Kuay Teow Goreng @ One Farrer

So it doesn't happen very often but one of the highlights for this weekend breather turned out to be a plate of kuay teow goreng from the corner coffee shop adjacent to Serangoon Road and Kitchener Road. 

It was something I deliberately wanted to have, and I'm glad to say that it was definitely the dollar, the carbs, and the oil. 

Perhaps it was redder, and spicier than I'd thought it would be, but oy, I liked it, and I hope to have it again when I'm back in the area after. 

Kuay teow goreng wasn't the only dish that we ordered from this shop. 

There was a kebab, which although tasty with a nice mint sauce, had a texture too hard to appreciate, and we found ourselves enjoying the soup kambing way much more. 

I can't remember just on which floor it was that we stayed this time, but I know we looked out towards the east (where the Lavender Street area is), towards the South (all the way down Kitchener Road heading to the sea), and towards the Downtown Core. 

From where I stood I got to see lots of high rises, mid-rises, condominiums, hotel buildings, shop houses, office skyscrapers, South Beach and the CBD.

It was a charming sight. 

The scenery wasn't unadulterated though- structural pillars and frames granted a little addition to the otherwise expansive view.

But I didn't mind. 

The view you get from their windows is one of the joys staying here at One Farrer Hotel. 

And it''s remarkably restful. 

Looking now at these pictures now, it strikes me just how compact and contained this country really is. 

Had we been on a higher floor we would have been able to not only see the blocks of flats on the Kitchener-Maude Road side, we would also have been able to see the entire coast stretching out towards the horizon of eas, whilst on the other side we'd see as far as the Marina Bay Financial Center and slightly further beyond. 

If the view alone is not enough of a surprise, sometimes we bring along our own too. 

This time one of us decided to bring along a big flask for a ready supply of hot water and tea. 

We also decided to bring along bottles of mineral water that, coincidentally, had been purchased (at a very affordable price) from Mustafa just opposite the road.

We had the Little Black Grill, of course.

Except that I can't remember what it was we made.

It might have been rice with egg done fried rice style, which if you ask me, when fried with olive oil, is pleasantly light and clean.

There might have been a couple of shabu-shabu style meats that we bought from DDD in City Square Mall.

But we definitely bought a box of pre-cooked gyozas from the same supermarket and had them heated up in the grill. 

It made for a lovely, light dinner- something which I greatly appreciated. 

Best part, we had snacks, and for supper I was gifted a box of McDonalds Mcrispy, because I missed it, and there's a McDonalds right opposite. 

High Ceilings at One Farrer

We were given a larger room this time.

Rather unexpectedly- it's not always that we get an upgraded room on one of the upper floors.

But I'm not complaining.

I take a fancy to high floors, and the perspective it brings. 

The room we had this time was on the 19th floor.

I know, because it was on the very same floor that had their high-rise pool. 

Don't laugh at the plainness of this pool.

You might not get so much of a tree or shrub or even a clear view of sky, but it's got some sort of a waterfall at one end of the pool and may I say that the sound of water gushing into the pool itself was therapy to my ears? 

What's more, the pool looked gloriously beautiful in the late afternoon light. 

I myself was surprised by the glow that bounced off the whitewashed pillars and walls.

I hadn't known sunsets this part of town could be this beautiful.

I've said that higher floors give one a different perspective, and really, it is true. 

Because this is what I saw every time I looked out of the long, ceiling to deck windows, and despite all the solar film and the not-so-blue sky, this view made me think. 

There're times in life where circumstances make us forget who we are and what we are.

There're times in life where we keep looking up and out but we see nothing else but the same blue/white (hot) sky and the same situations as we are in now.

It's hard. 

And we forget.

We can easily forget.

But being here had me thinking of how charming the heritage shop houses in Little India below me were, how tall those Downtown CBD skyscrapers in the distance were, and what worlds there were that existed within them.

Not just the buildings, of course, for beyond those skyscrapers- in the far distance- despite the cloudy humid overcast sky, I knew there was the sea, and  she beckoned. 

All this had me deeply considering who I was right now, what I really wanted, and who I didn't want to be.

In fact, so focused was I on the view ahead that it didn't matter to me that right in front of my window stood the facade of another hotel- the Holiday Inn, with its logo huge, large, and glowing (at night) right at my eye level.

