marvin lowe photography

Jazzfoodie: Some months back, Marv and I set aside some time to spend with each other and ate our way through Chinatown (not really, but anyway!). Basically, we took photos along the way and walked and walked a lot in the sweltering heat, but it was fun! One of our most fun dates we had in a while.. haha!

We started off with brunch at Maxwell food centre (I was late and poor Marv had to wait for half an hour). I’ve been craving Chinese Raw Fish Salad, so even though Marv’s preferred stall wasn’t opened that day, I ordered from another porridge stall and was so satisfied with the generous mount of raw fish (quite fresh lah) even though Marv thought the dish was only so-so.

Vinnythemarv: I am a stickler for authencity and I hate chain shops, although I can’t live without them. I like my raw fish salad to be from one store only, which is Zhen Zhen. However, it was closed and Mich really wanted to eat it, so I bought from Ho Kee, which is a Chain Dim Sum outlet. The dish did not impress me. The raw fish wasn’t that fresh, there wasn’t the usual salad dressing to go with it either. I like it with lots of flavours to accentuate the freshness of the fish.

J:We also shared a 2-person portion of Tian Tian Chicken Rice (although I must say I think the standard dropped) which came with a medium sized plate of white poached Chicken, garlic-&-chicken fat infused rice (could be more fragrant), and a large bowl of soup.

V: Tian Tian is really just alright. It’s not the best and it’s not that bad. People just queue for it like there’s not tommorow. If I had a choice, I would rather go back to Hainan Street or Purvis Street for tastier Chicken Rice at any of the really authentic Chicken Rice Stalls.

J:We ended off with a large prawn and oyster cake, and Marv had his peanut soup dessert.

V:The Prawn and Oyster Cake is a Fuchou Maxwell Classic. I have been eating them since i was a kid. No where else in Singapore can you find a better Oyster Cake. The cake is fried till a crisp brown on the outside, while the inside remains moist and juicy. The prawns and oysters are fresh and juicy. Together they complement each other with the savoury minced meat and vegetable fillings. A hint of sweetness from the prawns and the fresh taste of the sea from the oysters makes it a perfect union. The Peanut Soup is another Maxwell Classic. It’s soup is light and sweet while the peanuts are nice and soft. The perfect dessert for me.

J: We bumped into a few friends as we navigated our way towards Amoy street food centre to pass Marv’s camera lens to Joe (actually we were there to eat Orh-Ni). Along the way, I took some pics of buildings (I prefer still life and scenery as subjects; he prefers people), while Marv actually dared to look embarrassed, laughing at me and calling me a “tourist” (so you think you’re a professional photog already isit?!) We finally got our small bowls of expensive Orh-ni after poor marv stood in the static queue for a long time, and this was after the long chicken rice queue earlier. We chatted with Bets and Joe while we slowly savoured the tasty Orh-Ni, although it felt too je-lat after a while, partly because of the heat and already full tummies.

V: The Orh-ni below is from SG desserts. They are located on the 2nd floor of the Amoy Street Market. The Orh-ni here is rich in flavor and very delectable. I am going to have Orh-ni served at my wedding.hahahaha.

J: We then meandered along, stopping by Books Actually, which was funky indeed. Its top shelf was lined with old film cameras, and a relatively diverse range of book (themes) could be found in that intimate personalised space. There were no other customers at that point, and we were able to browse leisurely. What I like about this bookshop was the service; as Marv picked up a copy of Frankie (an Aussie magazine), the owner advised us to always check the mag to ensure everything was intact, as one of the dual shipping lines that reach Singapore would leave out a portion of the mag- This is what I call great advice and personalised service! 

V: I have been wanting to visit Books Actually for ages. It is indeed a quirky little store which is filled with lots of funky items like old typewriters and poloroid cameras. I really like this shop for its uniqueness!

V:  A little history lesson here. I used to attend Chinese Speech and Drama Classes at the Hokkien Huay Kuan when I was little. The Hokkien Huay Kuan has moved out of its Telok Ayer Premises but the old building still holds much memories for me.

