! I can't wait to see what colours they are, I think both the mommy rabbits are white but the daddy rabbits are brown.

I want to know more people

Do you ever feel like, you wished you knew more people? I've been having those thoughts lately, and it's only because of my shyness I've never been able to talk to or know more people. I'm not the type to talk to strangers on the street, although I try to keep myself in a friendly frame of mind. I'm also not very sociable with neighbours but when I moved house I resolved to be more talkative when I can. Then, I realized my neighbours aren't very comfortable with random chit chat as well. Sure we'd all smile or greet each other, but some of the neighbours try to ignore me when I walk by and say good morning. I guess they're even more anti-social than me, or just socially inept!

At this juncture in my life I feel this need to get to know more people, but I don't like clubbing and I don't want to pay for networking, so it seems I'm left with social networking sites like facebook, which really is very useful. Of course we'd never really personally know the people we know on facebook, since everyone is hidden behind a monitor. I guess The only way I can achieve this is to
go out and do what I have to do, and talk. If you want to know more people too, or know me, feel free to drop me an email. A response within 24hr is guaranteed. :)

Wanna free voucher?

With value of up to 50%, this voucher is great for early Christmas shopping! To snag this freebie, simply send an email to ambienlim@yahoo.com.sg with the subject header "I wanna free voucher!" and you'd get the voucher in your email inbox the very next day!

Get it now!

Customer service battle for last place

I have been a customer of all three telcos we have here in Singapore - M1, Starhub, and I recently switched to Singtel.

Having experienced all three telcos' customer service, I must say Singtel really takes the lead for having the worst customer service around. Using them as a benchmark, M1 would be top-notch, answering calls to their service line promptly and politely. Starhub has also improved over the years although I must say they seem to favour Starhub users calling from a Starhub mobile line, as opposed to enquiries via email or regular land line. Unfortunately, as of last week, Singtel was the only telco selling the Apple iPhone, and having had waited for that phone for many months already, I decided to sign up with them to buy the phone. If I had been patient, I would be able to buy the phone with M1, or even Starhub in future.

Because of the limited stocks of the iPhone in the past few months, I had been emailing Singtel customer service to request information. It takes about 2 emails to get someone to reply, and then after that it's a fairly long wait for another reply, or you might not get one at all. I sent an email to a customer service officer and left her a message on her answering machine but have had no reply to this day. As for calling 1626, it's perpetually a 45min - 1 hour wait for anybody to get on the line. I know Singtel has the biggest customer base amongst the telcos, but I expect that they should have more officers in their customer service department to handle the high volume of calls, especially when they say they are "committed to providing nothing less than quality products and premium servicing".

I think Singtel should improve their customer service, now with the added customers they would be having with the EPL and ESPN channels they have scored.

A special mention on a special site

http://porkonyourfork.blogspot.com/

Do surf by this site, written (very well I might add) by a good friend of mine. She loves reading and cooking, and until she develops ambitions to be a world-celebrated chef, she's actually pursuing a career in writing and publishing. Loads of luck to her from me on getting her dream fulfilled!

In the meantime, do "follow" her on her blog (just click on the Followers on the right side of the page) and learn to cook from the recipes she has there.

Sushi Tei is opening at a mall near me!

I'm excited! As corny as it sounds, i'm pretty pleased that there's going to be a Sushi Tei near me. City Square Mall, which opened today, seemed like it was destined to be a suburban mall (read: not in Orchard Road) with run-of-the-mill boutiques and eateries. Actually, shopping there doesn't seem so great from the tenant list i've seen, but the eateries fare a bit better. I was half expecting substandard restaurants like Sakae Sushi, or worse, Suki Sushi. After all, it's not as shiny and glamourous as ION.

A lot of my favourite fastfood outlets are opening there - Macs, KFC, Pizza Hut, Subway - and there's Soup Restaurant, Toast Box and Manhatten Fish Market. Alas, the ubiquitous coffee joint slated to open is Coffee Bean, which serves up some of the worst (and milkiest) teas and coffees around.

Shopping is a bit of a letdown in City Square. There's Metro, argh, and a host of strange boutiques I've never heard of, all very suburban, topped off by Charles and Keith. I guess they will suffice, and there's always Watsons and NTUC for daily neccessities.

Nevertheless, i can't wait for the rest of the mall to be up and running, i can walk there via the underground walkway at the MRT so it's highly convenient. :)

Rabbit Alert

I think my mom's rabbit is ready to pop again, that means, more cute little baby bunnies. Those of you who have emailed me previously wanting to adopt, you should probably be getting an email from me soon, asking if you're still interested in getting a bunny pet. I actually don't think rabbit mama likes to keep doing this, but alas, she always gets set upon by males who do a high jump out of their fenced area to get to her. Should really think about spaying her. Poor gal.

