I was a bit unsure when I heard that there is a carpet store in Dempsey Hill called Lotto Carpets Gallery, that “houses a garden full of parrots”. Dempsey is a dining area full of nice restaurants and cafes, and this was a carpet gallery, and it had parrots???

Errrrr.

There is also not that much info online if you search for “parrots in dempsey”, which I did, so I was a bit iffy when I decided to bring the family there to check it out. Anyway, I figured we’d have a nice dinner in that area anyway, even if the parrots were imaginary ones or a real let down! (they are actually macaws, I believe, not parrots).

Turns out, it was a pretty cool experience :)

Very good if you have young children, and/or if you have 15 minutes to kill before meal time. Also good if you are super sick of having your kids in malls (there is not thaaat much to do outdoors in Singapore) and want to at least have the bragging rights that “Yes, I DID do something outdoorsy with my kids today!” Ahem.

So here we are:

In front of the parrot garden

Chris is being beefy and holding both kids.. and I am like a random person that popped into the photo. It was super hard getting the kids to look at the camera, they were far more fascinated with the birds behind. Because hooboy they were NOISY!!

It’s like parrot paradise in there. The birds have a pretty large garden to fluff their feathers and wander in, and lots of poles to perch on. A lot of bird lovers visit them frequently and it was so sweet to see how the parrots had their ‘favourite person’, and would allow that person to stroke them.

One of the parrots, a GORGEOUS multicoloured one, deemed Chris OK enough to stand on his arm:

The feathers on that bird was gorgeous! I’m wearing a super-cute Joules dress from the Nottoobig store, and carrying my smooshy Stella McCartney falabella bag.

Hunter, normally pretty hesitant (and especially so since the birds were so loud), got brave and was stroking a gentle little white parrot (cockatoo?). He had a lot of fun and declared it so afterwards.

“Puuuulllllll your tail!”

Spacious bird paradise

It makes a great experience for young children around Hunter’s age (2 years old) because they can see these gorgeous birds up-close – way closer than at the zoo or bird park, and it’s FREE! You can’t beat that :)

TIP: bring a bag of peanuts with shells and you can feed the parrots.

You may remember, a couple of weeks back, I blogged about some pretty French jewellery from Gag et Lou and 5 Octobre. Now I’m finally doing a proper write up of the rest of the French jewellery I own..! Pretty pictures galore :D

It’s all thin and delicate and whimsical stuff… and totally pretty IMHO :) It makes me really wish I was back in Paris again, poking around in all the funky little boutiques and discovering little gems!

These below are 5 Octobre swarovski earrings. They’re a bit more fun then regular stud earrings, but not as in-your-face eye catching as dangling earrings are. They sit flush against the bottom of my earlobe and are nice and simple, but with enough sparkle to look nice.

5 October swarovski crystal earrings

Worn with Tiffany & Co initial pendants (C & H), and Elly initial necklace (B)

I normally don’t wear ‘big’ jewellery, but this Gag et Lou necklace is an exception. The disc is so intricate and whimsical I couldn’t resist! It looks lovely worn on its own, without being layered with other necklaces (which will only distract IMHO). It never fails to draw compliments from random people, and is one of my most-worn daily necklaces.

Gag et Lou spring necklace

I’m a big fan of ribbons, so the Millésime bow chain bracelet really appealed to me. It has an adjustable chain so it will fit a tiny wrist to a large one! They do a whole series of cute designs, but I like this bow one best. It’s very delicate and looks pretty layered or worn alone. I actually never ever take this off because I find it such a nice basic piece, so I wear it 24/7.

From left: Tiffany & Co diamonds by the yard bracelet, Millésime bow chain bracelet, Gag et Lou star bracelet, jade bangle

I was completely suckered in when I tried on the 5 Octobre 3-stone ring. IT FIT ME!!!!! It’s an adjustable wrap ring, so I just push it til the ends cross over each other, and it will fit me just fine. And unlike other brands, the ends are rounded so they don’t catch or scratch.

The ring is soooo light and so comfortable to wear, I forget that I have it on. It’s very petite but I think it looks lovely on. The gems are a grey/blue which doesn’t exactly match my wardrobe, but it was such a pretty colour I got it anyway.

5 October 3-stone ring

Fits even my ring finger cos it’s adjustable!