J: We then popped into Wacha to make a reservation for that night, then into the chic tea-room Front Row for the 1st time. Photography was sadly not allowed, for I really like the minimalist decor and laid-back feel of the shophouse space. We immediately ordered sparkling juices for quenching thirst after all that humid long walk, while we took our time to look though their menu, with limited food items but a fair range of teas. Marv opted for a lemon tea, which smelt like peppermint, and tasted zesty enough, while I had the Sakura Black (only available in March/April) which was excellent. The loose tea leaves were left to infuse in a contained portion of this funky teapot, which was released (with the push of a tiny black button) into more warm water at the bottom of the teapot, for a less concentrated flavour I suppose. The tea had a woody intense depth, with fruity accents. The atmosphere was great for chilling out, with jazzy tunes in the background encouraging a lazy, indulgent afternoon. Above the ground floor cafe was a small shop space selling clothes from imported brands. Another level above that space was a little gallery, which was exhibiting some murals and paper artwork of a certain artist.

The muggy afternoon was making it difficult to lift the eyelids, so we deviated to Marina Square for a movie. Nothing interesting was showing, so we were resigned to the chick flick “Because I said So”. We had a pocket of time to spare before the movie, so into the arcade we went and had a fine time at Bishi-Bashi, relieving our JC days where we challenged each other at this game while taking a break from studying. Such great fun (and sore palms), but we each won 1 game (I almost won 2!!). Marv never really intended to watch the movie anyway, so I let him snooze away from the start, nudging him awake only when he started snoring REALLY loudly, so paiseh..

We headed back to Wacha for dinner, the much blogged about Japanese Restaurant on Ang Siang Hill. It boasted a modest but delightful menu, with items presented in cute layered baskets and laquered plates. We both had the dinner set, but I chose the unagi and plain rice, and Marv the tori kaarage and green tea fried rice for our mains. We ordered Sencha, which was a soothing accompaniment to the fried items. The appetizer basket did well in teasing our tastebuds with mini portions of salty, sweet and sour items, which varied from pototo salad to marinated seaweed.

V: The appetizer basket was sooo cute and it was such a delight to find the little plates filled with home made delicacies. I especially liked the potato salad.

This was followed by a dish of stewed vegetables.

J: We added an order of the tomato, prawn and avocado ball, which was ok with the usual mayo dressing, but nothing special.

V: The Tomato ball was really cute. I think they used a Momotaro Tomato which was sweet and was subtly tart. These flavours went well with the creaminess of the avocado and the sweetness of the prawns.

J: For the mains, the tori kaarage was crispy and juicy, and the green tea rice was fried with garlic and silver fish (the small white ikan bilis)- tasty!

V: I had the Tori Kaarage with Green Tea Fried Rice which was surprisingly good. I debated with myself between the two choices available and decided that it would be interesting to try Green Tea Fried Rice. The rice was very fragrant and the chicken was really tender too.

J: My unagi seemed like the usual teriyaki sauce-glazed affair at 1st glance, but somehow it was tender, savoury and very delicious compared to previous grilled eels I’ve tasted, though I can’t point out what exactly is different about it.

V: The Unagi was really good too! I loved the sweet and savoury sauce which was generously poured onto the fresh eel.

J: The dessert arrvied in a trio of mini portions and complementary flavours, there was the refreshing pink ginger (gari) sorbet, lovely matcha cheesecake and chocolate cake.

V: The trio of desserts were a delightful spread. The Ginger Sorbet was sweet with a hint spiciness while the Matcha Cheesecake was rich and fragrant.

J: After the satisfying dinner, we made our way towards Eu Tong Sen Street to take a long bus ride home, but not before taking a long walk to aid digestion, and taking more photos along the way. Thank you Marv for a great day!

Front Row
5 Ann Siang Road
Tel: 62245501/ -5502
http://www.frontrowsingapore.com

Wacha
14 Ang Siang Road
#01-01
Tel: 64381553

Day 2 started with a bang thanks to Jerry’s innovative warm-ups. He started a new Taichi routine based on the tune of Beyonce’s “Irreplacable”. It’s really silly but it’s so catchy at the same time. Best of all, he does it with such conviction that it really gets you all choked up in laughter. I am not sure how he came up with it, but it was really brillant!

The first session of the morning started off with a great time of worship that just moved into a time of ministry. I had to leave earlier with the ever affable Jerry to pick up lunch from mainland Singapore. After lunch, we had another session with Auntie Debbie. Her voice was so much better as compared to the previous night. It was a great workshop session that saw Joachim and Jing-En tying the knot. That was one of the highlights of the workshop.hehe.

