Monday, June 30, 2014

Crab in da Bag

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Finally I had time to sit down in front of the computer table, load+edit the pictures for this entry. A couple of weeks back, we brought parents-in-laws out on a weekend and decided to head to Crab In Da Bag for some seafood. Located at Big Splash (East Coast), this restaurant is a Southern Louisiana and Asian influenced seafood restaurant which serves seafood in plastic bags. 


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Leecher with his parents outside the restaurant, which was hard to miss judging by the huge signage that can be seen across the car park.
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Crews dressed in sailor uniforms greeted me at the door step, how cute! The whole restaurant was decorated in nautical theme and I absolutely adore the decorations at the bar counter! Maybe this will be the next theme of our house if we ever get to change to a new place.
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The essential tools for a meal!   
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At Crab in da Bag, be prepared to keep your phones and devices in your bag as your hands won't be clean enough to touch them! In order to document this entry, I had to eat with one hand while keeping my other hand clean to capture the pictures. Leecher, on the other hand was kept busy for he now had 2 mouths to feed.
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Before we kicked start the meal, we ordered Somersby Apple cider for the ladies ($9) while the guys headed for beer ($9). They do serve wine, bubblies and spirits. I was tempted to try the sparking moscato mini ($17/200ml) but felt that it was way too early to start drinking. So I settled for apple cider instead.  
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When truffle fries is missing from the  menu, the next best alternative would be sweet potato fries ($7). I tend to convince myself that this is a healthy snack given that it's made from sweet potato, just like how some of the guys drink coke light/zero and thought that they are consuming less sugar. 
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Crinkled cauliflower ($8) - I ordered this for parents in laws and they found it tasty! Mummy-in-law replicated this recipe during one of our weekly dinners after the meal and it tasted yummy! 
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  Nothing fantastic about CiDB wings ($10), just regular chicken wings.
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 The highlight of the meal finally arrived at the table. Served in plastic bundles, they arrived one by one of the table. 
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The hearty spread :) 
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Since this was our first visit to the restaurant, we ordered a variety of their seafood to try. First up, we had tiger prawns ($25) tossed in Louisiana Garlic Butter.
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Glad that parents-in-laws enjoyed this different dining experience. 
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 King Crab Legs ($38) seasoned with their signature Caboodle mix, which was a secret combination of local and Louisiana spices, cooked with garlic and unsalted butter.
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 They ran out of cray fish, so I had to replace my order to Loligo Squids ($18) tossed in Mum's special, which was a home-made recipe of sauteed onion rings and garlic, in a savoury sweet and sour brown sauce.
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 Lastly, we had Sri Lankan Crabs ($50) seasoned with their best selling Ultimate Curry - signature curry mix, stir-fried with aromatic curry leaves and chilli padi. 
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Grandpa's bread ($1.50) for dipping into the various seasonings. Besides bread, you can also order spiced rice (new item on the menu!) and 3Cs (includes carrot, celery and cucumber sticks with home-made tangy mayo dip) as side dishes. 
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 As this was our virgin visit, the crew member taught us the proper way of eating rice @ Crab in da Bag. First, scope some rice on the table and pour a spoonful of your desired seasoning over it. For this demo, I paired rice with ultimate curry.
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Next, squeeze some lemon over it to enhance the taste.  P3168473 copy 
Lastly, mix well with your fingers and popped it inside your mouth.
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Wow, rice never tasted so good! Looked like I'll have to start accumulating more lemons in my fridge next time, heh. Overall, it was an interesting experience and I can't wait to try Cajun Kings next :)
Crab in da Bag
902 East Coast Parkway, Big Splash
Block D Unit #01-25
Singapore 449874
Tel: 6440 0083
Opening Hours: 4pm till 11pm (Tues till Fri), 12pm till 11pm (Sat till Sun). Closed on Mondays.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