So that’s all the rest of the French jewellery I have so far.. though I’m eyeing others but don’t want to spend money on them right now. I’m very happy with these for now :)

I have a bunch of other jewellery and shoe related photos that I may blog at a later stage… I kinda miss doing fashion blog posts sometimes!! So I’m happy I got this one out :)

 Hunter after his nap today. He amuses me so!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7shrK0Wi7C4

Singing, I mean, belting out Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfD-pzOxvXk

My first Mother’s Day as a mum of two. It’s a little startling how much life has changed. I would have flat out thought you were insane if you have told me, 5 years ago, that I’d be here now – married with two children.

But here I am.

Motherhood is such a privilege, and even though we mums love to snipe and groan about our kids’ madness, really and truly, we feel thoroughly BLESSED to have them. Their sugar-pie smiles and ultra sweet “I love you mama” murmurings more than make up for the hair-pulling and head-bashing they make us want to do. To ourselves, I mean. (though maybe sometimes we do sorta kinda fantasize about doing that to them………..)

I really do believe that having children makes you view the world differently; makes you really choose who you want to be friends with; and makes you realise every day just how fortunate you are.

I guess, in a way, it’s hard to truly appreciate your own mum until you’ve given birth and raised a child yourself.

No that’s not quite the right word.. I guess the right word to be to “truly understand” your own mum, because now you know what she’s been through just to get you through to adulthood in one piece.

So what did we do today? We had a wonderful morning swim! The weather was lovely and the sun was out, so the kids went splashing away in the pool. They loved it and it also got rid of some energy so they could conk out for their afternoon nap later ;)

We also had homemade French toast with fruit compote and maple syrup for breakfast, made with bread that Chris bought from the bakery the same morning, freshly baked hours ago. It was lovely. Though Hunter, the nut, merrily ate his yogurt with bananas and spinach/blueberry/apple puree and rejected the French toast.

Homemade French toast with fruit compote and maple syrup

We had an early dinner after church at GRUB. Man I HAVE FOUND THE TWO BEST DINNER DISHES THERE!!!!!! And because I’m super duper nice, I’m gonna share them with you:

1. Pan-seared king salmon with risotto and chimichurri ($15) – I rarely order salmon when I’m out, unless I’m fine dining. Reason being more often than not, the salmon is overcooked. I am verrrryyyy picky, I like it done very moist and not cooked through on the inside. These guys do it spot-on. It means the salmon retains its natural juices and is extremely tender and moist, excellent for kids too. The risotto is executed well and smooth and creamy. It’s a good portion for an average-to-large eater.
   
2. Pork steak burger with apples and chimichurri sauce ($12) – this sounds utterly UN-exciting on the menu. All I think about is a slab of tough and chewy meat. They ought to rename it to “OMG this is super amazing ultra juicy and squishy and soft pork burger, like you’ve never had before in your life“. Yep, that should be written on the menu instead. It is so mind-boggingly tender and wet and soft it’s not even normal?!?!?!?! I can’t describe it properly. Just go there, and order this burger. Then your eyes will bug out upon first bite, and you’ll see what I mean.

Getting my GRUB on

Me and my little Grubette! Naked, because it was hot and the sun hadn’t set yet

For Mother’s Day, Chris is taking me out on a Gold Class movie date (Iron Man, yay!). I know it’s a bit weird to celebrate without the kids, but I think we’ve only been to a movie once or maybe twice in TWO years, basically since Hunter was born. So this is what I wanted.

Carter was very well-behaved and slept/ate/etc like a champion. Which, to me, is the best gift ;)

Hunter said “Happy Mother’s Day, mama” in his sweet little voice, accompanied with a hug and a kiss. It  made me melt into a puddle.

He also made sure I also had to use my manners, no exceptions even though it was my special day. He passed me a toy car to play with, and I took it from him – and didn’t say a word cos I was a bit distracted watching Carter.

“Mama”, he admonished. “Hunter gave you car. You didn’t say thank you.”

“Oops… “, I admitted. “Thank you Hunter.”

“You’re welcome. Good mama”, he grinned cheekily.

May you always be such a decent young man, and always remember your manners, my darling!

Putting on his “I’m an angel” face

And the movies below were taken last week, just of Hunter chattering away about… random things! He always has something to say and some tall story to tell, but I always have to listen to his stories and chat back, or he gets really angry I’m ignoring him!

Rambling away about what he saw outside

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJZfnOEPk6E

More nattering

A little prayer that struck a chord

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all the special mums out there. And especially to my own mum, who has always held my hand through the years, no matter what.

