How to Get my Free Cone

Have been thinking since last week how to get to a Ben & Jerry's outlet on a weekday. On 21st April, ie. coming Tuesday, to be exact.

Why that particular day??? Cos it's Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day!!!!!!!

Apparently, on that wonderful day, Ben & Jerry will be giving out free ice cream cones to anyone & everyone!!!!

Unfortunately I would be working that day, so can't possibly bring Sam down to any of the outlets between the fateful hours of 12pm ~ 7pm. :(

Now me hoping very, very hard we can end the training early that day, then perhaps I'll have just enough time to nip over to the Raffles City outlet for the freebie! ;P

An Elaborate Kid's Meal

Wasn't feeling very hungry for lunch, so decided to bring Sam to the Ichiban Sushi at Jurong Point to try their kids' meal. Ha seen their kids' menu prominantly displayed everytime we walked past, so today got a chance to try it out.

They have 4 sets available, 2 of which featured spaghetti and the other 2, udon. I got the Maki Set($8.90) for Sam, since he's an udon lover, and I thought he'll be able to eat the accompanying sushi, which contained cucumber, crabstick and egg, 2 pieces each.

The udon came in a plastic child's bowl, with small metallic fork & spoon. The other hot foods - 6 pcs of sushi, 2 fried gyoza, 1 fried chicken drumlet and 2 small cheese sausages - were served in an aeroplane-shaped plate.

Sam ended up eating only the udon. For once, he refused his usual favourite cheese sausage, possibly cos it's deep fried and the skin was too crispy for his taste. Surprisingly he enjoyed the Japanese fish cake that came in the udon soup (cos I dislike that).

So on top of the 2 plates of sushi I grabbed for myself from the conveyor belt, I ate all his fried food. Despite failure on previous attempts, I asked him to try the konnyaku jelly, and surprising me again, he not only tried willingly, he loved it and finished the whole cup! And of course his fav Yakult........

We finished our lunch in an hour, which was a relief to me, since the waitress had given us a four-seater by the sushi conveyor, and I was afraid we'll end up occupying the table way after the lunchtime queue established itself. Sam was seated in a brown & beige Rubbermaid baby chair at the end of the table, the corridor being wide enough to accomodate the chair AND have enough space left to walk through comfortably, a not-so-common sight in Singapore's Japanese restaurants.

I ended 'tabao'-ing home the crabstick & egg sushi, which Sam devoured after his nap. The Yan Yan snack is still in my larder. I'm not sure how much mess Sam would create with all the chocolate dipping, and anyway, well it's not exactly a sinful snack, it's not a totally healthy one either.

I dunno why Ichiban Sushi designed their kids' meals to be so Westernised.........I mean, with spaghetti and Fish & chips! And to have both konnyakku jelly AND Yan Yan Snack........I dunno, maybe me too set in my thinking of chawanmushi (steamed egg) for children. Still, the Maki Set is just right for me when Sam wanted udon and I do not, so I shall not complain too much. ;)


Ichiban Sushi
#B1-55, Jurong Point

Furikake Saves the Rice

Although the mixed mince rice at MOF @ My Izakaya was totally disappointing & Sam didn't like it at all, I still 'tabao' some of the rice (already mixed up with the minced pork & beef) home in my trusty TumbleMates bowl. Wanted to try if the pungent taste of meat would be covered by furikake.

What is furikake (ふりかけ)? Wikipedia defined it as "any dry Japanese condiment meant to be sprinkled on top of rice. It typically consists of a mixture of dried and ground fish, sesame seeds, chopped seaweed, sugar, salt, and MSG."

I learnt to eat it when I was staying in Japan, and my ex-Japanese colleagues stationed to work in Singapore & Batam always add a packet on their rice at every lunchtime. Nowadays, most supermarkets in Singapore would sell the condiment, usually sesame or salmon flavoured.

What I like to use for Sam though, is the kids' version. These are usually packaged in cartoon charactors - Hello Kitty, Doraemon, etc - and the serving size for each packet is smaller than the adult version. There would usually be 4~5 different flavours - such as salmon (sake), egg (tamago), vegetable (yasai) - in a single package, each flavours having 4~6 packets. The main difference for the kids' version is it usually has calcium added. So I feel as though Sam would be getting some form of nutrients despite the MSG.

Normally, I add only half a packet of furikake to one whole bowl of Sam's rice when he has a poor appetite. Since Sam likes to eat salty foods, this makes it a convenient condiment to use besides the usual Chinese pork floss.

Anyway, after reheating the mixed mince rice in the microwave, I sprinkled a packet of Tamago Furikake (and later a packet of Sake Furikake) on the rice, and Sam willingly finished the resulting dish. So I didn't waste the rice, and saved myself the process of preparing a meal for Sam. ;)

The Wonderful Line of Shangri-La!

Warning: This will be a loooooong post with only one photo!

Only read about Shangri-La's "Flash Your Age" promotion in the Straits Times today. We didn't know about it when we made the reservation at The Line on Friday evening, and I was totally confused when the woman answering the call explained the limit's been reached & we won't be able to enjoy the promotion. But hubby wanted to eat BBQ seafood & MIL didn't, so the buffet was the best compromise to celebrate MIL's birthday yesterday night.

On hindsight, we would really have saved a lot off the bill had we been able to take up the promotion - imagine, 65% off the bill simply cos MIL was celebrating the 65th birthday then! But fortunately, got at least 15% discount via the UOB credit card. And got free parking cos we applied - on the spot - for the Singapore Shangri-La Food Circle card (free application, lifetime membership, earn points per $ spent for dining vouchers).

But I'm getting way ahead of my story, and starting to sound like I'm a waitress promoting the hotel. ;P But then, I really enjoyed the meal yesterday night, and even if there was no discount, I thought it was worth every single cent of the S$68++/pax (children half price, ages 6 & below free).

We got there a trifle later than the appointed time of 7pm, and managed to get parking at the basement 2 carpark. Which was lucky, cos hubby's sister's family was late and had to park all the way at the service apartment side at 8pm. Reason for the hordes of cars?? There were no less than 3 wedding dinners at the hotel on Saturday night!

