profile 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! contact qiuuing@gmail.com email me if you don't feel comfortable leaving a tag :) Lijit Search tagboard resolutions for 2011 exercise once a week start saving more than half of my salary every month find a boyfriend (added by lily) shopping list 2011 lancome flextencils basic black pumps one whole set of nail art (pedicure) a car (!!!) reads friends adrienne bren bobby cheeks farah ivy jeannie sharon sijing vic other blogs beatrice tan camemberu grocery list ieatishootipost sixpegs sparklette recommended shops accessories ivbelongings mykillerheels mysummerdiary mytreasurest clothes hervelvetvase lollyrouge loveandbravery lovebonito myspringfling missypixie modparade robotninjas trooops vaingloriousyou food cupcake divinity food infinity mad baker periwinkle bake shop others concierge.sg iconceptz snugg the little happyshop uniquegrabs whimsnfancies toys an ufo-catcher addict's woes lain lain plushie paradise previous entries by post
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 Monday, November 30, 2009 @ 18:49
side trip to chinatown today was an accompanying day for me. what do i mean by that? i accompanied my sis (at eight in the morning!) to nie to return her library books. i accompanied my sis to the japanese embassy (which is not really accessible to begin with) to hand in her jet application. i accompanied my sis to la senza to look at clear back bras and then to tangs for gold earrings (which is also where i spent money while waiting for her).  while we were at vivocity, we watched the informant starring matt damon, one of my favourite actors. sis and i were first attracted by him and also by the fact that the director directed ocean's 11. in spite of the big names, the movie was sadly uninteresting. it was just about a liar caught in his own web of lies and didn't know when to stop lying. it was so boring my sis and i slept in the middle of the movie. after watching the movie, i now understand why there wasn't a lot of publicity regarding this movie. so after the long day, my sis decided to reward me with a koi bubble tea (thanks cheeks!). according to my sis, koi bubble teas are the best in singapore. although they cost about $3/cup and are only found in selected locations (which means we have to make special trips down), my sis believes they're worth it. she says they are so good, she will forgo pearls for more tea. needless to say, bubble tea addict that i am, i was very excited. we headed to the chinatown branch, which was the nearest.  when i arrived at the counter, i was bombarded with the choices and the unique flavours that i don't usually see at bubble tea shops such as oolong bubble tea and ice-cream fresh milk tea. i chose something safe-- caramel milk tea, 100% sugar (sweet tooth). my sis on the other hand had plain milk tea, 70% sugar. she says you can judge how good a bubble tea is by ordering it plain.  a customisable and health conscious bubble tea shop. normal amount of sugar is 100%, so you can opt for lesser sugar by choosing the various percentages or even no sugar.  next you choose the size-- small, medium and large. different type of flavours and teas have different pricing. i think the cups next to the coloured ones are for hot teas.  following that you pick the colour of your straw. the straws are individually wrapped which is really hygienic.  last but not least, enjoy your bubble tea! for me koi bubble tea is above average, but don't really warrant a special trip down. the pearls are the original mini pearls, not the sago-sized pearls that some bubble tea shops are passing off as mini pearls. however they were so chewy my jaws were aching. i agree with my sis that the tea would be better without pearls. *a side note: apparently koi bubble tea delivers too! so as we were walking back to the mrt station, we noticed this queue. being busybodies, we decided to check it out. while the initial queue was for a money changer, it led us to another queue and good find-- d24 durian pancakes!  unlike the picture, the pancakes are not thick but crepe-like. they are crispy and filled with lots of durians for a mere price of $1.20. the pancakes were hot and contrasted with the cold durian fillings. and we are talking about pure durians and not durian paste!    can you see how generous they were with the durians? just looking at the pictures makes me feel hungry again. i would not go back for the bubble tea, but the pancakes are definitely calling my name! Sunday, November 29, 2009 @ 09:41
aftermath it's going to be a week since fatter baby passed away. really missing her loads, sometimes i still tear when i look through old photos. haven't been having any inclination to buy treats for the hamsters or slipping them food (bread, fruits, plain rice) when i'm eating. was so worried that day when i couldn't find the spot my dad buried her, because the stick to mark her site fell and i was crying like crazy when we buried her. presently, cream puff is occupying her tank. she had the biggest tank (benefits of being a baobei) and it's a waste to just leave it lying around. cream puff seems to adore his new tank, lots of space to run and jump. Labels: hammies Saturday, November 28, 2009 @ 19:49