Spotty bag

I’d actually never even heard of Loeffler Randall until I chanced upon it at the On Peddar boutique at Scotts Square. The brand hails from NYC and is known for their ‘understated elegance’ in shoes, but also have some handbags out. I zero’d in on this adorable little bag that was sooooo soft and cute!

But, I suspected it was more expensive in Singapore than online, so decided not to buy it. Totally patting myself on the back here… because it definitely was cheaper online, AND a few months later it went on mega sale at Shopbop! GLEE!!

Called the Loeffler Randall Pouchette Bag, it really is pouchette sized – very petite! It’s enough to fit my (small) wallet, foldup hair brush, lipgloss, keys, and iPhone. Basically my bare essentials.

But because it’s an easy cross-over style, I actually find it pretty convenient. It’s great to throw over my shoulder especially when I also am carrying a diaper bag. I like the chainmail strap, and the little metal corners are SO ADORABLE!!!

The leather is really soft, so it’s right up my alley. The only problem? The zip has square edges (instead of the usual rounded ones) so it sort of ‘catches’ on itself as I’m trying to zip the bag open/close. It only happens sometimes but is still a bit annoying. Guess I’ll put a keychain on the zip and that should fix it!

Loeffler Randall pouchette, in the sweetest turquoise/mint/aqua shade!

Cute silver hardware on the edges

Nice stock photo pic from Shopbop

On a super tall model, so it looks extra tiny on her

One of Hunter’s favourite girl friends had her 2nd birthday bash recently! It was quite momentous as she is also now an older sister.. so I thought it was really nice she had her own special day to celebrate.

Maybe Hunter and her can now “connect” on some level as being big brother/sister to a little baby. They can commiserate with each other on how good or bad it is to have a baby in the house, haha.

There were a billion kids running around the play gym. Well maybe not a billion, maybe one or two less than that. But it sure was packed with kids running everywhere! I think the adults were pretty exhausted, LOL. And for those with 2 kids, neither parent got a rest! Ours are both too young to be left unsupervised in there, so we were really kept on our toes.

(some pics snitched off Janice!)

Hugs for the birthday girl! Pretty impressive to see, as Hunter is not generous with his hugs toward his friends.

With my lovely mummy pals!

The turquoise brigade

There was something for everyone! Even the youngest of kids, like Carter, had fun. Here he is jumping around like a madman. He LOVED that thing. He lunged and threw himself with much devilish glee, and wailed if he was removed from the contraption.

FLY, BABY, FLY!

Hunter, my little Mr Reserved, had a total BLAST! I didn’t even recognise the crazy, exuberant kid.. dashing around, throwing himself around and laughing like a maniac. Actually everyone there that witnessed his antics (and know what he’s normally like) were all going “I cannot BELIEVE Hunter is like this?!”.

Even odder, he’d been to this play gym a few weeks back, and was really nervous about it. He refused to be in the ball pit and was generally horrified by most of the stuff there.

But during the party, he was playing like any normal kid! I couldn’t believe my eyes. And I LOVED IT :)

So so excited!

Three little monkeys…

See Hunter lying down among the balls? UNBELIEVABLE. The first time in his life he got the guts to go into a ball pit, and launch himself into it and roll around!

Previously he was terrified of the fans blowing the balloons around. But during the party, he screamed with happiness and ran around catching the balloons!

Carter got to sit on some of these baby-friendly kiddy rides

Co-captains

Carter crashed after all the madness. Chris crashed next to him ;)

Amazingly, all the kids managed to sit around the table at the same time for eating/cake cutting. What a feat! It took much effort to get Hunter to eat his ham & cheese sandwich.. but since he is pretty much vegetarian, he ate it once I removed the ham *facepalm*. Didn’t object to the cake though, he ate that with gusto!

Eating time! Man everyone looks so serious..

Pulling faces

Very unimpressed with his party hat

Happy birthday sweetie pie!!!

Proud daddy with his precious lil one

We had a lovely time. Thanks for inviting us Naomi!!

Old School Delights
215M Upper Thomson Road
Singapore
PRICE: $$
RATING: ★★★–

I often judge a cafe/restaurant by its website.

It’s so silly, I know, but as someone that used to do web design and coding (many many years ago), I really appreciate a well designed site.

