Yum Cha @ Christmas

One doesn't usually associate Chinese dim sum with Christmas. 

But what with the diet these days and all that comes with it, you take any opportunity (and season) that comes around, and you go eat. 

I didn't want to wait till Chinese New Year 2024 to go have dim sum at Yum Cha. 

If best, I wanted it to be part of the celebrations closing the 2023 year. 

We'd talked about it. 

We'd put it on the list. 

But I still wasnt' sure. 

That is, until one day when a free afternoon popped up in the schedule and so we decided to go. 

Yum Cha in Chinatown doesn't have a special Christmas menu.

Neither does she have anything Christmasy in her dim sum offerings. 

What she does have, however, are familiar favorites that anyone who fancies dim sum will know, and love.

There wasn't any particular dish I was looking out for this afternoon when we got to the restaurant five minutes before the alloted time. 

But so happy was I, when, very quickly, almost three minutes after our order, amongst all that came to the table there was a plate of fried chicken wings, there was a plate of egg tarts, there was a basket of the yam puff thing, there were siew mais, and there was a basket of char siew pau.

All favorites were they, and I loved them all, beginning with the fried chicken wings, which although not the har cheong kai kind, were hot, crispy, and full of flavor even down to the meat inside. 

There was the delight of the egg tarts where I'm glad to say that instead of finishing all three at one go, I decided to space out and eat them up like an in-between dessert between everything else. 

It wasn't a bad way to have them egg tarts.

The custard was firm, the flavor was lightly sweet, and by the time I came to the third tart I was eating the custard out of the custard crust using a little spoon. 

I went on to the paus not too long after my first tart, deciding it best to split the pau up into half, pick the soft, sweet, slinky pieces of char siew out with my chopsticks, and nibble away on the bun after. 

It's an unusual way of having char siew pau, I know- most of us just bite into it with the bun held in our hands- but on rare occasions it's pretty cool to take things slow and eat with elegance rather than focus on the fun. 

Then again I'm the sort who leans more towards fun than decorum, so yep, the siew mai was eaten with a single chopstick skewered right through. 

I couldn't do that with the yam puff, of course, the outer layer was flaky and any effort to spear the puff with a chopstick would result in a shower of pastry bits dropping on the plate and the table below. 

It takes a bit of skill to eat this, by the way, so what I did was to lift it up with my chopsticks, take a small bite, put it back down, attempt to break the outer layer apart with my chopsticks, then eat the filling and the pastry each on its own.

I don't know whether it heightened the enjoyment of the puff or not, but definitely it made things easier and the plate neater. 

There were a lot of food that we ordered that afternoon.

Except that right now- what with it being three months down the line- I can't seem to remember them all. 

Perhaps there was a plate of bean curd skin skilfully wrapped around thick, chunky sweet prawns. 

Perhaps there was an order of Crystal paus, which is, by the way, one of my favorites in dim sum and at one go I can easily eat a few of them cute little steamed translucent buns of glutinous rice skins stuffed with tasty, savory chives. 

I like the chew of these little paus. 

Especially the skins.

But I like how the minced vegetables and turnips and chives mix with the chew of the Crystal Paus too. 

Really, I was thankful to have them.

Likewise thankful so was I to have not one, but three bamboo baskets of xiao long baos which, we first ordered two, then afterwards decided we could eat another three- and so ordered the last basket- which is, I tell you, a really good idea because you don't need to speed through the eating or have to go through the unfortunate situation where the thin skin of the dumpling gets stuck to the paper underneath and you lose your soup.

If three baskets of xiao long bao marked one of the highlights of this meal, well, there were others too. 

Like the basket of siew mais which came not too long after the third basket of xiao long baos and which I really love.

Like this radish cake which was a surprise actually because it's not something we tend to order when we have dim sum at other places but here today at Yum Cha's buffet it felt impossible to ignore. 

May I say that the cute, neatly-cut rectangular shaped of radish cake was fried just the way I like it, crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, pleasantly hot on the tongue? 