Some truths and The Ugly Truth

What do you think is the biggest turn-off (disgust) during a date?
I personally haven't been on a lot of bad dates, and thankfully have been spared anymore of those ever since I got married. But there was one particular incident which left me with a bad taste in the mouth. I had a date grab my hand and insisted he kept it warm for me because the cinema was cold. Of course, on hindsight, it was not a very wise decision to go watch a movie with this fella. I don't relish my hand being grabbed on a first date, moreover on such lame pretext as "keeping it warm". Hah. I actually did not even like my date very much and only decided to go out with him because I was free and it was the school holidays. Oh well, that's behind me now.

Why do you want to watch “The Ugly Truth”.
I absolutely want to catch this movie because Gerard Butler's quite dishy. I can't really stand his accent, that lingering Irish, Scottish or whatever accent that he can't seem to get rid of in America, but he makes up for it with his raw sensual energy, perhaps a carry-over from his 300 days. hehe...

I like Katherine Heigl too so...she's always fun, funny, stylish. I liked her in that bridesmaids movie with James Marsden.

Till the movie arrives, be a fan at the official Facebook page and catch The Ugly Truth when it opens in the cinemas on the 17th September 09!

My brush with H1N1

Just some days ago, a 27 year old woman died of a heart attack brought on by H1N1 influenza. She had no underlying medical conditions. The frailty of life, it could have been anyone, it could have been me.

Two weekends ago, I woke up with a horrible sore throat and it progressed into a fever and hacking cough. I doused myself in juices, panadol and whatever medicine I could find in the fridge, but after a few days the fever had not subsided.

I made it to the doctor, only to have him diagnose wrongly, giving me antibiotics when clearly H1N1 flu (the most common flu around nowadays) is a virus and antibiotics wouldn't work. I had to visit another doctor a couple of days later, only to just pay to receive peace of mind as my fever had subsided by then. He did mention I will be coughing for 2 weeks and it's nearly about there...and I'm still coughing.

As I look back, I feel blessed my fever hardly went over 38 degrees and I could still spend my days watching movies on the couch and chatting with friends over the internet. If you're reading this and are at home feeling fluish, please get yourself to the doctor straight away to get proper medicine.

Men in Movies

Being holed up at home on self-imposed quarantine, whilst I'm nursing a flu and very bad throat, I've had to entertain myself with a slew of Hollywood movies. I watched so many in these last few days I can't believe it myself. Most of them were light hearted romantic comedies or stories, but I noticed one similar trait in all of them - the men say the things that women love to hear.

I'm sure this is just the sort of stuff that tinseltown embellishes to endear us to them. In real life, i've never experienced any man being so clear, straightforward and forthcoming in their expressions of love. With the exception of a man blurting out a flurry of mushy sentences when he is asking you to marry him, regular day to day dialogue, or even sweet nothings at the bedside, would barely include the words "I love you".

Perhaps there are such men in the world, who really tell their lovers like they mean it. I'm excluding the casanovas and don juans of our time, whom i'm sure will say anything to get what they want.

Maybe men in real life should take a cue from reel heroes. I'm sure the "words that women want to hear" will be beneficial to them in the long run.

Pets make us happy

My mother recently remarked that she sometimes feels bored at home, but whenever she sees her rabbits run and play, hopping around the house, it brings such joy to her heart and she feels like squeezing them. Being a pet lover myself, I totally understand these sentiments. The friends I know who aren't into animals, and even Kimmy (who's owned a dog himself), would never be able to experience the type of happiness that an animal lover does.

I guess many people find their lives too meaningful or too busy to be able to include one more creature in it, especially one that seems to take up a lot of time and money, and can never verbally reply them. I've seen families with kids who refuse to let pets in the house because the parents want the kids to concentrate on academic studies instead of learning compassion and responsibility by owning a pet.


As I look back now, I feel that my experiences owning pets has enriched my life and taught me many things. I've had hamsters, dogs, terrapins, fish, chickens, birds, rabbits...and they've all brought me joy and many hours of laughter. For those who do not own pets or have not owned any, I hope you will consider in the near future. I guarantee you'd have years of happiness.

We all become our parents

As scary as it sounds, we will all inevitably become what most of us were afraid of as a child - our parents. I am slowly coming to terms with this as well. As time goes by and I become a responsible adult, all my fears as a rebellious teenager are realised.