But no worries, there were at least 3 usherers at the main lobby to guide the arriving guests. One of them very nicely led us all the way to the escalator leading down to The Line in the basement. That also happened to be the entrance to the poolside wedding reception of one of the wedding couples (the other 2 weddings held in the hotel's large & smaller ballrooms). A bit unfortunate for the couple, cos it had started to drizzle. But fortunately for us, the restaurant managed to secure an indoor seating. ;)

I always love a restaurant that prepared the baby chair in advance before we arrive at the table, especially when we've made the reservation earlier. So I was very pleased to see the grey Rubbermaid baby high chair at the large round table. Was even happier to see a cute set of plastic utensils waiting - fork, spoon, bowl, plate & cup.

Sam has recently demonstrated his new-found knowledge of asking the waitress for water at restaurants. Not that the poor waitresses usually understand what he meant, of course. But I reiterate Sam's meaning for water (warm, I added), and taught him to thank the serving waitress.

Meanwhile, hubby hurried back with some sushi to feed Sam. Then we can have some time to explore the wide selection of foods available.

And I really mean it when I typed "explore" & "wide". We've visited the place once many years ago before the refurbishment of the restaurant, and while now the place looked more 'hip', the foods were displayed all over the place in separate islands, making it a slight chore to view the entire selection.

And what a selection it was! There was a noodle bar (wanton mee, mee rebus, laksa, etc), an Indian selection (fresh naans with various curries, tikka grilling behind), a satay corner, a small salad bar & tapas corner, a Japanese selection (cha soba, selection of sushi & fresh sashimi - really fresh, they only slice the fish upon order), a crepe area, a fresh pasta corner, a steaming dim sum stove, a selection of Western & Chinese dishes, an ice-cream bar with plenty of toppings, and my favourite: the dessert & fruit bar with chocolate fondue!!! And every Singaporean's delight: the seafood counter with fresh oysters, prawns & crabs, eaten as displayed or can be BBQed upon request!

But the new layout meant some of the foods are actually not displayed prominantly on the serving plates. The glass walls of the various islands are really meant to display some of the food selections too. Hubby found the selection of cheeses at the tapas counter & we had some stinky zangy blue cheese. Sister-in-law found the roast chicken rice with char siew for my nephew. Hubby's sister went 3 rounds before she found the roast beef I recommended her.

Oh, the roast beef was the best I've ever eaten!!!!! This is the 1st time I've eaten medium-rare roast beef that sent me back for a 2nd serving! Even though the meat wasn't fully cooked it was still tender & flavourful. They must have used some of the best beef to make the dish. Only very good beef would taste good without cooking: the best beef I've eaten raw was used to make yuke, a kind of sliced raw beef salad with special sauce mixed with raw egg, when I was in Japan, and it was wonderfully tender! It's actually a Korean dish, I'm told, but it was heavenly with the Matsusaka beef!

Where was I? Oh yes, the roast beef in The Line. Hubby's sister didn't want to eat the beef thick & medium-rare like me (who just took whatever that was served), so she asked the serving chef to slice very thinly & cook the beef till it's nearly well-done. And it was still good!!!!

The other dishes that sent me back for seconds included chicken with exotic sauce and surprisingly, satay! I hadn't meant to eat a 'cheap' food at such a pricey buffet (typical Singaporean thinking, sorry!), but the lamb satay was just sitting there when I went past & everyone else was queuing for the chicken satay, so I just grabbed the 2 sticks back to try. Jackpot! The lamb was so tender & the flavouring so well-done (delicately & obviously satay but not overpowering the meat), I went back for the chicken & beef satay after trying the lamb version!

Unfortunately, I stuffed myself too full to eat much of my favourite desserts. :( And I was really stuffing myself when it came to dessert time! The chocolate mousse was good, not too sweet yet chocolatey bitter. The green tea strawberry cake was light, MIL even ate all the cream. The berry cheesecake was light too, not too creamy or cheesey. I didn't manage to get a slice of the durian cake, but on repeated visits managed to lay my hands on several macarons, which hubby found too sweet, but I loved, and surprisely, Sam loved it too! The petite pastry was just nice in his small hands, and he ate 2 of them easily.

It wasn't PERFECT, of course. I definitely didn't quite enjoy the lighting above our table: dim orange. Makes me feel as though I was eating in the dark. I appreciate mood lighting, but I do like to see what I'm eating. Sometimes I wonder if restaurants delibrately darken the lighting at tables so as to hide the non-freshness of the food served. ;P

But then, there was nothing to hide at The Line. The food was good. Very good!!! Though there were many local delights, the quality of food makes the high price of the buffet worth it. Oh, not ALL the dishes were perfect, of course. FIL said the laksa was too salty. The tom yam soup was too spicy. The cream of asparagus was nothing to rave about. But considering the spread, there were many, many, many more hits than misses.

Sam was quite well behaved yesterday. He loved the 2 different varieties of breadsticks from the small bread counter - ate 3 in total. The strawberry ice cream was a let down though, a trifle too strawberry sour for our tastes. Sam loved the wanton mee though. He's learning to eat noodles with his own fork, ate 1/3 bowl himself (we had to cut the noodles up slightly of course).

With the wonderful service & food, we ended the meal with a good strong cup of aromatic coffee (for hubby) & tea (for me), all the more lovely cos it was complimentary. ;)


The Line, Shangri-La hotel
22 Orange Grove Rd
Tel: 6213 4275
Dinner: 6.30pm - 10.30pm (weekends & holidays from 6pm)

Disappointing Rice Box in My Izakaya

Haven't blogged here for a long time, partly cos hadn't been eating at any new interesting places, partly cos been eating in a rush & kept forgetting to take photos of the food, partly cos was plain lazy! ;P

But yesterday visited one of my fav Japanese restaurants, MOF @ My Izakaya. Previously, had only been to their Bugis Junction outlet, and I had been pleasantly surprised to find they've opened another at Suntec City's Fountain Terrance. We sat near the entrance, and Sam was entertained by the view of the giant 'waterfall' from his white Ikea high chair.