I was too busy gazing ahead. 

What helped me, certainly, was the space from which I gazed out to this view.

You know how they say a person thinks better in a wide, uncluttered space? 

Well, this room certainly was wider, and larger, than some of the other rooms in the same hotel I had been. 

I was especially delighted with the space of the glass-topped work desk (although, as it turned out, I didn't use it much). 

I was also delighted with the arm chair. 

It made me feel cosy and comfortable for a morning, and evening task which I had to do- but had no desire to. 

Then, of course, there was the bath tub. 

Which I unfortunately did not get to use. 

Or maybe because at this point I didn't need it as much as I would have needed it later.

Our stay this time included breakfast, so down to the restaurant by the pool we went the next morning. 

Theirs seemed to lean heavily on the Continental side. 

You didn't get much variety, but you had the usual offerings of breads, pastries, butter, jam, a selection of noodles Chinese-style, some simple dim sum, a selection of roti pratas with curry, eggs (done however you liked), yogurt, and fruit. 

I think I took a bit of pastries, some noodles (me being the type who can't resist), eggs- omelet, and fried= and a serving of rock melon, watermelon fruit. 

I can't remember whether I took the dim sum or the yogurt. 

I might have. 

I think I sampled a bit of their cheese selections and cold cuts too. 

There wasn't much around this area that we did during this weekend breather, but we hung out at City Square Mall and Mustafa alot. 

I was quite determined to go to Mustafa only at night- it's less fun during the day time- so we went there around 1030pm and checked out the organic herbs, the snacks, the frozen naans, and their selection of toiletries.

Mustafa has one of the widest range of body sprays in this country, by the way, and also the only place, I think, where you have hope of getting a Yardley Lavender body spray. 

It wasn't just the shopping at Mustafa.

There was also of course the food.

One can't come to Little India without wanting to have some favorites in the eating houses around here.

I know of some who like Ananda Bhavan or Komalas. 

I also know of some who like Muthu's Curry or Gayatri. 

Me, I tend to go to Sakunthala's quite a bit. 

Most of the time we go to the one at Syed Alwi Road opposite Mustafa, but on occasion, like today, we went to the one at Race Course Road. 

My friend prefers this one. 

There's better (restaurant) ambience, the pappadums come served in a little basket, and somehow the dish of butter chicken seems to be larger. 

I'm not sure.

At both places they look the same to me. 

But, yes, there's the ambience, there's the crowd, and the briyani does look a tad more mountainous compared to the other side. 

I pretty much liked my butter chicken. 

A pity we were unable to tapao the gravy back, so we finished up as much as we could, and let it be. 

Indian cuisine wasn't the only thing we had whilst here in the Little India area.

On the other side of the enclave, close to the Jalan Besar side, was Swee Choon.

And anyone who knows me long enough knows that I'm a huge fan of their dim sum, and I won't hesitate to say it so. 

I however do think we ordered a little bit too much this time though. 

Because whilst I had thought we would only order our regular favorites of xiao long bao, mee sua kueh, cheong fun and crispy fried tofu with pork floss, on the table suddenly popped up a plate of char siew baos, a plate of char siew sous, two deep fried balls with infused lychee within, a plate of guo tie, one plate of salted egg fried chicken, plus two more purple-colored sweet potato balls- with a filling of which I've since forgotten what it was- inside. 

I very much had a calm time at the weekend breather this round. 

Perhaps there were things I didn't yet figure out.

Perhaps there were things I thought I could still handle. 

But one thing I realized.

I'm someone who digs a space where I can read and write and concentrate and talk and think without being bothered. 

If there be a chance, I might consider having a room that grants me access to their lounge. 

It's neat, unostentatious, soothing, and spacious enough for one to have a quiet chat, a quiet read, or a quiet write. 

And it's right next to the sound of the gushing waterfall. 

A Little Brook

So I found myself over at this place near the (newly moved) Bird Park and the Singapore Zoo.

I wasn't here to see any penguins, storks or flamingoes. 

Neither was I here to see any tigers, lions or elephants. 

I was here to see something else entirely. 

But they weren't kidding when they said this place is close to nature. 

