♒Åℚ∪Åℜ│⊔S ♒

Haven't had time to catch up on penning down my personal thoughts on this intimate (and very unknown) space of mine. Reason? None other than work. I've never shun the idea of a 9-6 job like many youngsters around me do, because why, VERY few stable jobs that I know of actually provide the luxury of flexible working timings. So long as my working days are productive and I don't have to worry about earning a meager income and most importantly, I'm walking along the path that I've carved out for myself, the fixed timings don't matter. 

Last weekend, I queued up for the newly opened and HIGHLY raved Pince & Pints for 2.5 hours. What was meant to be a dinner turned out to be supper. My poor soles on that platform shoes that night.. Despite how the food didn't disappoint us, I wouldn't exactly say it was worth that 2.5 hours Q because that is definitely my first and last time of killing my soles for food. But after hearing how my extremely couch potato bro would Q up this long for good food, I started to doubt my initial judgment of how this horrendous Q would be just a temporary craze, like the bubble tea craze. 

I had the chili lobster with fried mantou. Initially, both Redbull & I were overestimating our appetites and underestimating the portions of the food. BUT, we were too full to have our supper which we planned to after this meal. 

His lobster roll with some greens and fries. Though the lobster roll leaves little room for complaints, I felt they could put in more effort for the fries. Even Mac and kfc fries taste better than this. 

My pincer that Redbull peeled off the shell for me.

I was an unpaid chef on Good Friday, at Wang Dae Bak, BBQ-ing the meat for the carnivores. Having Redbull feeding me a few mouths of the luncheon meat stew and 1-2 pieces of meat, I sat there concentrating on the task of being an unpaid chef. On a tight budget and with a filled stomach, I had to curb on my weekends spending. Nonetheless, I didn't choose to wallow in self-pity and instead I was happily cooking the meat for them. 

Had 2 bowls of the soup and this big bowl of heaven is worth every cent of $35. The portion is definitely sufficient for sharing. It turned out to be more than enough for the 5 of them, 6 if you ask me, with Redbull having the appetite for 2. 

Wanted to do an 'oscar selfie' but ended up with Redbull approaching someone to take this shot for us. 

Afterwards, guess what? My fav place for waffles! CREAMIER. This time round, I chose orange with (another fruit) mixed with vodka ice-cream. My preference for alcoholic ice-cream has never failed me once. No thanks for the usual classic flavors like choc or vanilla or strawberry. Again, the waffles I'm addicted to~

Burning off calories session the next morning with these kakis. 

My weekends were so packed I even had to set alarms on both days, something I don't usually do because I wish for my weekends to be less hectic. Moreover, it's sufficient to be setting alarms on 5 out of 7 days in a week right? Last weekend was packed with meaningful activities and I didn't have sufficient sleep on both Fri & Sat nights. The waking up early part was a feat, it was the sleeping late the night before part that made me really grouchy for not having ample beauty sleep.

Anyway, Redbull, shell & I accompanied wy for her monthly medical check-up and her bb is 14 weeks old which means WE CAN KNOW THE GENDER! A bb BOY! Now we can buy gender specific things. 

Indescribable emotions the moment this appeared on the flat screen. This was my first time seeing a new life that has yet to be brought to earth. Every thing so fragile, precious and amazing contained in this little new life. I was left bewildered seeing how big this little bb is despite how wy's weight has been dropping since her pregnancy. You continue growing healthily, little bb. But at the same time, try to spare your mummy as little agony as possible. Be healthy, both you precious darlings.

The rare day wy's appetite grew.

We had lunch at Saveur. Disappointed at the basmati rice with chicken roulade. The rice was watery and less rich. Their rice was one of my favs. The seabass, duck confit & pistachio dessert maintained the standard though I'm kinda sick of Saveur for the time being. The downside of having it too frequently. 

Right after Saveur, we Q up for Sushi Bar at fep while shell went for her waxing which is just opposite. By the time she was done, it was our turn. Yes, the Q is always long. But we were rewarded with food that was worthy of the Q. 

Had 2 plates of this salmon aburi. Am gonna try the soft shell crab salmon aburi the next time.

Their sirloin steak is a must try! 

Sunday was healthy trekking day at Bukit Timah Hill with the couple who was late. Redbull & I went ahead with the trekking by ourselves and halfway through, they called to say they were on their way so we took the same route back to the main road. 

Wishing time could fast forward to Saturday where Redbull will be spending quality time with my family & I over at JB. He has missed out on so many past visits to my grandma's and he's finally going with us this time round. The feeling of felicity has stuck with me since the moment he said he's going to JB with me. 

Saturday mass with Redbull & his family. A good thing the church wasn't freezing like it usually did, otherwise my arms would be suffering. 

Korean cuisine at Star Vista for future dad-in-law's 54th birthday. There was a Q but we got a table not long after. The perks of being early before the peak dinner time. 

The menu isn't extensive but we still managed to order what caught our eyes except for the absence of egg dish for Redbull. I don't get his love for eggs. Like every single meal, he NEEDS egg? It's not a want anymore. He'll go "Huh, no egg dishes?" Ahlamak, it's only egg. If HDB allows hen to be kept as pet in our future house, he'll sure vouch for that though he'll still have to pass my stage first, which is a definite no. So too bad.

I'm not amazed by the delivery of greens to our table because that is very common sight for places with korean BBQ. But I was in awe of the long tray of this many varieties of greens. Like I was in a vegetable plantation! 