We then had the last session of games which was aptly called ” A Crazy Afternoon”. With games like the Stocking Gladiators, it was really a crazy affair. The objective of the game is simple. Wear the stocking on your head. Swing your head as vigorously as possible so the ball in the stocking will be able to entwine with your oponent’s stocking. Then you pull as hard as you can and hope you are able to yank out your opponent’s stocking. Last man standing wins. This was probably the most hilarious game and a game which most people enjoyed. Something really new and innovative.

The other games were pretty fun too. There was touch frisbee, which is a hybrid between touch rugby and ultimate frisbee. Another simple game saw the campers pair-up as they try to feed their partners water-melon while they remain blind. The last game saw them swimming across the waters to the opposite “island” and collect alphabets. They had to shout out across the waters and the rest of the group members had to form the alphabet. Unfortunately, this game was brought to an early halt by the Lifeguards at Sentosa after they deemed it too dangerous. All in all, it was a great time of fun and relaxation.

We had a great final night. After the night session, we had one more activity called “Prata Night”. Many of us were left puzzled with this event called “Prata Night”. We couldn’t decipher if it was going to be some kind of mystery game or a game where we had to make prata. But it was just as simple as its name, a night of Prata and curry. So we had Prata for our last supper at the beach. The camp comm took this time to give out some awards and sabo people at the same time.

Shaun won an award for being the most Kiasu Camper, simply for jumping off the stage during alter call, when he was supposed to be playing the guitar. Zhengxin became the most eligible camper after he tried to push the award to Ern, Joachim and Jing-En unsuccessfully. For the records, he “proposed” to Crystal Goh and Randolf accepted it as a proxy for Crystal. She is henceforth to be known as Crystal Lam.=p just kidding.

This bring us to the end of camp. Jeanette preached an invigorating final mesage that serves to inspire all of us and to keep the fire burning brighere. PJ also shared something very personal to her heart which I felt was really bold of her and it really brought us closer as a ministry to be able to pray for her.

I had a great time at camp. It was a timely reminder to be dependant on God’s strength. The high calling of leadership will be difficult and choices will have to be made. Stands must be taken and there can be no compromise. It will not be easy, but with God, all things are possible.

Megalife is the youth ministry that I serve in and we had a Leader’s Camp in Sentosa last week. It’s amazing to see how our ministry has grown, so many new leaders rising up to take the challenge. This camp is aptly called 牧者, which means Shepherd. As leaders, we have to be a good Shepherd and look after our sheep. This is our group photo of all the leaders who were able to attend the camp. However there is still quite a substantial number of them missing because of impending exams.

Well, i was in in 虚心组, which is the group dressed in red. We were led by the ever funny Caroline and Joey. Caroline is a real nut case I tell you. All the groups had chinese names which was in line with the whole chinese theme and feel of the camp. It was really funny as everyone had their language skills tested to the limits. Just a little test for all you guys…try to identify the other group names and interpret them as well. Let’s see how many chinese characters you actually remember.haha.

The first activities of the day were some simple team-bonding games. In, one of the games, we had to translate Psalm 23 from English into Chinese. It was excruciatingly funny to hear some of the other group’s translation. I guess this was a light hearted start to the camp and it really got the groups together as well.

We had a dedication service to kick-off the camp and PJ preached a message on Becoming God’s leader. No photos for this session as I really did not feel like taking any at all. I just wanted to dwell in his presence to worship and really enjoy doing so. PJ’s message was simple, we have to come clean before God in our nothingness. Nothingness. This word really struck me. Without God, who am I? He is my everything and I will give him my all. To desire to be a leader, is to desire a noble task.

For the night service, we had Auntie Debbie come speak to us. Despite being ill, Auntie Debbie travelled all the way to Sentosa just to share with us. She had a really bad sore throat and she really sounded like Bob Sorge. She brought a simple message about Acceptance and Rejection. Often, we find ourselves measuring up against worldly standards and how the fear of rejection would cause one to reject others. More importantly, In God there is unconditional love and acceptance. It was a real blessing and a timely reminder to hear this. Like many others, I was really touched by her message. All in all, a great start to a great camp.=)

Jazzfoodie: Terrified of making a complete fool of myself while planning this ambitious dinner (9 courses for 10 people), I struggled with the menu for days, even weeks, tweaking the menu right up to the very last moment. I would do diligent research on the internet and go through my cookbooks so many times that the crisp new pages would look ‘koyak’ by the time I’m done.

