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i'm a girl who have stepped into the unknown called work and decided that schooling is better. i also have a propensity to go crazy over fried chicken wings and simply love to squeeze and over-feed my obese hamsters. my blog is a mode for expressing my love for food, movies, travel and shopping!



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qiuuing@gmail.com

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Wednesday, November 26, 2008 @ 22:31
end of a chapter

tomorrow's my last day at work! surprisingly, despite my grumbling, i think i'll miss it. here are some photos taken during a property launch on monday.


me and grace.


from left: waiter, francine, grace, me and chialin.

my colleagues are holding a farewell party for me. first at the ice-cream parlour downstairs and later at vivocity. i was so touched when i received the memo!

will miss getting up every morning to take shuttle bus at jurong point. will miss eating breakfast on the bus ride to work. will miss jackie, chialin and caroline laughing at my chinese and cooking lunch together. will miss catching a ride with linda to meetings and going to macdonald's drive thru on the way back to office.

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Tuesday, November 25, 2008 @ 16:34
more trips this year

just some updates about my upcoming trips:

(a) genting this weekend with my maternal side

(b) macau next month with my family and maternal grandma

omg i'm so excited about genting! first time going on a trip with my maternal family. can't wait!

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Sunday, November 23, 2008 @ 09:42
the famous food bowl

i dun know whether it's the colour, material or shape, but it sure seems like a comfortable place to doze off.


remember cow when he was a baby?



now it's cappu's turn. imagine how teeny he is that he can still fit!

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Saturday, November 22, 2008 @ 21:33
pics are up

here's the pictures for dad's birthday celebration at the steakhouse and nectarie.


the steakhouse bar near the entrance. we were seated near the grill, which was towards the back of the restaurant.



the caesar salad, $12. it was only ok and the serving's small. considering the price, i expected better.


printemps salad, $18. i totally dislike this salad. the dressing tasted weird, kind of like sesame oil. furthermore, the dressing and greens don't mix well together.


our sides, mashed potatoes, $5 and saute mushrooms, $8. the mashed potatoes tasted like your average mashed potatoes that you can find anywhere else. my sis didn't like the mushrooms, she thought they were a bit uncooked. you have to order side dishes because the steak don't come with any sides.


my sis's cod fish, $30. she loved it. very fresh and smooth. the wedges and miso sauce just enhanced the flavour of the fish.


my fillet mignon, ladies' cut (200g) medium rare, $42. my dad had the men's cut (300g) medium rare, $60. the steak here can possibly be stated as the best in singapore. although the exterior may look a bit brown (due to the grill), the steak is cooked perfectly, with just the right amount of redness. very tender and juicy!


my mum's beef wellington, which she didn't know was cooked like that. she was just attracted by the words "veal" and "foie gras." it goes unsaid that she was the only one who didn't enjoy her main course.

the bill came up to $303.67, including drinks. fyi, they don't serve water.

you can check our the steakhouse's menu here. it's quite dated, some of the dishes, such as the gratinated king prawns, are off the menu.

after that we went to nectarie for dessert.



2 of the staff recommendations and must-try, caramelised bananas with chocolate and double chocolate mudcake, both $7. the caramelised banana cake is very good! definitely worth a trip down just for it.


the tiramisu, $7 (top right hand corner) looks good, but is terribly disappointing. all cream, can't taste the lady fingers or liquor.


i didn't try this, but the opera cake looked really good!


my sis's strawberry shortcake, $6. very generous with the berries and almonds. my sis was really impressed (she bakes). she said a good strawberry shortcake is hard to bake.


the milk ameretto chocolate cake, $7. like the double chocolate mudcake, it's too rich for my liking.

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Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 22:30
west coast plaza

mini shout out here - wanna thank siyu for the dinner at cedele yesterday. siyu treated lil and me to dinner at cedele. as usual it was hilarious when the 3 of us got together (personal joke: hotdog, bun, mustard & ketchup). thanks woman :) love the apple caramel sea salt log cake! hope you're feeling much better today, always look on the brighter side of thing.

xxxxxxx

went for dinner with my colleagues just now to the newly revamped west coast plaza, aka former ginza plaza. it's currently still quite empty, mostly food and pharmacies/watson. i foresee the main attraction to be food, considering that some big names, such as fish & co, bbq chicken, mof and new york new york have outlets there.




the mall is filled to the brim with christmas decorations, with christmas heralds playing everywhere.


my colleagues jackie and chialin.


we had dinner at bbq chicken. it was the only place in the whole mall which had a long queue. you can smell the tantalizing aroma of the chicken from the escalators. your nose can literally lead the way to the restaurant.



the huge christmas tree at the entrance.


our main course, their chef recommendation, bbq chicken. comes with fries and coleslaw, and their opening special, 2 drumlets (either spicy or non-spicy).


chialin and jackie ordered the chicken leg, which is similar to the chops but a tad spicier.


our floats. please do not try the pepsi float. it just kept bubbling and overflowing. didn't have this problem for the root beer float.


you get 10% discount if you pay with hsbc credit card.


from left: eric, chialin and jackie. chialin's like the spokesperson for the restaurant haha.


from left: me, caroline, eric, chialin and jackie.




