Loving Durian at Geylang

Up until I got here in Singapore, I never really liked Durian. I didn't hate it but I just didn't like it. I didn't mind its notorious smell but I just thought the texture and flavour were a bit odd. Lately though, for some strange twist of fate, I developed this fondness for durian. I think it started last year when I got to taste durian-flavoured moon cake. And as they say, the rest is history (lol).

According to Wikipedia, a typical durian tree can bear fruit after 4 or 5 years. Wow, that sure is a long wait! No wonder, this fruit is expensive.


We headed to Geylang one saturday night to satisfy our durian cravings. I always love the idea of open markets especially at night where you can freely wander around sans the heat of the scorching sun.


Geylang is the perfect place in Singapore (if not the only place) to sample durian as it is literally everywhere. We actually had a difficult time choosing which stall to eat at.


Durian comes in different variants and we tried "D24 - around $8 a piece" and "XO - around $15 a piece". I was introduced to "XO" by my flatmate, Al, sometime ago and I remember liking its strong taste that leaves this hint of alcoholic flavour. Zach doesn't like it though he finds it too bitter.



I remember watching Anthony Bourdain's feature about Durians and he said, "Its taste can only be described as...indescribable, something you will either love or despise. ...Your breath will smell as if you'd been French-kissing your dead grandmother." That's hilarious but I think a bit exaggerated. Ironically though, some people find its smell aromatic while some (or most) find it repulsive.

We also bought some watermelon and pears to take home since the display of fruits were too irresistable, plus they were a tad cheaper.

So that was our durian experience! :)

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Drag Me To Hell

A decision to deny an extension of a home loan to an old woman named Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver) causes Christine (Alison Lohman) to become the recipient of a supernatural curse. Haunted by an evil spirit and misunderstood by a sceptical boyfriend, Christine seeks help from a seer to break the curse and save her soul from eternal damnation.
http://sg.movies.yahoo.com/Drag+Me+To+Hell/movie/15158/

DBS sent us 2 free tickets to Cathay cinemas and luckily this was already showing that time. We really don't know why they sent us free tickets but who cares they can go ahead and keep on sending hehe.

Anyway, this startling movie was really good, in an odd but nice way. I say odd because it's not exactly a strict horror/suspense movie because they injected humour in it but I guess it worked. I never really thought I could be scared and laugh at the same time in one movie. Plus, the effects were superb and very cinematic.

Go ahead and drag yourself to see this movie. Worth your every penny!

My rating for "Drag me to Hell" - 4.0/5.0

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The Royals Cafe, Upper East Coast Road (Siglap)

I first discovered "Royals" and their wonderful pies at the Tampines Mall basement, where they have a stall. Eversince, I have been a silent fan hehehe. Zach found out through his sister that they actually have a full coffee shop in Siglap so of course we had to go.

We went on a fine saturday afternoon to have late lunch and I must say, I so love the Siglap area. It has a different homey vibe, the streets being lined with shops, cafes, restos and what have you. Plus the houses are just beautifully breathtaking. It really lives up to the name of the street - Upper East Coast, for those in the "Upper" socio-economic bracket, gets?? hehe. Darn, when can I ever afford to live in such a pricey area...

Anyway, the cafe itself was also very inviting. Who can resist their wonderful display of cakes and pies.


Despite the cafe being in a pricey area, their prices were ironically very affordable. Most of the cakes were less than S$2. The portions were of course a bit smaller but isn't that better for both your pocket and your health? :) Plus, you get to buy more hehehe.


There are very few places where you can buy Shepherd's Pie here in Singapore (or at least based on my experience) so I had to sample this from their menu.

Can you believe all of the above was for less than S$5?? S$4.90 to be exact. Now I think that is definitely value for money. The shepherds pie was also quite good. a little bit more beef would have made it even better.

Zach ordered the Mee Siam, being the patriotic die-hard fan he is of Malay food :) Thank God he ordered this because this has got to be the best, and I mean the BEST, Mee Siam I have ever tasted across Singapore!! It wasn't too spicy and the soup was very tasty and not too oily.

Some Iced Mocha (I think) to go with the desserts.

Finally, dessert! We had carrot cake, dark chocolate truffle, apple crumble and chicken pie. My favorite was the dark choc truffle, a perfect balance of bitter and sweet.

We really enjoyed our meal and I will definitely come back for the Mee Siam (and the cakes :P) in the very very very near future hehehe. The staff were friendly and service was quick. Most importantly, the food was superb.

Here is my rating for Royals:
Ambiance - 5.0
Service - 5.0
Food - 5.0
Presentation - 4.5
Value for Money - 5.0
OVERALL - 4.9 (!!!)