I loved how the edges were crusty and crispy, the insides soft and mushy. 

You didn't need to chew.

One bite and everything simply crumbled, leaving you with its gentle flavors of savory and salty without the cloying sense of over-fried oil.

We were getting rather stuffed by this time but then my friend noticed that there were a couple of interesting new dishes on the menu that we previously hadn't tried before, so we decided to order.

Here's the thing, however.

I can't remember what they were. 

No doubt what stands out in this plate of dim sum is the fresh, gorgeous, Christmasy color of green, but, really, what's charming isn't just the prawn (or is it scallop) in this siew mai-looking thing, but that the skin's made out of a vegetable.

Spinach, pea, something else, I can't now remember.

It wasn't distinctive a flavor- you couldn't tell what it was made of- but the texture was chewy, the prawn (or the scallop) inside was firm, and the flavor was lightly salty, with a very, very, very faint hint of sweet. 

I wish I hadn't forgotten what it was we ordered.

A befuddled memory don't do these pictures justice.

Especially when I'm now looking at this youtiao-looking thing, which might well be really a piece of youtiao sliced into half then stuffed with cuttlefish or some other meat inside, but which I'm sure, was, based on the standards that Yum Cha upholds, crispy, firm and good. 

Christmas with En Dining

There're only a couple of places that I will go whenever I want a treat in the form of a Japanese buffet style. 

One's this restaurant high up on one of the tallest skyscrapers in the CBD.

The other's here- at the street level of what is (also) one of the tallest buildings here on Shenton Way. 

A friend had recommended this place to me couple of months ago, said it was good, said I would like it, that I ought to go try. 

So I did- one Monday evening- and may I just say that I haven't looked elsewhere for a good Japanese buffet, and it looks like I won't be looking anywhere else either?

En Dining is not the kind of place to have skilfully crafted dishes made out of ingredients freshest of the fresh.

It is, however, the kind of place that you should go for when you want variety in your meal, and when you want to try dishes that you've always been curious about but never been sure.

This evening I was here for the variety. 

Because where else am I going to find a prawn dish done tempura style together with a separate dish of agedashi tofu that I can order at the same time and have as much of as I so desire?

And where else am I going to order as many pieces of grilled salmon belly as I wish to because I have a special love for them?

Not gonna lie.

I came here to have as many of my favorites as I wanted to.

Tonight we decided that we would have for our meal a mix of grilled and fried, so amongst some of the very first things we ordered were the soft shell crab, and the tempura prawns.

It's easy to say that there wasn't anything very fantastic about the food, but then one must consider the flavors, and the portion.

They don't stinge with the sizes here.

Not with the prawns, not also with the crab, which by the way, was chopped into huge chunks and fried to such a delicious crisp that eating it was one of the nicest experiences ever.

It's not always that I get to have a soft shell crab that's crisp and crunchy on the legs and on the batter whilst staying soft and mushy with the meat.

It's also not always that I get to have a plate of tuna and salmon sashimi,  a plate of grilled beef and a plate of ham all with one order all at the same time. 

Some people might wonder just what it is we're eating, like how does a person eat such different foods at the same time, but here's the charm of it: You get to have different textures and different temperatures of all your favorite foods. 

I'm not the sort to mix a slice of tuna sashimi with a slice of beef one right after the other. 

But I did have the ham (that came with some sort of creamy sauce) with the salmon sashimi and tuna sashimi and I think it tasted pretty good with nothing ruining the other. 

One thing I liked about the sashimi was the thickness, and the freshness. 

In particular the tuna, especially since for someone who doesn't usually go for tuna (it's got that raw, raw taste like I'm chomping off a chunk of fish raw on a boat out at sea) I really didn't mind this at all. 

We were a little more calculated with what we ordered after that.

Not because we were full, but because we wanted to try as much as we could from whatever their selection offered.

I can't remember what else there was in the menu that we wanted to have.