For starters, I take life in the slower lane, no more a speed devil, and I find myself cursing the fancy souped up WRXes when they tail me on the highway. I guess I reached an age where I don't think the thrill of the adrenaline rush is worth the risk.

Secondly, because I am financially independent now, I feel I am unable to tolerate the youth and the masses who spend frivolously. Even my brother's poor control over his finances irk me and it begs for a nag.

Speaking of nagging, somehow I nag more nowadays. I remember I used to dislike my parents for telling me the same thing over and over again, but now I do it subconsciously, to my husband who seems to never listen, and even my parents, who seem to forget everything I say!

Last but not least, I find myself nostalgically wishing for the days when music sounded so good, which is when I was younger. I recall my parents liking all that 60s jive sound and I thought it was so "old-fashioned". Now it seems I too, am old-fashioned. I get these moods where I just want to listen to the good 'ol days of the 80s, with bubblegum love lyrics and simple disco tunes. No rap, no hip hop, no angsty nasal-sounding teenage rocker.

Berry Goodness

My morning smoothie of celery, strawberries and the new Powerberries drink by Peel Fresh.

Recipe:
1 stalk celery
6 strawberries
Half a cup of Peel Fresh Powerberries
(if only Peel Fresh would pay me for this promotion haha!)

Method:
Blend all together and enjoy!

My window handle broke off

My window handle broke off when I was trying to close the window. It's made of metal but it just broke into half. I'm posting this photo as a testament to HDB's lousy quality window handles. Thankfully the contractor I called managed to find a replacement.

Peanut Porridge

photo from sparkyboi

I love peanut porridge, the kind that you find in hawker centres, early in the morning during breakfast hours. This simple and much-overlooked dish is delicious with the smooth watery texture of the porridge and the scent of boiled peanuts -- heavenly! I actually ate this yesterday and today for breakfast. It was comforting and warm, and I enjoyed myself immensely despite my perspiring in the hot and humid hawker centre. The price and portion helps too, it's cheap and it doesn't fill you up too much, leaving room for a snack on the side or a glass of juice.

This is what I would call a "happy bunny experience".

The Pursuit of Happyness #1

I chanced upon a quiz for married couples and there was a question regarding how happy one was with their partner after a few years of marriage. There were answers to pick from, including "Still as happy as when we first married", "I go my way, my spouse goes his/her own way", and "We do our own things but are happy to get back together once in awhile".

My friend who took the quiz remarked, how can anyhow still be as happy as when they first got married, that's impossible, she exclaimed.

But for me, I can safely say I chose answer #1 on the quiz.

I realise after a few years of marriage that the "happiness" factor is really, all in your mind. By re-aligning your thoughts and viewing things from a different angle, you will find that you can still be happy despite all the chaos around you. For example, despite all of Kimmy's irritating habits, he's generally a great husband who loves me, cares for me and still likes to spend time with me. So I try to think of activities that we both can take part in, and often. This entails effort of both people and it's probably something a lot of people overlook when they lament on the lack of happiness in their life.

So to be happy, the first thing to do is, look at things from a different angle.

Dog Chain

Strangely, nobody has been interested in this lovely chain with a plastic dog charm. It's simple, chic and cute, with a glossy black dog, diamante collar, black and silver chain. My guess is nobody's taken notice of it, or dogs aren't so trendy nowadays. I see a lot of people wearing butterflies, fairies, birds, what happened to our trusty Man's Best Friend?

I would love to keep this piece for myself but I already have my Doggy in Diamante with the silver dog charm.

Hope someone takes a liking to this puppy one day. =)

Is anybody still getting married?

Despite the recession, I hear stories of people who just got engaged, but not when they have to do their wedding stationery. Why is that so? Is everyone cutting back on their wedding budget and not wanting to do up nice wedding invitations for this once in a lifetime event?

When I was doing up my own wedding invitation a few years ago, I also fretted spending some hundreds of dollars getting stylish chic invitations done. I tried to ring in some favours with my suppliers, but to no avail, I still had to pay for their materials and labour. However, my cards turned out superbly gorgeous and friends were highly impressed.

I hope to give my couples the same "woo-wah" effect with their invitations but they'd have to take that first step in trusting me with this small but essential part of their big day.

www.card-blanche.com/blanche.html

I do have a promotion going on with free upgrades on paper stock, contact me if you are interested. :)

Achievements and Plans of World Domination

Last night at dinner with two very dear friends of mine, we were discussing the different paths our secondary school classmates had taken in the last 15 years. Whilst it seemed increasingly common to have many of them becoming academics and attaining their PHD, there were also many who have settled early into a cosy family life with kids in tow.