say hello after returning the hp elitebook loaned to us by nie, i felt so lost. no more missing backspace key and cool touch-sensitive controls. also, i had to make do with my really old hp tablet, which my dad is using now because neither my sis nor i wanted to use it. i secretly think my dad was sick of me blatantly hinting about getting a new laptop, so he decided to bring me down to sitex at expo this morning. and tada! here's my new netbook, samsung n310!  we headed down to the it fair first thing in the morning (it opened at 11am). sitex was relatively empty, which was favourable. i had filtered down my choices to asus 1005ha and samsung n120. we zoomed to the asus booth first to get a gauge of the price ranges. then to the samsung booth to compare. there were a few samsung booths, but the harvey norman one had the best offer. the asus netbook was priced higher than expected and after trying the models and under family pressure, i decided to buy samsung n310 (note different one from the intended). basically specifications for netbooks are more or less the same. got the n310 because the price was good and i could upgrade the ram from 1gb (which is the norm for all netbooks) to 2gb for just $39. also, the mousepad works like ipod touch, so it allows you to magnify the screen by moving your fingers. free gifts included the norman security suite as well as an external dvd writer, which is selling outside for $139. there was a choice to upgrade to windows 7 and 250gb for additional $100, but i felt windows xp and 160gb were sufficient. also, the keyboard was 93% that of a laptop, so typing is convenient. so how is the netbook working so far? surfing net, quite fast. multi-tasking ability, surprisingly efficient, could view pictures from my sd card, surf the net and download the security software via the external dvd writer simultaneously. however, when i tried to upload this one measly photo for the post, i had to upload it four times before the last one was successful (and the last try took 15 minutes). very upsetting since i love to blog with pictures. also, i'm missing microsoft office! it doesn't come with the netbook. think i have to get it soon. currently, they are having two lucky draws at sitex. the first is a generic lucky draw, which you can choose the price you want ($2000 cash and some electrical product e.g. camera, tv). the second one is a ladies only instant lucky dip. i won a pink nano case! but... i have no nano -_-". Labels: shopping Friday, November 27, 2009 @ 22:57
cheap and good chinese food have tried pioneer wharf restaurant at jurong point recently and it was overpriced, so i'm not going to blog about my purse-emptying experience there. instead, i will be concentrating on another chinese restaurant starting with p, which is a current favourite of my family.   putien is located on the second level of jurong point and this restaurant chain has been serving excellent and affordable food since 2000. there are only 30 over dishes listed on the menu, however they have been perfected such that every dish is prepared skillfully.  bamboo herbal prawn, $3.80 for two pieces. the prawns were served with wine sauce and were huge and fresh. presentation was special as it was served in a small bamboo cup.  shredded meat with bun, $2.80/piece. love this! the buns were actually fried man-tou, one of my absolute loves. the restaurant provided plastic gloves so you could eat and stuff the buns with shredded meat without dirtying your fingers.  deep fried tenggirl fish, $12. quite a typical dish in any restaurant, nothing really special about the fish. but the sauce was quite unique. it was a soy sauce and garlic mix, yet it was not very salty, thus you could dunk the fish in without worrying about your sodium intake.  sweet and sour pork with lychees, $10. i was expecting more lychees, but there were only two, which was quite a pity as the lychees were good with the sauce.  last but not least, yam paste with ginko nuts, $2.80. very reasonably priced for a dessert in a restaurant. the serving wasn't very big, just nice to end off a meal. Labels: food Thursday, November 26, 2009 @ 00:41
chinese food and cows met up with qi at westmall after her work. it'll probably be one of the rare times meeting up in the west, as her attachment will be ending tomorrow. it's amazing that she has been working in bukit batok for the past three months and has yet patronise any restaurants in westmall. for that very reason, sis and i decided to bring her to mayim to try their wonderful lamian.  it was about six in the evening when we got there, so it wasn't very crowded. this worked out for qi as she was starving and we didn't have to wait very long for our food to be served.  qi's jasmine tea with rose buds and sis's pu er tea with chrysanthemum. they felt that the teas were bitter, but attributed the fact to soaking the teas too long.  qi's spiced and sour minced meat lamian. most noodles come in either dry or soup versions. qi chose the dry one. she like the sauce and how the pork went with the noodles.   