Maybe the fried rice.

And the ramen.

Both of which I do love, but then fill you up so fast that I had to eschew it all and go for other dishes that I wanted to try.

One of the things we went for was the shabu shabu. 

Don't ask me what part of beef this is- I don't know- but the meat's beautifully sliced, there's a lot of marbling, and when prepared with the soup, made for a wonderful warm addition to our meal.  

Besides the beef, we went too for the chicken kaarage.

I won't say that it's super unique or that it has a special sauce but one doesn't get a very oily taste to it, and their pieces are big and chunky enough to go well with their carefully drizzled sauce. 

Despite being very filling, there was, however, still the grilled fatty salmon that we were saving space for. 

Yes, the picture doesn't look much- like how attractive can it be- and maybe it might even look a little astounding- but grilled fatty salmon is one of our favorite dishes at just about anywhere, so why not have more of it here where they do it good, and we can relish it as much as we like?

There's the texture where the fish melts away in your mouth.

There's also the delicious oil that comes out like a little blast when you bite into the meat.

It's a warm dish that mixes well with the thin crisp of the salmon skin.

And I love it.

I really do. 

I'm glad we had all that grilled fatty salmon. 

Not just that, I'm also glad for the snack-like dishes that I particularly wanted to order.

Like the corn, which, although doesn't look like a very big deal, was something that I wanted to have the last time we were here. 

And the daikon chips, which are so good that you don't care whether or not you feel full. 

Your mouth doesn't stop nibbling.

And you keep on taking and taking and taking. 

The Springleaf Prata

Okay, so this is something that I don't say very often, but pratas are probably one of my favorite whsen it comes to (local) Indian cuisine.

That doesn't mean that I don't like mutton briyani, tandoori, palak paneer, butter chicken, naan, battura or dosai. 

It just means that I like the versatility of pratas, I like the way they can be both sweet and savory at the same time, and whilst it's not often that we have savory breads with sweet, it's wholly possible for, say, an egg prata or egg plaster prata to go with sugar instead of curry. 

I should know.

I've tried. 

I don't do it very often though. 

At least not when I'm at Springleaf for prata and/or murtabak because, really, their prata is so good that it would seem like a bit of an insult if I were to mix the mutton of the murtabak, or the egg of the prata, together with the sugar's sweet. 

Not that it doesn't go together. 

(I'm sure it does)

Just that it doesn't feel so right.

I've had my fair share of murtabaks and pratas at their outlets in Sembawang, and in Jalan Tua Kong- more than once I've had egg ones, cheese ones, and kosong ones- but here's my latest one. 

It might not look any impressive in this picture, but trust me, this Murtaburger (I think that's the name) is one of the best orders you can have when you're at Springleaf. 

It's ubiquitous to them- this particular prata- and you won't regret after the very first bite where you get a generous portion of mutton bits, generous slathers of ketchup, melted gooey cheese, and mayonnaise all snugly wrapped within the hot, crispy, crepe-like skin.

What never fails to impress me is just how they manage to make the cheese all gooey and melty and soft whilst keeping the texture of mutton bits warm and crisp with the right bite. 

With the way it is, you'd think the mutton would be tasteless, dry and hard, but no, there's actually a bit of taste still in the tiny little bits of meat, and neither the ketchup nor the mayonnaise can detract from the taste.

Maybe that's why this is one of our favorite orders.

Maybe that's why I sometimes wish I had my own plate instead of having to share. 

But then I like variety, and at times we've made additional orders of prata egg, prata kosong, and soup kambing. 

Don't scoff at this simple-looking little bowl of soup. 

It's actually pretty good. 

Not as brown nor as thick as some other places might serve, but it's rich enough a broth, tasty enough, and it's served with cubes of mutton plus sliders of spongy baguette type bread. 

Of course, nothing quite beats the pratas that are served here. 

Just like the murtaburger, the texture of the prata is crisp, yet soft, slightly sweet, and the fillings are just right a portion that they don't overwhelm.