It really is. 

And even though there might be replicates- aviaries, enclosures, transported trees and all- there're also parts that are natural, and parts that you can't tell whether they're man-made or not. 

One of the spaces I couldn't distinguish between one and the other was this- a little brook very close to the main road. 

On one hand it looked natural, as if it were sloping naturally from the hill where it seemed to originate from. 

On the other hand, however, those stones... 

I don't know if our country has ever had stones this natural this huge. 

The brook was rather parched today. 

I'm not sure if it were always this way- it's been some time, but I remember it having a bit of water once, and I was surprised that today I could see the bed of the brook, and the base of the scattered rocks all over the bed as well. 

Then again it's been a dry season- a very dry, hot season- and so no surprise if even the little brook at this place has been affected too. 

Perhaps then one good thing I did see this particular afternoon were the flowers.

They were blooming really well. 

Maybe someone waters them.

Maybe they bloom well on their shrub never mind the weather. 

But they were very pretty. 

And seeing them gave me a quiet little smile too. 

Diandin Leluk @ Golden Mile

So it might not sound very festive... but this meal at Diandin Leluk on the second day of Chinese New Year turned out to be the last one I'd have over at this outlet in Golden Mile.

At that time it didn't occur to me that I wouldn't have the time to go back for a visit again.

But that's how it was, and I'm tremendously glad that we ordered all of our favorite dishes for dinner that particular day. 

One of the things we've always ordered here at Diandin Leluk is the Massaman Curry Chicken. 

I don't know its heritage, I don't know from which province it comes from, but they do it very well, serving it with chunks of delicious, tender chicken chopped into bite sizes pieces, and patterned-cut mushy potatoes that go extremely well with the sweet, not-so-spicy, dry-style curry.

Another dish we always order is the tom kha, or the coconut cream soup. 

At other places we've had it before, but today, after trying to make up our minds between green curry beef and tom kha, we decided the weather suitable for a pot of tasty, heartwarming soup.

It wasn't heavy.

Neither was it too salty. 

There was a lot of lemongrass at the bottom of the pot. 

There were also a lot of onions, cherry tomatoes and other native vegetables floating about in the pot.

What we particularly liked were the chunks of chicken bobbing around the soup which we happily ladled up and placed in our bowls. 

As good as they were eaten on their own, the flavors of chicken actually went very well with the minced meat (prawn?) and the minced yam of the ngoh hiang that we'd supposedly ordered as an appetizer but since everything came almost at the same time, we had it as a main.

I'm not complaining. 

The blend of textures were wonderful.

Perhaps that's one thing which strikes me most about this meal at Diandin Leluk- the combination of textures on my palate, and the way the sweet and savory came so comfortably together.

It was like this with the Massaman curry.

It was like this with the ngoh hiang.

And it was like this with the cendol at the beginning of the meal even though it wasn't planned.

We simply forgot to inform the wait staff to serve it only at the end. 

So for Chinese New Year dinner we turned the order of the meal around, starting with dessert- a lovely medium sized bowl of sweet coconut cream cendol chock full with beans, atap chee, the red rubies and the green green thing.

And we ended it with a fluffy, savory omelet-covered rice which we couldn't finish and decided to dabao home for lunch next day. 

Birthday For The Parent

It was planned that we would have a quieter celebration this year. 

Not that celebrations had been boisterous previously, but we thought we might keep it a bit more low key this year.

So we did.

There was a card, of course.

As was a gift bag containing little presents that (in The Parent's words) could be scented, could be eaten, and could be used. 

One of the things we decided to keep was the presence of coffee, and cake to be had after our dinner. 

Except that The Parent decided to switch it around a little. 

So, instead of the usual sliced cream cake that I'd been getting for the longest time, I got these from Bengawan Solo instead.

Memory is a funny thing. 

All along I'd bought creamed cakes because they were reminiscent of the coffee cakes, pandan cakes, yam cakes and fruit-topped cakes which we'd been having throughout the years. 

But I hadn't remembered just how well liked kueh lapis, cheese cream pandan Swiss rolls, and marble butter cakes were too.

There're some things in life, I suppose, that are like new discoveries. 

You never know what you ought to expect.

