Happy New Year

New Year Feast

Festive drink

A very happy new year to everyone! Wishing all of us a wonderful 2014 ahead!

After the festive eating and drinking, the last day of the year was also a time for me to reflect on my accomplishment in 2013. This past year had moved too quickly for me to take stock and this will be my resolution in 2014!

@ Tim Ho Wan Westgate

Tim Ho Wan Westgate

This is the third Tim Ho Wan outlet that I have visited. Despite being the third outlet, there was a long queue for it. I suppose Singaporeans do love their dim sums. I think JH and I waited for more than half an hour...

Yums

Needless to say, most of the heavenly four must be ordered. They tasted pretty decent too.

Jade Wonton in Laksa Sauce

One of their monthly special is the jade wonton in laksa sauce. I was hesitant in ordering this but gave in to the novelty. While this dish was created to suit our local palate, the laksa sauce was a bit diluted. The vegetable wonton also seemed to lack the oomph factor.

Yam Dumpling with Chili Crab Meat

Another of their monthly special was their yam dumpling with chili crab meat. Again, this was specially made for Singaporeans who love their chili crab. I love yam dumpling and these were fried well - not too oily or greasy. My only complain was the few strands of chili crab meat. More crab meat would have given it a better taste. However, I guess the cost plays a part as well. Worth trying.  

X'mas Feasting

So much food

Firing up the grill

A once in a blue moon indulgence with the guys. Happy X'mas!

Botanic Garden

Black swan

Quack!

X'mas

Lots of lily pads

A lone pair of Vanda Miss Joaquim

Iconic Tembusu tree

Lunch at Food for Thought

Dad wanted to walk the grounds of Botanic Garden but I was feeling lazy. Thus, I had to drag my lazy bones and stay awake. The botanic garden is a huge place with theme displays. Even though it was a public holiday, the gardeners were busy tending to the ground. Lots of walking ensured, so be prepared to sweat a little. We ended the day with lunch at Food for Thought.

X'mas 2013

Carbonara Pasta

No turkey but chicken can do

A merry X'mas to all!

Titans of the Past

A visit to the Science Centre

Triceratops

Naked T-rex

A real skull

Scary moving T-rex

Battle of the giants

Young Paleontologist at work 

Woolly Mammoth

It was our X'mas welfare event at Science Centre. Truth be told, I wouldn't have visited the place otherwise. It had been a really long time since my last visit and it was a great chance to check out the Titans of the Past exhibit. A decent exhibit with several real dinosaur bones. The T-rex skull was loaned for $1.5 million over a period of four months. Wow, definitely deserved more than one picture. While I was more impressed with exhibits in other countries like London's Natural History Museum, this wasn't too shabby either. Definitely a hit with kids.

Winter Solstice

Tang Yuan

Tang yuan for Winter Solstice 2013!

@ Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe

Papaya Soup Bee Hoon with Chicken Cutlet

We hit Xin Wang Hong Kong cafe to replenish our energies after a tiring badminton session. I ordered one of their signature dish papaya soup bee hoon with chicken cutlet. After a long wait and confusion and hearing a manager 'educating' her staff (what they say about airing dirty laundry in public), our food arrived.

The papaya soup was decent but I heard that the standard has dropped. It tasted fine to me though. The chicken thigh cutlet was simple and awesome. Do not be deceived by its small size as it was a thick cut and fried to sinful perfection. The other adornments in the bowl fulfilled the purpose of filling my stomach.

Just charge me for the soup, noodles and chicken. That's all I need.

Movie: The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug

The journey continued for Bilbo Baggins and the dwarves as they tried to reclaim back the lonely mountains. Lots of new (Bard) and old characters (Legolas) awaited them in their pursuit. Be careful of those hateful spiders. Although the dwarves were trying get back their rightful place, I felt that they gave up too easily and were too cowardly. Sure enough, the self-proclaimed king of the mountain Smaug was not likely to give up his throne and treasures. What have they done but to wake up an angry dragon.

Stayed for Ed Sheeran's soulful 'I see fire'. The theatre's sound system gave it an added oomph.

Tokyo Shoyu Ramen

It was raining and I was lazy to head out for food. What a perfect chance to try the Tokyo shoyu ramen which I bought some time ago. This instant ramen came with packets of seasoning, oil and dried seaweed. Just cook it the usual way and pour in the packets. Within five minutes, lunch was served.

The noodles were decent and resembled a little like the real ramen. The shoyu soup was simple and definitely better with the seaweed mixed in. In all, it can't be compared to a real bowl of ramen but nice try. Somehow I still prefer those Taiwanese instant noodles.