Glass noodles glass noodles, my favorite! The aroma of sesame oil (?) makes this tastier than it already is. I think I unknowingly ate half of the portion though this was meant to be shared among the 6 of us. Can't blame me, blame Redbull for putting this plate of goodness in front of me. 

Pancakes which we ordered 2 plates.

We had tofu stew, some beef rice (which tasted very bland but its soup saved the day) and meats for BBQ. Aside from the meats which I've tasted much well marinated ones elsewhere like the recent visit to Kim's, the rest were sufficient to leave me grinning after the meal. I'm quite easily satisfied, as long as the food doesn't taste bad, I'll find it (not delicious but at least) acceptable. 

I've something to complain about Redbull. His lack of attention to details. As the meal was drawing to an end, Redbull was secretly discussing with me where to get a birthday cake for his dad. Note the word secretly. We were whispering to each other so his dad wouldn't hear us. He suggested Awfully Chocolate but I wasn't so sure of his dad's preference for chocolates cause many elderly don't prefer chocolate, especially those rich & heavy ones at Awfully Chocolate. We had to check with his mum instead. He tried to mouth the words to her from across the table, hoping she could read his lips which she obviously couldn't cause who can unless you've been trained to lip read right? So I had to lean across the table and whispered to her ears if uncle likes chocolate and she shook her head. 

From the somewhat tedious process of coming to a decision of getting a non-chocolate cake, I bet everyone can already tell this was meant to be a surprise, that Redbull wanted to surprise his dad with a birthday cake, right? AND, the real surprise came. Before leaving to buy a cake, Redbull announced (YES, ANNOUNCED), "Y'all settle the bills, I'll go buy cake". 

C'mon everyone, gather around, Mr Alvin Lim has got an announcement to make and that is he is going to buy a cake for his dad. 

YES, he did just did that. Ruined the surprise he painstakingly initiated to have. He was the one who whispered to me about what cake to get. Going all undercover only to announce he was gonna buy the cake, tell me what's the point of all the whispering and mouthing of words right? 

sigh. Why is my bf so clumsy? After being 'assassinated' by our ( his sis & me) stares and nagging, he said he figured out there wouldn't be a surprise cause his dad would find out at the end despite whatever the plan was so might as well just let him know.

 Of course, he'd find out at the end. Surprises are meant to be given to the receiver and have the receiver receiving it from his end right? The surprise lies not in the end, it lies in between the planning and finale. This guy doesn't get it, he doesn't. WELL~

Anyway, twelve cupcakes was our final decision. At least the choice of cake wasn't announced. 

My weekends are always pretty much about food, aside from sticking to my exercising regime with the hope of lessening the guilt from consuming all these unhealthy food. Saturday dinner with Redbull's family after their mass. 

I've passed Kim's several times, with most of the times it being closed. Tucked in a row of shophouses just few doors away from Carpenter & Cook and finally I got to try this authentic korean cuisine. 

The lady who picked up my call on Friday didn't jot down my reservation but we only had to wait for less than 10 minutes before getting our table. The place was packed, only a few tables were empty in the second room Kim's has. 

Scribbles and doodles on the wall.

Seafood hotpot. Thought this hotpot was the Army Stew I really wanted to try, but turns out it was glass noodles instead of maggie mee. Ntm the pathetic portion of glass noodles which I only managed to lay my hands on a few strands. BUT, the soup was sweet and the seafood is fresh. 

Refillable! The sweet ikan bilis, fish cakes and fruits salad! 

Topokki

The BBQ chef of the night. We ordered pork belly and marinated pork collar. Best BBQ meat I've had in a korean restaurant. Very well marinated succulent meat. My stomach didn't seem to have enough of it. There were 5 of us so... My stomach is accustomed to the portion of food it always consumes when I'm with Redbull alone. Like the same amount of food we ordered is what Redbull & I would usually order when it's just the both of us. Ya, we are crazy.

Ok, perhaps minus of this huge green onion pancake. We would definitely order the hotpot & the 2 plates of meat.

It wasn't our first cycling moment. I still remembered back in our secondary school days when renting chalets were the 'in' thing, something every secondary school kids did. I don't know if this is still as common among the secondary school kids nowadays. But anyway, we would go for (mid)night cycling till our legs went sore, till we couldn't even feel our butts. Those were such carefree days. 

Saturday was our cycling date, in hope of getting him involved in my exercising lifestyle as often as possible and it was a success because he enjoys it. A good start. 

He led the way, with every turn made according to his wishes. It felt good that we had no destination in mind, just going with the flow, not hectically racing against time. 

I think I've never been that downright disappointed by food till last Saturday. Perhaps due to the bearing of high hopes. Have no one to blame but myself. 

The V'Day meal at Kombi Rocks sucks. Sorry for the rudeness but you'll thank me for the honesty. 

Except for the vintage vehicles on display for the pleasure of my eyes, nothing else pleasured me, not the food and definitely not the service. 

Yes, the staffs are fine, to be fair to them, they're pretty friendly. But the slow service of food... Took 20 minutes for a prawn omelette to arrive. 20 minutes for an OMELETTE to be cooked & served. Waiting for the hen to hatch the egg? 

The dishes were so displeasing to our taste buds we requested to cancel the remaining 2 dishes which were IMMEDIATELY and MIRACULOUSLY done right after we made that request to cancel. Talk about coincidence? The table next to us experienced the same thing.