Sam had just eaten 1/4 of a donut (Apple Cinnamon from Donut Factory near Carrefour on level 1) half an hour earlier. So I didn't order his usual from the kid's menu (Beary Set A or B, served in a cute bear shaped bento box). Instead, I ordered a Mixed Mince Rice ($5.20) for him, thinking it would be easy to 'tabao' any remaining portions Sam couldn't finish for later in the afternoon.

Well, though my Ebi Tenzaru Soba set ($21.80 for cold soba, 5 tempura prawns, pickles, soup & coffee/tea) was the usual standard, I was highly disappointed with the mixed mince rice. Dunno if the strong pungent taste came from the minced pork or beef. Either way, the meat wasn't well flavoured enough to overcome the pungent meat, and Sam didn't eat of the rice from his plastic Ikea utensils (fork, bowl & spoon).

I ended up feeding him my zaru soba & tempura prawns. And to relieve the disappointment, ordered a dessert: Sesame Zenzai with almonds ($4.70), topping up $1 for kanten jelly, which Sam liked to eat.

Well, portion-wise, the zenzai didn't disappoint: it was huge, much larger than I expected! Taste-wise it was satisfying too. The Japanese red bean paste was sweet (too sweet for hubby, but right for me), and it went very well with the black sesame ice cream, which was very rich, like eating frozen sesame paste. The Japanese rice dumplings were chewy, and the almond flakes - served in a separate bowl - crunchy. I just wished I could finish the dish!!!

Remembered my MOF card, so could get the 15% discount. Think by now I've earned back the $10 application fee for the card.

Oh, by the way, MOF = Ministry of Food.


MOF @ My Izakaya, Suntec City branch
3 Temasek Boulevard #B1-40
Tel : 6338 5523

Balls Galore at Thai Express

Haven't dined out alone with Sam for quite a while, not since he's started playgroup & I started my part-time job. So when I'm supposed to bring Sam to my mum's place for his overdued haircut after 'school', thought will be nice to eat at one of our new fav: Thai Express at the Jurong Point extension.

Sam quickly settled in his wooden low-back baby chair & clamoured for his toy cars. I made my usual order of chicken tang hoon ball soup ($6.90 for a bowl of 3 pcs) for Sam, who can usually finish at least 1 of the large meatballs mixed with vermicelli.

I like to order this dish for Sam, partly cos it's one of those foods Sam can easily feed himself with a fork, provided I cut up the meatball for him in advance of course. He can get both his proteins (chicken) and his carbohydrates (vermicelli) in a single bite! And it being a soupy dish, it's a much healthier alternative to other child-friendly foods, which are mostly deep fried.

But of course, being Sam, he refused to self-feed today. So I ended up having to feed him from his plastic rice bowl (standard Thai Express type) using the adult-sized fork. That's about the only un-child-friendly thing about this chain: they don't provide kid-size cutlery. Fortunately all their plates & bowls are plastic............

Decided to try a new dish today, instead of the usual prawn toast (minced prawns & chicken on bread, deep fried). The prawn balls ($6.90 for a plate of 5) were described on the menu as "crispy & chewy, kids love it!". Well, I loved it myself too, they were great with the accompanying sweet & sour chilli sauce.

Sam seemed to be doing fine with the chicken tang hoon balls, so I ate 4 of the prawn balls, leaving only 1 for him. And as usual, it would turn out Sam loved the prawn ball with the 1/3 piece of whole prawn inside, & clamoured for more. Had to pacify him with promises of future visits......

Also tried a new drink today, the Sour Plum drink ($5.50). Sam only managed 2 sips. Turns out the drink is slightly fizzy (that's fine by me), has small pieces of plum fruit in it (ok also), and has several calamasi seeds mixed in - not ok! Sam got a seed through the straw on his 2nd sip. Luckily for me (cos I passed it to him to drink before trying it myself) Sam didn't choke on the small seed & was old enough to spit it out. Definitely not a drink for young children!!!!

I ended up finishing the refreshing drink myself, uncovering more calamasi seeds in the process. Sam was, fortunately, contented with the free cold drinking water offered.

It's always nice to eat before the lunch crowd arrives, the service is so much better. The waiter & waitress today were very nice - picking up his toy cars when they crashed to the floor, offering a straw for his cold water, providing more serviettes without me asking. If only the bill would arrive more promptly...........the cashiers must be unused to customers signing up for Thai Express's own membership card, they took so long to process the previous customer's bill & application!!!!

Oh, DBS/POSB credit card holders get a 10% discount on bills exceeding $30. Well, me & Sam didn't eat that much today. ;)


Thai Express (Jurong Point)
#B1-65/66/67 Jurong Point
Tel: 68610167

Broken Utensils in mayim

Finally blogging again after suffering a week of stomach flu & another week nursing my sick son. Sam's fever has finally subsided after 6 days, and tonight had dinner with my anxious parents in one of our fav Chinese restaurants, mayim, in West Mall.

Had to wait a bit while they prepared our table, but the grey Rubbermaid baby chair & the plastic kid's utensils (bowl, cup & metal soup spoon) were all laid & ready for Sam when they ushered us in.

Daddy Mummy both ordered the 烧味双拼汤面 (roast chicken & char siew noodle in soup, S$6.50), since they enjoy the springy Hong Kong style noodles. I personally prefer mayim's handmade noodles, but Sam wanted to eat rice - he must be tired of 6 straight days of noodles, since he's supposed to abstain from rice & porridge when running a fever.

So I ordered white rice (60 cents) and 2 easy-to-digest dishes for Sam & me - 赛螃蟹 (shredded crab & fish in egg white, $8) and 牛油果炸琵琶豆腐 (deep fried minced pork & tofu with avocado cream, $9). Er, sorry, the picture of the dishes were taken after we've eaten 2 of the tofu & the waitress had mixed up the egg white with the sauce.

Anyway, my guess was accurate: the egg white/crab/fish dish was slightly salty & perfect with rice, and Sam didn't have to chew much to swallow the food. I didn't feed him the tofu after all though, remembered last minute the fried food wouldn't really be good for the just-recovered child. Otherwise, surely the well-flavoured tofu would have been welcome by Sam, though I don't see the point of adding the bland avocado cream.