I try to cook dishes with the particular group of diners in mind, and would do ‘preliminary testing’ on my parents with new dishes, which they would be so “kind” about. I always have this panic thingy going whenever I cook a special meal a week or so before the event, thinking “I can’t do this”, “this is too ambitious”. I almost had a heart attack on the day of the dinner itself when Marv called from Mediya supermarket that they have no Swordfish Sashimi in stock (bought on the day itself for freshness), so Maguro (tuna) it was for the amuse bouche. To organise things, I wrote (and re-wrote) every single recipe needed on an A5 piece of paper and stuck it onto the fridge for easy reference, and started preparations the day before. Thankfully in the end, with lots of prayer, I managed to pull it off eventually (or so I think)..

Vinny: Well, before all of you had the chance of enjoying this meal, Mich did indeed put in alot of hard work in fine-tuning the menu. Countless test sessions were conducted and countless guinea pigs sacrificed. I was one of the few survivors. Cooking has always been in Mich’s blood but she has always been in denial of it. I remember the time before she left for Perth, when she was insisting that she will never cook. Now, she’s cooking up a feast for everyone to eat.

VinnytheMarv: Well, put your hands up if you love our Shuying….and so Joseph’s hands goes up instantly. This was a meal done specially for Shuying by Mich just before Shuying left for studies overseas.

J: The last time I cooked for my girlfriends was more than 2 years ago, and I’ve been wanting to bless them since (especially since I’ve not really been around for the past 4 years, missing out on their birthday celebrations and presents). So Marv and I decided to host this special going-away dinner party for Shuying.

It was definitely a great night of catching up- I was so glad everyone had a great time eating, laughing and ’spilling secrets’ over food and wine (half the guests brought wine, so we had a lot; thanks bets and jasmine for getting soft drinks!). And I decided that Taboo:Singapore edition might as well be renamed Truth or Dare:Spill your friends’ secrets. Such great bonding indeed, wahahah.. They were at my place for 7.5 hours, but it was a truely great time!

Tuna Tataki on Cold Soba in Matsuhisa Dressing

J: The partially seared tuna cubes in this dish was inspired by a similar dish I had many years ago at One-Ninety Restaurant. The half cooked tuna gave it an ‘aburi feel’, almost, (but minus the blowtorch); the quick searing allows the flavour of the tuna to intensify a little. The dressing is from the great recipe book Nobu West by Nobu Matsuhisa that Ber and Shuying got me last Christmas. I love this dish and would even serve it as a main course in the future; the fragrant and ‘earthy’ dressing with accents of mustard to spice things up a little, went well with the fresh tuna. For fans of non-raw food, poached prawns were used instead.

V: The first dish of the night! When Jaime and Janice arrived, I was still arranging this dish, proving that I did help out for the dinner. I really enjoyed twirling the noodles and making them look pretty. I loved the freshness of this dish, the taste was bright and refreshing. The sesame oil made it really fragrant and went well with the tuna and soba noodles. The noodles were chilled before being served and this made it a more dynamic dish.

Tuna, Oyster Mushrooms and Tunghoon Patties in Ginger and Sweet-soy Dressing

J: I am rather proud of this dish, created after feeling indignant over the overpriced and ok tasting crab cakes from Food by Christopher Hiller (see review on separate post). This should be something simple that everyone can make themselves, using whatever ingredients they so desire.
V: I thought it would have been better if crab meat was used. I felt that it was a tuna overkill, with the last dish being a tuna one as well. Nonetheless, it was pretty tasty. I liked the crisp and crunchy feel it had while the dressing enhanced the flavours of this dish.

Makes 24 (depending on size of patties)

Tuna Patties
3 (375g) cans   Tuna chunks
1 small bundle   Tanghoon (palmsized), softened in hot water
1 pkt                Fresh Oyster Mushrooms, shredded
7 tb                 Self-Raising Flour
3 pc                 Spring Onions, thinly sliced
2 tsp                Minced garlic, sauteed briefly
5 tb                 Soy sauce
3                     Eggs, beaten
                       Cooking Oil

Ginger & Sweet-soy Dressing
2 tb         Ginger juice
1 tb         Honey
1 tb         Soy Sauce
5 tb         Sweet Sauce
3 tb         Olive Oil

1. Mix all the tuna patty ingredients and refrigerate for at least an hour.
2. Combine all the ingredients of the dressing, stirring while you
    add each new ingredient.
3. Shape the chilled tuna mixture into round patties and
    fry the individual patties.
4. Serve the freshly-fried patties with drizzled dressing.