So, yes, most of the time we've had to share that skillfully stuffed, bulky square-shaped envelope. 

But I don't mind. 

I love the food. 

I love the company.

I love the memories. 

A Head Spa @ Clarke Quay

So, I'm not the kind of girl who will put money to manicures and pedicures. 

Neither am I the kind of girl who will go for just about any kind of massage whether they be Thai or Balinese or Swedish for the sole purpose of pampering myself without first considering the necessity, the budget, and the time. 

But there be one kind of massage that for me is a sure-go, and just so long as it's a good one, that's the pamper, self-love, and self-care that I will go for. 

I'm talking head massages and hair spas. 

And I'm talking this one at a place called Oscar Head Spa in Downtown Central Clarke Quay. 

The Princess in me was absolutely delighted, I tell you, when told that an appointment had been booked for me at the spa. 

Especially since (after watching all those videos about Japanese head spas on Youtube) I had been wanting to try. 

The first thing that struck me about Oscar Head Spa was her location. 

Instead of being on the retail floor of a shopping mall as most spas usually do, this one was in the Office block high up on what I think is either the 9th floor or the 12th. 

Not just that, the interiors surprised me too. 

Unlike most spas whose interiors resemble that of a cocoon- dim, relaxing and cool- the waiting area of Oscar Head Spa was sunny, bright and cheerful.

Best of all, she had a view. 

I loved how they first brought you a cup of hot floral tea to let you nerves calm down, after which, there was a bit of scalp analysis where the staff ran a scan machine through my hair and showed me all the gunk that had collected at the roots of my hair.

I need a deep cleanse, she said, and the anti-aging treatment which I had come here for, today, would do just that. 

Almost right away I was brought to their treatment room, told to change into one of their robes, and settle down. 

I had thought that the treatment would begin with a hair wash, but no, before that there was a bit of aromatherapy where the therapist rubbed essential oil over her palms and let the scent whuff through the air above my face, letting me breathe in the relaxing scents of what I think is lavender, and bergamot. (Or was it rosemary...) 

A shampoo and condition followed right after, and then began the session they call the gua sha. 

For those who don't know what gua sha is, well, I don't, either.

Best way I can describe it is to say that it's a form of massage where the therapist uses a tool to loosen the meridian points and the acupuncture points along your nervous system such that it relaxes the nerves, releases tight muscles, and encourages circulation of blood flow. 

Anything else that gua sha is supposed to do, I don't know.  

Except that oit makes one get really comfortable, and I got so comfortable that I fell into a deep slumber.

What happened after the gua sha, I don't know. 

If I'm not wrong, it was a scalp scrub that followed right after.

All I felt was a bit of vibration where she used some sort of tool over various areas on my scalp to press deep minute (acupuncture) points that the gua sha tool might have missed out.  

And that's it. 

The next time I woke up was when I (sleepily) heard her say she was going to spray something on my scalp and hair.

Turns out, it was an ampoule.

Now, what it does, I don't really know- I think it seeps into the pores of the scalp or something, but then my hair got wrapped into what felt like a big shower cap, following which was a scalp steam. 

How long my head and hair got steamed like a xiao long bao, I don't know- slumber overtook me again- but it must have been a while- maybe twenty minutes thereabouts or so- and then she came back in, did another final round of hair wash (with an amazing rose-scented shampoo!) and then the treatment was over. 

Secretly, I wish it had lasted longer.

Perhaps then my shoulders and head and neck might have been able to feel even more at ease, and perhaps then I might have been able to get even more of (desperately needed) sleep.

The hour-plus rest, despite the deep slumber, really wasn't enough. 

Unlike others who might wake up feeling completely refreshed with a good massage, and an hour's sleep or so, unfortunately, not I.

I wasn't exactly tired- the fatigue wasn't as bad as it had been an hour before- but I was sleepily dazed. 

Maybe that's how scalp and head massages work for me, and even right now, thinking about it, I could certainly do with an hour or so more. 