Sam finished his whole cup of warm barley drink ($1.80), hopefully this would remove some of his 'heat'. I had to empty half the serving of syrup into my 花旗参甘露汁 (sugarcane juice with ginseng & carrot, $3.50) before I could tolerate the surprisingly strong taste of the ginseng.

I had made the mistake of forgetting to pack a few toy cars for the meal, and Sam got so bored at dinner I resorted to letting him play with whatever was on the table - a spoon holder & a sauce plate. He was enjoying this makeshift 'aeroplane' and 'rocket', then to my horror, the ceramic spoon holder fell on the floor and broke into 2!! My embarrassment doubled when the waitress offered to replace the spoon holder..........I am never going to forget Sam's toys again!!!!!!

In case you're wondering how Sam survived the rest of dinner: Mummy had to play 'making faces' with him!


Mayim Chinese Cuisine 天乐里精品食馆
#02-04 West Mall
1 Bt Batok Central Link
Tel: 6794-1590

Breakfast in Swenson's

Hubby had to go for his annual eye checkup 'early' in the morning before most shops in Orchard open, so decided to just give Sam his fav yogurt drink upon waking up, then rustle off to the Swenson's next to Paragon for breakfast.

Was surprised to find out the Crown Prince hotel has now became the Park Hotel. Really, one can't be away from Singapore for too long, else may really get lost upon returning home! Luckily the exterior of the building didn't change much, and the Swenson's below was still as popular as ever.

Decided to sit outside in the non-smoking area, so that Sam could look at the passing traffic in his Rubbermaid baby chair. Was pleasantly surprised to find the breakfast menu now (ie. compared to my last visit 2 yrs ago) included some Asian dishes, eg. chicken soup noodles. Not sure if this is available across all Swenson's outlets or just unique to this 24 hrs outlet.

Anyway, I stuck to my initial intention of ordering the eggs & sausages kiddie set (S$5.90, including a juice) for Sam. Forgot to ask for the eggs to be scrambled instead, so I had to end up eating the 2 sunny-side up myself, this cooking style not one of Sam's fav. The cresent moon-shaped hash browns were too crispy for my liking, seems to have more oil & crunchy bits than potatoe, luckily there wasn't much offered. While Sam happily ate his sausages & drank his apple juice, he refused to try the cup of fruit yogurt (chopped apple & canned orange slices in yogurt), so again those ended in my tummy.

I never understand why Swenson's, after going through the effort of creating the kids' menu and the train-decorated plate, never trained their staff to offer teaspoons or plastic plates/bowls to young children. I had initially wanted to let Sam self-feed from a smaller plate. After receiving a blank look from the waitress & a waiter who told me they have no plastic bowls, I gave up & just let Sam make a mess of his breakfast on the big train-plate with his big adult-size metal fork. After all, I'm not the one who has to clean up all the fallen food from the floor! ;P

I myself ordered the Eggs Florentine set (S$10.90, with juice & tea). The sourdough toast is really sour, but it's perfect with the creamy spinach & poached eggs. Had hoped Sam would be willing to eat some of the spinach, but he was in a picky mood, refused to eat it plain or with his sausages, picking out every single green strand. :(

After an hour long breakfast, Sam & I hopped across the road to play in Paragon's children playground on level 5 with all the musical cars. Then he promptly ruined my morning by disappearing while I was hunting for his CNY clothes! It was 10 anxious minutes before I found him playing with the toys in Early Learning Centre. Needless to say, I was scolding him all the way to the baby room (also on level 5, opposite the toilets), where I had to lower my voice (still nagging) to avoid disturbing the baby nursing in one of the 2 nursing rooms.

I nearly lost my temper when I found that Sam had pooped in his diaper without telling me. The saving grace was discovering the plastic bags hanging in the baby room for the express purpose of disposing used diapers! Oh, how I loved the Paragon management then! So while it was a stinky & embarassing affair having to clean up Sam on one of the 3 changing pads while another poor father tried to make up a milk bottle from the hot & cold water dispenser in the same small baby room, at least I left in peace of mind............


Swenson's - Park Hotel
270 Orchard Road #01-06
Tel: 6836-3320
Opens 24 hrs daily

Disappointing shokudo

I had been excited to find out there's a 'new' Japanese restaurant in the expanded basement of Raffles City, and specially arranged to meet my ex-classmates for lunch there. Shokudo is like the Japanese version of Marche, with each customer given a card to register the items we bought at individual stalls, then pay the bill at the exit. The seating areas inside are not so distinctly fanciful as Marche's, though different areas still feature different styles of tables & chairs. We just took the nearest comfy-looking one, where Sam's wooden baby chair fitted right in.

Initially, I was quite pleased to find the drinks stall selling Calpis, my fav Japanese yogurt drink. At $2.90 it's not exactly cheap, but Sam loved it too. I then ordered a seaweed udon ($7.50) & a gyoza ($5 for 5 pcs), thinking to repeat my old trick of mixing the minced meat from the gyoza with the noodles for Sam to eat.

Turns out the udon was very chewy. Usually the problem with udon is it gets too squashy when left soaked in the hot soup for too long. Shokudo's version was so firm, even I myself took some time to chew through the noodles. As you can imagine, Sam took even longer for a single bite! The gyoza was seriously not tasty at all........Sam, the meat lover, not only did not ask for 2nd helpings, but after eating only 1.5 pcs of the fried dumpling, rejected the rest of the dish.

Desparate, I laid waste the noodles & bought a plate of fried breaded oysters ($7 for 4 pcs) with a bowl of rice ($1.50). One of the reasons why I like to bring Sam to Japanese restaurants is the softness of the Japanese short grain rice, which makes it easier for Sam to eat. Well, shokudo's rice is not soft at all.......though the rice was distinctly short grain, I felt as though I was eating the usual Chinese restaurant rice.