19 Upper East Coast Road,
Crescendo Building
Telephone: (65) 6445-6457

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Salmon Pesto Spaghetti

So one Friday night I just decided to cook something special. For some reason, my yearning to cook has been stirred lately (stirred, isn't that the perfect word haha). Zach wanted salmon pasta using whole wheat fettucine but I couldn't find whole wheat fettucine so I opted for wholemeal spaghetti. All these healthy terms are confusing me, whats the diff between wholemeal and wholewheat anyway?!

I remember cooking with wholemeal/wheat pasta before and I remember how tough it was when I tried to cook it 'normally'. So now I decided to boil it a little longer than usual to make it more 'al dente' and not bordering on raw.

It was very simple actually, I just threw in the olive oil, onions, garlic, olives, capers, pesto sauce, salmon and the lemon (also in that same order). Saute, saute and saute some more then season with pepper, salt and italian seasoning.

Finally, toss in the noodles, mix mix mix then top it off with parmesan cheese. Voila!! Salmon Pesto Spaghetti!

It was quite good I must say (of course, haha). Though the noodles were still a bit tough or maybe I'm just not used to it. Bon Appetit!


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Betty Crocker Fudge Brownies

I don't have work today (Friday) because our office is closed due to our relocation (We are moving to Bukit Batok and I live in Tampines, ugh stress!). To put my long weekend to good use, I decided to put my rusty baking skills to the test by baking some fudge brownies - ready mix brownies though :P.

Ok, I will let you in on a secret - the brownies were supposed to be "best before October 11, 2008", Har Har Har. But it didn't say "consume before" or "expiration by" which means it's all good :) But seriously, I did see this show on Discovery where they experimented with "expired" goods and they found out dry goods are the least likely to expire even years after the "expiration date".


I modified the ingredients a bit by adding canola oil instead of regular vegetable oil then I added bit of butter to make it taste better. I also threw in a few drops of vanilla for another layer of flavour.

Tadaaa!!! Here are my "expired" brownies!!! hehehe. Doesn't it look exactly like the one on the packaging? Yes? Yes! :)

By the way, it tasted great! I love homemade fudge brownies. And it didnt taste funny at all or gave me any stomach problems hehe.

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Outback Steakhouse, Millenia Walk

I got a free $20 Outback voucher when I purchased my digicam at the IT Fair last March. Now, the voucher was actually supposed to be good for a month only (eventhough there was no stamped or signed date on the back of it). It was obviously more than a month from March but luckily they didn't really mind. It didn't say anyway where we got the voucher from (and they didn't ask).

Annyyywwaayy, we walked to Millenia Square from the gym in Bugis so as not to feel guilty after we ate, haha. I mean, c'mon, when I hear Outback the first things that come to mind are meat, cholesterol, carbs and calories.

It's been at least a year since the last time we ate out Outback. We normally don't eat in expensive fancy restos (anything above $20 per meal is fancy to me) and I actually forgot they serve free bread with their own whipped butter cream, so this was a welcome treat.

Click HERE for their full menu.

I wanted to have the onion rings for starters but we decided to get the chicken wings anyway. A full order at S$15.90 comes with around 8 pieces of wings plus carrot sticks that were really badly sliced (look at the irregularly sized pieces). Terrible presentation. Good thing the wings tasted good. Very flavourful without the need for their "homemade" sauce (which was actually like sour cream but a bit more runny).

I had the "Swiss Mushroom Burger" - S$18.90. The fries were really huge and actually very good, (despite knowing the fact that fries are one of the worst foods you can eat in the world, oh well). The burger was just Ok. I took out the top bun to at least 'try' to lessen the carb intake.

Zach had "Chicken on the Barbie" - S$20.90. Someone has to teach them food styling and presentation. Look at how dirty the the plate is. Plus, the veggies were overcooked. In fact, by looking at the picture you can see how limp that slice of cucumber is. The chicken was ok, nothing special.

Dinner came up to S$53.55 (including taxes & service charge, less the $20 voucher). All in all, it was just ok. My rating may not be fair because we didn't really order steak given that they are a steakhouse, but that doesn't mean they can neglect the other food items on their menu. Service, on the other hand, was impressive. The manager made sure to always refill our drinks and asked us how our food was.

