Monday, December 31, 2012

2012, in a heart beat!

The last day of 2012. As the clock makes its way slowly to midnight, I'm sitting here writing this post, thinking about the events that took place in the past year :) 

Being married to Leecher ... hmm, always an interesting topic to talk about for there are just too many stories. Like all other couples, we had our joy and tears, quarrels and sweet-nots. Survived the 1st year of marriage life, and counting onto the 2nd. 7th year of together-ness don't come easy, so I'm really counting my blessings. 

Work has been smooth-sailing, with some challenges in b/w. Still trying to strike the right balance :) Hopefully will expand the territories under my care :)

Always wanna the best for mummy dearest, lil bro & baby bro, just wanna spend more time with them whenever I can and stay healthy! 

As I make way for a new calender on my desk, here's wishing everyone 

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Sunday, December 30, 2012

Platters!

Hello! A new & updated entry, once again .... and another date with BFF + BF! I need to find a shorter way of addressing BFF + BF, if not, I'll be too confused typing too many Bs & Fs, haha! I hope this post goes out earlier than BFF's food blog, so I can be up to date for once, haha! *cheap thrill* The BFF still beat me to it! And, another heartfelt thanks to Jonah, for his wonderful contribution to my Xmas tree this year, heehee :) 

This time round, we headed to Platters for our dinner, located conveniently near all of our working places, apart from FMQ, who had to travel into Central area. 

 
You can find many establishments along Club Street, which is starting to be the new hangout place for us to meet up with friends after work! Headed there early and thankfully we managed to reach the place before the rain started pouring! 

  
 Empty restaurant at 6pm.

 
Unopened bottles of wine displayed for your viewing pleasure. 

 
Opened bottles are displayed on the shelves as part of their decorations.  


 
 
Arty Farty corner, haha! 

 
Drinking (plain water) glasses.

  
Deep in thought about what to order .........

  
Good recycling idea :) 

Here @ Platters, they believe in the spirit that sharing makes a meal more enjoyable - which is why they choose to serve their dishes in platters. How true! I always think that sharing food with Leecher somehow makes the food more delicious, haha! Must be Leecher have the gluttony face, which makes food looks so yummy :p

In addition, they also invite a guest chef every 3-4 months to interpret, design and create what he/she believes is "sharing gnosh". This time round, the guest chef is Chef Tan Yong Hua, one of the youngest Singapore -bred chefs in the Chinese culinary circle, known for his modern and progressive techniques.


Getting ready for the first dish!

 
 
Roll with It Platter (half), which consisted of deep-fried prawn meat roll with scallops and Chinese pear/ mirin & mayonnaise sauce / bacon with enoki mushroom (my fave!) / wasabi-mayonnaise dip / chilled pork belly with freshly sliced cucumber / homemade minced garlic dressing. 

 
 The Boner (full platter) which consisted of pork spare ribs with coffee sauce / baked lamb ribs with spicy black pepper sauce (we all agreed that this is the best of the lot!) / braised beef rib (bone-in) with Chef Tan's signature homemade sauce.

 
 
All platters are paired with artisanal wines (if you fancy drinking) from their Euro-centric wine list. I've always preferred white to red, but this bottle of red wine is very smooth, me likey!  

 With good company + wine, food becomes enjoyable :) We ordered another platter to share. *glutton us* By The Seaside (full platter) - baked sea perch / honey sauce marinate / pan-fried Canadian scallops / green bean puree / crispy wild sea prawns / lemon-lime cream dressing.

 
** thanks BFF for the pictures! 
The fave couples :) 

 
with BFF :) new targets for the new year, perhaps?

 
Leecher needs to take some training from Jonah! That man is soooooooo fit!

Finished the night with a sweet flourish - rosella hibiscus flower jelly / Asian style pancake with red bean paste and sesame seeds.

Chef Tan's creations are valid till Feb 2013, so go try it! As for us, we'll return when another guest chef is in the house :) 
Platters
42 Club Street 
Singapore 069420
Tel: 6223 8048

Friday, December 28, 2012

Taiwan: YangMingshan - 夢幻湖

 A shoutout to my lil brother for today is his 21st birthday! Doubt he will read this entry, cuz he seldom reads the blog. He finds it weird to be reading all about his sis's life, lol! Think he shld be having his "blanket party" now, haha! Gave him his pressie during Xmas and hopefully he will put it to good use :) Time really flies, even the lil bro is all grown up now.... which means that I'm getting old! Have to start facing reality soon, haha! Another TW entry below and meanwhile, TGIF!

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After we left 小油坑, we arrived at the next destination - 冷水坑, which contains Taiwan's sole bed of precipitated sulphur. Popularly known as "Milk Lake" due to its cloudy colour.

Leecher looking comical with his 2 umbrellas opened. 

 
We explore the nearby surroundings first - it sure felt surreal standing there, with the cold wind blowing in your face. I felt so refreshed even though I was getting pretty tired from the walking. 

So, we headed towards the opposite direction & followed the signs towards Menghuan Pond. The pond is a protected area located at the western side of Mt Qixing. In winter, mist and fog enshroud the area to form a dreamy winter wonderland. Sounds magical already :)

 
Venturing towards the destination!

  
 The walking trails are quite easy to walk and with clear direction signs to guide you along. So, there is really little chances of you getting lost, even if you're not familiar with the surroundings. 

 
Taking a break and Leecher had to refuel his energy with food. 

  
Nature spotting along the way!

 
Check out this gigantic spider web - I was surprised @ dent dent's ability to capture the intricate details so clearly. 

 
Another one outside the guys' toilet.  

 
Kids spotted cleaning up the area, our equivalent of community work services. 

 
   
We soon arrived @ Menghuan Pond ... but to my great disappointment, it looked like this 
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Erm, which part looks 夢幻 to you? Apart from the mist and fog, it looked like a gigantic algae-filled pond. It was supposed to look like this 
 
Nothing like what is seen in the picture. Wasted all our effort to walking here. So, we continued the trail towards the next destination ...

 
Creepy crawlers on the way down *yikes*

The Lim brothers having a fun time playing in the mist, haha! Didn't know guys can be easily entertained by simple things :)
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