The oysters? I can't even tell how fresh they are: I've spent too much energy chewing through the thick coating of flour surrounding the shellfish! So 1st time in this blog, I'm furnishing a photo of my unfinished food. It's really quite sinful for me to waste so much, but I've really lost most of my appetite.

I must be really quite unlucky to have ordered 3 separate dishes that I didn't like. Friend JH said her ramen was quite acceptable. And judging from the throngs of customers in the place, I guess there must be better dishes somewhere out there.........

Only after I've paid the bill & stepped out of the restaurant did I see the mini children's play area right at the end of the restaurant, where a small slide & 3 bead puzzles serve to entertain young children. Well, I find Raffles City's baby room just to the left of the restaurant more welcoming, though small - with its 2 nursing rooms & one diaper changing area - but complete with a large basin, hand dryer & napkins to clean my hands after changing Sam's diaper.

Don't think I'll ever go back to shokudo again, not till I've changed my preference of food to chewy ones.............


shokudo
#B1-44E, Raffles City
Tel: 6837-3793

The Cow in Lai Lai

Rather irritated the baby room in the Basement 1 of Jurong Point's new extension has not even started renovation yet, so ended up changing Sam's diaper along the corridors, cos was too lazy to go back to the old wing for a simple change.

Had wanted to find out why the Lai Lai Casual Dining in the new extension is so popular, so went for an early weekday lunch before the lunchtime crowd comes in.

The white Ikea baby chair brought a smile to my face. They've personalised the chair with their red company logo! Sam, too, found the cow in the centre of the red circle attractive, and willingly pointed out the cow for me to photograph!

The signature dishes I was interested in were all spicy. In the end, I decided on a small bowl of taiwanese vermicelli with pork meatballs ($5.90), as I wasn't too hungry after a rather large breakfast. Drinks was a fruit punch ($3.90), though the waitress forgot my specific request of 'no ice'.

The Taiwanese version of rice vermicelli is very different from our local version - thick soup, noddle strands cut short, it's more like drinking the vermicelli than eating it. Lai Lai's version is not bad, small portion, just like in Taiwan, where the dish is more like the snack at tea time, I believe. But if feeding this dish to children, do take note: while the vermicelli is soft & very easy for Sam to chew, the liquid-like texture of the dish caused Sam to drink it like soup, and once he nearly choked. After that I tried hard to drain out most of the soup, not an easy task, given the nature of the dish.

The 5 meatballs with the vermicelli were pretty good, so much so that Sam finished 4 of them easily. Luckily I expected this, and ordered a fried pork cutlet ($6.90) in advance. ;P Though the cutlet was tender & crispy, I still much prefer the Japanese style. *I miss my Tonkichi!*

The waitress had anticipated our need for kids' utensils, and the plastic bowl & spoon turned out to be those commonly used in certain Chinese restaurants. The spoon is an adult size soup spoon though, causing me to give Sam too large mouthfuls several times.

It was a good thing I had the early lunch, cos by 12:30pm, before I even finished my pork cutlet, the queue started! I guess smaller portions are rather popular with the office crowd. Besides, Lai Lai is the only other Chinese restaurant (besides Ding Tai Feng) in that part of the new wing.

Perhaps next time I'll just get hubby to try the set menu, starring their signature spicy noodles. But then, I don't really want Sam to get full on the accompanying bubble tea leh...........

Members of Jurong Point's Shiok! card take note - 10% discount on a la carte items only.


Lai Lai Casual Dining 来来红烧牛肉面
#B1-60/61 Jurong Point (extension, or JP2)
Tel: 6861-1004

Flower Bowl in Bali Thai

IMM is definitely one of the more child-friendly shopping malls in the West. Besides the free outdoor water-play area & sheltered playground, there's plenty of musical cars & gameball machines distributed all over the mall, so parents have something (assuming you're not picky) to entertain their children wherever they shop.

Today, Sam found his dream musical car: Mickey Mouse on a colourful car, his 2 loves in one! We were on the way to Popular, but Sam got distracted by this, and we never made it to the bookstore. I spent 20 whole minutes listening to Sam lament on the wheel that "break" (note the lack of front right wheel), and after he found the spare tyre at the back of the car, tried in vain to fix the problem! Really, spending too much time in the company of children may lower my IQ!!!!!!!

Lunch at Bali Thai today. We haven't eaten here for 4 years, and the food was as good as we remembered. The waitress discreetly obtained our approval before serving the keropok, since it costs us $3. Unlike the time in Siam Kitchen, Sam didn't eat much of the titbit, since it's the bitter version (sorry, not sure what's the true name of the titbit, I've always called it the bitter keropok!). I thought thus Sam would be hungry enough to eat plenty of my fried Thai rice noodles ($9.50) and the stuffed boneless chicken wings ($3.50/pcs, min 2 pcs).

While Sam enjoyed the delicious chicken (slightly minced with a bit of carrots & herbs), he only ate a third of the bowl of the noodles I set aside for him. I guess he found the same fault with the dish as I did: while the fried noodles do taste good, the sweetness of the sauce accumulates as you eat, so halfway through the dish, I was rather sick of the noodles already.

Hubby was luckier with his fried tang hoon ($8.80), which he finished so fast, only an empty plate greeted me when I tried to get an alternative carbohydrate for Sam. I guess he got really hungry after the terribly spicy papaya salad ($9.50) appetiser, which caused me to finish half my drink of calamansi ($3.80) after only a single mouthful! Nope, it's not just me, even hubby could only manage a few bites before surrendering.

While the service was generally good, with the waitress asking us to check the individual items before signing on the final bill (pretty sure it's a subtle way to make sure we won't return & complain about having to pay for the keropok!), the kids' utensils provided upon request still cause me to ponder.

The white Ikea baby chair was quite usual, but the translucent flower-shaped bowl the waiter brought doesn't resemble any child's bowl I've seen. I'm still wondering if that bowl is meant to be eaten from, or is it used to contain peanut shells or chicken bones???!!! And the waiter a bit blur blur, I had to ask a 2nd time before he got me a spoon for Sam, and yes, he provided an adult-sized spoon.......

Still, I can't help but wish I was hungry enough to order some of the desserts. Maybe next time...........