For this reason, I really like Old School Delights. Check out their link – how cute is it?? Their actual cafe has as much thought and effort put into it as their website does. It’s all about old skool blackboards, vintage toys and cookies/snacks, and games of yesteryear. I am a sucker for stuff like that, so was really entranced just stepping into the place.

The menu at Old School Delights

Giant blackboard with the menu

Every table has a little wooden box of goodies. Inside are all these super old school toys that, if you’re 30-and-older, will probably recognise. It’s adorable!!

Little box of old school goodies

We kicked off with some ice cold drinks. They come served in a big mug, which I appreciated. My Lime Juice was spot on. They’re not super cheap, but OK. At least they’re good!

Lime Juice, Ice Lemon Tea ($3.50)

Old School Delights have a pictorial menu, much to my delight (I am so a visual person). I wanted to try everything out!! Finally, I decided on the Hainanese Chicken Cutlet. It came out AWESOME looking. But in reality, it was kinda average…

The chicken cutlet itself was nice and juicy, with crispy breadcrumbs. It was more like sweet and sour chicken, though, instead of authentic Hainanese chicken cutlet. But I still liked it as it was well cooked.

But the fried rice it came with? Ack!!! Fail. It was very dry, not tasty, and just… not pleasant. I didn’t finish it and I NEVER leave food behind. What a bummer, as the dish was a great portion and did look very good when it came out.

Hainanese Chicken Cutlet ($8.90)

My gf opted for the ultimate of comfort foods, the Chicken Macaroni Soup. It looked incredibly pathetic when it came out ;) But then again, macaroni soup always does! It was anemic looking, perfect if you’re sick, haha. But she didn’t complain and I noticed that was a decent portion of ingredients, so it’s pretty good value for money.

Chicken Macaroni Soup ($5.90)

I was really seduced by the Chocolate Banana Fudge Cake. Actual mashed bananas in banana cake, and smothered in chocolate fudge. It looked real messy but was pretty good! It was cold by time we got round to eating it, and probably would have been a lot nicer if it had been warm.

Chocolate Banana Fudge Cake

The Sticky Chewy Chocolate Fudge was a real sight to behold. It definitely lives up to its name! My issue was that this too had gone cold by the time we ate it (they stupidly served the cakes warm straight after we ordered, so they were cold by the time we finished our mains). And because it was cold, the ‘sticky’ part really was STICKY! It kind of stuck onto my teeth, like molasses. Some parts weren’t as bad, but other parts had me really working my jaw to get rid of the sticky sweetness.

Sticky Chewy Chocolate Fudge

Shelves of old school toys and snacks

Even though my dish fell a bit flat, I’m still keen to check out Old School Delights again.. and order their other dishes. Their service is brisk and friendly, and the place is often packed, so I guess that speaks for itself! Plus, it’s just a few steps away from the Anti-oxidant Centre so it’s a great spot to pop into after I do a spa or yoga session there ;)

Happy 9 month Birthday, Carter!

Totally gonna win the Baby Model contest with that look…

Ummm I’m not sure what happened between Carter’s update last month and this month, but MAN, he’s suddenly gone through a massive growth spurt. He went from commando-crawling, to  ’proper’ crawling, to pulling-to-standing, to cruising, to walking… (or at least trying to).

WHAT?!?!

No wonder he’s been particularly fussy the past few weeks at night!

He’s still pretty enormous, and it’s particularly obvious when he’s next to babies his age or older. People often ask if he’s around 1 year old and I guess it’s because he’s about that size. It’s a bit of a problem for me because I do struggle to carry him, and I can’t just hoist him onto my hip and walk around like people do with their babies.. because my arm doesn’t go around him all the way, and because he’s just too heavy.

He’s mostly back to his super-smiley self. He does wail if I suddenly step of out sight, but is generally alright and is ok with people carrying him. He LOVES LOVES LOVES his attention, and will do pretty much anything and everything to get some. Will wave like a World’s Greatest Politician when he’s in his stroller, to get people to come running over to play with him ;)

Most interestingly…. earlier this month, he stopped pooing in his diaper, and only in the potty. We’ve learned to read his cues, and he’s good at giving them to us.. and also because he tends to poo like clockwork every night after his dinner. Plus, he really likes sitting on his Big Boy potty and doing his poo, dishing out GREAT BIG SMILES in the process. His current success rate is 100% for the past 2 weeks (ie. not a single poo in his diaper). Except today, when we put him in his walker and no one was paying attention to him, so we didn’t notice his poo-cue. Oops. He will also do his pee in the potty if I pop him on it, but will also merrily do pees in his diaper.