Chilled Vichyssoise with Ham

J: This is quite the traditional potato and leek soup- boiled, pureed and chilled. Pieces of ham and spring onions were used as garnish and for a slight meaty/crunchy flavour.

V: I love potato and leek soup, especially cold/chilled ones! This was pretty well done. It was thick and creamy. The subtle sweetness of the leek can be tasted throughout the soup which made it even better.

Trio of Chicken: Roast Chicken Wrap,
Steamed Thai Pandan Chicken &
Breaded Salt, Chili Chicken

J: My moist and juicy roast chicken wrap (see recipe in separate post) has been rehashed many times before, unfortunately, this was not its finest outing. Having been prepared and wrapped slightly earlier, it was heated in the oven a tad too long, resulting in a dry and sad popiah.

The steamed pandan chicken, paired with a reduced sweet and spicy vinegar dipping sauce, came out fine. This dish is based on the lovely deep-fried pandan wrapped chicken bites, but I modified it by steaming the chicken with the marinating mix and omitting the deep-frying bit. I like the resulting blend of flavours from the marinade of coconut milk, fish sauce and oyster sauce, and the sweet, sour and fiery dip. 

The salt, chili chicken (see deep-fried salt, chili prawn recipe) here was ok, and was crispier than normal as I used Panko breadcrumbs instead of a regular flour batter.

V: nuff said. I don’t think there’s much to add. I tasted better wraps from her. Between the other two, I prefered the Pandan chicken.

Steamed Thai Pandan Chicken (serves 10)

500g   Chicken thigh, cut into cubes
2 tb    Garlic, minced
2 tb    Coconut Milk
2 tb    Oyster sauce
1 tb    Fish sauce
1 tb    Sesame Oil
1 tb    Ginger, sliced
          Pandan leaves, shredded
          White pepper

Dipping Sauce

15 tb  Rice Vinegar
  6 tb  Brown Sugar
  6 pc  Chili Padi, sliced

1. Marinade the chicken pieces with all the ingredients
    listed, and chill for at least 2 hours.
2. Line the plate used for steaming with some fresh pandan leaves,
    placing the chicken with the marinade for steaming.
3. Combine the vinegar and sugar, bring to boil,
    then reduce to half its volume.
4. Add the chili padi into the dip, and serve with the steamed chicken.

Beef and Enoki Roll with Sweet Potato and Galangal Mash

J: Having tasted this dish in various places, from a simple and tasty version from Sushi Tei to a deliciously luxe Wagyu version from Akane (blogpost coming soon!), I wanted to re-create the same meltingly tender sensation on the tongue. However, the beef, which was pan-seared, was slightly overcooked and tough when reheated in the oven. The time lapse allowed the beef to be (more than) well-rested, but the juicyness was glaringly absent- quite disappointing. 

The sweet potato and galangal mash was inspired by my Perth housemate Xinyi, (who’s a great, and VERY precise baker) who once wanted to try a sweet potato pie online recipe. We ran out of ginger at that time and I suggested using galangal (same rhizome family as the ginger), which she hesitated at 1st, but only a small bit was needed, so she decided to try it. The result was astonishing (for me at least). The simple pie now had greater depth because of the flavour of the galangal. I’ve yet to find back that recipe, so I came up with my own for this dish, assimilating ingredients and steps used by Stef (an earlier Perth housemate in Perth) who loved making baked mash potatoes (this was the carbs that made me put on weight!!!) Ok, I’m digressing majorly; thankfully, I’m quite pleased with the end result of the mash, although I think not everyone took to it!

V: The mash really took most of the attention away from the beef. As mentioned, the beef was overdone and over-stuffed with enoki mushroom. It was darn chewy and hard to eat. I thought the mash was outstanding though.

J: It was not THAT bad lah!! Just not perfect what!