Bali Thai (IMM branch)
2 Jurong East St 21
#01-21 IMM Building
Tel: 6560-5660
Opens 11.30am ~ 10pm

Came across this website while I go searching for something else:

http://www.thebabycafe.org/BCPage/BC_Singapore.htm

and I had a flashback on all my own breastfeeding days. Having totally, finally, weaned off Sam just last month, I thought to share my little list of breastfeeding websites that's helped me survived the past 2.5 yrs.

So now there's an additional panel on the sidebar, and I'm 'inspired' to comment in my future posts about the baby rooms (or nursing rooms, or changing rooms) I come across in my dining trips with Sam. Hopefully this would be of some help to those mothers still needing the nursing facility. And for those with older children, may the info help you gauge if it's worth the effort to travel 3 storeys up and across the entire shopping mall for that simple diaper change (something I myself always end up pondering).

A Ben & Jerry's Ice-cream Treat

Silly hubby wanted to have a X'mas lunch instead of dinner, thinking it'll be less crowded. So I dragged Sam all the way to VivoCity on a rainy day. Sam's hungry tummy couldn't possibly wait till his daddy gets off work at 1pm, so we ended up having Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

I had thought Sam would wanna eat chocolate chip cookies, so I ordered the Double Cookies Euphoria ($12.50). Turns out Sam was more interested in the mini M&Ms toppings!!!!!! I ended up finishing all 5 cookies on my own, and was hence too full to eat lunch till 3 pm!

One thing I like about Ben & Jerry's ice cream is that some of its flavours are full of chunky bits, like the New York Super Fudge Chunk, so Sam could happily chew his way through. But perhaps I shouldn't have gotten both scoops of chocolate flavoured ice cream: my throat got so dry from all the cookies & chocolate I had to drink several cups of the free flow chilled water provided!

I hadn't bothered to ask if there were any baby chairs provided at the outlet. The tables and chairs provided were so cute & colourful Sam easily climbed up one himself, while I was trying to decide on my order. Apparently I've done something right: after Sam got tired of sitting down, he actually asked for my permission to get off the chair, even though there's no safety belt tying him down!

Apparently the place is rather popular with parents giving their children, and themselves, a sweet treat. Even passerbys can't help but stop & take photos with the resident cow at the shop entrance:

Oh, turns out the Ben & Jerry's website has a number of games (free) for children to play, including some craftwork. Sam is still too young for these, but you may find http://www.benjerry.com.sg/mysticmoo an interesting site to visit.


Ben & Jerry's (VivoCity)
1 HarbourFront Walk #02-135/136
Tel: 6736-9917

Creamy Linguini in PastaMania

Mother wanted to try pasta, so I brought her to PastaMania for some reasonably priced Italian food. The Marinara Seafood penne ($10.80) was as good as I remembered. What was new (to me, since it wasn't available 4 yrs ago when I left the country) was the kid's menu.

For $6.90 ~ $7.90, depending on the pasta dish chosen, the kid's set comes with the pasta, 2 pcs garlic bread, and a bottle of juice. I've already ordered a 7" Chicken Ham & Mushroom pizza ($9.20) for Sam, since he usually doesn't take pasta, but I couldn't resist wondering if there's anything special about the kid's menu, so I ordered the $7.90 Alfredo (chicken in cream sauce) linguine to try.

Well, the slightly smaller portion of pasta was served in a pasta bowl surrounded by colourful vegetables. Other than that, there wasn't anything kiddy about the set! The garlic bread was the same serving size as the usual adult set, as was the juice. There wasn't even smaller sized cutlery available! Fortunately the plates were all plastic & Sam's now big enough to tolerate the adult-sized spoon.

Needless to say, I was the one who ate most of the kid's meal. About the only consolation to the meal was that Sam, surprisingly, was willing to eat the cream sauce-based linguine. Wonder if he was too hungry, or does he simply dislike the tomato-based version (this is the 1st time he tried the cream sauce).......

Point to note: the white Ikea baby chairs are hidden goodness-knows-where by the restaurant and could not be seen by the usual customer (ie. me). You have request for it.


PastaMania (West Mall)
1 Bukit Batok Central Link
#01-40 West Mall (on the outside of the building)
Tel: 6793-9315

Beautiful Cane Chair of Jia Xiang Mee Village

Wanted to try this new eating place in the new Jurong Point extension simply because of their beautiful cane baby chair!!! Isn't it a lovely sight compared to the common white Ikea ones???

But of course, there are the disadvantages, ie. no seat belt, making it unsuitable for very young children. Its roomy size makes it comfortable for older kids, since Sam is outgrowing the Ikea version. But this means he spent half the lunch sitting with the rare freedom of hugging his knees up close to his chest! I must find some other method to teach him to sit properly!

Turns out the noodle place features some well known or popular mee from Kuching, Sarawak. The place is decorated the 'old' style, with wooden tables & stools, 'brick' walls and partially open kitchen (the noodle cooking part). There're only 12 items on the menu - I ordered the Jia Xiang noodle ($6), dry, though soup version available.

Though I find the noodles a trifle too expensive, at least the portion was reasonble. Even after giving Sam 3/4 bowl of the noodles, there's still enough to fulfill my hunger. There were plenty of ingredients - lots of green vegies, minced pork, char siew, and in the separate bowl of soup, 2 prawns & 3 wantons.

The noodles were seasoned differently from the typical Singapore style. Me can't tell what they used, except perhaps sesame oil?, but definitely no soya sauce involved, cos the mee retains its yellow colour beautifully. Chili sauce available in a large porcelain bowl on each table, for those who like their noodles spicy. I enjoyed the noodles as it is, though finding it a trifle salty, & easily finished the water chestnut drink ($2).

Important point: the noodles were very springy. While that's a good quality for delicious chinese noodles, it made it a trifle troublesome for me to cut the noodles into bite-size portions for Sam. Definitely not recommended for younger children not used to all the chewing. I myself am hoping Sam did manage to chew through his meal properly.........

