Category Archives: Festivals

A BANQUET AT IMPERIAL TREASURE

6 February 2012 4 comments

Imperial Treasure at ONE°15
11 Cove Drive Sentosa Cove
ONE°15 Marina Club
Singapore
PRICE: $$$$
RATING: ★★★★★

I’ve been to Imperial Treasure once before, for a yumcha lunch. Normally, I try to steer clear from traditional Chinese restaurants because I find regular Chinese food kinda boring (ie. pretty sick of it). I much prefer local Singaporean food, Japanese food, Thai food etc etc.. if I had to choose an Asian restaurant to go to. But, I really loved their yumcha dishes and so was really excited when my aunt brought us there for a dinner.

The food was excellent – beautiful ingredients and artfully cooked. They aren’t exactly a very cheap restaurant, but at least the fresh ingredients and delicious dishes don’t make me feel like they’re overpriced. Service was also prompt and very lovely.

And……. yep, this was my first proper taste of Yu Sheng. And it was this Yu Sheng served here that made me completely fall in LOVE the dish :) Something about the myriad of colours, the 34028402 ingredients mixed in there, and then fun ‘tossing’ of the ingredients that appeals to me. Not to mention, it tastes FREAKIN’ AWESOME.

I’ve had Yu Sheng about 5 times now, during Chinese New Year. Will have it another 2 more times. Heh!!!

Yu Sheng

Mixing it all up!

I thought the Crispy salmon skin sounded a bit weird (I much prefer the salmon meat itself!) so I was a bit hesitant with this dish.. but ended up munching away happily on a whole bunch :P It really was skin, deep fried in a light crispy batter. So simple, but it was tasty and so crisp!! Like chips. And no, not with a weird fishy flavour or anything.. but just very good :) I reckon even fish-haters would like this dish.

Crispy salmon skin

The Roast pork belly with crackling nearly had me hysterical with glee. IT WAS FANTASTIC!! This dish is so so so common in Chinese restaurants, but this one by Imperial Treasure was superbly done, better than the rest. The pork was luscious, meaty and juicy, and there wasn’t too much fat layered in (I don’t like the squishiness of the fat, eek). And the crackling… oooo…. the skin was utterly crisp, like a potato chip. It’s a must-order dish there IMHO.

Roast pork belly with crackling

Another dish I’m generally not big on is soups. Specifically this one called Double-boiled sea whelk soup with sharks fin edge and herbs, because, let’s face it, it doesn’t sound very appetizing does it :P But it actually became my #1 dish of the evening when I had a taste. The ingredients didn’t really fascinate me so I only drank the broth, but it was UNBELIEVABLY GOOD. I can’t explain the taste in words.. but it was rich yet not too strong, with all these layers of flavours. Apparently it’s what you get when you double-boil soup. MAN it was really good :)~

Double boiled sea whelk soup with sharks fin edge and herbs

We also had the Peking Duck, which came out looking almost fake, cos it was roasted so evenly! They expertly sliced off the crispy skin, and wrapped it in the soft crepes. Delicious :) I only wish that they would slice the skin off with more meat, ‘cos it’s actually the duck meat that I like. Most places only do minimal meat though.. since the whole point of Peking Duck is to eat just the crispy skin.

Peking duck

All wrapped up in the mini crepe pancakes, sitting on prawn crackers

This was some special deep fried & steamed fish dish, that was pretty interesting. The meaty parts were all steamed tender and juicy, and the parts with bones were deep fried to munch on. I had the steamed fish and it was good, but I still think I prefer whole steamed fish (the one that comes in soy sauce and shallots – yum!)

Steamed fish and deep-fried fish

This was my first time eating Steamed live bamboo clams with minced garlic. Actually it’s been ordered and served at the table at previous dinners, but I never ate it ‘cos I thought the clam was too big and scary :P This time, I decided to try it out because it looked rather pretty. Was really surprised the clam was soft and easy to bite/chew – I’d expected it to be a bit rubbery and chewy.. sort of like calamari. It had a nice texture though not much taste, so the copious amounts of minced garlic and tasty gravy was very well received.