That, however, will have to wait for the next time I have a scalp massage and head spa, but chances are I'll be coming back here to Oscar Head Spa again.

It's not merely for the view. 

It's also not merely for the little cakes, the grapes, the strawberries and the cup of floral tea that they serve you after your session is over. 

But it would be for the treatment- it was relaxing, it was very thorough- they did a blow dry and straighten before sending me on my way- and I for a long time afterward began to realize just how much I needed this dose of femininity, and just how much I needed to think of myself, and my girly side more. 

ESTATE's Christmas

It's early March, and only just now am I writing about the dinner that I had at Hilton's ESTATE last Christmas in December.

Yes, I'm three months late, but oy, that's life. 

(Also, I don't have a deadline...) 

The great thing about writing seasonal stuff out of season is that the season never really leaves, and so you find yourself always in reminiscence. 

Which is, if you ask me, a good thing, because Christmas is a season I love, and nothing makes me feel happier than to write about a season that I have always, and always will love. 

The one thing that you must go for when you come to ESTATE for Christmas dinner is their dessert. 

Don't ever, ever squish your tummy so full of their other delish offerings that you leave out the cakes, the ice cream, the cookies, and their specials. 

But that- I must admit- is incredibly hard to do- especially when you consider what it is that ESTATE has to offer this time of the year. 

For one thing, there's seafood. 

Plenty of it. 

It would be a huge waste of opportunity if one were not a seafood lover when there's a mountain of freshly chilled prawns, there's a mountain of freshly shucked oysters, there's a mountain still of scallops and there're also mussels and what I think are either crayfish or baby lobsters. 

Slightly smaller appetites like mine mean that I'm pretty careful with what it is that I take when I'm at buffets these days.

So where once upon a time I'd go for a plateful of scallops and prawns, these days I aim for just two each, and sometimes- like this round- I decide to skip the prawns altogether. 

No regrets about it, however, I really liked the scallops eaten plain, and I happily managed to polish off a plateful of those fresh oysters squeezed with lemon too. 

In fact I think I had two plates altogether. 

Or maybe I had one and shared the other with my dining companion, whom, I have to say, finished up to probably four plates of oysters altogether. 

I guess I was looking more at the cooked food offerings by that time. 

Which, by the way, are interesting, so much so that it's either one takes a wee bit of everything, or one has to balance out what it is they want to take. 

At other times I might not have been this particular, but what with this being my favorite season, I decided it for whatever foods that would make me feel Christmasy. 

Didn't take me long before I found four huge dishes laid out one side of the buffet. 

What exactly they are, I don't remember now- am not in the habit of taking a picture- but if I'm not wrong, there was one of baked salmon, there was one of roast beef, then I think there was one of roast turkey and maybe the last was either whipped potato or roast pumpkin or maybe roast Brussels Sprouts. 

It really just might have been latter, because I've got a heap of them on a plate, all caramelized and shiny under the light. 

I'd thought of getting some baked salmon, but then it had been prepared with cream- is one of those things that fill me up very easily nowadays- so, no choice- I had to avoid. 

Instead I went for mushrooms, those caramelized Brussels Sprouts, and slices of roast beef with applesauce ladled over. 

It's unusual, I know, people generally do not serve applesauce with beef, but I've always been keen on it (for whatever reason) and so decided to try. 

To my surprise, despite it looking rather weird on top of the beef, the flavors, when combined together, went rather well. 

I mean, the sauce wasn't cloyingly sweet as I thought it might be. 

And then there was the texture, which, whilst had a bit of grainy texture like a puree, didn't affect the chew of the thinly sliced beef in any way at all. 

On the very same plate I attempted a bit of roast turkey and a ladleful of whipped potato, but between the turkey and the beef, I much preferred the beef.  

So it was for a second portion of beef that I went for after a while.

But not before I went for a plate of salmon belly sashimi with a singular piece of maki with avocado and salmon.

