More ChaletYums

We have been having a couple of lovely meals at home in recent weeks that I think I ought to write about now, rather than to wait, wait, wait, and then forget to write about it until months later. 

These meals are good.

All of them. 

They might be simple, yes, but they represent gratefulness and thankfulness and a quiet prayer of thank you for Faithfulness and Manna provided every day. 

The first meal here is one that I will remember for some time to come. 

I don't mean it to be a bad meal, mind. 

Pad Krapow for $6.10 is not, and cannot, be a bad thing. 

Not when there is substantial rice, not when the minced pieces of pork are well fried with just the right blend of spice and holy basil leaves, and the fried egg is done so beautifully that the yolk simply runs all over the rice when you break it with your spoon. 

By all counts, it was a blessed box.

But two tired adults with appetites will find a single box insufficient- and that is where we were today. 

Let's just say it was one of those days where the wallet and calculator needed to work overtime and mind, those days were tiring and not so kind.

I'm pretty sure I cooked myself a bowl of noodles after this was finished.

But I didn't take a picture. 

The pictures of ChaletYums this time include some new dishes and new foods that we have made. 

Like this bowl of porridge that I have now come to appreciate and love. 

It was quite unexpected, really. 

I had not thought that minced chicken porridge cooked in the Little Black Grill could actually be this good. The texture was a bit like mui fan, but with oyster sauce, fish sauce, spinach, some other sauce and without the gravy. 

The addition of frozen spinach in the porridge made a whole lot of difference. 

Not just visually, taste-wise as well. 

Same too for the handful of frozen mushrooms which we add into our plates of beef fried rice. 

This is another dish that in recent weeks I have come to genuinely appreciate and love. 

There is something satisfying and delicious about the fragrance of beef fat tallow when it gets mixed together with rice. The fragrance, very much like grilled meat, is filling, comforting yet clean all at the same time, with a warmth that is actually quite hard to describe. 

To put it simply, I love how the beef slice is crisp and the rice grains smooth and oily all wrapped up in the oil of the warmed-up fat. 

Every bite is delightful, made better by the crunch of organic pumpkin seeds that add texture, plus that very slight hint of burnt burnt taste that goes into the rice, creating even more variation to the already rich and fragrant meal. 

Besides the beef fried rice, another new addition to the meals these days are the organic chicken nuggets ordered frozen from Redmart. 

These are so good, I tell you.

I am the kind who doesn't mind a chicken nugget when I can get a good one, so having these in the oven really made me smile. There is something charming about seeing a childhood snack arranged so prettily on a plate with the jars of mayonnaise and truffle paste waiting by the side. 

Come to think about it, I wonder if there are variations of McDonalds' sweet and sour sauce that one can have. 

Will plum sauce taste just as good, I wonder?

We have had our chicken nuggets all on their own. 

But we have had them with leftover Hong Kong Noodles as well.

Of course, there can be no ChaletYum meal in the house that does not include instant noodles. 

This one I think is Indomie with loads of chili oil, no seasoning, a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds- it makes a difference- and a dash of pepper. 

Bus Ride Sights: Parkway-PIE

There are surprisingly a large number of pictures for this one bus journey this particular afternoon. 

All along I had thought that I'd already snapped more than enough; that this bus route from Parkway Parade to Toa Payoh had brought me enough pictures, enough memories.

But, apparently, different times bring different sights.

And so here we are, beginning with the sight of Cote D'Azur and Silversea condominiums that (admittedly) have one of the best East Coast seaside views this side of East Coast Road.

A roundabout, then Amber Road comes up next, followed by a short stretch of what I think is Mountbatten Road. 

Today I managed to capture the view where Mountbatten Road meets Tanjong Katong Road. It is a rare sight. Not always does the bus stop long enough for me to snap a nice, neat picture showing the road on both sides, and the glimpse of the plant nursery down at the right hand corner. 

The bus continued down Tanjong Katong Road after this junction. Chonkycam stuck very much to her usual spots all along this road, first beginning with the shop houses at the junction of Wilkinson Road, then the bus stop in front of the Meat Collective store, then the vet clinic at the junction, then Chelsea Lodge. 

The Supernova restaurant and bar came right after that, then the row of shop houses which included a Japanese dining place and a yoga studio. Bharath Supermarket followed after, then it was the junction between Heng Long Cooked Food and Ponggol Nasi Lemak. 

I'm glad I managed to get quite a good shot of the nasi lemak store today. 

It's not always that I get to grab such a great angle. 

More stores along Tanjong Katong Road followed, then the distinctive pink exterior of what is Chien Chi Tow today, The petrol station came up next, then a seafood restaurant, then the junction where Tanjong Katong meets Dunman Road. 