Sweet Potato and Galangal Mash (Serves 10; Side dish portion)

4         Sweet Potatoes (medium-sized), peeled, boiled and mashed
2 tsp    Minced Galangal
2 tb     Minced Garlic
2 tb     Chopped Chives
3 tb     Honey
3 tb     Unsalted Butter
1/4cup Evaporated Milk
           Freshly ground Black Pepper
           Salt

1. Saute the galangal and garlic in some butter briefly.
2. Mix all the ingredients together with the sweet potatoes.
3. Do add more of any ingredients you like to suit your tastebuds:
    more milk to make it creamier, more salt for some. You may substitute
    spring onions for chives, or brown sugar for honey if you wish.

Watermelon, Lime and Mint Granita

J: Simple and refreshing. I combined ingredients from various recipes found online. Really great as a palate cleanser, which I loved serving it in my mum’s teacups.

V: I love granitas. It was sweet and a tad tart which made it perfect.

Spicy Asian Seafood Bolognaise with Farfelle

J: Shuying loves chiili crab, but I wanted to add my own twist on the dish, so I added a can of tomato juice, and 2 cans of whole peeled tomatoes to tone down the spiciness and for better pairing with the pasta. I made the rempah from scratch though, chopping and blending the shallots, ginger, garlic, chilies etc, and I added a little chicken stock. I was quite pleased with this dish, although depending on whether you’re a conservative pasta lover or strict Chili Crab supporter, you might find the taste too ‘fusion-ised’. Nobody finished this dish though; it was too large a main course especially after being stuffed with 7 (albeit bite-sized) courses before this.

V: I felt that the test version of this was better. In the test version, there was egg and the sauce tasted more like the chilli crab sauce, which was what I liked. This sauce was more watery rather than thick. It tasted different from the test version which had a stronger Chilli Crab taste. I didn’t like it as much as I liked the test version.

Spicy Seafood Pasta (Serves 10)
1 pkt        Pasta
800g        Prawns
500g        Crabmeat
15           Shallots, sliced
1 inch      Ginger, sliced
6             Garlic cloves, sliced
8 pc        Chilies, chopped
10g         Dried Chilies, chopped
750ml      Stock (chicken or prawn is fine, I used a mixture)
3 tb         Ketchup
3 tb         Soy sauce
2 tb         Oyster sauce
2 tb         Fish sauce 
2 tb         Sugar
1 tb         Sweet chili sauce
3 tb         Rice Vinegar
1 can       Whole peeled tomatoes
1 can       Tomato juice
               Cooking oil
2             Eggs, beaten (optional)

1. Process the shallots, ginger, garlic and chilies in a blender.
2. Fry the rempah paste in a little oil, and add the sauces. 
3. Add the juice and whole peeled tomatoes,
    while mashing the tomatoes.
4. Add the stock bit by bit until desired consistency (some
    people prefer it thicker, some more soup-like).
5. Add the prawns and crabmeat.
6. To make it more ‘chili-crab’ sauce-like, add the beaten eggs
    while stirring the boiling sauce; if you prefer it more
    pasta sauce-like, omit the eggs.
7. Boil the pasta till al dente, and serve with the sauce.

If the rempah is not blended to a fine puree, you may choose to strain the sauce before step 3. You may also add chili flakes if you wish to have a spicier sauce.

*There was also a side of salad consisting of butterhead lettuce, red cabbage, raisins, almonds and apple cubes, with a splash of red wine vinegar, olive oil and fresh cracked pepper. This is not pictured due to Marv’s contempt for anything less than meat.

V: Salad sucks!

Pear Strudel with Creme Anglaise and Chestnut Cream

J: This was the main source of terror. I have never made desserts, (being less inclined towards sweet stuff), let alone from scratch. The exceptions (attempted in Perth) would be lava chocolate cake, which I messed up when water entered the bowl in which I was melting the chocs in; and lime sorbet, which was pulpy and never set, so we never got to eat it. So you see, savory food is my security blanket- it’s what I (think I) know. But my girlfriends loved desserts, so I thought I’ll venture into the unknown.

And silly, ambitious me flipped through my French Laundry by Thomas Keller cookbook and thought, “This looks nice”. However, it has sooo many steps, and because sometimes I cook by feel, and baking is so precise, the recipe intimidated yet intrigued me.

To summarise, I had to make the Creme anglaise, wine-poached pears (more like stewed) and Chestnut Cream a day in advance as instructed by the cookbook, and I assembled it all on the day of the dinner. (Marv ’sugared’ the puff pastry and assembled the pastry and pears!!) Of course I cheated by buying shelled, roasted chestnuts (I don’t have the vat to roast the ‘gao-luck’ myself!), and substituted expensive Vanilla pods with Vanilla essence. Thankfully, my fretting had not gone to nought, most of them liked it. But I’m definitely not attempting it again anytime soon.