Jia Xiang Mee Village did not have any kids' utensils. Upon request, the waitress handed me a white plastic rice bowl, & a pair of adult size metal fork & spoon. Fortunately Sam was in his 'eating' mood - opened his mouth WIDE to accomodate the spoon & all the food on it. Perhaps his willingness to eat has to do with the crispy bits of fried wanton ($5.50 for Small) I had ordered with this exact purpose in mind. ;P

There's no service charge incurred........this means you'll have to grab a seat then make the orders at the cashier, & perhaps carry your drinks back yourself. The hot dishes will be sent to the table though, no worries. The waitresses, noting me carrying Sam, also kindly served us our drink at our table.

All in all, a place to go if you miss the Kuching-styled noodles, and if you've never eaten that (like me), a good alternative to our local Singaporean version.


Jia Xiang Mee Village 家香面村庄
#03-90 Jurong Point
Tel: 6795-6766
Other outlets in Killiney Rd, VivoCity, Marina Sq & Toa Payoh Ctr.

Non-Fried Meal for Kids in Ramen Shop

Got this idea after eating the relatively good gyoza in Menichi the last time, so I tried it out today when I ate there again:

Ordered the Yakiniku Ramen set ($12.90), which came with a half portion of ramen with black pepper beef, a small portion of curry rice, & 2 pcs of gyoza. I requested for the beef to be served separately from the ramen, so that the noodles & its soup remains non-spicy. Also ordered an extra portion of gyoza ($4.90) - 5 pcs - since I know Sam really eats a lot of meat!

Then I placed most of the ramen into the plastic kid's bowl, asked the waitress to help cut the noodles really short, scooped out the meaty fillings of 5 gyozas and mixed those up with the noodles.

Ta-da! Minced pork noodles!

Ok, it doesn't look very appetising, but at least I don't have to worry about Sam finding the char siew too tough, swallowing the bean sprouts whole, or eating too much fried foods. Now, for this lunch, he's getting his proteins & carbohydrates, and if you count the chopped spring onions mixed with the meat in the gyoza, some vegetables as well!

Hee! Talk about a desparate mom!

A Soft Christmas Tree in the name of Charity

A non-food-related but very Singaporean post:

All sorts of X'mas trees in Singapore now, and this one captured my attention today after lunch:


Located in the centre of Suntec City Convention Centre, this tree is set up as a charity drive to collect stuffed toys for the children of the Metta Welfare Association.

So if you have any teddy bears or soft toys to share, do bring them down to the big box next to this wonderful Christmas tree. Charity & X'mas photo-taking, 2-in-1 fun!

Collection till 21 Dec 08.

The Biting Fish Bowl in Hai Tien Lo

Despite his repeated reminders to me that times are bad, hubby wanted a good meal on his rest day, so we ended up with a S$58++ a la carte buffet brunch at the Cantonese restaurant, Hai Tien Lo, in Pan Pacific hotel. Located on level 37, Sam enjoyed the ride on the 'glass' lifts on the outside of the building. But the view today was dismal due to the weepy weather:

The baby chair isn't my fav type - it looks like a mini chair from those old-styled Chinese restaurants, and have absolutely no form of restraints whatsoever to keep the child safely in the seat. Even Sam was disappointed to find no safety belt for him to buckle into. I suppose the high chair would be good for older children who are a trifle too short for the adult chairs, but as expected, we spent the latter half of the meal telling Sam to sit down and keep his hands off the dishes.

On the plus side, the plastic kid's bowl was an entertainment in itself. Never mind the small shiny metallic fork & spoon. Sam spent the 1st 20 min of the meal pretending he was bitten by the 'fish'. Initially I didn't understand what he was doing, and was rather irritated to hear him go "ouch" with no apparent reason when I'm trying to eat my lunch. Then I saw him touch the bowl (at the tail end!) with one finger, quickly retracted it, & mutter 'ouch'! So he was pretending the 'fish' bit his finger!!!!


Sorry no photos of the food, me too busy eating & didn't wanna try taking photos of 10+ dishes served at various points of time. ;P That's a testimony to genuinely good food, a reason for the rather high price of the buffet. Besides the bird's nest egg tarts, shark's fin soup & lobster dumplings (only 1 serving per person for these dishes), the other dishes we tried (including steamed cod fish, fried garoupa, wasabi prawns, 虾饺，烧卖, homemade tofu, black pepper ostrich, stewed pork ribs, seasonal vegetables with lily bulbs, 油鸡，烧肉, drunken prawns) were all delicious.

The white peony tea at $6/pax was no joke, but as hubby says, it's 'real' tea, fragrant & full-bodied, didn't get too bitter or mild after repeated servings over the 1.75 hr meal. The fruits (including strawberries, sweet rock melon & jamu) & desserts (various types of kueh & cakes, a good mango pudding, among others) were at a self-service buffet table, and by the end of the hot dishes I was really stuffing myself full so as not to miss the mango pudding, my fav dessert!

Sam loved the sesame seed walnuts served as appetiser, and polished off several prawns again. I found that the prawns used in the steamed prawn dumpling are usually softer and easier for Sam to eat, compared to the firm ones in the drunken prawn dish. As hubby pointed out, the firm ones are probably fresher, but after Sam spat out those prawns after 5 min of constant chewing, I rather let him eat (& chewed then swallowed) prawn dumplings.

Can't wait for hubby's next urge for good food! ;)

Oh, almost forgot: UOB credit card members get 15% discount off, making the buffet a trifle more friendly on the wallet.........


Hai Tien Lo
Level 37, Pan Pacific Hotel,
7 Raffles Boulevard , Marina Square
Tel: 6826-8240
A La Carte Buffet Brunch: 11.30am to 2.30pm (Weekends & Public Holidays)
Dress code: Smart Casual

A Camel & Cocktail in Shin Kushiya Vivocity

The expected-to-be-short trip to get our new Toyota Wish turns out to be a long, eventful morning involving a possible ants' nest & a 1.5 hr wait for the window film. So I ended up having to lunch with Sam in VivoCity while hubby go settle all the nitty-gritty details.