Not before a dish of lightly creamy risotto that had a piece of meat on top that I can't remember what it is now.

And not before two servings of truffle roast duck which, as the signature dish of ESTATE no matter the season, is something that you live live die die must go for. 

Today they served their duck with tempeh, which I happily finished after nibbling on the piece of fatty, delicious, perfectly roasted duck skin, and chomping down on the tender, juicy roast duck meat still full of its marinated taste.

No doubt I was a little full by this time, but a delight it was still to have the second serving of roast beef with also a second serving of buttery whipped potato, several cherry tomatoes, plus a spoonful of black olives. 

Of course, I took the applesauce.

Couldn't miss that. 

Didn't want to miss that. 

I don't know what else it was that I went to take from the buffet spread after this beef. 

It might have been that I was already starting to feel rather full and so didn't want to overeat or compromise on dessert. 

But maybe I did go for another dish of risotto (which I'm pretty sure I finished), maybe I went for further portions of the truffle roast duck, or maybe I went for some other foods which I presently don't quite remember now. 

Doesn't matter so much, in any case, because one of the best impressions that I have from the dinner that night is the dessert. 

And here it is.

An entire plate of it. 

I know I took cake. 

Matcha, maybe, with a bit of fondant and some vanilla mousse in between, cinnamon-something sponge, maybe, that i remember totally reminded me of Christmas mince pies, and which was a bit chewy with a hint of bitter from what likely might have been rum, and last of all, raspberry-something maybe that I know also had some fondant and which turned out to be remarkably sweet. 

What I liked most were the cookies. 

It's not always that ESTATE has cookies at the dessert table, but today there were a few, like the raisin ones that were crisp, like the Christmasy-looking cinnamon stars with white icing on top, and then some others which were a little hard to chew, but unique in flavor anyway. 

Thai Yums Near MacPherson

A friend told me about this place at MacPherson Road, said that there was a good weekend deal, and maybe we could go give a try.

At first I thought the place talked about was along MacPherson Road where in recent years a lot of cafes, Thai food places, zichar places and Mookata places have sprung.

As it turned out however, it was really more along Upper Aljunied Road rather than MacPherson Road, and it were in a row of shops at the junction to Jln Mulia that leads to Jln Gembira where I'm a little familiar with because as a child I used to go.

I hadn't been expecting to find a Thai food place here, but hey, life springs (pleasant) surprises, and Super Thai by Soi Aroy was, in fact, pretty good. 

First feels of the place made me think of the ground-floor drinking clubs in the (now quiet) Golden Mile. 

I think it was the synthwave neon. 

Which, seeing that the menu had alcohol, no surprise that the vibe of the synthwave neon might make you order a Chang, a Singha or a bucket of bottles altogether. 

At another time I might think of a fruit beer. 

But it was now 3pm in the afternoon and what I really wanted to have was lunch

So we ordered a Pad Thai. 

Was it good?

Absolutely.

You know how some places do their Pad Thai in the clean, sweet, Thai sweet chili style? 

Not Super Thai. 

Theirs, I'm going to say, was done the way I imagine street vendors in Bangkok would make theirs- full of flavor, full of seasoning, full of oil. 

The portion was huge, and I'm not sure if the street style includes an egg, but there was one and a bit of runny egg yolk over wok-fried rice noodles can go a very long way.

I'm glad for this plate of noodles.

I'm glad too for the rice-loving one who shared it with me. 

The other dish we decided to order this afternoon was the Green Curry beef.

Again it might sound like an ordinary dish, something which I always order whenever I go out for Thai food, but I felt a sense of satisfaction just looking at the bowl- and the size of it. 

It was pretty fun to fish around for slices of tender beef to go with our Pad Thai (we'd skipped rice), but, really, what I loved was the creamy, delicious green curry itself.

Her flavors hovered delicately between the sweet and savory with a solid punch of spice, but I loved the kick it gave and I enjoyed drinking the curry straight out from the bowl. 