Who knew someone could be this happy taking a dump?!

• EATING – Still on breastfeeding 4x/day. I have no idea how to drop one more feed, because I don’t know how my boobs can tolerate it without exploding. On the downside, Carter can now only breastfeed in the bedroom when it’s quiet (and preferably dark). He goes nuts when I try to nurse him outside, fussing and kicking because he wants to look around instead :(
  He is AWESOME with solids, which I’m so delighted with! Eats about 3-4oz per meal, and now has breakfast as well as dinner. He absolutely adores his greens, and most of all spinach. He’s not terribly keen on fruit, but if I add pureed spinach to it, it becomes a winner! Odd. I’m also blending his food less, and doing more fork-mashed stuff or even cubes (with very soft food or fruits). He’s so greedy he doesn’t care.

Carter’s eating method: roll up sleeves, eat fistfuls of snacks with much gusto, then reach over and grab more from other kids’ bowls!

Carter, looking like a python about to strike for that bit of bread Hunter’s holding

• SLEEPING – Babies his age should be doing around two 1-hour naps a day. Not Carter. He’s still intent on his 30min (to the dot!) naps… about two to three times a day. Sigh. At least he naps easily and will nap anywhere and everywhere.
  He needs to be physically held down at night so he’ll fall asleep. Because he’s gone through such a huge growth spurt this month, he’ll immediately stand up in his cot (even if he’s dead tired) and then wail cos he then doesn’t know what to do with himself. Doh! He will sleep just fine through the night.. but now frequently will wake at 5-6AM grunting away until we stuff the pacifier back in his mouth. I hate that thing! But I don’t know how to wean him off it because we’re scared he’ll wail (and he has a terrifically LOUD wail that will wake Hunter up for sure). I guess I take solace in the fact that he has never woken for milk since he was 2 months old, but having to get up for the pacifier is still really freakin’ annoying.

All sunshine smiles at bedtime

• PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT – Crazy how in just two weeks, he went from only commando-crawling, to crawling on all fours -> pulling to stand -> cruising -> walking. The last one is a real problem. He absolutely cannot walk unassisted yet, but refuses to acknowledge this. So, he’ll pull himself up, cruise a bit, then simply….. LET GO AND WALK! This means that after one step, he does a massive faceplant onto the ground, and yells with anger. You’d think that he’d learn he can’t walk yet and stop doing this… but nope. He’ll do it again. And again. And again. So this means we need to watch him at all times, because we never know when he’ll just walk off. Plus, he will crawl to the edge of the bed/couch and… keep going. So different to Hunter, who was ultra careful with walking and crawling!!
  His favourite party trick(s) now is clapping and waving. Will keep doing so especially in the stroller, to get people around to come up to him and give him attention. It works a treat! And I’m very happy for that because then he’s kept occupied whilst I can look around in shops :P

He loves the water! Will splash away with wild abandon, not caring if water goes on his face/eyes

Standing/cruising around.. moments before he simply just lets go and tries to walk by himself!

So delighted to be standing/walking

Nothing makes him happier than jumping up and down on a trampoline. Adrenalin junkie, this one.

Keeping himself amused by keeping other shoppers amused

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NJNitBTCzQ

I’ve gone on a bit of a rampage this month with my mission to dress both boys up in matchy-match clothes. I figure I’ve only got a very limited amount of time to do this, before they’re old enough to object and call me soooo embarrassing! This is, unfortunately, also an expensive mission.. because I have to buy double the clothing and it’s not like Carter’s can be re-used. So they only have a handful of sets of matchy-match stuff which I keep rotating. I find it sooo cute!!

Matching suspender outfits!

And.. ummm… also matching strollers :P

One morning, I was in the kitchen and realised it was all VERY QUIET. Got nervous and went looking for the kids. Found both of them in our bedroom, like this! Hunter was slowly and carefully reading to Carter :)

They adore their bath time together

Happy 9 months, baby wombat! You may have truly epic banshee-screams, but your PICK ME UP NOW I LOVE YOU excited arm flaps and gigantic sunshine smiles make up for them. You’re my big squashy ball of cuddles and I already miss your baby-ness because you seem so much more independent now that you’re on the move. Just stay little!