4 big beauties!


chialin pretending to shop.

it was a good dinner. eric made an impromptu decision to join the girls' outing and it was fun, kind of like comic relief. can't wait to do it again next thursday!

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Monday, November 17, 2008 @ 17:18
weekend @ clarke quay

update regarding my weekend. food fiesta! starting with dad’s birthday on friday. treated my family dinner at the steakhouse, clarke quay, to celebrate my dad’s birthday. i could say it’s hands down the best steak in singapore.

afterwards, we headed to nectarie , located across the street, for dessert. scrumptious! you definitely have to try the caramelized banana chocolate cake. the prices are reasonable and the cakes are decorated prettily. will upload photos after my sis’s exams.

following that on sunday, we went down to clarke quay again. meiyi and yijiong treated us dim sum at ah yat seafood restaurant. it was super ex. they had this vegetable and pork porridge which was really nice, totally different from the typical century egg porridge which you find at almost every dim sum restaurant. another safe choice for sweet tooth is the fried banana and red bean paste.

once again, we went to nectarie for dessert. on top of the caramelized banana chocolate cake, we had the mango strudel and waffle with banana and wild strawberries. if you haven’t been to nectarie, i strongly recommend you to try it. will elaborate further with prices and their promotions when I get the pics from my sis.

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Sunday, November 16, 2008 @ 09:25
delifrance with jackie and chialin

finally got the photos from chialin so i could upload it. jackie, chialin and i went down to delifrance for dinner after work. nobody brought along a camera, so we had to rely on chialin's phone (had the best camera). i recommended them the cheap set meals that delifrance offered.


jackie and i.



jackie's set meal. mushroom soup with garlic bread, creamy chicken mushroom pasta and hot tea.



my coq au vin, which is chicken stewed in wine with vegetables. i had high hopes for the sauce but it wasn't very tasty. the dish was served with mashed potatoes.


chialin was the only one who ordered from the $11.90++ section. she had chicken steak, which she found was a huge portion. if you order from the $11.90++ section, you can have a choice of salad or soup.


our dessert that night was mango cake. it was good, not too mousse-y.

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Thursday, November 13, 2008 @ 09:05
kenny rogers and james bond

had dinner with dad at kenny rogers, suntec city. the chicken was dry and tasteless. extremely disappointing. i think kenny rogers would be embarrassed to have his name linked to our restaurant in singapore. it didn't use to be that bad.

however, nothing can beat my first experience of kenny rogers in america about 13 years back. still the only place in the world where i eat the chicken whole (with skin, no bones though)!


after dinner, we headed for our movie. let me put a disclaimer first: it's a good movie, but it's not james bond! this movie is much better than the first, but i still think he's too rugged and not clean cut (or good looking) enough for a james bond (compare pierce brosnan and sean connery).

they should have made it a whole new sequel by itself, since he wasn't very well known before the movie. should have been something like bourne, conspiracy all over the world and more fist fight.

some people find it more realistic. if i wanted something realistic, i would have watched the news channel. he just doesn't fit in my impression of bond.

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Wednesday, November 12, 2008 @ 14:49
twilight


was surfing through gv website on upcoming movies when i spotted twilight. it's a modern day love story between a vampire and human.

then i realised it was adapted from stephanie meyer's book. so i popped by popular after work and voila! spotted the book. the film tie-in edition was only $10.70 after discount.

u know what they say the book is always better than the movie. i'll make up my mind after i finish it. if it's that good, i'll probably buy the remaining 3 books in the saga (nlb doesn't carry the series) and catch the movie too!

twilight opens 18 december 2008 in cinemas.

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Tuesday, November 11, 2008 @ 15:41
drought in cash

thou shalt not spend. it's recession and yet i'm still buying. so as of today, i have bought my last apparel (ok maybe for nov & dec)! and i'm going macau in dec, should be saving up!



Monday, November 10, 2008 @ 16:03
amici and swensen's gelato

once again amici always deliver! the service, atmosphere and delicious food.


my parents had the grigliata di manzo (tenderloin with madeira sauce). the beef was succulent, tender and cooked perfectly. one of the few places in singapore where you can have dependable steak at a good price.


i had the oven-baked cod with butter herb. it came with lots of vegetables. for someone who doesn't like vegetables, i certainly cleaned up my plate. it was that good.


my sis had the mixed grill (prawn, salmon and chicken). the serving was so huge my dad had to finish up the chicken for her.

after dinner, we went to newly open swensen's gelato along the same stretch of shophouses. we were attracted by the bright interior, low prices and colourful ice-cream.



however, while the packaging is good, the gelato is not. it's a disappointment as swensen's is quite synonymous with ice-cream in singapore.


both my sis and i had regular (2 flavours) for $4.30. she had hazelnut and kiwi-banana. i had durian and green apple. the flavours were artificial and a tad too creamy. it's cheap, but i'd rather pay more for better.

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