Here the bus made a left, trundling down Dunman Road, then Old Airport Road. 

First up came the Under Construction Grand Dunman condominium followed by the maisonette flats that overlook the MRT station opposite the Old Airport Road Food Center. 

The blocks from the OG Dakota Estate still stand there, by the way. Empty and vacant they might be now- everyone has moved away- but the structure still holds and the sight of it makes us think of how Singapore used to be in another season, another time. 

From here on after the bus continued on, going past the junction of Nicoll Highway where today I got a most lovely view of the Dome National Stadium. The bus now turned left onto Geylang Road then Lorong 1 Geylang towards the Kallang MRT. 

A bit more construction there was here at the HDB side of Lorong 1 Geylang, then a left the bus made onto Upper Boon Keng Road. 

Kallang River- with her calm bluish-green waters- seemed exceptionally serene today. Were it not for the state land on her banks, I might have thought it were a park where families could picnic, fly kites, and maybe even fish. 

Seeing the calm surface also made me wonder how she used to look like at one time when- it is said- there were small boats plying up and down. 

From here the bus went on, going onto Boon Keng Road until the Kallang Junction traffic light.

A couple of office buildings in the industrial estate came on right after- Google Maps doesn't tell me their names- and then it was Bendeemer Road, with the new flats of Boon Keng on one side. It is hard to imagine what this plot of land used to be before all this came in and took over. 

For the longest time it felt like this was just an empty plot of land (before which there were shophouses), and then one day urban development came in and these flats appeared. 

Perhaps that makes it significant that there are some landmarks which don't go away.

On the opposite side of the road stood the new flats of Towner with the khaki and cream colored structure of Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital standing steadily behind. It is one thing to remove a piece of history entirely. It is another thing to enhance it as much as one can, to let it be relevant to a changing world. 

Here the bus made a right, going past the Central Sikh Gurdwara (which I didn't manage to take a picture), then the flats that I always think of in relation to a bakery, a bit of the Whampoa River, followed by the junction of St. Georges Road. 

The Tong Tek Buddhist Temple and the Elim Church (as we often call it) came up next, after which it were another section of the Kallang River on the Serangoon Road side. 

The waters here today looked just as serene as it were on the Boon Keng side. Less bluish, more greenish, but calm and serene all the same. 

Perhaps one day I should do a bit of a bike ride or a wander along this river. It is one of the most interesting rivers in our country, actually, beginning from the waterways of Bishan Park in the heartland of Singapore, and continuing all the way down past Toa Payoh, then into Potong Pasir, then here on the Serangoon side, before drifting down to Kallang, and the open sea southwards beyond. 

From where we are today it is often hard to imagine the zone of Kallang and Geylang Lorong 1 to be that of Bishan Park- the impressions are just too different- but there they are, a continuous waterway down that speaks more of Singapore's heritage and industry than we usually think. 

The building I noticed most had to be the one that once used to be an Aerated Water Factory. At least that is what I think it once was. Today it is repurposed to be a playschool, but the structure- so typical of factories sometime in the 50s- still looks the same. 

A motorcycle repair place came up almost immediately- I wonder if there is a significance, or if it has always been there- then it was Moonstone Lane.

I'm afraid I know nothing about this area. 

Other than the Serangoon Broadway Photography Studio and a Bee Cheng Hiang which seems to have been there for a very long time, this is one area that I have never visited, never come to at all, and, to date, don't have much of an opportunity to.

Then again, who knows, maybe one day...? 

The bus now turned onto the PIE highway heading towards Toa Payoh. 

And Chonkycam decided she would go back to her case here. 

Bus Ride Sights: East Coast Road-Hill Street

So, I didn't realize it, but there were a lot more pictures of this one bus ride than I thought there would be. 

It's funny how you think you know a route and think you have captured everything on your camera, but life, and life's journey shows you otherwise.

I had not thought there would be that pictures of Mountbatten Road today. 

But there were. 

The pictures today didn't begin from Mountbatten Road.

Instead, they began from the junction of East Coast Road and Haig Road, where Katong Shopping Center stands. 

The most significant junction after that would have to be the Tanjong Katong Road junction, where from the double decker bus, the best landmark would be the plant nursery of Song Lang Garden in front, and the distinctive white dome of Gurdwara Sahib Katong behind. 

Why it is that I had never noticed it before, I don't know, but the white dome along Wilkinson Road stood out strong for me today. 

It was a bit of a surprise to read that there was already a community in the area as early as the 50s, and that this building- erected in 1969 and built in tradition of architecture of Gurdwaras found in India- had been needed as a permanent place as more of the community began to congregate and gather.