The friends who studied for further degrees and in high powered jobs, I admire them for their drive and tenacity. And the friends who are happily tuned to a routine family life, I guess they do have found the meaning to their life.

I was never one to have highly ambitious goals, to rise through the ranks and achieve "world domination" so to speak, but I also don't seem very skewed to a laid back family life with screaming kids on a Sunday morning. I do wish to have children of my own, and while it so far hasn't materialised, I wonder if I would be ready if it does happen.

But until things change in my life, I will be spending much of my time and effort keeping my company afloat until the recession turns for the better. Business has been slow and the customers more penny-pinching. *sigh* I hope things will get better, and then I can get my life back on track.

Beary Cheery Breakfast

I found this bear-shaped saucepan in Giant for $2.99 and decided to get it just for fun. Kimmy made some pancakes with it for me yesterday, here they are, so cute and cheery. Their faces aren't very defined but oh well...they're still sure to bring a smile to your face in the morning :D

Land of the Lost

A movie remake of a 70s TV series, Land of the Lost revolves around a scientist whose time machine invention sucks him (and two friends) into another dimension/universe. It's no holds barred in this other dimension, with giant crabs, frog-like alien-zombies and dinosaurs, and a loosely built plot about world domination or rather, universe domination.

At first, I thought this was a movie for kids- think Brendan Fraser Journey to the Centre of the Earth kinda thing. However, with one mention of the F word and a host of other dirty joke references (some which involve a prehistoric monkey-man), I reckon the parents who brought their kids to watch this film might be regretting a little.

Will Ferrel was his usual self here, you know his deadpan style of humour. It's fairly passable. I found myself enjoying the "calamities" that befall him and his friends more. I especially like the mosquitoes in this Land of the Lost. They totally freak me out but are enormously funny. I must say the CGI for the movie is pretty damned good as well. The dinosaur that befriended them looked immensely real, or he could have been a loan from the Jurassic Park archive.

Overall, Land of the Lost makes for perfect afternoon entertainment. It's not highly original or ridiculously hilarious, but would probably still give you that warm fuzzy feeling after watching, sorta like peanut butter on the roof of your mouth. Oh and not to forget, the ending credits pay homage to 70s style groove with music, 2D illustrations and stylish typography...nice.

Baby Rabbits up for adoption again

My mom's rabbit gave birth (again!) about 7 weeks ago and here are the adorable little bunnies, all waiting to be taken home. One or two might be "reserved" but do let me know if you are interested and I will try to get them for you.

What do you do on weekends?

For many, weekends are a time for family, bringing the kids out to the park, going shopping and running errands. For the busy corporate warrior, it could be spending time whipping their bodies into shape, or out of shape if they go drinking with friends.

For me, I eat. With a tightened belt and satisfactory shopping on my holiday last month, I find myself with nothing to do on a weekend out with the husband. The weather's been scorching lately and we inevitably find ourselves in the mall walking around aimlessly and working up an appetite. And being Singaporean, I do love my food so, and sometimes, searching out the best food around town can be an enjoyable experience.

My theme or motto for food now would be "budget conscious and value for money". I found this in the Famous Sungei Rd Laksa at Kelantan Lane, only $2 with cockles and fishcake (no prawns unfortunately for me as I do not eat cockles). The gravy was delicious, much better than Katong Laksa and its numerous copycats. See photo here.

After that, i went for teabreak at Ramen Ten. Strange place for teabreak I reckon, but it wasn't crowded and had seats, and it had a $4.90 waffle promotion that comes with free hot coffee or tea. Pretty good value as you get a huge scoop of vanilla/choc ice cream and 2 pieces of (skinny) waffles.

In an hour, I was heading for dinner. I wasn't hungry but since kimmy was, we decided to go to Urban Pantry at Novena Square. Urban Pantry is opened by Donut Factory and it serves up simple western and asian meals at low low prices (pictures shown here). Portions are generous too. Kimmy had the UP Burger which is $5.50 with fries and coleslaw. The beef was suitably tasty and did not feel like frozen patties from the supermarket. I had a mushroom soup ($3.50) and potato salad ($3) as I wasn't up for a main. Surprise surprise, the portions were so big I could not finish them, and they were all homemade goodness, no watered down canned soup. To add to all that, they have combo meals where you can have a main and soup at only $7. No taxes too!

A friend's Facebook post about eating her way through Singapore on her holiday here had no less than 10 replies on food, food and more food. Needless to say, I am sure I won't be the only one eating my way through the weekend.