It's a good thing thus that life doesn't always throw you too many changes all at once, and you get to keep some patterns- even if for the sake of convenience and slight familiarity. 

Like a meal of cabbage, vegetables, hard boiled eggs, tofu, brinjal and chili bought from the economy rice stall downstairs and steamed in the rice cooker.

And like having our regular cups of coffee with the slices of birthday cake. 

Everything CNY 2023

You know, there was a time when I had thought that, due to circumstances, my Chinese New Year for2023 would be a very quiet, maybe even a somewhat somber one. 

But life springs you surprises sometimes. 

It wasn't as sombre nor as quiet as I thought it would be.

Never mind that I didn't get to go to the bazaar at Chinatown very much like I usually do.

Never mind too that I didn't get to buy crates of mandarin oranges or bak kwa or new soft drinks or bags of sweets.

There were red packets (courtesy of the banks) on the coffee table. 

There were brand new jars of cookies. 

And there were mandarin oranges bought from the supermarket in portions of five. 

It was all very festive looking, and- looking at the pictures now- I'm glad I decided to make it this way. 

At least I didn't miss out on the occasion. 

Despite how this picture looks, it wasn't all just (plain-looking) Filet O Fish burgers for The Family's Chinese New Year this year.

We had coffees.

We had cookies.

And there was a day when at another place I had the joy of salmon belly sashimi, shallow-fried mushrooms, pan-fried foie gras made slightly burnt, and cordyceps-something on my plate. 

Let's just say it felt luxurious a meal. 

Yet it wasn't only the salmon belly sashimi or the foie gras that gave me the sense of luxury this year.

There was also the rare privilege of having an entire roast suckling pig for two people.

It's very seldom that I get to have a roast suckling pig.

It's never that I've had the entire pig almost to myself, served complete with head and all. 

So huge the portion was that my friend brought it back in two large platters placed in bright pink carrier bags meant for delivery. 

One of the platters went straight on the table for lunch with the provided sweet plum sauce.

The other went into the fridge- together with the head of the pig which I refused to leave on the table because there is no way I can put a piece of meat inside my mouth with the head (and eyes) of the very same creature staring back at me. 

Don't matter if the eyes have been removed and stuck with cherries or cherry tomatoes. 

My brain sees it staring at me.

So, yes, into the fridge it went- this foil-wrapped head of a pig- along with the containers of sweet sauce and the other box of leeks and flour cakes.

I wouldn't have been able to enjoy the flavors of the pork and the crisp of the skin otherwise. 

One thing that surprised me about this dish was just how little feel of the oil there was.

All along the thought of suckling pigs had given me a very oily, greasy feel. 

This one didn't. 

In fact it felt very much like sio bak (roast pork) to me, except that the meat was thicker, solid with way less fat, and the skin flatter and crispier. 

I ate my portion with the little floury white cakes, and the fresh, juicy leeks. 

The little pancakes took a bit of getting used to- perhaps I'm more familiar with crepes- but I liked the leeks. They added a refreshing burst of veggie juice to the otherwise gamey-tasting meat. 

A plate of pea sprouts, or dou miao, accompanied our meal. 

I'm really glad for all the food that I had during this Chinese New Year.

It was lovely to head down to Golden Mile (Little Thailand) for a delicious meal of Tom Kha (coconut cream soup), Massaman curry chicken, some fried ngoh hiang fritters, omelet with fried rice, and Thai chendol.

Thai food has always been a great pick-me-up, and we relished the entire meal, beginning with the Thai chendol (because we'd forgotten to let the staff know to serve it afterwards), then the coconut cream soup which we happily slurped up, then the Massaman curry sweet and spicy but not too hot, the fritters and finally the omelet, which by then we realized we had actually completed our meal without rice.

It's been a few months now, but one thing I do miss very much about this season are the cookies.

It's not every day that I get to savor a buttery pineapple tart with the gentlest of pineapple fillings that aren't too sweet.

Neither is it every day that I get to have as many buttery rich, melt-in-your-mouth sugee cookies as I like. 

Maybe one day I will look back at the less-buttery pineapple rolls with a quiet, pensive smile, but for this year, I'll just say I'm glad to have gotten them and when the season comes around again next year, I know I'll keep an eye open for them, and maybe even buy them too.