sis's roasted duck lamian (top) and my honey bbq pork lamian (bottom). she didn't like the soup at all, whereas i loved it. however, i believe that roasted meats should be eaten dry because the soup ruins the glaze of the meats. the sad thing is that they don't serve soup with the noodles if you order it dry and i missed their soup a lot, so it was a no brainer for me.  qi and sis shared the fried chicken in chef's special sweet sauce. i used to love this dish until they had this promotion a few months back which entitled you this as a free dish when you spent a certain amount. my dad kept forcing me to finish the dish because chicken is my staple food. after a couple of times, i was so sick of it that until now, it just doesn't stimulate my digestive juices  red bean paste pancake with banana. it's yummy but was slightly overcooked this time. the red bean paste and banana are sweet and it's only $3.50! after dinner, we had dessert at udders! it's a singapore born and bred company and they create high quality ice creams. what's unique about them is that they have many local as well as liquor flavoured ice creams such as mao san wang (type of durians) and orange choc bitters. natural ingredients in homemade ice creams, what more can you ask for?  their ice creams are separated into three categories and prices. classic at $3.20/scoop, premium at $3.90/scoop and connoisseur at $5.30/scoop.  the concept of the place is just so cute! all their tables have funny illustrations with cows, such as dogs mistaking udders for sausages and in the picture above, an earthworm falling in love with the udders. we got strawberry fields, bailey's & bourbon and kopi-c estacy. all were rich and original, definitely worth a try. other than westmall, udders has outlets at lorong kilat and novena. for more information, check out their website. Tuesday, November 24, 2009 @ 21:48
return of the fries  source: www.mcdonalds.com.sgguess what? shaker fries are back!!! guess they have to introduce it again so people wouldn't suddenly drop mcdonalds after the monopoly hype. it's salty and full of msg, but very good. Labels: food Monday, November 23, 2009 @ 17:30
something new decided to change some stuff on my blog. i deleted all my really old entries (realised i have been blogging since 2004, had about 940 entries) and added an archive link so it's possible to refer back to older posts. looking back, i have been quite immature just 5 years ago and i must say i'm glad that i have changed. feeling very emo today. missing my fatter loads :( @ 10:10
r.i.p.  FATTER BABY 19 october 2007 to 23 november 2009 you'll be missed. no more sneaking extra treats. no more squeezing. you'll always be my favourite hamster. Labels: hammies Sunday, November 22, 2009 @ 19:15
my poor baby  brought fatter baby to the joyous vet at choa chu kang. she is having problems walking and her bottom half is very heavy. also, her privates are always very wet, which is a symptom of wet tail disease (a deadly one for hamsters). previously, we brought cappu there for his operation (to remove a tumor). the staff was efficient and friendly. after waiting for an hour and a half, we finally saw dr. grace heng (who operated on cappu). she's very nice and personable, and really understands because she keep syrians too. dr. heng's diagnosis was more severe than we expected. fatter has a tumor in her abdomen and because she is two plus years old, her chance of surviving any operation is very low. the vet suggested we try conservation measures and gave us medicine. also, dr. heng said when the time comes, when fatter can no longer walk and looks like she's suffering, we'll have to put her to sleep. today, fatter's condition seem to be deteriorating very quickly. she can't take a few steps without tumbling and she keeps pausing and panting. i found her a few times on her back and she couldn't find the strength to roll over. i had to flip her back. but she's still active and wants to move around. it's really sad to see her so bad. i'm considering bringing her to the vet soon if the medication isn't doing anything to help fatter's situation. might have to put my baobei to sleep earlier than expected :(. Labels: hammies @ 10:32
one more week to go time passes so fast when you're enjoying yourself! it has come down to the second last week of nie and we'll all be graduating next week and posted to our schools.  girls from english class, missing anitha, ambiga, angie and wanqi. had so much fun with them! goofing in and out of class plus our class bbq.  blocks in school we visit the most. always alternating between block 3 (english, social context and electives) and canteen (need munchies during breaks and in between lessons). after our cme workshop on friday, a few of us headed down to timbre @ the arthouse for some food and drinks. zakir gave us a lift and between the five of us, we got lost. went all the way to thompson, then orchard road and finally clarke quay! the journey took as an hour and a half (with traffic jams), my butt was numb but we had loads of fun joking in the car.  christmas decorations are already up in orchard! i think they were already up for apec. love the purple and blue star across the road.   met david's fiancee! she's pretty but i think we kind of scared her by being so loud.  me with my pina colada, melly with her mango margarita and zakir and parv with her shirley temple (i think).  absolutely love the food at timbre! comes really fast (no waiting time) and food is piping hot (one very important factor). the seasoning of the fries are really good and so is the sour cream!  timbre fried chicken wings! can't decide whether timbre or ikea has the best chicken wings. never had to use the sauce once!  calamari, which i obviously didn't have.  four cheese pizza. the one thing you have to order when you're there. melly who stayed in italy for a few years and married an italian said that the pizza is the epitome of what a good pizza is. thin crust checked. genuine tomato sauce checked. gooey cheese checked.  vegetarian pizza. being a carnivore, vegetables just don't do it for me. i was picking off the peppers, onions and zucchini. we ordered this because parv and zakir are muslims.  after hanging out, we walked along the riverside before heading to the mrt station. Saturday, November 21, 2009 @ 10:00