 Taken a couple of weeks ago.. this never fails to make me smile

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccAQVP6r-p4

Compare with Hunter at Month 8-9 here.

PREVIOUS PROGRESS:

• 1 month
• 2 months
• 3 months
• 4 months
• 5 months
• 6 months
• 7 months
• 8 months

Saw these Salvatore Ferragamo pretty little danglies and thought they were so sweet. Small and delicate, yet with a lovely ‘weight’ to them. They’re very subtle IMHO and I love that little bit of sparkle at the bottom of the dangle earrings!

They basically go with any outfit since they’re pretty basic looking. But they add a wee bit of glam and sparkle IMHO :)

Salvatore Ferragamo drop earrings

Close-up

On my ear

Anyway, Happy Sunday everyone!! Hope you’ve had/having a lovely weekend :)

You’ll always be our precious first-born!

Hunter was all in a happy tizzy this morning… because we’d told him that he was going on a special big boy movie date! We’d bought tickets to Thomas, and it was his first time going to the cinema with us.

Thomas the movie!

We went for the morning movie session (whilst Dad patiently babysat Carter outside) and Hunter was absolutely fascinated with the cinema. It was a bit daunting for him – seeing all those chairs and the large, dark theatre.

I thought he’d be really scared of the big screen and loud noise, but he was actually quite OK. He spent the whole time cuddled up on Chris’ lap, and watched the whole movie intently (I’m not even sure if he blinked, LOL).

I guess he understood at least some of what was going on, because he could name the characters, and joined in “looking” for the yellow engine, etc.

It was really nice having special time with just Hunter. I think he enjoyed it too :) Plus, he got to have 100% Daddy time afterwards when Chris took him home on the bus, as a little treat.

I’m hoping that cinemas do more of these kiddy movies so we can take Hunter! At least we know he has the stamina to sit still for 1 hour with zero fuss, so I have the courage to try it out again ;)

Hamming it up!

Daruma Ramen House
Greenwood Estate
10 Greenwood Avenue
Singapore
PRICE: $$$
RATING: ★★★★-

A little-known ramen joint called Daruma Ramen House lies among the eateries along Greenwood Estate. Their main dish is just one thing – ramen. And as a bit of a ramen nut, I just had to go try them out!

They don’t hail from Japan, but rather from Hong Kong. However, the interior is really Japanese, reminding me of the eat-quick-and-leave ramen joints around Japan. And, they were ranked one of the Top 5 ramen restaurants in Hong Kong by Tatler magazine. Not bad!

The interior is dim with yellow spotlights, and lots of glossy black decor. The open kitchen takes up most of the space in this tiny restaurant, and we took the bar seats so we could witness the action.

Daruma Ramen House

The menu is sparse.  Your soup base can be Shoyu, Spicy or Tonkotsu. You can choose from either barbeque pork, or braised pork belly, or both. A few other little optional toppings exist, like egg or corn, etc. And…. that’s about it.

The menu

Watching the action

You order and pay at the counter, and moments later, your ramen is delivered piping hot. And….. it’s delish!! The noodles are springy and well cooked, though they really need to up the portion a bit. I liked the broth, which was Original (you can go for Light) – it had a lot of flavour but wasn’t salty or overly thick. Lovely for those that find some other ramen joints’ version too rich.

The Pork Belly was a stunner. Slices of lusciously tender pork that left me salivating for more. The few slices provided is definitely not enough ;)

Tonkotsu Japanese Braised Pork (x2) with original soup ($16)

We also added a portion of Barbeque Pork (4 slices) which were just as good as the Pork Belly. I actually can’t decide which one I like more. The Pork Belly is ‘meltier’ but the Barbeque Pork does have a nice bite and flavour.

Barbeque Pork ($6 for 4 slices)

I really enjoyed Daruma Ramen House and I appreciated the swift service. You can be in-and-out within minutes!

Only downside is that it’s pretty pricey for a bowl of noodles. My bowl was $16 and it’s $6 on top for extra pork. That means we’re veering into fancy-place prices for a main, IMHO… which also is not filling enough for me (needs more noodles). Because of this, I do hesitate to return, but I will if I’m craving a ramen fix!

But, for the next few weeks, they have an absolutely KICKASS 1-for-1 promotion! It’s at their TripleOne Somerset location and, assuming they don’t shrink the portion size, is excellent value for money. In fact, I’m planning a trip there soon!