KL Work Trip, Dec 2012: Day Trip to KL

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My perseverance finally paid off - for I'm now composing the last entry for 2012 work trips! Hooray to clearing another folder :) I went on a day trip to KL, meeting up with prospective clients for a quick catch up before they all head for their holidays. Dec is always a quiet period (in office) where out of 10 emails sent out, you will receive at least 6 out-of-office replies. Thus, I had to confirm schedule with my clients before I proceeded to book tickets for the trip.
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I headed to the airport early morning to catch the 7am flight, which surprisingly was a full flight. Instead of passengers heading for holidays, I saw quite a lot of passengers dressed in their business/corporate attire on board. We were all busy typing on our laptops whenever we can #lastminpreparation, lol!  
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Xmas period, my fave! (Psst ... mental countdown to another 6 months of Xmas this year)
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My trusty dog tag that accompanied me during my travels :)
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Anyway, I flew Silk Air to KL, as I had to get into town early morning to meet the clients. My 2nd time traveling Silk Air and it felt like an upgraded version of budget airlines. My usual routine - read the papers to catch up on the latest headlines first, then off to lala-land when the plane starts taxiing and wake up during touch-down. This time round, I was busy preparing for some materials for clients' meeting, so I spent whenever I can typing on the laptop instead. 
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Upon landing, I immediately hopped onto a cab and headed straight to client's place. I had a late breakfast/early lunch at Starbucks, just below my client's office - needed the energy before the start of a long day. I even got 10% discount off for being a "staff", lol! 
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 A couple of hours, I was back at the airport ready for my flight home. Before that, I needed some comfort food & the best place for junk food - McDonald's! McDonald's french fries and corn cup are my comfort food. 
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I decided to walk around the main terminal instead of heading to my usual spot for "debrief" session. 
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Xmas decorations all over the airport. Now, I really feel like jetting off to winter wonderland for Xmas this year! Somehow, Christmas feels more magical when snow is in the picture :)
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Dinner as soon as I landed in Singapore - this pretty much wrapped up my business travels in 2012 :) Mission accomplished!  

Monday, June 2, 2014

2nd Wedding Anniversary at Alkaff Mansion

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Last October, we celebrated our 2nd year of marriage. Gosh, I'm still trying to come to terms that we are married for 2 years and yet, we are slowly approaching our 3rd year soon. It felt like yesterday when we celebrated our first wedding anniversary. So, there was a bit of drama-mama courtesy of Leecher for forgetting our wedding date (as usual!). He certainly made up for it during our date :)
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(pic credits to Alkaff Mansion website) 
Dinner venue was confirmed at Alkaff Mansion, a 2-storey bungalow turned restaurant located at Telok Blangah. This building dates back to 1918, where it was first built by the a member of the Alkaff family as a weekend house. Housed at the top of the hill, it offers a sweeping view of Keppel Harbour. 
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We were shown to our table on the 2nd floor. Minutes later, the manager came over to our table and addressed us as Mr & Mrs Lim while giving us the menu. Wow, impressive service! I don't get addressed like this whenever I'm dining out, even when reservations are made beforehand. 
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Leecher surprised me with a present, which made my day :) As you all know, Leecher is not very romantic and doesn't believe in showering me with gifts, apart from my yearly birthday present. So, I was extremely touched when he presented the gift to me ... very unlike of him! He actually remembered our conversation from months ago, when I caught sight of Pandora's new tagline "My Story, My Design". I'm a sucker for anything that tells a story, specially when it relates to special moment in life. So, I casually mentioned it to Leecher about buying a Pandora bracelet. Leecher gave me the DUH look (as always, whenever he thinks I'm spending unnecessary money on useless items) and said that this is all marketing, lol! 
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When we alighted from the car, Leecher went to open the car's boot while I stood in front of the car, waiting for him. When he opened the boot, I blurted out "Are you getting a present for me from the boot?" In fact, at this moment, I only said this sentence just to tease him & see his NAH reaction. Since we didn't exchange presents on 1st anniversary, I was 100% certain that there won't be any present this year. He closed the car's boot with a slightly shocked expression on his face and a paper bag hanging on his fingers. LOL - his jaws-dropped expression was soooo funny. 
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Presenting my own customised bracelet, from the hubby! He picked the wedding couple charm & topped it up with a couple of other charms in my fave colours :) I must admit I was really caught off-guard by this surprise - I actually felt guilty for not preparing a gift. Heh.
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 We were quite famished by the time we placed our orders. Thankfully, the appetizer appeared swiftly on our table. We had Carpaccio di Salmone - marinated Scottish Salmon carpaccio with yellow frisee salad and salmon roe. This dish was light and refreshing; a perfect start to our evening :) 
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Honestly, I can't recall the name of this dish. However, I do remember liking this so much that I stole several spoonfuls from Leecher's plate after finishing mine, lol! Leecher was on his no-carbo diet, so I was more than happy to finish it for him. 
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Us, with our main courses :)
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Leecher ordered baked sea bass, while I went for sliced beef tenderloin served with roast potatoes & grilled vegetables. Beef was absolutely juicy and wonderful (I had mine at medium-well) & exchanged vegetables with Leecher for sea bass, lol! Old habits, heh
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We got another surprise for the night, courtesy of Alkaff Mansion!
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We ended the night on a sweet note - in the form of 2 desserts :) The surprise was definitely memorable, given that Leecher doesn't pull this kind of stunt. Hmm, should I start praying for another surprise this year, heh?
Alkaff Mansion Ristorante
10 Telok Blangah Green,
Singapore 109178
Tel: 6510 3068
Email: enquiry@alkaff.com.sg
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