Kind of had me wondering how Tanjong Katong Road looked like back then, how Mountbatten Road looked like back then, and what about Amber and Meyer Road with her beachfront hotels, holiday bungalows and standalone properties? 

It is a good thing thus that Mountbatten Road still seems to have the same vibe as it has always had. 

Just that in the day to day we don't really take special notice how the road is like, especially her houses. 

There was one I saw today with a roof that reminded me of what they sometimes call the Spanish style. 

There was one of a squarish, squarish colonial B&W style that made me think of those big, airy homes I'd seen on Nassim Road, Seton Close (near Orchard Road), Holland Road and somewhere near Queenstown. 

Then there was one which, for some reason, had me thinking of seaside bungalows. 

I don't know why.

But they have the same architecture as those houses which people always say used to line the coasts that today make up the stretch from East Coast Park all the way to Bedok, parts of Changi, and Tanah Merah. 

Mountbatten Road isn't that far from the sea. 

There were more houses reminiscent of the colonial kind that you don't really think you would see here on the Eastern coast of Singapore, but they're here. 

Then there were a couple of single-storey houses which looked like they also had some sort of heritage but we can't really tell, these days. 

A junction came up not long after, then it was the stretch with Goodman Arts Center on the right side, the now heritage flats of Dakota Estate in the background, the flats of Jalan Batu on the left, and then the junction where Mountbatten Road meets Old Airport Road. 

Sims Way comes right after. 

This is one of those roads that you don't normally pay attention to- something like an interim road- and you probably would not take much notice of it were it not for the houses of Geylang Lorong 4 on the right hand side. 

The bus turned into Geylang Road here, going past the row of shophouses that always catch my eye- there is still the very legit Thai massage place (which once alerted me to the fact that my body was retaining too much water), the Mainland-style place that first introduced me to the charms of grilled skewers, and then the bus went past Kallang MRT, down under the ERP, and up Sir Arthur's Bridge. 

This is one bridge that stays significant for the fact that it connects one side of Kallang River to the other, crossing the Geylang side of town towards the former Kallang Gasworks side of town. 

After this, you literally entered into the zone of Lavender, going past the Mitutoyo Building and the King Living Kallang Furniture Store. 

The sight of Pico came up after, and right away I was on Victoria Street going past the V Hotel, and the red-grey painted flats of Jellicoe.

I managed to get a lovely shot of Hotel Boss out the bus window this afternoon, then a lovely shot of Masjid Malabar right opposite. 

Don't misunderstand this functional-looking hotel. 

It is one of the most popular locations for indie travelers who like to explore the city on their own and do a spot of shopping. 

The bus now continued down Victoria Street, passing by what I think is still a primary school, the housing estates that make up Kelantan Lane and Jalan Besar, and then the junction connecting Victoria Street to the district we call Rochor. 

This junction here is known for several things, including the church of Our Lady of Lourdes, the Queen Street Bus Terminal (with all the buses that bring you to Johor Bahru), Fu Lu Shou Building on the opposite side, and the site that leads you to Bugis and town further beyond. 

At one point in time, I think this carpark used to be the site of Victoria Street Wholesale Center for dried seafood like dried fish, dried fish maw, dried cuttlefish, dried ikan bilis and the like. 

Those shops probably have shifted to the second and third floors of Albert Street Market just off the Bugis Street area further down the road. 

The shop houses of Bugis Junction now came into view. 

First up came the white painted ones with notable ground floor retail of fried chicken franchise Jollibee on one end, McDonalds on the other end and dessert quick-fix shop Mixue on the third end.  

Then the mustard-painted ones that have Ang Ku Kueh brand Ji Xiang occupying two units on the ground floor and the famous Bee Cheng Hiang Bak Kwa store on the other.  

Further on came what is now Bugis+ shopping mall, then the former St. Anthony's Convent whose building is now restored for use by the newly formed University of the Arts Singapore. 

The Bras Basah district of Victoria Street now came up, first passing by newly restored, and renovated, St. Joseph's Church, the Hotel Grand Pacific, then Victoria Hotel (which looks like it has been there a while but is now under the Nuve Group).

The Cathedral of Good Shepherd came up after the next junction. Glad I managed to catch sight of the steeple this afternoon. It looked particularly nostalgic and serene, seen behind the narrow cone-shaped canopy of a tree.

Next to it was the Archbishop's House.

And then, after the next junction came the landmark church locals generally call the Armenian Church, although the full name is the Armenian Apostolic Church of St. Gregory, and now has a heritage gallery inside. 

Past the junction of Coleman Street the bus now went, with the fully-functioning Central Fire Station coming up front, and then, slightly further down, present-day Hill Street Building with her colorful rainbow windows.