oprah's going to be over  this is probably old news but oprah is ending her talkshow in 2011 after it's 25th season. i think her talkshow has covered many issues, some sensitive, some heartwarming and others just simply crazy (remember tom cruise jumping on the sofa). so far news reports are saying the reason behind this is that she feels it's time for her to stop. she has touched so many lives and is currently one of the most influential and richest woman. you go girl! Friday, November 20, 2009 @ 09:06
tao's with the lims had dinner with sis, ym and ys at tao's, which is located at pomo (previously known as paradiz centre). i expected with a name like tao's, the restaurant would be serving chinese food, however, throughout the whole evening, the courses seemed to alternate between chinese, japanese and western. quite confusing. when we finally managed to locate the restaurant based on the address and impressions from the pictures on their official website, we were kind of baffled. the pictures of the restaurant looked so brightly lit and classy, but when we got there, it was cramp, tightly sandwiched between neighbouring outlets.   similar to the concept at dozo (you may view my posts on dozo, here, here and here), sister restaurant to tao's, it's a one price, one menu, many selections kind of thing. you pay $19.80++ and $29.80++ for lunch and dinner respectively. six courses for lunch and seven courses for dinner. we chose our courses based on reviews online and recommendations by the waiter.    after taking our orders, the waiter brought over some orange (non-alcoholic) shooters. it basically tasted like orange syrup with water served with crushed ice. prefer dozo's mango sorbet one, you can savour the real fruit. but the orange drink did serve its purpose of quenching our taste and stimulating our taste buds for the meal ahead. starter  bacon and mushroom gratin. this is probably the only dish the whole night to wow me. it's creamy but not too milky. although i don't eat mushrooms, the mushrooms were chopped into tiny bits, so i didn't really noticed any strong mushroom taste. i polished off the dish in just a few bites.  toasted bread. this was super yummy! the bread was warm, soft inside and crisp outside. you can choose to have it with the gratin or just have it on its own. it's sweet and good just by itself. salads  smoked salmon salad, not on the menu online. the guys found the serving small, too little vegetables and salmon.  we girls had the farm boy splendor. it was basically cold sliced chicken, with cabbage, orange, raisins and sesame vinaigrette. doesn't sound delicious, but the combination actually worked. the orange added tanginess and the raisins a hint of sweetness. extra course  grilled oyster mushrooms. this is the additional course that separates lunch and dinner. there is no choice for this course. i didn't have the mushrooms but the other three found it interesting. they liked the top part of the mushroom but not the stalk because it was quite hard. beverage  ym and i had iced summer peach tea while ys and sis had iced rose apple tea. both were sweat and flavourful! they had bits of fruits in the tea, hence the small fork provided. but it would have been better if they had less ice. soups  fish soup. don't you just love their presentation? cute little japanese style teapot and voila! soup comes out instead of tea. the soup is slightly salty, but i love salty food so it was good for me. there was a slight miso taste, which just lends authenticity to the teapot.  shark-fin melon herbal soup. when i read online reviews, many mentioned there was no shark-fin. some people just don't get it. it is shark-fin melon and not shark-fin plus melon. my sis thinks it tasted just like my fish soup and there was no herbal taste as was advertised. main courses  spicy stingray. the portion was huge! and when the waiter said it's spicy, it really was flaming hot! at first the sambal seemed harmless, then as you start eating, it just hit you. was so big and spicy i had to give half to ym.  grilled snapper with japanese sauce. the fish was fresh and the sauce went really well with the snapper. nothing really outstanding about this dish, it's just something safe.  tao's oven-baked steak, served with mushroom sauce. i didn't get to try it. ys ordered medium, but it was almost well done. similar to the stingray, it was quite large. desserts  brownie ala mode. unappetising. didn't even look tasty. the brownie was tiny and very mushy and didn't even taste like brownie at all!  creme brulee. another disappointing dessert. creme brulee should be served so high. and sugar wasn't even caramalised on top and after recently having the fabulous creme brulee at les bouchons rive gauche, this was totally horrible.  tiramisu. notice most of the desserts are western? i expected more oriental variations like mango sago or guilin gao. the tiramisu was only average. again, another safe dish.  final verdict? after reading so many good reviews, i had high hopes for a good meal. but, while the service was good and there were many variety, the quality of the food was substandard. i felt that my reaction might be based on my previous experiences at dozo. would i find the food good if i tried tao's before dozo? i'm not sure. but i'm happy my mum's bringing me to dozo tomorrow for lunch! |