What I have been up recently.. the last of 2012!

Long belated Birthday Post

Celebrated my 26th birthday last month. Wonderful time spend with friends and family. Like all the presents that all have gotten for me. I've had the most cake for my birthday. 

Shopping vouchers from colleagues which I have already spent on my regular dosages of honey.

Special 3D card and GV Gold tickets from Superfriends :)

Random: Soup at Fosters where I spent celebrating birthday with Superfriends. The rest of the pics are dark and not v nice. BTW the singer in the restaurant is good!

My present (blue) from Alvin! :)

Cake #1 - with Superfriends

Cake #2 - with colleagues

Cake #3 - with family

Mum's homemade chili

Every now and then, when my mum feels the chili mood, she will make hainanese chili from scratch. She's made some for this year CNY. Being the good daughter, I helped out in the chili making process (other than cutting and adding of seasoning) the rest is I do one.. LOL which left using the electric grinder. Faints.

First you will need chilis. If you want it hot, you can just put chili padi alone. If you are not a big fan of super spicy hot, you can mix it with normal big chili. You control the spiciness. 

Chili padi, chili, garlic and Ginger (below)

All set in the grinder!

Mix it up real fine and add some lime juice if you have on hand. Otherwise, you can choose to add vinegar... But trust me, the better option is to add lime juice.

Done!

Crystal Jade Kitchen Tim Sum

Some time back few weeks ago, after my paper at SIM, I loitered around Clementi Mall to shop (abit) and to stock up my groceries for camping at home to study.  Mummy had started working at Bouna Vista so I waited for her to have late lunch at Crystal Jade.

Ambience at the restaurant is good! Surprising spacious and due to the timing we went (2pm) there is not much of a crowd. Staff & their service are nice, friendly and prompt.

Tim Sum. *drools*

They have a buzzer for you to press if you need the staff's attention. Good! They react pretty fast too. Save you from having to wave for ages.

Our warm barley.

Our orders! A bit too much for the 2 of us. We took the set menu and ordered some more tim sum.

The roast meat platter. Nice! All cooked to perfection - nice and juicy.

The 艇仔粥. Nice. Mum likes it. Basically its a mix of pork, fish, peanuts etc. Assorted porridge.

The carrot cake which we eventually da baoed home.

The crispy yam puffs. 

Pork ribs.

Spring roll. Which did not escape the fate of being da baoed.

Custard bun. Looks harmless.

Cute.

Heavenly! The salted egg custard ooze out when you bite it. Ahh~ Better if it is hotter as we left it on the table for quite some time before we ate it.

Ending off with red bean soup from the set meal.

Conclusion: I had a very enjoyable lunch session at Crystal Jade at Clementi Mall. The staff was polite when I requested them to pack the leftovers for us. Once in a while indulgence, very seldom do I have to chance to eat lunch with mum outside. Mum likes the food. Worth the next visit.

Address

Clementi Mall (next to Clementi MRT)
#03-54/55
155 Commonwealth Avenue West Singapore 129588

Mummy's Birthday at Neo Garden Restaurant

Went to try out the  Neo Garden restaurant at Jurong West because I was kind of attracted by the flyer they sent to my home. 

It is a restaurant located at the HDB void deck. It was raining heavily when we reached there. Quite ulu place which is only accessible by 1 bus service. 

Wanted to order crabs but dad keep saying its expensive. 100g for $5. 1 crab is around 800g. Expensive? Not sure.. Its been ages since I ate crabs outside. 

We settled for normal zi char style dishes. Did not managed to take photos of all because we are so busy eating. But nevertheless, some not-so-well taken photos below.

南乳pork. 

Interesting. Not bad. Different from the usual zi char dishes.

三色蛋+苋菜

So-so IMO. Taste similar everywhere.

Salted egg yolk prawns

Nice! I like the powdery taste of the salted egg yolk.

What is missing was the deep fried silver fish (?) which is the appetizer. Nice and crispy. Mum likes it. Then was the 一品锅 which contain the delicacies likes scallop, fish maw, sea cucumber etc. This is better than the normal zi char version as their delicacies are much bigger and more prominent. 

We noticed that those who ate there mostly drives. Don't seem to spot any residents who live there eat here. Hmmm? Anyway their service is not very good also. They seem to be in a hurry to clear our plates after we are almost finishing our food. The restaurant is not even packed?! What's the rush?

When the bill came, we concluded that it is not worth it to dine here. HDB location but similar-to-restaurant prices. 

If you want to try, here's the address:

Block 406 Jurong West Street 42 #01-583 Singapore 640406

Happy Birthday Mummy!

Happy Birthday to you! Be healthy always!