Steamed live bamboo clams with minced garlic

The Pan fried wagyu rib eye was a lovely sight to see. Glistening, juicy steak that was chargrilled perfectly. It was really tender, thanks to the fact that it was wagyu :)

Pan fried wagyu rib eye

The Chrysanthemum and Apple Jelly was for dessert and was a lovely and refreshing way to end our meal. Chilled chunks of jelly that weren’t too sweet :) I actually found it better than the Mango Pudding, which I found to be good, but similar to many other restaurants’.

Chrysanthemum and Apple Jelly, Mango Pudding

CHINESE NEW YEAR EATING

3 February 2012 14 comments

So we didn’t have a mad banquet of never-ending food during Chinese New Year. It’s supposed to be really good (guess it shows you’re prosperous and fat?? Heh) to have helluva lot of food such that people can’t finish it.. but we were totally unprepared for it, since we were supposed to be on holiday for Chinese New Year! But it was cancelled at the very last minute since Mum was in hospital (and only discharged the day before), so we had to make do with pretty simple food.

Anyway, no regrets and I liked it that way.. because it meant that 1) Mum was safe and out of the hospital, 2) we were still celebrating as a family, 3) it was kinda nice having a relaxed and chill CNY.

Breakfast on CNY day itself was waffles with bananas, maple syrup and ice cream. It was because I had all the stuff already in my kitchen and so could whip it up for all of us. Plus, Dad LOVES waffles.. and I thought it would be nice to do breakfast and coffee together for CNY :)

The waffles were those pre-made ones that you simply pop into the toaster. Verdict? Crappy. They become pretty stiff and crispy, and SO not like the waffles that I like – all moist and soft on the inside, and light and crisp on the outside. In retrospect it was silly of me, since it’s super easy to make waffles from scratch since I’ve done it many times before. Duh..

Waffles with bananas, maple syrup and ice cream

Lunch was a very last-minute decision.. as we had to figure out which places were actually open, that weren’t fully booked. We ended up having Japanese at the Raffles Town Club, which was an awesome decision because the food there is fantastic!

Outside the Japanese restaurant. We're wearing RED cos it's meant to be good to for CNY!

And we had this dish called Yu Sheng. OMG IT IS SO GOOD YOU WILL DIE OF HAPPINESS EATING IT……… Seriously. WHERE HAS THIS DISH BEEN ALL MY LIFE??????

I had Yu Sheng for the 1st time 2 nights prior (will blog about that later) and now I LOVE SALAD. Can’t believe just veggies and salmon sashimi can taste so good?!?!?!? It’s tasty, sweet, and utterly addictive. So this one at the Japanese restaurant was my 2nd time having Yu Sheng, and it was ‘Japanese style’… which basically meant it had a lot of sashimi of various types of fish. It was freakin’ awesome :)

Yu Sheng. Utter perfection.

So, the point of Yu Sheng is that you mix all these ingredients together (and there are a TON in the dish!). Each ingredient signifies something good…. I’m not sure specifically what they each signify, but it’s just meant to be all ‘nice sounding’!

AND, I remember hearing that it’s also supposed to be good to mix the ingredients hiiiiiigggghhhhh up in the air. I don’t know the exact reason why, but I think it’s something like the person that manages to reach the highest, is the person that has the best year ahead. Whatever. I’ll do whatever it takes just to get my hands on more Yu Sheng – yum yum yum!!

Quite annoyed that it took me 30 years (?!?!?!??!!!!) to discover this dish, because it actually ranks up there as one of my favourite dishes ever. Plus, I’m even more pleased that I like it, due to the fact that HELLO it is a salad! When ever in my life have I ever liked, let alone eaten, a salad dish?? My only regret is that this dish isn’t available year-round, which I reckon is quite unfair :(

Forced smile from me cos all I wanted to do was to eat it!

A few more photo ops with Hunter ensued.. mainly cos I think he looks spiffy in his CNY blue outfit :P

Fascinated with the bronze horse

Outside the cafe at Raffles Town Club

Our CNY Eve dinner was the really random one, because Mum had just come out of the hospital and we didn’t have any dinner planned. Obviously couldn’t go out to eat ‘cos it’d be madness in the City, plus Mum wasn’t really in the position to go out for a dinner.