It's one thing to ladle a huge portion of curry over rice and eat it together.

It's another thing however when you spoon it from the bowl to your mouth. 

The spice seriously kicks in. 

You know, I really wish we could have finished the whole bowl of curry but they didn't stinge on the portion- plus we also had the Moo Ping- and so decided it better to space our appetites out and dabao the curry back home instead. 

A wise decision it of course turned out to be, because if there's one thing you must have when you come here to Super Thai, it's the Moo Ping. 

It's not small! 

And best part, not only is it not small, it's skillfully grilled, it's got the right taste of sweet sticking to the savory fire-cooked meat itself, and just the sensation of nibbling it off the stick alone can make you feel satisfied, and full.

Sean Kee Braised Duck Rice @ Lor 35

It's a little embarrassing, and by no means (dialect) biased, but Teochew-style braised duck rice is not usually the first dish that comes to mind when I'm hungry and wandering around the hawker center looking for something to eat. 

It might be because I didn't grow up with the braised version- The Family was more into roasted- and whilst I'm pretty open, somehow I tend to head for the fried fish soup stall instead of the braised duck stall. 

I don't recoil at the dish, however, and I love a nice braised duck rice when I have chance to eat one. 

Except that I don't know where many of the good braised duck stalls are. 

The only ones I know include this one stall at Hong Lim Food Center, this one stall at East Coast Lagoon Food Center, and this one stall at Geylang Lorong 35.

To date the stall I frequent most is the Sean Kee one at Lorong 35.

Something interesting about this stall is the location. 

It sits right next to a hardware kind of store- very hardcore- so it's got a strong industrial vibe, and so very often during the meal one hears the clunking sounds of steel rods (or something) being moved, coupled with the shouts of the workers busy with their task.

What the story behind this particular coffee shop or this particular stall is, I don't know, but I've heard that it's one of the more traditional ones with a lot of heritage and wields a tale long enough to hold its own together with some of the established ones in this country. 

One thing I appreciate about their duck here is the way they've cut it. 

All along I used to assume that braised duck was hard and dry, and that you were supposed to order your meat together with parts of the duck which I generally don't eat. 

But over here their duck is sliced skillfully thin, sufficient enough that one can pick up with chopsticks, or with fork and spoon. 

Sure, it looks dark in the picture, almost like a complete mess that you can't discern where the meat begins and where it ends, but trust me, they're actually all neatly arranged on a plate, generously laden with delicious, thick gravy, and served with a bit of cucumber, a heap of tougay, and a bit of parsley on the side. 

Coming here for duck rice means to delve straight into the meal without having to figure out which part is which part of the duck and whether there're any hidden bones or odd parts underneath all that meat. 

Coming here means I don't have to encounter a single bone, however big or small amongst the meat. 

For that I'm glad.

It feels incredibly safe to have braised duck rice here. 

There is no need for me to watch over each spoonful that I put in my mouth. 

There is no need for me to be on the side of caution as I roll the meat and rice (I eat them together) inside my mouth. 

And I can yammer away happily as I have lunch with my dining companion, and not have to split brain eating and talking at the same time. 

Perhaps it might be easier if I were acquainted with the style of eating duck, whether it be bone marrow within the bone, whether it be protruding bones here and there from the duck, or even the parts of the poultry that I don't know what they are. 

But I'm not.

I'm the kind who goes for the meat, never mind which part, and that be it. 

Forget about the innards- I can't deal with those- and neither can I deal with duck necks, duck beaks or webbed feet. 

So, yeah, I like this stall. 

And even though I wouldn't mind trying out something like braised duck porridge (if there be such a dish) from other stalls at other places, including the one at Hong Lim, for me right now I'm great with this one. 

Heck, even the skin- though very much unlike the roasted crisp that I prefer to have- I've grown to like. 

Some of the skins have got quite a bit of fat, which grants a most surprising taste, but in any case, I eat it drowned in their gravy.