Here is my rating for Outback:
Ambiance - 4.0
Service - 5.0
Food - 2.5
Presentation - 2.5
Price - 3.5

OVERALL - 3.5

OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE
9 Raffles Boulevard
#01-101, #01-114 to #01-120
Millenia Walk
Singapore 039596
Telephone: + 65-68373242
Fax: + 65-837-3241
email: outback@singnet.com.sg

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17 Again

What would you do if you got a second shot at life? Class of 1989, Mike O'Donnell is a star on his high school basketball court with a college scout in the stands and a bright future in his grasp. But instead, he decides to throw it all away to share his life with his girlfriend Scarlett and the baby he just learned they are expecting. Almost 20 years later, Mike's glory days are decidedly behind him. His marriage to Scarlett has fallen apart, he has been passed over for a promotion at work, his teenage kids think he is a loser, and he has been reduced to crashing with his high school nerd-turned-techno-billionaire best friend Ned. But Mike is given another chance when he is miraculously transformed back to the age of 17.

(http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810038675/details)



I had no plans at all to see this movie but we had no choice as we were in Bugis Junction and this was the only decent movie to watch. With Zac Efron spearheading the movie, I really thought it was another girly teeny-bopper film but I must say, I was pleasantly surprised! It was funny and really enjoyable to watch.

In my opinion though, the real scene-stealer was his ultra-geek roommate, Ned Gold. He was uber funny and his crazy pursuit of the school principal was outrageously hilarious!

I have a feeling this is just the beginning of a long successful movie career for Zac Efron. Lucky Guy.

My rating for 17 Again is 4.0/5.0

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Friday the 13th

In yet another version of the famous story, five friends - Whitney, Clay, Mike, Jenna and Trent - decide to explore the famous Crystal Lake campsite but their seemingly fun weekend turns tragic quickly. Before they know it, each of them are hunted by a machete-wielding maniac known as Jason Voorhees.

(http://sg.movies.yahoo.com/Friday+The+13th/movie/14941/)



Obviously, they capitalized on the infamous popularity of the movie franchise to sell this film. As the 13th installment of this horror series, it gets even more gorey with a twist of soft porn. One critic coined the movie as "Gore-geous!", haha isn't that fitting?

I remember enjoying the previous Friday the 13th movies as a kid (ehm, that doesn't sound right..), but with all that gore and nudity I don't think it would be appropriate to have any minor watch this.

Anyway, that is already too much space on my blog for such a so-so movie. Despite all the blood and violence, this movie made me fall asleep. I hope this is the end of Jason.

My rating for Friday the 13th is -13/5.0

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Taken

Bryan (Liam Neeson), a former secret agent living in the US, reluctantly lets his 17-year-old daughter Kim (Maggie Grace, "Lost") go on holiday to Paris with a friend. Upon arrival in Paris, the two girls meet a seemingly nice young man who turns out to be a member of an Albanian crime syndicate, promptly kidnapping and forcing them into prostitution. Bryan must rely on his old skills in order to rescue his daughter from the slave trade.
(http://sg.movies.yahoo.com/Taken/movie/15136/)



"I will find you, I will kill you" - I love this line in the movie! Yes, the movie was very predictable but still I was on the edge of my seat rooting for Byran (Liam Neeson) to find his daughter and kill the goddamn bastards. I think I've already mentioned before that I'm not so much into action movies but this is truly an exception. To me, it was sort of like Mission Impossible meets modern MacGyver-ish kind of movie (remember this classic TV series? God I feel so old, haha).

I also love the part where he asks the guys to translate this albanian word so he could recognize the voice from the video clip. The only thing I didn't like was how the girls got in trouble so quickly after they arrived in Paris, like they were meant to be in trouble. Nevertheless, I think it was truly an eye-opener on how real the flesh trade is in some parts of the world. I am quite sure this really happens somewhere out there.

My rating for Taken - 4.5/5
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Pola Pola Cafe, Bangkok, Thailand

On our 3rd night, we had dinner at this Italian Resto that we chanced upon while walking around the area near our hotel. It's not that we were tired of thai food, we just wanted to sample how Italian cuisine is in Bangkok.

Margarita to kickstart your appetite =)

Long Island Iced Tea

(Free!) Freshly baked rolls for Appetizer with creamed garlic butter

Scrumptuous!!! Seafood Squid-Ink Fettucine with Cream Sauce. Look at the abundance of scallops and seafood!

4-Cheese Pizza

Lobster & Shrimp Fettucine.

Dinner was around THB 1,331 (around S$60). Not bad considering we had cocktails, pizza and pasta.

We so enjoyed our dinner the previous night that we decided to go back for lunch the next day, our last day.

Pola Pola's Special Salmon Pizza

A bit salty and lacking in tomato sauce but still quite nice.

Squid-Ink Angel Hair Pasta with Mushrooms in cream sauce.

Lunch was around THB600+ (around S$30).

So that caps off our 4-day Bangkok getaway. We were a bit anxious to get home as by that time the riots were really getting crazy. In fact, singapore residents who were in Thailand were already encouraged by the government to enlist their names online just in case anything happens.

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