V: Yes, I assembled this desert.muahaha. It took me quite a while to get it right. The pastry skins were frozen at first, but as it started to condense, the pastry dough got really gooey and a little disgusting. I felt the dessert went well with the sauce. The pear was well poached, absorbing all the essence of the wine too.

J: To all who came and made my day: Thanks, you were great guests! (Now, who’s the next to host us?! haha..)

Recently, I spoke to a friend on exchange in the States and she was heading to Florida over the weekends for a short holiday. That got me really excited because I was just in Florida over the December Holiday.

Florida, or more specifically, Disneyland, is a place where I have been making constant Pilgrimages to since i was young. The last trip my family made was before 9-11, so it’s been quite a while and it’s been a much anticipated trip.

After a gruelling 26 hour flight from singapore with stops in Taipei and a cross-country flight from LA, we finally made it to Florida. We weren’t expecting much good food here, especially in all the theme parks we are going to.

Upon arrival, we decided to head down to downtown disney, a extension of the Disney Theme parks. It’s boardwalk styled shopping strip and it’s filled with different retail and FNB outlets. Dad decided to try Wolfgang Puck’s franchise here. This was probably our best meal during our Florida trip.

Sauteed Maryland Crab Cake, marinated tomatoes, basil aioli and micro green salad

I think my brother (Marcus) had this…it looked pretty decent.

Pan Seared Diver Scallops

Now, this one was interesting. It came together with white corn parmesan polenta with braised lamb shoulder.Scallops with lamb shoulder….that’s quite a unique combination. My sister lapped it up so it must have been pretty good.

Agnolotti with sweet corn

This looks boring…..then again, it has my favourite corn in it. It’s really mascarpone cheese stuffed fresh pasta with agana cheese and sweet corn.

Duck three ways- Seared Hudson Valley foie gras, foie gras mousse with an apricot tartlette and duck prosuitto

Now, I had this. I was happy I made this choice. Foie Gras was done to perfection, however there was this undescribable difference in the taste of the foie gras. It just didn’t taste the same like the regular french ones. The flavours were pretty light and not as strong as the French ones I feel. The duck prosuitto was an interesting touch to this dish.

Slow Braised Center Cut Beef Short Ribs

ahh…I had this for my main. Well, I have eaten my fair share of braised short ribs. This one was pretty well done but not outstanding. It was soft, tender and very flavourful. I really enjoyed this one.

Braised Duck Pappardelle

Gwenda had this one and she really had trouble finishing this. I had a chance to try it and found it a little too dry and the duck flavour was a tad bit too overpowering.

Wienerschitzel Kartoffelsalat

Marcus had this, which is really a deep fried breaded veal cutlet.

Wolfgang’s Apple Strudel- Warm Pink lady and granny smith apples, hand-pulled strudel, vanilla bean gelato

We shared the desserts. The first being a apple strudel. Nothing really special about this. It was sweet yet slightly tart.

Crispy banana beignets, creme anglaise, banana jam, vanilla bean gelato

Honestly, this simply reminded me of Goreng Pisang. What was really interesting was the banana jam. It really made the dish just abit more special. If not, this was just was local hawker fare, served at exhorbitant price.

Now this was a pretty good start to our holiday. There wasn’t much other notable meals in the week to come. The next set of photos was taken at the epcott center’s French Pavillion. It’s nothing special but really, it was the best meal we had in all the theme parks.

Soupe A L’oignon Gratinee

This was a a classic onion soup. It was a warm and hearty drink in the cold night. The generous portions of cheese and onions made it even more enjoyable to drink. The cheese was thick and creamy and went well with the thick broth.

Demi Poulet Fermier a La Broche Pommes Rissolees et Tomate Braisee

Despite it’s fancy name, this was only a roast chicken. It was tender to the bone and easy to eat. Nothing to shout about.

Creme Brulee a L’ancienne

The Creme Brulee was a little too sweet for my family’s liking but it was just nice for me. I couldn’t help cracking the surface of the brulee a’la Amelie, which was pretty fun. Well, that concludes my gourmet adventure in Florida. Next up, Stars in San Francisco.=)