So we ended up with….. steamboat!

Funny thing is, I was realllllyyyyyy EXCITED about the thought of having steamboat, because we hardly/never have it, and I thought we were all rather cool to be doing a steamboat when everyone else was probably having CNY tradition food or something.

But later, I saw all over Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc etc… everyone was freakin’ having steamboat too!!!! So either everyone else stole our fabulous idea, or steamboat is actually quite common to have on CNY Eve. Pfffttt.

Anyway, Mum has a steamboat machine thingy.. and all it requires is just raw meat and veg to chuck in. It thus makes a very simple, little-preparation-required, meal. Plus, it’s fun cooking the bits of food in the bubbling broth :)

My fave part? Throwing in the instant noodles and an egg into the broth. SO YUMMY!

Our (not so unique) steamboat dinner for CNY Eve

I reckon CNY is equivalent to Thanksgiving in the USA.. where family get together and feast. There isn’t something similar in Australia though, oddly. I guess Christmas in Australia might be the closest, but it’s still quite different, because Christmas in Australia is also spent with friends and has a lot of partying involved, whereas CNY in Singapore is family-centric, in the home, and completely focused on food.

Anyway, hope you had a fabulous time celebrating (if you celebrate CNY)! And hope you didn’t gain too much weight :P I’ve put on around 2KG. Not too bad since I remember when we lasted celebrated CNY when we were 18 or 19 yrs old, Chris and I put on almost 5KG….. Each. Any improvement is an improvement, right? :P

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HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

2 February 2012 16 comments

Hey guess what, it’s Chinese New Year!

OK, Chinese New Year actually started more than a week ago.. but I’ve been busy on playdates and looking after Hunter, so haven’t had a chance to blog about it yet. And anyway, was preoccupied writing up his 1st Birthday entries :P

But yep, Chinese New Year is really exciting for us this year because it’s the first time we’ve celebrated in …. believe it or not….. over a decade. I think the last time we celebrated was when I was 18 yrs old or something like that! It’s not exactly big in Australia, and in China the whole country practically shuts down whilst everyone visits their own relatives, so we could only bum around at home.

But THIS year, we’re in Singapore and can celebrate! And, even better, we have Hunter now. It was his 1st CNY so of course we had to dress him up in a traditional Chinese outfit. I figure since Hunter is a mixed kid, he would look pretty funky in it :P

"Oh maaaaan.... what have Mum and Dad DONE TO ME?!?!"

Getting into the CNY spirit :P

It was still a pretty low-key CNY celebration for us, because my Dad’s side of the family don’t even celebrate it, and my Mum’s side just barely. So all we really got was to go over to my Aunt’s place where she had an ‘open house’. But it was fun! Sooooo much yummy food (which is kinda my benchmark on whether a party is good or not, heh!!) and lotsa family friends there too. Hunter was a bit shocked with the people, but had fun :)

Cute decor!

All comfy on my parents

Chris finding out what it's like to be Dad to a lil girl :P

Mr and Miss Chinese New Year

"May I have a snack too, Mum?"

My aunt dug out this photo.. of my 2 cousins and I! I'm on the right of the pic, if it isn't obvious :P

GARDENS BY THE BAY

19 November 2011 1 comment

We went to visit Gardens By The Bay so that Hunter could check out pretty flowers, and also to try out his new Combi stroller for the first time :P

Gardens By The Bay is open to the public only this week, as a bit of a sneak preview. It will only open officially in June 2012, so I was pretty chuffed we got to check it out! It wasn’t too crowded either, much to my relief.. I get a bit overwhelmed and freaked out when there are crowds of people, because I don’t think it’s good/healthy for a baby to be pushed and shoved around and potentially have sick people near him.

Walking outside in Gardens By The Bay

These 'trees' catch rainwater which is then used to water plants

I was in a girly-pink kinda mood

Can't see it in the above pic, so here's a proper one of the pretty heart pendant my cousin gave me for my 30th birthday. Love it!!