Sam found the outdoor children's playground while I was still pondering how to occupy the 20 min to lunchtime. So I ended up holding Sam back from the water sprouts - wonderful play area if you're in swimsuits, but a definite no-no for a mother without a towel & sun block!

The swings, see-saw & other play areas are all uniquely designed. More for older kids, I thought, since I saw teenagers play on the see-saw effortlessly. Sam climbed up the little hill only to find the blue slide scathing hot to the touch. In an effort to get him out of the hot noon sun, I brought him to the shaded area in the centre of the playground where multiple horses await by a girl & her cash register. I thought of treating Sam to a ride on the motorised animals.

But I was mistaken. Only after I've paid the $10 deposit did I realise the horses are mechanical, requiring the child on it to push the pedals up & down with his legs to move the animal, mimicking the action of horse riding. Sam was way too young to understand the task required of him, and 3 min after sitting dumbly on his camel (of all the horse available, he chose the only camel!), he asked to get off, then proceeded to push the camel around the compound!

The girl in charge was quite sweet: seeing Sam playing off the camel, she only charged me the 3 min Sam was on the animal. I asked Sam if he wanted a photo with the 'horse', & he specially made this pose! Now only have to teach him to look at the camera at the same time........

Left the playground hot & sweaty, & my eyes were drawn to Shin Kushiya, due to the large banner outside the restaurant advertising its kushiyaki (various foods grilled on sticks). Haven't eaten in a kushiyaki restaurant for years!!!!! So I got Sam seated in the white Ikea baby chair, then realised Sam probably couldn't eat most of the kushiyaki, & I had too full a breakfast to risk ordering 2 different meals for Sam & me.

In the end, I settled for the Ladies Set (S$19.80) - a little of everything - so Sam can eat the udon & I can try the kushiyaki, sashimi & dessert. The futomaki & salad were quite standard, the salmon sashimi thick & fresh, the lemon cheesecake pretty good, the braised eggplant was firm & well-seasoned, and the cucumber/seaweed appetiser was, well, very appetising.

The chicken (I think) kushiyaki were pretty good, soft & tender & not overcooked. I like to eat kushiyaki plain with the sauce it was served in, but I tried out Shin Kushiya's special salts: the yellow curry salt was strong & flavourful, you wouldn't taste the freshness of your food with a smear of this seasoning! The purplish plum salt was a trifle too sour for me, I think it would complement the kushiyaki much better were it be much milder.

I had ordered a Ikura Oroshi ($12.80) - fish roe with white radish & lime served attractively as a cocktail appetiser - for Sam to eat with the udon from my set, which turned out to be such a small portion I added a Mixed Chazuke ($6.80) after he finished all the noodles & fish roe. Not many Japanese restaurants serve ochazuke, which is rice & salmon/seaweed/plum served in hot tea broth. Hubby says it resembles Teochew porridge. ;P

Anyway, I find the mixed chazuke (containing salmon, seaweed & plum) here too 'wet'. I prefer those that allows me to pour out the broth from the teapot myself, so I can control the amount of broth in the bowl. Turns out Sam was fairly full after the udon, and I end up 'ta bao'-ing most of the chazuke home.

Hubby turned up when I was finishing the meal, and ordered a Hotate Kariage Don set ($18.80), which had such a big bowl of rice he barely managed to finish it! I liked his side dish of stewed vegetables, but hubby finds the kakiage don (mixed shredded vegetables fried tempura style) too dry - he prefers those that adds the egg sauce over the don.

After we left the restaurant, we saw its takeaway booth just next door, with delicious looking rice balls & kushiyaki. Something to try the next time we visit!


Shin Kushiya
Vivocity #02-120/122
Tel: 6275-8766

Keropok Galore in Siam Kitchen

Couldn't resist the die-cast models of the Comfort, Yellow Top & CityCab taxis, so today brought Sam to the Toys 'R' Us in Jurong Point to buy the pull-back toy car. He picked the blue Comfort model, and continued to be entranced by the car with front doors that can open & close (his 1st such toy) the entire day.

His fascination with the toy gave me the opportunity to examine the banner outside the Siam Kitchen on the way to NTUC, and so we ended up having the set lunch (S$11.90++) there.

The wooden baby chair was clean with a working safety belt, and the waitress, upon request, gave the complete plastic baby set (bowl, spoon, fork), with warm water & straw in the plastic cup. A big plate of keropok was served when we were seated. Sam loves the tidbit (adds $1 in the final bill), as I do, so we munched our time away waiting for the food to be served.


Of the 6 appetisers - 10 main courses - 3 drinks set lunch menu, I chose the spicy green mango salad, thai rice noodle with beef, and the iced lemongrass tea. The drink was refreshing, as claimed, though I find it a trifle sweet, and I personally prefer a stronger lemongrass taste.

The green mango salad was nicely sour & crunchy and really spicy (for me), and it's about the best dish of my lunch there, cos the beef noodles turns out to be a trifle disappointing. The soup was too oily for my taste; even looking at the oil reduced my appetite somewhat (though the mango salad turned it back up). The beef slices were fatty, and the beef balls not very flavorful. No, I'm not the only picky one - Sam also didn't like the beef balls much, eating only 1 when he could easily eat 3.

Worse still, he still doesn't like rice noodles much.......he willingly devours ramen, ban mian, & yellow noodles of all sizes, but when it comes to hor fan & kuay teow, he eats only just enough to stop his tummy growling. So his half bowl of rice noodles got wasted, and he ended up eating even more keropok!

I had added $1.90 for a dessert, caramelised tapioca with coconut milk (out of the 5 choices available). This turns out to be a big portion, but way too sweet for me. I thought the dish would be served dry, but the tapioca chunks are literally swimming in the bowl of syrup.

To top it all off, Sam's diapers overflowed and I ended the lunch rushing out of the restaurant to change his pants! What a meal! I suppose I shouldn't be too picky for the price paid & the size of the servings. Just treat it like a thai food court with service charge & GST, and since it's not crowded at lunchtime, it'll do, sometimes.


Siam Kitchen
#B1-06 Jurong Point (outside NTUC Fairprice)
Tel: 6794-1588