Think of Gardens By The Bay as the Botanic Gardens, on steroids. The Flower Dome that we checked out was AMAZING. Think of a giant glass dome, whacked on top of the ground… and the atmosphere inside being a perfect 23-25 celcius.

Bliss.

Know how they do it? Viapipes with cold/frozen water running underground. And yep, it’s true – the ground really was cold when I touched it! Honestly, they Singapore government should build an even more gigantic glass dome and cover the ENTIRE COUNTRY with it, with those frozen pipes underground. Can you imagine Singapore with perfect cool weather? :D OK if that even happens in the future, I am laying dibs on the fact that I had the idea first ;)

Anyway… the Flower Dome climate means that Mediterranean, Australian, etc plants can all grow there. And boy, do they make the whole area beautiful. It was chock full with a myriad of colourful flowers and impressively-high trees, and most of all, it overlooked the pretty Marina skyline. What a treat!

Gigantic glass dome FTW!

Huge hibiscus flowers

These flowers were teeny-tiny, maybe 1cm?

More teeny flowers. SO CUTE.

Orchids overload

Thick with flowers!

'Dancing lady' flower. Can you spot the dancing lady?

TA DA!!! This ends this post.

SINGAPORE DAY 2011

23 April 2011 22 comments

Chris and I were super excited when we heard about Singapore Day coming to Shanghai. They were flying in the top chefs from famous hawker stalls around Singapore for the event – I mean, how much more awesome can that be?!?! We were salivating in anticipation leading up to the day.. so eager to have a wonderful day out in the park, letting Hunter get some sunshine and air, and eating ourselves silly. Did I mention THE FOOD WOULD BE FREE?? A food fair with free food……. I quiver.

When the day rocked round, I was dismayed that it was soooo dreary and cold :( Considering the whole week was sunny and gorgeous, it was so disappointing that only on that day was it crap weather! Determined, we still rugged ourselves up and headed out to Singapore Day.

The bad weather obviously didn’t keep the Singaporeans away because the place was PACKED with thousands of people! I was actually pretty shocked at the sheer numbers. We could barely see green grass, and found a spot to sit squished up amongst 52351278 other people. I sat down and huddled up in the cold, then Hunter decided he was hungry and so I had to pull him out of the (warm) stroller and breastfeed him – right there out in the cold, with tons of people around me! Man. It was rather surreal.

At the same time, Chris was attempting to brave the queues. Every stall had a 45 min queue. And what do you get at the end of it? A small bowl/plate of food, waaaay too small to fill one person. We were assuming we could eat at EVERY stall, and believe me we have the appetites too, but we ended up only eating from ONE stall because we just couldn’t handle the wait any longer. We ended up with Wee Nam Kee chicken rice which, on the plus side, the guy gave Chris a really big portion (Chris was one of the only foreigners there, so he was quite the novelty!).. but on the down side, the chicken wasn’t very nice (though the rice was freakin’ fantastic).

I felt like CRYING because I had been dreaming about my luscious Singaporean food for WEEKS leading up to the day! I wanted to eat everything and anything, but the queues were just insane, and it was just freezing out there. It was so disappointing :(

Funny story though – when Chris was queuing, he really sticks out since pretty much 99.9% of people there are of Asian descent. Almost everyone was either Singaporean, or the China wife of a Singaporean guy. Chris was one of the very very very rare Caucasians there, so it was very easy to spot him in the crowd, heh. Anyway, the Singaporean guy queuing behind him said “Are you sure you’re Singaporean???” to Chris, to which he replied “Ya, of course!! I am so kiasu I’m already planning to send my son to RI.” (a school in Singapore). The guy laughed and said “Oh I’m not even planning that far ahead, haha!”

We didn’t stay for long because it was just too crowded, too cold, and too little food. I don’t think the event was planned very well because 1) they either need to seriously increase the number of stalls or 2) limit the number of attendees to perhaps first 1,000 that RSVP. We left, disappointed.

A cold and dreary Singapore Day